Wednesday Night

Prog Notes S H 09-28-23




12 AM

Dave Emory – For the Record 1309

Deep Politics and the Death of Iris Chang part 3

FTR#1309 This program was recorded in one, 60-minute segment.

https://spitfirelist.com/for-the-record/ftrs-1309-and-1310-deep-politics-and-the-death-of-iris-chang-parts-3-and-4/



Introduction: These broadcasts supplement FTR#‘s 509, 1107 and 1108.

Significant sections of the latter two broadcasts are recapped in these programs and this description.



Key Points of Discussion and Analysis Include:



Iris Chang’s mother, Ying-Ying Chang, could not rule out the “dark conspiracy” that Iris was facing. Ying-Ying’s point of view was shaped, in part, by Steven Clemons’ observations.

In an appendix titled “Requiem for Iris Chang,” Steven Clemons noted the alleged “suicide” of his associate Juzo Itami, who was battling the same forces as Iris Chang. “I have never bought the story about Juzo Itami, who was at war in his films with the Japanese right-wing crowd and yakuza.”

Iris’ best-known work, The Rape of Nanking, inspired a congressional resolution supporting Japanese compensation for those who had been compelled to labor as slaves and slave prostitutes or “comfort women.”

Iris was working on a book and documentary film project about the survivors of the Bataan Death March. Some of those veterans had been used as slave laborers by Japanese corporations during the war. The Bataan Death March veterans were among those who sued the Japanese corporations that had enslaved them.

The presiding judge ruled against the veterans and for the Japanese corporations. On the day of Iris’ “suicide” Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was meeting with Japanese businessmen to promote California-Japanese trade.

In early September of 2001, Iris spoke at a conference assembled to protest the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the U.S./Japanese treaty of 1951 (negotiated by John Foster Dulles). Iris called “the San Francisco Peace Treaty a travesty of justice, a betrayal of our own American veterans.” Recall the congressional resolution passed in the aftermath of, and because of The Rape of Nanking.

After watching a spirited discussion between Iris and the Japanese ambassador to the U.S., a friend of Iris’ father advised her to hire a bodyguard.

As will be noted at greater length below, Iris was very critical of the George W. Bush administration and had written several articles critical of his policies.

Iris was very critical of the George W. Bush administration, and had taken stances against many features of his foreign policy, Bush’s invasion of Iraq in particular. Iris had long opposed all forms of racism in this country.

Sadly, many of those close to Iris dismissed her fears concerning the government’s targeting of her and the overlapping ideological animosity and targeting of her by the Japanese right-wing. The historical and operational overlap between the two is fundamental and is explored in some of the material below.

When she traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to interview survivors of the Bataan Death March, she felt she was under physical surveillance and harassment. We note below that Kentucky was a place where Bush confidant William Stamps Farish III had powerful connections.

During her book tour for The Rape of Nanking, Iris was approached by someone she felt was recruiting her. He said, “You will be safer to join us.” Was this an attempt at recruitment by the CIA?

We repeat the information in #11, for purposes of emphasis.

Iris was convinced to her dying day that she was the focal point of hostility from the Bush administration. A remake of the movie The Manchurian Candidate heightened her anxiety. Her articles critical of the Bush administration and, as we have and shall see, the overlapping dynamics of her work on The Rape of Nanking and Gold Warriors further deepened her peril. She first purchased a firearm for protection and was hoping that John Kerry would defeat Bush in 2004.

Despite the fact that Iris’ corpse was found in her car in the early morning, her parents weren’t notified of her death until almost midnight. Why?

Iris’ corpse was discovered early in the morning with her head against the driver’s side window, her hands crossed in her lap and the gun on her left leg. While not physically impossible, this is altogether unlikely for someone who had allegedly committed suicide by firing a powerful handgun into her mouth. She felt that her problems were “external,” while those around her thought they were “internal,” i.e. “all in her head.”

Same as 16.

Iris’ ordeal was remarkably similar to what Rita Katz endured following her work on Operation Green Quest and the SAAR investigation.

George W. Bush was pursuing Philippine Golden Lily loot in order to increase U.S. gold reserves and, perhaps more importantly, to fortify his blind trust. That trust was overseen by William Stamps Farish III, who had considerable political and economic gravitas in the state of Kentucky.

Bush’s Harken Energy may well have served as a money laundering front, perhaps for some of the gold recovered in the Philippines. We note that a director of Harken, Talat Othman, interceded directly with then Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill on behalf of the targets of the 3/20/2002 raids. The SAAR network was a primary target of those raids: we have seen how Rita Katz and her fellow investigators came under surveillance and harassment for digging into that case.

We revisit the deep politics of the Bush family, the family of Douglas MacArthur and William and Alan Quasha.

More about the deep politics of the Philippines, the Bush family, father and son Quasha, and the possibility that Alan Quasha’s dominant presence in Harken Energy may be derivative of the clandestine acquisition of Golden Lily loot.

The program concludes with review of the operations of Golden Lily and their involvement with things Iris was investigating. The Rape of Nanking marked the formal beginning of Golden Lily.

Colonel Tsuji Masanobu was heavily involved with Golden Lily and the Bataan Death March, the survivors of which were a focal point of Iris Chang’s research at the time of her death.





1 AM

It’s Going Down from sister station KPFA in Berkeley

Interview with The Final Straw In North Carolina about how to put together an effective Anarchist Book Fair and deal with security issues at a time of increased fascist attacks and provocations.



2 AM

On the Ground with Esther Iverem from sister station WPFW in DC



Enough is Enough!... Australian MPs Speak in DC to Bring Julian Assange Home... Portion of speech by Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the United Nations General Assembly... Meetings a Further Sign That Unipolar Moment is Over with Dr. Gerald Horne...Poland's president calls Ukraine's head of state a 'drowning man' that is dangerous, and that is just one of the highlights of this week in as the empire turns.. Plus Headlines.



Featured speakers/guests: Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Gerald Horne, Barnaby Joyce, Tony Zappia, Alex Antic, Peter Whish-Wilson, David Shoebridge



On the Ground: Voices of Resistance from the Nation's Capital gives a voice to the voiceless 99 percent at the heart of American empire. The award-winning, weekly hour, produced and hosted by Esther Iverem, covers social justice activism about local, national and international issues, with a special emphasis on militarization and war, the police state, the corporate state, environmental justice and the left edge of culture and media. The show is heard on two dozen stations across the United States, on podcast, and is archived on the world wide web at www.onthegroundshow.org.



3 AM

Project Censored with Eleanor Goldfield and Mickey Huff

Eleanor Goldfield opens this week's program in conversation with economist Richard Wolff, focusing on the United Auto Workers' strike, as well as alternative economic systems where there would be no need for workers to strike. Then Mickey and Eleanor discuss Eleanor's new documentary film To The Trees, an account of efforts to preserve California's remaining old-growth redwood forests.



Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at the University of Massachusetts. He co-founded the academic journal Rethinking Marxism, and he hosts a weekly radio program, Economic Update. His web site is www.rdwolff.com. For further information about Eleanor Goldfield's new forest documentary, see www.tothetreesfilm.com



4-6 AM Final two hours of The Thom Hartmann Program non-commercial broadcast from earlier on 09-27-23