11/14/11 – Andrew Bacevich – The Scott Horton Show

Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations at Boston University and author of The Short American Century: A Postmortem, discusses his article “The Passing of the Postwar Era;” the major factors leading to a “transformative” decline in US power and prestige on the world stage; the American political elites who are driving the country into a ditch; the redundancy or counter-productivity of overseas bases (excepting the Asia Pacific region); and the lack of “prudent” decision making in...

11/14/11 – Brian Phillips – The Scott Horton Show

Brian Phillips, author of the Truth And Culture blog, discusses his article “Saturday Night Frights” about the most recent GOP presidential debate; the Republican candidates playing to their pro-war and pro-torture constituents; why regular people who occasionally read a newspaper are better informed than half the presidential contenders (especially the front runners); and why Ron Paul – the lone voice of reason in the GOP – somehow gets less airtime than Rick Santorum.

11/11/11 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show

Anthony Gregory, Research Editor at the Independent Institute, discusses his article on Armistice Day; how a day celebrating the end of WWI became “Veteran’s Day” in the US where the military is revered and militarism relished; the frequent reminders that the US government doesn’t care about its soldiers or veterans; and how multiple simultaneous wars – with indefinite durations – have become the new normal.

11/11/11 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the US-influenced drug war in Mexico; how harsh drug crackdowns lead to more hardened criminals taking over the enterprise; the DEA’s five commando-style militarized squads of drug enforcers operating in much of Central America; why the War on Drugs hasn’t reduced drug use in the US; why it makes sense to allow legal businesses to manufacture and sell drugs, and treat drug abuse as a health issue; how the US plays one Mexican drug cartel...

11/11/11 – Jim Powell – The Scott Horton Show

Jim Powell, historian, author and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses his classic article for Armistice Day “What We Can Learn From Woodrow Wilson’s Great Blunder;” how US entry into WWI ended the stalemate that would have produced negotiated settlements and paved the way for Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and WWII; how Wilson’s weak negotiating skills failed to prevent the vengeful Treaty of Versailles and the rise of German nationalism; how “war socialism” contributed more to post-war...

11/10/11 – Muhammad Sahimi – The Scott Horton Show

Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and political columnist on Iran issues, discusses his article “The IAEA Report on Iran’s Nuclear Program: Alarming or Hyped;” recycling the old “smoking laptop” documents into new allegations against Iran; debunking the story about a Russian nuclear scientist who supposedly helped Iran with nuclear weapons; leaving Iranians to form their own opposition parties without foreign interference; why David Albright won’t give up the Iran-propaganda...

11/10/11 – Stephen Zunes – The Scott Horton Show

Dr. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, discusses his article “Obama to Aid Uzbek Dictatorship;” how the US went from arming Islamic extremists to fight Communism in the 1980s to arming Communists to fight Islamic extremists today; Islam Karimov’s dystopian Uzbekistan, where political parties and unsanctioned religions are banned, government farms are harvested by forced child labor, and exotic horrible tortures await dissidents;...

11/10/11 – Kit Kittredge – The Scott Horton Show

Code Pink activist Kit Kittredge discusses her participation in the most recent Gaza flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli warships in international waters; how American tax dollars pay for Israel’s weaponry, making the US complicit in human rights violations; drawing attention to Israel’s apartheid state by repeatedly challenging the illegal blockade of Gaza; why activists arrested in Israel shouldn’t count on their embassies to help them out; and how Gaza is being systematically...

11/09/11 – Andy Worthington – The Scott Horton Show

Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses the ten-year-long miscarriage of justice at Guantanamo; why Obama hasn’t expended any political capital to close the prison or end military commissions; the mere six Guantanamo prisoners who have either accepted a plea deal or been convicted of a crime; and why the Obama administration won’t release USS Cole bombing suspect Abdul Rahim al-Nashiri even if he is acquitted, making a mockery of the “justice” system.

11/09/11 – Tom Engelhardt – The Scott Horton Show

Tom Engelhardt, creator of Tomdispatch.com and author of The United States of Fear, discusses how the Bush administration’s version of the American Dream is dying on the vine; the dull-eyed Obama administration bureaucrats who have unthinkingly carried on the plans of radical visionaries from the Bush era; how Hillary Clinton’s imperial hubris makes her immune from logical contradictions (e.g.: “US forces are in the Persian Gulf to prevent foreign interference”); and why the Iraq War has...

11/09/11 – Flynt Leverett – The Scott Horton Show

Flynt Leverett, former Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council, discusses how the most crucial part of the IAEA report on Iran – that declared nuclear material isn’t being diverted to weapons manufacturing – has been buried under a heap of unsubstantiated rumors and accusations; the evidence that new IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano is much more cozy with the US than his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei; why those who defend Iran’s rights under the NPT aren’t...

Uranium and Beeswax

Too bad ol’ Doc Prather is retired now. If he wasn’t, I guarantee to you that he would point out that buried in all the scaremongering about what Iran 'may' be up to, the new IAEA report [.pdf] says: '[T]he Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at the nuclear facilities and LOFs [locations outside facilities where nuclear material is customarily used] declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement.' He might also point out that all the implosion systems in...

11/08/11 – Flynt Leverett – The Scott Horton Show

Flynt Leverett, former Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council, discusses why the IAEA’s job in Iran is verifying the non-diversion of nuclear materials for making weapons, not publicizing the assertions of foreign intelligence agencies; how “journalist” David Sanger of the NY Times continues his personal crusade against Iran, truth be damned; why Iran’s alleged theoretical study of nuclear weapons, including the testing of high explosives, still does not...

11/08/11 – Almerindo Ojeda – The Scott Horton Show

Almerindo Ojeda, professor at UC Davis and director of the Study of Human Rights in the Americas, discusses his article “Death in Guantanamo: Suicide or Dryboarding;” continuing the investigation began by “the other” Scott Horton at Harper’s Magazine into the suspicious deaths of three Guantanamo prisoners at Camp “No;” the similarites between Ali Al-Marri’s “dryboarding” torture at a Naval brig in South Carolina and the treatment of the Guantanamo Three; and the need for an independent...

11/08/11 – Robert Wenzel – The Scott Horton Show

Robert Wenzel discusses the profligate spending, excessive debt, and resentful bailouts plaguing the European Union; why the European Central Bank will soon begin printing money as furiously as the Fed (since the other option is defaulting on bank-owned debt, which can't be allowed); why gold will quickly revert to the default currency when worldwide inflation runs amok; the inordinate number of wealthy individuals in tax-feeding Washington DC; how the Social Security deficit drastically...