THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Escalation of Guerrilla Attacks
  on U.S. Occupation Force in Iraq
  Shakes White House Confidence
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Protesters Once Again
  Fill the Streets to Oppose
  Bush Iraq War and Occupation
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Undocumented Immigrants Arrested
  by U.S. Authorities Face
  Increasingly Harsh Penalties
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Underreported News Summary
  from Around the World
  For full summary and audio, Click here!

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The recent rocket attack on Baghdad's Rashid Hotel, followed by coordinated suicide bombings targeting the International Red Cross and four police stations, signal an escalation of guerrilla attacks aimed at the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. The wave of bombings killed three dozen and wounded more than 200. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, one of the Bush administration's key architects of the U.S. war on Iraq, was in the Rashid Hotel when the rocket attack occurred, but was not injured.

Despite the new wave of deadly attacks on U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies, the White House is continuing its public relations campaign emphasizing what they describe as the positive aspects of the occupation and progress in pacifying Iraqi resistance. As a result of the continuing violence, humanitarian organizations such as the U.N. and Red Cross have reduced their staffs working on relief projects in Iraq. The violence has also diminished prospects that the Bush administration will get assistance in the form of thousands of foreign soldiers it has requested from nations around the world to support and legitimize the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Phyllis Bennis a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, who discusses the recent escalation of guerrilla attacks in Baghdad and the future of the U.S. military occupation of Iraq.

Phyllis Bennis is author of the book, "Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11th Crisis." Contact the institute by calling (202) 234-9382 or visit their website at www.ips-dc.org

Related links:

• "The Madrid Donors Conference: A Cover for Maintaining U.S. Control," by Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy in Focus, Oct. 23, 2003
• "A Fig Leaf to Cover Occupation," by Phyllis Bennis, Foreign Policy in Focus, Oct. 16, 2003
• Foreign Policy in Focus at www.fpif.org
• "The Seeds of Iraq's Future Terror: Free Market Shock Therapy Must Not be Imposed by the Occupiers," by Shirley Williams, Guardian/UK, Oct. 28, 2003
• "Car Bomb Kills 4 in Fallujah," by Slobodan Lekic, Associated Press, Oct. 28, 2003
• "Arabs Blame United States for Baghdad Bloodbath," by Edmund Blair, Reuters, Oct. 28, 2003
• "Baghdad Deputy Mayor killed in Drive-By Shooting," Reuters, Oct. 28, 2003
• "Is Media Bias Filtering Out Good News from Iraq?" Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Oct. 28, 2003
• " Nearly 40 Killed In Series Of Baghdad Bombings," Associated Press, Oct. 27, 2003

Protesters Once Again Fill
the Streets to Oppose
Bush Iraq War and Occupation

Interview with Leslie Cagan,
national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice,
conducted by Scott Harris

After an absence of more than seven months from the nation's streets, opponents of the Bush administration's war on Iraq came together again by the tens of thousands on Oct. 25 in Washington D.C., San Francisco and dozens of other communities around the U.S. The rallies, jointly sponsored by two major coalitions which had organized a series of powerful protests before the start of the war earlier this year, called for an end to the occupation of Iraq and to bring the troops home now. Organizers of the largest protest in the nation's capital said that 100,000 demonstrators attended the event, while park police estimated the crowd at half that number.

While the size of these protests clearly did not match those of several giant pre-war rallies in New York and Washington, organizers said they had exceeded their expectations and predict that the movement opposing the occupation would continue to grow. The diversity of the crowd reflected concern about the ongoing conflict in Iraq across generations, with both young people and those who had participated in Vietnam War era protests marching side by side.

The presence at the protest of military veterans and family members of soldiers now serving in Iraq indicated growing alarm at the numbers of U.S. casualties in the war that was launched last March. Since the conflict began, 350 U.S. soldiers have been killed -- with 211 dying after the president declared an end to major hostilities in May -- and thousands more wounded. Receiving less publicity are the large numbers -- possibly more than 10,000 Iraqis -- who have been killed in the war thus far. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Leslie Cagan, national coordinator of United for Peace and Justice, a co-sponsor of the Oct. 25 protest. She describes the recent rallies for peace and renewed activism opposing the U.S. military occupation of Iraq.

To contact United for Peace and Justice, call (212) 868-5545 or visit their website at www.unitedforpeace.org

Related links:

• Independent Progressive Politics Network: www.ippn.org
• International ANSWER website: www.internationalanswer.org
• "In D.C., A Diverse Mix Rouses War Protest," By Manny Fernandez, Washington Post, Oct. 26, 2003
• "The Axis of Oil: How a Plan for the World's Biggest Pipeline Threatens to Wreak Havoc," by Philip Thornton and Charles Arthur, The Independent UK, Oct. 28, 2003
• "Why Are We Back in Vietnam?" by Frank Rich, The New York Times, Oct. 26, 2003
• "Iraq Resistance Lasting Longer Than Expected, Powell Concedes," by Brian Knowlton, The International Herald Tribune, Oct. 26, 2003

Undocumented Immigrants Arrested
by U.S. Authorities Face
Increasingly Harsh Penalties

Interview with Jennifer Rodriguez,
immigration attorney,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Federal immigration officers raided Wal-Mart stores across the country on Oct. 23, arresting 300 cleaning-crew workers they suspect of being undocumented foreign workers. The raids, at 61 stores in 21 states, were part of an investigation into whether the world's largest retailer or its subcontractors knowingly hired illegal immigrants.

Issues surrounding immigration -- how many immigrants enter the U.S. every year, whether or not they take jobs from American citizens and whether they hurt or help the economy -- have been the focus of much political conflict. But several in-depth studies have revealed certain facts. For example, eight out of 11 immigrants enter the country legally, either to join a close family member or on student, tourist or worker's visas. Many visa holders then overstay their visas, putting them at risk for deportation. Only a small minority arrive in the U.S. with no paperwork whatsoever -- and these individuals make up the most exploited group of immigrants.

Studies show that immigrants do not substantively take jobs away from U.S. workers. Rather, they do the work few others are willing to do, or they set up businesses in their own immigrant communities, generating jobs. Immigrants as a group pay more in taxes than do U.S.-born citizens, and receive less in government services. Even undocumented immigrants pay about the same in taxes as they receive in benefits. Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Jennifer Rodriguez, an immigration attorney in Connecticut. She explains what is likely to happen to the immigrant workers arrested at Wal-Mart and the harsh penalties facing many undocumented immigrants arrested by U.S. authorities.

For more information on immigrants' rights or call the AFL-CIO at (202) 637-5018 or visit their website at www.aflcio.org

Related links

• "AFL-CIO Immigrant Workers resource page," www.aflcio.org
• "The Wal-Mart Raid," Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 27, 2003
• "Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride Aims to Raise Awareness of Low Pay, Dangerous Working Conditions," Between The Lines interview with David Glaser, national director of the Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride, Oct. 3, 2003
• Between The Lines Under-Reported News Summary Oct. 31, 2003 ("Haitians Trapped by War on Terrorism," Amnesty Now, Fall 2003.
• "Patriot Raid," by Jason Halperin, www.alternet.org, April 29, 2003

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Ecuadorian class action lawsuit over Chevron-Texaco's toxic waste dumping in the Amazon region, finally going to trial. ("Oil Giant in Dock over Amazon Waste," The Guardian, Oct. 25, 2003)
• Supporters of imprisoned Belarus pathologist Yuri Bandazhevsky say he is being harassed for remarks linking low-level radiation near the Chernobyl nuclear plant with health problems in school children, and criticism aimed at ineffective government health programs. ("Scientific Prisoner," World Press Review, September 2003)
• Thirty-three million Americans are classified as "food insecure", not knowing where their next meal is coming from, as the official poverty rate grows to nearly 12 percent of the population. ("Hungry in America," by Trudy Lieberman, The Nation, Aug. 18, 2003.)
  

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

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 10/31/03

Bush Re-Election Issues

"9/11 Commission Chairman: White House Withholding 9/11 Documents" Reuters, Oct. 26, 2003

"CIA and Pentagon Split Over Uranium Intrigue," The Guardian, Oct. 17, 2003

"State Dept. Study Foresaw Trouble Now Plaguing Iraq," New York Times, Oct. 19, 2003

"Daniel Ellsberg: Nixon-Era Informer Zooms In On Present,Salt Lake Tribune (Utah), Oct. 19, 2003

"Fears of More U.S. Electoral Chaos After Flaws are Discovered in Ballot Computers," Independent UK, Oct. 14, 2003

"Electronic Voting's Vulnerability to Tampering Could Undermine Public Confidence," Between The Lines, Oct. 17, 2003

"Ray McGovern: Critics Question Credibility of FBI Investigation into White House Leak Exposing CIA Operative," Between The Lines, Oct. 17, 2003

American Empire/War Profiteering

"The Axis of Oil: How a Plan for the World's Biggest Pipeline Threatens to Wreak Havoc," The Independent UK, Oct. 28, 2003

"Iraq Rebuilding Cash 'Goes Missing,'" The Scotsman, Oct. 23, 2003

"Senate Backs War Profiteering," Capital Times, (Madison, Wis.) Oct. 20, 2003

"Rumsfeld's $9 Billion Slush Fund," Slate.com, Oct. 10, 2003

"Halliburton Unit In Consortium Fingered For Alleged Corruption," The Houston Business Journal, Oct. 10, 2003

"Scott Ritter: The Iraq War and The Bush Administration's Pursuit of Global Domination," Counterpoint, Sept. 15, 2003

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

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

Postwar Occupation of Iraq

"Iraqi Shiite Split Widens," The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 16, 2003

Civil Liberties

"Bush Denies Torture at Guantanamo," Le Nouvel Observateur, Oct. 19, 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

Multi-Ethnic Issues Advocacy

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