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Eli Clifton returns to the show to talk about some of the recent reporting he’s done at Responsible Statecraft. They start with a couple of reports Clifton highlights about the status of nuclear weapons around the world today and how much of our money is being spent to produce and maintain them. They then move on to money in politics, discussing AIPAC’s funding of Jamal Bownman’s primary defeat and the concerning group set to become Donald Trump’s biggest donors.

Discussed on the show:

• “World spending on nukes explodes to more than $90 billion” (Responsible Statecraft)
• Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
• “Bowman crushed by GOP-fueled AIPAC cash” (Responsible Statecraft)
• “TikTok investor Jeff Yass wants to shape US foreign policy too” (Responsible Statecraft)

Eli Clifton is a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and Investigative-Journalist-at-Large at Responsible Statecraft. Follow him on Twitter @EliClifton.

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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Mark Thornton, Senior Fellow of the Ludwig von Mises institute and Book Review Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, is interviewed on the so called “Skyscraper Theory”, and his new book “The Skyscraper Curse“, about the correlation of new tall Skyscrapers being built around the time of economic downturns.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; LibertyStickers.com; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Korea analyst Simone Chun comes on the show for an update on the Korean peace process. As usual, bipartisan opposition to Trump looms large, even with respect to policies that should have universal popularity, like peace on the Korean Peninsula. Chun explains how the media continue to ignore the fact that the negotiations are really led by Korean leaders, and the Trump mostly just refuses to put the kibosh on the talks, the way previous American presidents have. They probably want to do this so that they can stir up opposition to peace, with the ultimate goal of keeping our troops there (forever). Chun also discusses the tragic family separation that’s a byproduct of a divided Korea.

Discussed on the show:

• “Toward A Truly Indigenous Peace in The Korean Peninsula” (Common Dreams)
• Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
• Camp Humphreys
• “Sea of Tears: The Tragedy of Families Split by the Korean War” (Common Dreams)

Simone Chun is a member of the Korea Policy Institute and the Korea Peace Network, and is on the steering committee for the Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea. Read her work at Common Dreams.

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 TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Reese Erlich is interviewed on the latest Taliban offensive in Afghanistan in Ghanzi city. The city was taken and the Taliban then withdrew, after killing many policeman and accepting the surrender of many Afghan forces. Also discussed is the history of the conflict, and whether or not the US will finally withdraw.

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. His book The Iran Agenda Today: the Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis (Routledge Books) ­will be published this Fall. Follow him on Twitter at @ReeseErlich, or on Facebook, or at his website.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; LibertyStickers.com; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Eric Eikenberry comes on the show to give an update on the war in Yemen. Thanks in part to a campaign of letters and phone calls to congressmen, political will for the war is fading somewhat, and Eric is hopeful that we may see an end to U.S. support for the war.

Discussed on the show:

• “Congress, White House Reaching Breaking Point On Yemen?” (Lobelog)
• “US supplied bomb that killed 40 children on Yemen school bus” (The Guardian)
• War Powers Resolution

Eric Eikenberry is the Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Yemen Peace Project and an advocacy associate at Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain. Follow him on Twitter @eric_eikenberry.

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 TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Sheldon Richman returns to the show, this time to interview Khaled Al Sabawi about his work helping Palestinians on renewable energy projects and with getting property deeds. Sabawi explains the many injustices suffered by Palestinians at Israeli hands, as well as the frustrations dealing with a Palestinian Authority that frequently just carries water for the Israeli government.

Discussed on the show:

• “8/10/18 Sheldon Richman on Palestinian Property Rights” (Libertarian Institute)
• “TGIF: A Glimmer of Hope in Bleak Palestine” (Libertarian Institute)
• Every Palestinian Needs a Title
• “The Good Deed” (Forbes)
• “The Alienation of a Homeland: How Palestine Became Israel” (Mises Institute)
• Mahmoud Abbas
• First Intifada
• Palestine Liberation Organization
• Oslo Accords
• Netanyahu leaked footage

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

Khaled Al Sabawi is the CEO of Union Construction and Investment and of MENA Geothermal. Follow his work at tabo.ps.

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 TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Peter Van Buren is interviewed on his recent twitter ban, and also his books “We Meant Well” and his time in Iraq as a foreign service officer. Van Buren talks about the drama surrounding his book’s publication while he was still employed at the State Department, and discusses at length his experiences in Iraq.

Peter Van Buren worked for 24 years at the Department of State including a year in Iraq. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and the novel Hooper’s War. He is now a contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; LibertyStickers.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.
Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Phil Weiss of Mondoweiss.net talks Israeli occupation of Palestine and why so many American Jews, particularly on the political left, are willing to go along with it. In large part, he explains, it’s because the collective memory of Jewish persecution is too raw to conceive of Israel as an aggressor. There’s also a lot of influence from the Israel lobby in the democratic party, so average voters just toe the line. Weiss sees reason for optimism in Trump’s presidency, however, because it may allow liberals to credibly oppose his policies in support of Israel.

Discussed on the show:

• “Jewish Nation State Law: Q&A with Adalah’s Hassan Jabareen” (Mondoweiss)
• American invasion of Canada
• “Birthright walkout is met with vitriolic rage in Israel — ‘Radicals’ ‘You will get raped’” (Mondoweiss)
• Law of Return
• Begin: “Hitler in his bunker”

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 TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Airwars reporter Oliver Imhof joins Scott to talk about all the Iraqi casualties from coalition drone bombing and artillery strikes. Because of the difficulty and danger involved in getting into these war zones, the numbers are hard to verify, but almost certainly they are higher than the official statistics coming from our own and other governments.

Discussed on the show:

• “Four years of war and ISIS is almost defeated – but at what cost?” (Airwars)
• Battle of Mosul
• Battle of Raqqa
• Fallujah

Oliver Imhof is a freelance journalist specializing in foreign policy and international affairs. Read his work at The Guardian and Airwars, and follow him on Twitter @oimho.

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 TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.