Peter Bergen Is Mistaken About Bin Laden’s Strategy

Peter Bergen Is Mistaken About Bin Laden’s Strategy

Famous journalist and terrorism expert Peter Bergen is making a big mistake. Give the man credit: he had the courage to travel to Tora Bora with Peter Arnett to interview bin Laden in person back in 1997. However, as seen in this clip from his appearance on C-SPAN 2’s Book TV on August 22, Bergen believes that Osama bin Laden’s claim in his 2004 speech that his strategy all along was to bog America down in war and "bleed us to bankruptcy" was just an after-the-fact rationalization for the failure of his real policy, which was simply to make the U.S.A. give up and run away, either right away...

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8/17/21 Eric Margolis: This is Not the Worst Case Scenario in Afghanistan

Eric Margolis talks with Scott about the situation in Afghanistan as American forces continue to withdraw. Of course, the last few days have seen nonstop headlines proclaiming an utter disaster in the country, many of them excoriating President Biden for having screwed things up so badly. But Scott and Margolis remind us just how much worse things could be. Margolis points out that for one thing, some Afghan government officials seem to have been quietly preparing for a transfer of power far in advance, such that when U.S. forces pulled out, they were prepared to more or less let the Taliban...

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8/16/21 Andrew Cockburn on the Legacy of Zalmay Khalilzad

Scott talks to Andrew Cockburn about his 2014 article on Afghan-born neoconservative Zalmay Khalilzad. Cockburn explains how it was Khalilzad who selected new leaders for Afghanistan and Iraq after the old regimes had fallen to U.S. forces. Scott and Cockburn also touch on Khalilzad’s role in "the Redirection" when the U.S. began backing bin Ladenite groups in an attempt to counter Iran. In the end, Scott and Cockburn think Khalilzad deserves a lot of blame for the current problems in the middle east. However, he also deserves credit for following Trump’s order and negotiating a deal with...

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8/17/21 Matthew Hoh on the Systemic Failures Behind America’s Loss in Afghanistan

Scott interviews Matthew Hoh, the Marine veteran who blew the whistle about the doomed Afghan Surge. Hoh lays out what led him to resign in protest and go to the press with the truth about how hopeless the military’s counterinsurgency mission really was. Hoh then explains that, while he is upset that few listened to him back then, he is more disappointed about how many of his colleagues agreed with him, but kept their agreement quiet. Scott and Hoh go through the history of the Obama surge and observe how the pundits and generals who were the most wrong tended to get rewarded with promotions...

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Recent Interviews of Me

Scott Horton on withdrawal from the Afghan war - Kennedy Scott Horton on the End of the War in Afghanistan - Pete Quinones Scott Horton on the End of a Fool's Errand - Kyle Anzalone Scott Horton on What Just Happened in Afghanistan - Tom Woods Scott Horton: U.S. Should Have Pulled Out Of Afghanistan Years Ago - Nick Gillespie Houston Radio AM950 KPRC - Kenny Webster Chicago Radio WIND AM 560 - Shaun Thompson Tonight: Max Blumenthal Thanks very much to Ed Huff.

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8/13/21 Joseph Solis-Mullen: China Won’t Be Taking Over the World

Joseph Solis-Mullen discusses the claim that America must now turn its attention toward China as the new threat of global hegemony. War hawks will cite China's growing economic supremacy, many alleged human rights abuses and supposed imperialistic designs on its neighbors. To some extent, this characterization is true: Solis-Mullen grants that China's government can be extraordinarily abusive to its people, and says that he wouldn't be surprised if it tried to take over Taiwan. But in general, there are simply way too many problems with the narrative that China is an imperialistic threat to...

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8/13/21 Ken Bensinger on the Role of FBI Informants in the Michigan Kidnapping Plot

Scott talks to Ken Bensinger of Buzzfeed News about the role of FBI informants in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Bensinger explains that informants played a heavy role in the militia group involved and helped motivate members to take violent action. Although none of the fifteen arrested was assisting the government, informants helped provide the group with training, were present for surveillance of Whitmer’s property and were present during the storming of the Michigan Capitol on April 30th. Overall, Bensinger has trouble seeing how these events would have happened...

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