Iraqi American antiwar activist Dahlia S. Wasfi discusses the Iraqi government’s dearth of accomplishments and continued reliance on U.S. support, the U.S. actions that exacerbated sectarian violence, drawing attention to the humanity and suffering of Iraqis and the lingering toxic effects of war in Iraq and the U.S.

MP3 here. (38:23)

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi was born in 1971 and spent her early childhood in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, until she returned with her family to the United States in 1977. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1993 with a B.A. in Biology, and in 1997 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In February/March of 2004, after years of separation, Wasfi visited Iraq to see her family in Basrah and Baghdad. She journeyed to Iraq again for a 3-month visit in 2006. Based on her experiences, she is speaking out against the negative impact of the U.S. invasion on the Iraqi people and the need to end the occupation.

Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for The Independent, discusses the greatly diminished news coverage of Iraq, the al-Maliki regime’s authoritarian behavior, the fate of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities and indications that Iraq’s national culture – if not the country itself – is dying.

MP3 here. (32:03)

Patrick Cockburn was awarded the 2009 Orwell Prize for political writing in British journalism. He is the Middle East correspondent for The Independent and a frequent contributor to CounterPunch.org. Cockburn is the author of The Occupation: War, Resistance and Daily Life in Iraq and Muqtada Al-Sadr and the Battle for the Future of Iraq.

Juan Cole, author of Engaging the Muslim World, discusses the void in Iraqi politics created by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim’s death, Al-Maliki’s failure to reconcile with Sunni nationalist groups, shifting coalitions within the United Iraqi Alliance and the overstated increase in Iraqi violence since the U.S. troop pullback.

MP3 here. (21:35)

Juan Cole is the author of Engaging the Muslim World. He is a Professor of History at the University of Michigan and writes the “Informed Comment” blog at Juancole.com.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses the disputed U.S. claims that Iran is using “special groups” to destabilize Iraq, the 2007 kidnapping of a British group that threatened to expose (by financial tracking) Iraqi governmental embezzlement, the Obama administration’s revival of accusations that Iran is aiding the Taliban and the domestic political calculus behind seemingly illogical Israeli hostility toward Iran.

MP3 here. (35:16)

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

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses the Iraqi government’s more aggressive stance on the Mujahedin-e Khalq, how the Bush administration’s wishful thinking and ignorance guaranteed a disastrous Iraq policy, the de-emphasis of the MEK’s Islamic Marxism in U.S. Congress lobbying efforts and the political scheming behind the Iraq/U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.

MP3 here. (25:00)

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

Raed Jarrar, Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee, discusses how the 2011 Iraq withdrawal deadline could be moved up, the U.S. Generals that complain about force restrictions issued by an assertive Iraqi government, the misconception of the Shiite majority as a monolithic entity and the terrible toll Iraq has endured to regain sovereignty.

MP3 here. (37:28)

Raed Jarrar maintains the In the Middle blog and is the Iraq consultant for the American Friends Service Committee.

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter discusses the withdrawal caveats that could keep U.S. troops in Iraq indefinitely, the Iraqi army’s inability to maintain order, Maliki’s pursuit of short-term oil profits at the expense of Iraq’s future, the Obama administration’s lack of moral courage for a messy withdrawal and how the acceptance of U.S. funding by Iranian opposition groups destroys their credibility.

MP3 here. (25:08)

Scott Ritter is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. He writes for truthdig.com and is the author of numerous books, including Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement and Target Iran: The Truth About the White House’s Plans for Regime Change.

Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for The Independent, discusses the emphatically relative phrase “Baghdad is better,” imminent U.S. withdraw from Iraqi cities, former Sunni insurgents – gone mainstream – that can’t go back again, the status of Kurdish post-invasion land grabs and the awarding of Iraqi oil contracts to foreign corporations.

MP3 here. (28:22)

Patrick Cockburn was awarded the 2009 Orwell Prize for political writing in British journalism. He is the Middle East correspondent for The Independent and a frequent contributor to CounterPunch.org. Cockburn is the author of The Occupation: War, resistance and daily life in Iraq and Muqtada Al-Sadr and the Battle for the Future of Iraq.

Shane Bauer, freelance journalist and Arabic speaker living in the Middle East, discusses civilian abuse claims against the Iraq Special Operations Forces (ISOF), the actual Salvadoran paramilitary trainers in Iraq that made the “Salvador option” more than analogy, the plight of Iraqi refugees abroad and how Maliki is using the ISOF – which is accountable only to him – to consolidate his power.

MP3 here. (28:10)

Shane Bauer is the author of the article “Iraq’s New Death Squad” in The Nation. He is a freelance journalist and Arabic speaker living in the Middle East.

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service News Agency, discusses Stanley McChrystal’s role in extralegal assassinations and the Bagram prison torture program, Rumsfeld’s attempt to divert covert special operations from the somewhat accountable CIA to the Pentagon, the mixed messages in U.S. personnel and strategy changes in Afghanistan and how the U.S. continues to create enemies to justify staying in Iraq.

MP3 here. (38:12)

Gareth Porter’s articles appear on the Huffington Post, Inter Press Service News Agency and on Antiwar.com.