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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2005)
BY BROOKE ROBERTSHAW & KATE ROGERS GESSERT Undercovered #42 More news that’s buried or ignored in local media. G overnment airstrikes, militia raids, rape, torture, and murder continue in Darfur, Sudan, where 218,000 people and 2,000 villages have already been “ethnically cleansed,” and 1.9 million people have fled. As the crisis worsens, relief work- ers plead for stronger international forces, more humanitarian aid, political pressure on Sudan’s government and militias, energetic mediation, and bringing those responsible for Sudanese genocide to the International Criminal Court for trial. Security Council members still dither, discussing sanctions, afraid of a U.S. veto against involving the ICC (allafrica.com). • The 2006 U.S. budget proposed by the Bush administration features $6.6 billion for nuclear weapons, many of them under devel- opment, plus $20 billion for outmoded weapons systems. In Bush’s budget, 300,000 shrinks, incentives soar: up to $20,000 bonuses for four years’ active duty. “We must consider the point at which we confuse ‘vol- unteer to become an American soldier’ with mercenary,” wrote Lt. Gen. Henley, Army Reserve commander. Forty thousand troops in Iraq have been informed that their enlist- ment has been extended to 2031, a ploy the Army may be using to force troops to “volun- tarily” re-enlist (Rolling Stone). Returning troops suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome say that doctors at Walter Reed, the Army’s top hospital, try to prove soldiers’ mental stress was not caused by combat so the government will not have to pay disabil- ity (Salon). • In a case called “Brooklyn’s Abu Ghraib,” Egyptians and Israelis arrested after 9/11 charge in sworn affidavits that New York corrections officers shackled their ened with dogs, and photographed in “ob- scene positions” (Guardian). Those involved were not disciplined, but sent to help out in Iraq. The photographs were destroyed (Mother Jones). • A suicide bombing in Tel Aviv Feb. 24 broke “months of relative calm,” wrote the L.A. Times. It is important to add that during this “relative calm,” since a Nov. 1 suicide bombing in Israel, 16 Israelis were killed, and 170 Palestinians were killed, 32 of them chil- dren (Middle East Policy Council). In viola- tion of the Road Map peace plan, Israel plans construction of 6,000 new homes in Jewish settlements on the West Bank (Yediot Aharonot), many between the Separation Wall and Green Line. This heightens Palestinian worries that the Wall is a land grab (Peace Now). The World Council of Churches, a union of 347 Protestant and Orthodox Christian denominations, has urged its members to sell off investments in companies that assist Israel in demolishing Palestinian homes, constructing settlements Democrats, including Congressman DeFazio, voted for this bill. It would force states to deny driver’s licenses to undocu- mented immigrants, making highways more dangerous by increasing numbers of unli- censed, uninsured drivers. It would require refugees to obtain documented evidence of persecution from the governments that abused them and empower the secretary of Homeland Security to suspend all laws when constructing barriers along 7,500 miles of U.S. borders. “Real I.D.” has not yet reached the Senate (ACLU). • A bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Ensign, the Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2005, mandates a voter-verified paper copy for all ballots. (Sen. Dodd has also au- thored a voting bill, criticized as being inef- fective and expensive.) With strong biparti- san support, VIVA 2005 still needs more co- sponsors. Contact Sen. Smith at 465-6750, Sen. Wyden at 431-0229 (ballotintegrity.org). • Workers in the meat and poultry industry have the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. Workers in the meat and poultry industry have the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. With few regulations in place, workers saw and cut at great speeds and often get injured. Those who report injuries or try to organize face dismissal and/or deportation (Human Rights Watch). children would lose child care; 300,000 working poor lose food stamps. Co-payments for veterans’ prescription drugs double (True Majority). • As the number of U.S. troop recruits hands, smashed their faces repeatedly into walls and raped one man with a flashlight (New York Daily News). In Afghanistan, new evidence reveals that prisoners had arms dis- located and noses broken, were raped, threat- and building the Wall (beliefnet.com). • On Feb. 9 the U.S. House passed the “Real I.D. Act,” opposed by groups from Amnesty International to Gunowners of America. Many Republicans and 42 With few regulations in place, workers saw and cut at great speeds and often get injured. Those who report injuries or try to organize face dismissal and/or deportation (Human Rights Watch). ew AIR AMERICA FOR EUGENE & SPRINGFIELD MARCH 3, 2005 13
