6,000 people for 12 years didn't say a god damn word about something flagrant. And after [Snowden] spoke, nobody else spoke! Tell me that's not a conspiracy. Tell me the government can't keep a secret. Are you kidding me? There's so much we don't know about. That's your national security state. It's very imposing, it's not going to change, and in order to be President or Secretary of State, you have to be in it.

In a wide-ranging discussion, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh explores six years of Obama's military and foreign policy in the Middle East - from the real story behind Osama bin Laden's killing, to the anti-Russia dimension of US actions in Syria - and explains why ignorance and internal politics guide America from catastrophe to catastrophe around the globe.

Seymour is author of the new book The Killing of Osama Bin Laden from Verso.