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Journalist Russ Baker on Libya’s “Liberation” and Who’s really Behind It; Will Durst on the Plethora of GOP Pledges

Russ Baker, who publishes at WhoWhatWhy reveals important factors about the “uprising” in Libya, including a probable French connection, and the false perception that the US was “leading from behind”. He also responds to a fresh report that the CIA sent 1,500 Afghan mercenaries to Libya.  Will Durst pokes fun at Republican pledges.

Baker, author of Family of Secrets, and this powerful new report sheds much-needed light on the background of the Libyan uprising.  He identifies Libyan defector Nouri Al-Mesmari, Qaddafi’s former protocol chief who defected to France in October 2010, as the probable instigator of a French-backed coup.  Baker cites the history of attempts to oust Qaddafi, including an attempt in the 1990’s led by Khalifa Hifter, who spent the last 20 years living near CIA HQ in Virginia and is now in Libya.  Baker talks about the use of Lockerbie and unsubstantiated claims of rape by Qaddafi’s troops as ways of demonizing Qaddafi to justify military intervention.  He responds to the report on 8/30 from The Nation in Pakistan that CIA recruited 1,500 mercenary fighters from Afghanistan and comments on the dramatic shift in the fortunes of the “rebels” in the weeks before Tripoli was taken.

At 39:08, Will Durst checks in to tweak Republicans on all of the policy pledges being made by GOP presidential candidates.