Democracy Now! September 21, 2001

AS PRESIDENT BUSH WARNS OF AN IMMINENT MILITARY ATTACK ON AFGHANISTAN, FAMILIES WHO LOST LOVED ONES IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACKS SAY "NOT IN MY NAME" Afghanistan's Taliban rulers today refused to hand over Osama bin Laden and warned that U.S. attempts to apprehend him by force could plunge the whole region into crisis. The announcement came hours after President George W. Bush demanded that Afghanistan immediately deliver bin Laden and shut down every terrorist training camp in the country, or face military attack by the United States. The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, called for an investigation by the United Nations into the attacks, saying: "Our position on this is that if America has proof, we are ready for the trial of Osama bin Laden in light of the evidence." Zaeef also said he was sorry people died in the suicide jet attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last week, but appealed to the United States not to endanger innocent people in a military retaliation, and said that President Bush's ultimatum poses great danger for Muslims. President Bush delivered the ultimatum in a nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress. He warned that the war would include the deployment of ground troops, and would likely involve the loss of American lives. Tape: President George W. Bush, addressing a joint session of Congress, 9/20/01. But many New Yorkers are saying "not in my name." Rita Lasar and Judy Keane both lost loved ones in the World Trade Center attacks ' Rita her brother and Judy her husband - yet they are raising their voices to call for peace, even as the Bush Administration says it will seek vengeance on their behalf. Guests: Rita Lasar, sister of victim who died in the attack on the World Trade Center. Judy Keane, wife of victim who died in the attack on the World Trade Center. NOAM CHOMSKY ON TERRORISM IN PRACTICE AND IN PROPAGANDA The Bush Administration announced last night that the US will soon go to war against terrorism. The media have endlessly pounded on the theme that the US must fight terrorism, attack and destroy terrorist networks, and potentially go to war with nations that harbor or support terrorists. But there's been almost no discussion of just what everyone means when they talk about terrorism, even as Osama Bin Laden has been painted by the US media and government as the virtual embodiment of terror. In other countries ' Columbia, the occupied territories, El Salvador, Angola ' the word terrorism might be seen differently. Guest: Noam Chomsky, Professor of linguistics at MIT, author of dozens of books about US foreign policy and ideology. SECOND HOUR NEWS HEADLINES BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR VISITS THE US AND PLEDGES ASSISTANCE IN COMING WAR: INTERVIEW WITH JOHN PILGER British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in New York yesterday, visiting ground zero where the World Trade Center once stood, and pledging British military assistance in what seems is an imminent US war against Afghanistan. Britain lost more than three hundred of its citizens in the attacks last week. This as thousands of Afghanis flee their country in terror and the UN warns of massive starvation if food and other aid is not brought in immediately. This morning British journalist and film maker John Pilger wrote in the Guardian newspaper "During my lifetime, America has been constantly waging war against much of humanity: impoverished people mostly, in stricken places. Moreover, far from being the main perpetrators of terrorism, Islamic peoples have been its victims - more often than not of an American fundamentalism and its proxies." The Bush Administration's march to war, and British support, Pilger argues, promises more of the same. Guest: John Pilger, one of the leading journalists in Britain, Pilger has also made many important films, including "Death of A Nation" about East Timor, and films about Cambodia, Burma, Iraq and most recently, globalization and Indonesia. Related link: Hidden Agendas: The Films and Writings of John Pilger ORGANIZING FOR PEACE: NEW YORK POLICE REVOKE PERMIT FOR MUSLIM PEACE VIGIL; A ROUND ROBIN OF STUDENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY WHO ARE MOURNING AND MOBILIZING As President Bush leads the US and its allies into a war on terrorism and vows military retaliation, students across the country are reclaiming their historical role as advocates for peace. In a minute, we will hear from students around the country about their organizing and the emerging student anti-war movement. But first, we go to Sunita Mehta, who is a member of SAKHI for South Asian Women. She is one of the organizers of a Muslim peace vigil in New York tonight. Last night, the police revoked the permit for the vigil. Guests: Sunita Mehta, member of Women for Afghan Women and SAKHI for South Asian Women. Students at almost 150 college campuses in 30 states rallied for peace yesterday afternoon. The vigils that varied widely in size and scope, but all focused on the need for a cautious, and long-term solution to the terrorist attacks that will result in safety for all people, including Arab and Muslim communities. Over eight thousand students and community members came out to demonstrate on the University of California's Berkeley campus yesterday. The day climaxed with a sit-in, protesting a racist cartoon against Arab and Muslim-Americans that ran in a local Berkeley paper. Nineteen people were arrested. At the conservative University of Kansas, students raised $25,000 in 48 hours for relief for the families and victims of the September 11th tragedy before holding two rallies, one on campus and one in the town square in Lawrence. The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville had a teach-in for 600 people to learn more about Afghanistan. Guests: Andy Burns, Organizer, Movement for Democracy and Education. Christopher Day, Hunter College. Kalyn Morris, University of Oklahoma. Aaron Krieger, Notre Dame. Sarah Hoskinson, Kansas University. Tom Graham, University of New Mexico. Jessica Gould, Harvard University. Related link: Peaceful Justice: Concerned Students for Justice Without War Story: THE VIEW FROM YUGOSLAVIA ON TERRORISM, WAR AND THE U.S. In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center last week the mass media went around the world to get international reaction, showing scenes of vigils, a handful full of anti-American demonstrations. The places they didn't go were just as instructive, places like Iraq, Columbia, East Timor and Yugoslavia, the last country to be visited by a prolonged campaign of bombing by the US. We go now to Belgrade, Yugoslavia to Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill to talk about the reaction there to the terror attacks and the near certainty of a US led war against Afghanistan. Guest: Jeremy Scahill, Democracy Now! correspondent in Yugoslavia.