Andrew Bacevich, author of “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History” joins Scott to discuss his article for The American Conservative “Yes Congress, Afghanistan is Your Vietnam.” Bacevich explains that the division between Trump’s advisors on how to proceed in Afghanistan has created a stalemate in the Oval Office. It’s noteworthy, Bacevich says, that there hasn’t been a comprehensive report from the Trump administration outlining the United States’s foreign policy mission. On the one hand it seems like Trump has handed the reigns over to the military in certain conflicts and has been controlling in others, which has created disarray Bacevich says. Bacevich contrasts Donald Trump with his predecessors George W. Bush and Barack Obama who, by comparison, are intellectual stalwarts. Bacevich says the one possible benefit of Trump’s erraticism is that he has, so far, rejected U.S. foreign policy of the past 25 years. But while Trump may have noninterventionist tendencies, his lack of a coherent, principled plan means that he often veers off course into violent conflicts all the same.

Andrew Bacevich is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. He is the author of a number of books including “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History” and is a regular contributor at The American Conservative and TomDispatch.com.

Don’t forget to check out Scott’s new book Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan.

Discussed on the show:

• “Thousands More Troops Needed To Break Afghanistan ‘Stalemate,’ General Warns” (NPR)
• Erik Prince
• “Bannon & Kushner Want to Outsource Afghanistan to Mercenaries,” by Mark Perry (The American Conservative)
• James Mattis
• H.R. McMaster
• “The Knives Are Out for Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster” (Foreign Policy)
• “I agree with Pres. Obama on Afghanistan. We should have a speedy withdrawal. Why should we keep wasting our money — rebuild the U.S.!” (Donald Trump, via Twitter)
• John Bolton

Quote of the show: “In comparison to Trump, George W. Bush looks like Bismark.” —Andrew Bacevich

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Executive director of the Council for the National Interest and former CIA officer Phil Giraldi returns to the show to discuss his latest article for The American Conservative, “Hack or Leak: Who Really Stole the DNC Files?” While there isn’t conclusive evidence for any of the potential explanations for how the information got from the DNC computer to WikiLeaks, Giraldi explains that no one seems to be particularly interested in investigating who was responsible. Did the Russians hack the DNC? Giraldi believes that the U.S. has no chain of evidence leading them to the conclusion that Russia is responsible. However, Giraldi cautions that, even if the information was leaked rather than hacked, it wouldn’t remove Russia as a suspect. What about the Seth Rich theory? Giraldi believes Rich is at the top of a short list of potential leakers, but that there’s still plenty of unscrutinized evidence. Giraldi then discusses the upcoming Ron Paul Institute’s Peace and Prosperity Conference where he will be speaking on September 9th. Finally, Giraldi touches on his article for The Unz Review, “Israel’s Chorus Sings Again” about U.S.-Israeli relations and the outrage against Rex Tillerson and H.R. McMaster’s relatively cool approach to Israel.

Phil Giraldi is the executive director of the Council for the National Interest a former CIA case officer and Army intelligence officer. He has been a contributing editor at The American Conservative for nine years and writes regularly for Antiwar.com.

Oh, and buy Scott’s new book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan!

Discussed on the show:

• “The FBI Never Asked For Access To Hacked Computer Servers” (BuzzFeed News)
• “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections” (Office of the Director of National Intelligence)
• “U.S. Spy Report Blames Putin for Hacks, But Doesn’t Back It Up” (The Daily Beast)
• “WikiLeaks: CIA hacking group ‘UMBRAGE’ stockpiled techniques from other hackers” (USA Today)
• Iron Felix
• “12/13/16 Craig Murray: DNC, Podesta emails leaked by Americans, not hacked by Russia” (The Scott Horton Show)
• Mossad
• Stuxnet
• “Leaked Seymour Hersh Audio: FBI File Proves Seth Rich Was Wikileaks Source” (YouTube)
• “‘Lack of hope’ drives Palestinians to carry out terrorist attacks, State Department says” (Mondweiss.com)

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Editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud returns to the show to discuss his latest articles, “The Story Behind the Jerusalem Attack: How Trump and Netanyahu Pushed Palestinians into a Corner” and “Power to the People: Why Palestinian Victory in Jerusalem is a Pivotal Moment.” Scott and Baroud begin by discussing the history of the ’67 War, its basis in false propaganda, and how the deliberate plan put in place 50 year ago remains today. Baroud then explains the context of the clash in east Jerusalem, where Israel has used the al-Aqsa clash with Palestinians as an opportunity to permanently control Haram Sharif. According to Baroud if Israel fully controls Haram Sharif then there’s nothing left to fight for in Jerusalem for the Palestinians. Baroud details how this is just the latest act of aggression in Israel’s steady creep into east Jerusalem and how, through continual pressure and coercion, Arabs have now become a minority in east Jerusalem. Finally, Baroud explains why a two-state solution would be an impossible endeavor and how effectively the Israelis have manipulated the language of the occupation to flip the victim narrative on its head.

Ramzy Baroud is a US-Arab journalist and is the editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of“My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: The Untold Story of Gaza.” His latest digital project is “Palestine in Motion,” intended to give a holistic understanding of the lives of Palestinians as told in their own words. Follow Ramzy on Twitter @RamzyBaroud and read his work at RamzBaroud.net.

Discussed on the show:

• “Israel provoked the Six-Day War in 1967, and it was not fighting for survival” (Mondoweiss.com)
• Al-Aqsa Mosque
• Dome on the Rock
• The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977, by Gershom Gorenberg 
• The Allon Plan
• “Netanyahu says Jerusalem ‘always Israel’s capital'” (Al Monitor)
• Haram Sharif (Temple Mount)
• Jerusalem Islamic Waqf
• “No Israeli damage to al-Aqsa manuscripts following unrest, says Jerusalem Islamic Endowment” (Al Aaraby)
• Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
• “Death Toll in Gaza Climbs, Israel Calls up More Troops” (The Atlantic)
• Murabitin (Those who are steadfast)
• “The Golan Heights Annexed by Israel in an Abrupt Move” (New York Times)
• “Why Jerusalem Isn’t Recognized as Israel’s Capital” (Time)
• Beitar Illit
• Qalandiya Checkpoint
• “Netanyahu Unaware of the Camera ‘America can easily be moved'” (YouTube)
• “American and Israeli Jews: Twin Portraits From Pew Research Center Surveys” (Pew Research)
• “The Israel Project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary,” by Frank Luntz (The Israel Project)
• Edward Bernays
• “U.S. Lawmakers Seek to Criminally Outlaw Support for Boycott Campaign Against Israel,” by Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Grim (The Intercept)
• “Fight the Boycott of Israel” (AIPAC.org)
• “Israeli minister says Palestinians are bringing a ‘third Nakba’ upon themselves” (Mondoweiss.com)

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William J. Astore returns to the show to discuss his latest article for Antiwar.com “On Afghanistan, Trump Is Right To Be Skeptical.” Astore discusses Trump’s apparent cognitive dissonance: he’s happy to bomb the Middle East indiscriminately, but is skeptical of escalating troops in Afghanistan and speculates that it’s Trump’s impatience, which is frequently a danger, which may be a saving grace in Afghanistan. Astore thinks Trump might have a nose for a losing approach, and that the last thing Trump wants is to be associated with what he believes is a losing effort in Afghanistan. But Trump, like Obama, faces increasing pressure from his generals. Scott and Astore discuss how the lack of an anti-war movement both in politics and in society generally have incentivized Barack Obama and Donald Trump to fold to the national security state and prolong the wars. Finally, Astore is particulary worried that the latest propaganda that Russia and Iran are backing the Taliban could lead to something far more serious.

William J. Astore is a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF). He is a contributing writer at Antiwar.com and TomDispatch.com. Read all of his work at his website BracingViews.com.

Discussed on the show:

• “Petraeus: Afghan war a ‘generational struggle’ that will not end soon” (PBS)
• Pashtuns
• “Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Musery,” by Eric Margolis (Huffington Post)
• “Trump Says U.S. ‘Losing’ Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals” (NBC News)
• Helmand Province
• “Petraeus backs July 2011 Afghan withdrawal date” (CNN)
• Erik Prince
• “Bannon & Kushner Want to Outsource Afghanistan to Mercenaries,” by Mark Perry (The American Conservative)
• “How Obama Abandoned Democracy in Iraq” (Politico)
• “How America Armed Terrorists in Syria,” by Gareth Porter (The American Conservative)
• “CNN Poll: Afghanistan war arguably most unpopular in U.S. history” (CNN)
• “John McCain and Lindsey Graham: Why we need more forces to end the stalemate in Afghanistan” (Washington Post)
• Our Latest, Longest War: Losing Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan, edited by Aaron B. O’Connell
• “Empire of Bases,” by Chalmers Johnson (New York Times)
• Bagram Air Base
• “Douglas Macgregor Full interview with Tucker Carlson (8/1/2017)” (YouTube)
• “Toward an ‘America First’ Foreign Policy,” by Douglas Macgregor (Washington Times)
• “Inside the Pentagon’s Fight Over Russia,” by Mark Perry (Politico)
• Ayman al-Zawahiri
• “Battlefield Casualties and Ballot Box Defeat: Did the Bush-Obama Wars Cost Clinton the White House?” (SSRN)

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Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, returns to the show to discuss Donald Trump’s motivation to spurn the Iran deal. Parsi explains that the Iran Deal is in danger because of an inexplicable desire on Donald Trump’s part to destroy the deal, dating back to his campaign. Parsi speculates that, in addition to Trump’s opposition to Barack Obama, his hatred of the Iran Deal is the result of his seemingly new infatuation with the Saudi Arabians who have been vehemently opposed to the Iran Deal from its inception. Trump’s plan appears to be to make Iran’s life as difficult as possible such that Iran will ultimately break the deal. Making things worse, even some of the so-called adults in Trump’s administration believe that a limited conflict against Iran in Syria and elsewhere would convince Iran to back down. Parsi explains why history shows that a U.S. conflict with Iran is highly unlikely to achieve its goals. Finally, while Iran and the United States appear to have common cause in the Middle East, the ultimate question and tension between the two is who will be the dominant power in the Middle East? Parsi explains that the desire to be hegemon will ultimately prove to be the stumbling block.

Trita Parsi is the president of the National Iranian American Council and the author of “Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy.” Parsi is the recipient of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Follow him on Twitter @tparsi.

Discussed on the show:

• “Gates: Saudis want to fight Iran to the last American” (ForeignPolicy.com)
• Rex Tillerson
• James Mattis
• H.R. McMaster
• Joseph Dunford
• Sebastian Gorka
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• Olli Heinonen
• Non-Proliferation Treaty
• “Monitoring and Verification in Iran” (IAEA.org)
• Gordon Prather (Antiwar.com)
• “How Bush Pushed North Korea to Nukes,” by Gordon Prather (Antiwar.com)
• “When the Ayatollah Said No to Nukes” (ForeignPolicy.com)
• George W. Bush Axis of Evil Speech (YouTube)
• “Trump lets Iran deal live, but signals he may not for long” (Seattle Times)
• Islamic Dawa Party

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:36 — 23.4MB)

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Hey I finally did another one. Sorry about the delay.

It’s just the same old shit really, but new for some of yall I guess.

To help support Will Grigg’s family, check out their GoFundMe here.

Update: sorry: I guess I put this out over the wrong feed last week…

Podcast (show): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:03 — 50.4MB)

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Help support The Libertarian Institute and The Scott Horton Show.

For any donation of $100 or more you can get a one-ounce pure silver QR Coded Commodity Disc — which has a QR code instead of an engraved face value. Scan with your phone and it will tell you the instant spot price in real time.

And yes, you bet we accept Bitcoin too!

What is the Libertarian Institute?

The newly-created Libertarian Institute features Scott Horton, Will Grigg, Sheldon Richman, and Jared Labell. It is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization formed in association with TaxpayerEducation Foundation. All donations are fully tax-deductible.

What is our goal?

Our goal is to unite the libertarian movement and more importantly to realign American politics around our agenda — prioritizing opposition to the worst of state power: the permanent war state, the prison and police states, and the corporate welfare, corrupt contracts, and bank bailouts that rig the economy for the wealthy and politically connected.

Thank you for all your excitement and support! It really means a lot to us. Let’s see what we can do to convince Americans to care about freedom!

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Scott, Will Grigg, Sheldon Richman and Jared Labell make a big announcement.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:42 — 17.8MB)

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Scott,

I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart as you have changed my life for the better.  Today I resigned my commission in the United States Army as I can no longer be part of a death machine that does no good for any part of a peaceful, productive society.  Your website and podcast have turned me from a vengeful, war loving person to a man of peaceful voluntarism.  I cannot thank you enough as you have made me a better person, thus making me a better husband, father, and human.

I became a Christian before a libertarian and was still the typical American Christian.  One that says I like peace but at the same time supporting the killing of innocents in horrible, unnecessary conflicts that spend money we don’t have and kill people we have no business killing.  I found your site and podcasts, along with Lew Rockwell and Mr. Tom Woods, and I became a Christian that is a libertarian.  I am so thankful for the work you have done and my life has been changed in ways that benefit me more than I can ever express. Your interviews with former military members and conscientious objectors gave me the confidence that there are others out there like me and they are living a free and happy life!

In fact, I am in the process of becoming a Paramedic as penance for my time hurting people.  I read your site every day and I share it with others often.  You are one of my heroes for your consistent views and sacrifice for what you believe.  I hope to be able to help others as you have helped me.  By the way, your website is blocked on government computers so you must have them scared.

I feel a weight is lifted off my shoulders as the dichotomy of my views is no longer.  I thank you so much and look forward to spending my time with my children and living my life as free as possible.  Thank you and I am anxiously awaiting your book!

Sincerely,
Jason