Download Episode.

Scott interviews Frank Ledwidge about his recent travels around Ukraine. Ledwidge discusses the difference in mood between cities and rural communities, corruption, equipment difficulties and more.

Discussed on the show:

• Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
• Willy OAM on YouTube 
• “A strategy is needed now before it’s too late for Ukraine” (CNN)

Frank Ledwidge is a former military officer who served in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of Losing Small Wars and Investment in Blood.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Get Scott’s interviews before anyone else! Subscribe to the Substack.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjY

Hassan El-Tayyab talks about various movements to stop the U.S.-backed war in Yemen, and what we can all do to help. Tayyab explains that millions of civilians there are on the brink of the worst famine in 100 years. So far political will has not really been behind ending the war, but following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi things may finally be changing. Tayyab’s organization is tracking the progress of two congressional resolutions that would invoke the War Powers Act to end American involvement in the war. If the President declares an end to U.S. support, says Tayyab, the war would just about end immediately.

Discussed on the show:

• Just Foreign Policy
• H.Con.Res.138
• S.J.Res.54
• H.Con.Res.81
• War Powers Resolution
• Jamal Khashoggi
• “US supplied bomb that killed 40 children on Yemen school bus” (The Guardian)
• “11/5/18 Scott Paul on Yemen” (Libertarian Institute)

Hassan El-Tayyab is a musician and peace activist based in Chicago. Find his work at justforeignpolicy.org.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Major Danny Sjursen comes back on the show to talk about the many errors of the various American wars in Iraq. Sjursen has written a new article discussing a recently leaked report that was commissioned during and about Iraq War 2, but was deliberately stymied and kept from the American people.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Army Stymied Its Own Study of the Iraq War” (Wall Street Journal)
• “Will Iraq Become Another ‘Lesson Lost’ Like Vietnam?” (The American Conservative)
• Pentagon Papers
• Raymond T. Odierno
• Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
• Sean MacFarland
• Muqtada al-Sadr
• “Collateral Murder” (Wikileaks)
• The Good Soldiers
• Badr Organization

Danny Sjursen is a major in the U.S. army and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Scott Paul joins the show to talk about recent developments in the war in Yemen, where new casualty estimates claim at least 50,000 deaths just from direct violence. Oxfam estimates that the there are over 100 additional deaths from cholera and deprivation per day, and that when all is said and done hundreds of thousands of civilians will have been found to have died because of the war. Paul reminds us that there is plenty of room to negotiate peace, since most Yemenis hardly care at all about the politics of the war—they just want to be able to afford food.

Discussed on the show:

• ALCED Yemen Data
• Jamal Khashoggi
• “1/5/18 The UN’s Jamie McGoldrick on the state of affairs in Yemen” (Libertarian Institute)
• “10/20/18 Martha Mundy Gives an Update on Yemen” (Libertarian Institute)
• “A Yemen Ceasefire? Believe It When You See It” (American Conservative)
• “ACTION ALERT: It’s Been Over a Year Since MSNBC Has Mentioned US War in Yemen” (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)

Scott Paul is a senior policy advisor at OxFam. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottTPaul.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Professor Stephen Walt comes on the show to talk about his new book on American foreign policy. He explains the doctrine of “foreign policy realism,” which tries to objectively evaluate the consequences of military endeavors, and not focus excessively on the morality of stopping bad people across the world. For example, if the United States keeps trying to remake the Middle East, the unintended victims tend to want retribution, no matter how noble the intentions of spreading liberalism were. Of course, it’s not even a given that American intentions are noble to begin with, which Scott presses Walt on. Walt goes on to discuss his idea of “offshore balancing.”

Discussed on the show:

• The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy
• Henry Kissinger
• Arab Spring
• Likud Party

Stephen Walt is Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the author of Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy. He is a regular contributor to ForeignPolicy.com. Follow him on Twitter @stephenWalt.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Frequent Scott Horton Show guest Nasser Arrabyee comes back for an update on the current situation in Yemen. He explains that Coalition goals there simply can’t be realized, and that the U.S. should just end its support for the Saudis as soon as possible. If America withdraws, he believes Saudi Arabia will soon follow suit. Arrabyee also talks about how the casualty reports from the New York Times and other sources, namely 10,000 deaths, can’t possibly be right, given all the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure and the cholera outbreaks. He does think, however, that the war could actually end soon, due to recent outcry against Saudi Arabia.

Discussed on the show:

• “6/20/18 Nasser Arrabyee on the Latest in the War in Yemen” (Libertarian Institute)
• “How the War in Yemen Became a Bloody Stalemate” (New York Times)
• Jamal Khashoggi
• ALCED 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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You are listening to the Scott Horton Show. 10/31/18 Conn Hallinan on the Syrian Chessboard

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Scott interviews Gareth Porter on his latest article for Middle East Eye, in which he explains that there’s enough pressure now, following the death of Jamal Khashoggi, for the United States to back down a little in our relationship with Saudi Arabia. Porter doesn’t imagine a drastic cutting of ties, but he is confident something will have to change. Unfortunately, too much of our foreign policy is controlled by interests in the arms industry, particularly drone bombers these days, for a little bit of public backlash to completely upend our presence in the Middle East.

Discussed on the show:

• “A chance for the US to distance itself from Saudi Arabia” (Middle East Eye)
• Jamal Khashoggi
• “Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (CorpWatch)
• Khobar Towers bombing
• “10/28/18 Lecture for the Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy” (Libertarian Institute)
• “The Crown Prince of Riyadh vs. The Crown Prince of Jihad” (War on the Rocks)
• “The Khashoggi Affair and the Future of Saudi Arabia” (Consortium News)

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

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Listen to Scott’s lecture at a recent Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy event, where he discusses his book and the background of the war on terror.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download