Britain Wants UN Security Council Attention on Zimbabwe

By Peter Heinlein United Nations 16 March 2007

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Britain is calling for a U.N. Security Council briefing on events in Zimbabwe, including the crackdown on government opponents. But as VOA correspondent Peter Heinlein at U.N. headquarters reports, the Council president, South Africa, is resisting the request.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is seen in bed at a local hospital in Harare, 14 Mar. 2007

Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones-Parry, Friday, said the widely condemned recent events in Zimbabwe, the attack on opposition leaders, including Morgan Tsvangirai, and what he called 'the impossibility of the present situation' warrant the Security Council's attention. He says the Council should be formally briefed by the U.N.'s political department.

"It is right the situation should be brought to the Security Council of the United Nations," he said. "That's what the briefing will do, actually making sure that the focus of attention here is on the appalling events of the last week, and the economic meltdown of a country, who, by it's own figures, its inflation rate is 1,740 percent, and the implications of that for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe, and potentially for the region."

But the request for a briefing immediately ran into opposition from regional power South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month. South Africa's U.N. ambassador, Dumisani Kumalo, called the British request 'surprising,' and said his country sees no need to bring the issue of Zimbabwe before the Council.

"We did put South Africa on record that we do not believe that the issue of Zimbabwe belongs to the Security Council, because it is not a matter of international peace and security," he said.

In the past, China, Russia and several African nations have opposed bringing Zimbabwe before the Security Council.

Britain demanded and received a Council briefing nearly two years ago on Zimbabwe's controversial urban slum demolition drive. In a rare protest, several ambassadors walked out of the Council chamber after a motion to hold the briefing passed by a narrow margin.

British ambassador Jones-Parry argued Friday that the earlier vote effectively placed Zimbabwe on the Council's permanent agenda.

"Remember, Zimbabwe is a formal agenda item," he added. "Yes, it was agreed last year. It was agreed by a majority vote in the council, formally."

U.N. diplomats noted Friday that, if South Africa succeeds in delaying a briefing on Zimbabwe, conditions could change next month, when Britain assumes the Security Council presidency.

Opposition MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara(c) chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly Lovemore Madhuku(l) and Tendai Biti(r) Secretary General of the main opposition faction vowed to forge an alliance against Mugabe's government

Jones-Parry said Britain is also pursuing the Zimbabwe issue at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. The United States and Australia have also joined the call for increasing sanctions on President Robert Mugabe's government.

In a related development, Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu issued a statement saying Africans should hang their heads in shame over what is happening in Zimbabwe. He questioned how African leaders could show so little concern.

News reports from Harare say the injured opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was discharged from the hospital Friday, and he and other opposition leaders vowed to keep battling against President Mugabe's rule.

Israeli PM Admits He's Unpopular but Rejects Calls to Resign

By Robert Berger Jerusalem 16 March 2007

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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is brushing off polls which show the vast majority of the public wants him to resign. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, Mr. Olmert's political fortunes have plummeted since the Lebanon War in July and August of last year.

Ehud Olmert

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits that he has lost the support of the Israeli public.

"I'm an unpopular prime minister," Mr. Olmert said. "The polls say so and they are right. I am indeed an unpopular prime minister."

Mr. Olmert's approval rating has plunged to single digits in the wake of last year's Lebanon War, which was widely seen as a failure.

Despite a 34-day air and ground assault, the powerful Israeli army was unable to defeat 5,000 Hezbollah fighters entrenched in South Lebanon.

The prime minister's political fortunes took a turn for the worse this week, when the official commission of inquiry into the war announced that it would issue an interim report next month on Mr. Olmert's "personal responsibility."

Israeli politicians and the media believe that means he will be condemned for his handling of the war and could be forced to resign under the pressure of public opinion.

But Mr. Olmert said those seeking his downfall will have to wait.

"I know this is hunting season," he said, "but I'm here to work and to lead."

Mr. Olmert was speaking to his ruling Kadima party in a bid to boost sagging morale. Polls show that if elections were held today, Kadima would win only 10 seats in the 120-member parliament, down from its current 29. The party enjoyed a meteoric rise to power in a landslide election victory a year ago, but now, it is in danger of a meteoric fall.

Former CIA Officer Testifies White House 'Recklessly' Exposed Her Identity

By Dan Robinson Capitiol Hill 16 March 2007

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Former undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame, who has been at the center of a controversy involving the role White House officials played in revealing her identity, has testified in public for the first time at a congressional hearing. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, her dramatic appearance before a House committee was her first before Congress, and came four years after her identity was leaked in 2003.

Valerie Plame testifies before US Congressional committee 16 Mar. 2007

Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, alleged that senior administration officials deliberately leaked her CIA identity to the media in retaliation for Wilson's allegation that the administration distorted intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs.

The scandal led to the recent conviction of senior White House aide Lewis Libby, who was found guilty of lying, perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation into the leak.

Congressman Henry Waxman opened Friday's hearing, saying its purpose was to find out whether White House officials took appropriate actions to safeguard Plame's identity.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Representative Henry Waxman

"How did such a serious violation of our national security occur? Two, did the White House take the appropriate investigative and disciplinary steps after the breach occurred? And three, what changes in White House procedures to prevent future violations of our national security from occurring?," he said.

Waxman read a statement to the committee from the CIA supporting Plame's long-standing contention that she was an undercover agent, and, in the CIA's words, working on some of the most sensitive and highly-secretive matters handled by the agency, including service overseas.

Plame said that, in the days before her identity was revealed, she was working on classified weapons proliferation issues. She says she was shocked by evidence that emerged in the recent trial of former White House aide Lewis Libby.

"My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior government officials in both the White House and the State Department," she said.

"All of them understood that I worked for the CIA. And having signed oaths to protect national security secrets, they should have been diligent in protecting me and every CIA officer," she added.

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby leaves federal court in Washington, 06 Mar 2007

Saying grave harm is done when undercover identities are revealed, Plame said evidence that emerged in the trial of Lewis Libby showed a pattern of, in her words, "creeping insidious politicizing" of the intelligence process.

"Testimony in the criminal trial of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, who has now been convicted of serious crimes, indicates that my exposure resulted from purely political motives," she said.

Plame cited a number of visits by Vice President Cheney to the CIA in the weeks leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq as an example of political pressure being put on the agency.

In this exchange with Democrat Chris Van Hollen, Plame said Karl Rove, a close aide to the president, was involved in the disclosure of her identity.

VAN HOLLEN: "Do you believe there continue to be people, individuals in this administration, who were involved in leaking the information about you?"

PLAME: "Yes congressman, as we know again from the evidence that was introduced at the trial of the vice president's former chief of staff, for one, Karl Rove clearly was involved in the leaking of my name, and he still carries a security clearance to this day, despite the president's words to the contrary that he would immediately dismiss anybody who had anything to do with this."

Critics of Plame and her husband, including some key Republicans in Congress, have challenged their assertion that she was a covert agent. In response to repeated questions, Plame reaffirmed her undercover status.

Congressman Tom Davis questioned whether White House officials actually knew about this.

"It is a terrible thing that any CIA operative would be outed. But what is difficult, I think, what we have not been able to establish here, is who knew who was undercover, who was in a covert status, and, I think, we're going to have to look at that. But, if there is no evidence here that the people that were outing this or pursuing this had knowledge of the covert status," he said.

In later testimony, attorney Victoria Toensing disputed Plame's assertion that she was covert, saying her responsibilities did not qualify her as such under existing law aimed at protecting undercover agents.

And the director of the White House Office of Security since August 2004, James Knodell, faced intense questioning about what, if any, internal investigation was conducted by the White House itself.

None was conducted by officials in charge at the time, he said, because the matter had already been referred, at the request of the CIA, to the Department of Justice. But he added that an internal probe might be appropriate, now that the criminal investigation was completed.

WAXMAN: "Do you know whether there was an investigation at the White House after the leaks came out?"

KNODELL: "I don't have any knowledge of an investigation in my office."

WAXMAN: "Ever?"

KNODELL: "I do not."

No White House or State Department officials alleged to have been involved in the leaking of Plame's identity testified before the House panel.

VOASE0315_American Mosaic

15 March 2007

Most Americans Have No Connection to Ireland. But You Would Never Know That on St. Patrick's Day
Also: A question from Brazil about the difference between advertising and propaganda. And music by the Thievery Corporation.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about advertising …

Play some music from Thievery Corporation …

And report about Saint Patrick's Day.

Saint Patrick's Day

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day the American way

Saturday, March seventeenth is Saint Patrick’s Day. In Ireland, it is a religious holiday that honors the man who brought Christianity to that country in the fifth century. In the United States, people celebrate with parades and parties. Faith Lapidus tells us more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

Saint Patrick’s Day has changed over the years. It is no longer a day to celebrate only Saint Patrick, but a day to celebrate all things Irish.

In nineteen ninety-five, the United States Congress declared the month of March as Irish-American Heritage Month. The American president releases a statement about it every year. The statement praises Americans whose families came to the United States from Ireland. And it calls on all Americans to celebrate the month by learning about the influence of Irish-Americans.

The Census Bureau reports that more than thirty-four million Americans say their ancestors came from Ireland. That is twelve percent of the country’s population. It is the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry. German ancestry is the highest. The state with the highest percentage of Irish-Americans is Massachusetts. Twenty-four percent of the people living there say their ancestors came from Ireland.

History experts say people from Ireland first celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day in the city of Boston about two hundred fifty years ago. But the first Saint Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City on March seventeenth, seventeen sixty-two. It included Irish soldiers who were serving in the British army.

Parades spread across the country as more and more Irish people came to America. But New York City’s parade is still the biggest one. The city of Chicago, Illinois also holds a large Saint Patrick’s Day parade. And it celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day by coloring its river green.

Green is the traditional Irish color. You see lots of it on Saint Patrick’s Day. People wear green clothes. Some even color their hair or faces green. And some drinking places serve green beer. Many people eat the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage. And many attend Saint Patrick’s Day parties.

A majority of Americans have no real connection to Ireland. But they like to say that everyone is a little bit Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Advertising and Propaganda

This week, our listener question comes from Curitiba, Brazil. Joalo Ademir dos Santos wants to know about propaganda, advertising and publicity.

In some ways these words have similar meanings, but they are each a little different. Propaganda is a message designed and spread to influence public opinion. It is most commonly used by governments and in politics. Before the twentieth century, pictures and written media were the main forms of propaganda.

Today, propaganda can be found in radio, television, movies, and the Internet. Many governments throughout history have used propaganda to gain the support of their public. Propaganda does not always include neutral information because it supports the opinion of one group or government.

During wartime, propaganda created by a government and directed at its own civilians and military can improve feelings about the country. Propaganda aimed at the enemy is considered a form of psychological warfare. Many governments use propaganda as a policy tool. However, experts debate its effectiveness.

Advertising is a paid message usually used to influence people to buy goods or services. It can also be used to spread the ideas of an organization or business.

You can see and hear advertisements on radio, television, newspapers, the Internet and even signs on the street. Businesses invest large amounts of money in advertising campaigns in order to make their products well known. Advertising has become a major part of life. Experts say most people see and hear hundreds of different advertising messages each day.

Publicity is usually information or an announcement about a person, group, event or product. It is sent to the media with the hope of being published or broadcast. An organization's public relations department usually creates publicity. Information about ceremonies, press conferences or protests are common kinds of publicity. Experts say publicity is most successful when it has news value.

Thievery Corporation

HOST:

Thievery Corporation may sound like the name of a company, but it is the name of a musical group. Thievery Corporation started as an important part of the musical nightlife of Washington, D.C. Now, the group has become well known all over the world. You can hear their music in video games, television shows, and movies. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Eric Hilton and Rob Garza (pictured) are the creators of Thievery Corporation. For ten years they have been making records that combine repetitive electronic beats with ethnic music and jazz sounds. They started performing together at a popular drinking place in Washington, D.C., called the Eighteenth Street Lounge. People loved their sound so much that the men started to make records. Here is the song “Shaolin Satellite” from one of their early albums.

(MUSIC)

The sounds of the city influenced Hilton and Garza. They heard many kinds of ethnic music performed in the areas of the city called Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan. They met musicians from all over the world and included this music in their songs.

Here is Sista Pat singing “Wires and Watchtowers.” It is from Thievery Corporation's latest album called “The Cosmic Game.”

(MUSIC)

Recently Thievery Corporation performed four nights in a row in Washington. All shows sold out very quickly. Their energetic and colorful concerts included many singers and musicians such as guitar, sitar and bass players. There was even a belly dancer. The shows were a celebration of the group's ten years together. We leave you with their international hit “Lebanese Blonde,” from an earlier album called "Mirror Conspiracy."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Brianna Blake, Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was our producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Send your questions about American life to mosaic@voanews.com. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., 20237, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.