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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Saving President Bush: Send in James Baker
U.S. Air Strike Kills 9 Children in Afghanistan
“It Really Is Unclear Where The Air Force Begins And
Boeing Ends”
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:30 Saving President Bush: Send in James Baker
INTRO: When the President’s in trouble there is one
man he turns to more than any other: James A. Baker III. He
was Bush’s man during the Florida recount, he was in
the former Soviet Republic of Georgia just months before the
government fell. And as the Iraq situation worsens Bush has
now named Baker as his de facto Secretary of State in Iraq.
We speak with investigative journalist Greg Palast, author
Dan Briody and editor Mark Ames.
Last week, President Bush appointed former Secretary of State
James Baker as his envoy for restructuring Iraq’s more
than $120 billion in foreign debt. Baker will be dispatched
in his own U.S. government plane as a special presidential
envoy to deal with heads of state in Asia, Europe and the
Persian Gulf. He will report directly to President Bush.
Baker is a lawyer-politician who is a former White House
Chief of Staff, Treasury Secretary, Secretary of State and
various other things. He is a trusted friend of the Bush family
and has been called up before in times of political need.
He ran Bush Senior’s presidential campaigns and was
President George W Bush’s man in Florida during the
recount in 2000.
Baker is now a senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts,
which is deeply involved in the fight for the oil and gas
of the Caspian Sea and is senior counselor to the powerful
investment firm the Carlyle Group. On the morning of September
11th, 2001, Baker was reportedly at a Carlyle investor conference
with members of the bin Laden family in the Ritz Carlton in
Washington D.C. And his law firm Baker Botts is defending
the Saudi government in a lawsuit filed by the families of
the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
This past July, Baker was sent out to Georgia to lecture
its President, Eduard Shevardnadze, about the need to ensure
that the upcoming parliamentary elections were "free
and fair." Fast forward four months and Shevardnadze
has been overthrown in a so-called “Velvet Revolution.”
Today we take a look at the many faces of James Baker.
- Greg Palast, investigative reporter with the BBC and
author of the books ‘The Best Democracy Money can
Buy’ and ‘Democracy and Regulation’
Link: www.gregpalast.com
- Dan Briody, author of The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret
World of the Carlyle Group.
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:35-8:45 U.S. Air Strike Kills 9 Children in Afghanistan
INTRO: Nine children were killed in southern Afghanistan
when two U.S. warplanes fired rockets and bullets into a group
of villagers sitting under a tree. The military claimed they
were trying to assassinate a member of the Taliban. We speak
with Women For Afghan Women’s Masuda Sultan who lost
19 members of her family in a U.S. attack two years ago.
Nine children were killed in southern Afghanistan when two
U.S. warplanes fired rockets and bullets into a group of villagers
sitting under a tree. The military claimed they were trying
to assassinate a member of the Taliban. Local residents told
the BBC, the man [Mullar Wazir] had left the area 10 days
before. The UN said the incident was "profoundly distressing"
and announced plans for an investigation. The BBC described
their target as a low-ranking member of the Taliban who was
suspected of overseeing the murders of two foreign contractors.
Last week Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Afghanistan
where he met with rival warlords, Abdul Rashid Dostum and
Atta Mohammed, and later held talks with President Hamid Karzai
at his presidential palace.
Rumsfeld said the warlords whose forces collaborated with
American ground troops to help topple the Taliban regime two
years ago, are making progress toward disarmament.
- Masuda Sultan, program coordinator for Women for Afghan
Women. She has traveled to Afghanistan four times since
the U.S. began bombing two years ago. She was living in
New York at the time of Sept. 11 and traveled back to Afghanistan
a few months later only to learn a U.S. attack had killed
19 members of her family.
Link: www.womenforafghanwomen.org
8:45-8:58 “It Really Is Unclear Where The Air
Force Begins And Boeing Ends”
INTRO: From Richard Perle to James Woolsey, deep ties between
Boeing and Washington highlight the revolving door of the
military industrial complex. Internal emails reveal Boeing
attempted to win an $18B Air Force contract by hiring top
Air Force officials, giving money to key Pentagon advisors
and ghost-writing editorials.
The Financial Times is reporting today that defense contractor
Boeing had developed ties with at least six members of an
influential civilian Pentagon advisory board as it attempted
to win support for an $18 billion contact with the Air Force.
Boeing gave millions to separate investment funds run by former
assistant secretary of defense Richard Perle and former CIA
head James Woolsey. Perle is also coming under criticism for
writing an editorial in the Wall Street Journal in support
of the Boeing deal without disclosing his ties to the project.
The ties between Boeing and the Defense Policy Board mark
the latest in an ongoing series of potential conflicts of
interest that have emerged between Capitol Hill and the arms
manufacturer.
In late November Boeing fired Darleen Druyun. She was allegedly
recruited by Boeing while working for the Air Force as one
of the chief architects of the Boeing contract. Along with
Druyan, Boeing has fired its chief financial officer Mike
Sears.
Boeing CEO’s Phil Condit resigned last week.
On Saturday, The New York Times revealed that Marvin Sambur,
an Air Force acquisitions officer, shared inside Pentagon
information with Boeing during negotiations. He also continued
to urge the Pentagon to sign the Boeing deal even after Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had expressed concern over the project.
And U.S. News and World Report is reporting today that the
Sen. John McCain plans to call for a congressional investigation
to examine the large number of governmental officials who
have left Washington to work for Boeing.
- Keith Ashdown, vice president of policy and communications
at Taxpayers for Common Sense. He has been tracking the
Boeing-Air Force deal for the past two years.
Link: www.taxpayer.net
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
(RAY MA MU), Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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