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Inside Fallujah: An Independent Journalist Returns To US
After Being Captured by the Iraqi Resistance
Joseph Wilson: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed
My Wife's CIA Identity
Inside Fallujah: An Independent Journalist Returns
To US After Being Captured by the Iraqi Resistance
We talk to David Martinez, one of the few American civilians
who were inside Fallujah during the siege of the Iraqi city.
While he was leaving the city, members of the Iraqi resistance
captured him and four other westeners. He talks about life
inside the besieged city and why he was released a day later.
Iraqis in the embattled city of Fallujah erupted into celebration
two weeks ago over what they saw as a huge victory over the
US military. After weeks of bloody fighting, US forces withdrew
from the town, handing over control to a former Iraqi general.
But the victory was bittersweet. During the month-long siege
of Fallujah, reports emerged of a massacre of Iraqis at the
hands the US military. US aircraft and artillery repeatedly
bombarded the town as US snipers lined the rooftops. Up to
600 Iraqis were killed and over 1,000 injured. Local hospitals
reported the majority of the dead were women, children and
the elderly. During a brief ceasefire, more than 60,000 women
and children fled the town - US forces blocked any men of
military age from leaving.
During the siege, few unembedded western journalists reported
from Fallujah. One of those that did make it inside the embattled
town was journalist and activist David Martinez. On his return
to Baghdad from Fallujah, Martinez, along with five other
activists, was detained by several armed Iraqi guerillas.
They were released after 24 hours. David Martinez joins us
in our firehouse studio.
- David Martinez, independent filmaker and journalist.
Joseph Wilson: Inside the Lies that Led to War and
Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity
Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson on the outting of his wife,
CIA operative Valerie Plame; the Bush administration's lies
on Iraq; character assassination; and his time as the acting
ambassador to Iraq before the Gulf War when he met with Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein.
Ambassador Joseph Wilson was the last US official to meet
with Saddam Hussein before the start of the so-called Gulf
War 12 years ago. As the acting US ambassador to Iraq in the
weeks leading up to the war, the White House consulted Wilson
daily. He was formally commended by the Bush Sr. administration
for his bravery and heroism in the weeks leading up to the
war. In that time, Wilson helped evacuate thousands of foreigners
from Kuwait, negotiated the release of more than 120 American
hostages and sheltered nearly 800 Americans in the embassy
compound.
But Wilson’s work in Iraq that won him praise from
the current president’s father is not what he is now
known for. For months, he was at the center of a controversy
that could prove to be one of the clearest cases of documentable
criminal conduct by an administration since Watergate or the
Iran-Contra scandal.
In the months leading up to the invasion, the CIA sent Wilson
to investigate whether Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium
from Niger – the White House’s key case that Iraq
was rebuilding its nuclear program.
Through his investigation, Wilson found the claim highly
unlikely and reported back his findings. Despite this, the
Niger-connection became a key piece of the administration’s
justification for the war and President Bush included it in
his State of the Union address in January.
Seven months later, Wilson went public. In a New York Times
Op-Ed he said he had told the CIA long before the president's
January speech that the uranium claims were fraudulent.
A few days after Wilson blew the whistle, conservative columnist
Robert Novak wrote a column in which he cited two senior administration
officials and stated that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was
a CIA operative dealing with weapons of mass destruction.
At the time Wilson charged that it was an attempt by the Bush
administration to intimidate other whistleblowers from going
public.
Wilson has just come out with his memoirs “The Politics
of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My
Wife's CIA Identity.” And as he travels across the country
on his book tour, the Bush White House continues to attack
him. When Wilson appeared on MSNBC's ''Countdown'' to talk
about his book, host Keith Olbermann held up three identical
e-mail messages from the White House and explained that the
''talking points'' they contained were calculated to poke
holes in Wilson's book.
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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