Ray McGovern, member of Veterans For Peace and former senior analyst at the CIA, discusses the prosecution of Poland’s former intelligence chief for helping the CIA set up a black-site torture prison; how Israel and Hillary Clinton sabotaged two Iran uranium swap deals; James Risen’s recent NY Times articles that cast doubt on Iran’s supposed nuclear threat; why Bibi Netanyahu doesn’t want Obama to win a second term; how veiled threats like “all options are on the table” violate international...
03/29/12 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show
Anthony Gregory discusses his article "Are You Libertarian Enough?" and gives Antiwar Radio co-host Zooey Greif a libertarian litmus test.
03/28/12 – Stephen Elsberry – The Scott Horton Show
Stephen Elsberry discusses his article “There Will Be No War with Iran. At Least Not a Hot One;” the mitigating factors of war, including the fragile world economy and Israel’s inability to go it alone; Israel’s faltering “periphery doctrine,” that requires friendly relations with regional non-Arab countries (Turkey, Iran) to counterbalance the Saudi sphere of influence; how Iranian regime change risks starting a “Shia Spring” that could take hold in Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia; and why...
03/28/12 – Daniel DePetris – The Scott Horton Show
Foreign Policy in Focus contributor Daniel DePetris discusses his article “Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Strategy for 2012,” which boils down to restarting the sectarian civil war through terrorism designed to provoke Shia retribution; Iraq’s attempted reintegration into regional affairs through the first Arab League Summit in Baghdad in decades; how Gen. Petraeus’s surge strategy helped security in the short term, but didn’t fix any sectarian political problems; the Maliki government’s refusal to...
03/27/12 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his article “Mali Coup Has US Interventionism Written All Over It;” the coup leader’s extensive recent training in the US; how the Libyan intervention prompted the Mali coup and a crackdown on the Tuareg rebellion (allegedly linked to al-Qaeda); the endless supply of humanitarian justifications to intervene in Africa (like the anti-Kony campaign); and how the US tosses money around to influence African dictators and block Chinese economic...
03/27/12 – Trita Parsi – The Scott Horton Show
Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, discusses how Iranian sanctions block peaceful diplomatic solutions, making war more likely; the “risk premium” in oil prices, exacerbated by hawkish foreign policy, that hurts Iranians and Americans alike; the daunting resources and time commitment required to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program through invasion and war; the media’s increasingly conflicted narrative on the Iran “threat;” and why the Obama administration...
03/26/12 – 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 his article “The Dangerous Mess in Syria Grows Murkier;” the foreign forces instigating regime change by supporting Syria’s rebellion; why fractured Arab nations – which are mostly colonial relics – can’t be made whole again; how Republican warmongering has finally gone too far, alienating the electorate and damaging the party; and the US’s waning international influence,...
03/26/12 – John Horgan – The Scott Horton Show
John Horgan, former senior writer at Scientific American, discusses his new book The End of War; why war is a solvable scientific problem, not the inevitable result of resource struggles, religious differences, or biological imperatives; the near-abolition of slavery, another ancient barbaric practice; preventing war by fighting militarism first, and working for social and economic justice second; and the reason why men take up arms, at the behest of chickenhawks, to fight people on the other...
03/26/12 – Muhammad Sahimi – The Scott Horton Show
Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of chemical engineering and political columnist for PBS’s Tehran Bureau, discusses his article on the IAEA chief, “Yukiya Amano: Minion of the Empire;” the former IAEA officials accusing Amano of a pro-Western bias on Iran; how Amano has fallen into the “Cheney trap” by relying on a small group of advisors and eliminating dissent within the IAEA; and the latest bogus allegations that Iran “refuses to cooperate” with the IAEA’s attempt to inspect the Parchin...
03/23/12 – Dina Rasor – The Scott Horton Show
Dina Rasor, founder of the Project on Military Procurement (now called the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO), discusses her article “Lockheed: The Ultimate Pay-to-Play Contractor;” how the crony weapons-procurement process guarantees cooperative generals lucrative post-retirement jobs with defense contractors; why nearly every military officer above colonel is a corrupt sellout; the Lockheed Corporation’s purchase of General Dynamics Corporation’s jet fighter division in 1993 (to clear...
03/23/12 – Marcy Wheeler – The Scott Horton Show
Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses possible evidence that Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales didn’t commit the Afghan massacre by himself; the surprising WSJ article that sympathetically tells the massacre story from an Afghan’s perspective; James Risen and the NY Times’ honest accounting of Iran’s nonexistent nuclear weapons program; how the Obama administration is re-doing “total information awareness” and getting away with it; and how the National Counterterroism Center (NCTC) – the same agency that...
03/23/12 – Jason Leopold – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Leopold, lead investigative reporter of Truthout and author of News Junkie, discusses his article “DHS Turns Over Occupy Wall Street Documents to Truthout;” using FOIA to pry public records from secretive government agencies; internal DHS concerns about spying on protesters exercising their First Amendment rights; and coordination between DHS and local law enforcement on OWS infiltration and camp closures.
03/22/12 – Kelley B. Vlahos – The Scott Horton Show
Kelley B. Vlahos, featured Antiwar.com columnist and contributing editor for The American Conservative magazine, discusses the periodic, ritualistic exercise of claiming progress in the Afghanistan War, wherein US generals tell bland lies to Congress and nobody asks follow-up questions; the 300,000+ member Afghan army that is always right around the corner from competency; the end of patriotic breast-beating pro-war fervor in the military and government; and why congressional staffers would...
03/22/12 Lawrence Wittner: Trying a Little Nuclear Sanity
Lawrence Wittner, Professor of History at the State University of New York/Albany, discusses his article “Try a Little Nuclear Sanity;” the “SANE” legislation introduced by Congressman Edward Markey that would cut the budget and scope of the US nuclear weapons program; how Russia is threatened by “missile defense,” that supposedly exists to protect Europe from Iran but actually gives the US an unanswerable first-strike capability; why the Cold War military budget and mindset persist even...
03/21/12 – Peter Certo – The Scott Horton Show
Peter Certo, editorial assistant at Right Web and the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses his article “U.S. Government Finally Catching up With MEK Boosters Like Ed Rendell;” the shocking development that the rule of law might actually apply to former high-level US government officials; the usual suspects – humanitarian activists and Muslims who upload videos on YouTube – who face “material support” of terrorism charges under the PATRIOT Act; and the connection between the MEK’s...
