Flashpoints Feb 17: ISM Ann Gwynn bloody report from Nablus; Mandela; London GO!

Monday, Feb 17, 2003 - Start Audio
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein: introduction: Israeli colonizers open fire on civilians in Nablus.. Two Million Great Britains rally in London.. Nelson Mandela speaks out strongly against Bush and war.. Excerpts from last Saturday's Pacifica Teach-In
-00:47 Dennis: Anne Gwynn, nurse, ambulance rider, with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Nablus called my message phone the other night repeatedly.. excerpts: Anne: I stand in pools of blood in the ambulance.. someone has drawn a circle in blood around a bullet hole.. the bravest and best of Nablus ambulance drivers, his hand bandaged where he was shot.. blood everywhere.. now excerpts from Anne's voice message to Dennis's phone.. Anne: 4:20am: they are still firing.. (sounds of shots).. our ambulance was shot up, our driver got a bullet through the hand, one of our volunteers got shot.. 4:35am: (confusion).. 4:40am: indiscriminate shooting.. a complete nightmare.. Dennis: hard to understand the last, but crucial that you hear it.. people should understand that this war is ongoing against the Palestinian people..
-06:10 music break Cat Stevens, Oppression
-07:30 Dennis: now w John Reese of the British Stop The War Coalition.. John: an absolutely enormous demontration.. estimated 1.5 to 2 million, the largest political demonstration in England ever.. the official response?.. Blair moved his speech forward, and took no notice of the protestors.. how can the PM of Britain continually ignore the population of his own country??.. a new poll shows that 52% of all British citizens oppose a war against Iraq, regardless of whether or not UN approval.. what's next?.. the trade movement called for a recall.. and a massive campaign of civil disobedience.. like the civil rights movement.. the sheer number of people of every age and type.. most of whom had never been to a protest before.. Dennis: Blair says he has to follow his sense of *morality* more than the citizenry.. John: launching 800 cruise missiles against a sick and broken country is not moral to me..
-12:45 Dennis: one of the most outspoken opponents of a new Iraqi war is South African leader, Nelson Mandela.. spoke of a potential global holocaust.. Mandela: it has been 57 years since the last world war, because of the United Nations.. but Bush is now undermining the United Nations.. acting outside.. the UN the idea of Roosevelt and Churchill.. Rush and Blair undermining an idea of their predesesors.. is it because the Secretary General is black?.. are they saying we are they only superpower in the world now, we can do what we like, we are special.. unspeakable atrocities.. they don't care for human beings.. 57 years ago, when Japan was retreating on all front, the dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.. killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people.. effects still killing people today.. aiming not at the Japanese, but at the Soviets.. killing innocent people like that is terrorism..
-17:35 music break
-18:20 Dennis: last Saturday Flashpoints led a Pacifica national teach-in against the war.. excerpts: (live audience).. today millions of people around the world said no to war.. yesterday Colin Powell greeted with disbelief at the UN.. the French ambassador greeted with applause.. now to Baghdad with Jeremy Scahill.. Jeremy: people here expressing cautious optimism over Blix's new report, also listening to Powell.. most people still believe war will come in the near future.. tens of thousands of Iraqis demonstration in the street today.. many many people are very afraid... afraid for their children.. about reports that the US has inserted special forces into Iraq already.. raising tensions, fear of sabotague.. about the international activists in Baghdad, from all across the globe, slowly pouring into Baghdad.. to serve as human shields.. trying to prevent a war.. Dennis: Powell met with silence at the UN.. do the people of Iraq know the world is rising up to support them?.. Jeremy: a million plus people on the streets in Rome, in London.. this is not about democracy or freedom of speech, it is about oil.. but the attitude here is still one of panic.. great concern for their children.. they know of the report of 3000 missiles hitting Baghdad.. they have been throught the Iran-Iraq war where the US had its dirty hands all over, and throught the Gulf War and the sanctions.. this administration has several people who don't care about the use of (weapons of mass destruction) when they are used against certain people.. like Rumsfeld.. like Powell.. not people who have a track record of honesty.. Dennis: what will you do if the bombs start falling?.. Jeremy: we want to have access to phones, to hospitals, to ordinary Iraqis.. like the Iraqis we are people too.. stockpiling goods.. the three of us have formed an affinity group.. you depend on your brothers and sisters to keep you sane.
-31:07 Dennis: now to Washington DC to Anas Shallal, the founder of a new Iraqi peace group, Iraqi Americans for a Peaceful Alternative.. Anas: I've spoken to relatives.. their mood from panic to denial.. the people quite upset.. those who can have moved outside Baghdad.. but they have jobs, lives.. Dennis: bombing the cradle of civilization?.. Anas: when Clinton sent 23 cruise missiles on Baghdad.. one killed the most famous Arabic woman artist, Laila al-Attar.. Iraq used to called Mesopotamia.. Baghdad full of artifacts.. about the so-called Iraqi National Congress, and the Iraqi National Front.. pushing Bush to keep the sanctions.. disheartening to look at this group, they don't have any support inside Iraq.. but Bush has a plan for Iraq: putting General Franks in charge and putting US agents in charge of every minister.. convicted of embezzlement in Jordan, had to smuggled out of the country in the back of a car.. US typically replaces one dictator with another shady character.. more info, see: Mesopotamia Cultural Society.
-38:08 Dennis: this is a Pacifia Network pledge drive period, Please Support Free Speech Radio, make a donation today.. call 510-848-5732 or 800-439-5732
-58:00 Dennis: wrapup: Greg Palast on Feb 26, speaks in Berkeley
-59:06 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart