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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Broadcast Exclusive: James Baker's Double Life in Iraq: The
Carlyle Group Stands to Make Killing on Iraqi Debt
Conservative TV Chain Orders 62 Stations to Pre-Empt Regular
Programming To Air Anti-Kerry "Documentary" Before
Election
FBI Questions Hundreds of Muslims Ahead of Tonight's Debate
in Arizona
8:01-8:11 Headlines
8:11-8:12 One Minute Music Break
8:12-8:58 Broadcast Exclusive: James Baker's Double
Life in Iraq: The Carlyle Group Stands to Make Killing on
Iraqi Debt
In a major expose published last night on The Nation magazine's
website, columnist Naomi Klein reveals that President Bush's
special envoy on Iraq's debt, former Secretary of State James
Baker, has been using his position to benefit his corporate
clients and the Carlyle Group, the powerful merchant bank
and defense contractor where Baker serves as a partner.
According to confidential documents obtained by The Nation,
Carlyle has sought to secure an extraordinary $1 billion investment
from the Kuwaiti government, with Baker’s influence
as debt envoy being used as a crucial lever. The secret deal
involves a complex transaction to transfer ownership of as
much as $57 billion in unpaid Iraqi debts. The debts, now
owed to the government of Kuwait, would be assigned to a foundation
created and controlled by a consortium in which the key players
are the Carlyle Group and the Albright Group, which is headed
by another former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.
There are also several other well-connected firms involved.
Under the deal, the government of Kuwait would also give
the consortium $2 billion up front to invest in a private
equity fund devised by the consortium, with half of it going
to Carlyle. In a letter dated August 6, 2004, the consortium
informed Kuwait's foreign ministry that the country’s
unpaid debts from Iraq are "in imminent jeopardy."
Another letter warns the Kuwaitis that world opinion is turning
in favor of debt forgiveness. As evidence the consortium points
out to Kuwait "President Bush's appointment...of former
Secretary of State James Baker as his envoy to negotiate Iraqi
debt relief." The consortium's proposal spells out the
threat: Not only is Kuwait unlikely to see any of its $30
billion from Iraq in sovereign debt, but the $27 billion in
war reparations that Iraq owes to Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s
1990 invasion "may well be a casualty of this U.S. [debt
relief] effort."
In the face of this threat, the consortium offers its services.
If Kuwait agrees to transfer the debts to the consortium’s
foundation, the consortium will use these personal connections
to persuade world leaders that Iraq must "maximize"
its debt payments to Kuwait, which would be able to collect
the money after ten to fifteen years. And the more the consortium
gets Iraq to pay during that period, the more Kuwait collects,
with the consortium taking a 5 percent commission or more.
- Naomi Klein, award-winning
journalist and author of Fences and Windows: Dispatches
From the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate and No
Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.
Conservative TV Chain Orders 62 Stations to Pre-Empt
Regular Programming To Air Anti-Kerry "Documentary"
Before Election
INTRO: 18 Democratic Senators are urging the Federal Communications
Commission to investigate Sinclair Broadcasting Group's decision
to air what they view as an unpaid 90-minute attack ad against
Kerry. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps called Sinclair's decision
to air the program a "abuse of public trust."
As millions of Americans sit down in front of their TVs in
the coming days to watch their favorite prime-time shows,
many of them will instead be made to watch a controversial
new documentary criticizing John Kerry's record in Vietnam.
That's because the nation's largest local television chain,
the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, ordered its 62 TV stations
to pre-empt regular prime-time programming in favor of airing
the film "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal."
The documentary was produced by Carlton Sherwood, a former
Washington Times reporter who used to work for Department
of Homeland Security director Tom Ridge while he was governor
of Pennsylvania.
This week, 18 Democratic Senators urged the Federal Communications
Commission to investigate Sinclair's decision to air what
they view as an unpaid 90-minute attack ad against Kerry.
Sinclair's television outlets reach nearly a quarter of the
nation"s homes including in many key swing states such
as Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps released a statement calling
Sinclair's decision to air the program an "abuse of public
trust."
This marks the second time this year Sinclair made headlines
for its programming decisions. In April, the network refused
to run an episode of Nightline when the anchor Ted Koppel
read the names of every U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.
- Danny Schechter, Executive Director of Mediachannel.org.
He has been covering the Sinclair Broadcasting controversy
closely. Mediachannel has a new report called "Sinclair
Plays Fast and Loose With the News." He is also the
producer and director of the new documentary "Weapons
of Mass Deception" which will premiere in New York
on October 29.
- Wally Bowen, media activist and lead organizer of Sinclair
Media Watch, a grassroots citizens group formed to evaluate
local news coverage provided by WLOS-TV, the only broadcast
television station based in Asheville, NC. Their evaluation
will be published and shared with the FCC during the public
comment period for the renewal of the station's license.
FBI Questions Hundreds of Muslims Ahead of Tonight's
Debate in Arizona
INTRO: Ahead of tonight's debate in Tempe, FBI agents have
been questioning hundreds of Muslims across the state and
visiting mosques in what they say is a new initiative to thwart
terrorist attacks. We speak with the Council on American-Islamic
Relations in Arizona and a University student from Yemen who
was questioned.
President Bush and Senator John Kerry meet today in Arizona
for the third and final presidential debate of the campaign.
The encounter, which is being held at Arizona State University,
will focus on domestic issues including jobs, health care
and taxes.
In the weeks leading up to the final debate, FBI agents have
been knocking on doors of hundreds of Muslims in the key swing
state of Arizona and conducting so-called "voluntary
interviews" as well as revisiting mosques in what they
say is new initiative to thwart terrorist attacks.
The FBI plan - officially known as the "Fall Threat
Task Force" but dubbed by critics as the "October
Plan" - is not just confined to Arizona. With just a
few weeks left to go before the election, "interviews"
of individuals in Arab and Muslim communities is taking place
all across the country and there is a growing concern that
the new government plan could silence political expression
in Muslim communities before the presidential election.
- Deedra Abboud, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) in Arizona.
- Yaser Alamoodi, subject of a "voluntary interview"
by the FBI recently. He is a 27 year-old immigrant from
Yemen who grew up in Saudi Arabia and came to the U.S. for
university seven years ago.
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
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 John Hamilton.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
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