Michael Scheuer, 22-year veteran of the CIA and former head analyst at the CIA’s bin Laden unit, discusses the First Amendment’s non-universality as recently evidenced in Afghanistan – yet another reminder of the dangers in foreign occupations; the choice confronting Americans: pursue the same foreign policy and get endless war or step back and let Islamic countries fight amongst themselves and against Israel; why the current system of government is pointless, so long as it fails to put US...
04/04/11 – Antoinette Bonsignore – The Scott Horton Show
Antoinette Bonsignore, a regular blogger for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, discusses her truthout article, “The Military’s Rape and Sexual Assault Epidemic;” the harassment and threats heaped on military rape victims – men and women – who dare to report the crimes; the culture of impunity for offenders, aided by a woefully deficient (by design) investigative and oversight apparatus; the class action lawsuit brought against Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates for their failure to address the...
04/04/11 – Andy Worthington – The Scott Horton Show
Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses the right-wing judges on the DC Circuit Court who think prisoners can be detained indefinitely with no evidence and who habitually reverse lower court decisions on Guantanamo habeas petitions; why today’s Supreme Court would either deadlock or rule differently on Boumediene v. Bush; the 15-month ban on releasing Yemeni Guantanamo prisoners, due entirely to their nationality; getting fed up and depressed after 5 years of Gitmo...
04/01/11 – Karen Greenberg – The Scott Horton Show
Karen Greenberg, executive director of the New York University Center on Law and Security, discusses her TomDispatch article, “America’s Growing Intolerance: How ‘Enemy Creep’ Is Guantanamo-izing America;” the mainstream American pastime of reviling Muslims and misunderstanding jihad; calling out intolerance to correct misplaced blame, not to scold politically incorrect speech; why “humanitarianism” and “democracy” are just words that give the US a blank check for militarism; and a federal...
04/01/11 – Anthony Gregory – The Scott Horton Show
Anthony Gregory, Editor in Chief of Campaign for Liberty, discusses his article, “America’s Peacetime Crimes against Iraq,” a review of Joy Gordon’s book Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions; the slow death of Iraqis from entirely preventable diseases and malnutrition during the 1990-2003 sanctions; the double-whammy of an international blockade and UN-administered economic central planning; the Clinton administration’s focus on regime change, not disarmament, as a condition...
04/01/11 – Rep. Ron Paul – The Scott Horton Show
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), author of Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom, discusses the slow escalation and deepening US commitment in Libya; why Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Obama administration, not Congress, ultimately control the government’s purse-strings; and how a failed impeachment vote (and it would definitely fail) on Obama’s unconstitutional war in Libya would effectively empower him further.
04/01/11 – Doug Weir – The Scott Horton Show
Dour Weir of the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium discusses the likelihood that depleted uranium weapons are being used in Libya; the DU rounds commonly used by A-10 and Harrier jets against armored targets; the long lasting health risks from dust and chemical toxicity; and why the military seems to be slowly shifting away from DU weapons.
04/01/11 – Eric Margolis – The Scott Horton Show
This recording is from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of April 1st. The KPFK archive is here. Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses why the Libyan War could mark the beginning of a counterrevolutionary response to the “Arab Spring;” why Syria’s uprising – though based on legitimate grievances – may have been instigated by the US and Israel; the spectacle of watching Libya’s rag-tag rebels drive patchwork vehicles...
03/31/11 – Jeremy Scahill – The Scott Horton Show
Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, discusses his article “The Dangerous US Game in Yemen;“ the in-country CIA and JSOC covert agents who might have to relocate for a while; how President Saleh’s alliance with Saudi Arabia against his Shiite minority could prompt Iran to take protective action of their coreligionists; Yemen’s impoverishment and many long-term economic problems; the post-9/11 ultimatum (similar to Musharraf’s) that...
03/30/11 – Charles Featherstone – The Scott Horton Show
Charles Featherstone, regular writer at LewRockwell.com, discusses the “it’s all about oil” explanation for US foreign policy; why the US is even more concerned about Saudi Arabia’s fate than Israel’s; language in the UN Liyba resolution that seems to forbid ground troops, but doesn’t; the new “leader” of Libya’s rebels that spent the last 20 years in suburban Virginia, arousing suspicions that he’s a CIA asset; the warmongers hard at work figuring how to get the US involved in Syria and Iran;...
03/30/11 – Philip Giraldi – The Scott Horton Show
Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses how (relatively) peaceful and quick Arab uprisings make Al Qaeda’s brand of violent revolution even less appealing; the slippery slope of interventions started with Libya, where there is no logical stopping point (why not Iran, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, etc.); blaming Iran for all the popular uprisings against US-allied dictators; and efforts to reassert US influence in Egypt, especially regarding continued cooperation with Israel on Gaza.
03/30/11 – Noah Shachtman – The Scott Horton Show
Noah Shachtman, editor of WIRED magazine’s Danger Room blog, discusses his article, “Anthrax Redux: Did the Feds Nab the Wrong Guy?” revisiting the FBI’s case against Bruce Ivins; the compelling circumstantial evidence despite the many crucial unknowns, such as motive and opportunity; FBI pressure brought to bear on Ivins and his family, leading to his seemingly-credible suicide (though no autopsy was performed); his coworkers’ near-unanimous opinion of his innocence; and how anthrax hysteria...
03/29/11 – Thomas E. Woods – The Scott Horton Show
Thomas E. Woods, author of Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse, discusses the actual constitutional war-making powers of the president; why UN mandates do not override the sovereignty of national governments; the “imminent attack” exception to a congressional authorization of war (though somehow FDR found the time after Pearl Harbor to ask for and receive a formal declaration); why the US Constitution is better off in the junk yard than the repair shop; and the...
03/29/11 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses how the joint congressional testimony of Gen. Petraeus and Michele Flournoy betrays the Obama administration’s intent to stay in Afghanistan indefinitely; why a never-ending military presence greatly hinders negotiations with the Taliban; why pipeline politics remain a peripheral issue in US war-making decisions; the resilience of loyal Obama supporters who still see hope and change in this train wreck of a presidency;...
03/29/11 – Stephen M. Walt – The Scott Horton Show
Stephen M. Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard University and co-author of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, discusses the liberal interventionists and neoconservatives uniting in support of war in Libya; how the mission to protect Libyan civilians almost immediately became a mandate for regime change – despite claims to the contrary; fighting a preventative war based on anticipated massacres and imagined regional repercussions; the risk of moral hazard, where any and...
