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Doctor
Faces Life Imprisonment for Violating Iraq Sanctions
White House-Backed Charter Schools Lag Behind Public Schools
Study Shows Racial Disparity in Healthcare
Doctor Faces Life Imprisonment for Violating Iraq
Sanctions
An Iraqi-American doctor faces life in prison for violating
economic sanctions against Iraq. He has spent the last year
and a half in prison despite has never been convicted of a
crime and is believed to the only U.S. citizen ever to be
held in prison for violating the sanctions. We speak with
his friend and a community activist as well as Voices in the
Wilderness founder Kathy Kelly.
On Feb. 26, 2003, three weeks before the U.S. invaded Iraq,
an Iraqi-American in Syracuse was pulled over. He was arrested.
And he has spent the last 18 months in jail after being denied
bail six times. He faces nearly 300 years in prison plus millions
in fines.
On the day of his arrest, Attorney General John Ashcroft
connected the forthcoming military attack on Iraq with the
fight at home against those who back Saddam Hussein by sending
money to Iraq.
The press soon connected this arrested Iraqi-American to
Saddam Hussein and terrorist organizations. The man faces
nearly 300 years in prison and a $14 million fine for illegally
sending money to Iraq after the first Gulf War and for multiple
counts of money laundering. He has been denied bail six times.
The case of Dr. Rafil Dhafir case centers on a charity he
founded called Help the Needy. The government alleges Dhafir
illegally raised millions of dollars for the charity and violated
U.S. sanctions by sending at least $160,000 to Iraq as well
as aid. UNICEF estimates 500,000 Iraqi children have died
as a result of the U.S.-backed sanctions.
Dr. Dhafir is believed to the only U.S. citizen ever to be
held in prison for violating the U.S-backed sanctions. And
he still has not been convicted of anything -- for 18 months
he has been held awaiting trial.
Three weeks ago, his attorney filed a motion to dismiss as
he accused the U.S. government of selective prosecuting Dhafir
by singling him out because of his race, religion and cultural
background.
In one of his few interview from prison Dhafir told the New
Standard website, "This is part of a campaign against
Muslims and Arabs."
In Syracuse, community activists have begun a Free Rafil
Dhafir campaign. And they are considering bringing their protest
to the streets of New York later this month during the Republican
National Convention.
- Mohamed Khater, friend and supporter of Dr. Rafil Dhafir
White House-Backed Charter Schools Lag Behind Public
Schools
A new study buried by the Bush administration finds that
children attending charter schools score lower on standardized
tests than students at regular public schools. We host a debate
on charter schools and the No Child Left Behind Act.
A new federal study has concluded that children attending
charter schools score lower on standardized tests than students
at regular public schools. This according to an article in
The New York Times earlier this week.
According to the Times, the Bush administration buried the
federal study and the Education Department released it without
any public announcement. The results offer the first nationally
representative comparison of children attending both types
of schools.
The result is a major setback for the Bush administration,
casting doubt on a central provision of the No Child Left
Behind Act that encourages states to hand over failing schools
to commercial companies and nonprofit community groups that
want to run them as charter schools.
Charters are self-governing public schools, often run by
private companies, which operate outside the authority of
local school boards.
Charters are expected to grow exponentially under the No
Child Left Behind Act as thousands of public schools are identified
for possible closing because of poor test scores.
- Bob Peterson, editor of Rethinking
Schools magazine. He is a fifth grade public school
teacher in Milwaukee where he has taught for 24 years.
Study Shows Racial Disparity in Healthcare
A new study finds that doctors who treat African American
patients are less likely to be board certified and less able
to refer patients to specialists than doctors who treat white
patients. We speak with the author of the study as well as
a doctor representing African American physicians.
Doctors who treat African American patients are less likely
to be board certified and less able to refer patients to specialists
than doctors who treat white patients. This according to a
study published on August 5th in the New England Journal of
Medicine, entitled "Primary Care Physicians Who Treat
Blacks and Whites."
The study used Medicare data from a survey of doctors who
treat patients 65-years and older. It found that geography
may be a factor because physicians in largely Black neighborhoods
say they have trouble providing high quality care.
- Dr. Peter Bach, Lead author of the study "Primary
Care Physicians Who Treat Blacks and Whites" published
this month in the New England Journal of Medicine and a
pulmonologist/intensivist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center with expertise in quality of care and epidemiologic
research methods.
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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