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THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Bush Evades Accountability
  in Iraq-WMD Blame Game
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Fruit/Chemical Companies File
  $17 Billion Countersuit
  Against Sick Nicaraguan
  Banana Workers
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• 2004 Presidential Election Campaign
  To Break All Spending Records
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Underreported News Summary
  from Around the World
  For full summary and audio, Click here!

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After grudgingly accepting the evidence that no weapons of mass destruction will likely ever be found in Iraq, the White House has been engaged in damage control, countering critics - including presidential candidates vying for the Democratic party nomination - who are pounding President Bush on his "credibility gap."

Although David Kay, the former chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq declared that Saddam Hussein's government probably had no WMDs at the time of the U.S. invasion, he blamed a failure of intelligence, rather than the White House. But soon after, CIA Director George Tenet stated publicly that his agency never told President Bush that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the U.S. Another key player in the pre-war drama, former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq Hans Blix, has also pointed fingers. He recently compared president Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair to insincere salesmen exaggerating the importance of the evidence of WMD they used to promote their attack on Iraq.

One of the few officials with a working knowledge of Iraq's weapons systems to publicly oppose the Bush administration's march to war was Scott Ritter, a former Marine intelligence officer who served as a chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 through 1998. In the years before the war, Ritter challenged the president's assertion that Baghdad's weapons systems posed a grave risk to the U.S and necessitated a war. Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Scott Ritter about the Capital Hill blame game and his view of the commission appointed by Bush to investigate U.S. intelligence failures.

Scott Ritter's book, "Frontier Justice, Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America," is published by Context Books.

For more information on the campaign to oppose the U.S. war in Iraq, contact United for Peace and Justice at www.unitedforpeace.org

Related links

• "Distorting the Intelligence,"The New York Times | Editorial, " Feb. 17, 2004
• "Intelligence Panel's Finances Will Stay Private," The New York Times, Feb. 15, 2004
• "The Man Who Knows Too Much," by Jean-Marcel Bouguereau, Le Nouvel Observateur FR, Feb. 13, 2004
• "Bush's Iraq Commission Won't Be Investigating The Key WMD Issue," By John Dean, FindLaw, Feb. 13, 2004

• "President Stumbles in Reacting to the Public Unraveling of White House Justification for Iraq War," Between The Lines interview with Bill Hartung, conducted by Scott Harris, week ending Feb. 20, 2004
• "The Iraq War & The Bush Administration's Pursuit of Global Domination," Counterpoint interview with Scott Ritter, conducted by Scott Harris, Sept. 15, 2003
• "Secret Pentagon Unit Churned Out Dubious 'Intelligence' Used to Justify Iraq War," Between The Lines interview with journalist Robert Dreyfuss, conducted by Scott Harris, week ending Jan. 23, 2004

Fruit/Chemical Companies File
$17 Billion Countersuit
Against Sick Nicaraguan
Banana Workers

Interview with Kathy Hoyt,
co-coordinator of the Nicaragua Network,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

As many as 20,000 banana workers and their families in Nicaragua are suffering serious health problems, including sterility and birth defects from the use of nemagon, a pesticide, that was banned for use in the U.S. in 1979. Five hundred banana workers filed a lawsuit in Nicaraguan courts that won a $500 million judgment against U.S.-based companies Dole, Dow and Shell, but the companies refused to recognize the judgment. They attacked the Nicaraguan law that was enacted to allow the affected banana workers to sue the chemical and fruit companies. Dole in particular claims it is environmentally and socially responsible on its banana plantations. The three companies recently counter-sued the claimants for fraud, claiming not everyone included in the suit worked at the affected plantations. The companies are seeking $17 billion in damages.

Recently, thousands of banana workers and their supporters marched from Chinandega, in the north of Nicaragua, to Managua, the capital, to publicize their plight and to demand support from Nicaragua's President Enrique Bolanos.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Kathy Hoyt, co-coordinator of the Nicaragua Network, a solidarity organization that is supporting the demands of the banana workers for justice in the case. She talks about the difficulties the workers face and their campaign to enlist the support of both the U.S. and Nicaraguan governments to influence a settlement with the companies.

For information on how to contact Dole, Dow and Shell and the U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua call the network at (202) 544-9355 or visit the group's website at www.nicanet.org.

2004 Presidential Election Campaign
to Break All Spending Records

Big contributors get what they pay for

Interview with Charles Lewis,
executive director of the
Center for Public Integrity,
conducted by Scott Harris

Early on in this year's race for the White House, President Bush and his Democratic opponents Sen. John Kerry and former Vermont governor Howard Dean declined federal matching funds and spending limits for their primary campaigns, signaling what may be the nations' most costly presidential campaign ever. Although the United States Supreme Court recently upheld key provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation banning soft money, the new law will have little effect in reigning in profligate spending by big corporations and special interest groups.

Already President Bush has amassed more than $130 million dollars for his re-election bid. The bankrupt and discredited Enron Company is Bush's top career patron, having contributed more than $600,000 dollars to his various campaigns. Other industries backing the president include the nation's top financial investment firms such as Merrill Lynch and big credit card companies like MBNA.

The Democratic Party's likely candidate, John Kerry, lists personal assets between $200 million and $800 million - primarily through his wife's wealth. During his political career, Kerry has received critical support from media giant Time Warner, big banks and powerful law firms.

The public, exposed to a succession of major financial scandals, is ever more cynical about U.S. politics and asking tough questions about the role big money plays in shaping public policy. Between The Lines Scott Harris spoke with Charles Lewis, founder and executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, who discusses this year's presidential campaign and the investigative research found in his new book titled, "The Buying of the President 2004: Who's Really Bankrolling Bush and his Democratic Challengers and What They Can Expect in Return."

Contact the Center for Public Integrity by calling (202) 466-1300 or visit their website at www.publicintegrity.org His book, "The Buying of the President 2004" is published by Perennial.

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Serbians charged with war crimes still at large as cooperation between the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the Hague and the Serbian government has collapsed. ("Kardzic 'has safe haven' in Belgrade," The Guardian, Feb. 12, 2004)
• Arms control advocates oppose new nuclear bomb-making factory at Carlsbad, N.M. ("New Mexico's Strange Love," Mother Jones, January/February 2004)
• Nigeria and France investigating allegations that Halliburton, under CEO Dick Cheney, bribed officials in order to win a natural gas contract. ("Nigeria Probes Halliburton over Bribe Claim," Agence France Press, Feb. 6, 2004)
  

DOWNLOAD this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. Needs Quicktime Player or your favorite MP3 player. Note: Make sure your browser is set for streaming or download depending on your connection speed. MP3 files available until March 2, 2004

Note to our broadcast affiliates: We are now offering FTP access for faster, more reliable download of our broadcast quality files. Please call Anna Manzo at (203) 268-8446 ext. 2, to register for FTP logon access or send feedback to us at betweenthelines@snet.net.

• Consumer-quality MP3 for dialup or fast connection (Links to www.radio4all.net) download (6.6MB)

Credits:
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Sasha Summer Cousineau
News reader: Denise Manzari
Segment producer: Melinda Tuhus
Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates
Senior Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Web producer: Jeff Yates
Web editors: Hank Hoffman and Bill Cosentino
Executive producer: Scott Harris
Theme music: Mikata

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 2/20/04

Election 2004

"Now In Previews, Political Theater In The Street," The New York Times, Feb. 19, 2004

"Pentagon Offices Face Probe On Iraq Claims," ABC Online, Feb. 19, 2004

"Kerry's Foreign Policy Advisors Not Quite A Progressive's Dream Team," TomPaine.com, Feb. 18, 2004

"Distorting the Intelligence," The New York Times | Editorial, " Feb. 17, 2004

"Intelligence Panel's Finances Will Stay Private," The New York Times, Feb. 15, 2004

"Bush's National Guard Service: How Well Did He Serve?," Time, Feb. 15, 2004

"Bush's Iraq Commission Won't Be Investigating The Key WMD Issue," by John Dean, FindLaw, Feb. 13, 2004

American Empire/War Profiteering

"How Far Will The U.S. Go To Maintain Its Illegitimate Primacy In Iraq?," By Tariq Ali, Information Clearing House, Feb. 18, 2004

"White House Braced for Outcome of CIA Leak Probe," The Financial Times UK, Feb. 13, 2004

"The Costs Of Empire: Counting The Dollars And Cents," Asia Times, Feb. 14, 2004

"The Costs Of Empire: Starting With A Solid Base," Asia Times, Feb. 13, 2004

"The Militarization Of U.S. Foreign Policy," By Mel Goodman, Foreign Policy In Focus, Feb., 2004

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq

"Report Says Military Distorts War Deaths," The Boston Globe, Feb. 18, 2004

"Iraq Bombings Reveal Bigger U.S. Problems," San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 17, 2004

"The High Price Of War Leaves One Man Broken," The Enterprise Mountaineer (North Carolina), Feb. 11, 2004

"Professional Raid In Iraq Points To A New Armed Phase," Telegraph/UK, Feb. 16, 2004

"U.S., British Spy Op Wrecked Pre-War Peace Move," Observer/UK, Feb. 15, 2004

"U.S. Has Murky Picture Of Iraq Resistance," Guardian/UK, Feb. 15, 2004

Civil Liberties

"Undercover Officers At Antiwar Meetings," The Daily Texan, Feb. 19, 2004

"'Mr. Ferrer Can't Be With Us Tonight,'" The Guardian/UK, Feb. 18, 2004

"Suit Against Ashcroft Claims Department Has Bungled War on Terror," Knight Ridder, Feb. 18, 2004

"Government Withdrawal Of Drake Protest Subpoenas Is Free Speech Victory," By Marjorie Cohn, Jurist, Feb. 16, 2004

"The Diminishing Of John Ashcroft," By Nat Hentoff, Village Voice, Feb. 12, 2004

Media And Activism

"Now They Tell Us: The Press' Pre-War WMD Failure," By Michael Massing, New York Review Of Books, Feb. 26, 2004

"O'Reilly Eats Words On WMD Claims," New York Daily News, Feb. 11, 2004