Fw: OTHER WORDS - N° 5 - Wednesday, 25/9/ 01

[Artur F. Silva]

OTHER WORDS PORTO ALEGRE 2002 SITE UPDATE NEWSLETTER -- SEPTEMBER 25, 2001 
-- Nº 5

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See in this issue:

I. NEW WRITING AGAINST THE WAR:

Eduardo Galeano denounces the Empire s military offensive Where would Good 
be without Evil? , he asks. Religious fanatics are not the only ones who 
need enemies to justify their madness. Also in need of enemies to justify 
their existence are the United States arms industry and their gigantic 
military apparatus 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?user=reader&editionsectionid=69&infoid=1101>in 
Spanish).

Chomsky demystifies: War against terror is misleading publicity The e-zine 
Z-Net has brought together in a single article the main interviews on the 
war granted in the last few days by the North American linguist and 
political activist. He argues: Under the (admittedly, unimaginable) 
circumstances that Western intellectual culture were willing to adopt the 
literal meaning [of terror], the war against terrorism would take quite a 
different form Unfortunately, what is under way is the radicalization of an 
age-old formula of Empires: the threat, and often the use, of violence for 
what would be described as terroristic purposes were it not great powers 
who were pursuing the very same tactic 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?user=reader&editionsectionid=69&infoid=1092>in 
English).

Augusto Boal warns: do not invoke the Law of Talion he recalls that the 
retaliation the US is preparing is a step backwards to a time even more 
remote than Law of Talion. As primitive as that may be, it nonetheless 
still requires a judge and a judgement... 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?search_by_field=tax&query=simple&editionsectionid=69&search_by_year_to=&search_by_section=all&search_by_month_from=&x=10&search_>in 
Portuguese).

II. THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE MAKES HEADWAY (IN THE USA TOO):

There are reasons for optimism, says Michael Albert The director of Z-Net 
points to the signs that White House war plans are having difficulties, 
even amid the great wave of patriotism in the United States. His text 
includes an account of the first demonstration by the North American peace 
movement (in Portland) and the experience of a militant pacifist who 
resolved to dialogue with the participants in an act of jingoism 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?search_by_year_to=&search_by_month_from=&search_by_month_to=&search_by_priority=all&infoid=1072&keywords=percepción&user=reader&>in 
Spanish).

Rally called in front of the White House -- Former United States Attorney 
General, Ramsey Clark, dared challenge the climate of alienation and 
passivity encouraged by the media, and called a demonstration against the 
war for September 29 in front of the White House. He warns: A new and 
widespread war by the USA in the Middle East can only lead to a spiral of 
violence . At the same time, he reveals: The Bush government is trying to 
limit civil liberties and to create a climate where it will be impossible 
for progressives to speak out 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?search_by_field=tax&search_by_state=all&search_by_year_to=&search_by_month_from=&search_by_section=all&search_by_priority=all&user=r>in 
Spanish).

International coalition forms against the war Inspired by Clark s example, 
organizations from a number of countries around the world have started to 
network against war and racism. In São Paulo, three political rallies are 
scheduled, the first on September 28 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?user=reader&infoid=1063&editionsectionid=61>in 
Spanish). More details in the next issue of Other Words.

III. THE US STIRS UP A HORNETS NEST:

What is the answer to Bin Laden and the Taliban? A massacre? -- Roger 
Normand writes: Afghanistan is a country that is already so devastated, and 
the targets chosen by the USA are so inaccessible, that the only [&] is to 
kill everyone in the much larger region  within which the targets are 
presumed to be hiding In addition, he describes the instability of the Arab 
countries whose governments have allied with the USA, and he possibilities 
of uprisings throughout the Middle East 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?search_by_field=tax&search_by_month_to=&search_by_day_from=&search_by_headline=false&search_by_section=all&search_by_authorname=all&>in 
English).

Two Brazilians throw out a question to the world: what of the dead in 
Afghanistan? -- Marcos Arruda and Sandra Quintella, of the Brazilian 
Solidarity Economy Network, point to a reality that few are prepared to 
see. By abandoning programmes of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, the 
UN and other agencies may have condemned millions to death. Marcos and 
Sandra propose a daring alternative. What if a great front of personalities 
and organizations connected with the struggle for a new world were to 
travel to Afghanistan, pick up the effort to stave off death and, at the 
same time, serve as a human shield against the war? 
(<http://www.portoalegre2002.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/templates/htm/portugues/view.htm?user=reader&infoid=1107&editionsectionid=69>as 
yet, available in English).

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