Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses his week long tour of Poland, home of a 'black site' secret CIA prison, during which he tried to convince the Polish government to accept Guantanamo prisoners who can’t be released to their home countries (for fear of torture); the prison’s ignominious history as 'a Soviet-era compound once used by German intelligence in World War II;' the difficulty in getting information from foreign governments complicit in the CIA’s rendition and...
02/07/11 – Lew Rockwell – The Scott Horton Show
Lew Rockwell, founder and Chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, discusses the heartening Egyptian fight for liberty and freedom from government oppression; why the real threat of global domination comes from the US empire, not some Islamic caliphate; how crop subsidies and Fed monetary policy contribute to food riots in the third world; the close cooperation of Egyptian Christians and Muslims in their mutual defense; and why, even if the US isn't quite ready for revolution, economic...
02/07/11 – 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 how George W. Bush's travel plans to Switzerland may have been scuttled by the threat of his arrest for torture; why deposed dictators (and other war criminals) have fewer luxurious exile options nowadays; how European judges are much less likely than their American counterparts to let euphemisms cloud the definition of torture; and why we should look...
02/07/11 – Robert Baer – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Baer, former Middle East CIA field officer and author of The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower, discusses why the Egyptian uprising is better characterized as a bread riot than a Twitter revolution; how Omar Suleiman abetted the US torture rendition program in Egypt — and not for fact-finding interrogations, but to extract false confessions to justify the Bush administration's foreign policy; the huge flaws in the 9/11 Commission that make a clear account of facts...
02/07/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Hamid Karzai's complaint about NATO reconstruction funds being re-routed around his notoriously corrupt regime; how the US uses the Afghan army's size as a measure of progress, even though it's comprised of fair-weather soldiers who desert early and often; comparing the costs of a large Afghan army with the country's GDP (it isn't remotely sustainable); how Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki is acting as a one man government, where his official...
02/04/11 – Lawrence Pintak – The Scott Horton Show
Lawrence Pintak, the founding dean of The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, discusses the Al Jazeera revolution in Arabic language media, breaking away from state propaganda and censorship; how Facebook and other social media are mostly the tools of youth, while older protesters in Egypt (and elsewhere) heavily rely on television — and thus Al Jazeera; how incessant Islamofascist fearmongers create the clash of civilizations they warn about; and Obama's...
02/04/11 – Jane Hamsher – The Scott Horton Show
Jane Hamsher, founder and publisher of Firedoglake.com, discusses Bradley Manning’s mistreatment in military custody, where punitive restrictions are justified as 'safety' measures necessary for mentally unstable prisoners — a practice reminiscent of Soviet gulags; how Wired’s infamous chat logs fail to make a Manning/Julian Assange connection — much to the disappointment of government prosecutors; the replacement of the Quantico Brig Commander who abused his authority by putting Manning on...
02/04/11 – Kathleen Barry – The Scott Horton Show
Kathleen Barry, feminist activist and author of Unmaking War, Remaking Men, discusses the social forces at work in the military indoctrination process; how replacing the 'self,' and notions of morality, with a 'buddy system' of unrelenting devotion to comrades engenders disregard for human life and guarantees atrocities against enemies seen as sub-human; the artificial social construct of masculinity, used as a guarantor of patriarchy and military service; and why a purely defensive military,...
02/04/11 – Justin Elliot – The Scott Horton Show
Justin Elliott, reporter for Salon.com, discusses the Mideast dictators — other than Mubarak — supported by the US; how, by looking at actual diplomatic relationships, one can conclude the US has no real interest in human rights or democracy, beyond rhetorically bludgeoning enemy states with them; Secretary of State Clinton's failure to broach the abysmal human rights record of Turkmenistan during her visit; and the politician and pundit members of the Mubarak fan club.
02/04/11 – Juan Cole – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of February 4th. The original is available here. Juan Cole, Professor of History, blogger and author of Engaging the Muslim World, discusses the ramped-up protests in Egypt following the military's renewed protection against the goon squads and secret police; why Egypt's conscript army would not likely cooperate with direct attacks on protesters; whether the protesters can hold out longer than Mubarak — who faces a...
02/03/11 – Thomas E. Woods – The Scott Horton Show
Thomas E. Woods, author of Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse, discusses why the trillion dollar military budget is the most deserving candidate for federal spending cuts; why the military's aging weapons and vehicles, and the shrunken Air Force and Navy, should make us wonder where all the money is going; how an increase in interest rates would end the charade that US debt levels are sustainable; and some creative ideas on reducing the rolls of social...
02/03/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the cascading failures of US foreign policy in the Mideast; the preemptive measures being taken by US client states all over the region to ward off regime change: Jordan's government sacked, Yemeni President Saleh foregoing reelection, and Kuwait increasing bribes to citizens; and how the Israel lobby and military-industrial complex erect huge barriers to changes in foreign policy, to the detriment of everyone...
02/03/11 – Stephen Webster – The Scott Horton Show
Stephen Webster, Senior Editor at RawStory.com, discusses the Egyptian Army's wavering support for protesters, causing the crowds to thin significantly; Israel's strong support for Mubarak — not the sort of endorsement typically sought by Arab leaders; how WikiLeaks documents, anonymous hackers and alternative communications have aided and perpetuated the budding Mideast revolutions; the pro-Mubarak goon squads beating journalists; and how Al Jazeera compares with Western mainstream media in...
02/03/11 – Sheldon Richman – The Scott Horton Show
Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses why opponents of state power are naturally against war; Murray Rothbard's foreign policy litmus test for assessing devotion to liberty; the history of left-libertarianism and the conceptual left-right political spectrum, from the post-French Revolution era onward; and why across-the-board deregulation is not a free market cure-all, especially while state privileges like bailouts, FDIC insurance and government...
02/02/11 – Coleen Rowley – The Scott Horton Show
Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and 9/11 whistleblower, discusses the cycle of intelligence sharing, from pre-9/11 inter-agency competitive secrecy, to post-9/11 information overload, and back to clamming up again (post-WikiLeaks); why, despite the greatly expanded national security state, the only successes in thwarting actual terrorism have come from vigilant bystanders; Sibel Edmonds' incredible account of another FBI linguist's meetings with a former SAVAK chief, where he steadfastly...
