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Did Mohamed ElBaradei and the IAEA Deserve to Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Texan Environmental Activist Diane Wilson: Why I Refuse to go Jail

Devastated by Mudslides, Guatemalan Villagers Refuse Military Aid Remembering 1990 Army Massacre

Did Mohamed ElBaradei and the IAEA Deserve to Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

World leaders are hailing the International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei for their efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. But a number of environmental groups and activists are asserting that the IAEA has actually heightened the threat of nuclear war by promoting nuclear power. We host a debate between former Clinton official Nancy Soderberg and British writer George Monbiot.

On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei were awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. The Egyptian-born ElBaradei has served as Director General of the IAEA since 1997. Speaking to reporters in Vienna soon after the announcement, he called the prize a "shot in the arm" for the agency. ElBaradei won the prize just months after the United States tried to force him from his job after the Bush administration repeatedly clashed with him over Iraq, Iran and North Korea. In the run-up to the Iraq war, ElBaradei argued that nuclear experts had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He called the launch of the US-led invasion "the saddest day of my life." Leaders from across the globe have come forward in support of the Nobel peace committee's selection of El Baradei and the IAEA. This is UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

But not everyone has supported El Baradei and the IAEA. A number of environmental groups and activists are criticizing the Nobel Peace Prize committee for their selection. The French group, Sortir du Nucleaire - or Get Out of Nuclear - criticized the IAEA for "promoting" civilian nuclear plants. Meanwhile, Greenpeace was also critical of the selection.

George Monbiot, Author and columnist for the London Guardian.

Nancy Soderberg, She held senior positions on the National Security Council staff, and the U.S. delegation to the U.N., during the Clinton administration. She is author of the book, "The Superpower Myth, The Use and Misuse of American Might."

Texan Environmental Activist Diane Wilson: Why I Refuse to go Jail

Three years ago Wilson was arrested for committing civil disobediance at a Dow Chemical plant to protest the company's connection to the Bhopal chemical disaster. She’s now refusing to go to prison until former Union Carbide CEO Warren Andersen is jailed for his role in Bhopal. [includes rush transcript]

The Corporate Crime Reporter is reporting that Diane Wilson is facing four months of jail in Texas. But she now says that she’s not going to jail until Warren Andersen, the former CEO of Union Carbide, is extradited to face manslaughter charges in Bhopal, India. Andersen was CEO of Union Carbide on December 3, 1984 when a deadly gas leak from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal, India poisoned at least 500,000 people. More than 8,000 people died within three days and over 20,000 people have died to date as a result of their exposure. In August 2002, Wilson scaled a Dow Chemical facility in Seadrift, Texas and unfurled a banner that read – “Dow Responsible for Bhopal.” When she came down, she was arrested and charged with criminal trespass. In January 2003, Wilson was convicted of that charge and sentenced to four months in prison and fined $2,000.

Diane Wilson, Fourth generation shrimper turned environmental activist from Seadrift, Texas. Author of the book “An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas.”

Devastated by Mudslides, Guatemalan Villagers Refuse Military Aid Remembering 1990 Army Massacre

The death toll in Central America following Hurricane Stan is still climbing after torrential rains caused deadly floods and mudslides. We go to Guatamala City to speak with Paul Menchu, brother of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Rigoberta Menchu Tum. More than 650 are confirmed dead in Guatemala and 1,400 more listed as missing. At least 100 others have died in Mexico and neighboring Central American countries. In the central highlands of Guatemala, whole villages were wiped out by mudslides, burying thousands alive and displacing tens of thousands of people.

Guatemalan President Oscar Berger's government has been widely criticized for responding too slowly to the tragedy. Hardly any federal aid has arrived in Panabaj or the surrounding area, where the death toll could be as much as 1,500. On Monday rescuers gave up after five days of searching the village for bodies under the mud. Officials will likely declare the area a mass grave. Rescuers have had to use boats and helicopters to bring in food and medicine because thousands of miles of roads and dozens of bridges have been burid under mudslides.

In Panabaj, villagers were reportedly refusing to allow the Guatemalan army in because of haunting memories of a 1990 massacre by the military. At the time, 2,000 to 3,000 villagers were protesting a military raid when the army raked the the crowd, of mostly indigenous descent, with machine-gun fire. At least 11 civilians were gunned down. Much of the region remains fearful of the military after 36 years of fighting that ended in 1996. During that time more than 100,000 Guatemalans died, the majority at the hands of the Guatamalan military.

Paul Menchu, Director of the Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation, brother of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Rigoberta Menchu Tum.

Beatrice Manz, Anthropologist and professor at the University of California Berkeley.