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From: Democracy Now!
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8:00-8:01 Billboard
An Army Reservist is Kicked Out of the Service for Refusing
to Take the Controversial Anthrax Vaccine
INTRO: A military panel took 40 minutes to return a guilty
verdict against Private Kamila Iwanowska.
“Direct Order”: an award-winning documentary
tells the story of members of the military who were ordered
against their will to take the controversial anthrax vaccine.
INTRO: “I’d rather have caught a bullet from
an A 47 than gotten injected with this stuff. At least I would
have known what my fate would have been.”
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:13 An Army Reservist is Kicked Out of the Service
for Refusing to Take the Controversial Anthrax Vaccine
An Army reservist was kicked out of the service last week
for refusing to take the anthrax vaccine.
A military panel took 40 minutes to return a guilty verdict
against Private Kamila Iwanowska and two hours to determine
her penalty.
Iwanoska was charged with a bad conduct discharge, which
is just one level behind dishonorable discharge. The prosecutor
had asked the panel to give Iwanowska six months in jail.
Iwanoska is a Polish immigrant who became an American citizen
last year.
8:13-8:58 “Direct Order”: an award-winning documentary
tells the story of members of the military who were ordered
against their will to take the controversial anthrax vaccine.
Federal regulators last week approved a plan by biotechnology
company, VaxGen to test its experimental anthrax vaccine on
about 100 people.
The human volunteers will be injected with the experimental
vaccine to see if it's safe and produces the desired immune
response.
VaxGen was awarded a $13.6 million federal contract to begin
work on the anthrax vaccine. The company is applying for two
more anthrax vaccine contracts. The contracts are expected
to be awarded later this year for advanced testing and manufacturing
of 25 million doses.
In the last few years, a number of published studies have
linked anthrax vaccination to the development of Gulf War
Syndrome, among them a study in the British medical journal
the Lancet. Hundreds of soldiers have refused the shots after
evidence emerged that the vaccinations are connected to a
variety of illnesses.
But then the Bush administration went on the offensive. The
Pentagon funded an Institute of Medicine study which concluded
in March 2002 the anthrax vaccine is safe and effective against
all anthrax strains and routes of infection. Its conclusions
were based on unpublished research - also funded by the Pentagon.
The story doesn't stop there. Bioport, the nation's sole,
licensed anthrax vaccine lab has repeatedly failed FDA inspections
which found among other things, contamination.
The FDA cleared BioPort's manufacturing plant to begin producing
the vaccine again in January 2002 - months after the letters
containing anthrax were sent to Congress and news organizations.
Bioport was also allowed to distribute the 500,000 doses of
the vaccine already in stock. The vaccine was offered to some
postal workers and others who were exposed. But most refused
to take it.
The anthrax vaccine is mandatory for all military service
members assigned to “high-risk” areas. At least
part of the six-shot series, which takes a year and a half
to administer, has been given to about 700,000 service members.
It will be eventually administered to all 2.5 million service
members.
Since 1998, when the vaccinations began, nearly 500 active-duty
service-members have refused the vaccine, and more than 100
have been court-martialed. According to government figures,
approximately 500 to 1,000 pilots and flight crew members
have quit, resigned or transferred from the Air National Guard
or reserves rather than take the vaccine.
Award-winning documentary “Direct Order” tells
the story of members of the military who were ordered against
their will to receive the controversial anthrax vaccine.
- “Direct Order” - award-winning documentary
directed by Scott Miller and narrated by Michael Douglas.
Link: www.directorder.org
Direct Action
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY
GO TO WWW.DIRECTORDER.ORG
9:00-9:01 Billboard:
Former Head of the American Jewish Congress Says There Will
Never be an Independent Palestinian State as Long as Sharon
is in Power
INTRO: As President Bush Meets with the Palestinian and Israeli
Prime Ministers for the first time, a debate on U.S. involvement
on the Middle East. Henry Siegman calls Sharon a “destructive
force” and recalls Sharon is the “granddaddy”
of the settlement movement, which was designed to prevent
the creation of a Palestinian state.
Arab Anti-Discrimination Communications Director, Hussein
Ibish Discusses Civil Liberties During the “War on Terror”
INTRO: “One of the major features of the so-called
war on terror was been a major campaign to reduce civil liberties
in the United States to increase the power of the government
over the individual.”
9:01-9:06 Headlines
9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break
9:07-9:20 Former Head of the American Jewish Congress Says
There Will Never be an Independent Palestinian State as Long
as Sharon is in Power
Today, President Bush convenes a three-way meeting with the
Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.
At the close of the summit, Israeli prime minister Ariel
Sharon plans to voice support for the creation of an interim,
demilitarized Palestinian state under the so-called road map
to peace.
Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas will declare that
the Palestinians are ready to immediately start implementing
the U.S.-backed plan. Abbas will also urge Palestinian militants
to lay down their arms. This according to Haaretz.
The meeting marks the first time leaders from both sides
of the Palestine-Israeli conflict have met since the onset
of the Intifada in November of 2000. It is also the first
meeting between the President and any representative from
the Palestinian Authority.
Bush has succeeded in sidelining Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat from the process. Israel has long insisted Arafat be
removed from his leadership position, and the White House
did not invite Arafat to the talks.
Yesterday, Bush met with Arab leaders in Egypt. He said Israel
must “deal with” their settlements on Palestinian
land.
Senior Likud party member Reuven Rivlin told an Israeli newspaper
Sharon is planning to evacuate some 17 relatively minor settlements
to allow a Palestinian state contiguous territory. But he
will insist on keeping several other major settlements in
the occupied territories.
Phase One of the so-called “roadmap to peace”
calls on Israel to dismantle illegal settlements and withdraw
from zones in the occupied territories.
Joining us to discuss the President’s trip and the
peace process are three of our nation’s leading experts
on the conflict.
- Roane Carey, Editor of The Nation magazine, editor of
The New Intifada: Resisting Apartheid in Israel, and co-editor
of The Other Israel: Voices of Refusal and Dissent
- Norman Finklestein, political science professor at DePaul
University in Chicago. He is also author of Image and Reality
of the Israel-Palestinian Conflict and The Holocaust Industry
Links: www.normanfinklestein.com
- Henry Siegman, Senior fellow at The Council on Foreign
Relations. He is the former Director of the American Jewish
Congress is the author of over a hundred articles and essays
on the Middle East.
9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break
9:21-9:40 Peace Process CONT’D
9:41-9:58 Arab Anti-Discrimination Communications Director,
Hussein Ibish Discusses Civil Liberties During the “War
on Terror”
Hussein Ibish spokesperson for the Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee reflects on how civil liberties have been affected
by the “war on terror” at a teach-in for the United
for Peace and Justice in Washington D.C.
- Hussein Ibish, Communications Director for the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee
Link: www.adc.org
American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee
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, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press
with help from Noah Reibel and Vilka Tzouras. Mike Di Filippo
is our music maestro and engineer. Thanks also to Uri Galed,
Angela Alston, Emily Kunstler, Orlando Richards, Simba Rousseau,
Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Karen
Ranucci, Fatima Mojadiddy, Denis Moynihan and Jenny Filipazzo.
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