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"The
Americans Scarcely Control Any of the Country" - Iraq
Descends into Chaos
U.S. Response to Death of Palestinian Al-Arabiya Journalist:
"He Was One Of The Terrorists"
Fate of Kidnapped Italian and Iraqi Aid Workers Remains Unknown
NRA vs. Brady Campaign: A Debate on the Expiration of the
Assault Weapons Ban
"The Americans Scarcely Control Any of the Country"
- Iraq Descends into Chaos
The death toll in Iraq over the past four days has risen
to over 150, the vast majority of them Iraqi civilians. We
go to Baghdad to speak with journalist Luke Harding of the
London Guardian about the explosion of violence as well as
the U.S. military's lack of control in the country and the
dangers of reporting from Iraq.
At a gathering of the Arab League in Cairo Tuesday, chief
Amr Moussa said "the gates of hell are open in Iraq."
His comments came a day after some 60 people were killed
throughout Iraq. Wednesday marked another day of bloodshed
as clashes between US forces and the Iraqi resistance in the
Al-Anbar province left 10 Iraqis dead. Al-Anbar includes the
western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi which lie in the control
of the Iraqi resistance.
Meanwhile the BBC is reporting that three unidentified bodies
have been found on a road north of Baghdad. The bodies, which
were dumped in nylon bags, were discovered by members of the
Iraqi National Guard. One report said the heads were found
strapped to the corpses" backs.
The news comes 24 hours after dozens of people were killed
throughout Iraq in a day of extreme violence. In Baghdad a
car bomb close to an Iraqi police station killed 47 people
and injured 100 others. It was the deadliest such attack in
Iraq since July, when 68 people were killed by a car bomb
outside a police station in Baquba. Hours after the Baghdad
explosion, gunmen opened fire on a police minibus in Baquba
killing 12 policemen and one civilian. The US military says
three US troops were killed in separate attacks, two in Baghdad
and one in the northern city of Mosul.
- Luke Harding, reporter with the London Guardian. He joins
us on the phone from Baghdad.
U.S. Response to Death of Palestinian Al-Arabiya
Journalist: "He Was One Of The Terrorists"
We speak with Al Arabiya reporter Najwa Kasem, about her
colleague Mazen al-Tumeisi - the Palestinian journalist who
was killed last weekend when a U.S. helicopter opened fired
at an unarmed crowd surrounding a burning U.S. army vehicle.
Sunday marked on the bloodiest days of the US occupation
of Iraq where over 100 people were killed. One of the most
terrifying incidents came when a US helicopter opened fire
on a crowd milling around an abandoned Bradley armored vehicle
that the Pentagon says had been attacked.
At least 13 people were killed, including children, in the
US helicopter attack on the crowd. Reuters footage showed
the crowd was of unarmed boys and men, two of whom were standing
on top of the Bradley. The US strikes also killed a journalist
from the Arab TV network al Arabiya. The network broadcast
harrowing footage of its correspondent, Mazen al-Tumeisi,
reporting from the scene when he is hit by shrapnel.
- Reuters foortage of helicopter attack on Haifa Street,
Baghdad.
That was a clip from footage captured by Reuters of the incident.
After being hit by shrapnel, Mazen al-Tumeisi doubles over
and his blood splatters on the camera lens as he screams,
"I'm a journalist. I'm dying, I'm dying." Moments
later, he was pronounced dead. He was 26 years old.
Seif Fouad, the camera operator for Reuters Television, and
Ghaith Abdul Ahad, a freelance photographer working for Getty
Images, were wounded in the strike. Abdul Ahad wrote in an
article in the Guardian that U.S. helicopters again fired
into the crowd, just minutes after the first attack.
Mazen al-Tumeisi is a Palestinian who has lived in Iraq for
a number of years. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists,
he is the 20th journalist to be killing in Iraq in 2004. A
US military spokesperson said US troops fired on the Bradley
"for the safety of the people around it." Another
spokesperson said the strike was necessary to prevent looting
of the vehicle.
To talk about Mazen al-Tumeisi we are joined by one his colleagues
on the phone from Baghdad.
- Najwa Kasem, an anchor for Al-Arabiya as well as a fill
in host for their talk show "Inside Iraq."
Fate of Kidnapped Italian and Iraqi Aid Workers Remains
Unknown
As tens of thousands people march in Italy to call for the
release of the two Italian and two Iraqi aid workers abducted
last week, we play an extended excerpt of an interview recorded
in February 2004 with Simona Toretta, one of the two Italian
women. [includes rush
transcript]
As the fate of the two Italian and two Iraqi humanitarian
workers abducted last week hangs in the balance, tens of thousands
of people joined in a torch-lit procession through Rome last
night to call for their release.
Organizers said 80,000 people had turned out in support of
the hostages. Children and adults marched in silence under
rainbow-colored banners and slogans calling for peace in Iraq.
The women, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari were kidnapped
from their Baghdad office on September 7th in broad daylight,
along with Iraqi aid workers Raad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz
Bassam.
An unprecedented number of Islamic groups and scholars have
publicly appealed for the release of the women, including
Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah, as has Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat. In Qatar, the exiled leader of Algeria's dissolved
Islamic Salvation Front, said he had started a hunger strike
to the death to demand their release saying, "This is
for the freedom of those who should be free."
A Bridge to Baghdad is the longest standing non-governmental
organization operating in Iraq. It began working in the country
in 1992, a year after the so-called Gulf War. In all of its
time in the country, it has opposed the sanctions against
Iraq, all of the US attacks on the country as well as the
invasion and current occupation.
Yesterday, on Democracy Now! we played an excerpt of an interview
recorded in February with Simona Toretta. It was recorded
by filmmaker and activist Francis Anderson. Today we play
a longer excerpt of that interview.
- Simona Torretta, being interviewed in February 2004.
Courtesy of Francis Anderson.
NRA vs. Brady Campaign: A Debate on the Expiration
of the Assault Weapons Ban
Assault weapons are back on shelves in gun stores across
the country after the 10-year ban signed by President Clinton
expired this week. We host a debate between the National Rifle
Association and the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence.
Assault weapons are back on shelves in gun stores across
the country after the 10-year ban signed by President Clinton
expired this week.
Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry blasted President
Bush on Monday for allowing the ban to expire and of helping
put dangerous weapons in the hands of terrorists by refusing
to fight for an extension of the ban on semiautomatic weapons.
Bush had said he supported the law, but he did not pressure
the GOP-led Congress to extend the 10-year ban on 19 firearm
models that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton
in 1994. Kerry said he will fight to reinstate the ban if
he is elected president, though some congressional Democrats
and most Republicans oppose it.
Today we host a debate on the assault weapons ban.
- Andrew Arulanandam, director of Public Affairs for the
National Rifle Association.
- Brian Siebel, senior attorney with the Brady Campaign
to Prevent Gun Violence. He is the author of a report released
in March by the Brady Campaign entitled "On Target:
The Impact of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapon Act."
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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