Podcasts about Covert action

Get ready to rethink everything you know about the Democratic Party! In this explosive episode of Connecting the Dots, I sit down with historian and author Jeremy Kuzmarov to reveal how the party's messaging has quietly embraced militarism—and what it means for America's future. This isn't just another political chat; we're diving deep into the hidden history behind today's headlines, exposing the bipartisan grip of the military-industrial complex on both parties. Jeremy and I break down how Democrats have shaped U.S. foreign policy, fueling wars and global interventions that have real-world impacts on immigration and international relations. If you're ready for a raw, eye-opening conversation on how our political system prioritizes power over peace, you won't want to miss this! Tune in for insights that challenge the status quo and uncover the urgent need for a more balanced, humane approach to politics, both at home and abroad. Watch or Listen now to join the conversation! Find me and the show on social media. Click the following links or search @DrWilmerLeon on X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Patreon and YouTube!   Hey everyone, Dr. Wilmer here! If you've been enjoying my deep dives into the real stories behind the headlines and appreciate the balanced perspective I bring, I'd love your support on my Patreon channel. Your contribution helps me keep "Connecting the Dots" alive, revealing the truth behind the news. Join our community, and together, let's keep uncovering the hidden truths and making sense of the world. Thank you for being a part of this journey! Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:00:00): Hey, here are a couple questions. Has the messaging from the Democrats changed over the past few years? Is the messaging more jingoistic, more saber rattling, have they become the party of militarism? Let's find out Announcer (00:00:22): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:00:30): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon. I am Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they happen in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which they take place. During each episode, my guests and I have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between these events and the broader historic context in which they occur, thus enabling you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode. The issue before is militarism and messaging. My guest is a man who holds a PhD in American history from Brandeis University. He's the managing editor of Covert Action Magazine. He's the author of five books on US Foreign Policy. He's the author of a piece at Covert Action entitled DNC Convention Features former CIA director who was in charge of drone programs that killed thousands. He is Dr. Jeremy Komaroff. Jeremy, welcome to the show. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:01:39): Thanks so much for having me. Great to be with you. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:01:41): You open your peace in covert action as follows, Leon Panetta was drowned out by anti-war activists when he spoke at the 2016 convention, but not this time. Former CIA director, Leon Panetta, who was the director from 2009 to 2011, was among the featured speakers on the final day of the DNC in Chicago on August 22nd when Kamala Harris accepted the party's nomination as its presidential candidate. Jeremy, does this represent just a shift in rhetoric, or is this a shift in policy and a shift in direction? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:02:25): Well, I think we see a lot of continuity. I mean, Panetta was there in 2016. He's giving the same kind of speech eight years later. In 2016, he was really promoting these anti-Russia themes, anti Putin. This was the forerunner of the Russia gate. They were already attacking Donald Trump as a Russian agents. And his speech in 2024 was the same kind of thing. It was really very jingoistic militaristic in that speech. He was invoking the glory of the Obama administration assassination of Osama Bin Laden or alleged assassination because there are a lot of different theories about what really might've gone on there. And the official story was shown to be a lie. Seymour Hirsch had a piece that was very good, and he compared it to Alice Wonderland, and their rhetoric was so far out there as to what really is known to have happened. And yeah, there are a lot of question mark or they dumped the body at sea, so there are no autopsy and some question if that was even Bin Laden. (00:03:31): Some people believe he died years earlier from renal failure. But in any event, that's the kind of thing they were doing just touting the War on terror. The US military Panetta said something that America made mistake of trying to be isolationist in the 1930s. And there's this kind of insinuation, you can't appease Putin as if he the new Hitler and America was not really isolationist. It was a global empire starting the late 19th century when it acquired the Philippines and Puerto Rico and Cuba and function as a global empire from that time period. So it never really isolationist. And FDR had this major naval buildup in the Asia Pacific that essentially provoked the Pacific War. It was a horrific war. So I mean, he obviously doesn't know his history that well, but this is just theater. Yeah, it's a very hawkish theme. He's a dancing and his speech echoed Kamala Harris' speech, anti-Russia themes, pro-military themes. (00:04:36): So that's what you get nowadays out of the Democratic party. And yeah, I mean there were booze of Panetta in 2016, but it was quiet this time around. It seems that people are just trying to mobilize around Harris and the EM of the anti-war movement. I mean, there were protestors outside of the convention. A lot of that centered exclusively on Israel Palestine. So I don't know. I mean, I think the protestors in 2016 were part of the Bernie Sanders faction. Maybe they had some hope in the party then, but now I think anti-war people have no hope in the Democratic Party. So they left or somewhere outside protesting. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:05:21): Well, in fact, that was really the crux of my question, Panda's rhetoric versus the convention's response. And does the convention's response, or some might say lack of response, indicate that there's a serious shift in the party, particularly as we look at how easily war mongering legislation gets passed through Congress, through the democratic elements of Congress as it relates to funding for Ukraine and funding for Gaza and more jingoistic rhetoric as it relates towards China? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:06:01): Absolutely, and I think it's telling that Robert Kennedy and Tulsa Gabbard are considered more peace candidates and they've made a lot of statements critical of US foreign policy, especially regarding Ukraine. Less so for Kennedy, and I think also Gabbard, Israel, Gaza, but definitely Ukraine. They've both been very critical and called for easing of relation with Russia. And they've warned about the threat of nuclear war and that we're in an era and new Cuban missile crisis, they've compared it to, and they were booted out of the party. I mean, Tulsa, they were treated horribly beyond just debate. I mean, Gabbard, she was in one of the CNN debates or televised debates in 2020 as she was running in the primary. And she was viciously attacked by Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris and others who dominate the party in kind of Neo McCarthy I term, and they called her a Putin stooge. (00:07:01): And a Bashir saw theologist because she wanted to, she was against the covert operations in Syria and the escalation of conflict. And somehow they called her all these kind of names and really treated her in the way that Joseph McCarthy would recognize or victim of McCarthyism with reminiscence of that. So she was totally driven out of the party. Now you find they're more on Fox News. I mean, I think the Republican, they're trying to capitalize on the disinfection of many pacifists and peace oriented people with the Democrats, and they're trying to recruit them and draw them into the fold. And that's why they brought in Kennedy and gather. But personally, I think that they're just, they're very cynical operative and their Republican party are just trying to get that vote. But they're not really peace oriented party either. And Trump's foreign policy was very bellicose and aggressive in many ways, certainly toward Latin America. (00:08:00): The drone war, Trump escalated the drone war, escalated war in Somalia, and he's very aggressive and very xenophobic and threatens a major escalation, I think with China. So I think it's just a cynical ploy by the GOP to try and get these disaffected people are disaffected with the Democrats and by recruiting Kennedy and Gabbard to create this persona as a new peace party. But I don't think they really are a peace party. And so those of us who are really committed to pacifism, anti imperialistic politics really have nowhere in the mainstream American politics, and I think we should work on developing our own independent parties. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:08:47): Before I get back to your piece, you mentioned in your earlier answer a reference to people trying to compare former President Trump to Hitler. And I was at the RNC when JD Vance was, his name was placed in nomination and he accepted the nomination. And I was doing my standup after the nomination. And I was saying as I was closing my analysis, I said, I find it very interesting, if not ironic, that a guy who just a couple of years ago was comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler is now his vice presidential nominee, and we'll be standing next to him on stage. I said, how does that happen? And when I said that, there was a guy standing next to me who turned to my cameraman and said, you guys have to leave. You have to leave right now. He was allowing us to use his space, so he was able to tell us that. But my point is, as soon as I said that, you guys got to go, you got to go right now. Explain that because I find it amazing. And only now would something like that happen in our politics. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:10:11): Yeah, well, I think it is increasingly out of the Twilight Zone. I mean, well, firstly, I think a lot of the rather is a bit overblown. I mean, I think Trump, there are a certain fascist theme in the GOP and there are concern about ascendant fascism and authoritarianism both among both parties. I mean the scapegoating of immigrants in the GOP, the extreme nationalism, ultra militarism like veneration of the military, that bears fear that the GOP leaning the fascist direction. I mean, I think some of the rhetoric about Hitler may be overblown, but yeah, it's totally ironic that he was calling him Hitler, as you say, and then he's the nominee. So that's just insane. But why did they kick you out? I mean, you were just repeating a fact that is known to be a fact, and that goes to the growing authoritarianism we see that can't, the kind of conversations we're having are not tolerated in the mainstream. And just a journalist doing his job and just reporting on something is being removed that Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:11:22): And can get you arrested and detained in airports and have your home raided by the FBI, as with Scott Ritter and O'Malley Yella and the three, Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:11:37): Yes, this is, yeah, I think what we're seeing is, yeah, more overt form of authoritarianism. And I think it's showing the flaw of American democracy. I mean, on paper there has been a democracy, but in reality for years and generation dissidents have been ostracized and marginalized and faced a lot of persecution, maybe not physical violence, although I mean under FBI Cual Pro, there were a lot of victims of state repression, people who were unjustly incarcerated sometime for decades, there were people killed. I mean the FBI infiltrated leftists in radical groups with the goal of destroying them and creating divisions. And in the Black Panther, they orchestrated murders. So I mean, there very violent, undersized underbelly of American politics. And that's coming more to the surface more and more. And I mean, you see, look, mark Zuckerberg said that Biden administration told him to censor Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:12:45): The Hunter Biden laptop story. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:12:47): Yeah, well, the hunter bought laptop and relate to COVID-19. And without your view on that, people should have a right to express it, but Zuckerman was told to censor viewed that criticized the government position. And then yeah, you have these raids going on Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:13:04): A minute, a minute, a minute because it's important. I think that people really clearly understand that the point that you just made about Zuckerberg, that's not your opinion. He stated that in a letter that he wrote to Congressman Jim Jordan. And so those who want to wait a minute, what is Jeremy talking about? Right? Google it. You can read the letter for yourselves. It was sent last week and Zuckerberg made those very clear statements and was apologetic for having done what he did in censoring those stories on Facebook because he has since come to understand that contrary to, as he was told, those were not Russian propagandist talking points. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:13:56): Exactly. Yeah, you're absolutely right about that. And another fact is that Tim Waltz made statements supporting censorship if it was related to misinformation, and that seems to be the line in the Democratic Party, but they use misinformation. Could be anybody who's simply critical of the government. They call it somebody who criticizes government policy in Ukraine or vis-a-vis Russia. They say he's promoting misinformation or Russian propaganda, or the same for the Covid narrative. They question the dominant narrative. And I found the review of waltz's statements. He promoted misinformation. So for instance, he claimed that carried out chemical attacks on his own people, and that was refuted by scientists like Theor Postal did a very detailed scientific study, and I did an article and I interviewed postal and he showed me his data and this guy, the top flight MIT scientist, and he repu these claims, his analysis, and he was very neutral. (00:15:02): He wasn't really on any side of the war, and he wasn't even particularly political. It was a very objective scientific study that based on the angles, those attacks had to have occurred from certain areas that were controlled by the rebels, not the Assad government. And that other attacks didn't think that there were chemical attacks, one of those bombing of a fertilizer plant. In other case, some stuff may have been planted like dead animals to make it look like an attack because people would've been dead. He said, he showed me photos and he had images of photos where people who were on the scene would've immediately been killed if there was actually a chemical weapon attack the way they described it, and they weren't affected or sick in any way. So in any event, that's just an example of waltz can be seen to have promoted misinformation. (00:15:57): So based on his own statements, he should censor himself. But the broader point is the American constitution and the American Republic was founded on the deal to free speech, and that's what we should have. And this cancel culture. I think too often on the left, people support censorship under the GU of a cancel culture. And I think that's very dangerous, and I think people are smart enough to see which ideas are good or bad for themselves. They don't need to have this censorship. It serves no purpose, even for somebody who is promoting bad things or false information, you don't have to censor because people are smart enough to see there's no evidence behind what he's saying, which is often true, sadly, of the US government, and that's why they lose credibility. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:16:45): I've asked this question of a number of guests, Caleb Moin and I think Dr. Gerald Horn and a few others that talking about censorship in the United States, engagement in censorship, that if you look over history, particularly since World War I, this whole idea of censorship really comes to a height when the United States feels threatened. And then once the perceived enemy is vanquished, then the whole focus on censorship tends to wane if not go away. And so I'm wondering if now because we're seeing heightened censorship, if that's an indication to you how threatened the United States empire feels? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:17:34): I think so. Yeah. Censorship goes hand in hand with war. War is the enemy really of democracy. And we've been in a state of permanent war since nine 11, and I think they've manufactured this new Cold War for sustaining the military complex police state, which has to go hand in hand with censorship. And we've seen more authoritarian forms of government, even toward the domestic population, heightened militarized policing in inner cities. We've seen the government stripping funding from vital social programs, and that's automatically going to generate more and more dissent and dissatisfaction with the government and living conditions. So they have to ratchet up censorship and more authoritarian, greater authoritarianism, and that's the only way they could sustain their power, and they've really lost their governing legitimacy. People, if you talk to people from all walks of life, whether in liberal areas, conservative, you find almost universally people distrust the government and they're not happy with the direction of the country, and more and more are speaking out. So they have to censor them and try and control the media and channel any descent they want to channel it and co-opt it. And that's why a lot of the media has been co-opted their CIA or FBI, infiltrators and media, even alternative media. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:19:06): In fact, to your point about people being dissatisfied with the direction of the country, if you go to real clear politics, those polled 26.9% believe the country's heading in the right direction. 63.4 believe that the country's on the wrong track. So again, I try my best to give as much data as I can to support the positions that are being stated so the people can understand that this is substantive analysis that we're providing because talk without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter here. Let's go back to your piece you write, Panetta said that Harris would fit the bill as a tough commander in chief to defend the USA against tyrants and terrorists, according to Panetta. Harris knows a tyrant when she sees one and will stand up to them, unlike Donald Trump, who Panetta suggested had coddled dictators such as Putin and effectively told them they could do whatever they want. Why is that exchange or that recounting by Panetta troublesome to you? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:20:18): Well, firstly, yeah, and the statistics you're citing indicate that many Americans are increasingly seeing their own government as tyrannical. And this is the kind of tired rhetoric we've seen over and over to justify these foreign adventures and unjust and unnecessary wars that further divert our treasury away from actually solving the problem in our society. And yeah, we see, Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:20:45): Wait a minute, and many will tell you, because I've been having this conversation for at least eight years, that that's the intent, that the objective has always been to heighten the sense of insecurity within the country so that social program funding social safety net funding could be shifted away from the public to the private military industrial complex. And they talked about this when Obama came into office, they talked about this, I know I have it backwards. When Clinton came into office, they talked about this when Biden came into office, they said the narrative is more subtle with the Democrats, but the objective is still the same. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:21:32): And the rhetoric, as you see, they're really attacking Trump from the right and they're positioning themselves as more hawkish. And that's why a lot of the neoconservatives have moved into the Democratic party. And William Christol, who this neo-conservative, intellectual, and a great cheerleader for the Iraq war, he sent out a tweet, Leon Panetta quoting Ronald Reagan at the Democratic Convention. This is my Democratic convention or a CIA director quoting Ronald Reagan. And yeah, you see from that statement you read, Trump is somehow soft on the Russian, but if you actually look at Trump's policy toward Russia, he pulled out of the INF treaty, which is a very good arms limitation treaty. He ratcheted up these sanctions from hell on Russia. He ratcheted up arm sales to Ukraine, for instance. He sold javelin anti-tank missiles, which Obama had up to that point hadn't sold. So he would not soft at all. (00:22:31): And he was plotting regime change. I mean, there's a lot of continuity in foreign policy. You see a lot of continuity among administration. So Trump's approach really was not very different from Obama. He's just kind of expanding on things Obama was doing. And then Biden takes it to a further level of provoking all out war and attacking Russia directly. So the rhetoric is meaningless, but yeah, it's designed to inculcate fear. I agree with your analysis that they just try and make us fearful and on edge whether it's of the next disease pandemic or the next threat. I mean, they're always playing up the threat of North Korea or Iran. I mean, look at North Korea. I mean North Korea was bombed back to the Stone Aid by the United States during the Korean War and the US pumps South Korea with weaponry and stores nuclear weapons there. I mean, obviously North Korea is going to respond. (00:23:27): I mean, developing a nuclear weapon is their only way to save their country and survive as a nation. I mean, they see what happened to Libya, but our media doesn't present it in that way, or our political elites, they present it like North Korea as some major threat to us led by this crazy dictator. But they give no context for why North Korea would invest in nuclear weapons or missiles and how a lot of their weapon development is just designed to protect themselves from the threat of renewed invasion and being destroyed again, that they were in the Korean War, but they never give the history of the context. So the public who believes that rhetoric as in fear of North Korea one day, Iran, another day, Putin is presented in the most demonized way, conceivable a totally kind of cartoonish way as this evil Hitler type figure. So we're supposed to fear him one day, and that's how they do it, and that's how they justify this huge military budget that's approaching a trillion dollars now. And yeah, I mean the government spends a pittance on social welfare programs and education and healthcare infrastructure. I mean, that's what the government should be doing, should be helping to create a better society, better living conditions here at home. But instead, they spend a trillion on weapons. And that comes back. And now you have the law like the USA Patriot Act and 1290 D program where all that Pentagon weaponry gets put into our police forces who become more like occupying armies in inner cities and their mistreatment minority groups. So it's an ugly picture. Yeah. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:25:13): You mentioned Libya, and I think we can tie this to your piece. You mentioned Libya, and people need to remember that the execution of Libby and leader Muammar Kadafi took place under the Obama administration. Hillary Clinton was his Secretary of state, and it was Hillary Clinton, and I believe Samantha Power that convinced then President Obama to execute Kadafi. And so if we understand a lineage of thought from Hillary Clinton, her predecessor Madeline Albright, she was a student of Brzezinski who was a Russia phobe. And so there's a lineage of thought within the State Department, and now we have to understand that Vice President Harris is an acolyte of Hillary Clinton. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:26:18): And Hillary Clinton is a very dangerous figure. And I wrote a book on Bill Clinton and I did a lot of research on their career bill's career as the governor of Arkansas. So I learned a lot about Hillary, and even from that time, she's very corrupt individual. Clinton was tied with the national security establishment. He oversaw a major covert operation in Arkansas to the Nicaragua and Counter-revolutionaries, and they laundered a lot of money through illicit Proceed, and they were bringing back drugs as part of these arm smuggling operations. And Hillary worked for the Rose law firm and was representing clients who were involved in money laundering in Arkansas banks. And she was always known as a hawk. So she very unprincipled corrupt person who was involved in also all kinds of shems to raise money for Clinton's campaigns that should have put her in prison. (00:27:16): And then she was always known as a warhawk. She evolved into a major warhawk. There was a very good article in the New York Times, the Rare Good article, New York Times magazine called Hillary the Hawk, and it surveyed her career going back to the Kosovo War. She was a big proponent of the bombing there. She supported the Iraq war, every war she supported, and her hawkishness came out on Libya where she was gloating after Kadafi was lynched. She gloated, we saw he died and she was so happy about it and giggling. And I mean that was a disgrace comparable to Iraq. I mean, Libya was a well-functioning country under CA's rule. I mean, he may have had certain authoritarian features, but he used Libya's oil resources to develop their economy to invest in education. I met a number of Libyans who were able to get free education abroad that Libyan government paid for their education abroad, and they came back to work to develop their country. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:28:20): Wait a minute, wait a minute. To that point, I was teaching at Howard University at the time, and I came across some Libyan students and I asked them who was paying their tuition and they didn't understand the concept of tuition. They were saying, well, wait a minute. Why would you pay to go to college? Help us understand. They could not put their head around Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:28:50): Paying Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:28:51): For tuition. And I believe, I don't think it's a stretch for me to say that at the time that Kadafi was the leader of Libya, that Libya was the most one of, if not the most stable country on the continent. It had one of the strongest economies on the continent. And Kadafi was developing his country, developing his agriculture. He was, as they called it, greening the desert. Libya had some of the purest water in the world, some of the deepest water, the water table. And one of the big issues was he saw himself as an African, not an Arab. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:29:36): And I visited Zambia, my ex-wife was from Zambia, and I visited there in 2007 and Kadafi came during my visit and he was greeted as a hero because he was using Libby as well, resources to promote development projects across the African continent. And he was seen as somebody who stood up for African and was carrying on the tradition of Pan-Africanism figures who revered in Africa like Kwame Nama and Nelson Mandela. And he was seen an heir to that tradition. And then he was overthrown and treated worse than a dog. And Libya has now seen the return of slavery, violent extremism has come into the country, just pure chaos. And a lot of Libyan have had to flee to Europe and then the European under perilous conditions in these boats. And then Europeans complain about immigration. I mean, they turn Libyan to a hellhole and the cost in lives, and it's just sickening. (00:30:38): And Clinton was just laughing all about it and thought it was funny. And I think Kamala Harris seems to be on that intellectual level. She laughs at inappropriate moments. I've seen her. She doesn't seem to have a good grasp of world affairs, and she's close with some terrible leaders around the world, like the Washington Post report that she has developed as vice president, an unusually close relationship with Ferdinand Marcos Jr. And he's the son of one of the worst dictator of the US support in the Cold War Fernan Marco Sr. Who looted the Filipino treasury and killed who knows how many dissidents. And his son seems to be picking up where the father left off. He jailed Walden Bellow, who's a great intellectual in the Philippines, who is running for an opposition party, and they're building up US military bases in Philippines to confront China. And Harris went to ink some base deal a couple of years ago, and there were a lot of protesters for her visit. But yeah, this is one of the dictators she's very close with. So she's following this imperialistic tradition, and yeah, there should be, well, again, a lot of people have left the Democratic party. They see no hope in it, but it's troubling when this is supposedly the more liberal and humane party and this is what they're doing. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:32:07): And folks, we're connecting the dots here. That's the purpose of this podcast, is connecting, linking dots, linking historic events so that you can see the trend, you can see the pattern, you can understand what's really going on behind the scenes. Let's go to Vice President Harris's speech at the convention. She says, as commander in chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world, and I will fulfill our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families. She'll always honor their sacrifice as she should, but the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world that now Jeremy seems to be really throwing good money after bad because the issue now, at least in terms of the geopolitical landscape, is economic. It's not militarism. It's the United States that seems to be using militarism as its only weapon. And I use that euphemistically against this unipolar to multipolar shift with the rise of bricks and the Chinese cooperation organization, their fighting an economic war with militarism. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:33:40): Yeah, and actually it was ironic that she made those statements and that week the New Yorker published these photos from 2006 Haditha Massacre where the US military massacre, all these Iraqi civilian, and there were these horrible photos you may have seen of children who had been shot by us Marines or soldiers. So having the most lethal military force in the world, what does that mean? You go into a country like Iraq and shoot up women and children. I mean, is this something to strive for? And then as you say, this military force is getting us nowhere. I mean, it's just causing backlash against the United States. I mean, yeah, look, in Africa, all these new governments have come in and they're kicking out the US military. They don't want the bases in their country. Like in Niger, for example, a huge drone base that was removed. And I mean Ukraine Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:34:40): Just recently, a couple of soldiers within the last couple of days were harassed Incaa. And Dr. Horn was saying that this is not an isolated incident, that when you see something like this happening on the streets of tur or as many still know it as Turkey, that this is an indication that the people are rising up, not the leadership, the people. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:35:08): Absolutely. And we see, yeah, the United States is a paper tiger. I mean, look at Ukraine, billion and billion, the weaponry and Russians are gaining more and more territory every day. It's reported that even as Ukraine is taking the war into Russia, Russia's taking more territory in Eastern Ukraine every day than they were before. Israel is doing nothing in Gaza. They just leveled the place killed. According to the Lancet report, now it's about a month ago, 186,000 civilians. Now they're attacking people in the West Bank, but they've achieved nothing militarily and the United States wars were all failure in the last generation. You have Libya. I mean, they turn countries into chaos, but it's ultimately they don't achieve the broader goal they set out. I mean, look at Afghanistan 20 years and they achieved nothing, and the Taliban came back in and it's just Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:36:04): Money. Well, Lockheed Martin and McDonald Douglas made a hell of a lot of money in Afghanistan. They achieved something. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:36:10): Yeah, that's all they Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:36:11): Achieved. Stock value went pretty high. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:36:15): And I think the public needs to channel their revolt against those company in the military industrial complex. Their hard-earned taxpayer dollar. They're getting absolutely nothing for it. People are getting killed around the world that weaponry has coming, being sent to us police forces after the military used equipment. It's creating a more authoritarian environment here. And a few fat cats, what they used to call merchants of death are getting rich. And there should be a revolt against those people because they've grown rich off the misery and death of other humans. And it's not a way to run an economy or society rooted in violence and just the wealth of tiny number off the misery of everybody else. And horrific weapon we've never seen in human history, the kind of horrific weapon they're developing now. It's unfit for humanity, and there is movements to try and get universal bans on certain kinds of weapons, and that should certainly be supported as well Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:37:17): In her speech. She also said, let me say, I know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I know you know, I promise. Oh no. And I want you to know, I promise to be president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self to hold sacred America's fundamental principles from the rule of law to free and fair elections to the peaceful of power. Well, when you look at the data and you look at the polling, an overwhelming majority of Americans, even Jewish Americans, want an end to the United States involvement in the genocide in Gaza. Now, she's saying that she promises to be the president of all Americans, but she and I put this on her because this was her convention, would not allow a Palestinian spokesperson, a representative of that position on the stage. Is that tone deaf or is it evidence that she's a Zionist and she's down with the, Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:38:37): Or both? Well, I think it's an illusion. They were trying to claim at the convention that she was working tirelessly for a ceasefire and for peace in the Middle East. And that's simply a lie the Biden administration has. It's been a joint US Israeli operation in Gaza. And we should recognize that Israel is basically a proxy of the United States empire in the Middle East that the US has used Israel. The reason they've given all those weapons to the Israelis over years now is that Israel has served the key function for the US Empire in the Middle East and accessing Middle East oil. Israel provides US military bases, and it does a lot of the dirty work for the US Empire going back years. For instance, in the six day war, the Israelis humiliated the US nemesis, Kamala del Nassar, who was like Kadafi, started as a pan arabist, and he was in the mold of Nassar who had moved to nationalize the Suez Canal and nationalize the oil resources and was forged alliances with Syria and forged the United Arab Republic with Syria and was promoting Arab unity so the Arab states could go strong in the face of Western imperialism and reclaim control of their chief natural resource oil. (00:39:58): And obviously the CIA tried to overthrow Nassar. They even sent in Kermit Roosevelt, a coup master who had been in Iran, but he failed. But Israel did the job in the sixth day war. They humiliated Nassar. And by that point, Israel was getting a lot of the US weapons already starred in the Kennedy administration where he basically opened the spigots. And Johnson was a huge supporter militarily of Israel. And Israel also carried a lot of covert operations in Africa that have served US interests, including countries like in Congo where they help access the mineral wealth of the Congo. So Israel has gone after the Assad dynasty was an enemy of the United States and West because they were more alive with Nassar in whose day and the Soviet Union, and they're more nationalistic so that the regime the US doesn't like and they've used Israel to Israel has been bombing Syria for a long time now and has tried to gone after Asad. (00:40:57): So these are just examples of how Israel does some of the dirty work of the United States and functions as a proxy of the United States. So the country basically are arm in arm together, and they may pay for public relations purposes. If Netanya has seen a bit extreme among some of their base or among some of the electorate, they may try and take a public distance or say they're trying to moderate his behavior, but I think that's more for public relations. They continue to provide him the weapons he needs, and they're not going to do anything. The last president who had a kind of even handed approach in the Middle East was to some extent with Dwight Eisenhower, who when Israel and Britain and France invaded Egypt, and after Nassar nationalized the Suez Canal, Eisenhower imposed sanctions on Israel and threatened why their embargo and even to punish Israel and the United Nations, but they would never do that today. (00:41:55): They're just giving cover and the weapons and diplomatic support in the UN for Israel's conduct and ethnic cleansing or genocide, whatever you want to call it. And I think they support the US imperialists support the project of a greater Israel, the Israeli far right that their goal is to expand the Israeli polity to basically remove the Palestinian and to use their land for broader projects, canal building to increase the water resource in Israel, access offshore oil. And the US supports that. Could they want a stronger Israel because that's their proxy in the Middle East and the US wants to dominate the Middle East and its oil resources for the next several generations, and they need Israel for that. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:42:46): We could spend a whole nother hour on this next question, but if you could just clarify a point that you made that you just made. You mentioned Kermit Roosevelt, you mentioned the United States going in and overthrowing Nassar, and you said they failed in, oh, you said they failed in Iran. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:43:09): Sorry. They failed in Egypt. They succeeded in Iran. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:43:12): See, okay, see that. Okay. Kermit Roosevelt and Norman Schwartzkoff Sr went in and overthrew Muhammad Ek and installed the S Shah. That's why I wanted clarification. I thought you said, and I could have misunderstood you. I thought you said they failed in Iran. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:43:32): No, and my point was they succeed in Iran, Kermit Roosevelt with a coup master. Then they sent him to Egypt to get rid of that thorn in their side, Albu master, because his pan-Arabism. But there he failed. Nassar was very popular, and he couldn't work the same magic, or they didn't have the right people to get rid of him. So that's when Israel stepped in and it was beefed up by us armed supplies. And in six days, they humiliated him and they provoked that war. It's been admitted by top Israeli leader than generals that they provoked that war. They humiliated Nassar, and three years later he died. And he was replaced by Anmar Sadat, who was much more west and abandoned his Pan Arab ideology. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:44:16): And also, again, this could be a whole nother show, but just quickly, you were talking about Israel being a US proxy, and you've mentioned this before, but I think it's folks, we're connecting the dots here, pay attention. We're connecting the dots. Ukraine is operating in a similar fashion as a US proxy in that part of the world as Israel is acting in the Middle East. And so because look, folks, the Ukraine war is lost. It's lost. And people say to me, Wilmer, you said that the war would be over in two years. And I was right as Putin wound up negotiating with, I'm drawing a blank on the Ukrainian president's name, Zelensky, vmi Zelensky. And he holds up the paper and says, we negotiated a settlement. The US sends in Boris Johnson to say, we're not going to accept this. The West will not. Hence the war is ongoing. Ukraine has no tanks of its own. They're now having to go into their prisons and empty their prisons to send convicted murderers to the frontline. They don't have an army of their own anymore. They don't have artillery of their own anymore. They don't have jets of their own anymore. Everything they're using comes from NATO and comes from the West. And it's a very same situation in Israel. Again, that could be a whole show of itself, but I just wanted to quickly connect the dots between the proxies in Israel and the proxies in Ukraine. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:46:05): And I would add the point that the United States and the people of those countries should understand, and I think this is American Jews should understand that the United States doesn't care about the people. They're using them for their own agenda. And look, Ukrainian has suffered terribly through their lines with the United States. They never would've gone to war with Russia, Ukraine and Russia got along. They had some issues, but they resolved it. And maybe the Ukrainian felt slight in some way toward the Russians, but they weren't stupid enough to take up arms against the Russians and annihilate themselves. But they thought because they had the United States and all these weapons that they could take on the Russians, and they made the same mistake as Napoleon or Hitler. I mean, the Russians are, I spent time in Russia. They're very patriotic people, and they will defend their country. (00:46:58): And this was a war provoked by the United States that basically used, and the Russians know this, that the US was using Ukraine, a battering ram against Russia, and they're going to defend themselves. And the Israeli case, look, the Israelis Israeli security has suffered tremendously. Now they're inviting attacks from all their enemies and they've shed so much blood, they're going to invite vengeance and retaliation against them, the security situation, very poor in Israel. I would not want to live in Israel, and they could invite one day their own destruction. Already, they've compromised the moral of their society. Israel was founded as a haven for Jewish people, and a lot of the very idealistic people were part of the original Zionist movement. I mean, the kibbutz was a concept of a cooperative model of an economy. But look at Israel today. It's this armed military state that is pariah around the world because of the atrocity that's carried out with support by the United States doing the United States dirty work. (00:48:05): And it's eviscerated its own democracy. I mean, it's become very repressive there. Journalists who are trying to report on what's going on in Gaza have been, I don't know. I think they've been certainly blacklist, if not jailed or shot. I mean, it's just a evolved, a violent authoritarian state. That's king of assassination. Mossad carries out assassinations around the world. It's hate and fear. It has an extreme right-wing government, this is not the ideal of a lot of the original Zionists. And a lot of American Jews are very uncomfortable the direction of that society they should be, and it could invite their own destruction one day. So I mean, that's a lesson you can take. If you lie with the empire, they'll use you for their own purpose and ultimately they'll spit you out. I mean, ask the Kurds, ask the Hmong and Lao, they've used proxies in other countries, and those proxies got totally destroyed like the Hmong and Laos or the Kurd, and they'll abandon them when it doesn't suit their agenda. They may find somebody else. And Ukrainian society has been destroyed. 500,000 youth have been killed. They don't even have enough people. How are they going to run their economy when all the youth of the country have been killed? Others had to flee. They don't want to fight the front lines. Yeah, they've sacrificed them as ponds in this war. It's sad. And Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:49:29): Lindsey Graham, Senator Lindsey Graham goes to Ukraine and encourages the Ukrainians to fight and to continue to fight. And let me just give you a quick analogy. Imagine a boxing match, and one of the cornermen is getting paid not for the win, but for the number of rounds his fighter engages in. And so that's Lindsey Graham, he's the corner man, his guy. Both of his eyes are damn near shut. He can't breathe. His lips are swollen. His head has all kinds of knots on it, and he keeps sending his guy out there to get slaughtered because he gets paid by the round instead of the knockout. Is that a fair analogy? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:50:20): Absolutely. Yeah. And I studied the history of the Vietnam War, and one thing I remember and I used to show students the TV history of the Vietnam War, and they had one, it was made in the eighties. They had one segment on the Secret War in Laos, like what I was saying with the Hmong who they used to fight the left-wing, Beth Lao and William Colby came on, was interviewed some years later. He was the CIA director. And he said, oh, well, that was a great project for us. The Hmong lasted 10 years is exactly what you're saying. Yeah, they lasted 10 round, but then they got killed. All of them. The Hmong were decimated, and they had to send, that's what the Ukrainians are doing, the hm. Had to send 14 year olds to the front lines. And a sea operative said, started to feel bad. (00:51:06): He is like, we're sending these 14 year olds on these planes to be killed, and I know they'll be killed. And I'm telling their parents, I'm patting them on the back and they'll be killed next week. And that's what's happening with Ukraine. And Graham won't send his own kids. I mean, if they're the real reading the fight, fight a war, you have to fight. If you're a real man, you'll fight it because there's a real reason your community's under attack or there's a real threat of Hitler. But instead they manufacture these wars and cowardly send and manipulate other people to fight and die. And that's the worst form of cowardice and manipulation I could think of in human society Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:51:45): As we wrap this up and folks we're connecting dots. And if you don't like what we're saying, if what we're saying makes you angry, as Malcolm said, if my telling you the truth makes you angry, don't get angry at me. Get angry at the truth. And you can look all of this up. I want to get back to your piece you quoted, and you mentioned this earlier, but Panetta quotes Ronald Reagan at a speech at the DNC, and he emphasized the isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to government. You write, Panetta ended his speech by highlighting that Harris was a good choice to reinvigorate American world leadership as she worked with 150 foreign leaders as vice president served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, worked closely with VMI Zelensky of Ukraine to fight against Russia. And you go on a number of things. You say that Panetta provided a litany, my word, not yours, of misinformation and disinformation in that part of his speech. How so? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:53:00): Well, I mean, the whole speech is disinformation because he has this mythical, romantic view of the killing of bin Laden that's not rooted in the reality. And then, yeah, he's claiming the US was an isolationist in the thirties, but the US was a global empire starting the late 19th century. And in the 30, the FDR had been the head of the secretary. I forget his position, but it was with the Navy, and he headed the Navy and he was a big naval enthusiast, and he initiated a massive naval buildup in the Asia Pacific. And then he historian believed that the key factor that provoked a Japanese counter response and led to the Pacific War. So where's the isolationism? I mean, it's not the accurate history, but I mean these conventions just about political theater. But I mean, yeah, quoting Reagan. I mean, Reagan is the icon of the Republican. That's not even your party. So what is he doing quoting Reagan? Reagan? Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:54:04): Well, he's Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:54:05): The thing that bar a right wing extremist. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:54:07): Barack Obama said that Reagan was his favorite Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:54:09): President. I know. And it shows how far to the right the whole American spectrum has been because Reagan, when he came up in the sixties, was viewed as a right wing extremist, certainly by people in the anti-war and countercultural movement. And his whole theme was to attack the mess at Berkeley. And the student, how dare they question the Vietnam War. And then when he came in, he veered American politics sharply to the right. He cut the corporate tax rate and he ramped up us militarism in Central America, and he wanted to avenge the Vietnam War. They call them Rambo Reagan. And you can't get, this is like an icon of militarism and fascism, and they're quoting him. So I mean, what kind of party is this? And we have two right-wing parties in our country. The political spectrum has shifted so far to the right, and it's created dystopia. (00:55:04): We're discussing here where we invest trillion dollars on warfare, these morally bankrupt wars. And our own societies is filled with pathologies and majors, social ills, and we never address them. So they grow worse and worse. And we're not investing in our youth and education. I mean, where I live, the teachers are so poorly paid, it is just a disgrace. And you have third world conditions like the schools. They were protests in my state a few years ago, and I covered those protests for local newspaper. And there were people showing me on their phone who taught in schools in rural areas. I traveled in Africa and third world country. Then what they're showing me is from a third world country. There were no proper sanitation in their school. There were not enough seats for the students. And these are high school teachers trying to keep them in school. So I mean, the government is failing its citizens, and this is Reaganomics 1 0 1, so we've got to get beyond that. But they're touting this guy as a hero. That's terrible. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:56:06): And again, I think this will be the final question, but the longer we talk, the more questions because of your insight, you mentioned that we're dealing with two right wing parties. Are we dealing with two right wing parties that are representing different interests of the right winging elite? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:56:30): Yes, absolutely. The GOP has always been rooted in the oil industry, the extractive industry, because their environmental policy is very favorable to big business and extractive industries and big oil. I think the military industry that hedged their bets now with both parties traditionally, like in the Reagan era, the Republican and the Reagan Republican got a lot of support in states that had big military industry. Like California used to be a center of the Republican domination and states like Arizona and the Southwest. But I think the Democrats under Clinton started courting the military contractors, and now they hedge their bets on both parties. I mean, there are a certain cultural issue, the right wing, the evangelical churches who were very gung-ho about things like against abortion. That's a certain spectrum that supports the Republican party. The Democrats go for this diversity, and they court the African-American vote, but they do so really based more on symbolism than actually delivering for the black population. (00:57:45): I think something that the black population, I think we'll see more and more than maybe leaving the Democrat. They're not getting anything. They're just getting the symbolism of some black elected officials, but they're not getting benefits to their communities. And there have been studies about this, and I heard Michael Eric Dyson, who was it? Yeah, it was Michael Eric Dyson came to where I live, and he gave a talk. He had done a study, it was him, it was, sorry, TVIs Smiley who used to work for PBS. He did a big study on black America in the state of black America, and he found it got worse under Obama, a certain core thing like income and business ownership and education because the Democrat weren't delivering on concrete social program that would benefit their community. So it's more of the symbolism and that's how they get votes. Dr. Wilmer Leon (00:58:38): And as we get out, I want to read this quickly because again, folks here on connecting the dots, we connect the dots, we provide data to support statements made. You talked about the defense industry funding both parties and Dave Calhoun, who was the CEO of Boeing. When asked in July of 2020 who Boeing would prefer Trump or Biden Boeing, and this is from CNBC, Boeing CEO. Dave Calhoun said that he was confident that whoever wins the White House in November, whether it's Donald Trump or Vice President Biden will continue supporting the defense industry. I think both candidates, at least in my view, appear globally oriented and interested in the defense of our country. And I believe they will support the industries. They'll do it in different ways and they'll have different terms, different teams for sure. But I don't think we're going to take a position on one being better than the other. And Dr. Jeremy Komarov, that I think is clear evidence of the points you made that we're dealing with two wings on the same bird. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (00:59:56): Absolutely. And viewers can go to open secrets.com and look at, well-known politician where they get their money. I mean, look up Joe Biden because I've done it. You'll see he gets a ton of money from Lockheed Martin. And yeah, the Democrats in some, I think they're getting more, Democrats now are getting more from the military contractor because they're even more hawkish, especially on Ukraine. That's been a big boon for a company like Boeing and Lockheed and surveillance industry. So I think they like Democrats even more now. And Democrats are positioning themselves to the right and more hawkish on foreign policy and even the border. I have an article next week on the border issue. Democrats are more to the right than Republican as far as spending on border surveillance. And that's a big, big industry, border surveillance drones, and that's part of the military industrial complex. Dr. Wilmer Leon (01:00:53): So I said, this was the last question. This is the last question, and you can just answer this, yes or no, all this conflation of the border, whether you're Donald Trump or whether you're Kamala Harris, whether you're Joe Biden or whoever, all of this talk about the border building, the wall security systems, drones a lot of money on the border. They don't talk about the US foreign policy that is driving people from Columbia, from Guatemala, from Mexico to the border because the United States policy is decimating their economies. And quick point people, you can look this up. About three weeks ago, Chiquita Brands was convicted in federal court in Florida of sponsoring death squads in Columbia. And now Chiquita Brands has to pay millions of dollars in reparations and damages to these victimized families in Columbia. Kamala Harris isn't talking about that. Donald Trump is, you want to deal with the border, deal with the decimation of these. Why are, ask the question, why are Haitians coming here? Because the United States is trying to rein, invade Haiti again, Jeremy, that in and of itself is another show. 30 seconds, am I right? Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (01:02:16): Yeah, absolutely. And there's no debate about that, and it's been a bipartisan in foreign policy that caused that vast immigration. And also you have to look, that caused the wreckage in those economies and societies, and you have to look at the free trade agreement. The Clinton administration promoted the nafta, and that helped decimate Mexican agriculture and forced a lot of the Mexicans to come to the United States. So nobody questioned the free trade laws. That's a big factor inducing immigration, including, especially from Mexico. So they ought to address revising those laws and creating a fairer world economy, but that might erode us primacy and the primacy of dollar, and they don't want that. So it's better to beef up the border, boost the coffer, the Lockheed Martin, instead of doing that, Dr. Wilmer Leon (01:03:10): Dr. Jeremy Komarov. In fact, here's one of the books. War Monger. I got it. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (01:03:17): Oh, great. Thank Dr. Wilmer Leon (01:03:17): You. Oh, hey, man. Great. Great work. Great, great work. Dr. Jeremy Kumar, thank you so much for joining me today. Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov (01:03:25): Thank you. Great conversation. Dr. Wilmer Leon (01:03:28): Hey folks. Thank you all so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Wimer Leon. Stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, please follow and subscribe. Leave a review, share the show, follow us on social media. You can find all the links below in the show description. Remember, this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge, talks without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter here on connecting the dots. See you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wimer Leon. Have a great one. Peace. We're out Announcer (01:04:11): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge.

In Episode 100 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast, we delve into the world of covert operations. Our guests begin by defining covert and clandestine operations, shedding light on their intricacies and historical significance. They then discuss the complexities of clandestine activities, and address the difficulties associated with translating irregular warfare and covert operations into tangible policies.

Fresh off a recent college lecture, former CIA cover action officer turned author Joe Goldberg is in the house. Joe is also a corporate intelligence director, and international political consultant. His "SPY DEVILS" series is an Amazon bestseller, and he stopped by to talk his newest book, DEVIL'S OWN DAY. Find more about Joe here: joegoldbergbooks.com Follow for more: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠jeffclarkofficial.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or... IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@⁠⁠officialJSClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ FB ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@officialJSClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@officialJSClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Full Episodes at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jeffclarkofficial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ApplePodcasts.com/CourseofAction⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Spotify.com/Course of Action⁠

This week Justin sits down with Rory Cormac. Rory is a professor of international relations at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, specializing in secret intelligence and covert action. He's also given presentations at #10 Downing Street, he UK Ministry of Defense, the US State Department, and the Pentagon. In addition to teaching, he's written five books focusing on British history, covert action, and statecraft.  Today, he discusses British covert activities in the post-World War II era.Connect with Rory:Twitter: @rorycormacCheck out his book, Disrupt and Deny, here.https://www.amazon.com/Disrupt-Deny-Special-Pursuit-British/dp/0198784600/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=Connect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.Support the show

Ed and Jeremy Kuzmarov discuss CIA Whistleblower Phillip Agee and the history of covert Action magazine. CIA control of the office of President of the United State. Iran/Contra and more

An extraordinary interview with an investigative journo on the psy-op that was government/media operating together to stop legitimate protest by the trucker convoy. Ray McGinnis on his explosive piece in Covert Action that is gaining international attention. Canada is looking more and more like a banana republic. Also, Trish on the bombshell WhatsApp messages from the British government that expose some damning truths about how C-19 was managed. Read more about this episode soon on Trish's Substack https://trishwood.substack.com/ Follow Trish on Twitter Support her on Substack Donate with Paypal Shop: https://www.trishwoodpodcast.com/shop 

We spend the first half of the show with WBAI's very own Rachel Hu. She is the co-host of Covert Action, which airs on Wednesdays mornings from 9-10 a.m. She is also a managing editor at Breakthrough News, an independent media project that uplifts critical voices of resistance nationally and internationally. Breakthrough News has a recently-launched program, Breakthrough Disruptors, that brings together media makers and activists. Rachel joins us to talk about that and movement media. In the second half of the show, we speak with New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé, elected in 2021 at the age of 23 as the youngest-ever member of the council. He played an important role in organizing BLM protests during the George Floyd uprising in NYC and has been one of the forceful voices in the City Council that has pushed back against Mayor Adams' austerity initiatives.

We speak on The Indy News Hour with WBAI's very own Rachel Hu. She is the co-host of Covert Action, which airs on Wednesdays mornings from 9-10 a.m. She is also a managing editor at Breakthrough News, an independent media project that uplifts critical voices of resistance nationally and internationally. Breakthrough News has a recently-launched program, Breakthrough Disruptors, that brings together media makers and activists. Rachel joins us to talk about that and movement media.

This week on the podcast, Jackie, Jonny, and Ty discuss U.S. Bombs' 2003 album, "Covert Bombs"... If by "discuss" you mean mention very briefly in passing for about 30 seconds. Instead they were mostly compelled to discuss an exciting new job opening in THE BIG APPLE, BABY. That's right, if you have a killer attitude and background in urban planning, YOU could potentially be New York City's new RAT CZAR. This is exciting stuff. They also get into Kanye West for way too long. Incase you can't tell by the old studio, this episode was in fact recorded right around the time Kanye made his now-already-infamous appearance on Alex Jones. Also some stuff about a British reality dating show where dicks, tits, and clits are on full display on cable television. This is a music podcast, sorta.    CROSS-BONES COMEDY AT ADMIRAL PUB EVERY WEDNESDAY: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cross-bones-comedy-live-monday-night-stand-up-comedy-show-in-burnaby-tickets-380529402687?aff=ebdssbeac MARINER COMEDY FEB 2ND: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/mariner-comedy-thursday-night-stand-up-comedy-in-coquitlam-tickets-505735988957 FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/showmeyourspodcast/ LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/showmeyourspod FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/showmeyourspod   Jackie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackieagnew/ Jackie's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jackdoorgirl   Jonny's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonnydivito/ Jonny's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonnydivito   Ty's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tytythecomic/  

Ever since the Greeks supposedly hid inside a wooden horse to sneak into Troy, states have meddled in other nations' affairs, turning to the dark arts of sabotage, propaganda and state-sanctioned killing to carry out their secret plans. Speaking to Rhiannon Davies, Rory Cormac delves into the murky history of covert action. (Ad) Rory Cormac is the author of How To Stage A Coup: And Ten Other Lessons from the World of Secret Statecraft (Atlantic, 2022). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Stage-Coup-Lessons-Statecraft/dp/1838955615/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Summary Loch Johnson (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss covert action aka “The Third Option.” He is the author of over 30 books on intelligence. What You'll Learn Intelligence What is covert action Four types of covert action Foreign policy options: “War Power,” “Treaty Power,” and “Spy Power.”  Examples of CA: Guatemala (1954), Indochina (1965), Afghanistan (2001), Iran (2020) Reflections Accountability The value of learning from past mistakes  And much, much more … Episode Notes There is perhaps no better guest to join Andrew in this week's exploration of covert action than Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia Loch Johnson. Loch's latest book, The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy, examines the history of the complicated and sometimes controversial usage of covert action by the U.S. international affairs.  Loch's decades-long career in foreign policy and intelligence has brought him to the forefront of some of the most seminal moments within US intelligence reform: he served as special assistant to the chair of the Church Committee, staff director of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence Oversight, and worked directly with the chair of the Aspin-Brown Commission. In this two-part episode of SpyCast, Andrew and Loch unpack what makes a covert action operation successful, and how we can learn from intelligence failures and past mistakes.  And…  How many people have a society named after them? Loch does!  Quote of the Week "History doesn't like to be shaped, it has a power all of its own, but we try to shape it at least at the margins, and we do that through covert action, sometimes called the third option…and it really comes in four packages. Package number one is propaganda… And then comes political covert actions…Thirdly is economic covert action…And then fourthly, and most dramatically, are paramilitary operations. These are war-like activities." – Loch Johnson. Resources  SURFACE SKIM  *Featured Resource*  The Third Option, L. Johnson (Oxford, 2022)  *Beginner Resources* Covert Action, E. Rosenbach & A. Peritz, Belfer Center (2009) [Background Memo] Looking back at the Church Committee, National Constitution Center (2019) [Blog Post] The Iran-Contra Affair, B. Craig, The Miller Center (2017) [Article]  *SpyCasts* The Spymaster's Prism: CIA Legend Jack Devine (2021) First Casualty: Inside the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11 (2021) Author Debriefing: The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service (2012) DEEPER DIVE Books A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA and Poland, S. Jones (W.W. Norton, 2018) The Church Committee Confronts America's Spy Agencies, L. Johnson (UP of Kentucky, 2015) The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and the Bay of Pigs, J. Rasenberger (Scribner, 2012) Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, W. Daugherty (UP of Kentucky, 2006) Covert Action, G. Treverton (1987) Articles The Disturbing Story Of The Heart Attack Gun Invented By The CIA During The Cold War, M. Dunn, All That's Interesting (2022)  Video Iran-Contra: Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power, US National Archives (2015)  ‘Covert Action' By U.S. To Assist Ukraine Could Be In Play, MSNBC News (2022)  Primary Sources  Commission on the U.S. Intelligence Community (1994-1996) Senate Select Committee with Respect to Intelligence Activities (1976) “Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. against Antiwar Forces," S. Hersh, NYT (1974) FBI Records: COINTELPRO (1956-1971) Note on U.S. Covert Actions *Wildcard Resource* A 90s cartoon, evil beings threaten humanity, only the Wild C.A.T.s can save them: i.e., Covert Action Teams! “Covert action” as a concept has become part of the entertainment industry

Does international law actually impose real constraints on states? Michael Poznansky, associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College, discusses why states choose to pursue overt vs. covert action, the role of plausible deniability, and the “hypocrisy costs” associated frequent violations of the non-intervention principle.Show NotesMichael Poznansky bioMichael Poznansky (2021), "The Psychology of Overt and Covert Intervention," Security Studies 30, no. 3 (2021): pp. 325–353.Michael Poznansky, In the Shadow of International Law: Secrecy and Regime Change in the Postwar World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).Michael Poznansky, “The Appeal of Covert Action: Psychology and the Future of Irregular Warfare,” Modern War Institute, September 6, 2021.Michael Poznansky, "Revisiting Plausible Deniability," Journal of Strategic Studies 45, no. 4 (2022): pp. 511-533.Martha Finnemore, “Legitimacy, Hypocrisy, and the Social Structure of Unipolarity: Why Being a Unipole Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be,” World Politics 61, no. 1 (January 2009): pp. 58-85. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does war and violence abroad do to politics at home?  Why were early Cold War intellectuals obsessed with who "lost China?" And what did the realists of the 1940s and 1950s believe about not just the limits of American power but how US hegemony might be the road to fascism in America?  John Delury sits down with Van to discuss all that and more as part of his new book, Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China. Buy the book: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501765971/agents-of-subversion/Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomaticSubscribe to our newsletter:  https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Summary Loch Johnson (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss covert action aka “The Third Option.” He is the author of over 30 books on intelligence. What You'll Learn Intelligence What is covert action Four types of covert action Foreign policy options: “War Power,” “Treaty Power,” and “Spy Power.”  Examples of CA: Guatemala (1954), Indochina (1965), Afghanistan (2001), Iran (2020) Reflections Accountability The value of learning from past mistakes  And much, much more … Episode Notes There is perhaps no better guest to join Andrew in this week's exploration of covert action than Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia Loch Johnson. Loch's latest book, The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy, examines the history of the complicated and sometimes controversial usage of covert action by the U.S. international affairs.  Loch's decades-long career in foreign policy and intelligence has brought him to the forefront of some of the most seminal moments within US intelligence reform: he served as special assistant to the chair of the Church Committee, staff director of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence Oversight, and worked directly with the chair of the Aspin-Brown Commission. In this two-part episode of SpyCast, Andrew and Loch unpack what makes a covert action operation successful, and how we can learn from intelligence failures and past mistakes.  And…  How many people have a society named after them? Loch does!  Quote of the Week "History doesn't like to be shaped, it has a power all of its own, but we try to shape it at least at the margins, and we do that through covert action, sometimes called the third option…and it really comes in four packages. Package number one is propaganda… And then comes political covert actions…Thirdly is economic covert action…And then fourthly, and most dramatically, are paramilitary operations. These are war-like activities." – Loch Johnson. Resources  SURFACE SKIM  *Featured Resource*  The Third Option, L. Johnson (Oxford, 2022)  *Beginner Resources* Covert Action, E. Rosenbach & A. Peritz, Belfer Center (2009) [Background Memo] Looking back at the Church Committee, National Constitution Center (2019) [Blog Post] The Iran-Contra Affair, B. Craig, The Miller Center (2017) [Article]  *SpyCasts* The Spymaster's Prism: CIA Legend Jack Devine (2021) First Casualty: Inside the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11 (2021) Author Debriefing: The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service (2012) DEEPER DIVE Books A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA and Poland, S. Jones (W.W. Norton, 2018) The Church Committee Confronts America's Spy Agencies, L. Johnson (UP of Kentucky, 2015) The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and the Bay of Pigs, J. Rasenberger (Scribner, 2012) Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, W. Daugherty (UP of Kentucky, 2006) Covert Action, G. Treverton (1987) Articles The Disturbing Story Of The Heart Attack Gun Invented By The CIA During The Cold War, M. Dunn, All That's Interesting (2022)  Video Iran-Contra: Reagan's Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power, US National Archives (2015)  ‘Covert Action' By U.S. To Assist Ukraine Could Be In Play, MSNBC News (2022)  Primary Sources  Commission on the U.S. Intelligence Community (1994-1996) Senate Select Committee with Respect to Intelligence Activities (1976) “Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. against Antiwar Forces," S. Hersh, NYT (1974) FBI Records: COINTELPRO (1956-1971) Note on U.S. Covert Actions *Wildcard Resource* A 90s cartoon, evil beings threaten humanity, only the Wild C.A.T.s can save them: i.e., Covert Action Teams! “Covert action” as a concept has become part of the entertainment industry

Today I spoke with Rory Cormac, an international relations lecturer at the University of Nottingham. He specialises in UK covert action and has written six books on the matter. Including his latest "How To Stage A Coup and ten other lessons from the world of secret statecraft".You can find Rory Cormac on:TwitterUniversity of NottinghamWe spoke aboutThoughts on the recent German coup attempt.Do coups work?The difference between UK & US intelligence culture.Staying away from conspiratorial mindsets.Foreign espionage in UK academia.The royal family and their relationship to UK intelligence.Intended consequences of covert action.Learning from failures.The Grey Dynamics Podcast is available on all major platforms!SpotifyApple Podcast Google PodcastAmazon Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ed and Jeremy Kuzmarov discuss CIA Whistleblower Phillip Agee and the history of covert Action magazine. CIA control of the office of President of the United State. Iran/Contra and more 

Ed and Jeremy Kuzmarov discuss CIA Whistleblower Phillip Agee and the history of covert Action magazine. CIA control of the office of President of the United State. Iran/Contra and more 

Hello, and welcome to another episode of CISO Tradecraft -- the podcast that provides you with the information, knowledge, and wisdom to be a more effective cybersecurity leader.  My name is G. Mark Hardy, and today we are going to discuss how nation state conflict and sponsored cyberattacks can affect us as non-combatants, and what we should be doing about it.  Even if you don't have operations in a war zone, remember cyber has a global reach, so don't think that just because you may be half a world away from the battlefield that someone is not going to reach out and touch you in a bad way.  So, listen for what I think will be a fascinating episode, and please do us a small favor and give us a "like" or a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform -- those ratings really help us reach our peers.  It only takes a click -- thank you for helping out our security leadership community. I'm not going to get into any geopolitics here; I'm going to try to ensure that this episode remains useful for quite some time.  However, since the conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing for over two hundred days, I will draw examples from that. The ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu wrote: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” That's a little more detailed than the classic Greek aphorism, "know thyself," but the intent is the same even today.  Let me add one more quote and we'll get into the material.  Over 20 years ago, when he was Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld said: "As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know.  We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.  But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know.  And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones. So, knowledge seems extremely important throughout the ages.  Modern governments know that, and as a result all have their own intelligence agencies.  Let's look at an example.  If we go to the CIA's website, we will see the fourfold mission of the Central Intelligence Agency: Collecting foreign intelligence that matters Producing objective all-source analysis Conducting effective covert action as directed by the President Safeguarding the secrets that help keep our nation safe. Why do we mention this?  Most governments around the world have similar Nation State objectives and mission statements.  Additionally, it's particularly important to understand what is wanted by "state actors" (note, I'll use that term for government and contract intelligence agents.). What are typical goals for State Actors?  Let's look at a couple: Goal 1: Steal targeting data to enable future operations.  Data such as cell phone records, banking statements or emails allow countries to better target individuals and companies when they know that identifying information.  Additionally, targeting data allows Nation state organizations to understand how individuals are connected.  This can be key when we are looking for key influencers for targets of interest.  All targeting data should not be considered equal.  Generally, Banking and Telecom Data are considered the best for collecting so be mindful if that is the type of company that you protect.  State Actors target these organizations because of two factors:The Importance of the Data is the first factor.  If one party sends a second party an email, that means there is a basic level of connection.  However, it's not automatically a strong connection since we all receive emails from spammers.  If one party calls someone and talks for 10 minutes to them on a phone call, that generally means a closer connection than an email.  Finally, if one party sends money to another party that either means a really strong connection exists, or someone just got scammed. The Accuracy of the Data is the second factor.  Many folks sign up for social media accounts with throw away credentials (i.e., fake names and phone numbers).  Others use temporary emails to attend conferences, so they don't get marketing spam when they get home.  However, because of Anti Money Laundering (or AML) laws, people generally provide legitimate data to financial services firms.  If they don't, then they risk not being able to take the money out of a bank -- which would be a big problem. A second goal in addition to collecting targeting data, is that State Actors are interested in collecting Foreign Intelligence.  Foreign Intelligence which drives policy-making decisions is very impactful.  Remember, stealing secrets that no one cares about is generally just a waste of government tax dollars.  If governments collect foreign intelligence on sanctioned activity, then they can inform policy makers on the effectiveness of current sanctions, which is highly useful.  By reporting sanctioned activity, the government can know when current sanctions are being violated and when to update current sanctions.  This can result in enabling new intelligence collection objectives.  Examples of this include:A country may sanction a foreign air carrier that changes ownership or goes out of business.  In that case, sanctions may be added against different airlines.  This occurred when the US sanctioned Mahan Air, an Iran's airline.  Currently the US enforces sanctions on more than half of Iran's civilian airlines. A country may place sanctions on a foreign bank to limit its ability to trade in certain countries or currencies.  However, if sanctioned banks circumvent controls by trading with smaller banks which are not sanctioned, then current sanctions are likely ineffective.  Examples of sanctioning bank activity by the US against Russia during the current war with Ukraine include:On February 27th sanctions were placed against Russian Banks using the SWIFT international payment systems On February 28th, the Russian Central Bank was sanctioned On March 24th, the Russian Bank Sberbank CEO was sanctioned On April 5th, the US IRS suspended information exchanges with the Russian tax authorities to hamper Moscow's ability to collect taxes. On April 6th, the US sanctioned additional Russian banks. These sanctions didn't just start with the onset of hostilities on 24 February 2022.  They date back to Russia's invasion of Crimea.  It's just that the US has turned up the volume this time. If sanctions are placed against a country's nuclear energy practices, then knowing what companies are selling or trading goods into the sanctioned country becomes important.  Collecting information from transportation companies that identify goods being imported and exported into the country can also identify sanction effectiveness. A third goal or activity taken by State Actors is covert action.  Covert Action is generally intended to cause harm to another state without attribution.  However, anonymity is often hard to maintain.If we look at Russia in its previous history with Ukraine, we have seen the use of cyber attacks as a form of covert action.  The devastating NotPetya malware (which has been generally accredited to Russia) was launched as a supply chain attack.  Russian agents compromised the software update mechanism of Ukrainian accounting software M.E. Doc, which was used by nearly 400,000 clients to manage financial documents and file tax returns.  This update did much more than the intended choking off of Ukrainian government tax revenue -- Maersk shipping estimates a loss of $300 million.  FedEx around $400 million.  The total global damage to companies is estimated at around $10 billion. The use of cyberattacks hasn't been limited to just Russia.  Another example is Stuxnet.  This covert action attack against Iranian nuclear facilities that destroyed nearly one thousand centrifuges is generally attributed to the U.S. and Israel. Changing topics a little bit, we can think of the story of two people encountering a bear. Two friends are in the woods, having a picnic.  They spot a bear running at them.  One friend gets up and starts running away from the bear.  The other friend opens his backpack, takes out his running shoes, changes out of his hiking boots, and starts stretching.  “Are you crazy?” the first friend shouts, looking over his shoulder as the bear closes in on his friend.  “You can't outrun a bear!”  “I don't have to outrun the bear,” said the second friend.  “I only have to outrun you.” So how can we physically outrun the Cyber Bear? We need to anticipate where the Bear is likely to be encountered.  Just as national park signs warn tourists of animals, there's intelligence information that can inform the general public.  If you are looking for physical safety intelligence you might consider:The US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs.  The State Department hosts a travel advisory list.  This list allows anyone to know if a country has issues such as Covid Outbreaks, Civil Unrest, Kidnappings, Violent Crime, and other issues that would complicate having an office for most businesses. Another example is the CIA World Factbook.  The World Factbook provides basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. Additionally you might also consider data sources from the World Health Organization and The World Bank If we believe that one of our remote offices is now at risk, then we need to establish a good communications plan.  Good communications plans generally require at least four forms of communication.  The acronym PACE or Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency is often usedPrimary Communication: We will first try to email folks in the office. Alternate Communication: If we are unable to communicate via email, then we will try calling their work phones. Contingency Communication: If we are unable to reach individuals via their work phones, then we will send a Text message to their personal cell phones. Emergency Communication: If we are unable to reach them by texting their personal devices, then we will send an email to their personal emails and next of kin. Additionally, we might purchase satellite phones for a country manager.  Satellite phones can be generally purchased for under $1,000 and can be used with commercial satellite service providers such as Inmarsat, Globalstar, and Thuraya.  One popular plan is Inmarsat's BGAN.  BGAN can usually be obtained from resellers for about $100 per month with text messaging costing about fifty cents each and calls costing about $1.50 per minute.  This usually translates to a yearly cost of $1,500-2K per device.  Is $2K worth the price of communicating to save lives in a high-risk country during high political turmoil?  Let your company decide.  Note a great time to bring this up may be during use-or-lose money discussions at the end of the year. We should also consider preparing egress locations.  For example, before a fire drill most companies plan a meetup location outside of their building so they can perform a headcount.  This location such as a vacant parking lot across the street allows teams to identify missing personnel which can later be communicated to emergency personnel.  If your company has offices in thirty-five countries, you should think about the same thing, but not assembling across the street but across the border.  Have you identified an egress office for each overseas country?  If you had operations in Ukraine, then you might have chosen a neighboring country such as Poland, Romania, or Hungary to facilitate departures.  When things started going bad, that office could begin creating support networks to find local housing for your corporate refugees.  Additionally, finding job opportunities for family members can also be extremely helpful when language is a barrier in new countries. If we anticipate the Bear is going to attack our company digitally, then we should also look for the warning signs.  Good examples of this include following threat intelligence information from: Your local ISAC organization.  ISAC or Information Sharing Analysis Centers are great communities where you can see if your vertical sector is coming under attack and share your experiences/threats.  The National Council of ISACs lists twenty-five different members across a wide range of industries.  An example is the Financial Services ISAC or FS-ISAC which has a daily and weekly feed where subscribers can find situational reports on cyber threats from State Actors and criminal groups. InfraGard™ is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and members of the private sector for the protection of US Critical Infrastructure.  Note you generally need to be a US citizen without a criminal history to join AlienVault offers a Threat Intelligence Community called Open Threat Exchange which grants users free access to over nineteen million threat indicators.  Note AlienVault currently hosts over 100,000 global participants, so it's a great place to connect with fellow professionals. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency or CISA also routinely issues cybersecurity advisories to stop harmful malware, ransomware, and nation state attacks.  Helpful pages on their websites include the following:Shields Up which provides updates on cyber threats, guidance for organizations, recommendations for corporate Leaders and CEOs, ransomware responses, free tooling, and steps that you can take to protect your families. There's even a Shields Technical Guidance page with more detailed recommendations. CISA routinely puts out Alerts which identify threat actor tactics and techniques.  For example, Alert AA22-011A identifies how to understand and mitigate Russian State Sponsored Cyber Threats to US Critical Infrastructure.  This alert tells you what CVEs the Russian government is using as well as the documented TTPs which map to the MITRE ATT&CK™ Framework.  Note if you want to see more on the MITRE ATT&CK mapped to various intrusion groups we recommend going to attack.mitre.org slant groups. CISA also has notifications that organizations can sign up for to receive timely information on security issues, vulnerabilities, and high impact activity. Another page to note on CISA's website is US Cert.  Here you can report cyber incidents, report phishing, report malware, report vulnerabilities, share indicators, or contact US Cert.  One helpful page to consider is the Cyber Resilience Review Assessment.  Most organizations have an IT Control to conduct yearly risk assessments, and this can help identify weaknesses in your controls. Now that we have seen a bear in the woods, what can we do to put running shoes on to run faster than our peers?  If we look at the CISA Shield Technical Guidance Page we can find shields up recommendations such as remediating vulnerabilities, enforcing MFA, running antivirus, enabling strong spam filters to prevent phishing attacks, disabling ports and protocols that are not essential, and strengthening controls for cloud services.  Let's look at this in more detail to properly fasten our running shoes. If we are going to remediate vulnerabilities let's focus on the highest priority.  I would argue those are high/critical vulnerabilities with known exploits being used in the wild.  You can go to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog page for a detailed list.  Each time a new vulnerability gets added, run a vulnerability scan on your environment to prioritize patching. Next is Multi Factor Authentication (MFA).  Routinely we see organizations require MFA access to websites and use Single Sign On.  This is great -- please don't stop doing this.  However, we would also recommend MFA enhancements in two ways.  One, are you using MFA on RDP/SSH logins by administrators?  If not, then please enable immediately.  You never know when one developer will get phished, and the attacker can pull his SSH keys.  Having MFA means even when those keys are lost, bad actor propagation can be minimized.  Another enhancement is to increase the security within your MFA functionality.  For example, if you use Microsoft Authenticator today try changing from a 6 digit rotating pin to using security features such as number matching that displays the location of their IP Address.  You can also look at GPS conditional policies to block all access from countries in which you don't have a presence. Running antivirus is another important safeguard.  Here's the kicker -- do you actually know what percentage of your endpoints are running AV and EDR agents?  Do you have coverage on both your Windows and Linux Server environments?  Of the agents running, what portion have signatures updates that are not current?  How about more than 30 days old.  We find a lot of companies just check the box saying they have antivirus, but if you look behind the scenes you can see that antivirus isn't as effective as you think when it's turned off or outdated. Enabling Strong Spam Filters is another forgotten exercise.  Yes, companies buy solutions like Proofpoint to secure email, but there's more that can be done.  One example is implementing DMARC to properly authenticate and block spoofed emails.  It's the standard now and prevents brand impersonation.  Also please consider restricting email domains.  You can do this at the very top.  Today, the vast majority of legitimate correspondents still utilize one of the original seven top-level domains:  .com, .org, .net, .edu, .mil, .gov, and .int, as well as two-letter country code top-level domains (called ccTLDs).  However, you should look carefully at your business correspondence to determine if communicating with all 1,487 top-level domains is really necessary.  Let's say your business is located entirely in the UK.  Do you really want to allow emails from Country codes such as .RU, .CN, and others?  Do you do business with .hair, or .lifestyle, or .xxx?  If you don't have a business reason for conducting commerce with these TLDs, block them and minimize both spam and harmful attacks.  It won't stop bad actors from using Gmail to send phishing attacks, but you might be surprised at just how much restricting TLDs in your email can help.  Note that you have to be careful not to create a self-inflicted denial of service, so make sure that emails from suspect TLDs get evaluated before deletion. Disabling Ports and Protocols is key since you don't want bad actors having easy targets.  One thing to consider is using Amazon Inspector.  Amazon Inspector has rules in the network reachability package to analyze your network configurations to find security vulnerabilities in your EC2 Instances.  This can highlight and provide guidance about restricting access that is not secure such as network configurations that allow for potentially malicious access such as mismanaged security groups, Access Control Lists, Internet Gateways, etc. Strengthening Cloud Security- We won't go into this topic too much as you could spend a whole talk on strengthening cloud security.  Companies should consider purchasing a cloud security solution like Wiz, Orca, or Prisma for help in this regard.  One tip we don't see often is using geo-fencing and IP allow-lists.  For example, one new feature that AWS recently created is to enable Web Application Firewall protections for Amazon Cognito.  This makes it easier to protect user pools and hosted UIs from common web exploits. Once we notice there's likely been a bear attack on our peers or our infrastructure, we should report it.  This can be done by reporting incidents to local governments such as CISA or a local FBI field office, paid sharing organizations such as ISAC, or free communities such as AlienVault OTX. Let's walk through a notional example of what we might encounter as collateral damage in a cyberwar.  However, to keeps this out of current geopolitics, we'll use the fictitious countries Blue and Orange. Imagine that you work at the Acme Widget Corporation which is a Fortune 500 company with a global presence.  Because Acme manufactures large scale widgets in their factory in the nation of Orange, they are also sold to the local Orange economy.  Unfortunately for Acme, Orange has just invaded their neighboring country Blue.  Given that Orange is viewed as the aggressor, various countries have imposed sanctions against Orange.  Not wanting to attract the attention of the Orange military or the U.S. Treasury department, your company produces an idea that might just be crazy enough to work.  Your company is going to form a new company within Orange that is not affiliated with the parent company for the entirety of the war.  This means that the parent company won't provide services to the Orange company.  Additionally, since there is no affiliation between the companies then the legal department advises that there will not be sanction evasion activity which could put the company at risk.  There's just one problem.  Your company has to evict the newly created Orange company (Acme Orange LLC) from its network and ensure it has the critical IT services to enable its success. So where do we start?  Let's consider a few things.  First, what is the lifeblood of a company?  Every company really needs laptops and Collaboration Software like Office 365 or GSuite.  So, if we have five hundred people in the new Acme Orange company, that's five hundred new laptops and a new server that will host Microsoft Exchange, a NAS drive, and other critical Microsoft on premises services. Active Directory: Once you obtain the server, you realize a few things.  Previous Acme admin credentials were used to troubleshoot desktops in the Orange environment.  Since exposed passwords are always a bad thing, you get your first incident to refresh all passwords that may have been exposed.  Also, you ensure a new Active Directory server is created for your Orange environment.  This should leverage best practices such as MFA since Orange Companies will likely come under attack. Let's talk about other things that companies need to survive: Customer relations management (CRM) services like Salesforce Accounting and Bookkeeping applications such as QuickBooks Payment Software such as PayPal or Stripe File Storage such as Google Drive or Drop Box Video Conferencing like Zoom Customer Service Software like Zendesk Contract Management software like DocuSign HR Software like Bamboo or My Workday Antivirus & EDR software Standing up a new company's IT infrastructure in a month is never a trivial task.  However, if ACME Orange is able to survive for 2-3 years it can then return to the parent company after the sanctions are lifted. Let's look at some discussion topics. What IT services will be the hardest to transfer? Can new IT equipment for Acme Orange be procured in a month during a time of conflict? Which services are likely to only have a SaaS offering and not enable on premises during times of conflicts? Could your company actually close a procurement request in a one-month timeline? If we believe we can transfer IT services and get the office up and running, we might look at our cyber team's role in providing recommendations to a new office that will be able to survive a time of turmoil. All laptops shall have Antivirus and EDR enabled from Microsoft. Since the Acme Orange office is isolated from the rest of the world, all firewalls will block IP traffic not originating from Orange. SSO and MFA will be required on all logins Backups will be routinely required. Note if you are really looking for effective strategies to mitigate cyber security incidents, we highly recommend the Australian Essential Eight.  We have a link in our show notes if you want more details. Additionally, the ACME Orange IT department will need to create its own Incident Response Plan (IRP).  One really good guide for building Cyber Incident Response Playbooks comes from the American Public Power Association.  (I'll put the link in our show notes.)  The IRP recommends creating incident templates that can be used for common attacks such as: Denial of Service (DoS) Malware Web Application Attack (SQL Injection, XSS, Directory Traversal, …) Cyber-Physical Attack Phishing Man in the middle attack Zero Day Exploit This Incident Response Template can identify helpful information such as Detection: Record how the attack was identified Reporting: Provide a list of POCs and contact information for the IT help desk to contact during an event Triage: List the activities that need to be performed during Incident Response.  Typically, teams follow the PICERL model.  (Preparation - Identification - Containment - Eradication - Recovery - Lessons Learned) Classification: Depending on the severity level of the event, identify additional actions that need to occur Communications: Identify how to notify local law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and insurance carriers during material cyber incidents.  Additionally describe the process on how communications will be relayed to customers, employees, media, and state/local leaders. As you can see, there is much that would have to be done in response to a nation state aggression or regional conflict that would likely fall in your lap.  If you didn't think about it before, you now have plenty of material to work with.  Figure out your own unique requirements, do some tabletop exercises where you identify your most relevant Orange and Blue future conflict, and practice, practice, practice.  We learned from COVID that companies that were well prepared with a disaster response plan rebranded as a pandemic response plan fared much better in the early weeks of the 2020 lockdown.  I know my office transitioned to remote work for over sixty consecutive weeks without any serious IT issues because we had a written plan and had practiced it.  Here's another one for you to add to your arsenal.  Take the time and be prepared -- you'll be a hero "when the bubble goes up."  (There -- you've learned an obscure term that nearly absent from a Google search but well-known in the Navy and the Marine Corps.) Okay, that's it for today's episode on Outrunning the Bear.  Let's recap: Know yourself Know what foreign adversaries want Know what information, processes, or people you need to protect Know the goals of state actors:steal targeting data collect foreign intelligence covert action Know how to establish a good communications plan (PACE)Primary Alternate Contingency Emergency Know how to get out of Dodge Know where to find private and government threat intelligence Know your quick wins for protectionremediate vulnerabilities implement MFA everywhere run current antivirus enable strong spam filters restrict top level domains disable vulnerable or unused ports and protocols strengthen cloud security Know how to partition your business logically to isolate your IT environments in the event of a sudden requirement. Thanks again for listening to CISO Tradecraft.  Please remember to like us on your favorite podcast provider and tell your peers about us.  Don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn too -- you can find our regular stream of low-noise, high-value postings.  This is your host G. Mark Hardy, and until next time, stay safe. References https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/17976-if-you-know-the-enemy-and-know-yourself-you-need https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_known_knowns  https://www.cia.gov/about/mission-vision/  https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/ukraines-accounting-software-firm-refuses-to-take-cyber-attack-blame/  https://www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cyberattack-ukraine-russia-code-crashed-the-world/  https://www.nationalisacs.org/member-isacs-3  https://attack.mitre.org/groups/  https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt  https://www.publicpower.org/system/files/documents/Public-Power-Cyber-Incident-Response-Playbook.pdf 

In the first installment of our new podcast, we sit down with Professor Rory Cormac to discuss coups, subversion, and covert influence. Professor Cormac teaches International Relations at the University of Nottingham, and specialises in secret intelligence and covert action. Rory is the author of "Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy", and the co-author of "The Black Door" and "The Secret Royals". Recently, Rory has published "How to Stage a Coup", which examines covert action and influence.

James Fetzer is a professor emeritus of the Philosophy Of Science at the University of Minnesota. A few weeks ago I chatted to Covert Action's Jeremy Kuzmarov about the assassination of Marilyn Monroe, and I found it fascinating. Recently I chatted to James about the assassination of JFK, easily one of the most significant events of the 20th century. Both were coverups.  Lee Harvey Oswald did not kill JFK.   Read the full description here.   Please support my work by joining our community here.

This episode is PART 2 of a dual episode focusing on the covert element of American public policy, aimed at destabilizing foreign governments, toppling foreign leaders, and launching military regime change. I will focus on two unique cases of covert action, Iran (1953) and Chile (1973) which explore in greater detail the use of covert action as a US foreign-policy instrument. Both examples provide a wealth of information on the structure, perceived uses and geo-political implications of covert action. In both Iran and Chile, one can witness the inception of US covert activity at a small scale using propaganda and political operations, and then review their impact as covert action escalated into larger scale operations employing economic or military options, ultimately ending in violent coup d'etat. A brief background to the Iranian case is provided which helps to explain, why US covert action in Iran created ripple effects that when far beyond its immediate use as a policy tool, creating much larger repercussions for future US administrations. Operation AJAX was the code name for the CIA-organized military coup launched against the democratically elected government of Iran, led by Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh. The covert operation was considered a success at the time by foreign policy experts in Washington, and later served as a blueprint and guide for future covert interventions. In Chile, the 1973 coup differed significantly from Iran, because the scenario developed over a longer time period and was precipitated by an aggressive policy of destabilization by the top echelon of US policy makers. Following the victory of left-leaning candidate Salvador Allende in the 1970 presidential election, the US began working against Allende, using diplomatic and economic sanctions and offering financial support to opposition candidates. Such pressures, combined with the inherent instability of Allende's radical economic reforms, led to a collapse of the democratic state. On September 11 1973, General Augusto Pinochet overthrew the Allende government and began a 17-year dictatorship in the country that still haunts Chileans to this day. In both case scenarios I provide an analysis of the consequences of CIA covert action, the various policy considerations to be gleaned from each event, before arriving at concluding remarks. Overall, covert action is a high-risk proposition which carries an enormous level of uncertainly. It rarely produces positive results for the targeted country, when evaluated from a military or economic standpoint. And even when it leads to a small degree of success, there is always an element of failure involved, which leads to lasting repercussions. The current approach to regime change has evolved considerably from its origins in the Cold War due to modern information warfare. However, what remains clear is, the rationale remains unchanged, which is to ultimately, serve national interest and pursue foreign policy objectives at all cost.

Ths week on 'Africa On The Mover' presents "Part II:  U.S. & Crimes Against Humanity.' Join us on Sunday, Jully 17, 2022 at 7 PM EST US.

Rory Cormac, Professor of International Relations at University of Nottingham, discusses his recent book 'How to Stage a Coup: And Ten Other Lessons from the World of Secret Statecraft'. We engage in a lively discussion about covert action, disinformation and conditions for a successful coup. Fascinating deep-dive into a timely issue-area.  Rory Cormac - How to Stage a Coup  Follow Rory on twitter: @rorycormac For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik urges for more support during her speaking tour of Western Europe and describes the situation in her war torn country. William Stoltz discusses his new paper ‘A regrettable necessity: The future of Australian covert action. Anthropologist Manvir Singh considers the prevalence of ownership and private property rights in hunter gather societies and explains why the idea of primitive communism is flawed.  

There is a joy as equal in receiving a game, as moving it onto another person to enjoy. Especially, if you're Mark, when there's cash involved. We reflect on the many games that got left behind recently. Before we purge, we talk about Imperial Steam, Circus Flohcati, and Dogs of War. 02:33 - Circus Flohcati 09:37 - Imperial Steam 21:22 - Dogs of War 29:33 - Camel Up: Off Season 31:01 - Ciub 31:53 - Ten 33:18 - Visitor in Blackwood Grove 33:35 - Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden 33:52 - Bosk 34:08 - Castell 35:38 - Ninja Catfoot and the Covert Action 37:07 - In a Grove 37:07 - Dokojong 40:16 - Yokohama 40:59 - Castles of Burgundy 41:20 - Oath 41:46 - Feudum 42:23 - Lords of Vegas 42:32 - Chinatown 44:20 - Scape Goat 44:42 - Bequest 45:08 - Kardashev Scale 45:38 - Beez 45:56 - Llamaland 46:51 - Kobayakawa 47:07 - Lost Cities: Roll and Write 47:15 - Rebel Knox 47:36 - Tutto! 48:02 - Time Bomb Evolution 48:28 - My City 48:28 - The King's Dilemma 49:00 - Seikatsu 49:35 - Dinner in Paris 49:43 - Ruination 50:05 -  Radlands 50:38 - Whirling Witchcraft 50:53 - Hadara 51:09 - Power Failure 51:28 - Mystic Paths 51:43 - Bazaar 55:07 - Blokus Check out our wiki at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/wiki Join the discussion at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/discord Join our Facebook group at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/facebook Get a Board Game Barrage T-shirt at: https://boardgamebarrage.com/store

We all have seen a dozen of Spies movies, movies about intelligence, we read books about it, we knew who is James Bond, Mission Impossible and all. But the question is still out there, what are spies? What are the intelligence agencies? What are the covert intelligence agencies?In this episode, I am joined by Amy Zegart, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a professor of political science, past co-director of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, to talk about her new book, Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence.That book is like the textbook for spies and intelligence 101! Conversation with Amy was so fascinating as we touched upon the topics like, why do we need spies and intelligence, cyber security, cyber-warfare, which apparently we are at war all year round, and we even talked about how a commercial company like Google, Facebook, and others might have more data on us than the government agencies!Listen to the episode, and tweet at me @jaltucher if you like this episodes!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, and we discuss why should run for president.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.Thanks so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to “The James Altucher Show” and rate and review wherever you get your podcasts:Apple PodcastsStitcheriHeart RadioSpotify Follow me on Social Media:YouTubeTwitterFacebook

Parts of Ukraine are physically closer to — and more culturally aligned with — Central and Western Europe than they are to Russia. Lawfare's David Priess joins Charlie Sykes on today's podcast. Special Guest: David Priess.

More great books at LoyalBooks.com

This is an encore presentation. In the waning days of 1981, the Polish government, run by a Kremlin-backed prime minster, declared martial law in the country. An early test of a new administration, President Reagan wrote in his diary that this test would signify “the last chance in our lifetime to see a change in the Soviet Empire’s colonial policy regarding Eastern Europe.”

On this, the 58th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, we're joined by Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone to discuss his new documentary “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass”. We then discuss the continuing legacy and search for meaning in the assassination, as well as other ‘deep events', with Covert Action Magazine's Aaron Good. JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass is now streaming on Showtime. Check out Aaron's new podcast with Covert Action here: https://www.patreon.com/CovertActionBulletin Pre-order Aaron's book here: https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510769137/american-exception/ Grab your tickets to our 12/8 show at Asbury Hall in Buffalo: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chapo-trap-house-tickets-201713088277

Joe Goldberg always wanted to write. Even when he was working for the CIA as a Covert Action Officer. But he pressed on, working to bring down the bad guys as they tried to foil justice. Then, working as a Corporate Intelligence Director for Motorola, he received the Meritorious Award, recognized for significant contributions to the intelligence profession. And yet, his yearning to craft a thriller remained a dream. Finally, after many agent passes, he decided to carve his own path, and in 2014, did so, crafting his first self-published novel https://joegoldbergbooks.com/books/secret-wars/ (Secret Wars: An Espionage Story). It wasn't until this year (2021), and with the growing popularity of self-publishing, he took another leap of faith and published https://joegoldbergbooks.com/books/the-spy-devils/ (The Spy Devils). Joe feels he's in the groove with a popular protagonist, a band of crafty characters, and a genuinely thrilling theme. Please join host, https://davidtemplebooks.com (David Temple), as he sits down with Joe in this latest episode of https://davidtemplebooks.com/podcasts/the-thriller-zone (The Thriller Zone).

Russia is not the only country interfering in the politics of adversaries. Dr. Anthony Craig from Staffordshire University presents the topic of political interference as covert action from a historical approach.

Фильм BBC «Operation Gladio», 1992 Журнал «Covert Action» Телеграм-канал Cерия книг «Реальная политика»

Фильм BBC «Operation Gladio», 1992 Журнал «Covert Action» Телеграм-канал Cерия книг «Реальная политика»

Will we remember early 2021 as a key escalatory moment in offensive cyber operations? Three top experts join us to unpack the implications of two major recent cyber operations — the SolarWinds hack attributed to Russia and the Microsoft Exchange hack by China. What does it all mean? What should the United States do? What should it have done differently? Dmitri Alperovitch, Erica Borghard, and Jason Healey tackle these questions and more.   Further reading:  Dmitri Alperovitch and Ian Ward, "How Should the U.S. Respond to the SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange Hacks?" Lawfare Erica Borghard and Jacquelyn Schneider, "Want to tell Russia to stop hacking U.S. systems? Here’s what works — and what doesn’t," Monkey Cage Jason Healey and Robert Jervis, "The Escalation Inversion and Other Oddities of Situational Cyber Stability," Texas National Security Review Michael Poznansky, "Covert Action, Espionage, and the Intelligence Contest in Cyberspace," War on the Rocks

Covert Action Magazine interviews James Bradley about China.

David Kris sat down with David Robarge, the chief historian at the Central Intelligence Agency, to discuss covert action. All together, around 50 covert actions have been declassified over the years, and Kris and Robarge discuss several of them, involving the Middle East, Western Europe, Africa and Central America. They also talked about the legal and policy rules governing covert action, the process by which covert action is reviewed and approved and the famous "Washington Post test."

We are gonna talk about Covert Action, WWII Spy Stuff, and more

This is an encore presentation, originally broadcast in November, 2019.

This week, Bob is joined by special guest, #1 Sid Meier's Covert Action fan and game developer Josh Jersild. Together they tackle the flood of new game news and play the all-new Game Pitch Game, in which Bob discovered his all-new favorite term!

Today I’m welcoming Jeremy Kuzmarov back to Wider View.  Jeremy has taught in history in colleges, written 4 books including “Obama's Unending Wars: Fronting the Foreign Policy of the Permanent Warfare State” with Glen Ford, and “The Russians Are Coming, Again: The First Cold War as Tragedy, the Second as Farce” with John Marciano, and was recently named Managing Editor of Covert Action Magazine.  We talk about the magazine and its history, current US interventions including Belarus, and the upcoming election.

Vi har spelat in ett specialavsnitt av podden som ligger på YouTube, där vi testar datorspelet Sid Meier's Covert Action från 1990. Du kan hitta det här:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYJ7anvxBWA

ClearanceJobs weekly news roundup continues for the month of August in 2020. This month is education themed, so naturally we covered the Alabama principle's 'Can't touch this' parody, what school regulations look like and who is hiring in defense. Alabama Goes Back to School with a Message from M.C. Hammer: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/11/alabama-back-to-school-with-a-message-from-m-c-hammer/ 3 Ways to Deal With the Narcissistic Boss: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/12/toxic-leader-3-ways-to-deal-with-the-narcissistic-boss/ Secrets, Covert Action, and Intelligence Experts Shaping History: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/10/secrets-covert-action-and-intelligence-experts-shaping-history/ The ICWATCH Dumpster Fire: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/08/the-icwatch-dumpster-fire-not-a-recruiters-friend/ UFO? Pentagon’s UAPTA Budget Line Item Sparks Debate: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/12/ufo-pentagons-uapta-budget-line-item-sparks-debate/ The Not-So-Magic Bus Combatting Groupthink: https://news.clearancejobs.com/2020/08/11/the-not-so-magic-bus-combatting-groupthink/

So, uh, why comics for the theme of the 19th Session of 23min of Ska? Honestly, because I l dig them. Comics were my first pop culture love. Sure, television and movies were OK, but I never had strong allegiances to any show or franchise. But then I found comics... oh man, it was on! I was mostly a news stand kid before eventually finding my way to the specialty stores, one of which I ended up working at in my 20s. A few years later I got into ska, so they're both foundational blocks of who I am, so why not combine my love of each, for better or worse, over the next few months! So yeah, these are my favorite comics I'm paying tribute to, with my favorite bands. If you haven't heard of either, go check them out! 00:00 - the Pomps - Resistance Grifter (Drums & Liars '19) 03:51 - ghost tones - Who Saved Who (Who Saved Who '20) 08:00 - BowCat - Catch 22 (Dangerously Close '20) 12:01 - Cosmic Shuffling - Eastern Ska (Eastern Ska / Western Ska '20) 14:51 - the Ladrones - Rudy's Voodoo (Salve '18) 20:06 - Burn It Up - the Zealot (Outlier '14) Visit the website at http://www.23Ska.com to find links to band websites and songs featured in this episode. Find & follow the show on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/23minofSka/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/23minofSka Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/23minofska/ Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/23min-of-ska?refid=stpr 23min of Ska is produced weekly by RJ Phoenix Artwork credits: Jim Lee, Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair Based on: WildC.A.T.s vol. 1 issue 1 If you'd like to submit your band for a future show email: submissions@23ska.com Any other questions or comments, please email: podcast@23ska.com There's a lot of great ska vinyl out there, so head over to our partners in crime at http://www.GrandpasCasino.com RJ is also the co-host of another ska podcast, check out On the Upbeat at https://linktr.ee/ontheupbeatska Session Nineteen // Episode : 417 // Airdate : August 6th, 2020

About the book: The dramatic, untold story of one of the CIA's most successful Cold War intelligence operations. December, 1981—the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency's leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski has appeared on Polish national television to announce the establishment of martial law. A new era in Cold War politics has begun: Washington and Moscow are on a collision course. In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the little-known story of the CIA's subsequent operations in Poland, which produced a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. While the Soviet-backed Polish government worked to crush a budding liberal opposition movement, the CIA began a sophisticated intelligence campaign, code-named QRHELPFUL, that supported dissident groups. The most powerful of these groups was Solidarity, a trade union that swelled to a membership of ten million and became one of the first legitimate anti-Communist opposition movements in Eastern Europe. With President Reagan's support, the CIA provided money that helped Solidarity print newspapers, broadcast radio programs, and conduct a wide-ranging information warfare campaign against the Soviet-backed government. QRHELPFUL proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland. Long overlooked by CIA historians and Reagan biographers, the story of QRHELPFUL features an extraordinary cast of characters—including spymaster Bill Casey, CIA officer Richard Malzahn, Polish-speaking CIA case officer Celia Larkin, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II. Based on in-depth interviews and recently declassified evidence, A Covert Action celebrates a decisive victory over tyranny for U.S. intelligence behind the Iron Curtain, one that prefigured the Soviet collapse. About the speaker: Seth G. Jones holds the Harold Brown Chair, is director of the Transnational Threats Project, and is a senior adviser to the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He teaches at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Prior to joining CSIS, Dr. Jones was the director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation. He also served as representative for the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations. Before that, he was a plans officer and adviser to the commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan (Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan). In 2014, Dr. Jones served on a congressionally mandated panel that reviewed the FBI's implementation of counterterrorism recommendations contained in the 9/11 Commission Report. Dr. Jones specializes in counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, unconventional warfare, and covert action, including a focus on al Qaeda and ISIS. He is the author of A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland (W.W. Norton, 2018), Waging Insurgent Warfare (Oxford University Press, 2016), Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa'ida after 9/11 (W.W. Norton, 2012), and In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan (W.W. Norton, 2009). Dr. Jones has published articles in a range of journals, such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and International Security, as well as newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Dr. Jones is a graduate of Bowdoin College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

We normally think of international law as constraining leaders' actions, especially aggression toward other countries. But what if one effect of an established international principle actually spurs more covert action against other countries? Michael Poznansky is an assistant professor of International Affairs and Intelligence Studies in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, with a secondary appointment in the Political Science department, at the University of Pittsburgh. In his new book, "In the Shadow of International Law: Secrecy and Regime Change in the Postwar World," Mike argues just this—that the principle of non-intervention that has come up in the past century has actually created powerful motives for leaders to engage in covert action more frequently to spur regime change. David Priess sat down with Mike to talk through his thesis and its implications.

In this episode of the Dudes n Beer podcast host Christopher Jordan welcomes recurring guest, Investigator and head of 5x5 News, Mike Turber to the show to discuss the recent full throttle announcement that the US Space Force has officially opened its bay doors for business and new information released on the 9/11 attacks, the flight now known as call-sign “Gofer 6” and their testimony as well as the 1974 Privacy act, US Title 50 Code 3093 regarding Clandestine Operations and how they figure into the equation!With the recent announcement that the “new” United States Space Force has gotten it's flag to fly and had it's first official mission launch with the unmanned X-37B becoming the poster child vehicle of choice for the latest branch of the United States military. But is the concept of a “Space Force” a new one? With the X37-B space plane having been performing experiments far overhead secretly since before 2010 and even had a record-breaking mission of an uninterrupted 780 days in orbit! But is the X-37B the only “space plane” of it's kind? Are there other models out there or currently in production and how long has the plan for this branch of the military actively been in the books? In the second part of the episode we break into the latest bombshell revelations to be released regarding the infamous 9/11 attacks. What about the interview with Lt Col Steven O'Brien, USAF who was flying his C-130 as call-sign “Gofer 6” on that fateful day, as well as how this and other information revealed in the case relates to the Privacy Act of 1974 and Title 50 of US Code 3093 regarding Presidential approval and reporting of covert actions as well as the Congressional Research Service's Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community report from 2019.Join us for this in depth episode as we explore the past, present and future of the US Space Force as well as the incredible new data in the investigation in to 9/11 with Investigator and head of 5x5 News Mike Turber.

In this episode of the Dudes n Beer podcast host Christopher Jordan welcomes recurring guest, Investigator and head of 5x5 News, Mike Turber to the show to discuss the recent full throttle announcement that the US Space Force has officially opened its bay doors for business and new information released on the 9/11 attacks, the flight now known as call-sign “Gofer 6” and their testimony as well as the 1974 Privacy act, US Title 50 Code 3093 regarding Clandestine Operations and how they figure into the equation! With the recent announcement that the “new” United States Space Force has gotten it’s flag to fly and had it’s first official mission launch with the unmanned X-37B becoming the poster child vehicle of choice for the latest branch of the United States military. But is the concept of a “Space Force” a new one? With the X37-B space plane having been performing experiments far overhead secretly since before 2010 and even had a record-breaking mission of an uninterrupted 780 days in orbit! But is the X-37B the only “space plane” of it’s kind? Are there other models out there or currently in production and how long has the plan for this branch of the military actively been in the books? In the second part of the episode we break into the latest bombshell revelations to be released regarding the infamous 9/11 attacks. What about the interview with Lt Col Steven O’Brien, USAF who was flying his C-130 as call-sign “Gofer 6” on that fateful day, as well as how this and other information revealed in the case relates to the Privacy Act of 1974 and Title 50 of US Code 3093 regarding Presidential approval and reporting of covert actions as well as the Congressional Research Service’s Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community report from 2019. Join us for this in depth episode as we explore the past, present and future of the US Space Force as well as the incredible new data in the investigation in to 9/11 with Investigator and head of 5x5 News Mike Turber.

In this episode of the Dudes n Beer podcast host Christopher Jordan welcomes recurring guest, Investigator and head of 5x5 News, Mike Turber to the show to discuss the recent full throttle announcement that the US Space Force has officially opened its bay doors for business and new information released on the 9/11 attacks, the flight now known as call-sign “Gofer 6” and their testimony as well as the 1974 Privacy act, US Title 50 Code 3093 regarding Clandestine Operations and how they figure into the equation! With the recent announcement that the “new” United States Space Force has gotten it’s flag to fly and had it’s first official mission launch with the unmanned X-37B becoming the poster child vehicle of choice for the latest branch of the United States military. But is the concept of a “Space Force” a new one? With the X37-B space plane having been performing experiments far overhead secretly since before 2010 and even had a record-breaking mission of an uninterrupted 780 days in orbit! But is the X-37B the only “space plane” of it’s kind? Are there other models out there or currently in production and how long has the plan for this branch of the military actively been in the books? In the second part of the episode we break into the latest bombshell revelations to be released regarding the infamous 9/11 attacks. What about the interview with Lt Col Steven O’Brien, USAF who was flying his C-130 as call-sign “Gofer 6” on that fateful day, as well as how this and other information revealed in the case relates to the Privacy Act of 1974 and Title 50 of US Code 3093 regarding Presidential approval and reporting of covert actions as well as the Congressional Research Service’s Covert Action and Clandestine Activities of the Intelligence Community report from 2019. Join us for this in depth episode as we explore the past, present and future of the US Space Force as well as the incredible new data in the investigation in to 9/11 with Investigator and head of 5x5 News Mike Turber.

Le Collimateur se penche cette semaine vers une activité par nature discrète et qui pourtant concentre de nombreux fantasmes : l’action clandestine. C’est donc Damien Van Puyvelde, spécialiste du renseignement, maître de conférences à l’Université de Glasgow et chercheur associé à l’IRSEM, auteur d’une note de recherche IRSEM sur les assassinats ciblés à paraître bientôt avec Yvan Lledo-Ferrer, qui est l’invité du podcast cette semaine. Avec Alexandre Jubelin, il détaille d’abord les définitions possibles de l’action clandestine et les différences culturelles dans l’approche de la question (2:00), puis analysent la place des responsables politiques par rapport à ce type d’actions (8:00) et le rôle du secret dans la mise en place de ces actions (14:00). Ils examinent ensuite les liens entre renseignement et action clandestine (27:00) et établissent une typologie des différentes formes d’action clandestine (32:30). Enfin, ils discutent de la note de recherche IRSEM à paraître sur les assassinats ciblés, notamment du corpus de choix retenus (44:00) et des tendances que l’on peut anticiper sur la multiplication de ce genre d’actions (1:02:00). Extraits audio : - Johnny Rivers, « Secret Agent Man » (1966) - The Fugs, « CIA Man » (1967) - Edwin Starr, « Agent Double-O Soul » (1968) Bibliographie indicative : Jean-Pierre Bat, La fabrique des barbouzes. Histoire des réseaux Foccart en Afrique (Paris: Nouveau Monde, 2015).   Rory Cormac, Disrupt and Deny: Spies, Special Forces, and the Secret Pursuit of British Foreign Policy (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2018)   Rory Cormac et Richard Aldrich, ‘Grey is the new black: covert action and implausible deniability’, International Affairs 94/3 (2018), 477-494.   Alain de Marolles, ‘La Tradition Française de l’Action Invisible’, in Pierre Lacoste (ed.), Le Renseignement à la française (Paris: Economica, 1999)   Thomas Rid, Active Measures. The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2020)   Gregory F. Treverton, Covert Action. The Limits of Intervention in the Postwar World (New York: Basic Books, 1987)   Mathilde von Bulow, ‘Myth or reality? The Red Hand and French covert action in Federal Germany during the Algerian war, 1956-1961’, Intelligence and National Security, 22 (2007), 787–820.

Ei você! Que tal entrar em um mundo de espionagem, traições, intrigas e-ih um cara ali te viu PUXA A METRALHADORA AAAAAAA Phantom Doctrine é um jogo sobre espionagem na guerra fria que adora fazer com que você caia em tiroteios. Phantom Doctrine no Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/559100/Phantom_Doctrine/ VOD de nós jogando Covert Action do Sid Meier: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/362349556 Quack! Discord de Jogos: https://discord.gg/GPekkZP Quack! Grupo de Steam/Curadoria: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/28335613-Quack-Clube-de-Jogos/ Quack! Podcast de Jogos: https://quackclube.podbean.com/ Quack! Twitter: https://twitter.com/quackclube Quack! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quackclube

Show Notes Support the show on Patreon and get cool perks and rad swag! Thanks to all our Amigos Supporters: Reflexion, Simon Letch, Kapin Krispy, Mike W, Kilobytes and Caffeine, Deckard Threepwood, Garry Heather, Free Lunch, Kate Fox, David Pickford, Cameron Armstrong, Andy Jones, Lobsterminator, Craig McClellan, 10 Minute Amiga Retro Cast, Counting Virtual Sheep, Bernard Quinn, Retro Man Cave, Tim Drew,, Simon Rose, Joseph Harrison, Kyle Etter, Rob O’Hara, Howard Knibbs, Matthew Larimore, Andy Craig, seanzo, Darren Lomax, Colin419, Barkbit, Roland Burke, Andrew Monks, Joethezombie, John Cook, Leif Kielland, Alan Kebab, chekote, levellord, John Marshall, Mathieu Perron, Ricky Derocher, CreepyDeadBoy, Figgy/CtZ, TheSlowNorris, Steffen Søgaard Mortensen, Edvin Helland, Blendo75, Christopher Hassall, Ravi Abbott, Chris Foulds, dreamkatcha, Laurent Giroud, Graham W Wobcke, Lane Denson, Adam Battersby, O’Brien’s Retro and Vintage, Gary Hucker, C Bryan Jones, Paul Harrington, Duncan Styles, Alan Kebab, Tapes from the Crypt, Josh Nan, Adam Bradley, Jonas Rullo, THT, Eric Nelson, Kim Tommy Humbortstad, Daniel Bengston, Brutal Barracuda, Darren Coles, Jason Warnes, Pixels at Dawn, and Kolbjorn Barmen! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/amigospodcast/message

This week's astrology features lots of activity as we are still experiencing active Mars opposing passive Neptune, showing us how to come in through the back door. Saturn's direct motion recollects all we've accomplished since end of April. And an earthquake happens during the broadcast! Tune in to the week's energy with Deb's latest podcast!

Abigail Watson and Liam Walpole are joined by Jamie Gaskarth from the University of Birmingham to discuss the accountability of the more secretive elements of the UK security services such as intelligence and special forces. Music by Bensound Image credit: Matt Hecht/Flickr. About the discussants Liam Walpole is a Senior Policy Officer at the Remote Warfare Programme. Abigail Watson is Senior Research Officer at the Remote Warfare Programme. Jamie Gaskarth is Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Birmingham.

In his book, A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland, Dr. Seth Jones examines the Reagan administration’s efforts during the Cold War to aid Poland’s Solidarity movement. Reagan used the CIA to support underground operations in Poland like printing leaflets, producing radio and television broadcasts, and coordinating public demonstrations. After extensive research, including review of recently declassified documents, Jones details the success of CIA’s covert activities including the emphasis on leaving no identifiable indicators of U.S. involvement. Dr. Michael Ledeen served in the Reagan administration and is an analyst and commentator on the Iranian peoples’ efforts to achieve a democratic system of government. Ledeen will interview Dr. Jones about the findings of his book and will inquire as to what comparisons may exist between the Polish Solidarity movement and the Iranian peoples’ struggle for freedom. Featuring: Dr. Seth G. Jones, Harold Brown Chair; Director, Transnational Threats Project; and Senior Adviser, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and author, A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in PolandDr. Michael Ledeen, Freedom Scholar, Foundation for Defense of Democracies Teleforum calls are open to all dues paying members of the Federalist Society. To become a member, sign up on our website. As a member, you should receive email announcements of upcoming Teleforum calls which contain the conference call phone number. If you are not receiving those email announcements, please contact us at 202-822-8138.

In his book, A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland, Dr. Seth Jones examines the Reagan administration’s efforts during the Cold War to aid Poland’s Solidarity movement. Reagan used the CIA to support underground operations in Poland like printing leaflets, producing radio and television broadcasts, and coordinating public demonstrations. After extensive research, including review of recently declassified documents, Jones details the success of CIA’s covert activities including the emphasis on leaving no identifiable indicators of U.S. involvement. Dr. Michael Ledeen served in the Reagan administration and is an analyst and commentator on the Iranian peoples’ efforts to achieve a democratic system of government. Ledeen will interview Dr. Jones about the findings of his book and will inquire as to what comparisons may exist between the Polish Solidarity movement and the Iranian peoples’ struggle for freedom. Featuring: Dr. Seth G. Jones, Harold Brown Chair; Director, Transnational Threats Project; and Senior Adviser, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and author, A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in PolandDr. Michael Ledeen, Freedom Scholar, Foundation for Defense of Democracies Teleforum calls are open to all dues paying members of the Federalist Society. To become a member, sign up on our website. As a member, you should receive email announcements of upcoming Teleforum calls which contain the conference call phone number. If you are not receiving those email announcements, please contact us at 202-822-8138.

In this episode of The Scalpel, Dr. Keith dissects the anatomy of a Covert Action or Influence operation. Link- https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/icotr/RawSIGINTGuidelines-as-approved-redacted.pdf Link- https://news.grabien.com/story-flashback-dems-media-predict-mueller-probe-results-impeachme Link- https://news.grabien.com/story-montage-media-was-already-calling-trump-impeachment-followin Link- https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/bill-dagostino/2019/07/24/watch-reporters-high-hopes-dashed-mueller-disaster Link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHasBjRJAbc Link- https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2124721514324004 Link- https://twitter.com/trumpwarroom/status/1154115342324633600?s=12 Link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqdNe8u-Jsg #DrKeith #TheScalpel #News #Politics #Future #Conservatives #Democrats #hypocrites #liberals #RobertMueller #immigration #presidentialcandidate #Mueller #sports #brands #america #freedom #branding #progressive #truth #history #SJW #thescalpel #Doissier

American Warfighter Radio Ep:4 "Independence" On the show today: Veteran News with Chris Buccleuch AKA "Bullethead" Craig "Sawman" Sawyer talking about Independence Day and Covert Action in the US Rob Creel with a follow up to Bridges For The Fallen and the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch and the Eddy Furlani - Tadpole Foundation Hank Barbe from Texas band - Three Beards! HAVE FUN spreading the word and .. hit the share button NOW

In this episode, the little-known story of QRHELPFUL, a CIA operation in Poland which supported Solidarity during the dark days of Martial Law. 

In this episode, the little-known story of QRHELPFUL, a CIA operation in Poland which supported Solidarity during the dark days of Martial Law. 

CSIS Transnational Threats Project cordially invites you to a book launch event for Director Seth G. Jones' newly released A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle In Poland. (W. W. Norton & Company)   Moderated by Kathleen H. Hicks Senior Vice President; Henry A. Kissinger Chair; Director, International Security Program   With Seth G. Jones Harold Brown Chair; Director, Transnational Threats Project; and Senior Adviser, International Security Program   December, 1981—the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency's leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski has appeared on Polish national television to announce the establishment of martial law. A new era in Cold War politics has begun: Washington and Moscow are on a collision course. In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the little-known story of the CIA's subsequent operations in Poland, which produced a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. While the Soviet-backed Polish government worked to crush a budding liberal opposition movement, the CIA began a sophisticated intelligence campaign, code-named QRHELPFUL, that supported dissident groups. The most powerful of these groups was Solidarity, a trade union that swelled to a membership of ten million and became one of the first legitimate anti-Communist opposition movements in Eastern Europe. With President Reagan's support, the CIA provided money that helped Solidarity print newspapers, broadcast radio programs, and conduct a wide-ranging information warfare campaign against the Soviet-backed government. QRHELPFUL proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland. Long overlooked by CIA historians and Reagan biographers, the story of QRHELPFUL features an extraordinary cast of characters—including spymaster Bill Casey, CIA officer Richard Malzahn, Polish-speaking CIA case officer Celia Larkin, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II. Based on in-depth interviews and recently declassified evidence, A Covert Action celebrates a decisive victory over tyranny for U.S. intelligence behind the Iron Curtain, one that prefigured the Soviet collapse. This event was made possible through support from CSIS.

CSIS Transnational Threats Project cordially invites you to a book launch event for Director Seth G. Jones’ newly released A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle In Poland. (W. W. Norton & Company)  Moderated byKathleen H. Hicks Senior Vice President; Henry A. Kissinger Chair; Director, International Security Program  WithSeth G. Jones Harold Brown Chair; Director, Transnational Threats Project; and Senior Adviser, International Security Program   December, 1981—the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency’s leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski has appeared on Polish national television to announce the establishment of martial law. A new era in Cold War politics has begun: Washington and Moscow are on a collision course. In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the little-known story of the CIA’s subsequent operations in Poland, which produced a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. While the Soviet-backed Polish government worked to crush a budding liberal opposition movement, the CIA began a sophisticated intelligence campaign, code-named QRHELPFUL, that supported dissident groups. The most powerful of these groups was Solidarity, a trade union that swelled to a membership of ten million and became one of the first legitimate anti-Communist opposition movements in Eastern Europe. With President Reagan’s support, the CIA provided money that helped Solidarity print newspapers, broadcast radio programs, and conduct a wide-ranging information warfare campaign against the Soviet-backed government. QRHELPFUL proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland. Long overlooked by CIA historians and Reagan biographers, the story of QRHELPFUL features an extraordinary cast of characters—including spymaster Bill Casey, CIA officer Richard Malzahn, Polish-speaking CIA case officer Celia Larkin, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II. Based on in-depth interviews and recently declassified evidence, A Covert Action celebrates a decisive victory over tyranny for U.S. intelligence behind the Iron Curtain, one that prefigured the Soviet collapse.This event was made possible through support from CSIS.

CSIS Transnational Threats Project cordially invites you to a book launch event for Director Seth G. Jones’ newly released A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle In Poland. (W. W. Norton & Company)  Moderated byKathleen H. Hicks Senior Vice President; Henry A. Kissinger Chair; Director, International Security Program  WithSeth G. Jones Harold Brown Chair; Director, Transnational Threats Project; and Senior Adviser, International Security Program   December, 1981—the CIA receives word that the Polish government has cut telephone communications with the West and closed the Polish border. The agency’s leaders quickly inform President Ronald Reagan, who is enjoying a serene weekend at Camp David. Within hours, Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski has appeared on Polish national television to announce the establishment of martial law. A new era in Cold War politics has begun: Washington and Moscow are on a collision course. In this gripping narrative history, Seth G. Jones reveals the little-known story of the CIA’s subsequent operations in Poland, which produced a landmark victory for democracy during the Cold War. While the Soviet-backed Polish government worked to crush a budding liberal opposition movement, the CIA began a sophisticated intelligence campaign, code-named QRHELPFUL, that supported dissident groups. The most powerful of these groups was Solidarity, a trade union that swelled to a membership of ten million and became one of the first legitimate anti-Communist opposition movements in Eastern Europe. With President Reagan’s support, the CIA provided money that helped Solidarity print newspapers, broadcast radio programs, and conduct a wide-ranging information warfare campaign against the Soviet-backed government. QRHELPFUL proved vital in establishing a free and democratic Poland. Long overlooked by CIA historians and Reagan biographers, the story of QRHELPFUL features an extraordinary cast of characters—including spymaster Bill Casey, CIA officer Richard Malzahn, Polish-speaking CIA case officer Celia Larkin, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II. Based on in-depth interviews and recently declassified evidence, A Covert Action celebrates a decisive victory over tyranny for U.S. intelligence behind the Iron Curtain, one that prefigured the Soviet collapse.This event was made possible through support from CSIS.

Die Herrn (lies: Chris) wollten mal wieder ein Spiel von Sid Meier machen. Es gab eine Abstimmung der Patrons, gewählt wurde die großartige Wirtschaftssimulation rund um den Aufbau einer Eisenbahngesellschaft: Railroad Tycoon. Es werden erwähnt: Spiele: Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon, Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Sid Meier’s Colonization, Silent Service, F-15 Strike Eagle, Sid Meier’s Covert Action, Sid Meier’s SimGolf, Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon Deluxe, SimCity, Populous, Age of Empires, 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons, 1830: Railroads & Robber Barons, Master of Magic, Master of Orion, Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares, Minecraft, Railroad Empire, A-Train, Rails West!, Transport Tycoon, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Der Patrizier, Railroad Tycoon II, Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold, Railroad Tycoon 3, Iron Cross, Sid Meier's Railroads!, Train Simulator. Organisationen: MicroProse, G4tv, Avalon Hill, Simtex, Artdink, Strategic Simulations Incorporated,

In this episode, Soren Johnson interviews legendary game designer Sid Meier, best known for designing Pirates!, Railroad Tycoon, and Civilization. They discuss how Sid’s stealth fighter was more interesting than the real one, whether XCOM violates the Covert Action rule, and when the world was ready for hexes.

Institute of Historical Research Operation Dhib: The Dhofar war and covert action in Yemen Dr Geraint Hughes (King's College London) International History seminar series

Wir begeben uns zurück in die Jahre 1988 und 1991, und erfahren von Covert Action, The Train und Eye of the Beholder

Stephen Kinzer, author of "The Brothers," and historian Will Hitchcock explore President Eisenhower's predilection for covert action--both in foreign affairs and in his own leadership style.

Sean kicks off with some GTA V antics, Craig starts in on his stealth game suite with some updates on Monaco and Invisible, Inc., Jeremy starts in on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Craig continues sneaking around with Stealth Bastard Deluxe and Stealth Inc. 2. Sean is drawn to the dark side with Disney Infinity 3.0, Jeremy plays with himself in Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime, Craig tries to not get caught in Master Spy, Jeremy and Sean rule the wasteland with Mad Max, and Craig goes WAY BACK with Sid Meier's Covert Action. E-mail us at comments@signedinpodcast.com!  Visit us online at SignedInPodcast.com!   Games discussed on this episode! 0:00:00 – Intro 0:06:46 – GTA V 0:11:53 – Monaco 0:14:49 – Invisible, Inc. 0:16:53 – Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 0:23:00 – Stealth Bastard Deluxe & Stealth Inc. 2 0:29:45 – Disney Infinity 3.0 0:41:58 – Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime 0:52:07 – Master Spy 0:58:20 – Mad Max 1:22:52 – Sid Meier’s Covert Action 1:43:01 – End

Covert Action Operation [An operation designed to affect foreign affairs; may be lethal or non-lethal.]   The failures of Ahab continue as the King, who was supposed to be a protector of his people, allowed one to be destroyed for his own personal...

Covert Action Operation [An operation designed to affect foreign affairs; may be lethal or non-lethal.]   The failures of Ahab continue as the King, who was supposed to be a protector of his people, allowed one to be destroyed for his own personal...

Dr. Herbert Lin is chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies. An expert on cyber security, Herb discusses various aspects of cyber attacks, including ways in which cyber weapons can be used for covert action. To view his co-edited report on this subject, visit: http://www.anagram.com/berson/nrcoiw.pdf