Bonnie Kristian talks about her latest piece, “If Trump Isn’t Planning to Draw Down U.S. Intervention in Somalia, He Should Be.” She and Scott point out how President Trump often has good instincts on foreign policy, at times questioning what the U.S. is even doing in countries like Somalia, and yet other times he has no problem getting talked into more war by his generals and advisers. The hawks around him love to use the excuse that “we fight the terrorists over there so we don’t have to...

Tim Shorrock joins the show for an update us on the Korean peace talks. President Trump recently claimed that North Korea is no longer a nuclear threat, whereupon the mainstream media was quick to point out that Kim’s regime has not in fact agreed to denuclearize. But, as Shorrock explains, that’s not what Trump said at all—he was merely pointing out that the negotiations appear to be going in the direction of peace and diplomacy, such that the North is not a threat to the South or to the U.S....

Mandy Smithberger talks about the revolving door between politics and arms manufacturers, most recently manifested in President Trump’s appointment of Patrick Shanahan as acting secretary of defense. Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, has recused himself from issues directly involving Boeing, but as Smithberger points out, that doesn’t prevent him from promoting the interests of his former company, since he still has huge influence over the industry in general. His history with Boeing can...

Sheldon Richman talks about his latest piece for the Libertarian Institute, TGIF: The FDA’s Assault on Tobacco Consumers, where he explores the latest government efforts to regulate every aspect of nicotine products. In addition to its control over products containing actual tobacco, the FDA is now claiming jurisdiction over e-cigarettes—which contain nicotine but not tobacco—and tobacco pipes themselves. Just like alcohol prohibition or the war on drugs, Richman says, making a substance...

Scott interviews John V. Walsh about nuclear disarmament and Daniel Ellsberg’s book, The Doomsday Machine. Walsh explains that we don’t actually have to completely abandon all nuclear weapons—the important thing is that they be taken off of the hair-trigger alerts that could so easily bring about global catastrophe. He admits that there is some value in having deterrents against regime change and aggressive war, but we should try to abolish first strike capabilities. Despite the potential for...

Daniel McAdams discusses Venezuela’s recent political upheaval, which he fears may prompt direct U.S. intervention. Lots of Americans, particularly on the political right, are decrying Venezuela’s socialism and claiming that it’s America’s duty as a champion of capitalism to intervene. But the reality is that Venezuela has had some form of socialism for a lot longer than it’s had Maduro, and it would probably still be socialist if he were removed, only things would be even worse. Not to...

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis tells Scott why it would be better for everyone involved if the U.S. simply pulls its troops out of Syria now. If we had gotten out when President Trump initially called for withdrawal in December, he explains, the soldiers who died there recently wouldn’t have been around to get killed. And the longer America remains, the more soldiers are exposed to that kind of danger going forward. As for the problem of Iran that is so often used as the excuse for...

Nasser Arrabyee comes back on the show with the latest on the U.S.-backed Suadi war in Yemen. He explains that although the ceasefire in Hodeidah has been going on over a month, negotiations have otherwise stalled. The sides were supposed to swap prisoners last week for example, but now the deadline for the trade has come and gone. Because of the lack of reliable data, Arrabyee and his colleagues have put together their own casualty figures, estimating that 100,000 civilians have been killed...

Jim Bovard talks about President Trump’s appointee for Attorney General, William Barr, and his support for the Marshals and FBI agents who killed members of the Weaver family in 1992. Barr was Attorney General during the Bush Sr. administration, and helped get the sniper who killed Vicki Weaver acquitted after the deadly standoff at Weaver’s home. Scott and Bovard talk about police violence in general, wondering why white victims and groups like Black Lives Matter seem unwilling to unite after...

Grant Smith talks to Scott about Israel’s nuclear weapons program, which the United States steadfastly pretends does not exist. Four presidential administrations in a row, he explains, have signed letters promising they will not admit the existence of Israel’s nukes, partly because to do so would be to admit that the U.S. is in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. So why doesn’t Israel just own up to its nuclear program and sign the treaty? Smith thinks it’s because that would...

Sheldon Richman talks about his latest in the TGIF series, “America’s War Culture.” He brings up the disturbing phenomenon that presidents are praised the most when they bomb another country, and that in lists of America’s supposed greatest presidents, those who presided over major wars usually adorn the top. This is obviously a bad incentive from a humanitarian perspective, because anytime the president gets into hot water he knows he can start or escalate a war and immediately receive praise...

Gareth Porter talks Trump, Syria, and America’s relationship with Israel. Porter says there are quite a few instances so far in Trump’s presidency where he’s made a public announcement about his plans, and then his aides work behind his back to thwart him. In many of those cases the aides are successful. Porter believes that in the case of withdrawal from Syria, however, Trump is serious about making this happen, and despite an initial delay he’s telling his generals to get it done in about...

Dr. Ron Paul joins the show for an assessment of President Trump’s foreign policy so far, about half way into his first term. Paul says that compared with Bush and Obama, Trump doesn’t look too bad. His instincts are better, especially in the way he questions why America even has troops in some of the countries it does, but Paul points out that despite good instincts, most of the bad policies remain in place and there’s been very little troop drawdown so far. President Trump has, however,...

Daniel Lazare comes on the show to talk about Hillary Clinton and her staff’s role in America’s latest wars in the Middle East. He says the story really goes back to Bill Clinton, who broke with Democratic Party tradition by supporting generally right-wing positions on issues like foreign policy, the war on drugs, and Wall Street. Hillary continued to do this, and became one of the most hawkish people in Washington. Where Bill was able to garner centrist popularity, however, Hillary could not,...