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Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Bush Addresses the United Nations General Assembly
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Challenges US Doctrine of
Preemptive Strikes
Reaction to Bush UN Speech By Phyllis Bennis of the Institute
for Policy Studies
Author Michael Parenti Offers Compelling Reason for Iraq War
Depleted Uranium Used in Washington State
Small Town Mondovi, Wisconsin Peace Activists Come Under Fire
From Neighbors
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Bush Addresses the United Nations General Assembly
President Bush addressed the UN General Assembly today for
the second time this year. His speech was a prelude to a proposed
UN resolution that the US will submit, asking the world body
to send troops into Iraq to establish law and order and crush
resistance to the US occupation. The tone of Bush’s
speech today was characterized as hostile and defensive by
some political pundits as Bush appeared to again draw a line
in the sand as he did in a previous speech when he declared,
“you’re either with us or against us.”
Tape: President George W. Bush
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UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Challenges US Doctrine
of Preemptive Strikes
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan took a much different view.
Addressing the UN General Assembly this morning, Annan challenged
the US policy of preemptive strikes and indicated that the
United Nations was at a critical point in its history. While
acknowledging that terrorism was a major problem confronting
both rich and poor countries in all parts of the world, he
said that launching preventive attacks as the US did in Iraq
was not the solution. Annan went on to say that the United
Nations must not shy away from questions about its legitimacy,
and he called for a restructuring of the Security Council
to more fairly and democratically reflect the views of the
world community. He also announced the formation of a task
force to examine how collective dialogue and negotiation could
address current challenges affecting the safety and security
of the world, and to recommend ways of strengthening the United
Nations, through reform of its institutions and processes.
The panel is due to report back before the next meeting of
the General Assembly, and Annan says that the resulting recommendations
and decisions might translate into far-reaching institutional
changes within the United Nations.
Tape: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
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Reaction to Bush UN Speech By Phyllis Bennis of the
Institute for Policy Studies
Tape: Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow and UN analyst at the Washington-based
Institute for Policy Studies. She spoke with host Damu Smith
on Pacifica station WPFW in Washington, DC.
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Author Michael Parenti Offers Compelling Reason for
Iraq War
Peace activists around the world still question the legality
of the US invasion of Iraq before the UN weapons inspectors
could conclude their work. President Bush has come under criticism
as more and more US troops die in Iraq each day in the absence
of evidence that Iraq had major stockpiles of weapons of mass
destruction.
In a recent speech in Vancouver, Canada, political science
professor and author of Terrorism, Globalism and Conspiracy,
Michael Parenti, suggests that there were strategic reasons
for the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Tape: Dr. Michael
Parenti, author of TERRORISM, GLOBALISM AND CONSPIRACY.
This speech was produced by the Communist Party of Canada.
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Depleted Uranium Used in Washington State
Among the more deadly instruments of war deployed by the
US military in Iraq and Afghanistan was depleted uranium,
a low-level nuclear weapon that has a half-life of 4.5 billion
years and has been linked to cancer, birth defects and radiation
sickness. Unfortunately, this most recent war wasn’t
the first time the military tested DU on the battlefield.
It was also in the arsenal during the wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan,
and has been used on practice bombing ranges on the Puerto
Rican island of Vieques. Now add to that list the state of
Washington.
Tape: Glen Milner of the Ground
Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, speaking with independent
radio producer Mike McCormick
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Small Town Mondovi, Wisconsin Peace Activists Come
Under Fire From Neighbors
As Peacewatch approaches its one year anniversary, we’re
delving into our archives all this week and presenting some
of our favorite and most memorable pieces from our past 252
shows. Here’s one of them, produced by Peacewatch correspondent
Dan Drumm.
Dan took a trip a few months ago to the rural community
Mondovi, Wisconsin to speak with two peace activists and friends--
Jennie Klotz and Mikel Szyman.
Mondovi has a population of 2500, and the busiest intersection
is controlled by a four-way stop sign. Several months ago,
Jennie found out just how hard it can be to voice dissenting
opinions in a small town. Local residents hushed her after
she tried to hang an anti-war protest sign outside her apartment
window. Jennie asked her friend Mikel for support, and together
they found a way to make themselves be heard.
Tape: Jennie Klotz and Mikel Szyman spoke with Peacewatch
correspondent Dan Drumm. After the protest, Jennie was invited
to appear on TV and radio shows in neighboring cities, and
received a stack of postcards from people supporting her efforts.
Last we heard, her landlord had issued her an eviction notice,
which she intended to fight.
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