frontpagemag.com By Michael Tremoglie FrontPageMagazine.com | February 19, 2003

They promised utopia if only we were smart enough to listen to them. (1)

From January 19-21, representatives of 16 Communist parties met in Argentina for the Second International Seminar of Communist Parties. Delegates from Spain, Portugal, Cuba, France, Italy, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Greece and six other countries voted to express their resolve to prevent a new "imperialist United States war against Iraq." An "imperialist United States war against Iraq" is a phrase that is familiar to anyone who has listened to any of the peace protests during the past several months.

The World Social Forum, which convened a few days later in Brazil, received a memo from the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), Prague, that instructed the delegates to "stop all wars and preparations for wars and promote international cooperation to promote economic development and social progress for all peoples and countries." (2)

The memo expressed its concern that," peace and security of our planet are threatened by the massive troop movements and preparations for a US-led war on Iraq and possibly other countries. It is a matter of deep concern that the principles of the UN Charter and the existence of the United Nations itself are now seriously threatened by the increasing unilateralism of the Bush Administration." The WFTU proclaimed among other things that there should be a," Reduction of military budgets and transfer of the savings to finance social development;

There were many more disparaging remarks in the WFTU memo about United States policy in Venezuela, the United States’ military-industrial complex, etc. However, if you listened to the rally February 15th, you heard the same things. Is it a coincidence that the principle leaders of the "peace movement" say the same things as international Communist organizations?

This excerpt from the January 11 edition of the People’s Weekly World Newspaper titled, "U.S. peace movement key to stopping Iraq war," may provide some reason for the similarities.

The author Susan Webb wrote:

"With the Bush administration working to steamroller United Nations compliance with its war drive, broad-based peace actions by the American people may well hold the key to preventing a U.S. attack on Iraq.

"Indicative of the expanding movement opposing Bush’s war policy, Cleveland AFL-CIO Executive Secretary John Ryan and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) will join Dr. Otis Moss, an associate of Martin Luther King, and other religious leaders in the city’s African-American community, in a Voices Against the War event, Jan. 12, initiated by the newly formed Intercommunity/ Interfaith Push for Peace coalition… A mass anti-war mobilization will take place in New York City on Feb. 15, initiated by United for Peace. The same day, millions are expected to march against war in Europe and Japan…

"More than 30 national, state and local labor organizations and leaders have, in one way or another, expressed concern over the Bush administration’s drive to war, and that number is expected to grow. Major religious, environmental and women’s groups have also voiced opposition to war.

"Thirteen religious leaders, led by National Council of Churches General Secretary Robert Edgar, returned Jan. 3 from a mission to Iraq, where they said they witnessed the 20-year legacy of suffering of Iraqi civilians especially children and were burdened with the knowledge that war would further deepen that suffering.

"A delegation from Pax Christi, a Catholic lay organization, also recently returned from Baghdad, where they met with Iraqi religious leaders, UN officials, relief organizations and ordinary Iraqis. Delegation members said a war on Iraq would be a grave mistake and lead to further destabilization of the region.

"The Bush administration is working to create an atmosphere that war is inevitable, with daily reports of troops, hospital ships, and battle command staff taking up positions near Iraq.

"Nevertheless, dozens and dozens of peace actions are happening throughout the U.S., Peace Action communications director Scott Lynch, told the World.. Observers note that the White House, intent on ensuring the re-election of George W. Bush and his ultra-right team in 2004, is sensitive to shifts in public opinion. 'The Bush administration can be influenced,' Lynch said, adding, 'If the chickenhawks had had their way we would have rolled into Baghdad a long time ago.' Lynch cited recent polls showing a 10 percent drop in support for Bush’s war policy, and said the push to war is widely seen as dictated by geopolitical designs including control of the oil-rich Middle East rather than any threat from Iraq. " (3)

These Communist organizations are mobilizing to avoid war with Iraq. However, instead of making arguments opposed to Saddam Hussein’s policies, they manipulate the sincere desire for peace of a great many citizens. Instead of protesting Saddam Hussein’s defiance to the UN resolutions, they indoctrinate these citizens with anti-American arguments-attempting to discredit our government.

The arguments and theories the Communists use are not unfamiliar. They are the same canards heard at all of ANSWER’s events. They speak of oil and imperialism and other such things ad nauseum. The same arguments they made during the 80’s that were proven false; the same arguments that were made during the Gulf War that were proven false; the same arguments made during the Taliban war that were proven false.

These faux pacifists are the same hypocrites, charlatans, and Jacobins discredited. Only the mainstream media believes them and even they are becoming doubters. Even the mainstream media now recognizes the Communist origins of the "peace" leadership. However, if someone indicates the relationship between Communist revolutionaries and the peace groups certain media types or "peaceniks" label them a red-baiter, for doing nothing more than calling a Communist a Communist.

Why liberals are apprehensive about the legitimate identification of Communist leadership among the peaceniks needs explanation. Are they saying this to eliminate the possibility of debate? This red-baiting label is very much like when liberals call someone a racist or claim a remark is "hate speech." It is meant merely to preclude the possibility of debate.

Why are the "peaceniks" reluctant to debate? Why are the Communists reluctant to identify themselves and their roles in the " peace" movement? If the Communists truly want a peaceful world they would be enthusiastic about identifying themselves as the leaders of the peaceniks.

Could it be that the Communists realize that most Americans, with their innate common sense, know that a Pax Communism is an oxymoron?

Michael P. Tremoglie is the author of the soon-to-be-released novel A Sense of Duty, and an ex-Philadelphia cop. E-mail him at elfegobaca2@earthlink.net.

www.channelnewsasia.com First created : 19 February 2003 1344 hrs (SST) 0544 hrs (GMT) Last modified : 19 February 2003 1900 hrs (SST) 1100 hrs (GMT)

Calpers, the largest US pension fund, has decided to continue to avoid stock investments in Malaysia and Thailand while remaining in the Philippines, despite a consultant's recommendation to do otherwise.

The board of California Public Employees' Retirement System, deciding on recommendations made by Wilshire Consulting, voted against investment in 12 developing countries, including China, India, Indonesia and Russia.Advertisement Also banned for investment were Morocco, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Pakistan, Colombia and Venezuela.

The decision was based on an assessment of the stability and transparency of those countries, including such criteria as accounting standards and labour law.

Calpers, which has some US$133 billion in assets, had been expected to put Thailand and Malaysia back on its list of approved markets, but voted for tighter standards than the consultant had recommended.

The board cleared 14 emerging markets for investment, including South Korea, Poland and Israel.

The others are the Czech Republic, Hungary, Taiwan, South Africa, Chile, Mexico, Jordan, Peru, Argentina, Turkey and Brazil.

The fund, which has about US$1.8 billion in emerging markets, also said it would keep the Philippines on its target investment list.

This was after Philippine officials presented information that shows the country's equity market remains an eligible investment area.

The fund said it would consider adding countries to a "watchlist" before it sold off from those markets, allowing governments to respond to perceived problems and saving transaction costs.

Wilshire Consulting had helped Calpers overhaul its standards for investing in emerging markets last year.

It recommended in February last year that Calpers pull out of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

In May, however, Calpers returned to the Philippines after the market was discovered to have failed the investment criteria only because of an error in scoring settlement proficiency.

www.washingtonpost.com Wednesday, February 19, 2003; Page E02

Oil Hits 29-Month Highs

Oil prices rose to 29-month highs as the United States and Britain pushed for a second U.N. resolution on Iraq that could open the way to war on the world's eighth-largest oil exporter. Light sweet crude oil for March delivery rose 16 cents, to $36.96 a barrel, in New York, the highest closing price since Sept. 20, 2000. In London, the April Brent crude-oil futures contract rose 62 cents, to $32.54 a barrel.

New SEC Chief Seeks Accountability

William H. Donaldson was sworn in as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and called upon corporate executives "to create a new environment of integrity and accountability." Donaldson replaces Harvey L. Pitt, who resigned. Donaldson takes charge of the SEC under pressure from Congress to crack down on corporate misdeeds. "It is time that all those who manage and govern our corporate and financial institutions show true leadership," Donaldson said. "I will call upon them individually and collectively to create a new environment of integrity and accountability that goes well beyond adherence to laws."

MORE NEWS

Wachovia has agreed to acquire Prudential Financial's retail brokerage business, people familiar with the negotiations said. The transaction will bring about 5,000 brokers and $1.7 billion of capital to Charlotte-based Wachovia, which now has about 8,500 brokers. Prudential will have a minority stake in the new business. Prudential Securities has lost almost $300 million during the past two years. The transaction will be announced today, the people said.

Overture Services agreed to buy rival Web-search service AltaVista for $140 million. The current owner of AltaVista, CMGI , bought it from Compaq Computer for $2.3 billion in 1999. Overture, whose search service is used on the Web sites run by Yahoo and MSN, said AltaVista owns technology that will help it improve its search engine.

Duke Power said it received a subpoena from a federal grand jury seeking documents related to last year's audit of the public utility's accounting from 1998 to 2000. The audit, conducted at the request of regulators from North and South Carolina, found that the Charlotte-based utility planned to underreport earnings by $124 million in the three-year period. As a public utility, Duke Power's income is capped. If profits rise above a set level, the states can reduce consumer rates. Duke Power paid a $25 million settlement to the two states last year.

Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas, who is accused of accounting fraud, asked a federal judge to block plans by the bankrupt cable-television company to hire two top executives and pay them as much as $41 million over three years. Rigas and three of his sons joined other Adelphia shareholders and some creditors in trying to persuade U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber to reject or alter the contracts.

T-bill rates rose. The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills auctioned yesterday rose to 1.16 percent from 1.15 percent last week. The rate on six-month bills rose to 1.18 percent from 1.165 percent. The actual return to investors is 1.179 percent on three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,970.70, and 1.204 percent on a six-month bill selling for $9,940.30. Because of the snow storm, the Federal Reserve delayed release of its report on one-year Treasury bills until today.

Personal computer sales will rise 4.8 percent this quarter globally, market researcher Dataquest predicted. About 33.2 million PCs will be shipped in the quarter, and shipments this year may climb by 7.9 percent, to 138.7 million. Last year, global PC shipments rose 2.7 percent, to 132 million.

American Greetings, the second-largest U.S. greeting-card maker after, said Morry Weiss will retire as chief executive on June 1 and will be replaced by his son Zev.

United Airlines and Northwest Airlines matched a $3 fare increase on routes where they compete with American Trans Air, which blamed higher fuel prices. United and Northwest said their airlines added $3 each way of a flight in competing flights, mainly through Chicago. American and Continental were among airlines that tried to raise prices by $20 for all round-trip tickets on Friday and Saturday. Those increases were dropped after Northwest matched them only on some of its lowest fares.

Ford agreed to pay $244,000 to settle allegations that it failed to properly monitor hazardous waste at 14 factories in nine states. The Environmental Protection Agency's allegations involved pipes carrying paint, solvents and other chemicals to disposal sites from areas where cars are painted.

INTERNATIONAL

China overtook the United States as the world's leading exporter to Japan last year, said the Japan External Trade Organization, a government-backed trade group. Chinese exports to Japan in 2002 totaled $61.7 billion, up 6.1 percent from 2001. China accounts for 18.3 percent of Japan's imports. The United States accounted for 17 percent of Japan's imports at $57.5 billion, down 9.5 percent from 2001 for the second straight year of decline.

South Africa informed mining companies of 19 conditions they must meet to renew their licenses. The conditions are part of a program to promote black ownership and include such things as ownership quotas and requirements for training workers. South Africa plans to compel companies to sell 26 percent of their assets to black investors within 10 years.

Exxon Mobil will resume loading oil today from Venezuela's Jose port. It will be the first U.S. company to take on a shipment since a strike began Dec. 2.The resumption is a blow to striking oil workers, who are trying to topple President Hugo Chavez.

Arcelor, the world's largest steelmaker, said protesters held six managers, including the chief executive from its Cockerill Sambre unit, captive for 23 hours over plans to close blast furnaces in Europe. Police officers weren't asked to intervene and there was no violence. The protesters included union members who were protesting plans to close six furnaces in Belgium, French and German factories.

EARNINGS

Wal-Mart Stores said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 16.3 percent, to $2.53 billion. Sales totaled $71.07 billion, up 10.7 percent from a year earlier.

Waste Management is cutting 700 full-time jobs and 270 contract positions as it scales down North American operations. The Houston-based company also reported its fourth-quarter profit climbed 49 percent, to $236 million. Revenue was flat at $2.8 billion.

www.weeklystandard.com by Mansoor Ijaz 02/19/2003 12:00:00 AM

OSAMA BIN LADEN, or some good likeness of him, spoke from the ether again on two occasions last week, releasing two undated audiotapes as Muslims completed their pilgrimages to Mecca. His call to Jihad did not stop at tying himself to Iraq's people, by which he had clearly hoped to provoke Washington into immediate unilateral military action against Saddam Hussein. Nor did it end with his messianic recitation of verses in the Koran that clearly demonstrated he knows the end game is near. Predicting his martyrdom this year, he vowed to die in "the belly of the Eagle," an Islamist reference to ending his life in a final act of terror against the United States on our soil. The man, put simply, is on the run.

Bin Laden's cowardice shines through his rhetoric. For the first time since the September 11 attacks against the United States, bin Laden demonstrated fear through his choice of words. In setting forth plans for his suicide, he probably came to the conclusion that al Qaeda's retaliation infrastructure around the world had been so effectively and systematically dismantled by western intelligence that his terrorists may not be able to mount a credible response to any planned U.S. military action in Iraq in the near future. Like many Mafia bosses before him, he appears to have decided that when the going looks tough--the poison network in Europe, for example, has been decimated by defections and confessions--it's better to exit stage left.

While bin Laden's vision of dividing the West and driving a wedge between the United States and her allies, whether Arab or European, has become a political reality, his terrorist acts have not yet reached their intended crescendo--to use a weapon of mass destruction against civilians. That is why bin Laden spoke and why we need to quickly and effectively decipher what he is really trying to tell us.

A plethora of available but seemingly unconnected evidence provides important clues for what may be bin Laden's final act. To understand the data, we must be imaginative and accept that al Qaeda's highest military objective is the economic paralysis of the West--killing us softly, to quote Roberta Flack. Hardcore acts of terrorism against civilian targets that cause mass casualties are certainly a part of the al Qaeda Jihad thesis, but these acts are designed more for recruitment than long-term debilitating impact.

Constructing the Tools of Armageddon

AL QAEDA has explosives expertise that is unsurpassed in non-military circles. It gets military-grade C4 charges from China and Iran; it employs Hezbollah and Hamas guerillas trained in the fine arts of detonation devices (witness particularly the maritime attacks against the USS Cole and the French oil tanker); and it has brainwashed legions of men who are willing to die for the cause.

What's missing? Plutonium, and the scientific expertise to build a crude but highly explosive nuclear bomb. (Plutonium is more easily transported without detection and offers a bigger bang for the buck than typical enriched uranium devices.)

Who's supplying the material and expertise? North Korea, and, surprisingly, our ally in the war against al Qaeda, Pakistan. Pyongyang--with a lot of help from China (which is supplying key chemicals to separate plutonium from depleted uranium) and Pakistan (which gave North Korea its uranium enrichment centrifuges and tutored its nuclear scientists)--will be able to churn out Coke cans of plutonium at the rate of one per week by the end of March.

According to my intelligence sources in the Far East, the outlying renegade provinces of Indonesia (Aceh, for example) and the Philippines (where al Qaeda affiliate Abu Sayyaf rules) are infested with senior al Qaeda leaders. Each one is financially empowered to purchase North Korea's plutonium the moment it is reprocessed. Ayman Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two, was reportedly in Indonesia last September, a month before the Bali bomb blast that killed 200 mostly Australian tourists. He could easily be there again.

We also know from published--and so far undisputed--reports that from February 2000 until July 2002, eight senior Pakistani nuclear scientists left their country without obtaining the required No Objection Certificates needed for travel abroad. They remain unaccounted for and at least some are reported to have traveled to Australia and Indonesia.

In a worst case scenario, al Qaeda could construct a crude but effective nuclear device in weeks, if not a month, from Hezbollah C4, North Korean plutonium, and a little nuclear expertise from disaffected Pakistani scientists. Making a "dirty" radiological dispersion device with Strontium or Cesium also remains an option, although it is clear that al Qaeda has the intent and resources to go for weapons that cause maximum collateral damage.

Add to this troubling possibility the fact that the terror group has resorted to the use of seafaring vessels to move its people around, and now has a fleet large and diverse enough that one or two could seamlessly move into a large harbor or congested waterway undetected, and a picture emerges of an unparalleled potential threat to the global economy from the paralysis that could be caused by a crude plutonium bomb exploding in the belly of an al Qaeda ship with bin Laden onboard.

The Targets

THE EASIEST TARGETS today for such an al Qaeda plot are Singapore harbor--the world's second largest seaport and the gateway to and from all trade done in the Far East--and the mouth of the Persian Gulf, which if irradiated could disrupt the normal flow of reasonably priced oil for half a century, no matter how much oil Alaska, Russia and Venezuela produce. There have been reports that easily accessed Australian ports, possibly even Sydney harbor, might be the target of an al-Qaeda dirty bomb plot. There are other potential targets with more symbolic value: the Panama Canal, to demonstrate al Qaeda can hit us again in our hemisphere; the Suez Canal, to hurt what bin Laden perceives as the traitorous Arab governments of Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia simultaneously; and the Straits of Gibraltar, where al Qaeda cells in Morocco tried to launch an attack last year.

But the target closest to bin Laden's heart likely remains a seaport that would allow him to go to his Allah in the belly of the Eagle--perhaps on the western seaboard of the United States. One thing is sure: Bin Laden's ego and ethos will compel him to go out in a blaze of glory that will secure the recruitment of his legions for decades to come and enshrine him as one of history's most evil beings.

America has a moral responsibility to the rest of the world to get on with the onerous task of dismantling and destroying those who enable al Qaeda's evil designs. To delay or fail in this task is to watch the destruction of humanity, bit by bit, by men who never understood God or His teachings, and with whom we can never achieve peaceful co-existence.

Mansoor Ijaz, chairman of Crescent Investment Management in New York, negotiated Sudan's counterterrorism offer of data on al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and other terrorist groups to the Clinton administration in 1997. He also worked closely with Mujahedeen and Islamist leaders in Pakistan to enact the July 2000 cease-fire in Kashmir between Muslim separatists and India's security forces.

news.ft.com By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas Published: February 19 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: February 19 2003 4:00

Venezuelan government and opposition representatives were yesterday due to sign a pact condemning political violence, the first breakthrough in three months of internationally backed talks aimed at finding an electoral solution to the country's political deadlock.

The agreement, brokered by César Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, should ease tensions between the government of President Hugo Chávez and the alliance of opposition interest groups ranged against him, analysts said.

Venezuela has been marked by rising levels of street violence, including several deaths in recent months as timid efforts at dialogue between Mr Chávez and his foes in the wake of last April's coup attempt collapsed, prompting the involvement of the OAS.

Opponents say Mr Chávez, although democratically elected four years ago, is bent on abolishing democracy in favour of an autocratic leftist government modelled on that of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

In turn, the populist Mr Chávez, who led a failed military coup in 1992, brands the opponents of his self-styled "Bolivarian revolution" as "coup-plotters".

Among his opponents are now over 12,000 employees who have been fired from Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the state oil company, following an ongoing strike that began in December and has slashed output in what was the world's fifth-largest oil producer, crippling the economy.

Analysts said the non-violence agreement suggests some kind of election could be in the offing in the months ahead. "The pact demonstrates that it is possible to reach agreements, and if that is possible, then anything is," said Alfredo Keller, a political consultant.

"However, the impression I have is that Chávez is not interested in an election in which he participates. He is not going to permit that the only visible head of the 'revolution' runs the risk of an electoral defeat," said Mr Keller.

Mr Chávez has in the past two weeks stepped up measures apparently aimed at shoring up his base support among the poor, a move that could pave the way for polls in which regional governors and mayors participate.

But activity geared towards some kind of early poll, this year, is gathering within the opposition camp, with signs that Manuel Cova, secretary-general of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, is being promoted by some groups as a presidential candidate.