Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses the extent of his experience in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation; taking on John McCain’s assertion that 9/11 could have been prevented if the US had stayed engaged after the Soviet withdrawal; the Taliban’s rise in mid-1990s, supported by Pakistan to fight against the northern Communists; and why bin Laden’s trap (of luring the US halfway around the world to bleed itself dry)...
06/23/11 – John Glaser – The Scott Horton Show
John Glaser, new Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Obama’s minimal drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan; how COIN doctrine is falling out of favor as its failures mount; Congress beginning to reflect public opinion on ending the wars in Afghanistan and Libya; the countercurrent in the Obama administration and major party leadership determined to carry on no matter what the people think; and a lesson Obama has learned from Libya: conduct secret wars with drone strikes so oversight,...
06/23/11 – Joe Meadors – The Scott Horton Show
Joe Meadors, a crew member of the USS Liberty during the infamous Israeli attack in 1967, discusses his decision to join the current aid flotilla to Gaza; Israel’s defenders who claim there are other means to supply Gaza – with Israel as intermediary – though those supplies never seem to get in; the US government taking Israel’s side in all matters, in 1967 as well as now; the hardships endured by Gazans subject to blockade; and the conspicuously missing US rhetoric for democratic regime...
06/22/11 – Sheldon Richman – The Scott Horton Show
Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses Obama’s speech on troop withdrawal timelines for Afghanistan; why getting troop levels back to pre-surge levels from two years ago is hardly a mark of progress; how Mitt Romney’s weak-kneed proposal to withdraw “as soon as possible” is seen by the MSM as dovish and isolationist; and the continuing US imperial wars in Iraq and elsewhere that seem able to go on forever.
06/22/11 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the Italian Foreign Minister’s call for an end to the Libya War after NATO airstrikes killed many civilians; how Italy’s abstention from the war would remove strategic air bases currently used in NATO’s bombing campaign; questions of legality on Obama’s Libya War, relating to the War Powers Act; how Obama shopped for a favorable legal opinion – and got one from State Department legal adviser Harold Koh; and how NATO is already tired of...
06/22/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses his articles “Experts Fear Israeli Design to Balkanise Arab States” and “Gaza Crossing Lets Trickle Through;” how Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with Gaza is technically open, but fails to function as a typical international border with regard to commercial traffic; why the US and Israel retain significant influence in Egypt’s military – which still runs the country; and how Balkanization is used as an imperial divide-and-conquer...
06/21/11 – David Bromwich – The Scott Horton Show
David Bromwich, professor of literature at Yale University, discusses his article “The Bipartisan Case Against U.S. Involvement in Libya” for the Huffington Post, how divisive fringe issues are used to create political divisions that keep the public from realizing the real conflict is the state vs. everyone else, hypothetical cross-party 2012 presidential tickets: Obama-Palin and Paul-Kucinich, taking liberties with language, from Bush’s “enhanced interrogation” to Obama’s “limited military...
06/21/11 – Matthew Rothchild – The Scott Horton Show
Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, discusses his article “Stop the Bombing of Libya,” the 11,500 NATO sorties already launched in the name of enforcing a “no-fly zone” and “protecting civilians,” the real US agenda in Libya: regime change and control of oil, Obama’s excuse for ignoring the War Powers Act: it’s not war so long as no American soldiers get killed, the continuing quest for a unitary executive, why the US is not a force for good in the world, and why impeaching...
06/20/11 – Karen Greenberg – The Scott Horton Show
Karen Greenberg, executive director of the New York University Center on Law and Security, discusses her TomDispatch piece, “How to End the War on Terror,” substituting a managed risk strategy for the endless war on terrorism, why the “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh should be released from prison, and why terrorism trials should be handled by DOJ, not the military.
06/20/11 – Glenn Greenwald – The Scott Horton Show
Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com blogger and former constitutional lawyer, discusses his upcoming new book With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, discusses the growing realignment in American politics, Congress’s rank and file breaking with party leadership to press Obama on War Powers Act for the Libya War, debating the sincerity of Republican antiwar talk, Obama’s legal backflips justifying Libya War and the desperate Grand Jury fishing...
06/17/11 – V. Noah Gimbel – The Scott Horton Show
V. Noah Gimbel, an intern with Foreign Policy In Focus, discusses his article “Has the Rendition Program Disappeared” in FPIF; how Obama’s total unwillingness to prosecute Bush officials shows his disdain for the rule of law and embrace of torture; why JSOC is even less accountable than the CIA; how “extraordinary rendition” has become “rendition to justice,” a relic of the war on drugs now used against bribery suspects; and Obama’s huge increase in drone strike assassinations (with civilians...
06/17/11 – Murray Polner – The Scott Horton Show
Murray Polner, co-editor of We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing from 1812 to Now, discusses his review of Adam Hochschild’s To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 on History News Network; a reminder of the British and American war resisters (Bertrand Russell, Eugene V. Debs) who despised the wanton slaughter of WWI; the very late posthumous pardon of British soldiers in 2006, who were executing for refusing to fight; why its hard to differentiate good...
06/17/11 – Jack Hunter – The Scott Horton Show
Jack Hunter, talk radio host and Charleston newspaper columnist, discusses his article “Ron Paul Won the Debate” in The American Conservative magazine; how Republican candidates ripped off Paul’s talking points, guaranteeing that his message will get lots of airtime through November 2012 even if he’s not elected; the shift in GOP center of gravity in the last 4 years, from Bush’s big government warfare state to Ron and Rand Paul’s (and others’) limited government antiwar clique; and why Ronald...
06/17/11 – Brian Becker – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of June 17th. Brian Becker, national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, discusses his article “Why the NATO powers are trying to assassinate Moammar Gaddafi;” the WikiLeaks documents showing US oil companies and State Department officials unhappy with Libya’s steps toward nationalizing its oil; similarities with the 1953 US-backed coup in Iran; how the Arab spring provided an excuse for NATO’s eager intervention; and why the Iraq...
06/17/11 – Rep. Dennis Kucinich – The Scott Horton Show
This interview is from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of June 17th. Rep. Dennis Kucinich discusses his attempt to provoke debate in Congress about where the ultimate authority to declare war rightfully belongs; voting to de-fund the Libya War; his lawsuit that seeks a judicial declaration on the Obama administration’s unconstitutional and illegal actions in Libya; and the moral, legal and economic reasons why America’s “global cop” role should end ASAP.
