Damon Hatheway

11/21/17 John Duncan reflects on his 29 years in Congress

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 21, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Representative John Duncan from the 2nd district of Tennessee joins Scott to discuss his impending retirement, his close friendship with Ron Paul, and how his antiwar views developed during his time in Congress. Duncan recalls his meetings leading up to the Iraq War with Condoleezza Rice and George Tennant and reflects on how his vote against the Iraq War went from being his least popular vote to his most popular vote. Duncan then discusses his article "There's Nothing Patriotic or Conservative About our Bloated Defense Budget." Congressman John Duncan has represented the 2nd District of...

11/20/17 Derek Davison on 60 Minutes’ glaring omission about Yemen

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 21, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Derek Davison joins Scott to discuss his article "60 Minutes Imagines a Different War in Yemen." Davison recalls how 60 Minutes described the reality of Yemeni suffering—but with one major exception: it never mentioned the United States' crucial role in enabling the war and blockade. Davison explains why the United States is involved in Yemen at all and that, while it began under Obama, it's only gotten worse under Donald Trump. Further, while it seems the tides of public opinion may be turning against Saudi Arabia, Davison is skeptical that it will have any effect on Washington policy....

11/20/17 Derek Davison on 60 Minutes' glaring omission about Yemen

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 21, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Derek Davison joins Scott to discuss his article "60 Minutes Imagines a Different War in Yemen." Davison recalls how 60 Minutes described the reality of Yemeni suffering—but with one major exception: it never mentioned the United States' crucial role in enabling the war and blockade. Davison explains why the United States is involved in Yemen at all and that, while it began under Obama, it's only gotten worse under Donald Trump. Further, while it seems the tides of public opinion may be turning against Saudi Arabia, Davison is skeptical that it will have any effect on Washington policy....

11/16/17 Scott Paul on the latest devastating Saudi blockade in Yemen

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 16, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Senior Humanitarian advisor at OxFam America Scott Paul returns to the show to discuss the latest developments in the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen. Paul explains that the situation has gone from bad to gruesome with the latest Saudi blockade following the Houthi attempted missile strike of the Saudi airport at Ridyah. According to Paul seven million people are attempting to survive on one meal a day while cholera cases continue to soar. Paul says that aid is the first major step, but that a ceasefire and a political process are the only things that can allow for the market to provide for the...

11/15/17 Grant Smith on Americans' waning patience for military spending

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 15, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research Middle Eastern Policy returns to the show to discuss his latest article for Antiwar.com "Poll: Americans Would Cut Middle East War Spending." Smith promotes the IRMEP's upcoming 2018 conference and explains why he believes the organized Israel lobbying groups are, contrary to their claims, unrepresentative of American Jewish communities. Scott and Smith then discuss whether Israel needs the United States' continual aid and why noninterventionism is the best policy. Smith then explains why the Saudis don't need a considerable lobby like...

11/15/17 Grant Smith on Americans’ waning patience for military spending

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 15, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research Middle Eastern Policy returns to the show to discuss his latest article for Antiwar.com "Poll: Americans Would Cut Middle East War Spending." Smith promotes the IRMEP's upcoming 2018 conference and explains why he believes the organized Israel lobbying groups are, contrary to their claims, unrepresentative of American Jewish communities. Scott and Smith then discuss whether Israel needs the United States' continual aid and why noninterventionism is the best policy. Smith then explains why the Saudis don't need a considerable lobby like...

11/15/17 David Ruiz on recent surveillance policy developments

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 15, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Scott is joined by David Ruiz to talk about the latest developments to U.S. surveillance policy and how new policy is being written and passed to extend the spirit of expiring elements of the Patriot Act. Ruiz explains how the various elements of U.S. mass surveillance work, including how the FBI uses backdoor searches and parallel construction in order to construct cases against Americans. Scott and Ruiz attempt to assess just how much valuable intel is being collected by American spying, and how, because we're totally in the dark about most things related to U.S. surveillance, it is very...

11/13/17 Alfred McCoy on Opium production in Afghanistan

by Damon Hatheway | Nov 13, 2017 | The Scott Horton Show

Professor and author Alfred McCoy joins Scott to discuss his latest article "Washington's Drug of Choice in the War on Terror." McCoy describes how heroin first became a major factor of the Afghan economy and credits the Taliban's capture of the illicit opium market for their recent resurgence. According to McCoy, at the peak of the Columbian cartel's operations cocaine made up 3% of Columbia's GDP; in Afghanistan in 2008 it was 58%. McCoy then details how all of the U.S. programs to disincentivize people from growing opium have blown up and actually increased incentives to grow opium. McCoy...