Transcript

1.12.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Monday,
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January twelve, twenty twenty six. As a reminder, Radio I
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read prematuial.
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Your reader for today is Mark Webster, as I understand
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it on Mondays by listener request. The reader begins by
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reading Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexton Herald Leader.
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I was unable to find one this morning for January twelve,
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so I'll go right to the Washington Post to the
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headlines on the front page. There are six headlines and
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six stories that will try to read in the first
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twenty eight minute session. The first one hundredth feared killed
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as protests intensify in Iran. A father mourns his hero
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son monitoring of ice in spotlight after killing in Nigeria,
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some US missiles did not detonate. Data shows extent of
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cuts to federal workforce, and then last Trump's all out
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blitz on the midterm elections, the first one hundreds of
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Iranian protesters feared killed. US considers military strikes. Trump administration
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national security officials were preparing to meet on potential responses,
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including a range of military options. Hundreds of demonstrators have
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been killed in Iran, right groups said Sunday, as reports
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of a dramatic escalation in the use of deadly force
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by security forces began to break through a communications blackout
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imposed by authorities struggling to contain some of the largest
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protests since the Islamic Republic was founded in nineteen seventy nine.
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Trump Administration national security officials meanwhile, were preparing to discuss options,
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including possible military strikes, a senior US official told The
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Washington Post. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, based
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in New York, said it had received eyewitness accounts and
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credible reports that hundreds of protesters have been killed since
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the government shut down access to the internet Thursday night.
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The human rights activist news agency, also based in the
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United States, said four hundred and ninety protesters had been
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killed since the protest began December twenty eighth. A senior
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Western official who was briefed on the matter said hundreds
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were killed in forty eight hours of protests. The official,
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who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was
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not authorized to brief the media, said the spread of
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protest across the wide geographical area made it difficult to
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gather credible casualty figures. The Trump administration is considering military
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options in response to the crackdown, US officials said late Saturday,
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speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. Officials
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across the key national security agencies were secluded. Were scheduled
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to brief President Donald Trump earlier this week. A senior
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official familiar with the matter said Sunday the president's top diplomatic, military,
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and defense advisors were expected to discuss a broad array
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of options, including both military and non military responses. The
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officials said. The planned deliberations, first reported by The Wall
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Street Journal, were at an early stage. The official said
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the president had not settled on a preferred option. They said,
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quote Iran is looking at freedom. That's a word where
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all the letters are capitalized, perhaps like never before, unquote,
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Trump posted Saturday on social media. Quote the USA strands
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ready to help unquote. Options under review, the Journal reported
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could include deploying cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites,
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imposing additional economic sanctions on the Iranian government, and launching
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military strikes. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bager Gallibof warned Sunday
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against such strikes. If the country were attacked, he said
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it could target the US, Israel, and international shipping lanes.
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Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night,
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Trump declined to say what options the US was considering.
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He said Tehran reached out to Washington and proposed negotiations. Quote,
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we may have to act before a meeting. A meeting
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is being set up, unquote, he said. According to the
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senior Western official, Iran's supreme leader ordered the crackdown after protesters,
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who had started by voicing economic grievances, began to call
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for regime change and demonstrations grew more violent. Authorities initially
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appeared reluctant to use lethal force, but once the protests
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threatened the regime, the official said, authorities shifted courses. Quote
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this is now unequivocally about regime change for many of
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the protesters. Hence also the regime's escalation into violence, the
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official said. Quote the quote regime is holding it together
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for now, the official continued, but only quote with massive
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violence unquote. The internet blackout and calls for nationwide strikes
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have compounded Iran's economic crisis, the officials said, and trading
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has ground to a halt. Some Iranian officials with whom
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he is in contact appear to be preparing for the
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quote day after unquote, he said, but he hasn't seen
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credible reports of increased regime defections. The Center for Human
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Rights in Iran, which works with activists inside the country
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to document abuse uses, said witnesses have reported that quote
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hospitals were overwhelmed, blood supplies are critically low, bodies are
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being powed up, and the number of casualties is rising
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by the hour. Many protesters have been shot in the eyes,
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The center said. Iranian security forces have in the past
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shot protesters in the eyes with metal pellets and rubber bullets.
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Witnesses also reported the use of snipers, military rifles, and
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surveillance drones. The Center said, quote a massacre is unfoting unquote.
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The center said, quote the world must act now to
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prevent loss of life unquote. It cautioned that the internet
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blackout made verifying the number of those killed in the
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demonstrations quote currently impossible unquote. The posts could not verify
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the Center's assertions, but it has a record of issuing
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conservative estimates of deaths and previous protests. It works with
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a network of activists, including Iran, to document human rights abuses,
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according to its website, BBC Persian reported that one hundred
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and ten bodies had been transferred to hospitals in Tehran
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and the northern city of Rasht, according to quote informed
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sources quote at the facilities, people were taken to hospitals
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with bullet wounds in the head, neck and eyes, doctors
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told the outlet. Iranian police chief Ahmad rays of Radan
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said security forces had quote stepped up unquote their confrontation
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with quote rioters unquote. Iran's state broadcaster reported Sunday and
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that the quote main elements unquote behind the unrest had
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been rounded up and would be punished following a legal process.
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Radan acknowledged death but implied that they were caused by
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coordinated agitators rather than security forces. His evidence, he said,
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was that many of them had stab wounds or had
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been killed by gunshots at close range. Iranian President Masud Possession,
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speaking to an Iranian journalist on Sunday, cast the protests
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as the work of Iran's enemies, who he said were
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training quote terrorists unquote. He accused them of a variety
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of atrostees without providing evidence. At Larjani, Iran's top security
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official said, and Ali Lerajani, Iran's top security official said,
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quote an organized violent group hijacked legitimate economic protests to
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carry out extreme atrostees, killings, burnings, and Islamic state like
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terrorist acts that are clearly unrated, unrelated to genuine public protests.
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Close the quote. An Iranian diplomat told the Post that
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peaceful civil protests had quote turned into armed attack on
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police and ordinary people and burning public services and places unquote,
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with quote surprising speed quote quote so far quote, he said.
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Quote the Syrianization of Iran failed. Quote. Rebels in Syria
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toppled longtime leader Bashar al Asad in December twenty twenty four.
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The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because
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he was not authorized to brief the media, accused Israeli
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intelligence officers of infiltrating the protest and fomenting the violence.
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Quote it was actually the follow up of the twelve
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day war unquote, he said, referring to an exchange of
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missiles among Iran, Israel, and the US in June end. Quote,
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there was no other option for the Iranian government but
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to shut down Internet to disrupt the communication of terrorist
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cells unquote. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu, speaking Sunday at
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a government meeting, said Israel was quote closely monitoring unquote events.
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The people of Israel quote stands in all of the
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immense bravery of Iran's citizens unquote, he said, and Israel
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quote supports their struggle for freedom unquote. Victoria Taylor, a
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former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran,
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said the lack of a US carrier strike group in
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the region would complicate any effort to strike Iranian military
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targets or protect US troops and Israeli interest against retaliation
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from Iran. Quote. There are still ways to strike targets,
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but we are not positioned as we normally would be
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to undertake strikes of this significance in Iran, said Taylor,
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who now heads the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council.
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If the US were to strike Iranian military targets, she said, quote,
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there is no guarantee that prevents the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
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Corps or other regime leaders from assuming control. Even if
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you take out the supreme leader, you could still wind
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up with another regime figure assuming leadership unquote. Videos shared
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by BBC Persian and other Persian language outlets outside Iran
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showed three days of mass protests in cities including Tehran,
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the capital, and Mashad in the northeast. Iranians have called
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for an end to theocratic government in protests and strikes
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for two weeks. Little information has been available since the
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internet blackout began on Thursday evening. Some Iranians have been
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able to connect with the outside world briefly using starlink
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devices that have been smuggled into the country over the
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past few years, and videos that have circulated on social
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media in the past several days appear to indicate a
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high death toll. Some show what appears to be Iranians
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at morgues trying to identify the bodies of loved ones.
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The posts could not immediately verify those videos. The protests,
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sparked by merchants devastated by the precipitous fall of the
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Iranian currency in the past few months, began on December
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twenty eighth. They spread quickly across the country and were
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joined by students, workers and others. That's the end of
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that first article. We'll go to the second article on
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page one. This is fairly lengthy and I might have
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to cut it off. In a Venezuelan home, a father
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grieve's hero son killed in US raid. A father mourns
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his son Jose Salvador Rodriguez thirty two, a Venezuelan soldier
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killed in an explosion during the US mission to capture
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President Nicolas Maduro. In the lonely house at the edge
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of the forest, an old man picked through the detritus
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of his life. Over here was the bed he and
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his wife had shared for decades. Over there the trumpet
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his son had played in the military marching band. And
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here was his faded image of Hugo Chavez giving a
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military salute in his red beret. All of it gone
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now his wife was dead, taken by illness in the summer.
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The socialist movement Chavez once led seemed to fade, seemed
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as faded as the photo Salvador Rodriguez seventy four held
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in his cow's hands. And now his son, the boy
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who'd always asked for Rodriguez's blessings, who'd helped him through
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the anguish of his wife's passing had been taken from
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him too, killed in an explosion during the mission by
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US forces to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Quote. I
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have his segula right here, unquote, he said, pulling out
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the seared identification card of Jose Salvador Rodriguez thirty two,
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who had served as a member of the Venezuelan military. Quote.
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It was burned by the explosion. By the way, there's
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a photograph here of Salvador Rodriguez seventy four at his
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son's grave in Kariaka. Like many other impoverished households across Venezuela,
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theirs was a family that had believed in everything Chavez
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and Chavismo had promised. In a nation where white political
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elites once controlled most of the nation's oil wealth and power, Chavez,
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a career military officer of Afro Venezuelan heritage, was among
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the first to recognize people who looked like himself, black, poor, marginalized.
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Following his nineteen ninety eight election to the presidency, Chavez
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harnessed an oil boom to fund social programs that educated, fed,
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and house struggling Venezuela's in Tarima, the wooded enclave on
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the outskirts of Kyaka, where Rodriguez lived with his wife
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and son, and places like it. Soon, however, the oil
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rank came to an end. Chavez was dead, killed by
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cancer in twenty thirteen, and the Socialists quote revolution unquote
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he'd led, he'd left to Maduro, had been handicapped by corruption, cronyism, incompetence,
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and US led sanctions, but Rodriguez still believed so had
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his son Jose, serving in the Venezuelan Army, first in
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the boulevar battalion, then in the formal infantry, had given
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his son purpose. Jose had loved music, anything from salsa
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to reggaeton, and pursued his passion playing the trumpet in
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the military marching band. Then, late last month, he volunteered
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for a shift, in part because he wanted to collect
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a coffee machine he'd won in a raffle, but mostly
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because that's just who he was. The morning of December
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thirty one, when he left for his shift at a
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military station in northern Caracas, near Chavez's mausoleum, he looked
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back at his father and, as always, asked for his blessing.
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He promised to be home to commemorate the five months
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since his mother's passing the following week. Two days later,
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Rodriguez was woken by a loud crash. His first thought
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was that it was storming outside. He stuck his head
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out the door and realized he was wrong. After weeks
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of anticipation and uncertainty, as the American Armada amassed along
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Venezuela's coastline, it had finally begun quote war in Venezuela unquote,
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he recalled, saying he returned to bed and praying for
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quote nothing to happen, unquote, fell back asleep. The next day,
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he learned that some Venezuelan soldiers had died in the
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brief melee before Maduro's captionre but only began to worry
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that Jose had been among their number when the son
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didn't return any of his cause, Rodriguez called one of
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Jose's military friends. At this point, there's a picture of
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Salvador Rodriguez holding his son's trumpet. Both men were musicians.
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Are you Jose's father? The voice on the other end
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asked yes. He said, there was a pause. Jose is dead.
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Rodriguez clutched his chest and faded. He said he was
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taken to the Kyriaka hospital, where the doctors feared the
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shot of his son's death would kill him. His blood
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pressure had soared over two hundred. Quote. Listen to me unquote.
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Rodriguez recalled the doctor saying, quote, we need to lower
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your heart rate because you could die. You need to
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calm down. Close the quote. Later, Rodriguez found the courage
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to visit the military station. A commander said Jose had
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displayed extraordinary valor the night of his death, after explosions
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had lit up the Caracas sky and it was clear
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the Americans were attacking. Other soldiers had refused to leave
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the protection of the base, claiming aches or pains, but Jose,
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the commander told Rodriguez, hadn't hesitated. Quote he said, I'll
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go for my father, fatherland. I'd give my life unquote.
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Rodriguez remembered the commander saying he went out with another soldier.
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They were equipped with a large gun capable of downing aircraft,
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but they hadn't gotten off a single shot before a
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giant flare consumed them. Quote it burned his entire face unquote.
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Rodriguez said. The funeral was beautiful. He said, the military
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gave him full honors. The commander had to hold Rodriguez up. Quote.
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I cried until there was nothing left unquote, he said.
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Days later, he was back home at the edge of
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the forest. The television he'd watched with Jose was turned off,
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so was the computer where they'd seen movies. Nothing was
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going in the kitchen, where Rodriguez had prepared elaborate meals
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for his wife and son. The old man looked over
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at the Christmas tree. It was still erect, two weeks
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past the holiday. Rodriguez hadn't wanted to celebrate. It hadn't
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felt right in the absence of his wife, But Jose
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had said that they had to do something, so they
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put up the tree together. Now Rodriguez didn't want to
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take it down, at least not yet. All right. That's
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the end of the second story. The third story monitoring
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of ice arrest. They say they're monitoring ice arrest. FED
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said that they're breaking the law. Volunteer efforts to track
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and protest federal immigration enforcement are in the spotlight after
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the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week. This
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begins with a photograph of two protesters. The caption Mustapha
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Muhammad and Mahad Ahmed patrol for ICE around the Riverside
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Plaza complex in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis on Friday.
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Here's the article. While patrolling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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with other volunteers, two days after an officer from the
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federal agency fatally shot a woman in her car in
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the city, segal Ali repeated a mantra quote, we will
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not obstruct their path. We are not escalating unquote. A
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text chat alerted her group while driving on Friday that
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ICE was near Soma Grill and Delhi. They drove over
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to find officers circling the restaurant, masked in an unmarked suv,
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blowing whistles from open car windows to notify the neighborhood.
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The group made eye contact with the officers in their vehicle,
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then tell them until they left. As the Trump administration
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deploys thousands of federal immigration officers and agents around the nation,
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a loose knit but increasingly organized network of activists is
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tracking their whereabouts and documenting arrest the fatal shooting of
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Renee Good last week. As ICE officers and residents faced
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off on a residential street. Here has brought new attention
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to these activities. Good's wife has said the couple came
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out with whistles that morning to support their neighbors. Videos
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show both women exchanging words with ice officers before Renee
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Good starts to move her car and one officer fires.
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Federal court rulings say citizens can observe and record police
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activity in public areas as part of their First Amendment rights,
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and many of the observers are doing nothing more than that.
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They say that they believe authorities are less likely to
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use force if someone is recording, and that they are
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providing a public service by letting their communities know when
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federal immigration officers are nearby. But as officers and agents
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employ aggressive tactics, some activists have blown whistles to warn
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community members of approaching law enforcement, trying to follow immigration
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enforcement vehicles or use their own cars to block the
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roadways entering marker entering mercurer legal territory. Some legal experts
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said such behavior could in theory justify obstruction of justice chargers,
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but they added that any such prosecution would be unusual. Quote,
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could a prosecutor make a credible case that a person
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is interfering if they're blocking an agent's car or slowing
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them down, Yes, but whether that's a crime that deserves
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seven to eight years in prison is a different conversation, unquote,
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said Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor who teach at
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Georgetown University Law Center. At this point, there are a
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number of photographs of demonstrators as well as ICE agents
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arresting immigrants. Back to the story, You're not going to
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find absolute rules on these issues. If the whistling is
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just annoying, that's illegal. If law enforcement can make a
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claim that it's impeding enforcement, they can make a case, unquote,
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he said. But because it's a form of protest protected speech,
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courts give latitude to that. The Department of Homeland Security
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did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but officials
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there and throughout the administration have vowed to prosecute anyone
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who interferes with an operation or endanger as an officer.
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Agency spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said Good was quote stalking unquote
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ICE officers before she was killed, and McLaughlin has told
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reporters that recording and posting images of officers online amounts
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to a quote doxing unquote at a time when they
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face a growing number of threats. In Charlotte, where citizen
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activism has surged since an immigration crackdown began in November,
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at least three people protesting or monitoring officers had been
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charged with impeding law enforcement operations. A high profile Chicago
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case in which a woman was shot by an officer
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and then charged with driving her car into a government vehicle,
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fell apart in court. Good appears to be the first
23:29
person killed by immigration officers while monitoring or protesting their
23:33
presence since President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign began, although
23:38
others have been tear gassed or injured. Administration officials say
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the officer who shot her was acting in self defense,
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but many law enforcement experts have questioned the officer's decision
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to position himself in front of Goods running vehicle and
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open fire. Ali, who was trained as a legal observer,
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last month that as a Somali American who wears a headscarf,
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she had concerns about her rights and safety even before
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the shooting of Good, a white woman. Now, she said
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she believes quote no one is safe unquote. She and
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her group said that they will continue observing ice officers
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and that they have been recruiting more volunteers since the shooting.
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One volunteer of Minnesota Army National Guard veteran, who spoke
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on the condition that he'd be identified only by his
24:27
first name for safety reasons, said he saw patrolling as
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another way of serving his country. Quote it's the most
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American thing to do. Not to be scared of people
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trying to scare you. Unquote, Fahad twenty six said as
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he walked Cedar Avenue on foot Friday. Quote this is
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a pivotal moment that we'll be asking about by our kid,
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that will be asked about by our kids. Where were you?
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I don't want to be in my house unquote. Some
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who have documented federal immigration and for activity across the country.
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Our first time activists who joined the action without clear
25:06
objectives move to act with a smartphone in a car.
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Others among the self dubbed verifiers or rapid responders or
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rapid response have gone through hours of training by advocacy
25:18
groups on how to interact with law enforcement and confirm
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sightings of federal immigration agents reported through phone hotlines. Verifiers
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are often dispatched to spot arrest, record interactions, and where possible,
25:35
get contact information for family members of those arrested. At
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a November training inside a church in Charlotte, a pastor
25:43
laid out guidelines to hundreds of people crammed into the
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pews stand a few feet back. He told them carry whistles.
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If an agent tells you to move back, comply quote.
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There's obviously risk involved in any organizing, and obviously thousands
25:58
of people in Charlotte or willing to take that risk,
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said Adrina Malki, an organizer with Siembra in c Stephanie
26:07
Artiaga Arteaga, executive director of the Carolina Migrant Network, said
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an incident like Goods killing could have just as easily
26:16
occurred in Charlotte, where the Trump administration says its crackdown
26:19
has resulted in hundreds of arrest of undocumented immigrants during
26:24
the president's first term. She said agents would typically ignore
26:28
citizen monitors or walk away in the past year. In contrast,
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her organization often hears of agents reprimenting bystanders for following
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and filming. She said. Social media is replete with videos
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of agents threatening to arrest monitors. But David j. Berr,
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director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute, says those
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threats have rarely become prosecutions. He is tracking such incidents
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and said he knows of fewer than a dozen cases
26:56
in which people were charged with following or recording immigration
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officers or warning others of their presence. Most of these
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cases seem unlikely to go to trial. Quote nothing in
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the law has changed unquote, Beer said, quote they've just
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invented this concept that you're not allowed to record them unquote.
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To prove a charge of impeding federal officers, prosecutors generally
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must show the offender intended to cause some kind of
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harm or injury, said Tobin Raju, an attorney with Yell
27:30
Law School's Media Freedom Clinic. Quote. As long as there's
27:33
no real interference with the law enforcement operation, the right
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to record and document police activity is producted is protected
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by the First Amendment unquote, he said, I'm going to
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cut this article off here to go on to the
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third article. This concludes the first half of the reading
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of The Washington Post four January twelve, twenty six. Your
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reader is and will remain to be Mark Webster. I'm
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going to take a short break and then go to
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a second twenty eight minute reading of the paper. Be
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right back. Welcome back to the second half of the
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reading of the Washington Post for Monday, January twelve, twenty
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twenty six. As a reminder, radio as a reading service
28:23
intended for people who are blind or other disabilities other
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disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material. Your
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reader remains Mark Webster. In the first reading, I read
28:33
three headlines from the front page of Today's Washington Post.
28:37
I nearly finished the article about monitoring ICE. I won't
28:41
go back to it because there's no more information. I'll
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continue now with the three remaining articles. The next article
28:48
in Nigeria, some US missiles failed to explode unexploded missiles,
28:54
witnesses undercut Trump account of Nigeria strike. Of the sixteen
29:00
US Tomahawk missiles fired at militant's in Nigeria, at least
29:04
four appeared not to explode, according to officials and imagery
29:08
reviewed by the Posts. The article begins with a photograph
29:12
of a destroyed houses with the caption destruction in Otha, Nigeria,
29:19
on December twenty seven, following US strikes in Nigeria on
29:22
Christmas Day, here's the article. When President Donald Trump announced
29:27
US strikes in Nigeria on Christmas night, he declared that
29:31
his newly rebranded War Department had conducted numerous perfect strikes
29:36
against ISIS terrorists come but warheads and four of the
29:41
sixteen Tomahawk missiles that were fired that night appeared not
29:44
to explode, according to Nigerian officials, analysts, and imagery reviewed
29:50
by The Washington Post. Residents said one of the unexploded
29:57
musicians landed in an onion field in the village of
30:00
Jabo in northwest Nigeria, while another hit residential buildings in Ofa,
30:06
around three hundred miles to the south. The third Tomahawk
30:10
crashed in an agricultural field outside Ofa, according to a
30:14
state police official, and the fourth was recovered by the
30:17
Nigerian police in a force in Zugurma, one hundred and
30:21
twenty miles to the north. It is unclear why the
30:29
four Tomawks didn't detonate, experts suggesting a few possibilities, including
30:35
mechanical failures or a decision by commanders to crash them.
30:39
Because conditions at the target sites may have changed the
30:43
target of the remaining missiles and the damaged day inflicted
30:46
remain unclear, with US officials and analysts casting doubt on
30:51
their effectiveness as Trump resorts to force against the Islamist
30:55
militants who he says are persecuting Christians in Nigeria. The
31:00
first strikes in the campaign illustrated the limits of American
31:04
intelligence and military capabilities in West Africa. In a statement
31:10
laid on December twenty five, US Africa Command Afrikaan, which
31:14
oversees American military operations on the continent, said in its
31:19
initial assessment was that quote multiple ISIS terrorists unquote were
31:24
killed in the strike. The targets, according to Nigeria's government,
31:28
were quote terrorist enclaves located within the Baouni Forest unquote
31:35
in northwestern Sokoltal State. By the way, at this point,
31:39
there's a map and the map is extremely interesting. I
31:43
can't describe the map of Nigeria, but the caption says
31:47
at least four Tomahawk missile warheads were found in Nigeria
31:51
after reported US strikes were carried out in so Kota State.
31:55
Two were recovered near Ofa town, one in the Zagurma
31:58
community and the other in Jabo village. This map is interesting.
32:04
Sakota state is in the north near the border with Nijer.
32:09
Zugura community is in the center. East, Abuja is right
32:14
in the center, and then ofa is below Zagurma. I
32:19
guess what I would call the lower southeastern corner back
32:22
to the article. Given the location, Nigerian and Western analysts
32:27
said it was unlikely that the strikes hit high level
32:30
members of the Islamic State, who are most active in
32:34
the northeast of the county of the country. More likely,
32:38
they said, the attack targeted lower level militants associated with
32:42
a newer Islamist group called loch Kurawa. Loach Kurawa, whose
32:48
relationship with the Islamic State is disputed by researchers. That
32:54
could be Lakurawa. Nigeria provided the intelligence for the strikes,
32:59
according to two US officials, who both said it is
33:03
difficult for the United States to determine which groups are
33:07
operating on the ground and their affiliations. Quote we have
33:11
nothing in the area unquote, one of the officials said,
33:14
referring to the intelligence assets needed to understand militant networks.
33:20
Pardoning in linking the targets to the Islamic State. AFRICOM
33:27
overstated its confidence in the identity of the fighters, one
33:30
of the UFS officials said, speaking like others in this
33:33
article on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
33:39
The operation, the official said, was likely quote likely, not
33:44
very effective and did not remove any camps or capabilities.
33:50
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon answered questions from
33:53
the posts about the unexploded tomahawks or about the affiliation
33:58
and number of militaries killed. Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson
34:03
said in a statement quote the air strike in Nigeria
34:07
was planned and executed on intelligence shared between US and
34:11
Nigerian defense forces. Prior to executing the air strike, communication
34:16
and coordination with Nigerian partners, in addition to a thorough
34:20
review of the targeted location and ISIS connections, occurred to
34:26
deliberately ensure the mission was executed to maximize effect and
34:31
minimize risk of harm to civilians close quote. White House
34:36
spokesman spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that US
34:41
forces quote successfully took out quote many quote radical ISIS
34:46
terrorists using powerful and precise strikes unquote. A Nigerian defense
34:52
official said that at least four unexploded missiles that were
34:56
part of the Christmas night strikes, have identified two in
34:59
the off and one in Jabo and one in Nijheri State.
35:04
The officials said that the Explosive Unit of Nigeria's Police
35:07
Department is investigating the cause. Some of the other sixteen
35:12
missiles hit miltont targets, the officials added, but assessing the
35:16
casualties have been difficult because quote the terrorists are in
35:20
ungoverned spaces unquote. Daniel Bolla, an adviser to Nigerian President
35:26
Bola Ahmed Tinebu, said the targets were chosen after weeks
35:30
of intelligence gathering in the northwest, which he said has
35:34
become the important corridor linking Islamis terrorists in Nigeria with
35:39
fellow fighters in Mali, Burkino, Faso, and Nize, the region
35:44
known as the Sahel a global epicenter of terrorism. But
35:50
the other US officials noted that the decision to target Lakurawa,
35:57
a relatively minor militant group, seemed to have been driven
36:01
by Nigeria's own internal calculations. Quote It's not clear if
36:06
it's incompetence or intention unquote on the part of the
36:09
Nigerian government. Said a former US official with experience in
36:13
the region, saying Washington had placed too much confidence in
36:17
its counterparts in Abuja. Quote I'm not sure unquote. The
36:21
former official added, if the fighters targeted quote are worth
36:25
the price of one tomahawk unquote. On November one, Trump
36:30
threatened to go quote guns of blazing unquote into Nigeria
36:34
if its government did not stop the killing of our
36:36
quote cherished christians unquote by quote Islamic terrorists unquote. The
36:42
sudden threat alarmed Nigerian officials, who said they would welcome
36:46
help from the United States and addressing terrorism, but rejected
36:49
the notion that Christians were being killed disproportionately or that
36:53
the state was allowing it to happen. Violence in Nigeria,
36:57
a nation of two hundred and thirty million struggling to
37:00
maintain security on multiple fronts, is more complex than Trump
37:04
and his allies have suggested. According to Nigerian and Western analysts,
37:10
although Islamist militants aligned with the Islamist State and Bocal
37:14
Harem have killed Christians, they said their attacks have targeted
37:18
moderate Muslims as well, and in Central Nigeria, where fighting
37:22
between Muslim leaders and Christian farmers has intensified. The battle
37:27
is more resources than religion, anlysts said within Africam, there
37:33
were concerns of leading up to the strike about how
37:37
effective it would be, given the lack of US intelligence
37:41
in the region and the choice of weapon, according to
37:43
one of the current US officials and the former official.
37:47
The Post reported similar doubts among decision makers in November
37:52
after Trump first threatened military action. Each Tomahawk missile is
37:56
around three thousand pounds, with warheads inside around seven hundred pounds.
38:02
According to experts, They come equipped with onboard cameras that
38:06
send images of the target to military operators, giving them
38:10
visibility during flight. An individual Tomahawk costs around two million dollars,
38:16
according to estimates from the Defense Department, which means to
38:19
strike on Nigeria used more than thirty million dollars in weaponry.
38:24
The sixteen missiles US and Nigerian officials said were fired
38:27
on Christmas night came from a Navy ship in the
38:30
Gulf of Guinea. If Ford did not explode, as the
38:34
evidence suggests, that would place the failure rate at twenty
38:37
five percent, a surprisingly elevated figure for a missile that
38:42
reported a ninety percent success rate more than two decades ago,
38:46
according to the US Naval Institute. By the Way at
38:50
disappoint there are several photographs of the Tomahawk missile that
38:56
were unexploded. In the immediate aftermath of the strike, images
39:00
began circulating on social media claiming to show unexploded American weaponry.
39:07
Hani Farid, a digital forensic professor at the University of
39:10
California at Berkeley, reviewed photos of the four unexploded Tomahawk
39:14
warheads at the Post request and said he did not
39:17
see quote any evidence of manipulation or AI generation unquote.
39:24
The locations of photos showing damaged residential buildings and the
39:29
warhead in Opa were confirmed by the Post, while the
39:32
presence of another unexploded warhead in the onion field in
39:36
Jabo was cooperated by a villager at a tune Ijuri Ideami.
39:42
The spokeswoman for the Kuara State Police told the Post
39:46
that a third warhead had been recovered on December twenty
39:49
sixth from the field in a row about thirteen miles
39:52
outside of Opa. The final unexploded munition was discovered Tuesday
39:57
by locals in the remote community of Zugurma between Opha
40:01
and Jobo. According to Wassiu Abiodum, a spokesman for the
40:05
Nizer State Police, the remnants appeared to be warheads from
40:09
inside Tomahawk missiles, according to ex posts from Trevor Ball,
40:14
a former explosive disposal technician for the U. S Army.
40:20
Ball's findings were independently confirmed to the post by researchers
40:25
from Armament Research Services ARS, A Munitions Research and Analysis consultancy,
40:33
and by Armed Conflict Location An Event Data akled ACLED,
40:39
a US based monitoring group. The unexploded warhead that caused
40:44
the most damaged landed in the courtyard of the solid
40:48
Worth Hotel in Ofa. The posts found around three tenths
40:51
of a mile from another site where apparent munitions depri
40:55
were strewn amid the ruins of residential buildings in our
40:59
Gen Jones, director of ARS, told the Post that the
41:03
damage to the buildings was quote consistent with the impact
41:06
of ammunition which failed to detonate unquote. The debris field
41:12
suggested that the missile came apart, he added, with the
41:15
denser warhead probably passing through the residential buildings and landing
41:19
in the hotel, while later, while lighter components were scattered
41:24
around the area of impact. The posts could not determine
41:28
why the missiles didn't detonate. Several factors could have played
41:32
a role, including mechanical failures or other issues known only
41:36
to those involved in the attack. Expert said. They noted
41:40
that Tomahawks are pre programmed with a target location and
41:44
use sophisticated guidance systems to get them there, including data
41:48
of the terrain they will travel through and GPS for
41:51
court correction. The missile also does not arm until later
41:56
in its flight. There's a pick sure of a state
42:01
policeman recovering an unexploded Tomahawk. The missile that struck the
42:05
buildings in Opha have suffered from a mechanical problem, said
42:10
Archie Macy, a retired Navy officer who worked on the
42:13
Tomahawk program. But three other unexploded warheads found in fields
42:18
and a forest away from Seville, and suggests possible navigational
42:22
issues or commanders deciding to intentionally crash them. He said.
42:27
The missiles travel at a subsonic speeds and may have
42:31
taken one or more ours for them to reach their targets.
42:35
In that time, the targets may have moved or the
42:39
intelligence provided Nigeria may have degraded by the time the
42:43
missiles were in the air, Macy said. In such cases,
42:46
commanders can decide to crash the Tomahawk in a location
42:50
of their choosing. Quote. If you want to dump it
42:53
in a field, then you can do that. If you
42:55
don't want it to hit whatever you told it to
42:57
originally go, she said. Quote more likely they were diverted
43:03
from their original target, and there wasn't any other unusable
43:08
target or approved target nearby you could divert them to unquote.
43:13
Tomahawks are often chosen when commanders want to avoid high
43:17
risk operations that would threaten manned aircraft. Analysts have raised
43:22
concerns that they are not being replenished fast enough after
43:26
being used in US strikes in Yemen and Iran, and
43:29
should be stockpiled in the event of conflict with Russia
43:32
or China. Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project
43:36
at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies, urged
43:41
the Trump administration to quote stop wasting Tomahawk on terrors
43:46
with no air defenses unquote. When she heard a loud
43:50
bang and the walls started cracking on Christmas night, otha resident,
43:54
Moronika Saka, sixty seven, thought she was dreaming. Quote. I
43:58
began to scream for help because as I was stuck
44:00
and trying to crawl my way out of the room,
44:03
but a big piece of concrete had blocked the way unquote.
44:06
She told the Post. She was rescued from the rubble
44:10
by a boy who lived next door. Quote I'm still
44:13
very shocked by the incident unquote, Asaka said. The unexploded
44:18
missile tore through her apartment building in southwestern Nigeria, which
44:24
was home to some eight people who had adjoining shops.
44:28
Houses next door and a nearby hotel were also damaged.
44:32
Residents said quote I was in my room when it
44:34
happened and was buried under the ruins unquote, said Musso
44:38
Soliu twenty eight, another resident of the apartment building. Quote
44:42
it took a while before they were able to pull
44:44
me out unquote. Suliu said he wasn't able to salvage
44:49
any belongings from his apartment and is still in the
44:52
clothes he was wearing on the night of the attack. Quote.
44:55
I don't even know where to restart my life unquote,
44:58
he said, have nowhere to stay and are squatting with relatives,
45:05
they said, and the village is still gripped by fear.
45:08
In a news conference last week, Michael Onoja, a spokesman
45:13
for Nigeria's ministry, said that special units had been dispatched
45:17
to recover the remains of missiles and warned civilians against
45:21
picking up or keeping the materials and Jabo, a typically
45:25
quiet village in northwest Nigeria. Abubaka Umar, a forty two
45:30
year old farmer, recalled being in his room around ten
45:32
thirty pm on December twenty five, when he heard a
45:35
quote very loud sound like an aircraft about the land unquote,
45:39
and felt his house start to shake. When he and
45:42
his neighbors rushed outside, he said, they quote saw an
45:45
object that looked like a ball of fire unquote in
45:47
a nearby onion field. Only after a few hours, when
45:51
the fire had died down and police started to clear
45:53
the debris, that they began to piece together what had happened.
45:58
At least two missiles struck the Jabo area, said to
46:01
hu Amar, a sixty three year old retired civil servant,
46:04
one that exploded and another that did not. The missile
46:08
that detonated landed a few meters from his family's farm,
46:11
said Umar, who was in the regional capital on the
46:14
night of the strikes but returned the next morning. The
46:18
missile that did not explode landed in another farmer's field
46:21
about one kilometer away, he said, adding that residents had
46:25
raced towards the site and collected debris. In a December
46:29
twenty sixth statement on ex Mohammed Idris, a Nigerian government spokesman,
46:34
said the targets of the strikes were quote foreign i's
46:38
elements quote, located in the Banni Forest axis of the
46:43
ton Gaza local government area in the northeast. NASA's satellites
46:47
appeared to pick up a fire on December twenty sixth
46:50
in a wooded area of tong Gaza soon after the attacks,
46:53
according to NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System site.
46:58
Satellite imagery takes in December twenty sixth from Planet from
47:02
Planet Labs and reviewed by the Post also revealed newly
47:06
scorched ground in an area with healthy vegetation just two
47:10
days before. We're almost finished. Much remains unknown about La
47:21
Karawa and its objectives are disputed by analysts, but most
47:24
degree the Islamist militants many of them originally from the
47:27
Central Sahl, were invited to northwest Nigeria by local authorities
47:32
around twenty seventeen to protect residents from bandits. The recruits
47:37
implemented a strict version of Islamic law, analysts said, and
47:41
over time came to terrorize the communities they were meant
47:45
to protect. Last year, lak Kurawa was designated as a
47:50
terrorist agent by the Nigerian government. The group was probably
47:54
weakened by the strike, Samuel said, but has gone on
47:57
the offensive in its aftermath, killing at lee twenty one
48:00
civilians on December thirty one in neighboring Kebby State. At
48:04
least nine people were beheaded, he said, and the rest
48:07
were shot. While the motive for the attack was unclear,
48:11
Samuel said, it underscored a sobering reality for a future
48:14
US strikes to be effective. He said, they would have
48:17
to drive the group out of Nigeria. Otherwise, he said, quote,
48:21
they will only lead to more violence. Unquote. Well, that's
48:24
the end of that lengthy fourth article. There are two
48:28
more articles. There's no way I'll finish them. The next
48:31
one I'll cut short. Data shows extent of cuts to
48:35
federal workforce Here are the agencies that were cut the
48:39
most by Trump. New data shows about three hundred and
48:42
thirty five thousand federal workers left government from January to
48:46
November twenty twenty five, with a vast majority of those
48:49
people quitting or retiring. The article begins with a photograph
48:53
of demonstrators walking past a portman or President Donald Trump
48:58
outside the Agricultural Department in June. Here's part of the article.
49:03
More than a third of the Agriculture Department's food inspectors
49:06
left government last year. Over a quarter of Social Securities
49:10
IT management is gone. The Treasury Department is down about
49:14
four thousand. Tax examiners are about twenty six percent. In total,
49:18
about three hundred and thirty five thousand federal workers left
49:21
government from January to November twenty twenty five, with a
49:25
vast majority of those people quitting or retiring, according to
49:30
data released Thursday by the federal government's Human Resources arm.
49:34
While Trump officials and billionaire Elon Musk had violed to
49:37
fire many federal employees, accusing the workforce of being bloated
49:42
and inefficient, a small fraction of workers, approximately eleven thousand,
49:47
were laid off. Now there's a chart which I cannot describe,
49:52
which shows that three hundred and thirty five thousand federal
49:54
employees left the workforce, one hundred and fifty four thousand quit,
49:58
one hundred and nine thousand res tired, sixty one thousand
50:02
did something other, and then eleven thousand were rif which
50:08
I take to be laid off. I'm going to stop
50:11
there so I can go to the six article. Before
50:14
we quit the six article, Trump's all out blitz on
50:19
the midterm elections. Trump is trying to change how the
50:22
midterm elections are conducted. Many of these endeavors go beyond
50:26
typical political persuasion, challenging long established democratic norms. Now here's
50:32
part of the article. I have just about four minutes
50:34
to read this. Five years ago, President Donald Trump pressured
50:39
Republican county election officials, state lawmakers, and members of Congress
50:44
to find him votes after he lost his election bid
50:47
reelection bid. Now he's seeking to change the rules before
50:52
ballots are cast. Trump openly fearful that a Congress controlled
50:57
by Democrats could investigate him in each him and stemy.
51:01
His agenda is using every tool he can find to
51:04
try to influence the twenty twenty six mid term elections,
51:08
and if his party loses so, doubt in their validity.
51:12
Many of these endeavors go far beyond typical political persuasion,
51:16
challenging long established democratic norms. They include unprecedented demands that
51:22
Republican state lawmakers redraw congressional districts before the constitutionally required
51:27
ten year schedule, the prosecution of political opponents, a push
51:32
to toughen voter registration rules, and attempts to end the
51:36
use of voting machines and mail ballots. The administration has
51:40
gutted the role of the nation Cybersecurity Agency in protecting elections,
51:45
stocked the Justice Department, Homeland Security Department, and FBI from
51:50
top to bottom. Of officials who have denied the legitimacy
51:53
of the twenty twenty election, given a White House audience
51:57
to people who like the president, promote the lie that
51:59
he won the twenty twenty election, sued over state and
52:03
local election policies that Trump opposes, and called for a
52:07
new census that excludes non citizens. The wide ranging efforts
52:12
seek to expand on some of the strategies he and
52:15
his advisors and allies used to try to reverse the
52:19
twenty twenty results that culminated in the attack on the
52:22
US capital on January sixth, twenty twenty one, five years ago. Quote.
52:27
I'm concerned about chaos and uncertainty in the administration of
52:31
the twenty twenty sixth election, said Nathaniel Percilly, a Stanford
52:36
Law School professor who specializes in democracy and election related
52:40
to law. Quote. There is a kind of avalanche of
52:43
potential changes that are being proposed, and it's at a
52:46
time when people have lost trust in the election infrastructure,
52:50
and everybody's on edge. Close the quote. In a statement,
52:55
White House spokesman Abigail Jackson said the administration is focused
53:00
on ensuring that only citizens vote and criticized democratic run
53:04
states for how they maintained their voter rode. Quote. President
53:08
Trump's only motivation is doing what's best for the American
53:12
people and ensuring each of their votes count unquote. Jackson said.
53:17
Trump cast this year's election in existential terms in a
53:22
speech to House Republicans this month, telling them that Democrats
53:26
would impeach him if they win a majority. He teased
53:30
the notion of canceling the election, but said he wouldn't
53:33
because he'd be accused of being a dictator if he did.
53:37
Trump can't cancel elections, and he lacks the authority to
53:40
carry out some of his most far reaching plans because
53:44
local and state officials oversee elections rather than the federal government.
53:49
Trump has already ignored these constraints and signaled he will
53:53
continue to do so, which means courts will likely have
53:56
to determine what rules are in place for the midterm elections. Quote,
54:02
all across the powers of the executive. He's attempting to
54:05
do things that maybe he doesn't have the authority to
54:08
do or certainly have never been trieduote, said Trey Grayson,
54:12
a former Republican Secretary of State in Kentucky. Here's a look,
54:17
based on document and interviews with more than three dozen
54:20
election officials and experts over the past year and how
54:24
Trump and the administration are trying to reshape how the
54:28
midterm elections will be conducted. What has Trump done? Trump
54:34
pressed GOP leaders in several states to take the unusual
54:37
step of redrawing their congressional maps for partisan gain in
54:41
the middle of the decade. Ordinarily, states draw new maps
54:45
once every ten years after the census is completed. Where
54:48
is it happening? Republicans made nine districts more favorable for
54:53
themselves across Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas, and are
54:58
considering redrawing districts in Florida. What does this mean? If
55:03
successful Republicans could gain enough seats to protect their thin
55:08
House majority, even if Democrats have a good year and
55:11
pick up other seats. Republicans lead the Chamber two hundred
55:15
and eighteen to two hundred and thirteen, and a handful
55:18
of races could determine control after two thousand and six.
55:21
After twenty twenty six, what could stop Trump? The Supreme
55:26
Court upheld the new map in Texas, but voting white
55:29
groups are pursuing lawsuits that could alter the maps in
55:32
other states. Democrats are trying to schedule a referendum in
55:36
Missouri to block the new map there. Republican state lawmakers
55:40
in Indiana rejected Trump's entreaty to redistrict their state, and
55:44
GOP leaders in Kansas and New Hampshire have resisted his efforts. Meanwhile,
55:50
voters in California approved a plan in November to give
55:53
Democrats as many as five more seats, and Democrats in
55:57
Virginia and other states are trying to withdraw their lines
56:01
to offset the GOP Games the wildcard. The Supreme Court
56:05
is expected to rule by summer on a case that
56:08
could reinterpret the Voting Rights Act and allow Republicans to
56:12
withdraw districts in Black and Latino communities in their favor.
56:17
That decision may come too late to affect the maps
56:20
for twenty twenty six, but could play a major role
56:23
in determining district lines for twenty twenty eight and beyond. Well,
56:29
there's just a couple more paragraphs left, but I'm sorry,
56:32
I'm out of time. This concludes the reading of the
56:35
Washington Post for today, Monday, January twelve, twenty twenty six.
56:40
Your reader today is Benmark Webster. If you have any questions, comments,
56:44
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
56:48
RADIOI at eight five nine four to two two six
56:53
three nine zero. Thank you for listening, and how please
56:56
stay tuned for continued programming on RADIOI.