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Scott is joined by Libertarian Institute Senior Fellow Laurie Calhoun to talk about Anthony Blinken. Using the recent transfer of F-16s to Ukraine as a jumping-off point, the two discuss Blinken’s terrible tenure as Secretary of State and reflect on the lunacy of the officials in charge of American foreign policy.

Discussed on the show:

• “Parody of a Statesman: Antony Blinken, Secretary of War” (Libertarian Institute)
• Cheney in 1994 on Iraq
• “New Information Shows CIA Contractors Colluded with the Biden Campaign to Discredit Hunter Biden Laptop Story” (House Intelligence Committee)

Laurie Calhoun is a Senior Fellow at the Libertarian Institute and the author of Questioning the COVID Company Line, We Kill Because We Can: From Soldiering to Assassination in the Drone Age, War and Delusion: A Critical Examination, You Can Leave, and Philosophy Unmasked: A Skeptic’s Critique.

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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Jason Ditz updates Scott on the news from the Middle East. Recently, a missing Emirati tanker that some claimed had been seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz was revealed to have simply been towed there voluntarily for repairs. In other news, the UAE has announced the withdrawal of its troops from Yemen, probably realizing it can’t win a ground war there, at least not without stretching itself too thinly and becoming exposed at home. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, seems content to keep fighting the war, since they want to ensure that the entire country is ruled by a friendly regime, or even a puppet ruler.

Discussed on the show:

• “‘Missing’ Oil Tanker Was Towed to Iran for Repairs” (News From Antiwar.com)

Jason Ditz is the news editor of Antiwar.com. Read all of his work at news.antiwar.com and follow him on Twitter @jasonditz.

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

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott interviews Daniel McAdams about the influence of Mike Pompeo and John Bolton on President Trump’s foreign policy. Lately they’ve made sure to keep up a policy of maximum pressure through economic sanctions, and to avoid negotiations at all costs. It’s clear from their strategy that what they really want is a war. Trump’s good instincts on Iran may be the only thing that’s still keeping us at peace.

Discussed on the show:

• “Rand Paul angles to become Trump’s emissary to Iran” (POLITICO)
• “Pompeo: ‘I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole’” (YouTube)

Daniel McAdams is the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and the co-host of the Ron Paul Liberty Report. Follow him on Twitter @DanielLMcAdams and read all of his work over at Antiwar.com.

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

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Mark Perry talks about the history of America’s near misses on war with Iran, starting with the 1983 Beirut barracks attack that almost led to an American bombing campaign against the Iranians. According to Perry, President Reagan realized that such an attack would be both ineffective, and also beneath the “dignity” of the United States military. The point of a strong military, says Perry, is to not use it, except against major powers in extreme circumstances. The excessive use of our military all over the world in the last 20 years only wastes blood and treasure while making the country look weak.

Discussed on the show:

• “1984: The Year America Didn’t Go To War” (The American Conservative)
• A Foreign Policy Of Freedom: Peace, Commerce, And Honest Friendship

Mark Perry is the author of Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with its Enemies and The Most Dangerous Man in America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur. His most recent book, The Pentagon’s Wars was released in October. Read his work at The American Conservative Magazine and follow him on Twitter @MarkPerryDC.

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

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Scott talks to Reese Erlich about the demonstrations in Hong Kong against the country’s proposed extradition law. After a Hong Kong man brutally murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan, and then fled back to Hong Kong, knowing he couldn’t be extradited to the country where he had committed his crime, lawmakers thought it might be time to enact new extradition treaties, of which Hong Kong has very few with any countries. Even though the proposed law is fairly moderate in what it allows, protestors fear the ways it could be abused by the Hong Kong or Chinese governments.

Discussed on the show:

• “What’s Really Going On in Hong Kong?” (Antiwar.com Original)

Reese Erlich is a freelance journalist who has reported from the Middle East for decades. His nationally distributed column, Foreign Correspondent, appears every two weeks. He is the author of The Iran Agenda Today: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis. Find him on Twitter at @ReeseErlich or at his website.

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

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Gareth Porter explains the latest lie being used to promote a war with Iran. This time, the old story from the mid-2000s that Iran was responsible for a certain type of roadside bomb that killed about 600 U.S. soldiers in Eastern Iraq has new life, thanks to John Bolton and his allies. Gareth Porter and many other friends of the Scott Horton Show debunked this idea when it first arose more than ten years ago. An extra bit of irony is the recent Army study finding that Iran is the only country that actually benefited from America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Discussed on the show:

• “Lies About Iran Killing US Troops in Iraq Are a Ploy to Justify War” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “POLITICS: U.S. Military Ignored Evidence of Iraqi-Made EFPs” (Inter Press Service)
• “The Truth About Iraqi EFPs by Philip Giraldi” (The Scott Horton Show)
• “ERROR: The request could not be satisfied” (LA Times)
• “Iraq’s Superbombs, Still Home Made” (WIRED)
• “Chlorine Gas Attack by Truck Bomber Kills Up to 30 in Iraq” (The New York Times)
• “U.S. Find Stokes Fears Of Iraqis’ Bomb-Making Ability” (WSJ)
• The Good Soldiers
• “Army’s long-awaited Iraq war study finds Iran was the only winner in a conflict that holds many lessons for future wars” (Army Times)
• Pentagon Papers
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)

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: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Independent journalist Suzie Dawson joins the show to talk about Julian Assange’s continued plight for his freedom and credibility. Dawson details the many strategies that have been used to discredit and imprison him, including now-dubious claims of sexual assault and the ever-present charges of working for the Russians against the United States. Dawson herself had to move to Russia after relentless attacks on her privacy and safety by the governments of New Zealand and Germany that included stalking, break-ins, thefts, and revealing her personal information to the public.

Discussed on the show:

• “We are Women Against Rape but we do not want Julian Assange extradited | Katrin Axelsson and Lisa Longstaff | Opinion” (The Guardian)
• Collateral Murder
• “John Kiriakou on Twitter: “A fair trial in the Eastern District of Virginia, under Judge Leonie Brinkema, is utterly impossible. They don’t call EDVA the “Espionage Court” for nothing.”” (Twitter)
• “5/31/19 Trevor Timm on the Century’s Greatest 1st Amendment Threat” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “DNC email database” (Wikileaks)
• “Climatic Research Unit emails, data, models, 1996-2009” (WikiLeaks)
• “Freeing Julian Assange: Part One” (ContraSpin)
• “Conspiracyland: The Russian connection to Seth Rich conspiracies” (Yahoo News)

Suzie Dawson is a citizen journalist who writes regularly for Consortium News, Contraspin, The Daily Blog NZ, and many others. Follow her on Twitter @Suzi3D.

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

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Daniel Lazare gives an update in the indictment of the Russain Internet Research Agency, who actually showed up in American court, contrary to the expectations of Robert Mueller. In Mueller’s report, he alleges that the firm conducted their activity on American social media sites at the behest of the Putin Government. The first part of that allegation is true, but there is no evidence that the firm has any connection to the Russian government. The judge in the case recently issued an order saying as much, which completely undermines any case of government collusion.

Discussed on the show:

• “Concord Management and the End of Russiagate” (Consortiumnews)
• “The Parallax View (1974)” (IMDb)
• Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign

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: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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Mike Maharrey explains how the United States government uses the pressure of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency to get its way in foreign policy. One method is by forcing the global SWIFT payment system to lock out countries that don’t want to play ball with the American world order. For daring to utter this forbidden truth, Maharrey has been smeared by the mainstream media as an “isolationist”. In reality he just doesn’t want the U.S. military to intervene in everyone’s wars—a position that the mainstream cannot tolerate.

Discussed on the show:

• “US is using SWIFT as a kind of ‘billy club’ in its foreign policy, expert tells RT” (RT Business News)
• “RT Falsely Claims U.S. Uses SWIFT as Weapon” (Polygraph)
• “A Majority of Military Veterans Think the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq Were a Mistake – Mother Jones” (Mother Jones)
• “Toys (1992)” (IMDb)

Mike Maharrey is National Communications Coordinator for the Tenth Amendment Center. He is the author of three books on nullification and hosts the Thoughts from Maharrey Head podcast. Find him on Twitter @mmaharrey10th.

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

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

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