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Family of Unarmed Iraqi Killed by U.S. Forces Says Marines
Had Asked Him to be Informant
Time Magazine: Military Investigators Place Officer in Charge
During Haditha Massacre in 2 of the Houses Where Killings
Took Place
How the Press Rolled Over for Bush: Media Critic Eric Boehlert
Takes on the Corporate Media
Thomas Friedman on "Petropolitics", Iraq, Israel-Palestine
and the "Excuse Makers"
Family of Unarmed Iraqi Killed by U.S. Forces Says
Marines Had Asked Him to be Informant
U.S. military investigators believe the killing of an unarmed
Iraqi man in Hamandiya in April was planned by a group of
Marines who shot him in the face and then planted a shovel
and an AK-47 rifle at the scene. Friends of the victim told
Knight Ridder that Marines had approached him several times
asking him to be an U.S. informant. We go to Baghdad to speak
with the bureau chief for Knight Ridder. [includes rush
transcript]
The family of an Iraqi man killed by American forces in the
town of Hamandiya in April has approved his exhumation as
part of a US military investigation into his death.
Investigators believe the killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad
was planned by a group of Marines who shot him in the face
and then planted a shovel and an AK-47 rifle at the scene.
This according to the Associated Press.
A senior Pentagon official told AP that the AK-47 and the
shovel - which were taken from another home before the shooting
- were meant to make it look like the man had been digging
a hole for a roadside bomb and was killed in an exchange of
gunfire.
Hashim Awad was in his 50's with a lame leg and bad eyesight.
His family told the Washington Post that a small group of
U.S. servicemen came to them last week and offered the family
money in exchange for supporting the Marines' version of the
killing.
Seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman are being held
in the brig at California's Camp Pendleton in connection with
the probe. Four other Marines have been confined to base.
A source familiar with the investigation told CNN last week
that murder charges were "likely" against the Marines.
Meanwhile, friends of Hashim Awad told Knight Ridder that
U.S. Marines had approached him several times asking him to
be an informant. He refused every time.
Time Magazine: Military Investigators Place Officer
in Charge During Haditha Massacre in 2 of the Houses Where
Killings Took Place
We speak with one the Time Magazine reporters who broke
the story of an alleged massacre of 24 unarmed Iraqis by U.S.
marines in Haditha last November. He reveals that military
investigators have place the officer in charge of the unit
that day - Sgt. Frank Wuterich - in at least two of the houses
where the killings took place and that there may also be surveillance
tape taken by a military drone that was operating in the area.
[includes rush
transcript]
'The Marines know how to get psyched up for a big fight.
In November 2004, before the Battle of Fallujah, the Third
Battalion, First Marines, better known as the "3/1"
or "Thundering Third," held a chariot race. Horses
had been confiscated from suspected insurgents, and charioteers
were urged to go all-out. The men of Kilo Company-honored
to be first into the city on the day of the battle-wore togas
and cardboard helmets, and hoisted a shield emblazoned with
a large K. As speakers blasted a heavy-metal song, "Cum
On Feel the Noize," the warriors of Kilo Company carried
a homemade mace, and a ball-and-chain studded with M-16 bullets.
A company captain intoned a line from a scene in the movie
"Gladiator," in which the Romans prepare to slaughter
the barbarians: "What you do here echoes in eternity."'
- That's the lead paragraph from an article in this week's
issue of Newsweek magazine.
The article goes on to say that Kilo Company arrived in Haditha
in the fall of 2005.
In November, 24 unarmed Iraqis were allegedly massacred by
U.S. marines in Haditha. The Senate Armed Services committee
is planning to hold hearings soon into the incident and an
attempted cover-up.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Republican
chair of the committee -- John Warner -- wrote that delaying
the results of the investigation will mean that "a mixture
of information, misinformation and unconfirmed facts will
continue to spiral in the public domain."
Warner said the first witness called would likely be Major
General Eldon Bargewell - the Army general who is conducting
one of two investigations into the incident. Congressional
aides told the Associated Press Bargewell's report could be
completed within the week but that the military's separate
criminal investigation is not expected to be finished anytime
soon. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Susan Collins said Rumsfeld
should be brought to account. She said the Armed Services
Committee must "ask hard questions such as, "When
did Secretary Rumsfeld learn of the allegations?" and
"What action did he take?""
The killings took place on November 19th after a roadside
bomb struck a Humvee in Western town of Haditha, killing one
Marine. The next day, the Marines said in a statement that
15 Iraqi civilians died in the initial blast and that eight
others were killed when Marines returned insurgent fire. But
eyewitnesses contradicted this account. They said the men,
women and children were killed when marines burst into their
houses after the blast and shot them dead in their nightclothes.
Early this year, a videotape of the aftermath of the incident,
showing the bodies of women and children, was obtained by
Time magazine. The video verified the eyewitness accounts
and prompted an investigation by the military.
Over the past week, more details have emerged about what
took place in Haditha and a military probe has uncovered evidence
that implicates both Marines and commanders in a cover-up
of the killings.
- Aparisim Ghosh, chief international correspondent for
Time magazine and one of the reporters who broke the Haditha
story.
How the Press Rolled Over for Bush: Media Critic
Eric Boehlert Takes on the Corporate Media
We speak with journalist Eric Boehlert about his new book,
"Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush." In
it he argues that the mainstream media essentially gave up
its role as defenders of the public interest and instead succumbed
to pressure from the Bush White House and the conservative
right. [includes rush
transcript]
We take a look at media coverage of the war, the Bush administration
and other issues that have or should have made headlines during
the last six years.
Journalist Eric Boehlert argues in his new book, "Lapdogs:
How the Press Rolled Over for Bush" that the mainstream
media essentially gave up its role as defenders of the public
interest and instead succumbed to pressure from the Bush White
House and the conservative right. Bohelert writes that the
reasons for this were many including a "consolidated
media landscape in which owners were increasingly -- almost
exclusively -- multinational corporations; the same corporations
anxious to win approval from the Republican -controlled federal
government to allow for even further ownership consolidation.
The press timidity was also fueled by the Republicans"
tight grip on Congress...and the mainstream media's natural
tendency to revere Beltway power...The timidity was also driven
by Beltway careerism; by media insiders who understood that
despite the cliché about the liberal media, advancement
to senior positions was actually made doubly difficult for
anyone with a reputation for being too far left, or too caustic
toward Republicans."
Boehlert argues that the administration used a variety of
tactics to undermine and control the press including curbing
access, bullying reporters, hyping terror alerts, paying off
pundits and producing fake newsreels or VNRs.
- Eric Boehlert, journalist and contributing editor to
Rolling Stone Magazine. He is a former senior writer for
Salon and author of the new book, "Lapdogs: How the
Press Rolled Over for Bush."
Thomas Friedman on "Petropolitics", Iraq,
Israel-Palestine and the "Excuse Makers"
Three-time Pulitzer prize winner Thomas Friedman turns from
print to the screen with the television news special "Addicted
To Oil: Thomas Friedman Reporting." The program focuses
on the politics of the US reliance on oil. We talk to Friedman
about "petropolitics", as well as his views on Iraq,
Israel-Palestine, and the people he calls the "Excuse
Makers." [includes rush transcript]
We speak with Thomas Friedman, the Foreign Affairs columnist
for the New York Times. A three-time Pulitzer prize winner,
Thomas Friedman is one of this country's most-widely read
political commentators. His books include the award-winning
"From Beirut to Jerusalem" and "The Lexus and
the Olive Tree." His latest book is "The World is
Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century." Later this
month, he will host "Addicted To Oil: Thomas Friedman
Reporting", a television special on the politics of this
country's reliance on oil, or what he calls "petropolitics."
"Addicted To Oil" airs on the Discovery Channel
on June 24.
- Thomas Friedman. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times
columnist. His latest book is "The World is Flat: A
Brief History of the 21st Century." His television
news special, "Addicted To Oil: Thomas Friedman Reporting",
airs on the Discovery Channel on June 24.
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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