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Between The Lines

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Between The Lines
For The Week Ending March 8, 2002

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. MP3 files available until March 13, 2002.

This week we present Between The Lines' summary
of under-reported news stories and:

White House Drive for New War with Iraq
Faces International Opposition

Interview by Scott Harris.

Since President Bush declared Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil" in his January State of the Union address, speculation is running high that a U.S. military attack on Saddam Hussein's government is imminent. While the White House has failed to substantiate any link between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks, many leading Republicans and Democrats support targeting Baghdad in the next phase of the war against terrorism.

The threat of military action is being used to pressure Iraq to accept the return of UN weapons inspectors who the Bush administration maintains must go back to neutralize the threat of Hussein's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. UN inspectors withdrew from Iraq in 1998 soon after it was discovered that some members of the UNSCOM team were engaged in espionage. The UN monitors left Iraq just before a U.S.-British bombing campaign began. Many of Iraq's neighbors, and several members of the U.N. Security Council, oppose a U.S. assault on Iraq and warn that unilateral action by Washington would undermine the coalition that supported America's war on the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Denis Halliday, former Under-Secretary General at the UN in charge of Iraq's oil for food program, who resigned his post in protest of economic sanctions in 1998. Halliday examines Washington's war plans and the potential threat that Iraq poses to its neighbors and the U.S.

To get more information on the international campaign to end economic sanctions on Iraq that target civilians, call Voices in the Wilderness at (773) 784-8065 or visit their Web site at www.vitw.org

Starvation Still a Threat to Afghan Refugees
New government remains unstable
Interview by Melinda Tuhus.

Before and during the U.S. war in Afghanistan, it was reported that seven million Afghans were at risk for starvation and exposure during the harsh winter months. Now that U.S. military action has diminished, though not ended, the situation on the ground in Afghanistan is unpredictable, and accurate information is hard to come by.

Jim Jennings is president of Conscience International Inc., a humanitarian aid organization based in Atlanta that responds to natural disasters and conflicts, primarily in the Middle East, East Africa, and Central and South Asia. Since 1991, he has organized crisis intervention, refugee assistance, and emergency health care programs in various parts of the world. Jennings has traveled to Afghanistan six times in the past year, both before and after the U.S. launched its war there.

Jennings has been critical of the U.S. government's role in humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, leading some politicians and pundits to question his patriotism. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Jim Jennings about his assessment of the stability of Afghanistan's fledgling national government, and the direction of U.S. policy.

For more information, call Conscience, International at (770) 454-9109 or look up their Web site on GuideStar's National Database of Nonprofit Organizations at www.guidestar.org

Related links:

  • "U.S. Wages Overkill in Afghanistan," by James Jennings, Newsday, Dec. 11, 2001

Cleveland School Vouchers Case Heard by U.S. Supreme Court
Opponents say tax funding of religious schools
violates constitutional separation
of church and state

Interview by Scott Harris.

The city of Cleveland Ohio's school voucher system offers parents the choice of sending their children to either public or private schools. But the program was challenged because taxpayer dollars were being paid to private religious schools.

The 6th U.S. Court of Appeals found the program to be unconstitutional holding that the voucher system violated the separation between church and state, and the case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Proponents of Cleveland's voucher program say their plan offers students in the inner city's failing school system options to obtain quality education while giving parents the final choice in the type of school in which their children will be enrolled. Opponents assert that parents have no real choice in that 99.4 percent of the 4,000 students using Cleveland's vouchers attend private religious schools.

The group People for the American Way serves as a co-council for Ohio citizens challenging Cleveland's voucher program. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Dwight Holmes, education policy manager with People for the American Way, who explains why his group and many parents and policy analysts oppose school vouchers.

Contact People for the American Way foundation at (202) 467-4999 or visit their Web site at www.pfaw.org

This week's summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon

  • Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting study finds National Public Radio demonstrates Israeli bias in covering Middle East violence. ("'Calm' Violence, 'Quiet' Killing," Extra, February, 2002)
  • Advocacy groups oppose New Jersey's welfare family cap policy, which denies additional assistance to women who give birth while receiving public assistance. ("For Her Own Good," The Nation, Feb. 4, 2002)
  • Tobacco industry pushing a weak alternative to World Health Organization's proposed standards on tobacco advertising and sales. ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," The Progressive, February 2002)

Credits:
Senior news editor/writer: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Denise Manzari
Segment producers: Melinda Tuhus
News reader: Elaine Osowski
Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates
Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Executive producer: Scott Harris

... MORE ...

World Economic Forum Protests, Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2002

Between The Lines Report, Week Ending 2/15/02. With more related audio files.

Billionaires for Bush, at Columbus Circle, NYC preparing for Feb. 2 march against the elite World Economic Forum. Links to www.radio4all.net page with MP3 file.

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO addresses a "Working Families Economic Forum" in NYC as activists prepare for protests against the elite World Economic Forum. 9MB in MP3.

Scott Harris reports on AFL-CIO Workers Forum in NYC for Free Speech Radio News 2/1/02

Global Justice's New Face, AlterNet's series on the World Social Forum, in Porto Alegre, Brazil

www.studentsforglobaljustice.org, World Economic Forum Conference and National Student Mobilization, Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, Columbia University, New York City. See conference schedule.

Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch

Another World is Possible Coalition

Anti-Capitalist Convergence

New York Independent Media Center

Globalize This!

"Energy Standoff in Central Asia

"Bush Fuels Oil Conspiracy Theory," by Ted Rall, www.AlterNet.org, Jan. 10, 2002

"Pipeline Politics: Oil, The Taliban and the Political Balance of Central Asia," World Press Review Special Report

"The New Great Game: Oil Politics in Central Asia" by Ted Rall, www.AlterNet.org, October 11, 2001,

Economic Globalization Resources

ZNet's Global Economic Crisis resource site Excellent source for understanding global economics and trade issues and particularly in preparation for ongoing demonstrations about economic justice

"The Fight for Everything" A series of interviews with activists and leaders of grassroots, progressive groups analyzing the goals, strategy and tactics of the global social justice movement

Multi-Ethnic Public Issues Advocacy

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson's Commentaries, The Hutchinson Report

Between The Lines' 10th Anniversary CD

 


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