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This week on Uprising:

* Judge Declares Mistrial in Watada Court Martial
* Empire Notes on Joseph Biden
* Iraq in Fragments – An In-Depth Conversation with the Director
* Mumia Abu Jamal on the Iraq Troop Surge
* Black Agenda Report on Walmart

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Judge Declares Mistrial in Watada Court Martial

GUESTS: Marjorie Cohn, Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law

This past Wednesday, an Army judge declared a mistrial in the court martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada. As the first military officer to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq on the grounds that the war is illegal, Watada had faced a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Military judge, Lt. Col. John Head had unexpectedly called a mistrial after throwing out “a stipulation of fact,” that was signed by Ehren Watada as part of a plea bargain deal. Under the deal, prosecutors dropped two charges of conduct unbecoming an officer in exchange for Watada admitting that he failed to deploy with his unit. However, Watada’s admission was not the same as an admission of guilt as prosecutors had believed it was. In a statement issued by Ehren Watada’s lawyer, Eric Seitz said that “the mistrial is very likely to have the consequence of ending this case because double jeopardy may prevent the government from proceeding with a retrial.” Some legal experts agree that the double jeopardy prohibition would be applicable in the case of Ehren Watada and that he cannot be retried for the same crimes. Despite this, military judge John Head has set for the new trial to begin on the week of March 19th.

Empire Notes on Joseph Biden

GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is on Democratic Senator Joe Biden.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Iraq in Fragments – Conversation with the Director

GUEST: James Longley, director of award winning film, “Iraq in Fragments”

James Longley is an award winning film maker who spent two years in Iraq, shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and whose stunning documentary, “Iraq in Fragments,” has garnered national and international attention. “Iraq in Fragments” was filmed in three parts, distilled from 300 hours of film. The first part is entitled “Mohammed in Baghdad,” about an 11 year old boy who works in an auto shop. Part two is called “Sadr’s South,” an up-close look at the political development of a militant Shia movement. And finally part three, “Kurdish Spring,” focuses on two Kurdish families in the northern part of Iraq who contemplate their role in US-occupied Iraq. Iraq in Fragments was recently nominated for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards.

For more information and screenings, visit www.iraqinfragments.com.

Mumia Abu Jamal on the Iraq Troop Surge

GUEST: Mumia Abu Jamal, political prisoner and award winning journalist

Mumia Abu Jamal is an award winning journalist and political prisoner. Today’s commentary is about the Iraq war troop surge.

Listen to Mumia’s audio commentaries at www.prisonradio.org.

Black Agenda Report on Walmart

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is about Walmart. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower