Democracy Now!
Tues., March 4, 2003
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 03-04-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
The White House dismisses Iraq’s destruction of banned
missiles as a distraction: We join Rev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry
& Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill in Baghdad.
Turkish peace movement claims victory following a no-war
vote: Meanwhile the Kurdish population in Northern Iraq prepares
for a Turkish invasion
Could the U.S. have caught alleged Al Qaeda leader Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed in 1996? We talk to BBC investigative reporter
Greg Palast
Anti-war protests continue across the world: Over 1,000
readings of Lysistrata are held & the former head of the
Pacific Stock Exchange calls for direct action against war
9:01-9:06 Headlines
9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break in studio theatrical
piece
9:07-9:15: WHITE HOUSE DISMISSES IRAQ’S DESTRUCTION
OF BANNED MISSILES: WE JOIN REV. DR. HERBERT DAUGHTRY&
DEMOCRACY NOW! CORRESPONDENT JEREMY SCAHILL IN BAGHDAD
The Bush administration yesterday dismissed Iraq’s
efforts to destroy six missiles as “the mother of all
distractions.” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said,
“Here's the Catch-22 that Saddam Hussein has put himself
in: he denied he had these weapons, and then he destroys things
he says he never had. If he lies about never having them,
how can you trust him when he says he has destroyed them?
“
But the Washington Post points out that it was Fleischer
himself who may have been lying to reporters. The paper reports
that Iraq never denied having the missiles. Their existence
was outlined in Iraq’s weapons declaration submitted
to the Security Council in December. They were destroyed over
the weekend in accordance with the UN.
We go now to Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill
in Baghdad.
And just a few moments ago, Reverend Dr. Herbert Daughtry,
national Pastor of the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church
spoke to Democracy Now! From Baghdad about his mission in
Iraq.
- Reverend Dr. Herbert Daughtry, national Pastor of the
House of the Lord Pentecostal Church
9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break
9:15-9:25 TURKISH PEACE MOVEMENT CLAIM VICTORY FOLLOWING
NO-WAR VOTE; MEANWHILE THE KURDISH POPULATION IN NORTHERN
IRAQ PREPARES FOR A TURKISH INVASION
The Turkish Parliament stunned Washington on Friday by voting
against a resolution that would have allowed tens of thousands
of US troops to use the country as a base for an attack on
Iraq.
The US was so sure of victory that the military had already
begun unloading equipment at Turkish ports. Two dozen US military
vessels are still idling off the coast.
But US and Turkish officials said yesterday a second vote
in the Turkish parliament could take place as soon as next
week on whether to allow American troops to use Turkish bases
for a second front against Iraq
Yesterday I talked to Turkish peace activist Mu-gay Sokmen.
I asked her what role the peace movement played in the Turkish
vote.
- Muge Sokmen, member of the Peace Initiative of Turkey
Despite the vote Turkey is expected to continue to seek permission
to put tens of thousands of troops into Kurdish-controlled
Northern Iraq.
The Washington Post reports today that Kurdish authorities
are girding for this possible Turkish intervention in Iraq
by deploying militiamen to key areas of northern Iraq and
setting conditions for acceptance of any troops from Turkey
in their region.
Thousands demonstrated yester in the city of Irbil against
the possible entrance of Turkish forces into their region.
They carried signs with such slogans as"Down With Turkey,
Up With the United States" and "No to Turkey."
The Kurds fear that Turkey, by intervening militarily in
northern Iraq, will seek to join the United States as an arbiter
of the Kurds' political future. Kurds have established an
autonomous zone in northern Iraq under the protection of U.S.
and British.
We will talk now with Kani Xulam, director of the American
Kurdish Information Network
- Kani Xulam, director of the American Kurdish Information
Network
Link: www.kurdistan.org
9:41-9:42 One Minute Music Break
9:40-9:54 COULD THE U.S. HAVE CAUGHT ALLEGED AL QAEDA LEADER
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED IN 1996? WE TALK TO BBC INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTER GREG PALAST
Alleged Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been moved
from Pakistan following his arrest four days ago. He is believed
to have been flown to a US detention facility at Bagram air
base, in Afghanistan. The New York Times reports that the
CIA will likely use sleep deprivation and psychological manipulation
to pry information out of him. If these tactics fail, Sen.
John Rockefeller of West Virginia suggested the US might turn
over Mohammed to country that does not have restrictions against
torture. Such countries include Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.
We are joined by investigative journalist Greg Palast who
has written extensively about how the Bush Administration
spiked investigations of Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda
network.
In a new US edition of his best-selling book The Best Democracy
Money Can Buy: The Truth about Globalization, Corporate Cons
and High Finance Fraudsters Palast writes:
“After Bush took office, he said, ‘there was
a major policy shift’ at the National Security Agency.
Investigators were ordered to ‘back off’ from
any inquiries into Saudi Arabian financing of terror networks,
especially if they touched on Saudi royals and their retainers.
That put the bin Ladens, a family worth a reported $12 billion
and a virtual arm of the Saudi royal household, off-limits
for investigation. Osama was the exception; he remained a
wanted man, but agents could not look too closely at how he
filled his piggy bank. The key rule of any investigation,
‘follow the money,’ was now violated, and investigations
-- at least before 9/11 -- began to die.
“And there was a lot to investigate -- or in the case
of the CIA and FBI under Bush -- a lot to ignore. Through
well-known international arms dealers (I'm sorry, but in this
business, sinners are better sources than saints) our team
was tipped off to a meeting of Saudi billionaires at the Hotel
Royale Monceau in Paris in May 1996 with the financial representative
of Osama bin Laden's network. The Saudis, including a key
Saudi prince joined by Muslim and non-Muslim gun traffickers,
met to determine who would pay how much to Osama. This was
not so much an act of support but of protection -- a payoff
to keep the mad bomber away from Saudi Arabia.”
- Greg Palast, BBC investigative reporter and the author
of “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”
Link: www.gregpalast.com
9:54--9:58 ANTI-WAR PROTESTS CONTINUE ACROSS THE WORLD:
OVER 1000 READINGS OF LYSISTRATA ARE HELD & THE FORMER
HEAD OF THE PACIFIC STOCK EXCHANGE CALLS FOR DIRECT ACTION
Yesterday, over 1000 readings of the ancient Greek anti-war
comedy, Lysistrata were held in 59 countries and every state
in the U.S. as a way for actors the world over to register
their opposition to a war on Iraq. Conceived just 6 weeks
ago, by New York actors Kathryn Blume and Sharron Bower, the
global theatrical anti-war protest will raise money for humanitarian
aid groups working in the Middle East.
There are events in Russia, China and in the jungle in Hawaii,
in Athens and in Iceland, at homemakers' reading groups in
the Midwest and on sidewalks and subway platforms, parks and
theaters, high schools, churches and bars.
Lysistrata tells the story of women from opposing states
who unite to end a war by refusing to sleep with their men
until they agree to lay down their swords. Powerless in their
society, with too many of their sons and husbands being slaughtered
in battle, the women take the only tactic available to them:
a sex strike.
Fast-forward 2,400 years: swords are now weapons of mass
destruction. Faced with the prospect of massive loss of human
life -- both Iraqi and American -- Lysistrata Project participants
worldwide take a new tactic and add their voices to the mounting
clamor of global antiwar protests.
Joining us in the studio is The Lysistrata project co-founder
Katheryn Blume.
And later today in San Francisco, the anti-war group Direct
Action to Stop the War is planning to call for the shutdown
of financial districts and other nonviolent direct actions
in the event of a U.S. attack on Iraq.
Joining them will be a most unusual anti-war protester,
Warren Langley, the former President of Pacific Stock Exchange
He is now working with Direct Action to Stop the War to
organize civil disobedience across the world on the first
business day after a U.S. attack.
- Warren Langley, former President of Pacific Stock Exchange
and former Lt. Col of the US Air Force for fifteen years.
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
engineer and webmaster.
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