why you shouldnt have missed last nites broadcast
last nite (4/9/04), the cbs news magazine '60 minutes' broacast two segments that qualify (in my opinion) as 'must viewing' for americans (id also recommend them to the rest of the world, of course).
one of them was a profile of hugh thompson, the heroic helicopter pilot who--with the support of his 2 crew members--put himself in harm's way to stop a 1968 massacre of unarmed non-combatants by us troops at my lai in vietnam. (the 'scoop' part of this post's title alludes to a brief recounting of cwo thompson's actions included in a piece i posted to my blog on 4/6/04; you can view it--hopefully--by following this link: america should be held to a higher standard ). the text with video of the 60 minutes segment can be viewed here: hugh thompson
the other 60 minutes segment, entitled 'saudi justice?', tells how five britons, a canadian and a belgian were arrested following a series of car bombings that began in november, 2000 in the saudi city of riyahd. once in saudi custody, they were systematically tortured until they agreed to sign false confessions resulting in all seven being convicted. they were released from prison last summer. the saudi government denies using torture which they say is illegal under their laws.
the confessions alleged the bombings were masterminded by british diplomats. a saudi dissident in london claims it was a scam aimed at forcing the british to turn him and his group over to the saudi goverment.
it's a compelling story. since it doesnt involve any americans, it enables us to experience the torture issue from a perspective similar to the one through which we and the iraqi prisoner torture incidents.at abu ghurayb are seen by the rest of the world.
for the text and video of the 60 minutes segment, use this link: Saudi Justice?