Democracy Now!

• Assault Weapons Ban Left Out of Gun Control Bill
• Iraq Suffers Deadliest Day of Year on 10th Anniversary of U.S. Invasion
• Obama Arrives in Israel for 3-Day Visit
• White House Releases Obama's Persian New Year Address
• Both Sides Allege Chemical Weapons Use in Syria Attack
• Cyprus Parliament Rejects EU Bailout Demands
• Guatemala Tries Ex-Dictator Efraín Ríos Montt on Genocide Charges
• 7 Marines Killed in Nevada Explosion
• Freddie Mac Sues Banks for Libor Losses
• FDIC Agrees to Keep Silent on Settlements with Banks
• Report: NYPD Devotes Over 1 Million Hours to Pot Arrests
• Audio Confirms NYPD Use of Arrest, Summons Quotas
• South Carolina Holds Primaries for 1st Congressional Seat
• Gawker Publishes Bush Email Address on Iraq Anniversary
• Michael Moore: Prosecute Bush Officials for Iraq War

As the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is marked around the world today, President Obama is heading to Israel for the first trip there of his presidency. Obama’s three-day tour also includes stops in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and in Jordan on Friday. The White House has taken pains to play down expectations of Obama’s visit, billing it a "listening tour." Obama’s supporters say that mission reflects the reality of the Middle East conflict, with the United States unable to forcefully change an intractable dispute. But in his new book, the Palestinian-American scholar Rashid Khalidi argues that the United States could in fact play a decisive role in achieving Middle East peace if it simply reversed decades of policy backing the Israeli occupation. In "Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East," Khalidi draws on his research as a historian, and on his own experience as an adviser to Palestinian negotiators, to argue that far from being an impartial broker, the United States has effectively acted as Israel’s lawyer. [includes rush transcript]

We continue our look at the Iraq War’s 10th anniversary with Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst. Jarrar led the first civilian casualty survey in Iraq as the country director of Civic Worldwide and has closely monitored the issue of civilian casualties as well as the larger fallout from the U.S. invasion for the last 10 years. He’s currently the communications director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Discussing Iraq’s current Shiite-Sunni divide, Jarrar says the U.S. invasion has brought "the complete destruction of the Iraqi national identity. There is no civic identity in Iraq anymore. So people ... regressed. They went to the other level that they can identify with, and that, unfortunately, was the sectarian affiliation." [includes rush transcript]

On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, we look at a massive new report by a team of 30 economists, anthropologists, political scientists, legal experts and physicians about the Iraq War’s impact. "The Costs of War" report found the total number of people who have died from the Iraq War, including soldiers, militants, police, contractors, journalists, humanitarian workers and Iraqi civilians, has reached at least 189,000 people, including at least 123,000 civilians. Financially, the report estimates a cost to U.S. taxpayers of $2.2 trillion, a figure that could one day approach $4 trillion with the interest accrued on the borrowed money used to fund the war. We’re joined by the report’s co-author, Neta Crawford, professor of political science at Boston University. [includes rush transcript]

• Blasts Kill Scores in Iraq on 10th Anniversary of U.S.-Led Invasion
• Congolese Rebel Leader Wanted for War Crimes Surrenders at U.S. Embassy
• U.S. Condemns Syrian Firing of Rockets into Lebanon
• Syrian Opposition Elects U.S. Citizen as Interim Prime Minister
• Somalia: Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 10
• Yemen Launches U.N.-Backed National Dialogue amid Protests
• U.S. Role Seen as Key in Push for Global Arms Treaty
• Study: 250,000 U.S. Guns Smuggled into Mexico Each Year
• Trial Opens for Challenge to NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Policy
• Obama Taps Tom Perez for Secretary of Labor
• Hacker Who Revealed AT&T Security Flaw Gets 3.5 Years in Prison
• Steubenville: 2 Teenage Girls Arrested for Threatening Rape Victim Online

We continue our conversation with acclaimed author Arundhati Roy by discussing the overlooked conflict in Kashmir, the center of a decades-long dispute between India and Pakistan. Roy joins us along with Sanjay Kak, a New Delhi-based documentary filmmaker whose most recent film is "Jashn-e-Azadi," or "How We Celebrate Freedom," and who is the author of the book, "Until My Freedom Has Come: The New Intifada in Kashmir." Discussing India’s military involvement in Kashmir, Roy says: "It’s such a morally reprehensible thing to be living in a country that is doing this to a people and everyone is keeping quiet about it. ... What they are doing to people is terrible." [includes rush transcript]

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the global justice activist and author Arundhati Roy joins us to discuss the war’s legacy. Roy is the author of many books, including "The God of Small Things," "Walking with the Comrades," and "Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers." Roy argues the imperial mentality that enabled the United States to invade Iraq continues today unabated across the world. "We are being given lessons in morality [by world leaders] while tens of thousands are being killed, while whole countries are shattered, while whole civilizations are driven back decades, if not centuries," Roy says. "And everything continues as normal." [includes rush transcript]

Two high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio, have been found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party last August. On Sunday, the teenagers, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, were found delinquent in the sexual assault of the girl who witnesses testified was too drunk to move or speak. The case sparked a national controversy following the emergence of images and social media postings from the night of the assault. We’re joined by Alexandria Goddard, a crime blogger who first exposed crucial evidence in the case by taking screen shots of incriminating social media posts, photographs and videos, before they could be deleted. The hacker group Anonymous picked up on Goddard’s posts and released shocking video from the night of the assault. We also speak to Marc Randazza, a First Amendment lawyer who represented Goddard when she was unsuccessfully sued for defamation. "I’m convinced that if Ms. Goddard hadn’t started blogging about this and Anonymous hadn’t taken up the standard, that this case would have been swept under the rug," Randazza says. [includes rush transcript]

• Wardak Residents March for Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Afghanistan
• Obama Admin Drops Europe Missile Plan, Reorients to North Korea
• EU Bailout Terms Spark Panic in Cyprus
• Ohio High Schoolers Convicted in Rape Trial
• Oil-Linked Firms Provided Research for State Dept.'s Keystone XL Review
• White House Spokesperson Downplays Keystone XL Pipeline's Impact
• Report: Obama Admin Mulls Delay of Emissions Cap for Power Plants
• Appeals Court: CIA Can't Ignore FOIA Requests on Drone Strikes
• Federal Judge Rules National Security Letters Unconstitutional
• Maryland Lawmakers Approve Death Penalty Ban
• NYPD Officers in Kimani Gray Death Previously Sued for Civil Rights Violations
• North Dakota Lawmakers Approve 6-Week Abortion Ban
• JPMorgan Chase Execs Testify on "London Whale" Losses
• Massive Procession Concludes Mourning Period for Hugo Chávez
• Vigils in Olympia and Rafah Mark 10-Year Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Killing

While the world focused on the conclave selecting Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to become pope, a protest took place outside that received far less attention. Protesters demanding a greater role for women in the Catholic Church released pink smoke into the air over the Vatican. Their actions came as many were waiting for white smoke, the signal a new pope had been chosen. We speak with Erin Saiz Hanna, executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, and Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an excommunicated female priest. [includes rush transcript]

Over the past week, political analyst Zerlina Maxwell has received racially fueled death threats for speaking out against rape. Maxwell, who is a rape survivor, appeared on a Fox News segment with Sean Hannity last week about the possibility of arming women to prevent rape. She said the responsibility should lie instead with men. In response to her remarks, Maxwell received a torrent of abuse on social media with commenters saying she deserved to be gang-raped and killed. Zerlina Maxwell joins us to discuss her ordeal and her refusal to be silent in the face of the threats against her. [includes rush transcript]

As we continue our coverage of the second anniversary of the Syrian uprising, freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich joins us to discuss Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict. Two years after leading a Gulf intervention force to crush the protests in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia is playing an increasing role in Syria, allowing the supply of arms and even the infiltration of militants to help the rebels’ fight. Erlich, who has just returned after 10 days in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, says the Saudi monarchy is involved in arming "the most ultraconservative, ultrareligious" Syrian rebel groups in the hopes that a pro-Saudi government will emerge. [includes rush transcript]

Today marks the second anniversary of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people and created at least one million refugees. We’re joined by Rim Turkmani, an astrophysicist and member of the Syrian Civil Democratic Alliance who’s in New York meeting with Security Council members discussing possible political solutions to the situation in Syria. Turkmani warns that Syrian voices for nonviolence are being ignored as foreign actors on both sides fuel an armed conflict. "There’s systematic efforts to marginalize people like us inside Syria and focus only on the armed rebels. And they are the ones now who are stealing all the headlines," Turkmani says. "Why? Because, yes, there are certain actors, regional and international, who see this as proxy wars, and it’s an opportunity to fight their international opponents. It’s a struggle over Syria, over power, and the Syrians are falling victims to that." [includes rush transcript]

• New Study Reveals High Toll of Decade-Long Iraq War
• Iraq: Coordinated Attacks Kill At Least 25
• U.N.: Drone Strikes by U.S. Violate Pakistani Sovereignty
• Report Faults JPMorgan for Misleading Public, Regulators While Losing Billions
• Syrians Mark 2nd Anniversary of Uprising as Refugee Numbers Spike
• France, Britain Push for End to Syria Arms Embargo
• Obama Raises Prospect of Nuclear Arms in Iran Despite Testimony by Top Intel Official
• Bahrain: Dozens Wounded in Clashes as Protesters Mark Anniversary
• Michigan Governor Appoints Emergency Manager for Detroit
• Senate Panel Advances Assault Weapons Ban
• Police Kill Shooting Suspect in Upstate NY
• Undercover Probe Leads to Tighter Checks at NY Gun Shows
• Kimani Gray's Mother Questions NYPD Shooting of Her Son
• U.S. Interior Secretary on Arctic Drilling: "Shell Screwed Up in 2012"
• Study: Use of GMO Crops Fueling Historic Decline of Monarch Butterflies
• Report: U.S. to Let Spy Agencies Monitor Financial Data
• GOP Senator Rob Portman Backs Same-Sex Marriage Due to Gay Son

During the military dictatorship in Argentina, the new pope openly criticized liberation theology’s combination of religious teachings and calls for social justice. His social conservative streak continued when he was elevated to cardinal in Argentina. In 2010, he called the Argentine government’s legalization of gay marriage "an attempt to destroy God’s plan" and opposed adoption by gay couples. We discuss Pope Francis’ social conservatism with Ernesto Semán, a historian at New York University and former reporter for two Argentine newspapers, and with Argentine journalist Horacio Verbitsky. [includes rush transcript]

While praised for his work with the poor, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — has long been dogged by accusations of his role during Argentina’s military dictatorship. We speak to Horacio Verbitsky, a leading Argentine journalist who exposed Francis’ connection to the abduction of two Jesuit priests. Verbitsky is an investigative journalist for the newspaper Página/12, or Page/12, and head of the Center for Legal and Social Studies, an Argentine human rights organization. [includes rush transcript]

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was picked Wednesday to become the first pope from Latin America and the first not to hail from Europe in more than 1,000 years. Bergoglio is viewed as a theological conservative who has staunchly opposed abortion, same-sex marriage and the ordination of women, but he has been praised for his devotion to the poor. We speak to Tom Roberts, editor-at-large at the National Catholic Reporter and author of "The Emerging Catholic Church: A Community’s Search for Itself." [includes rush transcript]

• Vatican Conclave Selects Pope Francis, First Pontiff from Latin America
• Obama Rejects GOP Budget as Both Parties Unveil Plans
• Colorado Lawmakers Approve Gun Laws
• Inquiry: Mubarak Regime Behind Nearly 900 Killings of Egyptian Protesters
• Netanyahu Finalizes Coalition Deal for New Term
• Mourners Bury Unarmed Palestinian Shot Dead by Israeli Troops
• Senate Panel Denounces Military Handling of Sexual Assault
• Rape Trial Begins for Ohio High Schoolers
• Attorneys for Aaron Swartz Allege Prosecutorial Misconduct for Withheld Evidence
• 45 Arrested at Brooklyn Protest for Police Shooting of Kimani Gray
• Florida Bartender Scott Prouty Comes Forward as Source of Romney "47 Percent" Tape

On Tuesday, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 landmark Citizens United ruling that cleared the way for corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. The bill is part of a growing movement to overturn the ruling. Today we host a debate on whether the push for a constitutional amendment is the best path to overturning Citizens United. We speak to Mark Schmitt, a senior fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, and John Bonifaz, co-founder and director of Free Speech for People. [includes rush transcript]

As more than 100 Guantánamo Bay prisoners enter the fifth week of their hunger strike, the Obama administration has defended their detention at a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. A number of prisoners have been held without charge for more than 11 years, and more than half have been cleared for release. Attorneys for the prisoners told the hearing that the lack of hope for release among those who do not face charges has created a climate of despair. The senior adviser for Guantánamo policy countered that the Obama administration is working within restrictions imposed by Congress to transfer prisoners out of the prison as part of an effort to close the facility — one of President Obama’s original campaign promises. We speak to Kristine Huskey, director of the Anti-Torture Program for Physicians for Human Rights and one of the first attorneys to represent Guantánamo detainees. The author of "Justice at Guantánamo: One Woman’s Odyssey and Her Crusade for Human Rights," Huskey testified at Tuesday’s hearing. We’re also joined by Pardiss Kebriaei, senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. [includes rush transcript]