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Scott talks with Matt Taibbi about a new series of articles he published on the origins of Russiagate. Specifically, Taibbi has been working with journalists Michael Shellenberger and Alex Gutentag to report on the role of Western intelligence agencies in spying on Trump’s team and constructing the narrative that the former president was compromised by the Russian government.

Discussed on the show:

• “CIA Had Foreign Allies Spy On Trump Team, Triggering Russia Collusion Hoax, Sources Say” (Public)
• “Our Man in Cambridge” (Racket)
• “The press versus the president” (Columbia Journalism Review)
• Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies by Barry Meier 
• “Why Even Democrats Should Care About the ‘Cooked Intelligence’ Russiagate Scandal” (Racket)

Matt Taibbi is a journalist, author and political commentator. Subscribe to his Substack publication: Racket News and follow him on Twitter @mtaibbi.

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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West Virginia House of Delegates representative Pat McGeehan joins Scott to discuss shis “Defend the Guard” bill. McGeehan discusses his attempts to defang the empire from the bottom up by passing a bill refusing to allow their state guard services to be nationalized and used in unconstitutional wars. McGeehan’s bill stated that no West Virginian guard unit could be deployed overseas without an expressed declaration of war from the U.S. Congress. He then relays a story about how adjutant general of the West Virginia national guard addressed him about the bill after receiving a call from the Pentagon, which threatened to move the West Virginia national guard onto the BRAC List or relocate them to other states. The bill didn’t pass, but the movement seems like it’s catching momentum.

McGeehan also describes his history in the military, explaining how the number of innocents slaughtered in Afghanistan changed his views on U.S. foreign policy. Those experiences changed McGeehan from a George W. Bush guy to a Ron Paul guy.

Pat McGeehan is a two-term representative in the West Virginia House of Delegates and a graduate of the U.S. air force academy. He is the author of “Stoicism and the Statehouse.” Follow him on Twitter @McGeehan4WV.

Discussed on the show:

• Tenth Amendment Center
• “The American Empire Must Be Stopped” Scott Horton speaks at Nullify Now Los Angeles (Tenth Amendment Center)
• Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) List
• Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11
• Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF)
• Supremacy Clause
• Militia Clause
• The Betrayal of the American Right, by Murray Rothbard
• James Stockdale
• “My Father, the Spy in the Hanoi Hilton,” by Jim Stockdale II (The Daily Beast)
• Epetitus (Stoic philosophy)
• Just War Theory (St. Thomas Aquinas)
• Federalism
• “Book Review: ‘Stoicism and the State House'” (Tenth Amendment Center)
• Cato the Younger

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Gareth Porter returns to the show to discuss his latest articles for the American Conservative, “How America Armed Terrorists in Syria” and “How CIA and Allies Trapped Obama in the Syrian Arms Debacle.” Scott and Gareth discuss how U.S. national security policy since Obama took office has been largely been, either directly or indirectly, in support of al-Qaeda and that unlike George W. Bush, who empowered al-Qaeda accidentally, Barack Obama did it with full understanding of the likely consequences of his policies. Gareth then explains how U.S. policy in the Middle East, and in Syria particularly, changed with the outbreak of the Arab Spring, which the U.S. saw as an opportunity to foment revolution with the goal of regime change. According to Gareth, Obama’s advisors failed to warn him that arming Assad’s enemies in Syria would increase the role of Hezbollah and Iran, and ultimately backfire—just another example of how the U.S. foreign policy machine is always able to rationalize their views, no matter how ill-fated, in order to advance their supposed interests. Gareth also explains why the Iran Deal pressured Obama into opposing Iran everywhere else in order to placate Saudi Arabia and many of his advisors, including David Petraeus. Finally, Scott and Gareth touch on the considerable role Israel and the U.S.’s Sunni allies in the region play in determining U.S. policy.

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.

Discussed on the show:

• “A hawkish Kerry emerges as point man in Obama’s push to punish Syria” (Reuters)
• Robert Baer: “If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear – never to see them again – you send them to Egypt.” (Wikipedia)
• The Long Game, by Derek Chollet
• “Clinton: Arming Syrian Rebels could help al Qaeda” (CBS News)
• “See last item – AQ is on our side in Syria.” (Hillary Clinton Email Archives, WikiLeaks)
• “In the Matter of Amendment of the Designation of al-Qa’ida in Iraq” (Federal Register, 2012)
• “Animosity between David Petraeus and Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani, still on display,” (Washington Post)
• New York Times: “The White House needed to placate the Saudis”
• “Obama to Iran and Israel: ‘As President of the United States, I Don’t Bluff’,” by Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic)
• “The Redirection,” by Seymour Hersh (The New Yorker)
• “Remember the Golan Heights?” by Eric Margolis (EricMargolis.com)
• Yinon Plan
• “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)
• “Sunnis vs. Shiites and the Lesser of Two Evils” (The Aspen Institute)
• Camp Speicher Massacre
• “Secret Israel-Syria Peace Talks Involved Golan Heights Exit” (New York Times)
• “John Kerry and Bashar al-Assad dined in Damascus” (The Telegraph)
• “The Real Reason to Intervene in Syria,” by James Rubin (ForeignPolicy.com)
• “Contra Iran,” by Michael Oren (The New Republic)
• Israeli consul general in New York to Jodi Rudoren “Let them both bleed, hemorrhage to death” (New York Times)
• “America Had Already Lost Its Covert War in Syria—Now It’s Official” (The Century Foundation via Gareth Porter’s Twitter feed)
• “08/15/12 – Flynt Leverett” (The Scott Horton Show)
• “US watched ISIS rise in Syria and hoped to ‘manage’ it — Kerry on leaked tape,” by Philip Weiss (Mondoweiss.net)
• “Behind Biden’s gaffe lie real concerns about allies’ role in rise of the Islamic State” (Washington Post)
• “How We Would Fight China” (The Atlantic, 2005)
• “Don’t attack Saddam,” by Daniel Scowcroft (Wall Street Journal)
• “Did Robert Gates Manufacture the Iran Crisis?” (Huffington Post)
• Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, by Gareth Porter
• “Gareth Porter Interview Series on His New Book Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare” (The Scott Horton Show)

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Executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Daniel McAdams returns to the show to discuss his latest article, “House Passes New Russia Sanctions, Pumps Adrenaline into Cold War 2.0.” McAdams recaps the latest vote for sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, which passed nearly unanimously, why the overwhelming support makes it unlikely Trump will veto the bill, and how sanctions on Russia will act as a form of protectionism for the U.S. energy industry with far reaching consequences for the European and U.S. economy. Dan and Scott then revisit the Bush years, and lament that it’s unlikely even Jeb Bush would have surrounded by as many neocons as Trump has. Finally, McAdams discusses how spending trillions of dollars a year on phantom threats around the world such as Iran and North Korea has done serious damage to the U.S. economy and the lives of ordinary people and why, if you’re really concerned about the Russians, the looming danger is the eventual collapse of the U.S. dollar.

Daniel McAdams is the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and the cohost of the Ron Paul Liberty Report. Follow Daniel on Twitter @DanielLMcAdams and read all of his work over at Antiwar.com.

Discussed on the show:

• Anthony Scaramucci
• David Petraeus
• “Trump Recertifies Iran Nuclear Deal, but Only Reluctantly” (New York Times)
• “Collateral Damage: U.S. Sanctions Aimed at Russia Strike Western European Allies,” by Diana Johnstone (Counterpunch)
• “Merkel, Obama reaffirm partnership, vow path of diplomacy in Ukraine” (Deutsche Welle)
• “Trump To Nominate Chief Diplomat For European-Eurasian Affairs” (RFRERL.org)
• Kurt Volker
• Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy, by Andrew Cockburn
• “Iran-EU trade up 78% in 2016: Eurostat” (Tehran Times)
• “Nuclear weapons are a sin, says Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei” (The National)
• “South Korea’s New President, Moon Jae-in, Promises New Approach to North (New York Times)
• “Moon says sports can create peace, invites N. Korea to PyeongChang Olympics” (Korea Herald)
• Peace and Prosperity 2017 (Ron Paul conference in September in D.C.)

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Veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier joins Scott to discuss his recent article, “First ‘Islamic State’ and then the US breaches Sykes-Picot with one objective: the Partition of Syria and Iraq.” Magnier explains how the U.S. is aiming to partition Syria and Iraq by placing permanent bases in northeast Syria and why, despite a potential ally in the Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, the U.S. is unlikely to be able to cut off Bashar al-Assad from the rest of Mesopotamia for long. Magnier says that America’s policy towards an independent Kurdish state has changed as the Kurds have come to represent an expedient ally in both Iraq and Syria. But an independent Kurdish state will, even with American support, have massive problems, which Magnier details. With Iraq in disarray, particularly in the majority Sunni areas, the longstanding Sykes-Picot agreement may be on its last legs. With the fight for Raqqa against ISIS nearing its conclusion, the question of what comes next looms.

Mangier also explains the origins of al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra, its close ties to ISIS, and its growing tension with the other jihadist groups in the country. Thanks to a constant stream of support from the international community, including funding and weapons from the United States, al-Aqaeda will be difficult to eradicate. The eventual battle for Idlib could be as brutal the battle for Mosul. Like Mosul, Idlib is full of citizens, and currently controlled by al-Qaeda. Finally, Magnier describes how the Americans have tried to control al Qaeda in Syria, which started as a small and has steadily grown with direct and indirect U.S. support and explains why you can’t just pull the plug from al-Qaeda and expect al-Qaeda to go away.

Elijah Magnier is the chief international correspondent at Al Rai and a political and terrorism/counterterrorism analyst. Find all his work at elijahjm.wordpress.com and follow him on Twitter @ejmalrai.

Discussed on the show:

• Moon of Alabama (blog)
• Sykes-Picot Agreement
• Raqqa
• Referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan
• Al-Hasaka (Syrian city)
• “Biden plan for ‘soft partition’ of Iraq gains momentum” (New York Times)
• Masoud Barzani (Kurdish leader)
• “The partition of ‘Syraq’,” by Pepe Escobar (RT.com)
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
• Al-Tanf Crossing
• Ralph Peters: “The Kurds are going to run Syria” (Fox News)
• “America’s Marxist Allies Against ISIS” (Wall Street Journal)
• Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda)
• Ahrar al-Asham
• Abu Mohammad al-Julani
• Free Syrian Army
• Ayman al-Zawahiri
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
• “Syria and Iran: the great game,” by Alistair Cooke (The Observer)
• “France’s Day of Glory,” by Eric Margolis (Huffington Post, July 2011)
• “Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow” (Washington Post)
• “Nusra Front members in Syria have never masked al Qaida ties,” by David Enders (McClatchy)

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Afghan war whistleblower Daniel Davis returns to the show to talk about his latest article, “I Interviewed the War-Weary Residents of Mosul. The Fight for the City Is Far From Over.” Davis talks about his trip to northern Iraq, heroic stories of everyday people resisting ISIS in Mosul, and rumors of Iraqi soldiers committing atrocities against suspected ISIS members.

Davis explains that the war against ISIS isn’t over: ISIS members are supposedly shaving their beards and pretending to be fleeing refugees leading to rumors of ISIS sleeper cells. The fight against ISIS is part of an ongoing Sunni insurgency in Mosul against the Shia, Kurd, and Christian population that goes all the way back to 2004. The U.S. latest worry is that the fall of ISIS in Mosul will create a true “Shiite Crescent,” necessitating U.S. presence in eastern Syria to break up the Iranian power corridor. Scott and Danny discuss how this is just the latest in a long line of U.S. foreign policy decisions that have ultimately empowered Iran in the Middle East. Davis explains that the U.S. can’t kill its way out of the Middle East and that there are good people throughout the region who are suffering immensely. Finally, Davis suggests that Kurdish rule in Iraq seems like it might be the best way to bring about peace and he and Scott discuss whether the United States should help the referendum for a fully autonomous Kurdish state.

Retired lieutenant colonel Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He now writes for Defense Priorities and National Interest.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Torture Tapes: Iraqi troops torture and execute civilians in secret videos,” by Brian Ross (ABC News)
• “Mosul killing video: Footage purportedly showing Iraqis getting revenge on ISIS militants sparks probe, outcry” (Fox News)
• Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
• Hashd al-Shaabi (at least 8,000 in Mosul)
• Iraqi Security Forces (ISF)
• Mujahideen in Iraq
• “Isis ‘chops off three women’s hands and flogs men for using mobile phones’ in Mosul,” (The Independent)
• “In Their Own Words: Sunnis on Their Treatment in Maliki’s Iraq,” (Frontline)
• “Iran Dominates in Iraq After U.S. ‘Handed the Country Over’” (New York Times)
• “Oren Sunnis“: former Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren explains to Jeffrey Goldberg that Sunnis are the lesser of the two evils
• Ahmed Chalabi
• “The Redirection,” by Seymour Hersh (The New Yorker)
• “How Ahmed Chalabi conned the neocons,” by John Dizard (Salon.com)
• “The Manipulator: Ahmad Chalabi pushed a tainted case for war. Can he survive the occupation?” by Jane Mayer (The New Yorker)
• “Remember the Golan Heights?” by Eric Margolis (EricMargolis.com)
• Ba’ath Party
• “To them, a woman’s smile is a crime”—”Shiites bring rigid piety to Iraq’s south” (Christian Science Monitor)
• Mullah government (Iran)
• Muqtada al-Sadr
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
• David Petraeus
• “Rice says U.S. must give Maliki ‘breathing space’” (Reuters)
• “Sistani stresses need for unity over sectarianism in battle for Iraq” (Al-Monitor)
• Video: “The Middle East Cold War, Explained” (Vox)
• “Why There Is No Peace On Earth,” by David Stockman (David Stockman’s Contra Corner)
• Bashiqa
• Dawah Party
• Brett McGurk

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Dr. Ramzy Baroud, author of “My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: The Untold Story of Gaza,” joins Scott to discuss the Israeli suffocation of the Palestinians in Gaza. Baroud explains how the nearly two million Palestinians living in Gaza are managing to subsist despite heavy restrictions on their life, including physical confinement and outright bans on farming and fishing. The suicide rate in Gaza is dramatic and on the rise as people have started to lose hope—and things are only getting worse. Baroud tells the story of a woman with breast cancer whose permit, which she needed to travel in order to receive chemotherapy, has been denied by Israel. She’s one of thousands of Palestinians who have been denied life-saving treatment.

Baroud details how Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made life for Palestinians that much worse and how the United States torpedoed a chance for a political solution in 2006 when Condoleezza Rice divided a peaceful coalition in Palestine. In doing so, the United States and Israel have made the establishment of a Palestinian state impossible. Israel has subsequently pushed the Gazans to the brink of starvation to break the will of the people and force them into accepting a deal in Israel’s interest. That new, misguided solution is directed by Mohammed Dahlan who is attempting to create a peace deal with the Sisi government in Egypt to open the borders with Palestine. Baroud claims this will create a split between Gaza and Palestine that will ultimately make life worse for the Palestinians. Further, such a deal would no longer demand the lifting of the Israel siege of Gaza and would create the appearance of an inter-Arab affair, removing responsibility from America and Israel. Finally, Baroud shares the books on Palestine he most recommends.

Ramzy Baroud is a US-Arab journalist and is the editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle. His latest digital project is “Palestine in Motion,” intended to give a holistic understanding of the lives of Palestinians as told in their own words. Follow Ramzy on Twitter @RamzyBaroud and read his work at RamzBaroud.net.

Discussed on the show:

• “Palestine in Motion,” by Ramzy Baroud (Al Jazeera)
• Howard Zinn
• Hamas
• Benjamin Netanyahu
• “Israel-Gaza conflict: 80 per cent of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes are civilians, UN report says,” (The Independent)
• Fatah
• 2006 Palestinian election
• Fatah-Hamas Mecca Agreement (2007)
• Dov Weissglass
• Ehud Olmert
• Dov Weissglass: ‘The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger,’ (The Guardian)
• “Counting the calories in Gaza” (Google search)
• “Tearfully But Forcefully, Israel Removes Gaza Settlers” (New York Times)
• Likud Party
• “Top PM Aide: Gaza Plan Aims to Freeze the Peace Process” (Haaretz.com)
• “Netanyahu At War” (Frontline)
• “95 percent of Jewish Israelis support the Gaza war” (Vox)
• Avigdor Lieberman
• “Watch: Israeli soldier caught on video fatally shooting wounded Palestinian attacker” (Washington Post)
• “Israel Polarized Over Soldier Who Killed Wounded Palestinian” (New York Times)
• Yisrael Beiteinu Party
• “Israel Cuts Gaza Electricity at Abbas’ Request,” by Jason Ditz (AntiWar.com)
• Mohammed Dahlan
• “Will Mohammed Dahlan return to lead Gaza?” (Al Jazeera)
• Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
• “The Gaza Bombshell” (Vanity Fair)
• “What Bradley Manning showed the world about Israel/Palestine” (Mondoweiss.net)
• “Gaza’s Game of Thrones,” by Ramzy Baroud (Al Jazeera)
• “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel,” by Max Blumenthal

Ramzy Baroud’s Reading List:

The Question of Palestine, by Edward Said

In Search of Fatima, by Gahda Karmi

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, by Ilan Pappe

Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide, by Ben White

Mornings in Jenin, by Susan Abulhawa

My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story, by Ramzy Baroud

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Mark Perry returns to the show to talk about his latest exclusive for The American Conservative Magazine, “Bannon & Kushner Want to Outsource Afghanistan to Mercenaries.” Perry explains that Kushner and Bannon are against a troop surge in Afghanistan, but don’t want to be blamed for losing the war if they withdraw completely. Instead they’re pushing Donald Trump to outsource the war to mercenaries. According to Perry’s sources, Trump is in favor of the idea, at least privately. But his top military advisors, James Mattis and H.R. McMaster, are not. If Trump decides to go with Bannon and Kushner, the CIA would contract with the companies—run by Erik Prince and Steve Feinberg—to run the war in Afghanistan.

Perry believes what’s more likely is that the U.S. attempts to bring the Taliban back to the negotiating table and figure out a political solution. In order to do so, however, they will need Pakistan’s help as the Taliban has steadfastly held that they will only negotiate after the U.S. leaves Afghanistan. Finally, Perry notes that there will almost certainly be a “surge of enablers”—4,000 troops and specialists to buttress the government in Kabul.  But will there be more than that? And will they be conventional troops or guns for hire? Washington is divided between the army guys who are dead set against mercenary warfare and the CIA operatives who are in favor. A decision should come soon.

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 next book, The Pentagon’s Wars will be released in October. Mark Perry is on Twitter @MarkPerryDC.

Discussed on the Show:

• Erik Prince
• Blackwater
• Frontier Services Group (FSG)
• DynCorp
• James Mattis
• H.R. McMaster
• Steve Feinberg
• “Emirates Secretly Sends Colombian Mercenaries to Yemen Fight” (New York Times)
• “The MacArthur Model for Afghanistan,” by Erik Prince (Wall Street Journal)
• East India Company
• Bagram Air Base
• Helmand Province
• Hessian soldiers
• “A New U.S. Approach to Pakistan: Enforcing Aid Conditions without Cutting Ties,” by Lisa Curtis

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Kate Gould joins Scott to discuss the surprise development in the House, which voted to defund U.S. military support for its Saudi-partnered war in Yemen. Members of congress on both sides brought forward the legislation to cut off the US-Saudi war in Yemen, but there is a long political process remaining. Gould outlines the two different wars taking place in Yemen—one in which the U.S. is fighting against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is authorized by the AUMF; and the second war that the U.S. is fighting on the side of Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda against the Yemeni Houthis, which is at stake with this vote—and for good reason: Saudi Arabia bombed four hospitals run by Doctors Without Borders in one year, using American weapons. This is part of a larger effort to target Yemeni infrastructure, including the country’s ports which it relied on for the importation of food. Nonetheless the vote in the House is a sign that there’s real scrutiny being placed on the U.S. support for the war in Yemen.

Gould serves as the Legislative Representative for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation where she directs FCNL’s lobbying on Middle East policy. Follow Kate on Twitter @K8Gould.

Discussed on the show:

• National Defense Authorization Act
• House Committee on Rules 
• Warren Davidson (R-OH)
• “US House Votes to Block US Participation in Saudi War in Yemen,” by Robert Naiman (Truth-out.org)
• Houthis 
• “‘Atrocious attack’: U.S.-backed Saudi coalition bombs 4th MSF hospital in Yemen, killing 11 people,” by Ben Norton (Salon.com)
• Nearly half a million children in Yemen risk starvation, according to UNICEF report” (Vice News)
• Freedom Caucus
• Conference Committee
• “Senate Votes with Record Opposition to Saudi Arms Sale—But Not Enough to Put On Brakes” (The Intercept)
• Warren Davidson
• “US generals: Saudi intervention in Yemen ‘a bad idea’,” by Mark Perry
• “Indiana Senator pushes U.S. to pressure Saudis on Yemen aid” (USA Today)
• Lindsey Graham: “Stand with Saudi Arabia“
• Walter Jones (R-NC)

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