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Dave DeCamp returns to the show to discuss recent developments in the Middle East. They talk about Trump’s meeting with the new bin Ladenite president of Syria, the end of US operations targeting the Houthis of Yemen, Trump’s negotiations with Iran, whether Trump really is turning on Netanyahu and the status of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They finish with a quick look at the talks between Ukraine and Russia. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Trump Meets With Syria’s Al-Qaeda Leader-Turned President, Praises His ‘Strong Past’” (Antiwar.com)
• “Inside Waltz’s ouster: Before Signalgate, talks with Israel angered Trump” (Washington Post)
• “Disagreements on Iran, Gaza straining Trump-Netanyahu relationship” (NBC News)
• “Some Israeli Officers Admit That Gaza Is on the Brink of Starvation” (New York Times)

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com and the host of Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp. Follow him on Twitter @decampdave

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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Doug Bandow discusses the state of U.S. relations with Russia, an issue of increasing relevance these days as some figures in American government try to leverage Russophobia for political purposes. Bandow reminds us that Russia is virtually no threat to the United States, so long as we don’t provoke them first, but that because of their nuclear stockpile, peace is absolutely critical for the safety of humanity. For some reason Trump’s opponents seem to ignore this fact, jumping at every opportunity to score political points by attacking him on his Russia policies, with the result that he has governed in a way that is extremely hostile toward Russia. This is one of several ways in which Trump’s irenic campaign promises belied what turned out to be a fairly aggressive administration.

Discussed on the show:

• “Russia hasn’t just hacked our computer systems. It’s hacked our minds.” (Washington Post)
• “Joe Biden Confronts Russia: The Problem of Diplomacy Without Compromise” (Antiwar.com)
• “Why America Must Lead Again” (Foreign Affairs)

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular contributor at Forbes Magazine, the National Interest, and elsewhere. He’s on Twitter @Doug_Bandow.

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 Dave DeCamp about a new audio recording of Julian Assange released by Project Veritas, which proves Assange’s contention that he tried to warn the State Department before the famous leak of the state department cables in 2010. For years, government officials have claimed that Assange and Chelsea Manning endangered the lives of American agents by recklessly releasing these confidential documents. In reality, Assange and his team worked around the clock to redact personal information before they released the cables, and it was British journalist Luke Harding who first enabled the release of the unredacted version. Even so, not a single American death has been connected to the information leaked by Manning and published by Assange.

Discussed on the show:

• “Trump expected to issue wave of pre-Christmas pardons today” (Axios)
• “Baghdad War Diary” (WikiLeaks)
• “Kabul War Diary” (WikiLeaks)
• “State Department Cables” (WikiLeaks)
• “Project Veritas Releases Audio of Assange Warning U.S. Government of Damaging Leak of Classified Information” (Project Veritas)
• “Risk (2016)” (IMDb)
• Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win
  
• “Glenn Greenwald says Trump should use his pardon power to end ‘abusive prosecution’ of Julian Assange” (Fox News)
• “Recording Proves Assange Warned State Department Ahead of Cable Dump” (Antiwar.com)
• “IAEA Chief: New Agreement Needed to Revive Iran Deal” (Antiwar.com)
• “Our Work with the DNC: Setting the record straight” (CrowdStrike)

Dave DeCamp is the assistant news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.

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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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.

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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.

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 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.

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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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.

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; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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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.

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; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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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?

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; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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