by Common Ground staff

Secret Afghan envoy tells all

How Bush was offered bin Laden and blew it www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11012004.html

Israelis reported to have killed 310 scientists

The Iraqi ambassador in Cairo, Ahmad al-Iraqi, accused Israel of sending to Iraq immediately after the US invasion “a commando unit” charged with the killing of Iraqi scientists. http://207.44.245.159/article7199.htm

Uranium pollution in Iraq damaging

If you thought Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, then consider this: the ongoing conflict in Iraq will leave behind a legacy of depleted uranium, which will affect not just the US troops, but also the Iraqi people, maybe over generations, said Diane Henshel, associate professor of public and environmental affairs. www.idsnews.com/story.php?id=25921

Colin Powell believes US is losing Iraq war

Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former general who stays in touch with the Joint Chiefs, has acknowledged this privately to friends in recent weeks. Newsweek www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6370525/site/newsweek

Hawking decries Iraq war at London protest

Britain’s most famous scientist, Stephen Hawking, condemned the US led invasion of Iraq as a “war crime’’ and said last month it was based on lies. http://cbsnewyork.com/international/Britain-Iraq-Hawking-ai/resources_news_html

US seeks clarification from China on criticism

An unprecedented election-eve attack on Bush administration policies by a senior figure in the Chinese government suggested that, despite undeniable improvements in ties with Washington, elements in Beijing remain deeply suspicious of the United States. www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200411%5CFOR20041102a.html

Palestinians killed by Israelis at 2½-year high

According to an inquiry by Haaretz, 50 of the 165 dead, or just over 30 percent, were civilians, including women, children, the elderly and males under 16.

www.nytimes.com/2004/11/02/international/middleeast/02toll.html?pagewanted=print&position

http://snipurl.com/acf6

World news reports from Middle East

The only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime. http://snipurl.com/acfg

El Baradei issues North Korea warning

The UN’s chief weapons inspector says North Korea is presenting a serious challenge to attempts to limit the world’s nuclear weapons. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3973357.stm

Scientist going to court

There has been a new development in UC Berkeley scientist Ignacio Chapela’s legal fight to gain tenure, which was refused amid a furor about conflicts of interest within the university. The university’s academic senate tenure committee is now recommending a formal senate hearing, which could drag on for months.

Chapela, a microbial ecologist, was an outspoken critic of a $25 million agreement between the school’s college of natural resources and biotech giant Novartis. He was also the first to report the contamination of backyard maize plots in the Mexican state of Oaxaca with DNA from GM corn - part of a paper that was published and later more or less disowned by the journal Nature after it was attacked by pro-biotech interests. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4559

Togolese youth condemn transgenics

Togo’s Young Volunteers for the Environment on World Food Day issued a press release condemning “the false promises of biotech industries.” Curiously, this is the very same group that was recently listed among those supporting the FAO’s promotion of GMOs. Sena Alouka, the group’s executive director and cultural biodiversity campaign coordinator, says that the group’s name should never have been included.

www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4567

God, not Monsanto, creates life

Following a massive lobby drive by pro-biotech interests to persuade the Vatican to adopt a pro-GM stance, the issue of GM and its potential impact on the world’s poor was explored at the annual general meeting in October of the Catholic Institute for International Relations.

Columban missionary Rev. Sean McDonagh said that his main concern was that GM was pitched at the conference as a solution to world hunger, a concept he disputes.

He said: “Genetically engineered crops will not feed the world. Many countries where poverty is endemic are actually food exporters. Brazil is the third largest exporter of food in the world and yet one fifth of its population, 32 million, go to bed hungry every night.”

He added, “GE crops are patented so the Catholic church, which presents itself as a pro-life institution, should recoil in horror at the arrogance involved in patenting life. Like slavery in past centuries there is no good patenting regime. It is totally at variance with the Biblical teaching that life is a gift of God to be shared by all. Christians believe that God, and not Monsanto, creates life.” www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4563

Why David Suzuki gave up GM research

Excerpt from article by Canadian geneticist David Suzuki explaining why he gave up his career in GM research to preserve his integrity as a science commentator: “I was also acutely aware that [GM] was a scientific revolution with enormous social, economic and ethical questions that had to be addressed, and if I and my lab were actively engaged in using the new technology, how could I escape the very real or perceived bias of vested interest?.. I recognized that to examine the technology critically, I could not be directly immersed in it.”

That critical examination is what seems to be missing today in regards to regulation. When the government of Canada is charged with both promoting biotechnology and regulating it, you know there will be a conflict of interest. And I fear that farmers and consumers will be the ultimate losers. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4561

GM increasing pesticide use

As a former executive director of the board on agriculture of the US National Academy of Science for seven years, Dr Charles Benbrook represents an authoritative voice on agricultural science. His latest technical report, drawing on nine years of US Department of Agriculture data, confirms that the claim of GM proponents that the use of GM crops in the US has led to a major reduction in pesticide use is a lie. The data shows that overall GM crops have led to an increase in pesticide use amounting to millions of pounds.

A comprehensive accounting of the impacts of herbicide tolerant (HT) and Bt transgenic varieties on total pesticide use demonstrates unequivocally that in the first three years of commercial use, this claim was justified. But since 1999 it has not been.

GE corn, soybeans and cotton have led to a 122 million pound increase in pesticide use since 1996. While Bt crops have reduced insecticide use by about 15.6 million pounds over this period, HT crops have increased herbicide use 138 million pounds. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4572

Philippines farmers oppose Bt corn

The Bohol provincial board recently approved a resolution banning Bt corn and other GMOs in the province. The move came after strong opposition from Central Visayas’s farmers, particularly in Bohol, the biggest agricultural province in the region. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4565

Japanese farmer wants to grow GM beans

Yoshimasa Miyai, a farmer from Naganumacho, Hokkaido, one of the nation’s leading soy producing prefectures, plans to begin cultivating GM soybeans next spring. But he faces fierce opposition from the Hokkaido government and the local agricultural cooperative, which fear rumours that the beans are unsafe could damage the reputation of locally produced crops. A test planting of soybeans in Ibaraki Prefecture met with strong resistance last year, with protesters using a tractor to destroy the crops.

It’s interesting that the farmer says he wants to grow GM soybeans because they “will be able to increase his yield by three to four times, with the same amount of effort,” while in the US the flattening, and even decline, of US soybean yields, which has cost farmers an estimated $1.28 billion, is being attributed to exactly the same source. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4462 www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4564

New report on GM cotton in Africa

The executive summary of an incisive and readable new report on the introduction of GM cotton into Africa, commissioned by the African Centre for Biosafety, reveals how the first (chemical) Green Revolution produced a wide variety of negative effects on land, the economy and in terms of farmer dependence. It then expertly takes apart many of the arguments advanced by pro-biotech interests to justify pushing GM crops into Africa.

The claimed successes of GM cotton are contested. The apparent benefit of Bt cotton is that farmers save money by spraying less insecticide because the insecticide is built into the genetic structure of the seed. An additional spin-off is the reduction in environmental damage.

However, the pests targeted by Bt cotton are only a few amongst many pests that damage cotton plants. In Africa, broad-spectrum insecticides are used that target all pests including those targeted by the Bt toxin. This means these pesticides will not be used any less as a result of the use of Bt cotton. Pests also develop resistance to insecticides, including Bt and therefore additional pest management techniques will still be required. There is also growing evidence to suggest that Bt cotton is more susceptible to secondary pests, necessitating additional pesticide use to control these pests. In the US, although insecticide use for pests targeted by Bt has declined since the introduction of Bt cotton, overall insecticide use has not declined because of the growth of secondary pests. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4571 Full report www.biosafetyafrica.net

Scientists tell Europe to ditch GM crops

Europe must ditch GM crops and invest in sustainable agriculture now if it wants to provide enough food for future generations, scientists have warned. Scientific evidence has turned decisively against GM crops and in favour of non-GM sustainable agriculture, according to a new publication, The Independent Science Panel Report, The Case for a GM Free Sustainable World.

The report’s findings were released at a conference on GM crops hosted by Plaid Cymru Deputy Leader, Jill Evans MEP, at the European Parliament in Brussels. Ms Evans said, “This conference and the report steps up the pressure on the European Commission to halt its move towards promoting plant biotechnology in Europe.

“We have known for some time about the massive public opposition to GM crops, now we see more and more that the science is with us too. The tide of public opinion turned long ago, now the tide of science has turned - how much longer can governments ignore the obvious?” www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4569

Poland seeking GM maize restrictions

Poland’s environment and agriculture ministries are to push for continued national restrictions on cultivation of GM maize MON 810 despite the European Commission’s decision in September to clear 17 MON 810 varieties for cultivation in the EU.

In a joint statement the two ministries complained that the commission had taken its decision too quickly and without consulting any of the EU’s 10 new member states. Poland is currently working on a national law on production of GMOs.

www.environmentdaily.com/articles/index.cfm?action=article&ref=17212 www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4570

Russians want GM controls

More than 35 people, most of them leaders of scientific or environmental activist groups, released a letter recently urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to set limits on the development and use of GM foods.

The letter said that it was a response to growing efforts, originating largely in the US, to “inculcate” Russia with agricultural production based on GMOs. It said those who carry out “the interests of transnationals, mostly US biotech companies, are silent about the risks and dangers to human health and the environment from GM technologies, which have not been fully studied.”

The letter calls for a ban on the use of GM products in baby food, a moratorium on commercial production of GM brands until they are proved harmless by independent experts, a law on “biosecurity,” and the harmonization of Russian laws on GM foods with the legislation of other countries. It also calls for state support of independent research on the effects of GMOs and products on people and the environment. www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4570

More on outlawing seed saving in Iraq

GM Watch recently put out a story (www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4538) about the US outlawing seed saving in occupied Iraq, effectively handing over the seed market to multinationals. One subscriber pointed out that Iraq is a breadbasket of the Middle East and the genetic origin of wheat.

Is the US putting legislation in place in Iraq in preparation for commercializing GM wheat there in order to gain for it a foothold in Asia and Africa?

Also, if the multinationals contaminate the genetic source of wheat with their patented genes, then they may effectively own the contaminated strains and restrict farmer choice worldwide to GM wheat. In Mexico, with regard to maize, the contamination of native strains - including some supposedly non-GM varieties held in gene banks - is already well under way.

www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4560

Canada has unsafe GM policy

A large coalition of Canada’s civil society groups including environmentalists, consumers and farmers are demanding that the House of Commons put rapidly in place a precautionary GM policy. A recent study from the Polaris Institute confirmed that the federal government failed to take appropriate measures following the recommendations of the 2001 report of the Royal Society of Canada. The groups filed a petition signed by about 20,000 people demanding a moratorium on GE crops and food.

The Polaris Institute study says, “Canadian government regulation of genetically engineered foods and crops is designed to support the biotechnology industry and approve products quickly so that corporations can sell their products. The result is an undemocratic and unsafe regulatory system.” www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4566

Venezuela under GM threat

Brazilian journalist Claudia Jardim writes that the Venezuelan countryside is still under threat from the interests of the GM seed firms. Last April, after being warned by one of the leaders of Via Campesina (The Peasants’ Path, a peasant movement), President Hugo Chavez banned the use of transgenics in agricultural production.

The president’s announcement was praised by social and peasant movements. Nevertheless, nothing was done beyond the president’s declaration. No law forbidding or regulating the use of transgenics in the country was passed. This is similar to what happened in Brazil during Cardozo’s government, when illegal sowing started in Rio Grande Sul. Venezuela’s Ministry of Lands and Agriculture (MAT) regulates neither the production nor the entry of seeds abroad.

The president of the National Institute of Agricultural Investigation (INIA), Prudencio Chacon, affirms that 70 percent of Venezuelan seeds are imported, and admits that there is no customs regulation control for the importation of seeds. “It is very likely that, as well as in other nations, the seeds are smuggled into the country, but we have no control over it,” he says.

www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4575

GM corn lowers prices and brings demands for segregation

A new survey of 1,194 grain elevators across the US, conducted by the American Corn Growers Foundation (ACGF) Farmer Choice - Customer First program found that nearly one-quarter (23.7 percent) reported that they are requiring segregation of biotech corn from conventional corn varieties.

12.6 percent reported offering premiums for non-GMO, conventional corn varieties over GMO biotech varieties. The premiums reported range from five to 30 cents per bushel. Nine elevators reported that they are discounting GMO corn.

ACGF chairman Gale Lush of Wilcox, Neb. said, “I have seen some reports that biotech corn varieties are responsible for the record yield this year. I disagree! I plant both conventional and biotech corn varieties. The growing season and management, not biotech genetics, are primarily responsible for 2004 yields. Let us not forget that corn is piled on the ground across the Midwest. Even with the higher average corn yield, gross income per acre is $35.32 less than 2003 because of the lower average price of $1.95/bu. forecast. GMO corn helped cause lower prices by sending lucrative European and Asian corn customers to US export competitors.” www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4574

Help Mauritius

Please help prevent the proposed Plant Breeders’ Rights Law being adopted in Mauritius

This law would effectively hand over Mauritius’s biological resources and indigenous farmer-produced crop varieties to corporate pirates. There is an alternative, say campaigners – to the African Union model law, adopted by some African countries, which better protects indigenous knowledge and farmer rights. Email the PM. www.gmwatch.org/proemail1.asp?id=6

More on what’s wrong with the proposed law: www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4573

French in anti-GM battle

On July 25, 1,500 activists led by Jose Bove and members of Confederation Paysanne Europe (CPE), removed a trial crop of GM maize at Levignac, near Toulouse, France. On August14 , CPE and 160 farmers and activists removed another GM maize crop. On September 5, 600 farmers and activists, including women and children, were tear-gassed by gendarmes and helicopters as they attempted to decontaminate another field in the village of Solomiac in the Gers region.

Nine campaigners, including Jose Bove, are due to appear in court on November 8 and yet more people at a later date. www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=58&story_id=114