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> Wed., Sept. 29, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
9-11 Reform Measure in House
Healthcare Advocates Speak Out on Capitol Hill
FSRN Talks with Libertarian Candidate Michael Badnarik
Lakota Man Sues Wal-Mart
Part Two: Indigenous Kankuamo in Colombia
FSRN Headlines
Iraq Update
A British hostage in Iraq made an impassioned plea to Prime
Minister Blair to help free him on a videotape broadcast today
on Al Jazeera. Chained and squatting behind iron bars, Kenneth
Bigley accused Blair of lying about the hostage crisis and
urged the Prime Minister to meet his captors' demands to release
Iraqi women from jail. Twelve other hostages from five countries
were released yesterday.
(((CUT FOR TIME))) U.S. and Iraqi forces raided suspected
resistance hideouts in the heart of the capital today, sparking
clashes along a main Baghdad thoroughfare. According to a
new report on the attacks occurring daily in Iraq, in the
past month alone more than 2,300 attacks have been directed
against civilians and military targets. The violence sprawls
over nearly every major population center outside the Kurdish
north. The sweeping geographical reach of the attacks suggests
a more widespread resistance than the isolated pockets of
insurgency described by Iraqi government officials. The study
was conducted by Special Operations Consulting. Pentagon officials
and military officers like to point to a separate list of
statistics to counter the tally of attacks, including the
number of schools and of clinics opened. They cite statistics
indicating a growing number of Iraqi security forces are trained
and fully equipped, and they note that applicants continue
to line up despite bombings at recruiting stations.
Blair Admits Pre-War Info Was Wrong
Britain’s Prime Minister now says that the information
that led to the war on Iraq was wrong. Anstasia Kershaw has
more from London.
Black Farmers Protest
Yesterday in Washington, lawmakers from both parties raised
strong concerns at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing
that tens of thousands of black farmers were not considered
for payments under a 1999 settlement. From Washington, Dolores
M. Bernal.
NYTimes Sues Department of Justice
The New York Times asked for a court order blocking the government
attempts to obtain records on investigations by two of its
reporters. Leigh Ann Caldwell is in New York City.
Anti-USA Patriot Act Petitions Delivered to Capitol
Petitions gathered around the nation in bookstores and libraries
were delivered to the US Capitol today. Two hundred thousand
signatures were collected. Author Salman Rushdie is the president
of the PEN American Center. He was part of a delegation that
included librarians, publishers and booksellers who called
on Congress to repeal Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.
The portions of the Patriot Act that the petitions protest
expire at the end of next year. Rushdie says that the sections
should be repealed now – but in the absence of that
action they should at the least not be renewed next year.
[top]
9-11 Reform Measure in House (4:09)
A GOP backed 9/11 reform measure that critics say would
promote racial profiling and crack down on immigrants began
moving through the House of Representatives today. The House
leadership is looking to pass the measure by the end of next
week. Mitch Jeserich has more from Capitol Hill.
[top]
Healthcare Advocates Speak Out on Capitol Hill
(4:07)
While the presidential debate tomorrow night will focus
on national security and terrorism, today the issue of healthcare
was hot on Capitol Hill with opponents of the Bush Administration
voicing concern over its track record and future plans for
healthcare while expressing support for the Kerry-Edwards
proposals for change. Jenny Johnson reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
FSRN Talks with Libertarian Candidate Michael Badnarik
(3:47)
As tomorrow night's first presidential debate will deliberately
exclude the participation of third party candidates, today
on FSRN we hear from one of those candidates running in November’s
election. Having already spoken with Green’s Party Candidate
David Cobb and independent candidate Ralph Nader, today Mitch
Jeserich is in conversation with Michael Badnarik who is running
for the Libertarian Party.
[top]
Lakota Man Sues Wal-Mart (4:20)
A Lakota man is pursuing a $25 million lawsuit against Wal
Mart for what he's referring to as a "terrorist"
crime committed against him – citing racial bias and
threats of assault. Oglala Sioux tribal member Gregory Clements
worked at Wal Mart's Chadron, Nebraska "Superstore"
for 18 months without incident. But, as FSRN correspondent
Jim Kent reports, the trauma of what took place during the
overnight shift on June 29 forced Clements to file charges
with law enforcement authorities against four of his co-workers
and relocate for his own safety.
[top]
Part Two: Indigenous Kankuamo in Colombia
(4:20)
In Colombia, 84 indigenous groups make up 2 percent of the
country’s 44 million people. However, indigenous groups
own land, protected as reservations, and that makes up 32
percent of Colombia’s territory. As part of the 40-year
conflict where the armed actors try to control the land, and
gain economic control of different regions, Colombia’s
indigenous groups, that prefer their own autonomy, are victims
to the violence since they own land considered strategic.
According to rights groups and Indigenous leaders, in southern
Colombia, where the country’s largest guerrilla group
the FARC are fighting the US-funded Colombian Armed Forces
in an offensive called the Plan Patriota, both the guerrilla
and the public forces are responsible for massacres, kidnappings,
bombing, and planting land mines, among other violations against
the indigenous peoples and their lands. However, in northern
Colombia, it is principally the paramilitaries, known as the
AUC, involved in a year-long peace process with the Colombian
government, that are the ones responsible for the violence.
Nicole Karsin has the final part of our two part series.
[top]
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