Download Episode.

Scott brings Daniel Davis back on the show for an update on where things stand in Ukraine right now.

Discussed on the show:

• Daniel Davis Deep Dive
• “THE END FOR ZELENSKY?” (Seymour Hersh)

Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He is a Senior Fellow at Defense Priorities and is the author of the reports “Dereliction of Duty II: Senior Military Leaders’ Loss of Integrity Wounds Afghan War Effort” and “Go Big or Go Deep: An Analysis of Strategy Options on Afghanistan.” Find him on Twitter @DanielLDavis1and subscribe to his YouTube Channel.

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.

Get Scott’s interviews before anyone else! Subscribe to the Substack.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjY

Joe Lauria comments on the last few days of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing. He notes a movement on the part of the prosecution away from their previous tack, which was to argue that Assange was not really a journalist, but actually engaging in hacking and intelligence himself. By establishing that, they may have been able to avoid the obvious problem that the prosecution of Assange could create a precedent for the prosecution of any news organization that published classified documents. The British prosecution may have realized that this strategy was not working because of the obvious double standard it relied on. Instead, they are continuing to hit Assange with the charge that he deliberately revealed the names of confidential informants. Again, Lauria explains, the reality is that Assange worked very hard to redact such informants before Wikileaks released them—much harder, in fact, than mainstream news outlets did when publishing the same information. Assange even went to the U.S. government for help in knowing what was important to redact in the name of national security, but the government refused to help. To claim wrongdoing on Assange’s part now, says Lauria, is the height of hypocrisy.

Discussed on the show:

• “Daily Video Report on Assange Hearing–Day 9” (Consortium News)
• Hit & Run
• “State Department Cables” (WikiLeaks)
• “Baghdad War Diary” (WikiLeaks)
• “Kabul War Diary” (WikiLeaks)
• WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy
  
• Iraq Body Count
• A Political Odyssey
  
• “Schenck v. United States” (Oyez)

Joe Lauria is the editor-in-chief at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. You can follow him on Twitter @unjoe.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ted Snider comes back for an update on the recent round of “peace deals” conducted by President Trump over the last few weeks. Now Bahrain has joined the normalization agreement between the U.S., Israel and the UAE, a move that Trump and his allies are hailing as unprecedented, but which Snider believes is a great deal of fanfare with very little substance. For one thing, he reminds us that these countries can’t declare peace, since they were not at war; they’ve already been at peace for decades. These deals amount to a public announcement of policies that in practice have been in place for a long time—this is simply an opportunity for the leaders of these countries to get some positive PR. Snider says that on the other hand, we have to consider what this means for the Palestinians, whose cause was long championed by Arab nations that refused to negotiate with Israel until the Palestinian situation had been addressed. These deals also promise a great deal of American weaponry to our allies, which will only serve to ratchet up tensions with Iran, against whom this posturing is obviously directed.

Discussed on the show:

• “Peace Plans That Have Nothing To Do With Peace” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “What’s in the Israel/UAE Agreement? Here’s Five Things That Aren’t” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Israel Asks US for $8 Billion in Warplanes for ‘Qualitative’ Edge” (News From Antiwar.com)

Ted Snider has a graduate degree in philosophy and writes on analyzing patterns in U.S. foreign policy and history. He is a regular writer for Truthout, MondoWeiss and antiwar.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Kevin Gosztola is back for an update on Julian Assange’s extradition hearing. He describes the great line-up of witnesses being summoned by Assange’s defense team and how easily, for the most part, they’ve been able to dismantle the arguments from the prosecution. It’s unclear, however, how effective any kind of reasoned argument about the facts will be, given that we know this whole hearing has been conducted on political grounds from the beginning. The case the U.S. government wants to bring against Assange is based on the conspiracy theory that he deliberately directed Chelsea Manning to steal classified information, and the attempt to brand Wikileaks not as a journalistic organization, but as a hostile intelligence agency. Gosztola reminds us what kind of a precedent this could set: if the grounds for Assange’s extradition are that he, an Australian citizen living in Britain, revealed U.S. government secrets, then could any country extradite anyone for publishing something their government didn’t like? This, Gosztola and Scott agree, is a truly terrifying prospect.

Discussed on the show:

• “9/11/20 Clive Stafford Smith on Julian Assange’s Political Show Trial” (The Libertarian Institute)
• War in the Age of Trump

Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” Follow him on Twitter @kgosztola.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Scott and Gareth Porter continue their ongoing conversation about President Trump’s foreign policy so far. Porter focuses first on Iran, which has become the ultimate excuse for just about every foreign policy decision over the last decade. In reality, of course, Iran is basically irrelevant to the security of the United States, and isn’t, says Porter, even much of a threat to America’s allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia. But in the perception of the neocon establishment, Iran is the greatest enemy since Nazi Germany, and must be opposed at every turn no matter how destructive and quixotic the endeavor. Porter and Scott then discuss Trump’s attitude toward China, where, unlike in the Middle East, he really does appear to have bought into all the hawkish propaganda. This hostility toward China has resulted, among other things, in the failure of the peace talks with North Korea, a process that Porter and Scott agree every sane person should have viewed as a good thing.

Discussed on the show:

• “9/5/20 Gareth Porter on Trump’s First Term Foreign Policy Record” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)

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.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Arthur Bloom talks about a recent piece from The American Conservative, which exposes the case of a prolific and well-known anti-Iran opinion columnist who turned out not to be a real person. “Amir Basiri,” who wrote dozens of pieces for mostly right-leaning publications advocating for war with Iran, turns out to have been nothing more than a pseudonymous figurehead for the Mujahideen-eKhalq (MEK), an Iranian dissident exile group. The MEK has been described as a communist terrorism cult, but in recent years has found favor with the likes of Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton because of their utility in advancing an anti-Iran narrative in America.

Discussed on the show:

• “Another Opinion Columnist Pushing War With Iran Who Doesn’t Actually Exist” (The American Conservative)
• “Is Heshmat Alavi, Writer on Iran, a Fake Run By MEK Opposition?” (The Intercept)

Arthur Bloom is managing editor of The American Conservative. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Guardian, and many other outlets. Follow him on Twitter @j_arthur_bloom.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Journalist Ford Fischer discusses his coverage of the various armed factions taking to the streets in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, and amid broader calls for police reform. The mainstream media typically paints a black-and-white narrative: on one side are left-leaning, antiracist, mostly peaceful protestors, and on the other are right-leaning, racist, armed militia groups whose presence only makes things more dangerous. But Fischer has made the rather surprising discovery that there are plenty of left-wing pro-gun activist movements, some of which explicitly call themselves militias. These groups have also been involved in the protests, usually in an effort at peaceful protection of the right to assemble, just like the right-wing groups are. And on the issue of gun control, both sides are largely in agreement. In a few cases, such groups have even held unity rallies, promoting their shared causes rather than focusing on what divides them. The corporate media, unfortunately, doesn’t want people to see this side of America, and so relentlessly ignores it.

Ford Fischer is co-founder and Editor in Chief of News2Share, an independent media outlet based in Washington, D.C. Follow his work on Twitter @FordFischer and @N2Sreports.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Scott interviews Josiah Lippincott about the conventional narrative surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The common argument, says Lippincott, is that the U.S. had no real choice but to drop the bombs, since the alternative would have been a ground invasion that ultimately would have cost many more lives. In reality, he explains, the Japanese had been willing to negotiate for months, but the American government, insisting on an unconditional surrender, wouldn’t concede Japan’s only demand, which was to let the emperor remain on the throne. Ironically, after the bombings, when Japan still didn’t look ready to surrender, General MacArthur decided to allow the Japanese surrender while keeping the emperor nominally at the head of his country. This of course raises the question: why couldn’t we have negotiated a peace long before dropping the bombs that claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens?

Discussed on the show:

• “Wholesale Slaughter of Japanese Civilians in WWII Was Evil” (The American Conservative)
• “75 Years Later, It’s Clear Truman Was Right To Drop The Atomic Bomb” (The Federalist)
• Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath
• “China’s vast fleet is tipping the balance against U.S. in the Pacific” (Reuters)
• Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
  
• The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Aaron Maté revisits the many lies on which the ‘Russiagate’ probe into Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency was founded. Maté calls the whole story what it is: a conspiracy theory. The only way someone could find all the far-fetched and flimsy pieces of evidence credible is if they were already convinced beforehand and had to make every new development fit their narrative. In particular, Maté focuses on the way figures like Joseph Mifsud and George Papadopoulos, though initially the entire basis for the FBI’s probe into Trump’s campaign, were quickly abandoned as the allegations became less and less credible. One might think that as the foundation crumbled, so too would the entire investigation, but instead officials like James Comey and Peter Strzok and their cheerleaders in the media simply move on and never talk about these embarrassing exposures.

Discussed on the show:

• Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump
  
• “Bombshell: Crowdstrike Admits ‘No Evidence’ Russia Stole Emails From DNC Server” (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: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download