Scott Horton | The Libertarian Institute

2/24/23 Chas Freeman: America Needs to Use Diplomacy

by Scott Horton | Mar 17, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Scott interviewed Chas Freeman about some of the biggest flashpoints that threaten to plunge the world into war. They discuss the war in Ukraine, the growing tension over Taiwan and even touch on the next conflict brewing in the Middle East. Freeman argues that the prospect for war with Russia or China depends on Washington’s willingness to sit down and work out a peaceful resolution. So far, the U.S. government has shown no such interest. Discussed on the show: “Why War Pledges for Ukraine Fell Flat in Munich” (Defense One) Chas W. Freeman was Assistant Secretary of...

Iraq War II, 20 Years Later

by Scott Horton | Mar 17, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Scott Horton

Well it seems like only yesterday, though it was half a lifetime ago. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their men and women, especially the neoconservatives, knowingly and deliberately lied this country into starting an aggressive war against Iraq—a war they pretended was a "preemptive" attack against a nation that could never have laid one hand on the United States of America in a trial of a thousand years. According to his later CIA interrogator, Saddam Hussein, the evil dictator said to be plotting with al Qaeda terrorists against us, was instead semi-retired, busy writing a romance novel...

3/10/23 Jim Bovard on Waco, 30 Years Later

by Scott Horton | Mar 16, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Jim Bovard is back on the show to discuss the Federal Government’s siege at Waco thirty years ago. Scott and Bovard reflect on how they both first learned about the story. Bovard then goes through his experience reporting on the government’s evolving PR campaign to avoid blame for committing mass murder in the middle of Texas. Discussed on the show: Bovard articles on Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Gun Rights Waco: The Rules of Engagement (IMDb) Waco: A New Revelation (IMDb) Jim Bovard is a columnist for USA Today and the author of Public Policy Hooligan: Rollicking and Wrangling...

3/10/23 Kevin Gosztola: They Lied About Iraq and Now They’re Lying About Assange

by Scott Horton | Mar 15, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Scott talks with Kevin Gosztola about a project he’s working on documenting the lead-up to Iraq War II as well as his brand new book about Julian Assange. To mark the twentieth anniversary of the disastrous invasion of Iraq, Gosztola has been writing about each day since mid-February, documenting the lies that the Bush Administration and their allies pushed exactly twenty years ago to the day. Scott and Gosztola talk about some of those lies before moving on to the current lies being told about Julian Assange. Gosztola talks about why he wrote this book and what sets it...

3/10/23 Eli Clifton: The Weapons Companies are the Big Winners of the War in Ukraine

by Scott Horton | Mar 14, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Scott interviews Eli Clifton of the Quincy Institute about some articles he wrote for Responsible Statecraft—the Quincy Institute’s publication. They begin with an article Clifton wrote about the fantastic year weapons companies had in 2022. Clifton has listened in on their calls to shareholders and reports that the way these companies present themselves to investors differs from how they present themselves to the public. They then talk about the absurd ways people are dismissing the reasonable concern about nuclear weapons as the U.S. embarks on a new era of Great Power...

3/10/23 Bonnie Kristian: What does a Ron DeSantis Foreign Policy Look Like?

by Scott Horton | Mar 13, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Bonnie Kristian returns to the show to discuss a piece she wrote examining the foreign policy beliefs of the Florida Governor and likely Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Kristian shares what she found and the two discuss how the struggle amongst the different factions of the GOP could either bolster the party’s recent noninterventionism or lead it right back to the warmongering and imperialism of the Washington establishment. Discussed on the show: “Ron DeSantis Could Decide Republicans’ Foreign Policy” (New York Times) The Podcast Interview about DeSantis at...

3/10/23 Daniel Larison on Biden’s Iran Policy, the Saudi-Iran Agreement and the House Vote on Syria

by Scott Horton | Mar 13, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Scott interviews Daniel Larison about Iran and Syria. They start with a column Larison recently wrote which highlights how the Biden Administration’s Iran policy makes no sense. Scott and Larison examine some of the frustrating contradictions in Biden’s approach which keep the economic war on the Iranian people in place while making a kinetic war in the region more likely. However, to what Scott says should be the embarrassment of the Administration, the Iranians and Saudis did just agree to reestablish diplomatic ties in talks brokered by Beijing. Scott and Larison...

3/10/23 Gabriel Shipton on his Brother Julian Assange’s Fight for Freedom

by Scott Horton | Mar 12, 2023 | The Scott Horton Show

Download Episode. Scott talks to Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Julian Assange, about the documentary he recently produced about his family’s fight for Assange’s freedom. Scott and Shipton discuss the film, what it portrays, who it features and why it’s called Ithaka. They then discuss some of the crimes Assange exposed, which would eventually land him in HMP Belmarsh as the world’s most famous political prisoner. Discussed on the show: Ithaka (IMDb) Ithaka, a poem read by Sean Connery “Alternative Facts: How the media failed Julian Assange” (Harper’s Magazine) The Trial of Julian...