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THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• Many in Britain Call Hutton Inquiry
  Exonerating Tony Blair Over Iraq
  Weapons Affair a 'Whitewash'
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Leading Democratic Presidential Candidates
  Ignore Issues of Women and Poverty
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• CBS Censorship of Political Ad
  During Super Bowl Sparks
  Debate on Media Access
  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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Soon after David Kay, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, resigned from his post, he told a Senate committee that Iraq likely possessed no weapons of mass destruction. Kay's statement fueled calls for the establishment of an independent commission to look into the failures of U.S. spy agencies and investigate whether or not the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence to justify its war. President Bush, who initially resisted pressure to set up a commission, switched sides and announced he would establish a bipartisan panel to conduct an inquiry. But critics say that members of a commission appointed by the president won't have the independence to closely examine the serious charges leveled at the White House.

Meanwhile in Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair's government was cleared of wrongdoing in an investigation conducted by Judge Lord Hutton into the circumstances surrounding the suicide of weapons scientist David Kelly. Hutton's criticism of the BBC's report that the government had "sexed up" intelligence used to justify joining the American invasion of Iraq, led to the resignations of the BBC's Chairman Gavyn Davies, Director General Greg Dyke and reporter Andrew Galligan. But according to several opinion polls, about half the British public believe the Hutton report was a "whitewash," with a majority saying that the BBC was unfairly blamed in the investigation. Tony Blair has followed Washington's lead in establishing his own inquiry into intelligence failures in Iraq.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with investigative reporter Greg Palast of BBC's News Night program, who takes a critical look at the rulings rendered by Lord Hutton in the Iraq affair and the repercussions for journalism both in Britain and the U.S.

Greg Palast is author of the New York Times bestseller, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." Visit his website at www.gregpalast.com

Related links:

• "Bush Accused of Undermining Investigation," by Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington, The Guardian, Feb. 3, 2004
• "BBC at War: M'Lord Hutton Blesses Blair's Attack on BBC's Investigation of Iraq War Claims," by Greg Palast, truthout.org Perspective, Jan. 30, 2004
• "Blair Heckled Over Iraq 'Whitewash,' Debate Halted," by Reuters, Feb. 4, 2004
• "Diversion & Delay: When In Trouble, Blame the CIA," by Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Feb. 2, 2004
• "Blair Calls Iraq WMD Inquiry; Opponents Cry Foul," by Mike Peacock and Katherine Baldwin, Reuters, Feb. 3, 2004
• "Bush's Inquiry into Iraq Intelligence Must Include Cheney, Pentagon," by Jonathan S. Landay, Warren P. Strobel and Joseph L. Galloway, Knight Ridder, Feb. 3, 2004
• "Bush Backs Down on Iraq WMD Claims," by David E. Sanger, The New York Times, Jan. 28, 2004
• "Kay Testimony Impeaches Bush," AlterNet, Jan. 26, 2004
• "Powell Voices Doubts About Iraqi Weapons," by Peter Slevin, The Washington Post, Jan. 25, 2004
• "Secret Pentagon Unit Churned Out Dubious 'Intelligence' Used to Justify Iraq War," Between The Lines interview with journalist Robert Dreyfuss, conducted by Scott Harris, Week Ending 1/23/04. Click here for transcript.

Leading Democratic Presidential Candidates
Ignore Issues of Women and Poverty

Interview with Gwendolyn Mink,
author and activist,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In a recent national survey conducted by the Lifetime women's television channel, 85 percent of women said a candidate's position on violence against women would impact their vote in the upcoming presidential election. Eighty-two percent cited equal pay and women's health issues as a priority, and 76 percent chose access to affordable childcare. Unfortunately, the candidates are barely addressing any of these issues.

The websites of almost all the candidates pay homage to these and other gender-specific issues, but on the campaign trail they are all but silent about them. At a forum last summer sponsored by the National Organization for Women, the only candidates who attended were Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun. Dean, Kucinich and Joe Lieberman were the only candidates to participate in a women's forum held in New Hampshire just before that state's primary. Frontrunner John Kerry and his rivals John Edwards and General Wesley Clark were all missing in action.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Gwendolyn Mink, author, activist and member of the Welfare Made a Difference Campaign. Mink is particularly concerned with the impact of current economic policies on poor women who are recipients of welfare funds under the Temporary Aid to Needy Families, or TANF, program. She charges that in Sen. Kerry's appeal to military veterans, he has totally ignored pressing gender issues. Mink comments more favorably on the positions of Dean and Kucinich.

For more information on issues of women and poverty, call the Welfare Made a Difference Campaign at (212) 894-8082 or visit their website at www.wmadcampaign.org

CBS Censorship of Political Ad
During Super Bowl Sparks
Debate on Media Access

Interview with Zack Exley,
organizing director of MoveOn.org's Voter Fund
conducted by Scott Harris

When millions of viewers around the world tuned into this year's Super Bowl, they saw an exciting football game, a little more than expected of Janet Jackson during the halftime show, and a flurry of costly advertisements for beer, razor blades and junk food. But what millions of Super Bowl viewers did not see was a 30-second political ad titled "Child's Pay" that calls attention to the Bush administration's $1 trillion dollar deficit.

The ad, which depicts young children working in adult jobs, beat out 1,600 other entries in a contest titled, "Bush in 30 Seconds," run by MoveOn.org, an Internet-based progressive activist group. Although MoveOn raised $1.6 million dollars to pay for the ad during the Super Bowl, CBS refused to sell them air time, claiming that the "Child's Pay" spot violated the network's policy prohibiting the broadcast of advocacy advertisements.

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Although the ad wasn't seen during the Super Bowl, the ensuing controversy has given MoveOn a blizzard of free publicity focusing on issues of censorship and the responsibility of broadcasters to allow all sides to have their say on important issues affecting our society. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Zack Exley, organizing director with the MoveOn.org Voter Fund, who discusses the ad controversy and the goals of Moveon's 1.7 million-member organization in this year's presidential election campaign.

View the winners of MoveOn's "Bush in 30 Seconds" ad contest by visiting the group's web site at www.moveon.org

Related links:

• Moveon.org's winning Super Bowl ads Needs Quicktime.

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• An investigation of Pakistan's assistance to nuclear weapons programs in Libya and Iran uncovers a widescale nuclear black market. ("Nuclear Chief tells of black market in bomb equipment," The Guardian, Jan. 26, 2004; "Key Pakistani is said to admit to weapon transfers," New York Times, Feb. 2, 2004)
• Battle shaping up over major oil companies' desire to drill in the 1,200-mile Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. ("Drilling the Great Barrier Reef," The Progressive, July 2003)
• Bush administration pressures the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could cripple the Alien Claims Tort Act which allows international human rights abuse victims to seek justice in U.S. courts. (Earthrights International, Jan. 9, 2004)
  

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 Feb. 17, 2004

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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: Denise Manzari
  Segment producer: Melinda Tuhus
  Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates
  Senior Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
  Web producer: Jeff Yates
  Web editors: Bill Cosentino and Hank Hoffman
  Executive producer: Scott Harris
  Theme music: Mikata

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 2/6/04

Election 2004

"Cheney's Staff Focus of Probe," Insight Magazine Issue, Feb. 17, 2004

"Bush Sets Narrow Limits On WMD Inquiry," Chicago Tribune, Feb. 8, 2004

"Co-chair Of Bush Panel Part Of Far Right Network," Inter Press Service, Feb. 8, 2004

"The Day Cheney Was Rocked To His Core," Asia Times, Feb. 7, 2004

"Bush Sets Up Iraq WMD Intelligence Panel," By Reuters, Feb. 6, 2004

"Tenet Says Analysts Never Painted Iraq as Imminent Threat," The New York Times, Feb. 5, 2004

" Key Frist Staffer to Resign Over Leak,"a The Associated Press, Feb. 5, 2004

"Pressure on Blair to Publish Evidence For 45-Minute Claim," The Independent UK, Feb. 5, 2004

"'The Secretary Of Labor Is The Enemy Of Labor,'" By David Moberg, Newsday, Feb. 4, 2004

"A Political Battle For Planet Earth," Consortium News, Feb. 3, 2004

"Defense Budget Doesn't Include Funds For Iraq, Afghanistan," Knight Ridder Newspapers, Feb. 2, 2004

"Diversion & Delay: When In Trouble, Blame the CIA," Inter Press Service, Feb. 2, 2004

"Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Coverage Critique & Analysis," Columbia Journalism Review

American Empire/War Profiteering

"The Imperial Imperative," Boston Globe Magazine, Feb. 8, 2004

"Hold Bush To His Lie," By Naomi Klein, The Nation, Feb. 6, 2004

"Another Halliburton Probe," Newsweek, Feb. 4, 2004

"David Kay: Without 'Pristine Intelligence,' No Policy Of Pre-emption," The Age/Australia, Feb. 3, 2004

"Doing Business With The Enemy," CBS - 60 Minutes, Jan. 25, 2004

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq

"UK Intelligence Chief's Bombshell: 'We Were Overruled On Dossier,'" The Independent/UK, Feb. 4, 2004

"Smoke And Mirrors: The Civilian Claims Process In Iraq," Electronic Iraq, Feb. 4, 2004

"U.S. Troops Dying At A Rate Of Over 1 A Day," Associated Press, Feb. 3, 2004

"Abuse Of Iraqi Prisoners Common, Marine Says," San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 3, 2004 <

Civil Liberties

"University Ordered To Turn Over Records On Antiwar Activists," Associated Press, Feb. 7, 2004

"National Lawyers Guild Target Of FBI Subpoena," National Lawyers Guild press release, Feb. 6, 2004

"Are You On Uncle Sam's No-Fly List?," WCBS-TV/New York, Feb. 5, 2004

"'This Machine Kills Fascists,'" openDemocracy, Feb. 5, 2004

"Protest At Your Own Risk," The Progressive, Jan. 21, 2004

"'Embedding' CIA Agents Within Local Police Departments," Antiwar.com, Feb. 3, 2004

"The New Commissars Of Academia," The American Conservative, Feb. 2, 2004

Media And Activism

"Paula Zahn: Who Drinks Saddam's Kool-Aid Now?," Who's Lying, Feb. 4, 2004