Democracy Now! May 22, 2002

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 From East Timor, this is Democracy Now! Scholar and activist Noam Chomsky and British journalist Robert Fisk. Hes based in Beirut. All that and more coming up. 9:01-9:06 Headlines: 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:20 AS THE STATE DEPARTMENT ACCUSES SEVEN NATIONS OF SPONSORING TERRORISM, SCHOLAR AND ACTIVIST NOAM CHOMSKY TALKS ABOUT THE LONG AND BLOODY HISTORY OF US-SPONSORED TERRORISM The State Department yesterday issued a report accusing seven nations of "sponsoring terrorism." These included Cuba, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Iran, North Korea and Iraq. The annual report also noted that so-called terrorist attacks claimed a record number of lives in 2001. September 11th was responsible for 90 percent of them. The articles about the report do not explain how its authors determined what is a terrorist attack and what is not. But it seems clear from the tallies that the thousands killed in the bombing of Afghanistan do not count as victims of terrorism. Nor do those killed in Palestine by Israeli soldiers wielding US weapons. American crimes are simply not considered crimes.Well, we are going to turn now to a speech by scholar Noam Chomsky on the long and bloody history of US-sponsored terrorism. He gave the speech at Stanford University in mid-march, just days after the 6-month anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Guest: Noam Chomsky, Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is a leading scholar and critic of US foreign policy and the author of many books, including 9-11, recently published by Seven Stories Press. 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break9:21-9:40 Chomsky, CONTD 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 ASK WHO DID IT, BUT DONT ASK WHY: A SPEECH BY BRITISH JOURNALIST ROBERT FISK The FBI put New York City on high alert yesterday, warning authorities to be ready for a so-called terrorist attack against landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. The warning followed a flurry of similarly vague announcements by top administration officials, from the FBIs Robert Mueller to War Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney. The frenzy of so-called terrorist alerts comes as the White House battles mounting criticism over its failure to act last summer on information that al Qaeda was planning an attack inside the US. Until last week, Bush and his aides claimed intelligence experts had not advised them that domestic targets were considered at risk. They now admit that the CIA warned the President of possible hijackings while he was vacationing at his Texas ranch last August. Also last week, the FBI acknowledged that an agent in Phoenix, Arizona had written a memo last summer warning that members of al Qaeda might be training at American flight schools. His memo was ignored. Sources said yesterday that FBI chief Robert Mueller did not learn about the memo until several days after September 11. Nor did Attorney General John Ashcroft. As for Bush, senior officials said neither Ashcroft nor Mueller briefed the President until recently. Meanwhile, as speculation mounts over what the White House did and did know, one of the primary questions of September 11th remains unasked: why would someone commit such a heinous crime against the United States? Its a question that many in this country are afraid to ask, but that British journalist Robert Fisk did. In response, he received hate mail. Well, are going to turn now to part 2 of a speech we played yesterday by Robert Fisk. Its called: "Ask Who Did It, But Dont Ask Why." Guest: Robert Fisk, reporter with the Independent of London Contact: www.independent.co.uk 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits