As the Senate holds its first-ever public hearing on drones and targeted killings, we turn the second part of our interview with Jeremy Scahill, author of the new book, “Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield.” Scahill charts the expanding covert wars operated by the CIA and JSOC, the Joint Special Operations Command, in countries from Somalia to Pakistan.
“I called it ‘Dirty Wars’ because, particularly in this administration, in the Obama administration, I think a lot of people are being led to believe that there is such a thing as a clean war,” Scahill says. He goes on to discuss secret operations in Africa, the targeting of U.S. citizens in Yemen and the key role WikiLeaks played in researching the book.
He also reveals imprisoned whistleblower Bradley Manning once tipped him off to a story about the private security company Blackwater.
Scahill is the national security correspondent for The Nation magazine and longtime Democracy Now! correspondent. For the past several years, Scahill has been working on the “Dirty Wars” film and book project, which was published on Tuesday. The film, directed by Rick Rowley, will be released in theaters in June.
The world is a battlefield
Today the Israelis shot down a Hezbullah drone. If they have one they have plenty more to go along with their 15,000 strong rocket arsenal. The U.S. now has 2000 combat troops in Jordan along the Syrian border. Obama just approved another $125 million dollars in “humanitarian aid” for the Syrian opposition. How exactly does the U.S define “humanitarian aid.” The U.S still refuses to recognize the newly elected president of Venezuela. That election was held weeks ago so what’s the problem? Government officials questioned the Boston bomber for 16 hours before he was read his Miranda rights. None of that 16 hours can be used at his trial. Is there enough evidence to convict this guy? Only time will tell. And finally, any Democrat who believes that we should leave any U.S. troops in Afghanistan after we pull out in 2014 should be voted out of office.