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NEWS ... GL@BAL NEWS ... second highest on record for January. It YES, THE PENTAGON DID WANT TO HIT IRAN was also the second highest level for a by Gareth Porter single month in the past 20 years (second lhnree weeks after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, the then US Defense only to September 1996). Secretary Donald Rumsfeld established an official military objective of not only Four of the past five months were also removing the Saddam Hussein regime by force, but overturning the regimes in "all-time" records for southern hemisphere | Jran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Lebanon. This is according to a document sea ice anomalies. quoted extensively in the then Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith's (Source: Stephen McIntyre, Climate | recently published account of the Iraq war decisions. Audit, 4 May 2008, http://www. Feith's account further indicates that this aggressive aim of remaking the map of the climateaudit.org/?p=3066; also see The Middle East by military force and the threat of force was supported explicitly by the Cryosphere Today, http://arctic.atmos. country's top military leaders. uiuc.edu/cryosphere/, and sidads.colorado. Feith's book War and Decision, released in April 2008, provides excerpts of the paper edu/DATASETS/NOAA/G02135) Rumsfeld sent to President George W. Bush on 30 September 2001. The paper called for the administration to focus not on taking down Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda MOBILE PHONES POSE A network, but on the aim of establishing "new regimes" in a series of states by "aiding HEALTH DANGER TO CHILDREN local peoples to rid themselves of terrorists and to free themselves of regimes that Mc children and teenagers today are _| support terrorism". continually exposed to the potentially In quoting from that document, Feith deletes the names of all of the states to be adverse influence of electromagnetic fields | targeted except Afghanistan, inserting the phrase "some other states" in brackets. (EMF) from mobile phones. In a facsimile of a page from a related Pentagon "campaign plan" document, the EMF radiation is an important biotropic | Taliban and Saddam Hussein regimes are listed as "state regimes" against which "plans factor affecting not just human health in and operations" might be mounted, but the names of four other states are blacked out general but also the processes of higher "for security reasons". nervous activity, including behaviour and General Wesley Clark (Ret.), who commanded the NATO bombing campaign in the thinking. Radiation directly affects the Kosovo war, recalls in his 2003 book, Winning Modern Wars, being told this by a human brain when people use mobile _| friend in the Pentagon in November 2001: the list of states that Rumsfeld and Deputy phones. Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz wanted to take down included Iraq, Iran, Syria, The current safety standards for exposure _| Libya, Sudan and Somalia. Clark writes that the list also included Lebanon. to microwaves from mobile phones have Feith reveals that Rumsfeld's paper called for getting "Syria out of Lebanon" as a been developed for adults and don't major goal of US policy. consider the characteristic features of Rumsfeld's paper was given to the White House only two weeks after Bush had children's physiology. Today's children approved a US military operation in Afghanistan directed against bin Laden and the spend longer periods of time using mobile | Taliban regime. Despite that decision, Rumsfeld's proposal called explicitly for phones than today's adults do. postponing indefinitely US airstrikes and the use of ground forces in support of the anti- According to the opinion of the Russian _ | Taliban Northern Alliance in order to try to catch bin Laden. National Committee on Non-Ionising Instead, the Rumsfeld paper argued that the US should target states that had Radiation Protection, the following health | Supported anti-Israel forces such as Hezbollah and Hamas. It urged that the United hazards are likely to be faced by child States "[c]apitalize on our strong suit, which is not finding a few hundred terrorists in mobile phone users in the near future: caves in Afghanistan, but in the vastness of our military and humanitarian resources, disruption of memory, decline of attention, which can strengthen the opposition forces in terrorist-supporting states". Feith describes the policy outlined in the paper as consisting of "military action against some of the state sponsors and pressure—short of war—against others". The Rumsfeld plan represented a Pentagon consensus that included the uniformed military leadership, according to Feith's account. He writes that the process of drafting the paper involved consultations with the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Henry Shelton, and the incoming chairman, General Richard Myers. Myers helped revise the initial draft, Feith writes, and General John P. Abizaid, who was then director of the Joint Staff, enthusiastically endorsed it in draft form. "This is an exceptionally important memo," wrote Abizaid, "which gives clear strategic vision." In a message quoted by Feith, Abizaid recommended to Myers that "you support this approach". After the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Abizaid was promoted to become chief of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), with military responsibility for the entire Middle East. Bush had not approved the explicit aim of regime change in Iran, Syria and four other countries proposed by Rumsfeld. Thus Rumsfeld adopted the aggressive military plan targeting multiple regimes in the Middle East for regime change, even though it was not diminishing learning and cognitive abilities, increased irritability, sleeping problems, increased sensitivity to stress and increased epileptic readiness. Expected possible health risks in the longer term include tumours of the brain and acoustic and vestibular nerves at age 25-30 years, and Alzheimer's disease, depressive syndrome and other types of degeneration of the brain's nervous structures at age 50-60 years. The Committee members are appealing to government authorities and society to pay close attention to this coming threat and take adequate measures to prevent negative consequences to children's health. (Source: Russian National Committee on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection, 14 White House policy. April 2008, via EMFacts Consultancy, (Source: Asia Times Online, 7 May 2008, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/ http:/Awww.emfacts.com/weblog/?p=885) Middle_East/JEO7AKO1 html) second highest on record for January. It was also the second highest level for a single month in the past 20 years (second only to September 1996). Four of the past five months were also "all-time" records for southern hemisphere sea ice anomalies. (Source: Stephen McIntyre, Climate Audit, 4 May 2008, http://www. climateaudit.org/?p=3066; also see The Cryosphere Today, http://arctic.atmos. uiuc.edu/cryosphere/, and sidads.colorado. edu/DATASETS/NOAA/G02135) MOBILE PHONES POSE A HEALTH DANGER TO CHILDREN Mc children and teenagers today are continually exposed to the potentially adverse influence of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from mobile phones. EMF radiation is an important biotropic factor affecting not just human health in general but also the processes of higher nervous activity, including behaviour and thinking. Radiation directly affects the human brain when people use mobile phones. The current safety standards for exposure to microwaves from mobile phones have been developed for adults and don't consider the characteristic features of children's physiology. Today's children spend longer periods of time using mobile phones than today's adults do. According to the opinion of the Russian National Committee on Non-lonising Radiation Protection, the following health hazards are likely to be faced by child mobile phone users in the near future: disruption of memory, decline of attention, diminishing learning and cognitive abilities, increased irritability, sleeping problems, increased sensitivity to stress and increased epileptic readiness. Expected possible health risks in the longer term include tumours of the brain and acoustic and vestibular nerves at age 25-30 years, and Alzheimer's disease, depressive syndrome and other types of degeneration of the brain's nervous structures at age 50-60 years. The Committee members are appealing to government authorities and society to pay close attention to this coming threat and take adequate measures to prevent negative consequences to children's health. (Source: Russian National Committee on Non-lonising Radiation Protection, 14 April 2008, via EMFacts Consultancy, http:/Awww.emfacts.com/weblog/?p=885) JUNE — JULY 2008 NEXUS +9 www. nexusmagazine.com