rick rowley

Rick Rowley is just one of the unembedded, independent reporters trying to bring the real story from Afghanistan to the American people. Our friends at Brave New Films also have teams of independent media makers in that country, and this segment takes us inside their dangerous work.

The Obama administration says it is backing a strategy of reconciliation with the Taliban. But just back from Afghanistan, unembedded investigative journalists Jeremy Scahill and Rick Rowley say night raids by US Special Operations are killing the reconciliation the administration claims to support. A former U.S. Marine who killed two unarmed Iraqis is running for a congressional seat in North Carolina and has received backing from the Tea Party. For more on this story, we talk to Salon.com reporter Justin Elliott, who has been following this race closely. October 30 is the sixtieth anniversary of the 1950 Independence Revolt in Puerto Rico by the island’s Nationalist Party. It marked the most significant attempt at armed revolution in Puerto Rico since the late nineteenth century. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, who’s written extensively on the uprising, discusses its significance. Minnesota Public Radio has obtained the FBI record of the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who died in a plane crash eight years ago this week. Democracy Now! is a daily independent newshour.

Monday's revelation of a videotape of U.S. soldiers shooting unarmed Iraqi civilians is still reverberating around the country. The Wikileaks video is raising questions about procedure, the rules of engagement, and even freedom of speech and of the press. Most importantly, though, people seem to be asking whether this is an aberration in behavior, a few soldiers overreacting or misbehaving, or the normal procedure for action in Iraq. Joining us to discuss are Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films, who was in Iraq and visited the scene of the shootings just the day after they happened, and senior fellow at Peace Action, Raed Jarrar.

While progressives argue over who's failing to organize whom, other organizations have no trouble rounding up recruits from the many in the U.S. who are angry over bailouts, economic failures, and a governing class they feel is out of touch. Independent journalist Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films co-produced a film, "White Power U.S.A.," for Al Jazeera English on the rise of white nationalist groups since the inauguration of Barack Obama. He found that many of the new recruits to these groups don't consider themselves white nationalists, but are finding few other places to turn. Rowley and Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates, join us to talk about the rise of the extreme right, racism, anti-immigrant sentiment and the proper progressive response. We also talk to Jonathan "J.D." Meadows, who is featured in Rowley's film, about his involvement with the Council of Conservative Citizens and his fears for the economy.