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THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Vietnam War Era-style "Phoenix" Assassination Program
  Implemented in U.S.-Occupied Iraq
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Government Officials, Pressured by Meat Industry,
  Fail to Safeguard Public
  from Outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in U.S.
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Critics Say Transporting
  Dismantled Nuclear Power Plants
  Unnecessary and Dangerous
  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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Despite the capture of Saddam Hussein, the insurgency challenging U.S. occupation forces in Iraq continues. Suicide bombings and assaults on American led coalition troops and their Iraqi allies took the lives of 19 in Karbala, a city holy to Shiite Muslims, over the Christmas holiday.

According to the Pentagon, the U.S. counteroffensive against guerrillas attacking occupation troops -- code-named "Operation Iron Hammer" -- has been successful in capturing weapons and arresting some of those accused of organizing resistance. But investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed in a recent New Yorker magazine article, that another American covert operation is targeting for assassination members of the deposed Ba'athist regime and other civilians thought to support the insurgency.

This secret operation described as "pre-emptive manhunting" -- run according to Hersh by the U.S. Army's Special Forces -- is strikingly similar to the Vietnam-era CIA-run Phoenix Program that assassinated more than 25,000 political supporters of the Communist insurgency fighting to topple the U.S. supported South Vietnamese government. This revelation comes not long after Max Boot of the influential Council on Foreign Relations, wrote a New York Times editorial in November advocating that the U.S. adopt illegal assassination operations like Phoenix in Iraq. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Douglas Valentine, author of the book "The Phoenix Program," who discusses America's counterinsurgency program in Iraq and the parallels with the CIA's covert assassination operations during the Vietnam War.

Investigative journalist Douglas Valentine is author of the book "The Phoenix Program." Read Valentine's articles online by visiting his website at www.douglasvalentine.com

Related links:

• "Preemptive Manhunting: The CIA's New Assassination Program," by Douglas Valentine, www.Counterpunch.org, Dec. 11, 2003
• "Moving Targets," by Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, Dec. 15, 2003

Government Officials, Pressured by Meat Industry,
Fail to Safeguard Public
from Outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in U.S.

Interview with John Stauber,
author of "Mad Cow USA",
conducted by Scott Harris

When officials announced that they had found the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. on Dec. 23, critics of government regulations and testing procedures were not surprised. The discovery of the infected dairy cow in Washington state came seven months after another cow in Canada was found to have mad cow, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Although the U.S. and Canada had banned the use of beef bone and flesh in cattle feed linked to the transmission of the disease in 1997, enforcement of the regulations were found to be lax by the congressionally-funded General Accounting Office.

When an outbreak of mad cow exploded in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, the British government took drastic steps to stop the spread of the disease, including the destruction of 4.5 million cattle, a strict feed ban and comprehensive testing of cows destined for the slaughterhouse. Thus far, more than 130 cases of Kreutzfeldt-Jacob, the fatal brain disorder in humans sometimes linked to mad cow disease, have been diagnosed mostly in Britain.

Dr. Stanley Prusiner, who in 1997 won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of prions that cause mad cow disease, has criticized the Bush administration's secretary of agriculture Ann Veneman for not taking the steps necessary to prevent the spread of the disease. Between The Lines Scott Harris spoke with John Stauber, co-author of the 1997 book, "Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?" who reviews the many warnings about the disease ignored by government officials -- and the safeguards which could still be put in place to halt its spread.

Read "Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?" online by going to the Center for Media and Democracy's website at: www.prwatch.org

Related links:

• "Expert Warned that Mad Cow Disease Was Imminent," by Sandra Blakeslee, New York Times, Dec. 25, 2003
• "U.S. Estimates Mad-Cow Exposure at 81" by the Wall Street Journal, Dec. 30, 2003
• "Slaughterhouse Politics: Ranchers Fought Rules That Might Have Prevented Mad Cow," by James Ridgeway,Village Voice, Dec. 30, 2003
• "FDA Blasted Over Past Enforcement of Feed Ban," by Vanessa Ho, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Dec. 27, 2003
• "Mad Cow Out of the Barn,"Madison Capital Times editorial, Dec. 27, 2003
• "US Mad Cow Link Questioned in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Cases," by Jed Seltzer and Elinor Mills Abreu, by Reuters, Dec. 27, 2003
• "GOP Congress Scuttled Meat Protection Measure," by Mark Sherman, The Associated Press, Dec. 24, 2003
• "Inspections for Mad Cow Lag Those Done Abroad," by Marian Burros and Donald G. McNeil Jr., New York Times, Dec. 24, 2003
• "USDA Refused to Release Mad Cow Records," by Steve Mitchell, UPI, Dec. 24, 2003
• "Don't Have a Mad Cow, Man" editorial by the Bennington Banner (Vt.); Dec. 27, 2003

Critics Say Transporting
Dismantled Nuclear Power Plants
Unnecessary and Dangerous

Interview with Sal Mangiagli,
Citizens Awareness Network,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Due to the high cost of nuclear power and concerns about accidents and disposal of nuclear waste, no new nuclear power plants have been ordered in the U.S. since 1977. However, the Bush Administration hopes nuclear power will make a comeback. The White House is pushing for federal funding of a new generation of nuclear reactors in a GOP-sponsored energy bill, which remains stalled in Congress.

Meanwhile, some of the oldest operating nuclear plants have been decommissioned. One of these is Connecticut Yankee, located in the eastern Connecticut town of Haddam. After 28 years of operation, it was shut down in 1996. On Dec. 18, the atomic reactor vessel. which is considered low-level radioactive waste, was loaded onto a barge for the trip to Barnwell, S.C., for burial.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Sal Mangiagli of the Citizens Awareness Network, an environmental justice organization focusing on nuclear issues. He talks about the dangers of shipping nuclear waste to poor, largely minority communities like Barnwell and an alternative called safe-store, which secures nuclear reactors in place for a longer period. He says it's a question of whose backyard the waste is stored -- the host community or a distant recipient community.

Contact the Citizens Awareness Network at (860) 345-2157 or visit their website at www.nukebusters.org

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Ten years after the Zapatista movement launched its rebellion in southern Mexico coinciding with the January 1994 implementation of NAFTA, the rebels are reorganizing their base. ("Zapatistas go back to grassroots to start again," by Jo Tuckman, The Guardian/UK, Dec. 27, 2003)
• Exiled Dalai Lama drops insistence on full independence in favor of autonomy over a scaled down Tibet region, a position which the leader of the 20,000-strong Tibetan Youth Congress questions. ("Tibet's Gamble," In These Times, Dec. 22, 2003)
• Victims of toxic pollution in Port Arthur, Texas, file lawsuit against area refineries and petrochemical plants. ("No Clear Skies," Mother Jones, September/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 Jan. 13, 2004

Note to our broadcast affiliates: 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.

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

Credits:
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Denise Manzari
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 1/2/04

Bush Re-Election Issues

"Bush's Worst Enemy," www.truthout.org, Dec. 30, 2003

"Our So-Called Boom," New York Times, Dec. 30, 2003

"Ashcroft Recuses Self From CIA Leak Probe," Associated Press, Dec. 30, 2003

"Leaks Probe Is Gaining Momentum," Washington Post, Dec. 26, 2003

"Was Willie Horton Gay? George W. As The Hate-Homosexuals Candidate," The Free Press, Dec. 24, 2003

"Now It's A Scandal: New Evidence of House GOP Bribe," Slate, Dec. 23, 2003

"Bigger Than Watergate: How To Rig An Election," Scoop New Zealand, July 8, 2003

"Families Sue U.S., Reject 9/11 'Bribe' Ignore Deadline for Compensation," Toronto Star, Dec. 23, 2003

"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.

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

American Empire/War Profiteering

"Pentagon Freezes Iraq Funds Amid Corruption Probes The Boston Globe, Dec. 30, 2003

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

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

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq

"For Vietnam Vet Zinni, Another War On Shaky Ground," Washington Post, Dec. 23, 2003

"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

"Annals of National Security: Moving Target," Phoenix Arises in Iraq, by Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker, Dec. 15, 2003

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

"Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq"

"Juan Cole: Informed Comment"

Civil Liberties

"Protesters Wary of New Tactic by Feds: Obscure 1872 law cited in case against Greenpeace," San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 30, 2003

"Protesters Cry Foul At Colorado Cops' Spy Tactics," Rocky Mountain News, Dec. 27, 2003

"Bush, With Stealth, Signs PATRIOT ACT Expansion Into Law," San Antonio Current, Dec. 24, 2003

"Justice Goes Offshore And Is Imprisoned," TomDispatch.com, Dec. 20, 2003

"Court Decision: Be Careful Whom You Get In A Car With" Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 19, 2003

"Jose Padilla--A Constitutional Challenge for Us All," CommonDreams.org, Dec. 19, 2003

"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

Media And Activism

"Comcast Censors Medical Marijuana Group" Granite Staters For Medical Marijuana, Dec. 27, 2003

"Marines On Embedded Media" ZNet, Dec. 23, 2003