Monthly Archives: April 2012

Antiwar Radio: Phylis Bennis

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 interventionist foreign policy; and the pro-Israel lobby’s push for war with Iran – despite the consensus of all US intelligence agencies that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:55 — 4.6MB)

Antiwar Radio: Marcy Wheeler

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:59 — 4.6MB)

Antiwar Radio: Jefferson Morley

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:26 — 2.4MB)

Robert Wenzel

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 headed by Goldman Sachs or J.P. Morgan alumni.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:10 — 7.6MB)

Antiwar Radio: Gareth Porter

Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses Washington Post writer David Ignatius’s claim that a deal has already been made on Iran’s nuclear program and that ongoing talks are scripted; why the US and Iran can’t just “make a deal and shut up already;” how Benjamin Netanyahu’s bluff about attacking Iran is influencing US policy and helping the GOP win election; why it’s still unlikely NATO will drag the US into war in Syria, like Libya before; and the US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement that envisions US involvement through 2024.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:39 — 5.6MB)

Antiwar Radio: Joshua Freeman

Joshua B. Freeman, History Professor and author of American Empire, discusses his TomDispatch article on the “prison-corporate complex;” the late 19th century chain gangs in the South and industrial prison labor in the North; the return of involuntary servitude, i.e. slavery, in American prisons; how low-paid prisoners keep pressure on labor unions and generate profits for Fortune 500 companies; America’s huge prison population relative to the rest of the world; and why it’s time to revamp the criminal justice system.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:04 — 4.6MB)

Antiwar Radio: Mark Sheffield

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 barriers to bringing the troops home and winding down the US empire of bases.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:02 — 5.0MB)

Antiwar Radio: Oleg Novinkov

Oleg Novinkov, former Soviet officer and author of Afghan Boomerang, discusses the propaganda-filled book Charlie Wilson’s War about the CIA operation to arm mujaheddin in their fight against the Soviet army in Afghanistan; the Western media’s re-labeling of Afghan “freedom fighters” as “terrorists” once the US invaded; why Afghans would rather be occupied by the Soviets than the US/NATO; how a new Cold War with China will eventually displace the War on Terror as the top US priority; and why Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and perestroika are much more respected in the West than in Russia.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:07 — 6.9MB)

Antiwar Radio: Jean MacKenzie

Jean MacKenzie, senior correspondent for GlobalPost, discusses her article on why the March 11 Kandahar massacre is much more surprising to Americans than Afghans; the success of US night raids in killing mid-level Taliban commanders – who are quickly replaced by younger, more hardcore fighters; the lack of a US endgame strategy, other than spinning withdrawal as a “victory;” and Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s odds of survival without US backing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:31 — 4.5MB)

Antiwar Radio: J.M. Berger

J.M. Berger, investigative journalist and terrorism consultant, discusses his article “Patriot Games: How the FBI spent a decade hunting white supremacists and missed Timothy McVeigh;” how years of bad reporting have muddied the waters of the Oklahoma City bombing story; the FBI’s PATCON operation of infiltrating (and possibly inciting) the radical right in the 1990s; sorting out the real members and government provocateurs within the Aryan movement; and how the government’s current infiltration of Muslim groups resembles the PATCON operation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:42 — 5.7MB)

Antiwar Radio: Jeese Trentadue

Jesse Trentadue, attorney and brother of Kenneth Trentadue (who was probably tortured and killed by FBI agents mistaking him for Richard Lee Guthrie – a.k.a. John Doe No. 2 – in the wake of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing), discusses the new book Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed-and Why It Still Matters by Andrew Gumbel and Roger Charles; the June 15th court deadline for the FBI to explain why the Murrah Building surveillance tapes are missing; allegations that FBI agents tried to sell the tapes in 1995 – which is why LA Times reporters were able to see two men, Timothy McVeigh and John Doe 2, exit the Ryder truck; the FBI’s PATCON program of infiltrating and probably provoking the radical right; how the FBI’s media informants help kill stories and manage the news cycle; and the lack of Congressional hearings on the single largest terrorist attack in US history (in 1995).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:05 — 7.1MB)

Antiwar Radio: Carol Moore

Carol Moore, author of The Davidian Massacre, discusses the 19th anniversary of the final siege against the Branch Davidians in Waco, TX; evidence that several Delta Force members were “pulling triggers” at Waco; Independent counsel John Danforth’s investigation and coverup; the FLIR cameras that captured FBI automatic weapons being fired to prevent the Davidians from surrendering; and how the current NDAA makes future Waco-type massacres and coverups even easier for the government.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:28 — 4.7MB)

Antiwar Radio: John Feffer

John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses his article “North Korea’s Failed Fireworks;” the UN Security Council’s condemnation of their dual-use missiles (even Iran is able to launch satellites without comment); North Korea’s commitment to spending a big chunk of their meager GDP on a single failed satellite launch; the known unknowns about Kim Jong Un (except he likes basketball); how an increasingly worldly and foreign-educated North Korean elite could open up the “hermit kingdom;” and their blossoming IT and animation industries – aside from the usual mineral and energy extraction.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:14 — 4.4MB)

Antiwar Radio: John Glaser

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his article “How to Make Syria Much, Much Worse; John McCain and Joe Lieberman’s meeting with leaders of the anti-Assad resistance; compelling arguments against arming Sunni “freedom fighters,” this time in Syria; why Kofi Annan’s ceasefire plan is still holding; how Libyan regime change destabilized the entire region; Zbigniew Brzezinski’s bellyaching about the end of American hegemony; and President Obama’s dismissal of decriminalization and ending the War on Drugs in Central America.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:16 — 7.4MB)

Antiwar Radio: Arash Norouzi

Arash Norouzi, artist and co-founder of The Mossadegh Project, discusses the Washington Post’s much-delayed admission that Iranian President Ahmadinejad didn’t say Israel should be “wiped off the map;” the context of Ahmadinejad’s speech and the origin of the quote – which compared Israel’s potential collapse to the fall of the USSR, the Shah’s regime and Saddam Hussein; putting an end to the seven year old anti-Iran talking point; and why we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for other media outlets to admit their mistake.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:51 — 6.6MB)