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> Thur., June 3, 2004
FSRN
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Today's lead stories:
CIA Director, George Tenet, Resigns
Dems call for House Armed Services Committee Investigation
of Abu Ghraib
Violent Demonstration in Beirut
FSRN Interviews Nader
Voting Mahines- Part 3: Florida Repeat?
Media Access in Iraqi Kurdistan
FSRN Headlines
President Bush admitted he has interviewed a personal lawyer
to represent him in the investigation trying to find the person
in his administration who leaked the name of a CIA agent.
Kellia Ramares has more.
Mortar shells were launched at and exploded near the Italian
embassy in Baghdad today. One Iraqi was killed and three injured.
No Italians were hurt. The Italian embassy has been attacked
several times in the last few months. Currently, Italy has
more than 27-hundred soldiers in Iraq supporting the U.S.
led occupation. Tomorrow, George W. Bush is scheduled to land
in Rome and meet with his counterpart in Italy and receive
a political greeting from anti-war activists. Diletta Varlesce
reports from Rome.
Kurds in Turkey have dissolved their cease-fire saying the
Turkish government has made no movement towards peace with
the community in 15 years. Ezgi Sirtas reports from Ankara.
The newest member of Congress was sworn-in today, in large
part due to support from Native Americans in South Dakota.
Jim Kent reports.
[top]
CIA Director, George Tenet, Resigns
CIA Director George Tenet has resigned amid high controversy
about intelligence failures leading up to the attacks on September
11 and the invasion in Iraq. President Bush announced the
resignation today, saying Tenet cited personal reasons for
leaving, and praised Tenet as a leader who will be missed.
Jenny Johnson reports.
[top]
Dems call for House Armed Services Committee Investigation
of Abu Ghraib
A statement issued by the US Marines today reveals that
two 19-year-old Marines pleaded guilty to giving electric
shocks to an Iraqi prisoner they were guarding in early April,
months after the Abu Ghraib prison abuse. Pfc. Andrew J. Sting
and Pfc. Jeremiah J. Trefney entered their pleas at a May
14 court-martial in Iraq. According to the statement, the
pair and two other Marines wanted to discipline the detainee
for throwing trash outside his cell and speaking loudly at
the Al Mahmudiya prison, a temporary holding facility south
of Baghdad. The Marines attached wires to a power converter,
which delivered 110 volts of electricity to the detainee as
he returned from the bathroom. As evidence of abuses continue
to emerge -- the prisoner abuse scandal has ranking Democrats
demanding the House Armed Services Committee investigate Abu
Ghraib. Karen Mitchell reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Violent Demonstration in Beirut
OPEC oil ministers meeting today in Beirut agreed to a compromise
that would increase oil output by 2 million barrels a day.
The increase was far less than many had hoped and failed to
make any immediate impact on high world oil prices. The Beirut
Summit is the first to be held in a non-OPEC country. Under
high security measures, the meeting is taking place just one
week after a day of violent general labor strikes in Lebanon
and follows an attack on oil-related compounds and personnel
in the Saudi city of Al Khubar. FSRN correspondent Mohammed
Shublaq was at the demonstrations in Beirut last week and
files this report.
[top]
FSRN Interviews Nader
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader garners between
3 to 7% in the polls amongst likely voters. Numerous anti-Nader
groups WHO ARE BACKED BY KERRY SUPPORTERS have sprung up in
an attempt to keep Nader off the ballot in several states.
Still, Nader is finding some support as Ross Perot's Reform
Party has eroded Nader and the Green Party wil decide at the
end of the month whether to support its own David Cobb or
Nader. Today our DC Editor Mitch Jeserich sat down with Ralph
Nader to talk about Nader's run for office.
[top]
Voting Mahines- Part 3: Florida Repeat?
In May, the state of Florida signed a contract with Diebold,
the company that had its touch screen voting machines banned
in California. Diebold's CEO is a major contributor to President
Bush's campaign, and has been quoted as saying he will deliver
the election to Bush. This may seem shocking after the presidential
election controversy in Florida in 2000, which brought attention
to the entire countries inefficient voting systems, illegal
purging of felons off the voting rolls, and the fact that
the electoral process is not immune to political partisanship.
4 years later, many states have made improvements to their
voting systems, in hope that they don't become "the next
Florida". But how much has Florida done to fix it's own
problems? As FSRN's Andrew Stelzer reports, it's starting
to look like for Florida's voters, not much has changed at
all.
[top]
Media Access in Iraqi Kurdistan
Federal investigators are giving polygraph tests to civilian
employees at the Pentagon in an effort to find out who may
have disclosed highly classified intelligence to Ahmad Chalabi.
U.S. intelligence officials claim that Chalabi informed Iran
that the United States had broken secret communications codes
used by Iranian intelligence to transmit sensitive messages
to posts around the world. Chalabi has denied the charge.
Violence flared in Baghdad today, where mortar rounds near
the Italian embassy killed at least one Iraqi, and in the
holy city of Najaf and nearby Kufa. But all is quiet in Iraqi
Kurdistan -- a unique location under the occupation. Unlike
the rest of Iraq, Kurds enjoy a relative peace without the
presence of US military forces. Still, as Aaron Glantz reports
from Arbil, the availability of news and analysis is limited.
[top]
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