Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, discusses how Iranian sanctions block peaceful diplomatic solutions, making war more likely; the “risk premium” in oil prices, exacerbated by hawkish foreign policy, that hurts Iranians and Americans alike; the daunting resources and time commitment required to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program through invasion and [...]John Glaser, Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com, discusses his article “Mali Coup Has US Interventionism Written All Over It;” the coup leader’s extensive recent training in the US; how the Libyan intervention prompted the Mali coup and a crackdown on the Tuareg rebellion (allegedly linked to al-Qaeda); the endless supply of humanitarian justifications to intervene in [...]Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of chemical engineering and political columnist for PBS’s Tehran Bureau, discusses his article on the IAEA chief, “Yukiya Amano: Minion of the Empire;” the former IAEA officials accusing Amano of a pro-Western bias on Iran; how Amano has fallen into the “Cheney trap” by relying on a small group of advisors and [...]Jason Leopold, lead investigative reporter of Truthout and author of News Junkie, discusses his article “DHS Turns Over Occupy Wall Street Documents to Truthout;” using FOIA to pry public records from secretive government agencies; internal DHS concerns about spying on protesters exercising their First Amendment rights; and coordination between DHS and local law enforcement on [...]Dina Rasor, founder of the Project on Military Procurement (now called the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO), discusses her article “Lockheed: The Ultimate Pay-to-Play Contractor;” how the crony weapons-procurement process guarantees cooperative generals lucrative post-retirement jobs with defense contractors; why nearly every military officer above colonel is a corrupt sellout; the Lockheed Corporation’s purchase [...]James Bamford, author of The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America, discusses his article “The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)” and his follow-up response to NSA chief Gen. Keith Alexander’s testimony to Congress; details on the immense new Utah data center; the [...]