Democracy Now! aPRIL 15, 2003

8:00-8:01 bILLBOARD 8:01-8:06 hEADLINES 8:06-8:07 oNE mINUTE mUSIC bREAK 8:10-8:30: sO NOW sYRIA IS IN aMERICA'S GUNSIGHTS. fIRST IT'S iRAQ, iSRAEL'S MOST POWERFUL ENEMY, POSSESSOR OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NONE OF WHICH HAS BEEN FOUND. nOW IT'S sYRIA, iSRAEL'S SECOND MOST POWERFUL ENEMY, POSSESSOR OF WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, OR SO pRESIDENT gEORGE bUSH jUNIOR TELLS US. nO WORD OF THAT POSSESSOR OF REAL WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, iSRAEL THE NUMBER OF ITS NUCLEAR WARHEADS IN THE nEGEV ARE NOW ACCURATELY LISTED WHOSE pRIME mINISTER, aRIEL sHARON, HAS LONG BEEN COMPLAINING THAT dAMASCUS IS THE quote "CENTRE OF WORLD TERROR". tHAT WAS rOBERT fISK IN TODAY S iNDEPENDENT. tHE us YESTERDAY THREATENED sYRIA WITH DIPLOMATIC AND ECONOMIC PRESSURE, AS A SERIES OF TOP OFFICIALS ACCUSED dAMASCUS OF SUPPORTING TERRORISM. wAR sECRETARY dONALD rUMSFELD ALLEGED sYRIA HAD CARRIED OUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS TESTS OVER THE PAST 12 TO 15 MONTHS. rOGUE sTATE IS HOW wHITE hOUSE SPOKESMAN aRI fLEISCHER DESCRIBED sYRIA. aND sECRETARY OF sTATE gEN. cOLIN HINTED ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST sYRIA MIGHT BE IN ORDER. mEANWHILE AT THE uNITED nATIONS, sECRETARY-gENERAL kOFI aNNAN WARNED LAST NIGHT THAT RECENT u.s. WARNINGS TO sYRIA COULD CONTRIBUTE TO A WIDER DESTABILIZATION IN A REGION ALREADY WRACKED BY THE WAR IN iRAQ. sYRIA HAS DENIED wASHINGTON S ACCUSATIONS. tHEY HAVE CALLED IT AN ATTEMPT TO OBSCURE THE EVENTS IN iRAQ AND YESTERDAY ACCUSED iSRAEL OF BEING BEHIND THE WEAPONS AND TERRORISM ACCUSATIONS. tAPE: gEN. cOLIN pOWELL, sECRETARY OF sTATE * pATRICK sEALE, bRITISH JOURNALIST WHO HAS COVERED THE mIDDLE eAST FOR OVER 30 YEARS SPECIALIZING IN sYRIA. hE IS THE AUTHOR OF aSAD: tHE sTRUGGLE FOR THE mIDDLE eAST <SUM> sCOTT c. dAVIS, PUBLISHER OF cune pRESS AND AUTHOR OF tHE rOAD fROM dAMASCUS: a jOURNEY tHROUGH sYRIA. hE RECENTLY RETURNED FROM sYRIA WHERE HE WAS DURING THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF THE u.s. INVASION. lINK: HTTP://WWW.SCOTTCDAVIS.COM 8:20-8:21 oNE mINUTE mUSIC bREAK 8:21-8:30 syria pT. i CONT D 8:30-8:58: sECRETARY oF sTATE gEN. cOLIN pOWELL ACCUSED sYRIA OF HARBORING OFFICIALS FROM sADDAM hUSSEIN S GOVERNMENT, AND THREATENED ECONOMIC OR DIPLOMATIC SANCTIONS. wHITE hOUSE SPOKESMAN aRI fLEISCHER CALLED sYRIA A TERRORIST STATE AND A ROGUE NATION. dEFENSE sECRETARY dONALD rUMSFELD CLAIMED sYRIA HAD CARRIED OUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS TESTS IN THE LAST YEAR. iSRAELI pRIME mINISTER aRIEL sHARON JUMPED ON THE OPPORTUNITY AND CALLED sYRIAN pRESIDENT bASHAR AL-aSSAD "DANGEROUS." hE URGED wASHINGTON TO PUT VERY HEAVY ... POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PRESSURE" ON sYRIA. (mEANWHILE, A pALESTINIAN GUNMAN, AN iSRAELI OFFICER AND TWO iSRAELI CIVILIANS WERE KILLED TODAY. tHE GUNMAN HURLED GRENADES AND SPRAYED AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FIRE AT A CUSTOMS AREA BETWEEN BETWEEN iSRAEL AND THE gAZA STRIP. hAMAS SAID THE ATTACK WAS REVENGE FOR iSRAEL S KILLING OF ONE OF ITS TOP COMMANDERS. aNOTHER pALESTINIAN WAS KILLED BY iSRAELI TANK FIRE IN THE sOUTHERN gAZA STRIP CITY OF rAFAH. aRAB COUNTRIES, rUSSIA AND THE eUROPEAN uNION CRITICIZED THE us RHETORIC. aRAB lEAGUE sECRETARY gENERAL aMR mUSA SAID HE IS ASTOUNDED BY THE THREATS. aN ADVISOR TO eGYPTIAN pRESIDENT hOSNI mUBARAK WARNED THE aMERICANS AGAINST THE TEMPTATION TO "TARGET ONE aRAB COUNTRY AFTER ANOTHER". eARLIER, rUSSIA AND THE eUROPEAN uNION URGED THE us TO SHOW RESTRAINT. un sECRETARY gENERAL kOFI aNNAN WARNED THAT STATEMENTS DIRECTED AT sYRIA COULD DESTABILIZE THE WHOLE mIDDLE eAST. bRITISH pRIME mINISTER tONY bLAIR TRIED TO REASSURE HIS PARLIAMENT AND PLEDGED THERE ARE NO PLANS TO INVADE sYRIA. aND THE sYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN bOUTHANA sHAABAN SAID: "THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE REGION WHICH HAS CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS IS iSRAEL". tHE wASHINGTON pOST REPORTS SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS CLAIM THERE ARE NO PLANS TO INVADE sYRIA. tAPE: aRI fLEISCHER, wHITE hOUSE PRESS SECRETARY * eDWARD sAID, uNIVERSITY pROFESSOR OF eNGLISH AND cOMPARATIVE lITERATURE AT cOLUMBIA uNIVERSITY. hE IS THE AUTHOR OF MANY WORKS, INCLUDING cULTURE AND iMPERIALISM AND oRIENTALISM. * pATRICK sEALE, bRITISH JOURNALIST WHO HAS COVERED THE mIDDLE eAST FOR OVER 30 YEARS SPECIALIZING IN sYRIA. hE IS THE AUTHOR OF aSAD: tHE sTRUGGLE FOR THE mIDDLE eAST 8:40-8:41 oNE mINUTE mUSIC bREAK 8:41-8:58 syria PT. 2 CONT D 8:58-8:59 oUTRO AND cREDITS dEMOCRACY nOW! IS PRODUCED BY kRIS aBRAMS, mIKE bURKE, sHARIF aBDEL kOUDDOUS, aNGIE kARRAN, aNA nOGUEIRA AND eLIZABETH pRESS WITH HELP FROM nOAH rEIBEL. mIKE dI fILIPPO IS OUR MUSIC MAESTRO AND ENGINEER.