Investigative reporter and historian Gareth Porter returns to the show to discuss Donald Trump’s decision to bomb the Assad government in Damascus. Porter explains how the evidence has been repeatedly massaged to misconstrue what is ambiguous as what is clear—and that this case, of all the previous, might be the most egregious. Scott and Porter then discuss the ways in which Trump’s strikes differ from one another and how the Trump policy toward Syria compares with Obama’s. Finally they discuss the origins of American intervention in Syria and the role anti-Iran sentiments play at the heart of it all.

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

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