Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton » Afghanistan

John Glaser

Scott Horton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +0000

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the profound disrespect shown by US Marines toward dead Afghans and the ho-hum response of Americans; yet another pending military investigation that will drag on until the scandal is forgotten, at which point all parties will be exonerated (except the occasional low-ranking soldier); how the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan contradicts 10+ years of “progress” reports; and why the Obama administration ignores “insurgent math” and maintains the status quo, knowing full well Afghanistan policy is counterproductive.

MP3 here. (19:43)

John Glaser is Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com. He is a former intern at The American Conservative magazine and CATO Institute.

Roy Gutman

Scott Horton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:22:40 +0000

Roy Gutman, Baghdad Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers, discusses the bureaucratic hindrances to the MEK’s move out of Camp Ashraf in Iraq; how individual asylum cases will essentially force the MEK to disband (as no country is willing to accept the whole group); Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s efforts to consolidate power in the splintered and unworkable Iraqi government system; the many Iraqi politicians with huge security forces that also function as hit squads against rivals; why Iraq’s political outcome is critical to the region, world oil market and Western world; how Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are jockeying for position in the “up for grabs” countries of Syria and Iraq; why US intervention in the Middle East is necessary to protect oil resources and fill the security vacuum; and the merits of US interventionism in general, from Iraq to Afghanistan.

MP3 here. (63:43)

Roy Gutman is the Baghdad Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers.

He formerly served as McClatchy’s foreign editor, as diplomatic correspondent for Newsweek, and as director of American University’s Crimes of War Project. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the 1993 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he provided the first documented reports of concentration camps.

Gutman’s honors include the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, the George Polk Award for foreign reporting, the Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting, and a special Human Rights in Media Award from the International League for Human Rights. He holds an M.A. in international relations from the London School of Economics.

Jason Ditz

Scott Horton — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 05:42:27 +0000

Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the large bombings in Iraq after US withdrawal; Prime Minister Maliki’s attempt to arrest Vice President Tareq Hashemi as a “terrorist;” Iraq’s coalition government falling apart, as Maliki overreaches; the 700 US troops scheduled to remain behind as trainers; the military’s report justifying the fatal US air attack on Pakistani border posts; back-channel negotiations between the US and Pakistan’s civilian government to undermine the Pakistani military’s power; and indications NATO is staying in Afghanistan for the long haul.

MP3 here. (23:57)

Jason Ditz is the managing news editor at Antiwar.com. His op-ed pieces have been published in newspapers and other media around the world.

John Glaser

Scott Horton — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:13:13 +0000

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Obama’s “mission accomplished” speech heralding the Iraq War’s “successful” end; a closer look at what nine years of US war and occupation has wrought (a million dead and a budding Maliki dictatorship); how an Iraqi strongman makes US imperial strategy easier; the brewing troubles in Pakistan; and why the Afghan National Police (ANP) is being expanded, despite a clear record of brutality and lawlessness.

MP3 here. (18:01)

John Glaser is Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com. He is a former intern at The American Conservative magazine and CATO Institute.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:31:54 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses Obama’s inadequate “condolences” for the US attack on two Pakistani border posts that killed 25 soldiers; how the rising anger of Pakistanis is forcing their military to finally stop kowtowing to the Pentagon; why the US seems intent on provoking a crisis, even though crucial supply lines to Afghanistan are being cut off as a result; and why you need to talk to lower ranking US military officers to get the true story on Afghanistan.

MP3 here. (19:51)

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and journalist. He is the author of Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam. His articles appear on Counterpunch, Huffington Post, Inter Press Service News Agency and Antiwar.com.

James Bovard

Scott Horton — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:49:15 +0000

James Bovard, author of Attention Deficit Democracy, discusses his article “Dying to Corrupt Afghanistan;” Hamid Karzai’s empty promises of reform as Afghanistan claims the title of most corrupt government in the world; Mitt Romney’s eager prostrating to the military in a time when “support the troops” has exempted the whole institution from public reproach; and why it’s no coincidence every country the US is about to go to war with has a (supposedly) crazy ruler who can’t be negotiated with.

MP3 here. (20:01)

James Bovard is a contributor to The American Conservative magazine and policy advisor at The Future of Freedom Foundation. He is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, The Bush Betrayal and many other books.

Jason Ditz

Scott Horton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:37:09 +0000

Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses all the ways you can donate to Antiwar.com (but no lima beans please); Defense Secretary Leon Panetta getting chewed out by the Senate Armed Services Committee for withdrawing from Iraq per the 2008 SOFA signed by President Bush (though Obama certainly tried to stay longer); the proposed agreement that will allow the US occupation of Afghanistan to continue through 2024; and how Pakistan’s military relied on Google Earth maps to target its tribal areas for bombing.

MP3 here. (21:15)

Jason Ditz is the managing news editor at Antiwar.com. His op-ed pieces have been published in newspapers and other media around the world.

Stephen Zunes

Scott Horton — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:01:02 +0000

Dr. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, discusses his article “Obama to Aid Uzbek Dictatorship;” how the US went from arming Islamic extremists to fight Communism in the 1980s to arming Communists to fight Islamic extremists today; Islam Karimov’s dystopian Uzbekistan, where political parties and unsanctioned religions are banned, government farms are harvested by forced child labor, and exotic horrible tortures await dissidents; and why Congress and Obama have decided US supply lines to Afghanistan are more important than “exporting democracy.”

MP3 here. (18:02)

Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he chairs the program in Middle Eastern Studies. A native of North Carolina, Professor Zunes received his PhD. from Cornell University, his M.A. from Temple University and his B.A. from Oberlin College. He has previously served on the faculty of Ithaca College, the University of Puget Sound, and Whitman College. He serves as a senior policy analyst for the Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, and chair of the academic advisory committee for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:06:15 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses his article “ISAF Data: Night Raids Killed Over 1,500 Afghan Civilians;” how the Pashtun honor code (and that of most other cultures as well) prompts men to defend their families and neighbors from foreign occupiers raiding their homes; Stanley McChrystal’s admission that family defense is often misinterpreted as an “insurgent act” in Afghanistan; and why the US sees nearly every Afghan civilian as an insurgent, thanks to bad intelligence and the military’s record-keeping practices.

MP3 here. (20:11)

Andrew Cockburn

Scott Horton — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:28:38 +0000

Andrew Cockburn, author of Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall and Catastrophic Legacy, discusses his article “Search and destroy: The Pentagon’s losing battle against IEDs;” the $70 billion “Manhattan Project” to combat $20 homemade landmines – that remain as effective as ever; how the military rejects cheap low-tech solutions and keeps the cash flowing to defense contractors; and the battle of wits between a Taliban bomb-maker and an American explosive ordnance technician.

MP3 here. (19:31)

Andrew Cockburn is the author of Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall and Catastrophic Legacy, and co-producer of American Casino, a documentary on the origins and consequences of the financial crash. He is a writer and lecturer on defense and national affairs and has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy, Vanity Fair, and National Geographic, among other publications.