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> Wed., Apr. 2, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Civilian Casualties Continue to Grow
in Iraq
Liberation or Devastation of Iraq
Secretary of State Colin Powell Goes to Turkey
The Christmas Coup Comedy Players
Conscience Objector Surrenders to Military Police
The Number of Conscience Objectors Increase
Columbia University Professor Edward Said expresses doubts
about war on Iraq
A Call to Freedom, A Call for Affirmative Action
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Story: Civilian Casualties Continue to Grow in Iraq
An American missile, identified from the remains of its
serial number, was pinpointed yesterday as the cause of the
explosion at a Baghdad market on Friday night that killed
at least 62 Iraqi civilians.
The codes on the foot-long shrapnel shard, seen by the Independent
correspondent Robert Fisk at the scene of the bombing in the
Shu'ale district, came from a weapon manufactured in Texas
by Raytheon, the world's biggest producer of so-called "smart"
bombs.
The identification of the missile as American is an embarrassing
blow to Washington and London as they try to match their promises
of minimal civilian casualties with the reality of precision
bombing. Both governments have suggested the Shu'ale bombing
and the explosion at another Baghdad market that killed at
least 14 people last Wednesday were caused by ageing Iraqi
anti-aircraft missiles…
Reports are starting to emerge from Iraq of hundreds of
civilian casualties in towns and cities outside of Baghdad.
In Nassiriya they have recorded 250 deaths, mostly civilians.
In the town of Hillah 70 miles south of Baghdad, the BBC reported
that members of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) team witnessed a vehicle transporting the bodies of
men, women and children to a hospital in Hillah.
PeaceWatch spoke to ICRC spokesman Lolind Huganen Benjamin
today, who is stationed in central Baghdad, about conditions
in Baghdad and the reports of mounting civilian casualties.
Tape: Lolind Huganen Benjamin, spokesman of the International
Committee of the Red Cross in Baghdad.
[top]
Story: Liberation or Devastation of Iraq
As casualties continue to mount in Baghdad and throughout
Iraq, scenes of bombed-out marketplaces and other civilian
areas are doing little to aid the American claims of liberating
the people of Iraq. Peacewatch commentators Ralph Shoneman
and Mya Shone say that all of this is not without historical
precedent, and that Iraqis have good reason to be distrustful
of what they perceive as their latest colonizers.
Tape: Ralph Shoneman and Mya Shone of Pacifica station WBAI
in New York
[top]
Story: Secretary of State Colin Powell Goes to Turkey
Colin Powell leaves Turkey this evening with the promise
of a written document from Turkish officials allowing for
ground transport of fuel from Turkey to US Troops being airlifted
to Northern Iraq. The document will also explicitly state
the United States will not station any additional troops on
Turkish soil.
Tape: From Ankara, Aaron Glantz and Ezgi Saritas report.
[top]
Story: The Christmas Coup Comedy Players
Here on Peacewatch, we've been closely monitoring mainstream
media coverage of the war, and we've found ourselves a bit
disappointed on more than one occasion. It seems that some
of the reporters embedded within the military ranks are just
a bit too chummy with the forces they're supposed to objectively
cover, and honest, in-depth news reporting is sometimes turning
into fluff journalism.
Tape: A production of Pacifica radios stations KPFT and
WBAI radio satire group the Christmas
Coup Comedy Players
[top]
Story: Conscience Objector Surrenders to Military
Police
Marine Corps reservist, Stephen Funk surrendered to the
military yesterday after refusing to report to active duty.
The young man has declared himself a conscience objector to
war. Peacewatch spoke with his mother Gloria Paci today.
Tape: Gloria Paci, mother of Marine Corps reservist, Stephen
Funk
[top]
Story: The Number of Conscience Objectors Increase
Stephen Funk is not the only service member who is opposed
to war. Since Sept 11th the number of Conscience Objector
inquires has quadrupled, according to Theresa Panepinto, GI
Rights Program Coordinator for the Central Committee for Conscience
Objectors. She spoke with Peacewatch earlier today
Tape: Theresa Panepinto, GI Rights Program Coordinator for
the Central Committee for Conscience Objectors
[top]
Story: Columbia University Professor Edward Said
expresses doubts about war on Iraq
Among the voices of dissent joining the chorus of those
opposed to the war is Edward Said, Professor of English and
Comparative Literature at Columbia University and one of the
leading voices in the United States of the Palestinian cause.
John Wiener of Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles recently
spoke with Said about the unpopularity of the war, the motivations
of the Bush administration, and the absence of dissenting
or non-Western voices in mainstream media.
Tape: Professor Edward Said, speaking with KPFK
host John Wiener. Special thanks to Fidel Rodriguez.
[top]
Story: A Call to Freedom, A Call for Affirmative
Action
Fifty thousand high school and college students surrounded
the US Supreme Court yesterday demanding the high court uphold
affirmative action in the University of Michigan case and
that what they cal the war on black and brown people stop.
Addressing 2,000 at Howard University on Monday, Rosa Clemente,
an Afro Puerto Rican hip-hop activist made links between the
struggle for affirmative action, racism and the war on Iraq
in her “Call for Freedom.”
[top]
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