Philip Giraldi, former DIA and CIA officer and columnist for Antiwar.com, discusses the possibility of war against Iran, the difference between a contingency plan and a plan of implementation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ opposition, the possible shape of a limited attack, the genesis of the thought behind a war and its possible consequences, the United States’ contacting of Iran through its Kurdish allies, U.S. support for dissident groups and bombing attacks inside Iran, the lack of Iranian made weapons inside Iraq, Iran’s support for Shi’ite militias in Iraq, the decision making process on conducting a military attack against Iran, Turkish military operations inside northern Iraq, the neoconservatives’ ability to conduct revisionist history, the lack of national media coverage on the possibility of a military attack against Iran, the lack of sourcing by the national media, why the presidential candidates are not talking about it and the leaks coming out of the British Intelligence Service.

MP3 here. (19:23)

Philip Giraldi is a former DIA and CIA officer, partner at Cannistraro Associates, Francis Walsingham Fellow for the American Conservative Defense Alliance, contributing editor at the American Conservative magazine and columnist at Antiwar.com.

Alex Abella, reporter, screenwriter and author of Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the American Empire, discusses the origin and mission of the RAND Corporation, his access to the RAND archives in order to research its history, well known public figures that were once a part of RAND, how RAND brings its ideas into the attention of public policy officials, how instrumental RAND has been in formulating U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, the foundation of rational choice theory in public policy, the problems with RAND’s studies on the Soviet Union’s nuclear and military forces, RAND’s effect on John F. Kennedy’s administration, RAND’s undermining of the policy of détente, the links between RAND, Ahmed Chalabi, and the Iraq War, Leo Strauss, the Project for the New American Century, and the culture at the RAND Corporation.

MP3 here. (15:52)

Alex Abella is a New York Times Notable Book author, Emmy-nominated TV reporter and screenwriter. He is the author of his new book, Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the American Empire. Abella’s non-fiction work includes Shadow Enemies, a non-fiction account of a plot by Adolf Hitler to start a wave of terror and destruction in the United States. Abella’s other writings include a legal thriller, The Killing of the Saints, featuring a Cuban-American hero, Charlie Morell, who’s a lawyer and private investigator. The novel, published by Crown in 1991, was a New York Times Notable Book. Paramount Pictures optioned The Killing of the Saints and commissioned Alex to write the screenplay. Alex’s second novel, The Great American, was published by Simon & Schuster in 1997. The Great American recounts the true adventures of William Morgan, a U.S. Marine who fought in the mountains of Cuba with Fidel Castro. The sequels to The Killing of the Saints, Dead of Night and Final Acts, were published in quick succession. The trilogy has won praise from critics and prominent writers such as Michael Connelly, T. Jefferson Parker and Robert Ferrigno.