Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Wed., Dec. 29, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 12-29-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Aceh: A Victim of Tsunami & Occupation; Will the Indonesian
Army Use the Tsunami As A Cover to Continue Its Slaughter
of the People of Aceh?
Of 67,000 Tsunami Victims, At Least 1/3 Are Children
Susan Sontag, 1933-2004
Aceh: A Victim of Tsunami & Occupation; Will
the Indonesian Army Use the Tsunami As A Cover to Continue
Its Slaughter of the People of Aceh?
The disaster is killing thousands in Ache but the Indonesian
military has been doing that for years. Now activists fear
the Indonesian military will use the disaster as a cover to
further the killing of the Acehnese and that the Pentagon
may use the disaster as an excuse to restore aid to the Indonesian
military which was blocked after the military's massacre in
East Timor in 1999. [includes rush
transcript - partial]
- Suraiya I. T. , Chairperson of the International Forum
for Aceh
- Allan Nairn, Journalist and Activist
For more information and to make donations for the grassroots
relief effort:
Of 67,000 Tsunami Victims, At Least 1/3 Are Children
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy discusses the mammoth
relief effort that has begun to help the 10 nations hit the
by the deadliest tsunami in two centuries. The death toll
is 67,000 and rising. Doctors fear tens of thousands more
may die from disease. [includes rush
transcript]
The death toll has topped 67,000 in Asia and East Africa
following the devastating tsunamis that hit the Indian Ocean
region on Sunday.
The World Health Organization is warning that the spread
of disease, especially malaria and cholera, could end up killing
up tens of thousands more people.
The head of crisis operations for the World Health Organization,
Dr. David Nabarro, said "The initial terror associated
with the tsunamis and the earthquake itself may be dwarfed
by the longer term suffering of the affected communities."
Worst hit have been Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Both countries
have lost more than 25,000 people each. The Vice President
of Indonesia said his country may have lost as many as 40,000
people. In Sri Lanka the government is estimating 1.5 million
people - or nearly 8 percent of the population - is now homeless.
Humanitarian groups have launched what is believed to be
the largest relief effort in the world's history. Billions
of dollars will be needed in the coming weeks.
While the Bush administration has pledged to play a major
role in the relief effort, it is already coming under criticism
for its handling of the crisis.
On Monday, the Bush administration pledged an initial $15
million for the effort. After a top UN official described
the donation as "stingy", the US pledged another
$20 million bringing the total offering to $35 million.
To put the figure in perspective, President Bush plans to
spend between $30 and $40 million for his upcoming inauguration
celebration.
And the amount pledged to victims of the tsunami is dwarfed
by the Bush administration's war effort in Iraq.
The U.S. has spent an average of $9.5 million every hour
on the war and occupation of Iraq. With a current price tag
of $147 billion, the U.S. has spent n average of about $228
million a day in Iraq. In other words, the U.S. spends what
it promised on the tsunami relief effort in less than four
hours in Iraq.
- Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF.
Susan Sontag, 1933-2004
Writer and cultural critic Susan Sontag died on Tuesday
in New York after a long battle with cancer. She was 71 years
old. Sontag was one of the country's leading literary figures
as well as a longtime advocate for human rights. [includes
rush
transcript]
We now turn to the life of Susan Sontag. She died on Tuesday
in New York at the age of 71. She was one of the country's
most celebrated writers and cultural critics. She was also
a passionate defender of human rights.
Sontag was born in 1933 and first gained fame 40 years ago
with the publication of her essay "Notes on Camp."
She would go on to write 17 books and win major awards including
the National Book Award.
Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes once compared Sontag to the
Renaissance humanist Erasmus. Fuentes said QUOTE "Erasmus
traveled with 32 volumes, which contained all the knowledge
worth knowing. Susan Sontag carries it in her brain! I know
of no other intellectual who is so clear-minded, with a capacity
to link, to connect, to relate. She is unique."
Sontag was also well known for her political activism. During
the Vietnam War she visited Hanoi.
Shortly after Sept. 11, Sontag became one of the first prominent
Americans to publicly state the attack was carried out in
response to U.S. foreign policy.
She wrote in The New Yorker "Where is the acknowledgment
that this was not a "cowardly" attack on "civilization"
or "liberty" or "humanity" or "the
free world," but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed
superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American
alliances and actions?"
One of her last published essays, "Regarding the Torture
of Others," was written in response to the torture of
Iraqi prisoners by Americans at Abu Ghraib. It appeared in
the New York Times Magazine in May.
In March of this year Sontag spoke at the New School in New
York.
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
