Scott talks to Ted Snider about America’s relationship with Iran and Syria. Iran has just elected a new president, Ibrahim Raisi, who Snider says is much more of a hardliner than his predecessor, Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani was the one who worked with the Obama administration on the JCPOA, so on the surface it seems that Raisi’s more obstinate stance toward the U.S. will be to America’s disadvantage. But Snider goes on to explain a bizarre dynamic that pervades American—and especially neoconservative—foreign policy: the U.S. government will push for moderate leaders in Iran, then discredit their reformist positions by betraying our agreements (as President Trump did with the JCPOA), which in turn give rise to more radical, conservative leaders in their place. And Snider suspects that this pattern is deliberate. The establishment war planners in Washington want Iran to be America’s arch-nemesis, and moderate reformers stand in the way of that portrayal. Needless to say, none of this is actually good for the American people.
Discussed on the show:
“Why Are We Still at War with Syria?” (Antiwar.com)
“Iran’s Election: Making Your Iranian Nightmares Come True” (Antiwar.com)
“Why I’m Rooting for the Hardliner in Iran’s Elections” (POLITICO Magazine)
“The Redirection” (The New Yorker)
Going to Tehran: Why America Must Accept the Islamic Republic of Iran
Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear
Ted Snider has a graduate degree in philosophy and writes on analyzing patterns in U.S. foreign policy and history. He is a regular writer for Truthout, MondoWeiss and antiwar.com.
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee; Zippix Toothpicks and Listen and Think Audio.
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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