Philip Giraldi, contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine and columnist for Antiwar.com, discusses the collusion of Congress, AIPAC and the media in agitating for war with Iran, how the media’s repetition of a single false premise shapes public opinion toward war, a proposal for an “X Street” lobby that advocates for U.S. national interests and why the CIA and the National Endowment for Democracy need curtailing.

MP3 here. (27:23)

Philip Giraldi is a former CIA and DIA counter-terrorism officer, member of the American Conservative Defense Alliance and contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine. His “Smoke and Mirrors” column is a regular feature on Antiwar.com.

The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses the conviction of 23 CIA agents in absentia by an Italian court for their participation in extraordinary rendition, the widespread assertion of U.S. governmental immunity from the law, Ray Durham’s slow-brewing torture investigation for the DOJ, why the rule of law is bound to be flaunted without an engaged citizenry and recent courtroom setbacks for the state secrets privilege.

MP3 here. (28:26)

The other Scott Horton is a Contributing Editor for Harper’s Magazine where he writes the No Comment blog. A New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict, Horton lectures at Columbia Law School. A life-long human rights advocate, Scott served as counsel to Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner, among other activists in the former Soviet Union.

He is a co-founder of the American University in Central Asia, and has been involved in some of the most significant foreign investment projects in the Central Eurasian region. Scott recently led a number of studies of abuse issues associated with the conduct of the war on terror for the New York City Bar Association, where he has chaired several committees, including, most recently, the Committee on International Law. He is also a member of the board of the National Institute of Military Justice, the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, the EurasiaGroup and the American Branch of the International Law Association.

Internationally syndicated columnist Eric Margolis discusses the low quality of traditional media news available to U.S. audiences, how the Afghanistan election runoff is shaping up to be just as fraudulent as the first go-round, U.S. support for mujahedeen between the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and 9/11, broad realization that even the best laid plans could end in defeat in Afghanistan and allegations that Ahmed Wali Karzai is yet another “made man” CIA asset.

MP3 here. (55:04)

Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist. His articles appear in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej Times and Dawn. He is a regular columnist with the Quebecor Media Company and a contributor to The Huffington Post. He appears as an expert on foreign affairs on CNN, BBC, France 2, France 24, Fox News, CTV and CBC.

As a war correspondent Margolis has covered conflicts in Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Sinai, Afghanistan, Kashmir, India, Pakistan, El Salvador and Nicaragua. He was among the first journalists to ever interview Libya’s Muammar Khadaffi and was among the first to be allowed access to KGB headquarters in Moscow. A veteran of many conflicts in the Middle East, Margolis recently was featured in a special appearance on Britain’s Sky News TV as “the man who got it right” in his predictions about the dangerous risks and entanglements the US would face in Iraq.

Margolis is the author of War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet and American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World.

Former FBI contract-translator-turned whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and former FBI counter-intelligence officer John M. Cole discuss State Department cooperation with the “mujahedeen” in the Central Asian Turkic countries through the Turkish military and intelligence in the time before 9/11, a State Department order to release suspicious Uzbeks and Turks after the attack, the neocons’ and realists’ joint-attempt to negotiate the invasion of Iraq from Turkey in the summer of 2001, Edmonds’s overall credibility and level of access to information in her role as “language specialist” for the FBI, espionage within the FBI and why it continues unabated, Cole’s “conservative estimate” of 125 worthwhile investigations into Israeli espionage in the U.S. which quashed by political pressure from above, Edmonds’s accusations that Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and Marc Grossman have been participating in the stealing and fencing of nuclear secrets to Turkish and Israeli agents for years, Grossman’s outing of CIA front-company “Brewster-Jennings” to a Turkish diplomat in August, 2001 – nearly 2 years before the Valerie Plame scandal – and it’s destruction as a result, the grey area where legitimate lobbying by foreign governments crosses into espionage and criminality, Cole’s call for prosecutions and Edmonds’s intention to turn her new news Website, BoilingFrogsPost.com, into a home for journalists who want to practice their craft without partisanship or political pressure.

MP3 here. (1:17:21)

Sibel Edmonds is a former FBI-contract language specialist turned whistleblower against government incompetence and corruption. The ACLU has described her as the most gagged person in U.S. history.

John M. Cole, Former Veteran Intelligence Operations Specialist, worked for 18 years in the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division as an Intelligence Operations specialist.

Melvin Goodman, former senior Soviet analyst at the CIA, discusses Zbigniew Brzezinski’s boast that he instigated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter’s poor decision-making skills, the U.S. habit of devoting massive resources to non-strategic battlegrounds, blowback from the post-9/11 “Axis of Evil” speech and how Gen. McChrystal is overstepping his role by giving unvetted policy speeches.

MP3 here. (30:40)

Melvin A. Goodman is senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book is Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA. From 1966 to 1990, he was senior Soviet analyst at the CIA and the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

Melvin Goodman, former senior Soviet analyst at the CIA, discusses the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) response to torture investigation naysayers, early indications that the investigation will focus on low-level operatives instead of policy makers, the Washington Post’s role as CIA apologist and how the U.S. occupation of Iraq is shaping up to be this generation’s “Forgotten War.”

MP3 here. (22:25)

Melvin A. Goodman is senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. His most recent book is Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA. From 1966 to 1990, he was senior Soviet analyst at the CIA and the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses the partly released CIA Inspector General’s report, how any serious torture investigation will lead to Dick Cheney, the OLC’s issuance of get-out-of-jail-free cards instead of legal advice and the debunking of Cheney’s claim that torture saves American lives.

MP3 here. (49:06)

The other Scott Horton is a Contributing Editor for Harper’s magazine and writes the blog No Comment. A New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict, Horton lectures at Columbia Law School. A life-long human rights advocate, Scott served as counsel to Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner, among other activists in the former Soviet Union. He is a co-founder of the American University in Central Asia, and has been involved in some of the most significant foreign investment projects in the Central Eurasian region. Scott recently led a number of studies of abuse issues associated with the conduct of the war on terror for the New York City Bar Association, where he has chaired several committees, including, most recently, the Committee on International Law. He is also a member of the board of the National Institute of Military Justice, the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, the EurasiaGroup and the American Branch of the International Law Association.

The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses Attorney General Eric Holder’s likely appointment of a prosecutor to investigate torture, the common misconception that the CIA pressed the White House to allow “enhanced” interrogations, Dick Cheney’s chicken-hawk tendencies and the potential bombshell Inspector General’s report on U.S. torture practices.

MP3 here. (32:25)

The other Scott Horton both writes the No Comment blog and is a Contributing Editor for Harper’s Magazine. A New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict, Horton lectures at Columbia Law School. A life-long human rights advocate, Scott served as counsel to Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner, among other activists in the former Soviet Union. He is a co-founder of the American University in Central Asia, and has been involved in some of the most significant foreign investment projects in the Central Eurasian region. Scott recently led a number of studies of abuse issues associated with the conduct of the war on terror for the New York City Bar Association, where he has chaired several committees, including, most recently, the Committee on International Law. He is also a member of the board of the National Institute of Military Justice, the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, the EurasiaGroup and the American Branch of the International Law Association.

Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses the legal maneuvers that prevented a Supreme Court ruling on enemy combatants, the difference between regular and extraordinary rendition, how the U.S. asserts the right to detain anyone in the world indefinitely and how the mission of the CIA is incompatible with a free society.

MP3 here. (27:04)

Jacob Hornberger is a former attorney, the founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation and blogs at FFF.org.

Ray McGovern, former senior analyst at the CIA, discusses the emotional aversion CIA agents developed for their own torture tactics, the moral bankruptcy of torture apologists, the barriers to an effective Senate Intelligence Committee torture investigation and the reemergence of long time cover-up artist Warren Rudman.

MP3 here. (23:14)

Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years, from the John F. Kennedy administration to that of George H. W. Bush. His articles appear on Consortium News and Antiwar.com.