The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Grant Smith discusses his new book, The Israel Lobby Enters State Government, which tells the scandalous story of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, a branch of the Virginia state legislature tasked with promoting Israeli business interests in the state. Unlike a chamber of commerce, says Smith, VIAB is quite literally a part of Virginia's government, so its members can use political power to obtain contracts for businesses that they choose, with special provisions that businesses in the free market would never get. This has led to failure after failure, with much of the taxpayer money that funds these companies simply lost forever.

Discussed on the show:

The Israel Lobby Enters State Government: Rise of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board

"Israel and Its US Lobby Finally Achieve a Long-Term Objective: Direct US-Iranian Military Conflict" (Antiwar.com Blog)

Grant F. Smith is the author of a number of books including Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America and Divert!. He is director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C.

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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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DRP-4BF3Zs

Gareth Porter joins Scott once again to discuss what he calls Mike Pompeo's "Gulf of Tonkin incident." In the real Gulf of Tonkin incident, McNamara intentionally misled President Johnson in order to incite war between the U.S. and North Vietnam. Porter says that Pompeo pulled a similar maneuver in deceiving President Trump about the extent to which Soleimani and the Iranians were behind the recent embassy attacks in Iraq in order to persuade him to carry out Soleimani's assassination. For the time being, at least, it appears that Trump is satisfied to let the Iranians save face with their missile strike and is not interested in further escalation.

Discussed on the show:

The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis: From CIA Coup to the Brink of War

"Pompeo’s Gulf Of Tonkin Incident" (The American Conservative)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers

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: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

Cliff Maloney of Young Americans for Liberty talks about the disaster of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and how to bring more Americans around to the antiwar position. Luckily, he says, a great majority of people already oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when asked, the trouble is that they don't make it a priority—and neither, therefore, do most politicians. In an effort to change this, Maloney's organization vets liberty-focused, antiwar candidates and helps them get elected in local races all around the country.

Discussed on the show:

"Five lessons Afghanistan teaches us about Iran" (The Hill)

"The Afghanistan Papers" (Washington Post)

"Terrorism: Ron Paul vs. Giuliani @ SC Debate" (YouTube)

"For Liberty: How the Ron Paul Revolution Watered the Withered Tree of Liberty (2009)" (IMDb)

"Dan 'McCain 2.0' Crenshaw Says He NEVER Wants the Troops to Come Home From Afghanistan" (Big League Politics)

"Report: US Drone Strike Kills 60 Afghan Civilians, Taliban Commander" (Antiwar.com Original)

bringourtroopshome.us

Cliff Maloney is President of Young Americans for Liberty. Before serving as President of YAL he was the National Youth Director for the Rand Paul Presidential Campaign. Follow him on Twitter @LibertyCliff.

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: 1Ct2FmcGrAGX56RnDtN9HncYghXfvF2GAh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWAzIo0Y62A

Scott talks to Robert Naiman about the efforts in congress and the senate to oppose the war in Yemen and stymie any escalation in a conflict with Iran. Naiman is optimistic that a concurrent resolution against the war in Yemen, which Trump cannot veto, will have enough support to make it through congress. Republicans and many in the media maintain that a concurrent resolution is merely symbolic, with no power to bind the president. But Naiman assures us that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 specifically cites a concurrent resolution as the means by which congress can end an unauthorized war. Those who deny this, he says, are living in their own fantasy.

Robert Naiman is Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy and president of the board of Truthout. He helped write The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire. Find him on Twitter @naiman.

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; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOqPrf9viSM

Francis Boyle explains why President Trump should be impeached—not for the charges of corruption and abuse of power in Ukraine, but for his war crimes in continuing the aggressive wars of the Bush and Obama administrations. Boyle thinks that Trump's behavior with Ukraine probably constitutes an abuse of power, but mostly agrees that it's just a continuation of the "Russiagate" witch hunt by the democrats. Clearly Trump's real crime is allowing Saudi Arabia to perpetrate its war of genocide by starvation against Yemen, which is only possible with American equipment, intelligence, and consent. Scott and Boyle agree that Trump could end that war today simply by announcing that the U.S. will no longer support it. By not doing so, he is just as guilty as those waging the war.

Discussed on the show:

"Why Not Impeach Trump for War Crimes?" (Accuracy.Org)

Francis Boyle is a human rights lawyer and a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law. He is the author of Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law and Protesting Power: War, Resistance, And Law.

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; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

Scott talks to Matthew Hoh about the claim that General Soleimani and the Iranians were directly responsible for 600 American deaths in the war in Iraq, which supposedly would justify the general's recent assassination by President Trump. Hoh explains that although it's generally true that some Iranian money supported certain militant groups that the U.S. fought against in Iraq, we have little to no concrete evidence of the Iranian military ordering, planning, or supporting any attacks on American soldiers. In fact by the evidentiary standards of the anti-Iran hawks, there is far more evidence for the guilt of gulf states like Saudi Arabia supporting America's enemies, and these countries are supposed to be our allies. Those really responsible for these 600 dead Americans—and for the tens of thousands who come home with physical and psychological wounds, the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, and the entire nations that have been destroyed in America's war on terror—are our elected politicians and "selfless" public servants who advocate these policies and face little repercussion.

Discussed on the show:

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

Matthew Hoh is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and formerly worked for the U.S. State Department. Hoh received the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling in 2010. Hoh is a member of the Board of Directors for Council for a Livable World and is an Advisory Board Member for Expose Facts. He writes on issues of war, peace and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery at matthewhoh.com.

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; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9NZxGkBDV8

Patrick Cockburn discusses the recent killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani at an airport in Baghdad. Cockburn is surprised by the boldness of the move, and thinks Iran will respond, though not necessarily in a dramatic or immediate way. More likely, he says, Iran will try to increase its influence in Iraq and force the U.S. out, which should be easier now that the killing of Soleimani—generally unpopular with Iraqis—has actually made him a martyr of American authoritarianism.

Discussed on the show:

"Iraq’s worst fears have come true – they are now at the centre of a proxy war between the US and Iran" (Independent)

Patrick Cockburn is the Middle East correspondent for The Independent and the author of The Age of Jihad and Chaos & Caliphate.

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; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgUObBC4S6Y

Scott talks with Brett Murphy about his recent USA Today article exposing a disastrous U.S. military raid in 2008 that killed 60 Afghan children. The U.S. government tried to cover up the incident and paint it as a perfect success, so it was not until now that Murphy and others have been able to expose what really happened. Scott reminds us to imagine how we would feel if a foreign government occupied our country, accidentally killed our children, denied it, and then tried to "win hearts and minds." Clearly, anyone would have just the opposite feelings toward their oppressors, and the example reminds us why wars like the one in Afghanistan are so hopeless.

Discussed on the show:

"Inside the U.S. military's raid against its own security guards that left dozens of Afghan children dead" (USA Today)

"1/2/20 Peter Van Buren on the Americans Dying for the Government’s Lies" (The Libertarian Institute)

Brett Murphy is an investigative reporter for the USA Today Network in Florida. Follow him on Twitter @BrettMmurphy.

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; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjd-ywc6LLA

Mustafa Akyol talks about his latest New York Times op-ed, which describes a backlash among the people of the Muslim world to some of the political extremism that has recently become common in the Middle East. Scott and Akyol rehash the history of radical Islamist movements that have sprung up in response to the actions of the U.S., turning regimes like Libya, Iraq, and Egypt that were stable and secular—if not perfect by American standards—into murderous and chaotic theocracies. A decade or so later, a sort of "backlash to the backlash" is now emerging in the form of Muslim populaces who are sick and tired of heinous actions being taken in the name of their religion. This gives Akyol hope for the future of his country, Turkey, and for the rest of the region.

Discussed on the show:

"A New Secularism Is Appearing in Islam" (The New York Times)

Mustafa Akyol is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. He is the author of The Islamic Jesus and Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty. Follow him on Twitter @AkyolinEnglish.

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; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajZOXjxU1uM

Peter Van Buren talks about the unlearned lessons from America's last several decades of foreign policy failures. Although a presidential administration will occasionally make a blunder that results in something like ISIS or the empowerment of Iran, for the most part, says Van Buren, the endless and unwinnable wars, the bloated military spending, and a nation that worships its military are all part of the plan for the neocons, neoliberals, and the military industrial complex and its lobbyists. It is really the well-intentioned but gullible American people who keep falling for the same lies, eagerly sending their sons and daughters off to die in pointless conflicts. And so long as they do so, things will continue just as they are.

Discussed on the show:

"This American Died For Our Lies In Afghanistan" (The American Conservative)

"U.S. officials misled the public about the war in Afghanistan, confidential documents reveal" (Washington Post)

"Pentagon Papers" (HISTORY)

OPCW Douma Docs

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: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQmj8OT6Hm4