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Could Bush Cancel the Election?
Enemy in their Camp: Scores of U.S. Servicewomen Raped by
Fellow Soldiers
Tipping the Balance: Senate Seat Up For Grabs in Colorado
Iraqi Imam Tortured by Ba'ath Regime On "Transfer"
of Power, Ayad Allawi and Saddam Hussein's Trial
Could Bush Cancel the Election?
A report in Newsweek finds that the Justice Department and
Department of Homeland Security have begun examining ways
to postpone November's presidential election in the event
of an attack near election day. We speak with Michael Isikoff,
investigative correspondent for Newsweek.
The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security
have begun examining ways to postpone November's presidential
election in the event of an attack near election day. This
according to a report in Newsweek.
Last week the Department of Homeland Security asked the Justice
Department's Office of Legal Counsel to analyze what legal
steps would be needed to permit the cancellation and rescheduling
of the election.
This came in response to a request from the chief of the
newly created US Election Assistance Commission for Congress
to pass emergency legislation to empower the Commission to
cancel and reschedule elections.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security told
Newsweek "We are reviewing the issue to determine what
steps need to be taken to secure the election."
- Michael Isikoff, investigative correspondent for Newsweek.
Enemy in their Camp: Scores of U.S. Servicewomen
Raped by Fellow Soldiers
The Denver Post revealed earlier this year that scores of
female troops have reported being sexually-assaulted by fellow
service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. We'll talk with the
reporter who broke the story and a former Air Force officer
who says she was repeatedly abused by senior officers.
Female troops serving in Iraq are reporting a lurking enemy
in their own camps: fellow American soldiers who sexually
assault them.
So far, 176 female troops have reported being sexually-assaulted
by fellow service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. The number
of sex crimes in the military is probably much higher since
a large number of cases go unreported.
Among the most disturbing trends, is the military's treatment
of sexual assault cases. Women have reported poor medical
treatment, lack of counseling and incomplete criminal investigations
- some say they were even threatened with punishment after
reporting assaults.
A task force appointed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
called for sweeping changes in May, but victim advocates expressed
alarm, saying emergency needs of women overseas were basically
ignored.
Rumsfeld ordered the investigation in February after The
Denver Post first reported that dozens of female troops were
returning from the war zone seeking counseling at civilian
crisis centers.
- Miles Moffeit , investigative reporter for the Denver
Post. For the last year and a half he has been investigating
how the army has been mishandling domestic abuse, sexual
abuse and prisoner detentions.
Tipping the Balance: Senate Seat Up For Grabs in
Colorado
After Republican Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell
announced he would not seek re-election this year, four candidates
- two Democrats and two Republicans - are now waging one of
the most competitive Senate battles in the nation. We speak
with one of the contenders for the Democratic nomination,
Mike Miles about the race, the politicization of intelligence,
Iraq, the West Bank wall and more.
As we continue our Exception to the Rulers book and media
tour, this weekend we were in Aspen, Colorado for the State
of the World Conference, a three-day symposium focusing on
environmental issues, national and international politics,
nuclear weapons, terrorism, immigration and indigenous rights.
As we have gone around the country, we have been focusing
in on battleground states in the November elections. Today
we are broadcasting from Colorado, which is not considered
a battleground or a swing state in the presidential election.
But it has taken on new significance after Republican Senator
Ben Nighthorse Campbell announced he wouldn't seek re-election
this year. Campbell was elected into office as a Democrat,
but he abruptly switched parties to become a Republican in
1995.
The outcome in Colorado could help tip the balance in a Senate
now almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans,
and four candidates - two Democrats and two Republicans -
are now waging one of the most competitive Senate battles
in the nation.
Competing for the Democratic nomination are State Attorney
General Ken Salazar and school administrator Mike Miles. Salazar
was considered a sure winner when he stepped into the race
several months ago, forcing several other well-known contenders
to drop out.
But Salazar will be listed under Mike Miles on the ballot
in next month's Democratic primary after the Colorado Springs
educator and West Point graduate pulled off an upset victory
at the state Democratic assembly last May.
- Mike Miles, candidate for the Democratic Party nomination
for US Senate in Colorado.
Iraqi Imam Tortured by Ba'ath Regime On "Transfer"
of Power, Ayad Allawi and Saddam Hussein's Trial
We take a close look at recent developments in Iraq with
Ibrahim Kazerooni, an Iraqi religious leader in Denver who
fled Iraq in 1974 after being repeatedly imprisoned and tortured
for his religious beliefs and his brother, cousin and uncle
killed by the Baathist regime.
In Iraq this weekend there were multiple demonstrations stemming
from last week's court appearance of Saddam Hussein. Yesterday,
in the eastern city of Baquba hundreds of Sunni Muslims staged
a protest against Saddam's trial. They carried banners and
signs denouncing his trial as "staged." Some in
the crowd were masked gunmen. According to the BBC, the demonstrators
chanted, "We will never give up on Iraq or Saddam. Saddam
is the pride of my country in spite of Allawi." Meanwhile,
in downtown Baghdad demonstrators burned Saddam in effigy
and shouted that any lawyers who defended him would be defending
barbarism and savagery.
Saddam's appearance last week in a court housed in one of
his former palaces comes as the unelected Iraqi government
threatens to impose martial law on the country. The US says
it has handed over sovereignty to Iraq, but US troop levels
remain the same. Paul Bremer has left the country, but the
new US Ambassador John Negroponte has arrived and began overseeing
what is the largest embassy in the world.
Today, we are going to take a close look at some of the recent
developments in Iraq by turning to an Iraqi religious leader
here in Denver.
- Ibrahim Kazerooni, imam of the Islamic Center of Ahl
Al-Beit in Denver. He was a dissident in his native Iraq
and fled in 1974 at the age of 15 after being repeatedly
imprisoned and tortured by the Baathist regime for his beliefs.
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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