My basic motivation for being a Libertarian had never been economic. But morale while I was convinced that the free market was more efficient and would bring about a far more prosperous world than statism. My major concern was moral the Insight, that coercion and aggression of one man, over another was criminal and iniquitous, and must be combated and abolished. Welcome to Keith's night. Don't tread on anyone and the libertarian Institute. Today.
We're going to talk about enough already time to end the war on terrorism with Scott, Horton, Scott. Where's the best place to? Find the book. Well, the easiest thing of course is Amazon, but if you go to enough already, dotnet it affords, you onto the page at the libertarian Institute there, and we've got links to eight or ten different sources. So you can get it from Powell's Books, and smashwords, and Scribd, and I don't know more like that. So Barnes & Noble as well.
So if you don't like Amazon, there's plenty of competition where you can get it to nice. That link will be in the And below, I want to quote from Osama Bin Laden in tactical recommendations. He says, then the fighters realized that the gang in the White House. Could not see things clearly in that their leader that idiot.
They obey was claiming that we envied their lifestyle when the truth which this Pharaoh would like to hide is that we are attacking them because of their Injustice, toward the Muslim world, and especially Palestine, and Iraq, as well as their occupation of the land of the to sanctuaries. This is a quote from Osama bin Laden. Is this the reason or is it really? Because they're scared? That America is a hurdle to them, spreading a worldwide Islamic caliphate.
Well, yeah, both right. So I think the important thing about that and because there's another sort of Point here too. You know, Bin Laden is a mass murderer, right? So who cares what he thinks and who could believe any of the words that he says, he's a murderer than he's also de facto. To be taken as a liar, right? Screw him. Why quote hint. But the point is how quotable he was.
And that, when he said the things that he said, that was his pitch to get people to agree with him to pick up a cause. This is a tiny little group of Bandits trying to take on a super power. So he was not just justifying his actions. He was trying to recruit new people to help him along with his agenda. And so he was focusing on the things, the Americans were. Doing now at the same time the, you know, it's essentially a fantasy on their part. Certainly at that time, the
absolute ridiculous pipe dream. That one day, we could create our caliphate with Bin Laden, or whoever we like at the head of it. If only the Americans weren't standing in our way by supporting all the local dictators. Now, the reality is again, we're talking about a few hundred Bandits mercenaries left over from the last war where they had been run by their own. Intelligence agencies, helping them to go fight in Afghanistan
in the 1980s. And so they didn't have the power to overthrow the king of Saudi Arabia or the dictator the military dictatorship in Egypt or the King of Jordan or Saddam Hussein and Iraq or the Ayatollah in Iran or anybody. They wanted to see overthrown, you know, all they could do is essentially be mad, but then they were able to Rally their
own forces together. On the essentially, the compromise that lets attack America first because you were, they were trying to bring together people from all these different countries. So some people wanted to focus on attacking the King of Jordan and, you know, whatever the different in Egypt and Saudi mostly was the argument.
So they said well, let's is the doctrine will compromise on and settle on. Will focus on the Americans the far enemy and we'll attack them will bog them down, bleed them to bankruptcy the same way we did with Soviet Union. And once they're no longer here to back our Kings and dictators, and president's days and Warlords, then we'll be able to accomplish our Revolution. So that was the long game to provoke America into reacting giving itself their own Vietnam.
Just as we had helped these same mujahideen due to the Soviet Union with the Afghans in the 1980s and to do it again to ourselves and it seems to have worked. Worked. And if you go down the list of Bin Laden's goals, he was trying to weaken and bankrupt and expel America, which is a long-term process, but it's going on now and we're certainly on the downhill slope of this of American dominance in the Middle East.
But also to weaken all of America's and discredit, you know, America's local dictators in the region that are government supports and then to radicalize the populations of these countries. And, you know, political and
religious sense. And, you know, we've seen Revolution and economic destabilization, political destabilization and returned to hardcore sectarianism and fundamentalism by some in these wars, especially in Iraq, War 2, and in Syria, and so, you know, they have not put You know, Bin Laden or his Terrace son. Hamza on the throne in Saudi Arabia then and they still haven't put some watery on the
throne in Egypt, right? This would have been the ultimate goal of these guys, probably right to rule their own home countries. So they fallen short of that, but they did create a caliphate and Western, Iraq and Eastern Syria. For three solid years and erase the sykes-picot. Western drawn border between Iraq and Syria and some jackass named Abu. Baccarat baghdady was able to go up there like Mussolini on the balcony like Osama Bin Laden himself essentially and claimed
that he was the caliph. Ibrahim the divinely ordained ruler of the new caliphate to usher in the end of the world and this absolute Madness that at the time of 2001 and the attack on the United States. Keith. This is the absolute ultimate ridiculous. Pipe dream of Osama bin Laden. Right. And at the time of, you know, shortly after they attacked us, and the Bush Administration was exploiting all this fear.
This was the height of their most unrealistic and ridiculous and insulting propaganda against the American people that there's an Islamic fascists, caliphate out there that were fighting. We're between baathist Iraq, and baathists Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and hashemite Jordan. Where's the caliphate? It's not in Egypt. Where Hosni Mubarak is the secular military dictator under America's thumb for the last 30 years. Well at that time 20, you know 25 so, you know, essentially America made.
All of Osama bin Laden's agenda to, you know, nine out of ten. Steps of everything that he and his group were trying to accomplish with the September 11th attack and their war against the United States for them. And they've been strategic allies, but who's zoom? And who Keith Wright the Americans?
They get to use these guys as mercenaries shock troops to fight against their Shiite enemies in places like Syria and Yemen sure, but They get to use American wealth, and power and weapons in order to fight against those same Shiites for their own reasons and and, you know, carrying out the agenda of their own countries intelligence agencies and that coincide with their own. And let's say America stopped intervening right now. Finally, just knocked it off.
Look at the mess that we've made over there and the last 20 years and never even mine Afghanistan on the other side of Iran, but just think about what's going on in Mesopotamia and the Levant. It's just an absolute catastrophe. And as Jeff Huber said, I love to quote him, the great, anti were.com columnist and humorous, Osama. Bin, Laden dead, and Loving It. And what is this guy care? If he's been shot in the head, man. That was all he ever wanted was to die getting shot.
Head while having just over seen all of his dreams. Come true from here. Is hiding in the Attic. And and in fact, I like, I like ordering this. He says he says, eat your heart out Charlemagne to Julius Caesar and how do you like them apples Alexander? Because here is the world's greatest General. I move the most powerful armies that ever existed from hiding in the Attic even from his own wife up there. But meanwhile, he controls the Destinies of 100 million men every day. Is it?
Whatever he On some play out, all of his games and think about. Sorry. I'm rambling but I know it's good. The opposite of that is if it had just been you know, what let's all. Stop a listen to Ron Paul who warned us, this was going to happen, and let's see what he wants to do. He wants to send Special Operations forces to kill, only Bin, Laden and zawahiri. And there, you know, 100 closest friends next to them.
And that's it. And called a whole were off, and has, as he said, explicitly, and I quote in my book Fool's errand. He says explicitly. Ali because we had we're in a very delicate situation here where we must hold the guilty responsible, but we must let the rest of the Muslim World know that they are wrong about us. That we are not their enemy. That we do not hate Muslims that we do not hate Arabs, and it's not our agenda.
And the only reason we were there was to protect them from the Soviet communist, but you know what? That was a long time ago now, and it's time for us to go and that would have been what he had done and imagine the results of that and and and the possibilities that would have been opened up there. For America to actually, if they believed in this Freedom agenda stuff at all, Keith to actually lecture them about their lack of freedom, without being
blood-soaked. Hypocrites, at the same time or at least no longer. I want to quote from the president of the Council on Foreign Relations with regard to. He talks about how the Cold War ended. But right during our celebration, we had to, we had to take on another enemy. This was followed less than a year later by a remarkable coming together of the world to turn back, Saddam Hussein's effort to conquer Kuwait. Something that would have had
enormous consequences. If it had been allowed to stand toward the end, United States work closely with 14 other members of the UN security. Already canceled to repudiate Iraq's aggression and to establish a subsequently enforce. A sanctions regime designed to ensure that Iraq would not benefit from its conquest and would pay an enormous price for it.
A large Coalition of dozens of countries contributing in different ways, was built to make sure Iraqi aggression did not threaten Saudi Arabia. And when diplomacy backed by sanctions failed to dislodge Iraq, from Kuwait to force, our rack, out of the country and restore Kuwait's Independence. And Government final quote here. He says it is important to underscore though that the u.s. Involvement was strictly
humanitarian. As it did not attempt to bring about a separate Kurdish state in the north of Iraq or a separate. She estate in the South or to overthrow the existing political Authority in Baghdad, Scott. What's wrong with helping people, man? Boy. Well, I tell you what, in my new book, there's a whole chapter or I guess it's a subchapter in the massive chapter one. Our is on Iraq war one that puts
the lie to every bit of that. You know, what happened was Iraq. Have a legitimate border dispute with Kuwait and the Kuwait. He's were overproducing from their shared oil wells and they were being extremely rude and calling in all of their loans and insulting the araki's dignity. Every way that they could, And I make the case in the book, that I don't really believe that this was deliberate, but that in effect, they trapped Saddam Hussein into the war the CIA and centcom.
We're encouraging the Kuwait. He's to be tough and brave, and stand up to him. While, at the same time. The state department was telling Saddam Hussein. Yeah, go ahead break their nice occupy. The northern oil fields. What do we care as the American ambassador later, said to the New York Times? Well, we didn't think he was going to take the whole country. And there were, you know, statements.
It wasn't just April glass piece meeting with Saddam Hussein, but also Margaret Tutwiler, and I'm sorry, forgot the man's name. There's another state department, official both testified to Congress, that we wouldn't do anything. We don't have a tree with Kuwait. We're not responsible for that. And what do we care? If Saddam invades there? And the same time, though, Keith and this is why. And this could be BS, but I don't think it is. I think this coincides, with
other things. I know about these characters. It seems like the official history. Anyway, is that wolfowitz and Cheney at the state department were extremely concerned about this. This, when Cheney was the secretary defense and wolfowitz, I guess, was deputy secretary of defense for policy and they were, you know, really worried about it and tried to send a letter warning who say not to do it, but then, Williams who, you know, from NBC News, walk it back and then they got h.w.
Bush. The president to send a message but it seemed they thought to conciliatory and almost like permission itself to go ahead and they were really upset and wanted to send another letter saying, hey, don't get me wrong. What I meant was, don't do it at that point, but then it was too late, and Iraq invaded, and apparently, Hussein had been, you know, confident enough in his reassurances, from the state. It meant that he thought. Well, what the hell, they don't care.
If I take the northern oil fields, maybe I'll take the whole country and he went ahead and he went all the way to Kuwait City and all the way to the shore and took over the
whole country. But even at that point, Keith the entire Bush, National Security cabinet, that night agreed that and that was Colin Powell was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cheney was the Secretary of Defense. The National Security advisor was General, Brent scowcroft and the Of state was James Baker, the third, these men all said, and we don't care. We're not doing anything about it.
Were drawn, the line at Saudi Arabia, and we're going to warn Saddam Hussein that, if you invade Saudi, we're going to carpet bomb the crap out of. You. Don't even think about it, but they were going to draw the line at Saudi Arabia, Keith until Margaret Thatcher, whose government was heavily dependent on Kuwaiti investments, in their debt. And whose major corporations had major investments in Kuwaiti oil.
Voil. She went and said, well, Bush, don't you go wobbly on me now at the Aspen security conference and her staff later described this as giving h.w., Bush a back, bone transplant, and encouraging him, that he better not back down, and how can he be wobbly standing next to a woman who's saying, we must do the right thing that, you know, reduces the last of Bush's Macho. He'd already been as Bill Hicks quite aptly pointed out.
In fact, George Karl. Had take on the same thing that bullshit already been called a wimp for so long. And there's so many different ways to elaborate that everybody go, listen to Hicks and Carlin on Iraq war one. Okay. But anyway, this was a big deal. And so Bush, then said, this will not stand this aggression and then he spent the entire second half of the year 1990 refusing to negotiate with Saddam Hussein.
Who was begging them. For a way out of there that didn't make him the world's biggest push over, right? He just needed to save a little bit of face if he betrayed that much weakness, he be killed and overthrown in a coup by his own regime or at least that was a real risk that he was running.
And that was the American government's assessment at the time was that, you know, they knew that he needed to save some face and all he wanted was to uninhabited islands and the easement so we could get there and sell some oil in the Persian Gulf. And you know, at the end he ended up his last offer was Americans have to promise to leave the Middle East, someday and the Israelis had to promise to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories someday,
in other words, absolute tissue paper promises. That wouldn't have meant anything whatsoever at all. Was you give me anything to say? And then Bush said, no. And he can A session is a reward for aggression and will there will never do anything. He must absolutely bow down, which they knew was the offer that he could not accept their
the situation. He could not accept that he would have to be, you know, attacked and driven out because he would have to have Epsom minimal something to show for it. And I document all that in my book of all of the difference. It's really Marie wasps at New York Newsday and a couple others of the New York Times and Noam Chomsky who did the best work on that at the time. Now they refused to accept his surrender and then they launched this massive war that, you know, you listed him saying.
Well, jeez. We didn't want to go too far because our mandate was only to go far enough, but then look at the situation that the that put them in. And in fact, does he quote? There's, he talked about the Shiite Uprising and their deliberations about what to do there after the war or know where you're going to say something else. Go ahead. No, he mentions the Amount of a shiaa increase in power after Iraq war two, but doesn't go into it at all afterwards.
There's so much. But in Iraq war one after Iraq war one. He doesn't talk about the aftermath of a Shiite Uprising. And, and some question, everybody talked about the sanctions. He briefly passes over sanctions. You went. In other words, just a billboard that said, Saddam is bad. And that was like a sanction in in a short amount of time. Can you explain what the sanctions were? Were and they're devastating effect. Yeah. Well so, you know sanctions is such a euphemism.
But you know if you called a blockade that's not exactly right because it's not really a matter of Navy's floating offshore preventing goods from coming in. No one's even trying it because this was United Nations security Council resolutions binding on the whole world.
It was illegal to sell to Iraq. And so they were under a total global economic blockade and the way it works on the security Council. Is that anyone major power basically, the victors of World War Two, are the permanent members of the security Council, right? So the US, UK, Britain, France, Russia, and China, and any one of them can veto anything. And so there's no point in anyone, issuing, a new resolution and the sanctions. When everybody knows America is going to going to vote.
No America. Being Bill Clinton's government is going to vote. No, and continue the sanctions. So in other words, It was essentially up to the Americans to ever lift them. And if as long as the Clinton government wanted to keep them there, right? I should say the Bush, senior government to was in power for a year and a half after the end of the war and kept them. And on the stated purpose of achieving regime change.
We will not lift the sanctions until Hussein is out of power, even though we just skipped over it, but they had encouraged an uprising against him. That might have succeeded at set that the bush government. Then betrayed that Revolution that he encouraged to rise up. Used to support them in any way and allowed Saddam Hussein to use his helicopters and tanks to crush the Insurrection. And then they use that as an excuse to stay. Even though the crushing of the
Insurrection was over. They didn't need to stay and create no-fly zones over Iraq to protect the people. They had their one chance and have lost it because of America, but then now the idea was we're going to keep these sanctions so that the people who now no longer have the slightest chance of overthrowing Saddam. We will become so hungry and so miserable that every civilian in, Iraq, will rise up and overthrow the guy. And if they don't, well, then
that's their tough luck. That's their responsibility. And I, quote the military men explain to The Washington Post, and this is an absolute absolute authoritarian dictatorship. The baathist party. This is essentially a fascist dictatorship in every way. The only as I was referring to their minute ago, the only popular sovereignty Hussein had was among his Generals and even then he kill them first, you
know what I mean? But if there was anyone who could have overthrown him, it would have been his own closest guys, not the people of the country in any way. And yet the Air Force guys, told the Washington Post. Hey, listen, it's their country and ultimately boys that a long way to ultimately, Keith ultimately. The people of Iraq are responsible for the government they have. Now, this is exactly what Osama Bin Laden said about us that we are responsible for this
government. That would do such a thing to the people of Of Iraq on the exact same, excuse that the civilians lives are forfeit because they're not doing enough to overthrow the government that we don't like. And then the Bill Clinton government kept those sanctions all the way through January 2001. And so did W bush. And when he came in, it was so obvious that and they used it as part of their Ploy. Look, we can't just keep the sanctions forever. You're right, bleeding-heart, Keith.
What are we going to do? Keep these people in her bar, go forever. We got to go in there and liberate them. Yeah. So that then they'll be prosperous and healthy. And yeah, and now that's, you know, a million and a half dead ago. Unbelievable. So Richard haass goes into a number of examples of why regime. Change is actually a good thing, but page 33, the occupying Powers reformed the countries
and their image. After the second world war which translated into democracy for all of Japan and in Germany as well for the part, which became East Germany, controlled by the USSR nearly three-quarters of a century later, Germany and Japan stand out as among the few successful examples of what today would be called regime, change followed by Nation or
state building. His second reason, is that for its part, the Soviet Union did what it could to promote communist regimes around the Western Hemisphere and succeeded in Cuba. And Nicaragua. It had the advantage of aiding individuals, and movements fighting against unpopular, authoritarian, governments, that offered little They're people so historically Germany and Japan. Good regime change. Historically the Soviets have engaged in regime change in at work for them.
Therefore. We have good reason to believe regime. Change Wars are Justified. How do you respond? That's so funny. Man. I want to read that book and also I don't yeah. Good old Richard haass. Huh? So look at Germany and Japan. I was raised on this. You're a bit younger than me. I don't know if they're still inculcate you with this the same way. They did me. But yeah, it's true. Right? That in a way America was this benevolent conqueror?
And we didn't make MacArthur the military dictator of Japan from now on just to install finisher regime change install the Parliamentary Government to our liking and the same sort of thing happened in Germany as well.
And so then the narrative was Hey, when America beats you in war, we make a friend, A dia will Build You Up, rebuild your country for you and help make you rich and make you our friend and our Ally, which sounds nice, but the reality was, we were making the military satellites of our world. Empire was, what was really happening. And at the time, first of all, most importantly, they were both under threat from the Soviet Union.
And so you might Ally with the Americans and maybe worse to protect you from the USSR, which was a real threat to Western Europe. And to Japan. In fact, that was why the Japanese surrendered. It wasn't the nukes. It was because they knew that the Soviets were coming. And would you rather live under Truman's dictatorship or Stalin's? And so, the choice was easy for them.
And so with the threat of the Soviet Union, and Some, you know, communist Invasion holding over their head being held over
their head. Then it was a lot easier to convince them to go along with those but also the Japanese had already had a parliamentary government and had been allies with the British and have been, you know, adopting a lot of Western Customs as far as independent judiciaries and all these kinds of things in a way that there was plenty to tap into their and former leaders of that previous government to bring into power. And this kind of deal and they
had a compliant emperor. Who had a lot of authority over the people to say? There won't be an Insurgency. We've been whooped. It's a matter of Honor now that we go along with this MacArthur guy, and what he says. Now, that's a pretty unique circumstance. You know, I mean, that's, you know, got real lucky there.
And then, of course, in West Germany, you know, they didn't have an emperor to obey like that, but it wasn't too hard to create a parliamentary democracy there under American dominance. Control, you know, on that side of the line and again, for the main reason that the Soviet Union was being held over their head. And so they had to choose and they've been absolutely decimated in the war two.
And so, you know, they got part of that Marshall Plan, you know, it wasn't just that the Allies, it was the Germans to got their welfare check to to help rebuild at that time. So that was a huge part of it. But then what a propaganda coup because then that becomes the justification for wages.
In war than in Korea, even if we got to kill two million people and in Vietnam, where we got to kill three, if you include the Les oceans and the come vodiane in, the cambodians are supporting dictators, like suharto and Indonesia who killed a million, you know, of his own people in the East timorese. Or, you know, all kinds of right-wing dictatorships that, you know, preferably throw their left-wing dissidents out of helicopters at the, you know, slightest.
Whim, You know up and down all through Latin America and through Asia, all the Dirty Wars of the Middle East and you know, I haven't gotten to it yet. There's this new book by a guy named Vincent Bevins. I'm sorry, forget the title right now, but it's all about the history of America's Dirty Wars in the Cold War. Then it's just a Millions upon millions of people killed, you know.
It's easy to hide behind. Well, it's, you know, native soldiers doing the killing, but it's the white officers and the and, you know, the American politicians and CIA men behind it, this kind of thing. So that's no different than under the British, Raj. It's just the American one.
And so, you know, to invoke Japan as the excuse to then do whatever we want to whoever we want and ask the Koreans, the Vietnamese, and the araki's and the syrians and the yemenis if Think that Japan excuse still holds up for the USA in the year 2021. And then as far as the Soviets having successful regime, changes emphasize the part about how well and it was pretty easy for the Reds to take over in Nicaragua because the right wing government that they were
replacing, their of Antonin Samosa was the most right-wing brutal. Illegitimate fascist dictatorship, and that's the reason for the success of all It Marxist revolutionary movements. Through all of Latin America is the Americans supported right-wing fascist dictators who, you know, absolutely wage war against their own populations. You wonder why people Embrace absolutely ridiculous socialist policies in Latin America.
It's because the Socialist leaders are the ones standing up to the Yankees. That's why independencefirst. Same thing in Vietnam course. On page 119, he talks about Afghanistan, who wrote the excellent book, Falls errand, which I, of course, will put in the description.
Richard Haas says in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the United States presented, the Taliban government with a stark choice, either end its relationship with Al-Qaeda and hand Al qaeda's leaders over to the international authorities or face the consequences.
The Taliban government refused to take these steps and the United States committed to Now, Sting the government, something accomplished over the next few months, as us intelligence personnel, and military forces cooperated with members of the, so-called Northern Alliance. A loose Coalition of anti-taliban tribes with roots in these parts of Afghanistan.
Not dominated by the postions and ethnic group, most located in the south of the country, that constituted a polarity of its population and the core of Taliban support. Therefore they were Writing really giving power to Al-Qaeda stations wasn't. Yeah. Was that one sentence? Yeah. It was right that the pashtuns are predominant in the South. So that's one thing. That's a lot of claims. I don't even a longer sentence than in full there and you can
find probably the major claim. Al Qaeda attacked, America. Taliban is given cover for Al queda. Therefore, the root of the issue was the Taliban and The Invasion and regime change in Afghanistan is Justified. How do you respond? Well, that's in damn, dirty lie, and, in fact, emphasis on him saying that the demand was that they turn him over to International authorities, but they offered to turn him over to the organization of Islamic conference. In other words, any nation
state? That's a member of the organization of Islamic conference, which is course created by American Saudi Arabia and the first place and they were told to go to hell. They said well, we just want to see some evidence and colon Powell went on Meet the Press the secretary of state. So we're going to publish a Das here explaining how this is all Osama. Bin Laden's fault, easy enough. They knew I'll cater was going to attack us all summer long, of course.
And so that's even the official story and also some of the critical ones and so they could have published evidence of the times there. And instead so note. We will provide no evidence. So then that was a few days or what a week after something. The attack then later in September, they said, okay, we'll turn him over to the pakistanis and general Musharraf. And Pakistan was the one who turned that down, but he was under America's total control at that point.
So if he did that as a betrayal of Americans, I don't believe it. There's no reports that that's right. He did that. He must have done that. It's not conclusive but it's all but conclusive that he did that on orders from the Americans or, you know, in a joint decision made with the Americans to turn that off or down. And at that point, they were still requesting to see evidence. And then they said, after the bombs started falling on October the 8th. They said, okay.
Okay, we'll turn him over to any third nation in the world and then they didn't mention his real. I think, probably not Israel, but data, turn him over to evidently, you know, according to them. They were willing to take, not just Bin Laden but his Al-Qaeda guys, arrest them all and extradite them to any third country in the world Canada, Mexico England.
France are very best friends who, you know, in many cases and it's the same thing with the Muslim countries to that could have been Egypt, or Jordan or Malaysia or any one of these
countries. That's friendly to the United States where the guys would have what landed on the tarmac and then taking off again for their extradition to America without even getting out of the Right, that would have been fine, absolutely acceptable under any, you know, reasonable Administration. Run by reasonable men without an agenda here and it was rejected. But then they offer find, they
said, forget evidence. We don't need evidence and we'll turn him over to any third country in the world and Bush said too late. So they just dropped every demand, they were ready to go and, and it was confirmed. You know, the American intelligence officials say well, that may be right but we don't care. You know, and so then it was on and look the reality is that mullah Omar hated Osama Bin Laden, right? And Ahmad new NBC called the father of the Taliban.
Yeah, he was the dictator. He was the leader of exact is exact title, but he was the leader of the Taliban government there and He had every reason to resent Bin Laden, you know, when Bin Laden first, got there in 96. I forget if Rabbani this warlord Rabbani either had just been killed, or was about to be killed, but that's who Bin Laden was expecting to be hosted by. He had to figure out. Okay, who are these Taliban, guys? I got to get along with them. Now, that wasn't his exact set.
And then, you know, essentially, so here's this guy, who's like a worldwide leninist. Right. He's trying to turn over the entire Middle Eastern order from, you know, the Indian subcontinent to the Mediterranean Sea and on to Nigeria, right? That's Ben Laden's plan, right set?
The whole damn world on fire. Well, this guy mullah Omar had already taken the capital city that year 1996 with the help of the United States. And of course, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan and the support of the Bill Clinton government had just
taken over that country. And as the old saying goes, Goes and I don't know who coined this, I should look it up because I keep quoting it that a radical becomes a conservative the day, he seizes the capitol right now that I've won and I'm the dictator enough for your world Revolution stuff. Let's just have a revolution in one country Afghanistan. Right? So said, Thomas Jefferson and Leon Trotsky and mullah Omar Revolution. One country will be more than enough.
Thank you for you know for us to handle. And so then Here Comes Ben Laden is nothing. Trouble. And of course Bin Laden is the son of a billionaire. His Partners woori is a surgeon from Cairo. And these are wealthy well-educated men from the world. The Taliban are Hillbillies from deepest darkest Posh. Tuna, Stan. They don't know nothing about nothing. They knew virtually nothing of
the outside world. And so then Bin Laden in the bin Laden nights, treated them like trash, you know, it's like a bunch of hoity-toity Boston brahmins. Among a bunch of, you know, Nascar fulke or whatever, you know, they just treat them with the utmost of content. And so guess what? The feeling was kind of mutual that we don't really like you guys very much either and there's a great book about this called an enemy, we created by
Kuhn and Lynn shoten. And they just prove this case in absolute, just incredible detail over and over again of the strain relationship between these two. And you know, what Milton Bearden Would help run. He was one time or maybe most of the time, the chief of station running, the Afghan war in the 1980s for the CIA against the Soviets there. When we back the mujahideen in
that war. He told the Washington Post, just after September 11. Listen, we've been negotiating with the Taliban, they hate Bin Laden and they want to give him up to us and we should not be bombed. The Taliban we should be bombing al-Qaeda. In fact, Keith now that I'm thinking about it. Condoleezza Rice and others in the government. And at the time at the highest level, she was the National Security advisor. She and some of the CIA were saying, we should not be on the Taliban at all.
We should only be bomb in the Arabs and show in the Taliban that look man were really not trying to bomb you, but don't make us bomb. You, we trying to separate the Taliban away from Al-Qaeda, but then Rumsfeld on the others were like, no, we don't want to do that. We want to separate them together, is what we want to do and conflate them together. And so that we can complete continue on conflating them then with a with Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, and whoever else that we want.
And so that was that. But honestly, if they had just dealt with this honestly, the fact, one more thing Milton. Bearden said, the Taliban one example that he gave was the Taliban said to the Americans. Hey, guess what? We lost Bin Laden. He's out Falcon and somewhere and we don't know where he is. Hint hint. Go ahead and whack him right now. And will say that. Sorry. He was out talking in the countryside somewhere. He was outside of our protection.
We were trying to find him to keep him safe, but we were unable to because of his wild and risky ways. And so, that's his own problem, and not our fault. And we, you know, of course, we're honored bound to protect a guest, but not, if he's out in the countryside somewhere. We can't protect them where we told him not to go. And so sure, not our fault is II killed them.
But meanwhile, they were the ones telling the CIA telling the Americans he's out balcony, go and get him and then Milton Bearden is quoting this to the Washington Post key and saying listen, there's and go and kill him and we're saying hand him over towel ahead and they're gone. Yeah, but go and kill him. We're hand them over to you man. That's what we're doing. And as he put it the Americas just don't speak that kind of language.
They're just, you know, it's like your Junior High School gym. I'm coach idiot over their handling. This is that, you know, the intellect to the people in charge here and so they just won't speak the language of accepting of of offerings surrender. The can't even hear it when it's being laid in their lap. The article you cite in Fool's errand is Bushra Jack's. Taliban offered a hand Bin Laden over from the guardian, October 14 2001. So it's widely recognized that this is a real thing.
It did. I didn't think that it was real until I had read Fool's errand. Richard haass talks about, Iraq war, to saddam's refusal to cooperate, fully with, un, weapons inspectors further, reinforce the prevailing view that he had something to hide to be clear. Are you just trying to tire me out today with this or what? I'm sorry. Go ahead. One more to be clear what the United States did in 2003? Was launched a preventative action, one aimed at stopping a gathering. Wet.
In this case. What was thought to be Iraq's, development of nuclear weapons? What's wrong with taking a preventive step to stop a crazy Tyrant, like Saddam from Gaining nukes, you know, it's funny to Keith because I think Richard haass didn't, he sort of have a reputation of being more with Powell and Armitage on the skeptical side and reluctant to do this war. Yeah, you know, yeah, he's got a neoconservative. He's our guy, you know, says that it was a mistake, but he'll still defend.
You know it to like up till the very last end but then say well there might be some unintended consequences. And of course, I look pal and Armitage got us into the war two. They didn't. They said Jesus we sure we want to do this and then they were told yes. We want to do this and they said, okay, and they went along with it.
Also, I'm not trying to acquit them and I guess he must have been more of a colon Powell light than a Richard Perle guy, but at the end of the day, it doesn't make that much difference. What a bastard. So, look if the The weapons inspectors were back in the country by the end of November of 2002. So, they had five months to traipse around a rag and everywhere they went, they could find nothing. And they said, so well, look, Americans.
Give us this intelligence, we go to the place where they say that the thing is happening, and it's not happening. And that's actually my book, The inspectors debunked, the
aluminum tubes lie. Look The Washington Post debunked it in September 02. But the weapons inspectors on the ground, in Iraq, went to the factory, and found the order for the aluminum tubes there for rockets, and they found other aluminum soups just like it. And why do you need this special anodized coating because of the weather and it was all
absolutely every dotted. I and cross T of the araki's version of the aluminum tubes, being for God, damned katyusha rockets for shooting out of the back of your pickup. Pick up truck being for making aluminum tubes was. Absolutely. And thoroughly discredited before long before. Bush's speech in what, you know, solid two months really because the State of the Union isn't until like the end of January, right?
So this is the very, very beginning of December was when they debunked the two and then Bush gets up there and says the tubes and also the famous 16 words. That's it. I was trying to buy uranium from Africa, when he had yellow cake in the country and the CIA 14 times, the CIA told the Neo cons in the vice president's office. You can't put that in the president's speech. It's not true. And then, finally, they gave up and said I what the hell, go ahead and put it in there.
And so they went ahead and use that for the State of the Union in 2003. Even though the rack had yellow cake uranium, which is partially refined or which what are you gonna do? Throw it at somebody and hit him in the head, you know, I guess if you put in there milkshake, you might give them cancer something. I don't know. They had a ton of it, a ton of it, sitting under iaea lock and seal.
In the country left over from their 1980s Obsolete and closed down nuclear program that the iaea had never removed the uranium. They just left it there because it was essentially harmless sitting there. So if Hussein had wanted it, the inspectors weren't in the Three from 1998 through 2002. All he would have had to do was cut the lock on the storage locker. Take that uranium, or refine it, somehow convert it to uranium,
hexafluoride, gas. And then introduce it into these aluminum tubes for katyusha rockets and pretend that the you're going to somehow making a Manhattan Project and an atom bomb out of it. The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous and they knew they were lying Keith and, and all through from, from December. Through March, the nuclear inspectors and the chemical inspectors. Also, we cannot find anything that you're talking about here.
There's no production of sarin. No, production of mustard. No stick. No Warehouse is full of this stuff, the mobile biological weapons labs. They brought the rat who said that it was true to the place where he said it was true and they go. Okay. Show us the stuff total hoax. He knew nothing. The whole thing was a made up thing. A made-up game. You can read a lot of In the Senate investigations, you know, years later when the Senate, you know, published a lot of this
stuff. It's right there in the PDF format there. Richard haass quotes, John F. Kennedy on page, 158 as President John F. Kennedy. Once warned, there are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range costs and risks of comfortable in action. So it's very easy for you to say. Well, we should have sat back and not done anything.
Thing in the face of the evils of the world Saddam Gaddafi Assad, but if you sit back and allow these tyrannies to grow then they're just going to expand further and engage in more unjust actions. Therefore action is Justified. How do you respond? It's just nonsense, right? There's no reason in the world to believe that all these nation states in the Middle East would be at war with each other.
If America wasn't there, all the worst violence is led by the Americans. And again, if the Americans hadn't, been told the Kuwait, he's that. Yeah, we got your back. Go ahead and tell Saddam Hussein to go to hell. They wouldn't have and if James Baker hadn't told Saddam Hussein. Hey, man, I don't know. No West Texas rules if they are overproducing on your shared oil. Well, break their knees. What do I care, man? That's the name of the game in it. That's how we do business around here.
So, you know, and of course, that was all in the aftermath these War debts. I'm talking about. You of them, was all in the aftermath of the Americans supported iran-iraq War were America supported both sides of the iran-iraq war and so, you know, Richard haass can just pretend all day. That the counterfactual is that Saddam? Saying am Bashar al-assad and the Ayatollah, and Qaddafi, would all be Regional superpowers. Now if we hadn't stopped them,
but it's more plausible. They'd all be rubbing butts and fields of flowers compared to what America has done under the control, literal control of Richard, Haas and his friends in the George, George W. Bush Administration. And h.w. Bush before that. They're the ones who have wrought. All this crisis. And you know what? At the time of the invasion of Iraq?
Saddam Hussein made an offer to Richard, Perle through a Lebanese, businessman in London. And in fact, he did this twice or two different stories about this where Hussein essentially offered unconditional surrender. And by the way, I didn't mention, but huh, Bush and Sabri were where the intelligence Minister and the foreign minister. And they were both CIA agents mean assets, not officers, but they, you know, saddam's top two guys.
Worked for the CIA were CIA informants, essentially, and told him, we don't have any weapons. We're not backing out kada. None of this is true, man, you know, we'll do whatever you guys say. We know now from the CIA interrogator, John Nixon that Saddam Hussein was essentially retired. He had kicked himself upstairs in a delegated.
His most of his government to these men have ocean Sabri and to recall lie and that he was retired writing a romance novel at the time and was essentially dictator in name only. Your head at that time and don't like that about Saddam Hussein's writing a love story. And and so, you know, this was all bogus and at the meeting in London, they told Richard Perle look, man, and this goes to show how innocent the rack. He's worth the time of the accusations against them that
they didn't know what the hell. The war was about. Hey look, man, if you really think we got weapons of mass destruction. I don't know what to tell you, but you can send in the FBI in the army. Not invade but just to walk around and go wherever you want. Look wherever you want. And if this is about oil wells, happily sign. Mineral rights deals. Who do you got Exxon? Put them right up. In first in line man will make a deal there.
And if this is about democracy, well will hold elections under International supervision. Just give us a little bit of time to make the transition as the Iraq. He's surrendering unconditional surrender to the Americans and they even said, and if this is about Israel, then we'll switch sides in the israel-palestine conflict. T', and we'll stop back and Hamas and sending any money to, you know, families of suicide bombers.
And all this stuff that have been Hussein's policy before, which he sent, he sent money to the families of any Palestinians who died in violent conflict with the Israelis. So that meant a little lady crushing her house with a bulldozer, but also meant the families of suicide bombers to. And that was the part that the Neo cons and highlighted so much. And so they even said, look, we'll even betray the pallet, the Palestinians will give up on
that will do whatever you want. Just don't invade and Girls said, you tell them we'll see in Baghdad. And refuse to accept, Keith essentially an unconditional surrender. Unbelievable. Well, there are so many books to read about a lot of things. Why should someone take the time and spend the money and get enough already time to end the war on terrorism.
We'll look, I think everybody knows that in the 80s, America back the mujahideen in Afghanistan and back Saddam Hussein in the war with Iran and back there on. You know, the famous Iran-Contra scandal back to Iran against Saddam bit to think everybody knows that every knows we fought Iraq war one and everybody knows that. Clinton bomb the hell out of Iraq for a year straight and and kept the sanctions. This kind of thing. Anybody who's interested in this sort of stuff, at all knows this
stuff. And, and people are somewhat familiar with the rise of Al Qaeda, and their attacks on America. And they're familiar at least, in some degree of our war in Afghanistan and Iraq war two and our other interventions and Libya Syria. Somalia, Yemen. They've at least heard of these things. So the book is not full of like, you know, see Great information. I got these documents about operation, thus, and such you never heard of before kind of
covert action like that. And I'm not a journalist who was in the wars telling a first person account. And I'm not a soldier back from the war song is a. First person account. I'm essentially critic who stayed home the whole time and watch. All these wars from here and opposed them all along too and I collected everything. I hate about it all for 20 years in one place. And what it really should do. I hope is draw one through line. So that you see, it's not all just ad. Hoc.
There's a reason for all of this stuff that happens and I start with Jimmy Carter because that's essentially my lifetime and I guess I was born under Gerald Ford's, you know, last month's of Gerald Ford there. But anyway, you know, so many of these decisions start with the Carter Administration and then I draw the through line about, you know, how to understand why it is that they made the choices that they did.
Did to switch sides back and forth the way that they have, and cause the wars that they've caused and the thinking behind him, and at the end of it. I'm pretty sure that you'll have to agree that it is enough of this. There's no way to essentially conclude that somehow, there's we got to tie up, these loose ends and somehow we can trust our government to fix what they've broken.
One of this, you know, kind of ridiculous Pottery Barn foreign policy and frankly Keith look at what's happening right now, and I didn't really think it was going to happen, but it is happening. They are pulling American troops out of Afghanistan. They have emptied, the car, the Kandahar air base and they're working on Bagram right now. And there's footage of GIS and, you know, Special Operations forces, and whoever, all they are getting on planes and flying
the hell out of there. And so this is America leaving in defeat, you know, in this war after a 20-year war and, and the future of Afghanistan is going to be ugly as hell too. And the Hawks will, of course, say, that's because we ever gave up, but everyone else will know that that's because we let these men. Even try this in the first place, and that was never going to work.
That's why it didn't work. And that the people who said, so all along somehow, we're going to tame the Afghans and turn their country. In one compliant with American goals and wishes was always the Fool's errand and crazy that we had no right to do it and never should have done it. And you know, let's hope then that the momentum keeps up. And people say, you know what? We want the hell out of Syria and Iraq. We want out of Somalia.
We want out of Yemen. We want all of our special operations forces Out of Africa, and the Philippines, and everywhere else there fighting Sunni, insurgencies. And just call the whole damn thing off. These are all regional problems. Even though America is responsible for them. As I say, there's no way for us to take responsibility for them and any constructive way. We just have to butt out and let these things settle on their own and take care. Care of themselves.
And again, even after all of this. I'm in them. They could have never had their caliphate in the first place. The worst that could happen was what did happen in Eastern Syria and Western Iraq, but that's over. Its America is the only thing standing in the way of the government in Damascus. Finishing taking over all of the rest of the country of Syria and in Iraq, for what it's worth in the terrible relations between
the Shiite government. They're in the minority, Sunni faction under their thumb right now, guy idea of the return of the AMA state is impossible without the level of support for their efforts by the us and our allies. As we saw under the Obama Administration for the revolution in Syria. And so it really is time to just call it off and never had to be this way. And I'm, and what I really want out of that book. I want people to be able to say to each other.
Not, you know, it's not just for my fans and your fans to read if you're already interested in what I have to say and what my guest To say on my show and what we say and anti-war.com. I really want this to be for you to be able to give to your people that that would never listen to my show. That aren't part of our libertarian world or our anti-war activism world or whatever it is.
And just say hey look man, there's this book that says if we could just call it off we never should have done all this and we should really just quit it and it'd be much better if we just quit it and make that case to anybody picture, any
character. You've got in your head, anywhere from left to write any age any race, any part of this country, whether they fought in the wars or whether they didn't and You know, I don't know and I've had a lot of veterans officer saying a list of guys who love the stuff and they're a substantial part of my audience now and they're as bad as what they've been through has been for them.
They're grateful to have somebody shoot him straight and tell them what the truth is about, what it was all for anyway, and so I really hope that people get something out of a key. Excellent. The book is enough already time to end the war on terrorism. Thanks everyone for watching. Keith Knight. Don't try to on anyone and the In Institute, Scott. Thank you for your time. As always. Thank you, my friend.