Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Wed., July. 6, 2005
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 7-6-05
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Karl Rove Again Linked to Outting of CIA Operative Valerie
Plame
Newsweek Reporter Michael Isikoff Discusses His Coverage
of Koran Desecration at Guantanamo
World Leaders Gather in Scotland for G8 Summit; Africa, Climate
Change to Top Agenda
The Gitmo Experiment: How Methods Developed by the U.S. Military
For Withstanding Torture are Being Used Against Detainees
at Guantanamo Bay
Karl Rove Again Linked to Outting of CIA Operative
Valerie Plame
Two years after Ambassador Joe Wilson first named Karl Rove
in the outting of his wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame, all
eyes turn again to the man some say is the most powerful unelected
official in the country - Karl Rove. We speak with Newsweek
reporter Michael Isikoff. [includes rush
transcript]
Two reporters might be ordered to jail today for refusing
to reveal their confidential sources. Judith Miller of The
New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time Magazine were held
in contempt of court last year for refusing to cooperate in
the investigation of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
Since December of 2003, Fitzgerald has been investigating
how the name of undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame, ended
up in a column written by conservative columnist Robert Novak.
Disclosing an undercover agent is a federal crime and Fitzgerald
had been investigating whether someone from the White House
leaked the story to the press. In court filings, Fitzgerald
said, "Journalists are not entitled to promise confidentiality
-- no one in America is."
Valerie Plame is the wife of former U.S Ambassador Joseph
Wilson, the last US official to meet Saddam Hussein before
the start of the 1991 Gulf War. After President Bush's controversial
State of the Union address before the invasion of Iraq in
which Bush made his case for the war, Wilson wrote an Op-ed
piece in the New York Times disputing one of President Bush's
key claims - that Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from
Niger. This was the administration's main evidence that Iraq
was rebuilding its nuclear program and it's chief justification
for the invasion. The White House later recanted the claim.
Eight days after Wilson's op-ed appeared in the Times, Novak's
column in which he revealed Valerie Plame's identity, was
published. At the time Wilson charged that it was an attempt
by the Bush administration to intimidate other whistleblowers
from going public.
Miller who conducted interviews related to the leak and Cooper
who published Plame's name after Novak did, have consistently
refused to testify about conversations with their sources.
Novak is apparently not facing prison time and has refused
answer whether or not he is cooperating with the investigation.
Chief Judge Hogan of the federal district court in D.C had
ordered Miller and Cooper to be held up to eighteen months
in jail for refusing to disclose their sources. Last week
the Supreme Court upheld Hogan's ruling. On Friday, Cooper
and Miller filed papers arguing for home confinement if incarceration
is required. Yesterday, Fitzgerald vehemently opposed those
requests and insisted on jail time. He also insisted that
Cooper still testify even though Cooper's employer -- Time
Magazine -- last week agreed to hand over a copy of Cooper's
notes.
Now, many eyes in Washington turn their focus back on the
man some say is the most powerful unelected official in the
country--President Bush's chief advisor, Karl Rove. From the
start of this scandal, Rove has been suspect number one for
many critics of the administration, not the least of whom
is Plame's husband, Joe Wilson. In fact, about a month after
Novak's column was initially published, Wilson named Rove,
saying he wanted to see him "frogmarched" out of
the White House in handcuffs. Wilson made these comments when
he spoke at the Ensley Forum in Washington state in August
of 2003. Democracy Now! was the first to broadcast these remarks
in September of 2003.
- Joseph Wilson, speaking in Seattle, August, 2003.
Up until now the Bush administration has claimed Karl Rove
had no role in the case. Here is White House spokesman Scott
McClellan at a press conference in September of 2003 denying
that Rove was in any way implicated in the outing of covert
CIA agent Valerie Plame.
- White House Press Briefing, September 29, 2003.
In May of last year, Joseph Wilson appeared on Democracy
Now! to talk about his new book, "The Politics of Truth:
Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA
Identity." During the interview, Wilson said again that
he had information that Karl Rove was involved in the outing
of his wife as an undercover CIA agent.
- Joseph Wilson, interviewed on Democracy Now!, May 14,
2004.
On Friday, Political commentator Lawrence O'Donnell announced
that Mathew Cooper's notes and e-mails, released last week
by Time, would show Karl Rove was the source behind the public
outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Also, this weekend,
Newsweek investigative reporter, Michael Isikoff wrote that
the documents showed that Rove was one of Cooper's sources.
He also writes that Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin confirms
that Rove talked to Cooper but insists that Rove "never
knowingly disclosed classified information" and "did
not tell any reporter that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA."A
Identity." During the interview, Wilson said again that
he had information that Karl Rove was involved in the outing
of his wife as an undercover CIA agent.
- Michael Isikoff, investigative correspondent for Newsweek.
Newsweek Reporter Michael Isikoff Discusses His Coverage
of Koran Desecration at Guantanamo
In a rare interview about his controversial article on Koran
desecration at Guantanamo Bay, Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff
says, "[The Pentagon]had a report of five cases of misconduct,
including the urination one, Korans being kicked, stepped
on, all of which was taken place prior to the entire controversy...None
of that was public at the time at the time of the controversy.
I think had it been so, the controversy would have been viewed
in a different light." [includes rush
transcript]
- Michael Isikoff, investigative correspondent for Newsweek.
World Leaders Gather in Scotland for G8 Summit; Africa,
Climate Change to Top Agenda
Leaders from the world's richest nations are gathering today
for the G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. African poverty
and global climate change are at the top of the agenda, yet
it is unclear how much action will come out of the meetings.
We speak with Salih Booker of Africa Action and we go to Scotland
to speak with Demba Moussa Dembele, a coordinator of the Forum
for African Alternatives. [includes rush
transcript]
Leaders from the world's richest nations are gathering today
for the G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. The activities
for the G8 leaders will begin with a dinner hosted by Britain's
Queen Elizabeth tonight. Official business begins tomorrow.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is hosting the three-day meeting
with debt relief, increased aid for Africa and climate change
at the top of the agenda.
Police have agreed that an anti-G8 protest march near the
venue in Scotland can go ahead as planned, after tense talks
with organizers. Police had earlier called off the march,
after clashes with protesters prompted fears for public safety.
March organizers - who want a peaceful protest - gave police
an ultimatum to permit the march in Auchterarder or face a
mass protest in Edinburgh.
The G8 leaders are under increasing pressure to deliver an
accord after public campaigns to highlight the plight of Africa.
Blair has been pushing a plan to double aid to Africa to $50
billion a year, open world markets to African goods and cancel
debt. The UN estimates that in Africa 300 million people live
on less than $1 dollar a day and fewer than half of all children
finish primary school.
Meanwhile, African Union heads of state and government met
for a 2 day summit in Libya and publicly urged all G8 nations
to cancel more debts and end trade-distorting subsidies. AU
spokesman Adam Thiam confirmed that the contents of the "common
position" statement had all been adopted by the heads
of state.
Beyond Africa, tensions have surfaced between the UK and
US leaders' strikingly different approaches to global warming.
Blair wants an agreement among the leaders on the scientific
threat posed by global warming highlighting the urgent need
for action. However, Washington refuses to agree to any plan
with specific targets for reducing carbon emissions, which
scientists say cause the earth to heat up. Washington says
such an agreement would ruin the economy. Three weeks ago,
leaked drafts showed the US negotiators had demanded removal
of all references to the urgency of climate change from the
summit's final accord.
- Demba Moussa Dembele, coordinator of the Forum for African
Alternatives, a Jubilee
South member organization in Senegal.
The Gitmo Experiment: How Methods Developed by the
U.S. Military For Withstanding Torture are Being Used Against
Detainees at Guantanamo Bay
A major article in this week's issue of The New Yorker magazine
reveals how methods developed by the US military for withstanding
torture are being used against detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
We speak with Jane Mayer, the reporter who wrote the story
for The New Yorker. [includes rush
transcript]
A major article in this week's issue of The New Yorker magazine
reveals how methods developed by the US military for withstanding
torture are being used against detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
According to the article, titled "The Gitmo Experiment,"
a number of medical and scientific personnel working at Guantanmo
Bay are not at the prison camp to provide care for detainees
but rather to use their skills to assist in interrogations.
The people working in this capacity are members of what are
called Behavioral Science Consultation Teams or BSCT's - in
military jargon they are known simply as Biscuits.
After September 11th, interrogators and BSCT's at Guantanamo
were advised by psychologists and medical staff versed in
techniques employed at a Pentagon-funded program known as
SERE or "Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape."
SERE was created by the Air Force, at the end of the Korean
War, to teach pilots and other personnel considered at high
risk of being captured by enemy forces how to withstand and
resist extreme forms of abuse.
The New Yorker writes, "The theory behind the SERE program
is that soldiers who are exposed to nightmarish treatment
during training will be better equipped to deal with such
terrors should they face them in the real world. Accordingly,
the program is a storehouse of knowledge about coercive methods
of interrogation."
Those methods included desecration of religious texts such
as the Bible, waterboarding, sexual embarrassment and humiliation.
The New Yorker writes, "Ideas intended to help Americans
resist abuse spread to Americans who used them to perpetrate
abuse."
- Jane Mayer, writes for The New Yorker. Her latest piece
is called "The Gitmo Experiment."
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
