Philip Giraldi, executive director of the Council for the National Interest, discusses why Edward Snowden is a whistleblower, not a traitor - despite what the media is telling you; the possible public backlash against the NSA's lawless spying; the ugly reality of "what winning looks like" in Afghanistan; and why Snowden had better watch his back if he flees to South America.

Cori Crider, a Guantanamo attorney and Strategic Director for Reprieve, discusses the report "Down the Tubes: The 2013 Hunger Strike at Guantanamo Bay;" why the Guantanamo prisoners have resorted to starving themselves to death; the military's efforts to break the hunger strike; the government's video response to rapper Mos Def's demonstration of force-feeding; and why Obama won't take action to close Guantanamo.

John Glaser, a writer for Antiwar.com and The Washington Times discusses his article "In Syria, U.S. Arms Go To Pro-Assad Militias and Jihadists;" why Israel's attacks on Syria are war crimes; and why - by process of elimination - US strategy in Syria must be to weaken Syrian allies Iran and Russia.

Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the semantic arguments on whether the NSA's PRISM program allows direct access to tech companies' private customer data (per Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden); the value of government spying for blackmailing people to work as informants; and why nobody should rely on Microsoft for encrypted communications.

FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley discusses the Chechen connection between "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui and the Boston bombers; how 9/11 could have been prevented if government agency heads were just doing their jobs; and the many reasons why James Comey should be in prison instead of being nominated for FBI director.

Historian and journalist Gareth Porter discusses FBI director nominee James Comey's political decision to prosecute Iranian-backed Hezbollah instead of Al Qaeda for the 1996 Khobar Towers attack; how bureaucratic self-interest trumps national security priorities; President Clinton's decision to let Martin Indyk hijack US foreign policy for Israel's benefit; and Alberto Nisman's charge that Iran was linked to the contrived 2007 JFK Airport bombing plot.

IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses how Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's ouster has united the Islamists and divided the anti-Morsi opposition; the shutdown of Islamic media in Egypt; how the still-entrenched Mubarak regime systematically undermined Morsi's presidency; the media-manufactured June 30th protests; and why violence is now inevitable in Egypt after the unraveling of democratic electoral results.

Nathan Fuller of the Bradley Manning Support Network discusses Manning's defense team resting their case after three days and ten witnesses; Harvard Law Professor Yochai Benkler's testimony in defense of WikiLeaks's journalistic credentials; the defense motions to dismiss most major charges against Manning; and why the NY Times still attributes Manning's whistleblowing motives to some kind of gay identity crisis.

Sheldon Richman, vice president of The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his article "What the Immigration Bill Overlooks;" Scott Horton's subscription-only article on FFF.org; the libertarian case for open borders; Sheldon's webinar "From Articles of Confederation to Constitution" scheduled for July 17th; furthering the case for liberty by understanding history; and some "Civil" War revisionism.

Globetrotting Asia Times journalist Pepe Escobar discusses Qatar's risky support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Syria; why the Middle East's balance of power is tilting toward Saudi Arabia; Vladimir Putin's warning to President Obama that weapons given to Syrian rebels could be used for terrorist attacks in Europe; and Edward Snowden's tricky path to political asylum in South America.

Karim Sayad, legal officer for the Swiss-based human rights organization Alkarama, discusses the Rolling Stone article "New report Documents the Human Cost of U.S. Drone Strikes in Yemen;" the difficulty of sorting civilians and combatants from drone strike victims; debunking the typical US excuses for using drones instead of arresting terrorism suspects; how drones help Al Qaeda's recruitment efforts; and why the US would better combat terrorism by rebuilding Yemeni infrastructure instead of...

Trevor Timm, an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, discusses the progress of the EFF's 2008 lawsuit against NSA mass spying; reforming the FISA court so the government can't act on secret interpretations of so-called public law; and how the Freedom of the Press Foundation helps donors contribute to WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning's defense fund, even when other methods of funding have been cut off due to political pressure.

Lawrence S. Wittner, Professor of History emeritus at SUNY/Albany, discusses why the US is "Still Preparing for Nuclear War" decades after the Cold War ended; President Obama's empty promises on nuclear disarmament; why, contrary to popular opinion, the MAD doctrine does not lead to peace; and the catastrophic global effects of nuclear war.

IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses the dozens of pro-Morsi demonstrators killed in Egypt; why the pro-military Egyptian media can't be relied on for accurate reporting; the proxy fight between Qatar and the other Gulf states; which side the US government is on; and the diminishing relevance of democratic elections in the Middle East/North Africa.

Eric Margolis, journalist and author of American Raj, discusses the US contribution to Egypt's military coup; the engineered economic and security collapse that proceeded President Mohammed Morsi's ouster; the throngs of unemployed young people protesting in Turkey; and why liberals now prefer military dictatorships to democratic elections.