Democracy Now! May 2, 2003

8:00-8:01 Billboard 8:01-8:06 Headlines 8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break 8:07-8:20: President George Bush co-piloted a navy jet on to an aircraft carrier yesterday to underline his role as America's commander-in-chief. A former pilot in the Texas air national guard, Bush let it be known he had spent time at the warplane's controls. Wearing olive-green pilot's overalls, he sat in the co-pilot's seat of a navy Viking S-3B jet as it was brought to a screeching halt by a cable across the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The triumphal and dramatic gesture seems ironic for a president who has never fought in any war. And that s not all. Expedited entry and promotions to the air national guard, a one-year gap in duty and redacted military reports cast serious doubt over Bush s experiences in the military three decades ago. * Bill Minutaglio, author of First Son, the unauthorized biography of President George W. Bush. Link: http://www.bushbook.com 8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break 8:21-8:50: President Bush Senior. President Bush Junior. Former British Prime Minister John Major. Former Secretary of State James Baker. Secretary of State Colin Powell. The half brother of Osama Bin Laden. These are just some of the high profile figures who have played a direct role in the rise of one of the most powerful and influential and secretive firms in Washington. The company is called The Carlyle Group. And in the wake of the events of September 11th and the invasion of Iraq, its power and influence have become significantly stronger. The company operates within the so-called iron-triangle of industry, government and the military. Its list of former and current advisers and associates includes a vast array of some of the most powerful men in America and indeed around the world. For the first time a book-length expose on the history of the Carlyle Group has been published. It is called The Iron Triangle: The Secret History of the Carlyle Group. * Dan Briody, author of the new book The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group. 8:50-8:51 One Minute Music Break 8:51-8:58 Carlyle cont d 8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits 9:00-9:01 Billboard 9:01-9:06 Headlines 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:20: As the White House plots a 2004 campaign plan, administration officials are waging a behind-the-scenes battle to restrict public disclosure of key events relating to the September 11 attacks this according to Newsweek. An 800-page secret report prepared by a joint congressional inquiry is at the center of the debate. The report details intelligence and law-enforcement failures that preceded the September 11 attacks, including provocative warnings given to President Bush and his top advisors during the summer of 2001. The report was completed in December with few details released to the public. Five months later, a working group of Bush administration intelligence officials assigned to review the document are refusing to declassify many of its most significant conclusions. * Michael Isikoff, investigative correspondent for Newsweek 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40: There is one image from the 1980s that might best highlight the ties between the Reagan and Bush White House to Saddam Hussein s regime in Iraq. It is a grainy video image of a U.S. envoy enthusiastically shaking hands with Hussein himself. The year was 1983 and the envoy was Donald Rumsfeld, the current Secretary of Defense. Over the past year Rumsfeld s pair of visits to Baghdad in the early 1980s gained considerable attention but he has generally refused to comment on his trips. And now it turns out that Rumsfeld is refusing to talk about his possible connections with another of the nations in the so-called Axis of Evil: North Korea. A new report in Fortune magazine has unveiled that Rumsfeld might have played a direct role in helping North Korea build its potential nuclear capacity. Three years ago Rumsfeld was sitting on the board of a Zurich-based engineering firm that won a $200 million contract to provide the design and key components for a pair of North Korean nuclear reactors. The company is ABB. Rumsfeld served on the board from 1990 to 2001. He was the only American serving on the board. And he has never acknowledged ABB s role building the reactors in North Korea. But a former ABB director recently told Fortune magazine that Rumsfeld was asked to lobby in Washington on ABB s behalf We are joined by the Fortune magazine writer Richard Behar. The forthcoming issue of the magazine contains his article Rummy s North Korea Connection: What Did Donald Rumsfeld Know About ABB s Deal to Build Nuclear Reactors There? And Why Won t He Talk About It? * Richard Behar, journalist with Fortune magazine. He wrote the article * Bjoern Edlund, spokesperson for ABB 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58: On December 13, 1998, Luis Alberto Galvis lost his mother, sister and cousin in a U.S. air raid in Colombia. He recently confronted shareholders of a U.S. company that he claims is responsible for the deaths of 19 civilians including seven children. The lawsuit filed on April 25 by international rights attorneys charges that Occidental Petroleum and its private security contractor, Airscan, participated in the air raid that led to the killing of innocent civilians. The suit charges that both OXY and Airscan helped conduct the attack, providing key strategic information, as well as ground and air support to the Colombian military in the bombing raid on the town. Airscan s Skymaster plane--which provides aerial surveillance for OXY S Ca o Limon oil pipeline--accompanied the Colombian air force during the bombing, and used its infrared and video equipment to pinpoint targets on the ground. While allegedly targeting suspected rebels, no rebels were in the area. Occidental has been a chief architect of Plan Colombia and a lobbyist for U.S. military aid to Colombia, currently at $131 million this year. Another $110 million is proposed in 2004 for the protection of OXY s Ca o Limon pipeline. This unprecedented corporate subsidy of $3.58 a barrel is a handsome payoff for OXY s aggressive lobbying efforts and political contributions. * Dan Kovalik, lawyer for the plaintiff in the Occidental case. * Luis Mujica, survivor of a 1998 bombing in Colombia. He is suing Occidental for role in bombing 9:50-9:58: The residents of Vieques are celebrating the US Navy's withdrawal from the Puerto Rican Island. For 60 years, the Navy has bombed the island for training purposes. The Navy handed over 15,000 acres of land with no fanfare, just a written statement. Hundreds of activists who were jailed for trespassing to stop the bombing are now preparing for their next battle: reclaiming lands transferred yesterday to the Department of Interior, which will transform the range into a wildlife refuge. We talk to Rosa Clemente in Vieques. She shares an audio produced for Free Speech Radio News. * Rosa Clemente, journalist covering the Vieques celebrations for Free Speech Radio News. 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie Karran, Ana Nogueira and Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro and engineer.