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Secrets and Lies: Author Dilip Hiro on Chalabi, the CIA and
the Battle for Iraq
Black Gold: Controlling Global Oil From Iraq to Saudi Arabia
to China to Venezuela and Beyond
Boston Protester Faces Felony Charges For Protesting Abu
Ghraib Abuse
Secrets and Lies: Author Dilip Hiro on Chalabi, the
CIA and the Battle for Iraq
With the June 30 deadline for the so-called transfer of
power in Iraq just weeks away, we speak with author and veteran
Middle East journalist Dilip Hiro whose trilogy of books on
Iraq and Iran are considered some of the most definitive histories
of the wars in the Persian Gulf. [includes rush
transcript]
The June 30 deadline for the so-called transfer of power
in Iraq is just weeks away and despite repeated US claims
that the interim Iraqi government will have full sovereignty
after the handover, it remains unclear what actual power it
will have.
A revised UN resolution put forward by the US this week would
allow Iraq to oversee its own military and police forces but
140,000 US troops would remain in Iraq and have the power
to act at will. The interim government will not have the power
to make laws or revoke any laws instituted by the U.S. occupying
forces. It is not clear what will happen after June 30th to
the thousands of Iraqis who are currently being detained --
many of whom have never been charged with a crime.
U.S. soldiers and contractors will likely remain immune from
criminal prosecution and liability in Iraq. Meanwhile under
current rules, the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund, the United Nations and the Arab Development Bank will
supervise an "advisory and monitoring board" that
will keep tabs on Iraq's revenues and expenditures. And up
to 160 U.S. advisors will continue working in the newly formed
Iraqi ministries.
The make-up of the newly selected Iraqi interim government
will be led by members of the Iraqi Governing Council which
dissolved itself this week and was widely seen as illegitimate
by the Iraqi people.
Now, one former Governing Council member and a key Bush administration
ally is at the center of an intelligence leak scandal. Reports
have emerged that the U.S.-backed Iraqi exile leader, Ahmed
Chalabi, disclosed to an Iranian official one of Washington's
most guarded secrets about Iran -- that it had broken Iran's
top-secret communications code allowing the U.S. to easily
spy on Iran's intelligence services.
In addition to the intelligence leak allegations, Newsweek
is now reporting that Chalabi may have collected and maintained
files of potentially damaging information on US officials
in order to blackmail them.
Now the US is now backing another Iraqi exile with CIA ties
- The new prime minister, Iyad Allawi, a former Baathist who
also has ties to Saudi intelligence.
- Dilip Hiro , a veteran journalist on the Middle East.
His trilogy of books on Iraq and Iran are considered some
of the most definitive histories of the wars in the Persian
Gulf. His latest book is called Secrets and Lies: Operation
'Iraqi Freedom' and After.
Black Gold: Controlling Global Oil From Iraq to Saudi
Arabia to China to Venezuela and Beyond
As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets
in Beirut, we take a look at global oil politics with Jim
Paul, executive director of the Global Policy Forum.
As the election season moves into full gear, increasing oil
and gas prices are becoming a significant campaign issue.
Democratic candidate John Kerry has gone on the offensive,
blaming the Bush administration's policies for higher prices
at the gas pumps. Meanwhile, the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries has been meeting in Beirut, where Senior
OPEC officials said today the group has agreed to boost production
in an effort to lower prices.
But the move is drawing criticism from some OPEC members,
who say they want to avoid a repeat of the collapse in oil
prices that followed a 1997 decision to raise production.
Uncertainty over the size of the deal pushed up US oil prices
by 59 cents a barrel in morning trading. Oil prices have been
above $40 - and at a 21-year high - for most of the past three
weeks.
Meanwhile, a battle is raging at the UN over the US/British
proposed resolutions on Iraq. Several countries on the Security
Council have said that Washington's plan does not provide
for Iraqi sovereignty. Veteran UN observers say oil is a major
behind-the-scenes issue in the current debates at the UN.
Today, we take an extensive look at the politics of oil.
- Jim Paul, Executive Director of Global Policy Forum.
He is based at the United Nations and monitors events there.
He has authored a number of reports on oil companies and
Iraq. They can be found on www.globalpolicy.org.
Boston Protester Faces Felony Charges For Protesting
Abu Ghraib Abuse
A 21-year-old college student could spend years in jail
on bomb threat charges after he stood silently outside a military
recruitment office dressed like an Iraqi prisoner: in a black
cape, hooded, wearing stereo wires hanging from his fingers.
The police charged Joseph Previtera with making a bomb threat
since the stereo wires resembled wires to a bomb.
An article in today's Boston Phoenix begins like this:
"It was a skinny pair of stereo wires that got 21-year-old
Joe Previtera charged with two felonies. A week ago on Wednesday,
the Boston College student poked his head through a gauzy
shawl, donned a black pointy hood, and ascended a milk crate
positioned to the right of the Armed Forces Recruitment Center's
Tremont Street entrance.
"He extended his arms like a tired scarecrow; stereo
wires dangled from his fingers onto the ground below.
"Without those wires, the Westwood native could have
been mistaken for an eyeless Klansman dipped in black, or
maybe even the Wicked Witch of the West...
"But those snaky cords made the costume's import clear:
Previtera was a dead ringer for one of Abu Ghraib's Iraqi
prisoners - specifically, the faceless man who'd allegedly
been forced to balance on a cardboard box lest he be electrocuted."
Prvitera stood outside the recruitment center for over an
hour. And then the police arrived. Within hours he was facing
charges more serious than any US soldier is facing for their
role in the actual prison abuse in Iraq. Previtera was charged
with three crimes: disturbing the peace, possession of a hoax
device and making a false bomb threat. If convicted he could
face years in prison.
The Boston Herald reported on Wednesday that prosecutors
in the Suffolk County District Attorney's office are considering
``amending'' bomb-threat charges against Previtera.
But the Boston police have defended the arrest:
Michael McCarthy, a spokesman for the Boston Police Department
told the Boston Phoenix: "It can be implied, with fingers
and wires - especially in a heightened state of alert, as
we are. Mr. Previtera should know better. He's a young adult
educated at Boston College from a wealthy suburb. I'm sure
he knows wires attached to his fingers, running to a milk
crate, would arouse suspicion outside a military recruiters'
office [when he's] dressed in prisoner's garb. If he has any
questions as to why people think he may've had a bomb, then
he needs to maybe go back to Boston College to brush up on
his public policy. Or at least common sense, but they can't
really teach that there."
- Joseph Previtera, 21-year-old Boston College student
who was arrested last week for standing outside a military
recuitment office dressed like the hooded Iraqi prisoner
held at Abu Ghraib prison. He was wearing a black cape,
had a hood over his head and had stereo wires dangling from
his hands.
- David Procopio, spokesperson for Suffolk County District
Attorney Daniel Conley
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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