April/May 2004

Peace Candidate Dennis Kucinich Vows to Stay in Race
Interview by Amy Goodman

Winds of Change in Spain
William Rivers Pitt

"House of Bush, House of Saud"
Interview with Craig Unger by Amy Goodman

"Seeds of Deception"
Jeffrey Smith

Genetically Engineered DNA Found in Traditional Seeds

New Findings Show Health Hazards of Genetically Modified Crops

An Evolutionary Conversatoin with Barbara Marx Hubbard
Alan Sasha Lithman

Making A New Declaration of Independence
Michael J. Tamura

Empathic Listening
Holley Humphrey

Intimacy With Self and Others, Earth and Spirit
Loba

2004 State of the Universe Address
Swani Beyondananda

Cosmic Calendar
Salina Rain

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Peace Candidate Dennis Kucinich Vows to Stay in Race

Interview by Amy Goodman

Ohio Congress member Dennis Kucinich addressed more than 100,000 people in New York City on Saturday, March 20, 2004 during one of the mass protests marking the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq. He later issued a statement saying that he will not drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination. This interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! took place the following day.

AG: What is your response to the level of protest on March 20, not only in New York, but around the world?

DK: I believe that the rising tide in this world is towards human unity. All over the world, people are striving to create more peaceful conditions. This movement in the United States is still burgeoning, and I think that as it goes to a community level, it will continue to demonstrate the insistence of so many people around this country that America take a new path in the world.

The contender who looks likes he has wrapped up the democratic nomination, Senator John Kerry, did not address any of the major protests.

It’s true that Senator Kerry has gained sufficient delegates to be able to lay claim to the nomination, and while that might be somewhat of a certainty, what is not certain is the direction of the Democratic Party and the direction of the United States. For example, I do not believe that people in this nation are ready to exchange a Republican version of the war in America for a Democratic version of the same, and that’s one of the reasons I’m continuing in this race all the way to the convention, to make sure that it’s known that there are voices who happen to be Democratic who are demanding that the United States take a new approach—that we get out of Iraq, that we bring a in UN peacekeepers, and bring our troops home.

You issued a letter this weekend declaring your commitment to remain steadfast saying that you intend to campaign right through the remaining primaries and caucuses to insure the Democratic Party goes in the direction of peace. On March 25 there will be a major unity dinner of the Democratic National Committee to celebrate the party’s determination to bury differences and rally behind Senator John Kerry. Former President’s Clinton and Carter will be there at the National Building museum in Washington, also present will be all of this year’s Democratic Presidential Candidates, except you. A DNC official said this is because you are still campaigning and not preaching party unity.

If by preaching party unity, they expect me to get out of the race for the convenience of the party, that’s not going to happen. The fact of the matter is there must be a clear democratic voice for peace. There must be a clear democratic voice for fair trade and health care for all. My presence in this primary and caucus season enables democrats to extend their reach. We can’t win the White House unless we’re able to reach out to Greens, Reform Party members, Libertarians, and Democrats who feel that the party has lost its way. I’m actually helping to hold that principle of unity in the broadest sense. This narrow definition of unity cannot serve the interests of the Democratic Party.

Do you support Senator John Kerry?

I’m still in the race. If I supported him, I would be out of the race.

Reverend Al Sharpton says he supports John Kerry.

I’m not going to try to discern the wisdom of the Reverend, but I am going to say, I’m still campaigning. There are differences of opinion between myself and Senator Kerry. He articulated a case for weapons of mass destruction. I challenged that there were no such weapons. He voted for the war. I voted against it. He voted for the Patriot Act. I voted against it. He’s for NAFTA and the WTO, I say we have to overturn those and go to bilateral trade conditioned on human rights, workers’ rights, and the environment. There are differences that remain. We can’t paper over them in the name of party unity. I think it’s urgent that the Democratic debate continue and then, at the end of the process, we can feel that all sides have been heard from. But the attempt to try to squelch debate right now is a mistake.
There are still people out there who want to see a voice in the Democratic party provide an alternative view. Maybe John Kerry can count to 47%, 48%, but the pivotal difference in this election is going to be who is going to be able to reach out to those democrats who might otherwise ask “what does this party stand for and why should we participate.” That’s what my campaign is about. This campaign has the potential to make the critical difference in this election. That’s why I’m staying in, and people who go to our website, www. kucinich.us, will see why it’s important for this campaign to continue.

What is your reaction to Richard Clark, the top Counter-Terrorism Adviser to both President Clinton and President Bush, harshly criticizing the Bush administration?

How many times do we have to hear from sources close to the administration that there was a misrepresentation and lies to get us to go to war against Iraq? You could start with Bob Woodward’s book, Bush at War, page 49 makes it very clear Secretary Rumsfeld wanted to attack Iraq after 9-11 even though there was no connection. You can look at Secretary O’Neil’s book. Ten days into the administration, he said, it was all about Iraq. You look at Mr. Clark’s book—they didn’t care if there was any tie or not, they were looking to attack Iraq.

The Democratic Party is on the verge of obliterating the Iraq issue in the name of trying to appear tough, and I think therefore stupid on National Security. The Democrats are ceding the debate to Bush about 9-11. We should be challenging him for taking us into an illegal war, for causing the deaths of men and women who have served this country, for the deaths of innocent Iraqis, and the waste of $200 billion of tax dollars. The administration should be driven from office principally for leading us into the war in Iraq. So many of the Democratic leaders are just ready to look the other way.

It’s imperative that we make this a centerpiece of this campaign—that they lied to get us into a war. The reason I’m staying in this election is to make sure that the Democrats have a voice which challenges this admin-istration not only for going into a war that was wrong to go in, but is also wrong to stay in. We must expect our party to articulate a program to get us out of Iraq, and that’s why I’m staying in this race.

This week will be public hearings of the 9-11 commission. The National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice has refused to give sworn testimony. The Bush adminis-tration has refused to release 28 pages of the 9-11 report.

Here again, the administration used 9-11 as a basis for getting us into a war against Iraq. The more information that’s known up front about 9-11, the more the American people will come to understand the folly of our presence in Iraq and perhaps the administration’s late response to the crisis. We are at a moment in the history of this country where the whole world is waiting for America to embrace this principle of human unity. The policies of preemption and unilateralism that set us on a path to war against Iraq, bolstered by lies and misleading statements, separate us from the human community. I think it is urgent that all of us who care passionately about peace continue to insist on a new direction. That’s why I’m staying in the race, to continue to be a voice to move the Democratic Party in a direction of peace, and in a direction of articulating a platform to get out of Iraq.

Do you think that Senator John Kerry is moving the Democratic Party in a direction of peace?

No. I’m going to help him.

Would you consider leaving the Democratic Party?

No, I’m here to help make the Demo-cratic Party more relevant. I’m a Democrat. I ran in the primary process to demonstrate the possibilities of creating a new direction for the party, and again, any Democrat may be able to go to 47%, 48%, the critical difference in this campaign is going to be the difference to attract and energize those people who stand for peace, social and economic justice, health care for all, and fair trade. That’s the base that needs to be activated in order to win the election.

What do you think of Ralph Nader running?

I think that Ralph Nader’s candidacy points out the urgency of having that message inside the Democratic Party. If there’s no one with the message in the Democratic Party, then people will feel there’s nothing there among Democrats. As long as I’m inside, then I can help point the way, so the Democrats can have some responsiveness and recognition of the concerns that people have about corporate accountability and the scandals on Wall Street. About the fact that we need to protect Social Security and get out of Iraq and bring in UN peacekeepers.
There’s a larger issue of creating a sustainable structure of international law where we confirm the importance of the non-proliferation treaty, where we sign the biological weapons convention and chemical weapons convention, the small arms and landmine treaty, join the international court, and sign the Kyoto climate change treaty. This is the moment where the United States ought to be thinking about rejoining the world and it’s urgent that the Democratic Party have a strong platform that points us in the direction of doing that.

Do you think that Senator John Kerry should have been at the peace protests this weekend?

I think that it’s important for Senator Kerry to develop and articulate an approach which will explain how quickly he intends to get out of Iraq, what his international policies will be, and how they differ from the Bush administration. My presence in the primaries and the caucuses will give him the opportunity to do that.

What is your assessment of the June 30th handover in Iraq?

The so-called constitution that the US helped to draft keeps the US in control of Iraq. It continues the military occupation of Iraq. If you look at the plans, there are people talking about the United States being in Iraq through 2009, if not longer. We need to end the military occupation of Iraq, to hand over control. Changing from the left hand of the United States to the right hand of the United States does not really change the governing structure. We need not only to turn over the oil assets of Iraq to the United Nations to be handled on behalf of the Iraqi people until they are self governing, but the contract process also needs to be turned over to the UN. We need to renounce the privatization process, and we need to ask the UN to develop a constitution and hold new elections in Iraq.

Are you considering crashing the Democratic National Committee Unity Party?

I’m all for unity, but unity around principles of peace. Unity around principles of health care for all. Unity around fair trade. Let us have unity. Of course, we should have unity. Principles of unity are principles of coherence. We need human unity and need to stand for that. So I’m all for unity. I’m sorry I won’t be able to make that party, but you have to realize, I’m still an active candidate. There were ten candidates, now there’s two actively campaigning. So it’s not appropriate for me to be there at a rally for John Kerry. I wish him well and I will do everything that I can to make sure that the Democrats develop a firmly articulated view about peace and socioeconomic justice, fair trade and health care for all.

This interview aired on March 22, 2004 on Democracy Now!. See page 9 for more.