Newscast for Thursday, September 30, 2010

Police protest in Ecuador destabilizes central government
Thousands have poured into the streets of Ecuador in response to an apparent coup attempt by members of the police. What began as a large police protest over wage bonuses rapidly escalated into acts of violence against top officials - including President Rafael Correa. Police launched tear gas at the president soon after he addressed a crowd of protestors.

Rebel police have spread out across the streets of Quito and Guayaquil and the Air Force has reportedly taken over the capitol's international airport and air base.

Schools and banks have closed and public transportation has all but stopped.

Ecuador's Minister of Internal Security Miguel Carvajal described the situation earlier today.

"We want to be emphatic; there are interests here provoking an uneasiness and we call upon the police and the armed forced to not allow themselves to be used. These interests are in a clear process of affecting institutions. I want to say this clearly; institutionality is being affected, there have been acts of violence against the president of the republic, acts of violence against the Minister of the Interior, acts of violence against high-ranking officials. Ladies and gentlemen, we are witnessing a process of a process of the suffocation of democracy. We are seeing a process of destabilization."

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was taken to a hospital after the tear gas attack, where he spoke by phone to South American public media.

"This is a conspiracy that's been developing over a lot of time. I prefer to death over losing my life. And "losing life for me" means to cast aside my principles. There's going to be no backing down. If they want, they can come look for me here and put a bullet in me. The republic will continue forward. They can kill me, but as [Chilean poet Pablo] Neruda said 'They can cut the flowers but they can never stop the spring'."

As the interview was ending, President Correa said police were trying to enter his hospital room:

"If something happens to me, I blame them. I just want to say that my love for country is infinite and wherever I am, I will always love my family [reporter interrupts]...and I knew these were the risks and it was worth it."

The head of Ecuador's armed forces has reiterated his allegiance to the elected government.

As we go to air, the elected government has declared a state of exception throughout the entire country for one week in which the military will assume policing duties.

Lawmakers depart for campaign trail leaving unfinished business
US lawmakers departed the nation’s capitol today, leaving unfinished business on hold until after the November elections. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports on what was accomplished this week and what remains.

Intelligence bill to broaden congressional oversight of executive power
Congress also passed a bill that gives it more oversight over the intelligence community. The legislation requires the president to brief more legislators on top-secret intelligence, and actions such as covert operations. The Senate unanimously passed the bill earlier this week, the House passed it yesterday and Obama is expected to sign it into law. But as FSRN’s Jacob Fenston reports, some think Congress still needs more oversight.

Advocates, economists push for veteran trust fund to cover ‘real cost’ of war
Some lawmakers stayed in DC this morning for a hearing on the “True Cost of War.” Veterans, their family members, military officials and economists testified before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Veterans advocates said many wounded vets face hardships in accessing resources, getting proper diagnosis and treatment and securing benefits. And according to Veterans for Common Sense, despite the Obama Administration’s emphasis on a de-escalation of US wars, the number of wounded veterans continues to rise at A constant rate, bringing 9 thousand new patients to VA hospitals each month.

One of those soldiers is Army Sergeant Ryan Major, who was critically wounded in Iraq and whose mother, Lorrie Knight Major to lawmakers her multi-year battle to seek treatment for her son. Major said she was forced to rely on non-profits, such as the group Rebuilding Together, in order to secure proper assistance for her son, like a wheelchair an aid dog and funds to renovate her home.

“Would it have been acceptable to the government for my son to live isolated in a basement because he didn’t have a means of accessing the main areas of the house. Would it have been considered acceptable for him to require sleep medications or someone to be in his room nightly for him to sleep. Is this what the government considers to be the cost of the war?”

Major and others at the hearing called for a veterans trust fund to be established at the time conflict begins, to guarantee adequate funding for soldiers when they return.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz, a professor at Columbia University and Nobel prize winner, also testified. He said that studies by the Congressional Budget office and other government agencies support his earlier estimate that the true cost of US conflict in Iraq would be $3 trillion through 2017, a number vastly higher than Bush Administration officials cited in the lead up to the war. He said it is possible to get data to make reasonable estimates, but that was not done before Iraq, which precluded a meaningful debate on what he called “a war of choice.”

“Without good information, there cannot be good decisions, about going to war, about exiting the war, about the conduct of war. But even more is at stake as we face intense budgetary pressures in coming years. We have an implicit contract with our veterans who have served their country so well. But the way the political and budgetary process is in process is conducted today fails to recognize this. Veterans expenditures are subject to the same pay go rules as other expenditures. This puts our commitment to our veterans in jeopardy.”

Stiglitz and public finance professor Linda Bilmes co-authored a book published two years ago predicting the $3 trillion price tag. They point out that war often has social costs that aren’t considered including domestic abuse, divorce, substance abuse and the loss of quality of life due to physical injuries and mental health issues caused by war.

UN investigation finds execution style killings of activists on Gaza aid ship
On Wednesday the UN Human Rights Council endorsed a report which found that Israeli commandos killed six passengers execution style on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla last May. One of them, 19-year-old Turkish American Furgan Dogan, was shot five times, once in the face. At the time of the attack, he was filming with a video recorder. The report is based on a UN fact-finding mission that began in June...

The US was the only country to vote against the endorsement of the report, calling it “unbalanced.” Israel has called it "biased" and "distorted." Investigators also said they found enough evidence to move forward on a prosecution.

For more on the details, we're joined by Gareth Porter, investigative journalist and historian specializing in US security policies. He has reported on the findings of the investigation.

Read Gareth Porter’s reporting on the investigation here: http://www.truth-out.org/un-fact-finding-mission-says-israelis-executed-...

Click here for web-only extended version

UN lifts sanctions on Sierra Leone
The United Nations lifted sanctions on Sierra Leone, imposed after the deadly civil war in the 1990s left tens of thousands dead. UN Radio's Jocelyne Sambira reports.