Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Fri., Aug 6, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 8-6-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Sen. John Kerry Slams President Bush For His Actions on 9/11
As Sadr Calls Off Truce In Najaf, We Speak With Robert Fisk
On How Iraq Is About to Explode
Gen. Colin Powell On Why the U.S. Does Not Say Genocide Is
Occurring in the Sudan
NYC Independent Media Center Loses Newsroom Space Weeks Before
GOP Convention
Sen. John Kerry Slams President Bush For His Actions
on 9/11
"Had I been reading to children and had my top aide
whispered in my ear, 'America is under attack,' I would have
told those kids very politely and nicely that the president
of the United States had something that he needed to attend
to," said Kerry yesterday at UNITY 2004, the largest
gathering of journalists of color in the nation's history.
Perhaps the Unity Journalists Convention owes a debt of gratitude
to the NAACP for its 2 highest profile speakers at this year's
conference. It seems George W Bush could not afford another
NAACP fiasco and John Kerry apparently showed up only because
Bush was slated to speak. Senator Kerry hadn't planned on
addressing the conference. Initially, his campaign offered
to send Edwards. But not Kerry's running mate John Edwards,
rather his wife Elizabeth Edwards. It was only after Bush
said he would come that the Kerry campaign called to say the
Senator would grace the largest conference of journalists
in US history in person. Yesterday morning, Kerry addressed
the thousands of journalists. He received sustained applause
at several points during his speech. Kerry's address was followed
by questions from a pre-selected group of reporters.
As Sadr Calls Off Truce In Najaf, We Speak With Robert
Fisk On How Iraq Is About to Explode
The famed British correspondent reveals how the so-called
Iraqi government controls little in Iraq beyond Baghdad. And
we speak with Christian Science Monitor report Scott Balauf
who just left Najaf.
In Iraq, Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr has called off his
two-month truce with the US-backed forces and called for a
holy war against the US and other coalition troops. Ahmed
Shaybani, a spokesman for Sadr, said it was the U.S.-backed
occupation forces who broke the truce by entering sacred areas
of the holy city Najaf and damaging the shrine of Imam Ali.
Shaybani told the Washington Post "This is a revolution
against the occupation force until we get independence and
democracy."
Sadr/s call for an uprising marks the biggest challenge yet
to the new unelected Iraqi government.
The fragile truce began to unravel on Sunday when when police
arrested a representative of Sadr in Karbala.
In a statement to followers yesterday Sadr said "Fight
the blasphemous, fight the Americans." Since yesterday,
Sadr/s forces have been fighting US and coalition troops in
Najaf, Basra, Nasiriyah and Baghdad.
Interior Minister Falah Naqib pledged yesterday to find and
arrest Sadr. He said "We will not negotiate. We will
fight these militias. We have power to stop these people,
and we/ll kick them out of the country."
The U.S. has responded to the uprising by bombing portions
of the Sadr City district in Baghad and the holy city of Najaf.
Agence France Press reports at least 50 people have been
killed and another 170 wounded in the fighting.
Meanwhile Iraq/s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
Sistani, has left the country to seek medical treatment in
London. Sistani has wide influence over the country/s majority
Shiites and has advocated moderation during the U.S. occupation.
We are joined on the phone by Robert Fisk, reporter for the
London Independent. In an article published this week, Fisk
predicted that Iraq was on the edge of explosion.
He writes "watching any Western television station in
Baghdad these days is like tuning in to Planet Mars. Doesn/t
Blair realise that Iraq is about to implode? Doesn/t Bush
realise this? The American-appointed "government"
controls only parts of Baghdad - and even there its ministers
and civil servants are car-bombed and assassinated. Baquba,
Samara, Kut, Mahmoudiya, Hilla, Fallujah, Ramadi, all are
outside government authority. Iyad Allawi, the "Prime
Minister," is little more than mayor of Baghdad. "Some
journalists," Blair announces, "almost want there
to be a disaster in Iraq." He doesn/t get it. The disaster
exists now."
- Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent for the Independent
(UK). He recently left Iraq.
- Scott Baldauf, Christian Science Monitor who left Najaf
earlier today. He is the paper"s South Asia bureau
chief.
Gen. Colin Powell On Why the U.S. Does Not Say Genocide
Is Occurring in the Sudan
The Secretary of State discusses Sudan at UNITY 2004. We
get a response from Smith College professor Eric Reeves.
The Sudanese government and the United Nations have agreed
on a plan that both sides say may avert UN sanctions being
imposed on Khartoum. But human rights groups are already saying
the plan does not come close to addressing the grave situation
in the Darfur region of the country. A week ago the UN gave
Sudan 30 days to disarm the "Janjaweed" militia
or face unspecified economic and diplomatic measures. The
UN characterizes the agreement as laying out a path to disarming
pro-government militiamen, improve security and overall access
to the region for relief workers. The UN estimates at least
30,000 people have died in Darfur and more than one million
others have been displaced. But since the bloodshed began,
the Bush administration has resisted calls to declare the
violence genocide. That label would pressure the United States
to do more to stop the violence.
A decade after the international community virtually ignored
the genocide in Rwanda, Washington's lack of effective action
to major bloodshed in Africa is coming under criticism, most
prominently from the US Congress. In late July, US lawmakers
voted overwhelmingly to declare the killings, rape pillage
in Darfur genocide. But despite weeks of investigating and
a trip to the area by Secretary of State Colin Powell last
month, the Bush administration says it still does not have
proof of genocide. Yesterday afternoon, at the Unity Conference
here in Washington DC, General Powell was questioned by reporters
on the Bush policy in Sudan. This is CNN's White House correspondent
Suzanne Malveaux.
- Gen. Colin Powell, Secretary of State speaking at UNITY
2004.
- Eric Reeves, Smith College professor who has monitored
and written about the Darfur crisis.
NYC Independent Media Center Loses Newsroom Space
Weeks Before GOP Convention
Minutes before NYC Indymedia was prepared to sign a temporary
lease yesterday, the landlord pulled out of the deal after
being approached by law enforcement.
Police have been in regular contact with many buildings in
the city ahead of the Republican National Convention, especially
those near Madison Square Garden and other protest locations.
The IMC was hoping to rent a large space near Madison Square
Garden during the Republican National Convention.
We talk to Joshua Breitbart from NYC
Indymedia for an update.
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.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
