The United States makes a practice of touting international coalitions as a means to achieve a military or foreign policy goal. Just think of the coalition to defeat ISIS, the Coalition of the Willing that was the Iraq War, the coalition that overthrew the Libyan government, the Lima Group, and others. But these international coalitions are really just a myth. They serve as a cover for US intervention around the world in the absence of a United Nations Security Council Resolution or other international approval for military action.
Thursday's weekly series "Criminal Injustice" is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show.
An international conference of neutral countries will be held today in Uruguay to jumpstart a dialogue between Venezuelans seeking a way out of the current crisis sparked by the U.S.-orchestrated effort to install Juan Guiadó as Venezuela's president. Spokesmen for the governments of Uruguay and Mexico said they expect at least 10 countries to be represented at the talks today in Montevideo. Brian and John speak with Aline Piva, a journalist and a member of Brazilians for Democracy and Social Justice, and Sputnik News analyst Walter Smolarek.
The Virginia Democratic Party is in a state of collapse. Senior Democrats around the country are calling for Governor Ralph Northam to resign after allegations that he appeared in blackface and with a friend dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman in college. Attorney General Mark Herring also admitted to appearing in blackface while in college. And Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman. If all three are forced to resign, as appears increasingly likely, the Republican House Speaker would become governor. He became speaker after an election was decided by drawing lots from a hat. Rebecca Keel, a Richmond community organizer and a member of Southerners on New Ground, joins the show.
Veterans for Peace is Thursday's regular segment about the contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who refused orders to deploy to Vietnam and lived in exile in Canada and Sweden for 6 years, organizing with other U.S. military deserters and draft resisters against the Vietnam war, and for amnesty for U.S. war resisters, joins the show. He has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years and has served on the Board of Veterans For Peace for the last 6 years, currently as national president. This week, Sputnik News analyst Walter Smolarek also joins the show.
Jill Abramson, the former Executive Editor of the New York Times, is being accused of plagiarising portions of her new book, "Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts," which purports to be an expose of Vice News. Abramson told Fox News yesterday that she had no comment, other than to deny plagiarism. But Vice News released a carefully-annotated side-by-side comparison of the book along with passages from Time Out and The New Yorker magazines and the Columbia Journalism Review that show uncanny similarities. Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist, whose work is at www.rall.com, joins the show.
Israel's Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, who now co-chairs a new political party called "The New Right," recently posted a tweet accusing the Israeli right wing party Likud of being left. That's a common put-down right now in Israel. But what it really means is the accused is weak and unwilling to kill Palestinians. Brian and John speak with Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.
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