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THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Saddam's Capture Unlikely to End
  Iraqi Insurgent Resistance
  to U.S. Occupation
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Pentagon Says White-House Connected Halliburton Company
  Overcharged U.S. Government $61 Million
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Supreme Court Upholds
  Campaign Finance
  Soft Money Ban
  
  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 U.S. capture of Saddam Hussein, found in an underground hiding place near his hometown of Tikrit, was met with jubilation in Washington and celebratory gunfire on many streets in Iraq, owing to the long list of crimes committed by the deposed dictator. The apprehension of the man who ruled Iraq for 25 years, ends a nine-month American effort to kill or capture Saddam that began shortly after President Bush launched the U.S.-led war last March.

Bush, very much aware of the controversy surrounding his premature declaration of a U.S. victory in Iraq last May, was more cautious about the affect Saddam Hussein's capture would have on insurgents attacking U.S. occupation forces. In the hours immediately after American troops took Hussein prisoner, guerrilla fighters launched three suicide bomb attacks, killing 24 Iraqi police officers working with the U.S. occupation.

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The White House signaled that Saddam Hussein would likely face the death penalty in a war crimes trial organized by their hand-picked Governing Council in Iraq, rather than a United Nations-run tribunal. Critics expressed concern that such a proceeding could be viewed as a "show trial" with little legitimacy and would likely ignore questions about U.S. support for Saddam Hussein before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Between the Lines' Scott Harris spoke with BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast, who discusses the history of America's relationship with Hussein and the political repercussions of his capture both for Iraq and the U.S.

Greg Palast is author of the book "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." Read Greg Palast's columns online at www.gregpalast.com

Related links:

• "You Got Him? Get Out!" by James Ridgeway, The Village Voice, Dec. 15, 2003
• "During Trial, Hussein May Try to Implicate Western Leaders," by Mark Matthews, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 17, 2003
• "2 Car Bombers Attack Iraqi Police, as Insurgency Continues," by Ian Fisher, The New York Times, Dec. 15, 2003
• "Saddam capture stuns Arab world," by Roger Hardy, BBC Middle East analyst, Dec. 15, 2003
• "Spider's Web: How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq," book by Alan Friedman, New York: Bantam Books, 1993
• "Partners in Crime: US Complicity in the War Crimes of Saddam Hussein," by CommonDreams.org, Dec. 23, 2003. Photo of Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy to President Ronald Reagan with Saddam Hussein, Dec. 20, 1983.

• "Spider's Web: The Secret History Of How The United States Illegally Armed Saddam Hussein: A Conversation With The Journalist Who Broke The Iraqgate Scandal That Involved President George Bush, James Baker and Donald Rumsfeld," Democracy Now! interview with Alan Friedman, Nov. 14, 2002.
• "Saddam Hussein: Made in the USA," by Mike Burke, www.thirdworldtraveler.com, Feb. 14, 2003
• The Iraq Crisis, a Global Policy Forum, U.N. Security Council section which looks at many aspects of the crisis, including the 13 years of sanctions and other background of the war, the humanitarian situation, the importance of Iraq's huge oil resources, and disputes over a post-war government and reconstruction plan.

Pentagon Says White-House Connected Halliburton Company
Overcharged U.S. Government $61 Million

Interview with Rania Masri,
of the Institute for Southern Studies,
conducted by Scott Harris

Not long after the White House announced a new policy to exclude nations that opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq from being eligible to receive lucrative contracts for reconstruction projects in that war ravaged land, reports surfaced that a favored administration company had overcharged U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars.

A Pentagon audit has found that a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company, once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, had overcharged the government an estimated $61 million for gasoline delivered to Iraq under a controversial no-bid contract.

Although the Pentagon maintains that Halliburton didn't profit from the overcharge directly, but paid too much to a Kuwaiti subcontractor, questions have surfaced about the company's inflated cost estimates submitted for other services to the military. While President Bush says he expects Halliburton to repay any money found to have been overcharged, administration critics such as Democratic congressman Henry Waxman of California have called for a top-to-bottom review of all contracts awarded to companies doing business with the Pentagon in Iraq.

Media attention focused on Halliburton's alleged impropriety was driven off the front pages of newspapers after the surprise capture of Saddam Hussein, but the company's handling of U.S. contracts, potentially worth more than $15 billion, remain a concern for the Pentagon and many in Congress. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Rania Masri, director of the institute for Southern Studies, who examines the charges of war profiteering leveled against Halliburton, Bechtel and other companies with close ties to the Bush administration.

Contact the Institute for Southern Studies by calling (919) 419-8311 or visit their website at: www.southernstudies.org

Related links:

• "Patriots and Profits," by Paul Krugman, New York Times, Dec. 16, 2003
• "Pentagon Alleges Iraq Price Gouging," San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2003
• "Allegations of War Profiteering Leveled Against Halliburton and Other Companies With Close Ties to White House," Interview with Charlie Cray, corporate reform campaigner at Citizen Works, Between The Lines, Week Ending May 23, 2003
• "Halliburton Unit In Consortium Fingered For Alleged Corruption," The Houston Business Journal, Oct. 10, 2003
• "Cheney's Ties to Halliburton," by Mike Allen, The Washington Post, Sept. 26, 2003
• "Another Scandalous No-Bid Contract Makes Us Look Like Fools," by Pat Gerber, CommonDreams.org, May 26, 2003
• "US says Halliburton Deal Includes Operating Iraq Oil Fields," Contract Much Larger Than Previously Known, by Agence France Presse, May 7, 2003
• "Cheney, Halliburton and the Spoils of War," by Lee Drutman and Charlie Cray at www.corpwatch.org, April 4, 2003

Supreme Court Upholds
Campaign Finance
Soft Money Ban

Clean election advocates seek
more comprehensive reforms

Interview with Nick Nyhart,
executive director of Public Campaign,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

On Dec. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to uphold all major provisions of the bipartisan campaign reform law originally sponsored by Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis. The law, which bans so-called "soft money" raised by political parties as opposed to individual candidates, has been in effect for a year while appeals made their way through the courts. Opponents of the law formed an unusual coalition that included both the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. They claimed that raising and spending unlimited amounts of cash should be protected as a form of free speech, but the court disagreed.

Still perfectly legal are so-called hard money contributions, those made directly to candidates. In fact, the McCain-Feingold Act raised the limits on allowable hard money donations.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Nick Nyhart, executive director of Public Campaign, an organization dedicated to reducing the influence of private money on electoral politics. He says that while the Supreme Court decision is a limited victory, it's a victory nonetheless. Nyhart describes his group's efforts for more comprehensive reforms including the establishment of a publicly-funded clean-money campaign finance system for candidates competing at the state level.

For more information, call the Public Campaign at (202) 293-0222 or visit their website at www.publiccampaign.org

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Washington insiders looking for ways to profit from hundreds of billions of dollars being dedicated to Iraqi reconstruction. ("K Street on the Tigris," by Michael Scherer, additional reporting by Jaideep Singh, Mother Jones, November/December 2003)
• Mystery of what happened to Charles Horman, a freelance American journalist killed days after the 1973 Chilean coup, may be solved. ("Indicted Chilean Interrogator May Help Solve U.S. Civilian's Murder," Knight-Ridder, Dec. 13, 2003)
• Eco-activists worried about impact of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, now under negotiation, which could jeopardize Costa Rica's commitment to protect environmentally sensitive areas. ("True Gold of Our Future," New Internationalist, October 2003)
  

DOWNLOAD this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. Needs Quicktime Player or your favorite MP3 player. Note: Make sure your browser is set for streaming or download depending on your connection speed. MP3 files available until Dec. 30, 2003

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• Consumer-quality MP3 for dialup or fast connection (Links to www.radio4all.net) download (6.6MB)

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

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 12/19/03

Bush Re-Election Issues

"'Staggering:' Medical Evacuations From Iraq Near 11,000," UPI, Dec. 19, 2003

"Rumsfeld Visited Baghdad In 1984 To Reassure Iraqis," Washington Post, Dec. 19, 2003

"9/11 Chair: Attacks Were Preventable,'" CBS News, Dec. 18, 2003

"Bush Support Of Fed Marriage Amendment: 'A Declaration Of War On Gay America,'" National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Dec. 17, 2003

"Bush Shortchanges Veterans," BuzzFlash, Dec. 12, 2003

American Empire/War Profiteering

"Risky Business In Iraq," The Nation, Jan. 5, 2004

"Not Neo-Con, Just Plain Greed," Toronto Globe & Mail, Dec. 20, 2003

"Pentagon Alleges Iraq Price Gouging," San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2003

"Critics: Iraq Contracts Expose Washington's True Aims," Inter Press Service, Dec. 12, 2003

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq

"Arresting Children," Electronic Iraq, Dec. 18, 2003

"Secondary School Under seige By U.S. Forces," TElectronic Iraq, Dec. 18, 2003

"Insurgents Or Protesters? 18 Killed In Clashes With U.S. Troops," The Independent UK, Dec. 17, 2003

"Hussein Defense Could Shame A Parade Of Americans," The New York Observer, Dec. 17, 2003

"An Annotated Saddam Chronology," ZNet, Dec. 15, 2003

"Women Under Siege," by Lauren Sandler, Dec. 11, 2003

"U.S. Arrests Iraqi Union Leaders," AlterNet, Dec. 10, 2003

"Iraqi Detainees Imprisoned Indefinitely And Without Charges," Iraq Occupation Watch, Nov. 28, 2003

"Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq"

"Juan Cole: Informed Comment"

Civil Liberties

"Judge: I Saw Police Commit Felonies During FTAA Protests," Miami Herald, Dec. 20, 2003

"Rights, Liberties Groups Hail Court Defeats For Bush Anti-Terror Efforts," OneWorld.net, Dec. 19, 2003

"Setback For Ashcroft's Radical Agenda," WorkingForChange.com, Dec. 19, 2003

"Coffee, Tea Or Handcuffs?," L.A. Weekly, Dec. 19, 2003

"Police State Miami: This Is Not America," Salon.com, Dec. 16, 2003

"The Administration Quarantines Dissent," The American Conservative, Dec. 15, 2003

Media And Activism

"Kucinich Makes Media An Issue" The Nation, Dec. 16, 2003