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As the nation marks Veterans Day, we remember the Iraq War veteran Tomas Young, who died this week at the age of 34. He enlisted in the military just after the Sept. 11 attacks. In 2004 he was sent to serve in Iraq. On April 4th–his fifth day in Iraq–Young’s unit came under fire in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. Young was shot and left paralyzed, never to walk again. Young returned home and became an active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He remained in and out of the hospital for the rest of his life. Young was later featured in the documentary "Body of War" directed by Ellen Spiro and the legendary television broadcaster Phil Donahue. We broadcast excerpts of the film and past Democracy Now! interviews with Young. Donahue joins us in studio to discuss the impact Young made in the antiwar and veteran communities and the making the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: As the nation marks Veterans Day, we begin today’s show remembering the Iraq War veteran Tomas Young, who died this week at the age of 34. In 2004 he was sent to Iraq. On April 4th–his fifth day in Iraq -Tomas Young’s unit came under fire in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. Tomas was shot, left paralyzed, never to walk again. Tomas returned home to become an active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He remained in and out of a hospital for the rest of his life. Tomas was later featured in the documentary Body of War, directed by Ellen Spiro and the legendary television broadcaster Phil Donahue. In a moment, Phil Donahue will join us in the studio, but first we turn to an excerpt from the film featuring Tomas Young speaking in 2005 at the Lafayette Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York, about President George W. Bush and the Iraq War.
TOMAS YOUNG: You’ll have to excuse me for a little bit; I get a little lightheaded every now and again. So hold on. I’d also like to—that during this speech, I may say the word "uh" a lot and stammer a little bit, so forgive me for sounding a bit presidential.
I called my recruiter on around September 13, 2001, when, if you all can remember, the president stood on the rubble with a bullhorn and said we were going to get the evil-doers that did this. And, oh, man, hold on a second; I’m starting to—thank you. Alright, let’s hope that’s a little better. But—and he led the rah-rah around the country and got everybody really excited, and I was excited. And I wanted to go to Afghanistan and get the people that did this to us. But after I joined the Army, it became clearer and clearer to me that we weren’t going to go to Afghanistan, that we were going to go to Iraq.
And more and more, it began to feel—with statements like George Bush saying that he sought the approval of a higher father than his own and things like that, it really concerned me that President Bush was trying to use Jesus Christ as an advocate for the war, but I always remembered, at least from the Bible that I read, Jesus Christ was always about peaceful things and love and "whatsoever you do unto the least, my brother, you do unto me." And it just shocks me that a man who tries to live his life by such devout Christian philosophies seems to skew so much on this one issue.
I don’t really—I have to—excuse me, again. Sorry, it’s a little hard to regulate my body temperature, and it is hot up here.
But I heard somebody once say that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. So just everybody keep together and stay strong, and one day we’ll get what we need to get done. And thank you all for waiting, and I hope I didn’t disappoint.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Tomas Young speaking in 2005. It was broadcast in the documentary Body of War. He died this week at the age of 34. Joining us now, the legendary talk show host Phil Donahue, who co-directed the film Body of War. So, we believe late on Sunday night, early Monday morning, Tomas died at home with his wife Claudia in Seattle. They had just moved there, Phil. Can you talk about how you came to know Tomas?
PHIL DONAHUE: I met Tomas Young in '05. He was shot in April of ’04, so we're 10 years and seven months later now, during which time he has been trapped in a bed. And I was with Ralph Nader, and he said a mother at Walter Reed wants to see me, "Do you want to go?" I said, "Yeah." So, off we go, and here is this young 24-year-old, in bed, whacked out on morphine, having just arrived from Landstuhl, whacked out on morphine. And his mother, as we stood, as I stood and looked on, his mother explained his injury to me. Tomas is a T4—that’s between the shoulder blades. So a bullet came down and exited T4 on the spine, so he’s paralyzed from the nipples down.
And, you know, I said, "People should see this. This is the most sanitized war of my lifetime. If you’re going to send all these young men and women to war, show the pain. Don’t sanitize the war." And five years later, we came out with this film, this documentary, Body of War, which, by the way, won a lot of awards, was on the shortlist for an Oscar, but we sold no popcorn. This is not a take-your-girl-to-the-movie movie, but it is available on Netflix.
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s go to another clip of Body of War. Tomas Young lists the array of medications he has to take every day. The list is interspersed with the Senate roll call vote authorizing the Iraq War. But first, you hear the voices of President Bush and supporters of war around the time Congress voted to authorize the invasion.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Saddam Hussein is harboring terrorists.
REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN: Harbors these terrorists.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: Aid, comfort and sanctuary to terrorists.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: We know that Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy: the United States of America.
TOMAS YOUNG: Wonder if the Bushes and the people at Fox News and people like that had a big sigh of relief when the hurricane hit. "I know it’s a horrible tragedy," they must have said, "but thank God we don’t have to talk about Cindy."
*My pillbox separates them out for the week. This is Carbamazepine. It is a nerve pain medication.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Ms. Collins, aye.
TOMAS YOUNG: This is a drug called Coumadin, and it’s a blood thinner.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Craig, aye.
TOMAS YOUNG: This is Tizanidine. It’s an anti-spasm medication.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Crapo, aye.
TOMAS YOUNG: This is Gabapentin.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Daschle.
TOMAS YOUNG: It’s a nerve pain medication.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Aye.
TOMAS YOUNG: This is Buproprion.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. DeWine.
TOMAS YOUNG: It’s an antidepressant.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Aye.
TOMAS YOUNG: This is Omeprazole.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Dodd.
TOMAS YOUNG: It’s for morning nausea.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Aye.
TOMAS YOUNG: And this is morphine. It’s a narcotic. And in this situation, the effect is not to get high, but to kill pain. And so, I have to take more and more of it to stop the pain.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Tomas Young interspersed with the vote for war in Congress. Phil Donahue, before we go to break, how you came to know Tomas in the making of this film?
PHIL DONAHUE: Well, after meeting him at Walter Reed, I thought about a book, and then I thought, "Well, I’ve been in TV. My pictures—my career has had moving pictures." And although I had never made a film, I called—DeeDee Halleck, who is a longtime progressive figure, who was responsible for DISH TV, who I met on an airplane—
AMY GOODMAN: The legendary public access producer.
PHIL DONAHUE: Yeah, yes. And she gave me a number, and I called. And a woman answered, and I said, "Hello, I’m Phil Donahue." And she said, "No, you’re not." And I thought, "Well, thank God she recognizes me." This is a cold call. We met at the Kansas City airport and went directly to see Tomas, and she immediately embraced the idea. And she turned out to be fabulous. I got very lucky. I mean, she didn’t know me, really, and I certainly didn’t know her. And somehow, she survived this almost five-year professional relationship with me. And her work is very evident in the film, I think.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to go to break, and when we come back, we’re going to look at Tomas over the years after he returned from Iraq. He was wounded April 4th, 2004, in Sadr City, the same day that Casey Sheehan, the son of Cindy Sheehan, the well-known peace activist, was also killed. This is Democracy Now! We’ll be back in a minute.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Eddie Vedder singing the song "No More." It was a song he wrote for Tomas Young and for the film Body of War. Our guest today is Phil Donahue, who made that film with Ellen Spiro, as we remember Tomas Young. I’m Amy Goodman. This is Democracy Now! As the nation marks Veterans Day, we remember Tomas Young, who died just weeks shy of his 35th birthday. On April 4th, 2004—his fifth day in Iraq—Tomas Young’s unit came under fire in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. Tomas was shot, left paralyzed, never to walk again.
In 2008, Tomas Young appeared on Democracy Now! We had just come back from the Winter Soldier hearings in Maryland, where soldiers testified about the war. And many of those soldiers had last been, just a few days before, in Austin at South by Southwest, and they had seen the release of Body of War. I talked to Tomas Young and asked him to talk about the response to the film and what it meant to him.
TOMAS YOUNG: Well, it’s been an amazing honor to travel the country with this music that I’m putting out on this album and the movie that has been an amazing experience to make, and to reach out to soldiers that are speaking out against this war and to try to touch lives on an individual basis has been an incredible experience. But right off the bat, I have to address something that Dick Cheney said yesterday in response to the—
AMY GOODMAN: Maybe we have a clip. Maybe we have a clip of what Dick Cheney had to say. Let’s give it a try. I think this is from our headlines today. This is the vice president, Dick Cheney.
VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: The president carries the biggest burden, obviously. He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, an all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Dick Cheney. Tomas Young, was that the quote you would like to address?
TOMAS YOUNG: Absolutely. From one of those soldiers who volunteered to go to Afghanistan after September 11th, which was where the evidence said we needed to go, to the master of the college deferment in Vietnam, the last conflict we didn’t go into voluntarily, many of us volunteered with patriotic feelings in our heart, only to see them subverted and bastardized by the administration and sent into the wrong country. Yes, we volunteered, but we didn’t volunteer where you sent us to go. And I realize that we don’t choose where we get to go, but we at least should be sent in the right places to defend the Constitution, just as we volunteered to do. That’s all.
AMY GOODMAN: Tomas, I wanted to go to a part of the film, Body of War, which was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner of 2005. It’s very interesting, because you were watching it. It includes President Bush joking around about the missing WMDs, as well as first lady Laura Bush. This is the clip.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Those weapons of mass destruction got to be somewhere. Nope, no weapons over there. Maybe under here.
LAURA BUSH: I said to him the other day, "George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you’re going to have to stay up later." Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife.
CATHY SMITH: They’re so insulated. They don’t want to know about people like Tomas and the 4 or 5 percent of the population that is actually sacrificing for this war.
AMY GOODMAN: That last voice is Tomas Young’s mother, Cathy Smith. Tomas Young is shown in the film watching the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and hugging his little brother. Tomas, your reaction to the skit?
TOMAS YOUNG: Well, my reaction is twofold. I’d like to tell Laura Bush that there are probably several—there are probably a couple thousand desperate housewives who are quite missing their husbands and would love to have their husbands there to go to bed early before 9:00. And for the president to be so glib about a lie that he told the American people and my brothers and sisters in arms to get us to go to war so blindly and patriotically for this country, it’s offensive to me as a soldier, first, and as an American, second. And now, that clip that I was watching was recorded from the year previous, so I had a full year for that wound to fester and boil, as far as my anger and resentment at the president making that joke and looking around the Oval Office as if the weapons of mass destruction were under his desk.
AMY GOODMAN: Tomas, I wanted to go to, well, near the end of the film, when you meet Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. We’ve been playing his impassioned speeches on the floor of the Senate, which figure prominently in the film. In this clip, Senator Byrd proudly reads to you the names of all the 23 senators who voted against authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: I’m going to read you the names of these—
TOMAS YOUNG: The immortal 23?
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: The immortal 23. All right, here we are. H.J. Res. 114, that’s the resolution.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Senators voting in the negative.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Here are the 23: Akaka.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Akaka, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Bingaman.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Bingaman, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Boxer.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mrs. Boxer, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Byrd. B-Y-R-D, right there.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Byrd, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Chafee, Republican.
TOMAS YOUNG: He’s a good man.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Chafee, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: He stood with us. Conrad.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Conrad, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: What’s that one?
TOMAS YOUNG: Look like Jon Corzine.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Corzine, yeah.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Corzine, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: I don’t have my glasses on. What’s that one there?
TOMAS YOUNG: Dayton.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Dayton, yeah. God bless him. He’s leaving us after this year.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Dayton, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Who’s that?
TOMAS YOUNG: That’s Senator Durbin.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Durbin. This one?
TOMAS YOUNG: Senator Feingold.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Feingold.
TOMAS YOUNG: That would be Bob Graham from Florida, I think, Senator.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Yes, it would be.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Durbin, no. Mr. Feingold, no. Mr. Graham of Florida, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: And we go all the way down here to Daniel Inouye.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Inouye—
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: There’s a man who has really sacrificed. He gave his arm.
TOMAS YOUNG: From Hawaii, yeah.
SENATE ROLL CALL: No.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Yes, sir. He’s a real hero.
TOMAS YOUNG: Here’s another one of my heroes.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Jim Jeffords.
TOMAS YOUNG: Senator Jeffords, the one that switched sides of the aisle.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: He’s one of my heroes, too.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Jeffords, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Kennedy, Leahy and Levin.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, no, no, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Mikulski.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Ms. Mikulski, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Murray.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mrs. Murray—
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Patty Murray.
SENATE ROLL CALL: No.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Reed from Rhode Island, Sarbanes.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Reed of Rhode Island, no. Mr. Sarbanes, no.
TOMAS YOUNG: Stabenow.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Yeah, Debbie Stabenow.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Ms. Stabenow, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Wellstone, that’s the man who gave his life shortly thereafter.
TOMAS YOUNG: And then Wyden.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: And Wyden. He’s still here.
SENATE ROLL CALL: Mr. Wellstone, no. Mr. Wyden, no.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Twenty-three. Seventy-seven to 23. The immortal 23. Our founders would be so proud. Thank you for your service. Man, you’ve made a great sacrifice. You served your country well.
TOMAS YOUNG: As have you, sir.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: The late Senator Robert Byrd meeting with and talking to the late Iraq War veteran and peace activist Tomas Young. It’s from the film Body of War, which was co-directed by our guest today, Phil Donahue. What a moment, Phil.
PHIL DONAHUE: Yeah, yeah. It was a—it was a chapter of our lives. I mean, none of us who worked on this film had been that close to such a debilitating injury, and it was a spiritual experience we’ll never forget.
AMY GOODMAN: You have a very difficult section of Body of War showing Tomas Young’s mother, Cathy Smith, helping him insert a catheter.
TOMAS YOUNG: Alright. I’m going to lift up, and you’re going to slip that under me.
CATHY SMITH: OK.
TOMAS YOUNG: OK. This is hard to do from this angle. Help me out here, Mom?
CATHY SMITH: Yeah.
TOMAS YOUNG: Must be hard. I’ve been meaning to change those. OK, now, in this bag, you’re going to take this lube out. OK. Instead of lubing up the end of that, you’re going to lube the head of the penis.
CATHY SMITH: OK.
TOMAS YOUNG: 'Cause it uses less lube. You're just going to lube right over the hole.
CATHY SMITH: Like that?
TOMAS YOUNG: And now you’re just going to insert the catheter. And I really kind of wanted you to put the glove on the hand that was going to put the catheter in, but OK. You seriously can push in a little quicker than that.
CATHY SMITH: No, I can’t.
TOMAS YOUNG: Are you nervous?
CATHY SMITH: Yeah, I have never done this before.
TOMAS YOUNG: OK.
CATHY SMITH: Is it coming out?
TOMAS YOUNG: Yeah, it’s coming out. Hey, Mom! We generally tend to watch what goes on up there.
CATHY SMITH: I’m trying to move it so it doesn’t just go everywhere.
TOMAS YOUNG: Good plan. You saw that works swimmingly. Look at that, you’ve got pee on your hand.
CATHY SMITH: I know. You know what? It’s not the first time I’ve had your pee on my hand.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Tomas Young’s mother, Cathy Smith, with Tomas, as she tried to help him insert a catheter. That moment, Phil, they were in Washington, D.C., right? At an antiwar protest?
PHIL DONAHUE: No, that was en route to—oh, wait a minute. Ellen shot that en route to, I think, see Nathan off, her other—her younger son. And—
AMY GOODMAN: Well, this is very important, see him off to war.
PHIL DONAHUE: Right. They all—they went, and we have that scene in the film of her saying goodbye to her younger son. And she explains, "I could get him out." You know, she’s already sacrificed one son. They don’t—but he wanted to go. So, brothers. And, of course, he’s a big boy now, and she was not able to talk him out of signing up to serve.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Tomas Young became very active in Iraq Veterans Against the War. Can you talk about his activism and his struggle against his pain?
PHIL DONAHUE: Well, he was a member of Iraq Vets Against the War. A lot of relationships developed between Tomas and other members of that group. He was hugely impressive in his speeches, although he often had to stop because his respiratory system was not as it should be because of the paralysis.
AMY GOODMAN: And he would bend over in his wheelchair.
PHIL DONAHUE: Right, and have to gather more oxygen for himself. In hot weather, he would put gels in his—in a vest, ice gels from the freezer into the vest, just to cool his body temperature. I mean, these are just some of the things that people didn’t see. People didn’t see the cleaning of the bedsores and the changing of the bed clothing after the catheter broke, the urinary tract infection. I mean, it’s just—the more you see this—and there are thousands and thousands of homes in this country, as we speak, dealing with this kind of burden that turns the whole family upside down. And nobody sees it.
AMY GOODMAN: In February of 2013, Tomas Young stunned an audience gathered to watch the film, Body of War, when he joined them via Skype after the film and made this announcement. You have to listen closely.
TOMAS YOUNG: In July of last year, I began to experience sharp pains in my abdomen. And I went to the VA, and they treated me like I was a second-class citizen, a junkie looking for pain medicines just to get high, even though I was genuinely in pain. I went to a private hospital, was treated much better. They suggested a colostomy, where they would remove my colon. I thought that would reduce the pain. It did for a few days, but the pain came rocketing back. And I decided to go on hospice care, where I have a pump that provides the same IV medications the hospital provided. And after my one-year anniversary with my wife, I will begin to wean myself off of food and one day go away.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Tomas Young announcing he would die. He couldn’t tolerate the pain. Claudia Cuellar, his wife, was sitting next to him on this Skype. After the showing of Body of War in Litchfield, Connecticut, Phil, when did you get word of this, that he was planning to do this? You heard that night? Were you in Litchfield?
PHIL DONAHUE: I did. I heard, I think, a—I’m guessing the week before. He called me, a Saturday morning. And, you know, I have to say, I couldn’t—you know, if you say, "Oh, Tomas, please don’t, Tomas," you know, you suddenly realize it’s a selfish thing to say. You’re saying, "I want you to live." And you’re not really appreciating or at least having some empathy for what he wants. So, even when he made that announcement at a Litchfield theater, Litchfield, Connecticut, the audience was very, I would say, sympathetic toward his decision. I’m sure there were many there who wished he wasn’t doing this, but they understood it. And that was a remarkable—
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk to about the deterioration to the point where we saw? What caused him, in the end—
PHIL DONAHUE: Right.
AMY GOODMAN: —although he was always in pain—
PHIL DONAHUE: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: —to be experiencing such severe pain? We’re talking about 10 years after his injury.
PHIL DONAHUE: Right. Tomas, about—it’s all a blur to me now, but I’ll have to think six, seven years ago, after we had completed the film, sustained a swollen right arm, and it hurt. And they went immediately to the emergency room, and they gave him pain pills at the VA. And he came home, and I think a few—not longer after that, he was discovered in a coma. Tomas sustained a pulmonary embolism, which, as you know, is oxygen deprivation to the brain. And you heard his speech there, how his speech was—is now—came very labored. And he also couldn’t hold silverware. He couldn’t—he could bend his fingers, but he couldn’t—and he had to be fed. And they had to find a corner in a restaurant on those few times when they went out, so that people wouldn’t stare at them as she fed him. These are just some of the things people didn’t see in this sanitized war.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, last year, after Tomas made this announcement, he joined us on Democracy Now! A TV crew went to his house in Kansas City, and they filmed him as he and his wife, Claudia, came on Democracy Now! And he read an open letter he wrote called "A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from a Dying Veteran." Listen carefully. This is an excerpt.
TOMAS YOUNG: "I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power. I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you’ve done."
AMY GOODMAN: That was Tomas Young. Ultimately, at that time, he decided not to take his own life. After reading that, he got so much enormous response all over the country. But they moved to Seattle, and he died in his sleep late Sunday night, early Monday morning.
PHIL DONAHUE: Mm-hmm, yes, he did. And Claudia called me on very early Monday morning. It was on my cellphone. You know, and I’ve been waiting for the call for 10 years. I have to say that. You know, every time her or his area code came up, I thought, "This is it." So, finally, it happened, and he’s at peace. And we can—we have to take some positive away from this. I think Tomas made an enormous impact on those that he met and those people who saw him and what he went through. He was really the—he was the town crier for all of those other veterans. We’re up now to over—is it over?—almost 3,000 in Afghanistan. Afghanistan. So we’re coming up on 6,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan—irreplaceable human beings who will, you know, never see a child confirmed, holy communion, bar mitzvah—all the wonderful things in life that they will never, ever experience because of this massive blunder.
AMY GOODMAN: And that is the American soldiers. As Tomas would point out—
PHIL DONAHUE: Yes, he would.
AMY GOODMAN: —we don’t know the number—
PHIL DONAHUE: Yes, he would.
AMY GOODMAN: —of Iraqis and Afghans who have died.
PHIL DONAHUE: Right, we don’t. We’re not even sure. And certainly over four million refugees, people living out of laundry bags.
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Phil Donahue is one of the best-known talk show hosts in U.S. television history. The Phil Donahue Show was on the air for almost 30 years, until 1996. In 2002, Donahue returned to the airwaves, but was fired by MSNBC on the eve of the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air. We talk to Donahue about his firing and the silencing of antiwar voices by the corporate media — that continues to this day.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Phil, you, after your legendary career, what, 29 years on The Phil Donahue Show, you came back and were a—continued to broadcast on MSNBC, prime-time slot, right before the invasion of Iraq. You were the most popular show on MSNBC at the time. And then right before the war, you were unceremoniously dumped. And a secret, later, memo came out of NBC that they didn’t want to have an antiwar voice in their flagship show as the other networks were waving the American flag.
PHIL DONAHUE: Yes, that was a memo published by The New York Times, and it was written up by a Republican pollster, who took a survey, where they put 25 people in a room and showed them one of my aggressive programs, and most of the people didn’t like me, was the result. I was called in to Neal Shapiro’s office and informed.
AMY GOODMAN: He was at NBC at the time.
PHIL DONAHUE: He was then, yeah; he’s now head of PBS here in New York. So, it was definitely a political termination. And it’s interesting, because during that time, they were terrified. This is—you should know that this is October through—say, August through January—August of ’02 through January and February. The invasion was April of 2003.
AMY GOODMAN: March.
PHIL DONAHUE: And I was gone by then. But this is not long after the towers. And so, you know, corporate media—
AMY GOODMAN: You were replaced by Michael Savage.
PHIL DONAHUE: I was replaced by Michael Savage. So, they couldn’t wait to outfox Fox. And I had to have two conservatives for every liberal. And they wanted me to do entertainers. You know, don’t do political. It’s a very interesting study in the thinking at that time. Liberals were terrifying to them. They were afraid of liberals. Liberals weren’t patriotic. Liberals were blaming the victim. Dissent was totally, totally unwelcome and unpatriotic.
AMY GOODMAN: And yet, you persisted, knowing the climate.
PHIL DONAHUE: Well, I guess so, I mean, you know, at my own peril. But, you know, no sad songs for me. I’m a lucky guy. You know, I got a little money. But we have to wonder whose voice wasn’t heard, you know? That didn’t have the kind of ability to do this kind of thing and at least survive a little while.
AMY GOODMAN: Well—
PHIL DONAHUE: And interesting—interesting, really. At that time, half the political voice in this nation was silenced, really. And I believe most people at that time opposed this war. Most people did. What are we—why—how come over there? And yet, every metropolitan—every major metropolitan newspaper in this country supported the invasion of Iraq. Think about that for a minute. Every major metropolitan—this is what you can do with the politics of fear, that Bush took this whole nation and the whole media establishment by the ear and led it right into the sword. Amazing, in the land of free speech, free press.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you see the same thing happening again right now?
PHIL DONAHUE: Well, obviously, you can see that it has slowed us up. But it looks like that’s all it’s done. And while we have been, you know, hesitant and not "bring them on" with the war lust that we had then, mission creep is underway. What happens when somebody is taken prisoner? I mean, we have become a warrior nation, and we have no respect for diplomacy. And we’ve just stood mute while the Constitution has been just shredded. This is a nation of law, unless we’re scared.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Phil, you certainly continued to provide a voice for people to speak for themselves in the making of this remarkable film, as we remember Tomas Young, who died just shy of his 35th birthday, Iraq War veteran, active member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. If you want to see his reading of his full letter, his letter from a dying soldier, a dying veteran, to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, you can go to our website at democracynow.org.
And you spoke of being a lucky guy, Phil. Well, another of the reasons you are so lucky is your wonderful wife, Marlo Thomas. And I want to congratulate you and her. Among the 19 recipients of this year’s Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, is the award-winning actress, producer, author, activist, Marlo Thomas, who is the wife of our guest, Phil Donahue, or he is her husband. The White House said in a statement, quote, "Whether championing equality for girls and women, giving voice to the less fortunate, breaking barriers by portraying one of television’s first single working women on That Girl, or teaching children to be "Free to Be You and Me," Thomas inspires us all to dream bigger and reach higher." The awards will be presented at the White House on November 24th.
PHIL DONAHUE: I’m going to the White House.
AMY GOODMAN: Congratulations.
PHIL DONAHUE: I’ll say hello for you.
AMY GOODMAN: When we come back, we’re going to play some clips, on this Veterans Day, of veterans’ voices. We’ll be bringing you StoryCorps. Thanks so much, Phil.
PHIL DONAHUE: Pleasure.
AMY GOODMAN: Will you be talking to President Obama, perhaps, about any of the issues we’ve talked about today?
PHIL DONAHUE: Well, it’s not likely I’ll get that opportunity. So, I’ll be a good husband and try to stay small—not easy for a talk show host.
AMY GOODMAN: Phil Donahue, our guest. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Back in a minute.
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AMY GOODMAN: "Stray Bullets" by Tom Morello. Yesterday, he posted a message on Twitter reading, "Rest in peace Tomas Young. Warrior for peace, Veterans against war, herb enthusiast, wise friend. Wrote this for him." This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
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On Veterans Day, we broadcast the voice of a veteran recorded with StoryCorps, the award-winning national social history project. Two years ago, StoryCorps launched the Military Voices Initiative recording the stories of post-9/11 military veterans and their families. And this Veterans Day, StoryCorps is releasing a series of animations and a radio special based on these interviews. We broadcast one of those stories stories told by Spc. Justin Cliburn, who deployed to Iraq with the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 2005. While serving in Baghdad, Cliburn formed an unlikely friendship with two Iraqi boys who lived nearby. Cliburn speaks with his wife, Deanne, about the lasting impression the boys left on his life.
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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We end this Veterans Day broadcast with StoryCorps, the award-winning national social history project, the largest oral history project in the United States. Two years ago, StoryCorps launched the Military Voices Initiative, recording the stories of post-9/11 military veterans and their families. And this Veterans Day, StoryCorps is releasing a series of animations and a radio special based on these interviews.
The story you’re about to hear features Specialist Justin Cliburn, who deployed to Iraq with the Oklahoma Army National Guard in 2005. While serving in Baghdad, Cliburn formed an unlikely friendship with two Iraqi boys who lived nearby. Justin speaks with his wife, Deanne, about the lasting impression the boys left on his life.
JUSTIN CLIBURN: One day, we saw this child walking through the compound. His name was Ali, and he did not want to talk to us.
DEANNE CLIBURN: As opposed to a lot of the other Iraqi kids that you encountered.
JUSTIN CLIBURN: Yes. He was very shy. And the second or third time that I met him, he brought his best friend, Ahmed. And Ahmed was much more outgoing. And so, Ali really opened up. And once I met these children, it made every day something I looked forward to.
We would play rock, paper, scissors. We would kick around a soccer ball. We were about as close as people that don’t speak the same language can be. I had never been really good with children, and this was the first time I felt like I loved someone who wasn’t my family member.
But one day Ali showed up, and I could tell something wasn’t right. He kept saying, "Ahmed, Ahmed…boom." We learned that Ahmed and his mother went to the gas station, and a suicide bomber detonated. Ahmed’s mother is dead. She died instantly. And Ahmed is in a hospital somewhere.
And so, other soldiers and I collected what cash we had and gave it to Ali and said, "Go take this to Ahmed’s father." But later, I saw Ali walking up very slow, and he sat down on the curb next to my Humvee. He dug a hole in the ground with his fingers. He picked up a rock and put it in the hole, and then he put the dirt back over it. And he just pointed to the ground and said, "Ahmed." And I knew that Ahmed was dead. And so I sat on the curb with him—me in desert camouflage, carrying an M4 rifle, and him just a North Baghdad kid. Just sat there and cried.
I don’t know what came of him. That’s the nature of war, I suppose. But whenever I see any footage from Baghdad, I’m always kind of looking around, wondering if he’s in the frame.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Specialist Justin Cliburn speaking to his wife, Deanne, just one of the many stories featured in the Military Voices Initiative by StoryCorps this Veterans Day, releasing this series of animations and a radio special based on these interviews.
And that does it for our broadcast. For all our interviews with Tomas Young, you can go to our website at democracynow.org. Also, we are posting online at democracynow.org part two of our interview with Matthew Hoh. He is the former Marine Corps company commander in Iraq who was the highest-level State Department official to quit over the war in Afghanistan. He talks about dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. Go to our website to see this interview at democracynow.org.
On Thursday, I’ll be speaking in Maplewood, New Jersey, at Columbia High School Auditorium at 7:30. On Saturday, I’ll be in Berlin, Germany, Compact’s 10th anniversary. Check our website.
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Obama Backs Strict Net Neutrality Protections for Open Internet
President Obama has issued his strongest statement to date in favor of a free and open Internet. In a video message, Obama called for the the Federal Communications Commission to uphold the principle of net neutrality by classifying the Internet as a public utility. He said such protections would prevent Internet service providers, or ISPs, like Comcast, from blocking access to websites, slowing down content or providing paid fast lanes for Internet service.
President Obama: "Cable companies can’t decide which online stores you can shop at or which streaming services you can use. And they can’t let any company pay for priority over its competitors. To put these protections in place, I’m asking the FCC to reclassify Internet service under Title II of a law known as the Telecommunications Act. In plain English, I’m asking them to recognize that for most Americans the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life."
Press freedom groups have soundly praised Obama’s statement, which bolsters calls by nearly four million commenters who have urged the FCC to protect net neutrality. Free Press said in a statement, "[The president] may have saved the Internet at the moment it was in the greatest jeopardy." Obama’s message comes in the wake of nationwide protests after reports the FCC planned to adopt a "hybrid" model that would apply expanded protections only to the relationship between Internet providers and content firms, like Netflix, and not to the relationship between providers and users. The FCC is an independent agency, meaning Obama cannot directly control its actions. Obama’s appointed chair of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the cellphone and cable industries, says the agency will need more time to craft its new rules.
Egypt Militants Back Islamic State; U.S. Strike Said to Injure Top ISIS Leader
A militant group in Egypt has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The declaration by the group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis comes amidst rumors over the fate of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Iraq’s defense minister has said al-Baghdadi was wounded, and his deputy killed, by a U.S. airstrike. The Pentagon has not confirmed any details.
Iraq War Veteran, Activist Tomas Young Dies at 34
Iraq War veteran and antiwar activist Tomas Young has died just weeks before his 35th birthday. In 2004, Young was shot and paralyzed in Iraq. Last year, 10 years after the Iraq invasion, Young announced his intention to take his own life due to immense suffering from his injuries. He wrote a letter to former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, which he read in a Democracy Now! interview.
Tomas Young: "My day of reckoning is upon me. Yours will come. I hope you will be put on trial. But mostly I hope, for your sakes, that you find the moral courage to face what you have done to me and to many, many others who deserved to live."
Young later decided to live. He died this week at home in Seattle. We will talk more about Young after headlines with Phil Donahue, who co-directed a film about him called "Body of War."
Veterans Affairs May Fire 1,000 Staffers After Healthcare Scandal
As the United States marks Veterans Day today, the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it may fire 1,000 staffers amidst a scandal over wait times and other healthcare failures. Newly appointed VA Secretary Bob McDonald said care for veterans has improved.
Bob McDonald: "We’ve developed something we call the 'Blueprint for Excellence' to re-establish VA’s leadership in healthcare. And we’ve begun what may become the largest restructuring in the department’s history."
Nigeria: Suicide Attack at School Kills Nearly 50
In Nigeria, a suicide bomber disguised as a student has killed nearly 50 boys at a boarding school in the town of Potiskum. The militant group Boko Haram is suspected of carrying out the attack.
India: 8 Women Die, Dozens Hospitalized After Mass Sterilization
In India, at least eight women have died, and nearly 70 others are hospitalized, after receiving sterilization surgeries with infected instruments as part of a government-run program. More than 80 women were reportedly operated on over a six-hour period by a single doctor in the central state of Chhattisgarh. India offers free sterilizations as a way to curb population growth, often giving cash incentives that amount to the equivalent of a week’s salary for the poor.
Mexico: Protesters Block Airport in Acapulco over 43 Missing Students
Outrage continues in Mexico over the apparent massacre of 43 students by police and a drug gang in the southern state of Guerrero. On Monday, protesters blocked the international airport in the resort city of Acapulco for three hours after clashing with police.
U.N. Launches Panel to Investigate Gaza Deaths
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the creation of a panel to investigate deaths and damage at U.N. facilities during this summer’s Israeli assault on Gaza, which killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mainly civilians. The inquiry will be led by a former Dutch general. The news comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to wage a crackdown after Palestinians killed an Israeli soldier and a woman in separate attacks in Tel Aviv and the West Bank.
Palestinian Activist Rasmea Odeh Jailed After Conviction of Immigration Fraud
In the United States, a leading Palestinian activist has been jailed after she was found guilty of concealing her conviction on bombing charges by an Israeli military court more than 40 years ago. Rasmea Odeh says her confession to the bombings was obtained through torture and sexual assault in Israeli custody. Odeh moved to the United States in 1995 and serves as an associate director at the Chicago-area Arab American Action Network. Her supporters say she was targeted for prosecution on the immigration charge because of her role as a prominent supporter of Palestinian liberation. Odeh was declared a flight risk and taken into custody ahead of sentencing in March. Her attorneys have vowed to appeal.
New York Doctor to Be Released After Recovering from Ebola
A New York City doctor who was diagnosed with Ebola after treating patients in Guinea is due to be released from the hospital today after being declared Ebola-free. Dr. Craig Spencer was the city’s first and only known case of Ebola.
New York City to Ease Response to Marijuana Possession After Arrests Rise Under de Blasio
New York City is changing its response to marijuana possession. Police Commissioner William Bratton said instead of being arrested, people caught with small amounts of marijuana may receive a summons to appear in court and pay a fine if found guilty. But Bratton also noted exceptions to the policy.
Bill Bratton: "Under the new policy, persons found to be in possession of this amount of marijuana, 25 grams or less, may be eligible to receive a summons in lieu of arrest. So a summons instead of being arrested. However, I point out there are exceptions to the provisions of this new department policy. It should be made very clear that persons who are burning and/or smoking marijuana in public will still be subject to arrest."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio criticized low-level marijuana arrests during his campaign, but according to the Drug Policy Alliance, police conducted more arrests for marijuana possession from March to August, under de Blasio, than during the same period the previous year under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Eighty-six percent of those arrested for marijuana possession in the first eight months of this year were African-American or Latino.
Mumia Abu-Jamal Sues over Pennsylvania Law Restricting Prisoners’ Speech
Imprisoned journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal has filed a lawsuit challenging a new Pennsylvania law he says violates his free speech. The measure was introduced after Abu-Jamal gave a pretaped commencement address at Vermont’s Goddard College. His speech was opposed by Pennsylvania officials and the widow of Daniel Faulkner, the police officer whom Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing. The law authorizes the censoring of prisoners’ public addresses if judges agree that letting them speak would cause "mental anguish" to victims.
Recording Shows Reagan Apologizing to Thatcher over 1983 U.S. Invasion of Grenada
A 30-year-old audio recording has been released publicly for the first time that captures then U.S. President Ronald Reagan apologizing to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over the U.S. invasion of Grenada. The United States invaded the small Caribbean nation in 1983 after the assassination of leftist President Maurice Bishop. Within months, a pro-U.S. government was installed. While the fighting was still underway, Reagan called Thatcher to apologize for not warning her in advance of his plan to invade Grenada, which is part of the British Commonwealth.
President Ronald Reagan: "If I were there, Margaret, I’d throw my hat in the door before I came in."
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: "There’s no need to do that."
Reagan went on to apologize for any "embarrassment" caused to Britain.
Slain Civil Rights Activists Among Winners of Presidential Medal of Freedom
Three civil rights activists murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964 after traveling to Mississippi to register black voters have been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner shocked the country and propelled the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Other recipients of this year’s Medal of Freedom include Chilean novelist Isabel Allende, Native American activist Suzan Harjo, and the actress and activist Marlo Thomas.
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