terrorism
GRITtv: Chris Hedges: The World As it Is
"You can't sustain a democracy in an oligarchic state. The writers on Athenian democracy understood that 2000 years ago," says Chris Hedges, whose new book The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress explores the problems of a crumbling empire, inside and out.Chris joins Laura in studio for a conversation about the death of Bin Laden and the continuing concern over terrorism, the end of empathy in the U.S., and what avenues are left for progressives to fight back. ; "The elites are not going to help us," he warns, "We're going to have to help ourselves."
Email this pageGRITtv: Phyllis Bennis: Listening to the People in the Arab World
"For the first time what we're seeing is people on the rise and they can no longer be ignored, by their own governments or by the United States," says Phyllis Bennis. And those people are saddened by the U.S.'s action against Osama Bin Laden, but more importantly are demanding that their voices be heard, not the voices of their dictators that the U.S. has relied on for so long. Phyllis checks in with us from Amman, Jordan, and tells us about the reaction of people there to Bin Laden's death. She also gives us the latest from Cairo, Egypt, where she was before traveling to Jordan.
GRITtv: Tariq Ali: Killing Bin Laden Was Not "Justice"
"If the aim was to show us that state terror was more powerful than individual terrorists, we already knew that," says Tariq Ali of the U.S. special forces action that reportedly killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. As Americans celebrated outside of the White House and gathered at Ground Zero to remember those lost, Tariq reminds us that bin Laden's death will not make the U.S. safer. He joins Laura via Skype from London to discuss the ramifications of bin Laden's death, on U.S. foreign policy and specifically the relationship with Pakistan, as well as to question the use of the word "justice" to describe a unilateral military action.
GRITtv: Maya Wiley: What's Missing at The King Hearings
"This is a country that has seen an incredible increase in hate crimes and hate groups. They're not simply one group of people. If they were it would be easy," points out Maya Wiley of the Center for Social Inclusion, to do what Rep. Peter King is doing today in his hearings on "Muslim radicalization." But it's not just one group of people, and King's myopic focus is contributing to an increasingly toxic political discourse. Maya joins Laura in studio to discuss the hearings, the forgotten influence of patriot groups, white supremacist groups, and more. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Dave Lindorff: The Curious Case of Raymond Davis
"The mystery of American Raymond A. Davis, currently imprisoned in the custody of local police in Lahore, Pakistan and charged with the Jan. 27 murder of two young men, whom he allegedly shot eight times with pinpoint accuracy through his car windshield, is growing increasingly murky." So wrote Dave Lindorff, who has been following the story of Davis's arrest and the subsequent controversy for CounterPunch. Is Davis a CIA agent? A security contractor? A diplomat? What's the deal with the numbers in his cell phone for some shady characters? Dave joins us via Skype to fill us in on the latest.
GRITtv: The F Word: Shifting Goalposts on Terrorism
We've seen so many definitions of terrorist in the last few years, it can be hard to keep them straight. So I suppose it's understandable when someone like Rep. Peter King from New York can't remember what the word means anymore. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Reese Erlich: Conversations with Terrorists
"The word terrorism is meaningless," says journalist and author Reese Erlich, who points out that the definition has become so flexible, it can be applied to anything--including U.S. foreign policy. With George W. Bush on his book tour, claiming that waterboarding is legal and necessary and that even knowing what he knows now, he would have invaded Iraq, it's especially important to look back at our definitions of terrorism and the "War on Terror." Erlich joins Laura in studio to talk about his book and his conversations with terrorists, from former members of the IRA to current leaders in the Middle East, and to unpack the blanket definitions that lump politically-motivated groups with popular support in with groups like Al-Qaeda.
GRITtv: Nancy Goldstein: Rule of Lawlessness
Democracy is so inconvenient when you’re trying to get something done—say, bag a trophy for your administration. In its pursuit of short-term goals, the Obama administration has undermined basic democratic tenets. Meaning that we, as a country, have lost something regardless of the election results. Nancy Goldstein was runner-up in the Washington Post "Next Great Pundit" contest, and a version of this piece appeared in that paper. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Lawrence Wright: Mismatched Narratives on the War
"We're pressed, but we're not going to be destroyed by Al-Qaeda. Only we can do that," says Lawrence Wright, author of The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. The longtime journalist, screenwriter, playwright, and New Yorker staff writer has been combining his reporting with theater and film for some time now, and his most recent project, My Trip to Al-Qaeda, premieres on HBO September 11. This documentary, made with former GRITtv guest Alex Gibney, traces his journey in researching the terrorist group. Wright joins Laura in studio for a conversation about his process from journalism to theater and screenwriting (including The Siege, with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis), objectivity in reporting, the U.S.'s rising Islamophobia and his newest project, a one-man show about his experiences reporting in Gaza.
GRITtv: Islamophobia Back with a Vengeance, 9 Years Later
It's the ninth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon this weekend, and while one war has ostensibly been wound up, another still rages--and inside the US the culture wars have reached a fever pitch, with Islamophobic ugliness centering on the anniversary seemingly everywhere. From a pastor in Florida threatening to burn Qurans on Saturday (and terror alerts being issued because of his actions) to the ongoing media arguments over the Cordoba House community center, American Muslims feel threatened, and the outreach to the larger Islamic world is threatened. To discuss the anniversary, we're joined by Fekkak Mamdouh, who was headwaiter and union leader at Windows on the World in the World Trade Center, and Reverend Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister of the Middle Collegiate Church. They talk about interfaith outreach, the hard work that has been done to create understanding since the attacks, and what we can still be hopeful about.
