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> Wed., Sept. 17, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Economics Professor Paul Krugman Critical of Media Coverage
of War
“Beyond War Series” Part III
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Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat offered a new truce to
Israel on Wednesday, after Palestinian officials said the
militant group Hamas has signaled it might agree to stop attacking
Israelis.
Interviewed on Israel TV's Channel 2, Arafat was asked if
there was a possibility for a cease-fire. "Of course,"
he said. "You're invited. The announcement was made yesterday,"
referring to remarks by his security adviser, Jibril Rajoub.
In an earlier interview on Israel's Channel 10, Arafat said
contacts were under way with all Palestinian factions over
a cease-fire. "There are continuous contacts with various
parties. Yesterday, I had a meeting with all the PLO factions,"
Arafat said. "Even the Islamic Jihad said they are willing
to respect a cease- fire and we are continuing our contacts
with Hamas inside and outside."
There was no immediate comment from Israeli leaders, but
the government said Tuesday it wanted to see the Palestinian
Authority begin disarming Hamas and other militant groups
before it would consider a new truce.
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In an audiotape broadcast today, a speaker purporting to
be Saddam Hussein urged Iraqis to escalate attacks on Americans
and called on U.S. and other coalition forces to leave the
country "as soon as possible and without any conditions."
The speaker, who sounded like the ousted Iraqi leader, also
urged America's international partners not to "fall prey
in the traps of American foreign policy" and reject any
plan for Iraq that legitimizes military occupation.
He called on coalition leaders "to withdraw your armies
as soon as possible and without any conditions, because there
is no reason for further losses that will be disastrous for
America if your officials ... continue their aggression."
The speaker accused President Bush of lying to "your
people and everyone" to justify the war against Iraq,
adding that "the losses in your army ... makes your declaration
of defeat and your retreat inevitable, if not today, tomorrow."
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New intelligence assessments are warning that the United
States' most formidable foe in Iraq in the months ahead may
be the resentment of ordinary Iraqis increasingly hostile
to the American military occupation, Defense Department officials
said today.
That picture, shared with American military commanders in
Iraq, is very different from the public view currently being
presented by senior Bush administration officials, including
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who once again today
listed only "dead-enders, foreign terrorists and criminal
gangs" as opponents of the American occupation.
The defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying
they were concerned about retribution for straying from the
official line. They said it was a mistake for the administration
to discount the role of ordinary Iraqis who have little in
common with the groups Mr. Rumsfeld cited, but whose anger
over the American presence appears to be kindling some sympathy
for those attacking American forces.
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Mysterious pneumonia-like illnesses and breathing problems
appear to be striking U.S. troops in greater numbers than
the military has identified in an investigation -- including
more deaths, according to soldiers and their families. Some
of the soldiers were deployed to Iraq and died but are not
part of the Pentagon's investigation. Others who got ill told
United Press International they suffered a pneumonia-like
illness after being given vaccines, particularly the anthrax
shot.
The Pentagon said it is committed to the health of military
personnel and that some dead or ill soldiers do not meet criteria
for the investigation. Pentagon health officials said a statistical
analysis essentially has ruled out vaccines and that the role
of smoking has emerged as a leading factor instead. One Air
Force staff sergeant who was deployed to Turkey for Operation
Iraqi Freedom told UPI he was hospitalized in Incerlik in
March with a pneumonia-like illness, 10 days after his fourth
anthrax shot. He got his next anthrax shot in August, and
10 days later was hospitalized in California with what he
said was the same pneumonia-like illness.
"They said I had considerable inflammation of the lungs,"
said Staff Sgt. Neal B. Erickson Sr., 43, in a telephone interview
from Moffett Field south of San Francisco. "I had severe
chest pains, dizziness and shortness of breath." He said
he does not smoke and that doctors thought he had blood clots
or a heart attack. Tests for viruses or bacteria "came
back clean," Erickson said. "They basically labeled
it as a type of pneumonia."
He said the military is not recognizing that the shots made
him sick and that he is afraid of getting the next anthrax
shot, scheduled in five months. "I'm real touchy here.
Come a few more months, I'm in line to get another. It's not
like we have a choice in the matter." Military personnel
are required to take the shots and can be court-martialed
if they refuse.
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Economics Professor Paul Krugman Critical of Media
Coverage of War
With the federal deficit looming larger and larger, and
the Congress considering Bush's request for an additional
$87 billion to wage the war in Iraq, Peacewatch spoke with
Paul Krugman economics and international affairs professor
at Princeton University, for his analysis of the US economy.
Krugman is also an Op-ed columnist for The New York Times.
We started by asking him to explain his statement that there
is a disconnect between the official claims of the Bush administration
and reality when it comes to Bush's economic policies.
Tape: Paul Krugman, professor of economics and international
affairs at Princeton University and Op-ed columnist for The
New York Times and author of The Great Unraveling Losing Our
Way in The New Century.
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“Beyond War Series” Part III
In the second half of our show today we’re going to
continue our examination of the human costs of wars being
waged around the world. Every day this week, we’ve been
playing excerpts of a documentary entitled “Beyond War,”
which takes a look at the real effects of war, not just on
soldiers who choose to fight, but on innocent civilians, who
often find themselves caught up in the circumstances of violence
through forces beyond their own control. In today’s
segment, we look for solutions, as we turn to the waging of
peace.
Tape: Beyond War is produced by David Freudberg and distributed
by PRI, Public Radio International. If you’d like to
purchase a cassette copy of Beyond War by phone, please call
toll-free 1-800-5-LISTEN. That’s 1-800- 5 L-I-S-T-E-N.
To learn more about this and other Humankind programs, and
to hear selected episodes online, or to order tapes online,
go to www.humanmedia.org.
Tune in tomorrow on Peacewatch and every day this week for
more of this series.
Credits
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