Flashpoints Jan 8, 2002: Robert Fisk; US afraid of South Korea?; Jan 18 protests

Wednesday, Jan 8, 2003 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: Robert Fisk on Algeria, terrorism, and the US media.. is Washington more afraid of South Korea than North Korea?.. upcoming anti-war protests January 18 in SF and DC.
-01:00 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: a Federal appeals court allows enemy combatant status for US citizens.. FBI holiday terror hoax.. concocted.. by a secret informant.. to assist his situation.. In Israel, fraud and financial scandal.. Ariel Sharon received a secret donation of half million dollars from a South African businessman.. polls predict only 28 Knesset seats for Likud, down from 41.. US and British warplanes struck Iraq again today.. UN and Iraq do not recognize the legitimacy of the 'no fly zones'
-05:26 Dennis: we continue our drumbeat coverage of the march toward war.. Dennis: US allies in the upcoming war on Iraq?.. Algerian civil war?.. now w Robert Fisk, the award winning British reporter.. Robert: in 1992 Algerian authorities held a general election, clear after the first round that Islamists would win, so the military closed democracy down.. there followed one of the most cruel wars I've ever covered.. Islamists would go into villages and cut the throats of women and children.. I saw the pools of blackened blood and beheaded children.. young women in middle class jobs disappeared.. taken from their homes by police or military officers.. then came evidence that the government was behind at least some of the massacres.. police involved in mass torture, massacres.. a book, The Dirty War.. the Algerian police are experts at torture, the use of electricity on penises, extrajudicial assassinations.. now Washington saying there is a lot we can learn from the Algerians in *fighting terrorism*.. along with Israel's policies of *targeted killings*.. a culture of torture and execution being built up under the pretext of 9/11.. and a fact not printed in the American press, a senior Algerian official recently invited to NATO HQ.. the US saying they will give arms to Algeria to 'fight the Islamists'.. Dennis: the war on Iraq expanding?.. Robert: we need to look at the world through the eyes of others.. I read that Israeli officials *believe* that Hezbollah has 8,000 missiles.. I've traveled everywhere in this country, on every small road.. those missiles do not exist.. Sharon said Lebanon is the new center of terror.. sheer fantasy.. Sharon is a cruel and wicked man.. the Syrian regime is brutal.. but the truth is that Syria does not have weapons of mass destruction.. but it wants the Golan Heights back, illegally held by Israel.. Lebanon wants its freedom.. you can say Israel has the right not to be attacked by Hezbollah, but Lebanon has the right not to be attacked by Israel as well.. all the peoples want security.. Dennis: you travel a lot to the US?.. Robert: yes, I'm just been put through my 35th *random search*.. the US wants to have passenger profiles from Air France.. I'm a frequent flyer with them.. this is a form of legalized intrusion into private affairs.. the special coding on my tickets, is it because I fly out of Beruit?.. am I being frisked because I'm coming from Beruit?.. or am I being frisked because I'm saying things the US does like?.. or because my name is foreign sounding?.. if I were an American I would be very worried about this.. Admiral Poindexter?.. what does he get as a salary?.. Dennis: about Kenneth Pollack, author of The Threatening Storm.. Robert: full of cliches.. a copycat version of The Gathering Storm, by Winston Churchill.. just as Bush tries to dress himself up as Churchill.. Pollack claims Iraq is like Nazi Germany and anyone who opposes war is a Nazi sympathizer.. his arguments breathtakingly immoral.. says we should wage war just because we can win.. says it's 'necessary to break the linkage between Iraq and the Israeli- Palestinian war'.. criticizes Palestinian terror attacks as he should, but never criticizes Israel as he should have done as well.. how can anyone seriously consider this book?.. Dennis: the press has a great responsibility here?.. Robert: rather, a great irresponsibility.. about the phoney FBI story about the supposed five terrorists who crossed into America from Canada.. CNN's lead story for hours, gave all kinds of details.. then the FBI said, well, it's not true.. this is not just some small and erroneous mistake.. look at the all the fraudulent stories England has been fed recently (lists a dozen).. seems no end to this government terrorism.. do they want Bin Laden to win?.. or is this part of a countdown to war?.. creating fear to motivate consent?.. Dennis: about the Turkish genocide against the Armenians.. Robert: many Israelis believe that Israel's relationship with Turkey is seriously skewed.. how can the Israelis deny this genocide?.. very brave Turkish writers trying to educate the Turkish people about this.. on Dec 22 I addressed a very large Jewish organization in England.. said we must acknowledge that this happened.. but the Israeli government does not.. young German officers were present during the Armenian genocide.. turned up later in charge of the Jewish Holocaust.. a clear connection.. but Israeli officials will not acknowledge it.. although to their great credit, many Israeli historians do..
-33:18 Dennis: people getting ready to mobilize against war on January 18, and honor MLK.. now w a Spokeswoman from the International Answer Coalition.. Spokeswoman: January 18 the last major date to show opposition to this war.. on January 27 inspectors to report to the UN.. could be a trigger date.. email all your friends, organize co-workers and family.. what other options do we have?.. hundreds of thousands will come out.. in DC, marchers will swarm the Naval Shipyards.. the US has the real weapons of mass destruction.. more info: www.InternationalAnswer.org.. in SF.. buses coming.. carpools.. gather at 11AM in downtown SF.
-37:05 music break Not In Our Name
-38:36 Dennis: recent elections in South Korea a giant wakeup call for US policy makers.. in the last few days, fierce street protests againt US military presence.. NY Times said today that the US may be more concerned about the South.. now w Tim Shorrock of Foreign Policy Focus.. Tim: important to remember there is an artificial division between North and South Korea created by the US and Russia.. in 1953 the Korean War 'paused'.. an 'armistice' declared, not an end.. the US never recognized North Korea.. North Korea has had nuclear weapons aimed at it for 50 years.. Dennis: the US said they will not have negotiations with the North until the North end theirs weapons project.. Tim: in 1994, an 'agreed framework' pact signed by US and North Korea.. the North dutifully stopped plutonium production, and froze their reactor.. but Clinton backed away under Republican pressure, and the US has never upheld their end of the bargain.. in 2000 the South Korean president won the Nobel Peace prize for visiting the North.. then Bush comes along.. said he didn't believe North Korea could be trusted.. labeled them part of an 'axis of evil'.. and the US announced their new policy of pre-emptive attack.. scared the North hardliners.. and they accepted an offer from Pakistan for nuclear help.. to get things moving again, the US will have to provide written assurances that the US will not attack North Korea.. Dennis: North Korea says US threatens nuclear war on the Peninsula.. Tim: the North says over and over again they want a non-agression pact with the US.. Dennis: the new South Korean president said the South would try and mediate between the US and North Korea.. Tim: the South not necessarily siding with the US anymore.. a lot of young people in South Korea.. they see how Korean women are abused around US military bases.. the South has the highest internet usage in the world.. highly informed citizens, even more than Americans.. anti-American feeling in the South ebbs and flows.. under President Carter, support for South Korean democracy fell.. the US military still considers Koreans who object to their abuses as *dissidents*.. they can't seem to get it through their heads that Korea is now a democracy.. about the armored vehicle that ran over the two girls.. the soldiers acquited.. great anger.. about an article in the NY Times today.. an amazing mistatement of history.. the Korean War started in 1945, when the US first came.. the root of the major war in the 50's.. more info, this article Tim published yesterday: Roh's Election Victory and the Widening Gap Between the U.S. and South Korea.. and also check out Tim's article upcoming in the Nation Magazine..
-54:55 Mary Bishop: wrapup
-55:36 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart

Tuesday, Jan 7, 2003 - Start Audio

now w Ramzy Baroud, author of "Searching Jenin" (preface by Noam Chomsky) (read a review) (buy it from the author) (order from Cody's Online).. Ramzy: I was working on a book about the Sabra and Chatila massacre.. Ramzy: Jenin similar.. a smaller version.. victims not able to claim their own dead, just like Sabra and Chatila.. that's why I decided to do something about it.. Dennis: both times the man in charge is Ariel Sharon.. Ramzy: Israel portrays the conflict with Palestinians is a 'fair battle', as a well behaved army fighting a band of ruthless terrorists.. honest people who want to find the truth can get confused.. no accountability, the UN is failing in their mission.. Dennis: the book is based on eyewitness accounts.. the heart of it?.. Ramzy: I tried to let the people narrate the story.. all compelling, all touching.. but the story of Hannah, a 30 year old mother of three, the heart of it for me.. she was very worried about the safety of the children.. put the children in a small room.. part of the house is falling.. the husband steps outside to check it out.. a sniper shoots him instantly.. the wife goes out, blood falls out of his mouth.. pulls him into the house, he dies.. tells the children ages 4, 5, and 3 daddy is ok, just asleep.. she begs the soldiers to let her call an ambulance to take his body away.. they refuse.. and the body lays in the small room, decomposing for 7 days.. asleep the children thought, they would try to wake him and ask him questions.. about the Palestinian resistance fighters.. the fighters tried to protect the others, the women and children.. were a part of the camp, an extention of the people.. Ramzy: I spoke to a lady, in Jordan hospital.. severly wounded.. spoke how a bulldozer came and started to demolish her house, with 40 others.. fighters ran out and stood in front of the bulldozers and tried to stop it, while other fighters came and helped the 40 people escape out a back way.. Dennis: ambulances?.. Ramzy: an interview with an ambulance driver.. he was stripped naked and arrested.. accounts of ambulances being fired on.. no doubt that the Israelis.. for 12 days no one allowed to leave the camp to go to a hospital.. Dennis: we hear a lot about how the Palestinians 'overstated' the case.. Ramzy: in the Columbine High School massacre.. the Israeli term the deaths from suicide bombers always as a massacre.. at least 63 people in Jenin killed, hundreds wounded, 2000 homes destroyed.. certainly 147 there were war crimes in Jenin.. the first people to say hundreds of dead in Jenin were top Isareli army officials.. statements before people were even allowed to leave or enter the camp.. if Israel military say a massacre, then why wouldn't Palestinians repeat the claim?.. why the media then blame the Palestinians?.. I was not prepared for the level of hatred of the soldiers.. I have lived in Gaza.. the would defecate in the mosques.. draw pornographic images on toys, hang dolls like dead.. loudspeakers saying we are going to come kill you.. Jenin Refugee camp was established outside Jenin City in 1953.. after 800,000 Palestinians forced to flee their homes.. mostly from Haifa region.. UN ANRWA originally built mud homes.. the people could stand on the eastern edge of the camp and see their homes back in Israel.. living harsh lives.. but still seeing Palestine.. still had their old house keys.. about the impact on the children.. I was born 1972 into a refugee camp.. we remember nothing but occupation.. a home of abuse.. soldiers come around.. many of our friends have.. death, despair, poverty become your live.. the only games is playing Israelis and Palestinians.. now children killed with much more brutality.. most children having serious physcological trouble.. they can identify aircraft, weaponry, even bullets by sound.. Dennis: but like children in Dhaishah camp will surround a tank, stand on a tank.. Ramzy: I saw my dad spit on by soldiers, punched, jeered.. the second day this happened I started throwing stones.. Palestinian children want to defend the ones they love.. Dennis: about you?.. Ramzy: I went to Jordan and wasn't allowed back into Palestine.. I started to hire reporters in Jenin.. they could get information more touching, more personal than you'll find in AI and HRW reports.. people endangering their lives on a daily.. a Jerusalem photographer, Mahfouz Abu Turk, arrested and wounded four times.. a reporter wounded by the army after 9/11.. working for Reuters, hit by a tank shell.. 8 wonderful reporters from Jenin.. would give the reports to.. then smuggled to East Jerusalem.. I was worried this would not work out, but I thank God it worked out wonderfully.. more info: PalestineChronicle.com