November 26, 2002
Inside the New Homeland Security Department
The Bush Administration says the new Department of Homeland Security, the biggest government shake up in more than a half century, will provide for a better organized national security effort than in the past. Civil libertarians believe that provisions in the legislation violate the fourth Amendment, and the new department does not tackle the failures of the intelligence community. Gareth Schweitzer reports from Washington.
INS Now Part of Homeland Security
US Attorney General, John Ashcroft, announced last Friday a new list of 13 countries (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen) whose male citizens must now register with the US government. The first list released earlier this month included Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Affected men will have to visit their local Immigration and Naturalization Service office to be fingerprinted and photographed and to provide detailed information about their backgrounds and the purpose of their visit to the United States. Deepa Fernandes reports on how these changes will play out now that the INS is part of the newly created Homeland Security Department.
Possible Regime Change in Haiti?
In a situation that some are likening to Venezuela, the small nation of Haiti is in the midst of upheaval as daily protests both for and against the Aristide government continue to rock the country. Yesterday six demonstrators – three anti-government and three pro-Aristide supporters – were shot during pro-government protests. Aristide’s supporters are accusing the US of attempting to achieve a regime change in Haiti by backing the opposition, and the Miami Herald reported on Saturday that the US has pledged to assist the Dominican army seal the border with Haiti, beginning with the donation of 20,000 M-16 assault rifles. Eventually, the aid will include technical assistance and joint training maneuvers. Kim Ives, one of the editors of the newspaper Haiti Progress, spoke with Deepa Fernandes.
Arming Campus Police
Since September 11, a number of US colleges and universities have begun re-evaluating campus security and debating major changes to their Security operations. Many schools are looking to enhance community-policing practices in their security departments. And a few, such as Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, are considering arming previously unarmed campus police officers. Kelley Kreitz filed this report from Providence, Rhode Island.
War on Poverty and Racism Not Iraq
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his famous “why I oppose the war in Vietnam” speech before a packed house at the Riverside church in New York. The speech listed a variety of reasons for his opposition to the war, including the immorality of US involvement, the costs in both money and lives and the continued separate and unequal treatment of black Americans. At the same time, Dr. King was beginning to wage a national war against poverty and the rights of workers to have decent working conditions and earn a living wage. At a time of societal upheaval, he synthesized the US people’s demand for an end to war, with poverty and racism. What could have been a powerful force in American history, all but fizzled out after Kings’ death the following year. But as Dred Scott Keyes reports, the war mongering and saber-rattling of the Bush administration is once again presenting Americans an opportunity to fulfill an historical imperative.
