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Scott interviews journalist Cathy Logan and lawyer Eddie Lloyd about David McBride, the Australian whistleblower who revealed war crimes committed by Australian forces during the war in Afghanistan. McBride was just sentenced to prison. Vogan and Lloyd recount McBride’s story and then dig into the technicalities of the case.

Discussed on the show:

• “Whistleblower McBride Sentenced to 5 Yrs., 8 Mos.” (Consortium News)
• “If you’re seeing this, I’m in jail.” — McBride’s latest YouTube video
• Scott’s interview with Braden Chapman
• Scott’s interview with Ben Mckelvey

Cathy Vogan is a journalist with Consortium News. 

Eddie Lloyd is a defense attorney representing David McBride

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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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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Reese Erlich talks to Scott about the war in Yemen and about his latest article on the Russiagate controversy. Erlich thinks we can be cautiously optimistic about Yemen now that public pressure against the war is mounting (a recent poll found that 75% of Americans oppose it), and with the senate passing its resolution invoking the War Powers Act. This resolution doesn’t actually make the war illegal, but politically it may force President Trump’s hand. The same poll that showed public opposition to the war also found that a significant number of Americans didn’t even know the U.S. was involved in a war in Yemen. Scott and Erlich lament the way that the government and the media deliberately obfuscate many of our foreign conflicts so that it doesn’t really feel like war to most Americans until there are significant troops on the ground and trillions of dollars wasted. This keeps people with essentially antiwar sentiments from very actively opposing America’s wars, as does the Russiagate narrative, which Erlich explains pushes Liberals who should oppose Trump for his foreign policy right into the hands of the “intelligence community.”

Discussed on the show:

• “Sex, Russia, and Impeachment” (Progressive.org)
• S.J.Res.54
• War Powers Resolution
• “A Middle East Monarchy Hired American Ex-Soldiers To Kill Its Political Enemies. This Could Be The Future Of War.” (Buzzfeed)
• “Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy, sources say” (The Guardian)
• Reichstag fire

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; 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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Nasser Arrabyee gives the latest on the war in Yemen, following the recent peace talks in Sweden where the UN negotiated a ceasefire in Hodeidah. Despite only moderate political pressure from the United States to end the war, Arrabyee thinks that increased media attention and public awareness of the war has helped create pressure on Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the UN. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman started this war to help make his reputation as a strong leader, explains Arrabyee, but now that it’s starting to make him look bad—especially after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi—Arrabyee thinks he wants out. With both Saudi Arabia and America looking to end the war, he’s optimistic that things could finally be changing.

Discussed on the show:

• War Powers Resolution
• S.J.Res.54
• H.Con.Res.138
• Jamal Khashoggi
• Mohammad bin Salman
• “From Arizona to Yemen: The Journey of an American Bomb” (New York Times)
• “Yemen: 85,000 Children May Have Died from Starvation Since Start of War” (Save the Children)
• “Press Release: Yemen War Death Toll Now Exceeds 60,000 According To Latest Acled Data” (Acled Data)

Nasser Arrabyee is a Yemeni journalist based in Sana’a, Yemen. He is the owner and director of yemen-now.com. You can follow him on Twitter @narrabyee.

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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Ted Snider details Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s intriguing and complex past helping to steal nuclear parts from America, for which he is now being investigated in Israel. Although most of the investigation and press coverage focuses on the associated corruption scandal and not the truly shady history, Snider believes Netanyahu could be in real political trouble. Even if he gets removed from office, neither Snider nor Scott thinks it likely that much will be made of Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program, because to do so would be to admit that the United States is giving aid to a country in violation of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. They also discuss the war in Yemen, where a common narrative is that America is only supporting Saudi Arabia in order to check the power of Iran, on whose behalf the Yemeni Houthis are supposedly fighting. Scott points out the irony of this position: by withdrawing U.S. support, the government would be granting the Iranians a rhetorical victory they actually have little or no part in, precisely the opposite of their supposed goal.

Discussed on the show:

• “Netanyahu’s latest corruption case could expose long hidden secrets about Israel’s nuclear weapons program” (Mondoweiss)
• Arnon Milchan
• Shimon Peres
• Stealing the Atom Bomb: How Denial and Deception Armed Israel
• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
• “Groundbreaking poll: American support for one democratic state equal to support for two state solution” (Mondoweiss)
• S.J.Res.54
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
• Iran hostage crisis
• “When All You’ve Got Is Bullying: A New Way of Dealing With America” (Antiwar.com)
• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Ted Snider has a graduate degree in philosophy and writes on analyzing patterns in U.S. foreign policy and history. He is a regular writer for Antiwar.com and ConsortiumNews.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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