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Journalist and author Kevin Gosztola was on Antiwar Radio to discuss the most recent development in the government’s war on Julian Assange — a potential plea deal. Gosztola reviews what we know about the possible deal and lays out why this should not be considered good news.

Discussed on the show:

• “Julian Assange, Justice Department Exploring Guilty Plea to End 14-Year Legal Drama” (Wall Street Journal)

Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” He is the author of Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case Against Julian Assange. Follow him on Twitter @kgosztola.

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

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Cornell professor of organic chemistry David Collum joins Scott to discuss the recent poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter in London. Collum explains why Theresa May’s initial comments about the chemical’s properties set off his skeptic alarms and what the alternative possibilities to the accepted narrative are. Collum then explains why he’s a believer in Austrian Business Cycle theory and argues that, had the criminals of the 2008 recession been justly prosecuted and imprisoned, the American political landscape would be far saner. Lastly Collum does his best to forecast the next crash and explains why he thinks it could be even worse than the last.

David Collum is a professor of organic chemistry at Cornell University. Follow him on Twitter @DavidBCollum.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Investigative journalist and historian Gareth Porter returns to the show to do a deep dive on the history of the Iraq War. Porter begins by detailing the role of the air force in propagating the neoconservatives’ goals and the behind-the-scenes struggle for power that took place between the army and the air force. Scott then asks Porter: how could the neoconservatives not realize that overthrowing Saddam Hussein would empower the Iranians? On their way through the history of the Iraq War Scott and Porter land on the brutal torture carried out by American allies, the myriad failures of David Petraeus, and how the first sign of democracy ripped the country apart. The two then discuss the conditions that led to the Sunni-based insurgency, the creation of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the sectarian civil war that followed. Porter then recalls his first appearance on the Scott Horton Show, which was to discuss the pre-conditions the United States was creating in Iraq for war with Iran. Finally Scott asks Porter about the Obama years and how a new president who ran against the record of the former president managed to make the same mistakes.

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.

• “3/20/18 Jonathan Schwarz on the history and lies of the Iraq War” (The Scott Horton Show)
• “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm by David Wurmser 1996” (ScottHorton.org)
• “Coping with Crumbling States: A Western and Israeli Balance of Power Strategy for the Levant by David Wurmser 1996” (ScottHorton.org)
• Ahmed Chalabi
• “9/10/2001: Rumsfeld says $2.3 Trillion Missing from Pentagon” (YouTube)
• “US: Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” by Richard Cummings (Playboy)
• Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
• “Burnt Offering,” by Gareth Porter (The American Prospect)
• “How Ahmed Chalabi Conned the Neocons,” by John Dizard (Salon)
• Ali al-Sistani
• Muqtada al-Sadr
• “Part 1: How Petraeus Created the Myth of His Success,” by Gareth Porter (Truth-Out)
• Salvador Option
• “Ex-State Dept. official: Hundreds of detainees died in U.S. custody, at least 25 murdered.” (ThinkProgress)
• “Frago 242,” by Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com)
• “Rumsfeld and Pace Discuss Torture” (C-SPAN)
• Ahmed Yassin
• 2004 Fallujah ambush
• The Long Road Home
• Rejectionists
• Zalmay Khalilzad
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
• “Transcript: President Bush, Part 2” with Katie Couric (CBS News)
• 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing
• “The Other Scott Horton“
• Nouri al-Maliki
• U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement
• The Good Soldiers, by David Finkel
• “08/16/10 – David Finkel” (The Scott Horton Show)
• Collateral Murder (WikiLeaks)
• Ayad Allawi
• “The Real Head-Drilling “Butchers” of Iraq,” by Dan Sanchez (Antiwar.com)
• “Inside Obama’s War Room,” by Michael Hastings (Rolling Stone)
• “The Redirection,” by Seymour Hersh (The New Yorker)
• “How America Armed Terrorists in Syria,” by Gareth Porter (The American Conservative)
• “Quiet Support for Saudis Entangles U.S. in Yemen” (The New York Times)
• “Mutual suspicion frays historic US-Saudi ties” (Financial Times)

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.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabyee returns to the show to discuss the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen, which is now entering its fourth year. Arrabyee describes the mood on the ground in Yemen, how things have changed since the beginning of the war, and what a political solution might look like. Scott then asks about the role of the UAE in the conflict and its alliance with the separatists of Southern Yemen and what Arrabyee’s thoughts are on the recent failed Senate resolution to invoke the War Powers act to stop U.S. aid to the Saudis. Arrabyee then gives his best estimate of the total casualties that have been amassed since the beginning of the war.

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 Twiiter @narrabyee.

Discussed on the show:

• “Yemen’s Houthi rebels fire missiles toward Saudi cities, 1 dead” (The Washington Post)
• Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
• Ali Abdullah Saleh
• Marth Mundy (ScottHorton.org)

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.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Patrick Cockburn, Middle East reporter for the Independent, returns to the show to discuss the fighting in Syria, focusing on the conflicts in Afrin and East Ghouta where much of the killing of civilians has taken place. Cockburn details the tangled maze of allegiance in Syria and how the United States will likely deal with its warring allies. Cockburn then shares what he knows about where the surviving displaced ISIS fighters have re-surfaced. Cockburn says that despite considerable bias in the coverage from the mainstream press, all the different cities of Syria look the same, regardless of which power they’re being bombed by. Lastly Cockburn gives his best estimate of how the conflict will unfold going forward and whether there’s a legitimate exit strategy for the United States.

Patrick Cockburn is the Middle East correspondent for The Independent and the author of “The Age of Jihad” and “Chaos & Caliphate.”

Discussed on the show:

• “Syria war: Thousands flee Turkish assault on Afrin enclave” (BBC)
• Al Nusra Front
• Jaysh al-Islam
• Free Syrian Army
• AirWars.org
• “The Uncounted,” by Anand Gopal and Azmat Khan (The New York Times Magazine)
• “Tillerson Unveils ‘New’ US Syria Plan: ‘Assad Must Go!’” by Daniel McAdams (Ron Paul Institute)
• “Syria: Turkish President threatens to launch wider offensive against Kurds after capturing Afrin,” by Patrick Cockburn (The Independent)

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.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Washington editor of Harper’s magazine Andrew Cockburn returns to the show to discuss his latest article “Mobbed Up: How America boosts the Afghan opium trade.” Cockburn explains how Trump’s major contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been to take the existing restraints off the air force so they can, Cockburn says, “try to pacify Afghanistan from 20,000 feet.” Cockburn and Scott then discuss the war on drugs in Afghanistan and Cockburn outlines why the narrative that the Taliban relies on opium for its power is overblown. Finally Scott and Cockburn discuss what Trump once got right about Afghanistan and why things went wrong.

Andrew Cockburn is the Washington editor of Harper’s magazine and the author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmcockburn.

• An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict, by Mike Martin
• Ahmed Wali Karzai
• Gul Agha Sherzai
• “Afghan leaders in Helmand criticize U.S. airstrikes on Taliban drug labs” (Washington Post)
• Sher Mohammad Akhundzada
• Out of Control: The Story of the Reagan Administration’s Secret War in Nicaragua, the Illegal Arms Pipeline, and the Contra Drug Connection, by Leslie Cockburn
• “Trump’s CIA Has Set Up Teams To Kill Terrorists,” by Aram Roston (BuzzFeed)

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.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Phil Weiss joins Scott to discuss Ahed Tamimi’s plea bargain, which will result in eight months in prison. Weiss argues that Israeli culture has gone off the rails and that all the fears that Americans have about the rightward swing in the U.S. are being fully realized in Israel. Weiss then details the shift in American Jews’ views towards Israel and how young people, in particular, have unfavorable views toward Israel. Finally Weiss and Scott talk about the move of the Iran Deal, John Bolton, and Trump’s decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

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

Discussed on the show:

• “Israeli soldier who shot dead wounded Palestinian has prison sentence cut by a third” (The Independent)
• “‘We should exact a price’ from Ahed Tamimi ‘in the dark,’ Israeli journalist says,” (Mondoweiss)
• “Israeli Army Arrests Palestinian Teenage Girl Who Slapped Soldiers; ‘She Should Finish Her Life in Prison’” (Haaretz)
• “Ron Lauder’s two-state epiphany elicits rage and condescension in Israel,” by Phil Weiss (Mondoweiss)
• Ronald Lauder
• “Schumer says he opposed the Iran deal because of ‘threat to Israel’,” by Phil Weiss (Mondoweiss)
• “Gideon Levy: The Zionist Tango: Step Left, Step Right” (YouTube)
• United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine
• “Mike Pence in the Middle East: The new pointman on foreign policy?” by John Bolton (The Hill)

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.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Cato’s Doug Bandow returns to the show to discuss Donald Trump’s decision to negotiate seriously with the North Koreans. Bandow believes that, while much can still go wrong, this is a real opportunity for traction and progress. Bandow raises the Iran Deal and the North Koreans certain interest in what the Trump administration will ultimately decide to do with the existing agreement with Iran. The interview then turns to Iran, and whether Donald Trump could take the same approach to Iran that he’s begun with North Korea. Bandow follows by breaking down the sectarian conflict in Yemen between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Finally, Bandow circles back to North Korea and explains what he thinks is essential for peace to be achieved.

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: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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The Intercept’s Jon Schwarz returns to discuss the history of the Iraq War 15 years after one of the most shameful events in U.S. history. Schwarz and Scott run through and debunk the myriad lies and propaganda that were spread before and after the invasion. Schwarz then details through the major players in and out of the government who cheerleaded for war in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. The two then discuss the role Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government pumped the Bush administration with even more lies.

Jon Schwarz is a writer for The Intercept. Previously he worked for documentary film maker Michael Moore and wrote for Tiny Revolution. Follow him on Twitter @schwarz.

Discussed on the show:

• The Path of War Timeline (Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane)
• “The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons” (The New York Times)
• “Secret U.S. Mission Hauls Uranium From Iraq” (Associated Press)
• “Saddam’s Green Light,” by Robert Parry (Consortium News)
• Hussein Kamel al-Majid
• “U.S. taking tough stand against Saddam Hussein” (UPI)
• Operation Desert Fox
• Mickey Herskowitz
• Project for the New American Century (PNAC)
• “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” (Project for the New American Century)
• “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm by David Wurmser 1996” (ScottHorton.org)
• “Coping with Crumbling States: A Western and Israeli Balance of Power Strategy for the Levant by David Wurmser 1996” (ScottHorton.org)
• How Chalabi Conned the Neocons (Jon Dizard)
• “16 Articles That Expose How They Lied Us Into War in Iraq,” by Dan Sanchez (Medium)
• Why We Fight
• Jeffrey Goldberg
• “US: Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” by Richard Cummings (Playboy)
• “How to Make Millions by Selling War,” by Ken Silverstein (Vice)
• “Ron Paul Makes Neocon Wolfowitz Squirm in his Seat at GOP Debate!” (YouTube)
• Operation Grapes of Wrath
• “CIA Agents Were On The Ground Before We Invaded Iraq, And They Knew It Was Going To Be A Clusterf*@k” (Task and Purpose)
• “Tortured Reasoning,” by David Rose (Vanity Fair)
• Donald Rumsfeld Unknown Unknowns ! (YouTube)
• “The Revolution,” by Walter Russell Mead (Esquire)
• “The Struggle for Iraq: Diplomacy; Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War,” by James Risen (The New York Times)
• “Taking Flight,” by Ryan Devereaux (The Intercept)
• “No Fly Zones Over Iraq,” by Jeremy Scahill (CounterPunch)

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.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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