Following a suggestion by Left I on the News, I downloaded a couple Democracy Now! programs to listen to over the weekend. I’m glad I did. If those two shows are any indication of its ongoing quality, Air America has a long way to go. Just take the March 31 program as an example.
First, there was an interview with the FBI translator who claims there was plenty of info prior to 9-11 that al Queda was planning on striking with airplanes. Yet even more interesting ws an interview with Robert Fisk, chief middle east correspondent for the London Independent. Not only was this as the news about Fallujah was developing, it contained what to me was a highly fascinating insight into the “private security” forces at work in Iraq. Fisk reported meeting with an American named Jeff who worked for one of these entities. According to him,
At night the U.S. troops [in Baghdad’s secure “green zone”] are protected by ample security men. In other words, mercenaries are now paid to protect American troops. Outside of these mercenary forces are Iraqis who are armed and paid by the Americans. So, what you have is a kind of double sandbag. You have first of all Iraqis with weapons defending the Americans. Then security service men or security company men or mercenaries, if you like, and then after that, the Americans. It seems that the intention is to save American lives. And use the hired men and indeed Iraqis as sandbags.
Leave it to the Bushies to hire Iraqis and Americans to hold down the military death toll in an election year. And will you hear about this in the mainstream U.S. media? Never.
There are no area stations carrying the program. You can, however, listen on streaming audio from various radio affiliates. Or it provides its own link to archives of for both radio and TV. Give it a listen.
