3/28/18 Gareth Porter on the history of Iraq War 2

3/28/18 Gareth Porter on the history of Iraq War 2

Investigative journalist and historian Gareth Porter returns to the show to do a deep dive on the history of the Iraq War. Porter begins by detailing the role of the air force in propagating the neoconservatives’ goals and the behind-the-scenes struggle for power that took place between the army and the air force. Scott then asks Porter: how could the neoconservatives not realize that overthrowing Saddam Hussein would empower the Iranians? On their way through the history of the Iraq War Scott and Porter land on the brutal torture carried out by American allies, the myriad failures of David Petraeus, and how the first sign of democracy ripped the country apart. The two then discuss the conditions that led to the Sunni-based insurgency, the creation of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the sectarian civil war that followed. Porter then recalls his first appearance on the Scott Horton Show, which was to discuss the pre-conditions the United States was creating in Iraq for war with Iran. Finally Scott asks Porter about the Obama years and how a new president who ran against the record of the former president managed to make the same mistakes.

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

Discussed on the show:

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen CashThe War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.comRoberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.LibertyStickers.comTheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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About Scott Horton

Scott Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from ScottHorton.org. He's the author of the 2021 book Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism, the 2017 book, Fool's Errand:Time to End the War in Afghanistan, editor of the 2019 book The Great Ron Paul: The Scott Horton Show Interviews 2004–2019 and the 2022 book Hotter Than The Sun: Time to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. He’s conducted more than 5,800 interviews since 2003. Scott lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Larisa Alexandrovna Horton.

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