Scott talks to Phyllis Bennis about the Palestinians’ Great March of Return, a protest against the unjust removal of Palestinians from their own land by the Israeli government. A huge problem, explains Bennis in a recent article, is the Israeli military’s policy to shoot all protestors, even children, who approach the border fence. Because of the lack of good medical care faced by many Palestinians, thousands have had to have limbs amputated and hundreds have died. Discussed on the show:...

West Virginia State Legislator Pat McGeehan joins the show to talk about his “Defend the Guard” bill, a statewide attempt to prevent national guard troops from being called to fight overseas wars, something that the states are supposed to have control over. McGeehan hopes that if several other states follow suit with similar bills it will force the issue of the injustice in sending American men and women to die needlessly fighting endless wars in the middle east. Discussed on the show: “Defend...

Scott talks to Grant Smith about his work obtaining secret government documents by FOIA request. This time Smith has gotten a 640-page document outlining Bush administration intelligence on Iraq’s nuclear weapons in the leadup to the Iraq war. Discussed on the show: “Lesson From FBI’s ‘Niger Uranium Forgeries’ File” (Antiwar.com Original) “Chappelle’s Show – Black Bush” (YouTube) The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake...

Professor Andrew Bacevich gives his take on the growing divide between the foreign policy views of the Washington political establishment and those of the rest of the country. Basically, he explains, Americans are sick of fighting endless wars in the middle east, but that’s something that politicians, particularly presidential hopefuls, have not tried to parlay into effective campaign strategy. Discussed on the show: “Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, What Illinois Bikers Know That Washington Doesn’t”...

Mashal Hashem and James Allen, research associates with the Center for International Policy, join Scott to discuss their work on the congressional lobbying by American arms manufacturers. Last year the U.S. sold more than $4.5 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia alone, and American firms donated thousands of dollars to the people behind those decisions. Lobbying by the likes of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman create a perverse political incentive to start and continue wars....

Ashraf Nubani discusses the Nakba, the catastrophic forced exodus of the people living in the Holy Land when the state of Israel was founded in 1948. Palestinians like Nubani, descended from those who were forced to leave their homes, still commemorate the event and demand justice for the past. Discussed on the show: “The Nakba Demands Justice” (Antiwar.com Original) Ashraf Nubani is an attorney in Washington D.C. He is a Palestinian rights advocate and writes about Middle East issues. This...

Charles Glass talks about the arrest of Julian Assange, which is being cheered by partisans on both sides, since he has done enough to make enemies everywhere. What’s astounding is that most of the mainstream media is fine with his imprisonment too, even though what Assange does is what all good journalists should try to do. Discussed on the show: “Julian Assange Languishes in Prison as His Journalistic Collaborators Brandish Their Prizes” (The Intercept) “WikiLeaks cites report saying Clinton...

Scott talks to Jason Hartwig about how to end the civil war in Somalia, where he recommends negotiating with Al-Shabaab as the best chance for peace. Like other countries where the U.S. military is involved, a decisive victory by one side might not be realistic, and will cost far more in blood and treasure. Discussed on the show: “How To End The Civil War In Somalia: Negotiate With Al-Shabaab” (War on the Rocks) This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles...

Harry Kazianis discusses the negotiations between North Korea, South Korea, and the United States. Kazianis says that although North Korea has some nuclear weapon capability, they’re not a real threat to America, because the moment they launched a missile they would be wiped off the map in minutes. Their economy is also so small that they pose no possible economic threat. He says the very best thing for everyone involved—especially the North Korean people—is to try to reach a peace deal,...

José Niño talks about his new book, How Socialism Destroyed Venezuela. He explains the debate between critics of socialism, who claim that the economic system is responsible for Venezuela’s problems, and its defenders, who maintain that socialism was working well until America and its allies began imposing sanctions and trying to take control of the country’s oil. Niño clarifies, however, that Venezuelans have been living under socialism for much longer than most people realize, and that they...

Curt Mills discusses John Bolton’s plans for provoking a war with Iran and the differences in policy and philosophy between Bolton and Trump. Discussed on the show: “Is Bolton’s War With Iran Becoming A Reality?” (The National Interest) “Iran Nuclear Deal Exit Strategy — John Bolton Memo to Trump” (National Review) Curt Mills is the Washington Editor for Spectator USA and a foreign affairs columnist for The National Interest. Follow him on Twitter @CurtMills. This episode of the Scott Horton...

Muhammad Sahimi talks war with Iran, which he says the Ayatollah, and certainly the Iranian people, do not want. They understand that even though America would never outright win a war like that, it could practically destroy the entire country of Iran. The puzzling thing is that such a war would also do tremendous harm to the U.S., much in the way the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have, and yet the neocons in the Trump administration seem keen as ever on starting it. Luckily Trump himself has...

Gareth Porter explains the overblown claims of Iran’s threat to the United States, which are constantly being used as a pretext for war by American and Israeli neocons. Discussed on the show: “John Bolton’s Nefarious Plot for War With Iran” (Truthdig) “Did Iran Kill 600 Americans in Iraq War II?” (The Libertarian Institute) Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state, and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare....

Andrew Cockburn comes back on the show to discuss his recent piece, “The Military-Industrial Virus.” Cockburn describes how the war planners, and even many of the officers, don’t care all that much about the men they’re sending off to fight and die in America’s wars. Mostly they’re waiting to cash in on comfortable pensions or work on the civilian side at a firm like Raytheon or Boeing. Cockburn laments how President Trump ran against the wars and the military-industrial complex, but hasn’t...

Ray McGovern and Bill Binney, both of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for sanity, discuss their findings on the supposed Russian hack of the DNC email server. They explain their detailed testing of the claim that the emails were hacked and transferred over the internet, in which they conclude that it wouldn’t have been possible to do it this way, and it must have been done physically and in person. Most analysts are more concerned with making the facts fit the narrative they are already...