Scott talks to Jerrod Laber about the status of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan following the Washington Post’s release of their “Afghanistan Papers” last week. Laber thinks that if and when American troops leave, things are sure to get worse in the short term. The...
Adam Wunische discusses the fact that Afghans overwhelmingly want U.S. troops out of their country—and they are also optimistic about the chances for a peaceful resolution to the resultant power vacuum. Scott has always said there’s a strong chance that the civil...
Daniel Davis, Matthew Hoh, and Danny Sjursen reflect on America’s war in Afghanistan in light of the Washington Post’s publishing of a trove of formerly confidential documents on the war. The report, which is being hailed as this generations Pentagon Papers, details...
Bill Law talks about the need for Americans to support those in foreign countries peacefully demonstrating for political reform against oppressive regimes, and the hypocrisy surrounding America’s so-called support for democracy. Really, says Law, our government and...
Scott talks to Eli Clifton about the billionaire “megadonors” who control the Republican party. Although Trump started his campaign touting his status as an independent billionaire who couldn’t be bought, Clifton explains how even if that’s true, someone needs to fund...
Tom Collina tells Scott about the “nuclear sponge”, a collection of land-based nuclear weapons in America’s upper midwest, whose real purpose is just to absorb the strikes of a nuclear attack by a hostile power rather than to actually be used in an attack of their...
Scott talks to Ted Carpenter about the NATO secret no one wants to admit, which is that part of the alliance involves America promising to enter a nuclear war in the defense of its allies, including the Baltic states right on Russia’s border. It hardly needs to be...
Kelley Vlahos discusses the latest with Julian Assange, who now will be testifying in a spying case involving the Spanish company UC Global, and which may implicate America’s CIA and even top Republican donor Sheldon Adelson. Assange is being held in a London jail for...
Mark Perry discusses what he calls “the biggest breakdown in civil-military relations since Vietnam”: the controversy over the war crimes trial of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher. By refusing to allow the Navy to discipline Gallagher in the way they intended, Trump has...
Scott interviews Jeb Sprague about his work studying U.S.-backed coups in Latin America, particularly the current one in Bolivia. Support for democracy and the rule of law is one thing, say Scott and Sprague, but it is quite another to demand that the military rush in...
Scott talks to Aaron Maté about the role John Brennan and the CIA might have played in the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Although Maté is a progressive, he understands how dangerous it is to have intelligence agencies with the...
Doug Bandow explains why the pathological need for neocons and neoliberals in Washington to antagonize other powerful countries is so dangerous for America. Russia and China, he says, can both be our allies. It makes no sense for the U.S. military to be involved in...
Michael Boldin describes the appalling state of an American government that has strayed so far from its founding principles as codified by the constitution. Today the federal government wields so much power over every aspect of our lives that the only rational choice...
Michael Heise of the Libertarian Party Mises Caucus tells Scott about his work in his hometown to decriminalize marijuana. He describes the struggles trying to appeal to an overwhelmingly liberal populace and city council, but also the ways he’s been able to...
Danny Sjursen talks about the ways his experience in Iraq convinced him of the futility of that war, allowing him to see things that the generals and the war planners often could not. Sjursen says that not all officers paid attention to the local situation or to the...
Philip Weiss discusses the latest in Israeli politics, where incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been indicted on corruption charges. Neither Netanyahu nor his main opponent, Benny Gantz, have yet been able to form a government, and Weiss thinks...
Donald Bolduc shares some of his experience from his time overseas with the U.S. army during the terror wars. He spells out the fact that although America’s mission is ostensibly to suppress groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, we often end up supporting the very same...
Peter Van Buren rehashes some of the details behind the surveillance of the Trump campaign through FISA warrants on Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, which originally opened up the “Russiagate” investigation into Trump. Now the same anti-Trump plot has expanded...
David Stockman discusses everything that’s going on with Ukraine and President Trump right now, which he says is nothing more than a shallow ploy to oust the president and to gin up fear around the general threat of Ukrainian and Russian power. Stockman reminds us...
Scott interviews Ted Snider about his recent article, “Finally Got Him,” which explores the details behind the coup in Bolivia. Although it’s being held up as a triumph of democracy, Snider says this is obviously a coup, just like recent cases in Venezuela, Brazil,...
