Pacifica's Peace Watch
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002
Today's Stories:
Interview with Former UN Assistant Secretary
General
Update from the United Nations
Military Build-up in the Persian Gulf
Musical commentary
Jeremy Scahill report from Basra, Iraq
Voices in the Wilderness founder Kathy Kelly
speaks about the Iraq Peace Team
Black Voices for Peace Media Accountability
Campaign
Student Poetry from Texas
The audio of today's show is posted at http://www.radio4all.net/
Story: Interview with Former UN Assistant Secretary
General
Emboldened by Tuesday’s election results, the administration
is pushing ahead with a UN vote on its resolution to attack
the people of Iraq. A man who spent over three decades of
his career in high level positions at the United Nations but
quit four years ago out of frustration says the resolution
is geared towards prompting a war. Denis Halliday is former
UN Assistant Secretary General, and he headed up the UN’s
‘Oil for Food Program” in Iraq.
Tape: interview with Denis Halliday
[top]
Story: Update from the United Nations
Secretary of State Colin Powell abruptly cancelled an Asian
tour today to be on hand for UN deliberations on the latest
resolution for weapons inspections in Iraq. The vote could
occur as early as this weekend. Robert Knight has been monitoring
the developments at the UN, and he files this update.
Tape: Robert Knight report with former US Attorney General
Ramsey Clark
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Story: Military Build-up in the Persian Gulf
Iragi President Saddam Hussein has a week to accept or reject
the resolution, and rejection would almost certainly trigger
a war. At any point after the resolution is in effect, if
weapons inspectors report back to the Security Council that
Saddam is obstructing their work, war is all but certain.
Colin Robinson is a research analyst with the Center For Defense
Information. We asked him about signs the U-S military is
building up for war.
Tape: Interview with Colin Robinson
[top]
Story: Musical commentary
In Texas, it’s clear that electoral politics are being
mandated by an overwhelmingly white majority who are active
as a voting electorate. They are Republican, and they are
unaware of how warfare affects minorities. This according
to Kwame Anderson, lead MC for the Houston-based hip-hop project,
Freedom Sold. Anderson recently spoke to KPFT news about the
Republican takeover of Congress, how this affects the war
agenda and whether or not this war will help the people on
the streets.
Tape: musical commentary/collage from Pacifica station KPFT
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in Peacewatch’s
art and music segments are not necessarily those of Pacifica
Radio’s national staff or management.
MUSIC BREAK
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Story: Jeremy Scahill report from Basra, Iraq
As the U.S. prepares to launch a massive assault on Iraq,
people in that country are preparing for the worst. Independent
Radio Producer Jeremy Scahill has been filing reports from
inside Iraq for the past several weeks. His daily reports
are heard on the national radio program Democracy Now! as
well as on his website, http://www.iraqjournal.org. Today
he files this report from the southern city of Basra, an area
of Iraq that has been worst hit under US bombing and sanctions
since the end of the Gulf war.
Tape: report produced by Jeremy Scahill and film producer
Jacquie Soohen
[top]
Story: Voices in the Wilderness founder Kathy Kelly
speaks about the Iraq Peace Team
Another person who’s visited Basra recently is Kathy
Kelly, leader of the Chicago-based organization, Voices in
the Wilderness. We reached her in a Baghdad hotel room earlier
today and asked her to describe her recent travels and the
formation of the Iraq Peace Team.
Tape: interview with Kathy Kelly
[top]
Story: Black Voices for Peace Media Accountability
Campaign
A group founded in response to the Bush administration’s
agenda to launch war against the people of Iraq is outraged
over the blackout of news coverage around the burgeoning anti-war
movement in the U.S. Damu Smith, founder of Black Voices for
Peace, believes the peace message is being muzzled by the
mainstream, corporate media. His group has launched a media
accountability campaign to express its anger. Smith names
the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, National Public
Radio and others as guilty of underreporting recent peace
demonstrations.
Tape: Interview with Damu Smith
[top]
Story: Student Poetry from Texas
At a Students United for Peace rally this week in Houston,
Texas, several approaches were used to communicate reasons
to oppose a US attack on Iraq. University of Houston student
Alysia Minor spoke at the rally. She shared with fellow students
a poem by Emmanuel Ortiz
Tape: Poetry produced by Honore Brown and Rene Feltz at
the Houston Independent Media Center
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in Peacewatch’s
art and music segments are not necessarily those of Pacifica
Radio’s national staff or management.
[top]
For a copy of today's show, please contact Pacifica
Radio Archives at 800 735 0230.
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