Democracy Now!
Mon., Mar 3, 2003
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 03-3-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
U.S. is tapping the phones of U.N. Security Council members
and reading their e-mail: the story makes headlines around
the world but is not reported here
Top Iraqi defector says Iraq destroyed its WMDs, but Bush
and Blair continue to cite him to drum up support for war,
and the US media buries the story: an interview with former
UNSCOM chair Rolf Ekeus and weapons inspector Scott Ritter
“The Thirty Year Itch: For Three Decades, Washington
Hawks Have Pushed For The Us To Seize Control Of The Persian
Gulf. Their Time Is Now.” interview with Mother
Jones Magazine contributing editor Robert Dreyfuss
9:01-9:20 Headlines: U.S. IS TAPPING THE PHONES OF U.N. SECURITY
COUNCIL MEMBERS AND READING THEIR E-MAIL: IT’S HEADLINES
AROUND THE WORLD BUT NOT REPORTED HERE
The British newspaper The Observer is reporting the US is
conducting a secret, aggressive surveillance operation directed
at United Nations Security Council members ahead of the upcoming
vote on Iraq.
The newspaper obtained a memorandum written by Frank Koza,
who is the chief of staff in the 'Regional Targets' section
of the National Security Agency. The top-secret NSA intercepts
communications around the world.
The Observer reports the surveillance operation involves
intercepting home and office telephone calls and emails of
UN delegates in New York.
The memo reads QUOTE “the Agency is mounting a surge
particularly directed at the UN Security Council members (minus
US and Great Britain of course) for insights as to how to
membership is reacting to the on-going debate RE: Iraq, plans
to vote on any related resolutions, what related policies/
negotiating positions they may be considering, alliances/
dependencies, etc - the whole gamut of information that could
give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favorable
to US goals or to head off surprises.”
The Observer reports the target of the heightened surveillance
efforts are the delegations from Angola, Cameroon, Chile,
Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan at the UN headquarters in New
York - the so-called 'Middle Six' delegations who could swing
a new Security Council vote on Iraq.
Sources in Washington told The Observer last week Bush administration
officials were divided over whether to pursue such a high-intensity
surveillance campaign. Some warned of the serious consequences
of discovery. The operation is understood to have been requested
by President Bush's National Security Adviser, Condoleezza
Rice.
9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break
9:21-9:44 TOP IRAQI DEFECTOR SAYS IRAQ DESTROYED ITS WMDS,
BUT BUSH AND BLAIR CONTINUE TO CITE HIM TO DRUM UP SUPPORT
FOR WAR, AND THE US MEDIA BURIES THE STORY: AN INTERVIEW WITH
FORMER UNSCOM CHAIR ROLF EKEUS AND OTHERS
Today we bring you a complicated story about President Bush,
Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, top-level Iraqi defector Hussein Kamel, and the
US media.
It is a story that reveals how the Bush and Blair administrations
are manipulating evidence in every way possible to drum up
support for a war on Iraq. And it is a story that reveals
how the US media is failing to do its job.
Last week, Newsweek reported that the highest-ranking Iraqi
official ever to defect from Saddam Hussein’s government
told the CIA, British intelligence officers and U.N. inspectors
in 1995 that Iraq destroyed its chemical and biological weapons
after the Gulf War.
Hussein Kamel was Saddam Hussein’s son-in-law. For
ten years, he ran Iraq’s nuclear, chemical, biological
and missile programs.
He is one of the Bush and Blair administration’s top
sources on Iraq’s weapons programs in the early 1990s.
In debriefings with UN and intelligence officials, Kamel laid
out the personnel, sites and progress of each WMD program.
Most recently, British Prime Minister Tony Blair cited Kamel
in his statement to the House of Commons one day before the
largest backbench rebellion in over a century.
Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell used information obtained
from Kamel to try to drum up Security Council support for
war in his presentation on Feb. 5th.
- Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell, addressing the
U.N. Security Council on February 5th, 2003
And, President Bush dragged out Hussein Kamel’s name
in his first primetime television address on Iraq on October
7th. It was the week Congress was poised to vote on a resolution
authorizing war, and it appeared at that time that the U.N.
Security Council was nearing the end of its struggle on the
issue. And, the public wanted an explanation for why the US
should invade.
- President Bush, addressing the nation on October 7th,
2002 in Cincinnati.
But then, Newsweek reporter John Barry obtained a transcript
of the debriefing of Kamel by U.N. officials in 1995.
According to the transcript, Hussein Kamel claimed Iraq
destroyed all its biological and chemical weapons after the
Gulf War. He said they had been destroyed in order to hide
the programs from U.N. inspectors, but Iraq had retained the
engineering details on the weapons.
Newsweek also reported U.N. inspectors hushed up Kamel’s
revelations to bluff Saddam Hussein into disclosing more.
The CIA immediately denied Newsweek’s report. Last
Monday, the day the report appeared, CIA spokesperson Bill
Harlow told Reuters: "It is incorrect, bogus, wrong,
untrue."
For the most part, the US media has ignored the story.
Well, we thought we’d go right to the source. We’re
joined right now on the telephone by Rolf Ekeus. He was the
executive chair of UNSCOM from 1991-1997. He was one of the
three U.N. inspectors who debriefed Kamel, and is named in
the transcript.
More Links:
Newsweek story: www.msnbc.com/news/876128.asp
transcript of Hussein Kamel’s interview with U.N. inspectors:
www.middleeastreference.org.uk/kamel.html
9:44-9:45 One-Minute Music Break
9:45-9:58 “THE THIRTY YEAR ITCH: FOR THREE DECADES,
WASHINGTON HAWKS HAVE PUSHED FOR THE U.S. TO SEIZE CONTROL
OF THE PERSIAN GULF. THEIR TIME IS NOW.”
“If you were to spin the globe and look for real estate
critical to building an American empire, your first stop would
have to be the Persian Gulf. The desert sands of this region
hold two of every three barrels of oil in the world
Iraq’s reserves alone are equal, by some estimates,
to those of Russia, the United States, China and Mexico combined.
For the past 30 years, the Gulf has been in the crosshairs
of an influential group of Washington foreign-policy strategists
who believe that in order to ensure its global dominance the
United States must seize control of it.”
So begins an article just published in this month’s
Mother Jones magazine. The article is called “The Thirty
Year Itch” and the sub-heading reads: “For three
decades, Washington Hawks have pushed for the US to seize
control of the Persian Gulf. Their time is now.”
The article goes on to outline five key steps that the U.S.
has taken since the 1970s to establish firm control of the
Middle East. First there was the establishment of a rapid
deployment forcer in the region. Then the U.S. created a Central
Command military outpost to oversee the region. Then there
was the Gulf War which gave the U.S. an opportunity to begin
permanently stationing troops across the region and to full
tens of billions to arm allies including Saudi Arabia. Step
four was the war in Afghanistan and the so-called war on terror.
And there is one final step: war in Iraq.
Well, today we are joined by the author of that article.
He is Robert Dreyfuss, investigative reporter and contributing
editor to Mother Jones, The Nation and American Prospect.
- Robert Dreyfuss, investigative reporter and contributing
editor at Mother Jones, the Nation and American Prospect
. His article The Thirty Year Itch was just published in
this month’s Mother Jones magazine.
- Anne Joyce, vice president of the Middle East Policy Council,
a Washington think-tank. She is also the editor of the Council’s
Middle East Journal.
9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today's program, call 1 (800) 881 2359. Our
website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Ana Nogueira and Alex Wolfe. Mike Di Filippo is our
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