Perle suing over New Yorker article
Richard Perle, the influential foreign policy hawk, is suing journalist Seymour Hersh over a March 17 article he wrote implying that Perle is using his position as a Pentagon advisor to benefit financially from a war with Iraq. Perle, who chairs the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board—a non-paying position—is suing in Britain because it is easier to win such cases there, where the burden on plaintiffs is much less. Hersh’s article said Perle met for lunch with two Saudi businessmen in France in January in an attempt to seek Saudi investment for Trieme Partners LP, a company Perle is associated with. Perle contends the meeting was only to talk about a diplomatic alternative to war in Iraq.
According to the article, both Saudi businessmen thought the meeting was to discuss Iraq as well as investment. The article quotes all three participants saying Saudi investment was not discussed and asserts that to date, no Saudi money has been invested in Triveme. The Saudi ambassador to America is quoted in the article accusing Perle of “blackmail.” Perle said the article is “all lies, from beginning to end,” and called Hersh, “The closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist.” The editor of the New Yorker backs Hersh’s story and its factualness. (New York Sun)

US forces enlist Hollywood
George Allison, a 43-year old Hollywood set designer, has been hired to create a dramatic high-tech backdrop for the US Central Command base in Qatar. His $200,000 design will set the stage from which Gen. Tommy Franks and the other US commanders plan to bombard the international news media with daily updates from the field. It’s part of a renovation reportedly worth $1 million that will transform a storage hangar into a high-tech media hub. “I like to achieve a level of detail that makes it difficult to distinguish a set from reality,” Allison said. “If you don’t have anything to say, I guess it’s a good idea to have nice scenery,” said William M. Arkin, a former US army intelligence analyst and writer on military affairs. (Toronto Globe & Mail)

Oscars blacklist stars to prevent protest speeches
Oscar Awards organizers have drawn up a blacklist of people who will not be allowed to speak in a bid to prevent providing a platform for anti-war protesters on air. Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Vanessa Redgrave, George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Ed Norton, and Spike Lee are among those who will not be speaking, amid fears they could turn the ceremony into an anti-war rally. Only peace activist Salma Hayek, up for best actress, has been allowed to present. In a move denounced by some as a return to McCarthyism, star presenters have been ordered to stick to scripts and award winners will have their speeches cut short if they say more than a brief thank you.
Officially, Oscar executives say that politics are a turn off to viewers. But in the wake of backlash against stars who voice their opinion, such as Martin Sheen, producers fear upsetting their advertisers, who have spent $50 million on the show. One of the ceremony’s producers admitted he thought it “inappropriate” for stars to use their slots to spotlight world problems and said they should focus on the Oscar’s 75th anniversary.
Tom O’Neil, an Oscar historian, said, “Political tantrums are inevitable. You’re dealing with a class of people who have unchecked egos and who are invited on talk shows to be experts on everything, from high art to pop culture.” Michael Moore, director of Bowling for Columbine, the highest grossing documentary of all time, is the favorite to win the documentary award. Insiders fear if he does not win it will be a sign that the 1950’s witch-hunting, which drained Hollywood of some of its best and brightest, has resumed. (The Scotsman)

AP protests FBI’s seizure of package
Government agencies opened a package mailed between two Associated Press (AP) reporters last September and seized a copy of an eight-year-old unclassified FBI report without obtaining a warrant or notifying the news agency. The Customs Service intercepted the package sent via Federal Express from the AP office in Manila to the one in Washington after selecting it for routine inspection -- which it has the right to do. FedEx notified the FBI and turned over the contents when the FBI requested them. An FBI spokesperson said the document contained sensitive information that should not be made public. However, the assistant to the AP president said the package contained an unclassified 1995 FBI report that had been discussed in open court in two legal cases, and that “The government had no legal right to seize the package.”
The package contained an FBI lab report on materials seized from a Filipino apartment rented by convicted terrorist Ramzi Yousef. The AP reporters were working on a research project that resulted in stories published last month about the government’s concerns before Apr. 19, 1995 that white supremacists might bomb a federal building. FedEx sent the AP an apology and a $100 reimbursement for the loss. (AP)

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