Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Tue., May. 24, 2005
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 5-24-05
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Afghan President Heads to Washington Amid New Reports Of
U.S. Abuse In Afghanistan
Unseen Pictures, Untold Stories: How The U.S. Press Has Sanitized
The War in Iraq
Afghan President Heads to Washington Amid New Reports
Of U.S. Abuse In Afghanistan
On Monday President Bush met with Afghan President Hamid
Karzai in Washington on Monday just days after the New York
Times revealed that U.S. troops tortured and killed Afghan
detainees at the Bagram airbase. We speak with John Sifton
from Human Rights Watch. [includes rush
transcript]
President Bush has ruled out handing over command of US troops
in Afghanistan despite Afghan President Hamid Karzai's request
for more authority over them. His comments came during a White
House meeting on Monday between the two leaders.
There are currently about 20,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Bush and Karzai endorsed an agreement allowing the United
States to simply continue its policy of informing Afghan officials
before launching raids.
- Hamid Karzai, Afghan president speaking in Washington
on May 23, 2005.
Bush also said Washington would not be pressured to repatriate
Afghan prisoners held by the US at Guantanamo Bay and other
detention centers around the world.
The days before Monday's White House talks saw renewed controversy
over the torture and killing of Afghan detainees at the Bagram
airbase, details of which were published by The New York Times.
Karzai also addressed the recent violent anti-US protests
in Afghanistan following allegations in Newsweek magazine
- now retracted - that US guards at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated
the Koran. Karzai did not address the numerous other reports
of desecration of the Koran by US forces.
We are joined now by John Sifton, the Afghanistan researcher
at Human Rights Watch.
Unseen Pictures, Untold Stories: How The U.S. Press
Has Sanitized The War in Iraq
Images of thousands of dead U.S. soldiers helped to turn
the tide of public opinion against the Vietnam War, but now
photo-journalists are even banned from military funerals at
Arlington national cemetery. A report this weekend in the
Los Angeles Times documented the extremely rare publication
of photos of American casualties in six major newspapers during
a sixth month period. Readers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
Los Angeles Times, New York Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
and Washington Post never saw a single picture of a dead serviceman
or servicewoman in their morning papers. [includes rush
transcript]
Violence continues in Iraq on a daily basis. A car bomb in
central Baghdad killed at least nine Iraqis on Tuesday. Meanwhile
the death toll from a string of attacks on Monday has risen
to at least 54. Over 130 people were wounded. Over 600 Iraqis
have been killed in just over a month.
The latest attacks came as American and Iraqi forces are
conducting a joint offensive in Baghdad. The US military announced
that over 420 people were arrested in just over 30 hours during
the sweep dubbed "Operation Squeeze Play."
Five US troops have also been killed in the past two days.
But Americans almost never see photographs from Iraq showing
U.S. troops killed in action. Images of thousands of dead
U.S. soldiers helped to turn the tide of public opinion against
the Vietnam War, but now photo-journalists are even banned
from military funerals at Arlington national cemetery. A report
this weekend in the Los Angeles Times documented the extremely
rare publication of photos of American casualties in six major
newspapers during a sixth month period. Readers of the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, St.
Louis Post-Dispatch and Washington Post never saw a single
picture of a dead serviceman in their morning papers.
We're joined on the phone by L.A. Times reporter James Rainey
who wrote the story. And in the studio we are joined by veteran
journalist Sidney Schanberg, now the media columnist for the
Village Voice. Schanberg has covered wars in India, Vietnam
and Cambodia and won a Pulitzer prize in 1976 for his reporting
on the rise of the Kmer Rouge and dictator Pol Pot in Cambodia.
Last week, he wrote a piece in the Village Voice calling on
journalists not to omit important information and images out
of "timidity or squeamishness." He writes that the
reason governments seek to censor and sanitize wartime coverage
is "to prevent a public outcry against the war, an outcry
that might bring down the administration." We are also
joined by Pacifica Radio reporter Aaron Glantz. He spent months
covering the occupation of Iraq and is author of the new book
"How America Lost Iraq."
- James Rainey, reporter at the Los Angeles Times, author
of the report, "Unseen Pictures, Untold Stories"
published on Saturday in the Times
- Sidney Schanberg, veteran journalist formerly at the
New York Times and Newsday. Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1976
for reporting on the rise of the Kmer Rouge in Cambodia.
- Aaron Glantz,
reporter for Pacifica Radio. He spent months covering the
occupation of Iraq and is author of the new book "How
America Lost Iraq."
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
