Lyle J. Goldstein talks about the need for Russia and Ukraine to get along better, and in general for Europe to handle more of its military and foreign affairs without the involvement of the U.S. Much has been made in certain American circles of supposed Russian aggression in Crimea and Syria, two major pillars of the narrative that Russia is a dangerous enemy that must be met with strength. But these claims present a very slanted narrative, and are mostly used by those who want to keep the...

Scott interviews John Kiriakou about the history of the CIA’s secret torture program. Kiriakou was involved in the 2002 capture of Abu Zubaydah, who was initially interrogated with some success by the FBI, before his interrogation was eventually taken over by the CIA. Zubaydah was the first victim of the CIA’s torture regime, which, Kiriakou says, completely failed to produce any actionable intelligence. Kiriakou eventually blew the whistle on the program and served time in prison as part of a...

Jim Bovard talks about America’s lack of faith in the FBI, as represented by both the film Richard Jewell and also the Inspector General’s report about the Bureau’s failures in conducting the “Russiagate” probe. The FBI’s history of incompetence and outright malice goes back much further than that though, says Bovard, who remembers the malfeasance of the Nixon administration and the deliberate sabotage of the civil rights movement. Bovard and Scott find reason for hope, however, in...

Dave DeCamp discusses the latest leaks related to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma in 2018, which continue to point to the fact that it was staged. The most recent leaker dissents from the conclusions of the OPCW investigators that the supposed chlorine gas canisters were dropped into the apartment building from planes or helicopters. He claims instead that they were planted to make the scene look like a chemical attack. Other dissenters have cast doubt on medical reports from the...

Sheldon Richman discusses America’s relationship to Israel in the wake of President Trump’s speech to Sheldon Adelson’s Israeli-American Council. Trump has received criticism as being anti-semitic for saying that American Jews, particularly democrats, do not “love Israel enough.” This is odd, says Richman, since usually allegations of anti-semitism are based on people claiming that American Jews might have a special loyalty to Israel. He laments the fact that nobody cares about...

Scott interviews Nasser Arrabyee about Yemen, where the U.S. continues to back Suadi Arabia in waging a war of starvation against the people of Yemen. Scott calls this the very worst thing our government is doing, and yet by and large the American people don’t much care about it. Arrabyee says that Houthi leaders are beginning to talk with the Saudis through backchannels, which could be the first step toward a deescalation of the bombing and a reopening of airports, which would allow...

Peter Van Buren discusses the details of the Horowitz Report and gives a retrospective of the whole Russia conspiracy investigation into President Trump. Van Buren stresses that the Steele dossier—opposition research paid for by the democrats—was the only evidence presented by the FBI to the FISA courts in order to get warrants to surveil Carter Page. The FBI knew the research was questionable at the very least, but did not disclose that fact, and also misled the courts into thinking that...

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 Afghan government is likely to collapse, and the Taliban will be able to consolidate power in many regions of the country. As things begin to stabilize, however, he and Scott think it will start to get better for the Afghan people,...

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 strife that has plagued the country for years will just continue in America’s absence, but that that is no reason to stay. Still, it is possible that the various factions vying for control will be able to reasonably negotiate a peace....

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 the ways officials in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations have lied about the progress being made in Afghanistan and the need to keep troops there. Even though lots of people like Davis, Hoh, and Sjursen have been speaking...

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 its allies support the regimes they like and overthrow the ones they don’t, and call it “democracy” no matter what. Discussed on the show: “How the death of a president shed light on Egypt’s brutal dictatorship” (Middle East...

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 all the senate and congressional campaigns of the candidates to support Trump during his term. Since these donors are almost universally zionist neocons, Trump’s foreign policy ends up being directed toward Israel’s interests,...

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 own, which would most likely be done by submarine. Needless to say this is utterly crazy. Collina reminds us that there are enough nukes between just the U.S. and Russia to destroy the world’s population centers many times over, not...

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 said how dangerous this is. Carpenter reminds us of the original promise not to extend NATO eastward, which has since been broken many times, even to the extent that some want Ukraine added to the organization. He says this would 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 missing bail, mostly in solitary confinement. His already weakened physical and mental state from seven years of isolation in the Ecuadorian embassy makes his health—and even his survival—a real concern. Meanwhile Chelsea Manning...