Tag: Zooey Greif

Winslow T. Wheeler

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_21_wheeler.mp3]

Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information, discusses his article “The Jet That Ate the Pentagon;” the large portion of procurement money earmarked for the F-35; why single-purpose planes are better and cheaper than multipurpose ones; and the price/performance penalty inherent in stealth aircraft.

MP3 here. (20:32)

Winslow Wheeler is director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information. Previously, he worked for 31 years on national security issues for Republican and Democratic senators on Capitol Hill and for the Government Accountability Office. He is editor of the anthology The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It.

Kelley B. Vlahos

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_15_vlahos.mp3]

Regular Antiwar.com columnist Kelley B. Vlahos discusses her article “The CIA and Polio in Pakistan;” how Dr. Shakil Afridi set up a fake immunization campaign to help the CIA in their effort to pinpoint Osama bin Laden’s location in Abbottabad; how the immunization ruse further undermined public confidence in vaccinations in one of the last countries with Polio cases; and the reality of life in an iron lung.

MP3 here. (20:04)

Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer, is a longtime political reporter for FoxNews.com and a contributing editor at The American Conservative. She is also a Washington correspondent for Homeland Security Today magazine. Her Twitter account is @KelleyBVlahos.

Ivan Eland

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_21_eland.mp3]

Ivan Eland, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and regular contributor to Antiwar.com, discusses his new book No War For Oil: U.S. Dependency and the Middle East; why it isn’t necessary to secure oil supplies with military force; how US meddling in the Middle East increases oil prices and destabilizes regional governments; why national energy independence is a foolish pursuit; his article “Smoke and Mirrors in Energy Policy;” and how sanctions on Iranian oil exports help China and India get a discount on their energy needs.

MP3 here. (21:44)

Ivan Eland is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and author of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty.

Jason Ditz

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_21_ditz.mp3]

Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the comical chronic legal problems of successive Pakistani prime ministers; the evolution of Boko Haram from a “loopy sect” to a US-designated international terrorist group; and the blowback from Nigeria’s military massacre of Boko Haram members (who quickly swapped their bows and arrows for machine guns).

MP3 here. (21:31)

Jason Ditz is the managing news editor at Antiwar.com. His op-ed pieces have been published in newspapers and other media around the world.

John Glaser

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_19_glaser.mp3]

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the moral and practical problems of US support for Syria’s opposition; how foreign meddling prolongs civil conflicts and reduces incentive to negotiate; why the German media’s contrary version of the Houla massacre is no more (or less) believable than the official story blaming the government; the war hawks in Congress who want Syrian regime change to weaken Iran, not for any humanitarian reason; and why policy makers aren’t thinking of intervention’s consequences, namely blowback.

MP3 here. (20:19)

Will Grigg

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_19_grigg.mp3]

Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “Judicially Authorized Rape: The Newest Weapon in the Prohibitionist Arsenal;” the stories of three victims of forced catheterizing by the police; more evidence that cops are habitual liars and shouldn’t be trusted; two cops who were promoted instead of getting prison time for sexually assaulting Stephan Cook; the “qualified immunity” legal exemption for costume-wearing state employees who break the law; and how the US is like a prison environment writ large, where civilians are convicts and cops are prison guards.

MP3 here. (22:05)

Will Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of Liberty in Eclipse.

Adam Morrow

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_18_morrow.mp3]

IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi’s narrow victory in Egypt’s presidential runoff election; how Egypt’s military and supreme constitutional court are subverting civilian government and democratic reforms; the danger of false flag bombings designed to sow unrest and discredit the Islamists; and why Egypt’s military is better suited for domestic repression than national defense.

MP3 here. (21:28)

Adam Morrow writes for Inter Press Service News Agency.

Richard Silverstein

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_14_silverstein.mp3]

Richard Silverstein, writer of the Tikun Olam blog, discusses his article “Flame: Israel’s New Contribution to Middle East Cyberwar;” the IDF’s “Unit 8200” cyberwarfare department; the differences between industrial-sabotage virus Stuxnet and the sophisticated espionage worm Flame; how state-created computer viruses can get out of control and wreak havoc on their creators; President Obama’s antisocial foreign policy of anonymous drone strikes and cyber attacks; and the US’s rejection of Russia’s proposed international ban on cyberwar (Max Boot hates the idea, so maybe the Russians were on to something).

MP3 here. (21:46)

Richard Silverstein has been writing Tikun Olam, one of the earliest liberal Jewish blogs, since February, 2003. It focuses on Israeli-Palestinian peace but includes commentary on U.S. politics, a world music mp3 blog, and other writing on Jewish life, literature, and culture.

Eric Margolis

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_13_margolis.mp3]

Eric Margolis, internationally syndicated columnist and author of American Raj, discusses his article “Egypt Headed for an Explosion;” the vote-rigging funny business that enabled a Mubarak retread to get in the presidential runoff election; why Egypt won’t remain a US client state, 2 billion a year in military aid notwithstanding; how the US Navy came to be both tremendously expensive and strategically useless; the USAF’s critical role in US foreign policy; and the Pentagon’s promotion of China as the next big threat to justify their enormous budget.

MP3 here. (20:21)

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.

John Glaser

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_13_glaser.mp3]

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his article “Under Obama’s Reign, Habeas Corpus Rights Wrenched Away;” how the DC Circuit court has undermined Boumediene v. Bush and effectively taken away all legal recourse for the 169 remaining Guantanamo prisoners; how President Obama bypasses the courts entirely by killing suspected terrorists (and/or dark-skinned civilians) with drone strikes; the enemy-combatant status of all drone victims, unless proven otherwise posthumously (some consolation); the double standard that gets ACLU drone lawsuits dismissed over “state secrets” but allows Obama to leak information and campaign as a warrior-president; and why it seems like the US is trying really hard to provoke another 9/11.

MP3 here. (20:02)

 

Jason Ditz

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_06_12_ditz.mp3]

Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his debate with the “Prince of Darkness” (Richard Perle) on BBC Radio; the Obama administration’s refusal to apologize for the deadly November attack on a Pakistani military outpost – even though critical supply lines to Afghanistan remain closed as a consequence; the technological barrier preventing other countries from using drones the way the US does; and how the dearth of journalists in Syria allows the Western media to spin the narrative any way they choose.

MP3 here. (20:05)

Jason Ditz is the managing news editor at Antiwar.com. His op-ed pieces have been published in newspapers and other media around the world.

Will Grigg

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_13_grigg.mp3]

Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “The Resistance Rises: Restoring the ‘Castle Doctrine;'” why the passage of Indiana’s Senate Bill 1, restoring the right to defend your own home, won’t mean it’s “open season on law enforcement;” how the War on Drugs hastened the demise of both the castle doctrine and Fourth Amendment; how infamous former LAPD chief Daryl Gates helped militarize police forces, pioneering SWAT and DARE; and why, if you legally must submit to a costume-wearing government official acting unlawfully, you don’t have any rights at all.

MP3 here. (29:54)

Will Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of Liberty in Eclipse.

Peter Hart

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_13_hart.mp3]

Peter Hart, activism director at Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, discusses how pro-Israel media watchdogs like CAMERA control the narrative by making the NY Times print seemingly minor retractions (although the Foreign Agents Registration Act marks the difference between an “Israel lobbying group” and a “pro-Israel lobbying group”); why the media won’t stick their necks out on an issue that Democrats and Republicans agree on; Hart’s media advisory “After Afghan Massacre, War Gets Victim Status” about the media’s overriding concern for the war’s public relations setback, not for the dead Afghans; and why anyone interested in real journalism on Afghanistan should read Michael Hastings.

MP3 here. (20:04)

Peter Hart is the activism director at FAIR. He writes for FAIR’s magazine Extra, and is also a co-host and producer of FAIR’s syndicated radio show CounterSpin.

He is the author of “The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly” (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Hart has been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News Channel’s O’Reilly Factor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and the Associated Press. He has also appeared on Showtime and in the movie Outfoxed.

Pepe Escobar

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_09_escobar.mp3]

Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses why the Academy Award winning movie “A Separation” should be required viewing for Americans; how the Western powers will have trouble enforcing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports; the European Union’s weakness on foreign policy; how sanctions hurt the Iranian people much more than the government; and the IAEA’s conversion from impartial observer to political attack dog.

MP3 here. (20:09)

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving Into Liquid War and Obama Does Globalistan.

An extreme traveler, Pepe’s nose for news has taken him to all parts of the globe. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination. Two weeks before September 11, 2001, while Pepe was in the tribal areas of Pakistan, Asia Times Online published his prophetic piece, “Get Osama! Now! Or else …” Pepe was one of the first journalists to reach Kabul after the Taliban’s retreat, and more recently he has explored and reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, US and China.

Jason Ditz

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_09_ditz.mp3]

Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the very low militant-killing success rate of drone strikes in the Afghanistan/Pakistan tribal border region; the US’s agreement to hand over Afghan prisoners in 2014 and refusal to end night raids; the Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party’s attempt to oust their military-imposed government; and the Western NGO workers freed from Egyptian custody.

MP3 here. (20:10)

Jason Ditz is the managing news editor at Antiwar.com. His op-ed pieces have been published in newspapers and other media around the world.

Sheldon Richman

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_09_richman.mp3]

Sheldon Richman, senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses his article “No to AIPAC, No to Israel, and No to War;” President Obama’s disappointing speech at the AIPAC conference, where he refused to take “options off the table” in dealing with Iran; why Iran’s modest military capability poses no real threat to Israel or the US; refuting the “mad mullah” image of Iran’s leadership – which is in fact composed of rational actors who aren’t eager to see their 2500 year old culture destroyed; the difference between Israel (the country) and Jews (as individuals); and why we needn’t fear Iranian President Ahmadinejad – who wields no real power, especially over the military – even though he often makes inflammatory remarks.

MP3 here. (20:13)

Sheldon Richman is editor of The Freeman, published by The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington, New York, and serves as senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation. He is the author of FFF’s award-winning book Separating School & State: How to Liberate America’s Families; Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax; and FFF’s newest book Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State.

Calling for the abolition, not the reform, of public schooling. Separating School & State has become a landmark book in both libertarian and educational circles. In his column in the Financial Times, Michael Prowse wrote: “I recommend a subversive tract, Separating School & State by Sheldon Richman of the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank… . I also think that Mr. Richman is right to fear that state education undermines personal responsibility…”

Mr. Richman’s articles on population, federal disaster assistance, international trade, education, the environment, American history, foreign policy, privacy, computers, and the Middle East have appeared in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, American Scholar, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Washington Times, Insight, Cato Policy Report, Journal of Economic Development, The Freeman, The World & I, Reason, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Middle East Policy, Liberty magazine, and other publications. He is a contributor to the Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics.

A former newspaper reporter and former senior editor at the Cato Institute, Mr. Richman is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia.

John Glaser

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_08_glaser.mp3]

John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses Senator Lindsey Graham’s hissy fit about Hamid Karzai’s insistence that the US military stop night raids and hand over control of prisoners to the Afghans; the largely illiterate and drug-addicted Afghan police and army that will supposedly take over security of the country; Afghanistan’s paltry GDP, made up almost entirely of poppy cultivation and foreign aid, that can’t possibly support a strong central government; and Obama’s apparent deal with Benjamin Netanyahu – wherein the US escalates a “covert sabotage and non-proliferation campaign” against Iran, in exchange for toning-down talk of war.

MP3 here. (20:10)

John Glaser is Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com. He is a former intern at The American Conservative magazine and CATO Institute.

Gareth Porter

[audio:http://dissentradio.com/radio/12_03_08_porter.mp3]

Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses President Obama’s speech and the AIPAC convention’s creepy atmosphere; how Benjamin Netanyahu’s leverage on Obama increases as the presidential election nears; why the AIPAC-championed sanctions on Iran’s oil exports could be part of a plan to increase gas prices and influence the 2012 election; and why Israel risks being blanketed with rockets and missiles from neighboring countries if it initiates war with Iran.

MP3 here. (20:18)

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, was published in 2006.