Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton » Lebanon

Philip Giraldi

Scott Horton — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:21:10 +0000

Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi discusses the CIA agents “rolled up” in Iran and Lebanon because of sloppy tradecraft (like regularly meeting at a Beirut Pizza Hut); clarifying the CIA terms “officer,” “agent,” and “asset;” the Iranian agents killed from ill-conceived CIA mailing practices during Giraldi’s tenure (though he learned about it in the newspaper); how the purging of US intelligence assets could help the Iran war propaganda campaign; and why a Libyan-style regime change could soon come to Syria.

MP3 here. (21:17)

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer, is a contributing editor to The American Conservative and executive director of the Council for the National Interest. He writes regularly for Antiwar.com.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:01:04 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses his trip to Pakistan, where his investigative efforts were stonewalled by the US military and the UN; upcoming articles on US drone strikes and excessive reliance on cell phone intercepts for drawing up the “hit” list; his article “Hariri Bombing Indictment Based on Flawed Premise” about how communications link analysis (or six degrees of Kevin Bacon) is used to prove preconceived ideas, not find the truth; and how the UN tribunal investigating Lebanon Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination ignored evidence of al-Qaeda’s complicity to focus on four Hezbollah suspects.

MP3 here. (29:29)

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.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 05:47:21 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses his recent visit to Lebanon; the hybrid UN-Lebanon tribunal on Rafiq Hariri’s assassination that is rumored to have indicted Hezbollah members; allegations that the special tribunal is a politically motivated tool of the US and Israel; how Israel has fabricated telephone records and used them as evidence against her enemies; and how US operations in Pakistan are destabilizing the country.

MP3 here. (19:51)

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 06:51:00 +0000

Eric Margolis, foreign correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj, discusses the US preference for new Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman as a successor for Mubarak; why the Egypt/1979 Iran comparisons fail despite the dire warnings of neoconservatives; the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now dominated by moderates and old men; how Egyptians are disgraced by their government’s abandonment of the Palestinian cause; how the Palestine Papers lay bare the charade of “peace talks” and expose PA officials as stooges of the US and Israel; and how Turkey, not Tunisia, began the revolutionary push in the Mideast.

MP3 here. (28:04)

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 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.

Jason Ditz

Scott Horton — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 04:55:01 +0000

This interview is excerpted from the KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles broadcast of January 21st. The original is available here.

Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the ongoing developments in the Tunisia revolution; the nervous Middle East/N. African dictators of US client states who fear they could be toppled next; the State Department group-think revealed in the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables; the low-enriched uranium swap proposal that will leave Iran up to its eyeballs in medical isotopes; Bradley Manning’s mistreatment in the Quantico marine brig and the MLK day protests on his behalf; large scale bombings in Iraq that may indicate a revitalized Sunni insurgency; and the goings-on in Lebanon, where a successful coalition would allow Hezbollah to form a government.

MP3 here. (25:55)

Jason Ditz is the managing news editor at Antiwar.com.

Juan Cole

Scott Horton — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:27:52 +0000

Juan Cole, Professor of History and author of Engaging the Muslim World, discusses Rafic Hariri’s rise to power and prominence in Lebanon before his 2005 assassination, initial suspicions cast on Syria due to its efforts in maintaining political dominance in Lebanon, how Hezbollah filled the political vacuum created by Syria’s withdrawal – much to the chagrin of Israel and the Bush administration and why the current investigation’s focus on Hezbollah could destabilize the fragile Lebanese government.

MP3 here. (17:03)

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.

Juan Cole

Scott Horton — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:41:35 +0000

Juan Cole, author of Engaging the Muslim World, discusses Hezbollah’s electoral defeat in Lebanon, the influence Obama’s Cairo speech may have had in getting moderates elected, Hezbollah’s popular decline after it put on a domestic show of military force in 2008 and the contrast between Obama’s acknowledgment of Iran’s right to a civilian nuclear power program and Hillary Clinton’s no-nukes bellicosity.

MP3 here. (17:42)

Juan R. I. Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context. His most recent book is Engaging the Muslim World (Palgrave Macmillan, March, 2009) and he also recently authored Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007). He has been a regular guest on PBS’s Lehrer News Hour, and has also appeared on ABC Nightly News, Nightline, the Today Show, Charlie Rose, Anderson Cooper 360, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Democracy Now! and many others. He has also given many radio and press interviews. He has written extensively about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia. He has commented extensively on the Iraq War, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the increasing conflict with Iran. He has a regular column at Salon.com. He continues to study and write about contemporary Islamic movements, whether mainstream or radical, whether Sunni and Salafi or Shi`ite. Cole commands Arabic, Persian and Urdu and reads some Turkish, knows both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam. He lived in various parts of the Muslim world for nearly 10 years, and continues to travel widely there. A bibliography of his writings may be found here.

Kathy Kelly

Scott Horton — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:34:51 +0000

Kathy Kelly, founder of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, discusses her recent visit to Gaza at the end of Israel’s incursion, the systematic damage done to civilian infrastructure, the mounting evidence that the Israelis used white phosphorus and committed war crimes, the large volume of images and reporting broadcast by Al-Jazeera in Gaza compared to the Western media’s near-blackout of coverage and the hopeful possibility that new U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell can broker a peace deal.

MP3 here. (30:37)

Kathy Kelly is the founder of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, a 3-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and helped initiate the Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to end the UN/US sanctions against Iraq.

Eric Margolis

Scott Horton — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:06:29 +0000

Eric Margolis, author of American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World, discusses the repeating of history in Afghanistan, India’s under-the-radar regional influence and sweetheart nuclear deal, ramifications of a future “Pashtunistan”, the precarious economic and political conditions in Pakistan, the possibility of Obama using Bill Clinton as Kashmir peacemaker, the need for a waxing Department of State and waning Pentagon in the foreign policy realm, the Caspian oil pipeline as “Great Game” prize, new accusations about Syria’s nuclear program and the supreme importance of U.S./Russia relations.

MP3 here. (53:49)

Eric Margolis is a foreign correspondent and columnist with the Quebecor Media Company and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj.

Mohamad Bazzi

Charles Goyette — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:29:06 +0000

Mohamad Bazzi, Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses his recent article in Newsweek about the prospects for peace in the Middle East, the peace talks between Israel and Syria over the Golan Heights, the Bush administration’s policy of isolating Syria, their close alliance with Iran, Turkey’s role in the Israeli-Syrian talks, the State Department’s recent contact with the Syrian ambassador to the U.S., U.S. involvement in the Middle East, the situation in Lebanon between the Seniora government and Hezbollah and takes questions from callers.

MP3 here. (16:41)

Mohamad Bazzi is Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a former Middle East bureau chief at Newsday. He is currently working on a project about Hezbollah and the Shiite community in Lebanon.