The Latest 10 Hour Podcast From Lex Summarized to 18 Bullets

1. The military-industrial complex operates as a "self-licking ice cream cone"

This point is made directly by Scott Horton. He attributes the term to soldiers in Vietnam: "This is why it was the soldiers in Vietnam called the military itself, the army itself the self-licking ice cream cone because it means that they cause chaos but then chaos is their job is to go and fix that."

2. The cost of the "war on terror"

These figures are introduced by Lex Fridman, who cites the Costs of War Project from Brown University: "The post 911 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen led to an estimated 900,000 to 940,000 direct deaths and 3.6 to 3.8 million indirect deaths. And the cost in terms of dollars was $8 trillion..." Scott Horton then adds the displacement figure from the same source: "One important statistic uh that you could have mentioned from the cost of war project as well is 37 million people displaced from their homes, right?"

3. America's choice not to capture Bin Laden in December 2001

This is a central argument from Scott Horton. He contends that the Bush administration deliberately allowed Osama bin Laden to escape to justify continuing the war: "...they let Bin Laden go... it seems pretty clear to me that they decided that they would prefer that Bin Laden go so that like in the book 1984, they would have Emanuel Goldstein, the enemy, the wrecker, the sabotur out there, the danger who could still kill you. He's not gone yet."

4. Conflict between Israeli and American interests

This point is a recurring theme from Scott Horton. He states, "Israel's interests are vastly different than America's interests... For example, when Israel killed those women and children in Kana in 1996, that's what brought our towers down." He cites the book The Israel Lobby and American Foreign Policy to support his argument that the lobby works to align U.S. policy with Israeli goals, often to America's detriment.

5. NATO expansion eastward broke promises made to Russia

The policy of NATO expansion is identified by Scott Horton as a key plank of the neoconservative agenda laid out in the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance. He says the document called for the U.S. to "...expand NATO and have total military dominance in Eastern Europe." This establishes the U.S. policy goal that was a primary driver of the conflict.

6. The neoconservative movement's Trotskyist origins

Scott Horton makes this point when discussing the background of prominent neoconservatives like Jeane Kirkpatrick: "...she was with the Troskyites, Max Shottman and the Young People Socialist League and the Social Democrats USA. So she's like a card carrying neoconservative. This is what it means to be a neocon."

7. American foreign policy creating more terrorism (Blowback)

Scott Horton defines this concept, originally coined by the CIA, as "the long-term consequences of secret foreign policies. So that when they come due, the American people don't understand what it means. Why are the Iranians burning our flag? Why are the bin Laden crashing into our towers?" He argues this is the direct cause of attacks against Americans.

8. The Federal Reserve's role in funding wars

This economic argument is made by Scott Horton: "What they can't tax, they borrow. And what they can't borrow, they inflate. And with the inflation, this is the absolute crisis of confidence... all that inflation during the W. Bush years is what led to the giant housing bubble and the crash of '08..."

9. Intelligence agencies undermining Trump's diplomacy via Russia-gate

Scott Horton mentions this in a passing comment about a key intelligence figure involved in the lead-up to the Iraq War: "...Michael Morurell, his briefer, the guy who later helped frame Donald Trump for treason with Russia and everything." This supports the idea that elements of the intelligence community worked to undermine Trump.

10. The genocide in Gaza generating future anti-American sentiment

While not using the word "genocide" himself in this text, Scott Horton describes the U.S.-backed policies in Gaza in stark terms and directly links them to future attacks. He warns, "...just like happened on September 11th... this is blowback from American foreign policy... there's a strong case to be made that what's happening in Gaza is going to lead to the growth of... bin Laden [type terrorists]... and dead American civilians as a result of that."

11. Both Iraq wars fought to serve Israeli strategic interests

Scott Horton argues that the second Iraq War in particular was driven by Israeli interests, citing the "A Clean Break" strategy document written by American neoconservatives for Benjamin Netanyahu. He states, "...one of the major reasons that 4,500 Americans and a million Iraqis died in Iraq War II was so Israel could save a nickel a barrel on Iraqi oil because their own policies had cost them their access to Iranian oil."

12. Nuclear proliferation as a result of American aggression

This point is made by Scott Horton using the example of Iraq's nuclear program, which he argues was driven underground by an Israeli military strike: "When they bombed it, all they did was drive his program underground. Now it became a nuclear weapons program. And it was only a coincidence that America after launching Iraq War I found his secret program..."

13. The Ukraine conflict could have been prevented through negotiation

This point is supported by Scott Horton's overarching foreign policy philosophy expressed in the text. While not discussing the Ukraine conflict specifically, he states a general principle that applies to it: "Diplomatic engagement, rather than military force, offers the only realistic path to resolving conflicts with Iran, North Korea, and other adversaries." This implies that a diplomatic path was available and preferable in Ukraine but was not taken.

14. U.S. support for extremist groups creating long-term threats

This is a major theme from Scott Horton. He cites U.S. support for the mujahedin (including future Al-Qaeda) in Afghanistan and later in other conflicts: "...during the Clinton years...Bill Clinton backed the Mjahedine even though they were already attacking us...in Bosnia, Kosovo and in Cheschna..." He later argues that the Obama administration backed Al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria.

15. The Pentagon Papers proving the Vietnam War was unwinnable

This is explained by Scott Horton during his discussion of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. He says the Pentagon Papers "showed that they knew that they couldn't win all along. They knew that the South Vietnamese government could not stand. they did not have popular consent..."

16. Diplomacy as the only realistic path to resolving conflicts

This is a foundational belief of Scott Horton that he repeats throughout the conversation. He states it as a general rule: "Diplomatic engagement, rather than military force, offers the only realistic path to resolving conflicts with Iran, North Korea, and other adversaries." He applies this logic to historical U.S. conflicts, arguing against military intervention.

17. The American people's opposition to war and the need for propaganda

Scott Horton argues this in the context of the first Iraq War. He describes "Vietnam syndrome" as the public's reluctance to engage in foreign wars and claims propaganda was used to overcome it: "...they did the Iraqi incubators hoax...that was a big part of what they used to beat people over the head about that war..."

18. Government secrecy used to hide incompetence and criminal activity

This point is articulated by Scott Horton, particularly through the example of Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the government's private knowledge that the Vietnam war was failing. He also describes the nature of government decision-making as being detached from reality: "...in government work there's our position and our position takes place on an entirely different plane than truth and falsity."