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> Mon., Sept. 8, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Bush requests $87 billion for military campaigns in Iraq,
Afghanistan
Palestinian and Israeli Response to the Resignation of Mahmoud
Abbas
“Shocktroops” Musical Collage of Bush
Peace Action Launches Ad Campaign Proclaiming, “We Found
the Weapons of Mass Destruction. They’re in the President’s
Budget”
Journalist William Thomas on Confronting Empire
Steps to Peace: The Journey of September 11th Families for
Peaceful Tomorrows
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An alleged spokesman for the Al Qaeda network is warning
of more anti American attacks, according to the BBC, but is
denying any role in the recent bombing in the Iraqi holy city
of Najaf which killed the top Shi ia Muslim cleric Mohammed
Baqr al-Hakim and 80 others.
According to the BBC report, the speaker, identified as
Abd al-Rahman al-Najdi, warned …’there will be
new operations inside and outside Afghanistan that will make
the United States forget the September 11th 2001 events. He
said, Osama Bin Laden is among those ‘leading and directing
the battles from inside Afghanistan.’
The audiotape message was broadcast on the Al Arabiya
satellite television station denounced last month by the State
Department as ‘irresponsible’ for showing masked
men threatening to kill members of the US appointed Iraq Governing
Council. The report coming just days before the second anniversary
of the September 11th attacks are a sore reminder that the
U.S. has failed to capture Osama Bin Laden or to neutralize
the threat from Al Qaeda.
Secretary of War Donald Rumsfeld visited Afghanistan over
the weekend…just as the government reports it foiled
a Taliban attack near the Pakistani border just hours before
Rumsfeld arrived. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan following the
September 11th attack in 2001 seeking to capture Osama Bin
Laden and remove the Taliban from power in it’s war
on terrorism. The U.S. installed government is weak, warlordism
is rife and the Taliban and its allies are resurgent. Reuter’s
news reports that scores of residents demonstrated yesterday
in Kabul, Afghanistan against the U.S. led forces and called
for the return of the Taliban. The US is providing $900 million
dollars a month for American military operations in Afghanistan….
an administration official who asked to remain anonymous says
President Bush will announce a large increase in financial
aid to Afghanistan in the next few weeks.
War Secretary Rumsfeld said today opposition to the U.S.
President was encouraging Washington's enemies and hindering
his 'war against terrorism'. Rumsfeld was speaking after his
trip to Afghanistan and Iraq where he sought to highlight
progress on reconstruction efforts and dampen criticism of
the U.S. presence there and the almost daily casualties in
a guerrilla campaign against occupation. He said if Washington's
enemies believed Bush might waver or his opponents prevail,
that could increase support for their activities.
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Bush Requests $87 Billion For Military Campaigns
In Iraq, Afghanistan
Addressing the nation last night, President Bush gave a
status report on the US's war on terrorism, and he listed
a series of objectives for the American presence in post-war
Iraq. The US will continue to take direct action against Iraqi
terrorists and those who attack US troops, he said, it will
seek international cooperation in the reconstruction and security
of the country and it will push for the transfer of political
sovereignty and authority for the Iraqi people. Bush also
acknowledged the rising number of attacks against US troops
by so-called "enemies of freedom" who "want
to shake the will of the civilized world." While stating
that further hardships are on the horizon, he said there remains
no other option.
Tape: George W. Bush
Bush also asked Congress for an emergency increase in funding
to cover the continuing costs of the occupation and reconstruction.
Tape: President Bush, addressing the nation last night.
Congressional Democrats were quick to criticize the request
for additional funds, saying Bush's remarks were vague and
lacked a clear exit strategy for US forces. "He retreated
to the same rhetoric about progress and peace that do not
match the reality occurring every day in Iraq," said
Democratic Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. "It's
a country consumed with chaos, not a shining example of progress
in the war against terrorism."
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Palestinian and Israeli Response to the Resignation
of Mahmoud Abbas
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned over the
weekend. In tendering his resignation he said, Israel had
not carried out its obligations under the road map, the United
States had not enforced Israeli compliance and his detractors
at home had constantly undermined him with "harsh and
dangerous" incitement.
After Abbas' resignation, Israel dropped a 550 lb. Bomb
on an apartment complex in Gaza City in an apparent attempt
to kill Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader
of the Islamic Resistance Movement, and other members of the
organization according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Peacewatch spoke with Michael Lerner of Tikkun and Rashid
Khalidi, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia
University Rabbi. We asked them what Abbas' resignation meant
to the peace process in the region.
Tape: Peacewatch spoke with Michael Lerner of Tikkun and
Rashid Khalidi, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia
University.
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“Shocktroops” Musical Collage of Bush
With Bush’s speech last night full of terms like “enemies
of freedom” and terrorists from the “uncivilized
world,” we turn now to the radio satire and collage
collective the Department of Corrections, who managed to take
excerpts of Bush’s words from another recent speech
he gave and use them against him.
Tape: The radio satire and collage collective the Department
of Corrections.
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Peace Action Launches Ad Campaign Proclaiming, “We
Found the Weapons of Mass Destruction. They’re in the
President’s Budget”
As Democrats criticize President Bush’s request for
$87 billion dollars to fund the continuing costs of occupying
and rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, other defense spending
has also come under fire. The Peace Action Education Fund
announced the creation of a nationwide advertising campaign
last week, linking what it calls the Administration’s
dubious pre-war claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
with plans to develop a strengthened US nuclear arsenal. Peacewatch
Producer Scott Gurian spoke with Peace Action spokesperson
Kevin Martin about the group’s campaign.
Tape: Kevin Martin is a spokesperson for the Peace Action
Education Fund. His group’s ads will run later this
month in the mass transit systems of Washington, DC, Chicago
and San Francisco.
[top]
Journalist William Thomas on Confronting Empire
As we commemorate, this week, the 2 year anniversary of
the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center, we turn to award-winning investigate journalist William
Thomas who asks what exactly terrorism is. Thomas spoke several
months ago in Vancouver, Canada, at an event sponsored by
the group “Necessary Voices.”
Tape: William Thomas is an award winning investigate journalist
and former reporter for the Environmental News Service. We’ll
have more of his speech later this week on Peacewatch.
[top]
Steps to Peace: The Journey of September 11th Families
for Peaceful Tomorrows
Finally, tonight, with the second anniversary of September
11th sure to invoke renewed calls by the Bush administration
for expanding the war on terror, we’re going to hear
throughout this week on Peacewatch from people seeking more
peaceful alternatives to war. Among them are members of the
group September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Filmmaker
Frances Anderson produced this documentary about how the group
was formed and how it seeks nonviolence as a tool for building
a more peaceful future.
Tape: "Steps to Peace: The Journey of September 11th
Families for Peaceful Tomorrows" is produced by Frances
Anderson and Pomegranate Films. For more info on the group,
visit its website at www.peacefultomorrows.org.
Stay tuned to Peacewatch the rest of this week for more inspiring,
nonviolent responses to war and terrorism as we commemorate
the second anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
Credits
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