Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses the latest violence between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Egypt; the possibility of agents provocateurs instigating violence, since Egypt has enjoyed a thousand years of relatively peaceful religious coexistence; the foundering revolution, as elections are repeatedly delayed and Mubarak cronies still run the country; and how the CIA’s penchant for regime change has cast doubt on the authenticity of popular resistance movements, even when they...
10/11/11 – Greg Gordon – The Scott Horton Show
Greg Gordon, investigative reporter for McClatchy Newspapers, discusses his article “FBI’s case against anthrax suspect rife with questions;” the government’s accidental court filing (since retracted) that claimed Bruce Ivins couldn’t have made the anthrax that killed five people in 2001; why the anthrax wasn’t really “weaponized;” and why the FBI’s circumstantial case against Ivins – from his supposedly misleading anthrax sample submission, to his fear of losing his funding and job – could be...
10/11/11 – Marcy Wheeler – The Scott Horton Show
Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses her blog post about the “other guy” killed with Anwar al-Awlaki, “How Can Samir Khan Be ‘Collateral Damage’ If OLC Memo Restricted Civilian Death;” how assassinations justified by secret intelligence are replacing criminal trials based on disclosed evidence; why Obama’s reluctance to take credit for Awlaki’s assassination – after bragging about killing Osama bin Laden – could mean he’s worried about being prosecuted; and the secret legal interpretation of the...
10/05/11 – John Feffer – The Scott Horton Show
John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses his article “The End of America’s Pacific Century;” North Korea’s attempt to increase its stature among nations, both militarily and economically – which requires regional allies with deep pockets; N. Korea’s deals with S. Korean industry and Russian energy concerns; the Bush administration’s overtures to N. Korea in 2006-07, followed up by Obama’s silent treatment; and the debate about whether...
10/05/11 – Ken Silverstein – The Scott Horton Show
Ken Silverstein, Washington Editor for Harper’s Magazine, discusses his article “Neoconservatives hype a new Cold War;” the public relations firms used as lobbies for foreign governments, like Randy Scheunemann’s Orion Strategies; the close-knit world of Washington D.C. where everyone knows everyone else and investigative journalists self-sensor for fear of alienating friends and colleagues; and the incestuous relationship between Georgia’s government, Scheunemann’s PR firm and reporters who...
10/04/11 – Peter Van Buren – The Scott Horton Show
Peter Van Buren, former State Department Foreign Service Officer in Iraq, discusses the minimal effect 63 billion dollars had on rebuilding Iraq since the 2003 invasion; his experience leading a Provincial Reconstruction Team with lots of cash but very little know-how; putting together laughably unhelpful conferences for hot-button issues like women’s rights; giving large cash handouts to Iraqis while public services in the US went unfunded; the Iraqi government’s minimal control outside major...
10/04/11 – Ray McGovern – The Scott Horton Show
Ray McGovern, member of Veterans For Peace and former senior analyst at the CIA, discusses his article “Israel’s Window to Bomb Iran;” how the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate thwarted the Bush administration’s push for war; Israel’s increasing isolation as its allies depart en masse; Obama’s acute vulnerability to the “Likud lobby’s” influence during his reelection bid; the former Mossad chiefs who worry about Netanyahu’s warmongering; and whether military leadership will speak up to...
10/04/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his post “Experts Urge US Not to Reject Iran Nuclear Deal” and why the Obama administration is guaranteed to reject it anyway; how the loss of several thousand shoulder-fired missiles from the Libyan War have made civilian airplanes much more vulnerable to terrorist attacks; why infighting and confusion among Libya’s rebel groups guarantees an eventual NATO boots-on-the-ground occupation; and how the pushback of Afghanistan withdrawal...
10/04/11 – Marcy Wheeler – The Scott Horton Show
Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses how Obama’s approved assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki makes him no better than Dick Cheney (even according to Cheney); the selective prosecution of classified information leakers (pro-government is a-ok); the Obama administration’s refusal to release internal legal memo’s that justify assassinations of US citizens, much less any actual evidence against Awlaki; why a federal terrorism trial nearly always results in conviction; and why Obama himself may be filling...
10/03/11 – Steve Horn – The Scott Horton Show
Truth-out writer Steve Horn discusses his article “Top Oil and Gas Executives Had Major Presence at Bahrain Conference;” how the Saudi Arabian-led Gulf Cooperation Council put down protests in Bahrain and kept the minority monarchy in power; the leftists who forget about Mideast autocracies and US military occupations whenever “green energy” is mentioned; the oil companies planning a major increase in Bahrain’s oil and gas production; and how the Carter Doctrine – the policy of pursuing US...
10/03/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
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...
