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Tune in on Friday for a special report from investigative journalist Allan Nairn on the White House’s proposal to lift a ban on U.S. training of a controversial elite Indonesian military unit known as Kopassus. The special forces unit has been linked to scores of human rights abuses in East Timor, Aceh, Papua, and Java since its formation in the 1950s. We reached Allan in Indonesia on Thursday afternoon. The entire interview can be heard online here.
Filed under Web Exclusive
Debbie Almontaser has won a victory in her battle against discrimination. She was the founding principal of the first Arabic-language public school in the United States, until a campaign of hate forced her out.
Filed under Weekly Column
An unusual trial begins in Israel this week, and people around the world will be watching closely. It involves the tragic death of a 23-year-old American student named Rachel Corrie. On March 16, 2003, she was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer.
Filed under Weekly Column
Sixteen Midwestern towns and cities have sued the manufacturer of a popular weedkiller over drinking water contamination. Atrazine has been banned in the European Union since 2004 but here in the United States about 80 million pounds of Atrazine is used each year. A recent study found that the weedkillers can turn male frogs into females.
See our earlier segment on Atrazine and the EPA
Filed under News
Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez interviewed Diane Ravitch in the Democracy Now! studios last week. You can see Part One of their conversation here. After the broadcast, they continued the conversation.
Filed under Web Exclusive
The Huffington Post’s Kimberly Butler interviewed Amy Goodman and others in this two part online video series.
Filed under D.N. in the News
March is Women’s History Month, recognizing women’s central role in society. Unfortunately, violence against women is epidemic in the United States and around the world.
Filed under Weekly Column
Mike Markham of Colorado has an explosive problem: His tap water catches fire.
Filed under Weekly Column
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The City of Chicago’s landmark decision to pay nearly $20 million dollars to four former death row prisoners tortured by Chicago police has hit a roadblock. The four men—all African American—sued former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and more than twenty officers who worked with him, alleging that they were coerced into falsely confessing to murder in the 1980s. We speak with John Conroy, the investigative reporter who brought the story to the fore eighteen years ago. He was recently laid off from the Chicago Reader. [includes rush transcript]
Investigative journalist Allan Nairn reveals that U.S. intelligence officers in Jakarta are secretly tapping the cell phones and reading the SMS text messages of Indonesian civilians. Some of the Americans involved in the spy operation work out of the Jakarta headquarters of Detachment 88, a US-trained and–funded paramilitary unit which is part of Kopassus, the Indonesian army’s special forces famed for abduction, torture and assassination. The news comes as Congress weighs whether to send more military aid to Indonesia. [includes rush transcript]
A new $40 million Pentagon program called the Human Terrain System has begun enlisting recruits with graduate degrees in anthropology to serve in the military. The move has anthropologists up in arms. They point to the ethical implications of renewing a program like CORDS during the Vietnam War, that assassinated over 26,000 suspected Viet Cong. We speak with David Price, a founding member of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists. [includes rush transcript]