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> Wed., Feb. 12, 2003
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
Bin Laden Tapes
"New Europe": Slovenia and War
Joint Prayers in Baghdad
Day Care Workers Strike
Sex Murders in Mexico
Jordan Sweatshops Part II
Campaign Finance Reform
Bin Laden Tapes
As Secretary of State Colin Powell used yesterday's supposed
Bin Laden tapes to bolster the Administration's claims that
Saddam Hussein has strong links to Al Qaeda, what most of
the corporate media failed to report was the fact that the
voice on the tape also called the Iraqi president an "infidel".
In fact, analysts say, when Powell testified before Congress
yesterday, he misrepresented the content of the tape. As'ad
AbuKhalil , author of "Bin Laden, Islam and America's
New 'War on Terrorism'" says there is still no proof
of any links between Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
[top]
"New Europe": Slovenia and War
Despite three days of bitter argument, NATO has been unable
to reach a decision over the deployment of defensive weapons
to Turkey, the only NATO member to border on Iraq. France,
Germany and Belgium have blocked the deployment despite Turkey
invoking Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, where a member
state believes itself to be in immediate threat and requires
help from the alliance. With the alliance deadlocked for over
a month, the United States has turned to what the Bush Administration
calls the "New Europe" for support. Last week the
Vilnius Ten, a group of former communist countries and NATO
applicants, signed a declaration supporting the US in its
campaign to disarm Iraq, with or without a new UN resolution.
While the governments of these nations may be behind the US
all the way, the people are not necessarily so. James Smoot
reports from Slovenia where he finds opposition to war to
be rife, especially among young people.
[top]
Joint Prayers in Baghdad
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today that his Government
would take "full account" of Friday's report on
Iraq to be delivered by UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.
With public opinion staunchly rising in Britain against Blair's
march to war, Blair told MPs they were in danger of letting
UN inspectors get sucked into a time-wasting game of "hide
and seek" in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Pope's senior advisor
arrived in Iraq today on a mission of peace. He conducted
mass to an overflowing audience of both Muslims and Christians
at St. Joseph's Cathedral in central Baghdad. FSRN reporter
Jeremy Scahill was there.
[top]
Day Care Workers Strike
Telling the City of New York that they were not babysitters
whose labor could be further exploited, Day Care Workers rallied
in front of New York's City Hall today in a one day strike
to demand that Mayor Bloomberg increase wages. Simba Rousseau
has this report.
[top]
Sex Murders in Mexico
For a decade now, the world has been horrified by news of
women's murders in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.
But even as most of these crimes go unpunished, similar sex-related
slayings are spreading to other parts of Mexico. This time
to the city of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo,
Texas. Kent Paterson has this exclusive report.
[top]
Jordan Sweatshops Part II
Every year tens of thousands of south and east Asian workers
are brought to Jordan to work in factories sewing cloths for
WalMart, Target, and JC Penney. These workers are promised
higher wages then they would normally earn in India or Sri
Lanka. But, as Aaron Glantz reports in the second of our two
part series on globalization in Jordan, many workers feel
they would have been better off staying home.
[top]
Campaign Finance Reform
The GOP announced this week that they are strapped for cash
and cannot offer as much support as they flushed into the
last campaign cycle to crush Democrats in tough areas which
lead to a Republican controlled House and Senate. Meanwhile,
Common Cause is calling on the Democratic presidential candidates
and President Bush to accept public campaign financing for
the funding for their 2004 presidential campaigns. Meanwhile,
the executive director of the national group Public Campaign
For Clean Money - Clean Elections is touring the country to
get the word out about campaign finance reform. As KUNM's
Leslie Clark reports, his hope is to create new legislation
this year to begin the process of providing public financing
for state wide elections as a first step to national campaign
finance reform.
[top]
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