Democracy Now! June 18 , 2002

"The trials of Henry Kissinger": as the former secretary of state faces possible extradition to Chile for his role in the 1973 coup, a new film provides fresh evidence of war crimes. We'll talk to the filmmakers. And US Marines come under fire from rebels in the Philippines today and fire back in their first direct confrontation with the rebels there. This just as President Bush is deciding whether to intensify and lengthen US operations there. We'll talk to Walden Bello. All that and more coming up. 9:01-9:06 Headlines: 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 6: MAGOO IN HELL - Alan Barysh w/Errol Grey and the Buzzard Luck Ensemble 20: Pacifica National Programming Promo - Peter Bochan mix 40: STOP THE WAR NOW - Edwin Starr The Very Best Of... (Motown CD) End: FLAG WAVIN' - 50-man-maching For Lena (www.50ManMachine.com) 9:07-9:20 "THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER": AS THE FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE FACES POSSIBLE EXTRADITION TO CHILE FOR HIS ROLE IN THE 1973 COUP, A NEW FILM PROVIDES FRESH EVIDENCE OF WAR CRIMES Henry Kissinger may face extradition proceedings in connection with his role in the 1973 military coup in Chile. This according to a recent article in the London Guardian. The former US Secretary of State is wanted as a witness for questioning by Chilean Judge Juan Guzman, who is investigating US involvement in the overthrow of president Salvador Allende by Augusto Pinochet. Guzman is particularly interested in whether US officials passed lists of leftist Americans in Chile to the military and whether the US embassy failed to assist Americans deemed sympathetic to the deposed government. Kissinger has refused to cooperate with the investigation. This is not the first attempt to interview Kissinger about his role in this brutal period in Latin American history. It is also not the first time Kissinger has come under scrutiny for human rights abuses. A growing chorus of voices has long argued that Kissinger should be tried for war crimes, based on his role in the assassination of a Chilean general in 1970, the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969, and the approval of and military support for the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975. These arguments are examined in a new documentary, which traces Kissinger's part in the tragic and bloody history of Vietnam, Cambodia, East Timor, and Chile. It tells a different story of the man who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, who Compton's Encyclopedia heralds as "the most influential foreign policy figure in the administrations of US presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford." The film is called "The Trials of Henry Kissinger," and it opened this weekend at the Human Rights Watch film festival in New York. Guest: Eugene Jarecki, co-director of "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" Contact: www.hrw.org/iff/2002/MDV Tape: "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" clip 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 "THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER" CONT'D 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 US MARINES COME UNDER FIRE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND FIRE BACK, AS BUSH DECIDES WHETHER TO EXPAND OPERATIONS THERE US Marines came under fire from rebels in the Philippines today for the first time since beginning a training exercise in February. The Marines and Philippine soldiers returned fire, killing some of the guerrillas. The incident is the first direct U.S. confrontation with the rebels there. It comes as President Bush is nearing a decision on a recommendation by top military officers to intensify and lengthen US operations in the Philippines. At issue is the U.S. role in the combat zone on the southern Philippine island of Basilan, where more than a thousand US Green Berets, Marines, and Navy Seabees are stationed. The rules of engagement currently prohibit U.S. forces from joining directly in the fight against the rebels, limiting them to training efforts and firing only in self-defense. Basilan is the site of military operations against the Abu Sayyaf, a group of Muslim guerillas the U.S. claims has links to al Qaeda. But some Filipino officials say the Abu Sayyaf is merely a small group of bandits, not a global terrorist organization. They say heightened U.S. involvement would probably intensify domestic opposition to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a nation where the constitution forbids combat operations by foreign military personnel, except in a state of emergency. Today we are going to talk about US military intervention in the Philippines. Guest: Walden Bello, Executive Director, Focus on the Global South Contact: www.focusweb.org/Guest: Riya Ortiz, Filipino Organization for Women's Advancement, Rights, and Dignity (FORWARD) and the Inang Bayan (Motherland) Movement, which is a national alliance working for democracy in the Philippines, and working to get US troops out of the Philippines Contact: www.bayanorg.pilnet.com, www.nispop.org 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits