Democracy Now!
Thur., Feb 20, 2003
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown
Date: 2-20-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
Michigan High School student is sent home for wearing a
T-shirt with a picture of President Bush and the caption ‘International
Terrorist’: he’ll give us his first nationally
broadcast interview
‘The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm’: as the Pentagon
prepares to deploy journalists with troops preparing to invade
Iraq, as part of its new PR campaign, we go back in time to
the Pentagon propaganda and censorship in the first Gulf War
Headlines: Peace protests continue despite President Bush’s
dismissal of the anti-war movement as a mere“focus group”
9:01-9:06: Headlines
9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break
9:07-9:10 PEACE PROTESTS CONTINUE DESPITE PRESIDENT BUSH’S
DISMISSAL OF THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT AS A MERE“FOCUS GROUP”
On Tuesday President Bush was asked to address the massive
anti-war protests. He said: “Democracy is a beautiful
thing, and that people are allowed to express their opinion.
I welcome people's right to say what they believe. Secondly,
evidently some of the world don't view Saddam Hussein as a
risk to peace… you know, size of protest, it's like
deciding, well, I'm going to decide policy based upon a focus
group.”
Tape: President George W. Bush, recorded February 18, 2003
But Protests against George Bush’s plans to launch
a first-strike attack on Iraq continue.
In Seattle, 8 people blocked traffic on a commuter bridge
across Lake Washington for half an hour on Tuesday morning.
They were all arrested. Activists say over 50,000 people attended
the anti-war demonstration in Seattle on Feb. 15th.
Also Tuesday, in Denmark, three Greenpeace activists were
arrested after protesting on the rooftops of the Danish parliament
building against Copenhagen's pro-US policy on Iraq. The demonstrators
unfurled a banner atop the Christiansborg Palace featuring
a caricature of President Bush juggling weapons of mass destruction
with a stunned Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
looking on with a naive smile. A caption read "Brothers
in Arms".
Meanwhile:
* Italy’s main union is threatening to launch a potentially
crippling general strike if there is an attack on iraq
even if it is backed by the UN Security Council.
* 10,000 marched in the streets of the southern Lebanese city
of Sidon, and
* 5,000 students demonstrated in two Egyptian universities
And in Houston, police arrested two members of Houston Students
For Peace after they hung an anti-war banner over a local
highway yesterday morning. And on Tuesday, a group of citizens
rallied outside Houston City Hall to lobby City Council members
to pass a resolution against war in Iraq. To date the Council
has not voted. Yesterday we spoke with organizer Jim Essig
who gave us an update on why the Council may be hesitant to
joining the 100 cities and counties who have passed similar
resolutions.
Tape: Jim Essig, Houston peace activist
9:10-9:20 MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SENT HOME FOR WEARING
A T-SHIRT WITH A PICTURE OF PRESIDENT BUSH AND THE CAPTION
‘INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST’: HE’LL GIVE US
HIS FIRST NATIONALLY BROADCAST INTERVIEW
A Dearborn High School student was sent home from school
earlier this week for wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt.
The T-shirt shows a picture of President Bush and is emblazoned
with the caption “International Terrorist.”
16-year-old Brett Barber said he wore the T-shirt as part
of a presentation to his English class. His assignment: write
a compare and contrast essay. He compared and contrasted President
Bush and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Repeated calls to Dearborn High principal Judith Coebly
were not returned.
But ‘The Detroit News’ reports school officials
told 16-year-old Bretton Barber the T-shirt could spark tensions
in a district where more than 50% of students are Arab-American.
The ACLU of Michigan last night decided to take the case.
We’re joined right now by Brett Barber. This is his
first national radio or TV interview.
Guest: Bretton Barber, Dearborn High School student who
was sent home from school for wearing a T-shirt with a picture
of Bush and a caption ‘International Terrorist’
Guest: Kary Moss, executive director of the Michigan ACLU
Contact: www.aclumich.org
9:20-9:21 One-Minute Music Break
9:21-9:40 ‘THE HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM’:
AS THE PENTAGON PREPARES TO DEPLOY JOURNALISTS WITH TROOPS
PREPARING TO INVADE IRAQ AS PART OF ITS NEW PR CAMPAIGN, WE
GO BACK IN TIME TO THE PENTAGON PROPAGANDA AND CENSORSHIP
IN THE FIRST GULF WAR
CNN is reporting the Pentagon is moving ahead with plans
to allow more than 500 news reporters and photographers to
accompany U.S. troops as they prepare to invade Iraq.
By the end of this week, more than 200 news organizations
have to notify the Pentagon whether they will accept invitations
to QUOTE "embed" with U.S. troops.
The Pentagon’s move follows criticism that U.S. reporters
were denied access to cover the war in Afghanistan.
But CNN is not reporting on the specific terms of the deal.
Specifically, CNN is making no mention of whether the military
will censor the journalists’ reports. The conservative
‘Weekly Standard’ admits QUOTE: “there will
be some censorship for sure.”
The Pentagon has all but admitted its new attitude towards
the press is part of an aggressive strategy to deploy the
media as part of a public relations campaign. According to
the Weekly Standard, the military wants positive stories about
the grit and resolve of its troops.
Well today on Democracy Now! we go back in time, to the
last Gulf War with the last Bush administration. Then, news
reports were subjected to a military censor, and reporters
were forced to do their job while being accompanied by a Pentagon
public relations officer.
On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The first Bush administration
deployed various propaganda tactics to build congressional
and United Nations support for war.
In an audio-visual presentation at the United Nations Security
Council, the Bush administration charged that Iraqi soldiers
in occupied-Kuwait had pulled babies from incubators in Kuwaiti
hospitals, and stolen the incubators. The false propaganda
wasn’t completely refuted until well after the Gulf
War ended.
In another tactic, the Pentagon claimed there was a massive
Iraqi military buildup on the Saudi Arabian border, and that
they had military satellite photos to prove it. But they refused
to release the photos. The St. Petersburg Times published
commercial satellite photos of the region from that time,
and they showed no Iraqi troops along the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia
border.
The tactics worked. Congress and the U.N. Security Council
both backed the war. More than six hundred thousand US soldiers
were deployed, some ninety thousand tons of bombs were dropped
and more than 200,000 Iraqis were killed.
“The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm” is a documentary
by filmmakers Audrey Brohy and Gerard Ungerman. It tells the
real story behind that war. It traces the illegal arming of
Iraq by the US government. It traces the US use of depleted
uranium, which many believe caused the sickening of hundreds
of thousands of Iraqis and US soldiers. It questions the Pentagon’s
propaganda.
And it suggests the US government may have been more interested
in Iraq’s oil reserves the second largest in the
world than ridding the world of an evil dictator. One
US official described the oil fields as“too important
to be left to Arabs.”
“Hidden Wars of Desert Storm” is the culmination
of a two-year investigation by the filmmakers. It answers
questions about the Persian Gulf War using documents never
before seen on television and backed by interviews with Desert-Storm
Commander General Norman Schwarzkopf, former Attorney General
Ramsey Clark, former UN Iraq Program Director Dennis Halliday,
former chief UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter and many others.
Tape: “Hidden Wars of Desert Storm,” directed
by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy, and narrated by John
Hurt.
9:40-9:41 One-Minute Music Break
9:41-9:58 HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM, CONT’D
9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today's program, call 1 (800) 881 2359. Our
website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Ana Nogiera and Alex Wolfe. Mike Di Filippo is our
engineer and webmaster.
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