Pacifica's Peace Watch
Thurs. Jan. 9, 2003
Today's Stories:
United Nations: No Smoking Gun
US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte
Civilian Casualties- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
Former. U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
Secret Armies
Nuns In Prison
CIA Practice of Torture
Colin Powell, Hawk or Dove?
The audio of today's show is posted at http://www.radio4all.net/
Story: United Nations: No Smoking Gun
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix met with the UN Security
Council today to brief them on the progress of inspections
in Iraq. At a press conference afterwards, Blix and Dr. Mohammed
El Baradei (BEAR-RAH-DEE) of I-A-E-A announced that no “smoking
gun” had been found, but added, there is still much
work to be done. Blix stressed that Iraq had failed to adequately
respond to the requests for full disclosure in Resolution
1441.
Tape: Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and Dr. Mohamed
El Baradi of International Atomic Energy Agency at a press
conference today at the UN Security Council in NY.
[top]
Story: US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte
In response to the UN Security Council briefing today by
Hans Blix, chief UN weapons inspector. US ambassador to the
UN, John Negroponte’s tone stood in stark contrast.
The US accused Iraq of being ‘uncooperative.’
Negroponte said that the onus is on Iraq to prove that they
have disarmed, not the duty of the weapons inspectors. When
questioned by the press as to the extent of the material breach
by Iraq, Negroponte stopped short of calling for another Security
Council resolution against Iraq
Tape: US Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte
[top]
Story: Civilian Casualties- White House spokesman
Ari Fleischer
Medact-- the British affiliate of International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War-- issued a report last November
estimating possible humanitarian effects of a US-led invasion
of Iraq. The reports concluded that such an attack could lead
to a "human catastrophe" with civilian casualties
as high as 250 thousand within the first three months alone.
Civilian casualties were very much on the mind of veteran
journalist Helen Thomas, when she questioned Whitehouse spokesperson
Ari Fleisher at a recent press briefing.
Tape: White House spokesman Ari Fleisher and veteran journalist
Helen Thomas.
[top]
Story: Former. U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
The U.S. Attorney General Iraq under the Johnson administration
Ramsey Clarke, who’s been in a unique position over
the years to monitor the government’s policies up close,
is now a foremost critic of U.S. foreign policy visa vie the
middle east. During a meeting yesterday with members of the
Washington press corps outlining plans for an upcoming peace
march, Clarke offered a critique of U.S. foreign policy in
the context of the impending war with Iraq and how America’s
policies are perceived throughout Europe.
Tape: Former US Attorney General under the Johnson administration
Ramsey Clark
[top]
Story: Secret Armies
More and more, the people who house and feed troops and repair
and maintain and even operate the high tech-weapons are likely
to be civilians. In the dark recesses of the world, private
contractors go where the Pentagon would prefer not to be seen,
carrying out military exercises for the American government.
Philip Niekirk, a project manner with the Center for Public
Integrity, recently released a 11 part series entitled “Making
a Killing The Business of War.” The report details the
use of private military contractors in today’s battlefields.
Tape: Philip Niekirk, a project manner with the Center for
Public Integrity
[top]
Story: Nuns In Prison
Early on the morning of October 6th, three Dominican nuns
entered the US military Minuteman III missile silo in northern
Colorado. Calling themselves the “Sacred Earth and Space
Plowshares 2” they wore white outfits bearing the title
“disarmament specialists and they proceeded to enact
the biblical prophesy of hammering swords into plowshares
and bringing an end to war.
Tape: Carol Gilbert, Jackie Hudson and Ardeth Platt. Produced
by Scott Gurian of PeaceWatch.
[top]
Story: CIA Practice of Torture
"Allegations of U.S. military personnel torturing suspects
captured abroad in the "War on Terror" have abounded
in the last year. Those charges were investigated in a detailed
Washington Post article which quoted several unnamed CIA and
Pentagon sources admitting that the Central Intelligence Agency
routinely commits acts defined as torture under international
law on prisoners at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Treatment includes forcing men to stand or kneel in painful
positions for hours, depriving them of sleep and bombarding
them with lights and noise for up to 24 hours. Often, captives
are beaten by Military Police and Army Special Forces troops,
blindfolded, and thrown into walls. When more extreme measures
are needed to convince a subject to talk, U.S. forces frequently
turn over captives to foreign intelligence services whose
practice of torture has been documented by the State Department
itself.
KPFK's Jerry Quickly asked Jim Ross, Senior Legal Analyst
from Human Rights Watch, to explain how the charges outlined
in the Washington Post are a violation of International law."
Tape: KPFK's Jerry Quickly speaking with Jim Ross, Senior
Legal Analyst from Human Rights Watch. Thanks to Dan Pavlish
of Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles for that report.
[top]
Story: Colin Powell, Hawk or Dove?
Secretary of State Colin Powell has sometimes been referred
to as the moderate among the Hawk in the Bush administration,
but his dovish qualities were not apparent in this speech
he delivered during the 2000 Republican Presidential convention.
Tape: Montage of speeches by Colin Powell, Secretary of State,
prepared by Scott Gurian of PeaceWatch
Credits
[top]
For a copy of today's show, please contact Pacifica
Radio Archives at 800 735 0230.
|
