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Dear Kitty
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
  US singer David Rovics interviewed on music, rich, poor, and war
A troubadour for this generation
(Wednesday 10 August 2005)

INTERVIEW: David Rovics
by MIKE CHIVERS

INTERVIEW: DAVID ROVICS talks about the inspirations and ideas behind his progressive folk music.

At a time when grand humanitarian gestures have become indistinguishable from the latest corporate publicity drive, US singer-songwriter David Rovics is a rare and precious find.

Here we have a committed artist who encourages his audience not only to care deeply about the world but to go out and change it themselves - a true anti-capitalist and travelling troubadour for the G8 generation.

I meet Rovics at the Brighton [England] pub the Evening Star.

He enthuses about the performers that he appeared alongside at the previous day's Glastonwick Beer Festival, including Carter USM's JimBob, ex-Adverts front man TV Smith and "keep it spiky" trainspotters Eastfield.

Rovics's own music falls into the acoustic tradition of Woody Guthrie, Phil Ochs and Pete Seeger. ...

"My most recent song was directly inspired by the Bush administration.

They appointed Paul Wolfowitz to head the World Bank. That was so poetic, because, at least in the US, there's a real division between the global justice movement, around WTO, G8 and that kind of thing, and the anti-war movement.

"It seems outrageous because it is so obvious that these things are connected. How can you separate US economic policy from US military policy?

They're all part of the same thing.

"Appointing the guy who was in charge of bombing Iraq to the financial institution that's supposed to help develop the Third World?

If that doesn't make the connections between capitalism and imperialism obvious, then what will?"

Read more here.

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Tuesday, August 09, 2005
  Pakistan nuclear spy helped by CIA, Dutch ex Prime Minister admits
Abdul Khan
Dutch TV NOS reports:
US American intelligence service CIA in 1975 and in 1986 has stopped Dutch authorities from arresting Pakistani nuclear spy Khan.

Dutch ex prime minister Lubbers said this in VPRO radio program Argos.

US daily New York Times already wrote on this affair last year, based on anonymous sources. Now, Lubbers confirms this.

In the 1970s, Abdul Khan stole nuclear secrets from Dutch Ultra Centrifuge, part of Urenco in Almelo.

With this, in the 1990s he built the Pakistani nuclear bomb. He also sold his knowledge to Iran, North Korea, and Libya.

Suspicion

In 1975 there already was suspicion what Khan was doing, and Dutch authorities thought about arresting him.

According to Lubbers, however, the CIA wanted Khan to continue with his activities "in order to get more information" [the CIA and Pakistani military dictators being close pals; as Lubbers said during the interview; not included on NOS TV web article].

In the 1980s, Khan had to appear in court at last, but was freed due to legal errors.

Lubbers, then prime minister, wanted the court case to continue.

However, he did not carry on, on the "advice" of security services [CIA pals].

Dutch Attorney General Donner still last year denied that there had been meddling by secret services in the Khan affair.

VPRO radio investigated the affair jointly with Japanese television.

They are making a documentary on the affair, as now it is sixty years ago that Japan was hit by two US nuclear bombs, on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
See also here.

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My diary on peace and wars, arts, sciences, politics, the fight for economic and social justice, the environment, and more. Backup for http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/

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