02/26/09 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show

Gareth Porter, independent researcher and journalist, discusses Obama's extended withdrawal plan that keeps tens of thousands of troops in Iraq indefinitely, the political calculation behind the change from a 16 to 19 month withdrawal timetable and the incremental victory won by the generals and Pentagon officials who want to stay in Iraq for the long term.

02/26/09 – David R. Henderson – The Scott Horton Show

David R. Henderson, research fellow with the Hoover Institution, discusses the love-fest between Congressional Democrats and President Obama, the benefit of empire for a select few and the net loss for everyone else, the common misconceptions on what caused and worsened the 1973 oil crisis and the difficulty of communicating with people whose ideas and arguments are wrapped in insulating layers of emotion and patriotism.

02/26/09 – Kaveh L. Afrasiabi – The Scott Horton Show

Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, author of the article 'Iran’s security concerns weigh heavy' in the Asia Times Online, discusses Iranian security from a non-U.S. perspective, the problems presented by instability in Pakistan, tensions between Sunni and Shia throughout the region, how the U.S. embargo on Iran hurts U.S. companies and the similar meaning of President Obama’s 'clenched fist' metaphor and Bush’s 'axis of evil' designation.

Guns

A friend asked me to write a defense of my individualist view of gun rights. So here it is (this is an email, not a real essay, so go easy on me): Okay, I've never really written about this, nor is it really my area of expertise, but here's my best shot. (the following arguments are awesome, but not necessarily in comprehensible order or grammar.) First thing I think is that government does not legitimately hold any power or rights that haven't been delegated to them from the people - which...

02/25/09 – Daniel Levy – The Scott Horton Show

Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, discusses the future of Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu as likely next Prime Minister, the multi-party complexity of Knesset coalition negotiations, how an Israeli government that includes moderate factions would provide some protection from international condemnation of future bad behavior and how U.S. initiative combined with Israelis and Palestinians thinking outside the box can produce...

02/24/09 – Glenn Greenwald – The Scott Horton Show

Glenn Greenwald, renowned Salon.com blogger, discusses the Obama administration's impact on civil liberties, the failure of Obama's government to reverse a single Bush-era legal position, how the Bagram prison in Afghanistan is replacing Guantanamo as the new extralegal detention facility, the spectacular claim that a global war on terror makes the whole world a battlefield and all its inhabitants potential enemy combatants, the history of the state secrets privilege from its original limited...

02/23/09 – Jacob Hornberger – The Scott Horton Show

Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing of the Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri case, the inability of habeas corpus to protect even U.S. citizens from being designated enemy-combatants, the history of terrorism prosecution in U.S. criminal courts and how the continued U.S. assertion that Afghanistan is a war zone further undermines the credibility of Hamid Karzai's government.

02/20/09 – Robert Higgs – The Scott Horton Show

Robert Higgs, senior fellow at the Independent Institute and author of Depression, War and Cold War, discusses his thesis of 'regime uncertainty' as a major factor of the Great Depression, the crash and recovery of 1921-22, the bubble created by the Fed in the later 'roaring' twenties in order to prop up British interests, how World War II provided the certainty big business needed to start investing again - in arms, why the Cold War buildup was still cheap enough for the economy to continue...