Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Fri., Nov. 19, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 11-19-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
U.S. Continues Air Strikes and Ground Assault On Fallujah
Despite Claims of Victory
U.S. War Crimes in Fallujah
Carnegie Military University : How the Pentagon Funds Universities
to Contribute to War
South African Poet and Activist Dennis Brutus: "People
Globally Are Deeply Unhappy" with Bush's Reelection
Pittsburgh Election Officials “Grossly Incompetent”
On Nov. 2nd
U.S. Continues Air Strikes and Ground Assault On
Fallujah Despite Claims of Victory
The U.S. is claiming victory in Fallujah 11 days after it
began its ground assault. 51 U.S. soldiers and as many as
1,600 Iraqis were killed in the offensive. Up to 800 civilians
lost their lives. We go to Baghdad to speak with Pulitzer
prize-winning Washington Post reporter, Anthony Shadid.
The U.S. military is claiming victory in Fallujah a week
and a half after it launched its ground offensive into the
Sunni city west of Baghdad. US Lieutenant-General John Sattler
told reporters Thursday his forces had "broken the back
of the insurgency." He added that US troops killed an
estimated 1,200 Iraqis and had taken over 1,000 prisoners.
He said there was no information about civilian deaths. The
Red Cross has estimated that as many as 800 civilians have
been killed and warned of a humanitarian disaster in the city
where there is no running water or electricity, and wounded
people are unable to reach medical care. 51 US soldiers were
killed in the 11-day assault.
Despite the claims of victory, the US is still carrying out
aerial bombing raids and US forces continue to encounter resistance
on the ground.
Meanwhile, marine intelligence officials have issued a report
warning that any significant withdrawal of troops from Fallujah
would strengthen the resistance. The report - which is distributed
to senior Marine and Army officers in Iraq - was leaked to
the New York Times on Thursday.
It said that despite heavy fighting with US forces, the resistance
would continue to increase in number, carrying out attacks
and fomenting unrest. The report appears to contradict the
US government's victorious account of the Fallujah assault.
- Anthony Shadid, foreign correspondent for the Washington
Post. He won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.
He joins us on the phone from Baghdad.
U.S. War Crimes in Fallujah
A number of incidents have been captured on tape and broadcast
in the United States that international law experts charge
could be evidence of clear war crimes being committed by US
troops. We speak attorney Jules Lobel of the Center for Constitutional
Rights and author of Success Without Victory. [includes rush
transcript]
While the reporting of embedded correspondents operating
in the besieged city of Fallujah is subject to censorship
by the US military, a number of incidents have been captured
on tape and broadcast in the United States that international
law experts charge could be evidence of clear war crimes being
committed by US troops. The most prominent among these incidents
was a case earlier this week of a US soldier apparently executing
a wounded Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque. It was captured on videotape
by an NBC cameraman.
- Footage of US soldier executing wounded Iraqi.
- Jules Lobel, vice president of the Center for Constitutional
Rights. He teaches at the University of Pittsburgh Law School.
He is the author of the new book Success Without Victory.
Carnegie Military University : How the Pentagon Funds
Universities to Contribute to War
The Defense Department and weapons contractors provide massive
amounts of funds to universities and colleges across the country
for military-related research. We take a look at Carnegie
Mellon University, one of the largest academic military contractors
in the country. [includes rush
transcript]
As the situation in Iraq grows more bloody by the day, people
across the country continue to protest the war and the Bush
administration's policies through marches, rallies and acts
of civil disobedience.
Dissent is usually directed towards the conventional symbols
of the military-industrial complex: The White House, weapons
contractors and companies like Halliburton and Bechtel. But
there is one institution directly involved in the war effort
that generally goes unnoticed: universities and colleges.
The Defense Department and weapons contractors provide massive
amounts of funds to universities and colleges across the country
for military-related research. These hundreds of millions
of dollars are used to directly support scientific and technological
research that help create the tools of war and fuel the military-industrial-college
complex.
Carnegie Mellon University here in Pittsburgh is one of the
largest academic military contractors in the country. Many
of the software guidance systems, general communications networking
systems and robotics technology used in Iraq were developed
at CMU. So much so that some have nicknamed CMU, Carnegie
Military University.
- David Meieran, an antiwar activist in Pittsburgh and
member of the Pittsburgh Organizing Group in the Thomas
Merton Center. He is one those leading the campaign against
military funding of Carnegie Mellon University.
South African Poet and Activist Dennis Brutus: "People
Globally Are Deeply Unhappy" with Bush's Reelection
We speak with renowned South African poet, activist and
professor, Dennis Brutus Bush's reelection, Haitian President
Aristide's exile to South Africa, the IMF and much more. [includes
rush
transcript]
In apartheid South Africa of the 60s, Dennis Brutus was
an outspoken activist against the racist state. He helped
secure South Africa's suspension from the Olympics, eventually
forcing the country to be expelled from the games in 1970.
He was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to 18 months of hard
labor on Robben Island off Capetown, with Nelson Mandela.
Brutus was banned from teaching, writing, and publishing in
South Africa. His first collection of poetry, "Sirens,
Knuckles and Boots" was published in Nigeria while he
was in prison.
After he was released, Brutus fled South Africa on a Rhodesian
passport. In 1983, after a protracted legal struggle, Brutus
won the right to stay in the United States as a political
refugee. He is professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dennis Brutus is joining us now here in the studio in Pittsburgh.
- Dennis Brutus, South African poet, activist and Professor
Emeritus in the Department of Africana Studies at the University
of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Election Officials “Grossly Incompetent”
On Nov. 2nd
As controversy rages over the fairness of the November 2nd
election we take a look at voting problems in Pittsburgh with
Celeste Taylor of the National Election Protection effort.
[includes rush
transcript]
In election news, researchers at the University of California
Berkeley released a study Thursday that claims President Bush
may have received at least 130,000 extra and unexplained votes
in Florida in counties that used electronic voting machines.
The researchers claim that Bush received an unexplainably
high number of votes in several heavily Democratic counties
that used electronic voting. One of the researchers Michael
Hout said "I've concluded something went awry with e-voting
in Florida."
While the UC Berkeley study examined only voting irregularities
in Florida, today we are going to examine what happened here
in Pennsylvania, another heavily contested state.
We are joined here in the studio with Celeste Taylor, the
Pittsburgh coordinator for the national Election Protection
effort.
- Celeste Taylor, Pittsburgh coordinator for the National
Election Protection effort.
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
