Eamon Javers on the Secret World of Corporate Espionage and Moonlighting CIA Operatives

The CIA is under fire following the news it's allowing active-duty operatives to work for private companies on the side. The previously undisclosed "moonlighting" has granted wealthy private entities such as financial firms and hedge funds access to top-level intelligence officials. It’s said to be viewed internally as a means to prevent agency defections to the private sector. A CIA spokesperson said "moonlighting" operatives are required to submit detailed information on their outside employment. But few details have been revealed, including how long the policy has been in place and how many operatives have taken part. We speak to Eamon Javers, author of the new book Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage. [includes rush transcript]

David Price: "The CIA Is Welcoming Itself Back onto American University Campuses"

In the latest edition of CounterPunch magazine, the anthropologist David Price reveals the US intelligence community has established academic outposts at twenty-two US universities over the past four years. Government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and Homeland Security, have helped found "Intelligence Community Centers for Academic Excellence," or ICCAEs -- pronounced "Icky." The ICCAEs aim to create a "systematic long-term program at universities and colleges to recruit and hire eligible talent for [intelligence community] agencies and components" and "increase the [intelligence recruiting] pipeline of students." [includes rush transcript]

Rep. John Murtha, Iraq War Critic, Dies at 77

Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania has died at the age of seventy-seven from complications after gall bladder surgery. He was the powerful chair of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. In 2002 Murtha voted to support the invasion of Iraq, but three years later he shocked many in Washington when he introduced a bill calling for the immediate withdrawal of US troops. [includes rush transcript]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich v. Glenn Greenwald on the Supreme Court's Landmark Campaign Finance Ruling on Corporate Money

A new poll has found nearly two-thirds of respondents oppose the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Citizens United to allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to elect and defeat candidates. Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Glenn Greenwald offer differing opinions on the controversial ruling. [includes rush transcript]

Obama Administration: US Forces Can Assassinate Americans Believed to Be Involved in Terrorist Activity

The Obama administration has acknowledged it's continuing a Bush-era policy authorizing the killing of US citizens abroad. The confirmation came from Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair in congressional testimony last week. Blair said, "Being a US citizen will not spare an American from getting assassinated by military or intelligence operatives overseas if the individual is working with terrorists and planning to attack fellow Americans." We speak to Rep. Dennis Kucinich and blogger and attorney Glenn Greenwald. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for February 9, 2010

US Pushes for New Sanctions Against Iran, Toyota Expands Recall to Include 2010 Prius, Rainy Season Approaches in Haiti, Anthem Blue Cross to Raise Rates by 39 Percent, Eli Lilly CEO Earned $16 Million in 2009, Report: Democratic Governors Assoc. Takes in Record Amount of Corporate Donations, First Lady Launches Campaign Against Childhood Obesity, Soda Industry Successful in Campaign Against Soda Tax, Russian-Backed Politician Wins Ukrainian Election, Report: Head of Pakistan Taliban Killed in Drone Strike, Chinese Court Sentences Earthquake Activist to Jail, Israeli Court Orders Release of International Activists, 12 Arrested at UC Irvine at Speech by Israeli Ambassador, Canadian Air Force Commander Charged with Murder, Army Sergeant Accused of Waterboarding Four-Year-Old Daughter, Rep. John Murtha, Iraq War Critic, Dies at 77

Michael Pollan on "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual"

Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, discusses the link between healthcare and diet, the dangers of processed foods, the power of the meat industry lobby, the “nutritional-industrial complex,” the impact industrial agriculture has on global warming, and his sixty-four rules for eating. "The markets are full of what I call edible food-like substances that you have to avoid," says Michael Pollan. "So a lot of the rules are to help you, you know, navigate that now very treacherous landscape of the American supermarket." Today we air an excerpt of the Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc. and then spend the rest of the show with Michael Pollan. [includes rush transcript]

Headlines for February 8, 2010

G7 Nations Pledge to Forgive Haiti's Debt, One Million Remain Homeless in Haiti, 20,000 Jobs Eliminated in January; Unemployment Rate Decreases, Goldman Sachs CEO Receives $9 Million Bonus, Regulators Probe Goldman Sachs Role in Collapse of AIG, Laura Chinchilla Elected President of Costa Rica, Two International Solidarity Movement Activists Arrested in West Bank, Israel Blocks Palestinian Geographer from Traveling Abroad, Iran Pledges to Build 10 New Uranium Enrichment Facilities in Next Year, Iran Arrests Seven Linked to US-Funded Radio Farda, At Least Five Workers Die at Power Plant Explosion in Conn., Mitch Landrieu Wins New Orleans Mayoral Election, Canada Blocks Olympic Critic from Entering Country

Yemeni Journalist Nasser Arrabyee: US Involvement Undermines Sound Response to Yemen-Based Militants

Yemen has been the focus of growing international concern over insecurity and Islamist extremism. US officials say the suspect in the failed Christmas Day bombing is now providing valuable intelligence in hunting the US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who the Obama administration has approved for assassination. Democracy Now!'s Anjali Kamat speaks to Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabyee, who writes for the Dubai-based Gulf News and the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Weekly. [includes rush transcript]

How to Get Our Democracy Back: Lawrence Lessig Says "If We Want to Change, We Have to Change Congress"

In a cover story of The Nation magazine, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig writes, "At the center of our government lies a bankrupt institution: Congress. Not financially bankrupt, at least not yet, but politically bankrupt." He goes on to argue that, "Congress is the core of the problem with American democracy today. In a single line: There will be no change until we change Congress." [includes rush transcript]

Israel: Occupation or Apartheid?

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: February 5, 2010) Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warns of "apartheid" if Israel does not achieve peace with the Palestinians. Is the "two-state solution" dead? And would Israelis & Palestinians agree to binational coexistence?
Read more on the Huffington Post
Poll on Daily Kos

Haiti: A View from the Middle East

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: January 22, 2010) Middle Eastern TV networks cover Haiti's earthquake with a twist. Did Arab countries come to the aid of Haiti? And why did Israel and the US get criticized?

Read more on the Huffington Post
How to HELP HAITI

Jordan: Al-Qaeda Hotbed?

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: January 15, 2010) A bomb explodes near an Israeli diplomatic convoy in Jordan. Al-Qaeda assassinates a Jordanian intelligence officer. Jordanian Islamists are fighting in Afghanistan.
Are Jordanian intelligence agencies good enough to fight al-Qaeda?
And why do Jordanian opposition groups want the government to drop its pro-America stance?
Read more on the Huffington Post

Lost in Translation

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: January 8, 2010) A Nigerian student succeeds in boarding a US airliner with explosives. A Jordanian doctor kills seven CIA operatives in Afghanistan.
Has al-Qaeda changed its tactics? And will new security measures at airports prevent a future attack?
Read more on the Huffington Post

The Listening Post: The Nobel Peace Prize

Back in October, when Barack Obama was announced as the surprise winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, the media went into overdrive. Outlets across the political spectrum were united, for a change, but mostly in their bemusement at how a new leader of a country in the middle of two wars could win such a prestigious award for peace. Mosaic's producer Jamal Dajani appears on Al Jazeera's Listening Post program, which examines round two of the coverage: when Obama flew to Norway to accept the accolade and deliver a speech, a message about how a just war could be fought in order to preserve peace. The report looks at the Nobel ceremony and the coverage of a speech that, even for a politician renowned for his eloquence, was a tall order.

Obama's Surge: The Real Reason

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: December 4, 2009) President Obama orders 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. Why is Karzai talking to the Taliban? And will the US and its allies find Osama bin Laden?

Read more on the Huffington Post
Is Pres. Obama doing the right thing on Afghanistan?  POLL

Settlement Semantics

Jamal Dajani appears on Al Jazeera English's Listening Post in a look at the media coverage of new settlement building in Israel. In any other country or territory the approval for building 900 new housing units would be seen as a routine piece of municipal administrative paperwork and not a news story. But when the municipality involved is Jerusalem, and the land the Israelis are building on is Palestinian, those housing units become an illegal settlement and consequently make the headlines. This particular stroke of an Israeli administrator's pen has been interpreted by the global news media as a very public rebuff, by the Netanyahu government, of the Obama Administration's efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and Palestine. The international media's spotlight has been fully on a place called Gilo which most news outlets call a settlement, but others, primarily Israeli and American, say is just a disputed neighborhood.

Palestine 1001 Nights

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: November 20, 2009) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says that he won't seek a second term. Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to stop settlement building in Jerusalem. Can peace talks be revived between the Palestinians and Israelis? And is Israel talking to Hamas?

Read more on the Huffington Post
POLL

 

The Saudi-Iranian Neo-Cold War

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: November 13, 2009) Saudi Arabia uses fighter jets against Yemeni Houthi rebels. Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia accuse Iran of arming the rebels.

Why did Arab satellite carriers drop Iran's Al Alam TV? And will the war of proxies lead to a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran?
Read more on the Huffington Post

Taliban: If You Can't Beat Them, Buy Them!

(Mosaic Intelligence Report: October 29, 2009) Election run-off is few days away in Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai's brother is on the CIA's payroll. Should Obama send more troops to Afghanistan? And can the Taliban be defeated?
Read more on the Huffington Post
Related: Fraud, Opium, and Taliban