Scott is joined by David Ruiz to talk about the latest developments to U.S. surveillance policy and how new policy is being written and passed to extend the spirit of expiring elements of the Patriot Act. Ruiz explains how the various elements of U.S. mass surveillance work, including how the FBI uses backdoor searches and parallel construction in order to construct cases against Americans. Scott and Ruiz attempt to assess just how much valuable intel is being collected by American spying, and...
11/13/17 Alfred McCoy on Opium production in Afghanistan
Professor and author Alfred McCoy joins Scott to discuss his latest article “Washington’s Drug of Choice in the War on Terror.” McCoy describes how heroin first became a major factor of the Afghan economy and credits the Taliban’s capture of the illicit opium market for their recent resurgence. According to McCoy, at the peak of the Columbian cartel’s operations cocaine made up 3% of Columbia’s GDP; in Afghanistan in 2008 it was 58%. McCoy then details how all of the U.S. programs to...
11/13/17 Stephen Walt on Charles Koch’s new institute for foreign policy research
Harvard professor and author of the “The Israel Lobby And U.S. Foreign Policy,” Stephen Walt joins the show to discuss Charles Koch’s latest initiative to create a multi-million dollar grant for graduate and doctoral students to study U.S. foreign policy at MIT and Harvard. Walt briefly describes how the grant came about and then discusses with Scott the modern state of U.S. foreign policy debate in academia and why there has been striking uniformity in the post-Cold War era. Stephen Walt is...
11/10/17 Nasser Arrabyee on the escalation of the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen
Nasser Arrabyee returns to the show to give his latest update on the devestation from the U.S.-Saudi Arabian war in Yemen. Arrabyee confirms that more than 900,000 people have contracted cholera and discusses the recent retaliatory strike by the Houthis against the Saudi airport and the latest developments in the U.S.-Saudi blockade, which the U.N. warns could kill millions of people. Arrabyee explains how Yemeni deaths have been vastly underestimated and dispels the myth that this is a moral...
11/7/17 Rick Sterling Reviews the Evidence from the April Syrian Sarin Attack
Investigative journalist Rick Sterling joins Scott to discuss his story for Consortium News “The Trumped-Up Syria-Sarin Case.” Sterling goes through the play-by-play of the attack in Khan Sheikhoun in April, 2017 and what has come to light since then. Sterling comprehensively addresses the major details and outstanding questions from the attack, starting with the earliest reports, including Phil Giraldi breaking the newson Scott’s show back in April, to the latest developments of his...
11/16/17 Scott Paul on the latest devastating Saudi blockade in Yemen
Senior Humanitarian advisor at OxFam America Scott Paul returns to the show to discuss the latest developments in the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen. Paul explains that the situation has gone from bad to gruesome with the latest Saudi blockade following the Houthi attempted missile strike of the Saudi airport at Ridyah. According to Paul seven million people are attempting to survive on one meal a day while cholera cases continue to soar. Paul says that aid is the first major step, but that a...
11/15/17 Grant Smith on Americans’ waning patience for military spending
Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research Middle Eastern Policy returns to the show to discuss his latest article for Antiwar.com "Poll: Americans Would Cut Middle East War Spending." Smith promotes the IRMEP's upcoming 2018 conference and explains why he believes the organized Israel lobbying groups are, contrary to their claims, unrepresentative of American Jewish communities. Scott and Smith then discuss whether Israel needs the United States' continual aid and why...
11/7/17 Congressman Walter Jones on his fight for H.Con.Res.81 and against the War Party
Congressman Walter Jones of North Carolina joins Scott to discuss his co-sponsorship of H.Con.Res.81, the United States's never-ending wars, and how Congress can take back its mantle. Jones explains why he blames Paul Ryan for the lack of a vote on H.Con.Res.81, how Congress has abdicated its responsibility on matters of war, and why issues of war and peace are the most pressing that are facing the U.S. Discussed on the show: Authorized for Use of Military Force (AUMF) "Al-Qaeda claims it is...
10/6/17 Alex Kane on the rise of American police training in Israel
Journalist Alex Kane joins the show to talk about his latest article "Ending Deadly Collusion between U.S. and Israeli Police." Kane describes how American police regularly travel to Israel to train, and how the Jewish Voice for Peace Chapter decided to bring light to the issue through their new "Deadly Exchange." According to Kane, hundreds of American police officers have travelled to Israel and trained with Israeli commanders. Kane then details the multifaceted cooperation between Israeli...
11/6/17 Reese Erlich on the political turmoil in Iraqi-Kurdistan and Saudi Arabia
Reese Erlich returns to the show to discuss his latest article for Antiwar.com, "US Sells Out the Kurds—Again" Erlich discusses the history of the Kurds in Iraq, America's yo-yoing approach to first supporting then betraying the Kurds, and how it all relates back to today. Scott then brings the discussion to the political turmoil in Saudi Arabia, and what the apparent coup means for the U.S.-Saudi relations and the Middle East generally. Reese Erlich is a nationally syndicated columnist and...
11/6/17 Elijah Magnier on the mayhem in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia
Middle East correspondent Elijah Magnier returns to the show to discuss the latest turmoil in the Middle East and his recent article "ISIS into History’s rubbish bin and Iraq neither Iranian nor American." Magnier shares what he knows about the resignation of Saad Hariri in Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia's role in the latest Middle Eastern mess. Magnier then discusses the history of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the distinction between the terrorist group and the parliamentary party, which has considerable...
11/6/17 John Feffer on Donald Trump’s escalation of North Korea
John Feffer returns to the show following his trip to South Korea and Japan where Donald Trump is visiting to continue his escalation against North Korea. Feffer details China's role in curtailing North Korea, why the effort has fallen short, and how the Trump administration continues to pressure countries in the region. Scott wonders whether Donald Trump is really as dangerous on North Korea as everyone portrays him—and why neither the United States or North Korea has motivation to start a...
10/31/17 Mark Thornton explains why ending heroin prohibition will solve America’s opiate crisis
Mark Thornton returns to the show to discuss his latest articles for the Mises Institute "The Real Cause of America's Opioid Epidemic" and "Big Pharma Makes Drugs that Please Regulators, Not Customers." Thornton makes the case for why legalizing heroin—and all drugs—would be a major step towards solving the opioid crisis. Instead, because of FDA regulations, doctors and pharmaceutical companies are not held liable for the awful consequences of their use. According to Thornton, and counter to...
10/30/17 Trevor Thrall on ending the war on terror
Cato Institute senior fellow Trevor Thrall joins Scott to discuss his article for War On The Rocks, "Time to Step Back from the War on Terror." Thrall's piece details how the U.S. war on terror has been a failure and raises the question "what if we abolish the war on terror?" Thrall's solution begins by, in the first place, stopping the constant interventions in the first place. Thrall believes that, at the root of the problem, is the fact that America believes it needs to control everything,...
10/27/17 Gareth Porter deconstructs Trump’s decision to decertify the Iran Deal
Gareth Porter returns to the show to discuss his latest article for The American Conservative "Trump Trashes Iran Deal to Satisfy Netanyahu." Porter discusses Trump's goal to convince Congress to pass new sanctions against Iran and explains why, even if the United States breaks the deal, Iran may have incentives to remain in the deal. Porter and Scott then take a trip back down memory road to the outset of the Iraq War and the role Iran played in helping push the U.S. gears into war. The two...
