07/01/21 07/01/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> as you know, you go worked with theoes you go to war with the army you have a not you what are wish you have. amy: donald rumsfeld, considered the chief architect of the iraq war, died wednesday at the age of 88. the defense secretary for both presidents george w. bush and gerald ford, his critics say he presided over systemic torture, massacres of civilians, illegal

wars. >> donald rumsfeld washe most influential dense secretary we have had in the last half-century. he left a powerful legacy. unfortunately, almost all of his legacy was negative. amy: we will look at his legacy with retired colonel andrew bacevich, whose son was killed in iraq. he is author of the new book "after the apocalypse: america's role in a world transformed." we will also speak with him about the u.s. airstrikes in syria and iraq targeting and running ba militia and the eminent pullout of almost all u.s. troops from afghanistan. into ethiopia where a cease-fire has been declared amidst the worst famine in a decade. >> the consequences and impact of the immediate cease-fire remain unclear. the humanitarian colleagues tell

us there has been a breakdown in telecommunications, internet services in tigray as of today so the impact to the current situation on the humanitarian operations remain unknown at this moment. amy: we will speak with an ethiopian scholar and with the chief of nutrition at unicef ethiopia. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the chief financial officer of the trump organization allen weisselberg surrendered to authorities early this morning. the manhattan district attorney's office is expected to file charges today against him and the trump organization after indictments by a grand jury. weisselberg has worked for donald trump and his family for nearly half a century. "the wall street journal" reports the charges are related to the evading of taxes on fringe benefits such as cars, apartments, and private-school tuition. many legal experts are

speculating prosecutors are -- targeted weisselberg with the hope he will flip and help investigators in other ongoing probes into the former president's company. bill cosby was released from prison wednesday after the pennsylvania supreme court overturned his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting andrea constand, a sports administrator at temple university. she was one of 60 women who have accused cosby of sexual assault dating back decades. in 2018, cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, becoming the most prominent man jailed after the start of the m etoo movement. the court ruled prosecutors had violated cosby's rights by reneging on a "non-prosecution agreement" he had with a previous prosecutor. attorney gloria allred, who represents 33 womenho accused cosby of assault, criticized the

court's ruling. >> even though the court did overturned the conviction, it was on technical grounds it did not vindicate bill cosby's conduct and should not be interpreted as the statement or finding that he did not engage in the accident which he has been accused. amy:uthorities in the pacific northwest now fear hundreds of people have died from this week's unprecedented heat wave. british colombia has reported about 300 more deaths than normal during the heat wave, which was fueled by the climate crisis. in oregon, officials say at least 63 people have died from the heat. dozens are also dead in washington state. meanwhile, residents of the canadian village of lytton in british colombia have been forced to evacuate after a massive fire swept through the town where the temperature recently soared to 121 degrees fahrenheit. lytton broke canada's all-time heat record on three consecutive

days this week. the mayor of lytton told the cbc "the whole town is on fire." indigenous leaders and climate justice activists blockaded access to the white house wednesday, calling on president biden to invest more in climate justice initiatives in his infrastructure plans and to stop fossil fuel projects including enbridge's line 3 pipeline and the mountain valley pipeline. this is indigenous water protector taysha martineau who is a member of the fond du lac tribe. >> when they approve the line 3 pipeline, they declared war. i have beehere for thousands years. if we do not stop pipeline three, none of us will be here long. amy: greenpeace has tricked a lobbyist at exxon mobil into sharing secrets about the oil company's efforts to fight climate initiatives in washington. the lobbyist, keith mccoy, spoke candidly about his work thinking he was speaking to a corporate

headhunter. >> did we aggressively fight against some of the science? yes. did we hide our signs? absolutely not. did we join some of the shadow groups to work against some of the rly efforts? yes, that is true. amy: exxon lobbyist keith mccoy went on to tell greenpeace that exxon's support for a carbon tax is a public relations ploy because such a tax will never be implemented. he also identified 11 u.s. senators seen as crucial to exxon's lobbying efforts,

including democratic senator joe machin. amy: the death toll from last week's condominium collapse in surfside, florida, has reached 18 with another 145 people still missing. on wednesday, rescuers found the bodies of 10-year-old lucia guara and her four-year-old sister emma. their parents also died when the champlain towers southuilding llapsed. present bideand firslady ll bidenre visitg the te toda covid cases are surging in many parts of the world as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread. russia has recorded over 650 new covid deaths, the highest one day tally.

bangladesh has deployed troops to enforce a new lockdown as deaths soar. israel reported 300 new covid cases on wednesday, its highest daily number of new infections in over three months. cases are also rising again in europe after a 10-week decline. meanwhile, in brazil, protesters rallied calling for the impeachment of jair bolsonaro over his mishandling of the pandemic. brazilian lawmaker perpetua almeida took part in the protest. >> 500,000 deaths. the solidarity, the mourning has made many political forces come together for a common goal, stop the bolsonaro government from killing. lives could have been spared. the parliamentarian investigation has shown if the vaccine had been bought, more than 200,000 brazilians could have been saved. amy: former defense secretary donald rumsfeld has died at the age of 88. serving under george w. bush,

rumsfeld oversaw t illegal u.s. invasion and occupation of iraq and authorized the systematic torture of men held in afghanistan, iraq, and guantanamo. human rights attorneys repeatedly tried to hold him accountable by filing wacrimes charges against him overseas. this is the late michael ratner of the center for constitutional rights speaking in 2006. the height of the iraq war. >> one of our hopes is we have believed for 30 years that torturers deserve no safe haven. they should not be free to travel around the world and go wherever they want once they have been seriously accused of torture. and they can be tried in those countries. one of our goals is to turn, i would hope, a donald rumsfeld into a henry kissinger -- where he will be not free to travel from count to country. amy: we will have more on the death of donald rumsfeld later with andrew bacevich, who lost

his son in iraq. the house of representatives has voted to establish a select committee to investigate the january 6 insurrection at the u.s. capitol. just two republicans joined democrats -- liz cheney and adam kinzinger. for months, other republicans have downplayed the attack on which was timed to disrupt the counting of electoral votes. on wednesday, federal authorities announced or unsealed charges against 13 more people connected to the january insurrection, including individuals with ties to the oath keepers, proud boys, the boogaloo bois, and other far-right groups. republican south dakota governor kristi noem has announced she is deploying 50 members of the south dakota national guard to the u.s.-mexico border at the request of texas governor greg abbott. but there is a twist. the deployment is being paid by billionaire republican megadonor willis johnson, who lives in tennessee.

some critics have accused noem of turning the national guard into a private mercenary force targeting migrants. in tech news, amazon is seeking to force the new chair of the federal trade commission, lina khan, to recuse herself from anti-trust investigations into the company due to her past writings about the company. as a student at yale law school, khan wrote a widely read paper detailing how anti-trust laws had failed to prevent amazon from growing into a monopoly. chinese president xi jinping spoke before 70,000 people in tiananmen square today to mark 100 years since the founding of the chinese communist party. during his speech, xi pledged to reunify taiwan with china and warned against "bullying" by other countries. >> the chinese people have never bullied, oppressed, or subjugated the people of other countries. we have not done that in the

past. we are not doing it now. we will not do it in the future. at the same time, the chinese people will never allow any foreign force to a bully, oppressed, or subjugate us. anyone who dares to try to do that, will have their heads at her in front of the great wall of steel. amy: in related news, the financial times report the u.s. and japan have bn secrly conducting war games and joint military exercises in the south china sea to prepare for a possible conflict with china over taiwan. some of the joint military exercises were disguised to look like disaster relief training. in other international news, u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres has urged president biden administration to lift sanctions on iran and for both countries to return to the 2015 nuclear deal. meanwhile, outgoing iranian president hassan rouhani has accused biden of continuing

trump's economic war against iran. rouhani described the u.s. policy as a form of economic terrorism. in canada, another 182 unmarked graves have been found at a former boarding school for first nations children in british columbia. it is the third major discovery in recent weeks of graves at a residential school where indigenous children were forcibly sent to rid them of their native cultures and languages. meanwhile, pope francis has finally agreed to meet with indigenous survivors of catholic-run residential schools in canada. the pope has faced widespread critism for refusing to apologize for the church's role in what canada's national truth and reconciliation commission described as cultural genocide. the israeli newspaper "ynet" is reporting the palestinian authority is attempting to buy

tear gas canisters, stun grenades, and her non-lethal munitions from israel. the unusual request came as the palestinian authority is cracking down on protests and dissent in the occupied west bank following the death of human rights activist nizar banat in palestinian authority custody. on the last day of pride month, the u.s. state department announced it is working towards allowing gender non-conforming applicants to use the gender neutral "x" marker on their passports. the state department is also dropping a rule requiring trans applicants provide medical certification in order to change the gender marker on their passports. the new york city board of elections has released new preliminary results from the city's democratic mayoral primary one day after accidentally releasing a tally that included 135,000 test ballots. the new numbers show front-runner brooklyn borough president eric adams leading former sanitation commissioner kathryn garcia by about 2 percentage points. civil rights lawyer maya wiley

placed third, just 347 votes behind garcia. the city still has to count 124,000 absentee votes in the election, the city's first using ranked-choice voting. and the board of trustees at the university of north carolina at chapel hill has voted to grant tenure to incoming journalism professor nikole hannah-jones ending a bitter weekslong dispute. the pulitzer prize winning journalist is best known for her work at "the new york times" where she produced the 1619 project, an interactive project that reexamines the legacy of slavery. the university initially denied her tenure after a prominent donor raised issues about her work on the 1619 project. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back, donald

rumsfeld, considered the chief architect of the iraq war, died at the age of 88. the defense secretary for about presidents george w. bush and gerald ford. his critics say he presided over systemic torture, massacres of , and illegal wars. we will look at his legacy with retired colonel andrew bacevich, whose son was killed in iraq. he is president of the antiwar think tank the quincy institute. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "so long, so long" by chumbawumba. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. i have joined by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. y: donald rumsfeld, chief architect of the iraq war, died wednesy at the age of 88. rumsfeld served under four esidents and was secretary of defense under both presidents george w. bush and gerald ford. his critics say he presided over systemic torture, massacres of civilians, and illegal wars. as defense secretary, rumsfeld was quick to advise bush to target iraq after the 9/11 terror attacks, even though al qaeda had been sheltered by the

taliban in afghanistan and iraqi leader saddam hussein had nothing to do with the terror attack. this is rumsfeld speaking at a press briefing in 2002 about whether iraq gave weapons of mass destruction to terrorists. >> the message is that there are no notes, there are things we know that we know. there are known unknowns. that is to say there are things we now know we don't know. but there are also unknown unknowns. things we do not know we don't know. so when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together and within sight, well, that is basically what we see as the situation, that is really only the known nuns and the know unknowns. amy: that was donald rumsfeld in 2002. as the war in iraq dragged on, he faced intense questioning

from troops. in 2004, a soldier asked rumsfeld why vehicle armor was still in short supply three years in. this was his response. >> as you know, you know the war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish you had. amy: many critics, including human rights groups and a bipartisan senate committee, have said msfeld should have faced criminal charges for decisions that led to the abuse of detainees at the abu ghraib prison, near baghdad, and at the guantánamo bay detention camp. jameel jaffer, director of the knight first amendment institute, columbia university and former aclu deputy legal director tweeted -- "rumsfeld gave the orders that resulted in the abuse and torture of hundreds of prisoners in u.s. custody in afghanistan, iraq, and guantanamo bay. this should be at the top of every obituary. more than 100 prisoners died in the course of interrogations. investigations were haphazard at

best. but the military itself concluded that some of the prisoners were tortured to death." for more, we are joined by andrew bacevich, president and co-founder of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. he is a retired colonel and vietnam war veteran. bacevich is professor emeritus of international relations and history at boston university and author of several books. his most recent book is just out, titled "after the apocalypse: america's role in a world transformed." in may, he wrote a piece for "the boston globe" headlined "my son was killed in iraq 14 years ago -- who's responsible?" we welcome you back to democracy now! why don't you start off by talking about the legacy of donald rumsfeld? >> well, the newspapers are referring to him as the most influential defense secretary since rort mcnamara back in

the 1960's. i think that is appropriate, accurate. he was like mamara in that specific sense, i think, that he brought to office, rumsfeld brought office certain convictions about how the peagon needeto change. and from day one, he set out to implement that vision. what rumsfeld did not anticipate was 9/11 and its aftermath, specifically the iraq war. you are right i think to describe him as the principal architect of that war. he attempted to fight it, consistent with his reform vision. that is to say, the expectation that superior american technology would bring about a quick and decisive victory. he got that wrong.

he got that wrong because of his misunderstanding of war. and his inability to appreciate the historical, cultural, sociological, religious elements of war. therefore, what was supposed to be a quick and decisive victory, ended up being a protracted, ugly, disaster. and that is why iraq needs to be the most important item inscribed on his headstone. he was a disaster. nermeen: andrew bacevich, of said he was consider the most powerful defense secretary since mcnamara, but even once it became clear the iraq was waged under false pretenses, in other words there were no weapons of mass description -- destrucon, unlike mcnamara who issued an apology, donald rumsfeld on the contrary was the least apologetic and affirmed the fact

the u.s. should have gone into iraq and that any premature withdrawal would be a mistake. >> well, i cannot pretend to. to his soul. clearly was a stubborn man, a proud man. i think unwilling to confront his known failings, which became manist -- will we come to 2006, the end of 2006 when president george w. bush decided to fire him, his failure by then had become evident to just about everybody other than rumsfeld or perhaps his friend vice president cheney. many struggle figures with the passage of time -- historical figures with the passage of time find the reputations revised,

perhaps improved, perhaps subjected to greater criticism. i don't expect there will be any revision of donald rumsfeld's reputation in the future. he was a catastrophically bad and failed defense secretary who radically misinterpreted the necessary response to 9/11, therefore, caud almost immeasurable damage to our country, to iraq, to the persian gulf more broadly. i don't think there's any way to disguise that. amy: i want to go to the first clip we played, which is you go war with the army you have. if you could comment on that and also the fact you, like so many in the united states and in iraq , lost a loved one in iraq.

and what that means, what role donald rumsfeld and that -- not just rumsfeld, if you could talk with this focus on rumsfeld about reonsibility of the man he worked for, president george w. bush? >> well, i -- i tend want to resist judgments about responsibility that i think can be too simple and therefore, let others off the hook. so if somebody asked me straight out, do i think donald rumsfeld was responsible for the death of my son? i would say no. two think george w. bush is responsible? no. at least not specifically. where does responsibility lie? i have come to believe there is a collective responsibility, that we the people not we the people everyone of us, but we the people are implicated in the

iraq war. we the people embraced a conception of america's role in the world that really amounted to support for militarized global hegemony. and in response to 9/11, we collectively concurred with the tragically misguided response of the george w. bush administration and said we should embark upon a global war on trorism. that was a strategic mistake, a moral mistake, t it is one that the majority of the american people signed up to. i don't think there is an easy answer when we look to something like the iraq war and we want to finger a particular individual for responsibility or guilt. i think the responsibility for

these mistakes, huge mistakes, tends to be rather widely shared. we are a democracy. these people in washington who are making decisions on our behalf, even when they are radically ill-advised decisions, to some degree are doing so with our collective concurrence. i would say in particular with regard to the bush administration in iraq only to realize in 2004, we reelected george w. bush to a second term. in doing that, of course, agreed to have donald rumsfeld continue for a couple more years as defense secretary. so i think that it is important to avoid civil judgments of

pointing to partular individual to say, "guilt lies there." that is too easy. nermeen: andrew bacevich, have just said, and that is so point, bush was reelected despite all the manifest failures of his administration -- one of the most tiring of course was the invasion of iraq, which as you say, rumsfeld alone is not to be held responsible but it is a far greater responsibility, especially since he was appointed by the administration that was reelected. and now to turn to present wars and thlegacy of that initial decision, biden has become the sixth consecutive president in the u.s. following correct. -- bomb iraq. could you talk about that and

the enduring legacy of rumsfeld's position as defense secretary and also the continuity you see in biden's middle east policy? >> i think you are right in reminding us biden is thsixth consecutive president to use violence against iraq. in other words, going back to george herbert walker bush, the six -- six presidents, both republicans and democrats. not as if the one party or the other owns the forever wars come as we have chosen to call them. i think what we see -- militarily, the most recent airstrike ordered by president biden is a trivial event, but it reminds us the forever wars continue. biden's decision, which i fully support, to withdraw u.s. military forces from afghanistan, our longest war

ever, let some of her -- some observers to say, well, we are bringing down the curtain. that is not the case. this administration's military inclinations are not terribly different from the previous five administrations that bombed iraq . this administration shows no inclination to back away from the notion the united states must remain militarily preeminent in the wld. this administration shows no signs of backing away from the inclination to use force, which really is one of the central themes of u.s. policy since the end of the cold war. during the cold war, there was some reluctance to use force because of concerns we would start world war iii. since the end of the cold war, starting with george herbert walker bush, there has been this

permit is -- promiscuous tendency to use force. i think when we examine the record of american wars over the now over 30 years, it is hard to see the country has benefited in any serious way. it is relatively easy to total of the costs that we have paid and of course the cost inflicted on others, like the people of iraq and afghanistan. i have to say from my own point of view, there is an enormous need for serious reflection. the democrats want to see us create some kind of commission to investiga the events of january 6, the assault on the capital. i fully support that. but i think there's a far greater need to evaluate the origins in the conduct of our

post-9/11 wars, which havbeen such enormous damage. sadly, and this is one of the things that talk about in my book, the inclination to move on and forget is very much in evidence in our politics today. nermeen: there is a two-part estion i would like to ask you about what you call the promiscuousendency on the part of the u.s. to use force. democrat critics in congress have warned these recent repeatedele-trade attacks against iranians in the middle east should come under the war powers act. your response to that? can you explain what the word -- worst wer act is? --ar powers act is? and the house voted to repeal

military force come the 1991 gulf war aumf and littlknown 1957 aumf pastor and cold war. at the broader authorization for the use of military force, the one that has been most frequently invoked, is the one passed following 9/11. what prospect do you see for that being repealed and what would that mean? >> as far as i can tell, virtually no prospects whatsoever. which i would say is another demonstration, frankly, the moral cowardice of the congress and willingness of congress as a body to take responsibility come to live up to its constitutional duties, a duty to declare war. we have fallen into the habit, really dating from the time of the korean war, fallen into the

habit of deferring to the president as commander-in-chief to pretty much decide when and where the nation is going to fight. and the fact this blanket authorization passed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, continues in force today. it is used by secessionists presidents to attack who they want to attack is a good example of how the congress has failed us, failed the nation. you asked about the war powers act. this is a piece of legislation passed at the end of the vietnam war when there was serious interest within the congress, try to reclaim a role in deciding when and where force was going to be used. but it has been a dead letter. no president -- no president has

been willing to acknowledge the war powers act is a legitimate source of restraint on presidential authority. so it is a nice piece of paper, but it is one that gets roundly ignored. the fact is, presidents have come to expect to do they want to when it comes to dropping bombs or attacking people. president biden is now demonstrated that he, too, buys into that claim. it is a big problem. amy: can you talk about the constant targeting of iran as a justification for everything that is happening? you yourself received a letter you wrote about in the boston globe" from a law firm to join a class-action suit on the loss of your son because iran was responsible for the iraq war,

going to this latest attack on syria and iraq by the biden administration -- the second time it did this -- citing iranian backed militias. at the same time the u.s. is supposedly attempting to rejoin the u.s. nuclear pat that trump pulled out of. the demonization of iran is well-established. i think it is a mistake. we have a narrative that describes u.s.-iranian relations that dates back to the hostage crisis of the late 1970's. our narrative does not include anything that happen before then. our narrative does not include the cia's overthrow of iranian

president back in the early 1950's. over the past 40 years or so, we have decided iran needs to be classified as an evil power and i think that inclination makes it very difficult for us to come to a recent understanding of how we got so deeply enmeshed in the persian gulf and how it is that we end up basically in the pocket of the saudis who do not share our values, who do not share our interests, and taking their side in their competition with the islamic republic of iran. i don't want to sound like i am in iranian apologist. they are an oppressive government that denies basic freedoms.

i do think there will be reasonable -- it is reasonable for us to acknowledge iran has its own security interest. think about 9/11 and its aftermath. george w. bush declares a local war on terrorism. he singles out what he calls the axis of evil -- erect, iraq, north korea. principal targets. we're going to war and we're going to war against the axis of evil was the george w. bush announces the bushoctrine which grants us the prerogative toage preventive war. in other words, we claim the prerogative of waging war against whoever we want to. george w. bush implements that claim by invading iraq in 2003. what theeck would be the response of iranian leaders to that set of circumstances? i think quite logically, they

would say, wait a second, we are next on the hit list. if the americans succeed in achieving their objectives in iraq, then the americans are going to come back address. therefore, i think the iranian response was logical to say iran did whatever it could to assist the iraqi resistance to the u.s. occupation which occurred, of course, the result of initiating an illegal war -- not defending the iranian government. but i think their behavior was quite rational. one might even say, justified. and until we as a nation, until our political leaders are willing to take on the perspective, i think it will be very difficult for us to come to a more reasoned and balanced approach to u.s. policy in that

part of the world. quite frankly, something of the same logic applies to the way people in washingt today are talking about the challenges posed by the people's republic of china. i think a first principle of strategy needs to be to try to look at the situation from the perspective of the other side. only then is it possible to avoid the kind of errors that have plagued us in our use of military powers since 9/11. nermeen: andrew, i want to ask about afghanistan, the u.s. biden administration decision to bring the longest u.s. war to a close, likely to witraw within days. many people -- there was the intelligent assessment that was just revealedarlier this week that afgnistan could fall the taliban, the president

regime, present administration could fall within six months of the u.s. withdrawal. others warning of possible civil war with u.s. withdrawal. you have said, even as a staunch advocate of an american withdrawal from afghanistan, that the u.s. withdrawal does not absorb the u.s. of -- absolving the u.s. of responsibility of what comes next. what do you see is that responsibility and what do you anticipate happening in afghanistan. the events seem to be moving so quickly it is hard to keep up with them. that interview by general scott miller, the u.s. general commanding the remnant of u.s. forces in afghanistan, what was strikingly candid and i thought pessimistic -- so things could fall apart there more quickly than i think i must anyone

realizes. we see. nothing is guaranteed. but what is our responsibility? it is moral. it is humanitarian. first of all, we have a responsible to afans who supported the u.s. effort over the past two decades. if they want to leave, we need to make it possible for them to leave. that means accelerating the approval, the special visas for those individuals and their families to leave the country and come to the united states if they wish to do so. my general sense is that there is a recognition of the moral imperative of doing that, but not a heck of a lot of urgency. it is also possible, just as with what happened after the soviets invaded afghanistan back in 1979, that there could be a major refugee problem that stems out of any return of the taliban of power. we need to own that.

we need to be acting now to try to prepare for providing assistance to refugs who leave afghanistan and go to neighboring countries. but i think beyond the moral question, there is a strateg issue. strategic issues is on the realization that our military efforts, along with our coalition partners, our efforts to create a legitimate government in kabul supported by effective security forces, the effort has definitively failed. so what? well, the so what is there will other nations in the region that have a shared interest in preventing afghanistan from descending into absolute chaos. you referenced the reports of afghan militias preparing themselvesor what will in

effect be a civil war. we need to engage with neighboring countries that have to share our interest in preventing that chaos from occurring. no guarantee that we can prevent it. ultimately, the afghans will decide the fate of afghanistan. but neighbors can have some effect. this is the time for creative and intensive diplomacy on our part. amy: as we wrap up, professor, why did you title your book "after the apocalypse"? >> i wrote it last year when the word "apocalypse" or "apocalyptic" was becoming commonplace in media reporting. what was this all about? well, i noticed in your lead-in, referred to the climate crisis. i realize, i'm always referring

to things le climate change. you're right. we are in the midst of a climate crisis. the climate crisis combined with the coronirus crisis, combined with the economic crisis combined with the crisis of the incompetent dishonest trump presidency, combined with the crisis of wars we don't know how to shut down, so i was trying to write a book that was going to reflect on how this collection, unprecedented collection of crises confronting the nation, should lead us to rethink the role we play in the world. it is a short book, but that is basically what the book is about. amy: enter base of his, thank you for being with us, president and co-founder of the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. retired colonel and vietnam war veteran. professor emeritus of international relations and history at boston university. his recent book, "after the

apocalypse: america's role in a world transformed." when we come back, we look at ethiopia. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. earlier this week, the ethiopian military withdrew its forces from mekelle, the capital of the war-torn tigray region, after the government declared a ceasefire. prime minister abiy ahmed denied reports his military was defeated by tigrayan forces and offered another reason for the reeat. >> when we entered seven or eight months ago, it was the center of gravity for the conflict. it was the center of a government, center for known and

unknown resources. at the time we exit, there's something special about it. amy: ethiopian prime minister is a nobel peace prize winner and has come under fire for his response to the conflict that erupted in november when ethiopia launched an offensive against tigray separatists. since then, thousands have been killed, over a million civilians have been displaced, and some 350,000 people are now on the brink of famine. yes to there is hunger in tigray but the united nations says it is the worst malnutrition in a decade and worse -- projected to get worse without urgent aid and unhindered access to those in need. the u.n. says many parties in the conflict may be guilty of violating international law, possibly amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including indiscriminate killings and sexual violence. meanwhile, results are expected soon from last week's parliamentary and regional elections that will determine whether abiy ahmed will remain in power. for more, we're joined by two guests. in addis ababa, stanley chitekwe

is the chief of nutrition at unicef ethiopia. and in washington, d.c., alemayehu fentaw weldemariam, constitutional law scholar, political theorist, and conflict analyst. previously served as a national peace advisor to the ministry of federal affairs and currently lectures at mekelle university school of law. he is also political commentator for ethiopia insight. we're going to turn to you first, alemayehu weldemariam. thank you for joining us. can you talk about the significance of the cease-fire, why it happened, and all this and in context of the elections and the famine that could engulf this area of to gray? >> thank you for having me. i think one thing we need to be very clear about, the unilateral truth, there is not such a thing as unilateral truth in this context in which the prime

minister declared the unilateral cease-fire. he was defeated in the first two weeks. [indiscernible] several divisions -- so after the defeat federal government said it has called for unilateral truce. it is true the significance is also something the international community as real as the people of tigray -- if the truth was honest, the

ethiopian government would also tell its allies, the eritrean forces and other regional forces, to withdraw from tigray an territories they have occupied since the start of the war in november 4, 2020. so this is going to be a very prudent to the ultimate swdown on tse western and southern terrories of tigray. and that will be very destructive. nermeen: you anticipated this conflict as early as 2018. can you explain why you thought this violence would break out? and also if you could give some context as to the origin of this

war, the historical origins of it? >> so ethiopia has been centering on the brink of civil war for quite some time since coming to power in -- the prime minister had this talent for trickery. one of the very first things he did and at the very first few months after coming to power, in contradiction of the constitution, to give the marching order to the national defense forces, to intervene in the somali region of ethiopia to remove its leader. so now that it has come full circle, it started out in somalia the removing the leader

-- i mean, the regional leaders might be responsible for some human rights violations but the constitutional -- intervention -- a region which is a member of the federation has not been followed. so what he did also was he played the same political theatrics, legal and political the tricks. they put on a show of constitutional interpretation, which prohibited -- elections and and the tigray region supposedly from holding regional elections for state council, knowing the region would --

that is what happened. amy: i want to bring -- >> because -- amy: i want to bring stanley chitekwe in in chief of , nutrition at unicef ethiopia. as you talk about the situation come the cease-fire in the midst of the election, or dealing with and the people of the tigray region, ethiopians and the war-ravaged tigray region, are facing the world's worst famine in a decade. can you describe what is happening and what has to happen stanley? >> thank you for having me. we are seeing very high levels of malnutrition among children under the age of five years of about 15%. this is considered to be very high. malnutrition among pregnant and lactating women ranges from 40%

to 50%. again, this is very high with potential long-term impacts. we realize also tigray region at a very high level of malnutrition, standard growth under five was already 10 percentage points the national average was wasting was also about to percentage points above the national average. in the latest study has shown, we have about 5.5 million people that are in a range which we call -- this is a very high proportion. famine comes from the fact certain risks are not removed, number one, continued conflicts as well as, number two, limited access to provide humanitarian

access, this malnutrition situation may deteriorate into famine. nermeen: what are you calling on the international community to do to alleviate famine conditions in the region and also humanitarian access reaching the people who need it most? >> there are elements that we know are very critical. number one, access. we know the situations are changing rapidly, but until now we know the were about 29 districts out of 93 that were hard to reach. there were about 39 that were partially accessible. out of the 93, we only had 21 districts that have full access. this is a strong precondition. number two, we also realize the

extent of the challenge of malnutrition and food insecurity is so huge, the is need to ramp up support. in terms of the u.n. agencies, ngos, we need more humanitarian sources, more materials to be able to respond, food, and specialized foods we use to treat severely now nursed children. -- not nutrition children. you're also talking about financial. nutrition, food security, water. ramping up our response in order to reach people as quickly as possible within the next 30 to 60 days to avoid the looming famine. there is additional financial resources. amy: who is getting in the way of people getting access to so much needed aid?

>> i think up until now, there were three entities. it is not always very clear which entity is making -- i think the main thing is when the exchange of fire, when there is conflict, it is not possible for humanitarian workers to find a safe corridor. there is a misconception in terms of raisi there is an exchange of fire, it is impossible for our humanitarian workers to access those places. so cease-fire is a precondition for access. amy: we want to thank you both for joining us. we will continue to follow this situation on the ground. stanley chitekwe, chief of nutrition at unicef ethiopia. to us from the capital. alemayehu weldemariam, constitutional law scholar, political theorist, and conflict analyst. that does is per our show. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013.

[captioning made possible by democracy now!] cñsñ >> to the hardworking boatm

out there, happy and safe sa iling. ♪ hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. u.s. president joe biden has endured some loss in his life, losing his wife and infant daughter, then later his son. he's drawn on those experiences to comfort families in florida who lost relatives in a condo building that collapsed.