Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel in the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, discusses how the Obama administration’s minimal effort on closing Guantanamo has demoralized and discouraged Democrats willing to take political risks to make it happen; how the DOJ’s absolute certainty of convictions in terrorism cases casts doubt on the US 'justice' system; the lack of trials for 9/11 defendants (except marginal players) despite nearly 10 years gone by; and the primary lesson learned...
02/01/11 – Kathleen Christison – The Scott Horton Show
Kathleen Christison, former CIA political analyst and author of Palestine in Pieces, discusses Al Jazeera’s coverage and analysis of the Palestine Papers; Israel’s 'no thanks' response to the nearly unconditional surrender by PA negotiators; the end of a 2-state solution, with a fractured and helpless Palestine as the centerpiece; the shift of Israeli politics from Left to far Right in less than a generation; and the helpful US State Department advice to Israel after the Gaza 'Operation Cast...
02/01/11 – 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 US preference for new Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman as a successor for Mubarak; why the Egypt/1979 Iran comparisons fail despite the dire warnings of neoconservatives; the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now dominated by moderates and old men; how Egyptians are disgraced by their government’s abandonment of the Palestinian cause; how the Palestine Papers lay bare...
02/01/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the escalating tensions between the Somali police and army, stopping just short of violent conflict; the seven-year old 'transitional' Somali government that remains as weak and unrepresentative as ever; Xe (formerly Blackwater USA) owner Erik Prince‘s involvement with a mercenary army tasked with fighting Somali pirates; indications the Tunisia protests are running out of steam; and Yemeni protests that seem to have effected...
01/28/11 – Philip Giraldi – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of January 28th. The original is available here. Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the beginning of the end of Hosni Mubarak’s rule in Egypt; the uncertain political roles of Mohamed El Baradei and the Muslim Brotherhood; mixed messages from the US government (which must balance lip service for 'democracy' with an Israel-centric foreign policy); how the large, disaffected youth populations in many Arab countries...
01/21/11 – Michael Boldin – The Scott Horton Show
Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, discusses Thomas Jefferson's suggested response to government run amok: nullification; why a compromise agreement on raising the US debt ceiling will mean the current Republican resurgence has already fizzled out; the persistence of state medical marijuana laws despite federal government outrage and unfavorable SCOTUS rulings; why those trying to effect change within government should stick to the local and state levels; the misuse of...
01/21/11 – Pardiss Kebriaei – The Scott Horton Show
Pardiss Kebriaei, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, discusses the revived Military Commissions and Obama’s broken promise about closing Guantanamo; the broken system of checks and balances in government, in favor of the Executive; the dismissal of the lawsuit challenging Anwar al-Awlaki’s targeted assassination, giving Obama the power to kill US citizens without review, oversight or challenge; the scores of 'worst of the worst' Guantanamo prisoners who turned out to be...
01/21/11 – 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 the one year anniversary of Obama’s broken promise to close Guantanamo; the politicization of terrorism prosecutions, normally the purview of professional prosecutors and not Congress; authorization in the Army Field Manual Appendix M for subjecting prisoners to long-term sensory deprivation; recent court rulings that grant high government officials...
01/21/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of January 21st. The original is available here. Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the ongoing developments in the Tunisia revolution; the nervous Middle East/N. African dictators of US client states who fear they could be toppled next; the State Department group-think revealed in the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables; the low-enriched uranium swap proposal that will leave Iran up to its eyeballs in...
01/20/11 – Philip Weiss – The Scott Horton Show
Philip Weiss, investigative journalist and author of the blog MondoWeiss, discusses the mounting pressure on the US to refrain from vetoing a UN resolution critical of Israel’s illegal settlements (even J Street is on board); the glaring omission of George Mitchell from Obama’s new Mideast task force, which is full of establishment hacks and pro-Israel pundits; the continuing pretense that equal concessions must be made in a two-state solution, ignoring the reality of occupation and the vastly...
01/20/11 – Muhammad Sahimi – The Scott Horton Show
Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California, discusses the power struggle between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Khamenei in Iran; how Ahmadinejad's appointment of a well-regarded moderate foreign minister could help achieve a compromise with the US on a low-enriched uranium swap deal and Iran's nuclear enrichment program in general, as well as easing the sanctions that are crippling Iran's economy; Hillary Clinton's...
01/19/11 – Nick Baumann – The Scott Horton Show
Nick Baumann, assistant editor at Mother Jones, discusses the favorable court proceedings on behalf of Gulet Mohamed, a teenage US citizen detained and mistreated in Kuwait for a month, that may have him headed home soon; the clear Constitutional and legal precedents that prevents the government from banishing a US citizen (in Mohamed’s case, by placing him on the no-fly list, knowing Kuwaiti law demands deportation by a direct flight); FBI interrogators who won’t take 'no' for an answer, and...
01/19/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Ike Eisenhower’s extraordinary (but too little too late) farewell address; how the overblown Soviet threat and missile gap hoax scared Americans enough to boost the bottom line of defense contractors; how the unlimited supply of government money corrupts otherwise solid businesses that are forced to compete with insiders and cheats; how the perquisites of government/military employment, though relatively harmless in...
01/19/11 – Greg Mitchell – The Scott Horton Show
Greg Mitchell, author of the Media Fix blog for TheNation.com, discusses why all those people claiming WikiLeaks never released anything noteworthy, need to actually read the cables, or at least follow Greg on Twitter or at TheNation.com, where he has 53 consecutive days of noteworthy WikiLeaks updates; how the mainstream media’s disinterest in WikiLeaks is compensated for by region-specific media outlets reporting on significant local events (the revelations of Tunisia’s government...
01/18/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Ehud Barak's decision to abandon the sinking ship that is Israel's Labor party; the departure of IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi, one of the few Israeli government officials to oppose an Iran offensive; why the West may be completely wrong about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; and the prosecution of former CIA officer Jeffrey Alexander Sterling for telling James Risen that the CIA gave Iran nuclear blueprints.
