August 23, 2005
TOPIC: Bomb Blasts in Bangladesh
GUESTS: Rezwan, Bangladesh blogger
On August 18th, 459 bombs went off within 30 minutes all over the nation of Bangladesh, in all 63 districts. The bombs were home-made and filled with sawdust. Remarkably only 2 people were killed – but over a 100 injured. Police arrested more than 50 people in connection with the bombings. Leaflets calling for the imposition of Islamic Law by the banned group the Jumatul Mujahedin were found at a number of explosion sites. This February, the Bangladesh government had outlawed the group along with another organization, Jagrata Muslim Janata for alleged killings, robberies and bomb attacks. I spoke earlier this morning with Rezwan, a blogger from Bangladesh who had been reporting the blasts and reactions to the blasts on his blog, Third World View.
Visit Rezwan’s blog at rezwanul.blogspot.com.
TOPIC: Empire Notes
GUESTS: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade
We go now to our weekly commentary Empire Notes by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Rahul’s website is www.empirenotes.org.
TOPIC: Human Rights Violations in the Philippines
GUESTS: Melissa Roxas, International Solidarity Mission
Human rights activists from 18 countries are urging their governments to withdraw support for Philippines President Gloria Arroyo. Australian media is reporting that the International Solidarity Mission has found more than 4,000 cases of human rights violations committed by the Arroyo administration. The activists say they have verified extreme cases of abuse including abduction, murder, the torture of children, disappearances and forced evacuations.
TOPIC: Update on Iraq Constitution
GUESTS: Antonia Juhasz, author of the forthcoming book, "The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time."
Iraqi Shi’ites and Kurds reached an agreement yesterday, just hours before the deadline on a draft constitution. Associated Press said the two groups were now trying to sell the deal to the Sunni minority in an afternoon session. Iraqi television quoted Vice-President Adil Abdul-Mahdi as saying that “major breakthroughs” had been made and that the draft would be submitted to parliament on Monday. Questions of federalism, the distribution of Iraq’s oil wealth, and power-sharing issues remain to be worked out with the Sunnis. The White House welcomed the progress with White House spokesman Scott McClellan saying "We welcome today's development as another step forward in Iraq's constitutional process… The progress made over the past week has been impressive, with consensus reached on most provisions through debate, dialogue, and compromise.”
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