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As Rice Testifies, Death Toll Rises In Iraq
Veteran White House Correspondent Helen Thomas On Bush and
the State of the Media
Iraqis in Sadr City "Confused and Terrified"
"The American Military Crackdown Will Likely Only Increase
Violence"- Resistance Erupts Across Iraq
As Rice Testifies, Death Toll Rises In Iraq
As the nation watches Condoleeza Rice testify before the
9/11 Commission, resistance against the U.S. occupation of
Iraq has spread across the country from as north as Kirkuk
down to southern Iraq. We go to Baghdad to get a report from
the ground from independent reporter May Ying Welsh.
Resistance against the U.S. occupation of Iraq has spread
across the country from as north as Kirkuk down to southern
Iraq.
The U.S.-occupying forces have lost control of at least three
cities, Najaf, Karbala and Kufa to followers of the Shia leader
Muqtada al-Sadr.
Facing the increasing resistance, the Pentagon signaled on
Wednesday that it would probably delay bringing home as many
as 25,000 soldiers from the First Armored Division as scheduled.
At least 40 U.S. soldiers have died in the past week - the
most of any week since the fall of Baghdad.
The fiercest fighting occurred in Falluja where Sunni Iraqis
still maintain control of three quarters of the city despite
a large U.S. offensive involving over 2,000 Marines. On Wednesday
the U.S. purposely bombed a mosque that they claimed was being
used by the resistance. Witnesses said 40 people died but
the military said only one person was killed in the attack.
The head of Fallujah's main hospital reports at least 280
Iraqis have died since the U.S. sealed off the city. 400 have
been wounded.
The Independent of London is reporting the US has blocked
all traffic from entering Fallujah, including ambulances.
Fallujah has become a leading symbol of Iraq nationalism among
both Sunni and Shiites.
In Baghdad hundreds of Iraqis lined up in the streets to
give blood to the victims in Fallujah.
One Iraqi told reporters, "We are giving our blood and
money here now, but this is just the start. We will give our
souls. This will be worse than Vietnam. The Shia and Sunni
will fight together."
Sadr also issued a statement Wednesday making a comparison
to Vietnam. He said "I call upon the American people
to stand beside their brethren, the Iraqi people, who are
suffering an injustice by your rulers and the occupying army,
to help them in the transfer of power to honest Iraqis. Otherwise,
Iraq will be another Vietnam for America and the occupiers."
Sadr also urged the Kuwaiti government to expel the U.S. military
from that country.
More signs emerged that Sunnis and Shias are joining to fight
the US occupation. Posters of the Shiite leader Sadr have
been pasted throughout Sunni areas of Baghdad. Shiite clerics
are urging followers support their Sunni brethren in Fallujah.
In Washington, the Bush administration continued to downplay
the Iraqi uprising. At a press conference on Wednesday Donald
Rumsfeld said, the fighting was just the work of "thugs,
gangs and terrorists," and not a popular uprising. General
Myers added that "it's not a Shiite uprising. Sadr has
a very small following."
But the New York Times reports otherwise. Experts within
the intelligence community said the U.S. is facing a broad-based
Shiite uprising even if the rebellion has not been explicitly
supported by the country's chief Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah
Sistani.
On Wednesday Sistani did his first official statement on
the recent uprising. He called for a peaceful resolution but
said, "We condemn the way the occupying forces are dealing
with current events."
On Capitol Hill senior Senator Robert Byrd called for the
U.S. to withdraw from Iraq but Rumsfeld vowed to stay the
course.
- May Ying Welsh, independent reporter speaking from Baghdad.
Veteran White House Correspondent Helen Thomas On
Bush and the State of the Media
Democracy Now! interviews veteran White House correspondent
Helen Thomas who says, "If we don't have the courage
to stand up and ask a question when we are so privileged,
we have defaulted on our profession." Thomas has served
as White House correspondent for some 57 years and has covered
every President since Kennedy.
On March 6, 2003, President Bush conducted just the second
White House press conference since taking office 14 months
earlier. The only previous press conference he had given was
one month after 9/11 as the U.S. was beginning the so-called
war on terrorism. This time, it was on the eve of the invasion
of Iraq.
Although reiterating several times at the press conference
that he had not made the decision to go to war, Bush repeatedly
told reporters that Saddam Hussein possessed "weapons
of mass terror" and that he posed a "direct threat"
to the United States.
With the nation watching, the White House press corps assembled
in the East Room lobbed softballs at Bush, refusing to challenge
the president for his reasons to lead the country into an
unprovoked and globally-opposed war.
New York Times White House correspondent Elizabeth Bumiller
who was at the now-famous press conference responded to criticism
that reporters were too easy on Bush. She was questioned at
a forum on the press and the presidency. This is an excerpt
of what she had to say:
- Elizabth Bumiller, New York Times White House correspondent
speaking on March 15 at a forum on the press and the presidency
organized by Towson University and the University of California
Washington Center with Towson University professor Martha
Joynt Kumar.
To get a response on Bumiller's eyebrow-raising comments,
we called veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas.
Commonly referred to as "The First Lady of the Press,"
Helen Thomas is the most senior member of the White House
press corps. She has served as White House correspondent for
United Press International for some 57 years and has covered
every President since Kennedy.
President Gerald Ford once remarked, "If God created
the Earth in six days, he couldn't have rested on the seventh
- he would have had to explain it Helen Thomas."
In response to Elizabeth Bumiller's comments, last week I
asked Helen Thomas about the state of the White House press
corps today.
- Helen Thomas, veteran White House correspondent.
Iraqis in Sadr City "Confused and Terrified"
We speak with Irish peace activist Michael Birmingham who
has spent the last few nights in Sadr City where up to 100
Iraqis have died in clashes with U.S. troops since Sunday.
- Michael Birmingham, Irish peace activist who is in Baghdad
with Voices in the Wilderness. He has been in Iraq since
October 2002.
"The American Military Crackdown Will Likely
Only Increase Violence"- Resistance Erupts Across Iraq
As many as six Iraqi cities are experiencing fierce battles
between Iraq's and U.S.-led foreign troops. We hear a report
from journalist Aaron Glanzt of Free Speech Radio News in
Diala, Iraq.
The uprising in Iraq is spreading quickly with as many as
6 Iraqi cities experiencing fierce battles between Iraqi's
and US led foreign troops.
Ukrainian forces were forced to evacuate the city of Kut,
southwest of Baghdad, during clashes with Shiite cleric al-Sadr's
al-Mahdi Army, while there were clashes with Polish troops
in the holy city of Karbala. The city of Najaf is now totally
under the control of supporters of al-Sadr, while in the Sunni
Muslim stronghold of Fallujah, U.S. Marines bombed a mosque
compound, and witnesses said as many as 40 people were killed.
- Aaron Glantz, Free Speech Radio News. Report filed from
Diala, Iraq.
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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