Democracy now! The war and peace report

The United Nations General Assembly has declared for the first time that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. In a historic vote Wednesday, 122 countries supported the resolution, and over forty countries abstained from voting, including the United States, Canada and several European and other industrialized countries. There were no votes against the resolution. We speak with longtime water justice activist, Maude Barlow. [includes rush transcript]

In Iraq, an official audit by the US Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction found that the Pentagon cannot account for almost $9 billion taken from Iraqi oil revenues between 2004 and 2007 for use in reconstruction. Meanwhile, a new medical study has found dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004. We speak with Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for the London Independent. [includes rush transcript]

A federal judge in Phoenix blocked key provisions of Arizona’s notorious anti-immigrant law on Wednesday, hours before it was scheduled to take effect. US District Judge Susan Bolton ruled a partial injunction would apply to the portion of the law that requires police officers to stop and interrogate anyone they suspect is an undocumented immigrant. The law sparked mass protests across the country and a boycott of Arizona. We speak with Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the Tucson-based Coalition for Human Rights. [includes rush transcript]

• Federal Judge Blocks Part of Arizona Immigration Law
• US Seeks Access to More Internet Data Without Court Order
• House Reduction of Drug Sentencing Disparity
• EPA Blasted over Handling of Michigan Oil Spill
• Coast Guard's Role in Fighting BP Oil Rig Fire Scrutinized
• Texas Launches Probe of Toxic Release of BP Refinery in Texas City
• Local Afghan Media Outlets Paid to Run US Propaganda
• Pakistan Declares Day of Mourning After Plane Crash
• 2000-2009 Marked Warmest Decade on Record
• Israel Refuses to Pay Medical Bills for Emily Henochowicz
• Peace Activist Art Gish, 70, Dies
• Israel Demolishes Bedouin Village in Negev Desert

We spend the hour with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, talking about the biggest leak in US history: the release of more than 91,000 classified military records on the war in Afghanistan. As the Pentagon announces it is launching a criminal probe into who leaked the documents, Assange asks what about investigating the "war crimes" revealed in the leaked military records? He also talks about the media, why he isn’t coming to the US anytime soon, and what gives him hope. "What keeps us going is our sources. These are the people, presumably, who are inside these organizations, who want change," Assange says. "They are both heroic figures taking much greater risks than I ever do, and they are pushing and showing that they want change in, in fact, an extremely effective way." [includes rush transcript]

• House Votes to Fund Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Audit: Pentagon Can't Account for 95% of $9B of Iraq Reconstruction Funds
• BP Seeks $10 Billion Tax Break to Cover Spill Expenses
• 800,000 Gallons of Oil Spill in Michigan
• Major Protests Planned in Arizona over Anti-Immigrant Bill
• Nebraska City Suspends Anti-Immigrant Housing Bill
• NYC to Pay $7M Settlement in Sean Bell Shooting Case
• British PM: Gaza Is a "Prison Camp"
• US Backs More AU Troops in Somalia
• Hans Blix: US Refused to Accept Findings of UN Inspectors in Iraq
• Colombia Journalist to Be Allowed Entry into US
• Four Mexican Journalists Kidnapped
• Republicans Block Campaign Finance Law
• Massachusetts Legislature OKs Plan to Bypass Electoral College
• Groups: FBI Surveillance Program Invites Racial Profiling

We speak to Emmanuel Goldstein, a well-known figure in the hacker community and the editor of the magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. He is also the organizer of the HOPE conference. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been slated to be the keynote speaker at the most recent conference. Federal agents were there waiting for him, but Assange didn’t show. [includes rush transcript]

We speak with David Leigh, the investigations editor at The Guardian, one of the three newspapers, along with the New York Times and Der Spiegel, WikiLeaks gave the Afghanistan war documents to. "Broadly, we see a similar picture in the three media. What we do see is quite a different political perspective. From the New York Times’s point of view...it was interesting to see that the relationship with Pakistan was a political priority," Leigh says. "With us, we’re more concerned about the casualties, I think. We’re troubled more, a European audience, by the toll this war is taking on innocent people." [includes rush transcript]

The disclosure of a massive trove of classified military records documenting the Afghanistan war has ignited a firestorm and increased pressure on the White House to defend its military strategy. We play highlights of the White House press conference in Washington and Julian Assange’s press conference in London. [includes rush transcript]

• Karzai Orders Probe into Deadly NATO Air Strike
• Missing US Soldier Found Dead in Afghanistan
• As BP Reports $17B Loss, Hayward to Step Down as CEO
• BP Fails to Set Up $20B Compensation Fund
• Greenpeace Activists Shut Down BP Stations in London
• Iran Says It Is Open to Nuclear Talks "Without Any Conditions"
• Environmental Ministers Criticize US Stance on Climate Change
• WFP: 8 Million Need Food Aid in Niger Due to Severe Drought
• SEIU and UNITE HERE Reach Settlement Ending Dispute
• Tennessee GOP Candidate Questions Whether Islam Is a Religion
• Probe Urged into Murdered Honduran Journalists
• Nike Agrees to Compensate Laid-Off Contract Workers in Honduras
• 20th Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act Marked
• Puerto Rican Independentista Freed After 30 Years

It’s one of the biggest leaks in US military history. More than 90,000 internal records of US military actions in Afghanistan over the past six years have been published by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks. The documents provide a devastating portrait of the war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, how a secret black ops special forces unit hunts down targets for assassination or detention without trial, how Taliban attacks have soared, and how Pakistan is fueling the insurgency. We host a roundtable discussion with independent British journalist Stephen Grey; Pentagon Papers whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg; former State Department official in Afghanistan, Matthew Hoh; independent journalist Rick Rowley; and investigative historian Gareth Porter. [includes rush transcript]

• WikiLeaks Releases 92,000 Secret Docs About Afghan War
• Report: 45 Afghan Civilians Die in NATO Air Strike
• US Launches Hunt for Captured Troops in Afghanistan
• Cancer & Infant Mortality Rates Soar in Fallujah
• Suicide Bomb Targets Baghdad Bureau of Al Arabiya
• Former CIA Boss: Iran Attack “Inexorable”
• Lt. Dan Choi Discharged from Military over Don't Ask, Don't Tell
• Report: Hayward to Step Down as BP CEO
• Khmer Rouge Commander Sentenced for Crimes Against Humanity
• Two Workers in Penn. Die in Natural Gas Explosion
• Report: People with Mental Disabilities Face Risk of Erroneous Deportation
• Activists Gather for United National Peace Conference in Albany
• Legendary Broadcaster Daniel Schorr, 93, Dies

Many progressives helped to elect Democratic majorities in Congress in 2006 and 2008 and helped Obama win the presidency. But with the Democrats in power, the feeling now among many grassroots activists is that most Democratic lawmakers have not acted on behalf of their progressive constituencies. We speak with two progressive activists: Ilyse Hogue of MoveOn.Org, and Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. [includes rush transcript]

We broadcast from Las Vegas, the site of the Netroots Nation convention, where thousands of people have gathered and social media is the watchword of the day. We host a roundtable discussion on social media with Aimee Allison, founder of OaklandSeen; hip-hop journalist and activist, Davey D; and Cheryl Contee, aka Jill Tubman, co-founder of the political blog "Jack and Jill Politics." [includes rush transcript]

Governor Joe Manchin recently appointed former chief counsel Carte Goodwin to succeed US Senator Robert Byrd. We take a look at what the move means and issues surrounding mountaintop removal in Appalachia with Bob Kincaid, an internet broadcaster with the Head On Radio Network and a progressive voice from the Appalachian coalfields. [includes rush transcript]

Three out of every four lobbyists who represent oil and gas companies previously worked in the federal government, according to a new analysis by the Washington Post. That’s a rate that is more than double revolving-door standards on Capitol Hill. We talk to Steve Kretzmann, the founder and director of Oil Change International. [includes rush transcript]

Senate Democrats said on Thursday they have given up any hope of passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation this summer. Where does US policy go from here? We speak with Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones magazine and Kate Horner, a policy analyst at Friends of the Earth. [includes rush transcript]

• Tropical Storm Bonnie Forces BP to Suspend Relief Well Drilling
• Two BP Managers Named as Potential Targets of Fed Probe
• BP's Hiring of Prison Labor Cleanup Scrutinized
• US Lifts Ban on Training Indonesian Special Forces Unit
• Peruvian and Ugandan Contractors Killed in Attack on Green Zone
• Rep. Rangel to Face Ethics Violations Trial
• Obama Apologizes to Shirley Sherrod
• Report: Bailed-Out Banks Paid Out $1.6B in Excessive Bonuses
• Venezuela Cuts Ties to Colombia
• IMF Cancels Haiti's Debt But Gives Haiti a New Loan
• Trafigura Fined for Exporting Toxic Waste to Ivory Coast

We broadcast from Las Vegas, which is hosting the 2010 Netroots Nation. Thousands of people are attending, including Democrats in Congress, policy speakers, progressive bloggers and more. Among them is urban environmentalist Majora Carter. Newsweek has named her one of “25 to Watch” and one of the “century’s most important environmentalists.” She is currently president of the green-collar economic consulting firm the Majora Carter Group. In 2006, Majora Carter gave a rousing address at TED Talks about her life and her work. [includes rush transcript]

Nevada’s US Senate race pits Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid against Republican challenger and Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle. Reid’s poll numbers were down, mainly over Nevada’s sky-high unemployment rates, but since Angle, a former state assemblywoman, won the Republican primary on June 8th in a come-from-behind victory, she has made a series of statements that appear to be hurting her poll numbers and have put Reid ahead in the race. We speak with independent journalist Hugh Jackson. [includes rush transcript]