The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Scott talks to William Hartung about America's nuclear policy and the shocking profit motives that end up determining it. Hartung draws particular attention to land-based ICBMs, which, he explains, aren't nearly as effective, since they're fixed in one place, and for that same reason are especially vulnerable to the possibility of an accidental launch. When a country's government thinks their missile silos are being attacked, they have very little time to decide whether to launch those missiles in a counter-strike before losing the opportunity forever. This is why cutting back on ICBMs is one of the most important steps in reducing the risk of nuclear war. Unfortunately, leading voices in the U.S. government actually want to expand the nuclear arsenal, and since the money for such programs is often spread out in local political districts, opposition can be nearly impossible.

Discussed on the show:

"Inside the ICBM Lobby: Special Interests Or the National Interest?" (Arms Control Association)

"George Carlin: Jammin' in New York (TV Special 1992)" (IMDb)

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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKYIhiTM7zo

Kalmen Barkin is back for an update on Israeli politics. Naftali Bennett has just taken over as Israel's prime minister, following Benjamin Netanyahu's failure to successfully form a coalition government. Bennett, explains Barkin, is quite far on the right, yet he and Netanyahu are bitter rivals—indeed, Barkin says, this whole election was less about specific policy issues than it was about mutual desire to oust Netanyahu. And so the new ruling coalition has elements from both the left and the right, and, for the first time, Arabs. Mainstream Israeli political parties have traditionally refused to work with the Arabs, even when it would have given them a political edge. Whether the Arab party working with Bennett in the new government will be able to successfully advocate for Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories remains to be seen.

Discussed on the show:

"In Just a Month, Illegal Settler Outpost Sprouts Up on Palestinian Lands" (Haaretz.com)

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI60aRViDWo

Scott interviews Ray McGovern about the Biden-Putin summit. It was not exactly a groundbreaking meeting, says McGovern, though Biden and Putin did agree on at least one crucial point: America and Russia must never fight a nuclear war, since the results would be beyond catastrophic. It used to be the case, McGovern explains, that nuclear-armed powers recognized the concept of mutually assured destruction, and for that reason would never have countenanced a nuclear first strike. But the Reagan administration seemed to think that anti-ballistic missile systems could keep the U.S. safe from Russian strikes, and therefore give them an advantage in the arms race. In fact there is no missile defense system that can truly keep a country safe from all threats, and so we have a situation where MAD has been compromised, without any real advance in safety. However lackluster the recent summit between Biden and Putin, it's good to see them at least acknowledge that nuclear war should be off the table, period.

Discussed on the show:

"Trust Lacking at Blah Summit" (Antiwar.com Original)

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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAz7qWYpJIk

Ray McGovern is back to talk about America's relationship with Russia. President Biden met with Putin recently, McGovern explains, which is good for Biden's stance toward Russia, and, of course, for world peace. War with Russia is sometimes held out as an actual possibility, especially over supposed acts of provocation like Russia's annexation of Crimea or the various cyberattacks of recent months. But since Russia has nuclear weapons, there's simply no world in which we could fight a full scale war—the consequences could be the destruction of the entire human race. Whatever Biden's foreign policy legacy is over the rest of his term, maintaining peace with Russia must be at the top of the list.

Discussed on the show:

"Biden-Putin Summit: Boon or Bust?" (Antiwar.com Original)

The Best and the Brightest

"Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call" (BBC News)

Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden

"Biden and Blinken Blink on Ukraine" (Antiwar.com Original)

"Nyet Means Nyet" (WikiLeaks)

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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSr-ESBSdes

Scott talks to Sam Hussini about the sudden popularity of the coronavirus "lab leak" theory. For about a year straight, Husseini reminds us, anyone discussing the possibility that the coronavirus originated in a lab—even credentialed scientists—were ridiculed in the media and kicked off internet platforms for promoting conspiracy theories. Now, it's suddenly acceptable to propose that this might have been the real origin of the global pandemic of the last year. But for those who have been paying attention, says Husseini, this controversy is nothing new: governments have been conducting "gain of function" research on deadly viruses for decades, and leaks are more common than people think. Husseini considers the danger to humanity from these pathogens comparable to the dangers from nuclear weapons.

Discussed on the show:

"Questioning the CDC: Is it a Complete Coincidence That China's Only BSL4 Is in Wuhan?" (Sam Husseini)

"Averting Our Gaze from Biowarfare: Pandemics and Self-fulfilling Prophecies" (Organic Consumers)

"Sam Husseni: Contrary to claims, the pandemic may have come from a lab — and regardless, it exposes the threat of biowarfare arms race" (Washington Babylon)

"Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19" (The Lancet)

"Opinion | An Engineered Doomsday" (The New York Times)

"A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence" (Nature Medicine)

Anthrax Vaccine Blog

Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century

"#1640 - Josh Rogin - The Joe Rogan Experience" (Spotify)

"The Lab-Leak Theory: Inside the Fight to Uncover COVID-19's Origins" (Vanity Fair)

"Wormwood (TV Mini Series 2017)" (IMDb)

9/11 Commission Report

"Why the Covid-19 'Lab Leak Theory' Needs Another Look" (Medium)

"Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate on Covid-19 Origin" (WSJ)

Sam Husseini is a writer and political activist. He is the communications director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and formerly worked at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and at the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Follow him on Twitter @samhusseini.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gePPu41v-o

Scott interviews Annelle Sheline about her work on the war in Yemen. Sheline says that negotiating an end to the war has proven difficult, since both the UN framework and the U.S.-Saudi mentality is totally inconsistent with the situation on the ground. Neither will confront the fact that the Houthi "rebels" have actually been in control of most of the country for the last few years already, and the Hadi "government" is really a group of men in a hotel room in Saudi Arabia. Asking for concessions from the Houthis at this stage simply isn't realistic. And so the status quo continues: a near-total blockade, supposedly to stop weapons from getting into the hands of militants, but which really just prevents food and basic medicine from getting to a civilian population suffering from a devastating famine and multiple outbreaks of otherwise easily preventable illnesses.

Discussed on the show:

"Washington Has Yemen Policy Backward" (Foreign Policy)

Annelle Sheline is a Research Fellow in the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute and an expert on religious and political authority in the Middle East and North Africa. Follow her on Twitter @AnnelleSheline.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE5FDR3p0hw

Scott interviews Gareth Porter about his coverage of a recently-released document liberated by Daniel Ellsberg when he originally leaked the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s. This document, Porter explains, shows how in 1958 the military wanted to use tactical nuclear weapons against China over the offshore islands crisis. It was only Eisenhower's intervention that stopped the Joint Chiefs from going ahead with the plan, though ironically, it was Eisenhower's own efforts to combat the military-industrial complex by reducing conventional military forces that helped lead to an increased focus on nuclear weapons as a primary military tool in the first place. Ellsberg has released this document because the idea that the U.S. might go to war with China over Taiwan has thrust this issue to the fore once again. Nuclear brinksmanship, he says, remains one of the greatest threats not just to American national security, but to the very survival of the human race. The idea of an all-out war with China as in any way a legitimate possibility must be vehemently opposed before we ever come to the point of using nuclear weapons again.

Discussed on the show:

"Eisenhower rejected military chiefs' demand for nuclear war on China, classified account of '58 Taiwan Strait crisis reveals" (The Grayzone)

The Doomsday Machine

"Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says" (The New York Times)

"Risk of Nuclear War Over Taiwan in 1958 Said to Be Greater Than Publicly Known" (The New York Times)

"US military considered using nuclear weapons against China in 1958 Taiwan Strait crisis, leaked documents show" (CNN)

National Security Archive

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state. He is the author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare and, with John Kiriakou, The CIA Insider's Guide to the Iran Crisis. 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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMXihkF8Z1U

Scott interviews Max Blumenthal about the recent violence that has thrust Israel-Palestine into the national spotlight. On one hand, there is a growing recognition—thanks to reports from organizations like Human Rights Watch—that Israel is essentially an apartheid Jewish state with second-class Palestinian citizens. On the other hand, there has been a great deal of concern about a supposed rise in anti-semitic violence around the world, and especially in America, in response to the coverage of Israel's crimes. Blumenthal says this latter claim is actually extremely overblown—if you look into the supposed incidents, many turn out to be as benign as a Palestinian solidarity march or a speaker advocating for equal rights for Palestinians. Jews have been victims in many societies throughout history, but today, says Blumenthal, they are doing very well in America and are much safer here, on the whole, than in Israel. And the Israeli government, unfortunately, has now become the perpetrator of a great deal of injustice and abuse in its own right.

Discussed on the show:

"To distract from Gaza slaughter, Israel lobby manufactures antisemitism freakout" (The Grayzone)

"Eisenhower rejected military chiefs' demand for nuclear war on China, classified account of '58 Taiwan Strait crisis reveals" (The Grayzone)

Defamation

Coming to Palestine

1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East

"Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution" (Human Rights Watch)

"A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid" (B'Tselem)

America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History

Director and writer of “Killing Gaza,” Max Blumenthal is a senior editor of the Grayzone Project and the author Goliath, Republican Gomorrah and The 51 Day War. Follow him on Twitter @MaxBlumenthal.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG0CGNH1Ml0

John Kiriakou discusses the case of hero whistleblower Daniel Hale, who helped expose the White House's secret drone assassination program during the Obama administration. Hale has pled guilty to one charge under the espionage act, in an effort to win the mercy of the court, but he still faces four other charges, which at the moment the Justice Department is refusing to back down from. Hale is now facing at least some time in prison, but could be given a much longer sentence, depending on how things go in the coming months. Scott and Kiriakou remind us that, of course, Hale shouldn't be facing any charges at all: the secret activities he exposed—namely the killing of civilians—are criminal, and therefore can't be classified in the first place under U.S. law.

Discussed on the show:

"JOHN KIRIAKOU: Duping a Whistleblower" (Consortium News)

Stand with Daniel Hale

"The Drone Papers: Secret documents detail the U.S. assassination program." (The Intercept)

The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government's Secret Drone Warfare Program

"National Bird (2016)" (IMDb)

The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (Facts on File Crime Library)

The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner

"Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says" (The New York Times)

"Podesta Email Leak" (WikiLeaks)

"State Department Cables" (WikiLeaks)

John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer and author of The Convenient Terrorist: Two Whistleblowers’ Stories of Torture, Terror, Secret Wars, and CIA Lies and Doing Time Like A Spy. He is the host of Loud and Clear on Sputnik Radio. Follow him on Twitter @JohnKiriakou.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tU2jvrjAx0

Scott talks to the great Tom Woods about the latest happenings in Libertarian Party politics. Scott, Tom and many other committed libertarian activists have decided to join the LP recently in an effort to re-energize the movement and spread the principles of liberty. Much of this new energy is thanks to Michael Heiss of the Mises Caucus, who's been spent the last few years organizing events with the likes of Tom and Scott, and has big things planned for the future.

Discussed on the show:

"The American Lenin" (lneilsmith.org)

"Scott's Talk to the Colorado Libertarian Party Convention, May 22, 2021" (The Scott Horton Show)

"Scott Horton's Speech at the Pittsburgh Mises Caucus Convention" (Libertarian Party Mises Caucus)

"Dave Smith 5/14/2021 – LP Mises Caucus "Take Human Action Bash" – Pittsburgh" (YouTube)

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: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QBXjU85IBg