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Scott brings Eli Clifton of Responsible Statecraft on to discuss the recent revelations about Twitter’s boosting of U.S. military information operations. They go over some of the details outlined in Lee Fang’s thread, which served as part 8 of the ongoing Twitter Files. Fang reveals Twitter’s hypocrisy as the firm publicly exposed and censored disinformation campaigns by foreign governments while it worked to amplify specific fake propaganda accounts at the request of the Pentagon. Scott and Clifton go through what we learned and then zoom out. Although they see a lot of value in these Twitter Files disclosures, the two also voice concern over the lack of action Musk appears to be taking beyond just exposing past behavior. They point out how financially dependent Musk is on the government which serves as a natural ceiling to how much he can expose and upset the military and intelligence agencies. They also talk about the enormous scale and efficacy of foreign lobbying on the government, DC think tanks and America’s largest companies. 

Discussed on the show:

• “How Twitter hid US-military info ops from the public” (Responsible Statecraft)
• “The Twitter Files Part 8: How Twitter Quietly Aided the Pentagon’s Covert Online PsyOp Campaign” (Twitter)
• “DC think tank puts hawkish former Aussie PM on China Center board” (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: Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and Thc Hemp Spot.

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Ali Gharib, a journalist with Al Jazeera and The Daily Beast, discusses his article “US and Iran: The art of the nuclear deal;” the legitimacy (or not) of UN Security Council resolutions condemning Iran’s nuclear program; disagreements about Iran’s actual obligations/violations under the NPT; and why Bibi Netanyahu fears good US-Iran relations more than Iranian nukes.

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Thomas C. Mountain, an independent journalist based in Eritrea, discusses the history of al-Shabaab and the context of the Nairobi mall siege; why al-Shabaab has become a mercenary army; Kenya’s blowback from repeated military incursions in Somalia; the Saudi royal family’s financial backing for Wahhabi groups including al-Shabaab; and the lack of news on mass starvation and refugees in the Horn of Africa.

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Gareth Porter, an independent investigative journalist and historian, discusses the possibility of an Obama-Rouhani meeting and a diplomatic breakthrough in US-Iran relations; why the Israel lobby’s defeat on Syria doesn’t mean their hold on Congress has slipped on Iran issues; Iran’s use of the Fordo nuclear facility as a reduced-sanctions bargaining chip; profiting from arms sales and continual low-grade war in the Middle East; and why it suddenly seems possible to bring the US war machine to a halt.

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