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THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

• President Stumbles in Reacting
  to the Public Unraveling of
  White House Justification for Iraq War
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Palestinians Charge Israeli Barrier
  Will Bring Neither Security Nor Peace
  For story text and audio, Click here!

• Armed Rebellion Attempts
  to Oust Haitian President
  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 former chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq declared publicly that Saddam Hussein's regime likely possessed no weapons of mass destruction at the time of last year's U.S. invasion, the Bush administration came under pressure to agree to the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the issue. After initially resisting the idea, the president agreed to set up such a panel, but with members he alone would select.

The bipartisan commission will be co-chaired by Laurence Silberman, a Republican activist and retired federal judge, and moderate Democrat Charles Robb, a former governor and senator from Virginia. Other members include GOP Senator John McCain; Richard Levin, president of Yale University, and Lloyd Cutler, former legal counsel for two Democratic presidents. But administration critics point out that the commission won't issue a final report until well after November's election. They also complain that the Commission's mandate will narrowly focus on intelligence failures and how to fix them, not on the central question asked around the world: Did the White House manipulate intelligence to gain support for the war?

With many public opinion polls showing Bush running behind Democratic candidate John Kerry, the president recently appeared as a guest on TV's "Meet the Press" program to explain his position on the war and why Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction have not been found. But his performance was not highly rated even by some longtime Republican allies. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Bill Hartung, director of the Arms Trade Research Center at the World Policy Institute, who assesses the Bush administration's reaction to the very public unraveling of their brash justifications for the war in Iraq.

Contact the World Policy Institute at (212) 229-5808 or visit the group's website at www.worldpolicy.org Bill Hartung is the author of "How Much are you Making on the War, Daddy? A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration," published by Nation Books.

Related links

• "Philosophy, Not Policy," by Peggy Noonan, Opinion Journal, Feb.8, 2004
• "Secret Obsessions at the Top," by Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, Feb. 7, 2004
• "10 Questions Russert Didn't Ask: The Missed Opportunities for Follow-ups," by Greg Mitchell, Editor and Publisher, Feb. 9, 2004
• "Beat the Press," by David Corn, The Nation, Feb. 9, 2004
• "Claim vs. Fact: The President on Meet the Press," by David Sirota, Christy Harvey and Judd Legum, Center for American Progress, Feb. 8, 2004
• "Poll: Bush Slip Began After Weapons News,"The Associated Press, Feb. 7, 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 Jan. 23, 2004
• "The Booming Defense Business," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 10, 2003
• "Richard Perle: High Price for Bad Advice," Global Beat Syndicate, Jan. 26, 2004
• "War Profiteering," by The Nation editors, April 24, 2003

Palestinians Charge Israeli Barrier
Will Bring Neither Security Nor Peace

Interview with Mazin Qumsiyeh,
co-founder of Al-Awda,
Palestinian Right to Return,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus

The Israeli government has announced that it is altering its construction of what it calls a security barrier, to be closer to the recognized boundaries between Israel and the West Bank and to be less intrusive into Palestinian territory. The barrier is now planned to be 420 miles long, rather than the original 480 miles, and construction, which is one-fourth complete, continues.

The Palestinian authority, which opposes construction of the barrier, says adjustments to the Wall's route are unacceptable. The legitimacy of the Wall is now being challenged at both the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which can issue only an advisory ruling, and the Israeli Supreme Court, where the Association for Civil Rights in Israel contends the barrier infringes on Palestinian rights.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Mazin Qumsiyeh, co-founder of Al-Awda, or the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition. He talks about the wall and about his conviction that the only just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a one-state solution where Jews, Muslims and Christians can live together as equals.

For more information, visit the group's website at www.al-awda.org. Mazin Qumsiyeh is the author of "Sharing the Land of Canaan," soon to be published by Pluto Press.

Related links:

• Electronic Intifada Publishes news, commentary, analysis, and reference materials about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective
• Tikkun Magazine, www.tikkun.org A community of people from many faiths and traditions, with a vision of healing and transforming our world. Guided by the principle of to achieve social justice, ecological sanity, and world peace, and the inner healing needed to foster loving relationships, as well as a generous attitude toward the world and toward others
• "Israel/Occupied Territories: Wanton Destruction Constitutes a War Crime," Amnesty International, Oct. 14, 2003
• "The origin of the Palestine-Israeli conflict," Jews for Justice, April 5, 2002
• "Background to the Israel-Palestine Crisis," by Stephen R. Shalom, Z Magazine, May 2002
• "Middle East Time Line," by Stephen R. Shalom, Z Magazine, (revised, Dec. 12, 2001)
• ZNet Middle East Watch, History and Context, a resource page featuring articles, links and resources explaining the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and providing contextual background information.
• "Ten Years After Oslo," by Catherine Cook, Traverse City Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Mich.), September 2003
• "Israel's Bombing of Syria Increases Fear of Regional Conflict," Between The Lines interview with Robert Belcher, conducted by Scott Harris, week ending 10/24/03

Armed Rebellion Attempts
to Oust Haitian President

Interview with Kim Ives,
Haiti Progres editor,
conducted by Scott Harris

Escalating violence between opponents and supporters of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has seen armed rebel groups take over Haiti's fourth largest city, Gonaives, and conflicts in nearly a dozen other cities and towns. The rebellion by former soldiers and those unhappy with the Aristide government, comes after opposition groups refused to enter into negotiations with the president over future legislative elections. These groups demand that Aristide resign two years before his term in office expires.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in 1990 after decades of brutal dictatorship under the U.S. backed Duvalier family. But a military coup cut short Aristide's presidency in 1991 after just seven months in office. The former Catholic priest who fled into exile was returned to power in 1994 after a combined U.S.-U.N. military force ousted the coup makers. Aristide's term ended the following year, and he was re-elected president in 2000.

Tensions rose in Haiti after opposition parties, backed by the U.S., charged that the May 2000 legislative election was corrupted by fraud. Washington's decision to then block the flow of millions of dollars in economic aid, exacerbated an already dire situation for citizens in the Western hemisphere's poorest nation. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Kim Ives, an editor with the newspaper Haiti Progres, who had just returned from a visit to Haiti. Ives takes a look at the chaotic situation there and examines the makeup of Haiti's opposition groups.

Contact Haiti Progres by calling (718) 434-8100 or visit their website at www.haitiprogres.com

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Allegations that the Israeli army has carried out summary executions of Palestinians in recent West Bank raids provokes calls for an inquiry. ("Israel's 'execution' troops face death quiz," The Observer, Feb. 1, 2004)
• Mexican President Vicente Fox's credibility undermined by a pattern of law enforcement indifference to the hundreds of unsolved murders of poor, young women in the industrial city of Ciudad Juarez. ("Shadow of Death In Ciudad Juarez," World Press Review, February 2004)
• Union organizers confront aggressive anti-labor campaign at Smithfield Foods' hog processing plant in North Carolina. ("Hog Tied," Amnesty Now, Winter 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 Feb. 24, 2004

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Credits:
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Denise Manzari
News reader: Sasha Summer Cousineau
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 2/13/04

Election 2004

"Bush's National Guard Service: How Well Did He Serve?," Time, Feb. 15, 2004

"Bush's Iraq Commission Won't Be Investigating The Key WMD Issue," By John Dean, FindLaw, Feb. 13, 2004

"1971 Photo Of Kerry Doctored," Newsday, Feb., 2004

"President Kerry: Beneficiary Of Bush Vs. Bush," By Geov Parrish, Working For Change, Feb. 11, 2004

"W As In AWOL: Case Not Closed," By David Corn, The Nation, Feb. 11, 2004

"Bush Vs. Bush?," By Steve Perry, City Pages, Feb. 11, 2004

"Shaken Father Writes To The President," Home News Tribune, Feb. 5, 2004

"Top Bush Aide Is Questioned in C.I.A. Leak," New York Times, Feb. 10, 2004

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

American Empire/War Profiteering

"The Costs Of Empire: Starting With A Solid Base," Asia Times, Feb. 13, 2004

"The Militarization Of U.S. Foreign Policy," By Mel Goodman, Foreign Policy In Focus, Feb., 2004

"Contract Sport: The Cheney-Halliburton Connection," The New Yorker, Feb. 9, 2004

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq

"Professional Raid In Iraq Points To A New Armed Phase," Telegraph/UK, Feb. 16, 2004

"U.S., British Spy Op Wrecked Pre-War Peace Move," Observer/UK, Feb. 15, 2004

"U.S. Has Murky Picture Of Iraq Resistance," Guardian/UK, Feb. 15, 2004

"Fallen Soldier's Mother Says Her Son Died 'For Absolutely Nothing,'" Hopewell Valley News, Feb. 12, 2004

"Calling Major Ritter,'" By Col. David Hackworth, WorldNetDaily, Feb. 10, 2004 <

Civil Liberties

"Criminal Dissent," TomPaine.com, Feb. 12, 2004

"U.S. Officials Drop Activist Subpoenas," Des Moines Register, Feb. 11, 2004

"Inquisition In Iowa," Counterpunch, Feb. 10, 2004

Media And Activism

"Now They Tell Us: The Press' Pre-War WMD Failure," By Michael Massing, New York Review Of Books, Feb. 26, 2004

"O'Reilly Eats Words On WMD Claims," New York Daily News, Feb. 11, 2004