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Bush: We'll Stay The Course In Iraq & Send More Troops
If Needed
Control Room: Behind the Scenes of the Arab News Station
Al Jazeera
About Baghdad: An Exiled Iraqi Poet Returns Home To Witness
the Affects of War, Sanctions and Occupation
Bush: We'll Stay The Course In Iraq & Send More
Troops If Needed
President Bush gave a prime time speech last night outlining
his vision of Iraq after June 30. We get a response from Al
Jazeera senior producer Samir Khader and the Iraqi-born poet
Sinan Antoon. They question how sovereign Iraq will actually
be after June 30 and whether Bush's re-election campaign is
driving his Iraq policy more than his concern for the welfare
of the Iraqi people.
In a prime-time address at the Army War College in Pennsylvania
last night, President Bush outlined his vision for the future
of Iraq. The speech came just five weeks before the so-called
June 30th-handover and five months before the US elections.
The address kicked off a White House campaign to shore up
public support and will be followed by a speech every week
until the June 30 transition. Bush’s approval rating
hit an all-time low of 41% last week.
The main body of his address focused on a strategy for the
transfer of sovereignty in Iraq. The speech came after the
US and Britain tabled a draft resolution at the UN on plans
for the so-called handover on June 30. The Washington Post
describes the strategy as a “repackaged stalled U.S.
policy as a five-step plan.”
Bush also said that he would maintain US troop levels in
Iraq at the current level as long as necessary and defended
their continuing presence.
Although Bush didn't announce any significant policy changes,
he did promise to demolish Abu Ghraib prison, the site of
the now-notorious photos of physical and sexual abuses committed
by US soldiers against Iraqi detainees.
His speech was carried live in many parts of the Arabic speaking
world, including on al-Jazeera. Today, we are going to get
a response to his remarks from 2 people.
- President George W. Bush, speaking at the Army War College
last night. [Read
transcript of Bush's full speech]
- Samir Khader, senior producer with Al Jazeera, the Arab-language
satellite TV news channel, based in Doha, Qatar.
- Sinan Antoon, Iraqi poet, novelist and translator. He
studied English literature at Baghdad University before
coming to the United States after the 1991 Gulf War. He
is featured in the new film "About Baghdad." He
currently teaches Arabic and Arab Literature at Dartmouth
College.
Control Room: Behind the Scenes of the Arab News
Station Al Jazeera
Their offices have been bombed by the U.S. and shut down
by Arab governments - they are Al Jazeera, the biggest Arab
news channel. A new documentary takes a look at how the station
covered the Iraq invasion and how the U.S. government responded
to their unembedded form of reporting.
Their offices were bombed twice in Afghanistan. Their Baghdad
correspondent was killed In Iraq. Their reporter was arrested
en route to a summit in Crawford. Their New York correspondents
were thrown off the floors of the New York Stock Exchange
and NASDAQ.
We’re talking about al-Jazeera, the Arabic satellite
television station based in Qatar.
Al Jazeera's programing has been seen as controversial by
some in Washington ever since it began broadcasting seven
years ago. The network has since grown into a CNN of the Arabic
world reaching up to 55 million viewers.
A new documentary film called “Control Room”
takes an inside look at Al-Jazeera
- Jehane Noujaim, began work in photography and film maiking
in Cairo, where she grew up, before moving to the United
States in 1990. In 2001, she co-directed the documentary,
"Startup-Dot-Com" which chronicles the rise and
fall of Internet startups during the boom years of the New
Economy.
- Samir Khader, senior Producer with Al Jazeera, the Arab-language
satellite TV news channel, based in Doha, Qatar.
Related Links:
- "Control
Room"
About Baghdad: An Exiled Iraqi Poet Returns Home
To Witness the Affects of War, Sanctions and Occupation
The new documentary About Baghdad tracks the return of the
poet Sinan Antoon. He joins us in our studio with Adam Shapiro,
one of the filmmakers.
Earlier in the program we heard from Sinan Antoon, an Iraqi
writer and poet who was exiled under Saddam Hussein. Since
then, he has lived and worked in the United States—He
currently teaches Arabic and Arab literature at Dartmouth
college. Last summer, as the invasion of Iraq was still in
its early stages, Sinan Antoon returned to Baghdad with a
group of activists and filmmakers. They walked around Baghdad
with their cameras and talked to people from all walks of
life and with many different opinions on the occupation. The
result of their trip is a new film that is set to be released
in a few weeks. It is called “About Baghdad.”
It was produced by InCounter Productions. Sinan Antoon joins
us again as does Adam Shapiro.
- Sinan Antoon, Iraqi poet, novelist and translator. He
studied English literature at Baghdad University before
coming to the United States after the 1991 Gulf War. He
is featured in the new film "About Baghdad." He
currently teaches Arabic and Arab Literature at Dartmouth
College.
- Adam Shapiro, organizer with the International Solidarity
Movement. He has spent extensive time in Palestine. After
the US invasion of Iraq began, he travelled to Baghdad to
film a documentary called "About Baghdad."
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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