The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Scott talks to William Smith about the threat to republican government posed by America's growing world empire. The founders of this country, Smith explains, knew that perpetual war would lead to the uncontrolled growth of government power, and that meddling in foreign affairs would lead to decline and ruin at home. More recently, Eisenhower warned about the same things in his celebrated military-industrial complex speech. In a recent piece, Smith warns about the use in the 2020 presidential campaign of an artificial intelligence tool originally developed for counter-insurgency tactics in Afghanistan. Smith hopes that Americans will demand a return to the principles of restraint codified by our founding documents before it's too late to reverse the damage that's already been done.

Discussed on the show:

"How empire is destroying the American republic" (Quincy Institute)

"Randolph Bourne: War is the Health of the State" (Mises Institute)

"Foyle's War (TV Series 2002–2015)" (IMDb)

Transcript of President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796)

National Security and Double Government

William Smith is a senior research fellow and Managing Director at Catholic University's Center for the Study of Statesmanship. He received his PhD from Catholic University and has 25 years of experience in government and the corporate sector.

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=meCVwskMkxc

Scott talks to Harry Kazianis about America's relationship with North Korea. Kazianis argues past much of the noise surrounding the effort to get North Korea to denuclearize, proposing instead that America actually could tolerate a nuclear-armed North Korea, just like we do most of the other countries that have them. Kazianis reminds us that nuclear weapons for North Korea are primarily about survival for the Kim family; the U.S. simply does not go to war with nuclear-armed countries. Accepting this fact, he says we should just do everything we can to make peace with the North Koreans and not give into all the neoconservative blustering about the need to rid the world of oppressive dictators.

Discussed on the show:

"Yes, we can live with a nuclear-armed North Korea" (The Quincy Institute)

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir

Harry Kazianis is director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest and executive editor The National Interest. He previously served as editor of The Diplomat, a fellow at CSIS, and on the 2016 Ted Cruz foreign policy team. Follow him on Twitter @GrecianFormula.

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=icluq-smrhQ

Reason Magazine's Matt Welch follows up on Scott's Jacob Sullum interview with his own case against Donald Trump. The clearest point to hit Trump on, says Welch, is probably his complete abandonment of curtailing government spending, as he has presided over the biggest budgets in American history. Welch also notes that despite Trump's foreign policy rhetoric—which, he admits, has done a good job moving Republican voters toward the anti-war position—he has done fairly little to actually bring troops home and end America's endless wars. Finally, Trump's trade policies have accomplished little other than make goods more expensive for Americans and embolden protectionist policies in other parts of the world.

Discussed on the show:

"The Case Against Trump: Donald Trump Is an Enemy of Freedom" (Reason)

"The Case Against Biden: Joe Biden’s Politics of Panic" (Reason)

"10/9/20 Jacob Sullum: The Case Against Joe Biden" (The Libertarian Institute)

The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

"10 foreign policy questions that should be asked at the presidential debate (but probably won't)" (The Quincy Institute)

Rage

Obama's Wars

Matt Welch is editor at large at Reason Magazine. He is the author of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America and McCain: The Myth of a Maverick. Follow him on Twitter @MattWelch.

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=enPAZUigeoY

Reason Magazine's Jacob Sullum discusses the case against Joe Biden, including his record on crime, the war in Iraq and the surveillance state. Sullum focuses on Biden's history as a "tough on crime" democrat, explaining the ways Biden worked closely with senate Republicans during the 1980s to pass laws creating differential sentencing for crack and powder cocaine, establishing mandatory minimums and abolishing parole. Sullum says that Biden wanted to position himself as a moderate, who could attract conservative voters and even attack Republicans from the right. Any reconsideration of his former positions, Sullum adds, have been very recent changes in the face of a Democratic electorate that has moved much further to the left.

Discussed on the show:

"The Case Against Biden: Joe Biden’s Politics of Panic" (Reason)

Yesterday's Man: The Case Against Joe Biden

"Violent Crime Control Act of 1991 " (C-SPAN)

Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason Magazine. He is the author of Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use and For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health. Follow him on Twitter @jacobsullum.

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=oO-P4JTMtjw

Scott interviews Andy Worthington about his testimony in Julian Assange's extradition hearing. Worthington reminds us how important the revelations in Chelsea Manning's Guantanamo Files leak were, stressing just how much harm has been done to the dozens of men held, and often tortured, there—including the 40 who are still detained today. Assange, says Worthington, is not a hacker or a hostile intelligence actor; he is simply a heroic journalist working to expose government crimes to the people.

Discussed on the show:

"Rasul v. Bush" (Oyez)

"The Guantanamo Files" (WikiLeaks)

Andy Worthington is the author of Guantanamo Files and the director of "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo." Read his work at the Future of Freedom Foundation and AndyWorthington.co.uk and follow him on Twitter @GuantanamoAndy.

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=kzNO9IwY-7g

Danny Sjursen explains the complicated situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, a piece of Azerbaijani territory that has been under de facto Armenian control since the 1990s. Nagorno-Karabakh is the result of Stalin's territorial divisions, which very often failed to conform to ethnic lines, leaving an ethnic Armenian supermajority in what had become a foreign country. Both sides have fought over the territory for years, but an uneasy truce has held ever since the conclusion of a six-year war in the 80s and 90s. In the last few days, however, violence has broken out again, and Sjursen fears that war hawks in the U.S. will call for American intervention. He is adamant that America has no dog in this fight, and as with most conflicts this far from home, we should do the sensible thing and just stay out of it.

Discussed on the show:

"No Dog in the Fight: Nagorno-Karabakh's Conflict Isn't About Us (or Russia)" (Antiwar.com Original)

"Born on the Fourth of July (1989)" (IMDb)

"The New Cold War With Russia Is All America’s Fault" (Antiwar.com Original)

Danny Sjursen is a retired U.S. army major and former history instructor at West Point. He is the author of Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge and Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War. Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

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=jxvfCNVFiCg

Scott interviews Jeffrey Kaye about his bombshell report on U.S. war crimes during the Korean War. For decades, Kaye says, the narrative advanced by America and the UN has been that although Japan, our ally, is known to have conducted experiments in chemical and biological warfare, any claims that the U.S. engaged in such activities are nothing more than communist propaganda. Even today, anyone alleging that America used such weapons in Korea is labeled a conspiracy theorist. But Kaye has now meticulously combed through a trove of recently-released documents from American intelligence that finally provide proof of what some have long suspected: after World War II the U.S. eagerly took advantage of the research by Japan's Unit 731 and others, and eventually put some of it into practice during the late stages of the Korean War. Kaye calls these actions war crimes of the very highest degree, right up with anything the Nazis did. Much like with nuclear weapons, the disastrous effects of biological warfare linger for generations afterward, and today communities in Southeast Asia continue to suffer outbreaks of diseases like bubonic plague. Kaye hopes his reporting will finally start to change the story of America's crimes.

Discussed on the show:

"Communications Intelligence and Charges of U.S. Germ Warfare during the Korean War" (Medium)

Unit 731

A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror

Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act

Rage

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

Jeffrey Kaye is the author of Cover-up at Guantanamo: The NCIS Investigation into the “Suicides” of Mohammed Al Hanashi and Abdul Rahman Al Amri. Kaye is a retired psychologist, blogger, and author. Read his blog and follow him on Twitter @jeff_kaye.

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=KiRUWz-u7jE

Scott talks to Nicolas Davies about America's continuing role in the war in Yemen. Although the Trump administration has ended some of the more direct involvement like mid-air refueling of Saudi bombers, Saudi Arabia still very much relies on our help to wage its war against the people of Yemen, not least because of the fact that all of their weapons and equipment come from the U.S. Scott reminds us that Trump could end this war with a single phone call. Davies also describes Congress' efforts to stop American support for the war, all of which Trump has stymied.

Discussed on the show:

"Two Years After Khashoggi's Brutal Murder, Why Is America Still an Accomplice to MBS's Crimes?" (Antiwar.com Original)

"Will Michele Flournoy Be the Angel of Death for the American Empire?" (Antiwar.com Original)

The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival

Nicolas J.S. Davies is the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq. Follow him on Twitter @NicolasJSDavies.

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=nrNm0NAXTAM

Scott interviews the great Patrick Cockburn about his written testimony in Julian Assange's extradition hearing. Cockburn argued, as have many other witnesses for the defense, that Assange's activities with WikiLeaks amount to the very best kind of journalism: the exposure of government misdeeds to the people. Far more journalists, in fact, should be doing what Assange does. Cockburn also reminds us that the information Chelsea Manning leaked and Assange published was not even all that secret. It was on a server that millions of soldiers and government employees had access to, a far cry from the top secret exposure of informants that the U.S. government would have you believe. The prosecution has even had to admit on record that the leak of this information has not resulted in the endangerment of a single informant.

Discussed on the show:

"Patrick Cockburn and Andy Worthington's Testimony in Assange Extradition Hearings" (Antiwar.com Blog)

Collateral Murder

"Iraq War Diary" (WikiLeaks)

"State Department Cables" (WikiLeaks)

"The Guantanamo Files" (WikiLeaks)

"Afghanistan War Diary" (WikiLeaks)

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; 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=VtSaynTFkbQ

Kevin Gosztola discusses two major points from the recent round of testimony in the Assange hearing. First, the defense has been trying to emphasize the deplorable conditions Assange would be likely to face in an American supermax prison. This is something a judge must consider under British extradition law. Gosztola also brings up the bizarre story of UC Global, a security firm employed by American billionaire and Republican donor Sheldon Adelson. Two former UC Global employees testified that American intelligence had tasked them with surveilling Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy—this illegal conduct prompted them to testify in Assange's defense. Read more of Gosztola's coverage of the hearing at shadowproof.com.

Discussed on the show:

"The War on Journalism: The Case of Julian Assange" (YouTube)

"UC Global Employees Testify On US Spying Operation Against Assange" (Shadowproof)

"US intelligence sources discussed poisoning Julian Assange, court told" (The Guardian)

"Mainstream US reporters silent about being spied on by apparent CIA contractor that targeted Assange" (The Grayzone)

Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." Follow him on Twitter @kgosztola.

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=91UXiLo0JUI