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Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI all over again?

rshowalter - 08:54am Apr 6, 2001 EST (#2036 of 2039)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

For America, for Russia, for the cause of peace, and for the cause of decency, a good negotiating lawyer, supremely supple, cynical and idealistic by turns, who knows "the other side" of many issues, in many ways, could be of service.

rshowalter 4/5/01 6:16am

almarst-2001 - 10:35am Apr 6, 2001 EST (#2037 of 2039)

On interdependence of ex-Soviet republics:

It was developed under the firm assumption they will always stay together and over time, integrate more not less. The economy of scale as well as efficiency of specialization dictated such policy. This is no different then what is happening in the market economy except instead of market forces, the burocratic planning was in charge. The goals where nobel, I am sure. Many republics, if not most, enjoyed a higher standard of living the Russia and made a tremendous progress in industrializatiion, education and health care - unprecedented in my view for such a large scale project. In fact, those areas became almost indistigueshable in quality accross such a vast and culturally and economically diversified territory in such a short period of time.

On free press:

In my view, the Putin faces a very tough chalange. The socio-economic situation in Russia is on a verge of catastrophy. It is extreamly importand at such a time to improve a public sentiment and offer some hope for the better future to provide an incentive for productivity and investment in Russia. The press can play a very critical role in shaping the public sentiment. Objectively, the free press should present the very bleak picture of the current situation which, in turn, will make it even worst. On the other hand, there is no way back to the Goverment controlled press which will not be trusted and viewed as a pure propaganda tool. It is unlikely the Russian Government will master the influencing of the mass media as successfully as it is done in a West. It will be one of the very difficalt task the Putin will have to face.

almarst-2001 - 10:40am Apr 6, 2001 EST (#2038 of 2039)

CIA Senior Analyst an Apparent Suicide, Police Say - http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45714-2001Apr5.html

Murkey?

almarst-2001 - 10:53am Apr 6, 2001 EST (#2039 of 2039)

Bush nominees under fire for link with contras

Special report: George Bush's America

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Friday April 6, 2001 The Guardian

George Bush's nominee for the post of US ambassador to the United Nations concealed from Congress human rights abuses in central America that were carried out by death squads trained and armed by the CIA. John Negroponte, Mr Bush's choice for the UN job, and Otto Reich, who has been named by the president to a senior Latin American post, were also both closely linked with the illegal contra war against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

Their nomination has dismayed human rights activists in the US and Latin America. Critics hope that previously secret information about their former roles may emerge as the battle against the appointments begins.

Mr Negroponte was US ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985 and as such was in a key position to assist in the war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua and rebels in El Salvador. At the time, Honduras was known as "USS Honduras", such was its position as a base for attacks against leftwing groups.

The CIA helped to train an organisation called Battalion 3-16, which carried out the torture and "disappearing" of 184 people in Honduras deemed to be politically suspect or communist sympathisers. Until recently, some members of the battalion had been living in the US, but were deported just as Mr Bush's selection of Mr Negroponte was announced. Now one of the battalion members is threatening to blow the whistle on US involvement in training the death squads.

General Discua Elvir, a founder of the battalion, who has been deported to Honduras from Miami, appeared on television in Honduras and told the local newspaper La Prensa that he was brought to the US to coordinate the battalion with the contras.

The rightwing contras were illegally funded by arms sales to Iran. One of George Bush senior's parting acts as president in 1992 was to pardon those implicated, thus ending the possibility of the full exposure of his and the Reagan administration's involvement.

Mr Negroponte's predecessor in Honduras, Jack Binns, was replaced after alerting Washington about extra-judicial executions by the Honduran authorities. Mr Binns has now told In These Times magazine: "Negroponte would have had to be deliberately blind not to know about human rights violations... One of the things a departing ambassador does is prepare a briefing book, and one of those issues we included [in the briefing book] was how to deal with the escalation of human rights issues."

"It's very troubling", Reed Brody, of Human Rights Watch in New York, said yesterday. "When John Negroponte was ambassador he looked the other way when serious atrocities were committed. One would have to wonder what kind of message the Bush administration is sending about human rights by this appointment."

Mr Negroponte is said to be the specific choice of Colin Powell, the secretary of state.

An ex-Honduran congressman, Efrain Diaz, told the Baltimore Sun which investigated US involvement in the region in 1995: "Their attitude [Mr Negroponte and other senior US officials] was one of tolerance and silence. They needed Honduras to loan its territory more than they were concerned about innocent people being killed."

On several occasions, Mr Negroponte also met Colonel Oliver North, who coordinated support for the contras within the White House.

The Sun's investigation found that the CIA and US embassy knew of numerous abuses but continued to support Battalion 3-16 and ensured that the embassy's annual human rights report did not contain the full story.

Mr Negroponte, who retired from government service in 1997, has claimed that when abuses were brought to his attention he took action.

Mr Bush has also nominated another figure from the Iran-contra era as assistant secretary of state for western hemisph

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