Adam Wunische discusses the fact that Afghans overwhelmingly want U.S. troops out of their country—and they are also optimistic about the chances for a peaceful resolution to the resultant power vacuum. Scott has always said there’s a strong chance that the civil strife that has plagued the country for years will just continue in America’s absence, but that that is no reason to stay. Still, it is possible that the various factions vying for control will be able to reasonably negotiate a peace....

Daniel Davis, Matthew Hoh, and Danny Sjursen reflect on America’s war in Afghanistan in light of the Washington Post’s publishing of a trove of formerly confidential documents on the war. The report, which is being hailed as this generations Pentagon Papers, details the ways officials in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations have lied about the progress being made in Afghanistan and the need to keep troops there. Even though lots of people like Davis, Hoh, and Sjursen have been speaking...

Bill Law talks about the need for Americans to support those in foreign countries peacefully demonstrating for political reform against oppressive regimes, and the hypocrisy surrounding America’s so-called support for democracy. Really, says Law, our government and its allies support the regimes they like and overthrow the ones they don’t, and call it “democracy” no matter what. Discussed on the show: “How the death of a president shed light on Egypt’s brutal dictatorship” (Middle East...

Scott talks to Eli Clifton about the billionaire “megadonors” who control the Republican party. Although Trump started his campaign touting his status as an independent billionaire who couldn’t be bought, Clifton explains how even if that’s true, someone needs to fund all the senate and congressional campaigns of the candidates to support Trump during his term. Since these donors are almost universally zionist neocons, Trump’s foreign policy ends up being directed toward Israel’s interests,...

Tom Collina tells Scott about the “nuclear sponge”, a collection of land-based nuclear weapons in America’s upper midwest, whose real purpose is just to absorb the strikes of a nuclear attack by a hostile power rather than to actually be used in an attack of their own, which would most likely be done by submarine. Needless to say this is utterly crazy. Collina reminds us that there are enough nukes between just the U.S. and Russia to destroy the world’s population centers many times over, not...

Scott talks to Ted Carpenter about the NATO secret no one wants to admit, which is that part of the alliance involves America promising to enter a nuclear war in the defense of its allies, including the Baltic states right on Russia’s border. It hardly needs to be said how dangerous this is. Carpenter reminds us of the original promise not to extend NATO eastward, which has since been broken many times, even to the extent that some want Ukraine added to the organization. He says this would be...

Kelley Vlahos discusses the latest with Julian Assange, who now will be testifying in a spying case involving the Spanish company UC Global, and which may implicate America’s CIA and even top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson. Assange is being held in a London jail for missing bail, mostly in solitary confinement. His already weakened physical and mental state from seven years of isolation in the Ecuadorian embassy makes his health—and even his survival—a real concern. Meanwhile Chelsea Manning...

Mark Perry discusses what he calls “the biggest breakdown in civil-military relations since Vietnam”: the controversy over the war crimes trial of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher. By refusing to allow the Navy to discipline Gallagher in the way they intended, Trump has essentially intervened in the military justice process as, Perry thinks, a move to curry favor with his base. Perry is adamant that we really do have a problem with special forces that run around the world without accountability,...

Scott interviews Jeb Sprague about his work studying U.S.-backed coups in Latin America, particularly the current one in Bolivia. Support for democracy and the rule of law is one thing, say Scott and Sprague, but it is quite another to demand that the military rush in to upend the normal political process, which is essentially what is happening now. Sprague advocates letting countries sort out their own political affairs, even when it leads to results that aren’t precisely what the political...

Scott talks to Aaron Maté about the role John Brennan and the CIA might have played in the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Although Maté is a progressive, he understands how dangerous it is to have intelligence agencies with the power to overturn the results of a democratic election. In fact, this is no different than what our CIA has done in lots of other countries when America supports a regime change in favor of democracy, but then the people of that...

Doug Bandow explains why the pathological need for neocons and neoliberals in Washington to antagonize other powerful countries is so dangerous for America. Russia and China, he says, can both be our allies. It makes no sense for the U.S. military to be involved in every conflict everywhere in the world, and pretending to be the world empire will only endanger American interests by making future conflicts more likely. Discussed on the show: “Why The Hawks Are Wrong About China Too” (The...

Michael Boldin describes the appalling state of an American government that has strayed so far from its founding principles as codified by the constitution. Today the federal government wields so much power over every aspect of our lives that the only rational choice is to seize as much control as possible while your party is winning, and then hope that your opponents don't abuse that same power too much while they are. Tom Woods calls this a perpetual low-grade civil war. The alternative,...

Michael Heise of the Libertarian Party Mises Caucus tells Scott about his work in his hometown to decriminalize marijuana. He describes the struggles trying to appeal to an overwhelmingly liberal populace and city council, but also the ways he's been able to make the libertarian message appeal to them on grounds of social justice and personal freedoms. Heise says that on the national scene libertarians can't be content to just be the vaguely centrist, moderate "third option"; the party needs...

Danny Sjursen talks about the ways his experience in Iraq convinced him of the futility of that war, allowing him to see things that the generals and the war planners often could not. Sjursen says that not all officers paid attention to the local situation or to the people their units were supposed to be working with. Failure to do so led to far greater casualties, among both American soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Sadly the generals and politicians still seem unable or unwilling to learn the...