In Episode 19, Dan and Joanne talk with Gareth Porter about how US national security bureaucracies or the “Deep State” sell-out American counterterrorism interests by conducting policy and operations that serve their own and their allies’ interests. The result is that they strengthen and fuel the rise of extremist groups like al Qaeda.

Gareth Porter is an American historian, investigative journalist and policy analyst specializing in the national security state. He is the author of several books including: “Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare.” His work has been published in distinguished media for decades, and he was the 2012 winner of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. He is also working on a new book on the same subject as his recent article.

Follow Gareth on Twitter at @GarethPorter.

Gareth’s recent article “US ‘deep state’ sold out counter-terrorism to keep itself in business”

Follow Around the Empire on Twitter at @AroundTheEmpire.