Hussein On Trial For Second Time Tomorrow in Baghdad
WHITFIELD: Crisis in the Middle East. Here's what we know right now. Israel says it won't allow Lebanese troops near its border unless they are accompanied by U.N. forces. Those troops are not expected in the area until late this week. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says an Israeli raid into Lebanon violated the cease-fire. Israel says the raid was aimed at preventing weapons from Iran and Syria from rearming Hezbollah. The Lebanese prime minister is vowing to crush any attempt by anyone on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce. Despite heavy security, there was another deadly sectarian attack in Iraq today. Snipers on rooftops and gunmen on the streets opened fire on a huge Shia procession in Baghdad. At least 20 people are dead, hundreds more hurt. The attack came despite a weekend vehicle ban imposed to head off violence during that profession. Ian Finkenbinder was a soldier with a skill that's very much in demand in Iraq. He served there as an Arabic translator. But now he's out of a job and out of this service because he came out. CNN's Joe Johns first reported this story for "ANDERSON COOPER 360."</s>JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wanted, a few good men and women who speak Arabic. For the U.S. military in Iraq, Arabic translators are absolutely vital. In some cases, Iraqis are preferred because they understand a lot more nuance, but there aren't enough to go around, plus Iraqi civilians generally cannot qualify for top secret clearances. So as of last year, the army had by one estimate about 1,850 Arabic speakers in uniform. That's right, fewer than 2,000 to translate for the tens of thousands of people it had on the ground in Iraq.</s>IAN FINKENBINDER, FORMER ARMY TRANSLATOR: I was collecting information on the streets with Iraqi civilians.</s>JOHNS: At the start of the war, Ian Finkenbinder was in the army. A trained cryptologic linguist, intercepting and interpreting intelligence information, doing critical work in Baghdad.</s>FINKENBINDER: Location of weapons, caches, locations of insurgent headquarters, who was insurgents, et cetera, et cetera.</s>JOHNS: He was so good that when his tour in Iraq ended, everyone wanted him to stay. So if Arabic speaking soldiers are so essential, why are we meeting Finkenbinder in this Baltimore coffee shop instead of a forward operating base in Iraq? If you guessed the answer, it's because Finkenbinder is no longer trying to hide it.</s>FINKENBINDER: I said that I was a gay soldier and would like to continue serving in the army as an openly gay soldier.</s>JOHNS: And that decision to come out and finally say what everyone in his unit knew or suspected, forced his commander to kick him out.</s>FINKENBINDER: It's really a waste -- a waste of time, talent and money.</s>JOHNS: Over a ten-year period, it happened to about 11,000 U.S. military personnel a study shows, at a cost of more than $363 million. Under the so-called don't ask, don't tell policy, gays in uniform have to keep their sexual orientation a secret, or they're out. Researcher Nathaniel Frank tracked this issue for years, he says a lot of people fired under the policy held sensitive jobs.</s>NATHANIEL FRANK, U.C. SANTA BARBARA: 800 of those have been mission-critical specialist. Over 300 have been linguists and over 55 of those have been Arabic linguists and we have a dire shortage of those. So we're really causing a brain drain here.</s>JOHNS: The policy has always been controversial, but even now there are many who say there should be an outright ban on gays in the military.</s>PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: It's not just a matter of prejudice. It's a matter of not wanting to be put into those intimate situations with someone of the same sex who may be viewing you as a sexual object.</s>JOHNS: Finkenbinder says many in his unit knew he was gay and there were never any problems, but there is a problem for the military. The policy is costing hundreds of millions of dollars and leaving the military short of Arabic-speaking soldiers in a region where understanding the language can mean the difference between life and death. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.</s>WHITFIELD: And that story from "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. In Baghdad tomorrow, Saddam Hussein goes on trial for a second time. This time he and six co-defendants are accused of genocide and war crimes. The charges relate to an offensive against Kurds two decades ago. An estimated 100,000 people were killed. Survivors say mustard gas and nerve agents were used. That offensive was known as Operation Anfal, Arabic for spoils of war. We get more now from CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad.</s>HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cemetery near the village of Sewsaynan in Iraqi Kurdistan is a peaceful please. Grave markers carved from local stone are shaded by old, leafy trees. For the last 16 years, Gadin Mahid (ph) has visited the cemetery every two weeks. Six of her relatives are buried here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This is my husband's Optim's (ph) grave. This is my daughter's Asnin's (ph) grave. This is my other daughter's Gajal's (ph) grave, this is my son-in-law's grave and the other two graves are his parents.</s>WHITBECK: They all died the same day, March 22nd, 1988, killed by the mustard gas and Sarin, which prosecutors say Saddam Hussein ordered unleashed on some 2,000 villages in Kurdistan, part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing code named Al Anfal, the spoils. Just down the road in Sewsaynan, Mohammed Abdullah keeps the photos of the 13 members of his family he lost on that day. He remembers the attack as if it were yesterday.</s>MOHAMMED ABDULLAH, FAMILY KILLED IN GAS ATTACK (through translator): Two hours before sunset, a plane came over this mountain and it hovered around the village for 30 minutes. During dinnertime, this village was attacked by rockets. I was at my sister's house at the time. I still remember how women and children were horrified and how they were screaming.</s>WHITBECK: Mohammed was saved that day because he was upwind of the area where the gas was dropped but he was condemned to relive time and again the nightmare of what he saw. As Saddam Hussein and his top Baath party officials and military commanders face trial for the Al Anfal campaign, some of the survivors will testify and Mohammed hopes the trial will somehow bring him peace.</s>ABDULLAH: I am happy with the trial, not only he but all Kurdish people are happy to see Saddam go through this trial. We are all ready to be witnesses against Saddam in this trial.</s>WHITBECK (on camera): The group Human Rights Watch say over 100,000 people died during the attacks, which lasted several weeks. Saddam Hussein and his officers are accused of being the first governments ever to use chemical weapons against its own people. (voice-over): The Kurdish survivors think this second trial for Saddam Hussein is a luxury he doesn't deserve.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He should have been executed the day he was captured because he did many horrible things in his life.</s>WHITBECK: Saddam Hussein already faces a death sentence if he's convicted of crimes against humanity in his first trial. He faces the same penalty if found guilty in this one. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.</s>WHITFIELD: Our in-depth coverage of Saddam Hussein's new trial begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern and it will continue throughout the day right here on CNN. News in our "World Wrap" tonight. In western India, homes barely visible under flood waters, triggered by heavy monsoon rains. About 20,000 people have evacuated the area and the army has been sent in to help with relief work. A close call for about 1,000 tourists visiting a religious site near Izmir in Turkey. A fire tore through a wooded area surrounding the site and the tourists had to be quickly evacuated. Two firefighters were hurt. And Pope John Paul II says working too hard is bad for the spirit. Today the pontiff quoted a 12th Century saint as saying excessive work can cause a hardening of the heart and a loss of intelligence. The pope is heeding his own advice. Last month he was vacationing in the Italian Alps and he is spending the rest of the month at the papal palace in a lakeside town outside Rome. Carol Lin joins us now with a look at what's ahead on more of</s>CNN SUNDAY. CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well speaking of travel, Drew Griffin did a terrific investigative piece on the fact that 98 percent of commercial cargo in passenger planes goes unchecked. So I'm going to be talking with the former head of the Transportation Security Administration to talk to him about why. I mean, this happened on his watch.</s>WHITFIELD: Frightening.</s>LIN: Exactly. And at 7:00, we want to hear more from our viewers. Last night at 10:00 we were asking people, the question whether they thought John Mark Karr had anything to do with JonBenet Ramsey's death. So we're going to be asking, soliciting e-mail from our viewers. We got some really interesting answers what night. And a lot of people think that he did not.</s>WHITFIELD: And everyone has a strong opinion about this case.</s>LIN: You bet, and especially the more information that comes out, the more bizarre the tale gets. And so I just think -- we have some new information today, so viewers may have some feedback on it.</s>WHITFIELD: We will be listening and watching. Thanks so much, Carol. Well from the rubble of the World Trade Center, a five-year mystery finally solved.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the last five years you basically told nobody about this.</s>JASON THOMAS, FORMER U.S. MARINE: Correct. My mother didn't know the details at all.</s>TUCHMAN: And how come you didn't tell people.</s>THOMAS: I just wanted to put it -- I thought that mission accomplished, you know, job done.</s>WHITFIELD: CNN's Gary Tuchman has the untold story of the unsung hero ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.