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Sexually Harassed Soldier is Arrested After Refusing to Redeploy
to Iraq
Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No To Iraq
Mexican Police Accused of Killing 11 Striking Teachers in
Oaxaca
In Iraq, Three Groups Struggle For Control Over Oil-Rich
Kirkuk
Sexually Harassed Soldier is Arrested After Refusing
to Redeploy to Iraq
Police in Eugene, Oregon have arrested 21-year-old Army
Specialist Suzanne Swift for refusing to return to fight in
Iraq. Swift served in Iraq for a year but decided she could
not return and went AWOL. Not only did she feel the war lacked
purpose, Swift said her superiors repeatedly sexually harassed
her while serving in Iraq. We speak with her mother, Sara
Rich. [includes rush
transcript]
Police in Eugene, Oregon have arrested a 21-year-old Army
Specialist for refusing to return to fight in Iraq.
The soldier, Suzanne Swift, served in Iraq for a year but
decided she could not return. And like thousands of other
soldiers, she went AWOL. Not only did Swift feel the war lacked
purpose, she said her superiors repeatedly sexually harassed
her while serving in Iraq.
Swift remained AWOL until Sunday night when the Eugene police
knocked on her mother's front door. She was arrested and taken
to the county jail. Then she was transferred to Fort Lewis
in Washington. She has been forced to return to her unit but
is barred from leaving the base. No charges have been filed
against her yet for deserting.
We speak with Suzanne Swift's mother, Sara Rich.
Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No To Iraq
We speak with Peter Laufer, a Vietnam war resister and author
of the new book, "Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who
Say No to Iraq." The book profiles a number of soldiers
who refuse to participate in what they believe to be an illegal
and immoral war.
We continue to look at the issue of Iraq war resisters. A
new book has just been published profiling soldiers who are
refusing to fight in Iraq. It is titled "Mission Rejected:
U.S. Soldiers Who Say No To Iraq."
In a moment, we will be joined by the author, Peter Laufer.
But first we hear from three Iraq war resisters who have spoken
out on Democracy Now.
They are: Jeremy Hinzman, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan
who fled to Canada to avoid fighting in Iraq; Aidan Delgado,
who became a conscientious objector after fighting in Iraq;
and Camilo Mejia, the first Iraq War veteran sent to prison
for refusing to fight.
- War resisters speaking on Democracy Now!
We are joined now by Peter Laufer, author of "Mission
Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No To Iraq."
- Peter Laufer, Vietnam War resister and author of the
new book "Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No
to Iraq." He is a former NBC News correspondent.
- Read excerpt of "Mission
Rejected" in Alternet
Mexican Police Accused of Killing 11 Striking Teachers
in Oaxaca
Thousands of state security forces have raided the southern
Mexican city of Oaxaca to break up a peaceful teachers strike.
Witnesses say eleven people were killed, including two children.
The state government denies the allegations. We speak to a
teacher taking part in the strike.
We turn now to Mexico where thousands of state security forces
raided the southern city of Oaxaca early Wednesday to break
up a peaceful teachers strike. According to witness reports,
up to eleven people were killed in the raid. Two of the dead
were reportedly children asphyxiated by massive amounts of
tear gas fired from police helicopters. Up to one hundred
people have been detained. The local radio station was shut
down and four of its workers have allegedly disappeared. Several
women have accused police of sexual assault. The state government
in Oaxaca has denied all of these allegations. After the worst
of the raid was over, the union retook Oaxaca's city center.
This is a member of the teachers union speaking in Oaxaca
yesterday.
- Striking Oaxaca teacher, speaking Wednesday.
For the past twenty-three days more than seventy thousand
members of Mexico's National Education Workers Union have
held their annual strike in Oaxaca. The teachers have staged
an encampment and various forms of direct action to press
the state governor for an increase in resources to fund Mexico's
education system.
- Alma Delia Santos, a local teacher who is part of the
striking component of the National Education Workers Union
in Mexico, Section 22. She has been on strike and witnessed
yesterday's events.
To place the current struggle of the teachers union in historical
context we turn to a documentary titled 'Granito de Arena'
or 'Grain of Sand. It's produced by independent film maker
Jill Freidberg. She spent several years in Oaxaca documenting
the history, and the current state of the education workers'
union.
- Excerpt of Granito De Arena
- Jill Freidberg, filmmaker who spent two years in Southern
Mexico producing the documentary "Granito De Arena",
which documents the teacher's union movement in Oaxaca.
She joins us on the line from Seattle.
In Iraq, Three Groups Struggle For Control Over Oil-Rich
Kirkuk
Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs are competing for control over
Kirkuk, Iraq's third largest city. Turkey recently sent thousands
of troops to its border with Iraqi Kurdistan, amassing what
is the largest buildup of Turkish soldiers along the Iraq
border since 1999. We speak with John Tirman, Executive Director
of MIT's Center for International Studies.
We turn now to Iraq. Middle East analyst Juan Cole recently
wrote that there are now four distinct wars being simultaneously
fought in Iraq: a Sunni Arab guerrilla war to expel US troops
from the Sunni heartland; a militant Shiite guerrilla war
to expel the British from the south; a civil war between the
Sunni and Shiites; and a Kurdish war against Arabs and Turkmen
over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in Northern Iraq. Today we
are going to look at the war being waged over Kirkuk where
Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs are competing over control of Iraq's
third largest city. On Tuesday, at least 24 Iraqis were killed
in the city in a series of seven bomb attacks. In April, hundreds
of Shiite militia men were deployed to Kirkuk, vowing to fight
attempts by Kurds to take control of the city. Meanwhile Turkey
has recently sent thousands of troops to its border with Iraqi
Kurdistan amassing what is the largest buildup of Turkish
soldiers along the Iraq border since 1999.
- John Tirman. Executive Director of MIT's Center for International
Studies. He is the author of "Spoils of War: The Human
Cost of America's Arms Trade."
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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