Chalmers Johnson, author of Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, discusses the enormous and expanding U.S. defense budget amidst a general economic collapse, the army of defense lobbyists ready to fight against any spending cuts, how military spending diverts economic resources away from beneficial uses and how defense contractors make the largest and most dubious defense projects into sacred cows by spreading production to as many congressional districts as possible.
02/03/09 – Doug Bandow – The Scott Horton Show
Doug Bandow, author of Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire, discusses the Bush administration’s foreign policy legacy, why maintaining a U.S. military presence in S. Korea makes less sense than ever, the difficulty of negotiating alternative U.S. supply routes to Afghanistan while taking a hard line on Russia and Iran, the high cost in Iraqi lives for their 'liberation' from one authoritarian government to another and the demise of Bush’s two-state solution for Israel and...
02/02/09 – Stephen Zunes – The Scott Horton Show
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, discusses his recent article 'Obama Gathering a Flock of Hawks to Oversee U.S. Foreign Policy,' the mixed-bag of appointments from holdover Bush Republicans to recycled Clinton-era staffers, the particularly terrible work history of Richard Holbrooke and the importance of organized political pressure in ensuring that Obama is the agent of change he claims to be. to be.
02/02/09 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, author of the article 'Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal Decision', discusses the rift within the military on the issue of troop withdrawal from Iraq, the apparent attempt by Robert Gates and Generals Petraeus and Odierno to undermine Obama’s planned Iraq withdrawal timeline, the NIE Iran report and the Iranian nuclear hedging strategy and the fight over control of the foreign policy narrative and who ultimately is to blame for historical failure.
02/02/09 – Justin Raimondo – The Scott Horton Show
Justin Raimondo, editorial director for Antiwar.com, discusses Vladimir Putin's red-baiting of Soviet America, the U.S. military's use of old Soviet supply lines into Afghanistan, how the incredible U.S./Russia role reversal confirms the existence of Bizarro World, why the crumbling U.S. economy won't stop an Afghanistan surge or prevent new interventions in Africa and how the use of logical deduction in figuring out U.S. foreign policy goals only leads to wild speculation.
Bill Hicks’ Final (Cut) Letterman Performance
Thanks to Jim Bovard.
It Coulda Been Ron; Part XXVII
Thanks to Lew for the video.
You Thought America Was a Fascist Country Before…
It's on now.
George W. Bush’s Somalia Legacy
Suicide Terrorism. Also, here, the Post, which supported and helped lie on behalf of each and every one of Bush/Cheney's acts of mass murder, now admits to the public that, "The departure of George W. Bush deprived al-Qaeda of a polarizing American leader who reliably drove recruits and donations to the terrorist group. ... 'They're highly uncertain about what they're getting in this new adversary,' said Paul Pillar, a former CIA counterterrorism official who lectures on national security at...
01/24/09 – Andy Worthington – The Scott Horton Show
Andy Worthington, author of the January 24th article 'For Detainees, Obama Off to Good Start', discusses Barack Obama’s initial executive orders regarding the closure of Gitmo and secret CIA prisons, the lengthy year-long review process for detainee trials, how the Bush administration’s torture policy ruined any opportunity to prosecute the few legitimate terrorism cases, the propaganda potential in the Pentagon’s loaded phrase 'returned to the battlefield' and the relatively low recidivism...
01/24/09 – Dean Ahmad – The Scott Horton Show
Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, founder of the Minaret of Freedom Institute, discusses how the Israel/Palestine issue seen from a libertarian perspective defines the central conflict in terms of individual property rights, the difficulty in determining the motivation behind Israel's recent - seemingly fruitless - military endeavors, the precipitous decline in non-Jewish land ownership in Israel from 1948 to the present day and the looming prospect of a democratic Jewish Israel with an Arab majority...
01/24/09 – Kathy Kelly – The Scott Horton Show
Kathy Kelly, founder of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, discusses her recent visit to Gaza at the end of Israel's incursion, the systematic damage done to civilian infrastructure, the mounting evidence that the Israelis used white phosphorus and committed war crimes, the large volume of images and reporting broadcast by Al-Jazeera in Gaza compared to the Western media's near-blackout of coverage and the hopeful possibility that new U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell can broker a peace...
Interviews of Me
Here's one from the 12th on Free Talk Live with Ian, Mark and Sam. (Last hour). And here's one from (very early) this morning on Break the Matrix radio with Kurt Wallace. (starts at approximately 63:30)
Barack Obama Already Killing People in Pakistan
Well shit. That didn't take long. Thanks to Lila Rajiva.
Robert Pape Was Right
Suicide terrorism is a reaction to foreign occupation. And Israelis are real smart - but apparently only after they run out of bombs and bullets. Two days after their last soldiers returned from Gaza, Israelis are asking increasingly whether the offensive had achieved anything other than spawning a new generation of potential suicide bombers. The three-week war enjoyed massive popular support at the time but, with the guns silent, scathing criticism is emerging from the Left and the Right of...
