Obama Cites BP “Recklessness,” Vows Gulf Coast Compensation, and Calls for Green Energy Future—But Won’t Halt Offshore Drilling16 Jun 2010Nearly sixty days since the explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig that has spewed over a hundred million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama devoted his first Oval Office address to outlining what he called a “battle plan” to tackle the environmental catastrophe created by the BP spill. The address came as government scientists once again sharply increased their estimate of the amount of oil gushing out of BP’s blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico to some 2.5 million gallons a day. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for June 16, 201016 Jun 2010Oil Spill Rate Estimate Grows to 2.5M Gallons a Day, Obama: BP Will Compensate Gulf Coast Residents, Oil Execs, Lawmakers Clash at House Hearing, Exxon CEO: Oil Companies “Not Well Equipped” to Handle Disasters, Israel to Alter Gaza Blockade; UN to Distribute Seized Flotilla Aid, UN Rapporteur Criticizes Israeli Flotilla Probe, Kyrzgyz Toll Could Rise; 75,000 Flee to Uzbekistan, Egyptian Activist Killed in Alleged Police Beating, Pentagon Upholds Gitmo Ban on 4 Journalists, US Citizen Arrested in Pakistan on Alleged Bin Laden Hunt, Report: Blackwater Owner Considering Move to UAE, GAO Report Clears ACORN of Mishandling Funding, Ethics Office Probes 8 Lawmakers, 24 Activists Acquitted for Gitmo Protest, Mass. Teachers Face Punishment for Silent Antiwar Protest, Seattle Police Officer Punches Woman in Face Following Jaywalk, 14 Arrested in Denver Protest for Immigration Reform, Obama Appoints New MMS Director
“I Love the US Republic, and I Hate the US Empire”: Johan Galtung on the War in Afghanistan and How to Get Out15 Jun 2010We turn now to the second part of my interview with Johan Galtung. Known as a founder of the field of peace and conflict studies, he’s spent the past half-century pursuing nonviolent conflict resolution in international relations. His latest book is The Fall of the US Empire ? And Then What?: Successors, Regionalization or Globalization? US Fascism or US Blossoming? I spoke to him last week about his prediction of the collapse of US empire in ten years, by 2020. In this second part of our interview, Galtung discusses his assessment of President Obama, the US corporate media and more. But we began with the war in Afghanistan, where he has worked extensively in attempts at conflict resolution. [includes rush transcript]
Supreme Court: Torture and Rendition Victim Maher Arar Cannot Sue in US Courts15 Jun 2010In a major setback for holding US officials accountable for rendition and torture, the Supreme Court has rejected Arar’s lawsuit against the US government. Arar was seized at New York’s Kennedy Airport in 2002 on a stopover from a vacation abroad. Instead of allowing him to return home to Canada, Arar was sent to his native Syria, where he was tortured and interrogated in a tiny underground cell for nearly a year. Just after the Court’s decision was announced, Arar revealed a major new development: Canada’s federal law enforcement agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is conducting a criminal investigation into US and Syrian officials for their role in Arar’s rendition and torture. We speak to Maher Arar. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for June 15, 201015 Jun 2010BP Took Risky Cost-Cutting Shortcuts Ahead of Rig Explosion, Last Inspector of BP Rig Was Still in Training, Deepwater Horizon Rig Was Registered in Marshall Islands, Obama to Address Nation in Prime-Time Address, New York Lawmakers Call for Probe of Flotilla Activists, Trial of Newburgh Four Delayed, Court Blocks Deportation over Minor Drug Offenses, Court Orders Death Row Case Back to Lower Court, Activists Demand Arrest of Exec Tied to Bhopal Disaster , US Taxpayers May Be Funding Child Soldiers in Somalia, 15 Federal Police Officers Killed in Mexico, UC Irvine Bans Muslim Student Union, Documents: FBI Monitored Sen. Kennedy in 1961, World Cup Security Guards Stage Strike
Stephen Kinzer: “Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future”14 Jun 2010We turn now to America’s role in a changing Middle East. Israel has set up an internal inquiry into its deadly attack last month on the Gaza-bound flotilla of humanitarian aid ships. The attack left eight Turks and one Turkish American dead. Meanwhile, Turkey, along with Brazil, negotiated a nuclear fuel swap agreement with Iran and then voted against a UN Security Council resolution last week that imposed another round of sanctions on Iran. Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Stephen Kinzer is out with a new book that looks back into history to make sense of some of these shifting alliances in the Middle East and to chart a new vision for US foreign policy in the region. [includes rush transcript]
At Least 117 People Killed in Kyrgyzstan; An Estimated 80,000 Uzbeks Have Fled14 Jun 2010The interim government has accused former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev of provoking the violence in order to destabilize the country ahead of a planned constitutional referendum later this month. Bakiyev was ousted from power in an uprising this April. On Sunday, he issued a statement from exile in Belarus saying he had played no role in the violence. For more, we’re joined in New York by Scott Horton. He’s a contributing editor to Harper’s Magazine and a founding trustee of the American University in Central Asia in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. He has just returned from a visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he met with several members of the interim government. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for June 14, 201014 Jun 2010Red Cross: Israel Blockade of Gaza Is Illegal, Israel Forms Inquiry into Flotilla Attack, Turkey: We Have No Trust in Israeli Probe, Iran Reportedly Sends Aid Ship to Gaza, Mossad Agent Arrested in Poland, Report: US Discovers $1 Trillion in Afghan Mineral Deposits, Obama Heads to Gulf for 4th Time Since BP Spill, Chevron Oil Pipeline Ruptures in Utah, Arizona Considers Denying Citizenship to Children of Immigrants, Five New Orleans Officers Indicted in Post-Katrina Killing, ICC Adds Aggression to List of Court’s Prosecutable Offenses, 27 Anti-Torture Activists on Trial in Washington
Stephen Kinzer: “Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future”14 Jun 2010We turn now to America’s role in a changing Middle East. Israel has set up an internal inquiry into its deadly attack last month on the Gaza-bound flotilla of humanitarian aid ships. The attack left eight Turks and one Turkish American dead. Meanwhile, Turkey, along with Brazil, negotiated a nuclear fuel swap agreement with Iran and then voted against a UN Security Council resolution last week that imposed another round of sanctions on Iran. Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Stephen Kinzer is out with a new book that looks back into history to make sense of some of these shifting alliances in the Middle East and to chart a new vision for US foreign policy in the region. [includes rush transcript – partial]
At Least 117 People Killed in Kyrgyzstan; An Estimated 80,000 Uzbeks Have Fled14 Jun 2010The interim government has accused former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev of provoking the violence in order to destabilize the country ahead of a planned constitutional referendum later this month. Bakiyev was ousted from power in an uprising this April. On Sunday, he issued a statement from exile in Belarus saying he had played no role in the violence. For more, we’re joined in New York by Scott Horton. He’s a contributing editor to Harper’s Magazine and a founding trustee of the American University in Central Asia in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. He has just returned from a visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he met with several members of the interim government. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for June 14, 201014 Jun 2010Red Cross: Israel Blockade of Gaza Is Illegal, Israel Forms Inquiry into Flotilla Attack, Turkey: We Have No Trust in Israeli Probe, Iran Reportedly Sends Aid Ship to Gaza, Mossad Agent Arrested in Poland, Report: US Discovers $1 Trillion in Afghan Mineral Deposits, Obama Heads to Gulf for 4th Time Since BP Spill, Chevron Oil Pipeline Ruptures in Utah, Arizona Considers Denying Citizenship to Children of Immigrants, Five New Orleans Officers Indicted in Post-Katrina Killing, ICC Adds Aggression to List of Court’s Prosecutable Offenses, 27 Anti-Torture Activists on Trial in Washington
“Upside Down World Cup”: Raj Patel on How South Africa Has Cracked Down on the Poor and the Shack Dwellers’ Movement Ahead of the World Cup11 Jun 2010As the 2010 World Cup opens in South Africa, Raj Patel looks at one of the most overlooked aspects of this year’s tournament: the ongoing struggle of tens of thousands of shack dwellers across the country. Over the past year, shack settlement leaders in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town have been chased from their homes by gangs, arrested, detained without hearing, and assaulted. As the World Cup begins, a shack dwellers’ movement known as Abahlali baseMjondolo is mounting what they call an “Upside Down World Cup” campaign to draw attention to their plight. [includes rush transcript]
Mine Workers Union and Families Sue to Open Federal Probe into Deadly Massey Coal Mine Explosion11 Jun 2010Just a few weeks before the April 20th explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf, twenty-nine coal miners died after an explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. Although the Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched an investigation into the disaster, unlike the open federal investigation into the BP oil spill, the probe into Massey is taking place entirely behind closed doors. The United Mine Workers of America and families of victims killed in the West Virginia coal mine explosion recently filed suit in federal court to open up the federal investigation. We speak to journalist Jeff Biggers. [includes rush transcript]
Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson on the Inside Story of How Obama Let the World’s Most Dangerous Oil Company Get Away with Murder11 Jun 2010An extensive new investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the BP oil spill disaster reveals that it was government mismanagement, delays and absence of oversight that allowed the crisis to spiral out of control. In the article “The Spill, the Scandal, and the President,” Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson writes, “Though George W. Bush paved the way for the catastrophe, it was Obama who gave BP the green light to drill.” Dickinson explores how Interior Secretary Ken Salazar kept in place the oil industry-friendly environmental guidelines that Bush had implemented and ultimately let BP, an oil company with the worst safety record, to get away with murder. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for June 11, 201011 Jun 2010Government Doubles Oil Spill Size Estimate , Obama Meets with Families of Deceased Rig Workers, BP Hires Firm Specializing in Reducing Cost of Claim Payments, Spill Forces Nation’s Oldest Oyster-Shucking Firm to Close, Senate Rejects Effort to Strip EPA of Power to Regulate Emissions, Report: Wealthy Nations Could Increase Emissions Under Climate Deal, Israel & US Agree on Israeli Probe into Flotilla Attack, Video Shows Israeli Commandos Executing Flotilla Passenger, Israel Urged to Join Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, McChrystal: Violence and Casualties Will Rise in Afghanistan, Judge Orders Detention of Guantnamo Prisoner “Unlawful”, Pentagon Searches for Wikileaks Founder, Rep. Clyburn Calls for Probe of Bizarre SC Election Primaries, $712 Million Settlement Reached for Sick Ground Zero Workers, Immigrant Students Stage Die-In at Sen. Schumer’s Office
“Upside Down World Cup”: Raj Patel on How South Africa Has Cracked Down on the Poor and the Shack Dwellers’ Movement Ahead of the World Cup11 Jun 2010As the 2010 World Cup opens in South Africa, Raj Patel looks at one of the most overlooked aspects of this year’s tournament: the ongoing struggle of tens of thousands of shack dwellers across the country. Over the past year, shack settlement leaders in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town have been chased from their homes by gangs, arrested, detained without hearing, and assaulted. As the World Cup begins, a shack dwellers’ movement known as Abahlali baseMjondolo is mounting what they call an “Upside Down World Cup” campaign to draw attention to their plight.
Mine Workers Union and Families Sue to Open Federal Probe into Deadly Massey Coal Mine Explosion11 Jun 2010Just a few weeks before the April 20th explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf, twenty-nine coal miners died after an explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. Although the Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched an investigation into the disaster, unlike the open federal investigation into the BP oil spill, the probe into Massey is taking place entirely behind closed doors. The United Mine Workers of America and families of victims killed in the West Virginia coal mine explosion recently filed suit in federal court to open up the federal investigation. We speak to journalist Jeff Biggers.
Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson on the Inside Story of How Obama Let the World’s Most Dangerous Oil Company Get Away with Murder11 Jun 2010An extensive new investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the BP oil spill disaster reveals that it was government mismanagement, delays and absence of oversight that allowed the crisis to spiral out of control. In the article “The Spill, the Scandal, and the President,” Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson writes, “Though George W. Bush paved the way for the catastrophe, it was Obama who gave BP the green light to drill.” Dickinson explores how Interior Secretary Ken Salazar kept in place the oil industry-friendly environmental guidelines that Bush had implemented and ultimately let BP, an oil company with the worst safety record, to get away with murder. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for June 11, 201011 Jun 2010Government Doubles Oil Spill Size Estimate , Obama Meets with Families of Deceased Rig Workers, BP Hires Firm Specializing in Reducing Cost of Claim Payments, Spill Forces Nation’s Oldest Oyster-Shucking Firm to Close, Senate Rejects Effort to Strip EPA of Power to Regulate Emissions, Report: Wealthy Nations Could Increase Emissions Under Climate Deal, Israel & US Agree on Israeli Probe into Flotilla Attack, Video Shows Israeli Commandos Executing Flotilla Passenger, Israel Urged to Join Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, McChrystal: Violence and Casualties Will Rise in Afghanistan, Judge Orders Detention of Guantnamo Prisoner “Unlawful”, Pentagon Searches for Wikileaks Founder, Rep. Clyburn Calls for Probe of Bizarre SC Election Primaries, $712 Million Settlement Reached for Sick Ground Zero Workers, Immigrant Students Stage Die-In at Sen. Schumer’s Office
Peace Activist Kathy Kelly on the Secret US War in Pakistan10 Jun 2010In Pakistan, where the undeclared US war continues to expand, armed fighters attacked a convoy carrying military vehicles for NATO forces in Afghanistan, torching fifty trucks, killing seven, and injuring another seven. Last week, a senior United Nations official formally asked the Obama administration to halt or scale back CIA drone strikes on alleged militant suspects in Pakistan. For a perspective on what US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan looks like on the ground, we’re joined here in New York by longtime activist Kathy Kelly. She just returned from a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where she met with those she describes as “the impoverished and war-weary.” [includes rush transcript]
EXCLUSIVE: New Video Smuggled Out from Mavi Marmara of Israel’s Deadly Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla10 Jun 2010In a Democracy Now! exclusive, we bring you a sneak preview of previously unseen raw footage from the Mavi Marmara that will be formally released at a press conference at the United Nations later in the day. The footage shows the mood and the activities onboard the Mavi Marmara in the time leading up to the attack, and the immediate reaction of the passengers during the attack. We are joined by filmmaker and activist Iara Lee, one of the few Americans on the Mavi Marmara ship. Her equipment was confiscated, but she managed to smuggle out an hour’s worth of footage. [includes rush transcript]
Mexican Teenager Shot Dead on Mexican Soil by US Border Agent10 Jun 2010US authorities have said fifteen-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Gereca was part of a group of boys throwing rocks at Border Patrol agents who were trying to detain two people at the border crossing. But a cell-phone video obtained by the Spanish language network Univision shows otherwise. The grainy footage shows the Border Patrol agent detaining one man at gunpoint. While he has the man on the ground, he points his gun toward a second person on the Mexican side of the border. The video shows that person running away as the agent fires several shots. The video then shows a body next to a column under the bridge. We speak to Fernando Garcia, the director of the Border Network for Human Rights. [includes rush transcript]
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