Sheldon Richman comes back on the show to talk about his recent article on Ukraine, and another recent Libertarian Institute article on Pearl Harbor. He outlines some of the history of FDR’s involvement in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, explaining how much evidence there is for the fact that his administration was looking for a way to get the United States involved in the war, and only chose Japan after failed attempts to provoke an attack by Germany. Many claim that U.S. intervention in World War II was critical in preventing Japan from occupying all of East Asia, and Germany from taking over Europe. Scott and Sheldon consider the counterfactual, wondering whether that wouldn’t actually have been better for the world, given the horrors of Stalin and Mao, who were empowered by the fall of Germany and Japan. They were probably the two worst men to ever hold political power in terms of the number of civilians they murdered. Today America finds itself in a similar situation, as forces in the government lobby for the addition of Ukraine to NATO, a move that Russia has promised would provoke a military response. Richman is very clear that war with Russia means nuclear war, and must be avoided at all costs. He worries that all the talk of President Trump being a puppet of the Russians may simply goad him into greater bellicosity.

Discussed on the show:

• “TGIF: War Over Ukraine?” (Libertarian Institute)
• “FDR’s Pearl Harbor Fabrication: A Rebuttal” (Libertarian Institute)
• Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
• Day Of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
• “Nyet Means Nyet: Russia’s Nato Enlargement Redlines” (WikiLeaks)

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.

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