Martin Smith, producer of the PBS Frontline documentary Obama’s War, discusses the incredible scope of a full-blown global counterinsurgency, new COIN strategies that supposedly reduce the troop levels needed to pacify Afghanistan, the missed window of opportunity for successful nation-building and the difficulty of persuading Afghan civilians to entrust their safety to foreign troops rather than the Taliban.

MP3 here. (29:47)

In his 25 years producing for FRONTLINE, Martin Smith has covered the world: from revolution in Central America and the fall of communism in Russia, to the rise of Al Qaeda and the war in Iraq. Smith was among the first journalists to investigate Col. Oliver North’s clandestine network and one of the first western reporters to investigate the emergence of Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network.

Since 1998 Smith has been with RAINmedia, an independent production company which has produced over 20 hours of programming for FRONTLINE including: Hunting bin Laden (1999); the four-hour series Drug Wars (2000); and three documentaries looking at the roots of 9/11 — Looking for Answers (2001), Saudi Time Bomb? (2001) and In Search of Al Qaeda (2002).

Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Smith has produced four films on Iraq for FRONTLINE: Gangs of Iraq (2007), Private Warriors (2005), Beyond Baghdad (2004) and Truth, War and Consequences (2003). In 2006, Smith produced The Storm, an Emmy Award-winning look at Hurricane Katrina and the state of America’s emergency response system and Return of the Taliban, in which he reported from the forbidden tribal areas of western Pakistan.

He recently completed two films for FRONTLINE which aired in the fall of 2008 — “Heat” about business and climate change and “The War Briefing” about the real policy options the next president will face. Smith’s work for FRONTLINE has taken him to Afghanistan, China, Comoros, Colombia, Germany, India, Iraq, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Yemen.

Smith has won every major award in television including two duPont Columbia Gold Batons and four Emmys. He’s also been a three-time recipient of the George Polk Award for Investigative Journalism and a four-time winner of the Writer’s Guild Award. Smith is a member of the Overseas Press Club and the Council on Foreign Relations.

John V. Walsh, frequent contributor to CounterPunch.org, discusses Obama’s propagandized meeting with the Bizarro World Cindy Sheehan, how the antiwar Left lacks the ideological passion and clarity of libertarians, the permanent cold war mentality in Washington D.C. and the widening divide between Democratic Party leaders and rank and file activists.

MP3 here. (24:31)

John V. Walsh is a scientist who lives in Cambridge, Mass. He is a frequent contributor to CounterPunch.org and Antiwar.com.

Joshua Frank, regular writer at Counterpunch.org, discusses the Democratic Party’s love for war, Obama’s LBJ moment as the war in Afghanistan becomes his own, how the fugitive status of Osama bin Laden remains a useful propaganda tool and the antiwar common ground that makes allies of political opponents.

MP3 here. (27:03)

Joshua Frank writes for Counterpunch.org and Antiwar.com. He is the author of Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush and Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland.

Glenn Greenwald, former constitutional lawyer and current Salon.com blogger, discusses the nefarious origin of the state secrets privilege, the ways in which Obama has exceeded the Bush administration on secrecy invocations, the fight over releasing the few remaining Bush torture memos and the Obama administration’s foot-dragging over prosecuting Bush-era crimes.

MP3 here: (39:52)

Glenn Greenwald is a former constitutional lawyer and author of Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics, A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency, and How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values From a President Run Amok. His blog and radio show can be found at Salon.com.

Philip Giraldi, contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine, discusses the disposition of U.S. diplomacy in the Obama administration, the role Dick Cheney played in scuttling a Syria/Israel peace agreement, Obama’s use of unofficial envoys to float diplomatic trial balloons in Iran and Russia, the fate of Hamid Karzai and why the Pyrrhic nature of the Israel lobby’s recent victory over the realists has been greatly exaggerated.

MP3 here. (41:43)

Philip Giraldi is a former DIA and CIA 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

Chris Floyd, author of Empire Burlesque – High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium, discusses how the Obama administration maintains the Bush policy of using a “state secrets” privilege to prevent torture lawsuits, the suspension of British torture trials following U.S. threats of withholding terrorism information, the new business-as-usual CIA chief Leon Panetta and the little-known history and disastrous consequences of U.S. meddling in Somalia.

MP3 here. (39:06)

Chris Floyd operates a website and blog at chris-floyd.com. He is the author of Empire Burlesque – High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium.

Justin Raimondo, editorial director for Antiwar.com, discusses Vladimir Putin’s red-baiting of Soviet America, the U.S. military’s use of old Soviet supply lines into Afghanistan, how the incredible U.S./Russia role reversal confirms the existence of Bizarro World, why the crumbling U.S. economy won’t stop an Afghanistan surge or prevent new interventions in Africa and how the use of logical deduction in figuring out U.S. foreign policy goals only leads to wild speculation.

MP3 here. (37:24)

Justin Raimondo is the author of Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement and editorial director for Antiwar.com. His articles are archived at Antiwar.com/justin.

Gareth Porter, author of the article “Generals Seek to Reverse Obama Withdrawal Decision”, discusses the rift within the military on the issue of troop withdrawal from Iraq, the apparent attempt by Robert Gates and Generals Petraeus and Odierno to undermine Obama’s planned Iraq withdrawal timeline, the NIE Iran report and the Iranian nuclear hedging strategy and the fight over control of the foreign policy narrative and who ultimately is to blame for historical failure.

MP3 here. (55:29)

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and journalist and frequent contributor to the Inter Press Service News Agency (ipsnews.net). His articles can also be found at Antiwar.com/porter.

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.

Andy Worthington, author of the January 24th article “For Detainees, Obama Off to Good Start”, discusses Barack Obama’s initial executive orders regarding the closure of Gitmo and secret CIA prisons, the lengthy year-long review process for detainee trials, how the Bush administration’s torture policy ruined any opportunity to prosecute the few legitimate terrorism cases, the propaganda potential in the Pentagon’s loaded phrase “returned to the battlefield” and the relatively low recidivism rate of detainees released from Guantanamo compared to ordinary American civilian prisons.

MP3 here. (39:38)

Andy Worthington is a London-based historian and the author of The Guantanamo Files. His writing frequently appears on Counterpunch.org, rawstory.com, fff.org and antiwar.com/worthington.