SEPTEMBER 2003
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Wednesday, 1st October,2003
FISHED OUT
In recent months several international reports have outlined the extent of the crisis facing the world’s oceans. Some fear that 90% of the world’s big fish are now gone. The culprit - commercial fishing. There are only a few large regions left where biodiversity still thrives, one being the far northern Pacific, off the Alaskan coast. But as Ginny Stein discovered, even in Alaska’s rich waters, all is not well.
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Wednesday, 1st October,2003
ROLF EKEUS INTERVIEW
It’s not only politicians who are having to justify the basis for war - questions are now also being asked of the senior UN weapons inspectors who knew that Saddam Hussein no longer possessed stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, as was constantly claimed, yet remained largely mute in the lead-up to the war. Last week, with uncharacteristic certainty, Hans Blix offered the opinion that Iraq hasn’t had any weapons of mass destruction for years. Rolf Ekeus was Hans Blix’s predecessor between 1991 and 1997. From recent US Congressional hearings it’s now apparent that his reports supplied the US with the bulk of its evidence of Iraq’s supposed weapons capability - information relevant in the mid-’90s, but, critics maintain not at the beginning of 2003. Mark Davis spoke to Rolf Ekeus earlier from his home in the Netherlands.
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Wednesday, 1st October,2003
WHERE ARE THE WEAPONS
Later we’ll be talking with former UN chief weapons inspector Rolf Ekeus. But first, for those who maintained that Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction would eventually be found, it’s been a tough week. A leaked interim report from the American-backed investigation team in Iraq suggests that no weapons have been found. More disturbingly, Harry Fawcett reports, it now seems likely they were long gone before George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard even began preparing for war.
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Wednesday, 1st October,2003
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WEAPONS?
As the US House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee this week fiercely attacks the CIA over the poor quality of intelligence used to establish that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) DATELINE asks: What happened to the weapons?
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On DATELINE on Wednesday, October 1 reporter Harry Fawcett speaks to former Australian diplomat John Gee, one of 21 commissioners appointed to set up and run the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) which carried out inspections in Iraq from 1991 to 1998. Fawcett also speaks to Neil James, a former Australian Army intelligence officer who served as an inspector with UNSCOM.
Discussing UNSCOM’s achievements Gee says that as far back as 1994, “a great deal had been achieved in terms of the destruction of ballistic missiles, of chemical weapons and the supporting capabilities. A number of Iraqi nuclear facilities had been destroyed at this stage. And a number of people were starting to ask the question: ‘How much longer is this process going to go on and is it really necessary?’ ”
Both men go on to discuss the various ways Iraq attempted to sabotage their work but Neil James raises the question of whether America also actively undermined the work of UNSCOM.
James describes how a 1997 search for missiles in Baghdad failed - how maps supplied by American intelligence were wrong and the communications system supplied by America did not work. Former weapons inspector Scott Ritter has described how American spy planes did not show up as planned. James said: “There are two schools of thought: one was that it was just one of those things. And the other school of thought was that we were set up to fail.”
Scott Ritter claims that the US did set UNSCOM up for failure in order to be able to sustain the allegation that Iraq continued to have weapons. He suggests destroying the credibility of UNSCOM undermined any conclusion they might draw about the absence of weapons.
At the same time UNSCOM faced the problem that Iraq was either unable or refused to provide conclusive evidence to back many of its claims of having destroyed WMD.
Gee said: “The question I suppose that arises is – if they had nothing left – and that’s now looking to be a distinct possibility – nothing left or at least very little left – then why did they try and hide it and why didn’t they come clean earlier and save themselves a lot of trouble?”
He puts forward one possible answer: “Prior to the Gulf War, Saddam was boasting that he had chemical weapons and he had binary weapons. So for him then to turn round later on and say that he didn’t have them would call into question his own role and his claim to be the champion of the Arab cause as he saw it – whether it’s against the West or against Israel." -
Wednesday, 24th September,2003
GAY WEDDING IN BUENOS AIRES
The push to legalise gay weddings continues to provoke controversy in many Western societies and until recently such laws would have seemed unthinkable in Catholic Latin America. Earlier this year in Argentina, the city of Buenos Aires became the first government in South America to legalise gay weddings. Elise West was there recently for the first official ceremony.
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Wednesday, 24th September,2003
SHASHI THAROOR INTERVIEW
Earlier today Mark Davis spoke with UN Under Secretary Shashi Tharoor about the prospects of reconciliation between the US and the other members of the UN.
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Wednesday, 24th September,2003
GEORGE W BUSH BACKGROUNDER
George Bush is facing re-election next year and his political survival may now depend on events unfolding this week. As the human and financial costs of the Iraq operation continue to grow, the President’s popularity is sliding and he’s now hoping that other nations will step in to share the Iraq load - and soon. Last night, the President addressed the UN General Assembly - a body he condemned earlier this year as irrelevant - with a request for assistance. In a moment Mark Davis will be speaking to UN Undersecretary General, Shashi Tharoor, to discuss the impact of the President’s speech, but first Alan Hall reports on last night’s events.
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Wednesday, 24th September,2003
TROUBLE ON THE HOMEFRONT
As the cost of the Iraq war continues to grow, George Bush is renewing his efforts to sell the war to the world. But it’s not just recalcitrant Frenchmen or the liberal left who are questioning the Iraq campaign. As Bronwyn Adcock reports, dissent is rising in George Bush’s heartland - military bases and towns across the United States.
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NB. The online version of this story has been slightly modified for copyright purposes. -
Wednesday, 24th September,2003
WHEN PATRIOTS PROTEST
On DATELINE on Wednesday, September 24 at 8.30pm Bronwyn Adcock reports on the unprecedented call from within the American military for forces to be brought home from Iraq.
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Fort Stewart, in the American state of Georgia, is a military town which sent 16,000 people to fight in the war on Iraq. The war had total support in Fort Stewart where patriotism and military tradition are cherished values. So for hundreds of soldiers’ wives to start publicly demanding that their husbands be brought home would be unthinkable - but is exactly what happened earlier this year.
As the dates for the troops’ return were repeatedly postponed the wives of Fort Stewart finally lost patience and in meetings, letters and on national and local media they campaigned for the forces to come home. They were mainly reacting to their husbands’ complete loss of morale but also to their own situation – enduring alone, often as single parents.
Predictably the reaction to this “breaking of ranks” by the military top brass was caustic. The women were not only accused of disloyalty but of placing their husbands’ lives in danger. They were told that their public protest would encourage attacks on American forces – that Iraqi guerrillas would think their strategy to get Americans out of Iraq was working and intensify their efforts.
But the men whose lives they were supposedly putting in danger were delighted when they found out that that their wives were campaigning on their behalf. As one man described it, “We was happy because speaking out is something that we can’t do…So basically the wives spoke out for the soldiers.”
Also speaking out for the soldiers are the spouses and relatives of troops from Fort Bragg in North Carolina. This is one of the biggest military bases in American and has played a key role in the war on terror but it was a speech by George Bush which helped to provoke a campaign to bring the troops home.
When questioned about American forces being attacked in Iraq President Bush replied, “There are some who feel that conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring em’on.” The reaction to this is summed up by one soldier’s mother who vehemently attacked the “three words of false bravado uttered by President Bush, from a safe and secure location surrounded by armed guards, that taunted those shooting at our loved ones…George Bush said, ‘Bring them on.’ We say ‘Bring Them Home Now’.”
Unlike the Fort Stewart protestors the Bring Them Home Now campaign is national and is calling for the all the troops to return home – it is effectively an anti-war movement which, according to its leaders, is backed by thousands of people in the military community. -
Wednesday, 17th September,2003
THE BOUNTY HUNTRESS
And finally tonight - a look at a profession straight out of America’s Wild West past, the bounty hunter. It’s a profession which has attracted its fair share of tough men and, as Nick Lazaredes reports, some tough women as well.
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Wednesday, 17th September,2003
MARK GWOZDECKY INTERVIEW
This week another nation, Iran, stands accused of developing weapons of mass destruction. The USA with Australia’s backing sponsored a resolution through the International Atomic Energy Agency, demanding that teams of inspectors be given full and immediate access to Iran, accused of developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the claim and believes it is being deliberately provoked. One leading cleric has called for diplomatic retaliation against Australia. Joining Mark Davis to discuss this week’s developments is Mark Gwozdecky, spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna.
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Wednesday, 17th September,2003
TIMOR’S PRIME MINISTER UNDER SIEGE
East Timor’s Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is today travelling to China, an old ally from his years in exile. The Prime Minister’s critics say he’s too close to the Chinese and too wary of foreign investment from Western sources. They’re part of the growing list of criticisms levelled at the man who took over Timor’s top job in 2001. He’s a man who remains something of a mystery to most Australians. Maryann Keady has more.
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Wednesday, 17th September,2003
SAEB EREKAT INTERVIEW
Saeb Erekat has been one of the Palestinian’s main peace negotiators for the past 10 years. Today, like hundreds of other Palestinians, he is outside President Arafat’s Ramallah compound where an Israeli attack to capture or kill Yasser Arafat could happen at any time. Mark Davis spoke with him a short time ago.
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Wednesday, 17th September,2003
ARAFAT BACKGROUNDER
Later we’ll be looking at accusations that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
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But first to the Middle East, where this week’s comments from Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister that Yasser Arafat should be removed, assassinated if neccesary, have raised the stakes to boiling point. In a moment Mark Davis will be speaking with Palestinian spokesman Saeb Erekat from right outside Yasser Arafat’s compound for the latest developments there. But first, Irene Ulman reports on the week’s events. -
Wednesday, 10th September,2003
CHILE - NEVER AGAIN
Tomorrow marks another anniversary in the Americas - 30 years since General Augusto Pinochet seized power in Chile. More than 3,000 Chileans disappeared or were murdered under his military dictatorship. Yesterday, human rights activists in the capital, Santiago, stormed and occupied three foreign embassies in the city to highlight the fact that Pinochet and his generals have gone unpunished. As Alan Hall reports from Santiago, tomorrow’s anniversary will be a painful one.
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Wednesday, 10th September,2003
JOHN MACARTHUR INTERVIEW
On Sunday night George Bush marked the anniversary of the September 11 attacks with an address to the nation outlining the progress of his war on terror. According to President Bush, Iraq is the ’central front’ of that war. And as it becomes more expensive and more deadly by the day, his presidency is now riding on the willingness of the American public to believe his message and stick with his mission. For a perspective from New York, Mark Davis spoke with John MacArthur - author, journalist and publisher of ’Harper’s Magazine’.
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Wednesday, 10th September,2003
THE BIG STING
The collapse of New York’s twin towers two years ago tomorrow also marked the collapse of an international swindle that stole millions from some very prominent Australians. Not that many of them are keen to talk about it. Nor is the National Australia Bank, where the funds were deposited. Peter Martin reports. (Includes footage from The Profiteers, by Studio Hamburg Documentaries)
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Wednesday, 10th September,2003
HOW AUSTRALIA’S WEALTHIEST HAD THEIR MONEY RIPPED OFF
“It is unusual to see a scam where you have so many people with a million or more dollars who are involved.” Peter Kell, Australian Securities Commission.
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On SBS Television’s DATELINE on Wednesday, September 10 at 8.30pm, Peter Martin reports on how some of Australia’s wealthiest investors lost tens of millions of dollars to American conmen. These fraudsters used the reputation of the National Australia Bank (NAB) to snare their victims.
About 250 Australians were lured into the fraudulent scheme, several of them coming from the very top echelons of corporate Australia. Twenty of them put in more than $1m each and five put in more than $4m.
Despite the amounts they invested these people are reluctant to sue or be interviewed. They value their reputations for financial acumen more than the money they have lost.
One of the few prepared to speak out is Terry Ward who for most of the 1990s was the Chief Executive of Heinz in Australia. For another investor the $2m he lost represented 5% of his total wealth but some Australian investors borrowed to enter the scheme and have seen their future’s destroyed.
The scam that managed to entrap even wary corporate high flyers promised a 25% return on foreign currency trading. The addresses of the sister companies handling the investments were impressive – Evergreen International in the Trump Building and First Equity in the World Trade Centre. Investors were courted with beautifully produced brochures, highly expensive gifts and long phone calls from their New York “brokers”. A persuasive hook was that some clients were told that their funds would stay in a National Australia Bank (NAB) account and would merely act as security for offshore trading.
A man claiming to be a Director of First Equity applied to the NAB for an account in December 1999 and succeeded in getting one but a US court has heard that his letter of application was faked.
In fact funds were being transferred month by month from the NAB account by the authorised signatory through another bank and on to the owner of the two companies, Russian businessman Andrei Kudashev. Shortly after September 11, as investors called in to check on the fate of the First Equity office (in the Twin Towers) and their investments, Kudashev disappeared.
All of Evergreen’s most senior staff have either pleaded guilty or been found guilty of crimes of conspiracy and money laundering. -
Wednesday, 3rd September,2003
ADNAN BUYUNG NASUTION INTERVIEW
Yesterday, in Jakarta Abu Bakar Bashir was found guilty of acts of subversion, but acquitted of more serious terrorist charges. While the Australian Government has been critical of his 4-year sentence, his legal team is confident the sentence will be overturned on appeal. Mark Davis spoke to his principal lawyer, Adnan Buyung Nasution, earlier tonight
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Wednesday, 3rd September,2003
CALL TO ARMS - ARIZONA VIGILANTES
The prospect of thousands of illegal immigrants landing on our shores has long captivated our politicians and media. In America’s south western states that scenario is a reality, with thousands of migrants crossing the border every night. This has given rise to civilian vigilante groups, determined to stem the cross-border traffic and prepared to take the law into their own hands. Nick Lazaredes reports from the front line of America’s war on immigration.
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