Jose Padilla and the Descent Into Tyranny
Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison, discusses the Padilla case and the destruction of 800 years of Anglo-American legal tradition (and patiently listens as Scott goes on and on – sorry).
MP3 here. (41:38)
Andy Worthington is a British historian, and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison (to be published by Pluto Press in October 2007).
According to news source IraqSlogger, a high-level official from a watchdog group has been granted political asylum in the U.S. Although the tip hasn’t been confirmed as yet, IraqSlogger notes that it comes from a "well-placed source."
The controversial figure granted the asylum, says IraqSlogger, may be Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who heads the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity. Judge al-Radhi and his family have received numerous threats already, and the fear of retaliation is great as many of al-Radhi’s colleagues and underlings have been murdered due to their work rooting out corruption in Iraq’s ministries.
The latest Zogby/UPI poll shows that Americans have little confidence in any of the Presidential candidates’ ability to handle the war in Iraq.
When asked: “Which of the 2008 presidential candidates would best handle the war in Iraq?”, No candidate receives more than 14%.
| Rudy Giuliani |
14%
|
| Fred Thompson |
11%
|
| Hillary Rodham Clinton |
10%
|
| Barack Obama |
9%
|
| John McCain |
7%
|
| Joe Biden |
7%
|
| John Edwards |
5%
|
| Ron Paul |
4%
|
| Mitt Romney |
4%
|
| Bill Richardson |
4%
|
| Dennis Kucinich |
4%
|
| Unsure |
15%
|
If you ever thought that the Crusader Castle on the Tigris was nothing more than a useless, extravagant monument to the American neocons’ ego, look where George and Condi’s Imperial retinue headed when they snuck into Iraq this time.
In the wake of this week’s rioting in Karbala, Mahdi Army leader and radical Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadrordered his followers to suspend violent activity for the next six months. One of the focuses of the suspension is to eliminate "rogue elements" from the militia in an increasingly competitive southern Iraq. This tactic apparently has already borne fruit as a previously unknown group has come forward with an unverified statement that rejects the temporary truce and claims they are not covered by the order.
According to Iraq Slogger, they call themselves the "Free Sadr Brigades in All Iraq." In other circles, they are also known as the "Free Man’s Brigade." The group derives their name not from Muqtada al-Sadr but from his father, the late cleric Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr. While they respect the younger al-Sadr, they say that the "young [Shi’ite] cleric does not enjoy the authority to order the Mahdi Army to “freeze” its activity."
As well as rejecting the suspension order, Iraq Slogger is reporting that the Free Sadr Brigades also accuse Iran of interfering in Iraq and suggest that the recent clashing in Karbala is part of a pro-Iranian conspiracy. They complain that the shrine protection forces are suspiciously distinct from any Iraqi security forces and feel that the forces are under Iranian direction. The Free Sadr Brigades also note that the situation is reminiscent of a revolt following the 1991 Gulf War, in which many Shi’ites were ruthlessly killed by the Saddam regime. They would like the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and human rights groups to step in and determine what actually is going on.
American Fascism
William Norman Grigg, publisher of TheRightSource, and author of the blog Pro-Libertate, discusses America’s descent into an authoritarian fascist state, our current system’s similarity to the way things are in China and Cuba (executions, slave labor, new prisons in waiting, etc.), the Prison-Industrial-Complex, the economics of the corporate warfare/police state, its origins in the Civil and Indian wars, the solution of laissez faire, the militarization of domestic police, the American civic religion of force that makes it all possible and the push for a North American Union.
MP3 here. (46:45)
William Norman Grigg writes the Pro Libertate blog and is the founder and editor of The Right Source.
