DEATH SQUAD DEFENDER NAMED US AMBASSADOR TO THE UN : SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN CALL FOR TOLERANCE, URGE AN END TO US PREPARATION FOR WAR.
NEWS HEADLINES DEATH SQUAD DEFENDER NAMED US AMBASSADOR TO THE UN This weekend the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-3 to confirm the nomination of John Negroponte to be the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Negroponte's nomination now moves on to the full Senate, where he will almost certainly be confirmed. It also comes as the Bush Administration seeks to build an international coalition to support possible military action. Just a few weeks ago, however, Democratic Senators were vowing to sharply question or even block Negroponte's nomination, for reasons that have a lot to do with the current public debate about terrorism. Negroponte, who served as Ambassador to Honduras during the 1980's, is a man who knows something about terrorism. Guest: Larry Birns, Director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Related link: Council on Hemispheric Affairs SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN CALL FOR TOLERANCE, URGE AN END TO US PREPARATION FOR WAR In Mesa, Ariz., Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, was shot and killed outside his gas station Saturday "for no other apparent reason than that he was dark-skinned and wore a turban," Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said. His alleged attacker, Frank Silva Roque, 42, was charged Monday with first-degree murder. He was quoted as saying in a police report, "I'm an American. Arrest me. Let those terrorists run wild." Yesterday alone, a bomb exploded at the Islamic Center of San Diego, incendiary devices were thrown on the roof at the Nation of Islam mosque in Austin, Texas. A man drove his car through the front entrance of Ohio's largest mosque. At least three other mosques in North Texas have been vandalized since Tuesday's terror attacks. Vandals have also left their mark on a mosque in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Muslims who arrived for prayer yesterday found the phone wires cut and graffiti saying "You will all die." The New York-based United Sikhs in Service of America lists some 196 backlash hate crimes on its web site as of Tuesday morning. Dennis Bernstein of KPFA's "Flashpoints" interviewed Balbir Singh Sodhi's cousin shortly after the attack. Tape: Adam Singh, cousin of Balbir Singh Sodhi interviewed by Dennis Bernstein. Over 2,000 New Yorkers gathered on Sunday evening to mourn and pray for peace in the heart of the Arab American community of Brooklyn. Muslim Jewish and Christian religious leaders led New Yorkers in a prayer ceremony as they looked across the river to what remains of the World Trade Center. Today we have with us several of those who spoke at the ceremony, three women who are urging for the end of attacks on Arab American communities around the country, and urging the US not to move to war. Guests: Purvi Shah, SAKHI for South Asian Women, (SAKHI). Fahima Danishgar, SAKHI for South Asian Women, (SAKHI). Sunita Mehta, SAKHI and Women for Afghan Women.