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From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 11-03-03
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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
16 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Missile Attack in Iraq
Pacifica Correspondent Jerry Quickley on Iraqi Resistance,
U.S. Army Aggression and Life Under Occupation in Baghdad
As Rumsfeld Calls For Action Against "Schools That Teach
Terrorism" We Take A Look At the School of the Americas,
What Many Critics Call the "School of Assassins
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:15 16 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Missile Attack
in Iraq
INTRO: In the deadliest attack on U.S. troops since the
start of the invasion, Iraqi resistance fighters downed a
helicopter Sunday killing 16 U.S soldiers and injuring 20.
We go to Baghdad to speak with Christian Science Monitor’s
Dan Murphy.
In the deadliest attack on U.S. troops since the start of
the invasion, Iraqi resistance fighters downed a helicopter
Sunday killing 16 U.S soldiers and injuring 20. The soldiers
were being taken out of Iraq on a short-term leave.
The shoulder-fired missile attack occurred near Falluja,
west of Baghdad. It came a day after the sixth-month anniversary
of President Bush's initial May 1st announcement that major
combat operations had ended in Iraq. A total of 379 U.S. soldiers
have died in Iraq, two-thirds of the deaths have occurred
after May 1st.
Roadside bombs killed three other Americans on Sunday: two
civilians working as private contractors were killed in Fallujah
and a soldier was killed in Baghdad.
27 U.S. soldiers have died in the past week, the highest
total since the fall of Baghdad.
The Washington Post reported that Iraqis celebrated the downing
of the helicopter. One truck driver told the Post, "Why
are the Americans here? They're just showing off their muscles.
Force creates force."
Another Iraqi added, "an honest man who does not like
to be occupied by foreigners."
- Dan Murphy, reporter for The Christian Science Monitor
speaking in Baghdad.
Link: www.csmonitor.com
8:15-8:30 Pacifica Correspondent Jerry Quickley
on Iraqi Resistance, U.S. Army Aggression and Life Under Occupation
in Baghdad
INTRO: “It's clear how difficult it is to be an Iraqi
and survive in Baghdad now” - Pacifica Radio producer
and correspondent Jerry Quickley joins us in our firehouse
studio to talk about his experience on Iraq.
- Jerry Quickley, producer and correspondent for Pacifica
Radio. He is recently back from Iraq, he reported for Democracy
Now! from Baghdad last Monday following the series of bombings
that killed up to 40 people.
8:30-8:58 As Rumsfeld Calls For Action Against "Schools
That Teach Terrorism" We Take A Look At the School of
the Americas, What Many Critics Call the "School of Assassins
INTRO: Thousands of people will descend on the School of
the Americas (now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute
for Security Cooperation) headquarters in Fort Benning, Georgia
this month to protest the U.S. military program that trains
Latin American soldiers in combat, counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics
and whose graduates, critics say, are responsible for some
of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America.
Amid a dramatic rise in attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq,
the Bush administration has stressed a rapid "Iraqification"
of the security situation in recent weeks.
Disregarding new calls from Capitol Hill for additional U.S.
troops to be deployed, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
said that over 100,000 Iraqi forces have been trained to provide
security in Iraq and that the number will double by next September.
Today we take a look at a U.S. training facility that has
been training foreign soldiers for over half a century: The
notorious School of the Americas.
Initially established in Panama in 1946, the SOA is a U.S.
combat training school for Latin American soldiers. In 1984
it was kicked out of Panama and is now located at Fort Benning,
Georgia.
At the SOA, Latin American soldiers are trained in counterinsurgency
techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare,
military intelligence and interrogation tactics. Graduates
of the SOA are responsible for some of the worst human rights
abuses in Latin America.
Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators
Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri
and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru,
Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of
Bolivia.
Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured,
raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred,
and forced into refugee by those trained at the SOA, frequently
dubbed the “School of Assassins.”
In January, 2001, the House defeated a bi-partisan amendment
to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation
by a narrow ten vote margin. Instead, the SOA was renamed
to become the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
(WHISC).
In November last year, close to ten thousand people descended
on Fort Benning, Georgia to protest the SOA. The nonviolent
direct action will repeat this year on November 21-23.
Today we are going to play an excerpt from “Hidden
in Plain Sight” a documentary about the School of the
Americas. “Hidden in Plain Sight” had its worldwide
premier at the World Social Forum in Brazil and it has appeared
in numerous Film Festivals. It was granted the Merit in Film
Award from the Latin American Studies Association.
- John Smihula, director of “Hidden in Plain Sight”.
He is an English instructor at the University of Nevada,
Reno, where he teaches literature, composition and film.
Link: www.hiddeninplainsight.org
- Andrés Thomas Conteris, human rights activist and
Co-Producer of “Hidden in Plain Sight.” He has
promoted human rights throughout Latin America for 25 years.
In January of 2001 he was presented with an award by human
rights organizations in Honduras for his advocacy work.
He is currently co-producing a documentary about the U.S.
bombing of Vieques.
- Hidden in Plain Sight – Excerpt from a documentary
about the School of the Americas.
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 Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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