Libertarian Institute Managing Editor Keith Knight interviews Scott about his new book Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine.

Buy the book here: https://a.co/d/fQluFTV

12/18/20 Ray McGovern on Biden’s Dangerous Foreign Policy Picks

Ray McGovern reflects on the ways America’s foreign policy and national security state have changed since his time in the CIA. In particular, he warns that Michael Morell, one of Joe Biden’s top picks to head the CIA, is categorically unqualified to do so based on his record in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq and as an apologist for torture during the early years of the war on terror. In general, says McGovern, Biden’s people conform far too much to the worst of the modern foreign policy establishment: aggressively committed to promoting Israel’s interests in the Middle East, unwilling to end any of the wasteful and unjust foreign wars and far too eager to gin up tensions with Russia and China, the two countries with which it is most important that the U.S. have peaceful relations in the coming decades.

Discussed on the show:

“RAY McGOVERN: Why Michael Morell Cannot Be CIA Director” (Consortium News)
The Putin Interviews
Downing Street memo
“Our Work with the DNC: Setting the record straight” (CrowdStrike)
Scott Horton: “I’m Here for My Bill of Goods” (Antiwar.com)

Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

12/11/20 Aaron Maté on the OPCW’s Hero Whistleblowers

Aaron Maté is back with yet another update on the cover-up of the investigation into the supposed chemical attack in Douma, Syria. An initial investigation by the OPCW appeared to verify that the 2018 attack was indeed a chlorine gas attack, which must have been carried out by the Syrian government. This report justified the retaliatory American bombing of Syrian government targets. But it quickly emerged, thanks to whistleblowers within the OPCW, that the official report contradicted the actual findings of the investigators on several key points. These whistleblowers were immediately smeared as discredited and disgruntled former employees, but as time goes on, that narrative becomes less and less tenable. The latest leaks, explains Maté, show conclusively that members of the OPCW were very concerned at the time about the fact that the report may have been compromised, and praised the whistleblowers for trying to tell the real story.

Discussed on the show:

“OPCW executives praised whistleblower and criticized Syria cover-up, leaks reveal” (The Grayzone)
“Russiagate Archives” (The Grayzone)

Aaron Maté is a former host and producer at The Real News and writes regularly at The Nation. Follow him on Twitter @AaronJMate.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

12/4/20 Chris Woods on the Real Civilian Death Toll in Iraq

Scott talks to Chris Woods from Airwars about some of the difficulties in assessing civilian casualties from U.S. bombs in Iraq. Woods estimates very conservatively that between eight and thirteen thousand civilians have been killed during the war in Iraq, but coalition governments only admit to about 1,400. When factoring in excess deaths from the secondary consequences of war, some have estimated that civilian deaths could be as high as one million. Sadly this is not an issue that receives attention in most circles—the war in Iraq is too far away, and for the most part people in the west simply don’t notice its consequences. Woods’ organization works hard to change that perception.

Discussed on the show:

“The Uncounted” (The New York Times)
Iraq Body Count
“The Redirection” (The New Yorker)

Chris Woods is the author of Sudden Justice: America’s Secret Drone Wars and the recipient of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @chrisjwoods.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

12/4/20 Danny Sjursen: The Case Against Jake Sullivan

Danny Sjursen is back for a look at Biden’s foreign policy team, in particular his new National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. Sjursen says that Sullivan fits right in with many of Biden’s other cabinet picks: extremely talented, well-credentialed, respectable people who use their talents to advance horrible policies while deflecting criticism for them. Sullivan, a war hawk, worked closely with Hillary Clinton during Obama’s presidency, especially on the intervention in Libya. He appears to favor all the same foreign policies from those years now that he’s a part of the Biden Administration. Sjursen bemoans the Democratic voters who feel relieved to be “returning to normal,” reminding us that “normal” is years and years of unilaterally-decided, unofficial drone campaigns and regime change wars that have been disastrous both for the countries America has destroyed, and for the American taxpayer.

Discussed on the show:

“Biden’s Hawk: The Case Against Sullivan” (scheerpost.com)
The Management of Savagery: How America’s National Security State Fueled the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump
Fear
Rage

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He is the author of Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge and Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War. Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

12/4/20 Grant Smith on the Jonathan Pollard Exception

rd have been punished. Now Pollard is on the verge of joining those others who walked free for their crimes.

Discussed on the show:

“The Jonathan Pollard Exception” (Antiwar.com Original)
“The Traitor” (The New Yorker)
The Samson Option: Israel, America and the Bomb

Grant F. Smith is the author of a number of books including Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America, Divert!, and most recently The Israel Lobby Enters State Government: Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. He is director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

12/4/20 Gilbert Doctorow: Will Antony Blinken’s Past Catch Up With Him?

Gilbert Doctorow talks about Biden’s pick for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, particularly his famous stepfather, Samuel Pisar. Pisar is well-known these days for being a holocaust survivor rescued by American GIs during World War II, but is less known for his decorated international career afterward. Doctorow brings up Pisar’s past because of his prominent role as a representative for American companies in Europe, and especially in the Soviet Union. Pisar’s view was that commerce is an important feature of peaceful diplomatic relations, even with semi-hostile countries. Doctorow hopes that this will be Blinken’s attitude as well as he is tasked with taking the lead in America’s foreign policy toward countries like Russia and China. But with the general hawkishness of Biden’s cabinet, the future remains in doubt.

Discussed on the show:

Memoirs of a Russianist, Volume I: From the Ground Up
“Will Antony Blinken’s Past Catch Up With Him?” (Antiwar.com Original)

Gilbert Doctorow is an independent political analyst and was the European Coordinator of The American Committee for East-West Accord. He writes regularly for Consortium News. His latest book is Does the United States Have a Future?

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

12/3/20 Gareth Porter on the Assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

Gareth Porter discusses the recent assassination of Iranian defense official Mohsen Fakhrizadeh by the Israeli government, which continues to claim that Fakhrizadeh was a “top nuclear scientist” in Iran. In reality, explains Porter, Fakhrizadeh was not a nuclear scientist, and this assassination is part of a years-long campaign to convince the world that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. No doubt the assassination was intended to provoke some kind of response from the Iranians before President Trump leaves the White House. It will also make it harder, he says, for President Biden to renegotiate the Iran nuclear agreement, a clear goal of Israel and its allies in Washington.

Discussed on the show:

“How Israel deployed an intelligence deception to justify killing scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh” (The Grayzone)
Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States
Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare and, with John Kiriakou, The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

11/27/20 Stephen Zunes on Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy

Scott talks to Stephen Zunes about Joe Biden’s track record on foreign policy, and its potential implications for his presidency. Zunes rehashes some of the bad parts of Biden’s record, beginning with his support for the invasion of Iraq. Although many Democrats voted for the war, Biden specifically and energetically advocated for it. Zunes worries that Biden is a true believer in the American empire, whereas President Trump doesn’t really have firm beliefs about anything. This made Trump unpredictable, but also probably less dangerous on the issue of foreign wars. Zunes speculates that Biden’s cabinet picks will be bad; all the same establishment figures that have been running America into the ground for at least 25 years.

Discussed on the show: