Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses his article “The Truth Behind the Official Story of Finding Bin Laden;” Pakistani Brig. Gen. (retired) Shaukat Qadir’s new book Operation Geronimo: the Betrayal and Execution of Osama bin Laden and its Aftermath; how bin Laden was ousted from Al Qaeda’s leadership and tricked into exile in Abbottabad, Pakistan; debunking the two big lies – that Pakistan’s ISI was hiding bin Laden, and...
05/04/12 – Ari Berman – The Scott Horton Show
Ari Berman, contributing writer for The Nation, discusses his article “Mitt Romney’s Neocon War Cabinet;” the Bush administration rejects (John Bolton, Eric Edelman, Dan Senor) who will fill senior government posts should Romeny win election; the ability of neoconservatives to shrug off abysmal failures (like the Iraq War) and remain credible mainstream media figures; why Americans shouldn’t – but usually do – overlook presidential supporting casts; and why a Romney victory in 2012 will likely...
05/04/12 – Naureen Shah – The Scott Horton Show
Naureen Shah, Associate Director of the Counterterrorism and Human Rights Project at Columbia Law School, discusses her article “Drone attacks and the Brennan doctrine;” US counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan’s admission that civilians are killed in drone strikes (after previously asserting “there hasn’t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities that we’ve been able to develop”); the rhetorical means of avoiding civilian casualties...
05/03/12 – Marc Guttman – The Scott Horton Show
Marc Guttman, editor of the book Why Peace, discusses the collection of pro-peace, pro-liberty essays selected for Why Peace; exposing the state aggression of the US and other governments around the world; the roster of contributing writers, including many former soldiers and a full roster of Antiwar.com regulars; and how the internet functions as a “2nd Amendment for the 1st Amendment,” helping circumvent mainstream media information-domination.
05/03/12 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses his article “US-Afghan Pact Won’t End War or Night Raids;” President Obama’s stealthy press conference/campaign event in Afghanistan, where he pretended that the war is coming to an end; why an Iraq-model transition to self-governance won’t work in Afghanistan; the Afghan Army’s high turnover rate and general lack of purpose; why the decade-long continuing US occupation can best be...
05/02/12 – Scott Horton – The Scott Horton Show
The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses former #3 CIA boss Jose Rodriguez’s defense of torture and the destruction of interrogation videos (that he ordered); Rodriguez’s claim that the tapes were shredded to protect CIA agents from Al Qaeda retribution, not to coverup criminal acts; how the Department of Justice erodes the rule of law by failing to prosecute former officials bragging about their crimes on...
05/02/12 – John Mueller – The Scott Horton Show
John Mueller, author of Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda, discusses his article “Why Al-Qaeda May Never Die;” how “al-Qaeda” is used as a catchall name for terrorist groups, even those tangentially related to the original; why a large percentage of Americans fear terrorism even though dying in an attack is about as likely as being struck by lightning; US alliances with radical Islamic insurgents in Libya and Syria; and how imperial overreach hastened the Soviet...
05/02/12 – Robert Parry – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Parry, founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses the many Israeli officials who are downplaying the “Iranian threat” and speaking out against Prime Minister Netanyahu‘s extremism; the pro-Netanyahu Americans who heckled former PM Uhud Olmert during his insufficiently-hawkish speech in New York; Israeli criticism of Netanyahu as “messianic” and not serious about a Palestinian peace; and why the initial P5+1 talks with Iran are good for Obama’s reelection bid, gas prices, and...
05/01/12 – David K. Shipler – The Scott Horton Show
David K. Shipler, former NY Times reporter and author of Rights at Risk: The Limits of Liberty in Modern America, discusses his article “Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I.;” the convicted felons used as FBI informants to ensnare the lowest-hanging fruit among potential terrorists; why an “entrapment” legal defense hardly ever works; the media’s failure to attribute domestic terrorism arrests to government sting operations; how the FBI could “entrap” terrorism suspects into working in an...
05/01/12 – Michael Ratner – The Scott Horton Show
Michael Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, discusses his article “Bradley Manning: a show trial of state secrecy;” Manning’s quasi-public trial (which is open to observation, yet vital evidence and court documents are withheld from the media and public); why the NY Times is just as guilty of “aiding the enemy” as Manning and WikiLeaks; how President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta made a fair trial impossible; and how you can support Bradley Manning...
04/27/12 – Phylis Bennis – The Scott Horton Show
Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses her article “The Phases of War: Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Israel;” how the US lost the Afghan War before it even began; why military occupation/pacification campaigns always degenerate into massacres and degradations like those lately perpetrated by US soldiers in Afghanistan; why neoconservatives like Marco Rubio conveniently ignore the Iraq War disaster in speeches justifying an...
04/26/12 – Jefferson Morley – The Scott Horton Show
Author and journalist Jefferson Morley discusses his article “Drones for ‘urban warfare’” at Salon.com; the International Drone Summit hosted by CODEPINK, Reprieve, and the Center for Constitutional Rights in Washington D.C.; Congress’s fast-track approval of domestic drone aviation; and concerns about privacy and the eventual weaponization of drones.
04/26/12 – Marcy Wheeler – The Scott Horton Show
Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the laws governing assassination-by-drone; re-using “signature strikes” in Yemen, after large numbers of Pakistani civilian casualties prompted the US to briefly abandon the tactic; why Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s “insurgent math” applies to Yemen as well as Afghanistan; and why the government is throwing the book at whistleblower Bradley Manning.
04/26/12 – Robert Wenzel – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Wenzel discusses his speech delivered at the New York Federal Reserve Bank; why an independent audit of gold deposited at Fort Knox is long overdue; the many Fed economists who don't have a basic understanding of opposing schools of thought; why students of Austrian economics saw the housing bubble forming early on; how ideological tunnel-vision and ambitions for career advancement create institutional blindness at the Fed; and why all the bailed-out financial institutions are...
04/24/12 – Mark Sheffield – The Scott Horton Show
Mark Sheffield of the Policy on Point blog discusses his article “Ignorance or Arrogance (or Both): The Long War Doctrine and Post-9/11 US Foreign Policy;” a comparison of the limited invasions and proxy wars between Vietnam and 9/11, and the lengthy full-scale occupations since then; looking at 9/11 through the eyes of Americans who don’t know or understand history; how the Bush Administration played right into Osama bin Laden’s hands by invading Afghanistan and Iraq; and the political...
