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Ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Assassinated in Car Bombing
Clare Short On Why She Quit Tony Blair's Government In Protest
of the Iraq War & How British Intelligence Spied On UN
Chief Kofi Annan
Shocking and Awful: A Grassroots Response to War and Occupation
Ex-Lebanese Prime Minister Assassinated in Car Bombing
Lebanon's army has been put on high alert after former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive bomb explosion
Monday. We go to Beirut for a report on the ground and talk
to longtime Middle East journalist Patrick Seale on the impact
the assassination will have on U.S.-Syrian relations.
Lebanon's army has been put on high alert after former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive bomb explosion
Monday.
At least 13 others were killed and 135 wounded in the blast.
It marked the bloodiest attack in Lebanon since the end of
the civil war. Shops, schools and public institutions have
shut down across the country for three days of official mourning.
The army has been placed on full alert and checkpoints set
up around Beirut.
Hariri was viewed by many as the country's most prominent
politician. The self-made billionaire led Lebanon for most
of the period since the civil war ended in 1990. Hariri made
his fortunes as personal contractor for Prince Fahd in Saudi
Arabia. He left office in October after a dispute over Syria's
role in Lebanon.
It is still unclear who is responsible for the attack. A
little-known group calling itself Victory and Jihad in Greater
Syria issued a statement saying it carried out the bombing
because of Hariri's ties to the Saudi Royal family. The claim
has not been verified.
Opposition leaders in Lebanon said Syria bore a measure of
responsibility and a crowd in Beirut tried to burn down the
local Syrian party offices. The Syrian government has denied
any involvement. Since it helped broker the end of the civil
war, Syria has maintained a pervasive grip on Lebanon through
its intelligence services, political allies and economic interests.
Some 14,000 Syrian troops are stationed in the country.
The opposition also renewed its call for Syrian troops to
withdraw from the country - a demand backed by Washington.
White House press Secretary Scott McClellan said Monday the
U.S. would consult with the U.N. Security Council.
- White House spokesperson Scott McClellan, speaking Feb.
14.
- Michael Glackin, Managing Editor of The Daily Star.
- Patrick Seale, British journalist who has covered the
Middle East for over 30 years specializing in Syria. He
is the author of "Asad: The Struggle for the Middle
East"
Clare Short On Why She Quit Tony Blair's Government
In Protest of the Iraq War & How British Intelligence
Spied On UN Chief Kofi Annan
One of Europe's leading critics of the Iraq invasion joins
us in the Firehouse Studio. Two years ago Clare Short resigned
her top post in the Blair government. She recently wrote about
her resignation and the war in her book "An Honourable
Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power"
[includes rush
transcript]
We are joined right now by one of Britain's leading critics
of the invasion of Iraq: Clare Short.
She is best known for resigning her cabinet-level position
as Secretary of State for International Development in Tony
Blair's government over the UK's involvement in the Iraq invasion.
In her resignation letter to Prime Minister Blair in May
2003, Clare Short wrote, "As you know, I thought the
run-up to the conflict in Iraq was mishandled, but I agreed
to stay in the Government to help support the reconstruction
effort for the people of Iraq. I am afraid that the assurances
you gave me about the need for a U.N. mandate to establish
a legitimate Iraqi government have been breached."
A few months later she called on Blair to resign, charging
he mislead the British people over the war in Iraq. Clare
Short gained headlines again last year when she accused British
intelligence agents of spying on U.N. Secretary General Kofi
Annan in the run up to the Iraq war. She said she had read
transcripts of private conversations of Annan.
She is the author of a new book, "An Honourable Deception?
New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power"
Today, a conversation with Clare Short. She joins us in our
firehouse studio. She is in the United States to discuss the
impact of U.S. foreign policy on the world at a forum being
coordinated by the Eisenhower and Century Foundations.
- Clare Short, was the Secretary of State for International
Development in Tony Blair's government before resigning
in protest over Britain's participation in the invasion
of Iraq. She is also a contributor to the new book put out
by the Eisenhower Foundation called Patriotism, Democracy
and Common Sense.
Shocking and Awful: A Grassroots Response to War
and Occupation
As President Bush requests $80 billion for the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan, we play an excerpt from a new 13-part series
produced by Deep Dish TV featuring interviews with Noam Chomsky,
Tariq Ali and Larry Everest. It is narrated by David Barsamian.
A new documentary about the war and occupation of Iraq has
been released. Deep Dish TV has collected and produced thirteen
programs, which are being distributed to communities all over
the United States on Free Speech TV and on community access
channels.
The documentary series is titled, "Shocking and Awful:
A Grassroots Response to War and Occupation." It is produced
entirely by independent video activists.
We are joined by the coordinator of Shocking and Awful, Brian
Drolet. He is a long time Community TV activist with Deep
Dish Television.
- Excerpt from "Shocking and Awful: A Grassroots Response
to War and Occupation" featuring interviews with Noam
Chomsky, Tariq Ali and Larry Everest. It is narrated by
David Barsamian.
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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