Sharmine Narwani joins us today to talk about how western regime change wars are born and raised. She offers some of her research and analysis on Middle East wars, particularly the war in Syria as a comparison to what we are seeing in Venezuela today and with a special focus on how it all starts with a carefully crafted narrative.
A wide-ranging discussion with author and policy analyst Patrick Eddington about his service in the CIA during the Bush 41 and Bill Clinton eras, the Gulf War, Russiagate, the failure to change course at the end of the Cold War and about the unsustainability of and America’s incompatibility with empire.
Continue reading “Ep 81 Bush 41, Gulf War, State of the Empire feat Patrick Eddington”
Major Danny Sjursen joins the show to talk about about the war in Afghanistan, an unsustainable quagmire for which no more blood and treasure should be sacrificed. We also talk about the magical American soldier myth and the empire denial syndrome.
Continue reading “Ep 75 Myths and Quagmires feat Major Danny Sjursen”
Roving journalist Michael Tracey joins the show for a discussion about the McCain Holy Week, as he called it, and what it tells us about the state of the American empire.
Tracey is a journalist who has been published by numerous media organizations including The Young Turks, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, VICE, The Intercept. The Nation, Reason, American Conservative and New York Daily News.
FOLLOW @mtracey on Twitter and find his work on Medium and on his website.
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Recorded on September 2, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
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Joanne interviews Dr. Isa Blumi, an historian, an author and an Associate Professor at Stockholm University. His recent book Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World tells the story of the wars in Yemen but also “ultimately tells an even larger story of today’s political economy of global capitalism, development, and the war on terror as disparate actors intersect in Arabia.”
In this bonus episode (a bonus episode for patrons, 30 minute preview free to the public), Dan and Joanne talk about the growing conflict with Iran, the impact of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal and the severe escalation in the Syrian war that began just hours after that withdrawal.
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Recorded on May 11, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
Time for Europe to Join the Resistance, Spiegel, by Klaus Brinkbäumer
Joanne talks with Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, USA, Ret.about his recent article, “President Trump is right: Withdrawing from Syria strengthens US security,” and about the current precarious situation where Trump has changed his mind and is signalling an imminent attack on Syria and Russia, using an alleged chemical weapons attack in Ghouta as justification.
Col. Davis served for 21 years, including four combat deployments. He retired from the Army in 2015 and is now a Foreign Policy/Defense Analyst and a senior fellow for Defense Priorities. His areas of expertise are American foreign policy, Middle East policy, Asia policy, grand strategy, international relations, international security, and counterinsurgency.
In 2012, he wrote a classified whistleblower report for Congress about the war in Afghanistan and released an unclassified version to the public. Col Davis regularly appears on news shows and is published in national and international publications.
Follow Col. Davis on Twitter at @DanielLDavis1
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Recorded on April 11, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
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Joanne talks with veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier, from Damascus, about recent developments in Syria and his recent three-part article about the big picture and power players in the Syrian war. We also talk about the new crowd-funded book that he is writing on the history of Hezbollah.
Elijah is a journalist and a senior political risk analyst with over 32 years experience covering Europe and the Middle East.
Follow Elijah at @ejmalrai and find his work (in multiple languages) at ejmagnier.com
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Recorded on April 2, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
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Joanne talks with economist and writer Tom Luongo about Trump’s cabinet shuffle and the possibility that it is part of a Middle East grand bargain, as Alastair Crooke recently wrote about in the online journal, Strategic Culture.
Tom is former research chemist and staunch libertarian, Tom currently publishes his blog, Gold Goats ‘n Guns along with a monthly investment newsletter focused on geopolitics, commodities and cryptocurrencies. He is a regular contributor at Russia Insider and Seeking Alpha. His work is also featured regularly on sites like Zerohedge, Lewrockwell.com and Investing.com.
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Follow Tom Luongo @TFL1728. Find his work on YouTube and at Steemit.com/@goldgoatsnguns.
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Recorded on March 27, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
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Dan and Joanne talk about the cost of the Empire, the War on Terror aka “Empire Preservation Wars,” current events and the new “Costs of War Project” done by Brown University.
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Recorded on January 17, 2018. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
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Dan and Joanne talk with Max Blumenthal about the history of the national security state and the ruling elite using radical and extremist groups as proxies both abroad and at home. We discuss the Syrian “rebels”, neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine and we also talk about Charlottesville and how we got here.
Max is an author, journalist, senior editor of the Gray Zone Project at alternet.org, and co-host of the Moderate Rebels podcast. He is well known for his acclaimed books, The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel and Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party.
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Recorded on August 20, 2017. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Reference Links:
1) 18 August 2017 (VIDEO) The Real Story of How Bannon and Trump Got to the White HouseThe Real News Network – Thomas Hedges
2) 23 June 2017 John McCain and Paul Ryan Hold ‘Good Meeting’ With Veteran Ukrainian Nazi Demagogue Andriy Parubiy Alternet – Ben Norton, Max Blumenthal
3) 18 November 2014 How the Israel Lobby Protected Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Alternet Max Blumenthal (Rep. John Conyers wanted to block U.S. funding to neo-Nazis in Ukraine. But the ADL and Simon Wiesenthal Center refused to help.)
4) 24 February 2014 Is the U.S. Backing Neo-Nazis in Ukraine? Alternet Max Blumental (Exposing troubling ties in the U.S. to overt Nazi and fascist protesters in Ukraine.)
5) 16 June 2017 (VIDEO) Anti-Muslim Manchester Demo Unites Britain’s Far-Right
6) 16 June 2017 Former EDL leader holds large anti-Muslim demonstration in ManchesterHope Not Hate – Dr Joe Mulhall
7) 18 March 2017 New European Branch of International Alt-Right Group to Launch Hope Not Hate – Dr Joe Mulhall
8) 17 March 2017 More Transatlantic co-operation by the international Alt/Far Right – Hope Not Hate – Dr Joe Mulhall
9) 20 March 2017 (VIDEO) Can Europe Stop the Far Right if It Doesn’t Stop Neoliberal Austerity? The Real News Network, Liz Fekete (Institute of Race Relations)
10) 20 June 2016 Return of the Reich – Mapping the Global Resurgence of Far Right Power Insurge Intelligence – Nafeez Ahmed (A four part INSURGE intelligence investigative series commissioned by Tell MAMA)
Dan and Joanne talk with American author and investigative journalist Ken Silverstein about power and influence peddling in Washington and the role of think tanks, NGOs and the media.
Ken is a DC-based investigative journalist, and creator of Washingtonbabylon.com. He is a contributing writer to VICE and columnist for the New York Observer. His stated goal for Washington Babylon was “to cover DC politicians and journalists like Hollywood celebrities — not the way they are worshiped by our current media masters.” He also wrote for Harpers Magazine, AP and LA Times.
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Follow @kensilverstein1, find his work on washingtonbabylon.com
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Recorded on August 11, 2017. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
We talk with Elijah Magnier, chief international war correspondent for Al Rai media, reporting from Baghdad on current situation in Iraq and Syria.
Elijah has covered wars in Lebanon, the Balkans, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, and Syria. Beyond reporting on wars from the ground, Mr. Magnier also offers expert analysis on terrorism and terrorist organizations. He spoke to us from Baghdad.
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Follow @ejmalrai, find his work on elijahjm.wordpress.com
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Recorded on August 4, 2017. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Dan and Joanne interview Tim Shorrock, an author, investigative journalist and commentator on US foreign policy, national security and intelligence, and East Asian politics.
Tim grew up in Japan and Korea and was recently in South Korea for an extended visit. He’s the author of the popular book “Spies for Hire”. You can find Tim’s work at The Nation, Newstapa/Korea Center for Investigative Reporting, and many other media outlets and also at his website timshorrock.com.
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Follow @TimothyS. Find his work at timshorrock.com
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Recorded on August 1, 2017. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
Dan and Joanne interview retired psychologist and writer Jeffrey Kaye about the history of torture in the American empire and the latest news of black sites and outsourced torture in Yemen.
Jeff is a retired psychologist and a writer, specializing on the topics of torture, national security, civil rights. He has done some major collaborative investigatory work (some co-written with Jason Leopold) that have been published at Firedoglake, Truthout, and The Public Record.
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Follow @jeff_kaye. Find his work at valtinsblog.blogspot.com
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Recorded on June 27, 2017. Music by Fluorescent Grey.
