Ron Enzweiler exposes some of the falsehoods behind the developing story about supposed Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan. For one thing, outlets like the New York Times have implied that there is consensus among America’s intelligence agencies on this story—in reality, says Enzweiler, the NSA, who monitor nearly all Taliban cell phone traffic, “strongly dissented” from the CIA’s initial claims. Even the Department of Defense, which thoroughly investigates every U.S. death in Afghanistan, hasn’t found evidence to support the idea that the Russian government is paying bounties to the Taliban. All of the media commotion, of course, is being used as an excuse to keep this war going forever. The timing of the story is certainly suspicious, coming on the heels of President Trump’s claim that he’d like to pull all troops from Afghanistan before the election.

Discussed on the show:

• “The Russian Bounties Hoax” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Who To Believe on Afghan Intelligence: CIA, NSA, or Pentagon?” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Trump Wants Troops in Afghanistan Home by Election Day. The Pentagon Is Drawing Up Plans.” (The New York Times)

Ron Enzweiler is an air force veteran and worked for USAID in Iraq for seven years. He is the author of When Will We Ever Learn. You can follow his writing at Antiwar.com.

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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