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> Mon., Apr. 28, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Donald Rumsfeld Addresses US Troops
in Qatar
Humanitarian situation in Iraq
Journalist Tim Shorrock on the Dangers of War with North Korea
Baltimore to DC Peace March
Rev. Walter Fauntroy speaks at Black Voices For Peace Rally
Former US Diplomat John Brady Keisling-- who resigned in protest
of the administration's Iraq policy-speaks out
Turkish trade suffering as a result of Iraq war
Native American activist Vernon Bellchord on American "liberation"
Musician Rickie Lee Jones sings song, "Ugly Man,"
about Bush
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A group of Iraqi civilians are planning to bring the U.S.
up on charges of war crimes. According to the Washington Times,
Iraqis are preparing a complaint to present in court in Belgium
accusing allied commander Gen. Tommy Franks and other U.S.
military officials of war crimes in Iraq, according to the
attorney representing the plaintiffs.
Jan Fermon, a Brussels-based lawyer representing the group
says the complaint will state that coalition forces are responsible
for the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians, the bombing
of a marketplace in Baghdad, the shooting of an ambulance,
and failure to prevent the mass looting of hospitals. He is
representing about 10 Iraqis who say they were victims of
or eyewitnesses to atrocities committed during Operation Iraqi
Freedom.
The British Times is reporting that the United States plans
to press home its advantage this week by seeking Security
Council support for a resolution that effectively would sideline
the United Nations in Iraq and transfer the country's oil
wealth to a new Iraqi government.
After a power struggle between the State Department and
Pentagon, the White House has endorsed the Pentagon's hardline
view that Washington should push the UN to endorse an interim
Iraqi authority and lift sanctions on the country.
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Donald Rumsfeld Addresses US Troops in Qatar
Meanwhile, speaking Monday to American troops at the U.S.
Central Command base in Doha, Qatar, War Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld praised the soldiers for their sacrifices over the
past several months in bringing down the Saddam Hussein regime..
Tape: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
[top]
Humanitarian situation in Iraq
Last week Rumsfeld said that humanitarian organizations
were now leaving Iraq because no humanitarian crisis exists
in Iraq. To get an update of conditions on the ground, Peacewatch
spoke today to Doctors Without Borders, a non-governmental
humanitarian relief organization with a team stationed in
Baghdad. Dr. Maria Louise Linderer, an Anesthetist from Germany
has been Baghdad for a little over ten days. Linderer said
the condition in the hospitals is chaotic. Peacewatch also
spoke with Dr. Kevin Phelan of Doctors without Borders who
is the press agent in Baghdad to respond to the assertion
by Donald Rumsfeld that there is no humanitarian crisis in
Baghdad.
Tape: Dr. Maria Louise Linderer, anesthetist, and general
practitioner in Baghdad with Doctors Without Borders.
Dr. Kevin Phelan of Baghdad press agent for Doctors without
Borders
[top]
Journalist Tim Shorrock on the Dangers of War with
North Korea
As the war winds down in Iraq, we turn now to North Korea,
where tensions are heating up. We present now part two of
our discussion with Tim Shorrock, an independent journalist
who has written about U.S. relations with Korea for over 20
years.
Tape: Journalist Tim Shorrock
[top]
Baltimore to DC Peace March
This afternoon marchers completed the final 9 mile leg of
a three day peace and justice walk from Baltimore to Washington
DC. Today they arrived at the White House to call attention
to the victims of war, and the cuts to funding for social
programs.
Tape: Report from Pacifica's Peacewatch correspondent Sarah
Turner
[top]
Rev. Walter Fauntroy speaks at Black Voices For Peace
Rally
A Pew Research Center survey of 1,254 adults in February
found that 66 percent of Americans backed military action
in Iraq, but that 44 percent of blacks favored war, the lowest
level of any group surveyed-- that's according to an article
in today's Washington Times newspaper. The survey found that
about 73 percent of whites and 67 percent of Hispanics supported
the war.
And as recently as this month, about 49 percent of blacks
said they backed the war, according to a Washington Post/ABC
News telephone survey of 1,030 randomly selected adults conducted
April 2-6.The same poll found that about 81 percent of whites
supported the war.
The Washington Times quotes David Bositis, senior political
analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies,
as saying that Blacks' opposition to the war has grown out
of their distrust of the Bush administration,
Bositis said that because 9 percent of blacks voted for
Mr. Bush in 2000 - a lower percentage than any Republican
since Barry Goldwater - "he is not likely to get black
support for something like this." However, Ron Walters,
director of the African American Leadership Institute, and
a professor of government and politics at the University of
Maryland says blacks have objected to war in general at least
since Vietnam.
Black Voices for Peace, a grassroots organization born out
of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, hosted a rally
and spiritual gathering on Friday at the Plymouth Congregational
Church in the nation's capital. Activists and artists called
for peace and justice abroad and at home, where many fear
civil liberties are under direct assault. More than 1500 people
packed the church in a multicultural mobilization against
the war.
Tape: The Rev. Walter Fauntroy, of the new Bethel Baptist
Church. Thanks to Chris Strohm from the DC Independent Media
Center and Ryme Katkhouda, Peacewatch producer from Pacifica
station WPFW for preparing this segment.
[top]
Former US Diplomat John Brady Keisling-- who resigned
in protest of the administration's Iraq policy-speaks out
While in its planning stages, the US-led war on Iraq drew
criticism from US lawmakers on both sides of the political
isle, as well as from foreign-service representatives having
to cope with fallout from the plans around the world. Three
US diplomats resigned in the process: Mary Wright, second
ranking at the US embassy in Ulan Bator, Mongolia told Secretary
of State Colin Powell she was resigning because she could
no longer perform her job in good conscience. John Brown,
who joined the State Department in 1981, resigned on March
10th, saying Washington's Iraq policy was fomenting a rise
in anti-US sentiment around the world.
But the first US diplomatic resignation came in February
with a strongly-worded letter to Secretary of State Colin
Powell from John Brady Keisling, a political counselor at
the US embassy in Athens. Throughout his career, Kiesling
served in US embassies in Morocco, Armenia, Israel, and Greece.
Tape: Former US Diplomat John Brady Keisling, speaking with
Mark Bebawi on Pacifica station KPFT in Houston, Texas. Special
thanks to Renee Feltz for producing that piece.
[top]
Turkish trade suffering as a result of Iraq war
While trade sanctions controlled Iraq's oil exports during
the nineties, an illegal oil trade flourished. On the border
between Turkey and Iraq for example, people managed to make
a living by buying oil or diesel very cheaply inside Iraq
and selling it to consumers in Turkey. But war and instability
have tightened up security on the border, and most of the
smugglers are now unable to do business. Pratap Chatterjee
went to the border recently to talk to some of the lorry drivers
and hear why communities on both sides of the border need
to be able to trade.
Tape: report from independent producer Pratap Chatterjee
[top]
Native American activist Vernon Bellchord on American
"liberation"
As we hear daily celebration on television of the supposed
liberation Of Iraq, we turn now to Vernon Bellcourt, Director
of International Affairs for the American Indian Movement
Grand Governing Council. As a Native American, Bellchord--
also known by his Indian name "Waba Nanini"- shares
his unique perspective about the liberation of "America"
from the Natives several centuries ago.
Tape: Vernon Bellcourt, speaking at a recent anti-war rally
here in the nation's capitol, organized by the activist group
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. Thanks to Dan Malakoff
from the DC-radio-COOP and Ryme Katkhouda, Peacewatch producer
at Pacifica station WPFW for preparing that segment.
[top]
Musician Rickie Lee Jones sings song, "Ugly
Man," about Bush
As recording artists such the Dixie Chix and Madonna fall
to the pressures of corporate America and public opinion,
there are those that speak truth to power when it is most
important. Rickie Lee Jones has blessed America and the world
for over 3 decades with her unique storytelling music. Currently,
she has focused her music on inspiring people to stand up
and speak the truth. With a new song entitled "Ugly Man",
which has been a creation out of the current crusades of America,
Rickie Lee Jones is still making music out of love for the
people.
Tape: Rickie Lee Jones, speaking recently with KPFK host
Michael Slate. Special thanks to Fidel Rodriguez and Christine
Blonsdale.
[top]
For a copy of today's show, please contact Pacifica
Radio Archives at 800 735 0230.
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