Malou Innocent, Foreign Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, discusses her article, “Protests in Afghanistan: Our Excuse to Get Out;” how we underestimate the Afghan resentment of our intrusion into their lives and culture; why Western-style democracy is not the end all, be all political solution for much of the world; and the myriad forces that make ending the Afghan War all but impossible: establishing a Central Asia client state, keeping the military busy, bureaucratic inertia, and a...
04/07/11 – Ray McGovern – The Scott Horton Show
Ray McGovern, member of Veterans For Peace and former senior analyst at the CIA, discusses why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s military tribunal may hide 9/11 motives; contesting the “they attacked us for our freedom” explanation for 9/11; evidence from Dick Cheney and the 9/11 Commission that unconditional US support for Israel motivates terrorism; the Washington Post’s revisionist interpretation of KSM’s motivation as a response to negative personal experiences in America; and the real reason...
04/07/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses the divide on Egypt’s March referendum, split along religious lines; the economic crisis that sparked the revolution, and the many other grievances that sustain it; and the upcoming parliamentary and presidential polls that, if conducted fairly, will finally give Egyptians a representative government.
04/05/11 – Randall Amster – The Scott Horton Show
Randall Amster, Peace Studies teacher at Prescott College and Executive Director of the Peace & Justice Studies Association, discusses his CommonDreams article “Looking for Mr. Goodwar? Consider a ‘Truth Surge’ Instead;” why wars are fought for strategic interests, not moral imperatives, despite what the politicians say; selling wars to the public with used-car salesman bait and switch tactics; and the popularity of peace – the problem being a lack of agreement on how to achieve...
04/05/11 – Robert Parry – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Parry, founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses the lesson on blowback learned from US meddling in the Soviet war on Afghanistan, applied to the current war in Libya; arming unknown rebel groups for short-term policy goals, without considering the long-term consequences; the tough-guy posturing competitions among pundits and politicians that result in military solutions for every kind of problem; and why the Lockerbie bombing – often cited with a litany of other offenses...
04/05/11 – Shaukat Qadir – The Scott Horton Show
Shaukat Qadir, retired Pakistani Army brigadier and university instructor, discusses his CounterPunch article, “How Anarchy Beats Out Tradition: Two or Three Things You Need to Know About Afghanistan;” how Afghanistan’s traditional tribal system has been gradually destroyed over the last 30 years; the brief egalitarian period of Taliban rule before Osama bin Laden’s influence wrought a draconian enforcement of social and religious customs; the strange bedfellows in Afghanistan’s incredibly...
04/04/11 – Andy Worthington – The Scott Horton Show
Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses the right-wing judges on the DC Circuit Court who think prisoners can be detained indefinitely with no evidence and who habitually reverse lower court decisions on Guantanamo habeas petitions; why today’s Supreme Court would either deadlock or rule differently on Boumediene v. Bush; the 15-month ban on releasing Yemeni Guantanamo prisoners, due entirely to their nationality; getting fed up and depressed after 5 years of Gitmo...
04/04/11 – Charles Featherstone – The Scott Horton Show
Charles Featherstone, regular writer at LewRockwell.com, discusses his disagreement with Eric Margolis‘s doubts about the legitimacy of Libya’s (initial) uprising; how tribal groups within modern states (like Saudi Arabia and Libya) function as “intermediate institutions” that provide a protective barrier between individuals and unbridled state power; how tribal negotiations with Gaddafi could have prevented a Benghazi massacre – without Western intervention; why the CIA’s obvious infiltration...
04/04/11 – Michael Scheuer – The Scott Horton Show
Michael Scheuer, 22-year veteran of the CIA and former head analyst at the CIA’s bin Laden unit, discusses the First Amendment’s non-universality as recently evidenced in Afghanistan – yet another reminder of the dangers in foreign occupations; the choice confronting Americans: pursue the same foreign policy and get endless war or step back and let Islamic countries fight amongst themselves and against Israel; why the current system of government is pointless, so long as it fails to put US...
04/04/11 – Antoinette Bonsignore – The Scott Horton Show
Antoinette Bonsignore, a regular blogger for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, discusses her truthout article, “The Military’s Rape and Sexual Assault Epidemic;” the harassment and threats heaped on military rape victims – men and women – who dare to report the crimes; the culture of impunity for offenders, aided by a woefully deficient (by design) investigative and oversight apparatus; the class action lawsuit brought against Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates for their failure to address the...
04/01/11 – Eric Margolis – The Scott Horton Show
This recording is from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of April 1st. The KPFK archive is here. Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses why the Libyan War could mark the beginning of a counterrevolutionary response to the “Arab Spring;” why Syria’s uprising – though based on legitimate grievances – may have been instigated by the US and Israel; the spectacle of watching Libya’s rag-tag rebels drive patchwork vehicles...
04/01/11 – Doug Weir – The Scott Horton Show
Dour Weir of the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium discusses the likelihood that depleted uranium weapons are being used in Libya; the DU rounds commonly used by A-10 and Harrier jets against armored targets; the long lasting health risks from dust and chemical toxicity; and why the military seems to be slowly shifting away from DU weapons.
04/01/11 – Rep. Ron Paul – The Scott Horton Show
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), author of Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom, discusses the slow escalation and deepening US commitment in Libya; why Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Obama administration, not Congress, ultimately control the government’s purse-strings; and how a failed impeachment vote (and it would definitely fail) on Obama’s unconstitutional war in Libya would effectively empower him further.
04/01/11 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show
Anthony Gregory, Editor in Chief of Campaign for Liberty, discusses his article, “America’s Peacetime Crimes against Iraq,” a review of Joy Gordon’s book Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions; the slow death of Iraqis from entirely preventable diseases and malnutrition during the 1990-2003 sanctions; the double-whammy of an international blockade and UN-administered economic central planning; the Clinton administration’s focus on regime change, not disarmament, as a condition...
04/01/11 – Karen Greenberg – The Scott Horton Show
Karen Greenberg, executive director of the New York University Center on Law and Security, discusses her TomDispatch article, “America’s Growing Intolerance: How ‘Enemy Creep’ Is Guantanamo-izing America;” the mainstream American pastime of reviling Muslims and misunderstanding jihad; calling out intolerance to correct misplaced blame, not to scold politically incorrect speech; why “humanitarianism” and “democracy” are just words that give the US a blank check for militarism; and a federal...
