Trevor Timm, Activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, discusses his article “Cablegate One Year Later: How WikiLeaks Has Influenced Foreign Policy, Journalism, and the First Amendment;” how the WikiLeaks revelation of an Iraqi family’s massacre by US soldiers (and the attempted coverup with an airstrike) hastened the end of the war; why WikiLeaks deserves some credit for the Arab Spring, especially in Tunisia; who is and who isn’t bound by government classified documents; and the grand...
11/29/11 – Jeff Paterson – The Scott Horton Show
Jeff Paterson, Project Director of Courage to Resist, discusses whistleblower Bradley Manning’s December 16th court hearing, his first after a year and a half long pretrial detention; Manning’s lawyer’s complaints about the government’s refusal to disclose evidence; the life-sentence facing Manning for allegedly leaking information embarrassing – but not harmful – to the government and military; how Manning’s treatment at the Quantico Marine brig clearly violated the UCMJ; and how you can...
11/29/11 – Jeb Sprague – The Scott Horton Show
Jeb Sprague, author of Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti, discusses his article “WikiLeaks Reveal: U.S. and UN Officials Oversaw Integration of Ex-Army Paramilitaries into Haiti’s Police Force;” a brief overview of Haiti’s history, from colonial slave state to current times; Aristide’s democratic election following “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvalier dictatorships; and how international aid agencies have destroyed Haiti’s domestic rice production and spread...
11/28/11 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the imminent departure of President Saleh in Yemen (and why it hardly matters); the Egyptian model of counterrevolution, where cosmetic changes obscure the authoritarianism and US influence that remains; how international attention on Bahrain has produced recommended reforms that the government will pretend to implement; and the “made in USA” tear gas and weaponry used by Bahrain’s government to brutally put down protests.
11/28/11 – Steve Horn and Allen Ruff – The Scott Horton Show
Steve Horn and Allen Ruff discuss their two-part article at Truth-Out, “How Private Warmongers and the US Military Infiltrated American Universities;” how the allies of empire (from neoconservatives to liberal hawks) united to promote “Grand Strategy Programs” – essentially elaborate fictions used to trick Americans into supporting endless warfare; the group of military officers and academics behind David Petraeus and his PR-focused military doctrine; and how radicals have succeeded in...
11/28/11 – Christopher Anders – The Scott Horton Show
Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel in the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, discusses his article “Senators Demand the Military Lock Up American Citizens in a ‘Battlefield’ They Define as Being Right Outside Your Window;” the secretly-negotiated bill proposing indefinite detention in military custody for US citizens accused of terrorism (or donating to the wrong charities, etc.); how the Non-Detention Act of 1971 (the “never again” response to Japanese-American internment...
11/25/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the lies and innuendo in the IAEA report on Iran; the whole story on Vyacheslav Danilenko, the Russian scientist accused of helping Iran’s (alleged) nuclear weapons program; former IAEA inspector Robert Kelly’s doubts about a “containment chamber” for testing high explosives used in nuclear weapons; why this “intelligence” is most likely passed on to the IAEA by Israel; how the “alleged studies” documents got the...
11/23/11 – 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 the mid-1980s declaration of Osama bin Laden’s mentor Abdullah Azzam that the mujahideen would go after US forces in Saudi Arabia after the Soviets were expelled from Afghanistan; taking a closer look at the “they hate us for our freedom” explanation of Islamic extremism; the angry know-nothing Republican presidential candidates (with two exceptions); and how the...
11/23/11 – Rep. Ron Paul – The Scott Horton Show
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) discusses how American politicians have moved inexorably away from the republic and toward empire (witness the most recent Republican debate); how the Republican base – especially the youngest and oldest members – are developing a healthy skepticism of US foreign policy; and debunking the argument that the US can never “cut and run” because disaster will ensue.
11/22/11 Seymour Hersh: Iran and the IAEA
Seymour Hersh, award winning investigative reporter for The New Yorker magazine, discusses his article “Iran and the I.A.E.A.;” how extensive CIA/JSOC espionage (and perhaps assassination and sabotage) in Iran failed to find any evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program; why Iran’s interest in nukes prior to 2003 was to hedge against an Iraqi weapon; the new IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, who has no problem regurgitating old innuendo to make a case for war; and why the bluster...
11/22/11 – Will Grigg – The Scott Horton Show
Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “Support Your Local Police State;” the history and evolution of policing in the Western world; how grand juries have changed from being tools for citizens investigating government crimes, into the playthings of prosecutors; why mall cops deserve more respect than their government employed counterparts; the difference between a law enforcement officer and a peace officer; and how Occupy Wall Street protesters are...
11/21/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses the return of million-man protests in Tahrir Square on the eve of the first parliamentary election since Mubarak’s ouster; street skirmishes and dozens of casualties after the Egyptian military overreacted to demonstrations; fears that so-called “super constitutional principles” will keep Egypt a military dictatorship, no matter the outcome of elections; and how plans to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza have been put on the back burner.
11/21/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “China and the US: The roadmaps;” how the ever-expanding “arc of instability” could get the US into a trade war (or hot war) with China; how South American economies are gathering steam while Goldman Sachs takes over a chaotic and bankrupt Europe; possible covert US support for Muslim Chinese Uighurs; and how the US empire is being crushed by the burden of “full spectrum dominance.”
11/21/11 – Philip Giraldi – The Scott Horton Show
Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the CIA agents “rolled up” in Iran and Lebanon because of sloppy tradecraft (like regularly meeting at a Beirut Pizza Hut); clarifying the CIA terms “officer,” “agent,” and “asset;” the Iranian agents killed from ill-conceived CIA mailing practices during Giraldi’s tenure (though he learned about it in the newspaper); how the purging of US intelligence assets could help the Iran war propaganda campaign; and why a Libyan-style regime change could soon...
11/18/11 – Robert P. Murphy – The Scott Horton Show
Robert P. Murphy, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, discusses his article “The Economics of War;” how open markets and free trade make expansionist states and war unnecessary; a cost/benefit analysis of empire and “war for oil;” and the $15 trillion US debt (a trillion here, a trillion there, and soon you’re talking real money).
