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> Mon., Nov. 24, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Geneva Accords
FTAA Arrests and Aftermath
Medicare Debacle Continued
Viet Nam US relations
Army School of the Americas protests
Turks Reacts to Bombing
FSRN Headlines by Randi Zimmerman
Today, Georgia’s interim president has pledged quick
elections -- in 45 days. On Sunday Eduard Shevardnadze resigned.
For decades Georgia's government has been marred by charges
of corruption that culminated in accusations of fraudulent
elections three weeks ago. Some observers say Shevardnadze’s
resignation marks the beginning of the new era for Georgia
with young leaders committed to democracy without ties to
the old Soviet Republic. Professor Ronald Suny at the University
of Chicago is a specialist in the politics and history of
Georgia. ...quote. As part of the planned pipeline running
from the Black Sea to Turkey, U.S. foreign policy interests
critically watch Georgia.
8-million American workers now stand to lose their right
to overtime pay, according to the Economic Policy Institute
now that Congress bowed to Bush administration pressure. From
the Worker’s Independent News Service, John Hamilton
reports.
People living with AIDS and their supporters marched in D.C.
today calling for a re-ordering of priorities on federal spending.
Darby Hickey was there.
The FBI is collecting information about tactics and training
used by anti-war protesters as part of their expanded powers
under the so-called Patriot Act. Brandi Howell reports from
D.C.
(Two stories cut for time)
Environmental groups charge the so-called “Healthy Forests”
initiative is a gift to the timber industry and will ultimately
fail to protect communities. Leigh Robartes reports.
In Texas, protestors supported the rally of 10,000 people
who demand the closure of the School of the Americas, by holding
their own vigil outside another facility. Stephan Wray reports
from Austin.
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Geneva Accords
After two years of secret talks between Palestinian and
Israeli public figures, a peace proposal known as the Geneva
Accords, has emerged - three million copies of the plan are
to be distributed amongst Israeli and Palestinian families
across Israel and the Occupied Terrirorties. The plan will
be presented to Nelson Mandela and former US presidents Jimmy
Carter and Bill Clinton in Geneva next week. The Geneva Accords
detail an end to the Intifada by removing Jewish Settlements
in the Occuppied territories to pave the way for a Palestinian
state, and agreements on the Palestinian right of return and
the future of Jerusalem. Israeli Prime minister Ariel Sharon
has already denounced the plan calling the Israeli Negotiators
traitors. This as thousands of Palestinians rallied in Gaza
on Friday also denouncing the accords. Irris Makler has more
from Jerusalem.
[top]
FTAA Arrests and Aftermath
The Free Trade Area of the Americas, (FTAA) meetings in
Miami were marked by unprecedented police mobilization and
violence, when as many as 125 Peaceful protesters were injured,
while around 200 were arrested. The police security arrangements,
which used 2,500 members of 40 departments, cost as much as
$50,000 in new equipment alone and took six months to arrange,
according to newspaper reports. Meanwhile, American civil
Liberties groups yesterday denounced the FBI for using new
counter-terrorist powers to spy on anti-war demonstrations.
The FBI claims that this use of surveillance of the anti-war
movement was necessary to prevent protests being used as a
cover by ‘extremist elements’ of by terrorist
organizations to mount an attack. The civil liberties groups
were quick to point to an FBI memorandum on anti-war demonstrations
distributed last month to local police forces which suggests
that federal agents have also been monitoring mobilization
techniques used by opponents of the war in Iraq. WORT’s
Norm Stockwell reports on the arrests and the aftermath.
[top]
Medicare Debacle Continued
The Medicare bill in Congress is a step closer towards becoming
law, as an attempted filibuster against it failed in the Senate.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle says he'll support further
attempts to defeat the bill with parliamentary procedures,
though many people following the measure consider it a long
shot. President Bush says he'll will sign the bill - that
would include prescription drug coverage in Medicare. But
opponents to the measure say it is the beginning of the end
of the Nation's only nationalized health care program. Mitch
Jeserich reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Viet Nam US relations
A US Naval ship, flying the Vietnamese flag, sailed into
Ho Chi Minh City port last week. The visit -- the first by
a US vessel since the end of the war – follows a landmark
meeting between Vietnam’s Defense Minister Pham Van
Tra and US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier in the
month. According to Reuters, the US ambassador to Vietnam,
Raymond Burghardt said the historic four-day port call shows
that the worlds “former foes can be friends.”
While the United States and Vietnam forge new military contacts,
the return of more and more American Vietnam War veterans
to the country is helping former foes meet again. Ngoc Nguyen
reports from Hanoi.
[top]
Army School of the Americas protests
This weekend close to 10,000 people gathered outside the
gates to Fort. Benning, Georgia to call for the closing of
the Army School of the Americas. Recently renamed the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, the school
trains Latin American military personnel in Counter-insurgency
tactics - which demonstrators say are responsible for human
rights abuses across latin America. Many of the demonstrators
present at the annual march on the Western Hemisphere Institute
for Security Cooperation had also participated in the protests
held against the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in
Miami, FL and drew connections between the violence of the
United States military and that of US economic policies. Laurel
Paget-Seekins was there and files this report.
[top]
Turks Reacts to Bombing
The series of bombings which hit Istanbul last week killed
some 50 people and injured hundreds more. Turkish prosecutors
brought charges against 18 men the authorities identify as
accomplices to the suicide bombings. This as Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has assured Turks the country
will not be de-stabilized by the attacks. Ozlem Salidiz reports
on how Turks are reacting to these attacks one week later.
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