May 07, 2003
Halliburton’s Iraqi Jackpot! (4:19)
The Halliburton company is back in the news, as the US Army Corps of Engineers reveals the vice president’s so-called former employer has been given a contract to run parts of Iraq’s oil industry. At the same time, the White House has named a new supreme commander to oversee postwar Iraq. Paul Bremer is a career diplomat and close associate of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Josh Chaffin reports from DC.
Still No Communications Inside Baghdad (3:48)
British Labor MP George Galloway has been suspended from the party over anti-war remarks he in an interview to Abu Dhabi TV on March 28, in which he described Prime Minister Tony Blair and US president George Bush as “wolves” who had attacked Iraq. Galloway has said he stands by his remarks, his suspension comes an inquiry is beginning into allegations made by London’s Daily Telegraph that Galloway received money from Saddam Hussein’s regime. This as today the World Health Organization (WHO) said it expected a cholera epidemic in southern Iraq, where 17 cases have already been registered in two hospitals. The WHO also warned that other infectious waterborne diseases could break out. Meanwhile, the Bush Administration bombed nearly every telephone switching station during the war. The idea was to shut down the communications infrastructure of Iraq making it more difficult for officials Saddam Hussein’s regime to communicate with each other. With the telephone switching centers gone, Iraqis can only make telephone calls within their own neighborhood, making it difficult to do business and making it impossible for many people to speak with their families. From Baghdad, Aaron Glantz reports.
UN On Post-Saddam Iraq (3:41)
Today, 55 years ago a UN mandate created the state of Israel, wherein some 750,000 indigenous Palestinians were forcibly expelled or fled from the militias. A condition of Israel’s admission to the United Nations is repatriation and compensation for the Palestinian refugees, to this day nothing has been done nor do the Palestinians have a state. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is preparing to hold a series of meetings on Iraq, starting later this week. Topping the agenda is the question of lifting economic sanctions against the deposed Iraqi regime. Once the chief proponent of the sanctions, the US now wants them lifted immediately, but has yet to make any specific proposals. Such a move is likely to reopen the councils bitter prewar debate. France, Russia, China and Germany opposed the US-led invasion and want the UN to have a political role in determining Iraq’s future. But the US, supported by Britain and Spain, is making it clear it intends to limit the UN’s role to providing humanitarian relief. Susan Wood reports from the UN.
Depleted Uranium Use In Iraq (3:59)
Although George W. Bush has announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq, one weapon, Depleted Uranium, will keep on fighting. DU, a radioactive byproduct created when natural uranium is enriched for use in nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. DU munitions are used by the United States Air Force’s A-10 “warthog” aircraft, the Army’s Abrams tank, and the Marines’ AV-8 Harrier aircraft. According to the London Guardian, experts have estimated that between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of DU were used in the recent invasion of Iraq. Kellia Ramares reports.
Nuke Dump In Latino Community (3:30)
Today, the Texas Senate may be voting on a bill that would license waste control specialists, a private company, to open a radioactive waste dump in Andrews County, TX. As Stacy Pettigrew reports from Austin, a low-income Latino community lives right in the proposed waste dump site.
