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Kofi Annan: Israeli Raid Violated Ceasefire
Israel Accused of Carpeting Lebanon With Cluster Bombs
Israeli Gov’t Abducts Two More Palestinian Parliamentarians
Snipers Kill 20 Shiite Pilgrims in Iraq; 300 Wounded
Length of Iraq War Exceeds Length of U.S. Involvement in WWII
Bush “Strongly Disagrees” With NSA Ruling
TV Networks Focus on JonBenet Ramsey Over NSA Ruling
First CIA Civilian Contractor Convicted for Assaulting Detainee
U.S. Names CIA Official to Head Venezuelan & Cuban Spy
Ops
AP: 80 Military Recruiters Disciplined for Sexual Misconduct
Mexican Mother Stays in Chicago Church to Avoid Deportation
Kofi Annan: Israeli Raid Violated Ceasefire
The United Nations is warning the week-old ceasefire in the
Middle East could soon unravel. On Saturday, Israel airlifted
a team of commandos to raid a Hezbollah outpost. Dressed as
Lebanese troops, the Israeli soldiers carried out the attack
apparently as part of a rescue mission or to capture a high-ranking
Hezbollah official named Sheik Mohammed Yazbek. One Israeli
officer was killed in the raid. No Hizbollah leaders were
arrested. Israel claimed it was trying to stop the shipment
of arms to Hezbollah.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called the Israeli
raid a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
* Senior UN Envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen: "At the same
time, we are at the tilting edge still and this can easily
start sliding again and lead us quickly into the abyss of
violence and bloodshed. This is why diplomacy is so important
because it is only forceful, energetic diplomacy in the political
field, nationally in the region and internationally, which
can produce that up side and prevent that horrible down side
which we have seen the results of over the last few weeks."
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mark Regev
defended the raid.
* Mark Regev: "We had specific information that a weapons
shipment from Syria for Hizbollah. That is in direct violation
of the U.N. Security Council resolution that established the
ceasefire and we were responding to that violation of the
ceasefire. Had the Lebanese forces and the international forces
been there at the border as the resolution says they should
be preventing such a shipment of weapons of course we wouldn't
have had to act."
Over the weekend, Israeli officials vowed to assassinate
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. In addition, Defense
Minister Amir Peretz said Israel is making preparations for
what he called the "next round" of war.
Israel Accused of Carpeting Lebanon With Cluster Bombs
A British group that clears landmines has accused Israel of
"carpeting" Lebanese border villages with deadly
cluster bombs. The Telegraph newspaper of London reports that
the Mines Advisory Group has found that extreme quantities
of cluster bombs had been dropped on scores of Lebanese villages
during the final days of the conflict last week. At least
four people, including two teenage boys, have died after stepping
on the cluster bombs. 16 other people been injured.
Israeli Reservists Sign Petition Criticizing Gov’t
Handling of War
In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, is coming under increasing
pressure over his handling of the war. Hundreds of Army reservists
have signed a petition criticizing the military’s top
brass for failing to clearly define the goals of the war.
The reservists wrote "The heavy feeling is that in the
echelons above us there is nothing but under-preparation,
insincerity, lack of foresight and inability to make rational
decisions. It leads to the question: were we called up for
nothing?" Many critics of Olmert are calling for the
establishment of a state commission to investigate the government’s
handling of the war.
Israeli Gov’t Abducts Two More Palestinian
Parliamentarians
The Israeli government has abducted two more members of the
Palestinian Parliament. On Saturday, Israeli troops detained
the Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer. Then on
Sunday, another senior Palestinian parliament figure, Mahmoud
al-Ramahi, was seized by Israeli troops. Both officials are
members of the ruling Hamas party. In late June, the Israeli
military arrested seven Hamas government ministers and some
20 legislators. Palestinian Government Spokesperson Ghazi
Hammad accused Israel of trying to destabilize the government.
* Palestinian Government Spokesperson Ghazi Hammad: "It
is an obvious message to the world that Israel does not want
a Palestinian political system or even stability in the Palestinian
life. You can realize that this arrest comes after two days
of (Palestinian) dialogues to perform a unity government.
Israel wants to abort this and all the efforts to form this
government."
Israeli Blocks Airplanes From Photographing Oil Spill
Clean-up crews are continuing to help contain the massive
oil spill off the coast of Lebanon. The spill has now polluted
about 124 miles of the Lebanese and Syrian coastlines. The
spill began when Israel bombed a fuel tank on the Lebanese
coast. Over the weekend, the Israeli government rejected a
request from the French government to allow an expert in cleaning
oil spills to be allowed to fly over the contaminated areas.
The expert, Rick Steiner, criticized Israel’s decision.
* Rick Steiner: "Even with well defined flight plan,
in a very clear symbol mission to asses the oil from air we
were not allowed to do it. That is really unfortunate in my
point of view. I really appreciated that the French made this
request on our behalf and were willing to this to support
us. I am very disappointed that the Israeli military refused
the request."
Meanwhile Lebanese fisherman say the oil spill has devastated
their livelihood.
Snipers Kill 20 Shiite Pilgrims in Iraq; 300 Wounded
In Iraq, at least 20 Shiite pilgrims died on Sunday after
they were shot by snipers as they marched through Sunni neighborhoods
of Baghdad. Another 300 people were wounded. The Shiites were
marking one of the holiest days of their religious year. The
shootings came after the Iraqi government imposed a two-day
ban on all vehicular traffic in Baghdad.
Length of Iraq War Exceeds Length of U.S. Involvement
in WWII
Meanwhile more than 1250 days have passed since the U.S. invaded
Iraq. The length of the ongoing war in Iraq is now a week
longer than the U.S. involvement in World War II.
New Trial Opens Against Saddam Hussein
In other news from Iraq, Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
went on trial today on charges of killing tens of thousands
of Kurds with poison gas in the late 1980s. Hussein refused
to enter a plea to the charges. At the time of the attacks,
Hussein was still backed by the United States. In 1991, U.S.
intelligence sources told the Los Angeles Times that they
believe that Hussein used American-built helicopters to drop
bombs on Kurdish civilians.
U.S. Judge Throws Out Iraqi Contractor Verdict
Meanwhile a U.S. federal judge has thrown out a $10 million
verdict against private military contractor Custer Battles
for defrauding the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
Bush “Strongly Disagrees” With NSA Ruling
President Bush says he strongly disagrees with last week’s
judicial ruling that his administration’s warrant-less
surveillance program is unconstitutional and must be stopped.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor found that
the program violated freedom of speech, protections against
unreasonable searches and a constitutional check on the power
of the presidency. In her ruling, Taylor wrote: "There
are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created
by the Constitution." On Saturday President Bush criticized
the ruling.
* President Bush: "This country of ours is at war and
we must give those whose responsibility it is to protect the
United States the tools necessary to protect this country
in a time of war. The judges decision, I strongly disagree
with that decision, strongly disagree that's why I instructed
the justice department to appeal immediately and I believe
our appeals will be upheld."
TV Networks Focus on JonBenet Ramsey Case Over NSA
Ruling
The major court ruling on the National Security Agency surveillance
program has received scant coverage from the nation’s
three major networks. On Thursday, ABC, CBS and NBC all led
their nightly broadcasts with the latest in the 1996 murder
case of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. ABC devoted twice
as much time in its broadcast to Ramsey as it did to the NSA
story. CBS offered seven times as much airtime to Ramsey as
it did to the NSA story. And NBC devoted 15 times more airtime
to Ramsey.
UK Probes Legality of U.S. Monitoring of Bank Transaction
The Guardian newspaper reports an investigation is underway
in Britain into whether the British government's violated
British and European law when it cooperated with U.S. efforts
to monitor international banking transactions.
First CIA Civilian Contractor Convicted for Assaulting
Detainee
In news on Afghanistan, a CIA civilian contractor has been
found guilty of assaulting a detainee in Afghanistan. David
Passaro is the first civilian to be convicted of abusing prisoners
in Iraq or Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch criticized the
Justice Department for not prosecuting other civilians who
have been involved in the deaths and torture detainees in
U.S.-run prisons.
U.S. Names CIA Official to Head Venezuelan &
Cuban Spy Ops
The Bush administration has named a longtime CIA official
to oversee spy operations on Venezuela and Cuba. The official,
Patrick Maher, was appointed last week. Up until now, a comparable
post had only existed for Iran and North Korea. Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez decried the decision and nicknamed Maher
“Jack the Ripper.”
* Hugo Chavez: On one hand, this honours us, that they put
us with revolutionary Cuba; it honours us that they catalogue
us with rebel, heroic and revolutionary Cuba and together
with comrade Fidel Castro and the Cuban people, with comrade
Raul Castro and all the Cuban political and military officials.
It says here: 'the director of intelligence for Cuba and Venezuela
co-ordinates the efforts of the U.S. spy community to obtain
and analyse intelligence information in both nations.'"
Congo Presidential Run-Off Set For October
A run-off presidential election is going to be held in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. President Joseph Kabila failed
to win 50 percent of the vote in last month’s election
forcing a run-off in October with runner-up Jean-Pierre Bemba.
The July election marked the country’s first multi-party
vote in over 45 years ago.
AP: 80 Military Recruiters Disciplined for Sexual
Misconduct
The Associated Press has revealed that more than 80 military
recruiters have been disciplined over the past year for sexual
misconduct. According to AP, military recruiters have preyed
upon more then 100 young women who expressed interest in joining
the military. Women were raped on recruiting office couches,
assaulted in government cars and groped en route to entrance
exams. One 18-year-old victim said "This should never
be allowed to happen. The recruiter had all the power. He
had the uniform. He had my future. I trusted him." The
victims have typically been between 16 and 18 years old. They
usually met the recruiters at their high schools and the sexual
misconduct almost always takes place in recruiting stations,
recruiters' apartments or government vehicles/
Families of Kidnapped Journalists Plea for Their
Release
The families of the two journalists kidnapped last week in
Gaza have pleaded for the release of their loved ones. Fox
News correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig
were kidnapped a week ago.
* Anita McNaught, Olaf Wiig’s wife: "…
He and Steve were here because they wanted to be here, because
as journalists they wanted to tell the Palestinian story.
He cares about the Palestinian people. He is in the hands
of the Palestinian people. But because of what has happened
to him, we are all hostages now. We are all in jail. It is
so destructive. This achieves nothing.”
New Orleans Sued For Abandoning City Resident After
Katrina
A New Orleans man has filed suit against the city and the
state of Louisiana for abandoning his 91-year-old mother after
Hurricane Katrina. The Ethel Mayo Freeman died outside the
Convention Center on Sept. 1 after she failed to receive needed
medical care. She died sitting in her wheelchair. Images of
her were broadcast around the world as her corpse remained
outside the Convention Center. Her son, Herbert Freeman, says
he watched over his mother’s body for two days. But
help never came. He is suing the city and state for wrongful
death. Her story is featured in Spike Lee’s new documentary
on Katrina which premieres tonight.
American Apparel Threatens to Sue Magazine
In media news, the clothing company American Apparel has threatened
to take legal action against the magazine Clamor if it proceeds
with plans to publish a series of articles criticizing the
company. Clamor magazine's forthcoming issue features a special
section called American Apparel Exposed criticizing the company’s
business model and the company's founder Dov Charney. The
company accused the magazine of practicing "gross, blatant,
negligent and irresponsible journalism."
Mexican Mother Stays in Chicago Church to Avoid Deportation
In Chicago, a rally was held Sunday to support a Mexican woman
who is seeking sanctuary inside a Chicago church in an attempt
to defy the government’s attempts to deport her. Elvira
Arellano has been living in the church since Tuesday, when
she was supposed to surrender to authorities for deportation.
Arellano is president of United Latino Family, a group that
lobbies for families that could be split by deportation. She
was born in Mexico and came to the country as an undocumented
immigrant. Her seven-year-old son was born in the United States
and is a U.S. citizen. “I’m going to fight so
that my son and I will be respected,” she said. “So
that all undocumented immigrants will be respected.”
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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