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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.

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• Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
• Houthis
• Ali Abdullah Saleh
• Hodeidah
• “Trump calls on Saudi Arabia to end Yemen blockade” (CNN)
• Muslim Brotherhood (Yemen)

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Brown University’s Stephanie Savell joins Scott to discuss her project “Costs of War” as well as her research into policing of Brazilian slums. Savell explains why she thinks Americans have a strong detachment from discussing the war on terror and how military spending and support for the wars is the only consistent bipartisan agreement. Savell then breaks down the Pentagon’s $700 billion annual budget and explains how it goes pretty much everywhere but for troop preparation. Lastly she discusses the enormous reach of the American military and its near-unlimited counter-terrorism operations across the world. Check out her latest article for TomDispatch.com “The Wars No One Notices.”

Stephanie Savell is the co-director of the Costs of War project at Brown University’s Watson Institute. Savell is an anthropologist who studies security, militarized policing, and civic engagement in Brazil and the U.S. She is the co-author of The Civic Imagination: Making a Difference in American Political Life.

Discussed on the show:

• “U.S. spending on post-9/11 wars to reach $5.6 trillion by 2018” (Brown University)
• The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Blimes
• “Fighting Terrorism With a Credit Card” (The Atlantic)
• “Nearly Half the Pentagon Budget Goes To Contractors,” by William D. Hartung (The American Conservative)
• “The Pentagon’s ‘Logistics Agency’ Lost Track of More Than $800 Million” (New York Magazine)
• “Obama: US spends more on military than next 8 nations combined” (PolitiFact)
• “2/2/18 Major Danny Sjursen on the Vietnam War’s legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan” (The Scott Horton Show)
• “U.S. Army Hones Antiterror Strategy for Africa, in Kansas” (New York 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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Jeff Larson joins Scott to discuss his new project working at the Foreign Policy Alliance. Larson explains how he’s helped build a coalition across the political spectrum that’s broad enough to affect significant change and still pure enough to remain ideologically sound. Larson goes through the list of resolutions outlined by the Foreign Policy Alliance and why they would dramatically improve U.S. foreign policy.

Jeff Larson is a member of the Republican Liberty Caucus and an aerospace professional with 25 years in NASA’s Mission Control. He has also been a candidate for office, a national convention delegate, an officer of a national Republican organization, a precinct chair, and a member of his county party’s candidates, vacancy, and training and development committees.

Discussed on the show:

• Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, by Chalmers Johnson
• “Full text: bin Laden’s ‘letter to America’” (The Guardian)

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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Charles Goyette returns to the show to discuss the national debt and the general state of the American economy. According to Goyette, the debt can grow to astounding levels, but the game ends when no one is willing to fund American debt. Goyette explains how this could happen with either a bang or a whimper and the role that U.S. foreign policy plays in the growth of the debt. He then addresses the rise of China, and the degree to which the growth of the Chinese economy is legitimate. Goyette then details how far Americans have deviated from the foundational precept of liberty and how the establishment has given up on any kind of financial probity.

Discussed on the show:

• P.J. O’Rourke
• “Ukraine Needs a Lifeline—Now,” by Marco Rubio (The Wall Street Journal)

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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Foreign correspondent Reese Erlich returns to the show to discuss his latest article “The U.S. is Permanently Occupying Northern Syria, and That’s Trouble.” Erlich dials back to the good old days—2014—when the United States assured Americans it would not be involved on the ground in Syria. Guess what? They ended up in a ground war in Syria. Erlich then details the immense factionalism in the region, and some of the myriad incentives different groups have. Erlich then discusses the role Israel is playing in Syria and how tensions between Iran and Israel are playing out in real time.

Reese Erlich is a nationally syndicated columnist and the author of Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect. Erlich’s revised edition of his book ”The Iran Agenda” will be published in 2018. In the meantime read his work at his website and follow him on Twitter.

Discussed on the show:

• “Pentagon: Mass evacuation of Yazidis in Iraq unlikely,” by Barbara Starr (CNN)
• Afrin
• Manbij
• “Russian mercenaries killed in US strike on pro-Assad forces” (The Hill)
• “Israel Backs Limited Strike Against Syria” (The New York Times)
• “Obama to Iran and Israel: ‘As President of the United States, I Don’t Bluff’,” by Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic)
• Costs of War (Brown University)
• Golan Heights
• Al-Nusra Front

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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