Ep. 5235 – Gareth Porter on Woodrow Wilson’s 1918 American Flu Pandemic – 4/10/2020

Gareth Porter discusses the parallels between the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and the 1918 Spanish Flu. Though it’s commonly called “Spanish Flu” Porter reminds us that it really originated in Kansas, where it was first spread to American troops at a training base, and then to Europe via the U.S. Army, before finally coming back to the United States in a much deadlier form. If the U.S. hadn’t entered the war and sent thousands of men overseas in cramped ships and trenches, the flu never would have become what it did. In fact, more American soldiers died from the flu in World War I than from bombs and bullets. Woodrow Wilson’s reckless enabling of the spread of this virus is just one example on his long list of egregious crimes, including lying the U.S. into the war, which tilted what had been a stalemate toward a decisive allied victory, which in turn led to the overly harsh terms of German surrender, ultimately enabling Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s. Without Hitler, of course, we never would have World War II, which is also what allowed Stalin to consolidate the Soviet Union, and probably allowed Mao and the other communist leaders of 20th century Asia to enact their brutal and genocidal regimes.

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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