------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
Plutonium Dispute May Cloud Bush's European Debut
US trade panel rules against EU uranium imports
AWE ALDERMASTON RADIOACTIVE DISCHARGES
DU Alert
U.S. faces EU anger over uranium
EU ministers play down uranium row
Depleted credibility
Europe disturbed over contamination
Gulf War troops added to health test
Traces of Plutonium In Shells, U.S. Says
French authorities arrest anti-nuclear protesters
Germans protest against nuclear waste shipments
Iraq Rebuilt Weapons Factories, Officials Say
The Bush All-Stars

MILITARY
Today In History
Weaponry goes into hiding under new California law
Legal victory for Myanmar leader
God's Army twins admit no powers
Colombian Paramilitaries Adjust Attack Strategies
Drug Lord in Jail Break
Bombing, violence kill 15 in Kashmir
Iran rebels fire rockets in capital
Turkey feels unappreciated
Afghanistan denies U.N. charges
Sailor Speaks out Against Systemic Military Injustices
Scientists plan to enter submarine Hunley
States
Pentagon considers cuts in major weapons systems
USS Nitze
Agenda items get a boost

OTHER
Spill Imperils Rare Wildlife in the Galápagos
U.S. experts help fight spill off Galapagos Islands
U.S. Aids in Fuel Spill Clean Up
Panel finds humans responsible for warming
Bush names Hebert to head energy commission
Glory of the Fox Hunt
States
Fuel spill spreads near Galapagos Islands
Conservative conservationist
South Carolina
China OKs death sentence for spying

ACTIVISTS
Cops clear bleachers to seat protesters


-------- NUCLEAR

Plutonium Dispute May Cloud Bush's European Debut

January 22, 2001
Reuters
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-europe-.html

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's relationship with the George W. Bush administration could kick off with an angry row on Monday over charges that the United States failed to warn allies of plutonium contamination in munitions.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss a wave of public concern about the alleged health risks of depleted uranium (DU) shells can expect to hear complaints by Germany that Washington kept its European allies in the dark.

Portugal and Spain were also unprepared when the United States finally confirmed media reports and a Swiss laboratory finding that the ``low-risk'' material held minute traces of highly toxic plutonium and highly radioactive uranium 236.

If other EU states which also belong to the 19-member NATO alliance feel they too were inadequately informed to deal with the furor over DU, incoming Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's dealings with the allies may have a frosty start.

``It should be the damned duty of a friendly nation to inform their partner,'' German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping told journalists on a weekend visit to Bosnia and Kosovo.

PLUTONIUM NOT MENTIONED

NATO felt it was getting public ``hysteria'' over DU munitions under control until the presence of plutonium was disclosed.

Top medical officers from all 19 armies met in Brussels last week to compare data and announced a day later there was no ``Balkans syndrome'' and no unseen health risk from DU.

The Pentagon had twice sent U.S. Army medical experts to NATO headquarters to help reassure the European media. But while they said DU was even less radioactive than ubiquitous natural uranium, they never mentioned plutonium.

On Thursday, Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon said plutonium was detected a year ago and a nuclear plant was shut for 90 days. ``As you know, we discovered some stray elements... in depleted uranium...'' Bacon said.

``They consisted of plutonium, neptunium and americium. Now these are very, very small amounts and as soon as they were discovered as indicating possibly a flaw in the production process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission suspended the operation at this plant, which is in Paducah, Kentucky.''

Despite a lack of evidence that DU has caused cancer among NATO peacekeepers serving in the Balkans, public concern had already prompted calls by some allies and by the European Parliament for a moratorium on the munitions.

Depleted uranium is prized as the best armor penetrator in anti-tank shells. About 40,000 rounds were fired in Bosnia and Kosovo, all by U.S. ground attack aircraft.

The U.S., Britain and France have dismissed demands that they give up a military advantage on account of unfounded fears, and the Bush Administration is unlikely to waver, although American anti-DU campaigners say it caused Gulf war cancers.

Scientists say that inhaling one millionth of an ounce of plutonium can cause a fatal cancer. That scares many people and frightens governments, as reaction to the latest developments indicates.

CALLS FOR PROOF OF SAFETY

Scharping took scientists with him to the Balkans to make on-the-spot tests for plutonium. Spain ordered its medical experts to investigate. Switzerland said it would call for a total ban on DU ammunition at the United Nations this year.

A World Health Organization team was set to scour DU blast sites in Kosovo for traces of plutonium, and NATO member Portugal said the alliance must quickly back up assertions that the plutonium levels posed no health threat.

In a letter to NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, Prime Minister Antonio Guterres called for a full explanation of where and why such ammunition was used.

Washington can rightly claim that the presence of plutonium was not a secret, if allied military attaches cared to read the newspapers or look at relevant Internet sites.

``The Internet is not the way to share information between governments,'' said Scharping as criticism mounted at home over his alleged failure to inform German voters of the facts.

In a bitter comment, he said that after summoning the U.S. charge d'affaires last week, he had been told of nine incidents possibly involving DU munitions at U.S. bases in Germany.

``That's not in order. We can't accept that,'' he said. ``I'm quite certain that I would not have been informed of this had I not created such pressure.''

--------

US trade panel rules against EU uranium imports

Excite News
January 22, 2001
By Doug Palmer
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010122/18/eu-uranium-trade

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a case that could further strain trade relations between the United States and the European Union, a U.S. trade panel Monday issued a preliminary ruling against uranium imports from France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted 4-0, with two commissioners abstaining, that low enriched uranium imports from the four EU member states threatened USEC Inc., the only American producer of enriched uranium.

The product is used as fuel in nuclear power-generating plants. USEC is a former U.S government-owned corporation that was privatized in July 1998.

The preliminary decision opened the door for the United States to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on the uranium imports later this year.

In a case filed in December 2000 with the ITC and the U.S. Commerce Department, USEC accused its two European competitors, Eurodif S.A. and Urenco Ltd., of unfairly selling uranium in the U.S. market for less than their cost of production and benefiting from government subsidies.

USEC also accused Eurodif, which is controlled by the French government, through its sales agent Cogema of selling uranium for lower prices in the United States than at home. Urenco is a British-Dutch-German consortium.

"These unfair trade practices must be stopped for the good of U.S. national and energy security and the nuclear fuel cycle," USEC President William Timbers said in a statement after the vote.

The ITC finding clears the way for the Commerce Department to continue its investigation to determine if anti-dumping and countervailing duties are warranted. A negative ITC vote would have stopped the probe.

Commerce is expected to issue a preliminary decision in March in the dumping probe and in May in its investigation of government subsidies.

Following those decisions, U.S. importers could be required to post a bond to cover potential duties that would go into effect if the ITC makes a final injury ruling against the imports later this year.

"We're disappointed that the ITC has decided to continue the investigations," an EU official here said.

The EU argues anti-dumping and countervailing duties are inappropriate in the case because the EU firms only provide enrichment services, not the good itself.

U.S. utilities deliver natural uranium to Eurodif and Urenco, which convert it into low-enriched uranium.

Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are appropriate for goods, not services, the EU says.

The case is the latest in a long list of cross-Atlantic trade disputes that includes fights over EU beef and banana import restrictions and U.S. tax breaks for exporters.

Those disputes have stymied efforts in Brussels and Washington to agree on a common agenda for new multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization.

-------- britain

AWE ALDERMASTON RADIOACTIVE DISCHARGES

NAG nuclear awareness
8 Langborough Road
Wokingham Berkshire RG40 2BT
Tel: 0118 978 0148
Fax: 023 80 554434
e-mail: nis@gn.apc.org

PRESS RELEASE
22 JANUARY 2001

KRYPTON 85

The Environment Agency's Radioactive Discharge Authorisation to AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield, approved in March 2000 has been challenged in the High Court. NAG and a local resident brought the case against a new discharge authorisation because they have been concerned about these discharges, particularly plutonium, for many years. Justice Turner is expected to give an Opinion in 2 - 4 weeks time.

KRYPTON 85

Today's news that attempts to control releases of the cancer-causing gas, Kr85, were hushed up by BNFL has a bearing on health in the South of England as well as in the north. NAG is concerned that a "secrecy versus safety" culture pervades BNFL, which is now part of the consortium managing AWE.

Krypton 85 has been released from AWE Burghfield, the warhead assembly plant, for many years. In March 2000, the Authorisation was transferred to the Aldermaston site where a massive 25,000% increase in discharge is expected - from 4GBq a year in the past, to 1,000 GBq. Kr85 is only used in the Trident warhead programme and is not discharged during decommissioning of warheads or contaminated plant.

AWE radioactive discharges to atmosphere and water-courses include Plutonium, Uranium, Tritium, Depleted Uranium and Krypton 85.

"Will the Environment Agency consider Krypton 85 discharges to be dangerous at Sellafield but not at Aldermaston and Burghfield?" Evelyn Parker, NAG

"It is my opinion that a full public inquiry into health, environmental and safety aspects of AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield is long overdue." Baroness Helena Kennedy QC Author, Secrecy versus Safety Report AWE Community Inquiry April 1994

Contacts:
Di McDonald: 023 8055 4434 nis@gn.apc.org Evelyn Parker: 01635-253231


-------- depleted uranium

DU Alert

Sun, 7 Jan 2001
Dr. Andreas Toupadakis
<toupadakis@home.com>

The site below is one of the best I know about depleted uranium and its effects on humans. There are personal stories and pictures. It is all real. I met Mr. Akira Tashiro a few weeks ago at my house. He is to be trusted. His awards in Japan and the newspaper he works for speak of his work and character. http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index_e.html

--------

U.S. faces EU anger over uranium

January 22, 2001
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/22/uranium.meeting/index.html

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN)-- European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels appear to be heading for a confrontation with the new administration of U.S. President George W. Bush over the handling of the "Balkans Syndrome" issue.

Germany has accused the U.S. of failing to inform NATO nations of the potential contamination of depleted uranium munitions with plutonium.

Portugal and Spain say they were also unprepared when the U.S. finally confirmed media reports of a Swiss laboratory finding that the "low-risk" material held minute traces of highly toxic plutonium and highly radioactive uranium 236.

Germany's Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping said on the eve of the Brussels talks that the U.S. had apparently known for some time about the possible contamination.

"It should be the damned duty of a friendly nation to inform their partner," Scharping said after visiting German soldiers near Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Scharping also blasted "our American friends" for offering the pages of the Internet as a response when asked for information about the depleted-uranium (DU) munitions.

"The Internet is not the way to share information between governments," the minister said.

Scharping took scientists with him to the Balkans to make on-the-spot tests for plutonium. Spain ordered its medical experts to investigate. Switzerland said it would call for a total ban on DU ammunition at the United Nations this year.

A World Health Organisation team is also due to scour DU blast sites in Kosovo for traces of plutonium.

Scientists say that inhaling one millionth of an ounce of plutonium can cause a fatal cancer. That scares many people and frightens governments, as reaction to the latest developments indicates.

NATO member Portugal said the alliance must quickly back up assertions that the plutonium levels posed no health threat.

In a letter to NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, Prime Minister Antonio Guterres called for a full explanation of where and why such ammunition was used.

NATO's use of tank-busting ammunition tipped with depleted uranium in the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts is due to be raised informally during the Brussels summit on Monday.

Several EU member states are investigating whether such ammunition caused cancer among some of their soldiers returning from NATO-led Balkan peacekeeping missions.

Top medical officers from all 19 armies met in Brussels last week to compare data and announced a day later there was no "Balkans syndrome" and no unseen health risk from DU.

The Pentagon had twice sent U.S. Army medical experts to NATO headquarters to help reassure the European media. But while they said DU was even less radioactive than ubiquitous natural uranium, they did not mention plutonium.

On Thursday, Defence Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon said plutonium was detected a year ago and a nuclear plant was shut for 90 days. "As you know, we discovered some stray elements ... in depleted uranium," Bacon said.

"They consisted of plutonium, neptunium and americium. Now these are very, very small amounts and as soon as they were discovered as indicating possibly a flaw in the production process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission suspended the operation at this plant, which is in Paduhac, Kentucky."

Despite a lack of evidence that DU has caused cancer among NATO peacekeepers serving in the Balkans, public concern had already prompted calls by some allies and by the European Parliament for a moratorium on the munitions.

Depleted uranium is prized as the best armour penetrator in anti-tank shells. About 40,000 rounds were fired in Bosnia and Kosovo, all by U.S. ground attack aircraft.

The U.S., Britain and France have dismissed demands that they give up a military advantage on account of unfounded fears, and observers say the Bush Administration is unlikely to waver, although anti-DU campaigners in the U.S. say it caused Gulf war cancers.

--------

EU ministers play down uranium row

January 22, 2001
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/22/uranium.meeting.02/index.html

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Germany has attempted to calm diplomatic relations with the United States over the discovery of plutonium traces in depleted uranium (DU) shells.

Germany's Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping last week said it was the U.S.' "damned duty" to inform a partner about possible plutonium contamination during the Balkan wars.

But Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Monday that accusations that the U.S. had failed to alert allies to the fact that the DU shells it used in Kosovo contained minute traces of the radiotoxic substance "is not the point."

And European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said they had not discussed the apparent disagreement between Germany and the U.S over so-called "Balkans sickness."

The 15 ministers stressed that the DU issue was mainly a problem for NATO and the military, and needed to be studied in depth over the coming weeks.

Fears over the long-term health effects of DU-tipped missiles emerged when Italy said it was investigating whether illness including leukaemia among some of its troops who had served in the Balkans was related to the munitions.

Several other countries are now screening troops for signs of illness.

Fischer said at the first EU foreign ministerial conference of 2001 that Europe was seeking "full clarification of the facts" about DU munitions to allay public health fears.

But he denied that Scharping had criticised the U.S. for failing to let its NATO partners know in good time that plutonium could surface in the media debate.

NATO said last week that the plutonium traces were too low to be dangerous. But Scharping showed anger at what he said was a U.S. failure to inform and a lack of sensitivity to the public's fear of plutonium pollution of any sort. Spain has ordered its medical experts to investigate and Switzerland said it would call for a total ban on DU ammunition at the United Nations this year.

A World Health Organisation team is also due to scour DU blast sites in Kosovo for traces of plutonium.

Scharping is also to meet with scientists and physicians on Tuesday evening to determine whether more tests on a possible link between the effects of DU munitions on soldiers and cancer-related illnesses are needed.

But the U.S. claims its top radiation experts had told Scharping's deputy Walter Kolbow about the possibility of plutonium impurities -- but that the information had been lost in translation.

U.S. Army Medical Command Colonel Eric Daxon said: "We did not have interpreters and they were relying on their English and my German which nowhere near comes close to being able to communicate the things I was trying to communicate."

A U.S. Defense Department spokesman last Thursday confirmed plutonium was detected in DU a year ago and a nuclear plant, already plagued by problems including health safety and environmental violations, was shut for 90 days. Scientists say that inhaling one millionth of an ounce of plutonium can cause a fatal cancer.

Top medical officers from all 19 NATO armies met in Brussels last week to compare data and announced a day later there was no "Balkans syndrome" and no unseen health risk from DU.

Depleted uranium is prized as the best armour penetrator in anti-tank shells. About 40,000 rounds were fired in Bosnia and Kosovo, all by U.S. ground attack aircraft.

--------

Depleted credibility Did U.S. weapons make Italian soldiers sick?

1/22/01
US News & World Report
By Richard J. Newman
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010122/nato.htm

Radiation. Cancer. The two words are so synonymous that when 30 Italian peacekeepers who had served in Bosnia and Kosovo came down with serious illnesses, including six who died from cancer, suspicion immediately centered on "depleted uranium" rounds NATO had fired during bombing raids in 1995 and 1999. The 30-millimeter-long projectiles, fired from the cannons on A-10 tank-killing jets, are made from the substance left over when natural uranium is "enriched" to produce material for nuclear reactors and atomic weapons.

To be sure, "DU" rounds are not benign. The uranium's density allows it to penetrate armor at high velocity. Upon contact, small particles break off and ignite spontaneously. The question is whether such "atomization" of the weapon produces lingering toxic substances. Last week, Italy called for a ban on the use of DU weapons while researchers study the health effects. The United Nations, meanwhile, has gathered data from 11 sites in Kosovo where DU rounds were fired, and it plans to release findings in March.

But the odds seem slim that DU will be fingered as the ailments' cause. After DU made its first battlefield appearance in the 1991 Persian Gulf War-as an aerial weapon and as a larger antiarmor round fired by the Abrams tank-private and government scientists did numerous studies into whether it could have caused the various health problems known as "Gulf War illness." "The available evidence," concluded one Pentagon report, "indicates that . . . adverse radiological health effects are not expected."

And there are plenty of other ways to get ill in the Balkans. After several wars, and decades of unchecked industrialization, the region oozes toxic pollution. Many old industrial sites have served as NATO facilities. At a French garrison in Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, NATO troops got sick so frequently that commanders ordered environmental testing of the surrounding area. Toxicity from a local battery plant turned out to be several thousand times American tolerance levels. "My guess is that when all this is over," says a former Army commander in Bosnia, "we will find that people who served in the Balkans were exposed to extraordinary health risks. But none having to do with DU."

---

Europe disturbed over contamination

Monday, January 22, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Douglas Hamilton REUTERS
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/01/22/national/PLUTONIUM22.htm

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Europe's relationship with the Bush administration could begin with an angry row today over charges that the United States failed to warn allies of plutonium contamination in munitions.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss a wave of public concern about the alleged health risks of depleted uranium shells can expect to hear complaints by Germany that Washington had kept its European allies in the dark.

Portugal and Spain were also unprepared when the United States confirmed media reports and a Swiss laboratory finding that the "low risk" depleted uranium held minute traces of highly toxic plutonium and highly radioactive uranium 236.

If other EU states that belong to NATO feel they were inadequately informed to deal with the public furor over the depleted uranium shells, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's dealings with the allies may have a frosty start.

"It should be the duty of a friendly nation to inform their partner," German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping told journalists on a weekend visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo to investigate use of the shells there.

NATO felt it was getting public concern over the shells under control until the presence of plutonium was disclosed.

Top medical officers from all 19 member nations' armies met in Brussels last week to compare data and announced a day later that there was no "Balkans syndrome" and no unseen health risk from the munitions.

The Pentagon had twice sent U.S. Army medical experts to NATO headquarters to help reassure the European media. But while the experts said depleted uranium was even less radioactive than natural uranium, they never mentioned plutonium.

On Thursday, Kenneth Bacon, Defense Department spokesman, said plutonium was detected in depleted uranium a year ago and a nuclear plant was shut for 90 days. "As you know, we discovered some stray elements . . . in depleted uranium," Bacon said.

"They consisted of plutonium, neptunium and americium. Now these are very, very small amounts, and as soon as they were discovered as indicating possibly a flaw in the production process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission suspended the operation at this plant, which is in Paducah, Kentucky."

Despite a lack of evidence that depleted uranium has caused cancer among NATO peacekeepers serving in the Balkans, public concern had already prompted calls by some allies and by the European Parliament for a moratorium on use of the depleted uranium shells.

Depleted uranium shells are prized for penetrating armored tanks. About 40,000 rounds were fired in Bosnia and Kosovo, all by U.S. ground attack aircraft.

The United States, Britain and France have dismissed demands that they give up a military advantage on account of unfounded fears, and the Bush administration is not expected to waver.

Scientists say that inhaling one-millionth of an ounce of plutonium can cause a fatal cancer. That scares many people and frightens governments, as reaction to the latest developments indicates.

Scharping took scientists with him to the Balkans to make on-the-spot tests for plutonium. Spain ordered its medical experts to investigate. Switzerland said it would call for a total ban on depleted uranium shells at the United Nations this year.

A World Health Organization team was set to scour blast sites in Kosovo for traces of plutonium, and NATO member Portugal said the alliance must quickly back up assertions that the plutonium levels posed no health threat.

---

Gulf War troops added to health test

Monday 22 January 2001
The Age
By ANNABEL CRABB CANBERRA
http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/01/22/FFX7TQDL7IC.html

The testing of Australian troops for health problems related to their service in the Balkans has been expanded to more than 1800 Gulf War veterans.

The Australian Government yesterday announced details of the tests for 216 Balkans veterans, who will be contacted this week amid international concerns about the health effects of depleted uranium-tipped weapons used by NATO forces in Kosovo. But Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Scott also revealed that the testing would be extended to 1862 veterans of the Gulf War.

In both conflicts, NATO forces used tank-warfare weapons tipped with depleted uranium - a heavy metal by-product of nuclear fission and prized in munitions production for its denseness.

An international debate is raging about the dangers of exposure to depleted uranium weapons, with more than 20 deaths among European veterans of the conflict blamed on the so-called "Balkan syndrome" caused by proximity to explosions of the weapons. The Australian Defence Force has not used the weapons since the mid-1980s, but it is believed more than 30,000 rounds were fired during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, in which Australia was part of a joint NATO-coordinated operation.

A spokesman for Mr Scott said the international claims of depleted uranium damage were concerned largely with the Balkan conflict, but the testing had been expanded to cover Gulf War veterans "for thoroughness".

"The vast majority of our Gulf War veterans were serving on ships and therefore the risk of exposure to depleted uranium for them will be non-existent," he said.

"But, because in the Gulf War it is known that stocks of depleted uranium were used, we've just got to be thorough and ensure that we give these men and women absolute confidence that we're doing everything to protect their health and welfare."

The Australian Government's advice is that soldiers would need to be close to an explosion or have entered destroyed tanks without breathing gear to be in any danger from the effects of depleted uranium.

The 216 Balkan veterans will be sent a questionnaire asking where they served, whether they inspected destroyed vehicles and whether they inhaled dust after an explosion.

Labor's spokesman on defence science and personnel, Laurie Ferguson, yesterday said Australian troops should not be sent into conflict situations where weapons not sanctioned by Australia were known to be in use.

He said there was no use in Australia deciding not to use the weapons, then sending them to become part of campaigns where Australian allies were using them.

"This country stopped using depleted uranium munitions in the 1980s," he said.

"There are going to be more and more joint actions with the United Nations - if we're just going to be a minor figure in those and not know what our people are getting into, then that's just not good enough."

---

Traces of Plutonium In Shells, U.S. Says

Monday, January 22, 2001
International Herald Tribune
Reuters
http://www.iht.com/articles/8230.htm

BRUSSELS Just when it thought it had the depleted uranium scare under control, NATO may face a fresh onslaught of concern as the United States belatedly confirmed that some of the munitions contain minute traces of plutonium.

Uranium is one thing. Plutonium is quite another, especially if it arises from flaws at a problem plagued U.S. nuclear plant.

Plutonium, a known carcinogen, is a heavyweight in the lexicon of scare words. Scientists have been quoted as saying that a particle as small as a millionth of an ounce, if inhaled, can cause a fatal cancer.

The German defense minister, Rudolf Scharping, summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Berlin to seek more information, after a German television network reported on the plutonium factor.

-------- france

French authorities arrest anti-nuclear protesters

January 22, 2001
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9581

FRANCE: PARIS - French maritime authorities arrested six Greenpeace activists in the northern port of Cherbourg on Friday as they protested against a shipment of nuclear fuel to Japan, the environmental group said.

Activists swimming or using canoes and inflatable boats surrounded the British-flagged ship Pacific Pintail, waving flags and a "Stop Plutonium" banner while it was being loaded with reprocessed fuel, Greenpeace said.

"The swimmers and canoeists were all arrested by the commandos after protesting for about half an hour, but the inflatables evaded security despite being chased by seaborne French forces," the group said in a statement.

French state nuclear reprocessing firm Cogema said two ships left France later on Friday, the Pacific Pintail containing the nuclear fuel and another, the Pacific Teal, as an escort.

Greenpeace has said the cargo of MOX, which combines plutonium and uranium oxides recycled from spent nuclear fuel, contains enough plutonium to make 20 atomic bombs.

The group has voiced concern over the ship's route around Cape Horn, the tip of South America where gales and strong currents can make navigation difficult.

An earlier MOX cargo, which left Cherbourg last month for Japan, sparked widespread criticism from countries with coastlines along the planned route.

-------- germany

Germans protest against nuclear waste shipments

January 22, 2001
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=9575

AHAUS, Germany - Hundreds of demonstrators on Sunday protested against plans to resume the transport of nuclear waste in Germany after a three-year lull.

The waste is due to go to an interim storage site in the western German town of Ahaus.

The group organising the protest said more than 750 anti-nuclear activists had turned out. "We are pleading for a speedy end to the use of nuclear power," protest organiser Burkhard Helling said in a statement.

The interior ministry of the North-Rhine Westphalia state, where Ahaus is located, has said it was preparing for the first transportation in the first half of March, but would not give precise dates for security reasons.

Storage facilities at nuclear plants across Germany have filled up as a result of a 1998 stoppage of waste transportation.

The ban - imposed after a safety scare over radiation leaks from containers during transport - was lifted after commitments by the German nuclear industry last summer to gradually phase out atomic energy by the mid-2020s.

Uncompromising anti-nuclear protesters, who cite safety risks, plan to disrupt waste transports in order to force operators to pull out of nuclear power production sooner. Such protests have frequently led to clashes with police in the past.

The resumption of the waste transports is bound to be politically sensitive for Germany's Green party who have been junior coalition partners to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats since the autumn 1998 election.

Environment Minister Juergen Trittin, himself a leading Green, defended the waste transports on Sunday, saying nuclear power company EnBW had met all safety demands.

Nuclear waste has also been building up in Germany because the French reprocessing plant at La Hague has for some time refused to take any more German fuel until it can send reprocessed waste back to Germany for permanent storage.

-------- iraq

Iraq Rebuilt Weapons Factories, Officials Say

January 22, 2001
New York TImes
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ERIC SCHMITT
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/world/22IRAQ.html?pagewanted=all

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - Iraq has rebuilt a series of factories that the United States has long suspected of producing chemical and biological weapons, according to senior government officials. The new intelligence estimate could confront President Bush with an early test of his pledge to take a tougher stance against President Saddam Hussein than the Clinton administration did.

The factories - in an industrial complex in Falluja, west of Baghdad - include two that were bombed and badly damaged by American and British air raids in December 1998 to punish Mr. Hussein for his refusal to cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors, the government officials said.

The new intelligence estimates were mentioned, but without any such specific details, in a report on weapons threats released on Jan. 10 by the outgoing secretary of defense, William S. Cohen. It warned that Iraq had rebuilt at least its weapons infrastructure and may have begun covertly producing some chemical or biological agents.

Last week, the officials provided details on what they said was the reconstruction of the two factories, and the resumption of the production of chlorine at a third in the same complex.

The factories have ostensibly commercial purposes, but all three were previously involved in producing chemical or biological agents and were among those closely monitored by the United Nations inspectors, the officials said. One of the rebuilt factories, for example, is making castor oil used in brake fluid, the Iraqis say, but the mash from castor beans contains a deadly biological toxin called ricin, the officials said.

Since the air strikes in 1998, Mr. Hussein's government has refused to allow a new team of international weapons inspectors to begin work in Iraq. Officials said that without on- the-spot inspections, the United States did not yet have firm evidence the factories are now producing chemical or biological agents. "There's no smoking gun," one said.

But a senior military officer who closely follows Iraq and its president, Saddam Hussein, said, "We don't know for sure, but given his past known behavior, there's probably a pretty fair chance that's what's happening."

Throughout the campaign and transition, Mr. Bush and his national security advisers pledged to confront Mr. Hussein more aggressively than Mr. Clinton had. Some of the same men - particularly Gen. Colin L. Powell, the new secretary of state, and Vice President Dick Cheney - helped President Bush's father lead the international coalition that ousted Iraqi forces from Kuwait a decade ago.

But Mr. Hussein remains in place, and poses a problem that is in many ways more complex now, with arms inspections blocked and many of America's allies questioning the sanctions that remain in place against Iraq.

"The Iraq problem has changed a lot since the last Bush administration left office," said a government official who will continue to work in the new Bush administration and has been involved in preliminary briefings on Iraq. "It's become a lot more complex. That's beginning to dawn on them."

In his inaugural address on Saturday, Mr. Bush did not mention Iraq specifically but vowed to "confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors." In an interview before taking office, he suggested that his administration would not tolerate an Iraq rearmed with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

"Saddam Hussein must understand that this nation is very serious about preventing him from the development of weapons of mass destruction and any thought in his mind that he should use them against our friends and allies in the Middle East," Mr. Bush said.

Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Bush's national security adviser, was receiving intelligence briefings at the White House today and did not return a call requesting comment.

Since the election, neither Mr. Bush nor his aides have detailed how they intend to change Mr. Clinton's diplomatic and military strategy against Iraq.

Some advisers, including Mr. Cheney and the new secretary of defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, have previously advocated a more hawkish approach. But even some of Mr. Bush's advisers acknowledge that containing Mr. Hussein, much less isolating him, will be increasingly difficult.

American and British planes continue to patrol the "no-flight" zones over northern and southern Iraq. Such patrols are routinely fired upon; indeed, Iraq launched a surface-to-air missile at one only hours before Mr. Bush took office on Saturday, prompting American jets to respond by striking antiaircraft batteries and a radar site.

Such strikes help ratchet up Iraqi anger at the United States; today, the Iraqis said the American strikes killed six civilians in Samawa, an assertion that American military officials did not immediately dispute, while noting that they had not intended to strike civilian targets.

The sanctions imposed against Iraq after it occupied Kuwait in August 1990 are gradually losing international support, with even some American allies exploring ways to end them. Diplomats and businessmen from countries as varied as Russia, Turkey and Italy have defied the ban on commercial flights into Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

The rising price of oil has also allowed Iraq to raise billions in revenues, significantly easing the strains placed on its economy after the Persian Gulf war. While most of that revenue is strictly controlled by the United Nations, intelligence reports suggest that Mr. Hussein has been able to divert $500 million to $1 billion a year and raise another $1 billion to $2 billion in illicit smuggling.

Iraq's military remains a shadow of the force that invaded Kuwait in 1990, but American intelligence officials strongly suspect that Mr. Hussein is using at least some of that money to rebuild parts of his military, which has been in steady decline since the gulf war, as well as his weapons programs.

Two government officials said Iraq has successfully created front companies that are now being used to purchase and smuggle into Iraq equipment, weaponry and spare parts that are prohibited under the sanctions, including tires for Iraqi jets and transmissions for its tanks. One official said those companies were also helping to procure illicit items used in nuclear, chemical and biological programs.

Mr. Hussein's government has also asked the United Nations to approve purchases for equipment or material - including things needed to produce chlorine - that American officials suspect are being diverted to prohibited weapons programs.

As a condition for ending the Persian Gulf war, Mr. Hussein's government agreed to destroy its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs, as well as production of long-range missiles able to launch such weapons.

Despite years of cat-and-mouse games with the Iraqis, the previous team of United Nations inspectors succeeded in destroying large quantities of weapons and discovering covert programs to create chemical and biological weapons.

For more than two and a half years, however, there have been no meaningful inspections inside Iraq. After the air raids in 1998, Pentagon officials estimated that they had set back Iraq's weapons programs by a year or two - a period that has now elapsed.

President Clinton vowed that the United States would resort to military force if Iraq resumed work on its nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, but until the end officials in the administration and the intelligence agencies had conflicting views on whether the Iraqis had done so.

One senior defense official who will continue to serve under Mr. Bush said that there was "lots of circumstantial evidence," including the reconstruction of the factories, the resumption of production at chemical-warfare plants that had been closed and efforts to import components needed for chemical or biological weapons production.

Another official who is also staying on said he did not believe that Mr. Hussein had begun producing prohibited weapons in mass quantities. He argued that Mr. Hussein, sensing an erosion of support for the American position, would not want to give the United States a justification for renewed strikes.

Nevertheless, the factories in Falluja - whose reconstruction has been detected in satellite photographs - have raised alarms, the officials agreed.

Besides the factory making castor oil, the second rebuilt factory is believed to be producing pesticides and herbicides. "You don't know what they're doing in there," the official said. "They could be making pesticides or they could be making something more nefarious than pesticides."

While officials have previously disclosed that Iraq had rebuilt missile plants destroyed in the 1998 strikes, the Jan. 10 report released by Mr. Cohen was the first public acknowledgment of the resumption of work at suspected chemical and biological plants.

"Some of Iraq's facilities could be converted fairly quickly to production of chemical weapons," the report said at one point. It went on to warn, "Iraq retains the expertise, once a decision is made, to resume chemical agent production within a few weeks or months, depending on the type of agent."

-------- us nuc politics

The Bush All-Stars

January 22, 2001
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/opinion/22MON1.html

As Republicans see it, President George W. Bush has assembled a national security dream team, featuring Dick Cheney as vice president, Colin Powell as secretary of state, Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense and Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser. But as Phil Jackson, the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, could tell Mr. Bush this season, putting superstar players on the court does not always guarantee harmony or success. Indeed, as former presidents like Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter can attest, high-powered advisers often end up battling over everything from policy to access to the Oval Office. Given the mix of strong personalities and potentially competing policies in the new administration, Mr. Bush may have to deal with more friction than he expects.

The new president says he considers conflicting views essential to developing sound policies, which is a healthy attitude. He insists he is ready to make the hard decisions that are required of every president on diplomatic and military matters. But even with the benefit of the ringside seat he had for his father's presidency, Mr. Bush may not be fully prepared for the kind of policy combat - and bureaucratic infighting - that can flare up among Washington heavyweights.

Henry Kissinger tried to control all the policymaking levers as national security adviser and later secretary of state under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. During the Carter administration, the secretary of state, Cyrus Vance, and the national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, often clashed. In the Reagan years, two powerful cabinet members, Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, engaged in the Washington equivalent of trench warfare for five years over such vital issues as the Soviet Union, the Middle East and Central America.

The Bush quartet is an unusual ensemble. Mr. Cheney, a former secretary of defense and skilled manager, may emerge as the unofficial prime minister of the Bush administration. He will certainly have great influence on national security matters. General Powell and Mr. Rumsfeld are commanding figures with independent political bases and close ties to Mr. Cheney from previous Republican administrations. Though a generation younger than this trio, Ms. Rice schooled Mr. Bush on international affairs during the campaign and may well be his most trusted foreign policy aide.

The overlapping professional and personal ties could produce an unusually harmonious team. The presidency of Mr. Bush's father, which included the the Persian Gulf war victory engineered by Mr. Cheney and General Powell, was a model of cooperation. Yet, the gravitational pull of their departments may put General Powell and Mr. Rumsfeld at odds on some issues. Both men agree for now that Washington should press ahead with research and testing of a missile defense system. But as General Powell grapples with the diplomatic consequences, including restive European allies and the prospect of renewed tensions with Russia and China, he may be less eager to construct the system than Mr. Rumsfeld. General Powell's welcome effort to increase financing for American diplomatic activities could easily get trampled by Mr. Rumsfeld's equally commendable but far more costly plan to increase the pay and improve the living conditions of American troops.

One area of convergence among the Bush advisers, at least for the moment, seems to be the standards for American military intervention. Secretaries of state can be quicker to advocate the use of force than their counterparts at defense, where the human price of combat is felt more acutely. But as a former soldier and military leader, General Powell is cautious about employing military power, as is Ms. Rice. It will be interesting to see if their views evolve as they face problems like the ethnic violence in the Balkans that required American military action during the Clinton administration.

If policy conflicts do arise, the capital will see skilled combatants at work. Mr. Cheney, General Powell and Mr. Rumsfeld are experts in Washington's martial arts, which include carefully managing relations with the press, building alliances with pivotal Congressional leaders and outflanking opponents by going directly to the president. Even such a skilled practitioner as Mr. Kissinger sometimes found himself outmatched by Mr. Rumsfeld during the Ford administration, when Mr. Rumsfeld served his first tour as secretary of defense. General Powell, who was national security adviser to Mr. Reagan, is as deft at politics as at battle planning. But with Mr. Cheney and Ms. Rice in the White House and Mr. Rumsfeld at Defense, General Powell will be unable to dominate policy making.

Only Mr. Bush has the authority to end arguments and to make the decisions that will determine America's role in the world over the next four years. He is likely to find it can be a lonely and anguishing job. If he doubts that, he need only view "Thirteen Days," the new movie about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Faced with conflicting advice and dire warnings from his advisers, John Kennedy ultimately had to fashion a response based on his own instincts, analysis and experience.

-------- MILITARY

Today In History

January 22, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-History.html

Today is Monday, Jan. 22, the 22nd day of 2001. There are 343 days left in the year.

On this date:

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson pleaded for an end to war in Europe, calling for ``peace without victory.'' (By April, however, America also was at war.)

-------- arms sales

Weaponry goes into hiding under new California law

January 22, 2001
By Thomas D. Elias
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2001122225211.htm

LOS ANGELES - Hundreds of California gun owners are taking their assault-style weapons out of state or putting them in hiding to avoid a registration deadline that took effect Jan 1.

At the same time, sales of several hundred handgun models have been halted under terms of another new law requiring they be tested and certified by state officials before being put on sale.

As of Dec. 29, the last weekday before the registration deadline, just 10,000 gun owners had signed state forms and paid the $20 fee, reported the California Department of Justice.

"No one knows exactly how many of these types of guns are in private hands, but we estimate the number is far higher than what has been registered," said state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, a Democrat.

The new law expands a 1989 ban on sales of new military-type weapons. That law listed guns by brand name and model, requiring owners of existing weapons to register them. But loopholes allowed continued sales of slightly altered models and imitations.

The new law defines outlawed weapons by feature, banning new sales of semiautomatic centerfire rifles and rifles with pistol grips protruding beneath the weapon, thumbhole stocks, folding stocks, flash suppressors and fixed magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Semiautomatic pistols also are included in the ban if they have threaded barrels capable of accepting a flash suppressor, silencers or the capacity to accept a detachable magazine outside the pistol grip.

Owners of such guns can keep them but risk a fine of $500 and jail time if the weapons are not registered. Supporters of registration say it is needed to enforce the sales ban. Sales can be regulated, said legislators who backed the new law, only if authorities know which guns were in the state before the ban began.

But gun owners fear the sales ban and registration law are the first steps in an effort to disarm them. The National Rifle Association and the California Sporting Goods Association said they would sue to have the registration deadline extended indefinitely because owners didn't get enough notice of the new rules. Registration regulations were published on Dec. 5, less than a month before the Dec. 31 postmark deadline for sending registration cards to the state.

Meanwhile, hundreds of gun owners reacted by moving their guns to nearby states without registration laws or sales bans on assault weapons. Many are sending weapons to relatives or friends in other states for storage. Others are paying to keep them closer by, where they still can be used for recreational shooting.

More than 400 California gun buffs so far have placed weapons at the Front Sight Firearms Training Institute outside Las Vegas, where a $500 fee covers storage and weapons training and maintenance of a gun for up to two years. Other centers in Reno and Carson City, Nev., and several small Arizona cities just across the Colorado River from California reportedly are about to begin accepting guns.

"I sent one gun to my cousin in Texas," said Leo Pangross, a building contractor in the Los Angeles suburb of Corona. "I can't take it out and shoot it, but at least I still have it and I can go get it if I feel like I need it."

State officials maintain they passed the law because no one needs such weapons. "The only use they have is to kill a large number of people in a short time," said Nathan Barankin, a top aide to Mr. Lockyer. "No one's using them to protect themselves or their family or their home. These are not the weapons of choice for that purpose. We're not trying to disarm the public; we're just trying to have a safer society."

The goal of safety-testing pistols is the same. As of Jan. 1, only 202 of more than 900 known handgun models had been certified for sale in California, where the last week of 2000 featured a run on many uncertified models, according to gun stores.

"This law infringes on people's right to bear arms," said Barry Bauer, owner of a Fresno sporting goods shop. "The people of California can't buy the same handguns people in the rest of the nation can."

Like other store owners, Mr. Bauer now must sell off his stock of uncertified handguns to out-of-state customers or dealers in other states.

Legislators said the new law is designed to prevent guns from exploding in users' hands, as some cheaply made "Saturday night specials" have done. Three samples of each model now must be tested in two ways:

• Each is dropped six times from the height of one meter. If one gun fires on impact, the model fails the test.

• Each pistol is fired 600 times, with any model failing if it jams or misfires during the first 20 rounds or if it malfunctions more than six times during the 600 rounds.

State testing costs manufacturers $2,000 per gun.

-------- burma/myanmar

Legal victory for Myanmar leader

InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 1/22/2001
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405919828

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A court on Monday gave pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi a rare legal victory in military-ruled Myanmar, throwing out a property dispute case filed by her estranged brother.

Citing procedural errors, Yangon Division Court Judge Soe Thein dismissed a petition to divide the sprawling lakeside property where she lives under virtual house arrest.

Since courts are controlled by the junta government, the case's dismissal appears to show that the generals are making an effort to keep the atmosphere conducive for ongoing reconciliation talks with the Suu Kyi.

The verdict is rare good news for Suu Kyi in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

``This is a correct decision. We are very pleased,'' said Suu Kyi's lawyer, Kyi Win.

On Monday, Suu Kyi completed four months of virtual house arrest. The property where she lives was inherited by Suu Kyi and her elder brother, Aung San Oo, from their mother, who died in December 1988.

Aung San Oo, who lives in California, is believed to disagree with Suu Kyi's political views.

Suu Kyi is engaged in a decade-old political deadlock with Myanmar's military junta, which crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 but called elections in 1990 that were won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

The generals refused to honor the results of the elections and imposed severe restrictions on league members.

Suu Kyi is prevented from leaving Yangon for party work in the countryside. She has kept in her home since Sept. 22, when she last tried to travel outside the capital.

However, in light of the talks with Suu Kyi, the state-run media have stopped their ususal vitriolic attacks on her.

Official newspapers also have stopped publishing the list of NLD members who have purportedly resigned from the party. The list of alleged party defections has been a daily feature in official newspapers since November 1998.

A four-member European Union delegation is expected to meet Suu Kyi and the generals to assess the progress of the talks during its Jan. 29-31 visit to Myanmar.

---

God's Army twins admit no powers

InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 1/22/2001
By MATTHEW PENNINGTON Associated Press Writer
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405919828

SUAN PHUNG, Thailand (AP) - The teen-age twins who led the God's Army rebel group acknowledged on Monday they have no mystical powers to repel bullets and said they want to give up fighting.

Wearing oversized soccer shirts, Johnny and Luther Htoo, who led a hit-and-run campaign for three years against the Myanmar military, said their days as soldiers are at an end.

``I want to live as a family with my parents,'' Luther told reporters at a border police base near the Myanmar frontier with Thailand. ``I want to study.''

Luther said the God's Army, a rag tag guerrilla group, had 150 soldiers at its peak while fighting to try to win autonomy for the ethnic Karen minority.

When they surrendered to the Thai army last week, driven by hunger and exhaustion, the God's Army had probably not more than 20 followers. Seventeen of them, including the twins, surrendered Jan. 16 and Jan. 17. Luther said he knows of only three comrades still in the jungles.

The twins' legend began around 1997 when Myanmar troops came to their village during a sweep of Karen areas. The mainstream guerrillas group, the Karen National Union, reportedly fled while the twins rallied some men and directed a successful counterattack.

After that, the twins' followers said the boys _ who are Christians _ had powers from God. Their followers believed bullets couldn't hit them and mines wouldn't explode under their feet.

``God sent me to be the leader to fight against Burma,'' said Luther, who like his twin does not know his exact age. ``I am not afraid because God is always with me.''

Asked if he has mystical powers to repel bullets, Luther said: ``It is not true.''

The twins became icons for youthful rebels around the world after the circulation of an Associated Press photograph showed the angelic-looking, long-haired Johnny next to his tougher-looking, cigarette-puffing brother, Luther.

Thai authorities say they believe the twins are 15 years old. But the undernourished boys, who are vegetarians, look little more than 10.

Luther said the God's Army had stopped fighting since they lost their base at Ka Mar Pa Law, just inside Myanmar, in early 2000 when it was attacked by Myanmar forces.

At that time, they became separated from their parents. The parents trekked to Thailand, where they live in one of the refugee camps strung out along the Thai-Myanmar border.

Thai authorities are considering giving the twins refugee status and reuniting them with their parents.

``If God did not help us, we all would have died a long time ago,'' said Luther. He said he was unsure if he would stay in Thailand.

``If I could go back (to Myanmar) I would,'' he said.

The twins appeared at the news conference with a dozen armed Thai border police standing guard alongside 12 other God's Army followers, most of them children. The police camp is about 100 miles west of Bangkok near the border.

Officials said all of them have been deloused and given haircuts _ all except Johnny, who had his customary long hair in a ponytail.

``If I have a hair cut, I will get sick,'' said the waif-like Johnny, gazing timidly at the sky as he spoke.

Asked if they would give up smoking, Luther _ known as a chain smoker _ shook his head.

-------- colombia

Colombian Paramilitaries Adjust Attack Strategies

January 22, 2001
By JUAN FORERO
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/world/22COLO.html?pagewanted=all

BARRANCABERMEJA, Colombia, Jan. 21 - Block by block and house by house, gunmen from Colombia's surging right-wing paramilitary army are waging a fierce urban battle against leftist rebels in this grimy northern industrial center in a conflict that is usually fought in the countryside.

In Colombia's brutal civil war, paramilitary gunmen have usually fought leftist guerrillas in dusty, isolated hamlets, often massacring unarmed villagers accused of providing rebels with supplies. But in the last few weeks, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia have retooled for urban warfare in this city of 300,000, abruptly changing strategies in the new environment, say human rights workers and the combatants themselves.

Instead of mass killings, the paramilitaries have, for the most part, been selectively killing rebels. Instead of terrorizing residents, the paramilitaries are paying handsomely to rent houses in battleground neighborhoods, as well as for supplies and information that can be used against the rebels.

And in contrast to warfare in the countryside, human rights groups say, the militia members are killing fewer people than the rebels, who have responded to the threat in neighborhoods they long controlled with a furious assault on those they accuse of supporting the paramilitaries.

"In a rural zone, it's very different," said a commander who goes by the name Lexor and who has about 240 paramilitary fighters in Barrancabermeja. Like most of those interviewed on both sides, he spoke on condition that his nom de guerre be used.

"In a rural zone, you can shoot where you want, and there's no problem," he said. "Here you can't because there's a civilian population in the middle, and our war is direct. Very direct."

That is not to say it is not brutal. Already, 38 killings have been registered since Jan. 1, a pace that would give Barrancabermeja 637 homicides for the year. That would top the 567 last year, a rate nearly 20 times that of New York City.

Barrancabermeja (pronounced Bah-RAHN-kah-ber-MEH-huh) is, in fact, the most violent city in Colombia. The country has been racked for 36 years by a conflict that pits two rebel armies against the government and the outlawed paramilitaries, which draw resources from large landowners and drug-trafficking.

Lying in the middle of rich oil deposits on the banks of the muddy Magdalena River, Barrancabermeja has always had a frontier reputation, a city of hardy adventurers and tough oil workers from Colombia's largest refineries. It is also in the heart of Colombia's second largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, which was born in 1964. Its guerrillas always operated urban cells, and the largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also had a presence here.

Now, the city is being fought over because the government is considering, as a basis for peace talks, allowing the National Liberation Army to control a 2,000-square-mile zone in the jungles and cattle ranches across the Magdalena River in Bolívar province.

The paramilitaries, who in the last two years pushed their way into the region, oppose such a move. They say they are simply protecting the region from becoming what the southern Caquetá province became when the government created a similar zone two years ago for the larger rebel group: a safe haven for rebels to hide kidnapping victims, initiate attacks and cultivate coca.

Government officials, villagers and experts on the conflict contend, though, that the paramilitaries here are getting revenues from the regional production of coca - the raw material used to make cocaine - and they do not want to lose it.

Barrancabermeja, the only large city in the region and an important juncture for everything from coca leaves to contraband gasoline, has strategic importance for the armed bands.

"Barrancabermeja is the heart of Colombia; here we pump out all the energy we need," said Lt. Col. Hernán Moreno, commander of the New Granada Battalion in Barrancabermeja, which is sending specially trained urban commandos into the neighborhoods to restore order. "The takeover of power is thus of prime importance to these armed groups."

The paramilitaries gained their first significant stronghold in December, taking over a neighborhood the rebels had held. The fighting is now taking place in impoverished neighborhoods in the city's northeast and southeast, communities of wooden and cinderblock homes. With lush vegetation and the chirping of tropical birds, the neighborhoods look peaceful.

But, especially when darkness masks the movement of armed men, combatants carrying everything from AK-47's to handguns and bombs go after their quarry.

"In the rural area, they fight mountain to mountain; here, it's block to block, house to house," said Eduardo, a 22-year-old rebel. "There are some comrades from the country who come here and say, `Man, we can't fight here. It's too hard.' "

The paramilitary gunmen are just as fierce, placing black hoods over their faces as they enter rebel strongholds looking for targets.

"We don't have any problem with the subversion because, you know, we go in with everything we have and there's no way for them to beat us back," said Lexor, the paramilitary commander. "As for the deaths, well, there have to be deaths. To clean all this, you have to have them. We are here because people were so tired of the subversion. The idea is to take Barrancabermeja, piece by piece."

When there's a lull, young men in jeans and designer shirts keep vigil on street corners and hillsides, jabbering on cell phones and walkie- talkies. Along one narrow, dead-end street in one rebel stronghold is a small brick house that serves as the home and headquarters of a rebel leader who is called Yan. Slight, with wire-rim glasses and dressed in a pressed button-down shirt, Yan looks like a college student. In fact, he said he was a university-trained systems engineer who joined the rebels three years ago.

"They began to pass out out pamphlets, announcing their arrival," he said of the paramilitary as he sat at a kitchen table, a bodyguard at his side. "They started to justify, to kill people who are collaborators of the guerrillas. They started to give money to young people to join the paramilitaries. They offered $250, $300."

Yan's version of events is that the rebels are protecting residents from paramilitaries. "That's why we have arms," he said. "We don't let them come here and kill them."

The paramilitaries make the same claim. "They said, `Please, we need the presence of the Self-Defense Forces,' " said Julián, the paramilitary leader in Bolívar Province. "These were in places that did not have a chance of free speech, free movement."

Human rights workers tell a different story.

"The paramilitaries are co-opting people, as many as they can, buying people and their services," said Francisco Campos of Credhos, a human rights group in Barrancabermeja. "They're neutralizing communities and organizations to gain their sympathy. If they don't get support, they just want to make sure they stop the rebels from having support."

Human rights organizations, including United States-based Human Rights Watch, and church workers say the military has played a role by - at the very least - passively allowing paramilitary gunmen to wage war here. The military says it is vigorously pursuing paramilitaries as well as rebels.

Indeed, at night the military's urban commandos enter dark, dangerous neighborhoods in Humvees and tanks. Armed with flak jackets, helmets and high-powered rifles, they enter pool halls, cantinas and homes, searching for weapons. The soldiers are always on edge, knowing an ambush is a possibility.

"In an urban zone, if there are shots, I am prohibited from shooting unless we have a clear target right in front of us," said Colonel Moreno. "There have been cases where we've had to move out after being shot at."

-------- drug war

Drug Lord in Jail Break

January 22, 2001
New York Times
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/world/22DRUG.html

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Jan. 21 - A man believed to be the former leader of a powerful drug cartel escaped from a maximum- security prison late Friday, and the police backed by troops have been searching the countryside for him.

Joaquín Guzmán, the reputed former head of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, escaped from the Puente Grande prison in this western city by hiding in a laundry truck.

The federal attorney general's office in Guadalajara said that 1,000 policemen and soldiers were hunting for Mr. Guzmán, whose gang was suspected of involvement in a shootout in 1993 in which a cardinal died.

-------- india/pakistan

Bombing, violence kill 15 in Kashmir

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://www.washtimes.com/world/worldscene-2001122213254.htm

PATTAN, India - A bus bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed six persons and fierce fighting elsewhere in the state claimed nine lives yesterday amid renewed efforts by India and Pakistan to resolve unrest in the disputed territory.

The bus attack took place about 25 miles north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, where Islamic militants have been waging a war of independence since 1989.

Three civilians died immediately in the blast, which authorities said likely happened when militants triggered a land mine. Two soldiers and one civilian died later at the hospital. At least 40 people were injured, including 10 Indian army soldiers.

-------- iran

Iran rebels fire rockets in capital

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://www.washtimes.com/world/worldscene-2001122213254.htm

TEHRAN - Iranian opposition rebels launched a mortar attack on judicial headquarters in the capital yesterday but there was no immediate word on any casualties.

The official IRNA news agency said "four mortar shells rattled northeastern Tehran" without giving further details.

-------- turkey

Turkey feels unappreciated

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
By Norman Levine
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/default-2001122215927.htm

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish officials, angry at the obstacles blocking their entry into the European Union, nurse a deep bitterness at what they see as a lack of gratitude for their contributions to European security during the Cold War.

At the same time, they dream of a day when their accession to the EU changes the essential character of Europe and turns it into a "Christian-Islamic federation" echoing back to the days of Alexander the Great.

While acknowledging Turkey must improve its record on human rights and the treatment of its Kurdish minority, several officials insisted in interviews that it is past time for the West to repay its debt to a loyal friend.

"Turkey was an indispensable ally to Western Europe and the U.S. during the Cold War," said Kamran Inan, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Turkish parliament.

"Turkey joined NATO at its founding in 1949. We carried a disproportionate burden when Stalinism threatened the West, for we maintained the second-largest army in NATO, second only to the United States.

"We were humiliated when Poland, a former communist stooge of the Stalinists, was given priority over Turkey in the accession to the EU."

Haluk Ilicak, head of the EU Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that Muslim Turkey backed Western policies by refraining from arming its "Muslim co-religionists" during conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya.

What's more, he said, it was a full partner in the Persian Gulf war against a Muslim neighbor, Iraq.

"Incerlik, a Turkish air base, was used by U.S. planes in the bombardment of Iraq. Until recently, Turkey abided by the U.S.-U.N. embargo of Iraq. It is our turn to be rewarded," he said.

Turkey has been pushed onto a slow track for entry into the European Union, behind many countries of the former Soviet bloc, ostensibly because of its human rights record and its conflict with Greece, an EU member, over the division of Cyprus.

But there are also fears in some European countries, especially Germany, that EU membership would bring a flood of guest workers that would undermine their economies.

Turkish officials repeatedly voice suspicions of another reason for their problems: discrimination by white, Christian Europeans against predominantly Muslim Turkey.

"Basically, Christian Europe is prejudiced against Islamic Turkey, but it is necessary to separate culture and religion," Mr. Inan said. "Europe still has a crusader image of Turkey."

Feredun Sinirlioglu, the deputy director-general of the Middle East Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed similar concerns.

"We are already a functioning member of many European institutions," he said, noting that Turkey was a founding member of the Council of Europe and belongs to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"Culturally Turkey is part of the West, but in matters of religion we are Islamic."

Turks point out that Europe was united with Asia Minor for 1,000 years after the armies of Alexander the Great unified Greece and what is now Turkey in the fourth century B.C.

Those lands remained united under the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire until the Muslim Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople - now Istanbul -in 1453.

In the 20th century, Turkey once again looked to Europe.

"The Westernization of our country has been the driving principle of our history" since the modern Republic of Turkey was founded by Kemal Ataturk in 1923, said Mr. Ilicak.

"The cultural differences between Sicily and Sweden are greater than the cultural differences between Turkey and Sweden."

Mr. Ilicak said Turkey is on a schedule to enter the EU in about 10 years, a step that will redefine Europe.

"From the time that Christianity spread to Europe across Asia Minor, Europe was defined in terms of Christianity, but the accession of Turkey will render this definition outmoded, and Europe will be rethought as a Christian-Islamic federation," he said.

"The heroic accomplishments of Alexander the Great will be resurrected; only this time through a peaceful and legal evolution, the reunification of Euro-Asia Minor."

-------- u.n.

Afghanistan denies U.N. charges

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://www.washtimes.com/world/worldscene-2001122213254.htm

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's ruling Taleban militia denied allegations yesterday that its troops executed 100 innocent civilians after recapturing territory largely inhabited by the country's minority Shiite Muslims.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Friday the United Nations had received information that Taleban soldiers summarily executed the civilians while taking back Yakaolang, a strategic town 130 miles northwest of the capital, Kabul.

The Taleban, who espouse a harsh brand of Islamic law, rule 95 percent of Afghanistan.

-------- u.s.

Sailor Speaks out Against Systemic Military Injustices

Mon, 22 Jan 2001


A reviewer, Military Advocacy Network,
January 22, 2001:

Your Title: Beyond the Scope of Justice:
The Chilling Effects of the Feres Doctrine in the United States

In writing about his personal battle against Military corruption, Jeff Trueman tells a story chillingly familiar to Military Members, Whistle Blowers, Veterans and lawyers who have battled the 'System' only to encounter the Brick Wall known as the 'Feres Doctrine'. In layman's prose, Trueman tells of having his solid military career summarily flushed for reporting corruption, and the ensuing battle for justice. He guides the Reader through inept, impotent processes and procedures within 'the System' that are truly designed to fail the Member, while supporting corrupt Leadership, continuing these cycles of abuse of power. Outside the Military 'system' one should eventually find due process and justice within the Federal Torts Claim Act. Unfortunately, the FTCA's clear provisions for justice and compensation, with very few, precise limitations or exemptions, was grossly eroded when it's clear language was twisted and dead-ended by 'The Feres Doctrine'. In supporting this outrageous 'blanket' exemption, Congress and our Judicial Systems have stolen basic civil rights, due process and freedom from retaliation and injustice from the very people who have fought for and continue to fight so that civilians can enjoy these same rights: Service Members and Veterans. This irony is not lost on the Reader as Trueman's book moves through one man's story to the greater story of one of our country's most tragic legacies: the Feres Doctrine. Trueman takes us further to instruct, encourage and enlighten. His experiences with Chains of Command, Inspectors General, Congress, etc... have become a self-help guide through legislation, procedural elements, VA, the Freedom of Information, Privacy and Whistleblower Protection Acts, and other invaluable advice and guidance necessary to fight similar corruption, injustices and abuse. His final challenge is ours: to overturn Feres and return dignity and honor to our Members and Veterans by reinstating the full initial powers of the FTCA, providing them the same judicial and civil rights civilians enjoy. No prospective or active Service Member, Veteran, Congressmember or lawyer should miss this eye-opening look at Military Corruption, the Whistle Blower's Protection Act and the Feres Doctrine.

Also recommended: Fall from Glory (Greg Vistica) They Call it Justice (Luther West) Military Justice is to Justice as Military Music is to Music (Robert Sherrill) Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion on the USS Iowa and the Coverup (Charles Thompson)

---

Scientists plan to enter submarine Hunley

01/22/2001
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/nphoto.htm

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - More than five months after the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley was lifted from the bottom of the Atlantic, scientists will begin excavating the inside of the silt-filled sub.

They planned to enter the Hunley Monday through a 3-foot hole in the rear starboard quarter of the submarine, said Bob Neyland, manager of the Hunley Project.

The Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy warship, rammed a black-powder charge at the end of a spar into the Union blockade ship Housatonic off nearby Sullivans Island on Feb. 17, 1864.

The Housatonic sank but the hand-cranked Hunley, fashioned from locomotive boilers, also went down with its nine-man crew.

The submarine was raised last summer and brought to a conservation laboratory at the old Charleston Navy Base.

The sub has been immersed in a tank of cold water while scientists mapped the hull and determined the best way to enter it.

Sunday, about 250 people, many of them wearing Confederate uniforms, gathered for a memorial service for the crew. The invitation-only service was for the volunteers who have given tours of the lab and done other volunteer work for the Hunley recovery.

The crew's remains are expected to be buried this year in the Hunley plot in Charleston's Magnolia Cemetery, next to members of two other ill-fated crews.

The submarine sank twice before the Housatonic attack - once while moored at a dock and once on a training mission.

After the excavation, conservation of the hull is expected to take several years. The Hunley will then go on display at the Charleston Museum.

---

States
01/22/01
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

Hawaii

Honolulu - Opponents say they remain unconvinced that the environment and cultural and historic sites will be protected under the Army's plan to resume live-fire training in Leeward Oahu's Makua Valley. They commented after the Army showed more than 150 people at the Makua Military Reservation what the live-fire training would entail. It could resume in March after being suspended in 1998.

Virginia

Richmond - Military bases are included in a tally of permanent open space around the Chesapeake Bay, giving the state an additional 160,000 acres toward its share of land protected from development. Environmentalists argue that military acreage can't be counted because the government could convert it for other uses at any time. Last summer, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania agreed to protect 20% of land around the bay because of public concern over growth. ... Bedford - A local man has raised $3,000 to build a monument commemorating five World War II airmen killed 58 years ago when their B-25 bomber crashed into Sharp Top Mountain during training. Bedford officials recently approved a day to honor the airmen; Jeffrey Clemens also wants a bronze monument at the crash site.

---

Pentagon considers cuts in major weapons systems

January 22, 2001
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2001122222814.htm

Incoming Pentagon officials have already begun discussing options for killing or curtailing major weapons systems, with the Joint Strike Fighter mentioned as a possible casualty, defense officials say.

The sources said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's transition team has sent "feelers" to Capitol Hill to gauge political opposition to canceling systems that create jobs in a number of states.

"The Bush team is being very smart," said one source close to the transition team. "They are seeking congressional advice as they talk through some of these programs. They are discreetly planting seeds and looking at alternatives."

In tentative discussions, Pentagon officials have broached the idea of killing the $250 billion Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), a multipurpose jet designed for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. In return for the military branches' agreement, the Bush team would "make commitments" to the Marines' V-22 Osprey, the Navy's F-18 Super Hornet and the Air Force's F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, one source said.

Another option being discussed is to delay production of the Navy's DD-21 stealth destroyer and redesign it for theater ballistic missile defense.

"There are discussions ongoing, but no decision has been made," the Defense source said.

Mr. Rumsfeld will present his first budget in February, for fiscal 2002, largely based on service request made during the Clinton administration's final year in office. But he will augment the request this spring, and sources say he would like to make a bold statement about his vision for the 1.37 million-member armed forces.

Mr. Rumsfeld, who won Senate confirmation on Saturday, has marching orders from President Bush to cancel some programs so the Pentagon may invest in tomorrow's weapons that promise to change the way wars are fought. In his campaign's major speech on defense policy at The Citadel in September, Mr. Bush spoke of a "window of opportunity" that will allow the Pentagon to put money into technologies such as unmanned aircraft, light armor and the "arsenal ship," a stealthy vessel armed with long-range land-attack missiles.

"The real goal is to move beyond marginal improvements, to replace existing programs with new technologies and strategies," Mr. Bush said. "To use this window of opportunity [is] to skip a generation of technology. This will require spending more and spending more wisely," he said.

On the table is nearly a half-trillion dollars in major weapons procurements. The problem for Mr. Bush is that each has a constituency of lawmakers, defense industry lobbyists and unions. The potential opposition is the reason the administration already is sending feelers to Congress.

"You've got a bit of 'Nixon goes to China,' " said Ivan Eland, a military analyst at the Cato Institute. "Bush is a Republican, and Republicans have the reputation of being stronger on defense. It may, in fact, be easier for him to cut weapons systems that aren't needed."

There are at least seven major procurements that Mr. Rumsfeld will scrutinize as part of a far-reaching review Mr. Bush wants. The defense secretary, who boasts a 25-year record of corporate innovation, will look at developing weapons, force structures, foreign deployments and the procurement process itself.

The systems most likely to get a close look: the Navy's DD21 stealth destroyer, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Air Force F-22 stealth fighter, the Navy F-18 Super Hornet, the Marine Corps V-22 Osprey, the Army's Crusader artillery piece and the Comanche scout/light attack helicopter.

All told, the systems' long-range price tags top $475 billion.

"We need to guard against the perception that anything that is good for the defense industry is good for the troops," Mr. Eland said. "If Bush invests in training, quality of life and [research and development] for the future, that's good for the troops."

The Pentagon took a "procurement holiday" the past decade as its overall budget shrank to help wipe out the federal deficit. The decline, coupled with unprecedented wear and tear on equipment, has left an aging force. The Marines are still flying Vietnam-era helicopters. The average age of Air Force fighters is approaching 15 years.

The question arises: How can Bush-Rumsfeld modernize the force but kill some of the systems meant to replace old equipment?

John Hillen, a defense adviser to the Bush campaign, contends there is no way the Pentagon can modernize properly without killing some current systems.

"In my personal opinion, I do not see how you can continue to acquire the current upgrades on legacy systems such as the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter while at the same time transforming the force with leap-ahead technologies," Mr. Hillen said.

"There is simply not enough money, not even close, even with extravagant budget increases. In other words, a true transformation is going to require some hard choices when it comes to current programs in the pipeline over the next 10 years."

In his speech at The Citadel, Mr. Bush said he planned to buy some new weapons "necessary for current tasks." But the most important part of his plan will be to "replace existing programs with new technologies."

The rub will come if Mr. Bush asks Congress to affirm his decision to discard major programs. The F-22, for example, has the strong backing of lawmakers from Georgia, where Lockheed-Martin is assembling the first planes. A good share of DD-21 destroyers likely would be built in Mississippi, home state of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Mr. Lott is arguing for a bigger shipbuilding budget now, not 10 years down the road.

"I think it will be fascinating," a congressional defense aide said. "It will tell you who's running the Pentagon: Rumsfeld or the Joint Chiefs. Let's say they kill the V-22 and they make that recommendation to Congress. The Marines come over in the back door and say, 'Don't pay any attention.' If Rumsfeld doesn't have their heads on a platter, it's clear who's running the Pentagon."

---

Inside the Beltway

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
John McCaslin
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm

USS Nitze

Paul H. Nitze, adviser to five presidents, 57th secretary of the Navy from 1963 to 1967, and leading strategist and arms control expert, is getting his own ship.

The 44th ship, in fact, of the Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers will be named in honor of the co-founder of the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

With the exception of Jimmy Carter, Mr. Nitze advised every president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. But it was as head of the U.S. negotiating team at the arms control talks in Geneva between 1981 and 1984, Mr. Nitze took his famous "walk in the woods" with Soviet negotiator Yuli Kvitsinsky in an effort to break a deadlock between the superpowers on Euromissiles.

John McCaslin, a nationally syndicated columnist, can be reached at 202/636-3284 or by e-mail (mccasl@twtmail.com).

---

Agenda items get a boost

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
By Donald Lambro
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2001122224627.htm

NEWS ANALYSIS

President Bush is likely to get most of his tax cut, defense, education and health care agenda through Congress this year with the help of Democratic support, political and policy analysts said yesterday.

Despite the conventional wisdom that the president's legislative proposals are going to run into strong opposition because of the nearly dead-even split between the Republicans and Democrats in Congress, a number of factors appears to be improving the prospects of his reform agenda. Even veteran strategists, who did not have high expectations for Mr. Bush's agenda a month or so ago, now say they have changed their minds.

"I think people are going to be surprised to see how well he does," said Paul Weyrich, the social conservative strategist who maintains close ties to Mr. Bush's advisers. "He's going to end up splitting the Democrats."

Indeed, a big factor in Mr. Bush's favor is that both he and Vice President Richard B. Cheney have already begun reaching out to key conservative-to-moderate Democrats who agree with him on several policy issues, forging early alliances to help him in the legislative battles to come.

Senate Democrats who are expected to join forces with the Bush White House on legislative initiatives include Sens. John Breaux of Louisiana, a leader in his party on Medicare reform and health care issues, and Zell Miller of Georgia, a former governor who supports Mr. Bush's ideas on education and tax cuts.

Another factor helping Mr. Bush is the Republican Party's unity over his agenda, in contrast to growing divisions between the Democrats' liberal and centrist wings. The centrists, represented by the Blue Dog Democrats in the House and the Democratic Leadership Council, say Mr. Gore leaned too far to the left in his campaign and want to work with Mr. Bush to fashion a bipartisan legislative record that they can run on in the 2002 midterm elections.

"The assumption has been that it will be the Republicans who will be split, and the Democrats will be united in opposition. But I think the Republicans are united and the Democrats will be split," Mr. Weyrich said.

"There is a centrist wing among the Democrats and a group of Democrats who are up for election next year" who will join Mr. Bush on Medicare reform, health care, education, defense and tax cuts to counter the economy's decline, he said. "And you are going to see evidence of this very soon."

Nowhere is this shift more visible than in the debate over tax cuts.

Growing tax surpluses and fear of a slowing economy that could worsen in the months to come seem to be building bipartisan support for a much larger tax-cut package than even the Democrats supported late last year. And if the economic numbers continue to worsen, congressional analysts say Mr. Bush will probably get most of what he wants in his $1.3 trillion tax-cut package.

There is also wide agreement on both sides of the political aisle that Mr. Bush is going to get much of what he is seeking in increased defense spending to boost military readiness and accelerate development and deployment of an antimissile system. There was very little disagreement between Mr. Bush and the Democrats in the campaign on defense buildup, so a substantial budget increase for the Pentagon now seems be a sure thing.

There is also a basis for bipartisan agreement in two areas of social welfare policy that Mr. Bush made a central part of his campaign: reforming Medicare to include access to prescription drug benefits and overhauling federal education spending to raise standards, require more testing and give parents a way to escape failing schools through vouchers.

On Medicare reforms, the president and his advisers have already indicated their support for a market-oriented plan authored by Mr. Breaux that President Clinton killed two years ago. Mr. Bush wanted Mr. Breaux in his Cabinet, but the senator turned him down, though not before exchanging assurances that the two of them would work together to save Medicare from insolvency and offer access to prescription assistance to the elderly.

"We'll have to do some negotiating, but I think the chances are good for a compromise. I see the Republicans passing the Breaux plan," said John Goodman, a Bush adviser on health care issues who heads the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas.

"With the Senate split 50-50, a guy like Breaux is very important. He is going to bring over some Democrats. At the same time, you have Republicans pushing to do something on an issue that the Democrats say they care most about," Mr. Goodman said. There also appears to be bipartisan support for Mr. Bush's refundable tax-credit plan to help the uninsured buy health insurance, an idea that has strong backing from Republican leaders but also Democrats like Sens. Breaux, Robert G. Torricelli of New Jersey and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

The idea also has bipartisan support in the House, where Ways and Means Committee Chairman William M. Thomas of California is a chief backer.

In the presidential campaign, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore supported the idea of giving a family of four a health insurance credit on taxes owed. Because it is refundable, low-income families who owe no taxes would get a check from the government.

"There's a real opportunity here to take this issue away from the Democrats. This would be a major breakthrough and provide protection to millions of families, and the likelihood is that it will pass," Mr. Goodman said.

With education reform consistently running at the top of every poll as the No. 1 issue in the country, Mr. Bush starts out with strong support for his plan to change the way federal funding is spent. And here, too, he has won unexpected support from some key Democrats for his proposals.

Sen. Miller, a conservative Democrat, told Mr. Bush at a recent meeting on education policy that he was wholeheartedly behind his plan, according to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political strategist.

"I'm for your plan, every bit of your plan," the senator told Mr. Bush.

"We're going to get a lot of Zell Millers on our side on education," Mr. Rove said.

It is less certain whether Mr. Bush will get the school-choice vouchers that he has talked about giving parents whose children are in failing schools. But there is strong bipartisan support for the other features of his plan, especially its emphasis on early education in the Head Start program for preschoolers.

Congressional Republican leaders say that Mr. Bush's education bill will be given high priority when Congress gets back to business next month.

"It is hard to think of another issue, outside defense, where there will be more across-the-aisle support than on education," said a House Republican official.

But of all the major pieces of legislation that Mr. Bush will send to the Congress in the months to come, his advisers say that his tax-cut proposals are the centerpiece of his agenda and will be pivotal to the success of his presidency.

Throughout the 2000 election campaign, Democrats denounced Mr. Bush's $1.3 trillion tax-cut plan, including an across-the-board income tax cut, arguing that they were much too costly and largely benefited the rich.

But Democratic leaders have changed their tune on tax cuts over the past several weeks because of new estimates pushing the budget surplus up to nearly $6 trillion over 10 years, the threat of a recession if the economy continues to weaken and polls showing growing support for tax reduction.

House Democrat leader Richard Gephardt, worried about voter exit polls showing that Mr. Gore fared poorly among middle-class, suburban voters who are part of the growing investor class, now says Democrats are open to "a much bigger tax cut."

Mr. Gephardt is also getting pressure from his party's 40-member Blue Dog Coalition, which wants Democratic leaders to abandon their opposition to significant tax cuts.

"Using a portion of the projected surplus for tax relief is sound policy that many on both sides of the aisle have embraced," Blue Dog leaders said last week in a memorandum to Democrats in Congress.

"All of us want to do everything possible to maintain a strong and growing economy. Tax relief, properly structured and timed, can be part of the strategy to achieve that goal," the Blue Dog memo said.

Meanwhile, it appears that public opinion, which once favored paying off the national debt over tax cuts, now supports Mr. Bush's position that the country can do both. A national survey conducted by independent pollster John Zogby last week found that likely voters support Mr. Bush's tax plan by 53 percent to 34 percent.

Of all of Mr. Bush's major campaign proposals, his ambitious plan to reform and save Social Security may be the least likely to receive any congressional action this year.

With so many other Bush proposals expected to be placed on Congress' plate, some of his advisers privately voice doubt that there will be time to take any action this year on his plan to let workers put a part of their Social Security payroll taxes into their own retirement investment fund.

"There's some talk that it may be pushed off until next year while a blue-ribbon commission studies the issue," Mr. Goodman said.

-------- OTHER

-------- environment

Spill From Oil Tanker Imperils Rare Wildlife in the Galápagos

January 22, 2001
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/science/22GALA.html

QUITO, Ecuador, Jan. 21 - Officials and volunteers for the Galápagos Biological Marine Reserve raced against the clock and nature today to try to keep an oil spill of an estimated 144,000 gallons from turning into an environmental disaster.

The Ecuadorean tanker Jessica, loaded with 240,000 gallons of oil, rammed into a reef on Tuesday night 800 yards off San Cristóbal Island, one of the Galápagos. Crews were able to transfer several thousand gallons off the boat before its cargo hold cracked on Friday night and started oozing fuel into the Pacific.

Officials said the most recent aerial surveillance showed an oil slick spread intermittently in an area of 270 to 300 square miles.

"The situation is very, very severe," Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendón said from San Cristóbal Island, where he is directing operations. "The cleanup is going to take weeks, and we'll need all the national and international help we can get."

The Jessica was carrying diesel fuel and fuel oil on a regular supply run to the islands. Early attempts to corral the spill with floating barriers failed, and the first signs of trouble are being registered in the islands' delicate ecosystem, which inspired Darwin's theory of evolution.

"We already have one dead lava gull that has been brought into the station," said María Eugenia Proano, in charge of the Charles Darwin Research Station's operations on San Cristóbal. Other animals coated with oil were reported to have been taken there by volunteers.

While the islands may be better known for their tortoises and seals, it is birds that are the most sensitive to fuel spills, experts said. Several bird species that are native to the area and rare include the lava gull, the Galápagos penguin and the world's last land-bound seabird, the flightless cormorant.

While the slick has already lapped the shores of some islands, forecasters expect it to spread on the back of an expected swell.

"I don't think there's a person out there that really knows how big the spill is or exactly where it's going," said the Darwin Foundation's secretary general, Fernando Espinoza. "All we can say right now is that it is out of control."

The islands, about 600 miles west of mainland Ecuador, are an international symbol of conservation and a haven for nature lovers. The Galápagos National Park is a United Nations World Heritage site and attracts about 50,000 tourists a year. The government has been in talks to have the 86,800-square-mile Biological Marine Reserve in the park included in the heritage site. What makes the Galápagos unique, experts say, is that they have 96 percent of their endemic species intact.

Brigades of volunteers have been sent to beaches to bring injured animals to impromptu veterinary stations. The California-based Bird Rescue Research Center is also sending a team of experts this week.

Although park officials have been focusing their stretched resources on endemic and endangered species, volunteers have erected a fence around a colony of sea lions to keep them from entering the water.

Officials on the scene said the Ecuadorean Navy was working around the clock to try to remove the remaining 6,000 to 10,000 gallons of fuel in the ship's hull before the boat breaks up or collapses. About 50 percent of the boat is under water, and it is listing at least 45 degrees, which has complicated the procedure, officials said.

President Gustavo Noboa said there would be a full investigation of the accident.

---

U.S. experts help fight spill off Galapagos Islands

01/22/2001
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/world/2001-01-22-galapagos.htm

PUERTO BAQUERIZO, Galapagos Islands (AP) - Ecuador declared a state of emergency Monday night for the Galapagos islands, where Charles Darwin forged his theory of evolution and where a huge oil spill now poses a threat to creatures great and small, from birds to iguanas to sea lions.

The spill began last week near the islands, a fragile natural treasure 600 miles off Ecuador's west coast. By Monday, some 170,000 gallons of diesel fuel had poured from the disabled tanker.

The government's emergency declaration was meant to allow for quick allocation of funds to help pay for the cleanup.

In the evening, some 30 Galapagos National Park employees in small motor boats began the slow task of skimming the water's surface around the tanker to clean slicks of diesel fuel.

"Our orders are to do this work until the zone is clean," said park employee Daniel Castro, standing in a boat near a patch of oily foam floating atop the water.

But that small fleet could not address a larger problem. Experts were monitoring intermittent slicks within a 488-square-mile area. Currents pushed the fuel to the south and - more alarmingly - west toward the bulk of islands in the volcanic Galapagos chain, a fragile ecosystem populated by animal and plant species found nowhere else in the world.

The problem began Jan. 16, when the Ecuadorean tanker Jessica ran aground in pounding surf off San Cristobal Island, the easternmost island in the Galapagos archipelago. The ship, which was carrying 243,000 gallons of diesel, started leaking fuel Friday as it tilted sharply.

Ecuadorean Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon told The Associated Press that some 60,000 gallons were recovered from the damaged tanker over the weekend, but not before some 170,000 gallons seeped through fissures in the ship's hull.

A team of U.S. coast guard specialists successfully recovered another 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel from inside the damaged tanker Monday. They first pumped it into undamaged tanks aboard the 28-year-old ship, then transferred it to the another vessel, said Capt. Ramiro Morejon, chief of Control and Marine Monitoring for the Galapagos park.

Only about 10,000 gallons were still left in the tanker.

Darwin, the 19th-century naturalist, developed his theory of evolution by studying wildlife on these islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands, a part of Ecuador's territory since 1832, were formed 4 million to 5 million years ago by underwater volcanos. Most are arid and rocky, dotted more by cactuses than lush vegetation.

Galapagos National Park spokesman Fabian Oviedo said Monday that dispersants and absorbents were being used to lessen the impact of the diesel, but that the fuel had already reached Santa Fe Island, 37 miles west of San Cristobal.

"The part of Santa Fe most affected is the coastal zone of El Miedo, populated by iguanas, sea lions and birds, such as the blue-footed booby," he said. "Four sea lions stained with diesel have been spotted, as well as boobies and 30 pelicans."

He said most of the birds "had been captured and were undergoing a process of cleaning with special detergents." He added that monitoring flights were being conducted over Santa Cruz, the next major island over in the chain.

Carlos Valle, coordinator of the World Wildlife Fund's Galapagos program in Ecuador, said the damage could be grave for the hundreds of sea lions and thousands of iguanas that populate Santa Fe.

"It is very difficult to move them because they are very territorial," he said. "The most vulnerable animals are the blue-footed boobies, masked boobies and frigate birds whose feeding zone is in the area of the spill."

He said some colonies of marine turtles could be threatened. But species in danger of extinction, such as the miniature Galapagos penguin and flightless cormorant, are not in danger because they live in the far western reaches of the archipelago.

The giant land tortoises, which can reach 550 pounds and for which the Galapagos are named, were not in danger because they live in the higher elevations of the islands.

On San Cristobal, where some 4,000 people, many of them fishermen, live, radio broadcast warnings from park authorities not to eat the fish or swim in the water. Robin Betancourt, a fisherman, said he saw about 50 mullet fish floating dead in an area to the south of the island known as Manglecito.

Galapagos National Park biologist Mauricio Velasquez has said one long-term threat is that the fuel will sink to the ocean floor, destroying algae that is vital to the food chain, threatening marine iguanas, sharks, birds that feed off fish and other species.

Police on San Cristobal said no charges had been filed against the ship's captain, Tarquino Arevalo, or against his company, Acotramar. But Ecuadorean President Gustavo Noboa demanded a "detailed report" on the cause of the accident.

Capt. Morejon said the spill could have been avoided.

"Looking at the navigation chart, in which a signal buoy was mistaken for a lighthouse, the accident was definitely caused by human error," he said.

---

U.S. Aids in Fuel Spill Clean Up

January 22, 2001
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Galapagos-Threat.html

PUERTO BAQUERIZO, Galapagos Islands (AP) -- More than 160,000 gallons of fuel spilled from a stricken tanker pose a threat to creatures great and small -- from birds to iguanas to sea lions -- off this fragile natural treasure where Charles Darwin forged his theory of evolution.

``The bottom line is once oil gets out of a ship it's virtually impossible to remove it or contain it on the ocean,'' said Coast Guard Capt. Edwin Stanton, part of a U.S. team sent to try to help.

The Ecuadorean tanker Jessica, carrying 243,000 gallons of diesel, ran aground Jan. 16 in pounding surf off San Cristobal Island, the easternmost island in the Galapagos archipelago. The ship started leaking fuel Friday as it tilted sharply.

Ecuadorean Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon told The Associated Press about 60,000 gallons were recovered from the damaged tanker, but not before more than 160,000 gallons seeped through fissures in the hull.

Experts were monitoring slicks carried by strong currents to the south and -- more alarmingly -- west toward the bulk of islands in the volcanic Galapagos chain, an ecosystem populated by animal and plant species found nowhere else in the world.

Darwin, the 19th-century naturalist, developed his theory of evolution by studying wildlife on these islands in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles off Ecuador's coast. The islands, a part of Ecuador's territory since 1832, were formed 4 million to 5 million years ago by underwater volcanos. Most of them are arid and rocky, dotted more by cactuses than lush vegetation.

Galapagos National Park spokesman Fabian Oviedo said Monday that dispersants and absorbents were being used to lessen the impact of the diesel, but that the fuel had already reached Santa Fe Island, 37 miles west of San Cristobal.

``The part of Santa Fe most affected is the coastal zone of El Miedo, populated by iguanas, sea lions and birds, such as the blue-footed booby,'' he said. ``Four sea lions stained with diesel have been spotted, as well as boobies and 30 pelicans.''

He said most of the birds ``had been captured and were undergoing a process of cleaning with special detergents.'' He added that monitoring flights were being conducted over Santa Cruz, the next major island over in the chain.

But Carlos Valle, coordinator of the World Wildlife Fund's Galapagos program in Ecuador, said the damage could be grave for the hundreds of sea lions and thousands of iguanas that populate Santa Fe.

``It is very difficult to move them because they are very territorial,'' he said. ``The most vulnerable animals are the blue-footed boobies, masked boobies and frigate birds whose feeding zone is in the area of the spill.''

He said some colonies of marine turtles could be threatened. But species in danger of extinction, such as the miniature Galapagos penguin and flightless cormorant, are not in danger because they live in the far western reaches of the archipelago.

The giant land tortoises, which can reach 550 pounds and for which the Galapagos are named, were not in danger because they live in the higher elevations of the islands.

Galapagos National Park biologist Mauricio Velasquez has said one long-term threat is that the fuel will sink to the ocean floor, destroying algae that is vital to the food chain, threatening marine iguanas, sharks, birds that feed off fish and other species.

Stanton told The Associated Press his team would attempt to transfer fuel that was spilling through the Jessica's ruptured hull to empty storage tanks that are still intact within the 28-year-old ship. Only about 20,000 gallons were left in the tanker.

``We are a team of 11 people and we have brought 25 tons of cargo and equipment to carry out a job that will take some two or three days,'' he said. But he added that the transfer of fuel mixed with sea water inside the ruptured tanks could ``provoke great tension in the general structure.''

``It is an old vessel and it has grave structural damage,'' he said. ``The boat is being moved by strong waves and could break apart at any moment.''

Police on San Cristobal said no charges had been filed against the ship's captain, Tarquino Arevalo, or against his company, Acotramar. But Ecuadorean President Gustavo Noboa demanded a ``detailed report'' on the cause of the accident.

Capt. Ramiro Morejon, chief of Control and Marine Monitoring for the Galapagos park, said the spill could have been avoided.

``Looking at the navigation chart, in which a signal buoy was mistaken for a lighthouse, the accident was definitely caused by human error,'' he said.

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Panel finds humans responsible for warming

01/22/2001
By Jack Williams
USATODAY.com
http://usatoday.com/weather/clisci/2001-01-22-ipcc-main.htm

The evidence has grown stronger since 1995 that the world's climate is warming and that humans are responsible, an international panel of scientists says. In a "Summary for Policymakers" made public about 11 p.m. ET Sunday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that the globe's average temperature is expected to increase by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius (2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit) by the year 2100. The panel notes that both nature and humans can cause climate change but that there "is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities."

More than 150 IPCC delegates, mostly scientists, from around 100 governments met in Shanghai, China, last week to consider the full report, which is more than 1000 pages long.

The 18-page summary released Sunday night is designed to give policymakers a basic rundown of the full report.

In general, the report does not expect extreme disasters, such as a huge rise in sea levels. It projects an increase in global sea levels ranging from as little as three inches to as much as three feet from 1990 to 2100.

During the 21st century, "the projected rate of warming is much larger than the observed changes during the 20th century and is very likely to be without precedent during the last 10,000 years," the report says.

It lists the "very likely" changes during the 21st century as:

• Higher daily maximum temperatures and more hot days over nearly all of the Earth's land. • Warmer overnight low temperatures. • Fewer cold days and frost days over nearly all land. • Reduced differences between daily highs and lows over nearly all land. • More intense rain or snow storms over many areas. • A higher risk of summer droughts over inland areas of the middle-latitude continents.

The panel also thinks that hurricanes, typhoons, and Indian Ocean and South Pacific cyclones are likely to produce higher winds and heavier rain in some areas, but there's no way to tell whether the strength and locations of these storms could change.

The report notes that no global changes have been noted during the 20th century in terms of the numbers of storms or their strength. "No systematic changes in the frequency of tornadoes, thunder days, or hail events are evident in the limited areas analyzed," the report says.

While snow cover and sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere are expected to continue decreasing, and glaciers should continue retreating, (as they have during the 20th century) the Antarctic ice sheet should grow. This is expected to happen because warmer air can hold more humidity, which will increase the amount of snow in Antarctica. This in turn, will offset some of the water being added by melting glaciers and some melting of the Greenland ice cap.

Since the last IPCC report in 1995, "additional data from new studies of current and (past climates), improved analysis of data sets, more rigorous evaluation of their quality, and comparisons among data from different sources have led to greater understanding of climate change," the report says.

Scientists have been working on the report for three years. The various sections were written by 123 "lead authors" from around the world. They used information from 516 contributing authors.

Both scientific experts and government officials reviewed the report, which was issued after line-by-line consideration.

Government representatives at the Shanghai meeting unanimously approved the summary and accepted the full report, the IPCC reported.

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Bush names Hebert to head energy commission

01/22/2001
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/politics/2001-01-22-energy.htm

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush named Curt Hebert, who has argued against federal involvement in the California electricity crisis, as chairman of the agency that regulates wholesale power markets.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced the selection as senior administration officials, including Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, met at the White House to discuss the California power situation.

Hebert, the former state utility regulator in Mississippi, is the only Republican on the current five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which he will head. Bush shortly is expected to name two new members.

Despite California's problems, Hebert gave a strong endorsement Monday of electricity deregulation and letting market forces determine prices and electricity supplies.

As FERC chairman, he said in a statement, "I will do my utmost to see that competition is encouraged, that it is fair, that consumers have a genuine choice, and that the public interest is safeguarded."

Total competition in the electricity industry "is part of the solution rather than part of the problem" now faced in California, he said. Retail prices there in many cases remain regulated.

A close friend of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., Hebert has argued forcefully in recent weeks against FERC imposing price controls on wholesale electricity sales into California.

When FERC in mid-December took modest steps to help California cope with its surging electricity prices, Hebert agreed with the measures, but said he would rather have favored eliminating all price controls.

In an interview last week, Bush also expressed his opposition to imposing price controls - in the form of FERC-mandated price caps on wholesale power - on the California market, saying they would be counterproductive.

California Gov. Gray Davis and the state's cash-strapped utilities have urged FERC to intervene in the wholesale market, arguing that power generating companies were price gouging. FERC has so far rejected the plea.

Hebert was described by power industry officials as a free-market advocate when it comes to the electricity industry and has favored leaving decisions on electricity deregulation to states instead of the federal government.

Hebert replaces William Massey, a Democrat, who was elevated to the chairmanship by President Clinton on Jan. 19, after James Hoecker, another Clinton appointee, unexpectedly resigned.

Hebert, 38, a former Mississippi state legislator and member of the state Public Service Commission, joined FERC in November, 1997. His current term expires in 2004.

He comes from Pascagoula, Miss., as does Lott.

With Hoecker's resignation there remain two vacancies on the commission, which has been at the center of both the natural gas and electricity industry's shift to deregulation in recent years.

It was FERC that issued rules that opened the nation's electric power grid to competition in the mid-1990s, prompting many states - led by efforts in California - to embrace electricity industry deregulation amid promises it would lead to lower consumer prices because of competition. In most cases, deregulation has not led to substantial savings for consumers.

In California, where the effort has been acknowledged as a failure, power prices have soared amid shortages that have produced rolling blackouts in recent days and threatened two of the state's major investor-owned utilities with bankruptcy.

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Glory of the Fox Hunt

January 22, 2001
KIMBERLY EDWIN
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/22/opinion/L22FOX.html

To the Editor:

I have admired fox hunting all my life, despite having never had the chance to get near a real hunt, and it was with great sadness that I learned that animal-rights extremists have managed to persuade ignorant politicians to ban fox hunting in England (news article, Jan. 18).

The complicated ecology of hunting is supported by fox hunters both rich and poor, and it employs the services of numerous hunt servants, earthstoppers, gamekeepers, grooms, terrier men, farriers and farmers to ensure an ample supply of foxes and maintain the stables and hound packs. This reality is poorly understood by urbanites and does not play as well in the media, where simplistic sound bites that appeal to raw emotion reign supreme. This ill-considered ban is just the latest effort on the part of the animal extremists to foist their intolerant views on everyone else.

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States
01/22/01
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

California

Ventura - Rancher Richard Atmore, who raises cattle on an 8,000-acre spread, is confident he will be allowed to remain despite approaching urban sprawl. Property developers and environmentalists would like to see the rancher's lease ended. Atmore contends that his grazing cattle are good for the area, reducing the danger of wildfires in the grasslands and keeping nonnative plants to a minimum.

Kentucky

Inez - Almost 300 Martin County residents have joined in the legal aftermath of the coal-sludge spill on Oct. 11. Since the 250-million-gallon spill, creekbanks and yards have been scraped clean of the gooey black material and sown with grass. Residents have filed at least eight lawsuits against Martin County Coal Corp., which owned the collapsed sludge impoundment.

New Hampshire

Farmington - The law firm employing Erin Brockovich, the subject of the hit movie starring Julia Roberts, will represent New Hampshire residents who believe toxic waste in a landfill is making them sick. The California firm of Masry and Vittitoe has filed paperwork in Strafford County and sent representatives to Farmington to meet with residents of the Peaceful Pines mobile home park.

Washington

Deming - A junkyard and demolition disposal site near here doesn't meet environmental standards and may be leaching waste into the south fork of the Nooksack River, Whatcom County officials say. Foothills Recycling is on Indian trust land, the Belling ham Herald reported. The only regulating agency with clear authority is the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been slow to take action, the newspaper said.

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Fuel spill spreads near Galapagos Islands

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://www.washtimes.com/world/worldscene-2001122213254.htm

PUERTO BAQUERIZO, Galapagos Islands - Pounding surf has opened new holes in a stricken tanker, speeding up a diesel fuel leak that has so far spread a slick covering 186 square miles in the fragile environment of the Galapagos Islands, officials said yesterday.

The Ecuadorean tanker Jessica, carrying about 243,000 gallons of fuel, began leaking Friday, three days after it ran aground in a bay off San Cristobal Island, populated with rare marine species. The ship lay tilted heavily toward its left about 550 yards offshore.

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Conservative conservationist

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/ed-house-200112223440.htm

Interior Secretary designee Gale Norton's controversial Senate confirmation has broken the mold of her heavy caricature stereotyping by environmental extremists - and revealing her true character as a conservative conservationist.

In perhaps her most telling line during last week's hearings, Mrs. Norton told the assembled senators, "I am both a conservative and a conservationist. I see no conflict there. In fact, I am a compassionate conservative and a passionate conservationist."

Mrs. Norton countered the Sierra Club's scurrilous accusation that she is little more than 'James Watt in a skirt,' telling the committee, "I am my own person." She said that she did not believe in a right to pollute, and repeatedly told the committee that she would enforce existing environmental laws, claiming, "I intend to make the conservation of America's natural treasures my top priority."

Just as importantly, Mrs. Norton suggested that she would transform the Clinton administration's 'confiscate-designate' approach to public lands into cooperation and collaboration between all levels of government. While lauding Clinton administration's goal of protecting public lands, she expressed her concern that "Many of those decisions were made through a top-down process without consulting the people who are most affected by those decisions," adding, "I would certainly hope that in the future we would hear input from those of you on this committee, from governors, from local communities before we take actions that are going to deeply impact people's lives."

Mrs. Norton hinted that she could reconfigure the Clinton administration's adversarial relationship with the individuals and entities in the private sector by expressing her belief that they too could be responsive to environmental concerns. She told the committee that she would be happy to bring together environmental groups and industry interests to find equitable solutions for the preservation of endangered species. Her success with environmental self-audits in Colorado also speaks well to her ability to meet environmental goals through collaboration with companies.

Mrs. Norton intimated that she would attempt to reclaim rationality in resource decisions. Instead of rushing to judgment on global warming or the environmental impact of drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Mrs. Norton simply promised to rely on the best available scientific evidence. In doing so, she made the subtle suggestion that neither lawyers nor legislators should approach the bench before scientists working there have produced conclusive results.

Throughout her confirmation hearing, Mrs. Norton gave convincing evidence of her ability to offer a conservative counterreformation to the confiscatory excesses of the Clinton administration.

-------- police

States

01/22/01
USA Today
http://usatoday.com/news/states/all50.htm

South Carolina

Columbia - Law enforcement agencies are compiling statistics to determine if officers stop drivers because of race. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement plans to pass a racial profiling policy in March. State agencies will be required to adopt the plan or risk losing accreditation, said commission manager Dennis Hyater.

-------- spying

China OKs death sentence for spying

InfoBeat News
Afternoon Edition - 1/22/2001
http://www.infobeat.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/IBFrontEnd.woa/wa/fullStory?article=405919828

BEIJING (AP) - China's highest court has given explicit approval for judges to sentence to death people convicted of passing state secrets and sensitive intelligence abroad, state media reported Monday.

Sentencing guidelines issued by the State Supreme People's Court on Sunday partially clarify the murky standards for meting out lengthy prison terms or executions under a vague criminal statute.

The instructions come two weeks after the publication overseas of purportedly secret Communist Party documents on crushing the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests. The papers, if genuine, describe in detail a split among Chinese leaders over the crackdown, still politically sensitive 12 years later.

Although ``The Tiananmen Papers'' have not been published in China or in Chinese, Internet accounts have created a stir among lower-level party members in Beijing and drawn accusations of fraud from the government.

A spokesman for China's high court denied that the new guidelines were prompted by ``The Tiananmen Papers.''

``There's no special purpose for us to issue this interpretation at this time. It's just a normal interpretation about legal matters,'' said a spokesman who gave his name as Mr. Gong.

The guidelines say courts may order execution for stealing, gathering, selling or otherwise illegally providing state secrets and intelligence that ``gravely harms the country or people, or has particularly odious circumstances,'' according to reports in the People's Daily and other newspapers.

Prison terms of 10 years or more and confiscation of property are called for if offenders transfer top-secret information, more than three items of classified information or if the intelligence ``causes extremely grave harm to national security or interests,'' the reports said.

Lesser sentences are warranted for less sensitive materials, the reports said.

The instructions flesh out statutes in China's criminal code, revised 3{ years ago. Only one clause explicitly deals with state secrets and does not mention the death penalty, although a separate catchall clause allows for executions in matters that severely harm national security.

China has in recent years tried to tighten its hold on what it considers state secrets, especially given the challenge of the Internet. In its guidelines, the high court said disseminating of state secrets on the Internet would also be dealt with according to the harm it causes the country, the reports said.

Still left murky in the guidelines are definitions of state secrets and intelligence. Information publicly circulated in other countries is routinely considered secret by China.


-------- activists

Cops clear bleachers to seat protesters

January 22, 2001
Washington Times
By Daniel F. Drummond
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/default-2001122222614.htm

U.S. Park Police officers allowed hundreds of protesters to overtake bleachers reserved for ticket holders at the inaugural parade after Interior Department officials told the officers to "back off," according to police sources.

"This was over our heads," a police source said, noting that park police had eight to 10 officers stationed by the bleachers at Freedom Plaza, which is at the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW and the scene of some of the most lively protests on Inauguration Day.

"We were told to pull back," the police source said, adding that anyone with a problem should "call and complain to the Department of the Interior."

Sometime Saturday morning, hundreds of protesters converged on the checkpoint behind the bleachers on the parade route. After getting through security, they made their way to the bleachers reserved for people holding "green" tickets.

The stands, which had a clear view of the parade and the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, were soon filled with a crowd of protesters too large for the group of officers to handle on its own.

"They kept coming so [organizers] told us to move," Crissi Bailey, 17, said. "We didn't expect this. This is really crazy." Crissi, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Md., and a member of Girl Scout Troop 1135, was one of hundreds of Boy Scout and Girl Scout volunteers on hand to help ticket holders find their seats.

"There were people up there, but they were getting harassed, so they left," said fellow Girl Scout Lauren Richardson, 15, a sophomore at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, Md.

Organizers then allowed ticket holders who had been turned away from their assigned seats to sit in a nearby section of bleachers.

Sources said the park police, who were primarily responsible for crowd control in the area, were told to let the protesters take over the bleachers because of public safety concerns.

The number of protesters arrested during the celebration was small, with reports varying from six to nine persons among the thousands who showed up for the parade.

The protesters' causes ran the gamut from animal rights to the release of a journalist who killed a Philadelphia police officer to displeasure with how the contested election was handled.

The order to let them take over the bleachers came from someone at either the National Park Service or elsewhere at the Department of Interior, the sources said.

Officials with the secretary's office at Interior and the park service were not available for comment yesterday.

Peter G. LaPorte, director of the District's Emergency Management Agency, said it may have been a good thing the protesters were left alone in the stands because they were mostly in one place.

"They were cheering for four hours, but once the president came by" in his limousine at the head of the parade, the protesters left, Mr. LaPorte said.

Evan Woodward, 19, a student at George Washington University, said the only reason he and other protesters took over the bleachers at Freedom Plaza was because the stands weren't supposed to be there in the first place.

"We applied for a permit [to protest] eight months ago," Mr. Woodward said. "They built on top of the permit."

Meanwhile, the cleanup of the city began right after the parade ended, Mr. LaPorte said, with most of the work done by 6 a.m. yesterday.

Once the parade ended, about 250 workers from the D.C. Department of Public Works were evenly divided between those dealing with the falling snow and those cleaning up after the parade, Mr. LaPorte said. The parade cleanup will cost the city just under $900,000, which is part of the $5.9 million the city was given by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, Mr. LaPorte said.

Pennsylvania Avenue was fully restored to a working street, too, as workers reinstalled signal lights and removed the gates that separated the crowds and the police who lined the parade route.

Some of the cleanest places around the city yesterday were Metro stations, where more than 463,000 passengers caught a train Saturday.

More than a third of the money given to the city by the inaugural committee - $2.3 million - was budgeted for D.C. police, but Mr. LaPorte said the police department was already about $200,000 over that.

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey has indicated that his department is already having difficulty recouping costs of providing security during last spring's World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, where hundreds of protesters tested the mettle of the city's police.

"We need to make sure we can reimburse other jurisdictions" that helped provide security on Saturday, Mr. LaPorte said, adding that the money from the inaugural committee for police did not include reimbursement for localities helping with security.

Mr. LaPorte said the city might need to "knock on Congress' doors" to get the money.

Although most of the parade route was cleared of debris by yesterday morning, trash remained at Freedom Plaza and some spots near the White House, but much of it was either frozen to the ground or underneath the bleachers.

The bleachers, Mr. LaPorte said, are the park service's responsibility and will be removed by midweek.

The massive presidential reviewing stand in front of the White House, however, will remain a little longer, Mr. LaPorte said.

One area along the parade route that seemed not to have been touched was by the National Archives.

At a small park in the 600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a statue of Union Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock on a horse stands amid throngs of pigeons and squirrels fighting for the crumbs left behind by spectators.

------- Onelist (submissions from subscribers)