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Bush Rejects Calls for Immediate Withdrawal from Iraq as
Approval Rating Plummets to New Low
Cindy's Crawford: Sheehan Returns to Camp Casey for Remaining
Days of Bush's Vacation
Exclusive: Joan Baez Performs "Joe Hill" at Camp
Casey
Iraq Veterans, Military Mothers and Peace Activists Discuss
Bush and Iraq
From Death Row: Texas Set to Execute First African-American
Woman Since Civil War
Bush Rejects Calls for Immediate Withdrawal from
Iraq as Approval Rating Plummets to New Low
President Bush mounted a major defense of the war in Iraq
this week as he faces the lowest approval rating of his presidency.
In his address in the Republican stronghold of Idaho, Bush
rejected calls for an immediate withdrawal of US troops from
Iraq and played up the case of a military mother who supported
the Iraq war in what seemed a direct contrast to Cindy Sheehan.
[includes rush
transcript]
President Bush mounted a major defense of the war in Iraq
this week as he faces the lowest approval rating of his presidency.
On Wednesday, Bush spoke in Idaho before an audience of about
9,500 people, including members of the Idaho National Guard
and other military branches. Idaho is one of Bush's strongest
centers of support. The address followed one on Tuesday in
the Republican stronghold of Utah.
Anti-war groups kept the pressure on the president during
his brief trip away from his Crawford estate. About 150 protesters
gathered across a parking lot from the arena where Bush spoke
last night.
The president's remarks came as Cindy Sheehan arrived back
in Crawford to rejoin the now internationally-known vigil
she began two weeks ago. She spent the past 6 days in Los
Angeles to care for her ailing mother. While Bush didn't say
Sheehan's name in his address, he clearly sought to discredit
calls made by her and her supporters for an immediate withdrawal
of troops from Iraq.
- President Bush, speech in Idaho, August 24, 2005
"I made a decision -- America will not wait to be attacked
again. Our doctrine is clear: We will confront emerging
threats before they full materialize. And if you harbor
a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorist. We
will stay on the offense. We'll complete our work in Afghanistan
and Iraq. An immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq,
or the broader Middle East, as some have called for, would
only embolden the terrorists and create a staging ground
to launch more attacks against America and free nations.
So long as I'm the President, we will stay, we will fight,
and we will win the war on terror."
President Bush also broke a two-year policy of avoiding specific
mention of casualties in Iraq and gave a figure about the
deaths of US soldiers for the second speech in a row. In what
seemed a direct contrast to Cindy Sheehan, Bush played up
the case of a military mother who supported the Iraq war.
- President Bush, speech in Idaho, August 24, 2005
"There are few things in life more difficult than seeing
a loved one go off to war. And here in Idaho, a mom named
Tammy Pruett. I think she's here - knows that feeling six
times over. Tammy has four sons serving in Iraq right now
with the Idaho National Guard -- Eric, Evan, Greg and Jeff.
Last year, her husband Leon and another son, Eren, returned
from Iraq, where they helped train Iraqi firefighters in
Mosul. Tammy says this -- and I want you to hear this -
'I know that if something happens to one of the boys, they
would leave this world doing what they believe, what they
think is right for our country. And I guess you couldn't
ask for a better way of life than giving it for something
that you believe in.' America lives in freedom because of
families like the Pruetts."
Tammy Pruett was in the audience with her husband, Leon.
Bush kissed her on the cheek after the speech. The Pruetts,
who were featured earlier this year on CNN, said they received
a call about a week ago from the White House requesting their
presence.
Cindy's Crawford: Sheehan Returns to Camp Casey for
Remaining Days of Bush's Vacation
Cindy Sheehan both returned to Crawford, Texas Wednesday
evening to rejoin the internationally-known vigil she began
two weeks ago. We play an excerpt of an address Sheehan gave
at Camp Casey where she says, "[Bush] put our kids in
another person's country, and Casey was killed by insurgents.
He wasn't killed by terrorists. He was killed by Shiite militia
who wanted him out of the country." [includes rush
transcript]
After his address in Idaho, President Bush met privately
with military families of soldiers killed in Iraq, before
returning to his Crawford estate later that evening. Hours
earlier, Cindy Sheehan returned to Crawford to continue her
vigil demanding that Bush meet with her as well. The site
is named Camp Casey after her son who was killed in Iraq in
April 2004. After a performance by legendary folk singer Joan
Baez, Cindy got up on stage and greeted the audience. She
began by addressing some of the attacks that have been leveled
at her by the right-wing media.
Exclusive: Joan Baez Performs "Joe Hill"
at Camp Casey
Legendary folk singer Joan Baez took to the stage Wednesday
evening to perform before a crowd gathered at at Camp Casey.
Democracy Now! was there to record the event.
Iraq Veterans, Military Mothers and Peace Activists
Discuss Bush and Iraq
As President Bush and Cindy Sheehan both return to Camp
Casey, we speak with one of the other founders of Gold Star
Families for Peace, Celeste Zappala, a peace activist in Idaho,
where President Bush just addressed the National Guard as
well as a marine who's recently returned from Iraq. [includes
rush
transcript]
- Celeste Zappala, mother of Sgt. Sherwood Baker, who was
killed in Iraq April 26 in an explosion in Baghdad. Baker
was the first member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard
to die in combat since 1945.
- Alex Ryabov, part of a Marine Corps artillery unit during
the initial invasion of Iraq in March 2003. He lives in
New York and is a co-founder of Iraq
Veterans Against the War.
- Liz Paul, organizer with the Idaho Peace Coalition.
From Death Row: Texas Set to Execute First African-American
Woman Since Civil War
The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Frances Newton
on September 14. Supporters say the courts should grant her
another trial based on new evidence, especially given that
infamous defense attorney Ron Mock originally represented
her. We hear from Frances Newton herself and speak with her
attorney David Dow. [includes rush
transcript]
The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Frances Newton
on September 14. She was convicted of the 1988 murder of her
husband and two children allegedly to collect a $100,00 life
insurance policy. Newton would be the first African American
woman executed by the state since the Civil War. Supporters
say the courts should grant Frances Newton another trial based
on new evidence.
Two Dutch journalists recently interviewed the state prosecutor
in charge of Newton's case. In that interview, Assistant District
Attorney Roe Wilson contradicted a key piece of evidence that
led to Newton's conviction. While prosecutors linked one gun
to Newton, it now appears that there was a second gun that
was never tested in a crime lab.
Texas leads the nation in the number of executions performed
since the moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in 1974.
Almost half of the people on death row in Texas are African-American
though only 12 percent of the population is. And in Harris
County, where Frances Newton is from, the police crime lab
is notorious for botching capital cases.
Another hurdle in Newton's case was her state-appointed attorney.
She was originally represented by the infamous defense attorney
Ron Mock, who has lost so many capital cases that he is known
as "death row Mock." At least sixteen of Mock's
clients have gone to death row and he has never won an acquittal
in a capital case. He has been suspended from the bar twice.
A colleague in Frances Newton's case says Mock told her that
he had not thoroughly examined the evidence. In another high
profile capital case, Mock is known to have fallen asleep
while defending Shaka Sankofa, or Gary Graham, in court.
- Frances Newton, speaking to Dutch TV earlier this year.
- David Dow, with the University of Houston Law Center.
He is one of the attorneys representing Frances Newton.
Related Link: The Committee
to Free Frances Newton.
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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