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On FPF #255, I discuss two articles by The Weekly Standard Editorial Board. The first article calls for the US to return to the Bush Doctrine. The editors believe that the US needs to very hawkish policy with Iran. The second article celebrates Trump's reversal on his desire to remove troops from Syria. The writers suggest an important role for the US troops in Syria is to combat Iran. 

I argue a return to the Bush Doctrine would be a disaster and US troops should return home from Syria. 

Links

Return to the Bush Doctrine?

Trump Rethinks Syria

Filmmaker Dan Cohen comes back on the show to discuss his latest project, "The Syria Deception," a short documentary exposing the propaganda campaign in Hollywood and the media to rehabilitate Al-Qaeda in the eyes of the American public. Cohen and Scott discuss America's role in instigating the war in Syria and how, more broadly, U.S. intervention triggers ever worse violence by inciting blowback from Middle Eastern civilians bent on vengeance.

Discussed on the show:

Killing Gaza

Grayzone Project

The Syria Deception: Al-Qaeda Goes to Hollywood

Bana al-Abed

Northern Storm Brigade

Tulsi Gabbard

Ahmed Chalabi

Manchester Arena bombing

'America can easily be moved'

White Helmets

"Right Said Fred perform anti-Assad version of 'I'm too sexy'" (Independent)

Dan Cohen is a correspondent for RT American, as well as a filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor. His website is dancohenmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @dancohen3000.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Daniel Lazare joins Scott to talk about his recent article in for the American Conservative Magazine about the war on drugs. He explains many of the practical reasons to end the war, demonstrated by America's own history. For instance, alcohol prohibition tended to replace beer with stronger, more dangerous options that were easier to smuggle, like homemade gin. Just so with cocaine replacing marijuana and fentanyl supplanting heroin. Drug prohibition also tends to make violence a requirement of doing business, since parties to the exchange can't rely on police or the justice system if things go wrong. This endemic violence is a leading cause of the mass migration from areas of Central America to the United States. Despite some good rhetoric in President Trump's past, Lazare is unhopeful that he will make any progress on this issue.

Discussed on the show:

"Mexico Must Stand Up to America’s Drug War" (The American Conservative)

Mérida Initiative

Los Zetas

Sinaloa Cartel

Andrés Manuel López Obrador

"Hillary Clinton Said Children Of Illegal Immigrants Should Be Sent Back In 2014 CNN Interview" (Newsweek)

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

William Hartung joins the show to give his views on President Trump's proposed Space Force. He explains that American satellites are in fact vulnerable to attack by foreign powers, but that a space force is a highly impracticable approach to protecting them, and one that is more likely to provoke attack than to prevent it. The idea of a Space Force is popular, however, because the arms contractors know it will mean more money for them, the existing efforts at space warfare within the Air Force (which are considerable) would get more funding and authority with their own branch of the military, and finally, Trump himself knows it's just a popular talking point that his supporters are enchanted with.

Discussed on the show:

"9/21/18 William Hartung on the Military-Industrial Complex and Yemen" (Libertarian Institute)

"Trump’s Space Force: Smoke and Mirrors or a Step Towards War in Space?" (tomdispatch.com)

"F-35B Stealth Fighter Bombs Ground Target in Afghanistan" (The Diplomat)

"F-35 strike fighter crashes in South Carolina" (Burlington Free Press)

Outer Space Treaty

Boeing YAL-1

Edward Teller

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

Big Israel: How Israel's Lobby Moves America

William Hartung is director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, and the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. Find him on Twitter @WilliamHartung.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

On FPF #254, I discuss a close call between US and Chinese Navy ships. The US ship was conducting a 'freedom of navigation' mission in waters claimed by China. The Chinese ship carried out maneuvers that brought it very close to the US ship. I review the history of the US and Chinese tensions over the region. I explain how similar operations for the US turned deadly. 

Links

Moderate Rebels - Idlib

Asa Win Stanley from The Electronic Infitada is interviewed on a documentary produced by Al Jazeera about the Israel Lobby. Al Jazeera managed to send two undercover reporters into the Israel lobby in the UK and in the US. The documentary was ultimately censored by the government of Qatar, owners of Al Jazeera, and now articles are leaking out about the content of the documentary. You can read some details in his article with Ali Abunimah "Censored film reveals The Israel Project's secret Facebook campaign"

Asa Winstanley is an investigative journalist living in London who writes about Palestine and the Middle East. He has been visiting Palestine since 2004. He writes for  Palestinian news site The Electronic Intifada where he is an associate editor. He also writes a regular column for the Middle East Monitor.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Joe Lauria is interviewed on the New York Times article "The Plot to Subvert an Election", the New York Times' 10,000 work expose on the supposed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and his response in "The New York Times as Judge and Jury". The embarrassing article from the Times is detailed and debunked, and the role of the media in public discourse is discussed at length.

Joe Lauria is the editor at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. You can follow him on Twitter @unjoe.

Today’s show is sponsored by: NoDev, NoOps, NotIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; 3tediting.com; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

On FPF #253, I discuss how Trump has hurt US influence by leaving the Iran Nuke Deal. The deal prevented Iran from making nuclear weapons and opened Europe to Iranian markets. Trump left the agreement even though all parties agreed Iran was following the agreement. Leaving the deal has caused US allied to spur US sanctions on Iran. 

Links

SHS - Phil Giraldi

SHS - Trita Parsi

Sheldon Richman discusses an unusual topic for the show: the life and philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Richman's latest installment of TGIF looks at Spinoza's thought and encourages us to apply his teachings to today's politics.

Discussed on the show:

"TGIF: Spinoza – A Man for Our Troubled Times" (Libertarian Institute)

Baruch Spinoza

Tractatus Theologico-Politicus

Leviathan

Two Treatises of Government

Thirty Years' War

The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Phil Giraldi comes back on the show to discuss the recent shooting down of a Russian plane over Syria and his article on the matter, The Path to World War III. He and Scott also discuss the state of the Middle East generally and United States military involvement there.

Discussed on the show:

"The Path to World War III" (unz.com)

Tulsi Gabbard

"Tulsi Gabbard on the Administration’s Push for War in Syria" (The Nation)

"The Redirection" (The New Yorker)

Phil Giraldi is a former CIA Case Officer and Army Intelligence Officer who spent twenty years overseas in Europe and the Middle East working terrorism cases. He is the executive director for the Council for the National Interest and writes regularly for The American Conservative Magazine and Antiwar.com.

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.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.