Month: August 2007

A number of blogs have apparently picked up on a particular thought in the recent article by Jon Utley, “What To Do With Cheney?” That perhaps Rove’s sudden resignation is because he has been unable to stop the Cheney gang from a coming attack on Iran, and Rove foresees the consequent political disaster for the Republican party. The threat of $5 per gallon gasoline has generated lots of discussion.

Harper’s Website had a discussion of the threat and a Heritage Foundation study of the consequences, done in 2006. The Heritage Study makes it all sound easy, stating that the U.S. Navy would quickly reopen the Straits of Hormuz, that the political pressure to allow drilling in Anwr in Alaska would then become irresistible. Its worst case scenario is a decline of $161 billion in one quarter’s gross national product and a decline of “over 1 million jobs” in the following year.

Heritage makes no allowance for the war getting out of hand, nor for any destruction of Arabian Gulf oil ports or refining and storage facilities. Most of all it make no mention even for the effect upon other nations, as if the U.S. just lived in a self contained world. In fact Japan, South Korea, and China’s economies would have tremendous shortages of fuel with consequent effect to world trade and prosperity. Heritage Foundation was a major promoter of starting the last war and is a big supporter of it even now.

For a serious study of the consequences of war with Iran we refer you to CATO’s “The Costs and Benefits of Preventative War vs. Deterrence” by Justin Logan.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_17_paul.mp3]

Presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul discusses the economic consequences of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the scars of PTSD and the administration’s betrayal of wounded veterans, how nice it would be if the War Party had to clean up the DU, why the U.S. should withdraw from Iraq as soon as physically possible, the role of the Military-Industrial-Complex in determining foreign policy, the likelihood and possible consequences of war with Iran for our troops in Iraq, our economy, and our liberty, why all the tax money spent militarily “securing” recourses is being wasted due to a mistaken and outdated mercantilist understanding of economics, the failure of the Congressional Democrats to check the war powers of the president, why U.S. intervention on behalf of Israel is bad for us, bad for them and bad for their neighbors, America’s deteriorating relationship with Russia and China and why the U.S. government should stay out of Darfur.

MP3 here. (29:55)

(All my previous interviews of Dr. Paul here and here.)

Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas and candidate for President of the United States.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/charles/07_08_16_charles_scott.mp3]

Scott Horton, assistant editor at Antiwar.com and director of the radio project, debunks the War Party’s excuses for war with Iran.

MP3 here. (21:06)

Scott Horton is an assistant editor at Antiwar.com and is the director of Antiwar Radio. Check out his blog, Stress.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_16_porter.mp3]

Gareth Porter, historian and reporter for IPS News, explains how the American occupation only exacerbates the situation in the Iraq, how local Sunnis have always been better equipped than the U.S. to handle al Qaeda in Iraq and debunks the administration’s propaganda about Iran in Iraq.

MP3 here. (42:21)

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and foreign policy analyst. He is also a Foreign Policy In Focus scholar. His book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, is published in May 2005 by University of California Press.

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/07_08_16_bovard.mp3]

James Bovard, author of Attention Deficit Democracy, discusses the Padilla case, torture by the Bush regime and the capacity of the general public to overlook the evidence.

MP3 here . (34:45)

James Bovard serves as a policy advisor to The Future of Freedom Foundation and is a frequent contributor to Playboy, American Spectator, and Investor’s Business Daily. He has also written for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Reader’s Digest, New Republic, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Newsweek.

For my analysis of the GOP race for the White House, post-Ames, check out my latest for Taki’s Top Drawer, “Decoding the Iowa Poll.” Also, I’ve been blogging regularly over there: here‘s my take on the Hamburger Question, also here — and here‘s me wondering out loud why it is that Reason magazine and the folks over at the Cato Institute have so little to say about the Iraq war. Oh, and a note on ideological diversity.