Democracy Now! Friday, August 22, 2008

Today's Headlines

• Possible Withdrawal of US Combat Troops in Iraq Set for 2011
• Electronic Voting Company Admits System Flaw Could Cause Lost Votes
• Federal Judge Delays Execution of Jeffery Wood
• Obama on VP Pick: “I Want Somebody Who’s Independent”
• McCain Can’t Recall How Many Homes He Owns
• Death Toll Reaches 70 in Pakistan
• New Rule on Abortions to Impact Hospitals and Clinics
• US Releases Iraqi Journalist
• Marine on Trial for Fallujah Killings
• Pro-Tibet Activists Speak Out in Beijing

• "Free Gaza" Boats Set Sail from Cyprus to Break Israeli Blockade

  Two converted fishing boats set sail from Cyprus today carrying more than forty activists and humanitarian workers who are part of the Free Gaza movement that is trying to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli foreign ministry said in an open letter to the participants, “We assume that your intentions are good but, in fact, the result of your action is that you are supporting the regime of a terrorist organization in Gaza.” We speak with three of the activists at sea: Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement; Lauren Booth, a journalist and sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Israeli anthropology professor Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

• Afghan Civilians Bear the Brunt of Taliban Violence and US, NATO Bombings

  As violence escalates in Afghanistan, both Barack Obama and John McCain support sending more troops. “Both of them are wrong,” says Sonali Kolhatkar, host of Uprising on Pacifica radio station KPFK and co-author of the book Bleeding Afghanistan. “You really cannot solve the situation in Afghanistan by throwing more troops at it, because over the last several years tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan have not managed to do anything other than worsen the war.”

• "Trouble the Water" - New Film Provides Firsthand Account of Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath

  As the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, we speak with the makers of a new film that takes an inside look at the disaster and the many forms of devastation that followed. Trouble the Water follows a couple from New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and their return home two weeks after the hurricane. It begins with footage shot by the couple, who documented the approach of the hurricane and the moment the floodwaters began to rise.