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Retired Colonel Sam Gardiner on Iran War Plans: "The
Issue is Not Whether the Military Option Would Be Used But
Who Approved the Start of Operations Already"
Fmr. Top Italian News Anchor Lilli Gruber on the Italy Elections,
Media Monopoly and Beating Berlusconi for a Seat in European
Parliament
Jailed Palestinian Professor Sami Al-Arian to Be Deported
After Prosecutors Fail to Convict Him on a Single Charge
Retired Colonel Sam Gardiner on Iran War Plans: "The
Issue is Not Whether the Military Option Would Be Used But
Who Approved the Start of Operations Already"
Retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner says a military operation
has already begun inside Iran. Gardiner says, "It's a
very serious question about the constitutional framework under
which we are now conducting military operations in Iran."
We also speak with Gardiner about what he calls the "unprecedented"
revolt against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld within the
military. [includes rush
transcript]
The Bush administration is on the defensive following an
unprecedented wave of criticism of Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld. In the last month, seven retired generals have called
on Rumsfeld to step down. The criticism has focused on Rumsfeld's
leadership style and his handling of the war in Iraq. Former
Major General Paul Eaton, who oversaw the training Iraqi troops
after the US invasion, wrote last month that "[Rumsfeld]
has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally
and tactically." The other officers include General Anthony
Zinni, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East
and Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, the former chief operations
commander before the Iraq war. In an article published in
Time Magazine, Newbold said he chose to speak out after he
was encouraged by other military officials still serving under
Rumsfeld.
The White House has dismissed the criticism. On Friday, President
Bush released a statement saying he fully supported Rumsfeld.
And in a televised interview with Al-Arabiya television last
week, Rumsfeld said: "Out of thousands and thousands
of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people
disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United
States, it would be like a merry-go-round."
In another issue that's making news from the Pentagon - Iran.
Both the New Yorker and the Washington Post have reported
the US has drawn up plans for launching tactical nuclear strikes
against Iran. President Bush dismissed the reports as "wild
speculation." But evidence continues to emerge the US
is preparing for a possible attack. On his online column for
the Washington Post, defense analyst Wiliam Arkin said the
Pentagon has been working on contingency studies for an Iran
invasion since at least 2003. Arkin said the studies were
conducted under directives from Donald Rumsfeld and former
Joint Chiefs of Staff chair General Richard Myers. British
military planners have reportedly taken part in one Pentagon
"war game" that included an invasion of Iran.
Colonel Sam Gardiner, is a retired Air Force Colonel whose
area of expertise includes helping to stage these war games.
In 2004, he conducted a war game organized by The Atlantic
Monthly to gage how an American President might respond, militarily
or otherwise, to Iran's rapid progress toward developing nuclear
weapons. What was your conclusion?
- Sam Gardiner, retired Air Force Colonel. He has taught
strategy and military operations at the National War College,
AirWar College and Naval War College.
Fmr. Top Italian News Anchor Lilli Gruber on the
Italy Elections, Media Monopoly and Beating Berlusconi for
a Seat in European Parliament
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi continues to refuse
to concede defeat in the country's general elections. We speak
with Lilli Gruber, a former top TV news anchor in Italy who
resigned from national broadcaster RAI, criticizing Berlusconi's
media influence as an "unresolved conflict of interest."
She ran against Berlusconi in 2004 for a seat in European
Parliament and won. [includes rush
transcript]
We turn now to Italy, where opposition leader Romano Prodi
has once again urged Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to admit
defeat in the country's general election.
Prodi narrowly beat Berlusconi last week in one of Italy's
closest races ever. According to the official count, Prodi's
coalition won 158 Senate seats to Berlusconi's 156. But Berlusconi
is refusing to concede defeat. He denounced the election result
as fraudulent and is considering issuing a decree to order
a partial recount.
In a letter to the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Saturday,
Berlusconi indicated that he was not prepared to give up.
He wrote, "At least on the basis of the popular vote,
there"s no winner and no loser."
But Berlusconi's best hope of overturning Prodi's win in
the lower house of parliament appeared to have vanished on
Friday when the interior ministry said there were not enough
disputed ballots to change the election outcome.
Berlusconi lost the race even though he holds tremendous
control over what Italians see and hear. Besides being Italy's
sitting Prime Minister, the billionaire owns three of Italy's
national TV stations, the largest publishing house and the
largest advertising agency. He also owns the AC Milan soccer
team and is considered to be Italy's wealthiest person. Politically,
Berlusconi has been a close ally of Bush and a supporter of
the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Our guest today is another person that Berlusconi lost an
election race to, Lilli Gruber. A former journalist, she is
perhaps Italy's most famous TV anchor. In 1987, she became
the first woman to present the evening news for the primary
national channel Raiuno. She later became international political
correspondent for RAI, covering events from the war in the
Balkans to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
In April 2004, Lilli Gruber resigned from her post at RAI
after 20 years at the channel, criticizing Berlusconi's media
influence. She wrote "The absence of common rules, the
anomalous concentration of power in the hands of one man and
the obvious, unresolved conflict of interest that this has
given rise to, hurts both broadcasting and the credibility
of our democracy."
Gruber then ran against Berlusconi for a seat in the European
Parliament. In a stunning victory, she won the seat by roughly
twice as many as votes as the Prime Minister. She joins us
today in our firehouse studio.
- Lilli Gruber, Italian member of European Parliament and
former television journalist.
Jailed Palestinian Professor Sami Al-Arian to Be
Deported After Prosecutors Fail to Convict Him on a Single
Charge
Federal authorities have decided to deport Palestinian activist
and professor Sami Al-Arian after failing to convict him on
charges he helped lead the Palestinian militant group Islamic
Jihad. We speak with reporter John Sugg who has been tracking
the case for over a decade. [includes rush
transcript]
Federal authorities have decided to deport a former Florida
professor after failing to convict him on charges he helped
lead a Palestinian militant group.
Sami Al-Arian reportedly signed a plea agreement with prosecutors
to plead guilty to a lesser version of one of the charges
and be deported. The arrangement requires the approval of
a judge.
Al-Arian has remained in jail since he was acquitted in December
of the eight of the 17 federal charges against him and the
jury deadlocked on the rest. The verdict was a major defeat
for Bush administration prosecutors. Following his arrest
in February 2003, Al-Arian's trial was seen as one of the
biggest courtroom tests of the search and surveillance powers
granted under the Patriot Act. The government's case was built
on hundreds of documents, including thousands of hours of
wiretapped telephone calls, intercepted e-mails and faxes
and bank records gathered over a decade.
The government accused Al-Arian and eight others of racketeering,
conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists. The
jury failed to return a single guilty verdict.
Under the new plea deal, Al-Arian would plead to a watered-down
version of one of the counts accusing him of providing good
and services to the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Federal prosecutors must concede that Al-Arian did not commit
a crime of violence, and that there are "no victims direct
or indirect" to his crime.
Al-Arian's former attorney, William Moffit, told the Tampa
Tribune "I have no reason to believe they were not going
to try Sami again. Why take the risk?... If he wins again,
don't you think these fools will try him again? It was time
for it to be over."
It is not clear where the government would deport Al-Arian
who is a Palestinian born in Kuwait and raised mostly in Egypt.
He has lived in the United States for 30 years and holds permanent
residency status. His five children were born in the US and
are all American citizens. His own bid to become a U.S. citizen
was denied in 1996.
Until his arrest, Al-Arian was one of the most prominent
Palestinian academics and activists in the United States.
He was invited to the White House during both the President
Clinton and Bush administrations and he campaigned for President
Bush during the 2000 election.
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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