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> Fri., Aug. 22, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Pentagon Researches New Gamma Ray Weapon, Blurring the Line
Between Nuclear and Conventional Weapons
Effects of Depleted Uranium on Children
US Representative Jim McDermott speaks to Veterans for Peace
A discussion with veteran peace activist Jack Gilroy
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The Bush administration on Friday froze the assets of six
senior Hamas leaders and five European-based organizations
it says raise money for the radical Palestinian group. President
Bush said he was taking the action because of Tuesday's suicide
attack on a packed bus in Jerusalem that killed 20 people,
including six children. Hamas claimed responsibility.
A senior administration official, speaking on condition
of anonymity, said it was the first effort to block Hamas'
assets or funding sources outside the United States. Similar
action has been taken worldwide against al-Qaida and other
terrorist networks, however. The Jerusalem bombing launched
a new round of Mideast violence.
Israel has marked Palestinian militant leaders for death
and will step up targeted killings unless Palestinian leaders
rein in the armed groups, officials said Friday, while insisting
they have not abandoned a stricken U.S.-backed "road
map" peace plan. In the Gaza Strip, tens of thousands
of Hamas supporters buried a leader killed in an Israeli missile
strike Thursday and vowed revenge. The group's defiant leaders
said they did not fear death and that a new generation was
ready to take their places.
U.S. investigators suspect the bombing of the U.N. headquarters
in Baghdad was an inside job and are questioning Iraqi employees
and guards, many of whom were linked to Saddam Hussein's security
service, a top American official said Friday. Bernard Kerik,
the former New York police commissioner who is working to
re-establish an Iraqi police force, said the placement of
the truck bomb and the timing of Tuesday's attack had raised
suspicions.
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Pentagon Researches New Gamma Ray Weapon, Blurring
the Line Between Nuclear and Conventional Weapons
Both the war in Iraq and war in Afghanistan provided a stage
for the display and trial of new military weapons and weapon
technologies on the part of the Pentagon. Earlier this week,
the British Journal New Scientist published a report about
development of a new weapon that would utilize gamma rays
to blur the lines between conventional and nuclear weapons.
Tape: Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western
States Legal Foundation and co-author of a new report in the
Journal of Social Justice entitled, “The End of Disarmament
and the Arms Races to Come.”
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Effects of Depleted Uranium on Children
One of the more deadly weapons that’s been used in
recent wars is depleted uranium. During the first Persian
Gulf War, the United States and Britain fired 320 tons of
DU ammunition, and CNN reports that between 1 and 2 thousand
more tons were used during this most recent war. Critics say
an inordinate number of children exposed to DU-- even years
later-- get cancer, and many are born with birth defects.
The Pentagon says DU poses no danger to civilians.
Tape: Report from Reese Erlich, who’s the co-author
with Normon Solomon of Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t
Tell You. His report, "Hidden Killers," was recently
chosen as one of the top 10 most-censored stories in America
by Project Censored. It appeared as part of a public radio
special "Children of War: Fighting, Dying, Surviving,"
produced in association with KQED Public Radio and made possible
by the Stanley Foundation.
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US Representative Jim McDermott speaks to Veterans
for Peace
The group Veterans for Peace held its national conference
in San Francisco recently. Among the presenters was US Representative
Jim McDermott, Democratic from Seattle, who offered these
thoughts.
Tape: US Representative Jim McDermott is a Democrat from
Seattle and a US Navy Veteran. Thanks to Dave Adelson and
the LA Sound Posse for production assistance with that piece.
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A discussion with veteran peace activist Jack Gilroy
Finally, tonight, we turn to another veteran and a former
high school teacher, Jack Gilroy, who’s spent his life
working with young people to nurture another generation of
peace activists. More recently, he’s worked with Ohio
Congressman and Presidential candidate Denis Kucinich to propose
the creation of a Department of Peace. Peacewatch spoke with
Gilroy recently and asked him to tell us his story of how
he went from being a warrior to becoming a war resister.
Tape: Jack Gilroy is a veteran, former high school teacher,
and peace activist. He’s also the author of The Wisdom
Box and Absolute Flanigan, two coming-of-age books about young
men grappling with the decision of whether to go to war.
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