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Between The Lines

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Between The Lines
For The Week Ending April 11, 2003

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

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

  • Iraqi People Facing Humanitarian Crisis
    as Pentagon Controls Aid Distribution,
    Excluding Relief Agencies

    For story text, Click here!

  • Risking Their Lives, International Volunteers Remain
    in Baghdad to Protect Civilian Infrastructure

    For story text, Click here!

  • "Embedded" U.S. Journalists and Their Media Outlets
    Provide a Distorted View of Iraq War

    For story text, Click here!

  • Underreported News Summary from Around the World
    For full summary, Click here!
LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. MP3 files available until April 15, 2003.

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

Iraqi People Facing Humanitarian Crisis
as Pentagon Controls Aid Distribution,
Excluding Relief Agencies

Interview with Denis Halliday,
former United Nations Under-Secretary General
and coordinator of Iraq's Oil for Food Program
conducted by Scott Harris

As U.S. and British soldiers fight for control of southern Iraq on their way toward a crucial battle in Baghdad, civilians in large cities like Basra and smaller towns are confronting severe shortages of water, food and medicine. But with the American military insisting that they alone will control the distribution of aid, international relief organizations are reluctant to participate, not wanting to be identified with a U.S. invasion viewed by many as illegal and launched without U.N. Security Council authorization. The fact that much of the territory now occupied by U.S forces remains un-secure, makes the distribution of supplies by the Pentagon itself that much more difficult and chaotic.

Aid agencies from around the world have demanded that President Bush place the humanitarian relief effort under the supervision of United Nations agencies and personnel with many years of experience in Iraq. With an eye toward post-war administration of Iraq, the Security Council recently voted to transfer control of Iraq's oil for food program to U.N. Secretary General Koffi Anan.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Denis Halliday, a former Under-Secretary General at the U.N. who administered Iraq's oil for food program before he resigned in protest against economic sanctions in 1998. Halliday discusses the current humanitarian crisis confronting the people of Iraq and the legal obligation of the American and British invasion force to provide immediate aid to the desperate and frightened population under their control.

To get more information on the international campaign to protect Iraq's long suffering civilian population, call Voices in the Wilderness at (773) 784-8065 or visit their Web site at www.vitw.org

Risking Their Lives, International Volunteers Remain
in Baghdad to Protect Civilian Infrastructure

Interview with international volunteers Tom Cahill and John Richardson,
who are in Baghdad acting as human shields,
conducted by Denise Manzari

As the relentless U.S. bombing over Baghdad continues, it is becoming increasingly difficult to contact those who remain in the city due to the destruction of telephone towers and other communications equipment. Between The Lines' Denise Manzari recently reached several international volunteers by phone in Baghdad who traveled to Iraq to act as human shields, protecting civil infrastructure and to minimize civilian casualties.

"Embedded" U.S. Journalists and Their Media Outlets
Provide a Distorted View of Iraq War

Interview with John MacArthur,
publisher of Harper's magazine,
conducted by Scott Harris

In the months leading up to the U.S. war in Iraq, America's corporate media outlets provided intensive coverage of President Bush's failed campaign to win international support for invasion, but with what many critics characterize as a lack of scrutiny of the administration's justification and motivation. While U.S. allies around the world rejected White House evidence of Iraqi covert weapons programs as exaggerated or bogus, America's press corp. dutifully reported government pronouncements, asking very few tough questions.

Since the war was launched, branded "Operation Iraqi Freedom" by the Pentagon, corporate television networks have featured unprecedented live reports from the front lines using the latest video satellite technology. Unlike the first Persian Gulf War 12 years ago, the Pentagon has allowed reporters to accompany U.S. troops in the field of battle by "embedding" them with specific combat units while subjecting their dispatches to military censorship. But as American soldiers encountered stiffer resistance than expected and U.S. bombs and troops killed and injured a growing number of Iraqi civilians, much of the press continued to cheerlead for the Pentagon and minimize critical reporting.

John MacArthur reviewed the U.S. media's conduct during the 1991 war with Iraq in his book titled, "Second Front, Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War." which described how the White House easily manipulated public opinion through the use of propaganda and with the eager collaboration of a compliant press corps. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with MacArthur, publisher of Harper's Magazine, who assesses the performance of U.S. corporate media in covering America's ongoing war in Iraq.

John MacArthur's book, "Second Front, Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War," is published by University of California Press. Visit Harper's magazine Web site at www.harpers.org

Related link:

  • Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, www.fair.org

    This week's summary
    of under-reported news

    Compiled by Bob Nixon

    • Anti-war campaigners across the globe mobilizing a boycott of American products. ("Anti-war boycott message spreads," BBC News, April 1, 2003, Web version)
    • Hundreds of South African AIDS activists protest their government's refusal to offer advanced medical treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. ("AIDS protesters accuse Pretoria ministers of manslaughter," The Guardian, March 21, 2003).
    • Landless Brazilian peasants not giving left-leaning President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva any slack by reviving MST's 20-year campaign of seizing land. ("Cutting the Wire," New Internationalist, January/February 2003; "Lula faces mass land seizures," BBC News, March 11, 2003, Web site)

    DOWNLOAD this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. Note: Make sure your browser is set for streaming or download as you wish. Broadcast-quality MP3 files available until April 15, 2003.

    Credits:
    Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
    Segment producer: Denise Manzari
    Program narration: Denise Manzari
    News reader: Sasha Summer Cousineau
    Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates
    Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
    Executive producer: Scott Harris

... MORE ...

Greg Palast, BBC journalist, comes to New Haven, CT Sat., April 12!
Listen to the author of NY Times' bestseller "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" and other groundbreaking investigations, speaking on "Who Profits from War On Iraq?" Reception to follow. You're invited! RSVP by April 5. Click here for more information

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 4/4/03

War on Iraq

"The Battle Between Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon," by Seymour Hersch, The New Yorker, April 7, 2003

"Halliburton's Axis of Influence" In These Times, March 28, 2003

"Crude History Lesson" In These Times, March 27, 2003

Between The Lines Special Reports in RealAudio

Dissent is Essential when Governments Engage in Illegal Conflict and Impose Repressive Measures, philosophy professor Joy Gordon, April 4, 2003

U.S. War Violates U.N. Charter, Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights, March 28, 2003

Soldiers, Their Parents and Lawmakers Sue to Stop U.S. Attack on Iraq Without Congressional Declaration of War, Lead attorney John Bonifaz in Doe v. Bush lawsuit, March 14, 2003

Campaign to Impeach President Bush Will Require Broad Public Support, law professor Francis Boyle, March 7, 2003

White House Successor to USA Patriot Act Threatens Further Erosion of Civil Liberties, author Nancy Chang, Feb. 28, 2003

Between The Lines Special Report: Interviews Recorded at "The World Says 'No' to War" in NYC, Feb. 15, 2003 in MP3.

200,000 to 500,000 at Anti-War March, 1/18/03 in Washington, D.C.

Multi-Ethnic Public Issues Advocacy

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson's Commentaries, The Hutchinson Report
and in Audio (needs RealPlayer)

 


Between The Lines
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