Democracy Now!
Mon., March 10, 2003
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 03-10-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Alice Walker, Maxine Hong Kingston, Medea Benjamin &
20 other women are arrested outside the White House: Thousands
gather in Washington for Code Pink peace demonstration
Should President Bush be impeached? Progressive Congressional
Democrats consider introducing articles of impeachment if
the U.S. attacks Iraq
US & UK relied on forged document in making the case
that Iraq has a nuclear program; chief nuclear weapons inspector
Mohamed ElBaradei says there is no proof that Niger aided
Iraq
British woman arrested for violating the Official Secrets
Act & the United Nations launches inquiry into U.S. spying
ofnUN diplomats. We talk to Observer reporter Marin Bright
who broke the story
Is MSNBC trying to out-fox Fox?: The GE-owned network fires
anti-war host Phil Donahue and hires Michael Savage who calls
for the jailing of protesters and describes immigrants as
“ turd world immigrants"
8:01-8:06 Headlines:
8:06-8:07 One-Minute Music Break
8:07-20 ALICE WALKER, MAXINE HONG KINGSTON. MEDEA BENJAMIN
& 20 OTHER WOMEN ARRESTED OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE: THOUSANDS
GATHER IN WASHINGTON FOR CODE PINK PEACE DEMONSTRATION
Renowned writers Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple,
and Maxine Hong Kinston, author of The Woman Warrior, and
over 20 other women were arrested in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
The women were among thousands of women who marched on Washington
on International Women’s Day, protesting the Bush administration’s
plans to invade Iraq.
The protest was organized by a new group called Code Pink,
a play on the Bush administration’s color-coded system
of terror alerts.
Also arrested were magazine publisher Nina Utne, Authors
Terry Tempest Williams and Susan Griffin, CodePink Co-founder
Medea Benjamin, Reverend Patricia Ackerman and musician Rachel
Bagby.
Police also arrested Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman while
covering the event.
Similar rallies were held yesterday in 50 other cities,
from Anchorage to Honolulu.
There were also massive anti-war rallies held around the
globe.
Tens of thousands braved torrential downpours in Britain,
including 20,000 in Manchester in what some believe was the
city’s largest peace protest in 150 years.
In Italy, tens of thousands marched from Pisa to nearby
Camp Darby, a U.S. military base that is one of Europe's biggest
munitions bases for U.S. and NATO forces. In Indonesia up
to 800,000 gathered in city of Surabaya. In the Lebanese city
of Tripoli, 8,000 Lebanese and Palestinians protested.
- Recording of Park Police arresting the Code Pink protesters
as well as Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman
- Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
Link: Code Pink for Peace:
www.codepink4peace.org
8:20-8:21 One-Minute Music Break
8:21-8:40 SHOULD PRESIDENT BUSH BE IMPEACHED? PROGRESSIVE
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS CONSIDER INTRODUCING ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT
IF THE U.S. ATTACKS IRAQ
The National Review and Stateside News Service are reporting
that a group of progressive Democrats are may introduce articles
of impeachment against President Bush and possibly members
of his Cabinet.
One member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Progressive
Caucus, Danny Davis, of Illinois said he expected to see a
resolution be put forth in the event of "a full-fledged
military effort" if Bush goes to war without new congressional
backing.
A draft of the impeachment resolution accuses Bush, Vice
President Dick Cheney and Attorney General John Ashcroft of
more than a dozen 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' including
bombing civilians in Afghanistan and constitutional violations
in the so-called war on terror.
The impeachment drive was largely initiated by former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark and University of Illinois Law
Professor Francis Boyle. In 1991 the late Congressman Henry
B. Gonzalez filed a motion to impeach the first President
Bush based on articles drafted by Francis Boyle.
We spoke with Boyle recently and asked him to outline the
grounds on which Bush could be impeached.
Guest: Francis Boyle, professor of law, University of Illinois
School of Law
Link: Read Boyle’s Articles of Impeachment against President
Bush:
www.counterpunch.org/boyle01172003.html
8:40-8:41 One-Minute Music Break
8:41-8:58 US & UK RELIED ON FORGED DOCUMENT IN MAKING
THE CASE THAT IRAQ HAS A NUCLEAR PROGRAM; CHIEF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
INSPECTOR MOHAMED ELBARADEI SAYS THERE IS NO PROOF THAT NIGER
AIDED IRAQ
On Friday, the chief U.N. weapons inspectors gave their
latest report.
Overall, chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix reported the inspections
are yielding results. He said Iraq is cooperating much more
than it did in the 1990s and that this cooperation has accelerated
over the past month. In particular, Blix said Iraq's destruction
of its al-Samoud 2 missiles constituted QUOTE "a substantial
measure of disarmament."
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed
ElBaradei said a key piece of evidence the US has used was
faked.
After a careful investigation, UN and independent experts
concluded that documents purportedly showing Iraqi officials
tried to buy uranium in Africa two years ago were not authentic.
The Bush administration was using the documents to claim Iraq
is developing a nuclear weapons program.
The Washington Post reports sources familiar with the forgery
investigation described the faked evidence as a series of
letters between Iraqi agents and officials in the central
African nation of Niger. The documents had been given to the
U.N. inspectors by Britain and reviewed extensively by U.S.
intelligence. But the forgers made relatively crude errors
that eventually gave them away -- including names and titles
that did not match up with the individuals who held office
at the time. One US official claimed QUOTE: "We fell
for it."
ElBaradei also again rejected a key Bush administration
claim that Iraq tried to purchase aluminum tubes for use in
uranium enrichment. He said experts had concluded the tubes
were for a rocket engine program, as Iraq had said. President
Bush twice claimed otherwise in major speeches. And Secretary
of State General Colin Powell repeated the claim in his speech
to the Security Council on Friday after ElBaradei had
rejected the claim.
Tape:. Mohamed El Baradei director general of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, recorded March 7, 2003
Phone Guest: Phyllis Bennis, fellow at the Institute for
Policy Studies in Washington DC, specializing in Middle East
and United Nations issues She is the author of the book Before
and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis.
Link: Institute for Policy Studies: www.ips-dc.org
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
9:01-9:06 Headlines:
9:06-9:07 One-Minute Music Break
9:07-9:30 THOUSANDS PROTEST AT CODE PINK PROTEST IN WASHINGTON:
WE HEAR SPEECHES FROM GLORIA JOHNSON, NANCY LESSIN AND HAFSAT
ABIOLA
Renowned writers Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple,
and Maxine Hong Kinston, author of The Woman Warrior, and
over 20 other women were arrested in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
The women were among thousands of women who marched on Washington
on International Women’s Day, protesting the Bush administration’s
plans to invade Iraq.
The protest was organized by a new group called Code Pink,
a play on the Bush administration’s color-coded system
of terror alerts.
Also arrested were magazine publisher Nina Utne, authors
Terry Tempest Williams and Susan Griffin, CodePink Co-founder
Medea Benjamin, Rev. Patricia Ackerman and musician Rachel
Bagby.
Gloria Johnson, Coalition of Labor Union Women
Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out,
her stepson is a 25-year-old Marine who is currently stationed
in the Gulf region and being prepared for the battle.
Links:
Coalition of Labor Union Women: www.cluw.org
Military Families Speak Out: www.mfso.org
9:21-9:22 One-Minute Music Break ON MINI DV???
Hafsat Abiola, Nigerian human rights advocate. Her mother,
Kudirat Abiola, was assassinated by the military regime in
June 1996. Hafsat's father, President-elect Moshood Abiola,
was imprisoned in 1993. Just prior to release from prison
in 1998 he died of a heart attack.
9:33-9:45 BRITISH WOMAN ARRESTED FOR VIOLATING THE OFFICIAL
SECRETS ACT & THE UNITED NATIONS LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO
U.S. SPYING OF UN DIPLOMATS. WE TALK TO OBSERVER REPORTER
MARIN BRIGHT WHO BROKE THE STORY
A 28-year-old woman working at the top-secret British Government
Communications Headquarters has been arrested on charges of
contravening the Official Secrets Act.
The GCHQ is the electronic surveillance arm of the British
intelligence service.
The arrest comes just a few days after the Observer published
a top-secret National Security Agency document. The memo revealed
US agents had been ordered to bug the telephone and email
communications of U.N. Security Council delegations from Angola,
Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea. The surveillance operation
was designed to help the US win votes for the war resolution
on Iraq.
The Observer reports the NSA document was leaked to the
paper by British security sources who objected to being asked
to aid the US surveillance operation.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has launched a top-level investigation
into the US is spying operation.
Guest: Martin Bright, journalist with the London Observer.
He is co-author of the article “US dirty tricks to win
vote on Iraq war”
Links:
www.observer.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,905936,00.html
for a transcript of the leaked document, see:
www.observer.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,905954,00.html
Guest: Wayne Madsen, senior fellow at the Electronic Privacy
Information Center and a former National Security Agency intelligence
officer.
Link: Electronic Privacy Information Center:
www.epic.org
9:40-9:41 One-Minute Music Break
9:44-9:58 IS MSNBC TRYING TO OUT-FOX FOX?: THE GE-OWNED
NETWORK FIRES ANTI-WAR HOST PHIL DONAHUE AND HIRES MICHAEL
SAVAGE WHO CALLS FOR THE JAILING OF PROTESTERS AND DESCRIBES
IMMIGRANTS AS “ TURD WORLD IMMIGRANTS"
On Saturday, cable station MSNBC went ahead with the launch
of the controversial new program by arch-conservative talk-radio
star Michael Savage. This came despite protests from the Gay
& Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and other advocacy
groups.
Savage heads the Paul Revere Society, an organization which
advocates closing borders, deporting illegal immigrants, mandating
health tests for immigrants, eliminating entitlement programs
and making tax cuts permanent.
Savage’s debut comes less than two weeks after MSNBC
fired Phil Donahue at a time when his show was the network’s
top rated program.
A leaked internal NBC study indicates Donahue was fired
because of his anti-war views. Media analyst Rick Ellis obtained
a copy of the study and outlined portions on his website,
AllYourTV.com.
The study found Donahue presented a "difficult public
face for NBC in a time of war......He seems to delight in
presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical
of the administration's motives." The report goes on
to outline a possible nightmare scenario where the show becomes
"a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time
that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."
Donahue has not spoken publicly about his dismissal but
issued a statement that indicated MSNBC was trying to silence
anti-war voices in favor of new conservative hosts.
He wrote, “The hiring of Mike Savage, Dick Armey and
Joe Scarborough suggest a strategy to out-Fox FOX.”
Studio Guest: Steve Rendall, senior analyst at FAIR, Fairness
and Accuracy in Reporting
Contact: www.fair.org
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. Mike Di Filippo is our engineer and
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