Scott talks to Gareth Porter about the decades-long attempt by neoconservative war hawks in the U.S. to link the Iranian government to terrorist activities, most notably those of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. This was the supposed justification for the killing of Qasem Soleimani earlier this year, a claim that Porter says is totally unfounded. Allegations that Iran knew about and supported Al-Qaeda operatives during America’s war on terror have always been tenuous at best, and a recent analysis of documents found in Osama bin Laden’s home prove that clandestine operatives hiding in Iran were doing so without the knowledge of that country’s government, and knowing that they would be captured if discovered. As usual, such claims are simply used by those who want war with Iran for their own purposes.

Discussed on the show:

“Washington’s tall tale of Iranian-Al Qaeda alliance based on questionably sourced book ‘The Exile’” (The Grayzone)

The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFjcSdkTk1k

Braden Chapman discusses his time serving in Afghanistan with Australia’s SAS, a special forces unit that worked closely with American troops to go after high profile targets. Chapman has recently come forward with allegations of war crimes by some of his fellow soldiers, a pattern that many others have now supported. The Australian government has made some moves investigating conduct like this, but Chapman says this kind of malfeasance usually goes unpunished.

Discussed on the show:

“Killing Field: Explosive new allegations of Australian special forces war crimes” (YouTube)

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErQlmBiYCh8

Scott talks to Brett Wilkins about Project SHAD, a Cold War era bioweapons test program that exposed thousands of American sailors to chemical and biological weapons. These veterans have been seeking redress for a slew of ailments allegedly caused by exposure to these weapons, but the government continues to evade culpability. Sadly, SHAD is only one of many incidents where the U.S. government deliberately tested dangerous substances on its soldiers, and even on its civilians. On top of such programs, the American military has left behind a wake of chronic health problems and generations of birth defects in places like Vietnam, Iraq, and Pakistan because of the toxic chemicals and heavy metals used to wage its wars.

Discussed on the show:

“Veterans Exposed in Cold War Bioweapons Testing Still Awaiting Answers — and Help” (CounterPunch.org)

Project 112/Project SHAD

Unit 731

MK-Ultra

“Wormwood (TV Mini-Series 2017)” (IMDb)

War is a Racket

Brett Wilkins is the editor-at-large for US news at the Digital Journal and a contributor at The Daily Kos. Follow him on Twitter @MoralLowGround.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjkmtNP8NEU

Scott interviews Trevor Timm about a recent U.S. senate vote that would grant the government access to Americans’ browser history without a warrant. This shameful vote is surprising to those who thought that even Washington insiders would have stood up to a civil liberties violation this egregious. Timm and Scott also discuss Julian Assange’s extradition case, which has the potential to set a dangerous precedent not just for iconoclasts exposing scandalous government secrets, but for anyone who does investigative journalism as we know it.

Discussed on the show:

“The US Senate voted to let Trump spy on your search history. But all is not lost” (The Guardian)

“State Department Cables” (WikiLeaks)

“Iraq War Logs” (WikiLeaks)

The Shadow Factory: The NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America

Trevor Timm is a co-founder and the executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. He is a journalist, activist, and lawyer whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, The Atlantic, and many others. Follow him on Twitter @trevortimm.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6n82mtkrE

Mike Maharrey of the Tenth Amendment Center discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court case that overturns a Kansas Supreme Court decision concerning a potentially unconstitutional traffic stop. The police officer in the incident in question pulled a car over because his computer showed that the owner had a suspended driver’s license. This was seen as probable cause, even though it’s obviously quite possible that someone other than the owner was driving the car. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the officer’s actions did not violate the Fourth Amendment, overturning the Kansas court’s decision that the stop had been unconstitutional. Maharrey laments the tendency, even among some libertarians, to turn to the federal government as a safeguard of liberty. The pattern, he says, is clear: the more you centralize power, the more it will erode our rights.

Discussed on the show:

“Supreme Court Rules Against Fourth Amendment” (The Libertarian Institute)

Mike Maharrey is National Communications Coordinator for the Tenth Amendment Center. He is the author of three books on nullification and hosts the Thoughts from Maharrey Head podcast. Find him on Twitter @mmaharrey10th.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

The following is an automatically generated transcript.

Show TranscriptScott Horton 0:10

All right, y'all welcome it's Scott Horton Show. 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 ScottHorton.org. You can also sign up to the podcast feed. The full archive is also available at youtube.com/ScottHortonShow. All right, you guys introducing Michael Maharrey. From the 10th amendment center. He is the National communications director there at the 10th amendment center and he also writes for us at the Institute, libertarian institute.org including one on the front page today. Supreme Court rules against Fourth Amendment? Well, I'm not sure you could be referring to a great many different cases there. So we'll have to get into the details. Welcome back to the show, Mike. How you doing?

Mike Maharrey 1:11

Thanks, God. It's always a pleasure to be on the show. It's one of my favorites.

Scott Horton 1:15

Cool, man. Well, happy to have you here. So a Kansas versus Glover film in?

Mike Maharrey 1:24

Yeah. So this was a case from a couple of years back and involves search and seizure. As all these Fourth Amendment cases do, basically, the deputy pulled over a car because the driver came back as having an expired driver's license. So he used that as probable cause and dude ended up getting arrested. And the defense was and I think this is a legitimate defense. Just because the driver of an automobile has a suspended license doesn't mean or just because the Winter has a suspended license. That doesn't mean the person driving has a suspended license. You know, a lot of people drive cars, you know, especially like if you're in a family, my wife drives my car, I drive her car. And so the argument was that the police couldn't really assume that there was a crime being committed, so therefore had no justification in pulling over the driver. And interestingly, the the states started out in state court and the state court agreed and it ended up working itself up through the system eventually got to the US Supreme Court. Now,

John Kiriakou discusses his time at the CIA during the lead up to and aftermath of 9/11, given the recent revelations about the identity of a Saudi official connected with the attack. This is the first time the American people have seen any concrete evidence tying the Saudi government to the hijackers, which Kiriakou finds ridiculous. The families of the victims have been seeking justice for almost two decades, and ought to be allowed to know the truth. He also recounts some of the reasons why America’s intelligence apparatus should have seen the 9/11 attacks coming, and the dysfunction that let them through.

Discussed on the show:

“In court filing, FBI accidentally reveals name of Saudi official suspected of directing support for 9/11 hijackers” (Yahoo News)

The 28 Pages

“The ’28 Pages’ Explained” (Antiwar.com Original)

“Press for Truth (2006)” (IMDb)

The Shadow Factory: The NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America

“Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)” (IMDb)

John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer and author of The Convenient Terrorist: Two Whistleblowers’ Stories of Torture, Terror, Secret Wars, and CIA Lies and Doing Time Like A Spy. He is the host of Loud and Clear on Sputnik Radio. Follow him on Twitter @JohnKiriakou.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhjFW9ey15U

Scott interviews Ben Freeman about his report, “The Qatar Lobby in Washington D.C.” Freeman goes over the recent history of Qatar’s efforts to influence U.S. policy, including their apparent success in winning over the Trump administration to their side in a dispute with Saudi Arabia. In this case and in others, Freeman is astounded by how easy it is for lobbyists representing foreign governments to buy off American politicians. Small campaign donations of a few thousand dollars can be enough to buy a senator’s vote. Equally shocking, this is perfectly legal.

Discussed on the show:

“Report: The Qatar Lobby in Washington” (Center for International Policy)

“Report: Foreign Funding of Think Tanks in America” (Center for International Policy)

Ben Freeman is director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative with the Center for International Policy. Read his work at AntiWar.com and follow him on Twitter @BenFreemanDC.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-acsNr33No

The following is an automatically generated transcript.

Show Transcript

Scott Horton 0:10

All right, y'all welcome it's Scott Horton Show. 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 ScottHorton.org. You can also sign up to the podcast feed. The full archive is also available at youtube.com/ScottHortonShow.

Okay, guys, introducing Ben Freeman. He is the director of the foreign influence Transparency Initiative over there at the Center for International Policy, and they have a brand new study out the cutter lobby in Washington. Welcome back to the show, Ben. How are you? Doing.

Ben Freeman 1:01

I'm doing great, Scott. Thanks for having me.

Scott Horton 1:03

Great. Well, really happy to have you here and you do such great work. I'm glad I get a chance to interview you about all of it. So, cutter, tiny little island barely Island right off the coast of the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. They call it the Arabian Gulf. Now, when they're pro Saudi partisans. That's right. But then, so your, your article begins here. You mentioned that America, of course, has a massive airbase there in Qatar and have for a long time. But you start with the story of the dust up between Saudi Arabia and the UAE and their blockade against Qatar back in the summer of 2017. So can you please remind us what was going on there and then talk about the results?

Ben Freeman 1:57

Yeah, absolutely. So in In 2017, if folks remember, Donald Trump, the newly elected as president, and he makes the decision to go to Saudi Arabia as his first trip abroad, you know, has a good trip and everything and then meets with a lot of Middle East powers, it comes back to the US. And within a couple weeks, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a bunch of other countries in the Middle East, they launched this blockade against Qatar. And they're, they're accusing Qatar of effectively funding terrorism, which to me was, you know, supremely ironic coming from Saudi Arabia, which of course, most of the hijackers on 911 came from Saudi Arabia. So the fact that they're slinging mud about terrorism financing is ironic to say the least. But but the accusation from them was that Qatar was financing terrorist groups Hamas,

Scott talks to Aaron Maté about the latest developments in the apparent OPCW cover-up of their investigation into the alleged Douma chemical attack. It is now clear, based on recently leaked documents, that OPCW leadership lied about expert analyst Ian Henderson, who has since become the leading whistleblower in the story of their cover-up. They claim that he was a low-level team member without anything important to say; in reality, he was the leader of the Douma team and one of the organization’s most reliable experts. His findings contradicted what became the official narrative, upon which U.S. retaliation against the Assad government was based. He has been working tirelessly to correct these lies. Scott and Maté also discuss the crumbling “Russiagate” narrative, and the mainstream media’s near-total silence on the scandal.

Discussed on the show:

“Exclusive: OPCW chief made false claims to denigrate Douma whistleblower, documents reveal” (The Grayzone)

“5/1/20 Aaron Maté on the Latest OPCW Scandal | The Libertarian Institute” (The Libertarian Institute)

“OPCW investigator testifies at UN that no chemical attack took place in Douma, Syria” (The Grayzone)

“Crowdstrike Admits ‘No Evidence Russia Stole Emails From DNC Server” (Antiwar.com Blog)

Aaron Maté is a former host and producer at The Real News and writes regularly at The Nation. Follow him on Twitter @AaronJMate.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

The following is an automatically generated transcript.

Show Transcript

Scott Horton 0:10

All right shall welcome Scott Horton show. I am the director of the libertarian Institute editorial director of antiwar.com dot 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 scotthorton.org dot org. You can also sign up for the podcast feed. Full archive is also [email protected] slash Scott Horton show. All right, you guys on the line. I’ve got Aaron Mateo. He is the host of pushback at the grey zone.com. And of course rights there and it real clear investigations in the nation and other places. And this one is at the gray zone. It’s kind of an addendum and I guess it’s interviewed Isn’t it? Well, no, not really. It’s somewhat a different subject. But in a way it could be an addendum to our interview from last week or two weeks ago about the OPC W, and all the dissension within it. And this is really important. OPC w chief made false claims to denigrate Duma whistleblower documents reveal. Welcome back to the show. How you doing, Eric?

Eric Mate 1:31

Hi, Scott. Thanks for having me back.

Scott Horton 1:33

Very happy to have you here. So I’ve fumbled a little bit in that introduction, because, in fact, our last interview was about an entirely different alleged chemical attack, that there was dissent inside the OPC w over and you published an open letter from the actual whistleblowers on the site. But now back to Duma the ongoing saga of About a year on now, began about a year ago, where these whistleblowers started coming forward from it’s the organization for the prevention of chemical weapons. And the guys who investigated the attack in Duma in April of 2018. In Syria, which was blamed on the regime, of course. And so a big part of that is, is it the only named whistle blower Ian Henderson has been really dragged through the mud for the last year. And now you finally have the proof that the draggers were bluffing and we’re wrong about his position there.

Listen to Scott’s latest appearance on Dave Smith’s Part of the Problem, where they discuss Mike Flynn, “Russiagate,” “Obamagate,” and other recent political developments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0WgH4fqdHo

Pete Quinones discusses the recent killing of Ahmaud Arbery and the response from Americans on both sides of the political aisle. In a recent article at the Libertarian Institute, he discusses the incident from the perspective of the gun-owning community, arguing that the vast majority of serious gun owners view this killing as abhorrent, and that even if Arbery had not been shot, the behavior of his killers leading up to the fatal moment was still wildly irresponsible. Leaving aside the question of whether race played a role in the killing, he and Scott hope that people will see another side to this, and similar incidents: not black vs. white, but police vs. civilians. It has come to light that the man accused of shooting Arbery used to work in law enforcement, and that multiple prosecutors have had to recuse themselves because of conflicts of interest. Everyone should be able to see that in a case of such clear injustice, any normal civilian would have been swiftly arrested, charged, and probably convicted for this crime. In this case, however, as in so many others, affiliation with the police prevents the same justice from working that would apply to anyone else.

Discussed on the show:

“How Members Of ‘Gun Culture’ View The Ahmaud Arbery Killing” (The Libertarian Institute)

The Monopoly On Violence

Graham v. Connor

“Breonna Taylor Was Always Essential” (Rolling Stone)

Pete Quinones is managing editor of the Libertarian Institute and hosts the Free Man Beyond the Wall podcast. He is the author of Freedom Through Memedom: The 31-Day Guide to Waking Up to Liberty and is co-producing the documentary, The Monopoly On Violence.

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.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

The following is an automatically generated transcript.

Show TranscriptScott Horton 0:10

All right, shall welcome and Scott Horton shell. I am the director of the libertarian Institute editorial director of anti war calm, 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 scotthorton.org dot org. You can also sign up to the podcast feed full archive is also [email protected]. Slash Scott Horton show. Aren't you guys on the line? I've got Pete Jonas. And he is managing editor at the libertarian Institute and author of this brand new one. How members of gun culture view the amount Aubrey killing. Welcome back to the show. How you doing Pete?

Pete Quinones 0:56

Thanks for having me back, Scott.

Scott Horton 0:58

Hey man, real quick. Got a documentary coming out soon. Is that right?

Pete Quinones 1:03

Yeah, I do. It's it'll be released to the public on YouTube on the 31st. And then soon after, after we get some things squared away, get it up on Amazon and then down the line after it does well on Amazon then Netflix kind of thing so it doesn't get banned. Yeah. Somebody doesn't step in and say yeah, that's, that's too subversive for for public consumption or something like that.

Scott Horton 1:27

Yeah. Well, I hope you edited my piece as much as you possibly could in there, too. There, everybody there, eardrums

Pete Quinones 1:37

we edited exactly what you what you thought would be. We just put in there what you thought were the most important points. Okay. I think I think it will. I think it'll work especially with some of the overlay that we have that your our buddy, Danny Sjursen, sir, supplied us.