Patriotism as the Last Refuge of the Scoundrel in the Oval Office
We begin on this 17th anniversary of 9/11 and speak with Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson the former Chief of Staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and discuss how Mohammed Bin Salman the de-facto leader of the country most responsible for 9/11 and for propagating global terrorism, Saudi Arabia, along with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, are goading President Trump into a war with Iran and possibly Syria too. With National Security advisor John Bolton, a protégé of Trump and Netanyahu’s biggest backer Sheldon Adelson itching for a war and a desperate and paranoid Trump liable to initiate a “wag the dog” war to rescue the Republicans from defeat in November and stave off the possibility of impeachment if the Democrats take the House, conditions could not be more ripe for another catastrophic intervention in the Middle East. If Trump fires Secretary of Defense Mattis as expected and decides he needs the mother of all distractions, the question arises will the war-weary American public rise up in protest? And since Trump has proclaimed today’s anniversary of 9/11 “Patriot Day”, will Trump’s base, urged on by hyper-jingoism from Fox News, create a sufficient war party to con us into another war using patriotism as the last refuge of the scoundrel in the Oval Office.
The War on Terror 17 Years Later
Then we speak with Mary Ellen O’Connell, a Professor of Law and Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. The author of “What is War? An Investigation in the Wake of 9/11”, she joins us to discuss John Bolton’s attack on the International Criminal Court in defense of America’s longest war in Afghanistan, which 17 years later with trillions wasted and no victory in sight, raises the question of whether we fell into Bin Laden’s trap after 9/11, sending Christian armies to occupy Muslim lands.