Matthew Hoh talks about Trump’s move to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan, something Hoh hoped President Obama would do instead of sending even more troops into Iraq. Hoh explains the difficulties of “winning” any kind of war in Afghanistan. The main problem is that most Afghans see Americans as an occupying force, and they’ll even support the Taliban over a foreign occupation. He thinks a war in Iran would go the same way, except probably even worse. Danny Sjursen also joins the call, and he and Hoh discuss the fallout from America’s wars, especially the physical and psychological damage so many veterans suffer when they come home from war. Both agree that the best way to support veterans is to “create fewer of them.”

Discussed on the show:

• Zalmay Khalilzad
• “Life under the Taliban shadow government” (Overseas Development Institute (ODI))
• “C.I.A.’s Afghan Forces Leave a Trail of Abuse and Anger” (The New York Times)
• Civilian Deaths in Iraq and Syria – Airwars
• CODEPINK
• Iran Air Flight 655
• National Security Act of 1947
• Give an Hour
• Semper Fi Fund

Matthew Hoh is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and formerly worked for the U.S. State Department. Hoh received the Ridenhour Prize Recipient for Truth Telling in 2010. Hoh is a member of the Board of Directors for Council for a Livable World and is an Advisory Board Member for Expose Facts. He writes on issues of war, peace and post-traumatic stress disorder recovery at matthewhoh.com.

Danny Sjursen is a major in the U.S. army and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge. Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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