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Scott is joined by Gabriel Shipton to talk about his brother, Julian Assange. Assange agreed to a plea deal earlier this week and is now, after thirteen years in various forms of captivity, back home in Australia. Scott and Shipton celebrate this momentous development and discuss the details of the plea deal. 

Discussed on the show:

• Ithaka (IMDb)

Gabriel Shipton is an Australian filmmaker and the half-brother of Julian Assange. Follow him on Twitter @GabrielShipton

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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Daniel Davis joins the show to talk about his recent article, “McMaster Uses Worn Vietnam Trope to Accuse Americans of Defeatism,” which discusses the similarities between the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. Afghanistan, says Davis, is just as unwinnable as Vietnam was, but today Americans are less aware of that fact than they were in the 1960s and 70s. Scott says America could have hunted down the Al-Qaeda members connected with the 9/11 attacks, declared a swift victory, and never even tried to fight a war against the Taliban, let alone establishing a new central government that will never stand.

Discussed on the show:

• “McMaster Uses Worn Vietnam Trope to Accuse Americans of Defeatism” (The American Conservative)

Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He writes a weekly column for National Interest 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 @DanielLDavis1.

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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; 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 propaganda being used to drive a possible war with Iran. President Trump appears to have bought into the story that Iran wants to develop, and possibly use, nuclear weapons, but at least his ignorance, says Porter, is better than the outright malice of other hawks who might know that Iran is no real threat to the U.S. but want war anyway.

Discussed on the show:

• “Do Iranian ‘Threats’ Signal Organized U.S.-Israel Subterfuge?” (The American Conservative)
• Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times
• Operation Inherent Resolve
• “Is Bolton’s War With Iran Becoming A Reality?” (The National Interest)
• Operation Desert Fox

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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; 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 Phyllis Bennis about the Palestinians’ Great March of Return, a protest against the unjust removal of Palestinians from their own land by the Israeli government. A huge problem, explains Bennis in a recent article, is the Israeli military’s policy to shoot all protestors, even children, who approach the border fence. Because of the lack of good medical care faced by many Palestinians, thousands have had to have limbs amputated and hundreds have died.

Discussed on the show:

• “Foreign Aid That Costs an Arm and a Leg — Literally” (OtherWords)
• “Israel’s War Criminals In Their Own Words, by Philip Giraldi” (The Unz Review)
• “What does Israel’s new justice minister really think about Arabs?” (Haaretz.com)
• “Resources on H.R. 2407, Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act” (Congresswoman Betty McCollum)
• “”A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”” (zFacts)

Phyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, focusing on Middle East, U.S. wars and UN issues. She is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. Find her on Twitter @PhyllisBennis.

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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

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West Virginia State Legislator Pat McGeehan joins the show to talk about his “Defend the Guard” bill, a statewide attempt to prevent national guard troops from being called to fight overseas wars, something that the states are supposed to have control over. McGeehan hopes that if several other states follow suit with similar bills it will force the issue of the injustice in sending American men and women to die needlessly fighting endless wars in the middle east.

Discussed on the show:

• “Defend the Guard Legislation” (Tenth Amendment Center)
• NSC 68

Pat McGeehan is a two-term representative in the West Virginia House of Delegates and a graduate of the U.S. air force academy. He is the author of Stoicism and the Statehouse. Follow him on Twitter @McGeehan4WV.

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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; 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 Grant Smith about his work obtaining secret government documents by FOIA request. This time Smith has gotten a 640-page document outlining Bush administration intelligence on Iraq’s nuclear weapons in the leadup to the Iraq war.

Discussed on the show:

• “Lesson From FBI’s ‘Niger Uranium Forgeries’ File” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Chappelle’s Show – Black Bush” (YouTube)
• The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris
• The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake Letter to Build the Case for War in Iraq

Grant F. Smith is the author of a number of books including Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America and Divert!. 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: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

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Professor Andrew Bacevich gives his take on the growing divide between the foreign policy views of the Washington political establishment and those of the rest of the country. Basically, he explains, Americans are sick of fighting endless wars in the middle east, but that’s something that politicians, particularly presidential hopefuls, have not tried to parlay into effective campaign strategy.

Discussed on the show:

• “Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, What Illinois Bikers Know That Washington Doesn’t” (TomDispatch)
• Blood in the Water: How the US and Israel Conspired to Ambush the USS Liberty

Andrew Bacevich is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. He is the author of a number of books including America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History and is a regular contributor at The American Conservative and TomDispatch.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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

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Mashal Hashem and James Allen, research associates with the Center for International Policy, join Scott to discuss their work on the congressional lobbying by American arms manufacturers. Last year the U.S. sold more than $4.5 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia alone, and American firms donated thousands of dollars to the people behind those decisions. Lobbying by the likes of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman create a perverse political incentive to start and continue wars.

Discussed on the show:

• “Tomgram: Hashem and Allen, Lobbying for War” (TomDispatch)

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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

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Ashraf Nubani discusses the Nakba, the catastrophic forced exodus of the people living in the Holy Land when the state of Israel was founded in 1948. Palestinians like Nubani, descended from those who were forced to leave their homes, still commemorate the event and demand justice for the past.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Nakba Demands Justice” (Antiwar.com Original)

Ashraf Nubani is an attorney in Washington D.C. He is a Palestinian rights advocate and writes about Middle East issues.

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; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download