Pacifica's Peace Watch
Tues. Jan. 14, 2003
Today's Stories:
Ari Fleischer- Spars with White House press corps
U-N update
Arab-American grandmother on anti-war in US and Egypt
DC High School Student Sit-in
Shiites are backed by Iran
Bush Impeachment Resolution
Houston INS rally
Folksinger Utah Phillips
The audio of today's show is posted at http://www.radio4all.net/
Story: Ari Fleischer- Spars with White House press
corps
With tens of thousands of U.S. troops mobilizing for a possible
invasion, waves of anti-war activists have descended on Baghdad
recently to plead for a peaceful solution to the showdown
between the Bush administration and Saddam Hussein's government.
Meanwhile, back at home; the administration continues to
talk tough regarding the ongoing weapons inspections in Iraq.
However, today, white house spokesmen ARI Fleischer, found
himself bombarded with questions from the press corps during
a recent press conference.
Tape: Ari Fleischer, white house spokesman
[top]
Story: U-N update
Head UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix said the other day that
the weapons inspection team needs more time to conduct its
investigations, that the January 27th date will only be a
progress report, and that it may take as long as a year before
the team can fully determine whether Iraq possesses weapons
of mass destruction or whether it can be given a clean bill
of health. Meanwhile, the U.S. is preparing to move an additional
67 thousand troops and 6 aircraft carriers to striking distance
of Iraq, and it's continuing ahead with its plans to launch
attacks within the next month or so. The U.S. says that time
is running out, but it refuses to issue a timetable of its
proposed actions. Peacewatch spoke earlier today with Ian
Williams, UN correspondent for The Nation magazine and asked
him what sort of timetable he sees evolving at the United
Nations and with the US's war plans...
Tape: Ian Williams, The Nation Magazine
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Story: Arab-American grandmother ON ANTI-WAR IN US
AND EGYPT
Democracy, personal freedom and sovereignty are the hidden
costs of the U-S. military build up for a war against Iraq.
That’s according to Suheir Morsi the grandmother of
one of the organizers of today’s Wilson High School
walkout. A long time medical anthropologist at Michigan State
and Berkeley University and Egyptian-American civil rights
activist in the US and the Arab world, Morsi stood in the
bitter cold this morning supporting her grand-daughter’s
efforts of participatory democracy.
Tape: Suheir Morsi, by Ryme Katkhouda, Peace watch’s
producer from WPFW, Pacifica’s station in Washington
DC
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Story: DC High School Student Sit-in
High school students at Wilson High in a middle class section
of Washington, DC. defied both administrators and police and
walked out of class today to protest the Bush's administration
plans to launch a war that could very well lead to the occupation
of Iraq.,
Tape: Report from Ingrid Drake and Tom Gomez from WBIX-Refugees
and Exiles Radio Network
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Story: Shiites are backed by Iran
The Shi'ias are a Muslim sect constituting more than 60%
of the Iraqi population. As the disempowered majority, they
constitute the most important and the most organized opposition
to Saddam Hussein's regime. This week, Kurdish groups and
the US-backed Iraqi National Congress will join the Supreme
Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq for a discussion
of a post-Saddam Iraq. Khaled Sid Mohand met them in the Iranian
Capital of Tehran...
Tape: Report Khalid Sid Mohand Turkey
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Story: Bush Impeachment Resolution
As President Bush prepares a preemptive strike against Iraq,
others are contemplating a preemptive impeachment to stop
the war. Professor and International Law Expert Francis Boyle
co-authored the impeachment resolution introduced by Texas
Representative Henry Gonzalez at the start of the last Gulf
War. In an interview with Mimi Rosenberg on WBAI's "Wake
Up Call," Boyle described the striking similarities between
the grounds for impeachment of President George Herbert Walker
Bush in 1991, and current efforts to remove President George
Walker Bush on the verge of the Second Gulf War...
Tape: Francis Boyle
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Story: Houston INS rally
The Immigration and Naturalization Service began its third
Special Registration period on Monday. Included in Group 3
are male Pakistani and Saudi Arabian non-citizens over the
age of 16. Over the weekend, the Pakistan Ambassador to the
U.S. joined with area Pakistani leaders in Houston, Texas
to speak out against what many are calling a discriminatory
policy because of its emphasis on mostly Muslim countries.
Mauryzia Wong attended the Pakistani Community Forum. She
files this report from the Houston Independent Media Center
radio program on Pacifica station KPFT.
Tape: By Mauryzia Wong from the Houston Independent Media
Center and Pacifica station KPFT.
[top]
Story: Folksinger Utah Phillips
Finally, from California, we spoke to radio host, former
U.S. Senate candidate, Presidential candidate, songwriter,
political folk singer, activist and veteran of the Korean
war Utah Phillips. Phillips shared with us how his experiences
as a veteran of the Korean war shaped his life.
Tape: Songwriter, storyteller, political activist and presidential
candidate, Utah Phillips.
Credits
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For a copy of today's show, please contact Pacifica
Radio Archives at 800 735 0230.
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