About this episode
Scott Horton provides the truth about current events with historical context. He has a way of weaving together seemingly unconnected events to paint a big picture most people cannot see for themselves. He is the director of The Libertarian Institute, editor of antiwar.com, and runs a popular podcast called The Scott Horton Show.
Scott returns to The Bad Roman once again, in the midst of a media frenzy around Putin’s war with Ukraine, to remind us (and educate us) on the ongoing war, and general disruption, the United State of America has been wagging in Yemen and the Middle East.
What we’re doing in Yemen is illegal. We are providing every kind of support (besides troops) to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Al Qaeda as they bomb and blockade the Houthi people in the north. Children are starving. And what do we even gain from this? A bit of money for a corporation? A feeling of world domination? There is a long, complicated history of us meddling in the Middle East that led us to this point. Scott Horton sorts it out for us.
To learn more about Scott Horton and his work, you can follow Scott on Twitter. buy or listen to his books about the war in the Middle East. If you are interested in learning more about the situation and Yemen and the middle east check out episode 23, our first interview with Scott.
EPISODE TIMESTAMPS:
1:57 What happened to Biden’s Promise?
He ordered that everything we were doing in Yemen stop
Yet it continues
He ordered that resupply and maintenance, intelligence and logistics from the US cease
The US used to refuel Saudi/UAE planes in the air and created a Navy blockade against Iran, but stopped
Admiral Kirby had said they were going to implement Biden’s order in February
By May, he was saying, “Of course, we need to send them plane maintenance teams”
After that, we just resumed our support
5:40 The Price of War
Civilians are suffering the most
No one is even keeping a casualty count for citizens
They’ll tell us about the humanitarian crisis after it’s all over
6:46 Why no one cares in the US
Yemen is far away
People don’t even know where it is
Also, we’re not sending troops to die or be injured there, so it’s not personal to us
7:33 Why do we keep it going?
We have to do whatever Saudi Arabia tells us
Money
From arms sales to Saudis
There will not be a good enough reason to satisfy us
Nothing they could say would make this reasonable
Petrodollar
To stay dominant in the Middle East
10:35 Who is our enemy?
Right now, we’re backing Al Qaeda
Obama’s drone wars were against Al Qaeda
Special forces sent in a lot
Still probably are at times
But we are not occupying
Switched sides in 2015
11:43 People's awareness
Even when we fully invaded Iraq, people stopped paying attention by the end of 2003
Even well-educated friend thought Yemen was in Africa
It’s the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula
This has been going on for decades, but no one noticed until Obama started bombing in 2009
Except that one incident where Bush bombed a car belonging to Al-Quaeda and killed an American who was hanging out with them
After that, he let the Yemeni dictator do the fighting
The dictator was playing both sides
Fighting Al-Qaeda
Also paying them to fight the Shiites
Obama said that Bush was going after too many groups
Focused on Al-Qaeda
Turns out there were only 29 guys to target
Killed thousands of people in Pakistan
In exchange, we helped them win against the Taliban
That war led to the rise of ISIS
Al-Qaeda was responsible for
Coordinating 9/11
Tried to bomb a plane over Detroit
Charlie Hebdo attack
Printer cartridge plots
Comic Convention in France
Death metal concert
Other massacres in France
One in Brussels
17:42 Houthi
Scott's episode with Shereen, she mentioned that Houthis have more support than ever
Sort of like what Ron Paul said
They're mad because we're bombing their homes, so they're retaliating the best way they know-how
They end up creating or joining terrorist organizations
18:44 Rewind - How did the War in Yemen Start
Jimmy Carter’s problem
Americans had Vietnam Syndrome – they were done with war
His national security advisors wanted to go against Russia
They decided if we can't directly fight them, we should convince them to fight a worthless war like we just did and drain all their resources
We baited them into unsustainable over-expansion
In Afghanistan
By supporting the Mujahideen
Russia invaded that winter, but who knows if our actions had anything to do with it
We continued to fight the Soviets through the Mujahideen and the Arab Afghan Army
Arab men from around the world who came to fight the holy war
Formed into Al Qaeda
Every Al Qaeda group in the world currently has its roots with fighting for the CIA under Reagan against the Soviets in Afghanistan
We also supported Saddam Hussein against Iran in the 80s
Our puppet government had been overthrown
Supported Saddam for 8 years
Until he invaded Kuwait
Suddenly, we launched Operation Desert Storm at him
Bush Sr. encouraged the Shiite uprising in Iraq
until he realized the leaders came from Iran
then we had them crushed by Saddam Hussein
We blamed him for the massacre and went to war against him
“We’re Superman, and it’s our job to protect these Shiites” - Scott
24:44 Why they attacked us
We kept our bases in Saudi Arabia to police Iraq and Iran
All the Mujahideen mercenaries we had created turned on us
We were occupying their holy land
Imagine if Jesus had been born in Texas and someone just decided to own that space
Revenge
For backing Israel against Palestine
For supporting dictators in the region
26:09 Their strategy
Hit us
Bog us down
Trick us as we’d tricked the Soviets
Get us to invade Afghanistan
The loss of Afghani life doesn’t matter to them
If they’re true Muslims, they’ll go to Heaven
The goal was to break the power of the American Empire
America spread the Jihad throughout the region
We radicalized people everywhere we went because we brought chaos
27:51 Continued timeline
George W took the Shiites his dad abandoned to Baghdad
Kicked the Sunnis out of power
Pushed them out of the city right into the open arms of Al Qaeda
Radicalized fighters from across the region met in Iraq to attack us and the Shiites
Suicide bombers
Head choppers
They targeted civilians and people praying at the mosque
After the war, they all went home and caused trouble
Syria, Libya, Yemen…
Obama took their side in Libya and Syria
Obama ordered the CIA to go after Al Qaeda
So, they drop bombs and missiles on those associated with Bin Laden
Small problem: “People really don't like it when you drop gigantic explosives on their family members and tear their bodies apart.” - Scott
Good motivation to join Al Qaeda
“Obama's trying to kill these guys, but as he's killing them, he's just essentially watering the garden with their blood and growing more and more of their replacements.” - Scott
31:54 Yemen
The USA is bombing Al Qaeda
Bribing Saleh in the capital with money and weapons for permission to bomb
But he was also hiring Al Qaeda to help him fight his enemies
He was losing, and his enemy got stronger with each defeat
He also was financing his enemy
They were all getting worn out
2011 Arab Spring
Successful in Egypt and Tunisia
The whole region breaks out and tries to overthrow rulers
In Yemen, all groups gathered and agreed: Ali Abdullah Saleh must go
Many protests
Assassination attempts with explosives
2nd one who injured him went to Saudi Arabia for treatment
While he was in the hospital, Hilary made a deal with the Saudis to replace Saleh with his VP
They created a one-man election, he would not allow for re-election; he just stayed in office, he caused gas prices to double/triple overnight; made the Houthis’ lives more difficult and then tried to attack them (see a full list of the terrible things this guy did in Scott’s book)
He lost, just like Saleh always did, but this time because of Saleh he didn’t go away quietly and took two-thirds of the army with him. They then allied with his former enemies in order to attack the new ruler, who, it turns out, he was actually a Zaydi Shiite from the north
38:00 Houthis vs Saleh’s VP
2014, the Houthi-Saleh alliance seized the capital
2015, US Central Command allied with Houthis
Gave them intelligence to fight Al Qaeda
… until we didn’t
Obama stabbed them in the back
Suddenly, we’re allied with Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Al Qaeda trying to drive the Houthis out of power
No progress has been made in this war
Loophole of responsibility
No American lives are being lost
This is a Saudi-led coalition
We're just helping them out a bit
41:30 Does that make any sense?
We are the empire
Saudi Arabia is our client: We make all the equipment in the US - this is our war
Why are we begging our clients to stay with us?
For money? Why are we so desperate for money?
Trump had raised tariffs on China
This hurt American manufacturing because pricing and availability changed
We’d already cut taxes
We decided to bolster the Military-Industrial Complex
Made a contract with Raytheon to build all the equipment
as if that boosts our entire economy somehow
Trump boasted that Saudi Arabia was spending $450 billion on our weapons
They really only spent $3 billion, which is enough to kill way too many people
He claimed that a million jobs were reliant on Saudi Arabia’s purchases
Maybe 30,000 are
It's really just welfare for big companies that are paid for in human lives
45:30 What to bomb
The Saudi military can bomb whatever they want
The US Military can blame things on Saudi Arabia, so they also can attack wherever they want
They're fighting an economic war by bombing farms, roads, and marketplaces
Hospitals
Bombing water has led to cholera outbreaks
Biggest outbreak since WWII
Babies and toddlers die of dehydration
48:03 Reminder of who we are fighting
Our enemies in Yemen never attacked us
Our allies did
The Houthis are not heroes, but they never did anything to provoke an attack from us
We keep attacking civilians
Against Geneva Convention
We would lock anyone else up for our crimes
Lawyers working for POTUS have written memos saying we’re breaking the law and could get in trouble
Every US president involved is a war criminal
Every president since Carter is condemned in this episode
“They’re just presidents. They’re not America.” - Scott
They’re the worst people in North America
They’ve all done terrible things; none is better than the others
None of this should hurt your feelings. You don’t have a personal connection to any president.
“I don't think that you have to condemn America to condemn that man and the decisions he made.” - Scott
Both Trump and Obama made decisions to kill thousands just to placate someone else on the hill
These men do not represent the wishes or morals of the American people
“You can get people to cheer for these things, but only by lying to them from morning to night in order to get them to be afraid and then endorse the idea that their government is only trying their best to protect them when it's just not true” - Scott
“I’m not anti-American; I’m anti-government-of-America.” - Craig
The average citizen is not guilty except by electing the people who are
56:22 Branch Davidians at Waco
Americans
Took over a tiny plot of land in a tiny town in Texas
FBI & president acted as if they were foreigners
The reality is, we’re all American
2 sides + innocents caught in the crossfire
Treated David Koresh like Saddam Hussein
Called him crazy so they could seize his weapons and kill him “to save everyone else”
Same script in 1993 that they used again in 2003
The threats they tell us about just aren’t that likely to attack, in reality
Unless the US influences the situation to start something
“This is the big secret… America has no enemies in the world at all.” - Scott
We would be just fine without the Pentagon or a military
Ron Paul said we could defend ourselves with just a couple of good submarines holding basic torpedoes
59:46 World powers
USA
Brazil?
2nd biggest American economy after the US, Canada, and Mexico
Canada and Mexico are not threats; we’re friends
Does not have a navy
Europe
Friends
Including Russia
Putin will tell you we’re partners
Africa
None
Egypt is under our thumb
They wouldn’t start a war that shuts down their main source of income (the Suez Canal) and gets them bombed
India
A billion people, most desperately poor
No outward foreign policy in place at all
China
Our 2nd biggest trading partner
Nixon made friends with Mao 50 years ago
Separated them from the Soviet Union
Mao was so dangerous, it was better to be his friend
After Mao died, it was more of a fascist dictatorship with a market economy
The worst that might happen is they invade Taiwan, which is unlikely
We officially recognize Taiwan as part of China
We don’t want a war there, but we probably won’t defend Taiwan
Even if they did take Taiwan, they’re not going to go further and overtake the US as the world empire
Other Asian countries
Just not interested in conflict
Japan is no longer an imperialist power
Their population is aging
Middle East
Conflicts among tribal and religious groups
But Iran is not coming for Israel
And if they were, Israel is the most aggressive threat in the region
“We could just completely shed ourselves of this militarism and be a limited constitutional republic with a free-market capitalist economy.” - Scott
No one can look back at the last 20 years and say, “Thank God we did that!”
Our bridges and other infrastructure are crumbling
We wasted $10 trillion blowing innocent people up
To shuffle power around in the Middle East
1:07:13 The humanitarian crisis in Yemen
Every 75 seconds, a child dies from hunger due to the blockade
Famine
The poorest country in the Middle East
IMF convinced them to plow under their millet and other food crops
Planted coffee and cotton instead
Sold on the global market so they could trade yummy food from other countries
Worked great until the US blockaded them
You can't eat cotton and coffee
Houthis were defined as a terrorist organization, but it was redacted
Talking about doing that again
Which will make it illegal to send in food or other aid
This is not propaganda like Saddam Hussein throwing premature babies on the floor
This is real.
These babies are dying.
Starving to death.
“We need to stop doing this; we need to find a different path.” - Craig
1:10:30 Religious War?
Christians in the US we’re told we had to go fight the spread of radical Islam
Saddam Hussein was an atheist
He was afraid of Osama Bin Laden’s Islam
For years, we were told we must stop the Muslims from wiping us out
Now, we’ve forgotten about them
Focus has shifted to China and Russia
Truth: “Al Qaeda is still out there and the American policies that drive them to attack us still exist in great measure.” - Scott
We support all these kings and sultans
The danger comes from American policies messing stuff up
It doesn’t have to be this way
Most people just don’t understand how the whole story is connected
Or that it’s possible for us to not be over there in the Middle East
Ron Paul tried to tell people we could get out
They simply dismissed him
Trump called George W the dumbest and worst
Caused Republicans to decide between Bush and Trump: which is worse?
If they wanted to stay loyal to the current guy, they had to denounce their old beliefs
Also, Trump is ruthless
If he thought bombing the Middle East would help America, he would not hesitate
But he didn’t think that
He wanted out
Trump led people to question not only why we were over there under Bush
But why we are still over there
Colonel Douglas MacGregor
Wrote the book on invasions
Says we don’t have to be in conflict with Russia
Or China
We don’t have any enemies at all
Anyone who says otherwise needs their head examined
1:18:28 George Washington’s ghost
Calling out, “It’s supposed to be a limited republic!”
Not in a constant state of war and/or emergency
War is only for extreme situations
How can we be free or have rights in an emergency state?
We are not protecting the Bill of Rights
We’re not passing it down
It is dying
We don't have a pact with Jesus to protect our Bill of Rights
You can’t have a limited republic with a world empire
Economic pain? High inflation?
Empire economics
No hard money
Must be able to print more for emergencies
“This is the bubble, friends, and the crash is coming.” - Scott
Related Episodes
Related Blog Post
