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Iraqis Liken U.S. Occupation to Saddam Hussein Regime
Rep McDermott On White House Secrecy, Kerry's Lean to the
Right and Why Rumsfeld Should Resign
Chomsky Blasts Negroponte Appointment to Iraq Embassy
Campaign for Regime Change: Bush Tightens Cuba Embargo
Iraqis Liken U.S. Occupation to Saddam Hussein Regime
As the number of disturbing photos coming out of Abu Ghraib
continues to multiply, Aaron Glantz of Free Speech Radio News
speaks with families protesting outside the gates of the notorious
Iraqi prison. [includes
rush transcript]
President Bush apologized for the torture and humiliation
of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers for the first time
since photographs documenting the abuse first emerged a week
ago.
The release of the photographs has caused widespread national
and international outrage, especially across the Arab world.
With King Abdullah of Jordan at his side Bush addressed the
nation and the world.
- President Bush, speaking at the Rose Graden on May 6,
2004
Bush had come under heavy criticism for not apologizing for
the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in his appearances on two Arabic-language
television networks a day earlier. But many pundits believe
that Bush's apology at the Rose Garden came too-little, too-late.
- Aaron Glantz of Free
Speech Radio News, reporting from outside the prison
walls of Abu Ghraib outside from Baghdad
Rep McDermott On White House Secrecy, Kerry's Lean
to the Right and Why Rumsfeld Should Resign
We speak with Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott about
why he is calling for Rumsfled's resignation: "If [the
Bush administration] doesn't change the team, they won't change
the approach they're using towards Iraq, which is disastrous;"
the lack of accountability and culture of secrecy in the White
House: "Secrecy is a very slippery slide in a democracy;"
supporting Kerry's presidential bid and much more.
Calls increased Thursday for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
to step down for his handling of the prison abuse scandal
in Iraq. Presidential candidate John Kerry, House minority
leader Nancy Pelosi, Senator Tom Harkin as well as The New
York Times all called for Rumsfeld to resign. Congressman
Charles Rangel called for Rumsfeld's impeachment.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts placed the blame
not on Rumsfeld, but on Bush. He said "The tragedy unfolding
in Iraq is the direct result of a colossal failure of leadership.
The president has failed the Iraqi people, and he has failed
America."
Today Rumsfeld will testify before the Senate Armed Forces
Committee. One Republican staff predicted, "If he says
anything arrogant, it's over."
CNN is reporting Rumsfeld will announce today plans to form
an independent panel to review how the Pentagon handling of
the Iraqi prisoner scandal.
Meanwhile President Bush called Rumsfeld "a really good
secretary of defense" and said "he will stay in
my Cabinet."
- President Bush, speaking at the Rose Graden on May 6,
2004
The Washington Post is reporting that Bush's advisers had
urged the president to apologize on Wednesday during his interviews
with the Arab language television networks, but for some reason
he did not.
- Rep. Jim McDermott, Democratic Congressman representing
the Seattle area. He was first elected in 1989. He is a
psychiatrist by training.
Chomsky Blasts Negroponte Appointment to Iraq Embassy
The Senate voted 95 to 3 Thursday to approve UN ambassador
John Negroponte as the head of the new US embassy in Iraq.
We hear MIT professor Noam Chomsky discussing Negroponte's
role in supporting widespread campaigns of terror and human
rights abuses as ambassador to Honduras.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 95 to 3 to approve UN ambassador
John Negroponte as the head of the new US embassy in Iraq.
According to the Los Angeles Times, only one Senator, Democrat
Tom Harkin of Iowa said that Negroponte's record as ambassador
of Honduras made him the wrong choice to represent the country
in Iraq. Harkin accused the nominee of lying to his bosses
and to Congress about the death squads that were responsible
for the disappearance of 184 people, including an American
priest, while he was ambassador to Honduras.
Harkin said, "Ambassador Negroponte turned a blind eye
and a deaf ear to the human rights abuses in Honduras. To
send Mr. Negroponte to Iraq would send entirely the wrong
message at this time."
Democrats Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Richard Durbin of
Illinois also voted against Negroponte's nomination.
- Noam Chomsky, professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and author of several book including
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance"
speaking at the Cambridge Forum on April 29, 2004.
Campaign for Regime Change: Bush Tightens Cuba Embargo
President Bush agreed to give Cuban dissidents seeking to
get rid of President Fidel Castro $36 million more in funding
and plans to launch psychological operations using EC-130
aircraft. He also announced new measures against Cuba in an
effort to decrease the number of Americans traveling to the
island.
President Bush on Thursday announced new measures against
Cuba in an effort to decrease the number of Americans traveling
to the island and to limit how much they can spend when they
do go there. In addition, he agreed to a plan to begin flying
military aircraft near Cuba to broadcast U.S.-funded programs
onto the island nation, to prevent the Cuban government from
jamming the broadcasts.
According to the New York Times, the U.S. has used the EC-130
aircraft to carry out psychological operations in Bosnia,
Kosovo, Haiti and Panama. Bush also agreed to give Cuban dissidents
seeking to get rid of President Fidel Castro $36 million more
in funding.
- Jane Franklin, historian and author of Cuba and the United
States: A Chronological History
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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