Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Gen. Petraeus's decision to double down in Afghanistan rather than deescalate and blame the quagmire on his predecessors, evidence of a civilian-military rift on war decisions with Obama failing to control policy and his generals near open rebellion, how the media love fest over Gen. Petraeus gives him unprecedented influence in the political process and why — for the sake of the republic — the permanent U.S. war...

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Joe Biden’s acceptance of the mainstream (and false) Iraq War narrative, how the U.S. and Iran are essentially partners-in-meddling in Iraqi politics, dispelling the main tenets of surge 'success' and why Iraq is shaping up to be another 'forgotten war' in the Korean model.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Obama’s refusal to declare a 'red line' on Iran’s nuclear program, Robert Gates’s insistence that Iran’s low enriched uranium is tantamount to a nuclear weapon, the abundance of evidence that Obama is not a secret dove and how Gates’s bipartisan tenure allows him to contradict Obama without consequence.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses John Bolton’s '8 day' countdown to a possible Israeli strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor, clarifications on the previous day’s interview, more fanciful claims from warmongers that Iranians will be grateful for a regime-changing bombing campaign and whether the Obama administration has the nerve to 'just say no' to Israel.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the overlooked messages that undermine the premise of Jeffrey Goldberg’s Iran fear-mongering article, the recent history of Israel pretending Iran is an 'existential threat' as revealed in Trita Parsi’s Treacherous Alliance and Israel’s (real) intense fear of friendly relations between the U.S. and Iran.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Obama's weasel-worded admission that combat brigades will remain in Iraq despite his promise to remove them by Sept. 1, 2010, new doubts on the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline on withdrawing all U.S. forces from Iraq and why Iraq's government still has the last word on whether the U.S. ultimately stays or leaves.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPSNews, discusses indications that Amiri the mysterious Iranian defector was actually a double-agent sent by Iran to learn what the CIA knew and thought about them, Amiri's role on the periphery of their nuclear program, his statements to the CIA that there is no nuclear weapons program, Porter's source who says that the National Intelligence Council will stand by their previous no-nuke-weapons-program-in-Iran stance [.pdf] from 2007 in...

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the creation of the Emergency Committee for Israel, UN Security Council resolutions demanding Iran cease all uranium enrichment, global support for Iran's position and the Israel Lobby's pressure to have the National Intelligence Council re-write the National Intelligence Estimate of November 2007 which held that Iran did not have a nuclear weapons program and had not decided to pursue one.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses how Gen. David Petraeus's political skills and reputation could enable a compromise settlement in Afghanistan, speculation that Gen. Stanley McChrystal got fired on purpose, the August deadline for significant US troop reduction in Iraq and why even war boosters aren't talking about victory in Afghanistan anymore.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses Afghanistan policy with Gen. David Petraeus in charge, how the military has achieved ideological hegemony in the US, Obama's window of opportunity to deflect blame for failure in Afghanistan and why Petraeus was close to declaring defeat in Iraq before his 2007 testimony to Congress.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses the impending 'Iraq 2006 moment' Gen. McChrystal faces in Afghanistan, the political 'fix' discussed at the June CNAS conference: Republican pressure on Obama to scrap the 2011 withdrawal timetable, the dogged American determination to continue unwinnable wars and the difference between Iran’s NPT comprehensive safeguards obligations and its temporary voluntary compliance with the much-ballyhooed Additional...

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses the CIA drone operators who believe their own jobs are counterproductive, how the Obama administration caters to domestic public opinion by extending policies that sound tough even though they are ineffective, US intelligence gathering on Iran that focuses on worst-case scenarios rather than plausible outcomes and why US military expansionism can't keep pace with the newly radicalized populations it...