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Kyle Anzalone was back on Antiwar Radio this week to talk about the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, the contested election in Venezuela and the protests and promises at the Democratic National Convention. They run through a number of stories related to each and then finish with a discussion about the promised Iranian retaliation against Israel. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Democratic Convention protesters to Harris: Israel arms embargo or no vote” (Al Jazeera)
• “The US Has No Right to Interfere in Venezuela’s Election” (Antiwar.com)
• “Death Toll for Palestinian Journalists in Gaza Hits 170” (Libertarian Institute)

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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Scott interviews Matthew Hoh about Joe Biden’s history pushing for the war in Iraq and his subsequent attempt to whitewash this record. When Hillary Clinton faced Barack Obama in the 2008 primary, Hillary’s record in support of the war was a major factor in Obama’s victory—Hoh wishes that this time around the other Democrats would make more out of Biden’s pro-war history instead of mostly letting foreign policy go undiscussed. Even Sanders, who has been sound in his opposition to the war in Yemen, and who theoretically should be staunchly antiwar, has not made this a central aspect of his campaign. The rest of the major candidates, Hoh says, are just as bad as Biden.

Discussed on the show:

• WORTH THE PRICE? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War
• “THE FIX IS IN” (antiwar.com)
• “How Wartime Washington Lives In Luxury” (The American Conservative)
• “Coca-Cola Classic ad: ‘Mean’ Joe Greene [Full Version] (1979)” (YouTube)
• “Secret Annexes Can Khalilzad Deliver Afghan Peace for Trump?” (Time)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
• “Iraq Has a New Prime Minister, but It Needs Regime Change to Escape Iran’s Influence” (Foreign Policy)

Matthew Hoh is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and formerly worked for the U.S. State Department. Hoh received the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling in 2010. Hoh is a member of the Board of Directors for Council for a Livable World and is an Advisory Board Member for Expose Facts. He writes on issues of war, peace and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery at matthewhoh.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: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott talks to Dave DeCamp about the OPCW’s efforts to discredit a pair of whistleblowers, both of whom are former employees who claim their findings were expunged from the organization’s official reports on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma in 2018. The OPCW concluded that there was clear evidence of the Assad government attacking its own civilians with chemical weapons, which was used as justification for the U.S. to launch a retaliatory strike. But these two former employees are adamant that the evidence did not point to such a conclusion—evidence that the OPCW intentionally ignored. Of course the mainstream media has covered basically none of this.

Discussed on the show:

• “OPCW Tries To Discredit Whistleblowers in Response to Douma Leaks” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “The OPCW and Douma: Chemical Weapons Watchdog Accused of Evidence-Tampering by Its Own Inspectors” (Counterpunch)
• “Exclusive: New leaks shatter OPCW’s attacks on Douma whistleblowers” (The Grayzone)
• “How John Bolton Once Threatened an International Official” (The Intercept)

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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Sheldon Richman discusses what he calls “the nonintervention principle,” a corollary of libertarianism’s nonaggression principle. Richman says that in the face of those who advocate foreign intervention and regime change, libertarians have a tendency to deny the claims that are being used to justify the intervention, rather than categorically opposing intervention qua intervention, no matter how bad the situation is. He acknowledges that many of these arguments are sound, so far as they go—for example, the fact that Assad is actually pretty good by regional standards—but that they can give the impression that in cases where the situation actually is dire, libertarians would be okay with the proposed regime change. This is obviously not the case, and Richman reminds us that opposition to this brand of foreign policy should be based first and foremost on the philosophical stance against any kind of aggressive war, not on the particulars of the situation at hand.

Discussed on the show:

• “TGIF: The Nonintervention Principle” (The Libertarian Institute)
• America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited
• Our Enemy, the State

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of Coming to Palestine and America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

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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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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download