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Bush: Iraq War is “Straining The Psyche of Our Country”
Italy Will Lead Force in Lebanon Only If Israel Stops Fighting
Bush Pledges $230 Million In Aid to Lebanon
Lebanon Calls For Israel to End Blockade
Lebanon Considers War Crimes Charges Against Israel
Scientist: Israeli Bomb Contained Radioactive Materials
Israeli Reservists Call For Olmert To Resign
Judge Drops Charge Against Jose Padilla
Protesters Seize 12 Radio Stations In Oaxaca, Mexico
Humanitarian Aid Needed for 500,000 in Sri Lanka
War Resister Lt. Watada Charged With Three Offenses
California Minimum Wage to Increase to $8/Hour
Bush: Iraq War is “Straining The Psyche of
Our Country”
President Bush admitted on Monday the Iraq war is “straining
the psyche of our country.” But he vowed to stay the
course.
* President Bush: Leaving before the job would be done would
send a message that America really is no longer engaged, nor
cares about the form of governments in the Middle East. Leaving
before the job was done would send a signal to our troops
that the sacrifices they made were not worth it. Leaving before
the job is done would be a disaster, and that's what we're
saying.
Monday’s press conference was President Bush’s
first since it was revealed that a record 3,500 people had
died in Iraq last month.
Italy Will Lead Force in Lebanon Only If Israel Stops
Fighting
The Lebanese government is accusing Israel of repeatedly violating
the nine-day-old ceasefire. On Monday night, Israeli troops
in South Lebanon shot and killed three Hezbollah fighters.
Italy has agreed to send 3,000 troops to South Lebanon and
lead the international force to police the region. But Italy’s
Foreign Minister said Italy would only do so if Israel stopped
fighting.
Bush Pledges $230 Million In Aid to Lebanon
In Washington, President Bush pledged to give Lebanon $230
million in humanitarian aid. The total aid package is a fraction
of what the United States sends annually to Israel.
Lebanon Calls For Israel to End Blockade
Meanwhile the head of Lebanon’s Central Bank, Riad Salame,
criticized Israel for continuing its naval and air blockade.
* Riad Salame: "Although there is a cessation of hostilities,
the economy is still regressing because of the blockade that
has been put on Lebanon. As long as the airport and the port
are not active in a free way the we do not foresee a resumption
of growth in the Lebanese economy."
Lebanon’s Economy Minister Sami Haddad said it would
be impossible to build a stable democracy if Israel continues
to invade Lebanon.
* Sami Haddad: You cannot build a stable democracy and a
prosperous economy if you are subjected every three or four
years to a massive and destructive Israeli invasion that will
destroy the economy."
Lebanon Considers War Crimes Charges Against Israel
Lebanese officials have begun studying possible ways to sue
Israel and its political and military leaders for war crimes.
On Monday Lebanon’s Justice Minister held a meeting
with top Lebanese magistrates and legal experts.
Lebanese Scientist: Israeli Bomb Contained Radioactive
Materials
The Daily Star of Beirut is reporting a leading Lebanese scientist
has discovered a crater caused by an Israeli bomb that contains
a high degree of unidentified radioactive materials. The bomb
landed in the Lebanese town of Khiam. It caused a crater 10
feet deep and 30 feet wide. The National Council for Scientific
Research is planning to test samples from the site.
Israeli Reservists Call For Olmert To Resign
In Israel, calls are increasing for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
to resign over his handling of the war in Lebanon. On Monday,
a group of reservist soldiers protested in Jerusalem. Israeli
Reservist Sonny Katz: "The prime minister the minister
of defence and the chief of staff of the military should resign
because at the end of the day soldier went to fight and they
did not have proper equipment and nobody knew what was the
bottom line mission that these guys should I achieve and that
was politics, so we blame that on the government and the leaders
of the Army."
Israeli Raid Kills Three Palestinians In Gaza
Three Palestinians have died in Gaza after Israeli tanks raided
the region early this morning. Israel said the dead were all
militants.
UK Police Arrest 11 In Bomb Plot
In Britain eleven people have been charged in connection with
an alleged terror plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.
* British police official Peter Clarke: "There is evidence
from surveillance carried out before the 10th of August. This
includes important indeed highly significant video and audio
recording. I can also tell you that since the 10th of August
we have found bomb making material. There are chemicals including
hydrogen peroxide, electrical components, documents and other
items. We have also found a number of video recordings.”
British police are holding eleven other people without charge.
Lebanese Student Accused of Planting Bombs in Germany
Police in Germany have arrested a 21-year-old Lebanese student
on charges that he plotted to plant bombs on two German trains.
The student, Youssef Mohammad, is reported to have lost a
brother in an Israeli air strike last month in Lebanon.
Judge Drops Charge Against Jose Padilla
In Florida, a U.S. federal judge has dismissed one of the
main changes against Jose Padilla, the man once accused of
plotting to set off a dirty bomb. US District Judge Marcia
Cooke dismissed count one of the indictment: conspiracy to
murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country. She
said the allegations in that count were already covered in
the indictment. Earlier this month Judge Cooke ordered prosecutors
to provide more details to make their case against Padilla
and two co-defendants. She said the case against Padilla appears
“very light on facts.”
Protesters Seize 12 Radio Stations In Oaxaca, Mexico
In Mexico a group of striking teachers have seized control
of 12 commercial radio stations in the state of Oaxaca. Since
June, tens of thousands of teachers have been on strike. They
have demanded higher wages and the resignation of the governor
of Oaxaca. The stations were seized after gunmen attacked
another radio and TV station that has been occupied by the
demonstrators for weeks.
* Sergio Beltran of Radio Planton in Oaxaca: "It actually
was an almost instantaneous reaction from the people. In the
beginning it was a station, the biggest one in the city that
was taken and because the owners of the stations turned down
the transmitter people began to move to other stations until
at about 6:30 in the morning today all the stations were taken
by the people. The most important tool that this movement
has had in their hands is the radio and TV channels so it
was a reaction to keep the people informed of what is happening
minute by minute in the whole state but especially in the
city of Oaxaca
Iran Denies UN Nuke Inspectors Access to Site
UN nuclear inspectors said Monday that Iran has denied them
access to an underground nuclear site. The UN officials said
that this may be a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty.
Humanitarian Aid Needed for 500,000 in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch is calling on both the government
and the Tamil Tigers to allow humanitarian aid to reach thousands
of civilians trapped by fighting. In north Sri Lanka about
500,000 residents have been left with dwindling supplies of
food and water and no ability to go to safe areas. About 40,000
people are believed to have fled their homes. Meanwhile, here
in the United States, police have arrested 13 people on suspicion
of conspiring to buy arms for the Tamil Tigers.
Sen. Barack Obama Goes to Kenya
In news from Africa, Barack Obama is preparing to visit Kenya
for the first time since he became a Senator. Obama’s
father was born in Kenya. On Monday Obama visited South Africa
and criticized how the government there is handling the AIDS
epidemic. He said he planned to speak about AIDS in Kenya
as well.
* Sen. Barack Obama: "One of the things, when I go
to Kenya, that I'll be doing is probably getting an Aids test
myself; in front of the cameras just to encourage, so that
people can see you know there's nothing stigmatizing about
getting an Aids test. So you know a lot of times I think leading
by example can be very helpful and that's something I'd like
to do.
400 EU Troops Head to Congo As Fighting Continues
Meanwhile, 400 extra European Union troops are being flown
into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The capital of Kenshasa
has seen three days of clashes between forces loyal to the
two men who are facing each other in a presidential runoff
in October. Supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba have accused President
Joseph Kabila's guards of attacking Bemba's house.
War Resister Lt. Watada Charged With Three Offenses
In an update in a story we’ve been following: First
Lt. Ehren Watada has been charged with three offenses for
refusing to fight in Iraq. In June he became the first US
military officer to openly oppose the war in Iraq. He was
charged with Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, Missing Movement,
and Contempt toward Officials.
California Minimum Wage to Increase to $8/Hour
And in California, legislators have agreed to raise the state
minimum wage to eight dollars an hour by January 2008. Workers
will get a 75-cent increase Jan. 1 and an additional 50 cents
on Jan. 1, 2008. The pay hike will affect more than one million
Californians who earn the current minimum wage, six dollars
and seventy five cents an hour.
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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