Democracy Now!
Thur., March 27, 2003
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 3-27-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Hour 1: Live from Baghdad: 14 killed in a Baghdad market,
as Iraqi clerics call for jihad against US invasion forces
The Pentagon knows large percentages of “smart”
bombs malfunction and civilian deaths are a certainty: a discussion
on how “smart” the bombs really are
Live from the streets of NYC: hundreds “die in”
and shut down 5th Ave.
Iraqi families sue Powell, Cheney, and Bush, Sr. over bombing
of civilian shelter in 1991 that killed over 400 people; but
the Belgian parliament passes a law that could prevent the
lawsuit from moving forward
Shi’ites warn US troops will face armed resistance
if they occupy Iraq after the invasion; this, as coalition
hopes of uprising in Basra evaporate
NYC protesters “die in” under bulldozer at an
Israeli bank, shutting down 5th Ave
“Palestinian Cleaver” family again faces deportation:
we hear from the eldest daughter, Noor Kesbeh
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:20 LIVE FROM BAGHDAD: 14 KILLED IN A BAGHDAD MARKET,
AS IRAQI CLERICS CALL FOR JIHAD AGAINST US INVASION FORCES
Pentagon officials have been changing their story on the
missile attack on a Baghdad market from the moment it occurred.
Yesterday morning, a missile struck the busy, poor residential
area, killing 14 civilians.
The US central command issued a statement to say US aircraft
had used precision-guided weapons to target Iraqi anti-aircraft
missiles "positioned less than 300 feet from homes".
But a few hours later senior Pentagon official Major-General
Stanley McChrystal said no coalition aircraft had targeted
any air defences in the Shaab district, where the blast occurred.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard
Myers said: "It's just as likely that it's some piece
of equipment of theirs as one of ours."
Meanwhile, the Iraqi health minister said today there have
4,000 civilian casualties including 350 deaths since the invasion
began.
He also said that 36 people were killed in the last 24 hours
in the continuing raids on Baghdad.
We go now live to Baghdad with May Ying Welsh, who visited
the Shaab market yeterday after the attack.
She also reports the Iraqi government has begun distributing
leaflets in neighborhoods throughout Iraq calling on citizens
to resist the US invasion. The leaflets have pictures of two
of the most significant religious figures in Iraq, one Sunni
the other Shiite. The leaflets reference two fatwas, religious
decrees, issued by Iraqi clerics calling for jihad, holy war,
against any foreign occupiers.
This, as Saddam Hussein met today with the heads of Iraq’s
powerful tribes in which he told them that they should fight
the invaders with all their means.
<sum> May Ying Welsh, independent journalist in Baghdad
who visited the Shaab market yesterday after the attack
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:30 PENTAGON KNOWS LARGE PERCENTAGES OF “SMART”
BOMBS MALFUNCTION AND CIVILIAN DEATHS ARE A CERTAINTY
An article in yesterday’s Washington Post begins:“Breakfast
was simple, but late. Days of bombing had left the Khalil
family sleepless. When a respite arrived at noon today, a
moment of ease in an uneasy time, they sat down, picking anxiously
at boiled eggs, tomatoes and bread.
“Nine-year-old Shahid told stories, and her 12-year-old
brother, Ahmed, laughed. The older family members, with harrowing
memories of bombings in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, sat uneasily,
their silence an eloquent testament to worry.
“Then a whisper sounded, ever so slight. In seconds,
the house was shattered by a cruise missile, the family said.
Um Aqeel, the mother of five children, and her daughter-in-law
Sahar, were killed. Two sons and a daughter were wounded.
“Hours later, weary and angry, Aqeel, the oldest son,
looked out at his bandaged siblings laying dazed in their
hospital beds.”
He shouted, "’There are no soldiers in my home,
there's no gun in my home! How can God accept this?"
As civilian casualties mount, we’re joined right now
by Hadi Ghaemi, an independent researcher and former physics
professor.
- Hadi Ghaemi, researcher with CESR and former professor
of physics at the City University of New York. (He is currently
working on a book about the cultural revolution in Iran.)
www.cesr.org
8:30-8:33 LIVE TO THE STREETS OF NYC: HUNDREDS “DIE
IN” AND SHUT DOWN 5TH AVE
- protester outside Rockefeller Center in NYC
8:33-8:40 IRAQI FAMILIES SUE POWELL, CHENEY, AND BUSH, SR.
OVER BOMBING OF CIVILIAN SHELTER IN 1991 THAT KILLED OVER
400 PEOPLE
Iraqi civilians are still trying obtain justice over the
first Gulf War. Last week, a group of Iraqis sued Vice-President
Dick Cheney, Secretary of State General Colin Powell, former
US president George Bush Sr., and retired US general Norman
Schwartzkopf.
The lawsuit was filed by seven Iraqi families over the bombing
of a civilian bomb shelter in Baghdad that killed 403 people
on the night of February 12-13, 1991.
Powell served as the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
and Cheney as defense secretary during the 1991 Gulf war.
Under Belgian law, courts can try suspects for war crimes
regardless of where the alleged acts took place or the nationality
of the accused.
But the Belgian parliament has just passed a law that could
prevent the suit from going forward. Under the amendment,
a federal prosecutor can decide in certain cases whether to
accept a lawsuit. The amendment now goes to the Belgian Senate
for approval.
- Reed Brody, Special Counsel for Prosecutions, Human Rights
Watch
Contact: www.hrw.org
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8:50 SHI’ITES WARN US TROOPS WILL FACE ARMED
RESISTANCE IF THEY OCCUPY IRAQ AFTER INVASION, AS COALITION
HOPES OF UPRISING IN BASRA EVAPORATE
The leader of Iraq's main Shi'ite opposition group warned
Washington yesterday that U.S. troops would face armed resistance
if they occupy Iraq after the invasion.
The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) in
Iraq is based in Tehran, Iran. Its leader, Ayatollah Mohammed
Baqir Hakim, said: "Iraqis are against foreign dominance,
and if they (the Americans) don't want to leave Iraq, the
nation will resist.” He said, "One of the legitimate
ways of resistance against occupiers is force and weapons."
The SCIRI has some support from Iraq's Muslim Shi'ite majority,
particularly in the south of the country. Ayatollah Mohammed
Baqir Hakim says he has tens of thousands of troops stationed
outside Iraq as well as in the Kurdish-controlled northern
Iraq.
Meanwhile, in the South, coalition hopes of an uprising
in Basra are evaporating, according to the Financial Times.
British intelligence reported an uprising had begun earlier
this week. But the evidence has failed to materialize.
The majority of people in Basra are Shia Muslims. The main
exiled Iraqi Shia organization yesterday said the Shia community
had been instructed to remain neutral in the US-led invasion.
The SCIRI said there did appear to have been trouble in the
city, but played down the scale of the unrest.
- Hadi Ghaemi, independent researcher and former professor
of physics at the City University of New York. He is currently
working on a book about the cultural revolution in Iran.
- Andrew Cockburn, author of Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection
of Saddam Hussein.
8:50-8:54 NYC PROTESTERS “DIE IN” UNDER BULLDOZER
AT AN ISRAELI BANK, SHUTTING DOWN 5TH AVE
18 protesters yesterday locked together and formed a human
barricade across Fifth Avenue in front of a New York branch
of Israel’s Bank Leumi.
Covered in fake blood, the protesters lay piled in the street
at the foot of a mock Caterpillar bulldozer.
The activists were protesting the murder of US peace activist
Rachel Corrie by an Israel army Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza
earlier this month.
Guest: Shmulick Rodich, member of Jews Against Occupation
who participated in yesterday’s lockdown on 5th Avenue.
Phone: 917-748-9356 Video info: MiniDV http://ww3report.com/protest.html
8:54-8:58 “PALESTINIAN CLEAVER” FAMILY AGAIN
FACES DEPORTATION
They have been described as the "Palestinian Cleavers."
They were a generous and patriotic family that gave away hundreds
of free American flags in Houston after Sept. 11. They have
been publicly supported by their U.S. Congresswoman.
They came to the U.S. after fleeing Saudi Arabia during
the Gulf War. They have lived an unremarkable life in Houston
for 11 years. But that all changed a year ago when armed INS
agents dressed in riot gear raided their house while much
of the family was sleeping. The father and eldest son were
picked up on immigration violations and were detained for
months. And now they face deportation to Jordan, a country
most of the family barely knows.
We last heard from the Kesbeh family in September when they
were first facing deportation. Overwhelming public support
in Houston and the country led officials in Washington to
give them a six-month stay in order for the INS to review
their case.
Well now the family appears to be set to be deported again.
We are joined by the family’s eldest daughter, Noor
Kesbeh, in Houston for an update.
- Noor Kesbeh, whose family faces deportation this week
8:58-8:59 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 Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo
is our music maestro and engineer.
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
Headlines: In New York City scores are being arrested this
morning in direct action protests against the war.
U.S. bombs Iraqi Television again: International Federation
of Journalists condemns attack as a violation of the Geneva
conventions
Is the world watching two different versions of the invasion
of Iraq? A comparison of the Arab-language and western media
U.S. government pressures UN nations (again) not to oppose
Iraq attack
Could the war cost $800 billion? A discussion on the cost
of the Iraq invasion and what it means to the American public
Under surveillance from the military and under pressure
from MTV: Hip hop star Michael Franti talks about the pressure
caused by speaking out against war
9:01-9:06 Headlines:
In New York City scores are being arrested this morning in
direct action protests against the war.
9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break
9:07-9:20 U.S. BOMBS IRAQI TELEVISION AGAIN: INTERNATIONAL
FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS CONDEMNS ATTACK AS A VIOLATION OF
THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS
US forces bombed Iraqi television broadcast facilities in
central Baghdad again last night.
Iraqi TV’s signal was restored around midnight.
Several hours later, a second wave of bombing was launched,
and a witness said the Iraqi TV building was in flames and
destroyed. But broadcasts resumed in Baghdad this morning,
with a shaky picture and no sound.
A U.S. intelligence official told the Los Angeles Times
the strikes reflect a new decision by military commanders
to disable Iraqi television for the duration of the war.
Meanwhile, in the southern city of Basra, British forces
bombed Iraqi state radio and television transmitters, taking
both broadcasting outlets off the air.
US and British forces have taken over a number of radio
frequencies and are broadcasting their own messages to the
people.
The action comes just after the head of the world's largest
journalists' organization said the attacks on Iraqi television
may violate the Geneva Conventions and called for an international
investigation.
The International Federation of Journalists said the U.S.
bomb and missile attack on Iraqi television on Wednesday was
an attempt at censorship and may have breached the Geneva
Conventions.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also condemned
the attack on Iraqi television, saying it might constitute
a war crime.
A U.S. official in Washington defended the attacks, saying
the goal is to damage the government's command and control
capability.
* Aidan White, General Secretary for the International Federation
of Journalists, which represents more than 500,000 journalists
in 100 countries.
Link: http://www.ifj.org/
9:20-9:21 One-minute music break
9:21-9:30 IS THE WORLD WATCHING TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF
THE INVASION OF IRAQ? A COMPARISON OF THE ARAB-LANGUAGE MEDIA
AND WESTERN MEDIA
It has been a busy few days for Al Jazeera, the Arabic satellite
television station based in Qatar.
On Sunday, the station aired controversial images of American
POWs held by Iraq.
On Monday, the New York Stock Exchange banned Al Jazeera
reporters from the floor of the stock exchange.
On Tuesday, Al Jazeera launched a much anticipated English
language website. The site was inaccessible for much of the
day due to attacks from hackers and heavy traffic. In addition
on Tuesday the Nasdaq stock market also decided to ban Al
Jazeera reporters from its floor.
A Nasdaq spokesperson explained the decision: "In light
of Al Jazeera's recent conduct during the war, in which they
have broadcast footage of U.S. POWs in alleged violation of
the Geneva Convention, they are not welcome to broadcast from
our facility at this time."
And yesterday, Al Jazeera is ran reports that may anger
some backers of the war. The network's correspondent in Basra
is claiming there are no signs of a civilian uprising in Basra
against the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Al Jazeera's programming has been seen as controversial
by some in Washington ever since it began broadcasting six
years ago. The network has since grown into a CNN of the Arabic
world reaching up to 55 million viewers. It is one of eight
Arabic-language stations reporting on the war.
* Lamis Andoni, an independent journalist and analyst who
has covered the Middle East fro over 20 years. She covered
the first Gulf War for the Christian Science Monitor and Financial
Times. She also covered the Iran-Iraq war in the south of
Iraq. She has been monitoring the Arab-language and US media
coverage of this war.
9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break
9:21-9:40 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRESSURES UN NATIONS NOT TO OPPOSE
IRAQ ATTACK
With military action in Iraq moving into its second week,
the Security Council yesterday held its first debate on the
situation since the start of invasion. At the request of the
Arab League and the Non-Aligned Movement, the Security Council
began an open meeting where some 70 countries are expected
to take part.
There was great opposition to the U.S. led attack.
“The war against Iraq has been carried out without
the authorization of the Security Council in violation of
the principles of international law and the UN Charter,”
said Datuk Rastam Mohamed Isa of Malaysia, the Chair of the
Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement.
He said it was regrettable that the parties concerned chose
to cast aside multilateral diplomacy to take the path of war
while efforts to avert conflict were continuing
And we have learned that the U.S. have been pressuring nations
within the General Assembly not to speak out against the war.
* 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:
http://www.ips-dc.org/
COULD THE WAR COST $800 BILLION? A DISCUSSION ON THE COST
OF THE IRAQ INVASION AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
Military analysts are saying Bush administration's $75 billion
budget request to fund the war with Iraq and cover related
costs is just a down payment for what will likely be a much
costlier conflict
President Bush's proposal includes $63 billion to fight
the war, $8 billion in bilateral foreign aid to countries
helping with the war effort and for reconstruction and humanitarian
relief, and $4 billion for homeland security.
The $8 billion goes towards U.S. allies in the so-called
war on terror including Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan,
Egypt, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Columbia.
But will the war cost only $75 billion? Jason Nisse of The
Independent (UK) suggests the total cost could rise to $800
billion.
We are going to talk about what the war will really cost
and what is not include.
- Jason Nisse, business correspondent for The Independent
newspaper, London. He wrote an article earlier this month
called “The $800 Billion Conflict and A World Left
Licking Its Wounds” which looks at how expensive the
war will really be.
- Greg Speeter, Executive Director, National Priorities
Project, a non-profit which analyzes how federal policies
affect ordinary Americans in cities and towns around the
country. They recently published a report examining the
cost to states and cities of the invasion of Iraq.
Link: http://www.nationalpriorities.org
9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break
9:50-9:58 THE FBI VS. FRANTI?: HIP HOP STAR AND ANTI-WAR
ACTIVIST MICHAEL FRANTI REVEALS MEMBERS OF HIS GROUP SPEARHEAD
ARE UNDER INTENSE GOVERNMENTAL SURVEILLANCE
For nearly a decade hip hop artist and activist Michael
Franti has been a leading progressive voice in music. Franti
grew out of the Bay Area music and political scene in the
early 1990's. In 1986 he founded the duo the Beatnigs, paving
the way for his next musical endeavor, the Disposable Heroes
of HipHoprisy. His most recent musical project is the musical
collective Spearhead, begun in 1994.
Franti's distinctive style is infused with hip hop, soul
and jazz influences and driven by his eloquent political lyrics.
He has always used music to push social boundaries. He speaks
out against sexual violence, encourages his community to prevent
the spread of HIV, and sings about the hypocrisy of the US
government.
He has also been a leading critic of the invasion of Iraq.
And recently he has learned members of his group Spearhead
are under surveillance of the U.S. government.
One day after performing at an anti-war rally, relatives
of one of Franti’s bandmates got an unexpected visitor.
Franti told Democracy Now!:
“His mother received a visit from two plain clothes
men from the military and this band member of mine has a sibling
who is in the gulf. And they came in and talked to her and
said you have a child who’s in the Gulf and you have
a child who’s in this band Spearhead who’s part
of the ‘resistance’ in their words. They had pictures
of us performing the day before at the rally, they had pictures
of us performing at some of our annual concerts that we put
on that are in support of peace and human rights.”
“They had his flight records for the past several months,
they had the names of everybody who works in my office, our
management office Guerilla Management, they had his checking
account records. They asked his mother a lot of questions
about where he was, what he was doing in this place, why he
was going here. They confiscated his sibling’s CD collection
that they had brought over to listen to while they were in
the Gulf, and basically were intimidating, told her which
members of the press she could talk to and which members of
the press she should not speak to…”
“For musicians in particular it’s a really hard
time. Last week our label received a letter, a mass e-mail
from MTV instructing the fact that no videos could be shown
that mentioned the word bombing or war. No videos could be
shown that had protesters in it. Any footage from military—they
gave a list of prior videos that could not be shown, yet MTV
has aired videos that show troops saying goodbye to their
loved ones and going off to war in a very heroic fashion and
troops which are gonna be coming home traumatized, wounded
and dead and then be treated and thrown onto the scrap heap
of veterans, as we’ve seen veterans treated in this
country. And at the Academy Awards, there were also letters
and talk that went around saying not to speak out.”
- Michael Franti, musician and political activist
Link: Full transcript of the Democracy Now! interview:
http://www.democracynow.org/franti.htm
http://www.spearheadvibrations.com/
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 Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo
is our music maestro and engineer.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
