Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton » India

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 04:29:10 +0000

Eric Margolis, internationally syndicated columnist and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses his article “The Dangerous Mess in Syria Grows Murkier;” the foreign forces instigating regime change by supporting Syria’s rebellion; why fractured Arab nations – which are mostly colonial relics – can’t be made whole again; how Republican warmongering has finally gone too far, alienating the electorate and damaging the party; and the US’s waning international influence, evidenced by India’s refusal to abide by sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

MP3 here. (20:02)

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 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.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:37:28 +0000

Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses his article “Who Was Behind the Delhi Bombing;” the evidence that points to an Israeli false-flag operation instead of an Iranian revenge attack; US efforts to sabotage trade between Iran and India (the largest importer of Iranian oil); forever playing catch-up to lies that “travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes;” the seeming consensus between Mossad and US intelligence agencies that Iran is not making nuclear weapons; and whether Benjamin Netanyahu will endorse a Republican candidate to replace insufficiently-pro-Israel president Obama.

MP3 here. (28:57)

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, was published in 2006.

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:55:22 +0000

Eric Margolis, internationally syndicated columnist and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses his healthy skepticism of all FBI sting operations, especially this latest Iranian assassination plot; the curious targeting of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador – hardly a powerhouse political figure; cooperation between the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia on getting rid of the Assad government in Syria; the long term neoconservative plan to break up Arab countries into stateless warring tribes, leaving Israel as the unchallenged regional hegemon; how India’s increasing involvement in Afghanistan provokes Pakistan and serves as a foil to Chinese influence; rumors that Israel is working with India in restive Islamic tribal areas; cowardly Congressional Reps who still won’t speak out against the Afghan War even after a decade of futility; and the planeloads of western businessmen flying to Libya, exemplifying what colonialism looks like in the 21st century.

MP3 here. (38:20)

Anand Gopal

Scott Horton — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:04:39 +0000

Independent journalist Anand Gopal discusses why counterinsurgency strategy works better in theory than in practice; the short term PR victories in Afghanistan that create long term problems; the only two policy choices deemed worthy of popular consideration: continue the Afghan War forever, or scale down to night raids while moving into Pakistan; how the “denying al-Qaeda sanctuary” justification for US military deployments ignores the real reasons the 9/11 attacks succeeded; why the Taliban’s Iranian-sourced weapons are more likely from black market deals than the Iranian government; and how the India-Pakistan rivalry ensures a continued stalemate in Afghanistan.

MP3 here. (21:52)

Anand Gopal has covered Afghanistan for the Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor and a number of other outlets. His dispatches can be read at AnandGopal.com.

Jonathan Landay

Scott Horton — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 04:24:34 +0000

Jonathan S. Landay, national security and intelligence correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers, discusses how Afghan peace talks primarily exist as fictional inventions of the Pentagon, the US divide-and-conquer strategy employed against insurgent groups that is supposed to marginalize hardliners, India’s concern that another Mumbai attack would create overwhelming political pressure for military action against Pakistan, how a US withdrawal would turn Afghanistan into “Somalia on steroids” and destabilize much of Central Asia, how the continued US presence and Afghan government corruption fuel the insurgency and make occupation unsustainable, an analysis of ethnic and political factions that shows the Taliban is not a natural political successor and the odd spectacle of Russian and US agents jointly participating in a drug raid on Afghan heroin producers.

MP3 here. (31:59)

Jonathan S. Landay, national security and intelligence correspondent, has written about foreign affairs and U.S. defense, intelligence and foreign policies for 15 years. From 1985-94, he covered South Asia and the Balkans for United Press International and then the Christian Science Monitor. He moved to Washington in December 1994 to cover defense and foreign affairs for the Christian Science Monitor and joined Knight Ridder in October 1999.

He speaks frequently on national security matters, particularly the Balkans. In 2005, he was part of a team that won a National Headliners Award for “How the Bush Administration Went to War in Iraq.” He also won a 2005 Award of Distinction from the Medill School of Journalism for “Iraqi exiles fed exaggerated tips to news media.”

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 04:09:51 +0000

This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles radio broadcast of September 20. The entire show (1 hour segment) can be heard here.

Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses how the Afghan election failed to confer any legitimacy to the government and was a total waste of time and money, why the Afghan Army’s minimal Pashtun representation bodes ill for future security and cohesion, the incredible hubris of the “government in a box” strategy for pacifying Marja, the stealthy U.S. occupation of Pakistan and how the increased violence in Kashmir complicates U.S. regional strategy.

MP3 here. (19:57)

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:54:40 +0000

Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses the appalling lack of knowledge displayed by the U.S. occupation forces in Afghanistan, how Americans are too uneducated and impatient to rival the British Empire’s colonial skills, the problem with exporting democracy to Muslim countries whose people are more concerned with justice, economic advisers hard at work making Afghanistan’s banks as insolvent as America’s and how U.S.-engineered term extensions for key Pakistani military posts have effectively deposed the civilian government.

MP3 here. (20:24)

Gareth Porter and Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:34:09 +0000

Gareth Porter and Eric Margolis discuss Gen. McChrystal’s “government in a box” plan for Afghanistan, military actions that are motivated more by a desire to influence US public opinion than to achieve strategic gains, Obama’s secondary role in formulating foreign policy, the Pentagon’s exaggeration of “rogue state” threats in order to justify an enormous “defense” budget, the influence of oil pipeline politics on US policy in Central Asia and how the Pakistani government’s partial acquiescence to US pressure may inspire a military coup.

MP3 here. (52:44)

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and journalist. His articles appear on Counterpunch, Huffington Post, Inter Press Service News Agency and Antiwar.com.

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 and other newspapers. He is a regular columnist with the Quebecor Media Company and a contributor to The Huffington Post. He 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.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:02:17 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses the Obama administration’s inability to negotiate an Afghan peace deal, differing opinions on whether the troop surge will ultimately help or hurt U.S. diplomatic leverage with the Taliban, the possibility a constitutional rewrite will bring back Sharia law and snuff out Afghanistan’s fledgling “democracy”, the high likelihood of renewed civil war even with a U.S.-brokered peace deal and the slightly improved Afghan justice system that allows defense lawyers but rejects acquittals.

MP3 here. (37:50)

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and journalist. His articles appear on Counterpunch, Huffington Post, Inter Press Service News Agency and Antiwar.com.

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:28:26 +0000

Eric Margolis, author of War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet, discusses the massing of Indian troops on the India/China border, how nearly every border dispute outside the Western world stems from British imperialism, the little-known Chinese presence in Kashmir and the difficulty in keeping tabs on the “finger in every pie” U.S. foreign policy.

MP3 here. (23:21)

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.