Democracy

Investigative journalist Allan Nairn reveals Admiral Dennis Blair played a critical role in backing the Indonesian occupation of East Timor during the 1990s. At the height of a wave of ruthless attacks on Timorese that killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, Blair personally informed top Indonesian general Wiranto of unwavering U.S. support. He continued to support the Indonesian military until international outcry forced the Clinton administration to withdraw its military and diplomatic backing.

An Austin-based activist named Brandon Darby has revealed he worked as an FBI informant in the eighteen months leading up to the Republican National Convention. Darby has admitted to wearing recording devices at planning meetings and wearing a transmitter embedded in his belt during the convention. He is expected to testify on behalf of the government later this month in the trial of two Texas activists who were arrested at the RNC on charges of making and possessing Molotov cocktails.

The UN says around a quarter of the dead are civilians, but that figure only counts women and children, excluding adult males. Today, we will look at one of those men killed. I am joined by Fares Akram. He is the Gaza correspondent for The Independent of London. His father was killed in an Israeli F16 attack on Saturday. His wife is nine months pregnant. We also speak with UNRWA’s Christopher Gunness on the Israeli bombing of an UN school that killed three people.

• Israeli Attack Intensifies; Tanks Enter Khan Yunis
• Israel Bombs UN School, Three Killed
• Doctor: Most Palestinian Casualties Are Civilians
• Red Cross: Gaza Is a “Full-Blown" Humanitarian Crisis
• Bush Refuses to Call for Ceasefire
• Poll: Americans Divided Over Israeli Attack
• Obama Defers to Bush on Gaza Crisis
• Obama Taps Leon Panetta to Head CIA
• Bush Critic Picked to Head Office of Legal Counsel
• Obama: Future Will Be “Dramatically Worse” If Stimulus Plan Is Not Approved
• Canvassing Board: Al Franken Won Minn. Recount; Coleman to Sue
• US Opens Massive New Embassy in Iraq
• Bush to Create World's Largest Marine Protection Area
• JetBlue & TSA Officials Pay Raed Jarrar $240,000 Settlement
• Video: Police Shoot Dead Unarmed Black Man on Oakland Train Platform

Sameh Habeeb is a Palestinian journalist in Gaza City. He joins us on the phone. We also speak with Samer Badawi, the executive director of United Palestinian Appeal, a Washington-based charity established in 1978 to assist needy Palestinians. [includes rush transcript]

Earlier this morning, three Qassam rockets exploded in open areas in the western Negev in Israel. We go to the region to speak with Neve Gordon, chair of the Department of Politics and Government, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and the author of Israel’s Occupation. [includes rush transcript]

On the diplomatic front, the Security Council is meeting again today to discuss the crisis, after Sunday’s emergency session did not produce a ceasefire resolution. On Saturday, the United States blocked a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Egypt, meanwhile, is hosting meetings for a European-backed ceasefire today. [includes rush transcript]

On the tenth day of Israel’s continued assault on the Gaza Strip and in spite of mounting international protests, Israeli ground troops pushed deeper into Gaza. The death toll has risen to 531 Palestinians and five Israelis. Nearly 2,500 Palestinians have been wounded since the bombing began last week. Forty-nine Israeli soldiers have been wounded since the ground invasion began Saturday. [includes rush transcript]

• Israeli Troops Invade Gaza; Death Toll Tops 530
• US Blocks UN Call for Ceasefire in Gaza
• Gaza Hospitals Struggle Without Power & Supplies
• Israel Assassinates Hamas Official & His Family
• International Protests Against Israel Continue
• Commerce Pick Richardson Withdraws
• Obama Stimulus to Include $300 Billion in Tax Cuts
• Franken Takes 225-Vote Lead Over Coleman
• Denver School Chief to Become Colorado Senator
• Democrats Threaten to Block Burris from Taking Senate Seat
• Coal Ash Disaster: Test Show Arsenic at 300x Normal Level in Water
• Suicide Bomber Kills 40 in Baghdad
• 5,300 Die in Drug-Related Killings in Mexico in 2008
• Sri Lankan Military Take Rebel Capital
• Cuba Marks 50th Anniversary of Revolution
• AirTran Removes Muslim Family from Plane
• Texas Activist Admits He Was FBI Informant
• Anti-Apartheid Politician Helen Suzman, 91, Dies

Howard Zinn is one of this country’s most celebrated historians. His classic work A People’s History of the United States changed the way we look at history in America. First published a quarter of a century ago, the book has sold over a million copies and is a phenomenon in the world of publishing—selling more copies each successive year. After serving as a bombardier in World War II, Howard Zinn went on to become a lifelong dissident and peace activist. He was active in the civil rights movement and many of the struggles for social justice over the past forty years. He taught at Spelman College, the historically black college for women, and was fired for insubordination for standing up for the students. He was recently invited back to give the commencement address. Howard Zinn has written numerous books and is professor emeritus at Boston University. He recently spoke at Binghamton University a few days after the 2008 presidential election. His speech was called “War and Social Justice.” [includes rush transcript]

Utah Phillips, the legendary folk musician and peace and labor activist, died earlier this year at the age of seventy-three. Over the span of nearly four decades, Utah Phillips worked in what he referred to as “the Trade,” performing tirelessly throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. The son of labor organizers, Phillips was a lifelong member of the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies. As a teenager, he ran away from home and started living as a hobo who rode the rails and wrote songs about his experiences. In 1956, he joined the Army and served in the Korean War, an experience he would later refer to as the turning point of his life. In 1968, he ran for the US Senate on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. For the past twenty-one years he lived in Nevada City, where he started a nationally syndicated folk music radio show. He also helped found the Hospitality House homeless shelter and the Peace and Justice Center. We spend the hour with an interview with Phillips from January 2004. [includes rush transcript]

Landowners in Tennessee have filed a $165 million lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority in the wake of last week’s massive spill of over one billion gallons of toxic coal ash next to a coal-burning steam plant. The sludge spilled out of a coal plant retention pond, burying homes and roads. It is believed to be the largest coal ash disaster in US history. The amount of ash released would fill 450,000 standard dump trucks. [includes rush transcript]

Landowners in Tennessee have filed a $165 million lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority in the wake of last week’s massive spill of over one billion gallons of toxic coal ash next to a coal-burning steam plant. The sludge spilled out of a coal plant retention pond, burying homes and roads. It is believed to be the largest coal ash disaster in US history. The amount of ash released would fill 450,000 standard dump trucks. [includes rush transcript]

Part two of the 2005 Nobel Prize acceptance speech of the acclaimed British playwright, poet, actor, and activist Harold Pinter. He died last week at the age of seventy-eight. [includes rush transcript]

Part two of the 2005 Nobel Prize acceptance speech of the acclaimed British playwright, poet, actor, and activist Harold Pinter. He died last week at the age of seventy-eight. [includes rush transcript]

Israel has rejected a French proposal for an immediate emergency forty-eight-hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. As Israeli air and sea attacks against the Strip continued into its fifth day, basic food supplies in Gaza are running low, and hospitals are struggling to cope with the rising casualties. We speak to two Israelis opposed to the assault: Dov Khenin, a Knesset member with the Jewish-Arab party Hadash; and Jonathan Benartzi, an Israeli conscientious objector who spent more than a year in prison for refusing to serve. He also happens to be the nephew of Benjamin Netanyahu, a leading proponent of attacking Gaza and a favorite to win the upcoming Israeli elections. [includes rush transcript]

Israel has rejected a French proposal for an immediate emergency forty-eight-hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. As Israeli air and sea attacks against the Strip continued into its fifth day, basic food supplies in Gaza are running low, and hospitals are struggling to cope with the rising casualties. We speak to two Israelis opposed to the assault: Dov Khenin, a Knesset member with the Jewish-Arab party Hadash; and Jonathan Benartzi, an Israeli conscientious objector who spent more than a year in prison for refusing to serve. He also happens to be the nephew of Benjamin Netanyahu, a leading proponent of attacking Gaza and a favorite to win the upcoming Israeli elections. [includes rush transcript]

Israel has rejected a French proposal for an immediate emergency forty-eight-hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. As Israeli air and sea attacks against the Strip continued into its fifth day, basic food supplies in Gaza are running low, and hospitals are struggling to cope with the rising casualties. We speak to two Israelis opposed to the assault: Dov Khenin, a Knesset member with the Jewish-Arab party Hadash; and Jonathan Benartzi, an Israeli conscientious objector who spent more than a year in prison for refusing to serve. He also happens to be the nephew of Benjamin Netanyahu, a leading proponent of attacking Gaza and a favorite to win the upcoming Israeli elections. [includes rush transcript]

• Gaza Bombing Continues as Israel Rejects Truce Proposal
• 30 Palestinians Killed in Latest Attacks
• Foreign Journalists Challenge Gaza Ban
• Protests Worldwide Condemn Israeli Attack
• Thousands Join Protests Across US
• Defying Critics, Illinois Gov. Fills Senate Vacancy
• Franken Ahead 50 Votes in Minnesota Recount
• California Sues Over Bush EPA Rules
• Lobbyist Accuses NYT of Defamation for McCain Story
• Trial Delayed for Iraqi Journalist

• Gaza Bombing Continues as Israel Rejects Truce Proposal
• 30 Palestinians Killed in Latest Attacks
• Foreign Journalists Challenge Gaza Ban
• Protests Worldwide Condemn Israeli Attack
• Thousands Join Protests Across US
• Defying Critics, Illinois Gov. Fills Senate Vacancy
• Franken Ahead 50 Votes in Minnesota Recount
• California Sues Over Bush EPA Rules
• Lobbyist Accuses NYT of Defamation for McCain Story
• Trial Delayed for Iraqi Journalist