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Italian Writer Loretta Napoleoni on the Amman Triple Bombing,
How the U.S. Helped Create Zarqawi and the Terror Financing
Network
Germ Boys and Yes Men: How White House Cronyism and the Push
to Invade Iraq Hampers the Country's Ability to Handle a Bioterror
Attack
Sen. Ron Wyden on Soaring Oil Prices and Company Profits
and the Senate Investigation into Prewar Intelligence
Italian Writer Loretta Napoleoni on the Amman Triple
Bombing, How the U.S. Helped Create Zarqawi and the Terror
Financing Network
Jordanian militant Abu Musab al Zarqawi is the prime suspect
in a triple bomb attack that killed at least 67 people in
Amman. We speak with Italian writer Loretta Napoleoni, author
of "Insurgent Iraq: Al Zarqawi and the New Generation."
At least 67 people have died in Jordan after three near-simultaneous
suicide attacks targeted hotels in the capital of Amman on
Wednesday night. As many as 300 people were wounded.
At the Radisson Hotel, a suicide bomber entered a wedding
reception in the hotel ballroom and blew himself up. Also
targeted were the Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels.
The Jordanian government has ordered shut all schools and
public offices and a day of national mourning has been declared
for the victims.
Until now Amman had been considered one of the safest capitals
in the Middle East. Its city's luxury hotels are often used
by Americans working in Iraq including government officials,
private contractors and journalists.
Jordan is also close ally to Washington. Last year the U.S.
gave Jordan $1.1 billion in aid. Jordan is also one of only
three Arab states with diplomatic ties to Israel.
The group Al Qaeda in Iraq - which is led by Jordanian militant
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - has claimed responsibility for the
attack. In a statement posted on the internet, the group said,
"Some hotels were chosen which the Jordanian despot had
turned into a backyard for the enemies of the faith, the Jews
and crusaders."
U.S. and Jordanian officials have also suggested Zarqawi
may have masterminded the attack. Zarqawi was born just outside
of Amman and has been accused of carrying out other attacks
in Jordan. The United States has put a $25 million bounty
on his head.
- Loretta Napoleoni, Italian economist and writer. She
is the author of several books including "Insurgent
Iraq: Al Zarqawi and the New Generation" and "Terror
Incorporated: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks."
- See website: Lorettanapoleoni.com
Germ Boys and Yes Men: How White House Cronyism and
the Push to Invade Iraq Hampers the Country's Ability to Handle
a Bioterror Attack
In a major expose in the upcoming issue of The Nation, Democracy
Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill reports on how a Republican
operative with no experience was put in charge of the Office
of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and how the Bush administration
exaggerated the threat of a bioterror attack three years ago
in an effort to win greater support for the Iraq war. [includes
rush
transcript]
President Bush has asked Congress to spend $7 billion to
wage an all-out war to prevent a possible flu pandemic.
Bush said last week "A pandemic is a lot like a forest
fire. If caught early, it might be extinguished with limited
damage; if allowed to smolder undetected, it can grow to an
inferno that spreads quickly beyond our ability to control
it."
But even though doctors have warned for years about a flu
pandemic it has not always been a top priority for the Bush
administration.
A new article in The Nation magazine written by Jeremy Scahill
raises major questions about the nation's preparedness to
handle a flu pandemic or bioterror attack.
The article examines how a Republican operative named Stewart
Simonson who had no public health management or medical expertise
was put in charge of the Office of Public Health Emergency
Preparedness.
The article also raises questions about whether the Bush
administration exaggerated the threat of a bioterror or smallpox
attack three years ago in an effort to win greater support
for the Iraq war. It was a battle that would pit Vice President
Dick Cheney and his now-indicted chief of staff Lewis "Scooter"
Libby against a team of public health experts at the Department
of Health and Human Services.
- Jeremy Scahill, an independent journalist and currently
a Puffin Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute.
- Read Jeremy’s article in The Nation: Germ
Boys and Yes Men
- Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for
Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman
School of Public Health.
Sen. Ron Wyden on Soaring Oil Prices and Company
Profits and the Senate Investigation into Prewar Intelligence
Senator Ron Wyden (D - OR) joins to talk about Wednesday's
joint Senate committee hearing on oil company price gouging
and why oil executives weren't made to swear to tell the truth.
Wyden also discusses why he voted against the invasion of
Iraq, how the Energy bill increases U.S. dependence on foreign
oil and the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation
into prewar intelligence.
The heads of five major oil companies defended the industry's
huge profits Wednesday at a joint hearing of the Senate Energy
and Commerce committees. The hearing was called in order to
investigate price gouging by oil companies. While the oil
industry has reaped record profits, consumers have faced record
gas prices at the pump and heating costs are expected to skyrocket
more than 60 percent in some parts of the country this winter.
Last quarter, the oil industry reported combined profits
of $32 billion dollars. ExxonMobil Corporation, the world's
largest privately owned oil company, reported its largest
quarterly profits ever of $9.9 billion, up 75 percent. Royal
Dutch Shell reported a profit growth of 68 percent, ConocoPhlips,
89 percent, British Petroleum, 34 percent and Chevron Corporation,
12 percent.
A number of Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress have
called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies that would
be returned to consumers in the form of a rebate. At yesterday's
hearing, the Chairman of ExxonMobil, Lee Raymond, defended
the company's earnings saying that the profits were in line
with other industries when earnings are compared to the industry's
revenues.
Before the hearing began yesterday, Democrats and Republicans
sparred over whether energy executives should have to swear
to tell the truth before the panel. Republican Senate Commerce
Chairman Ted Stevens rejected calls by some Democrats to have
the executives sworn in saying that the law already required
them to tell the truth.
- Sen. Ron Wyden (D - Oregon), He serves on the Senate
Energy and Commerce committee.
- Website: Wyden.senate.gov
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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