Democracy Now! April 18, 2003

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Program Title:
Democracy Now! April 18, 2003
Series Title:
PRA Archive #: 
PZ0517.144a
Description: 

An icon of civilian suffering: Dr. April Hurley, recently back from Baghdad, speaks about Ali Ismaeel Abbas, the badly-burned child amputee wounded in a missile strike on his house; Christian missionary groups head to Iraq to combine aid with evangelization: A debate between the Southern Baptist Convention, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a professor of religious studies.

8:00-8:01 Billboard 8:01-8:06 Headlines 8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break 8:07-8:20: "Can you help me get my arms back? Do you think the doctors can get me another pair of hands? If I don't get a pair of hands I will commit suicide." These were the words of 12 year-old Ali Ismaeel Abbas who lost his lower arms, was orphaned and received severe burns when a missile hit his home 10 days ago. The wounded Iraqi boy has begun eating food and drinking normally after recovering from initial surgery at a hospital in Kuwait City to place a temporary graft over the deep burns covering his chest, abdomen, and groin. He is expected to undergo further surgery that will involve grafting skin from his own body. The badly burned child amputee has become an icon of civilian suffering in the US-led invasion of Iraq. His pregnant mother, father, brother and 12 other relatives died when a missile obliterated their home. Ali has received worldwide attention in newspapers and on television around the world, sparking a flood of fundraising appeals for war victims in Iraq. * Dr. April Hurley, visited Ali Ismaeel Abbas in hospital in Baghdad 8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break 8:21-8:58: Christian relief agencies are hot on the heels of the invading US army to enter Iraq and provide humanitarian aid - as well as a touch of the gospel. Some of the agencies planning campaigns in the newly-occupied country want to do more than just save lives they also want to save souls by making religious converts among a population that is 98 percent Muslim. The prospect has alarmed Muslim organizations who see it as exploitive and politically inflammatory. Iraq is expected to face a massive humanitarian crisis, with hunger, homelessness and disease threatening the nation s 24 million people. Several groups are already in the area setting up aid operations in Kuwait, Jordan and the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq. Agencies who have announced their intent to combine aid with evangelization include some whose leaders have proclaimed harshly negative views of Islam. Critics say that if groups go into Iraq to seek converts under the guise of providing aid, they could do enormous political damage by re-enforcing the view that the invasion has political and religious roots. * Mark Kelly, Spokesman for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention * Abdulaziz Sachedina, Professor of Religious Studies at University of Virginia and author of The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism * Ibrahim Hooper, Council on American-Islamic Relations 8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Angie Karran, Ana Nogueira and Elizabeth Press with help from Noah Reibel. Mike Di Filippo is our music maestro and engineer.

Date Recorded on: 
April 18, 2003
Date Broadcast on: 
April 18, 2003
Item duration: 
59 min.
Keywords: 
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Distributor: 
WBAI; Amy Goodman, host., April 18, 2003
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