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Scott is joined by Kyle Anzalone to go over the latest news related to American foreign policy. They start with the talks to end the war in Ukraine and the negotiations for a new Iran nuclear deal. They then look at the latest reports of what Israel is doing to Gaza.  

Discussed on the show:

• “Trump denies rift with Netanyahu, says PM ‘fought hard and bravely’” (The Cradle)
• “Israel’s mission of total urban destruction” (+972 Magazine)

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com, co-host of Conflicts of Interest and host of The Kyle Anzalone Show. Follow him on Twitter @KyleAnzalone_

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Incorporated; Moon Does Artisan Coffee; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Hassan El-Tayyab discusses the prospects for an end to the war in Yemen under the incoming Biden administration. President Biden and Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken have both signaled that they’d like to end U.S. participation in the war right away, though as of this interview, the new administration hasn’t made any moves yet. Still, opponents of the war are hopeful that Biden will follow through on his promise, especially given the renewed efforts in Congress to end both the war and the U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia that make such conflicts possible. Whereas Trump could resist these congressional efforts, it will be politically very difficult for Biden to do so, given his public stance on the war, and the fact that it is mainly Democrat representatives leading the way. Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with severe famine, cholera and polio on top of the covid pandemic that the whole world is facing.

Discussed on the show:

• “Biden Must Address Yemen on Day One and Move Immediately to Prevent Future Wars” (Truthout)
• H.J.Res.15
• “War Crime Risk Grows for U.S. Over Saudi Strikes in Yemen” (The New York Times)
• “In Strategic Shift, U.S. Draws Closer to Yemeni Rebels” (WSJ)
• “Biden’s Defense Secretary Pick Lloyd Austin Isn’t Who You Think” (Foreign Policy)

Hassan El-Tayyab is a musician and peace activist, who works as the lead lobbyist on Middle East policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

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 through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott talks to Matt Agorist about police violence in America. Agorist is adamant that although police brutality is disproportionately a problem in black communities, this is an issue that affects us all, and Americans should be unified in opposition to growing police power. If anything, movements like Black Lives Matter end up deflecting the blame from where it should be aimed: rather than admitting that there’s a widespread problem with the way police are empowered to abuse Americans without consequences, opponents to systemic reform can simply claim that the problem is a few racist apples. Moreover, it has become easy for bad actors to intentionally stir up animosity between the right and the left, when really both sides of the political spectrum should be united against a small group of oppressors.

Discussed on the show:

• “Prosecuting Trump for Incitement Would Set a Dangerous Precedent” (Reason)
• “Cops Go Back to Where They Killed Elijah McClain, Take Photos Sadistically ‘Reenacting’ His Murder” (The Free Thought Project)
• “Police Release Heavily Edited, Propagandized Video to Justify Killing Unarmed Dad in Front Yard” (The Free Thought Project)

Matt Agorist is an independent journalist and Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. He is also a former marine and NSA intelligence operator. Follow him on Twitter @MattAgorist.

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 through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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David Swanson discusses the foreign policy of the incoming Biden administration. On the positive side, he thinks there’s a good likelihood of ending U.S. support for the war in Yemen, lifting some of America’s oppressive economic sanctions and better relations with Iran and Cuba. But on the other hand, many of Biden’s key appointments have been people who support more war and international hegemony for the United States at any cost. In particular, this means expanding NATO even farther into Eastern Europe and challenging China for global economic supremacy. Peaceful relations with both Russia and China, Scott reminds us, are absolutely crucial not just for America, but for the future of the human race itself. Any policy that threatens this peace must be energetically opposed.

Discussed on the show:

• “11/11/20 David Swanson: Leaving World War II Behind” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Nyet Means Nyet: Russia’s Nato Enlargement Redlines” (WikiLeaks)
• “Pope’s Words in Open Letter to Joe Biden” (Let’s Try Democracy)
• “Toward a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy” (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
• “How America Should Deal With Russia” (Foreign Affairs)
• “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, radio host, and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. He is the author of War is a Lie, When the World Outlawed War and Leaving World War II Behind. Find him on Twitter @davidcnswanson.

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 through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews journalist Andrew Quilty about his recent piece for the Intercept, which details the horrific violence being carried out in Afghanistan by U.S.-backed militia groups. In several recent attacks, these “death squads” have raided religious boarding schools known as madrassas, and murdered dozens of the boys who studied there. Although these madrassas are sometimes thought to be Taliban recruiting grounds, Quilty explains that this kind of violence only drives regular Afghans closer to the Taliban. Quilty and Scott expect that night raids, drone strikes and support for anti-Taliban militant groups will continue under the Biden administration, just as they ramped up under Obama and increased even further under Trump. Sadly, says Quilty, these indirect tactics tend to be politically popular in America, since their enormous costs are hidden from voters at home.

Discussed on the show:

• “The CIA’s Afghan Death Squads” (The Intercept)

Andrew Quilty is an Australian freelance photojournalist and reporter. A winner of Polk and World Press Photo awards, he has been based in Kabul since 2013. Follow him on Twitter or at andrewquilty.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.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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Scott talks to Kelley Vlahos about America’s 30-year nonstop bombing campaign of Iraq, and the prospects for ending it. The destruction of Iraq, says Vlahos, has followed a familiar trend: American politicians sell the public on the need to get involved in some country with what looks to be a brutal dictator in charge, then the military intervenes, usually by bombing indiscriminately, and finally the country is left far worse than it was before. In recent memory, America has done this to Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, though Iraq is perhaps the most egregious example. And while Scott and Vlahos hold out some hope for Joe Biden’s willingness to make peace in Yemen and Afghanistan, they are skeptical that he will do anything to disentangle America from its role in Iraq.

Discussed on the show:

• “Iraq today is a nightmare that Americans largely sleep through” (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)
• “In Iraqi camps, refugees of ISIS war fear going home” (The Washington Post)
• “Iraq’s Post-ISIS Campaign of Revenge” (The New Yorker)
• “‘We Think the Price Is Worth It’” (FAIR)

Kelley B. Vlahos is the executive editor of The American Conservative. Follow her on Twitter @KelleyBVlahos.

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.

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Kalmen Barkin discusses the deplorable situation of Palestinians in Israel today, a people whose lands and rights are being slowly taken away from them by the Israeli government, while the delusive promise of a two-state solution vanishes along with them. Barkin believes Netanyahu may be in political (as well as legal) trouble these days, though he has been able to survive nearly every challenge to his regime thus far. Even if Netanyahu is replaced by another prime minister, it is unlikely that the project of expanding settlements further and further into Palestinian territory will ever be undone now that it has gotten this far along. The only hope for the Palestinians, it seems, is to gain equal rights as full citizens of the emerging single Jewish nation state.

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.

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Scott talks to Bob Murphy about the economic side of all the covid policies this past year. Most obvious are the huge spending bills, which dwarf even the stimulus measures taken after the 2008 recession. Murphy reminds us that this kind of rampant spending really means the federal reserve and the treasury have “created” new money out of thin air. This money enters through the financial sector, slowly making its way through the rest of the economy, where it can cause price inflation, stagnating wages and the loss of the value of savings. But it allows the federal government to spread out the harmful effects of its policies in a way that wouldn’t be possible if it were to raise taxes or borrow the money all at once. Murphy also talks about the way that small businesses have been devastated by lockdown policies, while large corporations have absorbed the losses more easily. These large corporations will survive when the small businesses close, buying up their assets and moving in on what used to be their business. This is yet another way that huge government action benefits big business and the politically connected at the expense of the average business owner, employee or taxpayer.

Discussed on the show:

• “Understanding Money Mechanics” (Mises Institute)
• “Neoliberal Champion Larry Summers Opens Mouth, Inserts Both Feet” (TK News by Matt Taibbi)
• The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America
  

Bob Murphy is an economist with the Institute for Energy Research, a research fellow with the Independent Institute, and a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He is the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism and Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action. Find him on Twitter @BobMurphyEcon and listen to his podcasts, Contra Krugman and The Bob Murphy Show.

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.

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rial from his personal life, but concedes that that has little to do with his father’s election as president. More importantly, the laptop has records of many of Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including, most notably, hundreds of millions of dollars from companies in Ukraine and China. In the case of both countries, Hunter was peddling the appearance of access to his father—meetings and photo ops with the Bidens in turn granted these foreign companies political connections within their own countries. But in China’s case in particular, the activity might be even more nefarious. Van Buren found evidence that Chinese companies were paying Hunter Biden’s consulting firm hundreds of millions of dollars in “fees,” which Hunter would then transfer back into Chinese-owned bank accounts in the United States, thus laundering the money across the Pacific without U.S. government scrutiny. The rest of Van Buren’s findings are detailed in his recent piece at The American Conservative.

Discussed on the show:

• “Hunter Biden’s Guilty Laptop” (The American Conservative)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio
• Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden
  
• The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers
  
• “Biden’s Hawk: The Case Against Sullivan” (scheerpost.com)
• “Red Dawn (2012)” (IMDb)
• “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)
• “The Untold History of the United States” (IMDb)

Peter Van Buren worked for 24 years at the Department of State including a year in Iraq. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and the novel Hooper’s War. He is now a contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine.

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.

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