CLEARING THE FOG
United States Empire Stretching Itself Too Thin
MF Flowers
[W]e speak about the expanding US Empire. The United States is the largest empire in the history of the world with over 1,000 bases and outposts around the world compared to the 37 bases of the British Empire at its peak. Despite our military being stretched thin and the military budget causing austerity to social programs and infrastructure at home, the US continues to expand. Our guests will be Coleen Rowley, retired FBI whistleblower who teaches constitutional law and ethics and who follows Empire closely, and David Swanson, author of several books on war and empire and co-coordinator of the movement to abolish war called World Beyond War.
Below: Bios of guests and other details.
Relevant articles, books and websites:
People Are Mobilizing to Finally Put an End to the Disastrous U.S. Empire by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
Why People are Organizing to End US Empire by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
Militarization of the Mothers: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, from Mother’s Day for Peace by Coleen Rowley
Only One Good Way to Brake Before Going Over the Debt Cliff: Reduce Wasteful War Spending! by Coleen Rowley
Shifting Strategies of the US Empire by David Swanson (2012)
Guests:
Coleen Rowley grew up in a small town in northeast Iowa. She obtained a B.A. degree in French from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa and then attended the College of Law at the University of Iowa and graduated with honors in 1980 also passing the Iowa Bar Exam that summer.
In January of 1981, Rowley was appointed a Special Agent with the FBI and initially served in the Omaha, Nebraska and Jackson, Mississippi Divisions. In 1984 she was assigned to the New York Office and for over 6 years worked on Italian organized crime and Sicilian heroin drug investigations. During this time Rowley also served three separate temporary duty assignments in the Paris, France Embassy and Montreal Consulate.
In 1990 Rowley was transferred to Minneapolis where she assumed the duties of “Chief Division Counsel” which entailed oversight of the Freedom of Information, Forfeiture, Victim-Witness and Community Outreach Programs as well as providing regular legal and ethics training to FBI Agents of the Division and some outside police training.
In May of 2002 Rowley brought some of the pre 9-11 lapses to light and testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about some of the endemic problems facing the FBI and the intelligence community. Rowley’s memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller in connection with the Joint Intelligence Committee’s Inquiry led to a two year long Department of Justice Inspector General investigation. She was one of three whistleblowers chosen as persons of the year by TIME magazine.
In April 2003, following an unsuccessful and highly criticized attempt to warn the Director and other administration officials about the dangers of launching the invasion of Iraq, Rowley stepped down from her (GS-14) legal position to go back to being a (GS-13) FBI Special Agent. She retired from the FBI at the end of 2004 and now speaks publicly to various groups, ranging from school children to business/professional/civic groups, on two different topics: ethical decision-making and “civil liberties and effective investigation.”
In February 2005 and again in 2007, a majority of Minnesota congresspersons and senators nominated Rowley to serve on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board but she was not selected. This Board was mandated by 2004 federal intelligence reform legislation implementing the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission but has never actually functioned.
Rowley authored a chapter in a 2004 book published by the Milton Eisenhower Foundation entitled, Patriotism, Democracy and Common Sense: Restoring America’s Promise at Home and Abroad. and another chapter on civil liberties in the 2012 book Why Peace. She also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Congress in Minnesota’s Second Congressional District in 2006.
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is working to organize a movement to end war at WorldBeyondWar.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at davidswanson.org and warisacrime.org and works for the online activist organization rootsaction.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio.
US Empire Stretched Too Thin and How to End It with Coleen Rowley and David Swanson by Clearingthefog on Mixcloud
