MP3 here. (45:24)
“Well, you know, the only people taking ‘marching orders’ from Osama bin Laden, as far as I can tell, are every presidential candidate (Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bush) except Mr. Paul. Mr. Paul has it very square about what the motivation of our enemy is, and it’s certainly exactly what he said it is, intervention. …
“Really, it is the American political establishment that is marching to al Qaeda’s beat, not Mr. Paul.”
Michael Scheuer, former head analyst at the CIA’s bin Laden unit and author of Imperial Hubris, discusses:
- His view of the legitimacy of the new bin Laden tape and the mention of his book
- His belief that current U.S. foreign policy is exactly what bin Laden wants and that Rep. Ron Paul M.D. has the best understanding of the enemy’s motivations and how to deal with them
- The sad fact that bin Laden wins whether America leaves Iraq now or later
- The “near” and “far” enemy
- The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and what he believes should be done there
- Why he believes that al Qaeda wants to detonate a nuke here
- His support for the conclusions of Robert A. Pape in his book Dying to Win that suicide bombing is caused by foreign occupation and view of the role religion plays in al Qaeda’s motivation (they believe they’re defending theirs)
- The role of the mujahedeen in the 1999 Kosovo War
- The lack of threat posed to America by Syria and Iran and of cooperative links between Iran and al Qaeda
- The expansion of the war to Africa
- The impossibility of an “al Qaeda in Iraq” takeover in the event of U.S. withdrawal
- The degree of the danger that AQI represents in the long term
- The review by he and his CIA colleagues of the evidence of connections between Iraq and al Qaeda before the Iraq war and their report to George Tenet that there were none
- His view that the vast majority of post-9/11 domestic terrorism prosecutions have been bogus cases of entrapment
- Closed borders
Michael Scheuer is a 22-year veteran of the CIA and the author of Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America and Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror.
I’m a senior at the University of Southern Mississippi. I’m researching information for a project in Political Movements. I’ve chosen the antiwar movenment.
I’m not completly against the war..for one reason or another. I got out of the Marine Corps last year after serving four years in the infantry. While I was active duty, I kept up with the world events pretty regularly because a lot of it had a direct effect on me. I don’t keep up with the news as well as I should now.
I chose this topic to learn more from the antiwar perspective. I chose you because you were at the top of the list on my google search. A few minutes to type quick email expressing your views over the antiwar movement or even a telephone interview would be greatly appreciated (601-329-6635).
Thank you,
Ryan Lohman
1. Listen to Scott Horton’s interviews regularly
2. Read at least the following books:
a. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
b. Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from
Hawaii to Iraq
c. Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of
America’s Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum
3. Spend many years living in foreign lands listening to
their viewpoints as I did _OR_ at least perform some
thought experiments where you simply look at things
from THEIR perspective while NOT assuming ANYTHING
about what you BELIEVE are U.S. motives.
All guaranteed to change your “world view.”
WB (USAF ret.)
Dear Ryan Lohman,
I recommend that you read ON A DAILY BASIS the BBC Online, AL Jazeera Online, HAARETZ Online, LE MONDE Online, DEUTSCHE WELLE Online and most important the Asia TImes online @ http://www.atimes.com and RIA Novosti Online – a new Russian newspaper. All these are available in English.
Books – anything by Kissinger, the arch-politician who said that “Countries don’t have friends, they have interests.” He is thoroughly dishonest and very devious, but is worth a read. Another VITAL book is THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GREAT POWERS by Paul Kennedy. Yet another great book is THE DECLINE OF THE WEST by Oswald Spengler (original in German – Die Untergang des Abendlandes). Another good book is THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH by William Shirer. Yet another comes to mind – INSIDE THE THIRD REICH By Albert Speer.
I also recommend anything by Richard Nixon except his memoirs which of course are self-serving. But he was a shrewd politician in international affairs and wrote intelligently and effectively on such matters.
All of these books deal with the causes and/or effects of war.
Good luck!
Try calling in to Scott’s antiwar radio show tomorrow. It starts at 11:00 Central time. The number is 512-646-6446.
Another good site to check is vineyardsaker.blogspot.com
There would not be a political establishment marching to Bin Laden’s beat if such establishment would let the American citzenry have what the vast majority of them want, term limits for our federal lawmakers.
Kent Conrad, D-ND, ran for U.S. Senate promising to term limit himself. When it came time for him to leave his office, he reneged. He still gets re-elected because he is good at “fighting for North Dakota” which translates to $1.92 per capita back from Washington, D.C. for every $1.00 per capita sent by tax.
Ron Paul has a better idea than term limits. Get back on the gold standard, when government runs out of gold they’ll be forced to make the unpopular choices thereby getting voted out of office if they screw up.
Jefferson, Madison, et. al. were smart guys. We should obey the laws they wrote.
Ryan just read Washington’s Farewell Address and the foreign policy espoused our best President..He would be against this war…
” by our ” of course..
And, by the way, I’m a former Marine and I wouldn’t have gone to Iraq..the brig yes, Iraq no…I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and all enemies foreign and domestic…Not to fight an enemy of Al-Quaeda ( Hussein ) and not to enhance the long-term security of nulcear Israel..And not for the privatization ( foreign ownership ) of Iraqi oil..And not for the profits of “defense” contractors or mercenaries or war reconstruction co.’s…
To read anti-war.com and not be pursuaded by it ( by anyone ) is an example of intellectual inertia..And that’s the problem w/most Americans..they just adopt the position ( on ANY issue ) that they’re most comfortable with, facts be damned…
Which is another reason to read Washington’s Farewell Address; in it he warns aginst the mentality that is bred by political parties……..Semper Fi!
I have posted Washington’s farewell address in my officek and indeed everything you have said is so true, and it is heart warming to know that you would choose the brig over slaughter-in-Iraq abomination on earth. I try to let people know that, for at least a long while the most well known man in the world, Muhammad Ali, did that same thing when he refused to slaughter-in-Vietnam, not only giving up his title.
I was suprised about Mikes comments about the authenticity of the Bin Laden video. He was sure it was authentic because he recognizes the voice?
I can’t believe he is not versed on the current voice duplication technology!
ps. PNAC must be exposed to the American masses and tried for conspiracy to defraud Congress!
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/2007/0911.html