Peter Hart, activism director at Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, discusses how pro-Israel media watchdogs like CAMERA control the narrative by making the NY Times print seemingly minor retractions (although the Foreign Agents Registration Act marks the difference between an “Israel lobbying group” and a “pro-Israel lobbying group”); why the media won’t stick their necks out on an issue that Democrats and Republicans agree on; Hart’s media advisory “After Afghan Massacre, War Gets Victim...
03/13/12 – Will Grigg – The Scott Horton Show
Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “The Resistance Rises: Restoring the ‘Castle Doctrine;’” why the passage of Indiana’s Senate Bill 1, restoring the right to defend your own home, won’t mean it’s “open season on law enforcement;” how the War on Drugs hastened the demise of both the castle doctrine and Fourth Amendment; how infamous former LAPD chief Daryl Gates helped militarize police forces, pioneering SWAT and DARE; and why, if you legally must...
03/13/12 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the possibility of another Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, like Operation Cast Lead in 2009; the unequal exchange of fire between rocket-toting Gazans and Israel’s formidable, US-supplied military; dropping the pretense of Yemeni government cooperation and foreknowledge of US drone strikes in Yemen; struggling to understand why the US is so intent on killing people in rural, agricultural tribal regions (Yemen, AfPak), whose...
03/12/12 – Saul Landau – The Scott Horton Show
Saul Landau, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses his article “Malice v. Nobility: Scooter Libby v. Bradley Manning;” how Libby managed to “out” Valerie Plame, instigate the Iraq War, and get convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice without spending a day in prison (thanks to Bush’s commutation); why Manning would now be a free man if he had massacred Iraqi civilians instead of (allegedly) leaking classified information exposing the dirty deeds of the US...
03/12/12 – Brian Cloughley – The Scott Horton Show
Brian Cloughley, author of War, Coups and Terror: Pakistan’s Army in Years of Turmoil, discusses his article “System Failure: Training the Afghan Army;” why it’s difficult enough to field an army of countrymen who are literate and share a common language – and near impossible to cobble one together in Afghanistan; the new low of US-Afghan relations following the recent massacre; and expectations that US withdrawal will plunge the country into civil war, like when the Soviets departed in...
03/09/12 – Sheldon Richman – The Scott Horton Show
Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his article “No to AIPAC, No to Israel, and No to War;” President Obama’s disappointing speech at the AIPAC conference, where he refused to take “options off the table” in dealing with Iran; why Iran’s modest military capability poses no real threat to Israel or the US; refuting the “mad mullah” image of Iran’s leadership – which is in fact composed of rational actors who aren’t eager to see their 2500 year old...
03/09/12 – Daniel Larison – The Scott Horton Show
Daniel Larison, writer for The American Conservative Magazine, discusses the TAC-type of conservatives who oppose interventionist foreign policy and wars of aggression; how the never ending War on Terror increases the size and scope of government; the secret panel of government insiders passing for “due process” in the Obama administration; why the “Libyan model” of easy, from the air, regime change won’t work in Syria; and why, John McCain’s bluster aside, most Republicans really don’t want...
03/09/12 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the very low militant-killing success rate of drone strikes in the Afghanistan/Pakistan tribal border region; the US’s agreement to hand over Afghan prisoners in 2014 and refusal to end night raids; the Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party’s attempt to oust their military-imposed government; and the Western NGO workers freed from Egyptian custody.
03/09/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses why the Academy Award winning movie “A Separation” should be required viewing for Americans; how the Western powers will have trouble enforcing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports; the European Union’s weakness on foreign policy; how sanctions hurt the Iranian people much more than the government; and the IAEA’s conversion from impartial observer to political attack dog.
03/08/12 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses President Obama’s speech and the AIPAC convention’s creepy atmosphere; how Benjamin Netanyahu’s leverage on Obama increases as the presidential election nears; why the AIPAC-championed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports could be part of a plan to increase gas prices and influence the 2012 election; and why Israel risks being blanketed with rockets and missiles from neighboring countries...
03/08/12 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Senator Lindsey Graham’s hissy fit about Hamid Karzai’s insistence that the US military stop night raids and hand over control of prisoners to the Afghans; the largely illiterate and drug-addicted Afghan police and army that will supposedly take over security of the country; Afghanistan’s paltry GDP, made up almost entirely of poppy cultivation and foreign aid, that can’t possibly support a strong central government; and Obama’s apparent...
03/07/12 – Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr. – The Scott Horton Show
Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr., Chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, discusses his endorsement of a full page ad in the Washington Post titled “Mr. President: Say No to War of Choice with Iran;” why the US should use sanctions to pressure Iran to adopt the Additional Protocol, allowing the IAEA to conduct more intrusive inspections; how the Obama administration earned the goodwill of Russia, China and Europe by reaching out to Iran diplomatically; and why war isn’t...
03/07/12 – Eric Phillips – The Scott Horton Show
Eric Phillips, writer and graduate student in economic history, discusses his article “Military Spending and Bastiat’s ‘Unseen;’” the opportunity costs (in terms of dollars and innovation) when money is taken from the private sector and spent on national defense; why frightened Americans support enormous military budgets far in excess of what’s needed for defensive purposes; Obama’s defense “cuts” that are just reducing the rate of increase; and the high unemployment rate for young veterans,...
03/06/12 – Robert Pallitto – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Pallitto, professor of political science and contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus, discusses his article “Psychologists and Torture, Then and Now;” post-9/11 US interrogation practices, adapted from Cold War-era techniques used for extracting false confessions; the professional psychologists who aided the CIA in coercive interrogations and torture, disregarding ethical constraints; the failure of state regulatory agencies or the APA in stripping the licenses of torture enablers; and...
03/06/12 – Scott Horton – The Scott Horton Show
The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses Attorney General Eric Holder’s unpersuasive speech defending extrajudicial assassination; the new (government-friendly) definitions of “due process,” “imminent threat,” and “battlefield;” the minimal US effort in arresting and trying terrorism suspects living abroad; the geographical limitations of drone strikes (because collateral damage of Europeans is unthinkable,...
