Gareth Porter rejoins the show to talk North Korea, the New York Times, and the insidious influence of arms contractors on United States foreign policy decisions. Porter explains how easy it is for journalists to make claims like "North Korea has an illicit nuclear program" without needing to provide hard evidence. Most people don't pay close enough attention to be able to question claims like that, but they can easily be used as evidence for the need for military intervention. Much of the...

John Feffer joins the show for an update on the peace talks between North and South Korea. He optimistically describes the nascent process of dismantling parts of the DMZ, including guard towers and mine fields, and also establishing a no-fly zone there. As usual, the American media is happy to ignore all of this. Feffer reminds us that South Korean President Moon Jae-in is really the driving force behind the negotiations, but he seems happy to give lots of credit to President Trump, who...

Patrick Martin, of the World Socialist Web Site, comes back on the show for an update on his last appearance. 11 of the democratic candidates he mentioned last time won their congressional races, and 7 more came very close, which he says is a fairly strong performance but probably not quite the one they had hoped for. These new representatives all come from backgrounds in the military or intelligence agencies, and instead of using their experience as a principled basis for opposing war, they...

Sheldon Richman talks about his latest article for the Libertarian Institute, in which he spotlights a new documentary exposing the smear efforts of various pro-Israel groups against anyone standing up for the rights of Palestinians, particularly on American college campuses. These groups conflate anti-Zionism—which itself has allies among many secular and religious Jews—with outright anti-semitism or support for terrorism. Never mind the fact that Palestinians are also a Semitic people, and...

The great Tom Woods joins the show in honor of the hundred-year anniversary of Armistice Day to give a rundown of World War I. Decades of complex alliances and arms races, he explains, led to the powder keg that erupted catastrophically in 1914 with a single assassination. After many bloody months with little to show for it, the countries of Europe were on the breaking point, and a “peace without victory” looked imminent…that is, until the U.S. entered the war. Because the politics of Europe...

Andrea Carboni from ACLED Data comes on the show to talk about their casualty estimates for the war in Yemen. “10,000” is the number that has been used for the last few years, but that’s exactly why it can’t possibly be right. ACLED estimates that there have actually been at least 50,000 combatant plus civilian deaths, but that is a very conservative estimate and the number is likely much higher, perhaps around 80,000. Of course, accurate counts are difficult, particularly in remote and rural...

James Carroll discusses President Trump’s intent to withdraw from the INF treaty, which he thinks could usher in a new age of nuclear expansion. The INF helped reverse the buildup of nuclear weapons that was taking place between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and its reversal might mean a return to the same kind of arms race we saw during the cold war. Most alarmingly of all, nobody in the mainstream seems to care about this and no media outlets will give it much attention. Discussed on the...

Cato’s John Glaser joins the show to talk about the new oil sanctions on Iran. He and Scott discuss what this means for U.S. relations with Iran, beginning with the fact that sanctions only achieve the policy desired by the imposing nation about 30% of the time, and a dismal 5% of the time when the concern is security, as opposed to economic. In general, says Glaser, President Trump has taken the wrong approach to negotiating with foreign countries, even though his instincts are often good. He...

Arnold Isaacs joins the show to discuss the flawed ways the Vietnam War is remembered and commemorated. All too often, he explains, American crimes are whitewashed or left out altogether. If we don’t face up to the deeds of our military and government in previous wars though, we risk repeating the same mistakes in future ones. Discussed on the show: “8/1/18 Arnold Isaacs on Fake Islamophobia in America” (Libertarian Institute) “Tomgram: Arnold Isaacs, Misremembering Vietnam” (Tom Dispatch)...

Brian McGlinchey talks about the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act and the lobbying campaign by the Saudi government against it. The Saudis spread a false narrative among American veterans that this type of legislation could open up American soldiers for prosecution under foreign laws, when in reality it would do no such thing. This act was President Obama’s only overridden veto. Discussed on the show: The 28 Pages S.2040 – Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act Jamal Khashoggi...

Sheldon Richman shares his election day experience, one where he got to choose exactly the outcome he wanted and take home real products afterward—namely, he went to the grocery store. Richman contrasts the voting of the marketplace that we do every day with our dollars, with the political system that supposedly gives each citizen a vote but in reality provides only a pointless display of participation and consent without real effect. Richman’s latest article in the TGIF series explores real...

Grant Smith comes on the show to talk about his latest article on the close ties between the U.S. and Israeli military intelligence communities. He reveals that not only do American agencies share pretty much all their intel with their counterparts in Israel, but also how the U.S. agencies supplement their budgets with funding from the activities they’re supposedly helping to prevent, like drug and arms sales. Discussed on the show: “Israel and the Trillion-Dollar 2005-2018 US Intelligence...

Hassan El-Tayyab talks about various movements to stop the U.S.-backed war in Yemen, and what we can all do to help. Tayyab explains that millions of civilians there are on the brink of the worst famine in 100 years. So far political will has not really been behind ending the war, but following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi things may finally be changing. Tayyab’s organization is tracking the progress of two congressional resolutions that would invoke the War Powers Act to end American...

Major Danny Sjursen comes back on the show to talk about the many errors of the various American wars in Iraq. Sjursen has written a new article discussing a recently leaked report that was commissioned during and about Iraq War 2, but was deliberately stymied and kept from the American people. Discussed on the show: “The Army Stymied Its Own Study of the Iraq War” (Wall Street Journal) “Will Iraq Become Another ‘Lesson Lost’ Like Vietnam?” (The American Conservative) Pentagon Papers Raymond...

Scott Paul joins the show to talk about recent developments in the war in Yemen, where new casualty estimates claim at least 50,000 deaths just from direct violence. Oxfam estimates that the there are over 100 additional deaths from cholera and deprivation per day, and that when all is said and done hundreds of thousands of civilians will have been found to have died because of the war. Paul reminds us that there is plenty of room to negotiate peace, since most Yemenis hardly care at all about...