The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Major Danny Sjursen comes back on the show to talk about the many errors of the various American wars in Iraq. Sjursen has written a new article discussing a recently leaked report that was commissioned during and about Iraq War 2, but was deliberately stymied and kept from the American people.

Discussed on the show:

"The Army Stymied Its Own Study of the Iraq War" (Wall Street Journal)

"Will Iraq Become Another ‘Lesson Lost’ Like Vietnam?" (The American Conservative)

Pentagon Papers

Raymond T. Odierno

Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq

Sean MacFarland

Muqtada al-Sadr

"Collateral Murder" (Wikileaks)

The Good Soldiers

Badr Organization

Danny Sjursen is a major in the U.S. army and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Scott Paul joins the show to talk about recent developments in the war in Yemen, where new casualty estimates claim at least 50,000 deaths just from direct violence. Oxfam estimates that the there are over 100 additional deaths from cholera and deprivation per day, and that when all is said and done hundreds of thousands of civilians will have been found to have died because of the war. Paul reminds us that there is plenty of room to negotiate peace, since most Yemenis hardly care at all about the politics of the war—they just want to be able to afford food.

Discussed on the show:

ALCED Yemen Data

Jamal Khashoggi

"1/5/18 The UN’s Jamie McGoldrick on the state of affairs in Yemen" (Libertarian Institute)

"10/20/18 Martha Mundy Gives an Update on Yemen" (Libertarian Institute)

"A Yemen Ceasefire? Believe It When You See It" (American Conservative)

"ACTION ALERT: It’s Been Over a Year Since MSNBC Has Mentioned US War in Yemen" (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)

Scott Paul is a senior policy advisor at OxFam. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottTPaul.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Professor Stephen Walt comes on the show to talk about his new book on American foreign policy. He explains the doctrine of "foreign policy realism," which tries to objectively evaluate the consequences of military endeavors, and not focus excessively on the morality of stopping bad people across the world. For example, if the United States keeps trying to remake the Middle East, the unintended victims tend to want retribution, no matter how noble the intentions of spreading liberalism were. Of course, it's not even a given that American intentions are noble to begin with, which Scott presses Walt on. Walt goes on to discuss his idea of "offshore balancing."

Discussed on the show:

The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy

Henry Kissinger

Arab Spring

Likud Party

Stephen Walt is Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the author of Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy. He is a regular contributor to ForeignPolicy.com. Follow him on Twitter @stephenWalt.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Frequent Scott Horton Show guest Nasser Arrabyee comes back for an update on the current situation in Yemen. He explains that Coalition goals there simply can't be realized, and that the U.S. should just end its support for the Saudis as soon as possible. If America withdraws, he believes Saudi Arabia will soon follow suit. Arrabyee also talks about how the casualty reports from the New York Times and other sources, namely 10,000 deaths, can't possibly be right, given all the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure and the cholera outbreaks. He does think, however, that the war could actually end soon, due to recent outcry against Saudi Arabia.

Discussed on the show:

"6/20/18 Nasser Arrabyee on the Latest in the War in Yemen" (Libertarian Institute)

"How the War in Yemen Became a Bloody Stalemate" (New York Times)

Jamal Khashoggi

ALCED Data

Nasser Arrabyee is a Yemeni journalist based in Sana’a, Yemen. He is the owner and director of yemen-now.com. You can follow him on Twitter @narrabyee.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Conn Hallinan comes on to talk about the many players in Syria making the situation there almost incomprehensibly complicated. In fact Patrick Cockburn calls it "3-dimensional chess with no rules." Scott and Hallinan also discuss the world's various nuclear weapons treaties and the threats facing them. Hallinan worries that the test ban treaty in particular is on the chopping block, in part because of all the potential contracts for arms manufacturers that it would create.

Discussed on the show:

"Syria’s Chessboard" (Counterpunch)

Operation Euphrates Shield

Iran nuclear deal framework

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

START II

Project for the New American Century

Conn Hallinan is a columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus. Hallinan is a recipient of a Project Censored “Real News Award” and formerly headed the University of Santa Cruz’s journalism program.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Scott interviews Gareth Porter on his latest article for Middle East Eye, in which he explains that there's enough pressure now, following the death of Jamal Khashoggi, for the United States to back down a little in our relationship with Saudi Arabia. Porter doesn't imagine a drastic cutting of ties, but he is confident something will have to change. Unfortunately, too much of our foreign policy is controlled by interests in the arms industry, particularly drone bombers these days, for a little bit of public backlash to completely upend our presence in the Middle East.

Discussed on the show:

"A chance for the US to distance itself from Saudi Arabia" (Middle East Eye)

Jamal Khashoggi

"Lockheed Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (CorpWatch)

Khobar Towers bombing

"10/28/18 Lecture for the Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy" (Libertarian Institute)

"The Crown Prince of Riyadh vs. The Crown Prince of Jihad" (War on the Rocks)

"The Khashoggi Affair and the Future of Saudi Arabia" (Consortium News)

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

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Listen to Scott's lecture at a recent Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy event, where he discusses his book and the background of the war on terror.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Major Danny Sjursen comes back on the show to discuss the killing of General Raziq in a recent "green-on-blue" attack. Sjursen explains that these killings are not new—there have been dozens throughout the war in Afghanistan—but they should be a wake-up call. If American and allied troops aren't even safe from each other, after all, how can the U.S. hope to win a war against its enemies? Sjursen is adamant that we've already lost the war and we should just pull out as soon as possible without wasting any more lives.

Discussed on the show:

"Quagmire: What the Attack on General Miller in Afghanistan Tells Us" (AntiWar.com)

"Saudi Arabia Financed the Killers of American Troops I Commanded" (TruthDig)

Abdul Raziq Achakzai

"The Master of Spin Boldak" (Harpers)

Haqqani network

"The Afghanistan War Is Over. We Lost." (Weekly Standard)

"The Redirection" (New Yorker)

"Preparing the Battlefield" (New Yorker)

Collateral Murder

"NEW SURVEY: Seventeen Years On, Americans—Including Veterans—Want Out of Afghanistan" (Koch Institute)

Danny Sjursen is a major in the U.S. army and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Martha Mundy talks about the ongoing war in Yemen, with a particular focus on some of the more barbaric Coalition tactics, including the deliberate bombing of humanitarian and agricultural targets. Scott explains some of the United States and IMF policies that led to Yemen replacing many food crops with cash crops, which they could sell to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the U.S., which of course is a sensible policy until those countries start deliberately blockading you. These and dozens of other policies have contributed to the current crisis, all of which the American media seems bent on not mentioning.

Discussed on the show:

Strategies of the Coalition in the Yemen War

Yemen Data Project

Security Council Resolution 2216

Jamie McGoldrick

OCHA

Martha Mundy is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the London School of Economics and the author of Governing Property, Making the Modern State: Law, Administration and Production in Ottoman Syria.

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Sheldon Richman talks about his latest TGIF article, "The Insidious Wiles of Foreign Influence: Trump, Bin Salman, and Netanyahu". Scott and Sheldon bemoan the fact that the killing of Khashoggi has received far more outrage from journalists, politicians, and the public than the outrageous war in Yemen has. Although not exactly surprising, it's still disturbing. Sheldon maintains that Saudi Arabia is probably the worst possible regime for the United States to count among its allies.

Discussed on the show:

"TGIF: The Insidious Wiles of Foreign Influence: Trump, Bin Salman, and Netanyahu" (Libertarian Institute)

Center for a Stateless Society

The Future of Freedom Foundation

Jamal Khashoggi

"Praying for Jamal Khashoggi" (New York Times)

Khashoggi And The Jewish Question

Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare

"10/17/18 Ben Freeman on the Saudi Lobby" (Libertarian Institute)

"Trump’s Patron-in-Chief" (ProPublica)

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 LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.