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> Fri., Mar. 28, 2003
Flashpoints
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Today's headlines:
US Bombers Target Civilian Populations, Killing More Than
50 People;
Former High Level UN Officials Call for Bush and Blair to
Be Tried for War Crimes Committed Against the Iraqi People;
Is Russian Intelligence Blowing the Whistle on US Military
Failures That Are Not Being Reported in the US Press?;
Flashpoints Poet on Assignment Aurora Levins-Morales Talks
About the Flag and Patriotism
8:00:00 PM PST
Dennis Bernstein: introduction: US bombers target civilian
populations, killing more than 50 people; former high level
UN officials call for Bush and Blair to be tried for war crimes
committed against the Iraqi people; is Russian intelligence
blowing the whistle on US military failures that are not being
reported in the US press?; Flashpoints poet on assignment
Aurora Levins-Morales talks about the US flag and patriotism
8:00:44 PM PST
Dennis: now w Dennis Halliday, former director of the Iraq
Oil for Food program.. Halliday: the military boys.. to drop
a two ton bomb on the Ministry of Information.. in a residential
neighborhood.. these bombs break eardrums.. a catastrophe
for the people.. cannot afford bottled water.. about the ship
full of food.. looks like looting instead of relief.. humiliating..
not the way to run a humanitarian program.. cannot stand on
the back of a lorry and throw packages.. about the Oil for
Food program.. I am glad to see there is a sense of urgency
about the humanitarian.. health care is a crisis.. people
getting killed.. we are seeing the breakdown in water supply..
but the UN has not right to take over Iraqi money without
consulting the Iraqis.. the UN does not run the Oil for Food
program.. this program has worked because the Iraqi Ministry
of Trade does all the buying, and the distribution system
is run by Iraq so that no one gets left out.. but I'm seeing
looting.. Dennis: Rumsfeld confounded that the Iraqis did
not greet the troops with flowers?.. Halliday: the Iraqis
are fighting for their homes.. after 911 Bush had 90% support,
40% before.. this invasion has done the same for Saddam Hussein..
the US position, is complete rubbish, spin.. Dennis: the US
wants the UN to 'play a roll'.. Halliday: not many of us would
believe that if chemical weapons are found, that it wasn't
the US that brought them in.. but the Secretary General of
the UN has no right to meddle with the resources of Iraq..
is Rumsfeld a candidate for war crime indictment?.. yes, and
Tony Blair will be prosecuted for war crimes in the ICC..
and in the first Gulf War the US used depleted uranium, a
nuclear weapon, a war crime.. massacred 15,000 fleeing people..
do the ends justify the means?.. no provision in international
law for that.. Bush and Blair have opted for some new concept
of preemptive strike.. people around the world wonder, if
they are next on Bush's killing list..
8:13:54 PM PST
Dennis: now w Hans Von Sponek former assisstant Secretary
General of the UN, and founder of the Center for Economic
and Social Rights.. Hans: one can only be angry, because all
that was foreseeable.. Rumsfeld's statement today, no more
compassion, no more feeling, no more regard for live.. saying
we will 'go all the way' regardless the horror.. this administration
has lost all propriety, all feeling for live.. saying the
US was considering laying seige to the city of Baghdad.. I
managed to get through to my old driver in Baghdad, a simple
man.. desparate fear that something may go wrong.. Rumsfeld
wants Saddam Hussein's head on a platter.. there is a terrible
dictator in Baghdad, horrible human rights abuses.. but this
doesn't justify what is happening.. a criminal court against
Saddam should also include Bush and Blair.. a total disregard
of ethics and moral behavior, just like the dictator of Baghdad..
this is an illegal war.. no support under international law..
a group of imminent lawyers in London, preparing a case against
Blair under British law.. trying to mislead the public in
a horrible way.. a danger that people in Basra, other cities,
will lose their lives from the Coalition bombing.. and danger
of shortages of all kinds will arise, not food because the
government handed out a couple months supply, but the water
situation and sewerage situation.. epidemics may occur.. lowered
immune systems.. lack of medicine.. Dennis: the US says it
plans to run Iraq.. Powell said that the US has no intention
of turning Iraq over to the UN.. Hans: the first order of
priority for all of us.. to extend help to civilians.. the
warring factions must facillitate that.. the UN must be ready,
but not become a subcontractor to a party at war.. an emergency
humanitarian intervention.. the Oil for Food program becomes
a misnomer, no oil being pumped.. some money left in the program
but will quickly draw down.. I agree with the French and Germans
that the belligerants must be the first to bring resources
to lessen the need.. but there will be no Oil for Trauma program,
no one can help lessen the trauma of the people of Iraq..
about the bombing of Dresden in WWII.. about the faces of
Iraqi people I know, who have shown so much magnanimity..
I hope they have the strength to understand that what is falling
on them is not a message from an entire people but from a
small group of politicians.. I salute the peace groups, and
human shields..
8:30:34 PM PST
music break
8:31:27 PM PST
another massive bombing of Iraq happening right now.. another
marketplace hit, 50+ dead.. one survivor said: "after
this crime I would like to see Bush, to cut him to pieces
with my teeth".. a US cruise missile?.. now w Ali Abunimah
of of the Arab-American Action Network, Electronic Intifada
& Electronic Iraq... .. just watched the pictures on Al
Jazeera.. I saw horrifying scenes.. a little girl covered
with blood, lying dead in a morgue.. people torn to pieces..
anguished relatives.. I watched the evening news on ABC..
they didn't show any graphic images.. WAR IS NOT A PICNIC
- IT IS THE TEARING TO PIECES OF HUMAN FLESH.. the destruction
to Iraq, the killing of civilians is widespread.. people in
Iraq know who is.. why in America are people not allowed to
see what our money is paying for?.. daily war crimes.. a war
that is illegal, a crime to begin with.. Dennis: Rumsfeld
behaving more and more like a mad man, threatening Syria,
Iran, Russia.. Ali: trying to start a world war?.. Syrian
homeland security threatened.. could be invaded by Israel
and by the US.. they feel directly threatened.. Rumsfeld has
become more and more wild.. we have seen the resignation of
Richard Perle.. hope this is the beginning of the rollback..
Dennis: about the busloads of people heading back into Iraq
to support the Iraqi people.. the US nightmare that the entire
Arab world will rise up against the US invasion.. Ali: the
US explains away the resistance.. the desire to defend your
country against an invading power transends whatever resentment
you have toward whatever thug is running your country.
8:40:54 PM PST
Dennis: now another poem by Flashpoints poet in residence,
Aurora Levins Morales.. (she reads, Flagbearers).. Infinite
Justice is nothing if not love..
8:47:44 PM PST
music break Michael Franti, Rock the Nation.
8:51:55 PM PST
Dennis: now with Miquel Molina, host of another KPFA show..
about the bombs falling on civilians in Iraq.. about the cutbacks
on social services to pay fo the increased military spending..
education.. health care.. California is going to be hit the
hardest.. 50% of the births in California is Latino.. this
a war on the home front, on people of color, on Latinos..
California will slash programs for agricultural workers..
mostly Latino, of Mexican descent.. Ceazar Chavez fought all
his life to bring thousands of farm workers better wages,
and protection from pesticides.. this administration using
the war on terrorism to roll back all civil rights, worker
rights, human rights gains of the last fifty years.. about
Ceasar Chavez.. EVENT: tomorrow a celebration and profound
resistance.. major labor presence.. 11Am at Second and Market
assemble.. noon - march up Market to Civic Center..
8:57:50 PM PST
Dennis: wrapup
8:58:38 PM PST
End today's show. today's review by John Lionheart
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