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Scott interviews Matt Taibbi about some articles that he’s run at Racket News. They start with the stories Taibbi wrote about how air marshals followed Tulsi Gabbard as she traveled. They also talk about the so-called disinformation complex, some new Mueller investigation information, the Kamala Harris campaign and more. 

Discussed on the show:

• “American Stasi: Tulsi Gabbard Confirms “Quiet Skies” Nightmare” (Racket News)
• “FOIA Files: The University of Washington” (Racket News)
• “FOIA Files: Did Special Counsel Robert Mueller Rely on Clinton Campaign Operatives to Point to Russia?” (Racket News)

Connor Freeman is the Assistant Editor of the Libertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He is a co-host on Conflicts of Interest. His writing has been featured in media outlets such as Antiwar.com and Counterpunch, as well as the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. You can follow him on Twitter @FreemansMind96

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

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Grant Smith joins the show to promote his upcoming conference, Transcending The Israel Lobby At Home And Abroad, to be held in Washington D.C. this May. The conference, as with most of Smith’s work, is focused on exposing the power the Israel Lobby wields in America to control the narrative on both Israel-Palestine, and American relations with Israel. Smith laments the fact that any opposition to the policies of the Israeli government is so easily depicted as mere anti-semitism. He is optimistic, however, about the kind of activism that is gaining steam and showing that it is possible to criticize the injustice without unjustly but effectively being smeared as a racist.

Discussed on the show:

• IsraelLobbyCon 2020
• “1/10/20 Grant Smith on the Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board” (The Libertarian Institute)
• Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
• “Iraq Has a New Prime Minister, but It Needs Regime Change to Escape Iran’s Influence” (Foreign Policy)
• Occupation of the American Mind
• ““American neoconservatives: a history and overview” Jim Lobe” (YouTube)

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: 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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Daniel Lazare discusses the problems facing Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who is dealing with a troubled economy, declining political popularity at home, and failing military excursions abroad. Lazare and Scott also talk about the failure of President Trump to deliver on his foreign policy promises, instead allowing himself to be bought by zionist donors like Sheldon Adelson, just like any other Republican. Trump’s presidency has been characterized by the same pro-Israel, pro-Saudi, interventionist policies as the last few administrations. Even if he wins a second term, he’s running out of time to change things in the way he pledged he would.

Discussed on the show:

• “Erdogan’s Excellent Syrian Adventure” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Turkey Kills Over 50 Syrian Troops” (News From Antiwar.com)
• “Tactical Nukes: Armageddon on the Installment Plan” (Antiwar.com Original)

Daniel Lazare is the author of The Frozen Republic: How the constitution is Paralyzing Democracy and a regular contributor at Consortium News. Find all of his work at his website and follow him on Twitter @dhlazare.

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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott talks to Trita Parsi about an event being hosted next week by Parsi’s organization, the Quincy Institute, which will pit advocates of a restrained foreign policy against war hawks in a series of panel discussions. The event is Wednesday, February 26 in Washington D.C. Parsi says that although much of the American populace favors a restrained foreign policy, the beltway is dominated by pro-war neoconservatives. Valuable as it is to have outsider writers and activists calling for change, Parsi also wants to be sure there are people on the inside advocating the same thing. His institute seeks to do so.

Trita Parsi is the president of the National Iranian American Council and the author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Parsi is the recipient of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Follow him on Twitter @tparsi.

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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Gareth Porter comes on the show to promote his new book, The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War, cowritten with John Kiriakou. Porter and Scott recap the entire modern history of U.S. relations with Iran, focusing on the inflated threat of their nuclear program.

Discussed on the show:

• The CIA Insider’s Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War
• Devil’s Game
• 1953 Iranian coup d’état
• Iran Hostage Crisis
• Iran-Contra Affair
• “When the Ayatollah Said No to Nukes” (Foreign Policy)
• Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States
• “The Clinton Administration’s Approach to the Middle East” (The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
• The U.S. invades Panama
• “The Mysterious Laptop Documents: “Evidence” of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent – Global ResearchGlobal Research” (Centre for Research on Globalization)
• Operation Merlin
• “Burnt Offering” (The American Prospect)

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state, and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. 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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Cliff Maloney of Young Americans for Liberty joins the show to talk about the “Defend the Guard” movement popping up in state legislatures around the country. The legislation on which the movement is based calls for an end to the calling up of states’ national guard troops to federal service without an explicit declaration by congress. These “Defend the Guard Acts” are one avenue by which Maloney’s organization hopes to reduce the scope of the federal government’s abusive overreach and help build a grassroots antiwar movement among American conservatives.

Cliff Maloney is President of Young Americans for Liberty. Before serving as President of YAL he was the National Youth Director for the Rand Paul Presidential Campaign. Follow him on Twitter @LibertyCliff.

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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Danny Sjursen is back for part two of his conversation with Scott about America’s foreign policy disasters, this time focusing on what Sjursen calls “the coming battle for Eurasia.” According to an old theory of geopolitics, the power that controls central Eurasia—that is, eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East, with all its natural resources and strategic position—will be the dominant global hegemon. Obviously, certain figures in the American government would like to be in that position. The problem, Sjursen points out, is that America is way too far away to have any business trying to do this, especially while countries like Russia and China might have an interest in trying to stop us. He says that based on his experience in the military, people seem to think the U.S. could wage a conventional war with tanks, infantry, and aircraft carriers against other world powers, without resorting to nuclear weapons. He thinks this is almost certainly untrue, and to gamble on it is to risk the survival of all humanity.

Discussed on the show:

• “Beyond Ukraine: America’s Coming (Losing) Battle for Eurasia” (Antiwar.com Original)
• Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War
• Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan
• “War Machine (2017)” (IMDb)

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott talks to Danny Sjursen about the many catastrophic failures of American foreign policy, and most recently the proposed plan to carve out an autonomous Sunni region in western Iraq, which the U.S. could use to help control the Middle East and prevent Iranian influence from spreading to the eastern Mediterranean. The plan, says Scott, would be a reversal of everything the American military has spent much of this century doing in its wars in Iraq, and could lead to the deaths of thousands of U.S. troops. Sjursen also brings up the utter failure of the American Left to show up in important ways in the antiwar movement, something that in theory they are actually supposed to be good on. Most “activists” today seem content to post on social media about gender politics and let the political elites forge ahead with their bipartisan pro-war agenda.

Discussed on the show:

• “US seeking to carve out Sunni state as its influence in Iraq wanes” (Middle East Eye)
• “2/7/20 Suadad al-Salhy on the Insane Plan to Divide Iraq in Two” (The Libertarian Institute)
• Britain and France conclude Sykes-Picot agreement
• A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
• “Coping with Crumbling States: A Western and Israeli Balance of Power Strategy for the Levant by David Wurmser 1996” (The Scott Horton Show)
• Tyranny’s Ally: AMERICA’S FAILURE TO DEFEAT SADDAM HUSSEIN
• “The New Yorker” (The New Yorker)
• Yinon Plan
• Oslo Accords
• Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam
• “World War I as Fulfillment: Power and the Intellectuals” (Mises Institute)
• The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott interviews Suadad al-Salhy about her recent piece on the proposed U.S. plan to create an autonomous Sunni state in western Iraq. This would theoretically allow the U.S. to continue to exert control in the country, preventing the dreaded “land bridge” connecting Iran to Syria and other allies in the Mediterranean. But this plan is idiotic for a number of reasons, say Scott and al-Salhy, not least of which being that America has been fighting on behalf of the Iraqi Shiites for years, and would have to turn on them to ally themselves with the Sunnis who used to rule the country. This is likely to put the U.S. troops who are still in Iraq at great risk, which al-Salhy fears in turn could be used as further justification for more intervention.

Discussed on the show:

• “US seeking to carve out Sunni state as its influence in Iraq wanes” (Middle East Eye)
• “Was U.S. Wrong About Attack That Nearly Started a War With Iran?” (The New York Times)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
• A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm

Suadad al-Salhy is freelance journalist covering Iraq’s politics and security. She is a former Reuters correspondent who has written for Al Jazeera, Newsweek and Lebanon’s Daily Star. Follow her on Twitter @suadadalsalhy.

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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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