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President Obama has secretly extended the U.S. role in Afghanistan despite earlier promises to wind down America’s longest war. According to the New York Times, Obama has signed a classified order that ensures U.S. troops will have a direct role in fighting. In addition, the order reportedly enables American jets, bombers and drones to bolster Afghan troops on combat missions. And, under certain circumstances, it would apparently authorize U.S. air-strikes to support Afghan military operations throughout the country. The decision contradicts Obama’s earlier announcement that the U.S. military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year. Afghanistan’s new president Ashraf Ghani has also backed an expanded U.S. military role. Ghani, who took office in September, has also reportedly lifted limits on U.S. airstrikes and joint raids that his predecessor Hamid Karzai had put in place. We go to Kabul to speak with Dr. Hakim, a peace activist and physician who has provided humanitarian relief in Afghanistan for the last decade. We are also joined by Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who has just returned from Afghanistan.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: President Obama has secretly extended the U.S. role in Afghanistan despite earlier promises to wind down America’s longest war, this year. According to the New York Times, Obama signed a classified order that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting. In addition, the order reportedly enables American jets, bombers and drones to bolster Afghan troops on combat missions. And under certain circumstances, it would apparently authorize U.S. air-strikes to support Afghan military operations throughout the country. The decision contradicts Obama’s earlier announcement that the U.S. military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year. This is Obama speaking at the White House Rose Garden in May.
PRES. OBAMA: America’s combat mission will be over by the end of this year. Starting next year, Afghans will be fully responsible for securing their country. American personnel will be in an advisory role. We will no longer patrol Afghan cities or towns, mountains or valleys. That is a task for the Afghan people. Second, I’ve made it clear that we are open to cooperating with Afghans on two narrow missions after 2014. Training Afghan forces and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of Al Qaeda.
AMY GOODMAN: Under the new order, U.S. troops will be authorized to attack not just Al Qaeda, but the Taliban, the Haqqani network and other militants. President Obama reportedly backtracked from his decision to end the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan after a lengthy and heated debate within the White House. Top generals at the Pentagon and Afghanistan reportedly backed the expanded mission. Afghanistan’s new president, Ashraf Ghani, has also backed an expanded U.S. militant role. Ghani took office in September. He is also reportedly lifted limits on U.S. airstrikes in joint rates that his predecessor, Hamid Karzai, had put in place. Meanwhile, at least 40 people are dead in eastern Afghanistan after a suicide bomber attacked a volleyball match. According to the government of the province, at least 50 more were wounded at the tournament final. Most of the casualties were civilians. In a moment, we will be joined by two guests, we will be joined from Afghanistan by Dr. Hakim, a medical doctor who has provided humanitarian relief in Afghanistan for the last decade. And we will be joined by Kathy Kelly, a well-known peace activist, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. We’re going to go to break and then we will be joined by both of them in Chicago and Kabul, Afghanistan. Stay with us.
[Music Break]
AMY GOODMAN: Military Madness by Woods here on Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. To talk about President Obama’s secret order to extend the war in Afghanistan, we’re joined by two guests. Dr. Hakim, is a medical doctor who has provided humanitarian relief in Afghanistan for the last decade. He works with Afghan Peace Volunteers, an inter-ethnic group of young Afghans dedicated to building non-violent alternatives to war. Dr. Hakim is the 2012 recipient of the International Pfeffer Peace Prize. And in Chicago, is Kathy Kelly. She’s just back from Kabul, Afghanistan. She is Co-Coordinator for Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. Her recent article is headlined, "Obama Extends War in Afghanistan: The implications for U.S. democracy are not reassuring." We begin with Dr. Hakim who asked us not to show his face. Dr. Hakim, why don’t you want people to see your face?
DR. HAKIM: Well, security in Afghanistan has been deteriorating over the past few years in the face of the ongoing U.S.-NATO military strategy and for safety reasons I’d rather remain unrecognized.
AMY GOODMAN: So your concerns about the secret order that was just revealed in The New York Times that President Obama has signed onto, what has been the effect of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and what do you think about this latest development?
DR. HAKIM: Well, I think it is good to look at some of the databases that are available in the states itself, a global terrorism database done by the U.S. government and the University of Maryland has shown that since the beginning of the war against terror in 2001, the number of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and in the rest of the world, in Iraq, etc., has increased. And so, if we looked at the graph of that increase and thought of terrorism, or the war against terrorism, as a cancer that needs to be treated —- as a medical doctor I would say the graph shows that the war against terror in Afghanistan -—
AMY GOODMAN: We have just lost Dr. Hakim’s voice. We’re going to go back to him when we can. He is speaking to us from Kabul. Again he is not showing his face out of concern for his safety. Kathy Kelly, you’re just back from Kabul. Talk about your response to this latest news. We just played the clip of President Obama in May saying that the troops would be pulling out, and now the secret order.
KATHY KELLY: Thank you, Amy. I think probably Hakim wanted to continue by saying the war on terror has been a failure. And I think the U.S. public knows that. We learned about heated debate between the advisors to President Obama, but at what point does the court of public opinion consulted in any way? The news released on a Friday night, and was a leak that was disclosed to The New York Times, but apparently the decision was made weeks before the most recent elections. Is it possible that because the Obama administration knows how popular this war is? A CNN poll that had been released in 2013 said 82% of the U.S. public disapproved of continued war in Afghanistan. So in spite of the pledge that the war was going to end, we now find out that, in fact, the war is going to continue. In the Saturday issue of The New York Times, we then learn that, quietly, the new administration in Kabul, under President Ashraf Ghani, has decided to resume the night raids. They want to call them night operations instead of night raids. This is a tactic that doesn’t require big sprawling military bases, it requires joint special operations forces, drone support, the capacity to use helicopters. And this is, of course, what the United States is now promising. The night raids are despised tactic. I think it is import for people in the United States, just to try and imagine if people break into your home while helicopters are hovering overhead and suddenly the women in the household are locked up and the men are subjected to brutality, and maybe a crossfire does break out, maybe there are Taliban people that are going to attack while the forces are there and civilians are killed, and you can’t get them to the hospital, and this utter nightmare is taking place. Your home is being torn apart. Some people are going to be taken away and disappeared for months and months under interrogation and possible torture. Of course, nobody would want this to resume in their country, and it is sure to prolong and exacerbate the war.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Hakim, I think we have your audio back. I expect it is going to go in and out as we speak to you in Kabul. But, your new president, Ghani, has called for this extension, apparently. What is your response to him?
DR. HAKIM: Well, the news reports in Kabul in the past 54, 56 days since President Ashraf Ghani’s inauguration has shown that there have been about 41 street-side bombing attacks across the country and 24 of those in Kabul. So, I think President Ashraf Ghani is caught in the same military madness that the entire U.S.-NATO coalition, and the world, is caught up in. I tried to say earlier and my voice was lost in transmission that a global terrorism database by the U.S. government and the University of Maryland showed that the number of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and across the world has increased since the war against terror began in 2001. So, as a medical humanitarian person, I would say that the world’s strategy in treating terrorism has failed and we ought to re-examine and so does President Ashraf Ghani.
AMY GOODMAN: And the effects on the ground, Dr. Hakim, of this war. Can you tell us what’s happening? When we were trying to communicate with you by e-mail, you said, sorry, today is a no electricity day in my house. Explain the conditions on the ground.
DR. HAKIM: I think it would be good to give listeners a sense of what is happening in this country, devastated by four decades of war and a continued military strategy. By looking at what the World Health Organization announced in September as the suicide rate among Afghans. Afghans on the ground in the daily living are not coping. In this year, up to September, there have been more than 4000 Afghans, both men and women, who have set themselves on fire — self immolation. And another 4000 that have tried to poison themselves and kill themselves through drugs and poison. So we are in a situation where the people have problems with their basic human needs of food and water, chronic malnutrition has always been a problem, certainly not helped by war. And then the other basic services that ought to be available for Afghans —- health care, work. Unemployment is officially at 36%, probably more. Some figures by local afghan labor organizations put it as high as 80%. So you have hungry, angry people who are unemployed and who are killing themselves. So, on the ground, we know that this war against terror in Afghanistan has been failing from year to year. The number of civilian casualties reported -—
AMY GOODMAN: We’ve just lost Dr. Hakim again in Kabul. But I think it is worth continually going back when we get him. Kathy Kelly, if you could continue his thought.
KATHY KELLY: Well, along with the concern for civilian casualties and the mothers who weep and say, I can’t feed my children, and the thousands of children that are on the streets as child laborers — 6000 children in Kabul alone — I mean, Amnesty International had reported that the war was displacing 400 people every day. And there are squalid, retched refugee camps as people are facing a very, very cold winter. The Pentagon has requested $58.3 billion for fiscal year 2015 alone for war in Afghanistan. These resources go to the hands of war profiteers and weapons makers and enormous expenditures by the Pentagon.
I just read about November 23 request and the Pentagon for $7,800,000 to beef up the Kandahar and Kabul airports which will, of course, allow them to engage in the night raids and the drone attacks and the air attacks. The suffering that this causes for the people in Afghanistan is lost on the U.S. public. There was an August Amnesty International report that details ten case studies that are just gruesome and chilling, horrific, telling about the situations of civilians who have been killed by United States forces. Of course, this should be entered into the U.S. media. It should be something U.S. people are talking about, and not a war that gets continued because of furtive movements on a Friday night.
AMY GOODMAN: Kathy, I wanted to ask you about a new analysis of corporate TV news that’s found there’s almost no debate about whether the United States — in this case it was go to war in Iraq and Syria, but I think you could certainly extend that to Afghanistan. The group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, or FAIR, found of that the more than 200 guests that appeared on network shows to discuss the topics, just six voiced opposition to military action. On the high-profile Sunday talk shows, out of 89 guests, there was just one antiwar voice. It was Katrina vanden Heuvel of The Nation. I just want to go to a snippet of the clips of voices that appear in corporate media outlets.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Here’s what I’m tired of hearing from this administration and my friends on the other side and within my party, that this is somehow easy and really not our fight.
ED RENDELL: They have to act swiftly because the President made a good point. He believes he has the authority to do this on his own, and so do I.
BOB SHIEFFER: So you’re talking about a massive response? Not hitting one target but hitting as many as possible.
HENRY KISSINGER: I think when an American is murdered on television for the purpose of terrorizing Americans, there should be a response that you can, you would not analyze in terms of a normal response to provocation.
BILL KRISTOL: You can’t imagine the fight against Isis going in such a way that we would say, you know what? This thing is on the cusp and we need to send in 3000 U.S. — or 5000 U.S. combat ground troops to win this thing?
JAY CARNEY: Well, but again, that would be saying specifically only 5000, not 5005
BILL CRYSTAL: No, it wouldn’t, it would be saying — it would be leaving the option open which is what a serious commander in chief does.
JAY CARNEY: I think the short hand that a lot of people use about no boots on the ground is semantically problematic, because obviously, there would be American military personnel with their boots on the ground.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that was Jay Carney, the former spokesperson for Obama and before that the Bill Kristol and Henry Kissinger, Bob Schieffer the CBS news anchor, the former governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell and Lindsey Graham, the U.S. Senator. Just some of the voices. But, again, the overwhelming majority of voices on television, the range of the debate is boots on the ground or just bomb. Rarely, almost never do you hear someone say do not attack. And yet, clearly even within the White House, the debate that went on according to The New York Times, because this was revealed by The New York Times in this late revelation of a secret order signed by President Obama to continue the war in Afghanistan, there was a debate within the White House that sounds like much more than we hear on television. Kathy, you’ve been going back and forth to Iraq and Afghanistan. I’m sure it is well over 100 times. Your thoughts on what this public debate would mean and what that sounds like in Afghanistan? We’ll ask Dr. Hakim that question.
KATHY KELLY: Well, isn’t it amazing that in spite of what is such a vice like grip on education of the U.S. public that’s maintained by the military and by the very cooperative media, that you do get these huge percentages of the U.S. public who nevertheless believe that these wars have been failures, who don’t want to see the wars continue. You know, 94% of the U.S. public reportedly knew about the beheadings of men whose names I know by heart, and I was living in Afghanistan with barely any electricity or news coverage but I knew that Steven Sotloff and David Haines and James Foley had been killed. But people in the United States don’t know the names or the circumstances of children whose bodies were torn apart by drone attacks. They will never, ever know the names of the half-million children in Iraq who were starved to death because of economic sanctions. We need to be literate in those realities as well and the conditions endured by people who can’t escape our wars. And not to be made aware of that, is dangerous for the security of people in the United States. Because other people in other parts of the world are furious, they’re enraged, and they don’t want to continue subjecting themselves to the United States menace of our military.
AMY GOODMAN: Kathy, how many times have you been in Iraq and Afghanistan?
KATHY KELLY: Well, I traveled to Iraq 27 times during the period of economic sanctions. And you know, NPR, at one point, told us, we will never give you or you organization a platform. Well we weren’t looking to call attention to ourselves. We just wanted them to go inside the hospitals and be with mothers and children who would never emerge with a healthy baby leaving the hospital. I guess I’ve been to Afghanistan about 16 times. Sometimes that was because you could only get a one-month visa, so I might go out and go back in. But I’ve been so fortunate to live with Afghan peace volunteers and with Hakim who’s steady guidance and translation is always available to us. And with some very fine people from other parts of the world who’ve also gone over there. And by being with them, you get an entirely different perspective on the effects of the war, on the realities of poverty and displacement, and also your living with young people who themselves have lost immediate members of their family, who themselves spent time in refugee camps, and yet there they are like young social workers fanning out trying to find who are the neediest people for distribution of 3,000 duvets that they’ve enlisted widows and impoverished women to make. And they’re trying really, really hard to overcome.
AMY GOODMAN: Kathy, you have been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize several times. You have into Iraq and Afghanistan scores of times. How many times have you been invited on the high-profile Sunday talk shows on television?
KATHY KELLY: Zero.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to Dr. Hakim for a moment, as you described working with him in Afghanistan. Dr. Hakim, what is the alternative to war in your country?
DR. HAKIM: Well, I think that young people everywhere, not just young Afghans, have got to wake up every day and build those viable alternatives to war, which means ban wars and weapons within their homes, communities, religious workplaces, farms, restaurants, shop houses. And there are places in Afghanistan in the midst of this war that have banned wars, like emergency hospital and the Border-free Nonviolence Center of the Afghan Peace Volunteers. That is one thing that they can do practically. There are many other related issues that young people can take action on. They can refrain from using fossil fuel energy. Because a lot of the wars in the Middle East and in this part of the world is really a war over resources like fossil fuels, gas and oil. If we do our daily part, that would help. And then in the area of learning, people have got to realize that the lack of debate we have just talked about shows that we are learning the wrong things. We only hear the war and military narrative. We need to be more curious, imaginative. We need to learn ways in which we can serve humanity, not get the profit. There many other practical things that people can do a daily basis, both in Kabul, Afghanistan, and in the rest of the world. And I would like to encourage everybody to do it. I’ve seen the Afghan Peace Volunteers try, despite the difficulties, so can American youth.
AMY GOODMAN: I’m looking at a piece from Common Dreams that is responding to the piece in The Times that made it clear what President Obama did, quoting him in the Rose Garden, saying "American personnel will be in an advisory role after this year, we will no longer patrol Afghan cities, towns, mountains, or valleys. That’s the task for the Afghan people." That he said in May. And then, Common Dreams staff writes, "never mind, the president has now quietly authorized and expanded role for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. The New York Times reported last night that Obama’s decision is a result of a lengthy and heated debate between the promise Mr. Obama made to end the war in Afghanistan versus the demands of the Pentagon. The Pentagon won. An official told The Times that the military pretty much got what it wanted. Obama has also given the war in Afghanistan a new name, operation Resolute Support." Dr. Hakim, your response to operation Resolute Support?
DR. HAKIM: Well, before this was called operation Enduring Freedom, and the change of name doesn’t change the basic predominant strategy, which is kill, kill, kill. That hasn’t been a change in the strategy. There hasn’t been any other options. This decision to expand the mission here is not even a new decision. In 2009, there was another decision that Obama had to make and that was whether to increase the number of troops by 30,000 American soldiers. And in the account by Bob Woodworth in the book "Obama’s Wars," Bob Woodworth described how that process happen for Obama in the White House. Obama had to tell his war cabinet, had to ask them, why is there no other option? There was only one option, and that is the military option. So Resolute Support is just a rehash of the same military option, the same war against terrorism which has failed. And so it is going to fail.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us. Dr. Hakim, I want to thank you. Dr. Hakim is a medical doctor who has provided humanitarian relief in Afghanistan for the last decade. He works with Afghan Peace Volunteers, an inter-ethnic group of young Afghans dedicated to building non-violent alternatives to war. In 2012, he won the international Pfeffer Peace Prize. And in Chicago, Kathy Kelly is co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. She just back from Kabul. And Dr. Hakim, I look forward to seeing her face one day without fear. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Albert Woodfox — that name may not be familiar to you, but yet another court in Louisiana has said he should be freed. How is it that he has remained in solitary confinement for 42 years? Stay with us.
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Longest-Serving U.S. Prisoner in Solitary Ordered Free Again, But State Obstruction Bars His Release
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling ordering Louisiana to release Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who has spent more than 40 years in solitary confinement, longer than any prisoner in the United States. Woodfox and the late Herman Wallace, another prisoner of the "Angola 3," were convicted of murdering a guard at Angola Prison. The Angola 3 and their supporters say they were framed for their political activism. A federal judge ruled last year that Woodfox should be set free on the basis of racial discrimination in his retrial. It was the third time Woodfox’s conviction has been overturned, but prosecutors have negated the victories with a series of appeals. Thursday’s ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the order for Woodfox’s release in a unanimous decision. But prosecutors could still delay its enforcement with more appeals to keep Woodfox behind bars. We are joined by two guests: Robert King, a member of the Angola 3 who spent 29 years in solitary confinement for a murder he did not commit; and Carine Williams, a lawyer for Albert Woodfox with the firm Squire Patton Boggs.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: As We turn now to new developments in a case Democracy Now! has been following for years. A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling ordering Louisiana to release Albert Woodfox, a former Black Panther who has spent more than 42 years in solitary confinement, longer than any prisoner in the United States. In an editorial over the weekend, the New York Times referred to his confinement as "barbaric beyond measure." Woodfox and the late Herman Wallace, another prisoner of the Angola 3, were convicted of murdering a guard at Angola Prison. The Angola 3 and their supporters say they were framed for their political activism. A federal judge ruled last year Albert Woodfox should be set free on the basis of racial discrimination in his retrial. It was the third time Woodfox’s conviction was overturned, but prosecutors have negated the victories with a series of appeals. Thursday’s ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the order for Woodfox’s release in a unanimous decision. But prosecutors could still delay its enforcement with more appeals to keep Woodfox behind bars. In 2010, the documentary "In the Land of the Free" featured a clip of Albert Woodfox speaking on a phone in prison.
ALBERT WOODFOX: If a cause is noble enough you can carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. And I thought that my cause, then and now, was noble. So, therefore, they could never break me. They might bend me a little bit. They may cause me a lot of pain. They may even take my life, but they will never be able to break me.
AMY GOODMAN: Albert Woodfox in his own words. To talk more about these developments with the last incarcerated member of the Angola 3, we’re joined by two guests. In Austin, we’ll be joined by Robert King, a member of the Angola 3, who spent 29 years in solitary confinement for a murder he did not commit. He was released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned. We’re also joined here in New York by Carine Williams, a lawyer for Albert Woodfox, and an attorney with the firm Squire Patton Boggs. We welcome you, Carine, to Democracy Now!. You were with Albert when word came down from the court on Thursday?
CARINE WILLIAMS: I was, I already had an attorney-client visit planned, and the decision came down about three minutes before my flight landed. so, I tried to reach George Kendall, another attorney on the case, and confirm that in fact the ruling in the District Court had been affirmed by the Fifth Circuit, and then stopped at a hotel lobby on the way out of Shreveport airport to print the case to bring to Albert and went as fast as I could to the prison, mindful of all of the speed traps on the road.
AMY GOODMAN: And what did Albert say?
CARINE WILLIAMS: At first there weren’t whole lot of words. As soon as I walked in we both just broke out into huge smiles. This has been a long, long time coming. It’s something that we all expected because the law was right on our side and the facts were on our side, but it has been such a long road that we just had to take a moment to savor it.
AMY GOODMAN: So, please, take us on that road. Explain how it is that Albert Woodfox has been in solitary confinement longer than any prisoner in the United States — 42 years — though court after court says he should be freed.
CARINE WILLIAMS: There really is no explanation for it. I mean it is just a matter of retaliatory barbarism.
AMY GOODMAN: How did he end up in jail?
CARINE WILLIAMS: Albert Woodfox originally went to prison on an armed robbery charge. He was then, while in prison, convicted of killing a corrections officer. During the investigation of that killing, he was put into solitary confinement. He never has been released from solitary confinement. There have been two intervening periods where he was retried in 1998. He held in a parish facility for three years in the general population. At that point, no incidents whatsoever. Once the conviction was gotten for the second time, again without a fair trial, he was put back into solitary confinement. In 2008, he was put into a dorm for about eight to nine months. When we got relief on his ineffective assistance counsel — of counsel claims, at that point we sought bail in what we believe was a retaliatory move, they moved him out of the dorm and back into solitary for no legitimate penological reason.
AMY GOODMAN: And explain the case within the prison, when he was brought up on charges of murder — attempted murder of a guard.
AMY GOODMAN: In 1972, I think for a little context, conditions at Angola were atrocious. There was in an inordinate amount of violence between — among inmates, among guards. Albert and Herman, Herman Wallace being the third member of the Angola 3 who passed away last year after having his conviction overturned, began organizing inmates as members of the Black Panther party and their primary goal in organizing inmates was to protect others from prison rape. And so, that earned them the ire of an administration that was itself under a big change. They had been ordered to integrate their prison administration, so there were some antagonisms and frictions among the prison officials and guards. And then when this terrible murder happened, I mean it is truly a tragic crime, they were automatically, immediately fingered as the culprits without any evidence whatsoever. And a number of people who are affiliated with that Black Panther chapter in prison were put into solitary confinement.
AMY GOODMAN: Even the guards wife has said that they should be freed. Even when Herman was alive, she did not believe that they were responsible for the guard’s death.
CARINE WILLIAMS: That’s right, Amy. Anybody who looks —
AMY GOODMAN: Let me play Teenie Verret, the wife of the guard, the widow of the murdered prison guard. She was just 17 when her husband, Brent Miller, was stabbed to death in 1972. This is Teenie Verret from the documentary "In the Land of the Free."
TEENIE VERRET: I have been living this for 36 years. There is not a year that goes by that I don’t have to relive this. It just keeps going and going. And these men — I mean, if they did not do this, and I believe that they didn’t, they have been living a nightmare for 36 years.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Teenie Verret, the widow of the guard.
CARINE WILLIAMS: This case, if you look at it, the state’s case has always been weak. It was weak in 1972 when the conviction originally happened. They could not get that conviction without cheating, without violating the constitutional safeguards of a fair trial. They had a second chance in 1998. Again, they could not get a fair conviction against Mr. Woodfox that the 5th Circuit just found on Thursday.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined by Robert King in Austin, member of the Angola 3 who himself spent 29 years in solitary confinement for a murder he didn’t commit, released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned. Has written a book about his experience called, "From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King." Robert, it’s great to have you back on Democracy Now! Can you respond to the court’s decision, yet again, on Thursday for Albert Woodfox to be released?
ROBERT KING: Yes, thank you, Amy, it is good to be here again. Yes, I can only reiterate what Carine has said and alluded to that Albert was overjoyed. I talked to him yesterday, and we’re thinking this decision here puts him closer to his freedom. As, again alluded to by Carine, this case was weak from jump street and has been overturned many times. Based not just on procedural defaults — I’m sure the court had other things in mind. But, it was overturned on procedural default. And the Attorney General seems to take this as a green light to continue this atrocious prosecution of Albert Woodfox, and we’re thinking this — that it’s high time that the state let it go. There is nothing else that can be done. Albert has proven time and time again that he is actually innocent of this crime. All the evidence shows he was innocent of this crime, that he should not have even been convicted — or should not have even been charged with this crime.
AMY GOODMAN: So the question is, what happens now, Carine? So, the court ruled that exactly — what?
CARINE WILLIAMS: The court ruled that the conviction is a bad conviction and that he has to be released or re-tried. So the ball in terms of what happens now is in effect in the state’s court again. They have a few options. They can appeal, seek a rehearing of this panel. They can seek en banc review of the whole 5th Circuit, or they can appeal to the Supreme Court. They could also decide that enough is enough, that Mr. Woodfox has served 42 hard years in Louisiana prison and this is no longer a wise use of the state’s resources.
AMY GOODMAN: Robert King, we had you on talking about Herman Wallace who prayed he could be free to die as a free man, and he was taken out at the prison at the last minute as he lay dying. Judge ordering his release, demanding the warden release him or perhaps be imprisoned himself. He was taken out on a gurney and he died a free man. You and Albert Woodfox — Albert Woodfox in chains — were brought to say goodbye to Herman Wallace. Is that right?
ROBERT KING: Yes. In fact, we were allowed to visit Herman on the day, as Carine pointed out, she was there at the time and she told him his conviction had been overturned. Herman, on the day, as Carine pointed out, she was there at the time and she told him that his conviction had been overturned. And Albert and I were there and we were also able to inform Herman and let Herman know that the case of an overturned and that, not only that his case had been overturned, but that he would be released that same day from prison. And I think he recognized this. So Herman did — he died unconvicted, a man free from murder.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to end with Albert Woodfox’s own words. He bent down in his chains and kissed him on the forehead as he said goodbye. But this is his own words from the 2010 documentary. The words of Albert Woodfox in "The Land of the Free."
ALBERT WOODFOX: Our primary objective is that front gate. That is what we are struggling for, and we are actually fighting for our freedom. We are fighting for people to understand that we were framed.
RECORDED VOICE: This call originates from a Louisiana correctional facility and may be recorded or monitored.
ALBERT WOODFOX: That we were framed for a murder that we are totally and completely and actually innocent of.
RECORDED VOICE: You have 15 seconds left on this call.
ALBERT WOODFOX: Let me call you back.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Albert Woodfox, and that’s where we are going to have to leave it until we speak to him live on Democracy Now! I want to thank Robert King, a member of the Angola 3. We will continue our conversation and post it online at democracynow.org. And Carine Williams, the lawyer for Albert Woodfox, an attorney with the firm Squire Patton Boggs.
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Ferguson Braces for Grand Jury Decision in Michael Brown Case
Protests continue in the St. Louis area as a grand jury nears a decision in the police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. The grand jury is set to reconvene today as it weighs whether to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson. This weekend saw rallies in Ferguson and the neighboring community of Shaw amid expectations of an imminent announcement. At least eight schools in the Ferguson area have closed in anticipation. Wilson has been in talks with Ferguson officials on resigning from the police force even if he is not indicted. He has also met privately and off-the-record with a number of prominent news anchors to discuss a potential interview.
Obama, Holder Address Ferguson Protests Ahead of Grand Jury Decision
President Obama addressed the pending grand jury decision in an interview this weekend with ABC. Obama urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
President Obama: "I think, first and foremost, keep protests peaceful. This is a country that allows everybody to express their views, but using any event as an excuse for violence, is contrary to rule of law and contrary to who we are. What I’ve asked [Attorney General] Eric Holder to do, is to not just engage with the folks in Ferguson but to engage nationally in a conversation between law enforcement and communities of color that oftentimes feel as if they are not being treated fairly by law enforcement official."
In a video statement on Friday, Holder unveiled new recommendations for law enforcement agencies on the handling of protests.
Attorney General Eric Holder: "The Justice Department encourages law enforcement officials, in every jurisdiction, to work with the communities they serve to minimize needless confrontation. Now of course, I recognize that progress will not come easily, and long-simmering tensions will not be cooled overnight. These struggles go to the heart of who we are and who we aspire to be both as a nation and as a people and it is clear that we still that we have a great deal of important work left to do."
The FBI and other federal agencies have sent dozens of agents and officials to Ferguson ahead of the grand jury’s decision. On Sunday, the St. Louis County Circuit Court said there is no guarantee grand jury evidence in the case will be made public after a decision is reached.
Cleveland Police Fatally Shoot 12-Year Old Boy Holding Toy Pellet Gun
As Ferguson waits to see if Officer Wilson will be charged, at least two more unarmed African-Americans have been killed in police shootings nationwide. On Saturday, 12-year old Tamir Rice was shot dead in a Cleveland park. Rice had been playing with a toy gun. Witnesses had called police warning he was waving it around, but at least one also stressed it was "probably fake." An officer ordered Rice to put his hands up but then shot him when he reached for the toy. Rice’s killing comes months after police in Beavercreek, Ohio fatally shot 22-year old John Crawford after he picked up a toy gun inside a Wal-Mart.
NPYD Officer Kills Unarmed African-American in Housing Project
Meanwhile in New York City, an unarmed African-American was shot dead by police in a Brooklyn housing project Thursday night. Akai Gurley was in the dimly-lit stairwell of the Louis H. Pink Houses when he came across two officers. Police say the shooting appears to have been accidental and that Gurley was "totally innocent." Protesters are calling for the officer’s arrest. On Saturday, New York assemblyman-elect Charles Barron helped lead a march from the shooting scene to the police office for housing developments.
Charles Barron: "This is an outrage. We are angry, there’s no way, no way a young man in a stairwell with two heavily armed police officers, and he’s unarmed, should be dead. This is madness, it must stop. People are outraged. This is happening all over the country. They have no value for black life. I don’t want to hear nothing about a dimly lit stairwell. I don’t want to hear nothing about him being startled. This young man should still be alive today."
The officer, Peter Liang, has been placed on modified duty pending the outcome of an investigation.
Obama Signs Executive Order on Immigration, Urges GOP to "Pass a Bill"
President Obama has signed his historic executive order granting temporary legal status to over 4 million undocumented immigrants, protecting them from deportation. On Friday, Obama followed his action with a rally in Las Vegas, where he repeated his call for Congressional passage of comprehensive reform.
President Obama: "Las Vegas, I’ve come back to Del Sol to tell you I’m not giving up. I will never give up. I will never give up. I will not give up. So we’re not giving up. We’re going to keep on working with members of Congress to make permanent reform a reality. But until that day comes, there are actions I have the legal authority to take that will help make our immigration system more fair and more just, and this morning I began to take some of those actions."
Republicans have vowed to challenge Obama’s executive action when they take control of Congress next year. Potential methods include lawsuits,
blocking executive-branch and judicial nominees, and using spending bills to defund implementation. In an interview on Sunday, President Obama said his response to Republicans is to "pass a bill."
Obama Extends U.S. Combat Role in Afghanistan With Secret Order
President Obama has secretly extended the U.S. role in Afghanistan despite earlier promises to wind down America’s longest war. According to the New York Times, Obama has signed a classified order that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting. In addition, the order reportedly enables American jets, bombers and drones to bolster Afghan troops on combat missions. And, under certain circumstances, it would apparently authorize American air-strikes to support Afghan military operations throughout the country. The decision contradicts Obama’s earlier announcement that the American military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year.
Suicide Bombing Kills Dozens in Afghanistan
Meanwhile at least 40 people have been killed in eastern Afghanistan after a suicide bomber attacked a volleyball match. According to the government of the province, at least 50 more were wounded at the tournament final. Most of the casualties were civilians.
Iran Nuclear Talks Reportedly Extended as Deadline Passes
Iran and six world powers including the U.S. are expected to miss a self-imposed deadline of today for reaching a nuclear deal in the latest round of talks. A long-term agreement would allow Iranian uranium enrichment and relief from crippling U.S.-led sanctions in return for extensive international inspections. But the U.S. has already floated the idea of extending the talks with the two sides still far apart. Key issues include the parameters for Iran’s enrichment program, the timetable for easing sanctions, and how long the deal would last. The extended talks are expected to resume next month in Oman.
Boko Haram Kills Dozens in Nigeria Attack
Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by the militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria. The victims were residents of a northeastern fishing port and were reportedly shot on sight.
Al-Shabaab Kills 28 in Kenya Bus Shooting
Meanwhile in Kenya, at least 28 people were killed on Saturday when al-Shabaab militants attacked a bus in the town of Mandera. The Kenyan government says its killed dozens of fighters in a retaliatory operation.
Israel Cabinet Approves Measure to Codify Israel as Jewish Nation-State
The Israeli cabinet has approved a measure that would legally define Israel as the state of the Jewish people, not of its citizens. Israel has always defined itself that way but the bill would codify that into its Basic Laws. The full Israeli parliament will vote on the law later this week.
GOP-Controlled Panel Rejects Right Wing Claims on Benghazi
A report from a Republican-led House panel has debunked Republican accusations about wrongdoing by the Obama administration after the fatal 2012 attacks on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. The report from the House Intelligence Committee follows five other reports which also found the administration did not purposefully provide misleading information. The report comes six months after House Speaker John Boehner created a special panel with a budget of $3.3 million to probe the Benghazi attacks. Democrats accuse them of mounting a witch-hunt in an attempt to tarnish the reputation of Hillary Clinton, the presumed frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016.
University of Virginia Suspends Fraternities in Row over Sexual Assault, Impunity
The University of Virginia has suspended its fraternities following an article that revealed a pattern of sexual assault and impunity. The report in the magazine Rolling Stone focuses on a student named Jackie who was gang-raped at a fraternity during her first year on campus. After she reported the rape to the head of the school’s Sexual Misconduct Board, the administration took no action, not even to warn students of a potential risk. Jackie later encountered two other women who said they were victims of gang rapes by the same frat. After the article went viral, Rolling Stone received what it called a “stunning” response from readers sharing their own stories of sexual assault at UVA. School president Teresa Sullivan called the article’s revelations “appalling,” and announced the fraternities would be suspended until the start of next semester – a period of less than two months.
Dozens Arrested Opposing Pipeline Expansion in Western Canada
Dozens of people have been arrested near Vancouver, Canada in a blockade against test drilling for an extended oil pipeline. Protesters have camped out on Burnaby Mountain to stop the company Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline, which brings tar sands oil from Alberta to Canada’s West Coast. Protester Tamo Campos spoke out after his arrest.
Tamo Campos: "Why are we putting our economic system — the market — above the very ecology that we all depend upon? We’re more dependent on clean water, fresh air and clean soil than the market! It’s the thing that keeps us alive. We have to stand up to unjust laws — to make those the laws, because those are the laws that have always governed our lives. And indigenous people have had natural laws that predate colonial laws by thousands of years, and we need to respect that."
Campos is the grandson of the prominent Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki. An 11-year old girl was also among those detained on Sunday.
Hundreds Rally at Georgia Detention Center, Ft. Benning
Hundreds of people rallied outside Fort Benning in Georgia over the weekend for the annual protest calling for the closure of a controversial military training base. Formerly known as the School of the Americas, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation has been used to train Latin American soldiers in combat, counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics. Protesters included Courtney Collins, a youth activist from New Jersey.
Courtney Collins: "I definitely had to tell all my teachers before we left that I wasn’t going to be in school for the next two days. And when they asked why I was going down to Georgia, I said I was going on a protest for SOA. I explained it as a school where they take in people from Third World countries and train them in democracy but they’re really teaching them how to torture people. They send them back down and they’re major contributors in genocide and awful situations."
On Saturday, protesters also rallied miles away at the privately-owned Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, one of the nation’s largest prisons for undocumented immigrants. At least five people were arrested.
Ohio Man Freed After 39 Years on Wrongful Conviction; Longest-Held U.S. Prisoner to Be Exonerated
An Ohio man has been freed from prison after spending 39 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Ricky Jackson, a 59-year old African-American man, had been jailed since 1975 on a murder conviction. The prosecution’s case was based on the testimony of a 13-year old witness. After a 2011 investigation, the witness recanted his testimony, saying he had implicated Jackson and two others under police coercion. The witness, Eddy Vernon, said police had fed him the story and threatened him with the arrest of his parents if he didn’t cooperate. On Friday, Ricky Jackson was freed after prosecutors dropped the case.
Ricky Jackson: "How does it feel? Extraordinary. Needless to say, you know, words can’t express what I feel right now. I’m just glad to be out, glad to be a free man."
Reporter: "What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?"
Ricky Jackson: "Wow. I mean, you know, you sit in prison for so long and you think about this day. But when it actually comes, you don’t know what to do, you just want to do something besides what you’ve been doing for 39 years."
Reporter: "When you heard the judge say an hour ago you’re a free man, goodbye, talk about what you were feeling. What was going on that we couldn’t see?"
Ricky Jackson: "I mean, it was like an emotional rollercoaster. It was just, I mean, the English language doesn’t fit what I’m feeling now. I’m just on an emotional high right now.
With nearly four decades wrongfully behind bars, Jackson is the longest-held U.S. prisoner to be exonerated. Another defendant who served slightly less time, Wiley Bridgeman, has also been released.
Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry Dies at 78
And former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry has died at the age of 78. Barry served four terms as D.C. mayor, making a 1994 comeback after being jailed for smoking crack cocaine in an FBI sting. Though known for substance abuse problems and allegations of cronyism, Barry was celebrated as a brave organizer during the Civil Rights movement and as the nation’s first African-American activist mayor. Washington, D.C. mayor-elect Muriel Bowser paid tribute on Sunday.
Muriel Bowser: "We will miss Mayor Marion Barry. He has been an inspiration to so many people, and a fighter for people, and a champion for people of ward 8. Mr. Barry, I can say this, lived up to the minute, the way he wanted to live. And he has left a strong legacy for so many young people to follow."
In a statement, President Obama said: "As a leader with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Marion helped advance the cause of civil rights for all. During his decades in elected office in D.C., he put in place historic programs to lift working people out of poverty."
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