Juan Cole on Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Iraqi Elections and the Future of Islamic Law in Iraq
Iraq’s leading Shiite political slate has nominated physician and former exile Ibrahim al-Jaafari to be the nation’s next prime minister. The United Iraqi Alliance selected Jafari after the other main contender – Ahmad Chalabi – withdrew from the race.
Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) on the Iraq War & the Bush Presidency
On Sunday the founder of ‘gonzo’ journalism, died at the age of 67 of an apparent suicide. Today we are air a Jan. 2003 interview Thompson gave on KDNK in the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado. An excerpt: "Bush is really the evil one here and it is more than just him. We are the Nazis in this game and I don’t like it. I am embarrassed and I am pissed off. I mean to say something. I think a lot of people in this country agree with me – a lot than that are saying anything…we’ll see what happens to me if I get my head cut off next week — it is always unknown or bushy-haired strangers who commit suicide right afterwards with no witnesses."
Jailed War Resister Camilo Mejia Speaks Out After Spending Nine Months in Military Prison
Today we speak with one the country’s first conscientious objector’s to the war in Iraq. He offered to testify before Congress about the abuse of detainees he saw in Iraq, instead he was the first soldier court-martialed for desertion. He was sentenced to a year in military prison. Today Camilo Mejia joins us in his first broadcast interview since getting out of prison.