Robert Parry, founder of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses Ronald Reagan’s lip service to torture prohibition and support for atrocities in Central America, the hypocritical critiques of “moral relativism” by amoral neocons, the inheritance of an entire generation of government-worshiping journalists, Islamic fundamentalist blowback from Reagan administration attempts to weaken the USSR and the quid-pro-quo deal that enabled Pakistan to develop nuclear weapons.

MP3 here. (63:13)

Robert Parry is an investigative journalist who won the George Polk Award in 1984 for reporting on the Iran-Contra affair and uncovering Oliver North’s involvement in it. He is the founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com and author of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, Trick or Treason: The October Surprise Mystery and Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq.

Chalmers Johnson, author of the indispensable Blowback trilogy, discusses the evolution of his view of the Cold War and American empire since the fall of the Soviet Union, the inevitable collapse of the U.S. dollar and world empire, Obama’s LBJ guns and butter trap, the kicking-out of the empire by the people of Latin America, the danger of further intervention in Pakistan, the ongoing rape of Okinawa and America’s relationship with Russia.

MP3 here. (39:23)

Chalmers Johnson is the author of Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic.

Saul Landau, author of the article “Repudiating the Monroe Doctrine,” discusses the history of the Monroe Doctrine from its origin in 1823 to the present, the little known reciprocity that the U.S. would not meddle in European spheres of influence if the European colonial nations did the same in the Western hemisphere, the evolution of U.S. power projection from military force to CIA-led coups to the IMF and neoliberal wealth schemes, the total failure of the war on drugs and the increasing rejection of U.S. influence in Central and South American countries.

MP3 here. (31:19)

Saul Landau is a senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and Professor Emeritus at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the author of A Bush & Botox World: Travels Through Bush’s America, a commentator for Pacifica Radio and an award winning filmmaker.

Douglas Valentine, author of The Phoenix Program, discusses the CIA’s Phoenix program targeting civilians during the Vietnam war, the similarities between the Phoenix program, the Nazis in France in World War II and the “War on Terror,” the vast difference between policy and operational realities, the tragedy of our support for, and murder of Diem, CIA “black propaganda,” the lies that initiate all American wars, the CIA’s criminal involvement in the drug trade, the corruption of the U.S. Congress and pessimism about the ability of the American people to put government power in check.

MP3 here. (40:31)

Douglas Valentine is the author of several books including The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America’s War on Drugs and The Phoenix Program and a frequent contributor to the biweekly newsletter CounterPunch.

Greg Grandin discusses his recent article “Losing Latin America, What Will The Obama Doctrine Be Like?” about U.S. intervention in Latin America dating back to the Monroe Doctrine, the lessons learned by the War Party from Iran-Contra, how American domination under the guise of “free-trade” has turned many against capitalism, and the status of Chavez in Latin America.

MP3 here. (34:42)

Greg Grandin teaches history at New York University. He is the author of Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism and The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War.