Eli Clifton discusses the Biden Administration’s Afghanistan study group, a panel of national security experts and former officers giving recommendations on whether the U.S. should get out of Afghanistan on the Trump administration’s withdrawal timeline. Some of these experts have recommended that we pull troops out soon, but the majority have counseled against a hasty withdrawal—which of course in practice could very well mean staying indefinitely. Clifton points out the obvious problem with this group: most of its members have current or former financial ties to the arms industry. Even if these experts aren’t giving recommendations solely on the basis of personal financial interest, their backgrounds at least indicate that they are the type of people who associate professionally with weapons manufacturers, and are therefore likely to hold views that are favorable to the those who plan and benefit from war.
Eli Clifton is a reporting fellow with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute and a contributing editor for Lobe Log. Follow him on Twitter @EliClifton.
Ray McGovern talks with Scott about the lies and malfeasance of the national security state during the “Russiagate” fiasco. McGovern begins by rehashing the FBI’s lies that first led to a FISA warrant on Carter Page, who they failed to disclose to the court was already a CIA asset who was delivering them information about the Russians. McGovern also reminds us that Comey himself lied about the reliability of the evidence in the Steele dossier, which in private he revealed that he knew to be dubious. But of course the real target was always Donald Trump and his campaign all along, who could be easily spied on thanks to the “two hops” principle, by which almost anyone can become the target of “legitimate” surveillance according to the convoluted and malicious system of the national security apparatus.
Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.
Scott interviews Gareth Porter about his coverage of the recent and widespread claims of a Chinese genocide of the Uyghurs. Many of these accusations have relied on the work of one man, Adrian Zenz, whose research Porter calls into question. Porter wrote a piece with Grayzone collaborator Max Blumenthal covering the many instances of data manipulation on Zenz’s part, all of which undermine the case that the Chinese government is perpetrating a genocide. To be clear, says Porter, China is an authoritarian regime with many instances of mistreatment of all its citizens. And the Uyghurs have, in some cases, borne a disproportionate amount of that abuse. But we have to be very careful in distinguishing truth from exaggerated claims by partisans and ideologues, who may have reasons for deliberately inflaming tensions between China and the U.S. Peace between these two countries, he reminds us, is absolutely vital for global security.
Discussed on the show:
“US State Department accusation of China ‘genocide’ relied on data abuse and baseless claims by far-right ideologue” (The Grayzone)
Scott talks to Ben Wizner of the ACLU about the ongoing Julian Assange saga. Assange’s attempted prosecution under the Espionage Act is practically unprecedented, says Wizner. While it’s true that many leakers of government secrets have been charged for violations of secrecy agreements, no journalist or publisher has ever been successfully prosecuted for putting those secrets out to the public. The Obama administration considered going after Assange, but realized that to do so would set a precedent that would also encapsulate the New York Times, the Washington Post and any other outlet that claims to conduct national security journalism. The Trump administration, on the other hand, apparently wasn’t concerned with that problem, and went after Assange anyway. Wizner and Scott just hope that mainstream journalists will realize what a problem it would be if Assange were convicted, not just for their livelihoods, but for American liberal democracy as we know it.
Nathan Robinson shares his story of being fired from the Guardian after posting a sarcastic tweet about Israel. After joking about the amount of military aid the U.S. government sends to Israel, Robinson was immediately labeled an anti-semite and swiftly fired from his position as a columnist at the Guardian. He is hardly the first to endure such treatment. Robinson points out how ironic the favorable treatment of the state of Israel is by world governments and the mainstream media, all while it is guilty of serious and ongoing abuses against the Palestinians. Criticism of Israel, on the other hand, even on the grounds of its human rights abuses, is quickly silenced.
Discussed on the show:
“How the Media Cracks Down on Critics of Israel” (Current Affairs)
Nathan J. Robinson is Editor-in-Chief of Current Affairs and a former columnist for the Guardian. Follow him on Twitter @NathanJRobinson.
US News Assange’s lawyers are considering a cross appeal to the UK High Court. [Link] Bolivia has returned the entire US-IMF loan the country received when a coup government was in charge. The $346 million loan racked up $25 million in interest when it was paid off....
In these bleak times, the cause of liberty needs you more than ever. A key way to help is to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Libertarian Institute, which for years has published important online articles about all aspects freedom and oppression on a daily...
Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism by Scott Horton, A Video Adaptation Commentary by the author. Directed by Gus Cantavero. Access the full video playlist here....
Recently, I tuned into the LBRY Community Podcast and near the end, they brought up a question that someone had asked about LBRY. This person wanted to know why it was not built on a privacy coin like Monero. They implied that LBRY should move to a private chain like...
Scott interviews Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice about the case of José Oliva, a Vietnam veteran who was assaulted by police officers at a VA hospital in 2016. Because of doctrines like qualified immunity, it has taken years just to reach the point where...
John Kiriakou discusses an alarming new trend in the government and the media, in which the American right is freely compared to some kind of domestic terrorist or insurgent movement. Kiriakou describes the way that a small group of radicals like those who stormed the...
Scott talks with Danny Sjursen about President Biden's foreign policy moves during his first few weeks in office. Most notably, the administration has announced an end to all support for "offensive operations" in Yemen. Sjursen agrees that this is great news, but...
Alan Macleod talks about the unholy alliance between government and social media. In an alarming number of cases, says Macleod, companies like Facebook and Twitter end up hiring former government officials to high-ranking positions, creating a revolving door that...
92 Minutes PG-13 Bird is one-fourth of the hosts of the Timeline Earth podcast. Bird joins Pete to go over the thought of Joseph Stalin Episode 524: Marxism Part 1 - Dialectical Materialism, and the Thought of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) Episode 521: Myth and the...
40 Minutes Safe for Work Pete invited documentarian, researcher and commentator, James Corbett, to return to the show. James is going to give a primer on the historic "Technocratic" movement which started during the Progressive Era. He then tells Pete his big takeaway...
32 Minutes Safe for Work Pete invited his partners at Stateless Productions to come on the show and talk about the ordeal of getting their documentary, "The Monopoly On Violence," on Amazon Prime, and to introduce the information on their next documentary, "America's...
56 Minutes Not Safe for Work Pete did a Livestream with Aaron and Paz from the "Timeline Earth" Podcast talking about the events surrounding WallStreetBets and hit some other topics as well. Timeline Earth Podcast Get Autonomy 19 Skills PDF Download The Monopoly On...
On COI #67, Scott Spaulding, host of Why I'm Antiwar podcast, returns to the show to discuss Biden's plan to back out on the US-Taliban agreement and keep US troops in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan has continued for almost two decades, yet critics of withdraw...
On COI #66, Keith Knight, host of Don't Tread on Anyone, returns to the show to breakdown several key lies and myths about Covid. Keith and Kyle discuss how Dr. Fauci admitted to lying to the American public about masks and herd immunity. Keith also tackles Gov....
On COI #65, Kyle and Will update the progress of the New START arms control treaty, which is slated for a 5-year extension after agreement was reached between President Biden and his Russian counterpart. The move may not signal a new dawn for US-Russia ties, however,...
On COI #64, Mike Maharrey, communications director of the Tenth Amendment Center, returns to the show. Mike discusses the outlook for gold in 2021 and how buying gold undermines the war machine. He looks the benefits to both Bitcoin verses gold and explains why you...
https://youtu.be/a9ROak8axhI ... global intervention and collective security has only brought us endless war, mass murder, and great waste of resources. Murray N. Rothbard Libertarian Forum v. 2, p. 704 **Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism**:...
https://youtu.be/jtTggGVuB8Y Capital is the product of human energy and land ... and time. The time-block is the reason that people must abstain from consumption, and save. Laboriously, these savings are invested in capital goods. We are further along the road to a...
https://youtu.be/hi9b0pddQ5M ... in a world of voluntary social cooperation through mutually beneficial exchanges, where one man’s gain is another man’s gain, it is obvious that great scope is provided for the development of social sympathy and human friendships. It...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei_3GYGOVyU Jason Brennan is the Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Chair and professor of strategy, economics, ethics, and public policy at the McDonough School of Business. He specializes in political philosophy and applied...
https://youtu.be/nFQuYaFW1aM Some libertarian anarchists view even the act of secession as a political act which creates a new, albeit smaller, state. We examine the libertarian principles at play behind secession and examine the libertarian arguments against...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJpiZ1ByEmA&t=3759s Dean is a second year law student at Zoom University, School of Law. He has just finished his Constitutional Law class. He shares his experience in law school. We discuss the SCOTUS cases that your Constitutional...
https://youtu.be/ZfBebGgBGUQ Jose Galison invited me on his show, No Way Jose! for a recap of this incredibly crazy year. We covered a host of topics and realized that we didn't get to half the stuff we wanted to talk about. I guarantee you we covered a bunch of stuff...
https://youtu.be/q5rgHrbWa7U I invited Scott Horton on to the show to talk about two chapters of history where even the established history is too crazy to believe: the Iran-Contra Affair and the CIA's support for the Mujahideen in 1980s Afghanistan. We also discuss...
Joshua Collins, a freelance journalist and photographer, joins Tommy to discuss how corporatism, civil war, and American intervention has decimated the lives of the citizens of Colombia. Joshua’s articles: https://www.murosinvisibles.com...
Tommy is joined by Navy Veteran and entrepreneur Keith Orsag. In this episode they discuss COVID, lockdowns, the election, secession, and Agorism. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/strangerencounterspodcast/leave_me_alone.mp3
Tommy asked Michael Harris to join him to discuss Ken Paxton’s legal problems, and why he may have filed TX v PA about the 2020 election. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/strangerencounterspodcast/michael_harris_full.mp3
Tommy looks at the current climate of discourse, and how the corporate left has successfully infiltrated the state. Expanding on a Substack he'd written earlier in the week he concludes Agorism is the only useful strategy to revitalize individuality and preserve...
