Democracy Now! Friday, December 12, 2008

Today's Headlines

• Senate Panel Faults Rumsfeld, Bush Admin for Torture at Gitmo, Foreign Jails
• 57 Dead in Iraq Bombing
• Gates: Thousands More US Troops in Afghanistan by Spring
• 6 Killed in US Strike in Pakistan
• Auto Bailout Collapses in Senate
• Obama Chooses Daschle for Top Health Post
• Bank of America Announces Mass Layoffs
• Jobless Claims at 26-Year High
• Developing Nations Agree to Emissions Cuts
• Chavez Renews Effort to End Term Limits
• Antiwar Vet Plans Civil Suit over Hempstead Protest Injuries

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  EXCLUSIVE...AWOL US Soldier Seeks Asylum in Germany Over Returning to "Illegal" War in Iraq

  A US soldier who went absent without leave a year and a half ago to avoid returning to Iraq has applied for asylum in Germany. Specialist Andre Shepherd served in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 as an Apache helicopter mechanic. When his unit was called up to return to Iraq in early 2007, he went AWOL to avoid redeployment, calling the war “illegal.” He lived underground in Germany for a year and a half before applying for asylum two weeks ago. We speak with Shepherd in his first international broadcast interview. [includes rush transcript–partial]

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  US Use of Bases in Germany for Iraq War Goes Against German Constitution that Forbids Launching Wars from German Soil, Says Activist

  Germany is home to tens of thousands of US troops and the largest number of US bases in the world outside of America. We speak with US activist Elsa Rassbach. She moved to Berlin, where she is part of the American Voices Abroad Military Project.

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  Senate Report Finds Rumsfeld Directly Responsible For U.S. Torture of Prisoners

  A bipartisan Senate report has accused former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials of being directly responsible for the abuse and torture of prisoners at Guantanamo and other U.S. prisons. We speak with the man who sued Donald Rumsfeld in Berlin, German attorney Wolfgang Kaleck.