Trevor Timm, a columnist and executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, discusses his article "Barrett Brown's sentence is unjust, but it may become the norm for journalists;" and how Obama's proposed expansion of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act would make it even easier to jail journalists.

Katherine Hawkins, the National Security Fellow at OpenTheGovernment.org, discusses the lies hidden inside the Senate report on CIA torture; the Office of Legal Council's memos authorizing the program; and the CIA's lies to the credulous Department of Justice.

Giorgio Cafiero, founder of Gulf State Analytics, discusses how Sunni-Shia sectarian tensions could be inflamed across the Middle East if Saudi Arabia carries out its death sentence on popular Shi'ite cleric and political dissident Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr.

Muhammad Sahimi, professor of chemical engineering at USC, discusses his article "Washington's Hawks Provide Ammunition for Tehran's Hawks;" and why a failed Iran nuclear deal would probably cause Iran's moderate President Rouhani to be replaced by an Ahmadinejad clone.  

Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy, discusses the IRmep commissioned poll showing Americans believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be investigated for nuclear weapons tech smuggling before he is allowed to visit the US.

Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the government's persecution of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling, who faces 80 years in prison on unproven, circumstantial evidence under the Espionage Act, related to his communication with journalist James Risen about the CIA's Merlin operation against Iran.

Mitchell Prothero, a McClatchy Foreign Staff journalist, discusses the Islamic State's apparent overreach in Kobani (Syria) where Kurdish fighters backed by US airstrikes forced their retreat.