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> Thur., Apr. 29, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Fallujah Deal Reached?
US Army Tactics Earn Contempt of Iraqis
Bush-Cheney “Meeting” with 9-11 Commission
Update from Southern Thailand
Senate Moves on Blocking Internet Taxes
Protesting Schwarzenegger’s Slash of CA Education Budget
FSRN Headlines
US Troops Abusing Iraqi Prisoners
Images on a network television news magazine confirm what
Amnesty International and others have been reporting for months
– some US soldiers have been abusing Iraqi prisoners.
One picture shows a prisoner who was told to stand on a box
with his head covered while wires were attached to his hands.
According to the CBS report, the prisoner was told that he
would be electrocuted if he fell off the box. In many of the
pictures US soldiers appear to be laughing or pointing at
the often nude or hooded prisoners. In March, Army officials
said they were to remove 17 soldiers, including a brigadier
general, from their duties in Iraq after accusations they
were involved in abusing prisoners. Six of them are up for
courts martial. One of the accused soldiers, a reservist who
is a civilian prison guard in Virginia, said they were ill
prepared by the Army on how to treat prisoners. The soldier
added that the CIA, FBI, and military intelligence complimented
them on how well the prisoners in their charge, as opposed
to at other prisons, broke during interrogation.
Activists Denied Permit for RNC
Peace activists have been denied a permit for an anti-war
rally in New York’s Central Park during the Republican
National Convention. Ama Buadi reports from WBAI.
CO Activists Guilty of Trespassing
5 people delivering a peace resolution to their senator last
year in Colorado were found guilty of 2nd degree criminal
trespass. However, six people were originally arrested, one
of them an undercover deputy who infiltrated the group. Police
heard about the potential trip to Senator Wayne Allard’s
office in Englewood and took part in the preceding day’s
preparations for a non-violent protest. The police officer
testified that he wanted to insure the protest would be a
peaceful one. According to one court witness, no one at police
headquarters took responsibility for the decision to infiltrate
the group. A video tape confirms that when the activists were
denied the right to speak with their senator, who was in the
office at the time, they refused to leave.
Women's March Owed an Apology
A confidante and political aid to George W. Bush has been
asked to apologize for a statement she made about the March
for Women’s Lives on Sunday. Celie Jenkins explains
from D.C.
Israel's Stockpile to be Inspected
The United Nations top nuclear watchdog, Mohammed El Baradei,
will go to inspect Israel’s nuclear program in July.
International weapons experts estimate the Israeli government
has built approximately 200 nuclear weapons. A claim the state
of Israel neither supports or denies. The purpose of El Baradei’s
trip, his first in six years, will be to promote non-proliferation
and a nuclear weapon free Middle East. The Israeli government
is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, an
arm of the United Nations. But, it has refused to sign the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. El Baradei has said that
nuclear weapons as a method of deterrence is “deeply
ingrained in the Israeli psychology.”
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Fallujah Deal Reached?
The U.S. Marines announced an agreement today pull out of
the Iraqi town of Fallujah after nearly a month of heavy fighting
and bombing which has caused the deaths of some 600 civilians
-- at least 250 of whom have been buried in the city's soccer
stadium. The deal announced by the Marines would create a
"Fallujah Protective Army" and allow an all-Iraqi
force commanded by one of former President Saddam Hussein’s
generals to take over security. But after the agreement was
announced, explosions and shooting were heard in the city
and American warplanes circled overhead. Meantime, Defense
Department officials in Washington denied a final agreement
had been struck to end the bloody siege. We're joined now
by FSRN's Baghdad correspondent Aaron Glantz who explains
who exactly the parties are who have reached this deal.
[top]
US Army Tactics Earn Contempt of Iraqis
Meanwhile, Aaron Glantz has also been talking to Iraqi’s
who are telling stories of intensifying invasions by US marines
into many aspects of their private lives. He filed this report
earlier today.
[top]
Bush-Cheney “Meeting” with 9-11 Commission
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had their
version of a testimony before the 9-11 Commission today, a
closed door meeting in which the only notes taken were done
by the White House. Karen Mitchell reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Update from Southern Thailand
Thailand has sent more security forces to its troubled south,
following the bloodiest day in its recent history. Doualy
Xaykaothao is in Pattani, where some of the worst violence
took place. She sends this report.
[top]
Senate Moves on Blocking Internet Taxes
The U.S. Senate has practically come to a stand still with
one major piece of legislation after another being filabustered.
Today two more bills were blocked that dealt with energy.
But for the first time in weeks the Senate has moved forward
on a bill that would continue to block any state's attempt
to put a tax on the internet. However, though it has bipartisan
support, the measure is in doubt as one prominent Senate Democrat
threatens to attach an amendment to raise the federal minimum
wage to every piece of legislation that comes to the Senate
Floor. Mitch Jeserich has more from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Protesting Schwarzenegger’s Slash of CA Education
Budget
California State University, Fullerton, today held a campus-wide
walkout and a rally in front of Governor Schwarzenegger’s
office in downtown LA to protest the budget cuts he is proposing
to higher education. The cuts to California’s 3-tier
higher education system are part of his solution to address
the state’s 25 billion dollar deficit. The University
of California system alone is facing a 200 million dollar
reduction, while the California State University system is
also being threatened with a 240 million dollar cut for 2004.
FSRN’s Sharis Delgadillo has more from Los Angeles.
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