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Robert Parry, founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com, discusses the many Israeli officials who are downplaying the “Iranian threat” and speaking out against Prime Minister Netanyahu‘s extremism; the pro-Netanyahu Americans who heckled former PM Uhud Olmert during his insufficiently-hawkish speech in New York; Israeli criticism of Netanyahu as “messianic” and not serious about a Palestinian peace; and why the initial P5+1 talks with Iran are good for Obama’s reelection bid, gas prices, and peace in the Middle East.

MP3 here. (18:13)

Robert Parry is an investigative journalist who won the George Polk Award in 1984 for reporting on the Iran-Contra affair and uncovering Oliver North’s involvement in it. He is the founder and editor of ConsortiumNews.com and author of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, Trick or Treason: The October Surprise Mystery and Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq.

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John Mueller, author of Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda, discusses his article “Why Al-Qaeda May Never Die;” how “al-Qaeda” is used as a catchall name for terrorist groups, even those tangentially related to the original; why a large percentage of Americans fear terrorism even though dying in an attack is about as likely as being struck by lightning; US alliances with radical Islamic insurgents in Libya and Syria; and how imperial overreach hastened the Soviet Union’s collapse.

MP3 here. (20:23)

John Mueller is the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies and Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University. He is the author of Overblown and The Remnants of War, winner of the Joseph P. Lepgold Prize for the best book on international relations in 2004, awarded by Georgetown University.