Peter Van Buren, former foreign service officer for the State Department, is interviewed on We Meant Well, his book on the Iraq War, and Hooper’s War, his new novel about war and PTSD. In a wide ranging interview, Van Buren discusses moral injury and responsibility for the Iraq War in the United States.  The long term psychological effects of wartime combat service among veterans and how that correlates to a high suicide rate is just one of many subjects that are discussed in this interview....

Ted Galen Carpenter from the Cato Institute is interviewed on the Bosnian conflict and the deterioration of Western relations with Russia. United States government interference with a potential peace deal that was being formulated to end the conflict is also detailed.  The final border lines and how the Dayton Accords ultimately ended up displacing more people than the civil war did is also discussed, as is the history of Western Russian relations and the dangerous new cold war that has...

Center for International Policy’s William Hartung, author of “The American Way of War is a Budget Breaker”, is interviewed about his new article “There’s Less Than Meets The Eye in Trump’s Saudi Arms Deal” on defenseone.com, on the huge new arms deal, which he writes is “a mix of offers already made and promises yet to be kept”. Hartung also talks at length about how these deals have an implied US security guarantee, and how the Saudi military has historically been a Potemkin army. Also...

Scott interviews Jacob Hornberger with the Future of Freedom Foundation at FFF.org.  Jacob talks about his upcoming conference, “The National Security State and JFK”, at the Dulles Airport Marriot in Northern Virginia on June 3rd, 2017, which both Ron Paul and Oliver Stone will speak at. Hornberger also talks about the ongoing drug war in Mexico and how the laws of supply and demand can’t be overridden by a drug crackdown, even one as extensive as in Mexico, which involved the Mexican military...

Co-Founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern is on the show to discuss his new article Not Remembering the USS Liberty and the new book by Philip Nelson, “Remembering the Liberty”. Scott and Ray discuss the audio of the ship to aircraft communications between the attacking aircraft and their commander, the story of the Israeli attack on the Liberty, and the incredible story of how the attack was ultimately ended, and how the captain of the USS...

Scott talks with Phil Giraldi, former DIA and CIA officer and friend of the show, about the intelligence leaks surrounding the Trump administration. The information flow from the intelligence agencies and the FBI to the media is discussed and so is the possible impeachment that is being pushed. The leaks coming from the NSC, the staff of which was hand-picked by President Trump, and the FBI’s inability to find the leakers or even to look, is also discussed, as are potential motives.

Trevor Timm Cofounder and Executive Director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation at freedom.press talks with Scott about Wikileak’s being considered by some in government as an independent intelligence agency and how that undermines the freedom of the press and the first amendment. The prosecution of Wikileaks or their personnel would set a precedent that would allow the Justice Department to prosecute any journalist for leaks or publishing classified information.

Former Congressman Ron Paul discusses his argument with Rudy Giuliani during the 2007 Republican presidential debates about the link between US foreign policy and 9/11 (Rudy denied there was such a thing). Paul was the only one of 10 candidates on stage who opposed the Iraq War, and he stuck to his principles even after the crowd’s thunderous approval of Giuliani’s patriotism-laden rebuke. Paul’s debate answer has stood the test of time, and helped popularize the idea that an interventionist...

Retired Lt. Col. Daniel L Davis discusses why previous US troop increases didn’t help win any battles for the hearts and minds of Afghans, and why this newest mini-surge being considered by the Trump administration won’t either. Over 15 years after the US occupation of Afghanistan, the Taliban is still a dominant force in much of the country, the US has no idea what conditions would constitute “victory” and merit withdrawal, and the rationale that further intervention is critical to the...

Sonia Kennebeck, an investigative journalist and filmmaker, discusses her film National Bird about the people most effected by America’s legally and ethically questionable drone wars. The US-based operators and analysts who pick targets to kill with missiles from half a world away suffer from guilt and increased rates of suicide. Many survivors of attacks have seen their families killed and wonder why women and children were targeted as suspected terrorists. Check out my Patreon page...

Conn Hallinan, a Foreign Policy In Focus columnist, discusses how improvements in the accuracy of US submarine-based nuclear missiles are ending an era of mutually assured destruction (MAD) nuclear policy, and leading to a dangerous first-strike doctrine. Other nuclear-armed rival states like Russia and China will be forced to counter with more missiles armed with more warheads – leading to a new arms race and increasing the odds of an accidental launch leading to a widespread humanity-ending...

John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer and author of Doing Time Like A Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison, discusses why he refused to participate in the CIA’s so-called enhanced interrogation program after 9/11, and why he – as a whistleblower – was the only CIA officer to be jailed over it. Kiriakou also discusses his 30 month sentence and how he survived the brutality of the American prison system.

David D’Amato, an adjunct law professor and policy advisor at the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses the 1953 Supreme Court case United States v. Reynolds, and how the decision gave the State Secrets Privilege formal recognition, effectively removing judicial oversight and allowing the government to withhold evidence and exempt itself from lawsuits by claiming they endanger national security.

Nasser Arrabyee, a Yemeni journalist and film-maker, discusses Saudi Arabia’s apparently imminent attack on the port of Hodeida, where much of Yemen’s desperately-needed humanitarian supplies come from; why the UAE no longer supports Saudi-backed President Hadi; the separatist forces that defy the popular will of Yemenis to remain a united country; and why the continuing war’s only beneficiary is Al Qaeda/ISIS. Check out my Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/scotthortonshow

Ramzy Baroud, a journalist, author, and editor of Palestine Chronicle, discusses why Palestinians in Israeli jails are on a hunger strike; Israel’s Orwellian attempt to rewrite history by prohibiting the 1948 Nakba’s commemoration and attempting to change the occupied West Bank to its biblical name; and how Jewish and non-Jewish critics alike are challenging Israel’s founding myths. Check out my Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/scotthortonshow