Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Asia Times journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad’s apparent murder by Pakistan’s ISI for exposing al-Qaeda’s infiltration of Pakistan’s military; how the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda share a common opposition to US occupation, but not much else; the strained and complicated US/Pakistan relationship; the preliminary “talk about talk” dialogue with the Taliban that is highly unlikely to end in a peace deal; and how Washington is...
06/01/11 – Jeffrey Kaye – The Scott Horton Show
Jeffrey Kaye, writer for Truthout and Firedoglake, discusses his article “Deconstructing the Campaign to Malign Award-Winning Article on Guantanamo ‘Suicides’” about (the other) Scott Horton’s exposé; the many half-truths and misrepresentations in Alex Koppelman’s Adweek hit piece; how Koppelman’s publication in Adweek sends a message to magazine publishers and advertisers about what is beyond the pale in mainstream media; the Seton Hall study on the botched NCIS investigation of the...
05/31/11 – Joshua Holland – The Scott Horton Show
Joshua Holland, editor and senior writer at AlterNet, discusses his article “Five Eye-Opening Facts About Our Bloated Post-9/11 ‘Defense’ Spending;” how the “Medicare gap” pales in comparison to the defense spending increase since 9/11; the significant but unknown costs of war, including long term care for severely wounded soldiers; the common ideological ground shared by leftists and Ron Paul libertarians; what your tax dollars buy, in terms of guns and butter; and how defense spending...
05/31/11 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, editorial assistant at The American Conservative magazine, discusses his article “The American Deep State,” about Eli Lake’s New Republic article “Enemy of the State: Are we at war with Pakistan’s intelligence service;” how Lake’s premise equally applies to the unelected US military-industrial complex that exerts enormous political influence and pursues a policy agenda contrary to national interests; the low-grade war already going on in Pakistan; and the three and four-star...
05/30/11 – Sheldon Richman – The Scott Horton Show
Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his opinion piece “After Bin Laden?” on NJToday.net; why Memorial Day is a good time to read revisionist history and reject war glorification; how an interventionist foreign policy self-perpetuates; and why WWII isn’t the good vs. evil morality tale it’s commonly perceived as.
05/30/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses why the Libyan rebels and NATO rejected African Union and Col. Gadhafi peace offers; the pitifully small rebel “army” that can’t make military advances, but refuses to negotiate as long as NATO supports them; the good news from Washington: “House Bars Obama From Sending Ground Troops to Libya;” the still-unsettled question of US troops remaining in Iraq beyond the SOFA withdrawal deadline; and how Bahrain’s draconian crackdown on...
05/27/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of May 27th. Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses the ongoing Egyptian revolution, with renewed protests and token governmental reforms; the tenuous security situation with the army replacing the disbanded police force; changes to Egypt’s foreign policy, especially on Gaza; the open-yet-restricted Rafah border crossing, where people may pass but not bulk commercial goods or building supplies; and the very fast...
05/26/11 – Robert Parry – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Parry, founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses his snazzy new website; his article on the US Congress’s love-fest for Israel’s Prime Minister, “Cheering Netanyahu’s Intransigence;” how, with members of Congress competing for the role of top Israel cheerleader, all pressure to negotiate with the Palestinians is relieved; walking back long established understandings, like a reversion to 1967 borders and a shared Jerusalem capital; Likud Party member Danny Danon’s NY Times...
05/26/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses David Sanger’s latest inflammatory and inaccurate NY Times article on Iran’s nuclear program (you’d think the second paragraph alone would have killed the article – how are multiple bullet-points on page 7, of a 9 page report, in any way “buried”); how the IAEA goes beyond its mandate when dealing with Iran, demanding information they have no right to; Israel’s document forgeries and efforts to frame up Iran; and why...
05/25/11 – Michael Boldin – The Scott Horton Show
Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, discusses the “Nullify Now!” event on Saturday, May 28th in Los Angeles; state rebellions on the Real ID Act and TSA airport “security” groping; why the US government threatened to impose a no-fly zone on Texas; how large countries are better served by local control than a vast central government; and why its up to the individual states to nullify the Patriot Act, since Washington politicians remain committed to destroying our civil...
05/25/11 – Eric Margolis – The Scott Horton Show
Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses the close watch the US is keeping on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons sites, creating suspicions that a confiscatory raid is being planned; how recent events make the Pakistani military look weak and incompetent; how the crucial and fragile US supply line from Pakistan to Afghanistan could be the object of retaliation against further military incursions; how billions in US “aid” convinces...
05/25/11 – Joshua E. S. Philips – The Scott Horton Show
Joshua E.S. Phillips, independent journalist and author of None of Us Were Like This Before: American Soldiers and Torture, discusses his article on the post-Abu Ghraib investigations of Iraqi prisoners abused in US custody, “Inside the Detainee Abuse Task Force;” attorney Susan Burke’s lawsuit against private military contractors, on behalf of 337 Iraqi torture victims; the sincere efforts of many DATF investigators, who were given insufficient guidelines and resources to do their jobs;...
05/25/11 – Daniel Ellsberg – The Scott Horton Show
Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, discusses the espionage trial of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, scheduled to start on June 13 – also the 40th anniversary of the Pentagon Papers leak; why Bradley Manning, even if guilty of everything he’s accused of, still didn’t commit a federal crime; the history, applicability and common use of the Espionage Act of 1917; why using the Act for prosecuting whistleblowers who disclose classified information...
05/24/11 – Karen Kwiatkowski – The Scott Horton Show
Karen Kwiatkowski, columnist at lewrockwell.com and retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel, discusses her decision to run for Congress in Virginia’s 6th district; looking at foreign aid to Israel from the perspective of a US taxpayer; how foreign aid (and not just to Israel) lines the pockets of US arms manufacturers, props up autocratic regimes and undermines the Palestinian peace process; the dustup at the National Press Club between Israel critics and short-tempered Israel supporters; and why...
05/24/11 – Glenn Greenwald – The Scott Horton Show
Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com blogger and former constitutional lawyer, discusses his upcoming new book With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful; the Libya War’s illegality (whether governed by the Constitution or the War Powers Act); how Congress hides its support for war – and hedges its political liabilities – by ceding control to the president; the glaringly obvious two-tiered justice system; the slippery legal and moral slope of...
