Democracy Now! January 25, 1999

*Clintons Anti-Terrorism Proposal In announcing new anti-terrorism initiatives, President Clinton last week warned that it was highly likely that a terrorist group will launch a biological, chemical or cybernetic attack on the continental US in the next few years. President Clinton is considering a proposal from the Defense Department to establish a commander in chief for the defense of the continental US, a step that was et with concern by civil liberties defenders. GUEST: David Cole, Prof. of Law. GUEST: Leonard Cole, author of BOOK: THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE: THE POLITICS OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WARFARE. GUEST: Jamie Love, Dir., Consumer Project on Technology *Critical Day for Impeachment Trial House prosecutors interviewed Monica Lewinsky yesterday as part of a last-ditch effort to persuade the Senate to call witnesses at President Clinton's trial. The Senate today votes on two separate measures, one proposed by Senator John Byrd (D-W. Va) to dismiss the case against the president, and another, proposed by Republicans, to call witnesses. GUEST: Mary Dejevsky, Washinton correspondent for the Independent of London. GUEST: Paulo Sotero, Washinton correspondent for O Estado de Sao Paulo. GUEST: Dapo Olorunwymoi, reportor for Tempo and The News in Nigeria * Mexico: Salinas Trial and Human Rights After a complex and often bizarre 4-year trial, a Mexican judge last week convicted Raul Salinas, brother of Ex-president Carlos Salinas, of ordering the 1994 assassinationof a prominent politician, and gave him a 50-year prison sentence with no possibility of parole. Although some legal experts quickly praise the judge's decision, many also said that the case also exposed thejustices system's chaos and disarray. Salinas was condemned moslty by hearsay evidence, much of it obtained from witnesses under torture. According to a new report by Human Rights Watch, prosecutors and judges deserve much of the blame for human rights violations that occur in Mexico such as torture, which is often used to extract confessions. GUEST: Joel Solomon, Research Dir. for the Americas for Human Rights Watch. GUEST: Eric Olson, Sr. Assoc. for Mexico form the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), who has been following the trial of Raul Salinas.