Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton » al Qaeda

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:22:05 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses his article “Crackpot Anti-Islam Activists, ‘Serial Fabricators’ and the Tale of Iran and 9/11;” the US court judgement finding Iran liable for the 9/11 attacks in a civil lawsuit brought by victims’ families; the testimony of an Iranian defector, previously discredited as a “serial fabricator;” the alleged secret meeting between Iran’s leadership and OBL’s son, complete with miniaturized models of 9/11 targets and an ominously dangling toy missile; the anti-Islam groups peddling a grossly exaggerated, conspiratorial narrative in “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” style; and how Iran’s passport-stamping practices have become the basis of “material support” of al-Qaeda charges.

MP3 here. (29:04)

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 at Truthout, Counterpunch, Huffington Post, Inter Press Service News Agency and Antiwar.com.

Kurt Haskell

Scott Horton — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:55:13 +0000

Kurt Haskell, Detroit area attorney and fellow passenger with “underbomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines flight 253, discusses Abdulmutallab’s surprising guilty plea that means Haskell can’t be a defense witness; why the well-dressed man who helped Abdulmutallab board the plane in the Netherlands is probably an undercover intelligence agent for the US; waiting for sentencing in January after the story disappears from the news cycle; and the cumulative circumstantial evidence that shows the US government purposely gave Abdulmutallab a defective bomb to stage a terrorist attack.

MP3 here. (29:41)

Kurt Haskell is an attorney in the Detroit suburb of Taylor. He was a passenger on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 and has given numerous accounts of his experience to the media.

Pepe Escobar

Scott Horton — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:13:23 +0000

Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses the Syrian rebellion’s near-triumph in Damascus and Aleppo; the large presence of Gulf Cooperation Council members eager to help a like-minded regime come to power should Assad be deposed; what murdered journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad had to say about al Qaeda’s strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan; how the corrupt and incompetent Karzai regime fails to lure ordinary Afghans away from the Taliban’s influence; and the opportunity for China, Pakistan and Russia to broker an Afghanistan peace deal while the US and NATO remain preoccupied in their pursuit of total victory.

MP3 here. (19:57)

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving Into Liquid War and Obama Does Globalistan.

An extreme traveler, Pepe’s nose for news has taken him to all parts of the globe. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination. Two weeks before September 11, 2001, while Pepe was in the tribal areas of Pakistan, Asia Times Online published his prophetic piece, “Get Osama! Now! Or else …” Pepe was one of the first journalists to reach Kabul after the Taliban’s retreat, and more recently he has explored and reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, US and China.

Anand Gopal

Scott Horton — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:48:24 +0000

Independent journalist Anand Gopal discusses the relationship between the Haqqani network and Pakistan’s military/government; why the lack of any Northern Alliance-type allies will make a US ground invasion of Pakistan much more difficult than in Afghanistan; possible CIA involvement in the Afghan heroin trade and with Hamid Karzai’s murdered brother; why the Taliban’s break with al-Qaeda is genuine, and the “safe haven” rationale for continuing the occupation is bogus; slow reforms in Egypt, as elections – if they ever happen – face popular boycotts; how the US works behind the scenes to promote faux democracy in Egypt, with a controlled election that enables a pro-Israel government to take hold; and why there is still no diplomatic settlement in the works for Afghanistan, despite the wide acknowledgement that no military solution exists.

MP3 here. (21:14)

Anand Gopal has reported in Afghanistan for the Christian Science Monitor and the Wall Street Journal. His dispatches can be read at AnandGopal.com. He is currently working on a book about the Afghan war.

Michael Scheuer

Scott Horton — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 04:51:28 +0000

Michael Scheuer, 22-year veteran of the CIA and former head analyst at the CIA’s bin Laden unit, discusses why terrorism is a predictable response to an interventionist US foreign policy; how Osama bin Laden lured the US into Afghanistan and radicalized a good portion of the Muslim world; how al-Qaeda’s influence has spread into Western countries through media-savvy English speaking Muslims; the more-or-less representative Islamic governments likely to sprout up after the Arab spring – if the US doesn’t undermine them like with Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union; why most American politicians steadfastly refuse to “know thy enemy” and continue fighting the war on terrorism from a position of ignorance; Ron Paul’s realistic view of foreign policy; why budding terrorists must be regularly killed off, thinned like weeds, else they overtake us; how Bill Clinton’s lust for arms deals and oil pipelines cost him the opportunity to kill OBL before 9/11; how the Israel lobby prevents an honest discussion of foreign policy; and a recommended reading list, including Peter Bergen’s The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader, Amin Maalouf’s The Crusades Through Arab Eyes and James P. Duffy’s Lindbergh vs. Roosevelt: The Rivalry That Divided America.

MP3 here. (35:57)

Michael Scheuer is a 22-year veteran of the CIA and former head analyst at the CIA’s bin Laden unit. He is the author of Osama Bin Laden, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq and Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror.

Pepe Escobar

Scott Horton — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 04:00:36 +0000

This interview was broadcast on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles on August 26th.

Pepe Escobar, journalist and author of Obama Does Globalistan, discusses his article “R2P is now Right 2 Plunder” about the great fortunes to be made rebuilding Libya and extracting its natural resources; how al-Qaeda operative Abdelhakim Belhadj led the rebel onslaught on Tripoli; concern in Washington about the outcome of NATO regime change – helping install a Taliban-like regime in N. Africa won’t help Obama’s reelection chances; why the Saudi monarchy would prefer a friendly emirate, hard core Sunni government; and the huge stockpile of gold and money available to whatever new government takes hold.

MP3 here. (29:12)

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving Into Liquid War and Obama Does Globalistan.

Gale Courey Toensing

Scott Horton — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 04:06:41 +0000

Gale Courey Toensing, writer for Indian Country Today, discusses her article “Andrew Jackson’s Actions Model Anti-Speech, Perpetual War Legislation;” admitted al-Qaeda member Ali Al-Bahlul’s conviction on material support for terrorism charges for making a YouTube video; how the prosecutors used Andrew Jackson’s 1818 invasion of Spanish Florida to round up runaway slaves (and his execution of two British men for inciting the Seminoles to “savage warfare”) as legal precedent; provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that give the president incredibly broad powers to make war and imprison anyone, for nearly any reason, without charge or trial; and why it doesn’t make sense to charge non-Americans with treason or “aiding the enemy” charges.

MP3 here. (19:18)

Gale Courey Toensing writes for Indian Country Today Media Network.

Peter Hart

Scott Horton — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 04:25:46 +0000

Peter Hart, activism director at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), discusses the media’s warm reception to Treasury Department claims that Iran’s government is actively aiding al-Qaeda; the suspicious timing of these kinds of articles every time there’s a debate on withdrawal or troop drawdowns from Iraq; how the US condemns Iranian “foreign interference” in neighboring Iraq while ignoring the foreign US military’s continued occupation of the country; and the media’s failure to develop a healthy skepticism of “anonymous government officials” since falling for the Iraq War lies.

MP3 here. (20:02)

Peter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR’s magazine Extra, and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR’s syndicated radio show CounterSpin. He is the author of The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly.

Hart has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel’s O’Reilly Factor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Associated Press. He has also appeared on Showtime and in the movie Outfoxed.

Ramzy Baroud

Scott Horton — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:03:01 +0000

Ramzy Baroud, author of My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story, discusses his article “Yemen Continues to Inspire Amid Great Odds” at CommonDreams.org; the Saleh family mafia controlling the country, supported by the US and Saudi Arabia; the entirely reasonable demands of Yemeni protesters, amounting to no more than the basics of a civil society; hopes for an inclusive political settlement that produces some democracy and keeps Yemen intact; and how the Saleh government and the US hype the al-Qaeda threat to advance their own interests.

MP3 here. (19:21)

Ramzy Baroud is an author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle. His work has been published in many newspapers, journals and anthologies around the world. His books include The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle and Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:02:55 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the Obama administration officials who lied us into an Afghan surge (even though reporters are supposed to use more diplomatic language); how Mullah Omar’s Taliban avoided trouble with the US and tried to keep bin Laden in check; how Bill Clinton’s “Monica Missiles” destroyed a chance to get bin Laden, as well as a few training camps; how the Pakistani Taliban’s formation shows the ideological split between al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban; falsehoods in Bruce Riedel’s reporting on the Taliban/al-Qaeda relationship; and why Obama is more interested in scoring political points than in seriously negotiating with the Taliban.

MP3 here. (29:10)

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.