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Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman
There has never been a more urgent time for courageous, daily, independent news. Media is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. Today is Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to supporting non-profits. Please make it Giving NewsDay by giving to this non-profit news organization. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be TRIPLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $45. With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority – those calling for peace in a time of war, demanding action on the climate catastrophe and advocating for racial and economic justice. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!
Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman
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Military investigators have determined that U.S. Marines wantonly killed unarmed Iraqi civilians — including women and children — in the city of Haditha last November. An internal investigation determined that the Marines fatally shot as many as 24 Iraqis and then tried to cover up the killings. One 10-year-old Iraqi girl said she watched Marines kill her mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, four-year-old cousin and two uncles. The incident is being compared to the massacre in My Lai during the Vietnam War. Several Marines involved in the killing are now being held in the Camp Pendleton brig in California. At least one Marine has spoken to the media about what he witnessed. Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones told the Los Angeles Times he was not involved in the killings but took photographs and helped remove the dead bodies. Briones said “They ranged from little babies to adult males and females.”
In other news from Iraq, two more journalists have died while covering the war. On Monday a roadside bomb killed CBS cameraman, Paul Douglas and sound technician James Brolan. CBS Reporter Kimberly Dozier suffered severe injuries and remains in critical condition. Earlier today Dozier was transported to Germany for medical treatment. At the time of the attack, the CBS crew was embedded with a unit of the 4th Infantry Division.
In Indonesia, the death toll from Saturday’s earthquake has risen to 5,400. More than 200,000 people have been left homeless and have been forced to live in makeshift tents. Many are still waiting for help. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that hit Central Java is the third major disaster to strike Indonesia in the last 18 months. Meanwhile concern is growing that a volcano near the epicenter could soon erupt. Plumes of smoke are now rising out of the volcano and trails of lava are running down its slopes.
In Afghanistan, thousands took part Monday in the most violent anti-U.S. protests in the capital of Kabul since the fall of the Taliban. The riots were sparked by a traffic accident involving a U.S. military truck. Within hours of the crash, protests had spread throughout the city. By day’s end at least 14 people died and another 100 were wounded. Police stations were set on fire. Hotels came under attack. The office of CARE International was torched to the ground. Stores were ransacked. The U.S.-backed government imposed a night-time curfew for the first time in four years. Protesters called on the U.S. to end its occupation of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile U.S. forces killed about 50 Afghans in an air strike in the town of Helmand in Southern Afghanistan. Over 400 people have now died in the region over the past 10 days.
In news from the Guantanamo Bay prison, the U.S. military has acknowledged 75 detainees are once again taking part in a mass hunger strike. Meanwhile a new report from the British prisoners rights group Reprieve has estimated that the Bush administration has held over 60 juveniles at Guantanamo who were captured before they turned 18 years old.
In news from Washington, the Justice Department has requested the federal courts dismiss two lawsuits challenging the National Security Agency’s domestic warrant-less surveillance program. Government lawyers maintain the lawsuits cannot proceed because they would result in the disclosure of state secrets and jeopardize national security.
Meanwhile the Senate has confirmed the former head of the NSA, General Michael Hayden, to become the next director of the CIA. 25 Democrats joined with the Republican majority in confirming Hayden. One Republican — Senate Judiciary Committee chair Arlen Specter — voted against President Bush’s nominee. Hayden becomes the first military officer to head the CIA in over 25 years.
In other news from Washington, questions still remain over the legality of the FBI’s raid on the office of Democratic Congressman William Jefferson. It marked the first time the FBI has ever raided the office of a sitting member of Congress. Last week House Speaker Dennis Hastert and other lawmakers demanded that any materials seized in the raid be returned to the Congressman who is under investigation for bribery. However Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller have defended the raid. According to press accounts, Gonzales, Mueller and Gonzales’ deputy, Paul McNulty signaled to the White House that would resign before returning seized evidence in the bribery investigation. On Thursday President Bush ordered that the Jefferson materials be sealed for 45 days while Justice officials and House lawmakers work out their differences.
The New York Times reports the Pentagon is pressing Congress to approve the development of a global strike missile that would enable the United States to carry out non-nuclear missile strikes against any target in the world within an hour. However critics say the weapon could lead to an accidental nuclear war. That’s because the Pentagon plans to deploy the non-nuclear warhead atop the submarine-launched Trident II missile. The same submarines that carry nuclear Trident II missiles would also carry the non-nuclear version. Critics say it would be hard for other countries, such as Russia, to determine if a missile coming out a Trident submarine was conventional or nuclear.
Burma’s military junta has extended the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by another year despite a call for her release by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent 10 of the past 16 years in jail. The military junta announced its decision on May 27 — exactly 16 years after Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party won 82 percent of the vote in a general election. But the military refused to allow the party to take power. The international community, including the Association of South East Asian Nations, denounced the Burmese government’s decision.
In Colombia, Alvaro Uribe has been re-elected the country’s president. The staunch U.S. ally won 62 percent of the vote in Saturday’s race. On Monday President Bush called Uribe to congratulate him.
In Moscow, over 1,000 police officers broke up the city’s first-ever Gay Pride March. Up to 100 people were arrested including the lead organizer of the march. Riot police dragged march participants away as they attempted to speak with the press. One gay rights activist was beaten by a gang of counter-protesters while he was giving a televised interview. Moscow’s mayor Yuri Luzhkkov had banned the march citing moral reasons. An official from Human Rights Watch said the police were encouraging skinheads to attack gay men and lesbians participating in the march. Prior to the event, organizer Nikolai Alexeyev outlined why a Gay Pride march was needed in Russia.
In Nevada, protesters have forced the Bush administration to indefinitely postpone a controversial bomb test designed to help the military better understand nuclear bunker busters. The government had planned to set off 700 tons of explosives in the Nevada Test Site creating an explosion 50 times more powerful than the Army’s largest conventional bomb. According to government documents, the test — known as Divine Strake — was needed to determine the “proper nuclear yield necessary to destroy underground facilities.” The Pentagon estimated the blast would have been so large that it would have created a 10,000 foot-high mushroom cloud. Critics called for the government to cancel the test because they feared the mushroom cloud would contain radioactive dust from old nuclear tests.
And Jamaican music pioneer Desmond Dekker has died at the age of 64. He died of a heart attack last week at his home in Surrey, England.
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