Hour 1 Combat advisors have been vital actors in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as they train indigenous security forces to fight their own conflicts. Our guest, OWEN WEST, a third-generation Marine, says military advising is a task many generals don’t understand, as he led a small group of U.S. reservists, Marines and Iraqi [...]

Filed under: author, military, world |

Hour 1 President Obama flew into Afghanistan last week for a surprise visit on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. military raid into neighboring Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Speaking to a global audience, President Obama previewed this summer’s scheduled withdrawal of 23,000 U.S. troops from Aghanistan, announced a NATO goal for [...]

Filed under: military, politics, world |

Hour 2 [REBROADCAST] Vanity Fair editor-at-large CULLEN MURPHY believes there is nothing new under the sun about interrogation. He says ingredients for a modern day inquisition are here today as bureaucracies, information technology, and surveillance keep expanding; and there are still religions and totalitarian regimes fixed on an idea, forcing everyone else to tow the [...]

Filed under: author, criminal justice, history, military, religion |

Hour 1 The Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization (pdf) for attacks on the Iranian government and for its work with the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. But the MEK and its supporters have been trying to get that "terrorist" designation [...]

Filed under: military, politics, religion, world |

Hour 1 The U.S. campaign in Afghanistan faced several major setbacks last week. In the wake of the reported massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier, President Hamid Karzai demanded that NATO troops pull out of rural areas and be confined to their bases by next year, a move which would seriously challenge [...]

Filed under: author, military, politics, world |

Hour 2 Since the "KONY 2012" video went viral on March 5, over 75 million viewers have watched it online.  Created by the nonprofit organization Invisible Children, the video was produced to create awareness of the atrocities perpetrated by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on the people of Uganda.  Despite its popularity, [...]

Filed under: crime, criminal justice, journalism, media, military, politics, world |

Hour 1 While visiting the U.S. earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted the right of Israel to attack Iran, raising concerns about a military confrontation in an already fragile Middle East. In response, in a press conference on Tuesday and at a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, President Barack [...]

Filed under: author, military, politics, world |

Hour 1 Officials from the United States and Arab and European countries, under the umbrella of the Friends of Syria, met in Tunisia last week to back a proposal for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian assistance to areas in Syria that are under assault from pro-government forces.  Since the uprising began last spring, between [...]

Filed under: author, journalism, military, politics, world |

Hour 1 In his 2013 budget proposal unveiled on Monday, President Obama called for hundreds of  billions of dollars in new spending to restore the economy through expansions in transportation and education programs,  significant cuts in military spending and small reductions in the area of Homeland Security and humanitarian aid, and an increase in taxes [...]

Filed under: business, economy, journalism, military, politics |

Hour 2 Philadelphia artist ZOE STRAUSS pays attention to the joy and the pain that comes with the city’s neighborhoods – the poverty, substance addiction, segregation and cultural diversity – and captures scenes many of us would never notice. Strauss was known in the art world the last decade for her annual one-day shows featuring [...]

Filed under: Philadelphia, arts, culture, history, military, world |