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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Hundreds of Thousands Mourn Assassinated Shiite Leader;
Bomb Explodes Outside Baghdad Police Office
Milan Rai, author of the forthcoming Regime Unchanged examines
the impact of Friday’s bombing in the holy city of Najaf.
The assassinated Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim represented
a moderate voice who was a leading critic of Saddam Hussein’s
former regime.
Inquiry into David Kelly’s Death Takes Emotional Turn
as Powerful UK Communications Director Alastair Campbell Resigns
Close relatives of British weapons expert David Kelly who
died of an alleged suicide described how he was anxious and
upset after being caught up in a political firestorm over
the government's case for an invasion of Iraq. We speak with
lecturer and columnist Glen Rangwala.
The Nation’s First Homeless Veteran of Iraq War Speaks
Out
Upon her return home to Boston, Sgt. Vannessa Turner was unable
to receive treatment for damaged nerves in her leg and was
unable to have her possessions shipped to her from her military
base. She and her 15 year-old daughter are homeless. We speak
with Sgt. Vannessa Turner and National Coalition of Homeless
Veterans’ Linda Boone.
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:20 Hundreds of Thousands Mourn Assassinated
Shiite Leader; Bomb Explodes Outside Baghdad Police Office
INTRO: Milan Rai, author of the forthcoming Regime Unchanged
examines the impact of Friday’s bombing in the holy
city of Najaf. The assassinated Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim
represented a moderate voice who was a leading critic of Saddam
Hussein’s former regime.
A car bomb exploded outside the main police station in Baghdad
this morning killing one and injuring at least 15 people.
The BBC reports that Baghdad's U.S.-appointed police chief
Hassan Ali was the likely target of the bomb. It was the first
major bombing since Friday when between 80 and 120 people
were killed after a car bomb exploded outside the Tomb of
Ali in Najaf.
Throughout the weekend hundreds of thousands of Shiites traveled
to the holy city of Najaf to mourn the death of their spiritual
leader Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim who died in the blast.
Al-Hakim headed the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq and had lived in exile in Iran
for over 20 years before returning after the fall of Baghdad.
He was viewed as a moderate by the U.S.
Following the bombing one member of the Iraqi Governing Council,
Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum, suspended his membership to protest
the lack of security in Iraq.
Ayatollah Hakim's brother, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who is also
on the governing council, said the U.S. military is at fault
for failing to provide security.
He said "These troops are ultimately responsible for
achieving security and stability. They are ultimately responsible
for the innocent blood which is being shed every day in Najaf,
Baghdad, Basra, Mosul and all over Iraq."
- Milan Rai, author of War Plan Iraq and one of the founders
of Voices in the Wilderness, UK. His new book Regime Unchanged
(Pluto) is being published in the UK on September 18th.
He joins us on the phone today from Hastings, England.
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:40 Inquiry into David Kelly’s Death
Takes Emotional Turn as Powerful UK Communications Director
Alastair Campbell Resigns
INTRO: Close relatives of British weapons expert David Kelly
who died of an alleged suicide described how he was anxious
and upset after being caught up in a political firestorm over
the government's case for an invasion of Iraq. We speak with
lecturer and columnist Glen Rangwala.
Britain's inquiry into the death of leading weapons scientist
Dr David Kelly took an emotional turn today.
Close relatives of Kelly described how he was anxious and
upset after being caught up in political firestorm over the
government's case for an invasion of Iraq.
David Kelly is the British weapons expert who allegedly committed
suicide after it was revealed that he had told the BBC the
government had exaggerated Iraq's arsenal. He was found dead
slumped against the bottom of a tree with four cardio-electrode
pads on his chest.
David Kelly’s wife yesterday took the stand and described
her husband's state of mind. She said Kelly felt betrayed
by his employer, the Ministry of Defense, when he heard that
it was planning to name him as the source for the controversial
BBC report.
Meanwhile, David Kelly’s daughter said that her father
turned pale at the mention of the name of the prime minister's
powerful communications chief, Alastair Campbell.
Campbell announced on Friday that he is to resign as Downing
Street’s director of communications and strategy.
Campbell became the center of the Iraq dossier controversy
when BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan wrote in his Mail on Sunday
column that he had taken a hand in intelligence matters.
Gilligan said his source told him that a claim Iraq could
launch chemical weapons within 45 minutes was inserted against
the wishes of intelligence officials. He wrote "I asked
him how this transformation happened. The answer was a single
word: Campbell."
Campbell said Friday "I had intended to leave last summer
but as the Iraq issue developed, the Prime Minister asked
me to stay on to oversee Government communications on Iraq,
and I was happy to do so."
Meanwhile British Prime Minister Tony Blair testified Thursday
during a judicial inquiry that he did not exaggerate the threat
Iraq posed before the invasion and he defended how his government
handled the case of David Kelly.
- Glen Rangwala, lecturer in politics at Cambridge University
in Britain. He also writes a weekly column for the Independent
of London. He was the researcher who discovered Britain's
Iraq weapons dossier was stolen from a doctoral student’s
thesis.
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8:58 The Nation’s First Homeless Veteran
of Iraq War Speaks Out
INTRO: Upon her return home to Boston, Sgt. Vannessa Turner
was unable to receive treatment for damaged nerves in her
leg and was unable to have her possessions shipped to her
from her military base. She and her 15 year-old daughter are
homeless. We speak with Sgt. Vannessa Turner and National
Coalition of Homeless Veterans’ Linda Boone.
On May 18, she collapsed due to the severe 130-degree heat.
Her body was full of mosquito bites. She fell into a coma
and nearly died. Turner was airlifted for treatment in Germany
and was further treated in Washington D.C. until she was released
on July 10. She came back to her so-called "hometown"
in Boston and faced a new battle. She was unable to receive
treatment for damaged nerves in her leg. She was unable to
have her possessions shipped to her from her military base
in Germany. She and her 15 year-old daughter are homeless.
On her return, she was told by the local Veterans Affairs
hospital that she needed to wait close to 3 months to see
a doctor. When she attempted to secure a veteran’s loan
for a house in Boston, brokers told her that her only option
was to move to Springfield or Worcester.
In the past week, things have changed. Through political
pressure from Senator Kennedy’s office, Vannessa has
now been able to see a doctor in the Veteran’s hospital
and is expecting her first disability check. But even with
recent media attention and political struggle, she is still
having trouble finding a home.
According to the Boston Globe, army officials say she is
the first known homeless veteran of the war in Iraq.
Last Thursday Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez and I
spoke with Sergeant Vannessa Turner and Linda Boone, the executive
director of the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans. We
began by asking Sergeant Vannessa Turner to describe what
happened to her in Iraq.
- Sergeant Vannessa Turner, veteran from the Iraqi War
interviewed on August 28th 2003.
- Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition
of Homeless Veterans interviewed on August 28th 2003.
Link: www.nchv.org
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 Abdul 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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