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Between The Lines

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Between The Lines
For The Week Ending Aug. 8, 2003

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Our archive server through WPKN's webhosting service underwent an upgrade while we were on vacation. Many archives are currently unavailable. Our apologies for any inconvenience. Archive restoration will be back on track when we return, Aug. 3, 2003.

  • White House Obstructs
    9/11 Investigation

    For story text and audio, Click here!

  • Activists Stop Move
    by Department of Energy
    to Reclassify Nuclear Waste

    For story text and audio, Click here!

  • Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney
    Pursues Lawsuit Against
    Georgia's Open Primary System

    For story text and audio, Click here!

  • Underreported News Summary
    from Around the World

    For full summary and audio, 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 Aug. 12, 2003.

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

White House Obstructs
9/11 Investigation

Interview with David Potorti,
cofounder of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,
conducted by Scott Harris

After initially opposing the formation of an independent panel to examine the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the White House was pressured by Congress to establish a commission of inquiry in late 2002 to look into the deadly assaults on New York and Washington. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States was tasked with examining allegations that U.S. intelligence agencies ignored warnings from their operatives that al-Qaeda was planning to strike American targets with highjacked planes.

But several members of the bipartisan commission have recently complained that the Bush administration has been obstructing the inquiry. Members of the panel, including the Commission's chairman, former New Jersey Republican Gov. Thomas Kean, have criticized the Justice Department and Pentagon for not responding to a series of requests for evidence. The Justice Dept. was singled out by Chairman Kean for what he described as efforts to intimidate witnesses from intelligence agencies, who they required to be accompanied by government "minders." A final report from a separate Congressional investigation into 9/11 is due to be released soon.

September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group representing 80 family members of Sept. 11 victims, has demanded that President Bush fully cooperate with the terror investigation. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with David Potorti, who co-founded the group after his brother Jim died in the attack on the World Trade Center. He discusses what members of his organization want from the commission and why he believes the White House is dragging its feet in providing information in the investigation.

Contact September Eleventh Families of Peaceful Tomorrows by calling (919) 608-7322 or visit their website at www.peacefultomorrows.org.

Related links

Activists Stop Move
by Department of Energy
to Reclassify Nuclear Waste

Interview with Jeremy Maxand,
executive director of Snake River Alliance,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Currently, high-level nuclear waste -- almost a hundred million gallons of it -- is stored in three facilities around the country -- in Washington state, Utah and South Carolina. Some of this radioactive material is now leaking into the ground and threatens to contaminate one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Energy has attempted to reclassify some of the waste as what they call "incidental" and wants to dispose of it using lax methods which do not comply with federal standards. Two environmental organizations and two Native American tribes have sued the Dept. of Energy to halt that plan. The plaintiffs won their case on July 3rd, when federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill, a Clinton appointee, ruled against the DOE's plan.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Jeremy Maxand, executive director of the Snake River Alliance, a nuclear watchdog group based in Idaho and one of the parties to the lawsuit. He describes the impact of the recent court ruling and the critical health and safety issues at stake in how nuclear waste is controlled and stored.

Snake River Alliance can be reached at (866) 891-0178 or visit their website at www.snakeriveralliance.org

Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Pursues Lawsuit Against
Georgia's Open Primary System

Interview with Cynthia McKinney,
Georgia congresswoman,
conducted by Scott Harris

When five-term Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was defeated in her August 2002 Democratic primary, the House lost one of its most outspoken and energetic progressive legislators. McKinney, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, lost her 4th District congressional seat due to a combination of factors, including Georgia's open primary system which allowed tens of thousands of white Republicans to "crossover" to the Democratic party for the day and cast ballots against McKinney. McKinney's supporters in her former district have since filed a federal lawsuit contesting Georgia's rules on primaries, a challenge which could find support from an opinion rendered by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the 2000 California vs. Jones case.

McKinney's criticism of Israel's human rights violations had made some powerful enemies among U.S. supporters of right-wing Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who donated thousands of dollars to her opponent, former state judge Denise Majette. Further damage was done to McKinney's campaign when news outlets quoted her as saying that President Bush may have had advance knowledge about the Sept. 11 attacks but did nothing so his supporters could make money in a war. However, BBC investigative journalist Greg Palast could not find these statements in the public record, although they were prominently reported by NPR and the New York Times.

Cynthia McKinney, who is being mentioned as a possible Green Party candidate for president in 2004, has been speaking to activist groups across the country about the threat to civil liberties posed by the USA Patriot Act and her opposition to the Bush administration's war in Iraq. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Cynthia McKinney, who is now earning a doctorate at Tuft's Fletcher School of Diplomacy, about her challenge to Georgia's primary system, the state of the Democratic party and her future political plans.

Visit Cynthia McKinney's website at www.cynthia2002.com

Related links

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

  • Hundreds of human rights violators have moved to the U.S., but government officials to refused to prosecute or deport them. ("The Torturers Next Door," Mother Jones, May/June 2003)
  • White House trying to cause conflict between the EU and developing nations over carbon emission standards. ("Shares in the Sky," New Internationalist, June 2003).
  • Federal judge to hear lawsuits from African Americans seeking compensation for the historical damages resulting from slavery and institutional racism. ("Corporate bill for slavery," The Nation, March 10, 2003)

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 depending on your connection speed. MP3 files available until July 22.

Note to our broadcast subscribers: 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.

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

... MORE ...

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 8/1/03

Bush Re-Election Issues

"U.S. Shifts Rhetoric On Its Goals in Iraq," Washington Post, Aug. 1, 2003

"Impeaching Bush,"Counterpunch, July 25, 2003

"The Next Debate: Al Qaeda Link," The New York Times, July 20, 2003

"Tenet Says White House Official Insisted Questionable Information Be Included in Speech", The Associated Press, July 17, 2003

"U.S. May Tap Oil for Iraqi Loan," The Los Angeles Times, July 11, 2003

"White House Admits Bush Lied About Iraqi Nukes," "Capitol Hill Blue, July 8, 2003

"Iraq: Arabs Challenge U.S. Plan to Open Nation to Multinationals," by Emad Mekay, Interpress service, June 23, 2003

"Republican Enviros Blast Bush for Withholding Information," Environment News Service, July 2, 2003

"The Selling of the Iraq War: The First Casualty" The New Republic, June 30, 2003

"Distorted Intelligence?" Newsweek, June 23, 2003

"Ex-CIA Director Says Administration Stretched Facts on Iraq," USA TODAY, June 18, 2003

"Reason to Deceive:WMD Lies Could Be the New Watergate," The Village Voice, June 18, 2003

"Missing Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Is Lying About The Reason For War An Impeachable Offense?" by John W. Dean, FindLaw's Writ, June 6, 2003

American Empire/War Profiteering

"Pipeline Politics: Oil, The Taliban, and the Political Balance of Central Asia," World Press Review Special Report, November- December 2001.

"Public Citizen Report Exposes Contractor Bechtel as Threat to Iraqi Environment, Human Rights and Basic Services," www.citizen.org

"Post-War Booty Call," Toward Freedom, Spring 2003

"Imperial America and War," Monthly Review, May 28, 2003

"Another Scandalous No-Bid Contract Makes Us Look Like Fools," CommonDreams.org, May 26, 2003

"Pentagon Hands Major Iraq Deal to Scandal-Ridden WorldCom," The Star Online, May 22, 2003

"War Profiteering," by The Nation editors, April 24, 2003

Postwar Occupation of Iraq

"Shiites Warn the United States Against the Formation of an Illegal Iraqi Government," Le Monde, June 30, 2003

" The War That Never Ends," Time, July 7, 2003

Civil Liberties

"Lawyers Furious as US Builds Death Chambers,", Times UK Online, July 5, 2003

"Fascism Anyone?" 14 Signs of Fascism, Free Inquiry Magazine, Volume 23, No. 2

"Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism," The Crisis Papers, June 9, 2003

Between The Lines Special Reports in RealAudio

"Allegations of War Profiteering Leveled Against Halliburton and Other Companies With Close Ties to White House," Charlie Cray, corporate reform campaigner at Citizen Works, Week Ending 5/23/03

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

Multi-Ethnic Issues Advocacy

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

 


Between The Lines
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