Scott talks to Danny Sjursen about U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which at the moment the Biden administration appears poised to follow through with. Sjursen is concerned about the response from the mainstream media and both party establishments—Republicans claim pulling out of Afghanistan makes America look weak; Democrats fear that pulling out will make Biden look weak politically. With this kind of bipartisan consensus, it's extremely difficult to get things done that the establishment...

New advertiser Jared Wall joins the show to discuss his website, thchempspot.com, which offers cannabis products containing Delta-8 THC, a form of psychoactive THC that's perfectly legal almost everywhere in the United States. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to...

Scott interviews Andrew Cockburn about his new book, Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy. Scott and Cockburn discuss Rumsfeld's ascent to power through various presidential administrations, with special focus on his role in the disastrous post-9/11 terror wars. In addition to the historical events, Cockburn shares many private anecdotes about Rumsfeld's character from those who knew him. Discussed on the show: Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy "A Letter to Paul...

Mark Perry discusses the bizarre case of the Stryker, a vehicle used by the U.S. army to transport infantry troops to the battlefield. The Stryker, Perry explains, is a deathtrap: it isn't heavily armored enough to stand up to real combat, it rolls over easily and it can't withstand IEDs or tank rounds. What's more, everyone seems to know this. And yet the Pentagon is spending nearly a billion dollars on a new contract, not to give the Stryker better armor, but to put machine guns on it. Perry...

Scott and Matthew Hoh have a wide-ranging conversation about America's war on terrorism. The latest news is that the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is essentially complete, with the exception of a small number of soldiers, contractors and CIA operatives ostensibly remaining behind for diplomatic purposes. Hoh is optimistic about the possibility of the American military really being finished with Afghanistan now, though he and Scott both fear that the resulting instability could be used...

Phil Weiss comes back on the show to talk about Israel-Palestine. Now that Netanyahu has been ousted, Weiss is hopeful about the Biden administration's ability to work with Israel's new coalition government on issues like settlements and the Iran nuclear deal. Although Israel's new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, is possibly even further to the right than Netanyahu, he is working closely with centrist Yair Lapid and, for the first time ever, with an Arab party in the Knesset. Weiss is also...

Scott interviews James Carden, Adviser to The American Committee for US-Russia Accord, about relations between Russia and the European Union. In recent years, Carden explains, some EU states have shown themselves unwilling to even sit down to cordial negotiations with Russia, who has been getting a reputation—largely thanks to Western media—for aggressive territorial expansion. This depiction could hardly be further from the truth. With the exception of Russia's annexation of Crimea, which was...

Max Blumenthal tells the shocking story of a recent lawsuit filed against the Grayzone by heiress Sulome Anderson, who alleged that she was slandered as a hack journalist by Blumenthal's outlet. Blumenthal readily admits that they have criticized Anderson's work, but insists that every criticism was legitimate—Anderson has a long track record of shoddy journalism, from accidental errors to outright fabrications. And the judge in this case agreed that there was nothing slanderous about what was...

Journalist Bjartmar Alexandersson explains the outright lies of America's major witness against Wikileaks' Julian Assange. Discussed on the show: "Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment" (Stundin) This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show...

Nasser Arrabyee comes on the show for an update about Yemen. There seems to be some promise of a real peace negotiation, Arrabyee says, though it's hard to get both sides to see eye to eye on the realities of the situation. The Houthis, as Arrabyee explains, feel they can negotiate from a place of strength, since they have controlled most of the country for the last few years. They are demanding that Saudi Arabia lift the blockade as a condition of sitting down to peace talks. Saudi Arabia, on...

Scott interviews Ben Suitt about his work about veteran suicides for Brown University's Cost of War Project. Suitt conservatively estimates that about 30,000 veterans of America's terror wars have taken their own lives, a truly astonishing number. This side of modern warfare often goes undiscussed, but it is every bit as concerning as the physical injuries that soldiers sustain overseas. Discussed on the show: "High Suicide Rates among United States Service Members and Veterans of the...

Ted Carpenter discusses the harmful effects of drug prohibition in America, both at home and abroad. First of all, he points out, prohibition simply doesn't work. We learned this during alcohol prohibition, when consumption remained high but prices and violence skyrocketed, and we continue to see it now, with ubiquitous street drugs, gang violence and millions of people in prison for nonviolent crimes. The public health problem of drug use is very real, Carpenter readily concedes, but that...