Robert Naiman, Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy, discusses his article “Does AIPAC Want War? Lieberman ‘Capability’ Red Line May Tip AIPAC’s Hand;” how Joe Lieberman’s senate bill lowers the threshold for military action by adopting Israeli policy on Iran’s nuclear breakout capability; the dangerous ambiguity of the terms “vital national interest” and “nuclear weapons capability;” and how US diplomats have abandoned compromise in favor of “do what we say or else”...
02/20/12 – Hillary Mann Leverett – The Scott Horton Show
Hillary Mann Leverett, former State Department official and co-founder of The Race For Iran, discusses neoconservative Michael Rubin’s doubts about Iran’s 2003 “Grand Bargain” of diplomatic overtures to the US; how US and Iranian interests aligned against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, creating an opportunity for an al-Qaeda/MEK prisoner swap that may have prevented future terrorist attacks; the pushback from the US intelligence community/military against Israel and the Obama...
02/17/12 – Emma Cape – The Scott Horton Show
Emma Cape, Campaign Organizer for the Bradley Manning Support Network, discusses whistleblower Manning’s arraignment (open to the public) on February 23rd at Fort Meade, Maryland, beginning his court-martial; the evidence and witnesses withheld from Bradley’s defense team; the 2008 Obama voters who are demanding the president support Manning – or else lose their votes in 2012; and the “aiding the enemy through indirect means” charge that, combined with other charges, could give Manning a life...
02/17/12 – Thomas E. Woods – The Scott Horton Show
Thomas E. Woods, author of Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse, discusses the Ron Paul revolution and why there are very few popular American uprisings specifically against foreign policy and empire; the “26 Things Non-Paul Voters Are Basically Saying;” the left-right political realignment, putting aside jingoistic nationalism and uniting around a moral foreign policy; and why Ron Paul’s campaign staff should get him into more town hall meetings, where his...
02/16/12 – Jeremy Scahill – The Scott Horton Show
Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, discusses his article “Washington’s War in Yemen Backfires;” how Yemeni President Saleh convinced the Bush administration to send aid, supposedly to fight Al Qaeda, but instead used the money to eliminate his rivals; how Obama’s frequent airstrikes, killing scores of civilians, have turned rural tribesmen into anti-American militants; video evidence that missile strikes were indeed from American forces,...
02/16/12 – David Bromwich – The Scott Horton Show
David Bromwich, professor of literature at Yale University, discusses his article “Obama’s Drift Toward War With Iran;” the propaganda portraying Iran as an imminent threat to Israel and the US; Obama’s evolving Iran policy, from campaign promises of diplomacy to a doomed-to-fail “Single Roll of the Dice;” interventionist fantasies including non-invasion regime change and a Six-Day War repeat, where Iran’s nuclear program is bombed and set back years with no blowback; Dennis Ross’s surprising...
02/15/12 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses his article about Lt. Col. Daniel Davis taking the Army to task for spreading propaganda: “Army Officer’s Leaked Report Rips Afghan War Success Story;” why it’s hard to tell if the military brass and the Obama administration are lying or just self-deluded about Afghanistan; how Iran’s deep-underground uranium processing facility at Fordo/Qom affects US and Israeli plans to “take out”...
02/15/12 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses allegations that Iranian assassins tried to kill Israelis in Bangkok, Thailand; why the amateurish operation, and Israel’s history of frame-ups, leads him to believe it was a false-flag attack; the strange bedfellows uniting behind the Syrian opposition, including the Arab League, US, NATO and Al Qaeda; why Syrian religious minorities and the “business class” still support the Assad government; why Patrick Cockburn is right about Syria’s...
02/15/12 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Iraq’s dysfunctional central government, where the vice president is under threat of arrest and may have fled the country; why Iraqi Sunnis, who have almost no political representation, might return to violence and the brutal sectarian strife of 2006-2007; Egypt’s crackdown on US government-funded “pro-democracy” NGOs; and how a cutoff of US foreign aid to Egypt could scuttle the 1979 Camp David Accords.
02/07/12 – Grant F. Smith – The Scott Horton Show
Grant F. Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C., discusses his article “AIPAC Obtained Missile Secrets;” newly-declassified State Department documents about maverick estate-planning author Norman F. Dacey’s attempt to hold AIPAC accountable for leveraging classified information to scuttle an arms deal with Jordan in the 1970s; how these documents could help Steven J. Rosen’s defamation lawsuit against AIPAC; and why many of AIPAC’s functions...
02/06/12 – Katherine Hughes – The Scott Horton Show
Civil liberties activist Katherine Hughes discusses her article “Anatomy of a ‘Terrorism’ Prosecution: Dr. Rafil Dhafir and the Help the Needy Muslim Charity Case;” the 22-year prison sentence Dr. Dhafir received for defying the Iraq sanctions and sending food and medical aid to malnourished Iraqi civilians; shutting down Muslim charities as part of the War on Terror; and the growing gap between law and justice in America.
02/06/12 – Muhammad Sahimi – The Scott Horton Show
Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and political columnist on Iran issues, discusses the latest anti-Iran talking point from World Net Daily and serial propagandist Reza Kahlili (“Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel“); what Alireza Forghani, the blogger in question, really said about Israel and preemptive strikes; and why many Americans want to believe every anti-Muslim propaganda piece they see.
02/06/12 – Chris Woods – The Scott Horton Show
Chris Woods, documentary producer and freelancer for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, discusses his article “Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals;” why these attacks qualify as state terrorism by any sensible definition; how the MSM enables government officials to smear their critics behind a veil of anonymity; the circumstantial evidence that former CIA Director Leon Panetta was responsible for the targeting of rescuers and funeral goers;...
02/03/12 – Jacob Hornberger – The Scott Horton Show
Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses “The War on Terrorism, the Constitution, and Civil Liberties” college speaking tour, featuring Jacob, Bruce Fein and Glenn Greenwald from February 6th-9th; the rising tide of Americans who refuse to trade liberty for “security,” 9/11 justification be damned; reasserting the legal and constitutional limitations on government power; and the slippery slope of War on Terror abuses, such that the indefinite...
02/03/12 – Flynt Leverett – The Scott Horton Show
Flynt Leverett, former Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council, discusses his article “Hype or Reality: Will Israel Attack Iran Before the U.S. Presidential Election;” Israel’s inability to cripple Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities without putting boots on the ground; why the US may not join the fight if Iran’s response is limited and doesn’t result in American casualties; how Obama’s “feckless” style of leadership is failing to dissuade Bibi Netanyahu from...
