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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Bush Refuses To Take Action as Over 600 Killed In Liberia
INTRO: Dozens of mortar shells were fired throughout the
capital, two hit the U.S. Embassy. Secretary General Kofi
Annan called for immediate deployment of peacekeeping troops.
We talk to Salih Booker of Africa Action.
Nearly 40% of Brits Want Blair To Resign Following Suicide
of Gov’t Scientist
INTRO: Iraq intelligence scandal grows in London as reporters
ask Blair if he has blood on his hands following the apparent
suicide of scientist David Kelly. Blair denies he OK’d
the leaking of Kelly’s name as a possible source for
the BBC’s report that the UK’s Iraq intelligence
data was “sexed” up. We talk to longtime Labor
MP Tony Benn and the chief political reporter at the London
Telegraph.
Can You Achieve Democracy Through Undemocratic Means? A Look
At the New Governing Council in Iraq
INTRO: We speak with Occupation Watch Center’s Medea
Benjamin and Nermeen Al-Mufti in Baghdad and Rev. Patricia
Ackerman of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. And we play
an interview with the founder of a new women’s shelter
in Baghdad Yanar Muhammed.
Republican Calls Police to Arrest Democrats
INTRO: Republican Bill Thomas called in the police to arrest
a group of Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee
who had fled a late night meeting to protest the way Republicans
were handling a pension bill. We hear from Democratic Rep.
Charles Rangel who was part of the protest and Washington
Post reporter Juliet Eilperin.
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:15 Bush Refuses To Take Action as Over 600 Killed
In Liberia
INTRO: Dozens of mortar shells were fired throughout the
capital, two hit the U.S. Embassy. Secretary General Kofi
Annan called for immediate deployment of peacekeeping troops.
We talk to Salih Booker of Africa Action.
At least 600 civilians have been killed in intense fighting
in the Liberian capital of Monrovia in recent days according
to the country’s defense minister. Dozens of mortar
shells were fired yesterday into the port city. At least two
shells hit the U.S. embassy compound.
Calls for the U.S. to send in peacekeeping troops intensified.
President Bush said he was watching the situation. To date
the U.S. military has deployed 41 Marines to boost security
at the embassy. And 4,500 US troops have been moved into the
Mediterranean Sea but it would take them a week to sail to
Liberia if needed.
To protest Washington’s indifference, Liberians laid
the bodies of deceased loved ones outside the U.S. embassy
yesterday.
Analysts say the U.S. may have lost its best chance to oversee
a peaceful transition from President Charles Taylor to a new
democratic government because now troops will be entering
a combat situation instead of a cease fire.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for the immediate
deployment of U.S. and international troops. The Economic
Community of West African States has pledged to send in 1,5000
peacekeeping troops.
Guest: Salih Booker, Dir. Of Africa Action.
Link: www.africaaction.org
8:15-8:35 Nearly 40% of Brits Want Blair To Resign Following
Suicide of Gov’t Scientist
INTRO: Iraq intelligence scandal grows in London as reporters
ask Blair if he has blood on his hands following the apparent
suicide of scientist David Kelly. Blair denies he OK’d
the leaking of Kelly’s name as a possible source for
the BBC’s report that the UK’s Iraq intelligence
data was “sexed” up. We talk to longtime Labor
MP Tony Benn and the chief political reporter at the London
Telegraph.
Prime Minister’s Tony Blair approval rating has plummeted
following the suicide of government scientist David Kelly.
A recent poll found 39 percent of Britons want Blair to resign.The
BBC yesterday admitted that Kelly was the source for its story
that Blair sexed up the Iraq Intelligence to make the case
for war.
Police said Kelly committed suicide on Thursday. His body
was found on Friday. Just days before Kelly was brought before
the House of Commons foreign affairs committee for intense
questioning. Kelly’s name first came to the public light
after the government leaked his name as a possible source.
Today Blair insisted he played no role in outing Kelly as
a source. Today's Financial Times claims Defense Secretary
Geoff Hoon, authorized his press office's strategy of confirming
Kelly's name to journalists who came up with it.
The BBC has to date backed the report by its defense correspondent
Andrew Gilligan. According to Toby Helm, political correspondent
of the London Telegraph, public support for the BBC has remained
much higher than for the Blair government
- Andrew Gilligan, BBC defense correspondent filing a report
on May 29 that charged a top British official told him Blair
had “sexed up” Iraq intelligence.
- Tony Benn, he retired from the British Parliament in May
2001, after serving 50 years. He was the longest serving
Labour MP in the history of the party.
Link: www.tonybenn.com
- David Kelly, testifying before the House of Commons foreign
affairs committee on July 15. Police say Kelly committed
suicide three days later. His body was found on Friday.
He was most recently working for the British Ministry of
Defense. He previously worked as a United Nations weapons
inspector.
8:35-8:36 One Minute Music Break
8:36-8:50 Can You Achieve Democracy Through Undemocratic
Means? A Look At the New Governing Council in Iraq
INTRO: We speak with Occupation Watch Center’s Medea
Benjamin and Nermeen Al-Mufti in Baghdad and Rev. Patricia
Ackerman of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. And we play
an interview with the founder of a new women’s shelter
in Baghdad Yanar Muhammed.
One U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in an ambush
on a road northwest of Baghdad today. The attackers used rocket-propelled
grenades and small arms in the ambush.
The military had no other details on the attack, many of
which lately have been staged with remote-controlled roadside
explosions.
The attacks follow ambushes on Sunday and Monday, which killed
three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan threw
President Bush a lifeline yesterday.
Annan issued a report that recommends the Security Council
recognize the Governing Council as an interim government.
The council is comprised of 25 Iraqis selected by the American
occupation authority.
Kofi Annan called the Council "a broadly representative
partner with whom the United Nations and the international
community at large can engage."
This despite the fact that the U.S. retains a veto over the
all of the group's decisions which include administering Iraq's
domestic affairs, setting up a body to write a constitution,
and planning elections.
Annan also called on the American-led forces in Iraq to set
out a "clear timetable" for a staged withdrawal
from Iraq.
- Medea Benjamin, co-founder and founding director of Global
Exchange. She recently returned from Baghdad where she led
an international group to launch an Occupation Watch Center.
The center, based in Baghdad, monitors the military occupation
forces and foreign corporations, hosts international delegations
to Iraq, and keeps the international community updated about
the occupation.
Link: www.globalexchange.org;
www.occupationwatch.org
- Rev. Patricia (Patty) Ackerman, special projects and media
liaison for the Fellowship of Reconciliation and a member
of the steering committee of Code Pink. She is also on the
advisory board of the Occupation Watch Center in Iraq.
Link: www.forusa.org;
www.codepink4peace.org
- Yanar Muhammed, interviewed by Patricia Ackerman on July
7th 2003. She is the founder of the Organization of Women’s
Freedom in Iraq (OWFI). She is also Editor-in-Chief of the
Iraqi El-Musawat newspaper.
8:50-8:58 Republican Calls Police to Arrest Democrats
INTRO: Republican Bill Thomas called in the police to arrest
a group of Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee
who had fled a late night meeting to protest the way Republicans
were handling a pension bill. We hear from Democratic Rep.
Charles Rangel who was part of the protest and Washington
Post reporter Juliet Eilperin.
The Chair of the Ways and Means Committee called in the Capitol
Police Friday with an unusual request: to force a group of
Democrats to leave a nearby library.
Republican Bill Thomas called in the police to arrest a group
of Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee. They
had fled a late night meeting to protest the way Republicans
were handling a bill on pension. Democrats charged the Republicans
were running the Committee like a police state. No arrests
were made.
Among the few reporters who witnessed this scene was Juliet
Eilperin of the Washington Post. In an article she wrote on
Friday for the paper’s website she described the incident
as a sign of “open warfare” between the two parties.
She joins us now to discuss what happened and what led to
this fight.
- Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York), one of the Democratic
members of the Ways and Means Committee who fled a meeting
to protest Republicans’ handling of bill.
Link: charlierangel.org
- Juliet Eilperin, House of Representatives correspondent
for the Washington Post. She witnessed the event.
8:58-8:59 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 Abdel Kouddous, Lenina Nadal, Ana Nogueira,
and Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro
and engineer.
[Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender,
Rich Kim, Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Jenny
Filipazzo and Ionnis Mookas.]
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