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Crossing Lines: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly Faces Two Prison
Sentences For Antiwar Actions
"Hope is the Fuel of Progress" - Former British
MP and Leading Antiwar Voice Tony Benn On Imperialism and
Resistance
Crossing Lines: Peace Activist Kathy Kelly Faces
Two Prison Sentences For Antiwar Actions
We speak with veteran antiwar activist, Nobel Peace prize
nominee and Voices in the Wilderness founder Kathy Kelly as
she heads to court where she faces a one-month prison sentence
for refusing to pay a fine from an antiwar protest last May.
Kelly is also preparing to begin serving a 3-month sentence
next week for her non-violent civil disobedience at the US
Army's School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia last
November.
Veteran antiwar activist and Nobel Peace prize nominee Kathy
Kelly could be headed to prison today. The founder of the
peace group Voices in the Wilderness appears in Federal court
in Madison, Wisconsin, where she is facing a one month prison
sentence for refusing to pay a $150 fine stemming from an
anti-war protest last May. In that action, Kelly and 11 other
activists entered the site of the Navy's ELF/Trident transmitter
site in the northern woods of Wisconsin. ELF, which stands
for extremely low-frequency waves, is a military system used
to trigger nuclear missiles and cruise missiles. Cruise missiles
were the main weapon of choice among war planners as the Shock
and Awe campaign against Iraq was developed.
As Kathy Kelly faces the judge in Wisconsin today, she is
also preparing to begin serving a 3 month sentence next week
for her non-violent civil disobedience at the US Army's School
of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia last November. During
that action, Kelly was hogtied by military police at the base
after being arrested. She begins serving that sentence on
April 6, where she will join many others across the country
who are serving 3-6 month sentences for the protest at the
SOA.
"Hope is the Fuel of Progress" - Former
British MP and Leading Antiwar Voice Tony Benn On Imperialism
and Resistance
As the 9/11 investigation continues to dominate the news
with former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke reiterating
his claim that the Iraq invasion was a diversion form the
war on terror, we hear from former British MP and leading
antiwar voice, Tony Benn. After serving in the British Parliament
for over half a century, Benn is now president of the Stop
the War Coalition in Britain.
The investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks continued to
dominate the news this weekend.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, at the center
of a political firestorm over her refusal to testify under
oath before the Sept. 11 commission, yesterday renewed her
determination not to give public testimony.
In an interview on 60 Minutes, Rice said, "Nothing would
be better, from my point of view, than to be able to testify.
I would really like to do that. But there is an important
principle here...it is a longstanding principle that sitting
national security advisers do not testify before the Congress."
Despite Rice's statement, the 9/11 Commission is not a congressional
committee, but an independent body signed into law by the
president.
But even setting that aside, according to commissioner Richard
Ben-Veniste, an April 5, 2002 Congressional Research Service
report shows that "many precedents involving presidential
advisers" testifying before congressional committees.
At least two presidents have allowed their national security
advisers to testify in public, but in both cases the issue
at hand involved political scandal. President Carter allowed
Zbigniew Brzezinski to testify before the Senate Judiciary
Committee concerning allegations that Carter's brother, Billy,
had tried to lobby the government on behalf of Libya. And
Clinton allowed Sandy Berger to appear in public before the
House Governmental Affairs Committee on allegations of wrongdoing
in campaign fund raising during the 1996 elections.
Also in the 60 Minutes interview, Rice admitted that President
Bush ordered then-counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke to
find out if Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.
In his book "Against All Enemies," Clarke charges
that on Sept. 12, President Bush pulled him and several other
aides into the White House Situation Room and told him "go
back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this.
See if he's linked in any way."
All week long, the White House has said it had no recollection
that the Sept. 12 meeting ever took place, and that it had
no record that President Bush was even in the situation room
that day. But this weekend they changed their story, saying
the meeting did happen.
- National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice, interviewed
by Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes.
On NBC's Meet the Press this weekend, Clarke again said he
had insisted Iraq should not be the focus of the war on terror.
- Former Counterterrorism Chief Richard Clarke, interviewed
by Tim Russert on NBC's Meet the Press.
The U.S. went ahead with the invasion of Iraq on March 20,
2003 over the loud and public objections of most of the world's
nations and people.
Last week, millions took to the streets in cities around
the world to protest on the first anniversary of the invasion.
Of the roughly 250 anti-war protests around the United States,
New York's crowd was the largest with organizers estimating
up to 100,000 people taking to the streets in midtown Manhattan.
Rally speakers included antiwar activists from around the
country and the world. Former British MP was one of those
who took the stage.
- Tony Benn, Former British MP and President of the Stop
the War Coalition speaking at the antiwar rally in New York
City on March 20, 2004.
Benn served in the British Parliament for over half a century
and is the longest serving Labour MP in the history of the
party, which he joined in 1942.
In May 2001, Benn retired from House of Commons to 'devote
more time to politics.' While most politicians in this country
to leave office to work for corporations or become corporate
lobbyists, Benn left government to become one of the harshest
and most vocal critics of war and is now a leader of the Stop
the War Coalition in Britain.
After the rally New York, Democracy Now!s Amy Goodman had
a chance to interview with Benn in his hotel room.
- Tony Benn, interviewed by Amy Goodman.
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 Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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