Scott Paul discusses the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, especially in the formerly small town of Marib, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Yemenis who have fled there are now at risk of being caught up in another bloody battleground. Paul stresses that the greatest threats to civilian life during the war in Yemen have always been economic, rather than directly as a result of violent conflict. Before the war, Yemen was already a poor country that relied heavily on imports for basic necessities like food and medicine; thanks to the Saudi blockade, these goods have become increasingly difficult to obtain, with the result that hundreds of thousands of innocent lives have been lost to starvation and deprivation. President Biden's recent moves to end support for offensive operations are a good start, but until the U.S. and the global community put pressure on Saudi Arabia to end the blockade, the suffering will continue.

Discussed on the show:

"The Fight for Marib Threatens Millions of Lives in Yemen" (Just Security)

"How Yemen's civil war played a role in Africa's great locust swarm" (The National)

"The U.S. Is Culpable for Yemen's Tragedy" (The Atlantic)

The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide

Scott Paul leads Oxfam America’s policy advocacy on a number of emergencies and cross-cutting humanitarian issues. He is a frequent media commentator with outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, and Al Jazeera and has testified before Congress. Follow him on Twitter @ScottTPaul.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWXwZJrR6Fo

Daryl Kimball talks about the need to limit the creation and proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world. Today, says Kimball, the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction: a $200 billion plan is in the works to update and expand America's nuclear arsenal, even though, according to Kimball and all reasonable observers, we already have way more nukes than anyone needs. Most disinterested experts agree that a small arsenal is more than enough to deter other nuclear-armed countries, and that the kind of stockpiles the U.S. and Russia have don't make anybody any safer. In fact, it greatly increases the chances of a full-scale nuclear war. Because of the global consequences of nuclear fallout, such a war can never be won, and so it must never be fought.

Discussed on the show:

"Enough Already: No New ICBMs" (Arms Control Association)

Daryl Kimball has been the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association since September 2001. He has written and spoken extensively about nuclear arms control, non-proliferation and weapons production. Follow him on Twitter @DarylGKimball.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz3UcFUFzl8

Scott talks to Brian McGlinchey about the realities of America's economic sanctions, which many believe are a more humane alternative to outright war. But this couldn't be further from the truth. McGlinchey reminds us that in essence, sanctions mean denying basic goods to a country's civilians in the hope that their government will give in to our demands. This isn't substantially different from terrorism, which by definition involves acts of violence against civilians for political purposes. Even the supposed exceptions for things like humanitarian aid often don't pan out in reality, since these days sanctions are largely enforced through America's influence over the global financial system, which makes it hard to exercise that level of fine-tuning. The result is that children go hungry, hospitals can't get basic medicine and families are ruined financially, all for an abstract political goal that has nothing to do with the people affected by the sanctions.

Discussed on the show:

"Advocates of Economic Sanctions Mirror the Morality of al Qaeda" (Stark Realities)

"Middle-class Iranians resort to buying rotting produce as U.S. sanctions take toll" (Los Angeles Times)

"Biden Iran envoy boasted of depriving civilians of food, driving up Iranian inequality in sadistic sanctions manual" (The Grayzone)

"Menendez is defying Biden over Iran because he owes his political life to Israel lobby and Saban" (Mondoweiss)

Brian McGlinchey is a freelance journalist. He started the 28Pages project in 2014 and now writes at substack. Follow his work there, or on Twitter @LibertyMcG.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJALYLaaEoA

Gareth Porter talks about the U.S. military's efforts to sabotage any attempt at leaving Afghanistan. The deal negotiated by the Trump administration made both the conditions and deadlines for withdrawal clear—but almost immediately, the military began claiming that the Taliban was somehow in violation of the agreement, and that America had to stay. Sadly very few people in power are willing to drastically change the situation in Afghanistan, and it looks increasingly likely that the Biden administration will simply try to stay the course.

Discussed on the show:

"How the US military subverted the Afghan peace agreement to prolong an unpopular war" (The Grayzone)

"Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says" (The New York Times)

"A Secret Accord With the Taliban: When and How the U.S. Would Leave Afghanistan" (The New York Times)

An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban-Al Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare and, with John Kiriakou, The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis. 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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wow1-qRaRPw

Scott talks to documentary producer Martin Smith about the subject of his newest project, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Smith considers Jolani and his fighters to be something of a separate group from al Qaeda and ISIS who should be treated as such—but Scott challenges him with the fact that Jolani, a sworn follower of Ayman al-Zawahiri, is just as guilty of terrorism and war crimes as any al Qaeda leader. Throughout the war in Syria, many in the U.S. have tried to portray Jolani and his fighters as “moderate rebels,” whom we can support in order to overthrow the Assad regime; but Scott reminds us that if anything, Assad is the most moderate option amid a sea of bad actors, given that he has cooperated with America for years and, by regional standards, presides over a fairly stable and tolerant country. In other words, the lesson of two decades of wars in the Middle East should be that no matter how bad things seem, they can always get worse.

Martin Smith has spent 25 years as a producer for PBS's Frontline documentary series. Follow him on Twitter @Martin28Smith.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSZjGkPw30U

Scott talks to Danny Sjursen about the leaked Biden administration plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The document evidently represents the Biden administration’s new take on the deal reached with the Taliban during the Trump administration, which laid out a May 1st deadline for withdrawal. But Sjursen stresses that this plan isn’t really new—in fact, there’s nothing “new” to be done or said about Afghanistan at all. The Kabul government simply doesn’t have widespread control over the country, and the Taliban are in a position of relative strength. Nothing America can do, short of utterly destroying the country, can change the facts on the ground. We should have left years ago, but the best we can do now is leave as soon as possible.

Discussed on the show:

“The leaked U.S. plan to end the war in Afghanistan” (The Washington Post)

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He is the author of Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge and Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War. Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck9TWCjk02o

Dan McKnight discusses the progress of the “Defend the Guard” movement, a set of bills that would mandate that a state’s national guard troops not be deployed overseas without an official declaration of war from congress. The legislation has sponsors in 31 states so far, and that number is growing. None of this, McKnight stresses, is a radical reinterpretation American law—it is just an attempt to follow the process that the constitution already lays out. It’s ridiculous, he says, that national guard troops are spending their time helping the American empire occupy countries halfway across the globe when their own states already need help.

Dan McKnight is the founder and Chairman of Idahoans to Bring Our Troops Home. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, three years active duty with the U.S. Army and ten years with the Idaho Army National Guard, including a one-year deployment to Afghanistan in 2006.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyU9t4QYvW0

Peter Van Buren is back for a conversation about President Biden’s foreign policy, especially regarding Iran. Van Buren explains the way that the JCPOA, signed under the Obama administration, lengthened the amount of time that it would take Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, thus removing an excuse long used by Iran’s enemies as a threat of war. Trump, of course, backed out of this deal to appease his anti-Iran allies, but Biden was expected to rejoin—after all, he was part of the team that created the original agreement. But now, says Van Buren, the picture isn’t so clear. The Biden administration seems to be adopting a tough posture toward the rest of the world, one that makes it clear to all the same old “enemies” that we’re still willing to fight them, and also increases tensions with countries like China that are, if anything, supposed to be our allies. Van Buren and Scott worry about the consequences of such a posture, fearing that little can be done to oppose the overwhelming forces in the U.S. government that want America to maintain its position as global hegemon, whatever the costs in wasted money and human life.

Discussed on the show:

“Give Dealmaking Another Try” (The American Conservative)

“Red Dawn (1984)” (IMDb)

“‘Red Dawn'” (LewRockwell)

““American neoconservatives: a history and overview” Jim Lobe” (YouTube)

“Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)

Peter Van Buren worked for 24 years at the Department of State including a year in Iraq. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People and the novel Hooper’s War. He is now a contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkPO0MC--nI

Scott talks to Hans Kristensen about nuclear proliferation. Ever since the U.S. government backed the coup in Ukraine in 2014, he says, we’ve been flying bombers near Russia and the Baltic states in what are ostensibly “training exercises,” but which in reality are meant to intimidate America’s enemies. Kristensen explains that even though these bombers don’t have nuclear capabilities, they are a demonstration of U.S. reach into Eastern Europe. Of course the obvious danger with this kind of saber-rattling is that actual war breaks out—and nuclear war between America and Russia is something the human race cannot afford.

Discussed on the show:

“Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)

Audio of the Nuland-Pyatt call (YouTube)

Hans M. Kristensen is an Associate Senior Fellow with the SIPRI Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme and Director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Follow him on Twitter @nukestrat.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuCgQfj24yU

Max Blumenthal begins by discussing the immense power imbalance between Israel and Palestine, which has led to enormously one-sided violence by the Israelis. The Palestinians, to be sure, have fought back, but Blumenthal says there’s a crucial difference between people defending their own territory, even when it sometimes results in civilian casualties, and an aggressor who moves in on other people’s land and deliberately targets families. Of course, with international support overwhelmingly behind the state of Israel, it’s very hard to get the real story out. If there’s one silver lining, explains Blumenthal, it’s that Netanyahu’s stranglehold on power makes it increasingly hard for so-called liberal zionists in the U.S. to back what Israel is doing. Blumenthal also discusses an investigation by his organization, the Grayzone, into the extensive effort by the British Foreign Office to coordinate pro-western media narratives in Russian-speaking countries and push pro-NATO candidates in Eastern European elections. Hundreds of documents obtained by the Grayzone reveal the extent of the corrupt relationship between the British government and supposedly unbiased media organizations like Reuters and the BBC. Blumenthal and Scott agree that this real scandal is much worse than even the most scurrilous “Russiagate” allegations, nearly all of which have turned out to be false. Of course, if the tables were turned, we would hear no end of outcry about this in the mainstream media—as it is, Twitter has done everything they can to silence the story.

Discussed on the show:

“Reuters, BBC, and Bellingcat participated in covert UK Foreign Office-funded programs to “weaken Russia,” leaked docs reveal” (The Grayzone)

Director and writer of “Killing Gaza,” Max Blumenthal is a senior editor of the Grayzone Project and the author Goliath, Republican Gomorrah, and The 51 Day War. Follow Max on Twitter @MaxBlumenthal.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heupGiR0a9Y