Democracy Now! August 22, 2002

Story: SAUDIS PULL SOME $200 BILLION OUT OF THE U.S., FAMILY MEMBERS OF 9-11 VICTIMS ARE SUING SAUDI NATIONALS, AND SAUDI NATIONALS ARE SUING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT: A LOOK AT THE INCREASINGLY HOSTILE U.S.-SAUDI RELATIONSHIP The Financial Times reported yesterday that disgruntled Saudis have pulled tens of billions of dollars out of the US. One analyst said the total funds withdrawn by individual investors amount to $200 billion. Other bankers put the figure nearer to $100 billion. The US-Saudi alliance was put under severe strain after September 11, when 15 of the 19 alleged hijackers were Saudi nationals. The Financial Times said accusations that Saudi Arabia's austere brand of Islam breeds terrorism and its charities finance Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network have been perceived in the kingdom as attacks on Saudi society and its religion. An analyst from the Rand Corporation said at a Pentagon briefing this month that Saudi Arabia was the "kernel of evil", exacerbating concerns among the country's elite that they have become demonized in the US and their money is no longer safe there. As part of the fight against terrorism, the US and Saudi authorities have been monitoring the accounts of dozens of Saudi companies and individuals, a move that alarmed Saudi merchants. Guest: Gregory Gause, Director of Middle East Studies at the University of Vermont and author of "Oil Monarchies: Domestic and Security Challenges in the Arab Gulf States." If you are going to charge three defendants with capital murder for killing a newborn, do you have an obligation to show that the baby really was killed? Not in Alabama, you don't. Do you need to show, somehow, that the baby ever existed? Not in Alabama. Not if the defendants are poor, black and retarded. That's what Bob Herbert of the New York Times wrote in his column last week. On August 9th, an Alabama Appeals court overturned the guilty plea of a mentally retarded man for killing a baby that may never have existed. Medell Banks Jr., his wife Victoria Banks, and her sister Dianne Tucker' all pled guilty to manslaughter for the death of Mrs. Banks' alleged newborn. The police, however, never found a body. The story goes like this: In 1999, Victoria Banks was in prison awaiting trial for a different case. She told the prison authorities she was pregnant, hoping to get out of jail until her trial began. One doctor examined Banks and said she was not pregnant. Another doctor later claimed a fetal heartbeat was detected. Eventually, she was released. And when no baby was ever seen, Tucker, Banks and Banks were arrested for capital murder. Prosecutors even obtained confessions from the three. But, here is where it gets complicated. In 1995, four years before this alleged murder of her newborn baby, Victoria Banks had a tubal ligation. And the examination of a fertility expert revealed that Victoria Banks could not have been pregnant. Prosecutors, subsequently argued that Banks could have become pregnant despite the procedure. Joseph (Rick) Hutchinson, Medell Banks' defense attorney. Christie Doss, Medell Banks' sister. Story: NEW DOCUMENTS SHOW ARGENTINE MILITARY BELIEVED U.S. GAVE GO-AHEAD FOR DIRTY WAR State Department documents released yesterday on Argentina's dirty war (1976-83) show the Argentine military believed it had U.S. approval for its all-out assault on the left in the name of fighting terrorism. The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires complained to Washington that the Argentine officers were "euphoric" over signals from high-ranking U.S. officials including then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The Embassy reported to Washington that after Kissinger's 10 June 1976 meeting with Argentine Foreign Minister Admiral Guzzetti, the Argentine government dismissed the Embassy's human rights approaches and referred to Kissinger's "understanding" of the situation. The current State Department collection does not include a minute of Kissinger's and Guzetti's conversation in Santiago, Chile. Carlos Osorio, National Security Archive. National Security Archive