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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 Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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 so far stuck to his guns on opposing the war.

Discussed on the show:

Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States

Iran–Contra affair

Muhammad Sahimi is a professor of chemical engineering at USC, Iranian expatriate, and expert on Iranian and U.S. foreign policy.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

On FPF #350, I argue that the armed US government agents are often the bad guys with guns on American streets and overseas. A recent editorial in the NYT explains how cops in Baltimore became the bad guys. I explain how US troops end up becoming the bad guys with guns during our wars. 

I also discuss Chelsea Manning, Africa, Iran, and Yemen. 

Links

NYT - Cops are bad guys with guns

Patrick Cockburn - War with Iran

Did the Houthi hand over the Hodeida ports?

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. 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: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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 turned any of his good instincts into policy.

Discussed on the show:

Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy

"The Pentagon Syndrome, by Andrew Cockburn" (Harper's Magazine)

Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis

Perils of Dominance

Andrew Cockburn is the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine and the author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmcockburn.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

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 convinced of, not the other way around.

Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.

Bill Binney is a retired senior NSA official and whistleblower. He has been a high-profile critic of both the George W. Bush administration, and later of the NSA's data collection policies under Barack Obama.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Will Porter returns to FPF to discuss his recent writing on events in the Persian Gulf. Will breaks down the deployment of US forces to the Gulf and the alleged sabotage against four ships at a UAE port. Will and Kyle give their analysis on the events and the potential for war. 

Will is a staff writer at RT. His work has been published at Antiwar.com, Consortium News, and Libertarian Institute. 

Link

FPF #319 - Douma

Scott talks to Steven Woskow about recent anti-BDS legislation at both the state and federal level. The issue has been going back and forth in the courts because on the one hand, a boycott is just an expression of personal first amendment freedoms, but on the other, it could be argued that it constitutes discrimination against a religious group. Scott and Woskow, however, agree that the religious discrimination argument is totally illegitimate because this is a political and human rights issue, not a religious one.

Discussed on the show:

"Anti-BDS Laws vs the First Amendment" (The Libertarian Institute)

"Text - S.1 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Strengthening America's Security in the Middle East Act of 2019" (Library of Congress)

85(R) HB 89 - Introduced version

Bahia Amawi v. Pflugerville Independent School District

Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Scott talks to Daniel Lazare about the ongoing fiasco of the Mueller report, this time digging deeper into Mueller's past as FBI director. Lazare says even though the report is now out, the fun is just beginning.

Discussed on the show:

"Top Ten Questions About the Mueller Report" (Consortiumnews)

"4/26/19 Daniel Lazare on Julian Assange and Guccifer 2.0" (The Libertarian Institute)

Operation Mockingbird

Daniel Lazare is the author of The Frozen Republic: How the constitution is Paralyzing Democracy and a regular contributor at Consortium News. Find all of his work at his website and follow him on Twitter @dhlazare.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

On FPF #348, I update the persecution of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. The UK sentenced Assange to a 50-week sentence for violating bail. The US is seeking his extradition on charges related to the Manning Leaks. Now Sweden is also seeking his extradition. 

Chelsea Manning is now free from jail. Manning served over two months for invoking her 1st, 4th, and 6th Amendments rights. She now faces another subpoena that forces her to testify or be arrested. 

Links

Caitlin Johnson - Rape allegations against Assange

FPF - Patrick Shanahan