Pacifica's Peace Watch
Thur. Jan. 23, 2003
Today's Stories:
It’s The Oil Stupid: James Paul
France and Germany Blocked NATO
Arab Boycott of American Goods
Poet Nikki Giovanni Visits Pacifica
Congressional Bill to Repeal War Resolution U.S. Rep.
Sheila Jackson Lee
Blunt Youth Radio
Youth Mobilizing for Peace- Peta Lindsay
Iraq Pledge of Resistance
Illustrator Micah Wright Speaks Out Against War
World Social Forum
The audio of today's show is posted at http://www.radio4all.net/
Fearful that a possible overthrow of Saddam Hussein may
lead to chaos in the region, six of Iraq's neighbors met today
to discuss ways to avert a conflict and urge Baghdad to cooperate
more with U.N. arms inspectors.
A Turkish diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity says,
Turkey has proposed that the meeting adopt a joint declaration
calling on Iraq to fully cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors
and declare that it will not develop weapons of mass destruction
in the future.
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Story: It’s The Oil Stupid: James Paul
A report in the Guardian newspaper is reporting that the
US military has drawn up detailed plans to secure and protect
Iraq’s oilfields to prevent Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
from setting them ablaze as he did the Kuwait oil wells in
the 1991 Gulf War. James Paul of the Global Policy Institute
at the U-N in New York is closely following the oil trail
around this impending war. Peace Watch spoke with Paul for
reaction to reports that Bush is making the oilfields its
number one priority.
Tape: James Paul of the Global Policy Institute at the U-N
in New York.
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Story: France and Germany Blocked NATO
A rift has opened up between the US and several of its traditional
European allies on the question of whether to attack Iraq.
Among the harshest critics of the Bush administration's plans
are France and Germany, and with Germany due to take leadership
of the UN Security Council next month, the opposition is growing
more significant. It culminated yesterday with the two countries
joining together to block US war plans and prevent NATO from
helping the US launch attacks. Reinhardt Hesse, an advisor
to German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder spoke with the BBC.
Tape: German advisor Reinhardt Hesse.
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Story: Arab Boycott of American Goods
Arab and Muslim foreign leaders meeting in Istanbul today
voiced opposition to a US war on Iraq but put the onus for
peace squarely on Iraq’s shoulders. Meeting in an Ottoman
Palace on the banks of the Bosphoros, the foreign ministers
of Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iran asked
Hussein to comply fully with UN Weapons Inspectors to avoid
a war. But as Aaron Glantz has more from Amman, Arab men and
women are showing their opposition with their pocket book...
Tape: Aaron Glantz from Amman Turkey
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Story: Poet Nikki Giovanni Visits Pacifica
Political activist and professor of African American studies
Nikki Giovanni’s activism has stirred a generation and
continues to call us to be more than we are. Recently, we
asked her about the impending war on Iraq and what she thought
Dr. King would think of the US policy in the Middle East
Tape: Nikki Giovanni, political activist and professor of
African American studies at Virginia Tech University. We heard
The Song of the Feet from her most recent collection “Quilting
the Black Eyed-Pea.
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Story: Congressional Bill to Repeal War Resolution
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee
When President Bush dismissed U-N security council calls
to give the weapons inspection team more time in Iraq - -
- and characterized Baghdad’s position as a “rerun
of a bad movie I’m not willing to watch,” he ratcheted
up the rhetoric for war signaling to the world he’s
ready to go ahead with or without others approval.
Legal analysts say if the US launches an attack unilaterally
against Iraq, it would be against international law…and
some say it would be illegal. US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson
Lee of the 18th District in Texas spoke with Peace Watch yesterday
regarding this question and the resolution she has submitted
to Congress seeking to repeal the president’s power
to wage war against Iraq.
Tape: US Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th District
in Texas
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Story: Blunt Youth Radio
Valeria Randall and Jessica Margolis-Pineo two young ladies
from Portland, Maine, spent a day wandering the halls of their
public high school looking to opinions on the situation confronting
us in Iraq. Both have been active members of WMPG’s
Blunt Youth Radio project for two years.
Tape: Valeria Randall and Jessica Margolis-Pineo
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Story: Youth Mobilizing for Peace- Peta Lindsay
Not all young adults are as apathetic. At the Anti-War Rally
in Washington DC last weekend a huge youth contingency of
thousands of teenagers throughout the DC metropolitan area
joined with children of long time peace activists, new protestors
and some 400 college and high school students - - - who mobilized
nationwide for the protest. Many attributed the success of
this mobilization to Howard University student Peta Lindsay
of ANSWER-Act Now To Stop War and End Racism.
Tape: Peta Lindsay, a Student organizer for Act Now To Stop
War and End Racism. Thanks to Ryme Katkhouda, Matt Bradley,
Sara Duran, Luzette King and Errol Maitland from WBIX.org-
Refugees and Exiles Radio Network for this segment.
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Story: Iraq Pledge of Resistance
The Iraq Pledge of Resistance, a national organization that
recruits Americans to commit civil disobedience to protest
the impending war against Iraq, has just completed a week
of demonstrations. PeaceWatch spoke with Gordon Clark, national
coordinator of the Pledge about the prospects for increased
militancy in the fact of US saber rattling.
Tape: Gordon Clark, national coordinator of the Pledge of
Resistance, by David Lippman
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Story: Illustrator Micah Wright Speaks Out Against
War
President Bush's War on Terrorism has spawned a propaganda
renaissance here in America. KPFK's Sonali Kolhatkar spoke
to illustrator Micah Wright about his efforts to put an anti-war
spin on cold-war era government propaganda posters, and his
thoughts as a veteran of the Panama war on a possible war
with Iraq.
Tape: Illustrator Micah Wright
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Story: World Social Forum
An estimated one hundred thousand people are expected to
participate in the Third Annual World Social Forum that began
today in Porto Allegre Brasil. The forum is an open meeting
of members of civil society and leaders of non-governmental
bodies who oppose neo-liberalism. This year, discussion of
building a planetary society based on human rights includes
growing opposition to US imperialism and war. From Porto Allegre,
Brasil, Renee Feltz and Monica Lopez report?
Tape: produced by KPFT reporters Monica Lopez and Renee
Feltz, with the help of the Brasil Independent Media Center.
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