Democracy Now! April 9, 2003

Story: CIA REPORTS INC LEADER AHMAD CHALABI WOULD BE INEFFECTIVE LEADER TO REPLACE SADDAM HUSSEIN: A DISCUSSION WITH LAMIS ANDONI The Financial Times is reporting residents of the suburb of Hay Al Ansar, on the outskirts of Najaf, were glad to be rid of Saddam Hussein's government when US forces seized the city last week. But they appear to be just as terrified, if not more so, of their new rulers ' a little-known Iraqi militia backed by the US special forces and headquartered in a little compound nearby. The Iraqi Coalition of National Unity appeared in the city last week riding on US special forces vehicles. Residents say the coalition is now stealing, looting and terrorizing their neighborhood. Meanwhile the struggle between the State Department, the CIA and the Pentagon over Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi's role in the post-invasion occupation of Iraq continues. A new report by the CIA claims that Chalabi has little backing among the Iraqi people and would not be an effective leader to replace Saddam Hussein. Despite strong objections by the State Department, the U.S. military airlifted Chalabi and 700 of his men to southern Iraq on Sunday, giving the INC a head start over other Arab opposition groups in establishing a political presence under U.S. protection. Chalabi and his men remain at an abandoned Iraqi air defense base near the southern city of Nasiriyah. Some officials have interpreted this as a bid by the U.S. armed forces to keep them out of trouble. The CIA has also blamed Chalabi for predicting Iraqis would welcome American troops in the initial phases of the invasion. Lamis Andoni, independent journalist who has been covering the Middle East for 20 years. She has reported for the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, and the main newspapers in Jordan. Story: US AND BRITISH FORCES RISK COMMITTING WAR CRIMES BY DEPRIVING IRAQI CIVILIANS OF SAFE WATER: A LOOK AT HUMANITARIAN AID DEMANDS IN POST-INVASION IRAQ The current invasion of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia poses a grave threat to the right to water of Iraq's 24 million inhabitants, almost half of them children under the age of 15. Anglo-American military forces have already laid siege to numerous urban centers in southern and central Iraq, disrupting electrical, water and sanitations systems that sustain millions of civilians. With the approach of summer, when temperatures in this region regularly exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the likelihood of water-borne disease epidemics is alarmingly high. Those are among the conclusions of a new report by the Center For Economic and Social Rights. To talk about the report we have in our studio the Center's executive director Roger Normand and Kate Hunt of CARE International. Roger Normand, executive director for the Center for Economic and Social Rights. Kate Hunt, head of the liaison office at CARE International Related link: Center for Economic and Social Rights Story: U.S. FORCES ENTER PALESTINE HOTEL AS SIGNS INDICATE THAT IRAQ REGIME HAS LOST POWER IN THE CAPITAL: WE GO TO BAGHDAD FOR A LIVE REPORT FROM MAY YING WELSH May Ying Welsh, independent reporter in Baghdad (Complete rundowns missing on WebDacs)