Middle East conflict

Terry features two guests in this segment.

First, Amitav Ghosh is an Indian writer and anthropologist. Terry talks to him about an essay he wrote in the January issue of the literary magazine Granta called "An Egyptian in Baghdad." One of his friends went to work in Iraq several years ago; that friend was still in Baghdad when the war started. Ghosh felt that much of the press about the war was depersonalized, and wanted to write about the life of one person caught up in the conflict.

Retired Colonel Howard Levie is Professor Emeritus of Law, St. Louis University. He's written a study about prisoners of war, "Prisoners of War in International Armed Conflict." In light of the growing number of Iraqi soldiers surrendering, he talk to Terry about the history of P.O.W.s and the laws governing their treatment.

Terry talks with the great violinist Isaac Stern. Last week he was performing a concert in Israel when the sirens went off signaling a missle attack. The audience put on their gas masks, and the orchestra left the stage. But Stern stayed and continued to play.

In the next day, there may be a cease-fire in Iraq, or a ground war could begin. James Adams, the defense correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, talks about the mood at the Pentagon in light of proposed negotiations.

Terry talks with Alex Molnar, the founder of the Military Families Support Network, a support group that's very critical of the government's handling of the war.

The British journalist has avoided the government-established pool system, which gives military access to reporters, but requires them to have their stories cleared before they're published. He explains his reasons in conversation with Terry Gross.

Fred Halliday, professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, discusses some possible motives for the Soviet Union's attempt to find an end to the Gulf War -- including how these negotiations could affect relations with the United States. He'll also give us a primer on the history of the Soviet Union's relations with Iraq.

Say's brother is Terry Anderson, the Associated Press reporter who's been held hostage in Lebanon since March 1985. During the past five years, Say has worked to free her brother, and to keep the American government, and the American people from forgetting her brother's plight. Her new memoir documents that ordeal.

We talk with Iraq emigre Laith Kubba, the leader of the London-based group, "The Conference on Human Rights and Democracy in Iraq." He'll give his view of this morning's peace proposal, and he'll discuss the feasibility of democracy in a post-Saddam Iraq.

We look at international law with Alfred Rubin, a professor at Tufts University. He'll look at whether the recent bombing that killed hundreds in Iraq was a legal action, and the treatment of POWs in the Gulf War.