Hillary Mann Leverett, former State Department official and co-founder of The Race For Iran, discusses her article “Misrepresenting the Iran-Al-Qa’ida ‘Connection;’” how US hardball diplomacy with Iran squandered an opportunity to acquire al-Qaeda’s “next bin Laden” Saif al-Adel; why the US protected the MEK even though the group was on the State Department’s terrorism list and fought with Saddam’s regime against US troops in Iraq; Iran’s cooperation with the US on terrorism issues (both...
06/06/11 – Eric Margolis – The Scott Horton Show
Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s (permanent?) departure to Saudi Arabia for medical care; the US in damage-control mode in Yemen, protecting the existing power structure as in Egypt; the tribal conflicts and secessionist movements threatening to tear Yemen apart; the dozen or so actual al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula members; how Bahrain crushed internal protests with US and...
06/03/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses the continuing protests (with declining turnout) in Egypt; the constitutional clash between Islamic groups and secular parties/Coptic Christians on the deference to Islamic law in legislation; why the army will allow elections and civilian government to take hold (barring civil war or a big escalation in violence); widespread opposition to the 1979 Camp David agreement; why the Muslim Brotherhood’s recognition as a legitimate political power...
06/03/11 – Chase Madar – The Scott Horton Show
Chase Madar, member of the National Lawyers Guild, discusses his American Conservative Magazine article “Torture’s Comeback;” the US torture lobby’s attempt to credit enhanced interrogation, conducted between 2003-2006, for bin Laden’s location and execution in 2011; the growing American appetite for torture (10 years after 9/11) especially among moderates, the evangelical right, establishment liberals, and the Cheney family; why torture is the most effective at producing false confessions and...
06/03/11 – Rep. Ron Paul – The Scott Horton Show
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) discusses the two competing bills on Libya – Dennis Kucinich’s legally binding demand for withdrawal and John Boehner’s nonbinding suggestion that Obama seek Congress’s approval, eventually; the rising antiwar sentiment among Americans, reflected but not necessarily shared by their representatives in Congress; why the new 2011 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran should be declassified; the unyielding US foothold in Iraq; and the Fed bailout money that went to foreign...
06/03/11 – Emma Cape – The Scott Horton Show
Emma Cape, member of Courage to Resist, discusses the Bradley Manning support rally at Ft. Leavenworth on Saturday, June 4; the end of Manning’s mistreatment in custody, thanks to the persistence of demonstrators, writers and activists coming to his defense; and the misuse of the Espionage Act against Manning, who’s being treated like a spy instead of a whistleblower.
06/02/11 – Benjamin Tua – The Scott Horton Show
Benjamin Tua, retired Foreign Service Officer and contributor to Foreign Policy in Focus, discusses his article “Winners and Losers in a New Middle East;” why Egypt’s elections will likely result in something markedly more democratic than Mubarak’s regime; why Israel, faced with the Arab spring and a renewed Middle East, should accept a two-state solution based on 1967 borders before it’s too late; the other Jewish organizations challenging AIPAC’s dominance, while young Jews are increasingly...
06/02/11 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show
Anthony Gregory, Editor in Chief of Campaign for Liberty, discusses Murray Rothbard’s book Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy (with an introduction by Anthony Gregory); banks and the war machine, closely collaborating since the 1800s; shattering the left-right paradigm and finding the intersection of corporate power and public corruption; why the US economic system is not now, and has never been, based on unfettered free market capitalism; and how the state apparatus attracts...
06/01/11 – Seymour Hersh – The Scott Horton Show
Seymour Hersh, award winning investigative reporter for The New Yorker magazine., discusses his article “Iran and the Bomb: How real is the nuclear threat;” the lack of evidence for Iran’s interest in nuclear weapons after 2003, despite extensive satellite and covert surveillance (and even before then, the idea was to counter an Iraqi nuclear weapon, not threaten Israel or the US); how the 2011 NIE reinforces the 2007 assessment, and makes the harsh sanctions on Iran look even more...
06/01/11 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show
Anthony Gregory, Editor in Chief of Campaign for Liberty, discusses his article “Worse Than a Third Bush Term?” evaluating Obama’s presidential performance thus far; the “Nullify Now!” speeches on YouTube from the May 28th event in Los Angeles; how the Libya War raises Obama’s notoriety to Bush’s level; the US-supported Libyan rebels who learned their craft by fighting US troops in Iraq; and why most Americans still can’t put aside political party loyalties to demand an end to the...
06/01/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Asia Times journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad’s apparent murder by Pakistan’s ISI for exposing al-Qaeda’s infiltration of Pakistan’s military; how the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda share a common opposition to US occupation, but not much else; the strained and complicated US/Pakistan relationship; the preliminary “talk about talk” dialogue with the Taliban that is highly unlikely to end in a peace deal; and how Washington is...
06/01/11 – Jeffrey Kaye – The Scott Horton Show
Jeffrey Kaye, writer for Truthout and Firedoglake, discusses his article “Deconstructing the Campaign to Malign Award-Winning Article on Guantanamo ‘Suicides’” about (the other) Scott Horton’s exposé; the many half-truths and misrepresentations in Alex Koppelman’s Adweek hit piece; how Koppelman’s publication in Adweek sends a message to magazine publishers and advertisers about what is beyond the pale in mainstream media; the Seton Hall study on the botched NCIS investigation of the...
05/31/11 – Joshua Holland – The Scott Horton Show
Joshua Holland, editor and senior writer at AlterNet, discusses his article “Five Eye-Opening Facts About Our Bloated Post-9/11 ‘Defense’ Spending;” how the “Medicare gap” pales in comparison to the defense spending increase since 9/11; the significant but unknown costs of war, including long term care for severely wounded soldiers; the common ideological ground shared by leftists and Ron Paul libertarians; what your tax dollars buy, in terms of guns and butter; and how defense spending...
05/31/11 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, editorial assistant at The American Conservative magazine, discusses his article “The American Deep State,” about Eli Lake’s New Republic article “Enemy of the State: Are we at war with Pakistan’s intelligence service;” how Lake’s premise equally applies to the unelected US military-industrial complex that exerts enormous political influence and pursues a policy agenda contrary to national interests; the low-grade war already going on in Pakistan; and the three and four-star...
05/30/11 – Sheldon Richman – The Scott Horton Show
Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his opinion piece “After Bin Laden?” on NJToday.net; why Memorial Day is a good time to read revisionist history and reject war glorification; how an interventionist foreign policy self-perpetuates; and why WWII isn’t the good vs. evil morality tale it’s commonly perceived as.
