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Fmr. CPA Adviser on Iraq Invasion: "One of the Most
Irresponsible Exhibitions of Poor Planning In Recent History"
Arafat in Coma "Between Life and Death"
Ballot Initiative to Ease California "Three Strikes
Law" Fails to Pass
Fmr. CPA Adviser on Iraq Invasion: "One of the
Most Irresponsible Exhibitions of Poor Planning In Recent
History"
We speak with Larry Diamond, a fellow at the Hoover Institution
who served as senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional
Authority in Baghdad from January to April 2004 at the invitation
of National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice. He blasts the
Bush administration's handling of the invasion and calls for
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld to be fired and the entire Pentagon
leadership to be changed.
The Knight Ridder news agency is reporting Marines are now
expecting the attack on Fallujah will result in the heaviest
casualty levels for the US military since the Vietnam War.
Navy Cmdr. Lach Noyes said the hospital near Fallujah is
preparing to handle 25 severely injured soldiers a day, not
counting walking wounded and the dead. The hospital has added
two operating rooms, doubled its supplies, added a mortuary
and stocked up on blood reserves.
Yesterday President Bush was asked about Iraq at his mid-day
press conference.
- Larry Diamond, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution
and co-director of the International Forum for Democratic
Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. He is a
professor of political science and sociology at Stanford
University. From January to April 2004, he served as Senior
Adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.
Arafat in Coma "Between Life and Death"
As conflicting reports emerge about the condition of Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat, we take a look at the implications of
his death on the Middle East. We speak with Palestinian Stanford
University professor Khalil Barhoum, Israeli professor Neve
Gordon and we go to Ramallah to speak with Israeli journalist
Amira Hass. [includes rush
transcript]
There are conflicting reports about the condition of Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat. The Palestinian envoy to France said
this morning that Arafat is "in a critical juncture between
life and death." She said he is in a "reversible
coma" and that "he could or could not wake up."
Reports remain sketchy after Israel's Channel Two television
reported Thursday that Arafat was brain dead. Doctors at the
French military hospital where he is being held have denied
the rumors.
Arafat was taken into intensive care on Wednesday but the
exact nature of his illness remains unclear. Several reports
from French and international media outlets say his condition
is one of clinical death. An anonymous doctor told the Israeli
newspaper Ha'aretz that Arafat was in a coma that he would
not recover from. CNN has quoted U.S. officials as saying
he is on a life support machine.
At a press conference yesterday, President Bush responded
to reports that Arafat had died.
- President Bush, press conference.
President Bush speaking at a press conference yesterday.
For three decades, the 75-year-old leader has been the symbol
of the Palestinian struggle against Israel for a state. He
has never appointed a successor and many are fearful his death
could trigger a power vacuum and chaos. In the Occupied Territories,
Palestinians were reportedly glued to radio and television
broadcasts.
Palestinian officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah are
said to be engaged in talks over a successor. Palestinian
Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei has reportedly been assigned some
of Arafat's powers, making him the effective head of the Palestinian
Authority. Mahmoud Abbas, the former Palestinian prime minister,
is reported to have taken over the leadership of the Palestine
Liberation Organization and Fatah.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he will allow
Arafat to return to his headquarters in the West Bank town
of Ramallah if he recovers. But he has made it clear he will
not allow his old adversary to be buried on the Temple Mount
- also known as the Haram al-Sharif - in occupied East Jerusalem.
- Amira Hass, correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haa'retz
and one of Israel's leading journalists. She has spent much
of the last decade living in Palestinian communities of
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. She joins us on the phone
from Ramallah.
- Khalil Barhoum, professor and coordinator of African and
Middle Eastern languages and literatures at Stanford University.
He is the president of Association of Arab-American University
Graduates. He is a Palestinian who was born in Bethlehem.
- Neve Gordon, Israeli professor at Ben Gurion University.
He joins us on the phone from Berkeley.
Ballot Initiative to Ease California "Three
Strikes Law" Fails to Pass
Proposition 66, which sought to ease California's three-strikes
law, failed to pass on November 2nd. We speak with LaDoris
Cordell, a retired Superior Court Judge who spent 19 years
on the bench in Santa Clara County. Voters in California headed
to the polls on November 2nd to vote on one of the most crowded
initiative ballots in the state's history. A 3 billion dollar
fund for stem cell research was passed while an initiative
to require businesses to provide workers with health insurance
failed. Two measures that would have expanded gambling in
the state failed while a proposition expanding authorities"
ability to collect DNA samples was approved.
But none of those measures captured as much attention as
Proposition 66, which sought to ease California's three-strikes
law.
The initiative sought to limit invoking the three strikes
law - which gives prison sentences of 25 years to life - to
those convicted only of violent or serious felonies. California
is the only state in the country that applies extended sentences
to any felony, leading to long sentences for hundreds of offenders
for crimes like selling marijuana or stealing from a store.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was heavily opposed to the
measure and reportedly spent about 2 million dollars of his
own campaign finances to fight it. This according to the Los
Angeles Times.
On Election Day, Proposition 66 failed to pass with only
46.6 percent of the "Yes" vote.
- LaDoris Cordell, a retired Superior Court Judge who spent
19 years on the bench in Santa Clara County. This year,
she was elected to the Palo Alto City Council.
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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