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From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 4-7-03
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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
U.S. forces reportedly enter Saddam Hussein’s palaces
after thousands of Iraqis are killed: We go to Baghdad for
a report from May Ying Welsh
Israeli forces shoot and seriously injure U.S. peace activist:
We talk with an eyewitness in Jenin
Justice Department detains computer engineer and bars attorneys
from discussing the case: A former Intel Vice President creates
website to highlight the“disappearance”
8:01-8:10 Headlines
8:10-8:11 One Minute Music Break
8:15-8:25 U.S. FORCES REPORTEDLY ENTER SADDAM HUSSEIN’S
PALACES AFTER THOUSANDS OF IRAQIS ARE KILLED: WE GO TO BAGHDAD
FOR A REPORT FROM MAY YING WELSH
U.S. ground forces invaded Baghdad again today. US officials
say they have entered two palace complexes of President Saddam
Hussein.
At least two Marines were killed in fierce fighting at key
bridges in the eastern part of the city.
Reuters reports explosions continued in central Baghdad,
including a residential district. Ambulances raced through
the streets.
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf told reporters
Baghdad is safe and claimed US columns had been slaughtered
and US forces are committing suicide by the hundreds.
In Saturday’s raid, US commanders claimed allies killed
as many as 3,000 Iraqis, but commanders who conducted the
raid said around a thousand were killed.
The Pentagon says both raids are shows of force meant to
demonstrate to the Iraqi people US forces can enter Baghdad
at will.
There was no immediate word on civilian casualties. Aid
workers said on Sunday hospitals were already overwhelmed.
The Guardian is reporting thousands of residents are fleeing
in cars or on foot, many of them empty-handed or carrying
only their children too young to walk in the midday heat.
- May Ying Welsh, independent reporter in Baghdad
8:25-8:50 ISRAELI FORCES SHOOT AND SERIOUSLY INJURE U.S.
PEACE ACTIVIST: WE TALK WITH AN EYEWITNESS IN JENIN
Just weeks after Rachel Corrie of Olympia was killed by
an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza town of Rafah, Israeli forces
nearly killed another U.S. peace activist on Saturday, 24-year-old
Brian Avery.
He is reported to be in serious condition. He has regained
consciousness and is able to communicate by writing messages.
But his face is said to be shattered, with his tongue split
in two.
Eyewitnesses and members of the International Solidarity
Movement say Avery was shot by an Israeli tank. Israel said
the shooting is under investigation.
Avery, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, had come out of his apartment
building to investigate shots being fired on the streets when
an amored personnel carrier rounded a corner, said Tobias
Karlsson, 30, a member of the Palestinian-backed group from
Stockholm, Sweden.
"We had our hands up and we were wearing vests that
clearly identified us as international workers when they began
firing," Tobias told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "Brian
was shot in the face, and it looks like he was hit by a heavy
caliber bullet because of the extent of the wound."
Guest: Tobias Karlsson, member of the International Solidarity
Movement and eyewitness to the shooting of Brian Avery
Links: www.palsolidarity.org
Guest: Danny Muller, friend and former roommate of Brian
Avery.
8:40-8:41 One-minute music break
8:41-8:50 Jenin cont’d
8:50-8:58 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DETAINS COMPUTER ENGINEER AND
BARS ATTORNEYS FROM DISCUSSING THE CASE: A FORMER INTEL VICE
PRESIDENT CREATES WEBSITE TO HIGHLIGHT THE“DISAPPEARANCE”
His name is Mike Hawash. He is a father. A computer programmer
with Intel. A U.S. citizen.
You could say he led a typical life until less than three
weeks ago when he was surrounded by officers from the FBI’s
Joint Terrorism Task Force in the Intel parking lot.
He was taken into custody as a material witness in an undisclosed
court case. He is now being held in solitary confinement.
He has not been technically arrested but he could be held
indefinitely with the government never pressing charges. And
his lawers are barred from talking about the case. You could
say he has almost been disappeared.
That might have been the case except for collegues of his
in the tech world.
Steve McGeady, a former Vice President of Intel who worked
with Hasbah created a website titled“freemikehawash.org”
to raise awareness about the case. He joins us on the phone
today…
Guest: Steven McGeady, former vice president at Intel where
he was the boss of Mike Hawash for 10 years
Contact: www.freemikehawash.org
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
With the number of casualties in Baghdad soaring, hospitals
are forced to stop counting: The International Red Cross responds
to the humanitarian crisis
Roundtable on Iraq: Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation,
Alexander Cockburn of Counterpunch, Michael Albert of Z Magazine
and AFP reporter Nayla Razzouk in Baghdad discuss the invasion
of Iraq
9:01-9:10 Headlines
9:10-9:11 One Minute Music Break
9:15-9:25 WITH THE NUMBER OF CASUALTIES IN BAGHDAD SOARING,
HOSPITALS ARE FORCED TO STOP COUNTING: THE INTERNATIONAL RED
CROSS RESPONDS TO THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday
the number of casualties in Baghdad is so high that hospitals
have stopped counting.
ICRC staff in the capital said that during the fiercest
fighting, hospitals were receiving around 100 casualties per
hour.
The ICRC also said hospitals urgently need more water supplies.
Given the general power outage in Baghdad, most hospitals
and water installations are now being powered by backup generators.
In town after town in the Iraq war zone, hospitals trying
to cope with hundreds of wounded are cut off from medical
resupply, aid officials reported Sunday. An aid convoy destined
for one overwhelmed hospital south of Baghdad was canceled
because of U.S. military operations.
- Nada Doumani, spokeswoman for the International Committee
of the Red Cross.
9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break
9:25-9:53 Roundtable on Iraq: Katrina vanden Heuvel of The
Nation, Alexander Cockburn of Counterpunch, Michael Albert
of Z Magazine and AFP reporter Nayla Razzouk in Baghdad discuss
the first 20 days of the invasion of Iraq.
A US F-16 warplane yesterday bombed a Kurdish convoy travelling
with US special forces in Northern Iraq, killing at least
18 people.
The bomb fell only meters from where the BBC world affairs
editor John Simpson was standing He said it was a "scene
from hell." Bodies burned around him; pieces of bodies
were strewn around; vehicles were on fire. The BBC's translator,
Kamran Abdurazaq Mohammed, was killed, and the BBC’s
driver lost a leg.
Witness said at least five of the vehicles in the convoy
had blaze-orange markings on their roofs meant to warn US
pilots, according to the New York Times. The three white BBC
vehicles had the letters “TV” spelled out on their
hoods.
The commander of the special forces of the peshmerga Kurdish
fighters, Wajih Barzani, was critically injured. He is the
brother of Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic
party.
Reporting nearby was Patrick Cockburn, reporter of the Independent
of London and brother of Counterpunch’s Alexander Cockburn,
one of our guests today on a roundtable of magazine editors.
We are also joined by Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation
and Michael Albert of Z Magazine.
- Alexander Cockburn, editor of the journal Counterpunch
and website Counterpunch.org
Contact: www.counterpunch.org
- Michael Albert, founder and staff member of Z Magazine
Contact: www.zmag.org
- Nayla Razzouk, AFP reporter in Baghdad
9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break
9:41-9:58 Roundtable Cont’d
9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Ana Nogueira and Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo
is our music maestro and engineer.
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