January 8 – War Games in Increasingly Troubled Waters; Pushing Iran to the Wall; Bringing Down the Assads and the Neighborhood

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Full Program	LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM
Part 1	We begin with the collision course the U.S. and Iran are on that could result in a another war in the Gulf which at a minimum would drive oil prices way up in an election year. A veteran CIA officer Robert Baer joins us to discuss the lethal mixture of Iranian paranoia, Israeli threats and American election-year politics that, combined with provocative naval exercises, could result in an incident that would spark a wider conflagration.
Part 2	Then we continue looking into this incendiary mix with Vali Nasr, an Iranian-born professor of International Politics at Tufts University who was recently the Senior Advisor to President Obama’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. We discuss Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s trip to Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua to gain support as sanction ratchet up and Iran announces a new drill to close the Straights of Hormuz, codenamed “The Great Prophet’ that will coincide with joint US/Israeli exercises in the Gulf, codenamed “Austere Challenge 12”.
Part 3	Then finally as Arab League Foreign Ministers meet in Cairo, we assess new efforts to give some backbone to the Arab League monitors in Syria as the Assad clan continues its murderous repression of the Syria people. Dr Muraf Jouejati, a former Syria diplomat in touch with the Syrian opposition, who now teaches at the National Defense University, joins us. We discuss whether UN Human rights experts will be allowed in to bolster the toothless mission that has so-far been unable to stop the killing.
	MUSIC: Edwin Starr – War (What Is It Good For); The Shins – So Says I; Built to Spill – Temporarily Blind;