Scott talks to Danny Sjursen about Lebanon, which has been in the news recently after a disastrous, and apparently accidental, explosion left hundreds dead there. Today Sjursen discusses Lebanon’s past, a history that has seen it become a battleground for many proxy wars throughout the Middle East. He deflates some of the most common myths about the country, including the idea that Hezbollah is a transnational terrorist group controlled by Iran. In reality, he explains, Hezbollah is a governing body, which also has a militia that sometimes commits crimes, but is not especially connected to Iran. This narrative, as with many of the myths about Lebanon, is perpetuated mainly to serve the interests of countries like the U.S. and Israel, who want to orchestrate things in the Middle East in a way that will most benefit themselves.

Discussed on the show:

• “Lebanon: Bellwether, Battleground, and Bastard Child of the Mideast” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Lebanon: The Top Ten Myths About the Country and Its Conflicts” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Lebanon: The Top Ten Myths About the Country and its Conflicts (Part Two)” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “7/31/20 Gareth Porter on the Real Story Behind the US-Israeli AMIA Bombing Narrative” (The Libertarian Institute)

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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