Friday, January 8, 2010

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Headlines

  • "Blackwatergate"–Private Military Firm in Firestorm of Controversy over Involvements in Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany

    Blackwater-graphic2

    Blackwater is all over the news. In the last seventy-two hours, a series of breaking developments involving the notorious private military firm have come to light, ranging from their involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, and even Germany, as well as legal cases here at home. We speak with investigative journalist and Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a leading member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who is launching an investigation into why two Blackwater contractors were among the dead in the December 30 suicide bombing at the CIA station at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan. [includes rush transcript]

  • After Years in Guantanamo Prison Without Charge, Future Even More Uncertain for Yemeni Detainees

    Yemen

    Although President Obama came into office last year promising to close down the infamous prison camp at Guantanamo, nearly 200 men are still imprisoned there. On Tuesday, Obama noted that the would-be Christmas Day airline bomber had received training in Yemen and emphasized his links to a Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda. He went on to announce that he had suspended the transfer of any more Guantanamo detainees to Yemen. About half of the men remaining in Guantanamo are from Yemen. [includes rush transcript]

  • "I Am More Than Just a Virus, I Am a Human Being"–HIV-Positive Dutch Man Among First to Visit US Legally After 22-Year Ban

    Travel-ban

    Gay rights groups around the world are praising the United States for lifting a twenty-two-year ban that barred foreigners who have HIV from legally entering the country without an official waiver. The United States was one of only about a dozen countries that barred people who have HIV. On Thursday, Clemens Ruland of Holland became one of the first known HIV-positive people to legally visit the United States since the travel ban was lifted. In a Democracy Now! exclusive interview, Clemens Ruland joins us in our studio along with his partner, Hugo Bausch, and Boris Dittrich, the LGBT advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. [includes rush transcript]