the climate," and david sirota's exposes on corruption in the pension system. jeff cohen, director of the park center for independent media said in a statement -- "naomi klein and david sirota are the journalistic heirs of i.f. stone, taking on the most powerful forces in society -- from wall street to big oil & gas -- and giving voice to the victims of predatory capitalism." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with aaron matÉ. aaron welcome to our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world. we turn now to the iraq where the battle for tikrit has entered its fourth week. iraqi forces and iranian-backed shiite militias have been battling fighters from the islamic state since early march in an attempt to retake saddam hussein's hometown. the iraqi government is expected to soon request u.s. assistance in the form of air strikes. if the u.s. accepts the request, it would mark the biggest collaboration to date between shiite militias and the united states in the f