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> Tues., Mar. 25, 2003
Flashpoints
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Today's headlines:
Human Shileds Bearing Witness at a Major Water Treatment Plant
on the Outskirts of Baghdad;
Iraqi-Americans Living in Fear for Their Families Back Home;
Halliburton Wins Big with the First Half-Billion Contract
to Rebuild Iraqi Oil Structures;
Were the US Missiles that Killed and Wounded Syrians and Iranians
Really an Accident and Where Does the Euro-Dollar Figure into
the Drive to Invade Iraq?;
The Knight Report
8:00:00 PM PST
Dennis Bernstein: introduction: human shields bearing witness
at a major water treatment plant on the outskirts of Baghdad;
Iraqi-Americans living in fear for their families back home;
Halliburton Corp.se wins big with the first half-billion contract
to rebuild Iraqi oil structures; were the US missiles that
killed and wounded Syrians and Iranians really an accident
and where does the Euro-dollar figure into the drive to invade
Iraq?
8:00:30 PM PST
Robert Knight and the Knight Report..STREAMING AUDIO LINK
Robert: Sandstorms contribute to delay entering Baghdad..
humanitarian crisis looms in Basra after Coalition of the
Billing cut power and water.. cluster bomb attacks on the
city.. diarrhea outbreak feared.. Rumsfeld press conference
audio excerpt, defends war plan.. Bob Woodward report says
Rumsfeld overruled General Franks and launched early.. US
has given up on Turkey staging.. Turkish troops spill into
northern Iraq.. Coalition using dolphins and sea lions to
clear mines in the Gulf.. Morocco offers 2000 monkeys trained
to detonate landmines..
8:06:05 PM PST
Dennis: resistance to US and British forces growing.. STREAMING
AUDIO LINK now w Rosemarie (Werta) Gilespie from Australia..
Werta: I'm part European and part Aborigine.. I'm a mother
and a grandmother, 62 years old.. I came to be a witness to
the truth, to be a human shield to protect humanitarian sites..
over 100 human shields in Baghdad.. I'm at a water treatment
plant, serves 3 million people.. the bombing has been intense..
a couple nights ago, bombing was close to the water plant..
blew one human shield off his feet.. but we will not be moved..
I am a human rights lawyer, graduate diploma in international
law.. it is very clear, that the current invasion.. is a clear
violation of international law.. like tearing up the charter
of the UN.. Bush and his crazies tearing up decades of work,
centuries of international law.. how can I live in a comfortable
corner, when I know that people in another corner of the world
are being bombed into bits.. the law of the jungle.. if this
tread continues there will be no place.. how long until the
people who turned the guns on Iraq, will turn the guns on
you.. we can't be afraid of the bullets or missiles or Bush
or others calling us names.. Bush is like a boy playing with
fire.. Dennis: America ripping the word 'peace' out of the
dictionary.. Werta: Abraham Lincoln said democracy is government
by the people, of the people, for the people.. Bush doesn't
know democracy from a hole in the ground.. the kids here are
terrified of the bombing.. I have heard stories of brave civil
disobeidience in the US, very encouraging.. the only thing
that is going to stop this war is direct action.. we need
another revolution..
8:16:54 PM PST
STREAMING AUDIO LINK Dennis: now w Tom Kahill, 66 years old,
a grandfather.. at the water treatment plant, 13 miles from
Baghdad.. Tom: 16 of us here.. about the bombing.. today a
big sandstorm all day.. mixed with oil from fires.. making
a huge mess.. a report from March 22, 101 casualties.. a young
girl, collapsed lung, internal bleeding.. the ER had so much
blood on the floor it had to be cleaned every few minutes..
the hospital almost out of supplies on that day.. this looks
like this may turn into a guerilla war.. a water treatment
plant in Basra damaged, the people now getting water out of
the river, mixed with sewage.. the US government has terribly
miscalculated Iraq.. ironic that the Bush administration thinks
it can replace a dictator that they installed not too many
years ago.. the Shiite Muslims feel double crossed by the
US, likewise the Kurds in the north..
8:22:50 PM PST
STREAMING AUDIO LINK Dennis: now w Annan Shallal the founder
of Iraqi Americans for Peaceful Alternatives.. Dennis: you've
been trying to speak with your relatives on the ground in
Iraq?.. Annan: I have fifty relatives, one cousin, her house
was hit, broke windows.. I feel like we've been put in some
old history.. watching baghdad burn, talking to relatives,
saying they need help.. saying we must talk to our leaders,
make them stop.. it feels like the Wild West.. they are in
a sense of denial, thinking surely the Americans will stop..
being on the outskirts of the city, fearing that battles will
take place there.. Dennis: news reports today that the Pentagon
will run Iraq.. Annan: the first thing they did was secure
the oil wells, that's why they are there.. a Halliburton company
has the contract, unlimited amount of money to run the oil
wells..
8:28:20 PM PST
STREAMING AUDIO LINK Dennis: a busload of Syrian civilians
hit by a US missile.. now w Professor Elaine Hagopian, Professor
Emerita of sociology at Simmons College.. Prof Hagopian: my
response is I don't understand that these precision missiles
we are supposed to have could accidently hit a bus.. I think
it is a warning to Syria, to close its borders.. they say
they want to attack Syria and Iran.. Dennis: and they hit
Iran too.. Prof Hagopian: and violations of Iranian airspace..
Iran thinking of converting from dollars to the euro like
Iraq did.. North Korea converted to the euro too, this is
a big threat to the US.. the euro could end the US monopoly..
Bush could decide that Iran's embrace of the euro, qualifies
them as next on the hit list.. Israel has a very strong role
in the strategy of the 'neo-cons' in the Bush administration..
Garner is a very pro-Israeli guy, he is known for that.. about
the so-called 'Iraqi National Congress'.. could be installed
by the US to rule Iraq.. if Iraq had real democracy it would
vote to be on an equal footing with the US.. Dennis: Perle,
Wolfowitz, Abrams, wanting to rewrite the map of the Middle
East.. Prof Hagopian: oil is power, American companies will
get all the contracts.. would extract and refine, and control
the distribution.. could exclude China, for example.
8:38:00 PM PST
music break
8:41:08 PM PST
STREAMING AUDIO LINK Dennis: not surprising the first big
contract to rebuild Iraq awarded to Halliburton, Dick Cheney's
old company.. now w Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch.. Pratap:
see the story on our website.. [no further review tonight]
8:54:35 PM PST
Dennis: wrapup
8:59:29 PM PST
End today's show. today's review by John Lionheart
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