Please excuse the technical difficulties that cut this interview a bit short. Gareth Porter’s article can explain any partially-answered questions. Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses US frustration with the Taliban’s highly effective IED attacks, which led to a change in strategy from house-to-house clearing to razing entire villages with airstrikes and bulldozers; problems with the official story, that Tarok Kalache residents abandoned their...
02/18/11 – Michelle Richardson – The Scott Horton Show
Michelle Richardson, Legislative Counsel for the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, discusses the status of various PATRIOT Act provisions due to expire; marginal but increasing Congressional opposition to the PATRIOT Act, much of it from GOP freshmen; why the worst civil liberties violating provisions – the “library act” and National Security Letters – should be ended immediately; evidence that the FBI is infiltrating and spying on domestic political activists in the guise of fighting...
02/17/11 – Ray McGovern – The Scott Horton Show
Ray McGovern, member of Veterans For Peace and former senior analyst at the CIA, discusses his brief, nonviolent protest during Hillary Clinton’s GWU speech about US support for protesters and free speech in Egypt and Iran; McGovern’s violent removal and arrest by uniformed and plainclothes security that left him bruised and bloodied; and how Clinton didn’t even pause during the disruption to contemplate the incredible hypocrisy of her smug lecture to those awful undemocratic Mideast...
02/17/11 – Gregory Johnsen – The Scott Horton Show
Gregory Johnsen, blogger and former Fulbright Fellow in Yemen, discusses Yemen’s history and factional differences, blowback from U.S. military action, the economic hardships which are the primary motivation of the protests, the likelihood that Saleh could fall, how US aid to Yemen helps the government fight their enemies, rather than al Qaeda, the attempted attack of Christmas 2009 and what U.S. policy in Yemen should be.
02/17/11 – Jason Leopold – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Leopold, investigative reporter and Deputy Managing Editor of Truthout, discusses his interview with former Guantanamo detainee David Hicks; the deleterious effects of torture on victims, guards, writers and readers; Hicks’ soul-searching youth, conversion to Islam, and journey to Afghanistan; how Australian Prime Minister John Howard enlisted Dick Cheney’s help in getting a military commission indictment against Hicks, to help his reelection bid; and why a nine month plea deal isn’t the...
02/15/11 – Eric Margolis – The Scott Horton Show
Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses Egypt’s faux revolution, where there’s still a military dictatorship but no longer a pretense of civilian authority (Mubarak wore a suit, not a uniform); how the US refusal to deal with political centrists (like Muslim Brotherhood) enables radical parties to come to the fore; and the criminal charges against former Pakistani president Musharraf that remind us of the still unsolved mystery...
02/15/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the importance of National Intelligence Estimates in determining US foreign policy and war-making abilities; how the Afghanistan NIE allows the military to measure their own success, leaving out a CIA assessment of the supposedly diminishing numbers of Taliban; debunking the military’s “taking the fight to the enemy” explanation for increased attacks; Gen. McChrystal’s well-reasoned “insurgent math;” and why Gen....
02/14/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the Egyptian army’s assertion of power, and not all in a good way; protesters split on living under martial law for the near future; uncertain prospects for democratic representation, as the military may run their own candidate in elections (if there are any); Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s improbable conversion from super-villain to lukewarm US ally; and the popular uprisings brewing in Algeria, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain.
02/14/11 – Ivan Eland – The Scott Horton Show
Ivan Eland, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and regular contributor to Antiwar.com, discusses the historical revisionists coming out of the woodwork for Ronald Reagan’s 100 birthday; Reagan’s overrated presidency, from foreign policy to the economy; why the Soviet collapse had more to do with a failed economic model than provocative US policy; how Iran Contra dealt a huge blow to Constitutional checks and balances, with the Executive branch doing an end-run around Congress and the...
02/11/11 – Samer Muscati – The Scott Horton Show
Samer Muscati, Iraq and UAE researcher for Human Rights Watch, discusses the rampant torture of prisoners in Iraqi prisons; how Prime Minister Maliki effectively runs the entire government’s security apparatus, while vacancies remain in the important ministries of defense, national security and the interior; the continuity of torture from Saddam Hussein, to US and British occupation forces, to sectarian militias, and now Maliki’s government; and Iraq’s significant oil revenues that are...
02/11/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses how Egyptian protesters remained peaceful despite scores of agent provocateurs inciting violence, attempting to discredit the demonstrations; crucial infrastructure in Tahrir Square (electrical, bathrooms) completed by volunteer professionals in hours, while it typically took the government years to respond to citizens' needs; WikiLeaks documents that make the Egyptian government indistinguishable from Israel on Gaza policy; protesters staying...
02/11/11 – Pepe Escobar – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of February 11th. The original is available here. Asia Times columnist Pepe Escobar discusses the Egyptian moment, a mash-up of the French Revolution and the Berlin Wall’s destruction; the Arab world’s reclaimed dignity, after humiliations in colonial and post-colonial times; and how culture and language barriers prevent the revolutionary spirit from spreading from the Mideast to the Central Asian “Stans,” despite the...
02/11/11 – Ahmed al-Assy – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of February 11th. The original is available here. Ahmed al-Assy, an Egyptian-American living in Egypt and a participant in the Tahrir Square protests, discusses Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and the making of history in Egypt; the under-reported protester casualties, as the government withheld bodies and hospitals refused to issue death certificates; and how Egyptians will continue to reject Omar Suleiman and any other...
02/11/11 – Philip Giraldi – The Scott Horton Show
Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses why the Egyptian revolution is good for everyone, even Israelis; how the Egyptian army’s refusal to fire on demonstrators finally convinced Mubarak to step down; the broad American support for Egypt’s protesters, who happen to look like us and profess to want the same things; competition for loot and power within the remnants of Egypt’s ruling class; and the sorry state of leadership in the American Conservative movement.
02/10/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses CIA chief Leon Panetta’s (correct) prediction that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak will step down; the lack of concessions offered to Egyptian protesters, other than promises to end the 30-year Emergency Law at some unspecified future date; slow progress in reforming Tunisia’s government, despite a new head of state; and the Egyptian army’s two week detainment of the Google executive who helped start the protests.
