Background Briefing has a new home at BackgroundBriefing.org.
Please visit and bookmark the new site. You can search show archives here.
February 21 - The Disappeared in Mexico's Drug War; Hagel's Revenge?; The Consequences of the Sequester
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin and go to Mexico City for a reaction to the report by Human Rights Watch that over 20,000 Mexicans have disappeared, many at the hands of the military, during the last six years, in addition to the 70,000 who have died in the drug wars. Joining us to discuss the grim legacy of President Calderon is Ioan Grillo, who covers the drug war in Mexico for Time, CNN and the PBS NewsHour, and is author of “El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency”. |
 |
|
|
Then, with 15 Republican senators writing to the President today asking him to withdraw the Hagel nomination, we speak with former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb about his article at Foreign Policy “Hagel’s Revenge: How Obama’s new Pentagon chief can get back at his Republican Enemies”. We discuss the all-but-certain confirmation of the new Secretary of Defense and how, if he chose to, Secretary Hagel could move bases and defense contracts from South Carolina and Texas to punish Senators Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz for their unwarranted and disgraceful attacks on his integrity and character. |
 |
|
|
Then finally, we examine why the global markets went down today, falling after some members of the Fed expressed concerns in just-released minutes of the board’s January meeting, about continuing to buy 85 billion dollars worth of bonds every month. Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research joins us to discuss the consequences of the impending sequester cuts, on top of money already taken out of a weak economy by the fiscal cliff deal, that are certain to slow growth and economic recovery. |
 |
Tags:
February 20 - The Israeli Government's Report on the "Suicide" of Prisoner X; How Rogue is the Chinese Military? Will Hagel Face a Filibuster?
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin and go to Israel to speak with Gideon Levy who is a journalist and member of the editorial board of Ha’aretz and a former spokesperson for Shimon Peres. We discuss the release today of a report by the Israeli government on the circumstances surrounding the alleged suicide of a former spy for Israel’s Mossad, an Australian/Israeli known as Prisoner X, who was imprisoned in secret under a false identity and died under mysterious circumstances two years ago. |
 |
|
|
Then we examine the relations between the military and civilian leadership in China following revelations that a special unit of the People’s Liberation Army has been actively involved in hacking U.S. government and U.S. Corporate computers. Steve Clemons, the editor-at-large for The Atlantic joins us to discuss how rogue the Chinese military is and whether exposing the activities of the PLA in cyber-espionage will dampen the on-going effort of China to steal America’s military and commercial secrets. |
 |
|
|
Then finally, we look into the fate of Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be the next Secretary of Defense and whether when the Senate returns in a week there will be a filibuster or a vote on his nomination. Jacob Heilbrun, a Senior Editor at the National Interest and the author of “They Knew They Were Right: the Rise of the Neocons” joins us to discuss the role of the Neocons in derailing Hagel’s nomination and whether his ability to oversee the Pentagon has already been damaged. |
 |
Tags:
February 19 - The People's Liberation Army of Hackers; How Autonomous is China's Military?; A Critique of the LAPD From a Veteran Reporter
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with the report from the American computer security company Mandiant detailed in The New York Times that accuses China’s People’s Liberation Army of being actively involved in hacking into U.S. government and corporate data banks, targeting critical infrastructure. Alan Paller, the Director of Research at the SANS Institute, who has testified several times before House and Senate committees, joins us to discuss what the administration is doing in both waging cyber-warfare and protecting America’s vital and vulnerable networks. |
 |
|
|
Then, with the Chinese government denying any involvement in hacking, we assess the extent to which China’s military is autonomous from oversight by the politburo. Scott Savitt, who is a visiting scholar in Chinese Media Studies at Duke University and a former Beijing-based foreign correspondent for The Los Angeles Times and United Press International, joins us. We discuss the new Cold War in cyberspace and how China’s assertive and apparently independent military shapes foreign policy and regional relations. |
 |
|
|
Then finally we speak with David Cay Johnston, the president of Investigative Reporters and Editors whose latest book is “The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use ‘Plain English’ to Rob You Blind”. We look into why a number of struggling state governments are losing billions in revenues to corporate tax havens and also discuss the recent manhunt and shootout with a rogue ex-LAPD policeman and David’s article at Salon.com “LAPD’s Indefensible Dorner Pursuit”. |
 |
Tags:
February 18 - Chavez Comes Home Under Wraps; Mudslinging Ahead of Iran's June Elections; Syria's Increasingly Sectarian War
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin and go to Caracas, Venezuela for an update on the return of President Hugo Chavez from Cuba where he underwent a fourth round of cancer surgery. Virginia Lopez, who covers Venezuela and Latin America for the UK Guardian and Sky Television, joins us to discuss the lack of details about the health of Venezuela’s president, who was supposed to be inaugurated last January, and the lack of press access to Chavez’s secret arrival, except for his personal tweets to his 4 million twitter followers. |
 |
|
|
Then we speak with Nader Hashemi, the Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. We discuss what can be interpreted from the mudslinging ahead of Iran's June elections coming out of the rival camps of the out-going president and the speaker of Iran’s parliament. Rhetoric so heated that it forced the Supreme Leader to publically rebuke President Ahmadinejad and Speaker Ali Larijani. |
 |
|
|
Then finally we examine the latest UN report on Syria that finds the war that has cost 70,000 lives so far, is becoming increasingly sectarian, prompting Carla del Ponte, the UN Human Rights investigator to tell the UN Security Council it is time to refer the issue of war crimes to the International Criminal Court. Joshua Landis, who writes the daily newsletter and blog on Syria “Syria Comment”, joins us to discuss the war within the war between the Sunni extremist Al Nusra militia and the extremist Shiite militia Hezbollah. |
 |
Tags:
February 17 - The President's License to Kill; Texas's Reincarnation of Senator Joe McCarthy; Republicans Defend Crimes Against Native Women
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with an analysis of the extraordinary presidential powers to assassinate that are represented by the drone program and are at issue with the confirmation of John Brennan to head up the CIA. Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer who was Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the Reagan Administration and helped write the articles of impeachment for both President Nixon and President Clinton, joins us to discuss the kill list and the unchecked powers of the president. |
 |
|
|
Then we look into the efforts to block Chuck Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense and the incendiary but baseless accusations made by freshman Senator Ted Cruz that Hagel received money from North Korea and that the Iranian government is celebrating his nomination. Matt Angle, who directs the Lone Star Project and was the Executive Director of the House Democratic Caucus joins us to discuss the reincarnation of Senator Joseph McCarthy in Texas’s junior senator Ted Cruz and whether the nastiness of this Tea Party bomb-thrower represents the future of Texas politics. |
 |
|
|
Then finally we examine the prosecutorial loophole that the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act seeks to close, which has 22 Republican Senators and a majority of House Republicans siding with the abusers of women as they defend the status quo that allows non-native Americans to rape and even murder Native American women on tribal land and get off Scott free. Sarah Deer, an expert on violence against Native women, where 86% of rapes reported by Native women on tribal lands are perpetrated by outsiders, joins us. She is the author of “Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Sex-Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota. |
 |
Tags:
RSS Latest Radio Programs
Pacifica App