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Former Labour MP Tony Benn on how Britain Secretly Helped
Israel Build Its Nuclear Arsenal
The Next Gulf: London, Washington & the Oil Conflict
in Nigeria
Former Labour MP Tony Benn on how Britain Secretly
Helped Israel Build Its Nuclear Arsenal
We have an extended conversation with Tony Benn, one of
Britain’s most distinguished politicians and the longest
serving MP in the history of the Labour party. Benn discusses
the new revelations the British government helped Israel build
the atom bomb. Benn also speaks about U.S. and U.K. relations,
extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo Bay, torture, religion,
and the state of the media. [includes rush
transcript - partial]
BBC News revealed Thursday the British government secretly
supplied Israel with hundreds of chemical shipments in the
1960’s, despite fears the chemicals could be used to
develop nuclear weapons. Analysts say the shipments, which
included plutonium, helped speed up Israel’s acquisition
of an atomic bomb. All told, the BBC reported the British
chemicals could have been used to produce bombs 20 times as
powerful as those dropped on Hiroshima.
The deals were made in violation of strict government policy.
According to de-classified government documents, a British
government official named Michael Michaels oversaw the shipments
behind the backs of his superiors. One of these superiors
is our guest today. Tony Benn was Britain’s Minister
of Technology at the time. That post was one of many that
have come in the career of one of Britain’s most distinguished
politicians.
Tony Benn served in the British Parliament for over half
a century. He is the longest serving MP in the history of
the Labour party, which he joined in 1942. In May 2001, Benn
retired from House of Commons to, in his words, “devote
more time to politics.” While many politicians take
on corporate or lobby positions when they leave office, Benn
became one of the harshest and most vocal critics of the Iraq
war. He is a prominent leader of the Stop the War Coalition
in Britain.
In February 2003 – one month before the invasion of
Iraq – Benn interviewed Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. In
December of last year, Benn was the lead signatory to an appeal
sent on behalf of dozens of prominent British political and
cultural figures asking the UN to investigate the US and British
governments for war crimes in Iraq.
- Tony Benn, former British Labour MP, one of Britain’s
most distinguished politicians and the longest serving MP
in the history of the Labour party. He is the author of
several books, including “Free Radical: New Century
Essays” and “Dare to be a Daniel: Then and Now,”
an autobiography.
The Next Gulf: London, Washington & the Oil Conflict
in Nigeria
In recent months, the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta – MEND – has intensified its conflict
with the Nigerian government and its largest commercial partner,
the oil giant Shell. Government forces have bombarded villages
and oil rigs in its attacks on MEND’s ethnic Ijaw rebels.
We speak with James Marriot, author of “The Next Gulf.”
[includes rush
transcript]
Several unarmed civilians have been reported killed in the
attacks. Meanwhile, MEND has kidnapped foreign workers, killed
Nigerian troops and attacked major oil installations. Their
incursions have led to a 20% decline in Nigeria’s overall
oil production.
MEND is demanding the release of imprisoned political leaders,
an end to government corruption, a greater share of oil revenues,
and compensation for environmental damage caused by Shell’s
activities in the Niger Delta. Last month, a Nigerian court
ordered Shell to pay $1.5 billion dollars in environmental
damages. But the oil giant refused to pay the fine and is
now appealing the ruling. Rebels have also made similar demands
of oil conglomerate ExxonMobil.
Last week, MEND released six kidnapped foreign oil workers.
Three other hostages – two Americans and a British citizen
– remain in captivity. One of the freed workers, U.S.
citizen Macon Hawkins, was released on his 69th birthday.
Hawkins said, “I think the U.S. needs to keep up the
pressure on the Nigerian government to pay attention to these
people, and do something about their poor conditions.”
The rebels’ complaints of government corruption were
bolstered Wednesday with the announcement the top military
commander in the Niger delta has been removed for his alleged
involvement in the theft of crude oil. Rebel groups have long
accused Brigadier General Elias Zamani and other top military
officials of being key actors in the $100 million-dollar stolen
oil trade. Analysts say the market for stolen oil is one of
the leading issues at the heart of the region’s conflicts.
Despite the country’s oil wealth, most of Nigeria’s
citizens live in abject poverty. Nigeria is the world’s
eighth largest oil supplier and the fifth largest supplier
of crude oil to the U.S. President Bush has said he wants
to see oil exports from the region increase. The Nigerian
government recently asked Britain and the U.S. for military
help in its fight against the rebels. Today, we take a look
at the situation in the Niger Delta and how the British and
the United States governments have become involved in its
fate.
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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