Democracy Now! Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Today's Headlines

• Suu Kyi Sentenced to 18 Months of House Arrest
• Obama: Critics of US Honduras Policy Hypocritical
• Clinton Calls on Congo to Stamp Out Rape
• “Time Is Running Out” for Copenhagen Climate Change Talks
• US Drone Strike Kills 10
• Head of Chechen Charity Murdered
• Jailed Marwan Barghouti Elected to Fatah Leadership
• Ecuador’s Correa Sworn In to Second Term
• Overcrowding Blamed for Prison Riot in California
• Westchester to Spend $60M on Fair Housing
• FBI Raid New Orleans Police Department
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 88, Dies

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  Obama Reverses Campaign Pledge to Renegotiate NAFTA

  President Obama has wrapped up a two-day visit to Mexico for talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The three leaders met in Guadalajara to discuss issues including immigration reform, trade, Mexico’s drug war, the crisis in Honduras, and the swine flu outbreak. It was Obama’s first official summit under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. On the campaign trail, Obama had promised to open up NAFTA to renegotiations. But he’s backed off that pledge since taking office, blaming the global economic meltdown. [includes rush transcript]

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  Charles Bowden on Mexico's Dirty War Against Drugs

  Last week Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy blocked the release of a State Department report affirming that Mexico has respected human rights in its fight against drug cartels. Leahy’s move holds up more than $100 million in US aid. The money has been delayed under a law linking 15 percent of US funding to Mexico under the Merida Initiative to Mexico’s record on human rights. On Monday, President Obama praised the Mexican government for its handling of the drug war. We speak with Charles Bowden, a reporter who has been extensively covering the human consequences of Mexico’s drug war. [includes rush transcript]

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  Former Adviser to Gen. Stanley McChrystal Calls for Moratorium on US Drone Strikes in Pakistan

  Andrew Exum is a former Army captain who has been openly critical of the drone attacks inside Pakistan. Exum served on active duty in the US Army from 2000 until 2004, including two years leading a platoon of Army Rangers inside Iraq and Afghanistan. He recently returned from two months in Afghanistan, where he served as part of the advisory team of the commander of US troops there, General Stanley McChrystal. [includes rush transcript]

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  David Wise: "The CIA, Licensed to Kill"

  The US drone attacks inside Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq have received bipartisan support in Washington. And when the CIA disclosed the existence of an aborted secret assassination program last month, congressional outrage centered around the fact that lawmakers weren’t properly informed. The open acceptance of assassination as a tool of US policy can in part be explained by the fact it’s been going on for decades. [includes rush transcript]