Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Tue., Aug 24, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 8-24-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Father
of Beheaded Iraq Hostage Blames Bush Administration For Son's
Death
Illegal Strip Searches and the Crackdown on Dissent in California
As NYC Braces for RNC, Anarchists Blast Media Coverage as
Scare Tactics
Father of Beheaded Iraq Hostage Blames Bush Administration
For Son's Death
We speak with Michael Berg father of Nicholas Berg who was
captured and beheaded in Iraq last May. In a rare interview
in the U.S., he discusses the invasion of Iraq, the corporate
media's coverage of Nicholas' murder and the controversy surrounding
the last weeks of his son's life.
Today we speak with the father of one of the casualties of
the Iraq war, Michael Berg, whose son Nicholas who was captured
and beheaded in Iraq last May.
Nicholas Berg was working in Iraq as an independent businessman
fixing communication antennas. He was last seen on April 9.
He was originally scheduled to return home to the United States
on March 30, but a week before his departure he was detained
at a checkpoint in Mosul.
He was held for 13 days - the reasons for his detention remain
unclear to this day. He was released on April 6th, a day after
his family filed a suit in federal court against the US charging
that the US was illegally holding their son.
Three days after his release he was to never be seen again.
His decapitated body was found on a highway overpass in Baghdad.
He was 26 years old.
A video of the beheading appeared on a website two days later
connected to Al Qaeda. The killers said the murder was revenge
for the prison abuse of Iraqis taking place at the Abu Ghraib
prison.
The video captured Berg saying "My name is Nick Berg,
my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne.
I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah."
The details surrounding the story remain murky. The US at
first denied it ever held Berg and said he was being detained
by Iraqi police. The FBI then admitted that agents visited
Berg three times while he was in custody. After their son's
death, the Berg family released the text of an email from
the State Department that confirmed Nicholas was detained
by the US shortly before he disappeared. The email was from
a US consular officer. It read: "I have confirmed that
your son, Nick, is being detained by the US military in Mosul.
He is safe. He was picked up ... one week ago."
The US maintains that Iraqi police - not U.S. authorities
- arrested and detained Nick Berg despite the Iraqi police
chief denying this.
Two weeks ago, Michael Berg, Nick's father, had a long-awaited
opportunity to meet face-to-face with Defense Department officials
to question them about his son's murder and the controversy
surrounding the final weeks of his life.
The meeting was arranged through Republican Pennsylvania
Congressman James Gerlach. Afterwards, Gerlach blasted the
Pentagon saying that even if Iraqi police did have physical
custody of Berg, the U.S. had "legal custody."
This Thursday Michael Berg will be presented an award by
the Artists Network of Refuse & Resist! at an event entitled
"Unconventional Heroes: An Evening of Performance to
Honor Courageous Resisters." In a rare interview in this
country, Michael Berg joins us on the phone today.
- Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg.
Illegal Strip Searches and the Crackdown on Dissent
in California
We speak with Sacramento civil rights attorney Mark Merin
who recently won the largest settlement in the history of
the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department over strip-search
violations at the county jail. He is prepared to file another
suit targeting a controversial parade ordinance in Sacramento
that restricts what protesters can wear and carry.
We go from New York to California where I am in Sacramento
as part of our 100 city "Exception to the Rulers"
book and media tour.
A controversial parade ordinance in Sacramento is coming
under heavy criticism from activists and civil rights lawyers.
The emergency ordinance restricting what parade participants
could wear and carry was adopted by the City Council in June
2003, as officials braced for the Ministerial Conference and
Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology.
But the scope and severity of the ordinance were soon called
into question, including bans on carrying signs with 4-inch
posts, possessing any glass container and even wearing bandannas.
Civil rights attorney Mark Merin says a class-action lawsuit
targeting the ordinance could be on the horizon. Merin recently
won the largest settlement in the history of the Sacramento
County Sheriff's Department over strip-search violations at
the county jail. He has filed similar suits in other counties
in California as well as in Miami where protests against the
Free Trade Area of the Americas where held last November.
- Mark Merin, civil rights lawyer in Sacramento, California.
As NYC Braces for RNC, Anarchists Blast Media Coverage
as Scare Tactics
A coalition of anarchists in New York held a press conference
yesterday to denounce the portrayal of them as terrorists
and violence seekers in the lead up to the Republican National
Convention. We speak with two organizers from the press conference.
The Republican National Convention is just a few days away.
And the security apparatus being constructed in the city is
massive to say the least. Heavily armed soldiers and police
are manning checkpoints throughout the city and the area around
Madison Square Garden, the site of the convention, is being
heavily fortified. Up to 20,000 police and other law enforcement
officers will flood the streets and subways around the Garden
and elsewhere. Many officers have received training on how
to handle chemical, biological or radiological attacks, at
a cost of millions of dollars.
The Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security
are responsible for security at the convention site and at
different times of the day, more than 20 blocks on the main
avenues and streets around the Garden will be closed. The
battles between protest organizers and the authorities in
New York over march permits continue. And thousands of activists
are beginning to pour in from across the country. The New
York Post and other right wing media outlets have been beating
the drum, labeling the protesters as terrorists. Meanwhile,
Republican officials this week confirmed that President George
W Bush may not even spend a single night in New York. The
plan being considered now is for Bush to come in to deliver
his acceptance speech and then fly out for a midnight rally
in Pennsylvania.
Last night in New York, a coalition of anarchists held a
press conference to denounce the portrayal of them as terrorists
and violence seekers. As we have been reporting on Democracy
Now!, the FBI has been interrogating activists in Colorado,
Kansas and other states about their protest plans at the convention.
Meanwhile, the NYPD has put 56 activists around the country
under 24 hours surveillance. Reports indicate the NYPD has
assigned one supervisor and six police officers to track each
of the 56 activists.
- Frank Morales, an Episcopalian priest at St. Mark's Church
in New York City. He's also an organizer with the Campaign
to Demilitarize the Police.
- Kazembe Balagoon, a writer, teacher, and activist living
in the Bronx. He's an organizer with this week's "Life
After Capitalism conference", held in New York City.
He's currently working on a group of essays entitled "Queering
the X: James Baldwin, Malcolm X and the Third World."
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
