The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Gareth Porter returns to the show to discuss his latest story for Alternet, "Have We Been Deceived Over Syrian Sarin Attack?" Porter takes a deep dive into the evidence of the supposed Khan Sheikoun sarin attack and explains why we have good reason to doubt the narrative and evidence presented by the Trump administration, what's still in dispute, and raises questions that still need answering.

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.

Discussed on the show:

"4/6/17 Philip Giraldi says IC-Military Doubt Assad Gas Narrative" (The Scott Horton Show)

Sarin

Khan Shaykhun chemical attack

Elliott Higgins

"Mounting Evidence Syrian Forces Were Behind Khan Sheikhoun Attack," by Ole Solvang (Human Rights Watch)

"Trump's Red Line in Syria," by Sy Hersch (Die Welt)

Aluminum phosphide

"ISIS used chemical weapons against the Kurds, US officials say" (The Hill)

"Yet another video shows U.S.-funded white helmets assisting public-held executions in rebel-held Syria," by Ben Norton (Salon.com)

"OPCW Fact-Finding Mission Confirms Use of Chemical Weapons in Khan Shaykhun on 4 April 2017" (OPCW)

"Assad forces carried out sarin attack, says French intelligence"

"Government Assessment of the Syrian Government’s Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013" (The White House)

"Regime change in Syria is one of many priorities, says Nikki Haley" (The Telegraph)

Jeff Stein joins the show to discuss his latest article "Vietnam War: New Ken Burns Documentary Dismisses the Origins of the Futile, Disastrous Conflict" critiquing Ken Burns's latest documentary series "The Vietnam War." Stein reflects on his time in Vietnam as an army intelligence case officer and reviews and critiques Burns's documentary series, which he says is well worth watching, but is not without its flaws. Stein then explains why French colonialism in Vietnam created a false premise in Vietnam—that there was ever a good reason to join the conflict—dooming the war from the outset and explains why the same parallel exists in the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

Jeff Stein is a national security correspondent and author of the SpyTalk column at Newsweek. He has written three books including "A Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War." Stein spent a year as an army intelligence officer in Vietnam where he was awarded the bronze star. Follow Jeff on Twitter @SpyTalker.

Discussed on the show:

North Vietnamese Army (People's Army of Vietnam)

Viet Cong

U.S. Army intelligence School (Fort Holabird)

Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, by Nick Turse

"Nixon Tried to Spoil Johnson’s Vietnam Peace Talks in ’68, Notes Show" (New York Times)

Famed whistleblower John Kiriakou, the former chief of counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan, returns to the show to discuss his latest book on Abu Zubaydah "The Convenient Terrorist" which he co-authored with Guantanamo whistleblower Joseph Hickman. Kiriakou retells his history at the CIA and explains why the crux of the Abu Zubaydah saga were Zubaydah's lies about supposed ties between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, which helped the U.S. spin the lies that led to the Iraq War. Kiriakou explains the American fetish with torture and his role in blowing the whistle on the torture network within the CIA and explains how the United States made the decision to invade Iraq long before the invasion. Finally Kiriakou discusses how the drone program is the greatest recruitment tool for Islamic terrorists.

John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer and author of Doing Time Like A Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison. Kiriakou was the only CIA officer to be jailed over the CIA's torture regime—for telling the truth. Follow him on Twitter @JohnKiriakou.

Discussed on the show:

Abu Zubaydah

Joseph Hickman

Scott Horton (attorney)

"Abu Zubaydah and the Futility of Torture" (Future Freedom Foundation)

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

"Qaeda-Iraq Link U.S. Cited Is Tied to Coercion Claim" (New York Times)

Richard Perle

Enhanced interrogation techniques

"Donald Trump on waterboarding: 'Even if it doesn't work they deserve it'" (The Guardian)

"The road to torture: How the CIA’s 'enhanced interrogation techniques' became legal after 9/11," by Joseph Hickman and John Kiriakou (Salon.com)

Kiriakou to NBC News: "I think somebody would admit to kidnapping the Lindbergh baby under water-boarding." (Hardball with Chris Matthews)

Ramzi bin al-Shibh

"Israeli settlers raid two Palestinian villages, destroying 70 olive trees" (Mondoweiss.com)

Donald Rumsfeld

"Yes, We Did Execute Japanese Soldiers for Waterboarding American POWs" (Mother Jones)

"Waterboarding Historically Controversial" (Washington Post)

The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror, by John Kiriakou

"Perle Five Days After 9/11: ‘We Do Know Saddam Hussein Has Ties To Osama Bin Laden’" (ThinkProgress)

Houthi insurgency in Yemen

"A horrifying look into the mind of 9/11’s mastermind, in his own words" by Marc Thiesen (Washington Post)

"Timeline: Messages from Bin Laden" (al Jazeera)

Tim Shorrock, author of Spies For Hire, returns to the show to discuss his latest articles for The Nation "Diplomacy With North Korea Has Worked Before, and Can Work Again" and AlterNet "How Sony, Obama, Seth Rogen and the CIA Secretly Planned to Force Regime Change in North Korea." Shorrock details the 1994 deal with North Korea, which was an important step toward diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea, how George W. Bush and the neocons torpedoed the deal leading the North Koreans to pursue nuclear weapons, and why diplomacy between the two countries could work despite disastrous U.S. policies towards other regimes who disarmed nuclear weapons.

Tim Shorrock is the author of "Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing" and a regular contributor to The Nation and the Korea Center for Investigative Reporting. Follow him on Twitter @TimothyS.

Discussed on the show:

The Agreed Framework (1994)

Newt Gingrich

Donald Rumsfeld

Paul Wolfowitz

Barbara Slavin

Condoleezza Rice

John Bolton

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Siegfried Hecker

Colin Powell

Dick Cheney

Kim Dae-jung

Sunshine Policy

"John McCain: North Korea must know price for aggression is 'extinction'" (CNN)

"A troubling lesson from Libya: Don't give up nukes" (CS Monitor)

"Trump Threatens North Korea With ‘Fire and Fury the World Has Never Seen’" (ForeignPolicy.com)

Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

"A grand bargain with China could remove North Korea's nuclear threat — but it would destroy America's global influence" (LA Times)

Gareth Porter joins Scott on Antiwar Radio on KPFK to discuss his latest article for Antiwar.com, "Can the US and North Korea Move From Threats to Negotiations?" Porter details how America's history of foreign intervention has been North Korea's primary motivation for seeking nuclear deterrence and why, as a result, there is no military option in North Korea. And the question we all want answered: is this all ultimately leading toward regime change in Pyongyang? Finally, Porter addresses the role that China and South Korea play in the U.S. consideration of any diplomatic resolution.

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.

Washington editor of Harper's Magazine, Andrew Cockburn, returns to the show to discuss his latest article, "Crime and Punishment: Will the 9/11 Case Finally Go to Trial?" Cockburn explains how the 9/11 families overcame the legal impediments against suing the state of Saudi Arabia even in the face of rank opposition from the Obama administration, what he believed was revealed in the 28 pages, and how the Saudis helped fund the spread of Wahhabism and the rise of al-Qaeda. Cockburn believes the key question is: What is the real U.S.-Saudi relationship? Scott and Cockburn detail how Washington think-tanks have been financed and coopted by foreign countries and debate whether Saudi-funded Wahhabism or blowback from U.S. intervention is primarily to blame for the spread of radical Islam and its corresponding violence.

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.

Discussed on the show:

Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act

"Saudis hired former army veterans to lobby against the law allowing families to sue them" (CBS News)

Brian McGlinchey (28pages.org)

JASTA

September 11th Hijackers

Prince Bandar

Wahhabism

"Anwar Al-Awlaki's Links to the September 11 Hijackers" (The Atlantic)

Abdul Majeed al-Zindani

Mohamed Atta

Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud

Prince Bandar and George W. Bush on the Truman balcony (Photo)

"3/10/17 Andrew Cockburn on Trump’s escalation of Obama’s support for the Saudi war in Yemen" (Scott Horton Show)

Rumsfeld: His Rise Fall and Catastrophic Legacy, by Andrew Cockburn

Honor Roll of Contributors (Atlantic Council)

POGO (Project On Government Oversight)

"Gulf Government Gave Secret $20 Million Gift to D.C. Think Tank" (The Intercept)

9/11 Commission 

Robert Mueller 

Out of Control, by Leslie Cockburn

"The Redirection," by Seymour Hersch (The New Yorker)

Ayman al-Zawahiri

Abu Mohammad al-Julani

Al-Nusra Front

"We finally know what Hillary Clinton knew all along – US allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding Isis," by Patrick Cockburn (The Independent)

"Obama to Iran and Israel: 'As President of the United States, I Don't Bluff'," by Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic)

Kelley B. Vlahos, managing editor of the American Conservative, returns to the show to discuss her latest article "Haley Debuts Trump's Case for Ending Iran Nuclear Deal." Vlahos reviews the Iran Deal, explains how the neocons see Trump as an ally on Iran, and explains why Nikki Haley's speech to the American Enterprise Institute is a likely preview of Donald Trump's strategy to torpedo the Iran Deal. Scott and Vlahos then review the history of Iran-American tensions and speculate how the Republicans will torpedo Barack Obama's singular shining moment as president.

Vlahos is the managing editor of The American Conservative. Follow her on Twitter @KelleyBVlahos.

Discussed on the show:

Nikki Haley

Iran Deal (JCPOA)

Neoconservatism

"Inspectors Enter Hussein Palace" (Washington Post)

Nikki Haley Address on Iran and the JCPOA (American Enterprise Institute)

UN Resolution 2231

Corker-Cardin Law

UN Security Council

Non-Proliferation Treaty

"Hezbollah vows to destroy Islamic State in Syria" (Times of Israel)

Iran-Iraq War

John Bolton

1983 Beirut barracks bombing

Halabja chemical attack

Anfal Genocide

"Halabja : America didn't seem to mind poison gas" (New York Times)

Liz Cheney

Rex Tillerson

James Mattis

H.R. McMaster

Senior fellow of the Mises Institute Mark Thornton returns to the show to discuss Austrian business cycle theory, how the Fed's artificially low interest rates create perverse incentives, resulting in wild spending on both the production and consumer sides of the economy. Thornton discusses the crash of the stock market in the 1970s after Richard Nixon took the United States off the gold standard, which motivated Ron Paul to run for office and explains the moral hazard of fractional reserve banking and how it's at odds with a system of sound, commodity-based money. Instead we're subjected to a phony fiat system, which Thornton believes is the true cause of the great income and wealth inequality in the United States. Finally, Thornton explains that free trade and immigration aren't to blame for American hardships and finally why bailouts are always, always the problem.

Mark Thornton is a senior fellow at the Mises Institute. He serves as the Book Review Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. His publications include The Economics of Prohibition (1991), Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War (2004), The Quotable Mises (2005), The Bastiat Collection (2007), An Essay on Economic Theory (2010), and The Bastiat Reader (2014).

Discussed on the show:

Ludwig von Mises

F.A. Hayek

Murray Rothbard

The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, by G. Edward Griffin

Gold Standard

Stagflation, 1970s Style (Investopedia)

Early 1980s Recession

Glass-Stegall legislation

"Ron Paul: Regulate The Federal Reserve, Not The Free Market!" (RonPaul.com)

Fractional reserve banking

Skyscraper index

Mark Thornton: The Skyscraper Curse (Mises.org)

Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)

"Saudi Arabia to build world's tallest tower, reaching 1 kilometer into the sky" (CNN)

Author and journalist Eric Margolis returns to the show to discuss the slow motion war escalating between China and India that Margolis has long believed is an inevitability. The conflict between the two nuclear powers centers on their desire to control the Himalayan region between the two countries, which gives whichever country controls it significant leverage over the rest of the region. Margolis recaps the modern history of Chinese-Indian tensions and the history of how the British created a militarized conflict between the Indians and Pakistanis in Kashmir. Finally, Margolis discusses the escalation in Myanmar and its historical roots in Buddhist fearmongering in Sri Lanka.

Eric Margolis is a foreign affairs correspondent and author of “War at the Top of the World” and “American Raj.” Follow him on Twitter @EricMargolis and visit his website, ericmargolis.com.

Discussed on the show:

Bhutan

Kashmir

"8/23/17 Eric Margolis on his heroic rescue of starving zoo animals in Aleppo" (The Scott Horton Show)

Ladakh

Sino-Indian War

Kolkata

Mao Zedong

People's Liberation Army

"China and India: War of the Worlds," by Eric Margolis (Unz.com)

Aksai Chin

Kashmir Valley

"India's Secret Army in Kashmir" (Human Rights Watch)

Narendra Modi

Hindutva

Myanmar

Sri Lanka Tamils

Tatmadaw (Burmese army)

Aung San Suu Kyi

Tamil Tigers

By Way of Deception: The Making of a Mossad officer by Victor Ostrovsky

Salafism

Author and journalist Patrick Cockburn returns to the show to discuss his reporting on the heavy casualties in Mosul and why they've been underreported in the media. Cockburn explains how ISIS's guerrilla war tactics increase civilian casualties, why the Syrian Kurds fighting against ISIS in Raqqa have considerable incentive to extend the fight against ISIS, and discusses his latest article for the Independent on al Qaeda's power grab in Syria, "While defeat of Isis dominates global attention, al-Qaeda strengthens in Syria," which details the divisions between ISIS and al-Qaeda, and how while ISIS is being defeated in Syria and Iraq, al-Qaeda is gaining in strength. Finally, Cockburn addresses Turkey's complicated role in backing and opposing jihadists in Syria and the latest fear of the United States of a growing "Shi'ite Crescent" linking Iran to Lebanon.

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

Discussed on the show:

Mosul

Daesh (ISIS)

Howitzers

"Liberation from militants leaves devastation in Mosul" (ABC News)

"The massacre of Mosul: 40,000 feared dead in battle to take back city from Isis as scale of civilian casualties revealed," by Patrick Cockburn (The Independent)

Tikrit

Fallujah

Ramadi

Raqqa

Tal Afar

Syrian Democratic Forces

Kurdisk Protection Unit

Damascus

Al-Nusra Front

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Abu Mohammad al-Julani

Idlib

Ayman al-Zawahiri

"An internal struggle: Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate is grappling with its identity," by Charles Lister (Brookings)

"Turkey Changing Track on Syria" (Al Monitor)

"Tillerson Warns Russia on Syria, Saying Assad Era Is ‘Coming to an End’" (New York Times)

"Syrian army breaks Isis' three-year-long siege of Deir Ezzor" (The Independent)

"Mutual suspicion frays historic US-Saudi ties" (Financial Times)

Shiite Crescent 

Hezbollah

Alawites