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> Tue., Apr. 20, 2004
Flashpoints
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Today on Flashpoints:
Rahul Mahajan reports from Baghdad on potential US war crimes;
also a report on the Saudi connection and why the Bushes are
silent about it; plus an account from Gaza on the killing
of the second Hamas leader in the last two weeks; and an in-depth
look at the implications of recent elections in South Africa
on the region, as well as a look back at the French role in
the Rwanda genocide; and of course the Knight Report;
5:01 PM PST
The Knight Report: The dominoes are falling in the US occupation
of Iraq, and among democrats as George W. Bush joins John
Kerry's Rubber Band of Brothers, and Kerry's Bush-like campaign
endorses Israeli assassinations, Palestinian land confiscations
and long-term US military committments in Iraq.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: Today there is hatred of
the Americans like never before in the region. At the start
some considered the Americans were helping them; there was
no hatred of the Americans. But after what happened in Iraq
there is unprecedented hatred and the Americans know it. People
have a feeling of injustice. What's more, they see Sharon
acting as he pleases without the Americans saying anything.
The despair and feeling of injustice are not going to be limited
to our region alone. American and Israeli interests will not
be safe, not only in our region but anywhere in the world.
5:07 PM PST
Calm Before the Storm: Chicago author, activist and publisher
of EmpireNotes.org,
Rahul
Mahajan, interviewed by Dennis Bernstein, reports from
the ground in Baghdad describing conditions in and around
the capital, where military supply convoys are being attacked,
today's prison deaths, US sniping at ambulances in Fallujah
and Sadr City, closing
and blocking of hospitals by US military, and the gloomy
future of democracy in Iraq.
Read more on EmpireNotes.org
5:17 PM PST
Bleeding Oil: Author and Revolutionary
Worker contributing editor Larry
Everest in the studio discusses Bob Woodward's newest
book Plan of Attack, in particular Prince Bandar's promise
to 'fine-tune production' to lower oil prices to help Bush
get re-elected. Also revealed is how Saudi "spare capacity,"
controlled by the US was used as an economic nuclear weapon
leading to the implosion of the Soviet economy in the mid
1980s. Dennis and Larry discuss the dark backgrounds of John
Negroponte and Elliot Abrams in human rights abuses, in the
brutal scuttling of popular democracy in Latin America in
the 1980s and 1990s, and involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.
John Negroponte, as ambassador to Honduras from 1981-85,
covered up human rights abuses by the CIA-trained Battalion
316. He has been picked to run the US Embassy and protect
US interests in Iraq.
Elliott Abrams, an assistant secretary of state under
Reagan, pleaded guilty in 1991 to two counts of withholding
evidence from Congress (i.e., lying) over his role in the
Iran-Contra affair. Bush I pardoned him; Bush II has appointed
him to the National Security Council as director of its
office for democracy, human rights and international operations.
Hear Larry Everest Wednesday April 21, 7PM at the First Unitarian
Church in San Jose (160 North 3rd St. 408-998-8504), sponsored
by South
Bay Mobilization. Also see Larry's calendar
for future appearances.
5:28 PM PST
Lighting the Fuse: From Gaza City, independent journalist
Mohammed describes reaction to Israel's assassination of another
Hamas leader, and ongoing Israeli terrorism against innocent
Palestinian civilians. To most it appears that President Bush
gave Ariel Sharon his blessing to carry out the murders, and
that the US supports and encourages the brutal treatment of
Palestinians in the occupied territories.
5:40 PM PST
South Africa Rising: Horace
Campbell author and professor of African-American Studies
and Political Science at Syracuse University who also serves
as the Chairperson of the International Caucus of the Black
Radical Congress and has recently authored a book, Reclaiming
Zimbabwe; The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation
(David Phillip Publishers, Cape Town 2003), is interviewed
by Dennis Bernstein, discussing the significance of the recent
ANC victories in South African elections and the continuing
success of popular democracy over the economic dictatorships
which have immobilized so many of the world's democratic systems.
The philosophy of Obuntu to break the ideas of individualism,
greed and genocide plays a vital role in political thought
of South Africa and the African Union which is mandated to
prevent genocide, mass murder and crimes against humanity.
"Africans believe in something that is difficult to
render in English. We call it 'obuntu botho'. It means the
essence of being human. You know when it is there and when
it is absent. It speaks about humanness, gentleness, hospitality,
putting yourself out on behalf of others, being vulnerable.
It embraces compassion and toughness. It recognizes that
my humanity is bound up with yours."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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