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> Tues., Aug. 12, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Hopeful for Peace
Process In Palestine
Tenuous Cease Fire Broken by Suicide Bombings in Israel
Former Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Mohammed al Douri Speaks
Out
Scott Ritter, Former UN Weapons Inspector: Dissent Is The
Most Patriotic Action An American Can Take
Mass Deportation of Palestinians Planned for Tonight
Stateless and Deported: Palestinian Refugees in Montreal
Michael Avery of the National Lawyers Guild on the Patriot
Act
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An Iraqi general and one of Saddam Hussein's former bodyguards
were among 14 Iraqis captured during a raid near Tikrit today.
U.S. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Russell said the Iraqis
were captured after a three-hour raid on 20 homes south of
the city, which is Saddam Hussein's ancestral home. The detainees
were described as members of a family closely associated with
Saddam. According to the army about 200 U.S. soldiers participated
in the raid.
Flames shot 200 feet into the air from a burst oil pipeline
north of Baghdad today, and U.S. forces fired warning shots
to keep people from the scene. A U.S. soldier was killed when
roadside bombs blasted an American convoy west of the capital.
Two M-1 Abrams tanks and three soldiers crouched in firing
positions ordered a fire truck to stay back from the blaze.
"They were very hostile," said fire department Lt.
Hasannein Mohammed.
The blaze near Taji, a region of date groves, military compounds
and chemical plants, was burning about three miles north of
a big refinery. It erupted in a grove of date palms less than
100 yards from a highway, sending a huge black cloud drifting
south over the capital for several hours Tuesday afternoon.
Before the war, U.N. weapons inspectors were in the area
almost daily. Military spokeswoman Nicole Thompson said there
was a pipeline fire but had no further details. It could not
immediately be determined if the fire was the work of saboteurs,
but many pipelines throughout the oil-rich nation have been
hit by guerrillas seeking to destabilize U.S. efforts to pacify
Iraq.
The commander of the U.S. forces announced today that all
troops in Iraq should expect to serve for at least a year,
with brief rest breaks in the region and possibly a few days
at home. That came as news to some soldiers. "It's a
one-year rotation," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told The
Associated Press in an interview. "Every soldier has
been told that they'll be deployed for a year, and then at
the end of the year we'll be working to send them home."
But some of the 148,000 soldiers in Iraq said nobody told
them how long they would remain in the country, where guerrillas
attack Americans daily and high temperatures often top 120
degrees. The issue of soldiers' tours has been contentious,
with troops and their families posting missives on the Internet
criticizing their government for keeping U.S. forces in Iraq.
Some express concern about "mission creep," in
which what begins as a swift war turns into a long-term occupation
that could cause heavy American casualties as Iraqis become
more and more skeptical of U.S. promises to let them govern
themselves.
"They need to come home!" Kimberly, the wife of
a reservist deployed in February, wrote on the Web site of
the support organization Military Families Speak Out."
Our unit has no redeployment date in sight, and we are constantly
told that they may even be extended."
[top]
Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Hopeful for
Peace Process In Palestine
Responding to the recent bombings in Israel today, Secretary
of State Colin Powell spoke to young people of Israel and
Palestine to encourage them to be hopeful for the peace process,
asserting that the peace process is not over. Powell said
that the key to peace was for all parties to work together.
Tape: US Secretary of State Colin Powell responding to the
bombings in Israel and Palestine today.
[top]
Tenuous Cease Fire Broken by Suicide Bombings in
Israel
Two Palestinian suicide bombers have killed two Israelis
in back-to-back attacks, shattering six weeks of relative
calm during the ceasefire. A faction of Hamas claimed responsibility
for the attacks saying they were in retaliation for Israeli
attacks in which two of its members were assassinated last
week.
Peacewatch spoke with Nicole Gaouette, correspondent for
the Christian Science Monitor, in Jerusalem today, and asked
her if she thought this obvious violation of the ceasefire
represented a rejection of the peace process by either, or
both parties.
Tape: Nicole Gaouette, correspondent for the Christian Science
Monitor, in Jerusalem.
[top]
Former Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Mohammed al Douri
Speaks Out
One American soldier was killed, and two were wounded by
roadside bombs in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad,
today. The attack occurred as an American military convoy
passed nearby.
Several hundred miles to the South, British troops say things
are calmer in Basra, since two people were killed during weekend
riots over fuel and electricity shortages.
Iraq's Governing Council announced plans today to reopen
the Basra airport, possibly as soon as the end of the month.
The council said it’s asked six Middle Eastern and European
airlines to prepare for a resumption of flights to and from
the airport. International flights to Iraq were suspended
after the 1991 Gulf War.
While the social and political situation may appear to be
stabilizing in some parts of Iraq, most of the country is
still without adequate electricity, sanitation or sewage systems,
and street crime is still a daily occurrence. Speaking this
afternoon on CNN, Former Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Mohammed
al Douri offered harsh criticism of the failure of US forces
to bring order to the country, as well as to grant Iraqis
political self-determination.
Tape: Former Iraqi Ambassador to the UN Mohammed al Douri.
[top]
Scott Ritter, Former UN Weapons Inspector: Dissent
Is The Most Patriotic Action An American Can Take
Well, one person who predicted the instability that’s
now engulfing Iraq is former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter.
Speaking last week on Peacewatch, he compared the situation
to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, stating that he always
thought the US would win all its military endeavors, but it
would still lose the war in the end, overburdened by the ensuing
chaos.
In a conversation earlier this week with Ambrose Lane on
Pacifica station WPFW in Washington, DC, Ritter said that
speaking out against the war and occupation of Iraq is, in
fact, the most patriotic action an American can take.
Tape: Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, speaking
with Ambrose Lane on Pacifica station WPFW in Washington,
DC
[top]
Mass Deportation of Palestinians Planned for Tonight
As the post- 9/11 backlash against immigrants continues,
under the shadow of the war on terror, the Coalition for the
Human Rights of Immigrants has received information notifying
them of a possible plan for mass deportations scheduled for
this evening. Peacewatch spoke earlier today with David Wilson,
who works closely with the group.
Tape: David Wilson works with the Coalition of the Human
Rights of Immigrants. We reached him at the group’s
offices in New York.
[top]
Stateless and Deported: Palestinian Refugees in Montreal
Unfortunately, the situation for Palestinian refugees isn’t
much better across the border to the North. Stefan Christoff
of CKUT radio offers this report on Palestinian refugees in
Montreal, and a campaign that’s been launched to stop
their deportation.
Tape: That report was from Stefan Christoff of CKUT radio
in Montreal.
[top]
Michael Avery of the National Lawyers Guild on the
Patriot Act
Finally, tonight, Michael Avery-- the upcoming President
of the National Lawyers Guild-- offers his take on the Patriot
Act, as well as the issue of enemy combatants and the Executive
Order on Military Tribunals.
Tape: Michael Avery is the upcoming President of the National
Lawyers Guild. He spoke at a recent conference at the university
of Massachusetts in Boston entitled, “War on Terrorism
or Assault on Human Rights?” Thanks to Mark Weaver of
community radio station WMBR in Cambridge, Massachusetts for
production assistance with that report.
Credits
[top]
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