Chris Woods, documentary producer and freelancer for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, discusses his article “Drone War Exposed – the complete picture of CIA strikes in Pakistan;” the government’s general agreement with the total killed in drone strikes, and vehement disagreement about whether those people were civilians; how the Raymond Davis scandal soured the Pakistani government’s cooperation; how US government officials challenge the study’s methodology and conclusions in the media...
08/11/11 – Jason Leopold – The Scott Horton Show
Investigative reporter Jason Leopold discusses his article “Former Counterterrorism Czar Accuses Tenet, Other CIA Officials of Cover-Up” about Richard Clarke essentially blaming the CIA for failing to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attack by withholding the identities and whereabouts of two eventual hijackers; likely CIA efforts to recruit the hijackers and gain a desperately-wanted foothold inside al-Qaeda; the televised interview of Clarke by filmmakers John Duffy and Ray Nowosielski on Colorado...
08/11/11 – Philip Giraldi – The Scott Horton Show
Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the MEK’s rightful place on the State Department’s (admittedly flawed and politicized) terrorism list; why a lack of determined opposition (unlike to, say, Jonathan Pollard’s pardon) will probably get the MEK what it wants; why Americans never seem to catch on even after being lied into war again and again; Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire that specializes in printing propaganda about Iran from Israeli and British intelligence agencies; and the best...
08/11/11 – 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 his article “A Setback for Obama’s War on Whistleblowers” and the unusual judicial check on Executive power; how the DOJ persecutes whistleblowers when they can’t be prosecuted; the Supreme Court decision that gives blanket immunity to prosecutorial misconduct; the two torture lawsuits progressing against Donald Rumsfeld because apparently government...
08/10/11 – 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 “Does AIPAC Have Only Two Major Donors?” about the change in AIPAC’s donation list in the last few years, which makes the organization appear to be nothing more than a lobbying tool for a couple billionaires; why Steven Rosen’s defamation lawsuit against AIPAC isn’t getting anywhere, even though the documents brought to light would justify indicting the whole lobby for...
08/10/11 – Matt Barganier – The Scott Horton Show
Antiwar.com editor Matt Barganier discusses the best Antiwar.com articles of the week, including Grant F. Smith’s “Does AIPAC Have Only Two Major Donors;” Becky Akers’ “The TSA Exposed for Exposing Us – Again;” Justin Raimondo’s “Barbarians With BlackBerrys” about the British riots; and Ran HaCohen’s “Israelis Sick and Tired – but of What?” about the protests in Israel, where the limits of “guns and butter” spending have been reached. He also discusses the possibility of riots in the US due to...
08/10/11 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his article “Senators Want ‘Crippling’ New Iran Sanctions” about the 92 senators eager to punish Iranian civilians (the neocons want in on it too); the staggering price Iraqis paid for twelve years of sanctions; a reminder that “terrorism” means inflicting harm on civilians to effect political change – even if a state does it; and the effective difference between limited sanctions in the Cold War era (when the Soviets would aid Cuba, for...
08/10/11 – Scott Peterson – The Scott Horton Show
Scott Peterson, staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor, discusses his article “Iranian group’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list;” the dozens of top former US officials on MEK’s payroll to lobby for terrorist group de-listing; refuting claims that the MEK’s terrorism is either ancient history or the work of fringe offshoot groups; US politicians making $20,000 for essentially saying “MEK is A-OK!” in a ten minute speech; suspicions that domestic Iranian organizations funding...
08/09/11 – Muhammad Sahimi – The Scott Horton Show
Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and political columnist on Iran issues, discusses how the MEK’s removal from the State Department’s terrorist group list will grease the wheels for war with Iran; the likely funding sources for the MEK’s many expenses, including lobbyists, lawyers, publications and television broadcasts; why Howard Dean and John Bolton should be arrested and charged with material support for terrorism; why the MEK’s “cult” moniker is not hyperbole; a...
08/09/11 – Brendan O’Neil – The Scott Horton Show
Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked, discusses his article “Syria and the Hole at the Heart of the Arab Revolts” about the stalemated Arab spring; why the London riots are more about mindless looting than any particular political grievance; waning US influence in the Middle East, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praises and condemns actions from afar, as a spectator; and how the lack of ideological congruence among rebels/protesters allows under-pressure despotic regimes to regroup and...
08/09/11 – Max Blumenthal – The Scott Horton Show
Max Blumenthal, author of Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party, discusses his article “Meet the Right-Wing Hatemongers Who Inspired the Norway Killer” at alternet.org; the Islamophobes, including Pamela Geller, advocating for state terrorism and the wholesale killing of Muslims and Leftists; Republican campaign gimmicks that include loyalty oaths for Muslim government employees (e.g. mail carriers); changing the law in order to successfully prosecute Muslim...
08/08/11 – Trita Parsi – The Scott Horton Show
Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, discusses the Mujahideen-e Khalq’s tendency to accuse their critics of working for the Iranian government; how constant US belligerence and the MEK’s violent radicalism serve as useful foils for the Iranian regime – discrediting dissidents and keeping the people in fear; how violent coups beget radical authoritarian governments, while nonviolent methods often deliver democratic results; the many former US officials...
08/08/11 – Antiwar Radio” Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Muqtada al-Sadr’s proclamation that US troops (even if called “trainers”) remaining in Iraq beyond the 2011 deadline will be resisted; the possibility of another multi-year Iraq war starting back up; misleading news accounts from last year on the end of combat operations; yet another claim of military progress from Libya’s unreliable rebels; the antics of Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, who now claims he will help Libya become an...
08/05/11 – Greg Mitchell – The Scott Horton Show
Greg Mitchell, author of the Media Fix blog for TheNation.com, discusses his article “The Great Hiroshima Cover-Up—And the Greatest Movie Never Made” at japanfocus.org; the long suppression of Hiroshima/Nagasaki footage taken by Japanese and American military film crews; the Hiroshima Memorial Mound, where the ashes of 70,000 people are buried; how the Truman administration directly intervened in the 1947 MGM film The Beginning or the End and how Americans have been brainwashed into believing...
08/05/11 Daniel Ellsberg: Hiroshima and the Danger of 100 Holocausts
This interview is from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of August 5th, available here. Daniel Ellsberg, author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers, discusses his articles “A Hundred Holocausts: An Insider’s Window Into U.S. Nuclear Policy” and “Hiroshima Day: America Has Been Asleep at the Wheel for 64 Years;” the “cultural lag” phenomenon wherein the technology of mass destruction overtakes mankind’s moral capacity; the objections within the military to dropping the...
