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Army Lies to Mother of Slain Guardsman for Two Years, Says
Killed by Insurgents Instead of Allied Iraqi Soldiers
Tennessee Schedules Five Executions for June 28
Julia Wright, Daughter of Famed Writer Richard Wright, on
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Army Lies to Mother of Slain Guardsman for Two Years,
Says Killed by Insurgents Instead of Allied Iraqi Soldiers
Two years after National Guardsmen Spc. Patrick McCaffrey
and 1st Lt. Andre Tyson were killed in Iraq, the truth about
their deaths has been exposed. Military officials initially
told the families that the two men had been killed in an ambush
by insurgents but an Army investigation concluded that they
were in fact murdered by members of the allied Iraqi Civil
Defense Corps. The military only told the families the truth
this week. We speak with Nadia McCaffrey - the mother of Spc.
Patrick McCaffrey - who is accusing the Pentagon of a deliberate
cover-up. [includes rush
transcript]
The U.S. military is being accused of another deliberate
cover-up involving killings in Iraq. But this time, the victims
are not Iraqis...they're American soldiers.
Specialist Patrick McCaffrey and First Lieutenant Andre Tyson
- both members of the California National Guard - were killed
in June 2004 while on patrol near the town of Balad, fifty
miles north of Baghdad.
Military officials initially told the families that the two
soldiers had been attacked and killed in an ambush by insurgents.
But that story turned out to be a lie.
An Army investigation concluded in September 2005 that the
two were in fact killed by members of the Iraqi Civil Defense
Corps - supposed allies that the Guardsmen had been training
and patrolling with. McCaffrey and Tyson's fellow soldiers
had suspected this was the case all along. Instead of sharing
these findings with the families, the military sat on the
story - for nine months.
It was only after Nadia McCaffrey - the mother of Specialist
Patrick McCaffrey - asked California Senator Barbara Boxer
in May to pressure the Pentagon to release information about
her son's death that the truth came out.
The military revealed what it knew only this week - nearly
two years to the day of the killings of McCaffrey and Tyson.
An Army general briefed the families at their homes on Wednesday.
The Pentagon is now being accused of a deliberate cover-up.
Senator Boxer said the case raises troubling questions and
plans to raise the issue on the floor of the Senate.
She told reporters, "I think it" s pretty obvious
that if the American people knew that the Iraqis we train
would turn on our soldiers, support for the war would erode."
This is not the first case of its kind. Also in 2004, NFL
star Pat Tillman was killed while serving in Afghanistan.
The Army initially said Tillman was killed by enemy fire while
leading troops into battle. The high-profile story was widely
reported in the media. But the Army was later forced to acknowledge
that Tillman had in fact been killed by gunfire from his fellow
soldiers.
- Nadia McCaffrey, the mother of Specialist Patrick McCaffrey.
She joins us on the line from Tracy, CA.
Tennessee Schedules Five Executions for June 28
The state of Tennessee has announced that five death row
prisoners are scheduled to be executed this Wednesday, June
28th. Tennessee has carried out only one execution since 1960.
We speak with the executive director of the Tennessee Coalition
to Abolish State Killing. [includes rush
transcript]
The state of Tennessee has announced that five death row
prisoners are scheduled to be executed this Wednesday, June
28th.
The announcement has come as a shock to some in the state
which has carried out only one execution since 1960. Scheduled
to die are Sedley Alley, Paul Dennis Reid, Charles Rice, David
Ivy, and William Glenn Rogers.
Legal experts are predicting that three of the men - Rice,
Ivy and Rogers - will not be executed on Wednesday because
they still have state and federal appeals available to them.
However that is not true for Sedley Alley or Paul Dennis
Reid.
Last week, however, the Innocence Project filed a brief on
behalf of Sedley Alley. The New York-based legal group argued
that he should not be executed until he is given access to
post-conviction DNA evidence that could prove his innocence.
Alley was originally scheduled to be executed last month.
But Tennessee's governor granted him a 15-day reprieve just
eight hours before he was scheduled to die.
- Randy Tatel, Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition
to Abolish State Killing.
Julia Wright, Daughter of Famed Writer Richard Wright,
on Mumia Abu-Jamal
We take a look at case of death row case prisoner, Mumia
Abu-Jamal. with Julia Wright, daughter of the late, famed
writer Richard Wright. We also play a tribute to Julia Wright
that Mumia Abu-Jamal recorded from death row. [includes rush
transcript]
We take a look at the death row case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
He was sentenced to death in 1982 for the killing of Philadelphia
police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal was gravely wounded
in the incident. A journalist, Black Panther and outspoken
critic of police brutality, racism and the death penalty,
Mumia Abu-Jamal has always maintained his innocence.
Julia Wright is here with us now - she's the daughter of
the late, great writer Richard Wright.
Julia is visiting New York from her home in Paris where she
is involved in the International Concerned Family and Friends
For Mumia Abu-Jamal.
But first, let's take a listen to this audio tribute to Julia
that Mumia recorded last week.
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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