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Scott interviews Thomas Eddlem about an article he recently published at the Libertarian Institute about how our economic system is ripping off the American working class. He and Scott dig into how inflation, regulations and programs like Social Security hurt the very people most think the government is around to help. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Plutocratic America’s War on the Working Class” (Libertarian Institute)

Thomas R. Eddlem is the William Norman Grigg Fellow at the Libertarian Institute, an economist and a freelance writer. He has written three books and holds a masters of applied economics and data scientist certification from Boston College. He lives in Taunton, Massachusetts with his wife Cathy and family.

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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Scott talks with Peter Van Buren about the situation in Afghanistan.  Van Buren explains that many of the people tasked with working on the Afghanistan War were, in fact, working to cover up their own role in the war. And that these individual failures played off each other to create one massive failure. On top of that, Van Buren argues that policymakers were entirely removed from the costs of the war. And because of that, Van Buren predicts we will soon find ourselves in a similar conflict.

Discussed on the show:

• We Meant Well by Peter Van Buren
• The Ghost of Tom Joad by Peter Van Buren
• Hooper’s War by Peter Van Buren
• Van Buren’s blog 
• “Nation-Building, the Washington Generals of Warfare Strangely Preferred by Washington Generals” (American Spectator)
• NPR interview Van Buren about his book We Meant Well
• Terry Gross’ interview with CNN’s Clarissa Ward
• The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam
• Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward

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: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

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Scott interviews Grant Smith about his recent article, which makes the case that the $3.8 billion in foreign aid given to Israel is on questionable legal grounds. It all comes back to Israel’s nuclear weapons, which the U.S. government has not officially acknowledged even exist. Because Israel is not a part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is illegal for the U.S. to give them aid without making a specific case for why it’s necessary. Smith explains that to avoid this, Israel puts a lot of pressure on incoming Presidents to stay silent and not acknowledge the program. Smith also gives some background on how Israel acquired nuclear technology in the first place and how a tiny country in the middle-east has so effectively controlled American lawmakers. 

Discussed on the show:

•  “Israel’s Nukes Make US Aid Illegal” (Antiwar.com)
• “America Needs to Start Telling the Truth About Israel’s Nukes” (New York Times)
• “Joe Biden should end the US pretense over Israel’s ‘secret’ nuclear weapons” (The Guardian)
• Chuck Schumer acknowledging Israel’s Nuclear Weapons
• Documents obtained about the Israeli agent who infiltrated the NUMEC facility
• Grant Smith’s book about NUMEC
• Roger Mattson’s book about NUMEC
• Roger Mattson on CSPAN with Grant Smith
• Grant Smith’s book Big Israel
• “How Trump and Three Other U.S. Presidents Protected Israel’s Worst-Kept Secret: Its Nuclear Arsenal” (New Yorker)
• Grant Smith’s book about the fight to register the Israel Lobby as foreign agents

Grant F. Smith is the author of a number of books including Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America, Divert!, and most recently The Israel Lobby Enters State Government: Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board. He is director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

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Scott interviews Trita Parsi about his paper concerning the intervention of Middle East powers over the last decade. Parsi and his coauthor Matthew Petti found that, contrary to the picture often painted of one malign actor driving all the instability, there are really six Middle Eastern countries engaging in a lot of foreign intervention. Iran, which is currently the U.S. foreign policy establishment’s favorite villain, is no more interventionist than the other five. And that most instability in the modern Middle East can be traced back to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Finally, Parsi talks about the Iran Nuclear Deal, which he says was gravely threatened when Biden dragged his feet at the beginning of his presidency. 

Discussed on the show:

• “No Clean Hands: The Interventions of Middle Eastern Powers, 2010-2020” (Quincy Institute)
• “How to Make Iran Trust a New Nuclear Deal” (Foreign Policy)

Trita Parsi is the president of the National Iranian American Council and the author of Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Parsi is the recipient of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Follow him on Twitter @tparsi.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

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Scott talks with Daniel McAdams about his recent appearance on RT, where he challenged the Western Media’s narrative about China. McAdams says they have it backward, criticizing China for its best actions, such as economic engagement, while seemingly wanting to import the worst of China’s policies, like social credit scores. McAdams then speaks about how those in the Foreign Policy Establishment exist in an echo chamber. And that even when he had access to classified material, McAdams believes he was better informed by reading open-source websites like Antiwar.com.

Discussed on the show: 

• McAdams interviewed on RT
• Transcript of Biden’s Interview with George Stephanopoulos
• Jim Bovard’s article about DC’s Arrogance
• Jake Tapper interviews McMaster about Afghanistan Withdrawal 
• Dave Smith Talking about Afghanistan on Kennedy (August 19th)
• Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg
• “Washington Free Beacon’s Hilarious Meltdown Over Afghanistan” (Ron Paul Institute)
• “Responsible Statecraft Gets Its Moment” (Washington Free Beacon)
• “’Ron Paul Was Right’: Rep’s Decade-old Afghanistan Remarks Resurface Amid Crisis” (Newsweek)
• Justin Raimondo Columns starting in 1999

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

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Dave DeCamp joins the show to give an update on the effort to evacuate Westerners and their allies from Kabul. He explains that the evacuations are moving at a good clip. So far, the Biden Administration has resisted pressure to send troops into Kabul as there has been no indication that the Taliban are stopping Americans from entering the airport. While there are unconfirmed reports of Taliban fighters committing violence, DeCamp warns that some skepticism is appropriate since many special interests want the war to continue. Finally, DeCamp talks about a possible anti-Taliban insurgency forming in the Panjshir Valley.

Discussed on the show:

•  “How to Contain the Taliban” (Wall Street Journal)
• “Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban’s new U.S.-made war chest” (Reuters) 
• “Taliban Resistance Force Forming in Panjshir Valley” (Antiwar.com)
• “The mujahideen resistance to the Taliban begins now. But we need help.” (Washington Post)
• @Natsecjeff on Twitter
• “Ex-Trump official Chris Miller says Taliban deal was a ‘play’ never intended to pull troops” (New York Post)

Dave DeCamp is the assistant news editor of Antiwar.com. Follow him on Twitter @decampdave.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Eric Margolis talks with Scott about the situation in Afghanistan as American forces continue to withdraw. Of course, the last few days have seen nonstop headlines proclaiming an utter disaster in the country, many of them excoriating President Biden for having screwed things up so badly. But Scott and Margolis remind us just how much worse things could be. Margolis points out that for one thing, some Afghan government officials seem to have been quietly preparing for a transfer of power far in advance, such that when U.S. forces pulled out, they were prepared to more or less let the Taliban take over. You don’t have to be a fan of the Taliban to realize that this relatively peaceful transfer of power is far better than the alternative: months of bloody and destructive fighting followed by victory for the Taliban anyway. Even in areas like women’s rights, Margolis explains that the current generation of Taliban leadership isn’t as harsh as their fathers and grandfathers—Taliban spokesmen have been quick to reassure the West that they want women to play a bigger role in society. The last thing Americans should do is let war hawks use the chaos in Afghanistan as an excuse for us to go back into the country and stay forever.

Discussed on the show:

• David Patraeus’ Counterinsurgency Manual
• “Against All Enemies: US trained Uighur terrorists” (Eric Margolis)
• “The U.S. is secretly helping the Taliban fight ISIS in Afghanistan” (The Washington Post)

Eric Margolis is a foreign affairs correspondent and author of War at the Top of the World and American Raj. Follow him on Twitter @EricMargolis and visit his website, ericmargolis.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Matthew Hoh, the Marine veteran who blew the whistle about the doomed Afghan Surge. Hoh lays out what led him to resign in protest and go to the press with the truth about how hopeless the military’s counterinsurgency mission really was. Hoh then explains that, while he is upset that few listened to him back then, he is more disappointed about how many of his colleagues agreed with him, but kept their agreement quiet. Scott and Hoh go through the history of the Obama surge and observe how the pundits and generals who were the most wrong tended to get rewarded with promotions and fame. Finally, Hoh talks about resources available to veterans who are struggling and opens up about how those resources have helped him. 

Discussed on the show:

• “US Official Resigns Over Afghan War” (Washington Post)
• About Face
• Obama’s Wars
• Carlotta Gall at the New York Times
• The Soldier’s Heart by Jacob George
• “What America Didn’t Understand About It’s Longest War” (Politico)
• “The Afghanistan Papers” (Washington Post)
• The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War
• Kelley Vlahos at Responsible Statecraft
• “Afghanistan Veterans Struggling with News of Taliban Takeover” (Defense One)
• VA.gov

Matthew Hoh is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and formerly worked for the U.S. State Department. Hoh received the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling in 2010. Hoh is a member of the Board of Directors for Council for a Livable World and is an Advisory Board Member for Expose Facts. He writes on issues of war, peace and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery at https://matthewhoh.com/ .

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott talks to Andrew Cockburn about his 2014 article on Afghan-born neoconservative Zalmay Khalilzad. Cockburn explains how it was Khalilzad who selected new leaders for Afghanistan and Iraq after the old regimes had fallen to U.S. forces. Scott and Cockburn also touch on Khalilzad’s role in “the Redirection” when the U.S. began backing bin Ladenite groups in an attempt to counter Iran. In the end, Scott and Cockburn think Khalilzad deserves a lot of blame for the current problems in the middle east. However, he also deserves credit for following Trump’s order and negotiating a deal with the Taliban.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Long Shadow of a Neocon” (Harper’s Magazine)
• “How the US military got rich from Afghanistan” (The Spectator World)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)

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.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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