Pepe Escobar, Asia Times columnist and author of the article “If the US Doesn’t Pull Every Soldier from Iraq by Midnight, Dec. 31, 2011, Expect Serious Trouble,” discusses the endgame in Iraq, where the US can either acquiesce to the people’s will, or restart the war all over again; how a stable post-occupation Iraq depends on Saudi Arabia not funding/arming another Sunni insurgency; the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia playing out in the Gulf states; a little lesson on politics and the...
04/13/11 – Rep. Aaron Libby – The Scott Horton Show
Rep. Aaron Libby, State Representative of House District 139 in Maine, discusses LD 1305, “An Act To Limit the Use of the National Guard to Situations Specifically Authorized by the United States Constitution;” the growing momentum of Tenth Amendment-based resistance to federal programs like the REAL ID Act and Guard deployments; and why the US Constitution should be amended properly, not changed by simply ignoring particular sections until precedence is set.
04/13/11 – Robert P. Murphy – The Scott Horton Show
Robert P. Murphy, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, discusses why the old adage “war is good for the economy” is simply not true; the hidden costs in “trickle down” benefits from large government and military expenditures (like the highway system and communications infrastructure); the Obama administration’s inconsistent policy on large government deficits; and how US money creation prompts other countries to follow suit, debasing currencies around the world and leading...
04/13/11 – Ari Gharib – The Scott Horton Show
Ali Gharib, New York-based journalist on U.S. foreign policy and LobeLog writer, discusses the neocon effort to keep war with Iran on the front burner, while the news cycle overwhelms their tired talking points; the old propaganda line that Iranians want us to bomb them, to give them a chance for regime change; the WikiLeaks documents that show Israel’s threats to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites (if the US doesn’t) are just hot air; and how observing the fates of N. Korea and Libya could lead Iran...
04/12/11 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show
Anthony Gregory, Editor in Chief of Campaign for Liberty, discusses the case for anarcho-capitalism – pushing beyond “limited government” to eliminate the last vestiges of “essential” state functions like police, courts and national defense; the possible market alternatives that, while theoretical and uncertain, could only be an improvement on state-run institutions; the disastrous war on drugs that has failed to reduce crime or eliminate drug use – but has boosted and militarized the ranks of...
04/12/11 – Johann Hari – The Scott Horton Show
Johann Hari, columnist for the London Independent, discusses his article, “We’re not being told the truth on Libya;” the weapons deals with Mideast dictators pushed by David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama right up through the “Arab Spring;” the US drone attacks in Pakistan that have killed thousands of civilians, yet failed to elicit calls for a protective no-fly zone like Libya’s; the brutal war in Congo, propelled by western corporations extracting rare earth minerals, that could...
04/08/11 – Peter Hart – The Scott Horton Show
Peter Hart, activism director at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), discusses his article “Is There Really a Goldstone ‘Retraction’?” about the media spin-machine working to wipe any traces of Israeli war crimes in Gaza from the minds of Americans; Richard Goldstone’s minor quibbles with the Goldstone Report‘s conclusions, expressed in his Washington Post op-ed, that amount to questioning the existence of a high-level Israeli official policy of intentionally killing civilians (based on...
04/08/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the internal political pressures on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that may prevent him from inviting the US military to stay past 2011; how Obama has joined the Pentagon’s attempt to subvert the Status of Forces Agreement; how Moqtada al-Sadr’s influence may tie Maliki’s hands – whereby acquiescing to US wishes could very well cost him his job; the popular Iraqi outrage about Saudi Arabia’s brutal repression of...
04/07/11 – Malou Innocent – The Scott Horton Show
Malou Innocent, Foreign Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, discusses her article, “Protests in Afghanistan: Our Excuse to Get Out;” how we underestimate the Afghan resentment of our intrusion into their lives and culture; why Western-style democracy is not the end all, be all political solution for much of the world; and the myriad forces that make ending the Afghan War all but impossible: establishing a Central Asia client state, keeping the military busy, bureaucratic inertia, and a...
04/07/11 – Ray McGovern – The Scott Horton Show
Ray McGovern, member of Veterans For Peace and former senior analyst at the CIA, discusses why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s military tribunal may hide 9/11 motives; contesting the “they attacked us for our freedom” explanation for 9/11; evidence from Dick Cheney and the 9/11 Commission that unconditional US support for Israel motivates terrorism; the Washington Post’s revisionist interpretation of KSM’s motivation as a response to negative personal experiences in America; and the real reason...
04/07/11 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
Adam Morrow, journalist with IPS News, discusses the divide on Egypt’s March referendum, split along religious lines; the economic crisis that sparked the revolution, and the many other grievances that sustain it; and the upcoming parliamentary and presidential polls that, if conducted fairly, will finally give Egyptians a representative government.
04/05/11 – Shaukat Qadir – The Scott Horton Show
Shaukat Qadir, retired Pakistani Army brigadier and university instructor, discusses his CounterPunch article, “How Anarchy Beats Out Tradition: Two or Three Things You Need to Know About Afghanistan;” how Afghanistan’s traditional tribal system has been gradually destroyed over the last 30 years; the brief egalitarian period of Taliban rule before Osama bin Laden’s influence wrought a draconian enforcement of social and religious customs; the strange bedfellows in Afghanistan’s incredibly...
04/05/11 – Robert Parry – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Parry, founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses the lesson on blowback learned from US meddling in the Soviet war on Afghanistan, applied to the current war in Libya; arming unknown rebel groups for short-term policy goals, without considering the long-term consequences; the tough-guy posturing competitions among pundits and politicians that result in military solutions for every kind of problem; and why the Lockerbie bombing – often cited with a litany of other offenses...
04/05/11 – Randall Amster – The Scott Horton Show
Randall Amster, Peace Studies teacher at Prescott College and Executive Director of the Peace & Justice Studies Association, discusses his CommonDreams article “Looking for Mr. Goodwar? Consider a ‘Truth Surge’ Instead;” why wars are fought for strategic interests, not moral imperatives, despite what the politicians say; selling wars to the public with used-car salesman bait and switch tactics; and the popularity of peace – the problem being a lack of agreement on how to achieve...
04/04/11 – Charles Featherstone – The Scott Horton Show
Charles Featherstone, regular writer at LewRockwell.com, discusses his disagreement with Eric Margolis‘s doubts about the legitimacy of Libya’s (initial) uprising; how tribal groups within modern states (like Saudi Arabia and Libya) function as “intermediate institutions” that provide a protective barrier between individuals and unbridled state power; how tribal negotiations with Gaddafi could have prevented a Benghazi massacre – without Western intervention; why the CIA’s obvious infiltration...
