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Dan McKnight returns to the show to talk about the ongoing effort to pass the Defend the Guard Act in state legislatures. First, he explains what Defend the Guard would do if passed and dispels common criticisms and misunderstandings of the bill. He then updates Scott on the progress made recently, including the positive statements made by now Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and explains how you can help get this bill passed in your state.

Discussed on the show:

• DefendTheGuard.us
• BringOurTroopsHome.us
• TenSevenClub.com

Dan McKnight is the founder and Chairman of Idahoans to Bring Our Troops Home. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, three years active duty with the U.S. Army and ten years with the Idaho Army National Guard, including a one-year deployment to Afghanistan in 2006.

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 interviews Alan Macleod about all the ways the mainstream media distorts the Israel-Palestine narrative to make it seem like both sides share some of the blame for an unfortunate situation that isn’t really anyone’s fault. What’s never explained is the fact that the supposed Palestinian territories are at this point little more than heavily-occupied refugee camps, and that attacks from the Palestinians are the predictable result of decades of Israeli aggression. Still, Scott and Macleod are hopeful that when the facts on the ground are so obvious and one-sided, people will soon wake up to what’s going on.

Discussed on the show:

• “Hamas launches new attack on Israel after Jerusalem clashes” (New York Post)
• “Gaza militants, Israel trade new rocket fire and airstrikes” (AP News)
• “20 dead in Gaza as Israel responds to Hamas rocket fire” (Yahoo News Australia)
• “In Wake of HRW Apartheid Report, Israeli Propagandists Launch Global PR Offensive” (MintPress News)

Alan MacLeod is a member of the Glasgow University Media Group. He is the author of Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. Follow him on Twitter @AlanRMacLeod.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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Ramzy Baroud discusses the deliberately misleading way that stories about Israel-Palestine are presented in western media. The story, he says, almost always begins with the fact that Palestinians have launched rockets at Israeli forces, or at least presents the conflict as an even fight between two neighbors, in which Israel, of course, has the right to defend its own borders. What’s never explained is the fact that the supposed Palestinian territories are at this point little more than heavily-occupied refugee camps, and that attacks from the Palestinians cannot be understood without the background of decades of Israeli aggression. Nevertheless, Baroud describes himself as an optimist: in particular, he thinks the situation has become so obviously one-sided that international support cannot help but shift toward the plight of the Palestinians.

Discussed on the show:

• “Muna is Palestine, Yakub is Israel: The Untold Story of Sheikh Jarrah” (Palestine Chronicle)
• “If I don’t steal it, somebody else is going to steal it.” (Twitter)
• “Opinion | Palestinian Refugees Deserve to Return Home. Jews Should Understand.” (The New York Times)

Ramzy Baroud is a US-Arab journalist and is the editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: The Untold Story of Gaza and The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story. His new book is These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons. Follow Ramzy on Twitter @RamzyBaroud and read his work at RamzyBaroud.net.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; 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 Phil Weiss about Israel-Palestine in light of the violence of the last few days. Weiss begins by pointing out that Human Rights Watch has finally declared Israel to be a single apartheid state. In other words, the two-state solution is dead, and the supposed Palestinian territories are really just occupied Israeli lands. Other human rights groups have echoed this same sentiment. The growing acknowledgement of this fact has helped to fuel recent tensions and violence, says Weiss, but more importantly, it’s helping to increase awareness of the plight of the Palestinians. With the promise of the two-state solution all but shattered at this point, millions of well-meaning but essentially disinterested people around the world may start to side with the Palestinians and finally support their claim to equal rights.

Discussed on the show:

• “The lies and conspiracy theories from neocon ‘crazies’ that fueled Iraq war are subject of new history” (Mondoweiss)
• “Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution” (Human Rights Watch)
• Oslo Accords
• “Opinion | Palestinian Refugees Deserve to Return Home. Jews Should Understand.” (The New York Times)
• Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
  
• “Help, We Can’t Stop Writing About Andrew Yang” (The New York Times)
• What Price Israel?
  

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

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; 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 Dave Smith about the upcoming Pennsylvania Libertarian Party convention and the special Mises Caucus event happening in Pittsburgh the same weekend. Both Smith and Scott will be speaking this Friday, May 14th, and there will be a host of other guest appearances on Saturday. The event will be hosted at the Double Tree, Pittsburgh—don’t miss out!

Discussed on the show:

• “Take Human Action Bash” (Eventbrite)

Dave Smith is the host of the podcast Part of the Problem and a member of Legion of Skanks. His debut comedy special, Libertas, reached #1 on iTunes. Follow him on Twitter @ComicDaveSmith.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; 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 Dan Cohen about unrest in Jerusalem, where Israeli soldiers stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque, and in Colombia, where protestors have been clashing with government forces, resulting in at least 39 civilian deaths so far. Both of these stories are perverted by most mainstream media sources in order to obscure the real story. In Israel, in this and all similar cases, the headlines invariably focus on the fact that Palestinians have attacked Israeli forces, without ever providing the background that in many cases, Palestinians are just fighting back against an increasingly oppressive Israeli military that is allowing settlers to steal their homes. There’s even less media attention focused on Colombia, since their right-wing government is a close ally of the United States. Make no mistake, says Cohen, if this were happening in Venezuela or any other state officially deemed an enemy by the U.S., it would practically be grounds for a military intervention. Interventionist hawks have cited far smaller causes over the last few years when advocating regime change in Venezuela.

Discussed on the show:

• “Xinjiang Native Speaks Out: “Western Media Jeopardizing Uyghurs Interests”” (MintPress News)
• “Video: Temple movement rabbi proselytizes for genocide” (Electronic Intifada)
• “If I don’t steal it, somebody else is going to steal it.” (Twitter)
• Oslo Accords
• “Meet the Neo-Nazi Advising Colombian Police on How to Break the National Strike” (Behind the Headlines)

Dan Cohen is a journalist and co-producer of the award-winning documentary, Killing Gaza. His website is dancohenmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @dancohen3000.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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Kevin Gosztola discusses the alarming new developments in the case of Daniel Hale, a whistleblower who helped expose the U.S. military’s secret drone assassination program during the Obama administration. Because it’s so easy to obtain convictions of whistleblowers, Hale recently pled guilty to one of the charges against him, hoping to receive a deal from the court. But now he’s being held, mostly in solitary confinement, in the Alexandria Detention Center, the same facility where Chelsea Manning attempted suicide, and a specific part of the reason a British judge turned down the extradition of Julian Assange to the U.S. earlier this year. Scott and Gosztola lament the irony that America treats whistleblowers who risk their livelihoods for the sake of the American people worse than the worst violent criminals. This treatment was a pattern during the Obama and Trump administrations, and now seems to be continuing under Biden too.

Discussed on the show:

• “Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Detained at Facility Where Chelsea Manning Attempted Suicide” (Shadowproof)
• “Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Jailed Ahead of Sentencing” (The Intercept)
• “The Drone Papers: Secret documents detail the U.S. assassination program” (The Intercept)
• The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program
• Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield
  

Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” Follow him on Twitter @kgosztola.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; 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 Professor Alfred McCoy about the history of the drug trade during America’s decades-long involvement in Afghanistan. Before the 1980s, McCoy explains, drugs were not a significant part of the Afghan economy—but that all changed when President Bush’s CIA began arming a resistance against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. These Mujahideen fighters turned to opium for their funding, quickly growing Afghanistan’s opium trade to thousands of tons a year, and accounting for 70% of the world’s heroin trade. When the Taliban wiped out the drug trade in the late 90s, the resulting economic devastation was part of what allowed the U.S. to achieve such a swift military victory. And throughout the U.S. occupation, drugs have once again become by far the biggest part of Afghanistan’s economy. Opium, McCoy concludes, has been an inextricable part of nearly every significant event in Afghan history for the last 40 years, and it is impossible to adequately understand the issues facing Afghanistan without understanding the drug trade. In general, McCoy fears that U.S. withdrawal—which is virtually inevitable at this point—will trigger serious chaos, and may present another “fall of Saigon” moment. If this should occur, it may give war hawks an argument against pulling out of any protracted conflict like Afghanistan in the future.

Discussed on the show:

• “The True Meaning of the Afghan “Withdrawal”” (TomDispatch.com)
• “President Ashraf Ghani on What U.S. Withdrawal Means for Afghanistan” (Foreign Affairs)

Alfred W. McCoy is the Harrington professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His many books include The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror and In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power. Read his work at tomdispatch.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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Doug Bandow discusses the creation of the Vandenberg Coalition, the latest in a long string of neocon think tanks that do little more than promote American interventionism halfway across the world. Bandow reminds us of two strong motivating factors behind this strain of foreign policy: On one hand, there really are a lot of true believers in the American empire—people who think that the U.S. military is a force for good in the world that spreads democracy and maintains relative peace through supremacy. On the other hand, there’s also a huge amount of money to be made for special interest groups as long as the wars keep going. Ending America’s imperial interventionism, then, will require that people see both the human cost of war and also the massive economic costs to everyone except those special interests.

Discussed on the show:

• “Washington War Party Creates Another Organization to Promote Endless Wars” (Cato Institute)
• “The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
• “Let Someone Else Worry About Central Asia” (The American Conservative)

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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

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

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