MARY REICHARD, host: Today is Monday, September 12th. good morning!this is the world and everything in it From the WORLD Radio that the listener supports. My name is Mary Reichhardt.
NICK EICHER, Host: I’m Nick Eicher. Next comes the WORLD History Book. Attacks on US embassies and drug lords go to trial this week. But first, he goes back to 1962, a milestone in the civil rights movement. I’m Colin Garbarino, arts and media editor.
Colin Garbarino: Sixty years ago this week, the United States Court of Appeals ordered the University of Mississippi to enroll its first black student, James Meredith. In a 2012 interview, Meredith explained how Ole viewed the circumstances surrounding his admission to Miss.
JAMES MEREDITH: What happened in Ole Miss in 1962 was a war between the state of Mississippi and the United States of America.
Meredith was an Air Force veteran. He spent his two years studying at the historically black Jackson State University. When he tried to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi, he was refused admission. Brown v. Board of Educationsupposedly ended racism almost a decade ago.
Mississippi’s democratic governor had insisted that schools in the state would not be consolidated as long as he was in office. Meredith knew he needed to involve the courts.
James Meredith: I was at war. And he knew there was only one way to win the war on the Mississippi. And that put me in a position where the federal government had to use their power to uphold my rights.
Even after the court ordered Ole Miss to accept Meredith, politicians continued to block him. Whites in Mississippi were embroiled in violent riots. President Kennedy threatened to declare martial law, and in early October a U.S. Marshal escorted Meredith to class. His example paved the way for other blacks to come to Ole Miss. Six years later, Donald Cole, who eventually became Ole Miss’ Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, entered the school. Audio from a short documentary by the school is here.
Donald Cole: I remember playing outside and going inside and my parents’ eyes glued to the TV. And I remember saying, “What are you guys looking at?” — “Shhhhhhh! The University of Mississippi is consolidated.”
After graduating, James Meredith entered politics as a Republican, sometimes working with men who had previously supported racism.
Now let’s turn to 1992.
Thirty years ago this week, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was found guilty in US federal court. Two years ago, American soldiers captured Noriega in Operation Just Cause. President George H.W. Bush:
George Bush: A US Air Force C-130 is currently transporting General Noriega to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida. He will be indicted in the US District Court in Miami on charges arising from previous drug trafficking charges.
Noriega was an ally of the United States in the 80s, but the relationship fell apart towards the end of the decade. Noriega has been smuggling drugs into the United States for years and began working more closely with the Colombian cartels than with the United States.
GEORGE BUSH: The United States is committed to providing a fair trial for General Noriega. Nonetheless, his arrest and return to the United States clearly show that the United States is serious in its decision that those responsible for facilitating drug trafficking cannot escape judicial scrutiny. Thing.
On September 16, 1992, Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for eight counts of drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. That sentence was eventually reduced to 17 years for good behavior, but Noriega was never released. received. Then, in late 2011, France sent him back to Panama. There he had been convicted in absentia to end a cumulative prison term of 60 years. Noriega died of brain cancer in 2017 at the age of 83.
From US intervention in Panama to US tragedy in Libya.
Ten years ago, on September 11, 2012, a group of Islamist terrorists attacked government facilities in Benghazi, Libya. President Obama addressed the American people the next day.
Barack Obama: Good morning. Every day, around the world, American diplomats and civilians work tirelessly to advance the interests and values of our nation. Often they are separated from their families. Sometimes they face great danger. Yesterday four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi. Among those killed were our Ambassador Chris Stevens and Foreign Secretary Sean Smith. We are still notifying the families of the other people killed.
Two other men were killed. CIA contractors Tyrone Woods and Glenn Dougherty.
A few days later, UN Ambassador Susan Rice told American media that the attack was not planned.
Susan Rice: Our assessment at this point is that it actually started spontaneously in Benghazi as a reaction to what happened in Cairo a few hours ago. Of course, as you know, there have been violent protests outside our embassy by this hate video…
However, evidence has emerged that suggests the State Department deliberately misled the American public as to the cause of the attack.
A congressional hearing sought to clarify other errors in the ruling and whether they claimed the lives of Ambassador Stevens and three others. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio questioned then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan: Everything points to a terrorist attack. I just heard from Mr. Pompeo about the long history of terrorist incidents and terrorist violence in this country. Yet five days later, Susan Rice appeared on his five television shows, stating that “Benghazi was a spontaneous reaction as a result of the video.” The statement we all know is false.
Questions surrounding Benghazi continued to haunt Clinton during her 2016 presidential run.
That is this week’s WORLD History Book. My name is Colin Garbarino.
WORLD Radio transcripts are produced with a rush deadline. This text may not be in final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The official recording of a WORLD Radio program is an audio recording.
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