Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20130723

We will speak about the motor city with detroit native mark binelli, author of, detroit city is the pace to be the afterlife of an american metropolis. Then, elite pakistani report challenges u. S. Claims of a low civilian toll from the drone war in pakistan. The gulf between the medias understanding and the resurgence understanding of what is taking place in pakistan, and with the cia and white house claim, is growing bigger, not smaller. We will go to london to speak with chris woods of the bureau of Investigative Journalism. If you watched television for even a minute yesterday, chances are you know, its a boy. It is exciting. A boy will be great for great britain. I think it is exciting for will and kate. Media frenzy greets the arrival of a new heir to the british throne, we will speak with british journalist laurie penny on the babies we dont care about today. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A leaked pakistani government report has bolstered claims that civilian casualties from u. S. Drone strikes are far higher than the Obama Administration has admitted. The bureau of Investigative Journalism has released figures from the pakistani government on research into 75 cia drone strikes and five attacks by nato between 2006 and 2009. It finds the attacks left at least 746 people dead, including at least 147 civilians, 94 of them children. The bureau says the figures are likely too low and earlier based study based largely on media reports found that the number of run related casualties of civilians in pakistan ranged between 411 and 890. Iraq, more than 500 prisoners have escaped from abu ghraib come at the prison on the outskirts of baghdad made famous by photographs revealing the torture of prisoners by u. S. Soldiers. Began sundaype night when suicide bombers and gunmen launched an assault that lasted into the morning. At least 10 police and for militants died. An official told reuters, most of those who escaped were convicted senior members of al qaeda. Another prison north of baghdad came under simultaneous attack with a number of soldiers and militants, but no reported prisoner escapes. Abu ghraib prison became synonymous with u. S. Abuses in iraq after graphic images emerged nearly a decade ago, showing iraqi prisoners being sexually abused and tortured by u. S. Soldiers. Meanwhile, and a Northern City on monday, suicide bomber targeting an Iraqi Military convoy killed at least 22 soldiers and three other people who happened to be passing by. The top u. S. Military general traveled to afghanistan on monday for a meeting on the future of u. S. Troops there. General martin dempsey, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said he hopes to see a deal signed by october to keep u. S. Troops in afghanistan beyond the official end of the combat mission in 2014. Afghan president karzai had halted negotiations with the u. S. Following a dispute over a Taliban Political Office in qatar. The office, which opened amid plans for u. S. Backed peace talks, poor a flag and the name used by the taliban when it ruled afghanistan. Speaking on monday, general dempsey downplay the idea of a zero option that would see the u. S. Withdrawal of troops from afghanistan next year. Seek aconvinced we all future afghanistan that is stable, unified, has a constitution that guarantees the freedoms that are guarantee that a guarantees, and in the case of the u. S. Military in particular, but also the tolition, that we continue build that relationship with the Security Forces to make them capable of defending themselves against both internal and external threats. Dayn monday, the same dempsey spoke him Afghanistans Parliament voted in favor of firing the countrys interior minister over and ineffective security. President karzai said the interior minister would remain in power for now on the Afghan Supreme Court considers whether parliament had legal grounds to dismiss him. Saider today, officials three nato soldiers and an afghan interpreter were killed when a suicide bomber rode a donkey into military convoy in afghanistan toward a province. In egypt, at least six people were killed overnight in clashes between supporters and opponents of the ouster president Mohammed Morsi near the main campus of cairo university. Read others were killed in similar violence the day before. Morsis family blasted egypts military rulers monday to make using them of kidnapping morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood party who had been held incommunicado since his removal in the early three weeks ago three at orsi supporters are vowing to continue their call for the military to go free at to go. We must and the military rule and the National Security units area did they should go back to their holes. There is no return of the National Security units. God willing, therell not be any retreat. If they want to come back to rule, they should do so over the bodies of the millions in the streets. A russian lawyer for National Security Agency Whistleblower Edward Snowden says his client could leave the transit area of the moscow airport as early as wednesday and into the city pending the receipt of the necessary paperwork. Snowden has been sheltering in the airport for exactly a month as of today, as the u. S. Has filed espionage charges and launched a Global Campaign to block his assignment bids in a number of countries. A lawyer told reuters snowden believes u. S. Efforts have made it unsafe for him to leave russia and travel to latin america, where three countries have offered asylum. He said snowden should soon receive papers allowing him to remain a moscow after applying for temporary asylum in russia last week. The pentagon has for the first time Given Congress a detailed list of military options for the conflict in syria. Dempsey provided a list in response to request from Senate Armed Services Committee Chair carl levin. It outlines a range of options, from training and advising rubble troops to more involved actions such as lodging strikes were stylish in the nofly zone, both of which could cost 1 billion per month according to dempsey. Last week, general dempsey said in testimony that he has provided president obama with options for possible military action on behalf of rebels seeking the ouster president bashar alassad. He also conceded president al assad will likely remain in power a year from now. In florida, supporters of Trayvon Martin have continued their sit in outside the office of Florida Governor rick scott, where theyre demanding a special session to address the issues they say are at the heart of them martins killing by George Zimmerman that is racial profiling and vigilante ism poster by Florida State your ground law. The group dream defenders began the occupation a week ago following George Zimmermans acquittal for the shooting death of the unarmed africanamerican teenager. While the state stand your ground law impacted instructions to the jury, zimmerman did not on it to defend himself. Monday, Florida Governor rick scott affirmed his support for the stand your ground law and said he would not call a special session. A petition calling for him to do so has raised more than 28,000 signatures. Rights of animal advocates and journalists have filed the firstever lawsuit against the socalled aggag laws aimed at suppressing revelations of animal abuse at farms and slaughterhouses for you the plaintiffs are charging challenging utahs 2012 law which imposes a penalty of up to one year in jail for recording images or sounds of Agricultural Operations without permission. Utah was the first to attempt a prosecution by charging a woman who filmed a slaughterhouse from a public street. The case was later dropped. One of the plaintiffs in the suit, independent journalist will potter, wrote a federal judge in north dakota has blocked what couldve been the country strictest antiabortion ban from coming into effect. The law, which was at to take effect august 1, would have banned abortion wants a fetal heartbeat or embryonic heartbeat can be detected, which happens at about six weeks of pregnancy when many women dont realize theyre pregnant. Mondays order came in response to a lawsuit filed by the center for reproductive rights on behalf of the states on the remaining abortion clinic, which is in fargo. In his decision granting a preliminary injunction, u. S. District judge call the north dakota ban held on 6 is being million bail after being formally charged with kidnapping and killing three women whose bodies were found in plastic tags. Michael madison, reportedly indicated to authorities he was inspired by anthony salil, an ohio serial killer convicted two years ago of killing 11 women. The three bodies were found within a few hundred yards of each other on friday and saturday. Used cleveland mayor spoke on monday. It turned up a number of things, information from people, physical evidence and in one case, cadaver sniffing dogs hit positive spots in the general area. We then brought in a second cadaver sniffing dog, and a third breed all of them responded to the same general area, which brought in bci again and conducted a more thorough search. Tely, another victim was not found. Case comesst ohio less than three months after three other women were found alive in cleveland after being held captive for roughly a decade read the suspect, ariel castro, has pled not guilty in that case. In North Carolina, 73 people were arrested during the 12 moral monday protest against the agenda of the republicanled. Tate legislature this weeks action focused on the attempted rollback of voting rights. A state Senate Committee is set to consider proposal today that would require all voters to present certain forms of photo id. The North Carolina naacp has been leading the protest on a range of issues including the loss of Unemployment Benefits and attacks on womens rights. In aid to Kentucky Republican senator rand paul has resigned after coming under fire for his views in favor of the confederacy and the shooting of president abraham lincoln. Jack hunter, who helped write senator pauls book him a formerly worked as a radio pundit known as the southern avenger who often donned a mask bearing the confederate flag. A group that advocated southern secession from the u. S. And wrote about toasting lincolns assassin, john wilkes booth. Senator rand paul, who is being eyed as a Top Republican president ial contender in 2016, initially defended his age of the Huffington Post calling him incredibly talented while acknowledging some of his writings were absolutely stupid. But paul confirm monday jack hunter had left his staff in a mutual decision. Once served as the Obama Administrations lead enforcer on wall street malfeasance has taken a job defending the firms he wants regulated area did the New York Times reports the man who left as enforcement head of the securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, has accepted a job at kirkland and ellis, one of the countrys largest Corporate Law firms. Youngp of at least eight immigrants have been attained at the border after trying to reenter the United States to challenge the Obama Administrations record. Eportations the socalled dream eight were brought to the u. S. As children. Most have been deported or compelled to leave the u. S. By current immigration policies. But three of them chose to leave the United States and travel to mexico in order to stand in with the others and help them return. Ome one of those three spoke out before the action in the video produced by the National Immigrant youth alliance. Hi, everyone. I am making this video from mexico. I know it is going to sound a little crazy and to be honest, i still cant believe i am here. It is surreal. I know youre going to think that i am crazy for doing this, for leaving the u. S. To come into mexico, but to be honest, i think it is even crazier i have to leave my family. Dream 8 or graduation caps and gowns as they went to the border. Gathered to cheer them on from both u. S. U. S. And mexico sides. An update on social media said they had been taken to a detention facility in florence, arizona. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We begin with detroit, which last week became the largest ever u. S. Municipality to file for bankruptcy. Facing an estimated 18 billion in debt, mission can michigan Governor Rick Snyder said they have no choice. This was a difficult and painful decision, but i believe there were no other viable actions. Why did i do this . What is the impact for both the city and the state of michigan . Let me start with the fact this is a situation that has been six years in the making and turns of the decline of detroit. From a financial point of view, i will be blunt. One of the things i want to say to our citizens is that as tough as this is, i really didnt want to go in this direction, but now that we are here, we have to make the best of it. Dave bing andor before that michigan Governor Rick Snyder. The chapter nine bankruptcy filing has set off what could be a prolonged legal battle with thousands of current and former City Employees entitled to pensions and medical benefits. Detroits emergency manager kevyn orr has told public unions to brace for significant cuts. On sunday, fox news he said he is talking about a significant sum of money. We will have a dialogue about the Pension Funds of what we can do. There are police and fire and general services. They may have Different Levels of funding. What were talking about is the unfunded component of of those Pension Funds. I want to be clear, it is a significant sum of money and there are going to be concessions. In sessions may be different for each fund and it will be focused on the unfunded portion, but there will be some youre saying pensioners who worked for the city for decades are not going to get the benefits they thought they were going to get. There are going to be some adjustments. Detroits unions have mounted a series of legal challenges in a bid to protect their pensions and benefits. The unions one an initial victory on friday when a michigan judge ordered detroit to withdraw its bankruptcy attention because cutting pensions violates the states constitution. Michigans attorney general has appealed. With federal Bankruptcy Law usually trumping state law, the unions victory may be short lived. The issue will become will come before federal court on wednesday. The judge could protect the bankruptcy filing from legal challenges and ultimately force creditors to enter into negotiations on accepting reduced payments. Detroits bankruptcy filing marks a grim milestone in the decline of what was once the countrys fourthlargest city. Known as the motor city, the birthplace of the middleclass, detroits auto Auto Industry in Manufacturing Sector have collapsed. Decline in population has decimated its tax base, leaving the city with massive cuts to basic services and one of the nations highest rates of violent crime. For more were joined by mark binelli, author of, detroit city is the pace to be the afterlife of an american metropolis. Hes contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine and mens journal. Welcome to democracy now what has happened in detroit . It has been about 50 years in the making, going all the way back a lot of people look at the 1960 seven riots and think, that is where everything started to go wrong, at the seeds of what is happening today, when all the way back to the 1950s am really when there was a steady flow of capital out of the city and a steady flow of population. A lot of this had to do with race, of course. Detroit was predominantly a black city surrounded by predominantly white suburbs, so there is definitely a long, simmering tension between the two areas and it is a region that never really coalesced over the years. That has taken us up to the present moment. Along the way there is been political corruption and the general decline of u. S. Manufacturing and the final death blow came with the recent financial crisis where you had the foreclosure crisis hitting cities like detroit especially hard, decimating the tax base and really delivering a death blow to a city like detroit that did not have the same sort of, you know the structure that other cities had to fall back on. Detroits unions have accused detroit of refusing to negotiate in good faith before declaring bankruptcy. Speaking to pbs news, the director of collective bargaining for the American Federation of state, county and municipal employees, said detroit is seeking to work force workers in a devastating cuts. They refuse to meet with us and negotiate. I personally sent them a letter july 2 to meet with us. They responded on july 3 saying they would not do it. The following week they invited weto a meeting and agreed to go forward with the process and at those meetings, they reassured us we have really months to resolve this issue, then they caught us by surprise by filing the bankruptcy petition last week. We know and number of retirees will be devastated by any sort of cuts. The average pensioner gets a pension of 18,000 a year three at they have no room whatsoever to get a loss in benefit. On healthcare we had a little more specificity. Propose to stop providing an offer people the ability to go to the federal government for obama care and medicare. That is not an acceptable alternative in our members view. If you could comment on that and also on the governor, on rick scotts approach rick approach on how he is dealing with detroit right now. At the top of this segment, we saw mayor dave being speaking. March, detroit or seven living under this emergency manager kevyn orr who rick snyder, a republican governor, appointed. Explain how Bankruptcy Lawyer becomes ultimately the major decider, the one decider in detroit. Dictator. There is a michigan law that thews the governor if municipality was approaching financial insolvency, the governor could appoint a so called emergency manager. The idea was to do Everything Possible to prevent that municipality from going into bankruptcy. Last november, michigan voters and about referendum voted to overturn that law. A few weeks later, rick snyder and the lameduck Republican Legislature passed basically a new version of the same law. That rick snyder us all be riding on the wall, detroit toward bankruptcy, and he wanted to have some sort of control of the wheel when the city drove off the cliff, so he appointed this guy kevyn orr in march, mayor being in the city council really had no power since then. Having him up there speaking is kind of comical because he had no say. So a city which is well over 80 africanamerican does not have democratically elected leadership. Exactly. It is leadership appointed by white republican governor who deftly did not get the majority of votes in detroit. Said theday, kevin or releasing the city from its obligations to Public Employees will help free up money to improve City Services areas were going to try to do this in a fairway. And freeing up the tax flows, it allows us to focus on the key issue the governor has related, the health, safety and welfare of 700,000 citizens in the city of detroit three. There are 700,000 citizens who dont deserve a 55 minute response, who dont deserve no hope and future and this continued debt and debt free at we have to do this in some fashion and bankruptcy will allow us that. That was kevyn orr. There nolli, why is talk of the federal bailout . The minute you hear about corporations and banks having trouble and going bankrupt, you have this discussion and ultimately, in fact, the bailout of these corporations and banks. What about the city . Reported,e press talking to one of the top obama aides about this, got no traction. Especially in a place like detroit, when you think about the last campaign and now the president ran on saving the auto meant to savingwa huge corporations, that was chrysler and General Motors going into bankruptcy, the same sort of bankruptcy detroit is about to enter now, but they were given 82 billion of federal stimulus money, and that is kind of the standard thing when a Corporation Goes into a large bankruptcy, you clear the old debt and you need new capital to move forward. When it comes to a city, not a corporation, there is no talk of that. Lets go to what obama said playing down the prospect of a federal bailout for detroit. On monday, this is White House Press secretary jay carney, said the citys fiscal crisis is something that detroit and its creditors must solve. Asked at a Cabinet Meeting with the a administration could do detroit, Vice President joe biden said, well, hes unsure can we help detroit . Yesterday, just getting a briefing on the status, the question is, we dont know r. Mark binelli, explain. Even if you go back to the auto bailout and to me, that was an important thing to do. If the Auto Industry had just been allowed to collapse, of course, it wouldve devastated the economy. But it was similar to the bank bailout and it was a transfer of huge amount of federal money to a Corporation Without forcing these corporations to allow some of this to trickle down to the average person. In the case of the auto bailout, yes, these companies are profitable again and this is touted as this great thing, but if you look at the new jobs that were created, these are people working at half the rate they would have been making before the bailout. All of the Union Agreements were thrown out the window, so you people starting at like 14, 15 an hour. These are not these great jobs at the city of detroit was built on in creating the middleclass. Those jobs are gone in the Obama Administration has not done much to bring them back. I want to ask you about one of the pieces you have written about, the Detroit Institute of arts. Talk about what was proposed and what is happening and what this means for cities around the country. That was an interesting thing. The city owns this art museum, which is this beautiful, grand palace built back in the day when detroit had lots of auto money and has a great collection. Month this is a worldrenowned museum. It is one of the great collections. Orrt a month or so after was appointed, his spokesperson kind of gently floated the idea that, you know, if creditors want to take a hard line, we might have to think about selling teams from the Detroit Institute of art. Then they quickly backed off from it, but still not really off the table. The interesting thing about now we are moving toward bankruptcy court, the judge cannot order the city to sell municipal assets like art. They could possibly get billions . Possibly. There is a very famous van gogh painting. The other day, i think it makes the museum absurd to look absurd, it was leaked the museum hosted the original howdy doody puppet, which i think is worth 1 million or something area and it created this dynamic where was basically like, why would they hold onto this howdy doody puppet when they could be helping retired auto workers . That is in the process all along, either or choice. We can either increase police presence, fix the streetlights, hire more firefighters or he can continue paying peoples pensions. Theyre trying to make it seem like it is one or the other, and that seems like a very limited range of options. So what is the organizing going on . A lot of the fight has come from the pension lawyers. Detroit has two major Pension Funds. They are the ones who basically triggered this bankruptcy in a way, because they filed a lawsuit in the middle of last week to stop the bankruptcy from going forward. Kevin nor all along has been insisting detroit treat the pension fund the same way he would be treating bondholders. The two main creditors Holding Detroit that are banks come a basically bondholders, and retired cops, firefighters, teachers, librarians. To say he wants to treat everyone equally, that Everyone Needs to take a haircut. Unfortunately, for him, the state constitution prohibits touching pensions. Beenl along he has threatening bankruptcy and using that as a sort of bargaining tool in saying, look, federal law supersedes state law. By coinage bankruptcy, the judge will rule and you have to take readcuts, so take them now the pension boards did not think it was goodfaith bargaining so they started this lawsuit to stop the bankruptcy altogether and that trigger this immediate bankruptcy filing, so that is what the Court Hearing tomorrow will decide, whether or not the bankruptcy can move forward if they illegally rushed that through while another Court Proceeding was going on. And what would happen after this . Nobody really knows. There is no u. S. City that has gone through the size of municipal bankruptcy. Right now you see stopped in and San Bernadino in california, but detroit is just another scale altogether. The governor and the emergency manager are somewhat optimistic saying theyre hoping it can be resolved in months. Other lawyers have said it could take years. One of the talk shows today they said, if michigan would actually work on detroits behalf as opposed to against it, you should in itself has Something Like more engineers and the rest of the United States and canada combined just engineers alone. But the approach that rick snyder is taking right now and now people are organizing in detroit and what you feel needs to happen in washington, d. C. . One of the first things rick snyder did was cut the Corporate Tax rate in the state when he came into office. Theresot been been a steady decline in state revenue sharing and federal revenue sharing with cities like detroit over the years. In michigan, particularly used in the emergency manager law, you can track how many Emergency Managers have been appointed alongside state revenue with cities declining. Basically pushing out or out of power the democratically elected leaders of cities. Generally, cities that look like detroit or predominately likeanamerican cities highland park, which is a city within a city of detroit that i write about in the book. That is the city where you have i spent time with these firefighters whose firehouse was condemned and there were operating out of an old chrysler warehouse, literally sleeping in tents and this white house while they were going to risk their lives in this warehouse while they were going out to risk their lives. The republican state legislator and Governor Snyder overruled. Yes, just weeks later. It was freight only a thumb to the eye of democracy. Mark binelli, thank you for being with us, author of, detroit city is the pace to be the afterlife of an american metropolis. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When we come back, how many civilians have drones killed in pakistan . London to speak with a british researcher who has broken the story. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A leaked pakistani government report is bolster claims that civilian casualties from u. S. Drone strikes are far higher than the Obama Administration has been willing to admit. The bureau of Investigative Journalism has released figures from the pakistani governments own research in the casualties drone attacks in pakistans tribal areas read the report investigates 75 cia drone strikes and five attacks by nato between 2006 and 2009. It finds the attacks left at least 746 people dead, including at least 100 47 civilians, 94 of them children. The bureau of Investigative Journalism says the figures are likely too low. Media reports found that the number of drone related civilian casualties in pakistan ranges between 411 and 890. The high number of civilian casualties directly contradict statements made by senior Obama Administration officials and top lawmakers. Feinstein said the number of civilians killed in drone strikes has been very small. I have also been attempting to speak publicly about the very low number of civilian casualties that result from such strikes. I have been limited in my ability to do so. But for the past several years, this committee has done significant oversight of the governments conduct of targeted strikes and the figures we have obtained from the executive branch, which we have done our utmost to verify, confirm the number of civilian casualties that have resulted from such strikes each year has typically been in the single digits. Feinstein speaking during the confirmation hearing for cia director john brennan earlier this year three at to discuss the newly released numbers, we go to london to chris woods, an awardwinning reporter working with the drones Investigation Team at the bureau of Investigative Journalism. The team was awarded the Martha Gail Horn price for journalism last month. We may be thebut only News Organization in the u. S. Who got a studio in london not to talk about the royal baby. Im not sure. Can you confirm or deny . I am really grateful for you to that. Is a bit of overload on the royal baby. Hankey for having me on to talk about this. Thank you for having me on to talk about this. The document does show the inner thinkings of pakistans government about what was going on with the cia drone strikes at one of the most intense periods. The cia has been claiming, we heard Dianne Feinstein say, a tiny number of civilians killed over the entire nine years of cia bombing in pakistan. This document says something entirely different. It says at least 147 civilians, perhaps as high as 220, just in three years. That is a lot of civilians. Talk about the most significant findings in this report i should say were going to talk about children today, but we will talk about children in pakistan. I think the most important thing about as you know, the work the bureau does and people like the american foundation, the studies that have taken place in pakistan, are often driven by media reports. What is interesting to me about this document, which was never meant to be published, is it is driven from the inside area and this is from the villages upwards, put together by civilian officials in the tribal areas who pull together information from the towns, from the villages and feed that back up. Theyre not interested in political grandstanding, theyre just saying who got killed, what got destroyed, how many were injured and so on. All of that information is then collated. What we have seen emerge as a completely parallel and independent tracking of civilian deaths in pakistan in the u. S. Drone strikes, which pretty closely match where the numbers seem to be falling, which is in this 400 to 600 to 700 civilian deaths. I think it really is an important document, the first big document to emerge from the u. S. Or Pakistan Government that is out there in its entirety. Last month we spoke to don at landaynday jonathan and asked about the recent documents he obtained about drone strikes in pakistan. The documents showed in many wasnthe ca actually sure or did not know who they were targeting. You were targeting unknown militants and going after other militants pose quote for extremists, but it was quite evident from their own estimates of the number of casualties that were being caused in these drone strikes that hundreds of people who they suspected of being militants were being killed in these drone strikes. The documents i concentrated on showed were charted most of the drone strikes in the tribal eriod of a year between 2010 and 2011, the height of the drone strikes. I believe almost one quarter, and im reaching back, of those drone strikes were targeting nonal qaeda groups. It showed the administration had been not telling or fully disclosing who it was who are being targeted. Responded that, chris woods. I think jonathans report was absolutely outstanding last month. If you like, this pakistan document is the opposite side of that same coin. Donovan is saying, who are these mistry people the ca was killing jonathan is saying, who are mystery people the cia was killing . A lot of those classified as unknown militants were civilians. Many of them, many of them were women and children, particularly in the earlier stages of the campaign. It is a real shame jonathan has not been able to publish in full the leaked documents he was able to obtain. We are very, very keen to be able to crossreference that material against the findings of the bureau and others out there in the field, but i think it is something were going to have to have to wait on in the present climate in the u. S. , this concern about leaked documents and so on. The two documents, the opposite sides of the same coin. On the one hand you the cia saying, were killing militants, we dont know who they are. And the Pakistan Government secretly saying, oh, theyre killing civilians. Talk more about what the report does not say. There are some interesting omissions. There are some strikes that are just missing. For some reason, all of 2007 is missing. There were only four or five strikes, which is not a significant number, but is a strange omission. Number ofhe small strikes in 2004 and 2005 are missing. Fascinatingly, there is no naming of individuals, whether civilian or militants. Some bigname militant leaders were killed in the strikes. The leader of the taliban was killed in 2009. No reference at all to the fact one of the most dangerous man in pakistan at that time, and existential threat to the people of pakistan, had been killed. It just says one woman killed, one man killed, elizabeth that. And leaves it at that. Where he gets really interesting, when we get into a obamas first year in 29, civilian deaths disappear from the record. Part of that is because the document ends at the end of that year and some of these investigations were clearly still ongoing. But we found examples where we know the civilian administration of the tribal areas and pakistan knew that civilians had died. In fact, there are documents showing that. But somehow and for some reason those records of civilian deaths under obama just slide away from the record. Theyre just not there for 2009 and we dont really have a good explanation as to why that is. Some really curious omissions, but otherwise, a very important document. It adds to this growing canon of publicly Available Evidence that says, you know what . This claim that cia killed 60 civilians doesnt add up. It doesnt add up at all. All of the questioning needs to be focused back on the cia right now, in my view. They are the holders of the Key Information we need to be viewing. Who did they kill, why did they kill them, when did they kill them . Chris, could you talk about the bureau of investigative journalists continue his work on drones . Awarded ones just of the leading journalism prizes for that work. It is an extraordinary commitment from the bureau, as you know, the bureau is a not forprofit based here in london and doesnt have a great deal of resources, but it is committed a significant chunk of its resources and time over the last 2. 5 years now to focus on this question of u. S. Drone strikes. We dont have an agenda other than to try to bring some kind of transparency and accountability. A more with at that the story, the more we uncover, the more the claims of u. S. And pakistan Pakistan Governments are really showing one thing. It was only a few weeks ago john brennan was standing in front of thatenate and saying people making claims of high civilian deaths in pakistan were deliberate falsehoods, lies. Leaked documents, field investigations have to take place consistently showing far higher civilian deaths in places like pakistan for the claims john brennan himself to start getting taken on . The bureau, im sure, well be continuing on this for a long time to come read theres a lot more that still needs to be uncovered about this war, the secret war. It is an expanding war in yemen, some i have, and probably to other countries as well. Unless we understand who really gets killed and how a civilian is really defined by the cia what i suspect is a different definition from what you or i would ever accept. Until we understand that key staff, how can we talk about the efficiency, the accuracy of this drone war, the secret drone war . Chris, lets turn to, its by cia director john brennan made during his confirmation hearing earlier this year, the hearing had to be temporarily halted following repeated interruptions by protesters. Members of code pink began standing up one by one to condemn his role in the drone war. He addressed the protesters as he defended the drone program. I think there is a misimpression on the part of the American People who believe we take strikes to punish terrorists for past transgressions, nothing could be further from the truth. We only take such actions as a last resort to save lives, when there is no other alternative to mitigate the threat. We want there to be an understanding and the people that were standing up here today, i think they really have a misunderstanding of what we do as a government in the care we take and the agony we go through to make sure we do not have any collateral injuries or deaths. Earlier, weman said need to be able to go out and say that publicly and openly. People are reacting to a lot of falsehoods out there. That was cia well, nominee, director nominee john brennan during his confirmation hearing. Your response to what he said . And there you have that phrase, falsehoods, lies those quote that organizations like ours, all of the people trying to do a good job understanding that were lying . Really, the evidence just shows quite the opposite. Brennan has since said, by the way, such of fisa billion deaths are a deliberate misrepresentation. That was an interview gave to gq recently. But Diane Feinstein also said, the Senate Intelligence committee had gone to Great Lengths to get to the bottom of this question of high civilian deaths, claims of high civilian deaths in pakistan. I did some followup on that and got got in touch with every Single Organization that conducted significant field investigations in pakistan into civilian deaths, regardless of the outcome. Everything organization came back to me the same answer, we have never been contacted by any member of any congressional. Ersight committee this idea there is oversight, that congress is doing its job, looking into claims and counterclaims around civilian deaths just doesnt stack up. Theyre going to cia and saying, show us your videos and tell us what you did, and theyre making assumptions based on that. Theres no independent investigation or reaching outside the u. S. Intelligence community. I think until both congress and the agency itself start to address some of these public concerns, i think we are going to have this huge gulf between growing perception of what the drone war is about and this claim by the u. S. Government it dontills terrorists and ever kill any civilians, or if we do, it is a tiny number. I want to and by making the point about whistleblowers. Yet thisme time increased secrecy, yet the Obama Administration cracking down on whistleblowers. Speaking in may, president obama said he makes no apologies for seeking to crack down on lees. Leaks related to National Security can put people at risk. They can put goodman and women in uniform that ive sent it to the battlefield at risk. Some of our Intelligence Officers who are in very dangerous situations that are easily compromised at risk. I make no apologies and i dont think the American People would expect me as commanderinchief not to be concerned about information that might compromise their missions or might get them killed. Whats that was president obama. Chris woods, can you talk about leaks . You are in london, not that far from where Julian Assange is holed up in the ecuadorian , certainly has released a great tool of u. S. Government documents around bombings, killings, and drone strikes. And then of course there is Edward Snowden, holed up in the russian airport who is being threatened with very serious prosecution if the United States gets its hands on him. And Bradley Manning is on trial now at fort meade in maryland, who also released government documents around the killing of civilians. I do think there is a real risk of the executive exerting in effect a tyranny over the media. If you have a situation where u. S. Journalists are having a think about stepping outside the United States in order to leak leakings or not even them. We discussed jonathan situation earlier. Those documents have not been put out there in the public domain. Like many News Organizations in the u. S. , theyre terrified of the department of justices wrath. So long as they dont compromise national intelligence, leaked documents are a vital, vital importance to democracy. They prevent politicians and Government Agencies from hiding behind fabrications and lies. And they do that. That is the world we live in. Snowdens documents are problematic and and comfortable for the u. S. , i get that, but in the wider world, the uproar about this revelation the nsa spies on literally everyone, is extraordinary. Amy, hugee you know, engagement from governments in europe here and possibly action by the European Union against technologystates and Companies Based in u. S. For allowing these these kinds of backdoor access and so on. Do we really want a situation where journalists in the united publishre afraid to leaks which are a vital importance to the health of the body of politics . That seems to be where were heading right now. It is a a very, very worrying situation. Chris woods, inc. You for being with us, investigative reporter. When we come back, were going to stay in britain and, yes, when we say its a boy, you know what we mean. If you watched an any television yesterday, you know the royal baby was born. We are going to speak with laurie penny about the babies no one cares about. Stay with us. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Amidst a global media frenzy, Prince William and Kate Middleton welcomes a baby born to the world monday in london, england as hundreds of well wishers flocked to the hospital and hundreds more to buckingham palace, hoping to get a of the royal familys newest member. The crowd sang happy birthday dear royal baby and stabbed countless photos. The lead up to the royal birth generated a carnival of nonstop Media Coverage for several weeks. Photographers from across the globe braved a record heat wave to camp outside the hospital awaiting news of the royal birth. International tv crews from around the world podcasted frequent, frenzied speculations on everything from the babys gender to how the expectant mother could expedite her labor. Bbc strained for evermore ingenious ways to say that nothing was happening. We will see you later. If we have any announcement, we will be back with you. Palace, from buckingham back to you in west london. Do let me know if you hear anything. Britains Guardian Newspaper ran a list of articles about the royal birth, although it to give readers an option to press a republican but net the top of its homepage to filter out news about the royal baby. Video streamthe at by one british journalist who has openly criticized the royal baby who plot, laurie penny. Articlently wrote an called the babies we dont care about today. Is kind and piercing. I want to apologize on behalf of all of the royal baby fiasco, all of this hysteria for the blanket coverage and the fact no real news is coming out of britain right now or what it seems like, the piece i wrote was designed to give context to the slaveish coverage of the royal baby and that every day in britain, thousands of babies are born, one third of whom are born in poverty. You can estimate that at 700 babies born in poverty on the date the royal baby was born read at the moment, the British Government is taking measures to make life harder for those children, children of single parents, particularly teenage single mothers, i find it really ironic that in the week the worn, the same who are celebrating the royal choice tos taken the those better sanctions on , making it much harder for those women to raise their children, making sure they live in poverty and pay for the transgression of having sex as teenagers in giving birth as teenagers adopting able to eat, by not having a safe place to live. I dont want to live in a country where that contract is acceptable. I want to live where all babies matter and all families matter, not just the royal family. I want to ask you about the royal family and its wealth. Forbes magazines rich list published in 2010 estimated the winters network that 535 million. 250 years ago, the third great grandfather george iii day virtually all property to the to the royal family. The situation of the royal family is quite interesting, financially, is interesting. Theres a lot of discussion over how much is spent to maintain the royal family. Thisd interesting in economic climate where people are cracking down on people who use state money [no audio] laurie . It looks like she just froze on the video stream that we had, speaking to laurie penny, the writer and journalist whose work guardian is in the and elsewhere. Her latest piece is called, the babies we dont care about today. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. 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