Collateral damage in Seatlle

News/Current Events Opinion (Published) Keywords: COLLATERAL DAMAGE Source: www.emperors-clothes

Published: 02.12.99. Author: Jim Desyllas Posted on 12/03/1999 01:17:58 PST by Guru

COLLATERAL DAMAGE IN SEATTLE by Portland student/reporter Jim Desyllas Called-in from a pay phone outside Seattle. Wed., 7:30 pm Pacific time. (Posted at www.emperors-clothes.com 12-2-99. Feel free to distribute in full including this note.)

I just spent 4 days in Seattle. The information people are getting from the mass media is false. This was not, as Pres. Clinton claims, a peaceful protest marred by the actions of violent protesters. This was a massive, strong but peaceful demonstration which was attacked repeatedly by the police with the express purpose of provoking a violent response to provide photo opportunities for the Western media. I know because I watched it happening. Ill tell you how they did it. As Michel Chossudovsky says in his Disarming the New World Order (See Note # 1 at end for link to that article) - the government put a lot of effort into making sure the protesters in Seattle were a loyal opposition who wanted to reform the WTO, not get rid of it. But the people in Seattle - American steel workers, Canadian postal workers, college kids from all over, environmentalists from Australia - you name it - were not for reforming the WTO. They were for getting rid of it. And this wasnt just true of the protesters.

I interviewed delegates. None of them had anything favorable to say about the WTO. Two delegates from the Caribbean were angry about job loss. One delegate from Peru took a bullhorn and got up on a car and spoke to the protestors against the World Trade Organization. He said it hurts the workers and farmers. I interviewed a Norwegian guy from Greenpeace. Totally against it. Even a delegate from Holland said it had hurt the farmers there. He said though it is supposedly democratic, thats actually a lie: the US, England and Canada and a few others get together and decide what they want to do. Then they ask the rest of the countries to vote and if they vote wrong they threaten,You wont get loans, or whatever. They get them to do what they want by blackmailing them. The Italians we interviewed were upset too. I couldnt find any delegates who were in favor. So the government instigated a riot to discredit the movement against the WTO because they couldnt dilute it. I am not guessing about this. I was there. I saw it happening.

And I will tell you I am frankly shocked to see, close up, just how little our leaders care what happens to ordinary people. Clinton can pose and speak a lot of flowery stuff but the truth is - we are nothing to them. I saw this with my own eyes. Sunday and Monday, there was no violence. None. The people were aggressively non-violent; they were self-policing.

Up until Tuesday at 4pm there was one window broken in the whole city - a McDonalds window. This compares favorably to the typical rock concert, let alone a demonstration of people who were non-violently barring entry to the World Trade Center!

At this point, a new group of police - tactical police - moved in and started gassing people and shooting rubber bullets. Is it any surprise that people got mad? Of course, the young kids hit back by breaking some windows in retaliation for being gassed, sprayed with very painful pepper gas, and shot with dangerous rubber bullets. The police instigated these kids, plain and simple. Sunday and Monday they had young cops, using them to block the streets. These were trainees. But Tuesday they had the real cops; none of them were young. They were trained to attack people. A small group, maybe 100 people total, struck back. Then these cops herded that group around the city, making sure there were plenty of photo ops of violent protesters. A number of times they had these 100 or so protesters caught between buildings and walls of police. They could easily have arrested and detained this small number of people and gotten it over with. Instead they would gas them and let them go. Then trap them again, gas them again, and again let them go. The cops made no arrests that I know of until late Tuesday night though the skirmishing was going on from three till 9:30. The cops would blockade three or five blocks of an area, give the angry kids room to operate, keep gassing them - when you gas a person, let me tell you, it gets them fighting mad. Tuesday night the police gassed all of downtown. This was going on from 3 PM, till 6 PM.. Gas everywhere. The kids broke a few windows - McDs, Starbucks - small stuff - burned a few garbage cans. The police were using these people as extras. It was staged. I believe also the police had their own people in there, encouraging people to break stuff - if people think I may be exaggerating, I saw supposed protesters - they were screaming and so on - and then later, when everything was over, the same people tackled other protestors and put handcuffs on them.

At 6pm they issued a State of Emergency. At that point they had pushed the 100 people outside the city limits, so the police went outside the limits too, and they started gassing that area too, gassing the neighborhoods where the regular people live. I am not exaggerating. The police were relentless. This was in an area from the city limits for about 10 blocks to the Seattle Central Community College. If you were alive, the police gassed you. People coming back from work, kids, women, everyone. People would go out of their houses to see what was happening because these tear gas guns sound like a cannon - and they would get gassed. A block away there was a Texaco gas station - they threw tear gas at gas pumps, believe it or not - they were like vandals. They gassed a bus. I saw it with my own eyes. A bus. The driver, the riders, the people just abandoned it . I was sitting in a little coffee shop called Rauhaus, [Jim did not spell this - the spelling may be wrong.] They were shooting rubber bullets at the glass. I picked up a dozen of the things in a few square feet. They were also shooting this paint that you can only see with a florescent light. They would paint anyone and everyone and then go hunting them. Anyway, because they were gassing everybody, the local people got mad too and they joined the 100 who had been herded out of the city. So soon there were 500 including the neighborhood people and all very angry. Naturally. Because they had been gassed and hit with pepper spray, that stuff does a number on you. And shot with these damn bullets. Then people set up barricades at Seattle Central Community College. The cops organized themselves for about an hour and then moved in and gassed that area. [ note : I was listening in on KOMO radio the evening that this event took place and I hear the radio journalist saying that local politician Brian Derdowski was standing between the neighborhood residents and the police, trying to get the police to back off so the residents could simply walk down the street to their own homes. the police refused. ]

Today they started mass arrests. That was because Clinton - the Greeks call him the Planitarchis, Ruler of the World - was coming. Weeping crocodile tears about how he just LOVES peaceful protest, which of course youd have to be two years old to believe he had nothing to do with the police action. This whole thing, this police attack, this was US foreign policy, not some action decided by some bureaucrat in Seattle. This was the State Department. They wanted to discredit the people. When things started on Sunday, there was a protest rally of solidarity involving people from different walks of life. Monday it got even bigger. Tuesday there was a big sort of carnival where people were doing different things, a band was playing music and people were blocking the World Trade Center. And about 3 PM the cops started throwing tear gas. The thing that drove Clinton crazy was that on Tuesday the protesters had succeeded in making nonviolent human chains and had therefore stopped everyone from going into the World Trade Center. Only maybe 27 delegates got through, mostly US and British. There were what seemed like tens of thousands of protesters involved. So the police did their gassing number against these nonviolent people to break up the human chains and make the protesters look violent.

Today (Wednesday) I followed the union protest put together by the Longshoremens Union. They went down to the docks and had a rally then marched to Third Avenue. As soon as they got there the cops started gassing them. There was an old lady there. She had gone downtown by bus to buy something. This lady was in her 70s and I saw her trying to run, but she couldnt breathe. She was in shock. I carried her to a building entryway. She was gasping, terrified. She had been in Germany, and it was like she was having flashbacks. The tear gas sounds like gunfire and there were helicopters overhead, sirens, cops on horses, everything. They had clearly made a decision to destroy this movement. So anyway there I was with her in this building and she wanted to go to the hospital but there was tear gas everywhere and I was afraid if I tried to move her shed be gassed again. I went to this line of cops and begged - I mean begged - these riot police to help her. They ignored me. A girl told me later that a one year old had been gassed. And I myself saw a girl no more than 18 - a cop had busted her lip wide open - she was bleeding - and then they gassed everyone including her. After that she was kneeling on the ground crying like a baby and praying for 15 minutes, Hail Mary, Hail Mary. Over and over. She was in a state of shock. They just gassed these people who were sitting down non-violently and doing nothing. Nothing.

[ note : go over to Brasscheck - http://www.brasscheck.com/seattle/seattle1.html and see the photo of the SPD officer shooting a group of non-violent protesters huddled together on their knees. the officer is shooting them with a " street sweeper " semi-auto shotgun shooting rubber bullets. he is standing over them at a distance of roughly ONE YARD between the muzzle of his weapon and their heads. ]

At one point the Seattle Mayor said his boys were not using rubber bullets. Miraculously, by then I had ten in my pocket. I could open a little market, sell the things. They are everywhere. I and other people started giving them to delegates and stuff. See what theyre doing? Theyre shooting rubber bullets and lying about it. We showed them to the media. I guess enough people and the media got the information because the Mayor made a new statement then that they were using them. As if he hadnt known. They shot rubber bullets from four feet away into the face of a guy next to me, broke all his front teeth. When that happened I lost it. I forgot I was supposed to be getting the news for all of you and I started yelling at the cops, What the hell is wrong with you? Are you sick, man? So this cop aimed his gun right at me. That was his answer. So I first put my hands in front of my face because I didnt want to lose my teeth. And then I thought, to hell with it. I was wearing my target shirt that said Collateral Damage, you know? With a bullseye target, like they wore during the bombing in Yugoslavia. And I told this guy, Go ahead, shoot! Here! Heres the target! He didnt shoot me. I want to emphasize, these protesters were NOT violent people. They were the most non-violent people I have ever seen. Even when I was screaming at the cop, this girl came up to me and said, Do not scream. This is non-violent. These people were too much to believe. They must meditate all the time, I dont know. Clinton said he supports nonviolent protest. That is baloney.

Today (Wed.) the protesters were causing absolutely no trouble. In downtown the cops had people running who werent even protesters - like that old lady or just people going to work or shopping - everyone was getting gassed. The busses werent running because of the gas. I was lucky to catch one with a driver who could still see. I begged him to drive the old lady home - the driver changed his route especially for her. If you want to find human decency, stay away from the Planitarchis. Go to the to regular people. They have some. The Planitarchis lost all his years ago. Now he wouldnt know human decency if it came up and bit him. So now I have made personal acquaintance with the people who run this country, and they are quite simply scum. There were people at work, people with babies, they were all getting gassed because the government would not allow an assembly of people speaking their minds. It is the same as what happened in Athens. Clintons requirements on the Greek government created the riot and he did the same thing here. And then he says he supports nonviolent protest? How? By shooting rubber bullets? And today they outlawed gas masks. They want to make sure everyone gets his moneys worth. Today, just like yesterday night, the police were in the residential neighborhoods. People in cafis were getting gassed and shot at, you could hear it on the windows, bang, bang, bang. A guy trying to cross the street to go to his house got gassed. First a drunk guy outside a bar yelled at the cops Get out of here! so they gassed him. And then this other guys was just crossing the street to go home so the cops figured, might as well gas him too. People got gassed for coming out of restaruants and bars and coffeee shops. Im amazed that nobody died who had asthma or something. Or maybe somebody did die and they didnt talk about it. I mean after all, its just collateral damage..

Note # 1 - For a critical look at the World Trade Organization, click on SEATTLE AND BEYOND: DISARMING THE NEW WORLD ORDER

or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/chuss/seattle.htm

If youre on AOL click here: SEATTLE AND BEYOND If you would like to browse articles from Emperors-Clothes.com, click here Or go to: http://www.emperors-clothes.com or if youre on AOL Click here: The Emperors Clothes

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inquiring minds want to know :

how is it that CNN was able to leisurely film a streetside interview with some of the hooded / masked " anarchists " who perpetrated nearly all of the violent vandalism during the Seattle WTO protests, but the Seattle Police were unable to find and arrest even one of them?

how is it that NPR radio was able to conduct a leisurely streetside interview with one of the hooded / masked " anarchists " who perpetrated nearly all of the violent vandalism during the Seattle WTO protests, but the Seattle Police were unable to find and arrest even one of them?

how is it that the KOMO radio was able to report, live, witnessing a hooded/ masked " anarchist " leisurely dragging newspaper vending boxes from a street corner into the middle of an intersection, then kicking and stomping on them, in full view of a Seattle Police squadron with out being approached or arrested by the Seattle Police, who then promptly began arresting quiet, peaceful onlookers on a nearby sidewalk, as the hooded / masked " anarchist " continued to kick and stomp the offending newspaper vending boxes in the middle of the intersection?

December 2, 1999 WHO WERE THOSE MASKED MEN?

The appearance of radio-equipped, masked men in black attacking shops during the Seattle demonstration became, not surprisingly, a focus of media coverage. Journalists quickly assumed that the window-smashers represented elements of the anti-WTO protest. But while it is permissible, under corporate journalistic ground rules, to make such assumptions it is not permissible to make the equally likely assumption that these masked rioters might have been government agents or corporate thugs.

There is a long history of such activities by both government and corporations encompassing the use of professional strikebreakers, the placing of agents provocateur within protest groups, not to mention more drastic techniques such as the massive disruptions of Contelpro or "accidents" of the Karen Silkwood variety. Even as the Seattle demonstrations were underway, the Washington Post was reporting the attempted entrapment of Marion Barry that didn't even bother with official approval -- apparently dedicated to nothing more important than settling the FBI's score with a jury that didn't give Barry a long enough sentence. Such operations can range from simple disinformation to the sort of multi-agent intimidation experienced by Patrick Knowlton, who testified not to the government's liking about what happened in Ft. Marcy Park around the time that Vince Foster's body was found there. And of course, we also have the death threats issued against various of Clinton's paramours.

More to the point in this case, however, is something that TPR reported in late 1997:

"Timothy Maier of Insight Magazine has followed up his stunning story of Clinton administration bugging of over 300 locations during the 1993 Seattle Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference with word that FBI videotapes of diplomatic suites 'show underage boys engaging sexcapades with men in several rooms over a period of days.' The operation involved the FBI, CIA, NSA and Office of Naval Intelligence. Bugged were hotel rooms, telephones, conference centers, cars, and even a charter boat. Some of the information obtained was apparently passed on to individuals with financial interests in Asia. Also involved: alleged kickbacks on purchases of surveillance equipment by the spooks.

"How did such a major scandal escape exposure? According to Maier's sources, those agents who complained were told that pursuing any crimes would have endangered a major national security operation. Writes Maier: 'Some claiming direct involvement say they are outraged and are willing to come forward and tell what they know under oath before a grand jury or congressional committee. Others, fearful of reprisal and career damage, will not step into the limelight but are deeply troubled by what they did -- or what they did not do.'

Why did Maier's story not get wider exposure? Probably for the same reason the media would just as soon believe that the masked men in black are part of the labor or environmental movements, even though it has more than 50,000 case studies before this eyes that this is not how your typical environmentalist or union protester looks or behaves.

And so it is left to alternative journalists such as Ken McCarthy to bring up questions such as, "Does anyone remember a certain elaborate training exercise held last spring in Oakland which featured gun thugs in gas masks practicing arresting protesters in large numbers" with US and NATO military and police "observers" from all over the west coast taking part? Or to wonder why police did not try to stop the store smashers. The best jobs in journalism go to those who know what not to ask. Better to libel a whole citizen movement than risk angering an official source.

KEN MCCARTHY http://prorev.com/indexa.htm

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SEATTLE SKETCHES

TIM MUCK: Yesterday, the police overreacted and followed demonstrators into a neighborhood, outside of the curfew area, preventing residents from getting to their homes and using tear gas, pepper spray, and concussion bombs late at night to disperse those that still remained together. We now have a twenty-four hour curfew in effect, limited in size but still police enforced. Yesterday, a suit brought by the ACLU saying that the curfew was unconstitutional was thrown out of court. What effect will this all have? I think we, the residents of Seattle and all of those who are watching this debacle, are creating a new generation of authority-hating individuals. Yesterday, there were nearly five hundred arrests. The police did not allow workers to walk through certain parts of the city. The things you saw on TV were ugly.

BEN GRAD: Over 450 have been arrested today and bussed to Sand Point Naval Station, where the video on the news showed them rocking the buses and chanting at 11:20pm .... The county only has room for 250 people in the downtown jails, and the protesters know it. It is unclear how many of the direct action network has been a part of this arrest, but their message on what to do in case of arrest must have gotten through yesterday, with the many orange stickers that were passed out that stated the following: 1. I want to speak to my attorney. 2. I am not going to say anything, not even my name and address. 3. I want to speak to my attorney NOW. 4. We demand to be held together, and to get the same court date ....

The police hospitalized a number of protesters, tear gassed virtually everyone, and repeatedly asserted that everyone there was guilty of "unlawful assembly", because some protesters were standing in the street (most of the standoff was spent on a quiet side street, though the early beatings occurred on the main street in the neighborhood). The protesters made it very clear that all they wanted was for the police to go home so that they could go home. They chanted "You go home, we go home" and "Whose streets? our streets". A King County Council Member attempted to negotiate with the cops but was told that they had no interest in any resolution other than everyone dispersing immediately. The word that best describes the scene in my mind was 'invasion.' To enter a residential neighborhood where a small crowd is peacefully gathered and create a situation where hundreds of passers-by are tear-gassed and many people are prevented from going home and then to blame it on the proteste! rs, is criminal.

PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS: The tens of thousands of demonstrators marching in the streets of Seattle this week represent a formidable new protest movement likely to make itself felt at the Republican National Convention here next summer. The protesters, representing a diverse array of groups from right-wing protectionists to centrist trade unions to left-leaning environmentalists, have thrown the World Trade Organization meeting in the normally laid-back city into turmoil and forced officials to call in state troopers and the National Guard. .... "This is a reflection of a growing consciousness and sophistication of a variety of groups across the spectrum that have seized on an issue that crosses ethnic, class and racial lines," said Jonathan Stein, a longtime Philadelphia social activist who is general counsel of Community Legal Services .... "Certainly the Republican convention will see this protest moving across the country to Philadelphia."

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER: Smoke, panic, screams and the sound of shattering glass filled the air. With one hand, protesters grabbed the shoulder in front of them. With the other, they covered their mouths. The tear gas was so strong that non-protesters were forced against the store-front windows. The gas spread quickly, gagging bystanders caught in the traffic and melee .... Police officers dragged away Victor Menotti, a non-governmental delegate from San Francisco, as he discussed environmental issues with a small crowd that had gathered. "He wasn't inciting any kind of violence," said Peter Rosset, a friend. Menotti, the environmental director for the San Francisco-based International Forum on Globalization, had just returned from a briefing .... "He was immediately arrested in mid-sentence," said Jerry Mander, director of the forum. "He wasn't ranting . . . he was basically briefing."

LAIN SCHMIDT: A couple hours ago at Sand Point, where protesters are being held on 7 busses, the cops tear-gassed one bus of protesters. Protesters are not being allowed food/water/bathroom, aren't being processed and aren't being allowed to speak to lawyers .... A woman wearing a Red Cross badge, who is volunteering medical services to protesters, was kicked and tear-gassed by the cops.

DOUG HUNT: It is a very bittersweet day... The police wait until dark here and then come in their black body armor as if ordinary people were evil demons to be feared and hated. This could well be the night that the sham of developed world democracy began to be unmasked for what it has become all over the world ... In a week or so I may be less dramatic. I will never be the same. I have never seen the like, not even at Kent State.

DEUCE: Well, we here in Seattle today found out just exactly why the police pushed demonstrators into the residential areas of Seattle last night. The city was contacted by the Secret Service and told that if they did not lock down the city, the President would not come to Seattle .... This is a sad day for, not only Seattle, but the whole United States .... I wonder if the WTO delegate who was caught on camera waiving a pistol around was arrested. Or the one who was caught on camera assaulting protesters with his fists. I doubt it. Police officers are conducting searches in people's backpacks and being told that they will not be allowed into the city if they wear clothing or buttons that protest the WTO. One officer informed a citizen that gas masks are not allowed in the city. I heard one officer clearly state that "Protesters are not allowed in the city. Citizens are." Police are not even making distinctions anymore between gassing and concussion bombing groups of protester! s and groups of average citizens going about their business .... I continue to wonder why police were not doing a damned thing about these black clad, hooded 'Anarchists' who were hell-bent on causing damage and destruction .... One camera caught the shot of the evening last night as the photographer got a close up of the feet of one of these 'Anarchists' as he was kicking down the Nike logo. Guess what brand name shoes he was wearing: Yep...you guessed it. Nike.

BRASSCHECK: "Police" in black uniforms with taped-over badges, no personal identification or insignia, and wearing body armor and headgear that obscures their faces .... Police throwing concussion grenades into peaceful crowds that had not been issued legal orders to disperse and then following up with tear gas and rubber bullets, some sprayed by automatic weapons .... Police fired a tear gas canister into a dumpster causing it to catch fire. As if on cue, the news media descended on the scene photographing the fire and the protesters but neatly ignoring the scores of heavily armed officers and armored vehicles directly behind them .... One of the WTO "dignitaries" walking past demonstrators pulls out a handgun and points it at the crowd .... Local news media denies the use of rubber bullets by the police even though evidence is available all over the streets. One news reporter called the concussion grenades "loud explosions...we don't know where they're coming from." Later wh! en tear-gassed herself, she suddenly "saw the light" and started describing the nature of the attacks. An hour later, she regained her composure and was back to the party line. A real professional.

RTMARK: The World Trade Organization, the principal organization in charge of enforcing the rules of global commerce, has issued a press release stating that it is "deeply concerned" about RTMark's "illegal and unfair" website, http://gatt.org/. WTO Director-General Mike Moore accuses RTMark of attempting to "undermine WTO transparency" by copying the WTO web-site's design and using "domain names such as 'www.gatt.org' and page titles such as 'World Trade Organization/GATT Home Page' which make it difficult for visitors to realize that these are fake pages." RTMark spokesperson Ray Thomas says "Mike Moore must have a very low opinion of people to think they won't figure it out."

MORE SEATTLE LINKS http://www.seattleweekly.com/supplements/wto/ http://www.historylink.org/gazette/gazette.htm http://www.sightings.com/politics5/seat.htm Seattle Police scanner http://www.apbnews.com/scanner/seascanner.html http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/PugetSoundTraffic/cameras/imagehtml/cctv117a.htm http://images.wsdot.wa.gov/nwflow/cctv117.jpg http://www.indymedia.org/ http://www.historylink.org/gazette/gazette.htm http://www.seattlep-i.com/wtogalleries/monday/pages/400arrest.shtml

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All is not as it seems! A letter from Seattle

This is a fax (another one) that I sent to the Mayor of Seattle. Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization Via APFNetwork apfn@lv.rmci.net http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb77532

Subject: a letter from Seattle Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 10:31:10 PST From: Name on file

To Whom It May Concern:

I am a young man living in the Seattle area. I am not going to reveal my name, for reasons that will be obvious.

Several weeks ago I was approached by the representative of a major company. I was offered a lucrative, temporary job as a demonstrator as part of a 'media event' that the company rep said she was involved in planning. I was offered $35 an hour, plus bonuses and meals, for a job that would last a week or so. Being a rather poor college student, I jumped at the offer. I was assured it was all legal. I signed a strict non-disclosure agreement. And I was given a few days paid training. All of this was before I had heard about the upcoming World Trade Organization meeting. In fact, I didn't really know what the WTO was.

In the past few days I have carried protest signs and chanted slogans for various causes - whales, farmers, human rights, rainforests; I have blocked traffic, been shoved, kicked, tear-gassed, arrested (bail promptly paid), worn a panda bear costume, and been on tv; I've been well-fed on steaks and shrimp and pizza; had a hell of a lot of fun; made some good cash money and recieved some merchandise bonuses like vitamins and Pepsi stuff; - and become totally disillusioned with our political system.

The company that hired me is Archer Daniels Midland, but Pepsi was somehow involved, too (and no doubt some others). The demonstrations this past week in Seattle are contrived and manufactured. I'm sure that many of the people out there are sincerely trying to further their cause, but many more are just nuts getting caught up in the moment, and some are paid agitators (like me and about another 100 or so that I know of). I'm not out there anymore, though, I took my cash last night and left, went back to school.

Here's the thing: Have you noticed how the aims of many of the protestors for the most part actually go along with the aims of the WTO and the multi-national corporations? The 'event' is being portrayed as a demonstration against capitalism, but actually is about stricter environment and labor controls, and stricter international standards in many areas. This is the agenda of the WTO and the New World Order. It is all part of the one-world government thing. It is all about more CONTROL over people. When I saw this, I walked away.

All of this should be obvious to thoughtful people, but the media are drooling all over each other covering this story as if it were some kind of spontaneous happening, instead of the staged drama it really is. People think the New World Order is just something some crazy person on the internet thought up, but I first heard it from the mouth of President George Bush years ago. The New World Order is alive and growing.

I just wanted to put the word out on this to counter the prevailing spin. All is not as it seems!

Just Some Guy - a NWO shill

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oh, and by the way, earlier today, Mayor Paul Schell, addressing several hundred protesters gathered outside of the King County Jail, made what he called a major concession to the protesters! He agreed to allow the people who had been arrested to speak with attorneys!!!

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selected pull quotes :

"According to Defense Department documents obtained by CNN, 131 U.S. Army, 27 U.S. Air Force, and eight U.S. Navy personnel were sent to Seattle to perform roles from ordnance disposal to standing by for possible chemical or biological attack by terrorist groups.

Four special forces troops from the Joint Special Operations Task Force were deployed to Seattle to be on hand to advise FBI "crisis support" agents in the event of a catastrophic terrorist event involving chemical or biological weapons or hostage taking. Two of the four special operations experts have since left the city, according to an informed Pentagon official who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

Fifty-five military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, along with 25 explosive-detecting dogs and their handlers, were sent. The soldiers are "operating in civilian attire -- keeping a low presence," the Defense Department documents say. "

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SEATTLE (CNN) -- In addition to hundreds of very visible Army National Guard troops called-up because of the civil disturbances in Seattle, more than 160 active duty military personnel, including a small number of Special Forces troops, were sent to Seattle by the Defense Department for the meeting of the World Trade Organization.

VIDEO Demonstrators come from various walks of life, as CNN's Don Knapp reports. (December 2) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

----------------------------------------------------------------------Correspondent Charles Feldman compares protests of the past with the anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle (December 1) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K ----------------------------------------------------------------------Windows Media Real ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- 28 K 80 K RESOURCES

What's the big deal about the WTO?

CNNfn Special Report: WTO meeting Image Gallery WTO protesters and police clash in Seattle QUICK VOTE Vote on the U.S. actions regarding the WTO How do you think the violence in Seattle will affect the cause of the WTO protesters? ALSO WTO protests awaken '60s-style activism

Editorials: Chaos at WTO talks reflects public mistrust Seattle police: Gentle tactics didn't work Environment, human rights, labor issues among diverse complaints in Seattle

Seattle 'war zone' filled with riot police, pockets of protest MESSAGE BOARD

WTO The military mission, according to the Pentagon, is to "provide support" to the FBI, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Secret Service and other government agencies responsible for security there. The military specialists are in place largely to provide expertise and assist in coordinating a federal response in the event of a terrorist attack during such a high-profile event. According to Defense Department documents obtained by CNN, 131 U.S. Army, 27 U.S. Air Force, and eight U.S. Navy personnel were sent to Seattle to perform roles from ordnance disposal to standing by for possible chemical or biological attack by terrorist groups.

Four special forces troops from the Joint Special Operations Task Force were deployed to Seattle to be on hand to advise FBI "crisis support" agents in the event of a catastrophic terrorist event involving chemical or biological weapons or hostage taking. Two of the four special operations experts have since left the city, according to an informed Pentagon official who spoke on the condition that he not be named.

Fifty-five military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, along with 25 explosive-detecting dogs and their handlers, were sent. The soldiers are "operating in civilian attire -- keeping a low presence," the Defense Department documents say.

Troops there are from various military fiefdoms including the U.S. Special Operations Command, the U.S. Forces Command, the U.S. Army Biological-Chemical Command, the U.S. Air Force Security Forces Command and the U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Eight divers, making up two Navy dive teams, were sent to provide support to the Secret Service for President Clinton's visit, which ended Thursday. The action is not unusual for presidential security. The Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA have set up a "staging area" for their operations at the U.S. Naval Reserve Center-Lake Union [ note : Sandpoint - where the protesters were held before transfer to King County Jail ] in Seattle. Eight military personnel are assigned to that site. The HHS-FEMA site is pre-positioned to respond to major health catastrophes such as a biological agent attack, according to a well-informed source.

The "Domestic Military Support," or "DOMS" as it is known at the Pentagon, is provided through the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the request of other federal agencies.

Protesters get police motorcycle escort Meanwhile, Seattle Mayor Paul Schell said Thursday there is no "battle in Seattle," and police motorcycle officers escorted approximately 400 demonstrators on a march toward the "no protest" zone near the WTO conference.

The marchers held hands, sang and carried signs.

It was a turnabout of tactics by police, who had clashed with demonstrators for the past two nights in the downtown area.

But Schell said the primary goal of authorities was still to "regain and maintain peace in our city." "Until we can restore peace, we are still in a state of civil emergency," Schell said. "This is not business as usual."

The 24-hour-a-day curfew in the 46-block area surrounding WTO meeting venues remains in effect until midnight Friday, after the conference ends.

However, Schell said protesters with permits will be allowed to demonstrate. "If you are protesting lawfully, the police will allow you to do so," he said.

The curfews imposed this week apparently are the first in Seattle since the Army ordered Japanese citizens off the streets in World War II.

The mayor said nearly all of the 30,000 protesters demonstrated peacefully. But he said when the few troublemakers acted up, authorities had to react to protect lives.

"We are a city that holds the right to free speech in a very high regard," Schell said. He urged all demonstrators to cooperate with police.

Protesters: Police violated pact Thursday's march was organized by Direct Action, one of a number of protest groups. Long-time activist Tom Hayden was among the marchers.

Seattle Mayor Paul Schell said, 'Police are having to do what they're having to do to ensure a safe environment' At a news conference held at Seattle Central Community College, where the marchers began their demonstration, members of several groups, including the Ruckus Society, the Rainforest Action Network, the Committee to Free Tibet, and Direct Action vowed to continue demonstrations. John Goodman of the United Steelworkers of America -- one of the groups that has participated in peaceful demonstrations - - said police fired tear gas without provocation. "I've witnessed things in the last four days that I didn't believe could happen in America," he said.

Han Shan of the Ruckus Society said Seattle police had violated an agreement, reached through weeks of negotiation with his group, to "peacefully arrest" peaceful demonstrators.

"The commitment by the Seattle Police Department to undertake peaceful arrests of peaceful protesters ... has been violated," said Shan.

Chief: Officers did 'heroic job' Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper praised his officers for doing a "heroic job -- against all odds." He said they were working in chaotic conditions while trying to maintain public safety. The chief said safety was the reason officers would give orders for protesters to disperse.

Stamper acknowledged that to enforce those orders, police used pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. About 500 people have been arrested since protests turned violent on Tuesday, police said. Both the chief and the mayor insist it would have been a mistake to have called in the National Guard before trouble erupted. They said it would have turned the city into an "armed camp," required many more military personnel and set the wrong tone.

Mayor: Time to start healing city Schell acknowledged that many residents were upset by the clashes in the city.

"It's time for us to start the healing process," he said.

"There are a lot of angry people in our city today. There are angry people who have been in protest and felt they've not had a chance to be heard, or were denied a place to protest. There are angry people who've sniffed gas or have been pepper sprayed -- a lot of them innocent. And for them I apologize," the mayor said.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Downtown Seattle Association said this week's disturbances will cost some 2,500 city merchants and property owners "in the millions range." Association marketing director Lucinda Payne added: "That's just the physical damage -- the broken display windows, spot looting, and the horrific graffiti."

Payne said later that lost sales were estimated at $7 million. Clinton on Wednesday condemned violent protesters but said demonstrators who came peacefully should be allowed to make their point.

The president later called on the WTO to open its deliberations to include the concerns of the demonstrators who have besieged the WTO meeting.

Before leaving the city Thursday, Clinton signed a treaty that bans the worst forms of child labor. The march began shortly after his plane left for Philadelphia.

The WTO is an international organization of 135 countries. Its trade agreements govern most international trade.

The Seattle meeting is intended to set an agenda for the "Seattle Round" of trade talks toward a new international trade agreement.

National Security Producer Chris Plante, Correspondent Rusty Dornin, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

---

LAURA LIVOTI, Managing director of the National Radio Project, Livoti was interviewing activists and onlookers on the corner of 6th and Union in Seattle on Tuesday morning. As the police began massing in full riot gear, Livoti - wearing her WTO press credentials - was telling a police officer that she was a journalist. Still, a policeman [badge number 4409] hit her in the back with a baton. She was then sprayed directly in the face with pepper spray and was blinded for 15 minutes until an activist medic treated her. Said Livoti: "Despite the fact that the officer clearly knew that I was a working member of the press, he attacked me." -- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), December 03, 1999 --------------------------------------------------------------------- yesterday while listening to KIRO radio's John Carlson show, a caller reported having witnessed one of KIRO radio's radio journalists outside of a QFC on capitol hill getting shot up along with all the other shoppers leaving the QFC, by SPD officers shooting them with rubber bullets. the journalist had been interviewing shoppers as they left the store with bags of groceries in their arms about their feelings about the rioting and all. the journalist was well identified with badges and her crew members. there were no protesters anywhere in the vicinity for several blocks. the police simply opened fire on them. the whole thing was broadcast live over KIRO earlier that day.

---

So Dick, tell us what legitimate role the US Special Forces have in domestic US law enforcement within the borders of the United States?

And if you would please, enlighten us as to when any civil authority, from the local dog catcher on up to the president, had the right to deny the accused the right to an attorney?

And while you're at it Dick, please be so good as to explain to us why policemen, officers of the court, servants of the people, should tape over their badges, wear ski masks and otherwise dress up and act like gangsters and thugs if they are merely carrying out lawful orders based on the laws of the land?

-- Nunja Biznec ( @ .org), December 03, 1999

Cleaned and fixed.

-- # 3 (fixers@re.Us), December 03, 1999.

Waaaaah, waaaaaaaah, waaaaaaa!

If the stupid jerks would stay the f**k away from the cops and let them do their job then they wouldn't get gassed, would they? !!

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 03, 1999.

Just a teeny, weeny, little preview of what the "7-11 crowd" has to look forward to.

But then.......community is SOOOOOO important, right?

Sure. Whatever.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), December 03, 1999.

this is frightening. so what happens to folks in law enforcement in a situation like this? what happened to americans supporting americans? is this what happens when you militarize law enforcement?

not all the protestors were causing problems yet it looks like even the peaceful ones got unwarranted treatment from the police? so is this what Y2K is going to be like?

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), December 03, 1999.

Ah yes, the police and military are JUST so out to "get'cha."

Give it a break!

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), December 03, 1999.

Thanks so much Nunja for compiling all of this.

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), December 03, 1999.

From someone who lives in Seattle, attended the 'event', and saw it with my own two eyes....

This article is complete and total Bullshit.

Whoever wrote this smear campaign should return to propaganda 101 and TAKE NOTES.

-- whomever you are, you are a (Lying s@ck.of sheep shit), December 03, 1999.

[Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on July 7, 1999] [Printed Issue Date: July 9, 1999] From the Commerce Business Daily Online via GPO Access [cbdnet.access.gpo.gov]

PART: CONTRACT AWARDS SUBPART: SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL CLASSCOD: 10--Weapons OFFADD: US Army Armament And Chemical Acquisition And Logistics Activity (ACALA) Attn: AMSTA-AC-PC, Rock Island , IL 61299-7630 SUBJECT: 10--SHOTGUN, 12 GAGE PUMP/RIOT POC Contract Specialist - Ellen Bartz, (309) 782-5120/PCO - Kris Mendoza (309) 782-0243 CNT DAAE20-99-C-0068 AMT $204,215.00 DTD 070799 TO O. F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., 7 Grasso Avenue, North Haven, CT 06473-3237 CITE: (W-188 SN351158)

-- c (c@deer.mouse), December 03, 1999.