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Italian Media Reveals U.S. Officials Met With Italian Intelligence
Officials To Discuss Fake Documents Citing Niger Nuke Sales
to Iraq
Lawyer Scott Horton: “Vice President Cheney is the
Man Who Unleashed Torture and Promoted it Within Our Military
and Our Intelligence Service”
“Off To War: From Rural Arkansas to Baghdad”:
Filmmakers on the Lives of Arkansan Soldiers in Iraq
Italian Media Reveals U.S. Officials Met With Italian
Intelligence Officials To Discuss Fake Documents Citing Niger
Nuke Sales to Iraq
As the country waits to see whether indictments will be
handed down to top White House officials in the CIA leak case,
reports are breaking that Italian intelligence and Bush administration
officials met in connection with the forged Niger documents
that were used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We get
the latest from law professor Scott Horton and journalist
Laura Rozen. [includes rush
transcript]
Rumors continue to fly in Washington over whether any top
White House officials will be forced to resign for their involvement
in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. On Wednesday
special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald presented a summary
of his case to the grand jury, which could hand down indictments
today or tomorrow. According to the Washington Post, Karl
Rove’s legal team has been engaged in a furious effort
to convince Fitzgerald that Rove did not commit perjury. The
D.C.-based newspaper Roll Call reporter Fitzgerald was spotted
Wednesday at the offices of Rove’s attorney.
Meanwhile on Tuesday a member of Fitzgerald’s team
interviewed former White House press aide Adam Levine about
conversations he had with Rove on July 11 2003 -- just days
before Plame’s name first appeared in the press. The
grand jury is set to expire on Friday but there has been speculation
that Fitzgerald might try to extend the grand jury’s
term.
On Wednesday White House press secretary Scott McClellan
was questioned about the impact the investigation has had
on the White House.
- Scott McClellan: “First of all, there’s a
lot of speculation going around, and I think there are a
lot of facts that are simply not known at this point. It
remains an ongoing investigation, and we’ll let the
special prosecutor continue to do his work. And I’m
sure he will have more to say in due course. In terms of
the White House, this White House is focused on the priorities
of the American people. We’re working on the priorities
that the American people care about. The President has had
a very busy day. He started his morning focused on the highest
priorities facing this country by – which is winning
the war on terrorism protecting the homeland.”
To discuss the latest news about the CIA leak investigation
and to explain how grand jury indictments work we are joined
by:
- Scott Horton, chairman of the International Law Committee
at the New York City Bar Association. He is also an adjunct
professor of law at Columbia University where he lectures
on international law and international humanitarian law.
- Laura Rozen, a journalist who covers national security
and foreign policy issues. She is a senior correspondent
for The American Prospect and she edits the widely read
blog warandpiece.com.
Lawyer Scott Horton: “Vice President Cheney
is the Man Who Unleashed Torture and Promoted it Within Our
Military and Our Intelligence Service”
The Bush administration is coming under increased criticism
for attempting to justify the torture of detainees. Vice President
Dick Cheney and CIA Director Porter Goss reportedly urged
Senator John McCain to exempt the CIA from a proposed ban
on torture. We speak with lawyer Scott Horton about the VP
and torture. [includes rush
transcript]
According to the New York Times, Vice President Dick Cheney
and CIA Director Porter Goss met with Senator John McCain
last week to urge him to exempt CIA officers from a proposed
ban on torture. Three weeks ago the Senate voted 90 to 9 to
ban the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment"
of any detainee held by the government.Vice President Dick
Cheney reportedly said the CIA needed to be exempt because
the president needs maximum flexibility in fighting the so-called
war on terrorism. On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch declared
that the U.S. has now become “the only government in
the world to claim a legal justification for mistreating prisoners
during interrogations."
- Scott Horton, chairman of the International Law Committee
at the New York City Bar Association. He is also an adjunct
professor of law at Columbia University where he lectures
on international law and international humanitarian law.
“Off To War: From Rural Arkansas to Baghdad”:
Filmmakers on the Lives of Arkansan Soldiers in Iraq
We air excerpts of the film and speak with filmmakers Craig
Renaud and Brent Renaud about the series that follows members
of the Arkansas National Guard as they deploy to Iraq. “Off
to War” was one of the first films to deal with the
ongoing problem of U.S. troops having inadequate equipment
and unarmored vehicles in Iraq. [includes rush
transcript - partial]
This week, two major news stories dominating the headlines
have converged - the CIA leak case in Washington and the grim
milestone of 2,000 US soldiers killed in Iraq - and they’re
linked. The CIA leak case is about smearing a whistleblower
who challenged the Bush administration’s pretext for
the Iraq invasion - weapons of mass destruction. It turns
out there were no WMDs, but there is a war. And as protests,
vigils and rallies are held around the country to mark the
2,000th American soldier killed, 159,000 troops are still
deployed in Iraq - matching the largest American force ever
in the country.
We go to the voices of members of the Arkansas National Guard.
They are the subject of a multi-part documentary series airing
on Discovery Times, called "Off to War: From Rural Arkansas
to Baghdad." This series was one of the first to deal
with the ongoing problem of US troops having inadequate equipment
and unarmored vehicles in Iraq.
- Craig Renaud and Brent Renaud, the filmmakers and producers
of the documentary series "Off to War: From Rural Arkansas
to Baghdad," which follows members of the Arkansas
National Guard as they deploy to Iraq. On Saturday, the
sixth installment of the series will air on Discovery Times.
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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