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Max Blumenthal of The Grayzone was on Antiwar Radio this week to discuss the nationwide student movement protesting American support for Israel’s ongoing slaughter in Gaza. He and Scott discuss the history of American student opposition to Israel before getting into the details of what we’re seeing today. Blumenthal argues that the war machine could suffer a serious hit if the divestment demands of these students are met.

Discussed on the show:

• “‘Israeli soldier’ from notorious unit confesses to US citizen’s killing” (The Grayzone)

Max Blumenthal is a senior editor of the Grayzone Project and the author Goliath, Republican Gomorrah and The 51 Day War. Follow him on Twitter @MaxBlumenthal.

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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Doug Bandow joins the show to talk about all four of his recent articles, covering China, Cuba, Yemen, and Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The entire foreign policy establishment is melting down over the announcement, but Bandow says this is unequivocally the right move; American presence in the Middle East has accomplished basically nothing good and has only provoked more radicalism and unrest. Because everyone around Trump disagrees with him right now, Bandow thinks it’s vitally  important for people who do favor withdrawal to make themselves heard. Bandow and Scott also talk Yemen, Obama’s opening of relations with Cuba, and the recent arrest of Huawei’s finance chief.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Fateful Arrest That Could Poison America’s Relationship With China” (The American Conservative)
• “It’s Time for a Policy Change on Cuba” (The National Interest)
• “Why Trump Is Right to Withdraw Troops” (Cato Institute)
• “It’s Time to End U.S. Support for the Saudi War on Yemen” (Cato Institute)

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular contributor at Forbes Magazine, the National Interest, and elsewhere. He’s on Twitter @Doug_Bandow.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Aaron Maté talks about the latest with the Russian collusion investigation, which he looks at skeptically. He observes that the aim of the investigation does not seem to be to get to the truth, but rather to scare people, which generates clicks and views for the media and helps justify the existence of the military-industrial complex. Maté also points out that factually the case doesn’t add up—certain incidents might seem plausible, like Russian hacking of the DNC email server, but each of the allegations of actual collusion between President Trump’s team and the Russians falls apart under close scrutiny. Indeed the whole investigation bears this quality: taken together, the large number of allegations looks very serious, but since each one is flimsy on its own, they don’t add up to much of anything at all. Not to mention the fact that Trump’s policies have been fairly hawkish toward Russia, so it’s hard to claim Putin has a “puppet” in the White House, as Trump’s detractors continually claim.

Discussed on the show:

• “Don’t Let Russophobia Warp the Facts on Russiagate” (The Nation)
• “Collateral Murder” (Wikileaks)
• “Russian propagandists targeted African Americans to influence 2016 US election | US news” (The Guardian)
• “Clinton’s ‘superpredators’ comment most damaging by either candidate” (TheHill)
• “The Death of Ricky Ray Rector” (Jacobin)
• “Bill Clinton’s Sister Souljah moment – JUNE 13, 1992” (YouTube)
• Logan Act

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

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Sharon Tennison of the Center for Citizen Initiatives tells her incredible story of citizen diplomacy in the 1980s, when she made dozens of trips to the Soviet Union hoping to meet and befriend regular Russian civilians. She reminds us that over 90 percent of Russians were not Communist Party members—by and large they were just like the average American, and were eager to get along with American visitors. Although Tennison’s focus was not on Russian politicians, she did meet some, including a young Vladimir Putin long before he became President. Tennison says he was intellectual, introverted, and (unlike most of the politicians and bureaucrats she met) not at all corrupt. She believes he cares deeply about following the laws of the country, and advises us not to believe his portrayal in the American media.

Discussed on the show:

• “How one woman’s citizen diplomacy has strengthened US-Russia ties for decades” (The Christian Science Monitor)
• The Power of Impossible Ideas: Ordinary Citizens’ Extraordinary Efforts to Avert International Crises
• Mikhail Gorbachev

Sharon Tennison focuses on strengthening ties between America and Russia by traveling there and befriending Russians directly. She works with the Center for Citizen Initiatives.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Philip Weiss of Mondoweiss.net joins the show to talk about the Israel Lobby’s influence over Bill Clinton’s 1992 defeat of George Bush Sr., and the ways the lobby continues to assert itself in American politics. Weiss tells the story of Bush deliberately standing up to Israeli lobbyists, thinking he didn’t need their support to win, but ended up realizing that the move probably cost him the election—to this day the lobby has a tight hold on the Republican Party, and even many democrats. Opposition to Israeli influence today is much more prominent in the form of the BDS movement. Scott explains that when Israel and its lobbyists loudly decry BDS, it only draws attention to them. More importantly, it makes Americans, and American Jews in particular, start looking into why anyone would want to oppose Israel in the first place. Indeed the anti-Zionist movement enjoys many supporters among American Jews.

Discussed on the show:

• Bush’s opposition to Israel in ’91 hurt his bid for second term, and skewed U.S. foreign policy right (Mondoweiss)
• “The Lobby – USA” (Libertarian Institute)
• Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
• “The Zion Game” (nymag.com)
• Oslo Accords
• Timber Sycamore

Philip Weiss is the long-time editor of Mondoweiss.net. Follow him on Twitter @PhilWeiss.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Eric Margolis gives an update on the “yellow vest” protests in France over recent fuel taxes announced by President Macron. The protests have caused Macron to back down from some of his policies, which Margolis says has left him looking weak. Macron’s future as leader of France looks uncertain. Margolis explains that Americans, conservatives in particular, have a skewed image of the French, remembering only that America “saved them” in two World Wars—never mind the fact that U.S. intervention in World War I prevented a likely negotiated resolution, gave the Allies an overwhelming military victory, and set up catastrophic economic conditions for Germany that would later give rise to Hitler and World War II. We also forget about France’s long history as a military and imperial power before the 20th century, including their indispensable aid to American revolutionaries in defeating the British. Scott and Margolis also talk about the first Iraq War, and the history of America’s military intervention in the Middle East.

Discussed on the show:

• Wilson’s War: How Woodrow Wilson’s Great Blunder Led to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and World War II
• “A Big Step for a Greater Israel” (Unz.com)
• Deterring Democracy
• April Glaspie
• “12/3/18 Barry Lando on the First Iraq War” (Libertarian Institute)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
• “Baghdad Delenda Est.” (National Review)
• A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
• The 9/11 Commission Report
• Sykes–Picot Agreement

Eric Margolis is a foreign affairs correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj. Follow him on Twitter @EricMargolis and visit his website, ericmargolis.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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Michael Klare joins Scott to talk about his recent article, “Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!”, about the dangers of a future where our weapons systems are controlled by artificial intelligence—indeed they already are to an ever greater extent. Computers of course have a big advantage over humans in processing lots of data quickly, so they can conceivably do a much better job calculating when and where to fire weapons, running simulations of different battle scenarios, distinguishing valid targets based on image recognition, etc. What they can’t do is make the type of decision that might involve losing a conventional war rather than starting a nuclear war. Moreover, computers are only as good as the humans programming them, and those humans can and do make mistakes. Unfortunately we have a tendency to trust computers as inherently immune to mistakes.

Discussed on the show:

• ““Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!”” (Unz.com)
• Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• “Expelled for Possession of a Butter Knife” (ABC)
• “‘The Business of War’: Google Employees Protest Work for the Pentagon” (New York Times)

Michael Klare is the author of The Race for What’s Left and a regular contributor at TomDispatch.com. Find him on Twitter @mklare1.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Mark Perry joins the show to talk about President Trump’s bombshell news that he plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Perry says most people in the military think this is absolutely the right move, despite many loud claims to the contrary from pundits on both left and right. Perry considers it eminently reasonable to take the position that American military presence probably can’t singlehandedly shift the political landscape in Syria—not to mention the fact that our presence endangers the relationship with Turkey, a NATO member and our ally. Perry and Scott also talk about Yemen, where President Trump has similarly promised an end to U.S. support. In Yemen, and almost everywhere else the United States tries to intervene, explains Perry, we’ve ended up strengthening and emboldening the Iranians, often expressly the opposite of what was intended.

Discussed on the show:

• “Saudi Arabia’s Blood Pact With a Genocidal Strongman” (The American Conservative)
• “Trump’s Decision to Leave Syria Was No ‘Surprise’” (The American Conservative)
• “12/17/18 Reese Erlich on All Trump’s Wars” (Libertarian Institute)
• “US generals: Saudi intervention in Yemen ‘a bad idea’” (Al Jazeera)
• Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
• Chinese Civil War
• Anbar campaign
• Second Intifada
• Jamal Khashoggi

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

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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William Hartung comes on the show to discuss the latest in Yemen, particularly with respect to the political relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. He explains that the Saudis finally have an opportunity to use all the American weapons they’ve been buying for the last few decades, essentially as a stimulus program for America. President Trump loves to claim that these sales are great for the economy, but the deals aren’t nearly as big as he sometimes claims, in reality supporting only about 20,000 jobs. The Saudis have claimed that the many civilian deaths in their airstrikes have been accidental, but there are so many of them it’s difficult to believe they’re all really mistakes.

Discussed on the show:

• “U.S. Military Support For Saudi Arabia And The War In Yemen” (LobeLog)
• “10/20/18 Martha Mundy Gives an Update on Yemen” (Libertarian Institute)
• “In Saudi Arabia’s War in Yemen, No Refuge on Land or Sea” (New York Time)
• “U.S.-backed Saudi Airstrike on Family With Nine Children Shows “Clear Violations” of the Laws of War” (The Intercept)
• Reagan National Defense Forum
• Jamal Khashoggi
• “Tomgram: Ben Freeman, The Saudi Lobby Juggernaut” (TomDispatch.com)
• “Jimmy Carter Toasts the Shah” (Voices & Visions)
• “From Arizona to Yemen: The Journey of an American Bomb” (New York Times)

William Hartung is director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, and the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. Find him on Twitter @WilliamHartung.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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