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Harriet Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination: A Surrender
to “Right Wing Special Interest Groups” or White
House Diversion from CIA Leak Case?
Suspense Mounts as Indictments for CIA Leak Case Expected
Today, Spotlight on VP Chief of Staff Libby Leads to Questions
About Cheney’s Role
Former Head of UN Humanitarian Program Denis Halliday: U.S.
and Key Allies Facilitated Profiteering in Oil For Food Program
NY Civil Liberties Union: U.S. Made "Inappropriate"
Allegations of Terrorism Before Sentencing Iraqi-American
Doctor Rafil Dhafir to Prison
Harriet Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination:
A Surrender to “Right Wing Special Interest Groups”
or White House Diversion from CIA Leak Case?
Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination Thursday to be a Supreme
Court justice. She had come under intense criticism from the
Christian Right and many Republican senators. We have a roundtable
discussion on Miers’ withdrawal and the political implications,
and what may lie ahead in the next nomination. [includes rush
transcript]
In a letter to the White House, Miers said she was concerned
that the confirmation process "would create a burden
for the White House and our staff that is not in the best
interest of the country." Miers went on to write that
she needed to withdraw because Senators were seeking White
House records that could not be released because of executive
privilege.
- Arlen Specter, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
“I’m sorry to hear that Ms. Miers has decided
to remove her name from consideration. I think that this
is a sad episode in the history of Washington D.C., which
has a lot of sad episodes. But the way Harriet Miers has
been treated has been really disgraceful.”
Harriet Miers and President Bush have been close friends
for nearly two decades. Miers began working for Bush when
he was running for governor of Texas in 1994. She remains
White House counsel. Miers would have become the third woman
to serve on the Supreme Court. President Bush said he reluctantly
accepted the decision of his White House counsel and longtime
ally and would move quickly to fill the vacancy on the court
created by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
- Ralph Neas, president of the People for the American
Way Foundation.
- Makan Delrahim, partner at Brownstein, Hyatt and Farber.
From 2000-2003, he was Chief Counsel and Staff Director
to the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. He also is a former
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division
in the Department of Justice.
- John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation
Magazine and author of the the Online Beat on The Nation
website. He is also associate editor for the Madison Capital
Times.
Suspense Mounts as Indictments for CIA Leak Case
Expected Today, Spotlight on VP Chief of Staff Libby Leads
to Questions About Cheney’s Role
Suspense is high and the nation is abuzz with speculations
about who may be indicted today in the CIA leak case. Special
Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is expected to announce the results
of the 22-month investigation about midday. Rampant speculations
that VP Chief of Staff “Scooter” Libby will be
indicted leads some to ask questions about VP Dick Cheney’s
role in the case. [includes rush
transcript]
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is investigating whether
Plame’s identity was leaked as part of an effort to
discredit her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador
who had accused the Bush administration of twisting the intelligence
it used to justify the invasion of Iraq. The spotlight is
now on I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President
Dick Cheney’s chief of staff and Karl Rove, President
Bush’s senior adviser and deputy chief of staff. Rumors
are running wild that Libby is likely to be indicted today,
charged with making false statements to the grand jury.
The New York Times today reports people officially briefed
about the case said Rove will not be charged but will remain
under investigation. This could mean Fitzgerald will likely
extend the term of the federal grand jury beyond today’s
scheduled expiration date.
- John Nichols, The Nation Magazine
Former Head of UN Humanitarian Program Denis Halliday:
U.S. and Key Allies Facilitated Profiteering in Oil For Food
Program
On Thursday, the independent inquiry investigating the United
Nations Oil for Food program in Iraq issued its fifth and
final report, charging the Hussein regime with collecting
billions of dollars in kickbacks from oil sales to over 2,000
companies. We speak with Denis Halliday, former head of the
UN Humanitarian Program in Iraq, about the details of the
case and questions about U.S. complicity in illicit sales.
[includes rush
transcript]
UN Secretary General Koffi Annan created the inquiry in April
2004. Under Oil-for-Food, the Iraqi government was allowed
to sell oil for funds it could use to purchase humanitarian
goods. Devastated by crippling US-led sanctions, most Iraqis
depended on the program for survival. It ran from 1996 until
2003.
The inquiry found the Saddam Hussein regime collected $1.8
billion dollars in kickbacks and surcharges from oil sales
to over 2,000 companies. The companies include major global
firms such as DaimlerChrysler, Siemens, and Volvo. It also
says oil sales were used to influence beneficiaries to express
public opposition to the US led sanctions on Iraq. The $1.8
billion dollar figure amounts to less than 3% of the $64 billion
dollar program, but has received a great deal of attention
from UN critics in the mainstream media and both political
parties. These critics say the kickbacks and surcharges show
the UN is plagued by endemic corruption and has been negligent
in dealing with the Hussein regime. The inquiry was headed
by Paul Volcker, former chair of the Federal Reserve.
While much of the focus has remained on the UN failure to
monitor kickbacks and bribes, little attention has been paid
to another of the investigation’s main conclusions.
The Volcker inquiry found Hussein was able to make almost
$11 billion dollars off of selling oil smuggled through Jordan
and Turkey. A Senate investigation in May found the Bush administration
was made aware of the smuggling but did nothing to stop it.
Jordan and Turkey are key U.S. allies in the Middle East.
Fifty-two percent of the kickbacks collected by the Saddam
Hussein regime came through U.S. oil purchases. The Senate
investigation’s report said, "The United States
was not only aware of Iraqi oil sales which violated UN sanctions
and provided the bulk of the illicit money Saddam Hussein
obtained from circumventing UN sanctions. On occasion, the
United States actually facilitated the illicit oil sales.”
- Denis Halliday, former head of the UN Humanitarian Program
in Iraq and a former UN Assistant Secretary General. In
1998, he resigned his post in protest of the US-led sanctions
against Iraq.
NY Civil Liberties Union: U.S. Made "Inappropriate"
Allegations of Terrorism Before Sentencing Iraqi-American
Doctor Rafil Dhafir to Prison
Iraqi-American doctor Rafil Dhafir is sentenced to 22 years
in prison for violating the Iraqi sanctions through his charity
“Help the Needy.” We speak with Barrie Gewanter
of the NY Civil Liberties Union about the case, who has publicly
questioned the fairness of the trial. [includes rush
transcript]
While the UN report on the oil-for-food program has been
making headlines, there is another story in the news this
week involving the Iraqi sanctions that has received little
national attention. In Syracuse New York, a prominent Iraqi-American
doctor was sentenced to 22 years in prison Thursday for violating
the Iraqi sanctions through his charity Help the Needy. Oncologist
Rafil Dhafir was arrested 19 months ago in dramatic fashion:
more than 85 federal agents descended on his home. He was
handcuffed in his driveway and agents hauled out dozens of
books and records.
In August 2004, New York Governor George Pataki claimed Dhafir
was connected to "money-laundering efforts to help terrorist
organizations." But terrorism charges against the doctor
never materialized. Instead, supporters of the doctor claim
the Justice Department went hunting for possible charges against
Doctor Dhafir. Eventually they filed 60 charges against him
involving breaking the sanctions, tax evasion and Medicare
fraud. Earlier this year a jury convicted him on 59 of the
60 charges.
- Barrie Gewanter, executive director of the Central New
York Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union. She
has closely monitored the case and has publicly questioned
whether Dr. Dhafir received a fair trial.
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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