September 9 – Russians Seize on Kerry’s Offhand Remark; The Plight of Syrian Refugees in Jordan; Verizon Argues Against an Open Internet

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the offhand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry that the Assad regime could avoid an American strike if they handed over their chemical weapons arsenal to the international community in the next week, a suggestion the Russians have run with that the Syrian Foreign Minister quickly endorsed. Edward Luttwak, a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies joins us to discuss this sudden turn of events and his recent article in The New York Times “In Syria, America Loses if Either Side Wins”.

Part 2

Then we speak with award-winning investigative journalist Max Blumenthal who is in Ramallah, Palestine, having just visited the vast Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. We discuss the appalling conditions the traumatized refugees live under and the fate of the many thousands more Syrian refugees just across the border who are prevented from entering Jordan. An opponent of U.S. intervention, Max Blumenthal was repeatedly told by the refugees that they want America to bomb Assad even if it costs them their homes and livelihoods.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Todd O’Boyle, the Program Director at the Media and Democracy Reform Initiative at Common Cause who was in the conservative-dominated U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today as judges heard an appeal by Verizon that challenges the FCC’s statutory authority and their open Internet rules in a critical case that will decide the future of net neutrality in America.