[IMC-DC] BTL Summary May 1, 2009: Bush Torture Memos; Oppression of Afghan Women; Obstacles in US-Cuba & Venezuela Relations

Fri Apr 24 22:19:59 PDT 2009

Between The Lines

For The Week Ending May 1, 2009
http://www.btlonline.org/2009/btl050109.html

			Panel discussions from the Left Forum, 
April 18, 2009
 at Pace University, New York City

"On the Brink of Depression: Turning Point in World Capitalism?" 

- Panel Chairman: Suzi Weissman, St. Mary's College (off mike, not included in -audio) 

- Jack Rasmus, Economics and Politics, St. Mary's College

- Nomi Prins, Author, "Other People's Money"

- Michael Hudson, Institute for the Study of Long Term Trends 

- Hillel Ticktin, Critique

"The Obama Campaign & Presidency: Lesson for the Left" 

- Panel Chairman: Bill Fletcher Jr., Center for Labor Renewal

- Gihan Perera, Miami Workers Center, Right to the City Alliance

- Stanley Aronowitz, Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY

- Barbara Epstein, History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz 

- Frances Fox Piven, Political Science, Graduate Center, CUNY

Others Forthcoming:

Please email btlsummary-subscribe at lists.riseup.net
 to receive panel discussions as they become available

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

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 MP3 (full-length)

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                    RSS near-broadcast quality MP3 

                    This week we present Between The Lines' summary of
                    under-reported news stories and:

					 Bush Torture Memos Reveal
 Premeditated Brutality 

  RealAudio

 MP3

                  Interview with Michael Ratner,
 president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, 
conducted by Scott Harris 

After a heated debate among his advisers, President Obama released
memos from Bush administration officials detailing their authorization
of interrogation techniques used against terrorist suspects held by the
U.S. that are widely acknowledged as acts of torture. The memos,
released on April 16, described the use of water-boarding - or drowning
techniques - used on two al-Qaeda suspects on 266 occasions, up to six
times a day in one case.

CIA interrogators also subjected 14 high-level U.S.-held
prisoners to sleep deprivation, forced nudity and the use of painful
positions. The president declared that he would not prosecute CIA
personnel who participated in torture and who had relied on Bush
administration legal opinions issued after the September 11th attacks.

But Obama left the door open to possible future criminal
prosecution of the Bush administration architects of the interrogation
techniques, that violated both U.S. and international law. The
president said it would be up to his Attorney General Eric Holder on
whether or not to prosecute these officials, and urged that any
congressional investigation be organized "in a bipartisan fashion."
Former vice President Dick Cheney and Bush's CIA Director Michael
Hayden have both criticized the release of the torture memos, asserting
that the information will be useful to al-Qaeda. Between The Lines
Scott Harris spoke with Michael Ratner, president of the Center for
Constitutional Rights, who discusses what we've learned from the
recently released torture memos and the need to hold government
officials accountable for the commission of war crimes.

Michael Ratner is author of the book, "The Trial of Donald
Rumsfeld, A Prosecution by Book." Contact the Center for Constitutional
Rights by calling (212) 614-6464 or visit their website at www.ccrjustice.org

		Related links:

				  TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress To Hold Impeachment Hearings Against Judge Jay Bybee
				 NYT Editorial "The Torturers' Manifesto "
				 "The Red Cross Torture Report: What It Means," by Mark Danner
				 ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody
				 ccrjustice.org/100days
				 Amnesty International at www.amnestyusa.org
				 ACLU at aclu.org
				 National Lawyers Guild at www.nlg.org
				  International Red Cross Report on the Treatment of Fourteen "High Value Detainees" in CIA Custody
				 100 Days to Restore the Constitution

					 As Obama Escalates War, 
Afghan Women Face
 Growing Oppression 

                  RealAudio
 MP3

                  Interview with Yifat Susskind,
 communications director with MADRE,
 conducted by Melinda Tuhus  

Afghan women, long excluded from any public role, have become more
visible in recent days. Legislation regulating family life for the
nation's Shiite minority was passed by the Afghan legislature and
signed into law by President Hamid Karzai, even though critics -- both
Afghan women and foreign heads of state -- said the law essentially
legalized rape within marriage. Karzai has for the moment blocked
implementation of the law. To emphasize their opposition, hundreds of
women marched in Kabul in mid-April -- standing up to insults and
physical attacks from outraged Afghan men.

Last month, a group of Afghan women organized several thousand
of their sisters to publicly mark International Women's Day on March 8
with a nationwide strike. However, a key women's rights activist,
Sitara Achakzai, a member of Kandahar's provincial council, was
murdered on April 12. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the
attack.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Yifat Susskind,
communications director with the U.S.-based women's rights
organization, MADRE, which is about to launch a campaign to protect the
rights of Afghan women activists. She discusses MADRE's opposition to
President Barack Obama's deployment of an additional 21,000 U.S. troops
to Afghanistan, and MADRE's views on negotiating with the Taliban.

Contact MADRE by calling (212) 627-0444 or visit their website at www.madre.org

					 Obstacles Stand in Way of Thaw
 in U.S. - Cuban and Venezuelan Relations 

  RealAudio

 MP3

                  Interview with Mark Weisbrot,
co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research,
conducted by Scott Harris 

During the recent 34-nation Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and
Tobago, President Obama struck a very different tone than his
predecessor George Bush in dealing with U.S. adversaries Cuba and
Venezuela. In advance of the meeting, Obama announced the lifting of
all restrictions on Cuban-Americans' travel to Cuba and remittances
sent to family members on the island. These developments were welcomed
among most Latin American nations that strongly favor a lifting of the
47-year U.S. Cold War-era economic embargo against Cuba. 

Cuban President Raul Castro responded to Obama's loosening of
restrictions with an indication of his willingness to discuss issues
important to Washington, such as the release of political prisoners and
a reduction of fees charged on remittances sent by Americans to Cuba
relatives.

An impromptu handshake at the Summit, where Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez gave Obama a book by Edward Galeano titled, "Open
Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,"
momentarily eased tensions between the nations with the likely exchange
of ambassadors who had been previously recalled. Conservative critics
predictably reacted with anger at Obama's new conciliatory approach on
U.S. Latin American relations. Sen. John Ensign, Republican of Nevada,
attacked Obama's handshake with Chavez as "irresponsible." Between The
Lines's Scott Harris spoke with Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the
Center for Economic Policy Research, who assesses Obama's actions at
the summit and the obstacles standing in the way of a possible thaw in
U.S.-Cuban and Venezuelan relations.

Contact the Center for Economic Policy Research by calling (202) 293-5380 or visit their website at CEPR.net

				 This week's summary 
of under-reported news 

  RealAudio
 MP3

Compiled by Bob Nixon

Human rights activists maintain that even after Russia has withdrawn
its 200,000 soldiers from Chechnya, opposition activist are still
subject to abduction and torture, from pro-Moscow Chechens rather than
Russian security forces. ("Chechnya: Russian Declares 'Mission
Accomplished' in Strong-Man State," Christian Science Monitor, April
17, 2009)  Thanks to an obscure provision for alternative fuels in
2005 Transportation legislation, big pulp and paper companies could
gain an $8 billion windfall from U.S. taxpayers this year. ("Pulp
Nonfiction," The Nation, April 20, 2009)  Caroline Kennedy and two other American Roman
Catholics have been rejected by the Vatican as potential U.S.
ambassadors to the Holy See. ("Vatican Vetoes Barack Obama's Nominees
for U.S. Ambassador," The Guardian, April 2, 2009)

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