Barbara Slavin

Bush’s Gifts to Iran’s Neocons

[audio:http://wiredispatch.com/charles/aw2007-11-28barbaraslavin.mp3]

Senior diplomatic reporter for USA Today Barbara Slavin, author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S., and the Twisted Path to Confrontation, discusses the likelihood of war with Iran, their exclusion from the Annapolis conference, and how the U.S. has helped the “neoconservative” hardliners in Iran by spurning every peace offer of the Iranian moderates.

MP3 here. (18:20)

Barbara Slavin is the senior diplomatic reporter for USA Today since 1996, with the responsibility for analyzing foreign news and U.S. foreign policy. Sha has covered such key issues as the U.S.-led war on terrorism, policy toward “rogue” states, the reform movement in Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Sha has also accompanied two Secretaries of State on their official travels and reported from Libya, Israel, Egypt, North Korea, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Philip Giraldi

Everybody’s a Terrorist

[audio:http://wiredispatch.com/scott/07_11_28_giraldi.mp3]

Former CIA officer and Antiwar.com contributor Philip Giraldi discusses the new Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act and the danger to innocent people posed by “Commissions” like the one to be created by the act, the fluid definition of “terrorist,” in the eyes of the State, super-majority complicity in the House of Representatives, the inevitable role of the neocon crazies, why it is a bad idea for Americans to tolerate violations of rights by politicians on “their” side, the reality of al Qaeda and the smartest way to fight them, the “Sunni Awakening” in Iraq, the “farce” in Annapolis, the presidential candidates, his conservative view of Iran and the likelihood of war.

MP3 here. (36:50)

Philip Giraldi is a former DIA and CIA officer, partner at Cannistraro Associates, Francis Walsingham Fellow for the American Conservative Defense Alliance, contributing editor at the American Conservative magazine, blogger at the Huffington Post and columnist at Antiwar.com.

The Hidden Costs of the War

Two recent articles in USA Today illustrate the hidden costs of the war.

The first is about an Army study that found mental issues in 25,000 troops that came back from Iraq, including “post-traumatic stress disorder and depression to substance abuse and family conflict.” 7,000 soldiers admitted to having a drinking problem.

The second is about police officers who come home from Iraq with symptoms of PTSD “that law enforcement and mental health authorities fear could put their judgment and public safety at risk.”

Americans who served in the military and those who have the misfortune of being in their family or otherwise dealing with them will be suffering from the effects of this evil war for years to come. When will this madness end? Will it have to drag out as long as Vietnam did?

Glenn Greenwald

Howard Defeated Down Under

[audio:http://wiredispatch.com/charles/2007-11-27glenngreenwald.mp3]

Lawyer, author and blogger Glenn Greenwald, discusses Scott McClellan’s revelations about the president’s lying, the pathetic American media, the defeat of former Australian PM Howard, the danger of war with Iran, Bush’s hilarious speech at the Federalist Society, his contempt for/ignorance of basic constitutional premises, his record spending and Rudy Giuliani’s insanity.

MP3 here. (17:51)

Glenn Greenwald was previously a constitutional law and civil rights litigator in New York. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book How Would a Patriot Act?, a critique of the Bush administration’s use of executive power, released in May 2006. His brand new book is A Tragic Legacy.

‘We Support the Troops Who Oppose the War’

Liam Madden from Iraq Veterans Against the War sends the following:

In 1969, the My Lai massacre helped fuel popular opposition to the Vietnam War. U.S. political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. Members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War knew differently.

In January of 1971, over one hundred Vietnam Veterans gathered in Detroit to testify their experiences to America. Their testimony, called the Winter Soldier Investigation, revealed that atrocities were systemic and responsibility laid at the highest levels of government.

The U.S. Government lied to get us into war and continues to conceal the true nature of military occupation.

On the weekend of 13-15 March, 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will assemble history’s largest gathering of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Iraqi and Afghan survivors. They will provide first hand accounts of their experiences and reveal the truth of occupation.

Click here to sign the statement of support.