Ben Freeman joins Scott to talk about his new study on the Emirati lobby, which wields enormous power in Washington D.C. The UAE generally has a good reputation in America, usually being associated with glamor, cosmopolitanism, and vast oil wealth. In reality, their government—corrupt like Saudi Arabia—isn’t afraid to use torture and child soldiers, and is every bit as responsible for the genocide in Yemen. The reason for this difference in perception, says Freeman, is that the UAE has a huge lobby that spends millions on their public image, in addition to paying for influence in nearly every congressional office in Washington.
Discussed on the show:
- The Emirati Lobby: How the UAE Wins in Washington
- “In Yemen’s secret prisons, UAE tortures and US interrogates” (AP News)
- Foreign Agents Registration Act
Ben Freeman is director of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative with the Center for International Policy. Read his work at AntiWar.com and follow him on Twitter @BenFreemanDC.
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Washinton Babylon; Liberty Under Attack Publications; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.
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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 this website. He’s the author of the 2017 book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan. Visit https://scotthorton.org