Seven Years of War: On Anniversary of US Invasion, Iraqi Feminist Yanar Mohammed Says Iraq Is No Different Under Obama than Bush
Democracy Now - 19 Mar 2010
Today marks the seventh anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. We go to Baghdad to speak with Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. “Privatization, no security for the working class, much investment for multinational companies,” Mohammed says. ”[We have] a democracy which has brought forward groups which are transformations of the first political forces…militias [that are] now politicians…sitting in the Green Zone.” [includes rush transcript]

Hundreds of Thousands Expected to Gather in DC For Immigration Rights March
Democracy Now - 19 Mar 2010
An immigrant rights march planned on Sunday is expected to draw over 100,000 people from a broad coalition of groups across the country to call on President Obama live up to his promises and Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform. We speak with members of La Raza and Make the Road New York.

EXCLUSIVE…Indonesian Forces Tapped by Obama for Renewed US Aid Implicated in New Assassinations
Democracy Now - 19 Mar 2010
In a Democracy Now! exclusive, investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn reveals US-backed Indonesian armed forces carried out a series of assassinations of civilian activists in late 2009. The news comes as the White House moves towards increasing aid to the Indonesian military and lifting a twelve-year ban on the training of the notorious Indonesian military unit known as Kopassus. A US-trained Kopassus general who coordinated the assassinations confirmed to Nairn an Indonesian army role in the killings. [includes rush transcript]

Cindy Sheehan Sets Up “Camp OUT NOW” in Antiwar Protest
Democracy Now - 19 Mar 2010
We go to Washington, DC to speak with antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, founder of the group Peace of the Action, who has set up a camp near the Washington Monument calling on President Obama to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sheehan’s son Casey was killed while serving in Iraq on April 4, 2004. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for March 19, 2010
Democracy Now - 19 Mar 2010
House Dems Unveil Healthcare Bill as Obama Delays Trip, Immigration Reform Rally to Be Held in DC, Report: Israeli PM Refuses to Cancel Settlement Expansion, Offers Delay, 2 Palestinians Wounded in Israeli Attack on Gaza, US Criticizes Russia on Iran Nuclear Plant, Holds START Talks, US Begins New Offensive in Afghanistan, Report: Blair Tied to Iraq-Linked Oil Firm, Fmr. Guatemalan PM Alleges Retaliation for Iraq War Opposition in Extradition Order, Activists Protest Mountaintop Removal Outside EPA, EPA to Probe How Fracking Impacts Water Supplies, Oil Leases Suspended in Montana Pending Environmental Review, 2 Arrested at White House Protesting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, Arizona Cancels Children’s Insurance Program

Book review: Higher education under occupation
Electronic Intifada - 19 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rGabi Baramki’s Peaceful Resistance: Building a Palestinian University under Occupation (Pluto Press, 2009) is a memoir of Palestine’s flagship university, Birzeit, by its former acting president. The memoir is an indispensable tool for teaching Westerners about the ways in which Palestinian education exists and flourishes under a constant state of siege and the barriers to academic freedom that Palestinians experience on a daily basis. Marcy Newman reviews for The Electronic Intifada.

UC Berkeley student senate votes in favor of divestment
Electronic Intifada - 19 Mar 2010
rr r r r rr r rr r rr r rr rr rrr rEarly yesterday morning, the University of California Berkeley Student Senate (ASUC) passed a bill to divest from companies that provide military support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Debate began the night before at 9:00pm and ended and six hours later when the vote was held at 3:00am.

Iran?s Natural Gas Riches: US Knife to the Heart of World Future Energy
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) - 18 Mar 2010
Summary: A major realignment in the world?s energy economy ? one where there will be a continuing diminished role for the US ? Washington?s blustering rhetoric about democracy and peace and war on terror or alleged Iranian nuclear weapons can be seen as a desperate attempt to conceal its fear that it stands to be a big loser. Encircling Iran with wars and threatening gas supplies to possibly the world?s top future gas customer ? China ? is the real deal. US actions are more accurately seen as putting a knife to the energy arteries of a world economy that it will no longer be able to dominate. source: Global Researchread more