War on Iraq. After last week’s Senate hearings, it looks increasingly like a matter of no of if, but when. But another conflict is already underway, between a White House bent on invasion and a more cautious Pentagon.

A stream of leaks has sprung up, and as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld works furiously to find out who’s behind them, the leaks point up a classic moment in the divide between military brass and the civilians who command them. “The American Way” puts the President as commander in chief, alone at the helm, but the warnings of generals carry weight with Congress, the press, and the public.

Regime change in Iraq seems a universal goal, but the debate over tactics and timing, between political maneuvers and battlefield wisdom, balancing power continues.

Guests:

Retired General William Nash

Harvard University’s Tad Oelstrom

As suicide bombings, military incursions and endless images of terror shape and mis-shape the children of the Middle East, perhaps it’s time for the Muppets.

In a joint project bringing Palestinians and Israelis together for the sake of their kids, a local version of Sesame Street is struggling to find its role in a region where the real street routinely flows with blood. But even in these difficult times, the collaboration soldiers on, albeit with some not so subtle adjustments.

Because in the Middle East, the “Street” is no place for a child, it’s called Sesame STORIES, a TV oasis of tolerance and understanding, but one that still reflects the reality of refugee camps and small worlds divided by huge gulfs of misunderstanding. Preserving childhood, the muppets have landed .

Guests:

Shari Rosenfeld, project director, Sesame Workshop, New York

Daoud Kuttab, director of the Institute for Modern Media at Al Quds University in Ramallah

Alona Abt, executive producer, Hop! Channel, Israel

Advanced military technology has revolutionized the way America fights its wars, but civilians still die. As the U.S. wages war on terror, it might be easy to dismiss a few hundred innocent Afghans killed by mis-directed bombs or poor intelligence, but not if the ruined village was yours.

No doubt U.S. military commanders ARE careful to avoid collateral damage and unintended death, but the American bombing campaign in Afghanistan shows that despite the hype and promise of precision guided weapons, there’s no such thing as a clean war or a surgical attack. And some say America’s preference for air-strikes and it’s aversion to losing GI’s on the ground, imperils civilians, and compromises Americas moral credibility.

Protecting the innocent, and winning the war.

Guests:

Kenneth Allard, retired Army colonel and Professor of Military History at Georgetown University

Tom Keaney, former Air Force colonel, executive director of the Foreign Policy Institute at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University

Sarah Sewall, Harvard University’s Carr Center for Human Rights

The road to success in the world of pop music is paved with artistic compromise and pandering to trends… but not always. Take Cousteau, the UK band whose name pays tribute to the great undersea explorer, and whose lush sound and brooding lyrics about love, loss and longing sound as dark and bottomless as a deep-sea dive.

Five journeymen musicians who bounced around Britain for years and made barely a ripple are now riding more than a modest wave of success across Europe and the U.S. They mix jazz with rock, Sinatra with Leonard Cohen, in a lounge act that’s filled stadiums.

In truth, Cousteau defies classification, so maybe their own definition is best: “sleazy listening.”

Cousteau will begin their fall tour in the end of October, see their website (below) for details

Guests:

Cousteau

Davey Ray Moor, lyricist

Liam McKahey, lead vocals

Craig Vear,drums

Robin Brown, electric guitar

Joe Peet, bass & violin

Dan Moor, keyboard

Guests:

Cecil Roberts, international president, United Mine Workers Association of America

Norm Steenstra, executive director, West Virginia Citizen Action Group

Bill Raney, president , West Virginia Coal Association

Lee Saperstein, dean, School of Mines and Metallurgy, University of Missouri Rolla.

This week began with a stunning portrait of work-a-day heroism and sacrifice: a miraculous rescue of nine Pennsylvania coalminers. The nation held its breath, then celebrated as nine men rose ALIVE from the darkness of a flooded mine that was almost their tomb.

Americans breathed a sigh of relief. But then, they turned on their lights, switched on their air conditioners, and quickly forgot about the human face, and the politics, of the nation’s power grid. And in coal country, miners descended again into the underground seams of black gold, while above ground, the mining industry continued to rip away entire mountaintops to help fuel 21st century America.

The debate over Mountain-top removal and America’s unquenchable thirst for cheap electricity.

Guests:

Norm Steenstra, executive director, West Virginia Citizen Action Group

Bill Raney, president , West Virginia Coal Association

Lee Saperstein, dean, School of Mines and Metallurgy, University of Missouri Rolla

Cindy
Rank, chair of the mining committee of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy