Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses the Syrian rebellion’s near-triumph in Damascus and Aleppo; the large presence of Gulf Cooperation Council members eager to help a like-minded regime come to power should Assad be deposed; what murdered journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad had to say about al Qaeda’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan; how the corrupt and incompetent Karzai regime fails to lure ordinary Afghans away from the Taliban’s influence; and the...
09/30/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses his article “How McChrystal and Petraeus Built an Indiscriminate ‘Killing Machine’;” how Bob Woodward propagated the “surge” myth that special forces raids won the war in Iraq; targeting “insurgents” with drone surveillance and computerized cell phone tracking, while removing humans from intelligence analysis; why rounding up innocent people for interrogation, based on who or what they know, is a war crime; entering...
09/30/11 – Anand Gopal – The Scott Horton Show
Independent journalist Anand Gopal discusses the relationship between the Haqqani network and Pakistan’s military/government; why the lack of any Northern Alliance-type allies will make a US ground invasion of Pakistan much more difficult than in Afghanistan; possible CIA involvement in the Afghan heroin trade and with Hamid Karzai’s murdered brother; why the Taliban’s break with al-Qaeda is genuine, and the “safe haven” rationale for continuing the occupation is bogus; slow reforms in Egypt,...
09/30/11 – Glenn Greenwald – The Scott Horton Show
This interview was broadcast on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles on September 30th. Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com blogger and author of With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, discusses his article “The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality;” how Anwar al-Awlaki was tried and convicted in the media through a government whisper campaign, rather than in a court of law; setting dangerous legal precedents that make the US...
09/30/11 – Ivan Eland – The Scott Horton Show
Ivan Eland, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and regular contributor to Antiwar.com, discusses his prescient article “A Double Standard for the Ultimate Penalty” about the protests against convicted cop-killer Troy Davis’s execution and the stony silence about US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki’s inclusion on the government’s assassination list (without conviction or even charge); saying goodbye to Fifth Amendment protection against punishment without due process; why the government faces...
09/28/11 – Grant F. Smith – The Scott Horton Show
Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C., discusses the clarification of his August article “Does AIPAC Have Only Two Major Donors;” how AIPAC has changed its mandatory disclosures and tax returns to obfuscate the organization’s donors and methods; how the American Israel Education Foundation (AIPAC’s “travel agency”) shuttles members of Congress to and from Israel, even though lobby-sponsored trips are supposed to be banned; the...
09/28/11 – Will Grigg – The Scott Horton Show
Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses why the American Dream is collapsing; the dollar’s rapid decline since leaving the (partial) gold standard in 1971; keeping the fiat currency game going by waging war – the biggest public works/jobs stimulus program imaginable; how the dollar’s reserve currency status, solidified by dollar denominated oil sales, has let the US expand its empire far beyond sustainability; and why economic troubles often prompt people to scapegoat...
09/28/11 – Lew Rockwell – The Scott Horton Show
Lew Rockwell, founder and Chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, discusses his article “The Police State Abolishes the Trial” about the disappearance of jury trials in federal courts; the sub-1% acquittal rate for the few defendants who actually do go to trial; how prison sentences ruin lives and careers (unless you prefer working at the Waffle House); how mandatory minimum sentencing took away judicial discretion and helped the US achieve the world’s largest prison population; why jury...
09/26/11 – Scott Horton – The Scott Horton Show
The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses his recent articles “Injudicious Judge Dismisses Civil Libertarians” and “Brennan Does Yemen;” why rising tensions in Pakistan may result in US forces being kicked out – if they will leave; how the AUMF is used to justify warfare anywhere, with nearly anyone; how the CIA transformed from a civilian intelligence gathering/analyzing agency into yet another...
09/26/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses why the US seems to crank up the pressure on Pakistan every time the Afghan War takes a turn for the worse; the domestic national security reasons for Pakistan’s government/military alliance with the Haqqani network; why provocative and threatening pronouncements by US officials aren’t as persuasive as they used to be; and why the Obama administration has decided to run for reelection on a reckless foreign policy – one...
09/26/11 – M.J. Rosenberg – The Scott Horton Show
M.J. Rosenberg, journalist and Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at Media Matters Action Network, discusses his two recent articles “If Tom Friedman can say it, you can too” about how criticism of the Israel lobby has gone mainstream and “On Israel & Palestine, Barack Obama Is Rick Perry;” the large percentage of Israelis who are OK with a Palestinian state, even though their government vehemently opposes one; why, when it comes to Israel, Obama wins the prize for most sycophantic US President...
09/23/11 – Zak Carter – The Scott Horton Show
Zak Carter discusses the Rock the Revolution music tour to support Ron Paul and raise awarness for liberty issues, a list of bands committed to play in venues across the country starting in October, an opening for talented folks in the entertainment business to help in Las Vegas and Cleveland, and where you can go to donate to the tour (with remaining proceeds going to Veterans for Peace to help injured vets ignored by the VA).
09/23/11 – Joe Lauria – The Scott Horton Show
Independent investigative journalist Joe Lauria discusses Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s request for full UN membership during his speech to the General Assembly; how most media coverage has failed to distinguish between statehood (some 130 countries already recognize Palestine) and the various degrees of UN membership; charting Palestine’s options and chances of success in the Security Council and General Assembly; how Palestine’s upgrade to “observer state” would grant them access to...
09/23/11 – Jacob Hornberger – The Scott Horton Show
Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses why the Jose Padilla case may be the most important of our lifetimes; how Americans lost most of their Constitutional protections against government abuses, thanks to runaway Executive branch power and a deferential Congress and court system; why the “no touch” sensory deprivation treatment of Padilla qualifies as torture and probably made him crazy; the curious timing of John Ashcroft’s ballyhooed “dirty...
09/23/11 – Eric Margolis – The Scott Horton Show
Eric Margolis, internationally syndicated columnist and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses accusations by US government officials that Pakistan’s ISI is using the Haqqani network as a proxy to conduct terrorist attacks against US targets; how a combination of heated rhetoric and excessive faith in US special forces could lead to a raid of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons facilities; and why the US/Pakistan alliance has always been tenuous, since Pakistan must act...
