Podcast appearances and mentions of joe lauria

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today, we celebrate by discussing the complexity of having multiple wives. Joining us is Joe Lauria, who has nothing to promote but is here to hang out and become our new best friend. Stick around... you may learn a thing or two. Have a wonderful day, everyone! Support Fiddly Dicking Merch Store - fiddlyshop.com (https://www.fiddlyshop.com) Tip Jar - Donate Today (https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=MJJXJ895WU3NY) Twitter: @fdicking (https://twitter.com/FDicking) Facebook: Fiddly Dicking Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/fiddlydicking/) Instagram: Fiddly Dicking Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fiddlydicking/) YouTube: The Fiddly Dicking Show (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2hQjlthkalz2IMEknmt0fg)

This is the political season to be thankful for small favors of optimism, and in this edition of Scheer Intelligence, host Robert Scheer and guest Joe Lauria, editor of the Consortium News website, are excited to have found a gift of striking significance to what remains of the practice of serious journalism on the internet. It is Donald Trump’s delivery on a promise in his inauguration address that “After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all censorship and bring back free speech to America.” What Trump is referring to is summarized in his executive order, “Restoring Free Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,” asserting: “Over the last four years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve.” Under the guise of combatting ‘misinformation,’ `disinformation’ and ‘malinformation,’ the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States.”  Despite its presence In the egregious pile of Donald Trumps otherwise deeply frightening Executive Orders assaulting logic and decency, both Scheer and Lauria, who edit internet publications that have been targeted in this manner, argue that this particular executive order is a gem of sharp brilliance that should not be shunned for the 

Joe Lauria, of Fox 4, joined The Drive to discuss the upcoming Winter Storm about to hit Kansas City.

* Israel's Series of Assassinations, Lebanon Invasion Puts Middle East on Brink of Regional War; John Feffer Director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies; Producer: Scott Harris. * As Netanyahu Addresses UN General Assembly, Americans Protest Israel's Genocide in Gaza; Gregory Daly a participant in a NYC protest against Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 26th; Producer: Melinda Tuhus. * US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Condemned for Advocating Reckless Action in Ukraine War; Joe Lauria, Editor-in-Chief of Consortium News; Producer: Scott Harris.

(Repeat broadcast originally aired November 5, 2021) This week on the Global Research News Hour we bring a special program focused on the plight of Julian Assange. We look not only on the details of the recent appeal of the Extradition Trial, we probe his history and background, the role of Wikileaks, and the eventual erasure of journalism manifest in attempts to continue the assault on Assange. Our round of guest speakers include John Shipton, the father of Assange, John Kiriakou, Joe Lauria, Binoy Kampmark, and Megan Sherman with appearances by Stella Moris, Assange's fiancee, and John Pilger.

Follow this week's guest Scott Ritter on X/Twitter @RealScottRitter and his substack http://scottritterextra.com/ and read his latest article here: https://consortiumnews.com/2024/04/15/scott-ritter-the-missiles-of-april/ Find me and the show on social media @DrWilmerLeon on X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd   FULL TRANSCRIPT: Announcer (00:06): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Wilmer Leon (00:14): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon, and I'm 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 occur. During each episode, my guests and I have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between current events in the broader historic context in which they happen, 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 it says, what can we expect next? Now that Iran has responded militarily to Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria for insight into this, let's turn to my guest. He's a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD. His most recent book is entitled Disarmament in the Time of Parika, and he is of course, Scott Ritter. As always, Scott, welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Wilmer Leon. Scott Ritter (01:37): Well, thanks for having me. Wilmer Leon (01:39): So Pepe Escobar wrote the following. He called it the Shadow Play, and he writes, so this is how it happened. Burns met an Iranian delegation in Oman. He was told the Israeli punishment was inevitable, and if the US got involved, then all US bases will be attacked and the Rai of Horus would be blocked. Burns said, we do nothing if no civilians are harmed. The Iranians said it will be a military base or an embassy. The CIA said, go ahead and do it. Scott Ritter, you've been writing about these issues in Iran for over 20 years. First, your assessment of Pepe Escobar's assessment. Scott Ritter (02:29): Well, I mean, clearly Pepe, he is a journalist. He is a journalist of some renno, and he has a source and he's reporting it. It's plausible. I can't confirm it. I can't sit here and say, I know that this happened. I have no idea if this happened. I do know that the CIA has over the course of time, taken on a shadow diplomacy role because the State Department in implementing America's hegemonic policies has alienated America with so many nations and that normal diplomatic relations are impossible. And so the CIAs assume this responsibility. Indeed, this is why William Burns was selected by Joe Biden to be the director of the CIA. He's not a CIA hand, he's not a man who has involved. He's a diplomat, former ambassador to Russia, and he's a man who has written a book called The Back Channel, which describes his approach, the back channel approach to resolving things. Burns has carried out similar meetings with Russia when trying to reopen arms control venues or talk about possible prisoner exchanges. (03:55) It's burns that takes the lead on these things. The CIA has played an important role in the past in facilitating dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The CIA had a very big role to play in making that happen. The CIA was behind the secret negotiations with the Taliban that led to the American withdrawal. So would it surprise me that the CIA has connectivity with Iran? Absolutely not. Especially given Burns' role and the importance of the back channel to the Biden administration. I think the Israelis might find it somewhat of a shock that the United States green lit the Iranian response. But then again, we're living in very strange times where the lack of, let's just call it the deterioration of relations between the United States and Israel is real. I've said for some time now that no American president or presidential candidate has won the White House by turning his back on Israel. (05:09) And I've also noted that no Israeli Prime Minister stays in power by turning his back on the United States. And yet we have a situation today where Joe Biden, a sitting president, is starting to turn his back on Israel because of the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu's government policies that are being carried out in direct defiance of American instructions to the contrary. So we live in unprecedented times, and it would seem to me that the United States has made it clear that their policy objectives, strategic policy objectives, and again, just a quick background, remember, part of the reason why we withdrew from Afghanistan in August of 2021 is that we were delinking ourselves from a two decade long commitment to the middle. We were going to lower our profile there as part of our pivot to the Pacific to confront China. And so we have, we no longer are actively implementing the Carter Era doctrine of guaranteed American military intervention. (06:21) Anytime something in the Middle East goes south that we don't like, we don't do Desert Storm anymore. We don't do Operation Iraqi freedom anymore. We don't do the invasion of Afghanistan anymore. We're not looking for a fight. We're looking to avoid a fight. And one of the reasons is that Iran has emerged as a very significant regional power with a tremendous amount of military capability. Iran is also a major player in the regional and global economy, and it's incumbent upon the United States to do what we can stabilize this economy to make sure that it doesn't go south, especially in an election year where the old James Carville mantra, it's the economy stupid factors in so large. So we don't want a war or a conflict with Iran that could lead to the shutting down of the straight or moves. This would've a devastating impact on global energy security. (07:20) Oil prices would go through the roof at a time again to remind people when Joe Biden has lowered the strategic petroleum reserve down to less than 17 days worth of reserves. So if there was suddenly a shutdown in oil transit, we'd be in trouble. Huge trouble in an election year, which is for Joe Biden. So it doesn't, what I'm trying to say is a long way of saying that there's a lot of reason to believe the reporting that's put out by Pepe Esquire. And again, when I say believe the reporting, I'm not challenging Pepe Escobar. I understand I'm saying that every journalist has sources and some sources are better than others. But what I'm saying is my assessment of the information that Pepe is reporting from the source would be that this is extraordinarily plausible, that it makes sense that this would indeed happen. Wilmer Leon (08:15): That was my takeaway, whether it was Bill Burns or whether it was Mr. Burns from whatever that cartoon is. I was really focused more on the point that there was a dialogue between the United States and the parties involved, and that those parties came to a consensus. In fact, when I read, it might have been, I guess it was Thursday, that Iran had seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Straits of Horus. Then there was the missile launching, and then that drones were used as the kind of foray or entree into all of this and that the drones traveled as far as they did. I said, oh, well, Iran was really sending a message more than they were an attack. And I think the message was, and is if you're looking for trouble, you found it and you found a very big bag of it, and you really don't want to mess around with this. It seems as though the Biden administration is starting to get that message. I don't know that Netanyahu, I think it seems like it's falling on deaf ears in Israel. Scott Ritter (09:45): What Iran did here is I have said that I've called it one of the most impressive military victories in modern history. Wilmer Leon (09:57): In fact, let me interrupt and say, folks, you need to read Scott's piece, the missiles of April. You can find it in Consortium News, Scott, you can tell me where else, but it's a phenomenal assessment of what recently transpired. Scott Ritter. Scott Ritter (10:14): Well, thank you very much. It was originally put out on my substack, it's scott ritter extra.com, but then Joe Luria, who I have a very good relationship, he's the editor of Consortium News, asked permission to publish it with Consortium News. And then he and I had a discussion and he asked some questions, follow on questions based upon the article, and I gave him some answers. (10:38) So he added some material. So for anybody who read my article on my substack, there's additional material in on the consortium news variant. You might want to read that as well. It's just basically an update when you write things about moving targets such as breaking news, you write based upon the data that's available. And in the time between, I published on my Substack and I spoke with Joe Lauria, there was additional information necessary that provided additional clarity to some of the points I made. So it's not that I changed anything in terms of my assessments, although that's possible too. When you get new information, assessments can change, they should change, and you shouldn't be afraid to change them. But my assessment regarding the Iranian, the efficacy of the Iranian attack remains the same, one of the most impressive military victories in time. Now, people say, well, wait a minute, how could that be? (11:29) They didn't blow up Israel. They didn't destroy anything. War is an extension of politics by other means. That's what everybody needs to understand. Military victories basically mean that you have achieved something through the use of military force. That's impressive, especially an impressive military victory. What Iran did on April 14th, on April 13th, 14th, and this attack is established deterrence, supremacy over Israel. Iran has had a problem with what I would say, making the world understand its declaratory policy regarding deterrence, it's deterrence strategy. Deterrence is basically a policy posture that says, if you want to hit me, understand that I'm going to come in afterwards and pummel you to death, that the price you're going to pay for hitting me is going to be so great that you don't want to hit me. I'm not threatening to hit you first. I'm sitting here saying, live and let live, but if you attack me, the price you're going to pay will be so overwhelming that it won't be worth what you thought you were going to achieve by hitting me in the first place. (12:44) Iran has established this deterrence superiority over the United States. We saw that when the United States assassinated QM Soleimani in 2020, the Iranians responded with a missile attack against the Alad airbase that didn't kill any Americans. It was telegraphed well in advance, but the purpose was to demonstrate the Americans that we can reach out and touch you anywhere, anytime with devastating force, and there's nothing you can do to stop this, nothing you can do. So now we get to William Burns meeting with his Iranian counterparts, and when they say, and we will strike American bases, burns is going, and they can, and if they do, there's nothing we could do to stop it and we will suffer horrific losses. Therefore, Mr. President, we should heed what the Iranians are saying. This is deterrent superiority over the United States, that the United States understands the consequences of attacking. Iran is not willing to live with those consequences. (13:45) They'll be severe even more so in an election year where any disruption of the economy is politically fatal to the incumbent seeking reelection. So they have successfully done that with the United States. Iran has also used missiles. Again, part of declaratory policy. It doesn't have to be necessarily spoken policy, but demonstrative, and we've seen Iran use missiles to strike targets in Iran, in Syria, Pakistan, in Pakistan. Wilmer Leon (14:17): In fact, on that Pakistan point, that was what about a month ago, maybe month and a half ago, and when I heard that Iran had sent, I think it was a cruise missile into Pakistan, I did my best to calculate how far that missile traveled. And then I checked, well, what's the distance between Tehran and Tel Aviv? It was about the same distance. And I said, I think Iran is sending a message to the Israel that we can strike Tel Aviv if we so choose. Scott Ritter (14:57): Yeah, I mean, first of all, just so people understand historically during the Gulf War, and not too many people know this, so Israel was very perturbed about Saddam Hussein's scud missiles hitting Israeli cities and locations, and they were threatening direct military intervention, which would've destroyed the coalition that George W. Bush had built up. And so we were doing everything we could to convince the Israelis that we had the scud problem under Control Pro. And you mean that you were personally involved in doing that? Yeah, no, this was my part of the war that, I mean, first of all, I wasn't a general, I wasn't a colonel. I wasn't lieutenant Colonel. I wasn't a major, I was just a captain. But as a captain, I played a bigger role than one would normally expect from a captain. I mean, when my name gets briefed to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, and when General Schwarz cov not only fires me, but arrests me because of what I'm doing, I'm having an impact larger than what I was wearing on my shoulder, and I'm pretty proud of the work I did during the Gulf War, but that's beside the point. (16:04) The point is that Israel was being told, don't intervene because we've got it under control. But Israel needed to make a statement, and it was a statement being made not to Iraq, because what they did is they brought out a Jericho missile, which is a nuclear capable missile, but also can have control warheads, and they fired this missile into the Mediterranean Sea, and when you measure the distance that it went, it's exactly the distance from Israel to Baghdad and what the Israelis were telling, not the Iraqis, because the Iraqis couldn't monitor the attack and it wasn't publicly announced. They were telling the Americans who were monitoring that, if you don't solve this problem, we're going to solve it for you, and this is the weapon that we're going to use. And it was a wake up call. I remember when that happened. We're all like, stop. (16:55) We were only getting two hours sleep at night. No more sleep at night. Do everything you can to stop these Iraqi missiles from flying. We never did, but Israel stayed out of the war. But my point is, when you talk about, because to the lay person, they might be like, come on Wilmer, you're getting a little too creative. They're a little too conspiratorial. Wilmer Leon (17:17): I heard that. I heard that last Saturday night. I was at a buddy's house and he said to me, I walk into his house and CNN is on, as it always is, chirping in the background. And so finally he says to me, so what do you think? I said, think about what he said. What do you think about the Iraq? I said, oh. I said, man, that was collaborated. That was done with collaboration. He said, man, you always come in here with this junk. I said, well, okay. So I hear that a lot. Scott Ritter (17:53): Well, but in this case, it's not junk because I'm telling you, as somebody who has been in the technical analysis business of ballistic missiles for some time now, there are various ways to send a message. To give you an example, in the arms control world, sometimes the way to send a message is to open up telemetry channels that are normally closed down and launch a missile test. You're not saying anything. You don't put out a press release, but the people monitor because you don't want to say anything. North Korea does this all the time, all the time. They open up some telemetry channels and they just go, Hey, listen to this. And they send a to the Sea of Japan, and the technicians are going, ohoh. They got, oh, they did this capability. Oh, no. And then they're writing secret reports, and that message gets, meanwhile, the public is just sitting there, going to the beach, surfing, smoking dope, and doing whatever we do because we are not meant to get upset about this or worried about it. (18:52) It's a subtle message being sent to leadership through the intelligence agency. So your notion that the distance mattered because Iran didn't need to fire at that distance. They just could have fired at a closer range, whatever, but to fire at that distance is a signal to the people who are that distance away, that what we're doing here we can do here. But the problem is the Israelis weren't listening. This is the problem. Iran has through very indirect and direct means. First of all, Iran has never issued a public declaratory policy on deterrence and ballistic missiles until now. And it's one of the weaknesses of Iran is that they didn't make it clear what the consequences would be. The United States got it because they hit us and we're smart enough to go, oh, we don't want that again. Pakistan sort of gets it, but I mean ISIS and Syria, when they got hit with missiles, ISIS isn't going to sit there and go, oh, you're going to hit us with missiles, so we're not going to carry out terrorism anymore. (20:03) No, that was a punitive attack. The same thing with the various missile strikes in Iraq. It was punitive attack. It wasn't meant to be a declaratory policy statement. And so here you have a situation where Israel just isn't getting it because Israel believes that it has deterrent supremacy over Iran. And why would Israel believe that? I don't know. Maybe they've assassinated a whole bunch of Iranian scientists in Iran with no consequence. Maybe they've carried out covert direct action sabotage in Iran blowing up nuclear related facilities with no consequence. Maybe they've struck Iranian revolutionary Guard command positions in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, inflicting casualties with no consequence. So maybe Israel believed that it had established deterrent supremacy over Iran. Therefore, when they saw a meeting at the Iranian consulate in Damascus of these major people plotting the next phase of the operation against Israel, they said, take it out. (21:04) There won't be any consequence because the Iranians are afraid of us. The Iranians won't strike us because we have deterrent supremacy. Iran believes that if they attack us, we will come down on them tenfold. And so they struck the consulate and Iran went, guess what guys? Nope, it's over. We're done with the subtlety. We warned you don't attack our sovereign territory. The consulate is sovereign territory. We're going to respond. But now the problem with the Iranian response is you have to put yourself in the Iranian shoes because the last thing Iran wants, it's just like the United States. They don't want a war with Israel. They don't want it, as they said in the Godfather, it's bad for business, it's bad for business. And business right now for Iran is improving. They're members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China has brokered a reproachment with Saudi Arabia, dismantling an American strategy of creating a Sunni shield against the Shia crescent and provoking permanent conflict that would empower American defense industry, Israeli security credibility and economic co prosperity between that part of the ward and Europe with Israel in the middle. (22:25) Israel's going, wow, we're back in the game, guys, when Israel was Benjamin Netanyahu, for all the criticism that people have out there, and I'm one of those biggest critics understand that on October 6th, he was on top of the world on October 6th, he had created a geopolitical reality that had Israel normalizing relations with the Gulf Arab states, Israel becoming a major player in a major global economic enterprise, the India, middle East, economic C and the world, not talking about a Palestinian state anymore. Israel was entering, becoming legitimate. It was like Michael Corleone and the Godfather when he was saying, I'm going to put all that behind me and I'm going to become legitimate, reached out and just drag them back in by October 7th. And then Israel was exposed for the criminal enterprise that it is, and now Israel has collapsed. But Iran, that was the Israeli process. (23:27) Iran is sitting here saying, we don't want to war. We're members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. We normalized relations with Saudi Arabia. We have an axis of resistance that's holding Israel in check and these plans, Hezbollah is very strong. The militias in Iraq and are strong. The Anella movement in Yemen, the Yemen strong, but we don't want to provoke war. What we want is to become economically viable again. The promise that we, the theocracy have made to the Iranian people over time that trust us, things will get better. We're in that, Hey, you trusted us. Now things are about to get better. We're joining bricks together with Saudi Arabia, so we're going to work with Saudi Arabia and these powerful economic interests that no longer are turning their backs on us to create economic opportunity. And the last thing Iran needed is a war with Israel. It's bad for business. (24:29) It's bad for business. And so now the Iranians are like, how do we set declaratory policy to achieve deterrent supremacy? I mean, not supremacy, superiority supremacy is where you have everybody just totally intimidated. Superiority is where you put the thought in people's mind, and they now need to tell the Israelis, you can't attack us or the price you're going to pay is tenfold. Normally you do that. It's like going in the boxing ring. Mike Tyson, even now, I don't know if you've been watching his training videos of him getting ready for this fight he's got in July 20th. The man's a beast. I'm intimidated if I could 57, what he's doing. Wilmer Leon (25:10): Well, lemme tell you. I don't know if you saw the report of the guy that was kicking the back of his seat on the airplane, and he came over. He kept asking the guy, Hey man, can you stop kicking my seat? And the guy wouldn't leave him alone. And the folks on the plane said, finally he came over the top of that seat like Iran and pummeled the guy. They had to carry the guy off the plane and a stretcher. Scott Ritter (25:42): Well see, that's deterrence supremacy. There you go. Deterrence supremacy is when I jump into the ring with Tyson and Tyson knocks my face in, kicks my teeth out, and I'm on the ground hospitalized and bites your ear, pardon? And bites your ear. That is a bonus. Yes. (26:02) The deterrence superiority is where I jump in the ring, ent Tyson comes up, takes the fist right to my nose and just touches it. But he doesn't in a way that I'm in my stance, but he's already there and I'm like, oh, oh, I got a problem. Yeah, okay. I don't really want to be in this ring, Mike. It was a misunderstanding. I'm backing off. I'm just going to go out here and pee my pants in the parking lot. So that's what Iran needed to do. But how do you do this? It's very delicate operation. That's why this was one of the most impressive military opera victories in modern history because what Iran did was make all the demonstration necessary to show potential, and in the end, they hit a base nem. And this is important for your audience to understand. The Naam airbase is the single most heavily protected spot on earth when it comes to anti-ballistic missile defense. (26:55) There's no spot on earth that's better defended than nem. It has at the heart of this defense, a and I'll give you a fancy name, a N TP Y two X-Band radar sounds like, well, not one, not one, but two. Well, it's the number two radar, not two radars. Wilmer Leon (27:13): No, I'm saying because I got one over my house. Yeah, they got two over 2.0. This is 2.0 man. Scott Ritter (27:20): They got this radar there that has the ability to do overheard the horizon surveillance, but it's not just the radar, which is the most sophisticated radar of its type in the world. It's linked into the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in the United States Strategic Command and the satellites that we have over hanging over the area. So all of that's linked in into a common command center that's shared with the Israelis. So this data is fed to the Israelis and around Nati. (27:48) And why is Naam important? I don't know. The F 35 I fighters are there. This is Israel's best fighter plane, their strategic deterrent. They have F fifteens, F sixteens, and they do other secret things there as well because of the notice that they were given, if I understand it, they were able to move those F 35. So the F, again, it was coordinated 100%. I mean, we'll get to that in a second. But they have the arrow two and arrow three missiles, which are joint Israeli American projects are deployed around Nevada. David Sling, which is another anti-ballistic missile capability, is deployed around Nevada. Advanced Patriot missiles are deployed around Nevada. And the US Thad system is deployed around Nevada. The bottom line is they have, and there's Iron Dome as well. So what they have is this multi-layered defense using the world's best anti-ballistic missile technology linked to the world's best surveillance and tracking technology. (28:56) And you read the literature on this stuff, we hit a bullet with a bullet. Okay, wow, you guys are good. Now here's the other thing. It's all specifically tailored for one threat and one threat only. Iranian medium range ballistic missiles. That's all it's geared to do. It's not like there's confusion. It's not like you have a multitude of missions. One mission, Iranian medium range missiles. Okay? So now that's like me watching Mike Tyson training videos, and I'm watching the training and I'm like, I got 'em. I can move. I got this guys, I got this. I go into training, bullet, hit a bullet, hit a bullet. I got this. And so now, Mike Tyson, Iran, they go a step further. Not only do they do the Pepe Escobar advanced notice, they build the attack in a way that says, Hey, this is really happening. They announce that the launch of the drones, and these aren't just any drones, guys. (29:57) These are slow, moving, loud drones. So you couldn't get a better air alarm system than what Iran gave Israel. They unleashed the drones, and here the drones go. Now Israel's got, they're like flying bumblebees six hours of advanced notice, which gives the United States time to say, take your F 30 fives out, anything value out. But the other thing the Iranians did is they told the United States, see, I think they went a step further. The Iranians made it clear that they will only strike military targets that were related to the action. Iran's whole argument. And again, I know in the West, we tend to rule our eyes, like when Russia says, we acted in Ukraine based upon Article 51, self-defense, preemptive self-defense, the Caroline Doctrine, all the people who hate Russia go, no, no. That was a brutal roar of aggression. Unprovoked. No, the Russians actually have a cognitive legal case because that's how Russia operates based upon the rule of law. (30:57) Now, the rule of law, Wil, as we all know, can be bent, twisted, manipulated. I'm not saying that the Russians have the perfect case. What I'm saying is the case that Russia has made is cognizable under law, right? It's defendable. You could take it to a court and it's not going to be tossed out asr. It's not Tony Blinken rules based order. It is not. And so now the Saudis, or not the, I'm sorry, the Iranians, they have been attacked and they have cited Article 51 of the UN charter as their justification. But now you can't claim to be hiding behind the law and then just totally break the law yourself. If Iran had come in, you can. You're the United States, correct? But that's the rules based international, not the law based international. That's the difference between the two. The rules say we can do whatever we want. (31:50) The law says no, you're constrained by the law. So in order to justify self-defense, Iran had to limit its retaliation to the immediate threat that was posed by those who attacked them, which means you can hit the two air bases where the airplanes flew out. And there's a third site that nobody's talking about yet. Is that the CIA site? Well, it's the 8,200, the Sgin site on Golan Heights that's looking out into Damascus. And according to the Iranians, that's the site that gathered the intelligence about the Iranians being in the consulate and then shared that intelligence with the airplanes coming in. And so these three targets are the three. Now, in addition to that, Iran is allowed to strike facilities and locations that are involved in the defense of these three things. So the ballistic missile defense capability becomes a legitimate target. But now, so Iran has to hit these three, and so they've broadcasted, we're coming, we're coming. (32:55) And that gives the United States do something politically smart, which is to tell the Israelis, we will defend you, but we will not participate in any Israeli counter attack. So we've limited the scope and scale of our participation in this. And so we came together, we started shooting down these drones, creating a fiction of Iranian incompetence, Iranian lack of capability. So this is part of the plan. This is all part of the plan. Now, Iran didn't sit down with the United States and say, this is what we're going to do. This is what we want you to do. Iran is scripting it for them. I mean, this is basically United States going, damn, I forgot my lines. Here you go. Here come the drones. Here come the drones. Shoot them down. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you. And so we're shooting it down, and then we're sending the cruise missiles, just in case you don't know, we're launching them live on TV Here. (33:51) Let me show you a closeup of what they look like so you understand the operational parameters of the system. And off go, the cruise missiles. Don't shoot pigeons, shoot cruise missiles. So now they're shooting. But then as they're doing this, the Iranians are sitting there going, okay, so we sent the drones. What's lightening up, guys? First of all, what people don't understand is before all this happened, the Iranians did a very targeted cyber attack and shut down. They attacked the Iron Dome system. Now, why do you want to attack the Iron Dome system but not attack the others? Because the Iron Dome system isn't designed to take down big ballistic missiles. It's designed to take down the other stuff. Medium range cruise missiles. No, well, cruise missiles and drones, low flying. It's actually designed to take down kaka rockets and the Hamas rockets. Okay? That's what it's supposed to do. (34:44) So you disrupt this so that the other systems have to take priority, and then the arrives, you go, oh, thank you very much. Now, some of the drones that were sent in aren't armed with explosives, but armed with radars and signals intelligence collection, which they're broadcasting the data back to Iran. These are guys are very sophisticated ladies and gentlemen. These aren't amateurs you're dealing with. And so they're sitting in going here. They come turn it on, collect, thank you. And now they have their targeters looking at a big map going, okay, we got a radar here. We got here. Okay, now they're shooting. Okay, we got missile launchers here, boom, boom, boom. It's all there. And they've looked at all. Then they say, okay, remember, because the goal now is to get the glove to touch the nose. The goal isn't to hit the knockout. (35:33) So they say, what do we need to do to demonstrate capability the Iranians used? Now, there's some mixed reporting out here. The problem is I like everybody else, I'm held hostage with the Iranians. I don't get to go on the ground anymore and look at the debris and do technical analysis. I used to do that, and I used to be able to come back. One of the things we did with the Iraqis, just so people understand, I am not the dumbest marine in the world. I'm one of the dumbest Marines in the world, but I do have some capability based upon experience. And when my time as a weapons inspector, I worked with the Israelis, their technical intelligence people on looking at debris of the missiles that Iraq fired against Israel. And we were able to ascertain several different variants of scud missiles that have different capabilities that the Iraqis had been denying or not declaring. (36:27) And by coming back to them with the technical intelligence from the debris on the ground, the Iraqis had to admit to certain capabilities that they had been denying. And this is important when you're trying to be able to stand before the world and say, we understand the total picture of Iraqi ballistic missile capability, and we can certify that we can account for it all. Because imagine going before the security council and saying that only to have the Israelis go, yes, but what about variant 3D alpha four? Well, I don't understand what you're talking about. What's 3D alpha four? That's the point. You're making a report and you don't understand what we're talking about, which means you don't know everything, do you? I don't like to be in that position as an expert, or I want to know everything. And so we did, and we got the Iraqis to come clean. (37:14) So when I say we could account for Iraq's ballistic missile program, we could account for every aspect of it. So I don't get to do that right now. So I'm at a disadvantage where I have to rely upon information. So I don't know if Iran used their hypersonic missiles or not. I don't know that, okay, reports, it's reported. There's reports that they did, and then there's reports that they didn't, and it's conflicting. The most recent press TV report and press TV is a organ of the Iranian state, says that they did use the fat two missiles against thetan airfield. So I'm going to run with that, but I want to put a big caveat on that, that I don't know for certain. (38:01) But we do know, just looking at the characteristics of the missiles that came in, that they used at least three different kinds of, they used more than that, but three that were designed to put the glove on the nose, other missiles that were sent were designed to be shot down again as part of the intelligence collection process. So you send in an older ballistic missile that comes on a ballistic missile trajectory. The first thing that you do by doing that is you are training the defense systems. These Iranians are smart. They understand these things. You're training them because you see, there's a whole bunch of computers, software, artificial intelligence. This is the proof that ai, please don't do it better than ai. Is the brain a train brain? Because ai, listen to what everybody's talking about. I mean, I get this phone call. I don't know if you get this up, Scott, I'd like to take the transcripts of your discussions and use them to train my ai. I don't know if you've ever received that request. And I'm like, no, I don't want you to do that. But I just personally go. But the point is, that's how ai, it's not artificial intelligence, ladies and gentlemen. It's just programmed, just programmed in a different way. And you can program in stupidity, which the Iranians said, which they usually do. Let's program in stupidity. Wilmer Leon (39:24): Well, for example, just for a quick example, that's why facial recognition technology fails to the degree that it does. It's limited by the abilities and capabilities of the people that are programming it. That's why facial recognition technology doesn't work on Asian people, and it doesn't work on people of color. Dammit, I'm the wrong race. I could have put that a long time ago. Go ahead, Scott Ritter (39:57): Touche. So the Iranians are programming the ai. They're sending missiles in, and the system is starting to normalize to come up with a, because it's wartime now. So now you're actually detecting tracking and firing. Then what you do is you throw in, it's like a pitcher, fastball, fastball, fastball, changeup, and here comes the changeup. First changeup they do is, and I don't know the sequence that they did this, but we see the video evidence. There's a warhead that comes in, and again, it's about timing. So you're sending these missiles in. Now they have separating warheads. So what happens when a missile has a separating warhead is the radar's picking one target. (40:44) All of a sudden, the radar is dealing with two targets, but it's not just two targets. When you separate the warhead from the missile body, the missile body starts to tumble and it starts sending differentiating signals, and it's no longer a ballistic trajectory. So the computer's going, oh my God, what's happening here? Meanwhile, this warhead's going this way, it's tracking that, and it has to make a decision. Which one? Which one? Which one, which one, which one? This one, pick this warhead. So now they've trained it to discriminate onto this warhead, which is what they want. Now, you'd say, why would they want to look at that warhead? You'll find out the warhead comes in and they're timing. It's like a track coach got the timer, warhead comes in, and the missiles fire up to hit it, and you go, we got it. We now know what the release point is for the missiles being fired. (41:29) So now they send in this other missile, it comes in, warhead separates the AI says, go with the warhead baby. They ignore this thing, which is good. It's just a distraction. They're focused on the warhead, they're on the clock. Everything's getting queued up just the way it's supposed to be. Everything's optimized. We're going to take this thing, a bullet hits a bullet baby, and all of a sudden, the warhead right before the launch on the ground, fires off a whole bunch of decoys. It's like a shotgun shell. And the computer goes, damn, what the hell just happened? We don't know. It's going crazy, trying to differentiate between all this stuff. And they're firing a whole bunch of missiles now in panic overload, and they're trying to deal with this. And meanwhile, they have a warhead here. They accelerated these shotgun shells out. So they're going faster. (42:17) Now, the computer's adapting to that. Oh God, what do we do? Fire, fire, fire. That warhead's hanging back. It's not the priority right now. And then once everything's committed, you see it on the film, boom. It has a booster engine on it. It gets fired through the chaff. Nothing's intercepting it, bam hits the ground. But not only that, as it comes in, it makes an adjustment. I don't know if people saw that. It comes in and you see it go up, up. Again, terminal adjustment to hit the precise target it wanted to hit. Iran sent a couple of those in, and they took out the Iron Dome sites, et cetera. A signal just got you. And they know that the Israelis are smart. They know that there's a bunch of Israeli guys who were smarter than I am that I used to work with who were looking at all this stuff going, oh God, they got us. (43:11) They got us. Damn. Now we come to Nevada, and it's the same thing. They send in the missiles. This is the most heavily layered system in the world. They send in the missiles, and this one's not even as sophisticated. It just comes in. They release it, hyper accelerates down. Then wham hits the ground and the Israelis, because the Israelis are like, okay, we got it. We got it. We don't have it. It's like a catcher used to catch 70 mile an hour fastballs, and it hits him in the head, and then the guy fires the 102 mile an hour. Bam. What happened? I wasn't ready for that. It comes in and it hits it. Wilmer Leon (43:47): Well catcher called a change up, and a fastball came through. Fast ball came in. Scott Ritter (43:52): So then they came into Na, Nevada, and they touched Naum at least five times. The Iranians were saying seven times. I would probably go with five. And the reason why I say this is that there is a chance the most heavily defended space on earth, there's a chance that they got two of 'em. I'm going to concede that point to the Israelis and the Americans that you put all these hundreds of billions of dollars into building something, and you got two out of seven, but five hit. But the idea, none of them were meant to be a knockout blow. Each one was just a, Hey, hey. And the Israelis know that They're sitting there going, and now they've come to the realization, and this is the whole point. After all of this, the Israelis have come to the realization that Iran can reach out and touch us anytime it wants to, any place it wants to, and there's nothing we can do to stop them. So now the Israelis are in a quandary because Iran has war is an extension of politics by other means. (44:51) So Iran has established a political reality using military means to establish a deterrence superiority without creating the conditions that mandate an automatic Israeli response. You see, they've allowed the situation a narrative to be developed by the United States and Israel that says, Iran sucks. He sent everything in there. We shot it all down. We're better than they are. We actually established deterrence over Iran by telling the Iranians that no matter what they do, you thought you were Mike Tyson. You came in and swang gave us all your punches. You miss, you, miss you, miss you, miss you, miss. It's like, Ali, I'm still here. You didn't touch me. You punched yourself out. Can't touch this. That's the narrative that Iran was allowing the West to do. But the reality though is that the Israelis got down there, and there was an interesting text, I don't know if you saw it by, not text, but a post by an Israeli insider who has connectivity with the war council. (45:58) And he said, if the Israeli public heard what was being said in the War Council, 4 million people will be leaving Israel right now. I'm going to tell you right now what was said in the war Council, Iran can destroy us. Iran can flatten us. There's nothing we can do if we allow this to happen to remain unanswered. We've lost everything that we've fought for over the past several decades. This deterrence, supremacy that we thought we had has gone forever. Nobody will ever respect us. Nobody will ever fear us, and therefore people will attack us, and we will be in an untenable situation Wilmer Leon (46:39): Wait a minute. That's that's very important politically, because that is part of the whole Zionist ideology, is we we're the persecuted people, and you all need us to protect you because the wolves are always at the door. And now what is the reality is all that insurance money you've been paying for those insurance policies, you've wasted your money. Scott Ritter (47:15): Absolutely. I used to live in Turkey, and when I've traveled through the planes of Turkey, they have shepherds with their flocks, and out there amongst the flocks are the sheep dogs. I don't know if you've ever seen a picture of an Anatolian sheep dog. Yes, big. Wilmer Leon (47:34): I'm a big dog guy. Yes. Scott Ritter (47:35): Okay, so these are like bears, right? Some of them are bigger than bears. And I remember we were walking once in a Kurdish village and we got too close to the sheep, and all of a sudden, these two things coming at us, and they're bigger than we are. I mean, these are bigger than humans, and they're coming at us, and they're going to kill us. And we knew that it was just all over. Then you hear, and the shepherd gives whatever signal, and the sheep dogs stop, and then they come up and they sit down and you pet 'em. (48:04) They have no ears because their ears have been chewed off. Their noses are scars their faces. They got these giant collars with spikes on to protect their throat, their faces like that, because they fight wolves. They hold the wolves off. Israel has been telling the world that we are the anatolian sheep dog. We are here and we will protect you. The rest of the world, the sheep from the wolves, they're getting ready. What Iran just did is went, took off the cloak, then went, you're just a sheep. You're just a sheep. We are the wolves. You're just a sheep. And the sheep's going, I don't want everybody to know this. We were faking them out, that we were the anatolian sheep dog, but we're really just a sheep. So that's a political problem for the Israelis, and this is important, and this is probably the most important part of this discussion, believe it or not, this isn't about Israeli security. This isn't about a real threat to, because Iran is a responsible nation. When Iran talks about deterrence, Wilmer Leon (49:07): oh, wait a minute now, wait a minute. Now, Scott, now you've crossed the Rubicon is Iran is responsible? Yeah, Iran is a, they're ravaging. Crazy. Raghead. Come on, Scott. Scott Ritter (49:25): That may be true, but they're ravaging, crazy Raghead who operate based upon a law-based system as opposed to a rule-based system. Not only that, a law-based system that is based on thousands of years of history and culture, right? I mean, that's their own national culture. I mean, a lot of people go the theocracy, the theocracy, theocracy, yes, but Persian. Persian, Persian. I understand that this is a civilized people who have been around. They invented cataract surgery. They invented a lot of stuff. They invented the agrarian watering system, the irrigation, the irrigation system. They invented the wheel. I think they probably did. (50:20) We've been reinventing the wheel over time. But mathematics, psychology, the whole thing, sociology, all comes out of there. And today, you see it when you Google International Math Olympics, the teams that are coming in at top are Chinese teams and Iranian teams, MIT, California technology, they're coming in down at the bottom. They're not one in this thing behind it. The Indian Institute of Technology, the Indians are getting up there too. They have good applied science and good applied skills. And it's not just that. I mean, to give you an example, the Iranians have the highest percentage of peer reviewed, not percentage, the highest number of peer reviewed PhD thesis published per year. So it's not like, excuse me, Iraq, I, forgive me for this, but under Sadam Hussein, where you went to an Iraqi university, it used to have a good reputation, but they were just punching out, handing out diplomas to Kuai. (51:26) And the thugs who went in there and said, I went to school. Here's your diploma. See, I'm a doctor. No, in Iran, you earn it. You go to the school, you earn it, and you earn it the old fashioned way, peer reviewed, which means your thesis leaves. Iran goes out of ranks the world, the experts, they review it, they come back and they say, this is PhD level work. Wilmer Leon (51:46): I just had a conversation with another dear friend. And when you look at their diplomats, when you look at their leadership, many of them are engineers. President Amad, the first time I went to Iran, I got to sit for two hours with then former president Amadinijad has a PhD in engineering and teaches engineering at the University of Tehran. I sat there for two hours listening to this cat going, oh my God. Yeah, he's not what? (52:22) He was sold deep. He's not some short madman. He's a short, brilliant man. Scott Ritter (52:31): A brilliant madman maybe. But the point is, brilliant dude, genius. No, they're all that way. They all have extraordinary. First of all, let's stop picking on Ayatollahs. If people understood what it took to become an ayatollah in Iran, the level of seminarian study, what you have to know, not just about. And here's the important thing about the Shia theocracy for all the Shia people out there, if I got this wrong, please forgive me, but it's my understanding, especially in the Iranian model, they have something called the Marja, which is basically, it's like your flock. (53:14) What do they call it? A diocese in the Catholic church, right? Congregation. Thank you. There's what we want, congregation. It's a congregation. Now, you have to, because in Iran, it's not just about knowing the religion, but having a philosophy that is derived from absolute understanding of the religion that is approachable to the people. It is religious democracy, because now I've done my ayatollah training and they go, Huma, I can't do the cross. Sorry, God, I just made a huge mistake. Forgive me. But they anoint you. They say, you're the dude. You're the guy that can do it. But now, to survive, you have to write a document that says, this is my religious philosophy as it applies to something today. There's a name for that, the, or something. Again, I apologize, but they put that out there. Now. People read it, the public, it's there for the public. (54:10) And then people go, I like this guy. I'm going to hang out at his marja for a little bit and see what he does. Now, if they come to the Marja and he's not impressive, then the Marja dissipates and they shut 'em down. They say, you failed. You couldn't win the people. It's not just about imposing religion on people. It's about getting the people to buy into what you're saying religiously. Wilmer Leon (54:35): That's what the Ayatollah Khomeini was doing when he was in exile in France. Scott Ritter (54:39): Bingo. Okay. But you have compete, for instance, Al Sistani in Iraq, he has a competing the Najaf. Marges compete with the coal Marges that compete with Carval, which compete with, there's competing margins. And even within Comb, there's different margins. Wilmer Leon (54:59): I'm drawing a blank on the guy in Iraq that was raising all kind of hell. Muqtada al Sadr. There you go. Yeah. Who is the son, if I have it right? He's the son of a the, Grand Ayatollah Scott Ritter (55:17): yeah, yeah, yeah. And he, in order to become credible, had to go to Cole and study and learn things because everybody, when he was out there talking, he had a lot of personality. He had the name, but people are going, you don't have the credentials, man. You can't sit here and play religion because we take our religion seriously. So we had to go disappear and go to calm and train up and all that. Wilmer Leon (55:45): Had to coach him up a little bit. Scott Ritter (55:48): But he also then has to go out and sell himself right? To an audience. And a lot of people weren't buying what he was selling. I mean, he's a very popular man, very influential in Iraqi politics today. But it's earned. It's not given. But the point is, the Iranians are a responsible nation, and if Israel was smart, they would've said, okay, we're in a bad position here, bad position. (56:12) It's not a good position for us to be in. We need to take a step back, take advantage of the fact that the Iranians have written a script that makes it believable that we did some amazing stuff. And then we have to reassess where we are. What do we have to do to get our defenses back up? What do we have to do to get capabilities to strike Iran? When do we want to do it? Because the United States isn't on our side right now, behavioral modification to get the world to love us. Again, things of this nature, strategic thinking. But Israel's governed by a crazy man named Benjamin Netanyahu, who doesn't care about Israel. He doesn't care about the Israeli people. He doesn't care about Israeli security. He doesn't care about alliances with the United States. He's a 76-year-old man in bad health who only cares about Benjamin Netanyahu. (56:58) And he right now has his butt in a sling because he got embarrassed on October 7th, and now he was just humiliated by the Iranians. And he can only stay in power as a wartime prime minister. And if they're going to either, they have to ratchet it up in Gaza. Every Israeli knows that they lost in Gaza that they haven't won Harts the day before, the Iranian attack front page headline, we lost. We lost everything. We haven't won anything we've lost. And that's the assessment of the Israeli intelligence service. And people who don't know need to know that Harts is a very prominent Israeli newspaper with a very good reputation of like, well, you said good reputation. I was about to compare to the New York, used to have, right? There you go. There you go. Like it used to have. But so he's lost in Gaza. (57:52) He was looking to maybe promote a conflict against Hezbollah to expand the war. And there's always that hope that we can drag the United States into a larger war with Iran. But the United States, it says, no, we're not doing that. Hezbollah now is linked to Iranian deterrence, superiority. So you can't do the Hezbollah thing like you wanted to do anymore. You're in a, and now you've got Ansara Allah in the Red Sea shutting down the Red Sea, shutting down the Israeli economy. Wilmer Leon (58:22): And on the other side, you have Iran shutting down the strai of Harmouz. And that's why I go back to that ship that they captured because they wanted the United States to understand will shut your oil off. Scott Ritter (58:36): And the United States, remember, we've been running guardian prosperity or something like that, whatever the name of our wonderfully named operation to deter the Hootie. And we, I don't know if everybody understands, we had to approach the Hoothie last week and beg them to stop it. Please, please, please, please, please. We'll stop bombing you. We'll do everything. We'll lift the terrorism thing, but just stop this, please, because we can't force you to stop it. And the Hootie went, no. Yeah. They said, here's another one. The missiles, you guys are deterring. That's a failure. But that's the thing. The failure of deterrents policy has been played out with the Hoothie and it's being played out. See, America no longer has deterrents, superiority. We no longer have deterrence. We can't deter a minute. Wilmer Leon (59:25): Wait a minute. We sent the Eisenhower into, now this takes me back to, so we sent a couple of aircraft carrier groups into the region when I think it was the Eisenhower. Oh, it was Gerald Ford. We first sent the Gerald Ford in President Putin says to Joe Biden, why did you do that? You are not scaring anybody. These people don't scare. And oh, by the way, we can sink your carrier from here with our Kenjal missile. Hypersonic missile. So stop it, Joe. You're not scaring anybody. Scott Ritter (01:00:08): But here's something else that happened, and I'm glad you brought this up. This is an important thing. The United States linked at least two of its ships to this system, and this is part of the American anti-ballistic missile strategy. We do this with Japan, we do this with Korea, we do this with Europe. We have a whole bunch of ages, class destroyers in Spain that we now are going to fan out to protect Europe from Russian missiles. And we're telling everybody, no worry. We got this. We got this. Remember guys, when that satellite was coming down, we shot it down. We're that good? We can pull it, hit a bullet kind of stuff. So we went to the Israelis and we plugged in to the world's most sophisticated anti-ballistic missile shield in the world. We plugged in and the Iranians went. (01:00:55) What the Iranians proved, and I just want this to sink in there, they can hit any American ship anytime they want with a warhead that will sink that ship. They just sent a signal to the United States that we will sink every one of your aircraft carriers. We will sink every one of your destroyers, all these wonderful ships you have. You can't stop it. The missile we sent in and touched, Nevada can sink any one of your ships. And how do we know? Because you plugged your ships into the system. Guys, up until then, we might've been theoretical about this, but now you plugged it in and you were playing the game. You committed your best anti-missile ships to the defense system, and you didn't stop us. We went in and went pop, pop, pop, pop, pop five times on the target. If Nevada had become the Gerald Ford or become the Eisenhower or the Carl Benson, we would've sunk that ship. (01:01:52) That's the other thing that the Iranians did here that nobody's talking about, because this is the scariest thing in the world to the United States. Iran just told the United States, your Navy is useless. Useless. It's done and now, but it's not just the Iranians, the North Korean, China China has everybody out there who has hypersonic missile capability is now basically saying, oh yeah, we can sink American ships too. And this is important thing. Wilmer Leon (01:02:22): I was talking to KJ Noh last week, and KJ was talking about the United States sending all kind of hardware into Taiwan and that the United States may even wind up sending personnel in Taiwan and in anticipation of China making a, I think this is what KJ said, making a land invasion in Taiwan. And I said, kj, why would China do that when all they got to do is sink an aircraft carrier with a hypersonic missile? And he said, well, that's a good point. Scott Ritter (01:02:58): No, I mean the United States, but now we come to, because America's facing the same problem that BB Netanyahu is, except there's not a political dimension to it. BB Netanyahu right now has to do something to stay in power politically so now Wilmer Leon (01:03:15): and not be prosecuted for theft. Scott Ritter (01:03:19): Correct. For his corruption. Yeah. Second, he leaves office, he gets arrested and he gets put on trial. Wilmer Leon (01:03:25): Ala Donald Trump. Scott Ritter (01:03:27): Except, yeah, I mean, yeah, Wilmer Leon (01:03:32): that's a whole nother story. But I'm just saying that right now is what Donald Trump is facing. Scott Ritter (01:03:38): Correct. Wilmer Leon (01:03:38): And I'm not saying it's legitimate or not legitimate. Scott Ritter (01:03:41): Yeah. That's my only reason why I did that is I don't want to get into the, no, Wilmer Leon (01:03:47): it's happening. Scott Ritter (01:03:47): Because Netanyahu is a criminal. He is a corrupt person. Donald Trump is an imperfect human being who may have committed some crimes, but in America, you're innocent until proven guilty. And he has these trials, many of which people believe are politicized, designed, and diminishes. We can move on. We don't need to go down that rabbit hole on this episode. But the fact is Israel right now is desperately looking for a face saving way out of this because the fiction of we were so good that we stopped this Iranian attack is not believable. It's not believable domestically. So now the Israelis are looking for the ability to do something that if not gives them deterrence, superiority they're looking for right now, deterrence, parody. Parody. And so here's the question, because you remember now we come back to Pepe, and this is probably a good way to spin this around. (01:04:53) William Burns met with Iranians beforehand and came up with an elegant solution to an extraordinarily difficult and dangerous problem. Iran now has established a deterrence philosophy, and they articulate the second Israeli airplanes take off. We launch our missiles. We're not waiting for Israel to attack us. The second your planes take off, we're firing. And Iran has said, we consider the matter settled. Settled. We consider the matter over. You struck us, we struck back, let it go. Correct. But it's not settled because there's thing called politics. And Iranians, again, are some of the most sophisticated political players in the world. So my guess is as we're speaking, Hey Pepe, if you're out there, call your source. I'm giving you a hint that behavioral patterns, one thing I used to do as an intelligence officer is do analysis and assessments, predictive analysis based upon behavioral patterns. Humans tend to repeat behavioral patterns. (01:05:59) And so now the CIA and the Iranians have talked to prevent one crisis. They're talking right now and the CIA saying, guys, what can we do to prevent Israel from doing something really stupid, which is the big attack, which politically we need a safety valve. This is the equivalent of a methane tank getting heat on it. And if you don't have a safety valve that goes, it's going to blow. So how do we get a safety valve? What can Israel do to save face that doesn't impact you? And you see the Israelis now ratcheting it down. It was, we're going to strike nuclear facilities. We're going to strike this, we're going to strike that. And now they're saying, well, what if we strike something outside of Iran? But it's clearly Iran like at seven 11. Yeah, at three in the morning when it's been closed and nobody's there strike at seven 11. (01:06:53) And so they're desperately looking for this outlet. The question now is, what will Iran do? My bet is that Iran will facilitate a face saving gesture by Israel because the Iranians don't want and don't need a war, a major war business. Well, it's horribly. The Iranian foreign ministry, just so everybody understands this, their number one priority now, one of their top priorities is they have all of their smart people right now writing papers for the Brick summit in October, which Iran will be attending and will be playing a major role in establishing new global infrastructure and institutions on how the world's going to be governed and a possible international currency off of the dollar bingo. These are big ticket things. Business. They don't need to be business. They don't need to be dragged into this stupidity of a mafia family dispute Wilmer Leon (01:07:54): Really quickly. One of the reasons why President Putin went into Ukraine light in the beginning was he doesn't want a war because it's bad for his economy. Scott Ritter (01:08:11): But the West didn't pick up on that. Now we got thing. Wilmer Leon (01:08:15): And now he's kicking ass and taking names and folks are all befuddled. Hey, you started. You went looking for trouble. You found a big bag of it. And now, so thank you for your time, Scott. Two things I want to hit quickly. One is the estimates are in very simple terms, that Iran spent a million dollars on this attack and Israel lost a billion in their response to it. Scott Ritter (01:08:50): I'd say 60 million for the Iranians, about 3.2 billion for the Israelis and the United States altogether. Wilmer Leon (01:08:55): Okay. Okay. And this other thing, is it velvet or violet, this AI program that Israel has developed that they assign a score? Are you familiar with this? They assign a score to Palestinians based upon a number of predetermined social behaviors. And when your score gets close to a hundred, you get assassinated. And this is all generated by artificial intelligence. You mentioned ai, so I want to just to quickly drop that one in there before we get out. Scott Ritter (01:09:31): No, I mean, again, it's a criminal enterprise. It's about killing innocence. And part of this AI too is that it calculates the number of civilian casualties that'll be assigned to that thing target. And unfortunately for the Palestinians, one would think if you're a rational, look, I keep telling people, I'm not a pacifist, and if you want to go to war, I'm old. You're the guy. But guys, I have no problem killing you. I mean, I know you're trying to kill me, so I will kill you, and I'm not going to weep at night when you die because you wanted to play this game. But I'm not in the business of killing you and taking out innocent civilians. Okay? (01:10:17) That's where I draw the line. Now there's collateral damage. If it happens, I'll be upset, but I have my parameters. If I'm going to take you and they're saying, you're going to take out this many civilians, I'm going, that's a bad target. Not the right time. Not the right place. We're not going to do it. But the Israelis have the opposite thing. It's not just when you're going to take out the target, but when you get the maximum impact of civilian casualties. The Israeli approach is AI program is designed to kill the maximum number of family members and civilians to maximize the impact of the attack on the morale of the Palestinian people. But see, that's where AI fails because it doesn't understand the human heart and doesn't understand rage, it doesn't understand hate, and they don't understand that the more Palestinians you kill, the more you train them to hate you. (01:11:05) And not only that, the world is turning against you. See, the AI program hasn't figured out the global factor that every time they do this, the world hates Israel even more. Hamas is a political organization. Hamas is a military organization. Hamas is an ideology, and you don't kill an ideology with weapons. You defeat an ideology with a better ideology, which is generally linked to a better lifestyle, better standard of living, economic prosperity. Again, Jane Carville's mantra, it's the economy. Stupid isn't just an American only. It's a global human reality Wilmer Leon (01:11:52

Originally recorded during the 3/10/24 Episode of How Did We Miss That?, found here:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQWhjov8IzA RumbleVideo: https://rumble.com/v4iegzl-taibbi-smeared-by-google-ai-us-journalists-arrested-assange-extradition-app.html TheRokfin: https://rokfin.com/stream/46235 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/364147119781192 Journalism Under Assault in the US Judge Holds Former Fox News Correspondent In Contempt: Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter https://thedissenter.org/judge-holds-former-fox-news-correspondent-in-contempt-for-protecting-source/ Blaze Reporter Arrested for January 6 Reporting https://www.theblaze.com/news/blaze-news-investigative-writer-steve-baker-whos-been-reporting-on-january-6-handcuffed-charged Matt Taibbi Proves Google Gemini AI is a Narrative Manager I Wrote What? Google's AI-Powered Libel Machine: Matt Taibbi, Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/i-wrote-what-googles-ai-powered-libel Normal Island News Says: Free Julian Assange! Joe Lauria's Day X Notes Man could be extradited to the US for telling the truth: Laura K, Normal Island News https://normalislandnews.substack.com/p/man-could-be-extradited-to-the-us REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Covering Assange in Court: Joe Lauria, Consortium News https://consortiumnews.com/2024/03/04/reporters-notebook-covering-assange-in-court/ INN & my channel co-hosted the 2 days of protest & speeches outside The Royal Courts of Justice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKYXjqS73KY&list=PLzO1fzu9UDj3dY1kdf__XoM74wKFWBid_ Max B & The Grayzone Expose Frank Luntz Providing Narrative Talking Points for Israel Leaked Israel lobby presentation urges US officials to justify war on Gaza with ‘Hamas rape' claims: Max Blumenthal, The Grayzone https://www.instagram.com/p/C4RABBRrfcV/?igsh=MTJsdXdiNXVya3pvaA%3D%3D https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/06/leaked-israel-lobby-officials-war-gaza-mass-rape/ How Did We Miss That? features articles written by independent journalists who expose corruption & worker exploitation, report on the worker organizing movement & routinely challenge establishment narratives & talking points. Watch new episodes LIVE Sunday nights at 10pm ET / 7pm PT on YouTube, ROKFIN, Rumble, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter & Telegram. A podcast version is published within a couple of days to Spotify, Apple, iHeart, Amazon + most other major platforms Credits: ⭐ Co-Host, Producer, Stream & Podcast Engineer, Clip Editor: Indie Left ⭐ Co-Host, Producer & Technical Director: Reef Breland ⭐ Thumbnails & Outro: Bigmadcrab ⭐ Intro: Joe @STFUshitlib3 & Indie Left ⭐ Music: Jesse Jett Wherever you are, Indie is! ⭐ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/indleft  ⭐ Substack: https://www.indiemediatoday.com  ⭐ How Did We Miss That?: https://rumble.com/c/HowDidWeMissThat ⭐ How Did We Miss That Twitter: https://twitter.com/HowDidWeMissTha ⭐ How Did We Miss That? Podcast: https://anchor.fm/independentleftnews/ ⭐ How Did We Miss That? Clips & Livestreams: https://indiemediatoday.substack.com/p/how-did-we-miss-that-clips-livestreams ⭐ Indie Media Awards: https://linktr.ee/indiemediaawards  Reef's Links: ⭐ LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/reefbreland ⭐ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReefBreland ⭐ Unofficial Jimmy Dore Discord: https://discord.gg/N2Xe3QBvM2 INN Links: ⭐ Network Channels LinkTree: https://indienews.network  ⭐ Network Members LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/innmembers  ⭐ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indienewsnetwork ⭐ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/IndieNewsNetwork ⭐ Twitter: https://twitter.com/getindienews ⭐ Rokfin: https://rokfin.com/iNN ⭐ Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/indienewsnetwork/ ⭐ Substack: https://indienewsnetwork.substack.com

On this Moats, George Galloway gives his take on the chaos and farce in the UK parliament and how Labour policy has been outsourced to Israel and tried to bully and buy the Commons Speaker. The world is waking up and young people in particular will decide the future of Palestine says Palestinian Activist Arab Barghouti but It's very hard to find hope in the United Nations anymore. Lara Elborno returns as a crackdown on Pro-Palestinian protests is promised under a Trump administration as the Democrats send more weapons to Israel meaning both candidates will continue to fund death and destruction. In the British court, Julian Assange is subject to one-sided extradition agreement, even though Assange isn't a US subject why should he be subject to their law? Joe Lauria paints a picture of what he has seen in the hearingsFollow Lara Elborno https://x.com/thegazangirl YouTube"@thePalestinePodFollow Joe Lauria https://x.com/unjoe & YouTube: @consortiumnews8774Arab Barghouthi: Palestinian Activist:- Twitter: https://x.com/arabbarghouthiLara Elborno: Palestinian-American International Lawyer, Activist and Co-host of The Palestine Pod -Twitter: https://x.com/thegazangirlPodcast Twitter- https://x.com/palestinepod- Instagram: https://instagram.com/gazangirlhttps://instagram.com/thepalestinepod-YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ThePalestinePodJoe Lauria: Author and Editor in Chief at Consortium News-Twitter: https://twitter.com/unjoe?lang=en Get bonus content on Patreon Become a MOATS Graduate at https://plus.acast.com/s/moatswithgorgegalloway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's show, Cathy Vogan and Joe Lauria discuss the David McBride trial. GUEST OVERVIEW: Cathy and Joe are both journalists at "Consortium News'. Cathy is producer for CN live and Joe is co-host of CN live.

It may be worse than McCarthyism, which was defeated by its own excesses. Today's information war against individuals and media who do not adhere to the Western-government-enforced narrative on Ukraine is part of a long history in the U.S. of officially crushing dissent. With the advances of technology for both surveillance and censorship, we might be in the most chilling atmosphere yet for thought control. Will it too be brought down by its own excesses? The First Amendment has not prevented the U.S. from suppressing speech throughout its history. Just eight years after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, press freedom had become a threat to John Adams, the second president, whose Federalist Party pushed through Congress the Alien and Sedition Laws. They criminalized criticism of the federal government: "To write, print, utter or publish, or cause it to be done, or assist in it, any false, scandalous, and malicious writing against the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President, with intent to defame, or bring either into contempt or disrepute...” was banned. Congress did not renew the Act in 1801. Freedom of the press and speech next came significantly under attack in the lead up to the 1860-65 U.S. Civil War. Newspaper editors who campaigned for the abolition of slavery were attacked by mobs, sometimes directed by elected officials. In 1837 an editor was killed by a mob, one of whose organizers was the Illinois attorney general. During the war numerous editors and journalists were arrested in the North. "Throughout the war, newspaper reporters and editors were arrested without due process for opposing the draft, discouraging enlistments in the Union army, or even criticizing the income tax," according to the First Amendment Encyclopedia. While formal censorship was excluded from the 1917 Espionage Act by just one vote in the U.S. Senate, the 1918 Sedition Act was a two-paragraph amendment that was aimed at Americans who insulted the U.S. government, military or flag and who tried to criticize the draft, military industry or sale of war bonds. This law distilled the essence of enforced loyalty of the population to the symbols and military power of the state. It demolished the idea that America is exceptional as it showed the U.S. enforcing the same state-worship as most nations in history.  The act, with similar federal laws, was used to convict at least 877 people in 1919 and 1920, most infamously the socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for publicly opposing the military draft in a June 1918 speech. Publications such as The Masses were also prosecuted. The Sedition Act was repealed by Congress in March 1921. During the First World War the peculiar American practice of renaming food to erase the enemy began. Sauerkraut became liberty cabbage. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq French fries became freedom fries, because France opposed the war. Today Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky have been removed from concert programs and living Russian artists have been fired. The Red Scare under Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s was one of the worst periods of smearing and punishing Americans who were thought to be disloyal. Its end came with the excess of McCarthy trying to find communists in the U.S. army. In the 1971 Pentagon Papers case there was a rare ray of light for free speech, when Justice Hugo Black wrote: "In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government.” The 2016 election and the Russiagate fiasco gave the Democrats in Congress an excuse to use social media companies as proxies to shut down speech it did not agree with. It also led to smearing of those who questioned the Russiagate tale as being Russian agents. One of the gravest acts of U.S. repression of press freedom and free speech was the arrest and indictment under the Espionage Act of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, who for three years as been incarcerated in the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in London, awaiting extradition to the United States. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has given the U.S. the excuse it needed to launch an economic war against Russia, which so far is backfiring, to try to bog Russia down in a quagmire with continual arms shipments to Ukraine, and also to launch an information war, not only against Russia, but against U.S. and U.K. domestic dissent. Our guests today have all been either censored or smeared, or both as they are among the leading dissidents in the West today: They are George Galloway, Chris Hedges, Jill Stein and Scott Ritter.

GUEST OVERVIEW: Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former UN correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and numerous other newspapers. His focus has been international affairs and its intersection with domestic policy. He is an author of two books: “A Political Odyssey”, which is a history of US foreign policy and the defence industry; and “How I Lost: By Hillary Clinton”, an analysis of the DNC and Podesta emails revealed by WikiLeaks, with a foreword by Julian Assange.

A London High Court judge rejected Wikileaks editor Julian Assange's appeal against his extradition to the United States. He now faces up to 175 years in prison — despite public opinion around the world and in his home country, Australia. The UN has declared his detention “arbitrary,” which usually results in the release of the detainee, but not so far. The fate of the man who revealed so many of the hidden crimes of the US empire hangs in the balance. Brian Becker is joined by Joe Lauria, editor in chief of Consortium News. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

It is one year after Russia invaded Ukraine and most people in the United States and Europe still think that is when the war started. I speak to Consortium News editor Joe Lauria and our geopolitical analyst Professor Gerald Horne. And we take another look at the Oliver Stone-produced documentary, "Ukraine on Fire," which tells the truth about how this war really started eight years ago with the U.S.-backed violent coup of Ukraine's democratically elected president. Plus headlines on the more than $100 billion sent to Ukraine, the "Rage Against the War Machine" rally, and Black farmers.  

Outside the British Consulate in New York City on December 10, 2022, The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal called for the freedom of Julian Assange and denounced the corporate media's demonization and abandonment of the Wikileaks founder. Blumenthal was joined by Roger Waters, Steven Donzinger, Margaret Kunstler, Garland Nixon, Randy Credico, Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen, Joe Lauria and many others at the rally. On the same day, outside the British Embassy in Washington DC, The Grayzone's Anya Parampil called out the UK's role in Assange's persecution. Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone Max Blumenthal: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal https://rokfin.com/MaxBlumenthal Anya Parampil: https://twitter.com/anyaparampil

An update from Sri Lanka on the unfolding political and economic crisis; Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News, on pressure for independent media to follow a single approved narrative on the Ukraine war; Reproductive rights leaders in the Deep South on their work post-Roe, including the CEO of the Mississippi clinic at the center of the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe. Get Democracy Now! delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Daily Digest: democracynow.org/subscribe

An update from Sri Lanka on the unfolding political and economic crisis; Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News, on pressure for independent media to follow a single approved narrative on the Ukraine war; Reproductive rights leaders in the Deep South on their work post-Roe, including the CEO of the Mississippi clinic at the center of the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe. Get Democracy Now! delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Daily Digest: democracynow.org/subscribe

We take a sober look at Saturday's massacre of African Americans in Buffalo. The shooting was partly because of white supremacy. But the REAL reason for the shooting is it's too easy for every lunatic in America to get their hands on an assault weapon. Our nation's gun laws are an act of collective suicide. We choose weapons over peace. We prefer profits for arms manufacturers over our own security. From guns to for profit healthcare Americans are killing themselves in the name of Mammon. CORRECTION: David identified Congresswoman Liz Cheney as representing Idaho. She represents Wyoming. We are sorry for both the mistake and the fact that there is a Wyoming or an Idaho. Guests With Time Codes:  (01:07) David Does the News: Kimberly Guilfoyle wants to ban foreign cows; We need to have a serious conversation about serious conservations; Chuck Schumer's daughter is a lobbyist for Amazon; The Buffalo massacre; Why do cops shoot to kill?; Goods guys with guns NEVER stop bad guys with guns; 70 percent of Americans in jail never get a trial; Amazon is a surprisingly unprofitable business; It's time to call Jeff Bezos what he is, "An Illegal." ; Christian Smalls takes on Lindsey Graham; Corporations, like Amazon, that break the law are not supposed to get government contracts; Virginia's Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is Pro Amazon and Anti Union (1:12:12) "Ain't No Chairs" written and performed by Professor Mike Steinel (1:16:32) Gregg Barak (author, "Criminology on Trump") Gregg Barak is author of, “Gimme Shelter: A Social History of Homelessness in Contemporary America”, “Theft of a Nation: Wall Street Looting and Federal Regulatory Colluding”, and “Unchecked Corporate Power: Why the Crimes of Multinational Corporations are Routinized Away and What We Can Do About It.” His newest book is “Criminology on Trump.”   (1:35:32) Pascal Robert (co-host of "This is Revolution" podcast) Why gentrification in Black neighborhoods is less a part of White Supremacy and more a function of capitalism. Also, how Haiti was forced to pay reparations to French slaveholders up until 1947. Yes, you read that correctly. Haiti had to pay reparations to the SLAVEHOLDERS. (2:03:54) Howie Klein (founder and treasurer of The Blue America PAC and author of Down With Tyranny) Howie does a complete rundown of Tuesday's primaries in Pennsylvania, Oregon, North Carolina, and Idaho. Idaho's GOP Governor Brad Little is up against a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin; Trump endorses North Carolina's Rep. Madison Cawthorn; In North Carolina we love Erica Smith; Oregon's Right Wing Democratic Congressman Kurt Schrader is challenged on the Left by Jamie McLeod-Skinner; In Pennsylvania Dr. Oz has Trump's blessing for senate; Can Conservative Congressman Conor Lamb beat Pennsylvania's Left Leaning Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman? ; Summer Lee is Bernie's pick for a congressional seat that covers Pittsburgh, but will AIPAC destroy her like they did Nina Turner?; (2:37:36) David Cobb (environmental activist and Green Party Presidential candidate) (2:58:33) "USA of Distraction" written and performed by Professor Mike Steinel (3:05:16) Dr. Harriet Fraad (host of "Capitalism Hits Home") How the so called "Pro Life" movement is nothing other than a full scale war on women. (3:36:00) Professor Adnan Husain ("Guerrilla History" and "The Majlis" podcasts) Diem25's new Manifesto for Europe. What is a possible left agenda for geopolitics in this era? (4:04:16) Peter B. Collins (Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame) w/ Joe Lauria (Editor-in-Chief of Consortium News) PayPal said it mistakenly informed Consortium News its account could be restored, but now says it's shut down permanently while offering no explanation. Is PayPal silencing Left Wing news organizations? Joe Lauria is Editor-in-Chief of “Consortium News,” and has covered foreign policy at the United Nations for numerous newspapers, including the “Boston Globe”, the “Montreal Gazette”, and the “Johannesburg Star.”  Professor Mary Anne Cummings (physicist and parks commissioner Aurora, Illinois) (5:18:02) Stump the Hump! w/ Quizmaster Dan F challenges David, Professors Mary Anne Cummings and Adnan Husain on their Top Gun knowledge 5:40:46 Professor Mike Steinel (Jazz historian and Dylanologist) We livestream here on YouTube every Monday and Thursday starting at 5:00 PM Eastern and go until 11:00 PM. Please join us! Take us wherever you go by subscribing to this show as a podcast! Here's how: https://davidfeldmanshow.com/how-to-l... And Subscribe to this channel. SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=PD... More David @ http://www.DavidFeldmanShow.com Get Social With David: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidfeldmanc... Twitter: https://twitter.com/David_Feldman_ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/d...

There have been two dramatic developments in the U.S. case against imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange within the past two weeks. The Icelandic newsmagazine Stundin on June 26 revealed that a key U.S. witness in the indictment of Assange for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion had changed his story. And on Wednesday the High Court in London allowed the U.S. to appeal a Jan. 4 magistrate's decision against extraditing Assange to the U.S. because of his mental health and the harsh conditions of U.S. prisons, making him a threat for suicide. The High Court said, however, that the U.S. could not appeal the judgement of Assange's health but only that of U.S. prisons. The U.S. promised it would not put Assange under special measures of isolation if he were extradited and if convicted, would allow him to serve his sentence in Australia. The U.S. has a history of broken promises in such cases. For example, in the September 2020 Assange extradition hearing, lawyer Lindsay A. Lewis testified that the UK had imposed this condition for humanitarian reasons on Abu Hamsa, a prisoner who had lost both hands, but once on U.S. soil, Hamsa was placed in isolation. Joining us to discuss these two major developments will be WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson; ex-Icelandic Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson (on how he resisted an FBI sting against Assange); Stundin journalist Bjartmar Oddur Þeyr Alexandersson (on his piece about Siggi Thordarson); Australian MP Julian Hill; Consortium News legal analyst Alexander Mercouris and radio host and CN columnist John Kiriakou, who was imprisoned for blowing the whistle on the CIA's torture program. Produced by Cathy Vogan, watch it here live with your hosts Elizabeth Vos and Joe Lauria at 9 am EDT; 1 pm in Iceland (GMT); 2 pm BST in the U.K. and 11 pm AEST in Australia

Apologies for the audio dropout in Joe Lauria's introduction. This is what he said: "The Russian intervention in Ukraine is now one week old and the situation on the ground is subject to an information war that makes it hard to assess what is happening. Western media is saying that things are going badly for Russia, while Russian President Vladimir Putin says things are going according to plan. But what that plan is, is not entirely certain. Putin said the object of the intervention is to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. How that is to be achieved is only slowly emerging. Western media reports say Russia is purposely targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, which Russia denies. Video and photographic evidence appear to show destruction to civilian targets, but it is not clear if this was intentional or return fire to populated areas where Moscow says extremists are operating from. Russia says it has no intentions of occupying Ukraine, but it's unclear how long Russia forces would have to remain to pacify the country. Will the continuing arming of Ukraine, and C.I.A. training of guerrilla units mean the U.S. is intending to bog Russia down in a quagmire? Is the U.S. intention to give Russia its “Vietnam”, the way the U.S. gave the Soviet Union its “Vietnam” in Afghanistan? There are open calls from Western capitals for regime change in Moscow. In the past week, the economic war against Russia has intensified, with the sanctioning of its central bank and the removal of many Russian banks from the SWIFT international banking system. What impact will the sanctions that have on the Russian and world economies? Meanwhile Western governments have shut down English-language Russian media, while the BBC continues to broadcast in Russia. The Moscow Times, critical of Putin, continues to publish, but the radio station Echo of Moscow has been shut down by Russian authorities. Our guests are Mark Sleboda, a former U.S. Navy nuclear engineer, political analyst and raido host. He joins us from Moscow. And Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marines counterintelligence officer and U.N. weapons inspector. He is in upstate New York." With Scott Ritter, military analyst & former UN weapons inspector; and Mark Sleboda, political analyst in Moscow & radio host

Lifelong journalist Joe Lauria joins Robert Scheer to discuss how companies like PayPal, YouTube and Facebook are quashing non-stream reporting and opinions on Ukraine. 

Is an alleged massacre in the Ukrainian town of Bucha part of the fog of war or the lies of war? We speak to human rights activist Ajamu Baraka and Consortium News Editor Joe Lauria. And marking the Rev. Martin Luther King's Beyond Vietnam speech, activists with the Poor People's Campaign release a new report about the pandemic in the U.S. as a pandemic of the poor. The campaign is organizing for their Mass Moral March on Washington on June 18th.   The show is made possible only by our volunteer energy, our resolve to keep the people's voices on the air, and by support from our listeners. In this new era of fake corporate news, we have to be and support our own media! Please click here or click on the Support-Donate tab on this website to subscribe for as little as $3 a month. We are so grateful for this small but growing amount of monthly crowdsource funding on Patreon. PATREON NOW HAS A ONE-TIME, ANNUAL DONATION FUNCTION! You can also give a one-time or recurring donation on PayPal. Thank you!

Russia's official recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as independent states formally puts to an end what was known as the Minsk peace process. This recognition also creates a new political reality on the ground. And there is nothing NATO can do about it. CrossTalking with Joe Lauria, Anna Matveeva, and Scott Ritter.

It'll be a hard act to follow, 2021! It often seemed as if all four horses of the apocalypse were charging down the road at full gallop. So, the question is this: will 2022 be just as tumultuous? One of the wisest men in journalism is Joe Lauria, of Consortium News. His new year started earlier than ours, as he joined Sputnik from Australia to try to come up with some answers. And what of predictions closer to home? Will the new year be much the same as the old year: will we again be forced to weather the maelstroms of the pandemic and the fallout from Brexit? Will Boris Johnson keep the loyalty of his party, and will he be able to keep the United Kingdom united? We invited Professor Sir John Curtice of Strathclyde University aboard Sputnik to find out.

(Repeat broadcast originally aired November 5, 2021) This week on the Global Research News Hour we bring a special program focused on the plight of Julian Assange. We look not only on the details of the recent appeal of the Extradition Trial, we probe his history and background, the role of Wikileaks, and the eventual erasure of journalism manifest in attempts to continue the assault on Assange. Our round of guest speakers include John Shipton, the father of Assange, John Kiriakou, Joe Lauria, Binoy Kampmark, and Megan Sherman with appearances by Stella Moris, Assange's fiancee, and John Pilger.

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Joe Lauria, editor of Consortium News to discuss a UK appeals court ruling that Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States despite the danger extradition poses to him, the absurd reasoning behind the court's overturning of the previous ruling preventing Assange's extradition, and the cruelty of the UK and the US making an example out of Assange.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Joe Lauria, editor of Consortium News to discuss a UK appeals court ruling that Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States despite the danger extradition poses to him, the absurd reasoning behind the court's overturning of the previous ruling preventing Assange's extradition, and the cruelty of the UK and the US making an example out of Assange.In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Miko Peled, human rights activist and author of “The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine,” and “Injustice, the Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five.” to discuss a recent report confirming Israel's targeting of civilians in Gaza in airstrikes conducted in May of 2021, the collaboration between politicians and pro-Zionist organizations and their complicity in human rights abuses in Palestine, and how so-called progressives fall in line with other imperialist politicians on issues of imperialism.In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Maria Fernandez, organizer with the D.C. Chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Free Mutulu Now Campaign to discuss the political imprisonment of Dr. Mutulu Shakur, the contributions of Dr. Shakur to the health of overlooked working class Black and brown communities in New York City, how the prison system continues to deny Dr. Shakur's release despite his spotless record to make an example out of him, and why the determination to keep political prisoners in prison is an effort by the state to disconnect the current Black liberation struggle from its history.Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Jared Ball, a father, husband, Professor of Africana Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, the curator of imixwhatilike.org and author of the book, “The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power” to discuss the role of the media in propagandizing against political prisoners and the importance of alternative media in combating that propaganda, how agents within the capitalist system work to cover up their complicity in the constant cycle of death and destruction they cause, and the use of accusations of bias against alternative media as mainstream outlets disseminate the approved narrative.

Scott is joined by Joe Lauria of Consortium News. Lauria gives us a detailed account of Assange's eventful past year. A British judge, who despite agreeing that Assange had violated the Espionage Act by publishing secrets handed to him, refused to extradite him to the U.S. out of concern for his safety. Lauria explains all of this and puts these events in a broader context.   Discussed on the show: “What's next for Julian Assange?” (NewAge) Joe Lauria is the editor-in-chief at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. You can follow him on Twitter @unjoe. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Dröm; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

Scott is joined by Joe Lauria of Consortium News. Lauria gives us a detailed account of Assange's eventful past year. A British judge, who despite agreeing that Assange had violated the Espionage Act by publishing secrets handed to him, refused to extradite him to the U.S. out of concern for his safety. Lauria explains all of this and puts these events in a broader context.   Discussed on the show: “What's next for Julian Assange?” (NewAge) Joe Lauria is the editor-in-chief at Consortium News. He is a former UN correspondent and wrote at the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. You can follow him on Twitter @unjoe. This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Dröm; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "America's Undeclared War," joins us to discuss Russia-gate. Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple argues that media outlets must review their coverage of the Steele dossier and be ready to retract stories that they find to be unverifiable or false. Also, the firm "New Knowledge" was creating false "Russian" accounts online to mislead voters in Louisiana, but was still used by the US Senate to write an extensive document regarding alleged Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Jim Kavanagh, writer at thepolemicist.net and CounterPunch, joins us to discuss Julian Assange. The British High Court has heard the arguments in the US appeal of the Court's decision regarding the extradition of Julian Assange. Joe Lauria's latest piece dissects the case and evaluates the potential outcomes.Jonathan Kuttab, human rights lawyer, joins us to discuss US foreign policy. The US currently has special operations teams drilling with military personnel in 33 of the 44 nations in Europe. Also, a new CBO report has outlined measures that would allow Congress to cut one trillion dollars from the military budget over the next decade.Ajamu Baraka, 2016 US vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, joins us to discuss Nicaragua. President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party won the Nicaraguan elections with over 70% of the votes. The Biden administration and the Organization of American States (OAS) are making outrageous claims to discredit the overwhelming statement by the Nicaraguan people.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Israel continues their sabre rattling with claims of how they will wage war against the Islamic Republic. Also, the recent sale of US weapons to Saudi Arabia assuredly guarantees more death and carnage in the impoverished nation of Yemen.Marjorie Cohn, professor of law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, joins us to discuss the Supreme Court's upcoming ruling regarding the Texas abortion ban case. Professor Marjorie Cohn has penned an article in which she argues that the SCOTUS will likely allow a challenge to the Texas legislation, but may still overturn Roe v. Wade.Obi Egbuna, activist and US rep for The Zimbabwean Newspapers, joins us to discuss the leadership of Black politicians in America. Recent revelations that the Congressional Black Caucus helped Speaker Nancy Pelosi overcome the objections of House progressives regarding important fiscal legislation have renewed the discussion about the effectiveness of Black politicians and powerbrokers in the struggle for a fair and just society.Arial Gold, national co-director of Code-Pink, joins us to discuss Israel. Palestinian activists are complaining about the recent revelations that Israeli intelligence agencies used the Pegasus spyware platform to tap their phones. Also, we examine the West's role in the ever-increasing number of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

This week on the Global Research News Hour we bring a special program focused on the plight of Julian Assange. We look not only on the details of the recent appeal of the Extradition Trial, we probe his history and background, the role of Wikileaks, and the eventual erasure of journalism manifest in attempts to continue the assault on Assange. Our round of guest speakers include John Shipton, the father of Assange, John Kiriakou, Joe Lauria, Binoy Kampmark, and Megan Sherman with appearances by Stella Moris, Assange's fiancee, and John Pilger.

On the show, Chris Hedges discusses the extradition hearing of Julian Assange in London with Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News. For the past two days, Chris Hedges has been watching the extradition hearing for Julian Assange via video link from London. The United States is appealing a lower court ruling that denied the US' request to extradite Assange not, unfortunately, because in the eyes of the court he is innocent of a crime, but because, as Judge Vanessa Baraitser in January concluded, Assange's precarious psychological state would deteriorate given the “harsh conditions” of the inhumane US prison system, “causing him to commit suicide.” The United States has charged Assange with 17 counts under the Espionage Act and one count of trying to hack into a government computer, charges that could see him imprisoned for 175 years. If Assange is extradited and found guilty of publishing classified material, it will set a legal precedent that will effectively end national security reporting, allowing the government to use the Espionage Act to charge any reporter who possesses classified documents, and any whistleblower who leaks classified information, under the Espionage Act.

The United States government demonstrates repeatedly that it will do whatever it takes to protect the economic and political interests of the elites, even if it means total disregard for human rights and international law. Two cases that highlight this are the recent kidnapping and prosecution of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab and the attempts to extradite the Australian Wikileaks publisher and journalist Julian Assange. Clearing the FOG speaks with Roger Harris of Task Force on the Americas who travelled to Cabo Verde where Saab was detained and tortured for over a year before his rendition to Miami and with Joe Lauria, the editor of Consortium News, who has covered the case of Julian Assange extensively. Canadian economist Paul Tulloch provides some insight into the upcoming COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the first Black Secretary of State, has died at age 84. Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss the death of Colin Powell. Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has died at age 84. Powell who was known for being the first Black Secretary of State was also criticized for his part in the Iraq invasion and occupation.Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Russia, China, and Eastern Europe. US international security analysts are reportedly shocked that China has developed and tested a hypersonic glide vehicle that circled the globe and attacked a target. Also, ties between Russia and Nato seem to have completely broken down.Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "America's Undeclared War, "joins us to discuss the Christopher Steele interview. Despite the complete collapse of the infamous Steele Dossier. Christopher Steele has incredulously claimed that everything in the dossier is 100 percent true including the Russians' use of a non-existent consulate in Miami for financial payouts.Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss Julian Assange. Caitlin Johnstone reports that Netflix is relaunching a "brazen smear job" on Wikileaks and Julian Assange just 3 days before the publisher meets a significant court date regarding his fight to stop extradition to the United States. Also, Joe Lauria writes that the information that CIA plans to assassinate or kidnap Assange was known to the world as early as 2010. Dan Kovalik, writer, author, and lawyer, joins us to discuss the US kidnapping of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. Saab, a diplomat who should be able to exercise all legal diplomatic protections under international law, was taken by the UNited states under the guise of extradition for money laundering. He works to help feed the people of the Bolivarian Republic as the United States works to starve the citizens.John Burris, civil rights attorney, joins us to discuss the Ahmaud Arbery case. The killing of Ahmaud Arbery is again in the news as the trial of three men involved in the death of the Georgia man begins this week. Crowds gathered outside of the courthouse over the weekend to protest the murder and push for justice.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Our esteemed guest updates us on the tense political situation in Lebanon. Also, the Influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has gained tremendous power due to the Iraqi elections and is laying out his plan for dealing with the US empire.Cohosts Dr. Wilmer Leon and Garland Nixon discuss the life of Dr. Colin Powell.

When it comes to the ‘rise of China', most of the commentary focuses on such things as strategic balance and the West's so-called “rules-based order.” However, what's missing in this discussion is the rise of a civilization that challenges Western hegemony. Is the West prepared for this arc of history? CrossTalking with George Szamuely and Joe Lauria.

Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss the costs of the Afghanistan occupation. He talks about an article written by Dr. Jack Rasmus in which he discusses the financial burden that the Afghani imperial project has put on the US empire. Rasmus posits in the article that the cost of the occupation was one of the principal drivers in the decision to walk away. K. J. Noh, peace activist, writer, and teacher, joins us to discuss China and Taiwan. China has unleashed a furious response to claims made by members of the US Congress that there are numerous US troops in Taiwan. A Global Times editorial makes the connection between Taiwan and Afghanistan, and warns the Taiwanese government to take note of the outcome of the Afghanistan conflict.Dr. Yolandra Hancock, board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist, joins us to discuss covid. Recent reports indicate that the Biden administration may recommend a third dose of vaccine be administered eigh, months after being fully vaccinated.Jim Kavanagh, writer at thepolemicist.net and CounterPunch, and the author of "The American Farce Unravels: Shreds of January 6th," joins us to discuss media propaganda. Caitlin Johnstone's latest article brings light to the connection between the US media and the war profiteers. Johnstone explains that think tanks that are funded by war profiteers that then supply information to the media, which is put forth as if it were independent, unbiased reporting of facts.Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, joins us to discuss Afghanistan falling to the Taliban. The US-appointed President of Afghanistan reportedly fled the country with a helicopter full of cash. Also, Joe Lauria's consortiumnews.com piece argues that the outcome of the Afghan conflict shows how little US foreign policy "gurus" understood about the region.Dr. Jemima Pierre, associate professor of Black studies and anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, joins us to discuss Haiti. A major storm is scheduled to hit the impoverished Caribbean island nation just after a major earthquake. Will outside help again bring disease and neo-liberal disaster capitalism to profit from the people's misery?Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss the US occupation of Iraq. Now that Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban, many foreign policy experts are arguing that the US should immediately exit Iraq and Syria, noting that the excuses for occupation have evaporated.Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss the effect of the Afghanistan debacle on US vassal governments worldwide. An article on the Strategic Culture Foundation's website details the fecklessness of US foreign policy, and makes the point that vassal governments and collaborators worldwide should take note of the Afghanistan disaster.

Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss Syria and Iraq. US forces in Syria come under intense rocket attack as Iraqi, and Syrian militias declare open war on occupation forces. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government calls Biden's bombing attacks blatant and unacceptable violations of sovereignty.Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss the UK provocation in the Black Sea. Leaked or lost documents show that the British government lied about their provocation off the coast of Crimea. There was significant opposition to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan for a military confrontation with Russia and the story that was released was contradicted by several sources, including the BBC reporter that was placed on the HMS Defender.Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants to detach the bipartisan part of the infrastructure agreement from the parts of the project that will be pushed through the reconciliation process. Also, our guest expounds upon the concept of asset recycling and how the process works in favor of powerful corporations. Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief at Consortium News, joins us to talk about Julian Assange and Mike Gravel. Long-time peace advocate and retired Senator Mike Gravel has passed away at the age of 91. Also, we review a Counterpunch article in which Julian Assange is discussed in the context of current threats against the First Amendment.Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "America's Undeclared War," joins us to discuss Iran. President Biden met with the Israeli president and promised him that Iran would not get a nuclear weapon. Also, Biden said that the recent bombing of Iraqi and Syrian resistance groups was meant as a message to Iran. Is Biden deliberately sabotaging the nuclear negotiations?Mahder Tella, data scientist and strategic planner for the Tigray Action Committee, joins us to discuss Ethiopia. Reports are that the interim government of Ethiopia's Tigray region has fled, and that rebel fighters have advanced into the region's capital. K.J. Noh, writer and peace activist, joins us to talk about the "rules-based order." Our guest speaks about a recent article in Responsible Statecraft in which the claims of a rules-based order are examined. The article posits that “since the ‘rules-based order' is never adequately defined, America's claim to uphold it can never be disproved.”Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Belarus. The Western regime change attempt in Belarus has backfired, as leaders of the Eastern European nation have announced that they are cutting ties with the EU and further integrating their tax and economic system with Russia.

Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to talk about Middle East policy. US President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against Iraqi resistance militias along the Iraq-Syria border. The bombings have sparked new demands for US troops to leave the country and a pledge of retaliation from militia commanders. Martin Sieff, senior fellow at the American University in Moscow, joins us to discuss the Black Sea provocation by the UK Navy. In an odd turn of events, a large cache of classified documents was found at a British bus stop detailing the UK government's plans regarding the provocative military move near Crimea. The documents show that the British planned out the irresponsible provocation, and discussed the possibility that it could provoke a war.Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief at Consortium News, joins us to talk about Julian Assange. A principal witness in the US case against Julian Assange has collapsed the case by admitting that he lied. Consortiumnews.com is reporting that "Sigudur “Sigi” Ingi Thordarson has told an Icelandic publication in an article that appeared on Saturday that he made up the allegation that Assange asked him to hack a government computer." Also, he comments on the death of Mike Gravel.Dr. Yolandra Hancock, board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist, joins us to discuss covid. Federal health officials argue that recent findings of cardiac risks for teens and young adults are outweighed by the benefits of the vaccine. Also, the spread of new covid variants is causing new restrictions worldwide. Greg Palast, investigative reporter, joins us to talk about politics. Establishment Democrats have created a new political action committee called "Team Blue,'' which appears to be set up intently to oppose progressive challengers to mainstream incumbents. Progressive observers argue that it is an effort to keep The Squad from growing. Nino Pagliccia, activist and writer, joins us to talk about the Global South. The US is blocking Venezuela from purchasing covid vaccines in a move that many are labeling biological warfare. Also, Nicaragua is arresting opposition figures that are running regime change CIA-funded operations and the corporate media is ignoring the context. Linwood Tauheed, associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri- Kansas City, joins us to discuss the infrastructure bill. Dr. Tauheed explores the issue of "asset recycling" and whether the new infrastructure bill is simply another corporate giveaway. Miko Peled, author and activist, joins us to talk about Israel. After a lengthy investigation, Amnesty International has found that Israel used "ruthless excessive force" against Palestinian protesters. The international human rights organization claimed that “police used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse Palestinian protests against forced evictions in East Jerusalem, as well as against the Gaza offensive, while Jewish supremacists were allowed to organize demonstrations freely.”

Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief of Consortium News and author of "How I Lost By Hillary Clinton,” joins us to talk about the latest chapter in The Intercept versus Glenn Greenwald saga, which ended up in the pages of the Washington Post, how the Post story took the side of The Intercept in this fight and engaged in personal attacks that could have the effect of tarnishing his reputation a casting doubt on journalistic work, and how mainstream reporters deploy these attacks to silence media criticism.Arely Díaz, community organizer at the Fang Collective, tells us about a recent small but significant victory in the battle against ICE, where all contracts were rescinded in Bristol County, Massachusetts, how ICE had been indiscriminately rounding up immigrants in the area without following their own guidelines, how how activists and organizers successful pressured their community cancel these ICE contracts, how coalitions were built to take on ICE, and what will be needed to defend the rights of immigrants in the country. Nick Pope, journalist and former investigator of UFOs for the UK Ministry of Defence, joins us in a conversation about recent official release by the Pentagon of footage released of pilots encountering unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) and an upcoming report to Congress, and what, if any, additional revelations will be discovered once this report is released. We also talk about whether there will be rehabilitation for people who have been trying to bring these discussions out into the open for years and have been constantly ignored and derided.David Swanson, director at World BEYOND War, activist, journalist, radio host and author of the book "Curing Exceptionalism," talks to us about the the ceasefire agreement bringing to an end 11 days of fighting in Gaza and Israel, who could be considered a winner, who could be the loser, and whether this is even apt way to describe and understand the situation there. We also talk about Venezuela submitting the book “The Art of Sanctions” by U.S. official Richard Nephew to the International Criminal Court as evidence that the US has confessed to committing war crimes.

Join Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO of Big Cabal Media, TechCabal and Zikoko, Paul Jay, the founder and host of theAnalysis.news, and Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of the Consortium News, as they navigate independent media in the Digital Age.

Ten years ago, civil war broke out in Libya which resulted in the overthrow and collapse of the government – and indeed the killing – of it’s then-leader Muammar Gaddafi. However, 20,000 foreign troops still remain in Libya, so what is the situation now? Joining us to discuss the state of Libya a decade on is an investigative journalist whose bylines include the Times and the Wall Street Journal. He’s the editor of Consortium News, Joe Lauria. And just over one year ago, Boris Johnson plunged the country into lockdown to cope with the coronavirus. Over the course of the year the virus has claimed over 125,000 lives, but now with the R-rate going down and the lockdown about to be lifted, we take time to reflect on the past 12 months. NHS doctor and producer of the ‘Great NHS Heist’, Bob Gill, joined the show to discuss the virus and its impact.

The most pathetic and dangerous consequence of the Russiagate hoax is how it has bled into policy. At the center of this hoax was to discredit and then finally destroy Donald Trump. Now it informs US-Russia relations. The result is dire. This bilateral relationship may never recover. CrossTalking with John Varoli, Oliver Boyd-Barrett, Joe Lauria.

Neil Clark, journalist and broadcaster, joins us to discuss the anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. Anti-war activists argue that the US should pay reparations to the people of Iraq after nearly two decades of misery and death set upon them by an illegal war. Also, ten years ago Julian Assange and WikiLeaks infuriated the US empire and its vassal states by releasing details of war crimes in Iraq. Today, Assange pays the price for exposing the moral decadence of US imperialism.Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo, professor at College of William and Mary and daughter of former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, joins us to discuss the coronavirus. The US is reopening fully as stimulus checks arrive, and the roads and stores are packed with spring shoppers. Also, the AstraZeneca vaccine is shown to have about 79% effectiveness against the coronavirus as investigations into the possibility of complications with blood clots continue. Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss his latest articles on President Biden's insults towards Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ritter argues that the international debacle of insulting a head of state would be laughable if the potential consequences were not so dire. Also, Ritter posits that US Secretary of State Tony Blinken's verbal assault on China's diplomats will surely backfire.Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss the Biden administration's week of major foreign policy bungles. The Biden administration has alarmed both allies and adversaries alike, as they have threatened sanctions against Germany, India, Russia and China in the space of 72 hours. The buster and bravado may be playing well amongst the Washington neocon punditry, but none of the moves appears to be consistent with Biden's stated foreign policy objectives.Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, joins us to discuss the strategic alliance between Russia and China. The alliance between military superpower Russia and economic superpower China is growing in response to the unhinged aggressive policies of the Washington, DC-foreign policy consensus. Also, North Korea is refusing dialogue with US diplomats because of their harsh aggressive tone, and China is stating that they are ready to step in and preside over peace on the Korean peninsula.Ted Rall, a political cartoonist and syndicated columnist, joins us to discuss the influence of dark money in US elections. Alan Macleod's latest Mintpress article argues that the billion dollars of domestic dark money that the ultra-wealthy and major corporations spent on the 2020 elections are treated as business as usual by the US media while they push evidence-free conspiracy theories about the influence of memes on Facebook. Joe Lauria, editor-in-chief at Consortium News, joins us to talk about the never-ending saga of "Russia-gate." In his latest article, Lauria argues that "when it comes to national security reporting, corporate journalists have time and again shown they are practicing something other than journalism." He goes on to illustrate how the latest US intelligence assessment gives cover for President Joe Biden to continue the absurd aggressive confrontation. Also, US entanglement in endless wars and internal instability have convinced the Chinese that Western-style democracy is not as attractive as their socialist alternative. KJ Noh, peace activist, writer and teacher, joins us to discuss China. A series of spectacular stumbles including the 2008 economic crash and a bungled response has demonstrated to China that America's financial system is a paper tiger. Also, US entanglement in endless wars and internal instability have convinced the Chinese that Western style-democracy is not as attractive as their socialist alternative.

Dr. Colin Campbell, a Washington, DC, news correspondent, joins us to discuss the Biden administration's crackdown on domestic terrorism. Civil Libertarians are aghast at the recent revelation that intelligence agencies have been purchasing smartphone location data from private companies without first obtaining a warrant, a practice that has been occurring for several years. Also, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act was introduced in the US House of Representatives with bipartisan sponsors. If approved, this new legislative package would establish offices within the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department to allegedly combat domestic terrorism.David Schultz, author and professor of political science and law at Hamline University, joins us to discuss US domestic politics. House Democrats have moved forward with plans to impeach former US President Donald Trump as Republican members work to navigate a political minefield. Additionally, Senate Republicans are already showing signs they will be a strong opposition party, as they have universally panned the Biden administration's COVID-19 relief package and are unwilling to agree on the basic rules of engagement in the evenly divided upper chamber. Danny Sjursen, a retired US Army major and author of "Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War," joins us to discuss his latest article. In his latest Consortium News article, Sjursen argues US President Joe Biden has a unique challenge because he "inherits a global war — and burgeoning new Cold War — spanning four continents and a military mired in active operations in dozens of countries, combat in some 14 of them, and bombing in at least seven." Sjursen asserts Biden is likely to worsen relations with Russia and maintain the status quo with most other conflicts. Mark Sleboda, a Moscow-based international relations and security analyst, returns to discuss recent US meddling in Russian protests. The Russian government is requiring an explanation after the US embassy in Moscow published "the itineraries of protests" scheduled to take place at Russian cities. Moscow argues that the West's involvement in the Navalny protests indicate a "profound crisis of ideology." Sleboda talks about how the US is working to undermine the integrity of other sovereign governments even in the midst of a dangerous internal political crisis.Scott Ritter, a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq, returns to discuss the Iran nuclear deal. The head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service is scheduled to meet with Biden and deliver Israel's expectations for any return to the 2015 nuclear agreement. The question of how much influence Israel holds over Biden's Iran policy will play out shortly, as the Iranians are indicating they have no intention of renegotiating the deal. KJ Noh, peace activist, writer and teacher, returns to discuss China. Relations between the US and China have been extremely tense in light of Washington's promises of military support for Taipei. Taiwan recently reported that a number of Chinese warplanes entered the corner of their airspace on Saturday, as the US rushed another aircraft carrier to the area. Also, the US is moving to spend another military fortune in space as officials make the case for extending their aggressive stance towards China into space. Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, joins us to discuss his article about Russiagate. Lauria argues "Russiagate is poised to be used again against Russia, Trump and Trump voters. The latter are way more than ‘deplorable' now. They are ‘cult members' and a threat." Lauria sees the Russiagate operation as a useful tool that the Democrats and intelligence agencies will use to attack their enemies and deny responsibility for the myriad of disasters for which they share blame. James Carey, editor and co-owner of Geopolitics Alert, joins us to discuss Yemen. In what is considered the deadliest strike since early September, officials are reporting that Saudi airstrikes against a Houthi convoy in the central Maarib Province killed at least 34 fighters. The Biden administration has vowed to halt support for the military operation, which has created the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth. Also, Carey discusses US military hardware corporation Raytheon and the company's connection to the disastrous war in Yemen.

So the belief is that if we silence Trump and Trumpites everything will be okay. The enemy is not the Republicans or the Democrats, themselves, but those corporate elites that support and enable our government (Democrats and Republicans) to follow their agenda for America and not what the working class, and all Americans, need and want to happen. Much of this podcast comes from the ideas of Joe Lauria in Consortium News (Trump Impeached Amid Efforts to Silence Him, January 13, 2021: Trump has been impeached again and this time the Republican-controlled Senate may convict to keep him from running in 2024, as Democrat-aligned big tech moves to shut him up, reports Joe Lauria..) By Joe Lauria The government must address the needs of the people who pay their salaries or they will face increasingly violent revolts. Such a radical shift in policy would mean risking the ire of their powerfully wealthy donors, however. The agenda is simple, bring the United States into line with most industrialized democracies: radically cut defense spending, provide national health insurance, invest in green infrastructure, raise minimum wages, forgive student debt, provide free state higher education, encourage re-unionization and provide monthly stipends during the pandemic. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wileyfoxes/message

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, host Jacquie Luqman and producer Wyatt Reed are joined by Joe Lauria, editor of Consortium News, to discuss the recent cyberattacks alleged to have been carried out by Russia, the history of mainstream media taking US intelligence claims at face value, how the US political class and the cyberwarfare segment of the military-industrial complex stand to gain from the developments, and why he thinks it's an attempt by hawks and hardliners to box in Biden on diplomacy before he enters office.

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, host Jacquie Luqman and producer Wyatt Reed are joined by Ben Becker, Editor at Breakthrough News, to discuss the $900B COVID-19 relief package set to pass Congress, the stark differences in how the working and owning classes have fared amid the pandemic, and how anti-China and anti-Russia mainstream media narratives are hindering the global response to COVID-19.In the second segment, Jacquie and Wyatt are joined by Joe Lauria, editor of Consortium News, to discuss the recent cyberattacks alleged to have been carried out by Russia, the history of mainstream media taking US intelligence claims at face value, how the US political class and the cyberwarfare segment of the military-industrial complex stand to gain from the developments, and why he thinks it's an attempt by hawks and hardliners to box in Biden on diplomacy before he enters office.In the third segment, Jacquie and Wyatt are joined by Johanna Fernandez, assistant professor of history at Baruch College of the City University and author of the new book The Young Lords: A Radical History, to discuss the recent legal victory in the fight to free political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal, why the evidence set to be admitted is so crucial for proving Abu-Jamal's innocence, and the impact of the recent press conference she organized featuring figures like Colin Kaepernick and Angela Davis on the growing public outcry over Abu-Jamal's continued incarceration.Later in the show, Jacquie and Wyatt are joined by Dr. Edward Onaci, Associate Professor of History and African American & Africana Studies at Ursinus Collegeand author of the book, "Free the Land: The Republic of New Afrika and the Pursuit of a Black Nation-State," to discuss the late Burkinabé revolutionary Thomas Sankara on his birthday, why the $600 COVID-19 relief checks have been met with such widespread derision and anger, and why it's so crucial that revolutionaries combine theory with practice.

The biggest strike in the history of the world is taking place at the moment in India. However, little is known about it here in the West. Some 250 million workers, the vast majority not unionized, came out on one day for a demonstration. Alongside this, there is an ongoing farmers’ revolt too. They marched on to New Delhi, made barricades using their tractors, and clashed with the police and army. So, why hasn’t it been covered by the media in the West? We asked Vijay Prashad, Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, who joined Sputnik from his base in New York. The grand old man of English journalism, Robert Fisk, has recently passed away. Lionized in his lifetime, he wrote in the British mainstream media from 1979 until his death in October 2020. No sooner had he been buried, however, than his reputation was dug up and desecrated by a whole raft of people who began to criticize him by committing the worst sin of all in journalism: fabrication. Joe Lauria is Editor-in-Chief at Consortium and he joined Sputnik from Sydney, Australia, to help us remember Robert Fisk.

Exhibit A: The smoking gun. We know now, without a doubt, the media ran interference for the Biden campaign before the election. The Hunter Biden story was not debunked, was not Russian misinformation. We were lied to again. Where is the accountability? CrossTalking with Joe Lauria, Steve Malzberg, and David Freiheit.

Jose Lambiert- Trump & Jeffrey Epstein Palm Beach Pals Epstein Jose Lambiert is a Palm Beach private investigator and gossip columnist. He travels in the same circles as Trump and Epstein and been a valuable source of information. 6 PM Joe Lauria "How I Lost " by Hillary ClintonJudging by the stance of the leadership of the Democratic Party and much of the media, Hillary Clinton's devastating loss in the presidential election of November 2016 was all the fault of pernicious Russian leaks, unwarranted FBI investigations and a skewed electoral college. Rarely blamed was the party's decision to run a deeply unpopular candidate on an uninspiring platform. At a time of widespread dissatisfaction with business-as-usual politics, the Democrats chose to field a quintessential insider. Her campaign dwelt little on policies, focusing overwhelmingly on the personality of her opponent. That this strategy was a failure is an understatement. Losing an election to someone with as little competence or support from his own party as Donald Trump marked an extraordinary fiasco. The refusal of the Democratic leadership to identify the real reasons for their defeat is not just a problem of history. If Democrats persevere with a politics that prioritizes well-off professionals rather than ordinary Americans, they will leave the field open to right wing populism for many years to come. Drawing on the WikiLeaks releases of Clinton's talks at Goldman Sachs and the e mails of her campaign chief John Podesta, as well as key passages from her public speeches, How I Lost By Hillary Clinton also includes extensive commentary by award-winning journalist Joe Lauria, and a foreword by Julian Assange, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks. It provides, in the words of the Democratic candidate and her close associates, a riveting, unsparing picture of the disastrous campaign that delivered America to President Trump, and a stark warning of a mistake that must not be repeated. "Clinton lost the 2016 election, Trump didn't win it. How I Lost by Hillary Clinton is a vital rallying call against the type of triangulating politics that may defeat Trump in 2020, but will never defeat Trumpism." -Bhaskar Sunkara, editor, JacobinThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/1198501/advertisement