With the world’s eyes on Ukraine, Israel has carried out strikes on Syria for two consecutive nights. Thursday’s early morning attack is the third in the past week and, according to Syrian state media, the strikes killed three soldiers stationed somewhere near the national capital of Damascus. The night prior, Israel targeted the southern city of Quneitra and inflicted material damage, with missiles reportedly fired from the occupied Golan Heights. The recent strikes are part of hundreds of Israeli air raids on Syria launched over the past decade. Each attack erodes the Syrian army’s...
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COI #224: Ukraine Claims Biden Is Causing a Crisis
On COI #224, Kyle Anzalone breaks down Ukraine pushing back on Biden’s claims that Russia will invade. Ukrainian President Zelenksyy says Biden is causing a crisis and hurting the economy. The tensions are reported to have boiled over on a call between the two leaders. Kyle discusses the coup in Burkina Faso. After increasing jihadist attacks in the country, the military overthrew the president. The leader of the coup trained extensively with the US. Kyle talks about the security situation in Mali. The Malian government is working with Russia and demanding that Denmark withdraw its...
1/13/22 Andy Worthington on the Twenty Years of Abuse at Guantanamo Bay
Scott is joined by Andy Worthington, author of Guantanamo Files to discuss the status of the prison two decades after it opened. Worthington explains who remains detained at the prison, where detainees stand regarding trials and the developments that have happened under Biden so far. Scott and Worthington also discuss the shameful history of the illegal prison. Discussed on the show: Art from Guantanamo Bay Unmasking Jihadi John: Anatomy of a Terrorist (IMDb) Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo by Mansoor Adayfi “The Guantánamo “Suicides”” (Harpers) Andy Worthington is the...
The Human Under the Numbers
The story of Anne Frank is tragic. If not for the words that she wrote in her diary, she would be a digit of history. Her diary is relatable, and the thoughts that collected inside her being during a horrible time in history gives the reader an idea of who she was. She is immortalized because of the little things that she wrote, not because of any great deeds recorded by others. As a victim of tyranny she is remembered as an innocent murdered. She is a story found inside the numbers. Thanks to her diary, we have a human figure to know and mourn, despite the mechanized bureaucratic...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front. Additionally, al-Qaeda allegedly did not carry out any military operations until December 2011 and did not announce its establishment until January 2012. However, there is evidence that al-Qaeda affiliated militants were involved in the Syrian conflict much earlier. Saudi intelligence...
Afghanistan Was A Ponzi Scheme Sold To The American Public
"WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." As the political fight over who lost Afghanistan gets...
Five Myths About Drone Warfare
Myth 1. It's "precision bombing" Myth 2. Drone warfare is ethical Myth 3. If the war is legal so is the weapon Myth 4. Drones are a triumph of technology Myth 5. Drones are effective Aerial bombardment has not created peaceful states, nor defeated IS, nor stopped the violent deaths of innocents, nor abated sectarian conflicts, nor alleviated suffering. These wars have led to endemic anarchy, mass exodus of civilians, death, poverty and generations living with the trauma of war. They have contributed to the rise of theocracy and jihadism. Wars rage, as millions are...
COI #155: US Bombs Afghanistan, Claims to Target ISIS, Wipes Out a Family
On COI #155, Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter update the situation in Afghanistan, including the aftermath of a deadly suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport on August 26. President Joe Biden authorized two separate retaliatory drone strikes on what the government claims were ISIS-K targets in Afghanistan. The first was launched Friday in Nangarhar province and was said to have killed two militant "planners" and injured another. A second strike on Sunday hit a neighborhood in Kabul itself, reportedly killing nine civilians, including six children, in addition to at least one jihadist...
News Roundup 8/9/21
US News Legendary reporter Mark Parry passes away. [Link] The Pentagon is failing to track and provide oversight for the mercenaries it hires. [Link] Two Myanmar nationals have been arrested in New York and are charged with plotting a hit on Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN. The ambassador represents the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was overthrown in a coup. [Aink] Korea South Korea plans to move forward with war games in August. The war games are with the US and North Korea views the operations as a threat. [Link] Afghanistan The UN says fighting in Afghanistan has left 27 children...
7/30/21 Patrick Cockburn: The ‘Forever War’ in Afghanistan is Far From Over
Scott and Patrick Cockburn speculate about the future of Afghanistan as the United States ends its military involvement there. Cockburn reminds us that although the Taliban are making gains in parts of the country, they are far from universally popular, and the likelihood of an entirely Taliban-controlled Afghanistan seems somewhat low. This, he stresses, means that "the war in Afghanistan" is not going to be over anytime soon, just because the U.S. is leaving—and fighting between the various powers there may continue indefinitely without us. Discussed on the show: "The forever war in...