The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Grant Smith returns to the show to discuss The Black Cube, a private intelligence firm for hire. Smith and Scott discuss who might be behind the Black Cube investigations into prominent supporters of the Iran Deal, including friend of the show Trita Parsi. Smith then shares the details of the Free Trade Agreement and discusses NEWMEC, which began in the 1960s when Israel stole weapon's-grade uranium from the United States. Finally the two discuss the reality of Israel's nuclear weapons and "qualitative military edge" in the Middle East.

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: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Ray McGovern, co-founder of VIPS, joins Scott on the show to talk about his recent arrest for protesting Gina Haspel's CIA confirmation hearing. McGovern begins by sharing what he got up and said during his protest and what he saw and heard before being removed from Haspel's hearing. McGovern then discusses Haspel's record of torture and how she has escaped any accountability for her actions. McGovern's latest article is "Will A Torturer Become CIA Director?" You can read all of his work at original.antiwar.com/mcgovern.

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.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Shireen Al-Adeimi joins the show to discuss her article for In These Times, "What the Deployment of Green Berets to the Saudi-Yemen Border Tells Us About America’s Dirty War." Al-Adeimi speculates on the role that the green berets and the U.S. army are playing in Southern Yemen and in the aerial bombing campaign. The two then discuss the possibility that the new revelation that there are American boots on the ground could bring the question of the War Powers Resolution back to the forefront in Congress.

Shireen Al-Adeimi is a doctoral candidate at Harvard researching language and literacy. Follow her on Twitter @shireen818.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Editor of FPIF.org John Feffer returns to the show to discuss his latest articles "A Nobel For Donald Trump Over Korea?" and "The Banality of Haspel." Feffer begins by explaining why, even if Trump negotiates peace in the Korean Peninsula he would not be deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. Feffer and Scott discuss the many different nuances of the peace process in North Korea and what it will take for the various sides to strike a deal. They then turn to Gina Haspel's likely appointment as the new director of the CIA—and who might have replaced her if she was rejected. Scott then asks Feffer what his prediction is for the future of U.S. engagement in Syria.

John Feffer is the co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus and author of the dystopian novel Splinterlands. Follow Feffer on Twitter @JohnFeffer.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Fordham University law professor Karen Greenberg joins Scott to discuss the history of the United States torture program. Greenberg makes the case that Haspel was just one cog in the wheel of the U.S. torture program and that a whole torture network was held completely unaccountable. She describes the earliest days of the U.S. torture program in the aftermath of 9/11 and how it exploded into the spotlight in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. Read her latest article, "The hearings for Trump’s CIA pick should prompt a reckoning with torture."

Karen Greenberg is the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University. She is the author of The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First 100 Days and Rogue Justice:The Making of the Security State. Follow her on Twitter @KarenGreenberg3.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

The Intercept's Jon Schwarz returns to the show to discuss his article latest work for the Intercept about the new AUMF, the Trump administration's strikes on Syria, and indefinite detainment of U.S. citizens. Schwarz makes the case that the new AUMF, meant to cure the ills of the old AUMF, is actually an even graver threat and has codified permanent war. Schwarz then describes the twisted logic used by the Trump administration to apply the AUMF to the strikes against Assad. Schwarz says that anyone who remembers the political climate in 2001 should be very frightened by the developments under the Trump administration.

Jon Schwarz is a writer for The Intercept. Previously he worked for documentary film maker Michael Moore and his blog Tiny Revolution. Follow him on Twitter @schwarz.

Discussed on the show:

"Cure Worse Than Disease: Bill to Restrict Trump's War Powers Would Actually 'Endorse a Worldwide War on Terror'," by Jon Schwarz (The Intercept)

"New Bipartisan Bill Could Give any President the Power to Imprison U.S. Citizens in Military Detention Forever," by Jon Schwarz (The Intercept)

"Donald Trump Ordered Syria Strike Based on a Secret Legal Justification Even Congress Can't See," by Jon Schwarz (The Intercept)

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

The great Tom Woods joins Scott to discuss the war state and Trump's bombing of Syria. Woods begins by going back to the founding and shows that even in the years immediately following the ratification of the Constitution, there was grave concern about the scope of national powers. The two then turn the clock forward and consider the disaster of the military industrial complex and the other "privatized" government industries. Scott and Tom then discuss the War Powers Act and the AUMF and the consequences they've had for U.S. foreign policy.

Tom Woods is the host of the Tom Woods Show and the author of numerous books including Real Dissent. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasEWoods.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Former U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Dennis Halliday, who resigned over the Iraq sanctions in 1998, joins Scott to discuss Madeleine Albright's new book and the true figures of the total deaths of Iraqi children due to the U.N. sanctions. Halliday describes his experience in Iraq and the violations of international law leading to mass casualties that he witnessed—which he classified as sanctions with genocidal intent, leading to his resignation from the U.N.

Dennis Halliday was the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq in 1997 and 1998. In 2003, Halliday was presented with the Gandhi International Peace Award for his work to expose the horrors of the U.S. sanctions program.

Discussed on the show:

"Madeleine Albright - The deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth it" (YouTube)

"Morbidity and Mortality Among Iraqi Children from 1990 Through 1998: Assessing the Impact of the Gulf War and Economic Sanctions" (CASI)

"When Iraq Was Clinton’s War" (Jacobin)

"Changing views on child mortality and economic sanctions in Iraq: a history of lies, damned lies and statistics" by Tim Dyson (BMJ Global Health)

Hans-Christof von Sponeck

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan returns to the show to discuss the history of her son Casey's death in Iraq in light of the new TV miniseries The Long Road Home. Sheehan recaps the story of her son's life and death in Iraq and the fallout from her anti-war protests. Sheehan then describes her response to the Women's March—the Women's March on the Pentagon. Sheehan then discusses the dynamics of the antiwar movement and her disappointment with the factional character of the left.

Cindy Sheehan is the mother of Casey Sheehan who was tragically killed in Iraq in April, 2004. Visit her website at CindySheehansSoapbox.blogspot.com.

Discussed on the show:

The Long Road Home

Martha Raddatz

"Even Cindy Sheehan can go too far," by Ben Shapiro (Townhall)

Siege of Sadr City

Thomas Young

Muqtada al-Sadr

2004 Fallujah ambush

Ahmed Yassin

"Trump Bowed to Pentagon Restraint on Syria Strikes" (Wall Street Journal)

Women's March on the Pentagon

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

Journalist and author Daniel Lazare returns to the show to discuss the latest issues facing Saudi Arabia and his latest article for The American Conservative, "Will the Saudi Kingdom Collapse Under the Resource Curse?" Lazare compares the Saudi Arabian kingdom to 16th Century Spain, which discovered the new world and was overwhelmed with the sudden flow of gold and silver, which, despite its incredible resources was ruined and needed to file bankruptcy in order to limp along. Lazare then explains why he refers to the Saudi-American alliance in the Middle East as "a marriage made in hell." Scot then asks Lazare: Why on earth would Saudi Arabia go along with the plan to get rid of Saddam Hussein and empower their enemy Iran in the process? Lazare then explains why diversifying the economy, as Mohammad bin Salman desires, will be far more difficult done than said. Finally, Scott wonders whether the Saudis believe the propaganda they spread about Iran's global evil or whether it's politically expedient for the regime.

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: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.