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FBI Files Show Guantanamo Detainees Reported Desecration
of Koran Beginning in 2002
Lies That Cost Lives: As Newsweek is Pressured Over Koran
Report, Who Should Be Held Accountable For The Media's Mistakes
Ahead of the Iraq Invasion?
Dr. David Hager's Family Values: Should This Man Be Advising
Bush on Women's Health?
FBI Files Show Guantanamo Detainees Reported Desecration
of Koran Beginning in 2002
One prisoner interviewed in August 2002, said that guards
had flushed the Koran in the toilet. Others reported the Koran
being kicked, withheld as punishment and thrown on the floor.
On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union released
these newly declassified documents. [includes rush
transcript]
Newly declassified documents released by the FBI reveal
detainee claims of Koran desecration by US guards at Guantanamo
as early as 2002. The documents were obtained by the American
Civil Liberties Union and include numerous summaries of FBI
interviews with prisoners.
One prisoner interviewed in August 2002, said that guards
had flushed the Koran in the toilet. Others reported the Koran
being kicked, withheld as punishment and thrown on the floor.
Lies That Cost Lives: As Newsweek is Pressured Over
Koran Report, Who Should Be Held Accountable For The Media's
Mistakes Ahead of the Iraq Invasion?
Last week the White House charged that "people lost
their lives" because of an inaccurate Newsweek report
on the desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo. Media analysts
Norman Solomon and Michael Massing discuss government pressure
on journalists and the media's coverage in the lead up to
the Iraq war. [includes rush
transcript]
The news comes on the heels of controversy over a Newsweek
article by journalist Michael Isikoff saying that government
investigators had corroborated an almost identical incident.
Newsweek ultimately retracted its story under intense government
pressure because a confidential government source could not
be confirmed.
After the story broke, the White House and Pentagon have
painted Isikoff and Newsweek as being responsible for deaths
during rioting in Afghanistan following the article"s
publication. Pentagon spokesperson Larry Dirita said "People
are dead because of what this son of a ___ said. How could
he be credible now?"
Even after Newsweek retracted its story, the White House
continued its offensive. This is White House spokesperson
Scott McClellan last week.
- Scott McClellan, White House press secretary speaking
at a press briefing on May 17, 2005.
White House spokesperson Scott McClellan at a news conference
last week. Since then, media outlets and human rights groups
have revealed scores of allegations of abuse of the Koran
by US interrogators and others. McClellan has now retreated
on claims that Newsweek"s retracted story cost lives
in Afghanistan. This is from a White House news confernce
on Monday.
- Scott McClellan, White House press secretary speaking
at a press briefing on May 17, 2005.
We are joined now by Michael Massing, a contributing editor
of the Columbia Journalism Review and board member of the
Committee to Protect Journalists. He is author of "Now
They Tell Us: The American Press and Iraq." And on the
line from California, Norman Soloman joins us - he is executive
director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and author of
the forthcoming book "War Made Easy: How Presidents and
Pundits Keep Spinning Us To Death."
- Norman Solomon, executive director of the Institute for
Public Accuracy. He is author of the forthcoming book "War
Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us To
Death" which will be out in June.
- Michael Massing, a contributing editor of the Columbia
Journalism Review and board member of the Committee to Protect
Journalists. He is the author of "Now They Tell Us:
The American Press and Iraq." He frequently writes
for the New York Review of Books, the American Prospect
and the Nation.
Dr. David Hager's Family Values: Should This Man
Be Advising Bush on Women's Health?
In a recent cover story, the Nation magazine examined the
political and personal history of David Hager, a top advisor
to the Food and Drug Administration. In the article, his former
wife accused him of repeatedly raping her throughout their
marriage. We talk to the reporter, Ayelish McGarvey, who broke
the story and two women's health experts on how Hager's political
views affect FDA policies on the morning after pill and other
issues.
Dr. W. David Hager was appointed by the Bush administration
to the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee of the
Federal Drug Administration in 2002. Hager is a prominent
Kentucky based obstetrician- gynecologist who is the author
of six books including "Stress and the Women's Body"
and "As Jesus Cared for Women." At the time, his
appointment to the FDA advisory committee alarmed many women”s
groups because of his staunch opposition to abortion, emergency
contraception and pre-martial sex. In his writings Dr. Hager
has attacked the birth control pill for promoting promiscuity
and advised bible readings to relieve premenstrual syndrome.
In December of 2003, Dr. Hager was one a small group of people
on an FDA committee who voted against the over the counter
sale of the morning after pill known- the emergency contraceptive
pill known as Plan B. The vote was 23 to 4 in favor of permitting
the pill to be sold without a prescription. One physician
on the panel called Plan B, "the safest product that
we have seen brought before us." But the FDA took the
unusual step of disregarding the committee's recommendation
and did not approve Plan B for over the counter sales.
In a recent article on the cover of Nation magazine, reporter
Ayelish McGarvey investigates Dr. Hager's role in persuading
the FDA to reject Plan B. She also reveals allegations by
Dr. Hager's former wife of rape and sexual abuse by Hager
that went on for years.
Hager's term ends in June. McGarvey questions whether women
would knowingly choose a sexual abuser as their gynecologist
or be comfortable with the idea of letting one serve as a
federal advisor on women's issues.
Ayelish McGarvey joins us from the studio in Washington DC
-- and here in New York we are joined by Nancy Northup --We
are also joined by Sylvia Enriquez, Executive Director of
the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Sylvia's
organization is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. We invited
the FDA to come on the program but they never responded to
our request.
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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