>> from pacifica this is democracy now! >> we are not talking about coordinating military action in iraq with iran. iran to encourage encourage direct to address problems in a nonsectarian way. >> as the u.s. briefly holds talks with iran over the crisis in iraq, president obama deploys 275 u.s. military personnel back to iraq. this comes as sunni militants

launch an offensive against the city of baqubah less than 40 miles from baghdad. we will speak to professor juan cole of the university of michigan. he just wrote a piece titled "don't trust the bombers on iraq -- "shock and awe" never works." then 50 years after freedom summer, voting rights are under attack again in the south. >> they have attacked early voting, making it harder to vote with voter id laws. every one of those "reforms" voter repression laws and tactics have the same effect of driving down the black vote. we will speak to former naacp president ben jealous on "true south -- voters of color in the black belt 50 years after

after freedom summer." and on the first anniversary of the death of rolling stone reporter michael hastings, his widow publishes the novel she found on his computer after he died in a fiery car crash. it is a scathing critique of the news media today called "the last magazine." all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president obama has announced plans to deploy about 275 us military personnel back to iraq as the country faces a widening crisis. in a letter to congressional leaders, obama said the force will protect us citizens and be equipped for combat. in their latest advance today, sunni militants from the islamic state of iraq and syria have attacked and briefly took control of parts of the city of baquba, less than 40 miles from bagdad. the obama administration is reportedly weighing other options in iraq, including possible drone strikes and the

deployment of special forces to train iraqi troops. the united states and iran have spoken briefly about the crisis, but state department spokesperson jen psaki ruled out any joint military action. >> i would remind you that we have had similar conversations regardingt with iran afghanistan. these consultations would be a long those lines. we are not talking about board meeting any military action in iraq with iran. we would encourage iran to push the iraqis to act to address problems in a nonsectarian way. >> we will have more on iraq after headlines. israeli forces have rounded up scores of palestinians as part of a hunt for three missing teenagers, bringing the total number arrested to more than 200. israel has accused hamas of kidnapping the three young men, and has launched a massive crackdown on the group, although

it has yet to provide crew -- proof. secretary of state john kerry has bolstered israel's claims, saying "many indications point to hamas' involvement" in what he called "a despicable terrorist act." one of the teenagers, naftali frankel, is a dual u.s.-israeli citizen. the white house says president obama will sign an executive order banning discrimination against lgbt employees of federal contractors. the order will impact an estimated 14 million employees. obama has previously held off on signing such an order, instead pressing congress to pass the more comprehensive employment nondiscrimination act, but that bill has stalled in the republican-controlled house. georgia is set to execute a death-row prisoner this evening using a single dose of pentobarbital from a source that has been kept secret. on monday, a court rejected

marcus wellons trying to stop if the execution proceeds, wellons would become the first prisoner executed in the united states since the botched execution in oklahoma of clayton lockett, who writhed, groaned and took 43 minutes to die. initial findings from an independent autopsy released last week found the execution team failed to properly place lockett's iv. two other executions are planned for wednesday in florida and missouri, two states that also conceal the sources of their lethal drugs. the u.s. supreme court has rejected an appeal from argentina over its more than $1.3 billion debt in a ruling critics say validates predatory behavior by so-called "vulture funds." the case involves hedge funds that bought up argentina's debt at bargain rates after its financial crisis more than a decade ago. after argentina defaulted on its debts, the vast majority of its creditors agreed to slash the value of their holdings.

but nml capital and other firms refused to accept the deal, instead seeking full repayment. monday's ruling leaves in place a lower court decision ordering argentina to pay the companies. argentine president cristina fernandez de kirchner addressed the nation after the ruling. >> i think you need to distinguish the between what is a business and what is an extortion. i think there are two concepts that are completely different. all of the government, all of the country, all of the directors in the areas of environment and policy need to be open to negotiating. what no president can do in a sovereign country is to subject its country, its people to extortion. >> in a statement, the anti-poverty network jubilee usa called the court ruling "a devastating blow," saying quote "these hedge funds are equipped with an instrument that forces struggling economies into submission." in a separate decision monday, the supreme court ruled an anti-choice group can challenge an ohio law banning false statements about political candidates. the case involves a 2010 attempt by the susan b. anthony list to put up billboards accusing an anti-choice congress member of

backing taxpayer funding for abortion, because he supported obamacare. federal law actually bars federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. the court did not weigh in directly on the ohio law, instead sending the case back to a lower court. the supreme court also issued a narrow 5-4 ruling related to gun control, upholding the strict application of laws that ban so-called "straw" purchasers from buying a gun for someone else, even if the receiver can legally own a gun. the case concerned a former police officer who bought a gun to give to his uncle, but signed paperwork claiming he was the "actual buyer." writing for the majority justice elena kagan said quote "no piece of information is more important under federal firearms law than the identity of a gun's purchaser." general motors has announced a new recall of 3.4 million vehicles, saying the cars can shut off if their keys are jarred while bearing extra weight.

ignition problems in other vehicles have already been linked to at least 13 and perhaps hundreds of deaths. the move brings gm's total number of recalled vehicles this year to more than 20 million worldwide. in nebraska, a child has died and at least 16 critically injured after two tornadoes touched down within about a mile of each other. a local official told the associated press "more than half the town of pilger is gone -- absolutely gone." egypt's prosecutor general has ordered the release of an al-jazeera journalist who has been on hunger strike for more abdullah elshamy, citing elshamy's failing health after

10 months in prison and nearly five months on hunger strike. elshamy was arrested after covering a crackdown on a sit-in by supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi. he was one of 13 people ordered released monday on medical grounds. his brother, mohammed elshamy, spoke to democracy now on monday after receiving the news. >> he had less than 35 kilograms of his weight. he had anemia and the beginning of kidney failure. he was in jail since 2013. hunger striketo and all of the problems we have the through because of hunger strike, he was transferred to solitary confinement. everyone who knows him or hears about his case it is a wonderful day and time for everyone and everyone is happy.

his relieved -- >> his release papers have been signed. it could help three other al jazeera jurists -- journalists peter greste, baher mohamed, and , mohamed fahmy, who remain behind bars following their arrest in december. an egyptian judge said monday he will announce the verdict in their case on june 23 next monday. to see the full interview with mohammed elshamy , go to democracynow. work. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> president obama has announced plans to deploy about 275 u.s. military personnel back to iraq. according to a letter to congressional leaders, the force has been senent quote "for the purpose of protecting u.s. citizens and property, if

combat. the white house is also reportedly considering sending special forces, as it ways launching airstrikes, possibly drone strikes, inside iraq to attack the sunni militants who have seized large swaths of the country. on monday, president obama met with nearly 20 top advisers, including secretary of state kerry, defense secretary chuck hagel, cia director john brennan and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempsey. meanwhile, the u.s. and and iran briefly discussed the crisis in iraq on the sidelines of the nuclear talks in vienna. speaking to katie kouric of yahoo news, secretary of state john kerry said the u.s. is open to working with iran to confront sunni militants in iraq. he did not rule out the possibility of military cooperation. >> we are open to discussions if there is something constructive that can be contributed by iran, if iran is prepared to do

something that will respect the sovereignty of iraq and the ability of the government to reform. >> could you see cooperating with iran militarily? >> at this moment, we need to go step-by-step and see what i might in fact, might be a reality but i would not rule anything that would be constructed to providing real stability, a respect for the constitution, and a respect for the -- the ability of the iraqi people to form a government that represents all of the interests of barak. >> -- interests of the iraqi. >> on the ground in iraq, militants attacked and briefly took control of parts of the iraqi city of baquba, located less than 40 miles from baghdad. there are also reports 44 sunni prisoners died at a police station northeast of baghdad. according to the associated press, shiite militiamen killed the prisoners at close range after sunni fighters attempted to overrun the jail. operations at the country's largest oil refinery in baiji has been shut down after sunni rebels advanced into the town and surrounded the refinery.

>> in political developments, iraq's former vice president, tareq al-hashemi, said the recent offensive by sunni fighters is part of a broader revolt. al-hashemi, who is sunni, told reuters quote "what happened in my country is desperate people revolted. simple as that. arab sunni communities over 11 years faced discrimination, injustice, corruption." meanwhile the prime minister of the kurdistan region in iraq has warned it will be "almost impossible" for iraq to return to how it was before sunni militants seized mosul, iraq's second largest city. to talk more about iraq, we are joined by juan cole, professor of history at the university of michigan. his blog, "informed comment" is online at juancole.com. he's the author of many books including "engaging the muslim world." book "the new arabs -- how the millennial generation is changing the middle east" will be out july 1st. his latest headline is "to not trust the bombers on a rock,

shock and on never works." welcome to democracynow. obama deploying 275 members to iraq. what about what is happening there and what you feel the u.s. role should be? asked the way in which the iraqi security forces collapsed in hasl and in northern iraq raised concerns about the safety of the personnel of the u.s. embassy in act that given the long history of crisis in the modern middle east from the 1979 hostage crisis in tehran, to the attack on the consulate in benghazi, there is concern that an attack -- that the green zone in iraq might not be secure. it is the responsibility of the local government to provide that security, but there are questions about whether it can

and will. >> juan cole, how would you characterize this conflict right now. , it we talk about i.s.i.s. is described as a monolithic force but there are many groups. your assessment. >> i do not think we can't make about what has happened in iraq as a series of military conquests. the islamic state of iraq and syria is a small group of a few thousand fighters, a dozen formations or brigades, and what really happened is they have cells on the ground in the sunni arab cities and they coordinated with other groups, including secular and socialist groups to stage urban uprisings against the, lucky regime -- the al-maliki regime and security

forces. this is an expression of popular discontent, not just a series of military advances. >> explained, professor juan cole, who the forces are -- who does al qaedahere fit into all of this? >> the islamic state of iraq and syria is also called the islamic state of iraq and the labonte in english. it is just how you translate one of the words. they are the same organization. their genealogy is in the islamic state of iraq, which was vehicle al qaeda founded originally by a jordanian. sunni been active in the arab areas of iraq and in bombing the shiite areas all

along, since 2005, or so, in a big way. so, when we hear news reports of , you could have gone back six or seven years and the same thing would have been sure. affiliate, qaeda although recently, the core al qaeda has displayed discomfort with it because it attacks other al qaeda affiliates. it does not play well with other children. it is an extremely nasty kids attion, blowing up ice cream shops, a marriage, and later the funeral that evening. it is ruthless. it is the worst of the sunni resistance groups, but it doesn't represent a -- does represent a set of discontent in northern iraq where the sunnis

are 20% of the population. they were in power before the u.s. invaded in 2003, and they have been dethroned and unemployed and marginalized, so there is various discontent, civil demonstrations, and also terrorism. >> juan cole, on the issue of sunni grievances, can you explain what the government has done to fuel sectarianism, and that is -- as it is called upon to form a more inclusive government, what could he do now? -- al-maliki was a conspirator for many years with a shiite fundamentalist group aiming for a shiite government -- a muslim fundamentalist government in iraq, so when he became prime minister, he just continued to be a conspirator,

and he does not trust the sunni arabs who are disproportionately powerful in the party that he was trying to overthrow. it does not meet with his sunni arab political partners when he had any. and his government does not provide much in the way of services to the sunni arab cities. share in the oil wealth. they do not have regular electricity. they do not have services. they were fired from their government jobs in favor of shiite cronyism, the ruling shiite parties, something called detoxification on the model of denazification in postwar .ermany high school teachers were fired, and so forth. you have unemployment, a lack of invest it, a lack of services,

and the sunni arabs in parliament are given the message they are a minority in parliament and they will always be a minority in parliament and will always lose every vote in parliament from here on into eternity, so they are just not going to put up with that anymore. i want to turn to comments made by secretary of state john kerry on the crisis unfolding in iraq. -- >> i want to turn to comments made by secretary of state john kerry on the crisis unfolding in iraq. he was speaking monday to katie couric on yahoo! news. >> this is a challenge to the stability of the region, obviously attacks essential threat to the stability of iraq itself. this is a terrorist group that has grown out of, frankly, illicit support that it has factionsfrom various in the region and syria. there is a much larger design at play in their efforts. a sunnit to establish

fundamentally, but they are also trying to redress what happened a number of years in when the balance slipped iraq between shiite and sunni. you have people with extreme anti-irananti-maliki, -- there are a lot of forces and that makes it more complicated than these are bad guys and you react. juan cole, can you respond to secretary of state john kerry, and also talk about the bush role in fueling this type of sectarianism, if you feel he did . >> the bush administration explicitly sided with the shiites and wanted to create a

shiite government and operated in the firing of thousands of sunni bureaucrats and teachers from their jobs. so, this was a policy of the bush administration, and it is, in some large part responsible for the current crisis. remarks show an understanding of the complexity on the ground and the way that some of what is going on really is nothing to do with the advance of the terrorist organization but is a matter of civil protest against discrimination and marginalization. i think they are judicial comments and it is wonderful to see at the top of the u.s. government officials who have an understanding of international affairs. that was not always the case in the previous administration. but, you know, the question of what to do about all of this is the one that weighs heavy on the u.s. government.

i would urge an abundance of caution here. i think, you know, u.s. airstrikes have been proposed on -- they wouldts inevitably hit civilians. it is a guerrilla group, so it does not have formations or lines that would be easily targeted, so you will end up with bombing urban areas, and it should be remembered that the united states intensively bond iraq -- iraq all the time that was there, and something on the to 50% of the people killed were killed by 15% of theikes -- people killed were killed by u.s. airstrikes, so we should be very careful of starting that backup. >> what about the talks the u.s. is having with it ran and can

you talk about its interest, the alignedernment now, are when it comes to iraq with syria? s are in.s. interest fighting this kind of extremist group. it was this kind of hyper sunni extremism that hit the united states on 9/11, so, the u.s. does have an interest in repressing it, and working with others who are alarmed by it. organizations in the middle east typically wretchedhiites as heretics, and there have been many massacres of shiites by the taliban, in afghanistan, and by

ofiliates, so as a matter statecraft, obviously, if you wanted to fight these groups, which are taken over parts of northern syria and now northern iraq, a shiite power like iran would be a natural ally, so i think it is likely the united states will develop some in thisships with iran regard on this issue, and i think it is a good thing. i think it is crazy, in 2001 when the iranians were having candlelight the jewels for the for thetates -- vigils united states and sympathizing from the kind of terrorism iran suffered from, suddenly, the bush administration put iran in an axis of evil with a country like north korea and alienated iran. i think there is an opportunity now to repair some of that.

>> i want to turn to comments made by former british prime over thetony blair weekend, suggesting the current crisis is not linked to the 2003 u.s. and british invasion of iraq. blair was speaking to the bbc. >> if you left saddam in place, and then you had the arab revolutions happening, you would have still had a major problem in iraq, and you can see what happens when you leave the dictator in place. what i prefer a situation where we are saddam claimed? do i think the region would be safer, more stable, my answer is no. >> blair's comments coincided with an essay on his website, where he writes quote "we have to liberate ourselves from the notion 'we' have caused this. we haven't.

blair's comments drew widespread criticism, including from london mayor boris johnson. >> i can understand that he feels shattered and lt by the whole thing, -- guilty by the whole thing, but my general message would be to put a sock in it, really. >> juan cole, your response to tony blair? >> well, mr. tony blair, it would take hours and hours to refute everything that he said, all of which was false, but you have to remember he was perfectly willing to leave dictators in's -- in power. he took reddish patrol -- british petroleum leaders to meet with gaddafi. he helped to invade iraq. there, i think the outcomes are less of an indictment of him than the methods. mr. tony blair repeatedly lied to the public about this enterprise.

he was advised by his attorney general that the whole thing was illegal in international law initially and he did not share that memo with his own cabinet. he hated it from the british public hearing he said it was not about oil, but we now know he was quite grating with bp officials to make sure they got it after the war was over. -- got bids after the war was over. he violated international law repeatedly and british domestic law in pursuing this war of aggression. so, you know, it is very unfortunate for him that the war of aggression turned into a quagmire and a disaster of various sorts so that it is very obvious that it was a bad idea, but i think the real problem here is the united nations charge was enacted to stop aggressive warfare. we do not want more germany's invading poland and there were

no legitimate legal grounds for a british invasion of iraq in 2003, and that is the real problem here, it was illegal. >> and asked the question of would've it be better if saddam hussein was still in place? juan cole? >> this is a hypothetical situation, but one could imagine a scenario in which there was a no-fly zone over the kurdish areas, southern iraq, saddam hussein was still in power, the arab strength -- the arab spring comes along, and the no-fly zones would have prevented saddam from deploying armored, and it might have been a libya-kind of situation, which the no-fly zone help the population of iraq overthrow the dictator, and things might have turned out differently. obviously, he would be a very fragile situation, but we would not have had this aggressive foreign intervention and years-long occupation, in which

a particular ethnic group, the sunni arabs, were targeted for reprisals. so, i do not agree with a hypothetical in the first place, but i do not think that is really the issue. >> juan cole, i want to say thank you for being with us. he has written many books. is new -- most recent one "the new arabs, how the millennial age is changing the middle east. his is democracy now! when we come back, we turn to benjamin jealous talking about voting through the south. stay with us. ♪

break] >> the iraqi musician. this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in june, 1964, over 1000 out-of-state volunteers traveled to mississippi to register voters and set of freedom

.chools out of freedom summer grew the formation of the mississippi freedom democratic party that challenged the legitimacy of the white-only mississippi democratic party at the 1964 democratic national convention. this is a clip from the stanley nelson's documentary, "freedom summer." it features civil rights activists bob moses and julian bond discussing the plan for mississippi summer. >> ♪ he thinks he is fighting for his land >> what really is important is that they get down and melt away into the black population. if we could just get everybody through the entry point, and into the community, the black community, we will house them,

and also harbor them. >> the genius of the freedom summer is the volunteers were spread all over the state. the freedom summer workers are everywhere, in almost every town, every place you can go, they are there. >> well, half a century after freedom summer, a new report suggests much work remains to be done. according to the report, minority voters continue to be locked out of statewide politics, and minority candidates rarely get elected to statewide office. it features state-by-state graphics that demonstrate how a targeted wave of voter registration among minority -- registration could shift the balance of power in key southern states. the report is called "true south -- voters of color in the black belt 50 years after freedom summer" and it was just released by the southern elections foundation and the center for american progress. for more, we go now to baltimore, maryland where we're joined by the report's author, benjamin jealous. he is a partner at kapor capital and a senior fellow the center

for american progress. he is a former naacp president and ceo. ben jealous, welcome to democracy now! talk about trussell -- what is south" -- what is happening today? >> and we talked about the south, a region where if you are from it, you vote, we come back to the topic of vote suppression. here we are again, 100 years after the jim crow. is if we stop there, we have known how to deal with massive vote suppression, registration. the purpose of the report is to show people that state-by-state we can actually unleash democracy, and get to a place where that dormant moral majority of working-class whites and voters of color, who really

come at the end of the day, when you listen, are concerned about the same basic kitchen table issues, making sure the kids can get a good education, making sure that people, their neighbors have access to good jobs. we actually now can unleash that majority throughout the south by bringing together voters of color and working-class right -- working-class whites if we choose, and all we have to do is do a we did 50 years ago in freedom summer and years after in the black community, but do it, in today's south, which is not just black-and-white, but brown, yellow, red, and sign up folks with the intention of empowering them so that our politics truly represent our region and the people of it. >> in your report says that such a drive could have a major

impact on elections in several key states that are traditionally republican. can you explain? >> look at georgia right now. there are 830,000 unregistered people of color right now, 600,000 unregistered blacks. if we signed up 45% of the unregistered voters there, the new voters that that would yield -- if you take that 45%, and you reduce it, if you will, by that percentage of newly signed up voters, you would still exceed the margin of victory in the past several statewide races. won by 250,000s votes. similarly, in virginia, where my family hails from, you talk about signing up maybe 10% of the black voters that have yet to sign up to vote or are currently not signed up to vote

-- depending on the state, it could be 10% of the black voters, 45% of the voters of color, and at the end of the day these are things that are very doable. it costs, depending on who does it, between eight dollars and $20 to set up a new voter. you are talking about an investment of $3 million in a state like virginia, $12 million in a state like georgia, to get to a place where this dormant majority, this moral majority of working-class whites and voters of color could finally have their say in statewide politics. ben?uth carolina, >> south carolina, that is probably what the one state we considered harder to crack than mississippi. it is the home of the citadel, and in many ways a repressive state where they fly the

confederate battle flag in front of their state capital every day. there are 350,000 unregistered black voters and the key party governor one by 60,000 votes. it is very doable to finally unleash the vote at the statewide level, even at a top state like that. -- $4ht cost for 5 million or $5 million, which is big money to me or you, but when the democratic party is running billion-dollar presidential campaigns, the fact that they do foolish, and it comes down quite frankly to people who do not know the south being in power in these institutions and say nothing has changed, so why should we invest ? lack of investment is the surest form of historic preservation. things have not changed because they have not invested. if they do invest, things will change and they could change very quickly. organizing drive look

like and what are the main obstacles it would face? >> it would look very much like what folks are doing in mississippi right now, in some ways, a freedom summer redux, which is less about people and signside the south up people to vote, it as was needed 50 years ago to get the bravest people from wherever they would come. these are simply people working with the students that are there, neighbors just deciding to get it done, deciding we have gotten more people to vote over the last 50 years, let's just push over the finish line and get our region in this democracy up to where most democracies are where virtually everyone is signed up to vote. it is about using big data, which makes it much easier, because you know exactly who is not signed up to vote, having a

big vision, setting the goals, and making a big change by simply empowering your neighbors to vote. >> on june 25th, the senate judiciary committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on a long-stalled bill to repair the 1965 voting rights act. last year, the supreme court dealt a low to the legislation by weakening its key provisions. in april, president obama took aim at the republican-led -- in april, president obama said obama said voter id laws and the gutting of the voting rights act have undermined democracy. >> it is the one tool we have to stop an unjust status quo, but to start the simple truth is this, the right to vote is threatened today in a way that it has not been since the voting rights act came law five decades ago. across the country, republicans pass lawsfforts to

making it harder, not easier for people to vote. >> i do not know if you see this as a segue, ben jealous, but can you relate this to what happened in virginia with the upset by david pratt -- david brat against eric cantor, and where you see politics going with the midterm elections and voting rights. >> what happened with eric cantor is people in both parties, people of all races are concerned that the country is stuck and the status quo really is not a good thing for our families. if you will, we are at a tipping point when it comes to our families access to the great dream that defines this country, and our children are very likely to be worse off if we do not change the status quo. with that said, the far right wing, they also get right is every demographic trend is in the favor of progressives in the

south for the foreseeable future, and that is why they are investing so much in suppressing the vote because even though with thet be upset status quo when it comes to the financial future of the country, they very much seem to be invested in keeping the vote from changing much because it ultimately favors far right wing conservatives to block as many people of color out of the ballot box as possible and what we see with black three migration, latino and asian immigration to the south, and, quite frankly, because their own wives and children have come to depart from being so rigidly attached to the republican party , with more white women voters swinging toward democrats because of the assault on women's rights, and at the same time young voters are simply sofas us about what is going on --the economy, they, too,

simply possessed about what is going on in the economy, they too are leaning more and more to the democratic party. the end of the day, we have to do it honestly and seek real reforms, and the best way to do that is to finally unleash democracy in our state. in this report, "true self," what we say -- "true self, -- face," we have to repression with massive voter registration. jealous --, ben specifically, ben jealous, how you feel voter registration should be done 50 years after freedom summer. >> we have to be smart, use the databases we have. we have to be persistent. this is not something we can do in a presidential year.

we have to be focused on the fact that mississippi has a governor's race coming up next year in 2015. this has to be in every year thing. we have to have a goal. this is the number -- you have to register in your state to change the status quo, to be able to say to that person -- we shake the hand, why do i sign up to vote, nothing changes, to be able to say if you sign up to vote, things will change. >> do we need another freedom summer? >> yes, and there is one going on right now through the south. people have to get involved and we have to turn it into freedom fall, freedom year, and keep going. if you go back to freedom summer, what we forget is it was not just a summer. bond, therejulian he is, signing up folks to vote.

1966, he becomes the first lack state representative -- black representative in the south, certainly in georgia, to get seated. 1968 he has -- he is at the democratic convention nominated for vice president for being turned down because he was too young. what it reminds us is when we invest in massive voter registration things can change much faster than we think is possible. if politics in the south were a light, it would be obvious that dimmer switch. things are either on or off. even though things might feel dark right now, if you will, not much reason for hope, as soon as it is on, changes, and the lights are on, and the possibilities are endless. that is what we learn from

freedom summer, a second freedom summer, this summer, and we have to keep pushing forward. >> ben jealous, thank you for being with us. we will link to your report, "true south." when we come back, michael hastings has a new novel out. we will speak with his widow. stay with us. ♪ break]

, performing the bob dylan song "the times they are a changing." this is democracy now, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. this week marks the first -- >> this week marks the first anniversary of the death of investigative journalist michael hastings. just 33 years old, hastings died in a car crash that ended the life of one of the country's

most daring young reporters. his dispatches from iraq and afghanistan unveiled the hidden realities of war. a 2010 "rolling stone article" on general stanley mcchrystal, the u.s. commander in afghanistan, sparked a political controversy after mcchrystal and his aides were quoted making disparaging remarks about top administration officials. the article exposed longstanding government discord over the afghan war's direction and led to mcchrystal's firing. >> one year after his death, hastings' reporting has made waves once again. in 2012, hastings wrote a major piece for rolling stone on the american prisoner of war, army sergeant bowe bergdhal. at the time, hastings thought it was the most important story of his career. in 2012, he spoke to "russia today" about bowe bergdahl's case. >> etiquette is the most significant and undercovered story from the american perspective, a story about the only prisoner of war left for these two wars. in a normal circumstance, he because cause célèbre,

of the way he was captured, he has been buried for a variety of reasons. excuse me,drove -- as to what drove bowe bergdahl to leave, first, i he was a 23-year-old kid who joined the army. he expected he was going to go back and help people, and be involved in nationbuilding and humanitarian activity. what he found when he got there was different. he thought he had been sold a lie. he thought he had not been treated with respect from the superior officer. there was a command problem within his unit in afghanistan, a breakdown in command. one officer died, another got fired. three of the people that he respected were kicked out. that created this perfect storm. you have this disillusionment happening, plus all of these

horrible things you see with war that drove him into the decision to leave. >> the late michael hastings speaking in 2012. bowe bergdahl only recently earned attention. in one email, bergdahl wrote quote "i am sorry for everything. these people need help." the horror that is america is disgusting." his father responded, "obey your conscience." today, with berghdal still silent as he recovers from five years in taliban captivity, hastings' article remains the definitive account of the young soldier's story. >> today, to mark the first anniversary of his death, which is actually tomorrow another major work from michael , hastings is upon us. it's not an investigative report but a posthumous novel, a satire hastings wrote of the corporate news media based on his time at

newsweek. the book is called "the last magazine." michael hastings' widow, elise jordan, helped bring the book to life after coming across the manuscript following her husband's death. is a journalist, political commentator, and was a speechwriter for condoleezza rice. in fact, you met michael when you are a speech writer. >> we knew each other for a couple of years, and we started dating when we were both in afghanistan. i was doing a story on marines and he was doing the scanning a crystal story. he was interviewing an embedded with the team. >> you met this young, crusading journalist, who never thought his piece on mcchrystal what actually take him down. >> he thought that it might cause waves for a day or two, but the message of the piece was the story of counterinsurgency

in afghanistan and general mcchrystal strict engagement, courageous restraint, which means troops were not allowed the same measures and very upset. >> he went on to write the bowe bergdahl story, thinking if the mcchrystal story had this response, this will blow everyone out of the water. >> exactly, and i love how in the piece he predicted it would become hugely politicized and that bringing bowe bergdahl home would start to signal the end of the afghan war. he thought there would be a firestorm after publication two years ago. the firestorm came now. book,the message of the in terms of what the establishment media seizes on to make a story. the country did not care, the medium -- the media did not care at all that the loan sergeant

was in captivity, but suddenly, when there was an opportunity to politicize it, and re-victimize someone that has been tortured for five years, everyone is outraged, and that angered michael. >> this is a rocking satire. michael hastings was an intern and he is the star of this book, this "novel." talk about who we are talking about, who the characters are. you have the international editor, sanders berman, the veiledg editor, a thinly beccaria and jon meacham? >> they are composites. i would say that michael was certainly influenced by his time at "newsweek." he had a vivid imagination and it is a talented work of fiction. what he wanted to show was ,stablishment media

cheerleading the iraq war for advancement, and how quickly the cheerleading turned as the war turned. quicklyted to forget as as possible that they had been the one reading the drumbeat to war. >> the first anniversary of his death is tomorrow. after he died there were theories, people were analyzing the scene of the wreckage, there of the-- youtube video rack. died, he had received e-mails, but you were clear to reject these conspiracy theories. >> correct. unfortunately it was a -- it was the next event, as some things -- it was an accident. sometimes things are so terrific, we need to have

explanation, but sadly we lost one of the greatest journalists in the history of the united states, in my opinion. >> the man who helped work on that piece on bowe bergdahl said on the issue of fbi investigating that fbi -- that michael was worried about, in fact they were investigating michael for his piece on bowe bergdahl, even though in a rare move fbi said they were not conducting an investigation. wonderfulewell is a collaborator, and i'm happy they were able to work on that story, such a well-researched story. it really is just an example of the obama administration's crackdown on journalism. michael and matt were able to find out more information about what happened then the u.s. government, and that apparently is scary, threatening, and

causes us to investigate, which i really do not understand. >> let's go back to michael. he was on democracy now in 2012 and he said the afghan war, like the invasion of iraq, was based on a false premise. >> if wmds were the lie of the myth is, the safe haven the lie of the afghan war. it is true in iraq as well, but 99% of the people, maybe even higher, the people we were fighting, the television never actually -- the taliban never actually posed a threat to the united states homeland. the question one has to be asking is everything -- if everything we are doing and everything we are fighting is not a direct threat to the united states, why are we expending so many resources, $120 billion a year, and you know, with all the life lost, to

do it? this is the lie of counterinsurgency, which i know we have discussed on your show, to justify this tremendous outlay of resources. they have to say we are killing terrorists, but everyone knows that is not true. hastings in 2012 talking about the iraqi and afghan wars. he reported from iraq and afghanistan. again,ordan, this, anniversary of his death. you had written a letter to "the new york times" objecting to their obituary. >> it was not factual. it was reported erroneously. i really did not think they would go that low in someone's obituary. it was tasteless. >> what was wrong? >> they cited the pentagon report that cleared mcchrystal

and his wrong doings. michael did not anticipate in believingigation, not the role of the reporter was to turn over notebooks to the government, and if you read the report, it is pure speculation -- we do not remember exactly. it is vague, and that is what upset me. if you write a paragraph about a report, the journal should actually read the report, have some context and decide maybe this report does not actually clear crystal. >> they did this in life and they do this in death. >> yes, i think michael's reporting was threatening to the establishment, and when he gets out of this up, when he talks about the lies of counterinsurgency, what he wanted to do with the book is talk about how the lies are media,long by the news

and the complicity of so many and status quo journalists in promoting this. book, the hastings last magazine is with us