Gareth Porter discusses the parallels between the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and the 1918 Spanish Flu. Though it’s commonly called “Spanish Flu” Porter reminds us that it really originated in Kansas, where it was first spread to American troops at a training base, and then to Europe via the U.S. Army, before finally coming back to the United States in a much deadlier form. If the U.S. hadn’t entered the war and sent thousands of men overseas in cramped ships and trenches, the flu never would have become what it did. In fact, more American soldiers died from the flu in World War I than from bombs and bullets. Woodrow Wilson’s reckless enabling of the spread of this virus is just one example on his long list of egregious crimes, including lying the U.S. into the war, which tilted what had been a stalemate toward a decisive allied victory, which in turn led to the overly harsh terms of German surrender, ultimately enabling Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s. Without Hitler, of course, we never would have World War II, which is also what allowed Stalin to consolidate the Soviet Union, and probably allowed Mao and the other communist leaders of 20th century Asia to enact their brutal and genocidal regimes.

Discussed on the show:

“How Generals Fueled 1918 Flu Pandemic To Win Their World War” (The American Conservative)

The Zimmermann Telegram

Wilson’s War: How Woodrow Wilson’s Great Blunder Led to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and World War II

Beer Hall Putsch

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. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

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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The following is an automatically generated transcript.

Show Transcript

Scott Horton 0:10

All right, y’all welcome it’s Scott Horton shelf. I am the director of the libertarian Institute editorial director of antiwar.com, author of the book fool’s errand, time to end the war in Afghanistan. And I’ve recorded more than 5000 interviews going back to 2003, all of which are available at Scott horton.org. You can also sign up to the podcast feed. Full archive is also available at youtube.com/ScottHortonShow.

my very favorite reporter in the whole wide world, the great Gareth Porter, welcome back to the show, sir. How are you?

Gareth Porter 0:48

I’m fine. Thanks, God. Be back again. And thanks for having me. Very happy to have you here.

Scott Horton 0:53

Now everybody knows that Woodrow Wilson is the single worst person who ever existed. He’s the father of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. And for that matter, Pol Pot and Harry Truman and George W. Bush, and all of the worst butchers of human history. But one thing that he oftentimes gets away with is the Woodrow Wilson flew. They tried to call it the Spanish flu, even though it originated in Missouri. But the only reason it became a global pandemic at all is because of what you write about here in this great article at the American Conservative magazine, how generals, how Woodrow Wilson and his generals fueled the 1918 flu pandemic, to win, quote unquote, should be ironic quotes win their world war. So tell us just what happened here with this. Massive last, the last real global pandemic that broke out hundred and two years ago.

Gareth Porter 2:02

Right? I mean, this is the really the forerunner of the present pandemic, it was far worse in the sense that,