War

Never Again? Denying The Crime Is Part of the Crime
Denial is the final stage for a successful genocide. Since Nuremberg, we’ve heard the phrase “Never Again.” But that requires facing real history, hearing the voice of the victims not just the winners. Though the Turkish genocide of a million

Celebrated To Death: Afghan Vet on Memorial Day
Memorial Day 2020. In 2009 at age 23 Erik Edstrom went to Afghanistan as an infantry officer, Army Ranger, and became a Bronze Star Medal recipient. In this Memorial Day of the Covid 19 era, he dug up his journal

Kent State Plus 50: Time to Face The Truth
On May 4, 1970, Laurel Krause was just 15 years old. That night in a hospital with her parents she identified her 19-year-old sister Allison’s lifeless body. The bullets that killed Kent State University students Allison, Jeff, Sandy and Bill,

One State: A Reality But Not Yet a Solution
A two state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is no longer possible. In his book Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality, our guest Ian S. Lustick, political science professor at U of Penn, reveals that Israel changed drastically

We Need Smedley Butler Now More Than Ever. Who?
He was a famous military hero known throughout America. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler was awarded two Congressional Medals of Honor between 1898 and the early ’30s for his outstanding military service. Eventually he realized those wars were not

Iraq/Iran: Reverberations From The Assassination
Hundreds of thousands of lives are suddenly at great risk. As former national security advisor Susan Rice writes “Full-scale conflict is not a certainty, but the probability is higher than at any point in decades.” With us to discuss the

Well Hidden: Left Progress in Mexico And Stability in Syria
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been president of Mexico just over a year and he is already had success bringing great change. Much to the distress of the oligarchy which has ruled for decades. His new left party MORENA now

The Christmas Truce: Powerful, Brave, and Not So Isolated
You’ve heard of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 between the trenches of the British and German soldiers. These were indeed brave men. But that was not the only such event: there were desertions, mutinies, and fraternizations. Today it seems

Plundered Iraq Rising Up
It didn’t start with W’s 2003 war on Iraq. The British have plundered what is now Iraq since the 19th century. After the incredible economic and physical devastation and perhaps a million deaths, though little noticed in the news, the

The Kurds are a Nation; Why Don’t They Have a State?
We all know that, thanks to Trump giving them a green light, Erdogan’s Turkish military is now aggressively slaughtering the stateless Kurdish people. Kurdish women warriors were exceptionally effective in their fight against our common enemy ISIS. Yet Trump abandoned

Impeachment: Restore Entitled “Centrist” Ds and Rs to Power?
No question: today’s biggest unsolved problems came at the hands of the so-called centrists of both parties. Historian and author Professor Andrew Bacevich argues that while of course Trump must be removed, the constant focus of impeachment is a way

Trump and the ‘Gated Communities’ of Afghanistan
Could Trump get something right? Retired US Army officer and prolific writer of military policy analysis Danny Sjursen compares how the brass In Washington sees Afghanistan versus the empirical knowledge from people on the ground. The commanders see Afghanistan as

Woodrow Wilson And Trump: Fanning the Flames of Hate
Trump is not the first. Author of many history books Adam Hochschild writes: “The last time we had anything similar from Washington was almost exactly 100 years ago and it, too, involved a flood of angry rhetoric and a fear

Reactions from Iran and Honduras: What Do You Expect?
Of course Iran shot down a US spy drone. Any country would do the same. And Trump’s intention for greater tension is achieved. On this segment, legal scholar Marjorie Cohn argues that Iran had a legal right to shoot down

Why Is Trump Provoking Iran?
Many Iranians are more west-friendly than others in the Middle East, yet we demonize them the most. Retired US Army Major Danny Sjursen has the inside scoop on American military policy toward Iran and here talks about those realities: The

Boondoggle, Inc: Military Industrial Complex on Autopilot
Sure there’s the $750 billion Pentagon budget for FY 2020. But real military spending is nearly twice that. There are many opaque agencies which are secretive in their use of other taxpayer money, according to our guest William Hartung Director

Assange: The Legal Bounds of Journalism
Applying the standard of “clear and present danger,” which is more of a threat; an anti-free press government or leakers? What is the state of our old First Amendment regarding Wikileaks? When Assange published the data leaks from Bradley Manning

Fueling The Backfire: Our Everywhere War on Terror
Always out of the headlines, on purpose, America’s military footprint truly spands the globe. And how well is our nearly 18 year old “war on terror” going? Is it working? After what she calls a “research odyssey” Stephanie Savell of

We Are At War With China
It’s not a shooting war. Not yet anyway. But already begun is a 21st century version of war. And the fate of the earth is at stake. As both the US and China pour hundreds of billions into this intense

The Decline of American Power: What’s Next?
Announced with boundless optimism in 1941, “the American Century” is nearing its end. Since WWII, America has taken over from Britain as the leading empire. So what caused our decline, what must we learn, and what about America may survive

Venezuela: Behind the Crafted Image
If you thought something was fishy about what we’re being told about Venezuela you were right. The scene of blocked humanitarian aid at the bridge? Well the bridge has never opened. Our guest Alliance for Global Justice’s Chuck Kaufman goes

Nonviolent Refusal To Cooperate: The Irish Set The Standard
Gandhi and Nehru took their inspiration from the Irish, people like Arthur Griffith. Who? Though violence gets all the headlines, rendering the powerful suddenly powerless though noncooperation is by far the most effective tactic. Our guest Professor David C. Cochran

Democrats More Hawkish Than Trump?
Had Obama announced pull back of troops from Syria and Afghanistan, our guest Major Danny Sjursen says there’d probably be a ticker tape parade. But because of our reactive hatred for all things Trump, a bizarre thing happened: Democrats opposed

Democracy in the US/ Peace in Afghanistan?
Success came Tuesday November 6th. It was indeed a blue wave. Now what? On the first half of the show, NH Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley (who ran for national party chair) looks at what was learned, how progressives can

The First World War Armistice: Perspective at 100 Years
The shooting in the first world war finally ended 100 years ago November 11. But did the war ever really end? Was anything resolved? So much of today’s world, from the mess of the Middle East to the power of

Yemen: An Accountability Free Zone
Bombing a school bus that killed 44 children in Yemen was almost two months ago! We Americans have had so many other distractions since then. But the marriage of commerce and war continues largely unnoticed. The military contractors learned that

Sky’s The Limit for Military Waste: $717 Billion ’19 Budget
With near consensus from both sides of the aisle, congress just rubber-stamped a nearly three quarters of a trillion dollar spending plan for defense contractors. There is no limit on what we will spend on weapons, according to today’s guest

Has the Time for NATO Passed?
If we’re spending billions on a defense system that actually makes us more vulnerable,maybe it’s time to reconsider. According to today’s guest Foreign Policy in Focus columnist Conn Hallinan, NATO has gone from serving as a bulwark against the Soviet

Left and Right Against Dumb Wars//Indian Kids Taken for Decades
Donald Trump won a lot of support from conservative Americans who agreed our endless wars are nothing but a big waste. Of course he flipped positions since then but renowned professor Andrew Bacevich observes that there is still anger at

Free Speech Not OK in War? The Lessons of Debs and LaFollette June 1918
Is it treasonous to urge resistance to a war once America is in it? Most Americans opposed our entry into the First World War but once Wilson sent our men, some argued it was no longer OK to urge resistance.