Flashpoints Dec 3: Spain oils; Haiti riots; Kelly reports; Sierra Club threatens

Tuesday, Dec 3, 2002 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction: huge oil slick hits the coast of Spain.. report from protests in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.. Kathy Kelly's Iraqi Journal.. Sierra Club threatening its Glen Canyon (So. Utah) chapter for speaking out against Bush's war plans
-00:49 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: Weapons inspectors pour over one of Saddam's palaces.. Turkey says its airbases can be used by the US.. Wolfowitz in Ankara.. South Koreans send a delegation to Washington DC., to protest the death of two children.. (audio of woman describing the 120,000 US crimes committed in South Korea since the Korean War).. 130,000 Koreans sign petition demanding a Bush apology.. Iraq lodges a complaint against the US for killing four workers at a petroleum plant.. Pentagon says civilian casualties not given much attention.. the oxymoronic concepts of *military intelligence* and *precision bombing*.
-06:32 Dennis: continuing coverage of huge oil slick hitting spain.. now on the beach w Nick Jenkins of the International Fund for Animal Welfare.. Nick: a dolphin washed up and died.. thousands of sea birds killed.. 250 being treated.. a tragedy on our hands.. lost 15,000 birds so far.. the majority of the slick has not come ashore.. 9000 tons of oil.. a national maritime park here.. in the worst area, thick oil covering everything.. 900 volunteers.. grim and depressing.. a massive number of local people working together.. difficult seeing all the dead wildlife.. but harder to take, those struggling to live.. Dennis: what kind of wildlife?.. Nick: 19 species affected so far.. razorbills, cormorans, puffins.. and a couple very rare endangered bird species.. this is a marvelous coastline.. the world's greatest mussel producing area.. 4,500 fisherman told to stop fishing, they are still working though, cleaning the coast.. a very warm and loving community here.. a Hawaiian friend says this community has the 'aloha spirit'.. genuinely concerned.. this is damaging their future for many years to come.. Dennis: Greenpeace is saying that the Spanish goverment is failing.. Nick: I couldn't say, but the local government is certainly trying hard.. about the process of rescuing, washing, and rehabilitating the birds.. Dennis: what will you do if the situation gets much worse?.. Nick: we have contingency plans, but we hope it does not get worse.. enormous numbers of birds would die out at sea, before we ever see them..
-19:27 Dennis: thousands of supporters of Aristide in the streets today confronting hundreds of anti-Aristide protestors.. now w Kevin Pina, independent filmmaker and special Flashpoints correspondent in Port-au-Prince.. Kevin: the anger was uncontainable.. remember these people are starving.. they see the 'Convergence' as a proxy of US foreign policy.. see themselves as being made to suffer for their democratic choices.. Dennis: the Convergence protest over the death of a journalist a year ago.. Kevin: neither Aristide nor anyone else could contain this anger.. these are the poor.. given hope by Aristide, the genie out of the bottle.. saying enough is enough with the games.. telling the US you are not going to overthrow our government.. Kevin: in the streets today.. Convergence demostration chanting pro-military slogans.. the Aristide supporters exploded and attacked the Convergence.. to the credit of Lavalas, no one was seriously injured.. the Aristide/Lavalas supporters are the same people physically hurt by previous military government.. I saw people out there without legs and arms shouting at the Convergence.. a campaign of destabilization, prices up 40%.. the poor are angry.. I heard Lavalas people chanting, 'if civil war is what you want, civil war is what you'll get'.. Dennis: 20,000 M16s and 900 US advisors sent to neighboring Dominican Republic.. Kevin: the people are resolutes, their voice has been heard finally, and they are willing to fight and die for their dignity..
-30:00 music break
-30:50 Dennis: now with this week's Kathy Kelly's Iraqi Journal.. Kathy: I'm in Baghdad with Voices in the Wilderness.. five new people came in today.. we're taking up residence and will be here if US attacks.. to represent the average Iraqi.. today we're aware of Tony Blair's release of a dossier about Iraqi human rights abuses.. Amnesty International saying it's not fair to use abuses from the 80's to justify an attack now.. the primary violation of human rights against the Iraqi people is the US led sanctions.. about a neighborhood I visited today.. streets full of sewage and garbage, a one room home.. a man with a family, is working double shifts trying to get by.. a small space heater.. a patio in front with a cookstove and latrine.. a tiny baby will die unless she gets heart surgery.. the grandmother with one leg and a broken wheelchair.. made us a meal, a sign of great graciousness.. if they are to see any change in the future, will probably be a massive bombardment.. about another house we visited.. women, one a teacher makes 5 dollars a month.. their aged mother, asks me, "where I hide?".. in 1991 she just stood in the corner.. and we're aware that the bombing hasn't stopped, it is continual.. the US bombed the Iraqi Oil Company.. we know five fathers who work there.. do those people represent a threat to the US?..
-39:39 music break
-40:54 Dennis: the Sierra Club threatening to disband its Glen Canyon chapter for speaking out against Bush's war on Iraq.. now w Patrick Diehl, vice chairman of the (Southern Utah) Glen Canyon chapter.. Patrick: we disagreed with the tepid statement by the Sierra Club on Iraq, and the lack of input.. we were not consulted at all.. Bush wanting perpetual war.. about the Glen Canyon statement on Bush's war for oil (excerpt): "The present administration has declared its intention to achieve total military dominance of the entire world. We believe that such ambitions will produce a state of perpetual war, undoing whatever protection of the environment that conservation groups may have so far achieved.".. Patrick: we were incensed at the one sided Sierra Club resolution (actually three resolutions, Patrick lists their point by point objections).. Dennis: I just spoke to Allan Madison with the Sierra Club.. Patrick: the Sierra Club failure's to say anything against Bush..just faulting Iraq.. about the threat from Sierra Club HQ.. Dennis: why your strong feelings?.. Patrick: the Club's stand is calculated to antaganize members.. it is imperative for the environmental movement to ally with the peace movement.. or we won't be able to stand up to Bush.. the Club's strategy is a disaster.. Patrick: the bombing in the Balkans, massive environmental damage in a just a few hours.. Bush's perpetual war.. a constant environmental beating, and curtailing civil liberties, and suppressing dissent.. for environmental organizations to stand weakly by.. a betrayal of their responsibilities and the planet.. Dennis: if (Sierra Club president) Karl Pope bans you?.. Patrick: the four of us will not back down.. we've crossed the Rubicon.. our chapter full of activists, we'll continue our work.. we thought it important to stand up and take action.. Patrick: how you can help?.. please email a message of support for us to the Board of the Sierra Club and/or to us in the Glen Canyon Chapter.. (or email both groups together ).. Patrick: or call me at 435-826-4778
-55:30 Mary Bishop: wrapup
-56:06 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart


Monday, Dec 2, 2002 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction: Africa suffers under Terror, the US War on Terror.. interview with ex-CIA agent, Phillip Agee.. second wave of a massive oil spill off the coast of Spain
-00:46 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: Bush bombs Basra.. Iraq weapons inspection teams cruising.. missile factory OK'ed.. a petroleum plant staffed by 700 workers targeted by the US in an illegal bombing.. hear Bush audio (yuk, 1 min).. Tony Blair's ministry echoing Bush's wartalk.. but Amnesty International says human rights violations should not be used selectively.. an East African website claims Al-Qiada responsibility
-06:13 Dennis: continuing coverage of the massive oil spills threatening Spain.. now w Dr. Charlotte de Fontaubert of Greenpeace.. Dr. Fontaubert: what do you know, it didn't stay down, hate to say it.. but we told them so.. this is the second slick making its way.. the first slick hit 310 miles of coastland.. $42 million dollars in losses so far, damage to fishing, to coastal resources.. not included damage to ecology, wetlands.. Dennis: a local resort owner said this is like an atomic bomb.. Dr. Fontaubert: widespread impact.. tourism, fishing, ecology, recreation.. Greenpeace is cleaning it up.. a problem: we took cleaned up oil to the government, they didn't have a plan to deal with it.. Dennis: about a sister ship.. Dr. Fontaubert: the same condition, the same owners.. but we stopped them from sailing.. exact same conditions, nothing has changed.. we're going to put pressure on Brussels.. Dennis: a crapshoot?.. Dr. Fontaubert: yes, good analogy.. when you ship oil on a old worn-out, worthless ship like this, you never know if it will make it, but, to the owners, it doesn't matter, the oil is insured, and the ship is worthless anyway.. the citizens have to pick up the tab.. Dennis: this is financial terrorism?.. Dr. Fontaubert: yes.. but Greenpeace is not giving up.. the West doesn't have to depend on oil; we have renewable, safe resources.
-13:00 Dennis: the US war on terror expands further into Africa.. now w Professor Horace Campbell, of Syracuse Univ., just back from Nigeria.. Dennis: the Israelis treating Africans with racism, contempt.. Horace: In 1998 a bombing of the US Embassy in Kenya.. 200 Kenyans died.. here in this bombing, more than 12 Kenyans die.. but the media focusing on the 3 Israelis that died.. about the war on Iraq.. about people around the world brought into America's latest war against their will.. in Kenya an election campaign.. this terror bombing could strenghten repressive forces in Kenya.. like when America attacked Somalia.. this newest surge in the war on terror may actually strenghten state terrorism in Africa.. Dennis: about Jonas Savimbi.. Horace: when the US government embarks on a campaign against terror, they're not consistent.. the US support for the terrorist apartheid government of South Africa was criminal (and he lists three more US supported criminal groups).. now Ethiopia.. Eritrea.. Mombasa was one of the most peaceful places in Africa.. people lived with their doors open.. a history of peace.. now rampant poverty, unemployment.. Dennis: about Nigeria?.. Horace: I was just there talking to young people wanting to develop networks for peace.. the Federation of Liberian Youth (link2).. now the dreadful condition in the Ivory Coast.. I was very impressed by these young people.. like the 16 year old from Nigeria.. the political leadership of Nigeria brought the Miss World contest to Nigeria in the middle of Ramadan, in the middle of rising poverty and exploitation by the West.. add to that an inflamatory article in the newspaper.. abaout a fatwa issued for the death of that journalist.. the voices of peace and women's rights being outshouted.. Dennis: about the AIDS pandemic.. Horace: the US planning to increase oil production all along the west coast of Africa.. THE OIL COMPANIES DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE.. NO REGARD FOR THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE.. Shell saying they cannot stop flaring gas until 2008.. peoples livelihoods and communities being destroyed by the international oil companies.. Dennis: the US starting their own program of using military to defend oil company actions.. Horace: there are very strong democratic, womens, youth, environmental movenments in Nigeria.. ABOUT AIDS.. WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?.. WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS WORSE THAN THE HOLOCAUST.. 25 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DIED.. the collusion of the drug companies.. and the World Bank advising African governments to cut back on their minimal health care funding.. about women's rights and women's control of their own reproductive processes.. and education.. about the Nigerian woman sentenced to be stoned.. in West Africa, PEACE, HEALTH, AND JUSTICE NOT THE ISSUE JUST OF ONE COUNTRY.. ALL COUNTRIES INTERRELATED.. THERE NEEDS TO BE A GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR PEACE AT THIS TIME..
-33:29 Dennis: now w Phillip Agee, who knows how US intelligence works.. a CIA agent from 1957 to 1968, author of Inside the Company, CIA Diary (review).. and On The Run, now lives in Cuba.. Dennis: if you were still in the CIA what kind of thing do you think they would have you doing?.. Phillip: selecting targets in Iraq.. but it's all about money, like the Afghan war still going on, it's all about oil.. the technology has changed, but the role of the CIA pretty much the same.. backdoor political control, with the National Endowment for Democracy (funds Venezualan coup attempt) (CATO) (link4) .. Phillip: the money for these NGO's used to come from the CIA, now comes from the NED.. Phillip: about the accusation of biological warfare against Cuba.. these accusations are fairytales.. but continuing.. so the embargo continues, so the rich expatriate Cuban line the pockets of US politicians.. Phillip: about a large protest in Havana led by Fidel Castro, in support of the five Cubans arrested for espianage in the US.. Phillip: the policy against Cuba continues pretty much the same since the 60's.. but now we see the rise of populist left in Latin America.. Cuba is one of the leading nations against the FTAA.. Phillip: no doubt the US trying to use the issue of terrorism against Cuba.. Cuba has taken a strong stand against terrorism, has been a major victim of terrorism.. the problem is the US keeps them on a list of nations supporting terrorism.. about the US double standard.. Dennis: about a Cuban airliner shot down.. Phillip in 1976.. flight Barbados to Havana.. all 73 people aboard were killed including the Cuban fencing team.. the planner of that attack was Orlando Bosch.. turned up in Miami.. the US Justice Dept said he should be expelled.. pardoned by George Bush I.. about an assassination attempt by a cohort of Bosch in Panama four years ago.. about the bombing of 7 Havana hotels in 1997.. the perp said he got money for the bombing from the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami.. Phillip: about Otto Reich.. his role is unclear in the Bush administration at the moment.. Bush may let him sink.. Dennis: the spirit of the Cuban people.. Phillip: we're trying to bring Americans here.. I meet the people when they first come, they leave with a new idea.. if they know anything about the rest Latin America.. they know Cuba is a shining example.. the charge of terrorism against Cuba is false.. about the use of Guantanamo Bay by the US.. the Cuban people fascinated with Americans, as far as a place to visit, the country is so beautiful, old Havana is extremely interesting.. and totally safe, no feeling of fear in Havana.. good food and good water.. more info: Cubalinda.com.. Phillip: dismay about the religious right coming to power in Washington, trying to impose their own [immoral] beliefs on humanity.. when Bush says you're either *with us or against us*.. dismaying, appalling, absurd.. this is an appointed administration.. illigitimate.. we must oppose them with all our power
-55:38 Magnificent Mary Bishop: wrapup
-56:00 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart