Swapcast with Foreign Policy Focus podcast host Kyle Anzalone, on the firing of Trump’s national security advisor, John Bolton.  

FOLLOW Kyle on Twitter: @Kyaaale.  SUBSCRIBE to the Foreign Policy Focus podcast at the Libertarian Institute.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. 

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on September 14, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Trump Oval Office press conference on Bolton firing
2. Pushback with Aaron Maté: Ex-CIA analyst on why he predicted John Bolton’s firing
3. Around the Empire: Ep 111 John Bolton and Escalation With Iran feat Kyle Anzalone
4. Washington Post: How clashes with Trump led to John Bolton's firing

Guest: Elijah Magnier. We discuss the recent Israeli bombings in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the political situation and the impending retaliation by Hezbollah. Also we talk about the purpose and importance of the occupation of al Tanf and the battle for Idlib including Turkey’s realignment and the Astana agreement.

Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). 

FOLLOW Elijah Magnier @ejmalrai. Read and support his work at ejmagnier.com

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on August 30, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Timestamps:

2:30 Recent Israeli bombings in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, violation of 2006 rules of engagement 

10:30 Hezbollah warnings of retaliation, preparation for war

14:00 Political situation in Lebanon and Israel, Hezbollah response before Israeli elections

22:45 Hezbollah response to recent attacks is imminent

29:00 Political impact on Netanyahu, Trump/Netanyahu alliance, risk to American soldiers after bombings in Iraq

36:00 Israeli launched attacks in Iraq from an American base

41:45 Al Tanf base, economic warfare

49:30 Situation in Idlib, Syrian army advance, Turkey realignment and withdrawal of support for former allied jihadi groups; Astana agreement

Reference Links:

1. Why Netanyahu Dares to Hit Iran’s Backyard in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon: Israel Accepts Hezbollah’s Challenge, Elijah Magnier
2. Hezbollah Will Respond to Israel But When? And at What Cost? Elijah Magnier

Guest: Whitney Webb. We continue the discussion on Whitney’s multi-part investigative journalism articles on the Jeffrey Epstein affair, the multi-national criminal enterprise, with an American wing that is whole heartedly bipartisan and perennial. Today we focus on Part 4 of the series: From “Spook Air” to the “Lolita Express”: The Genesis and Evolution of the Jeffrey Epstein-Bill Clinton Relationship. 

Both familiar and unfamiliar names and events turn up in this episode. Iran Contra, Bill & Hillary Clinton, Mena, Arkansas, Rose Law Firm, William Barr, BCCI, PROMIS, Systematics, Danny Casolaro, Jackson Stephens, Adnan Khashoggi, and more. Part 4 is the final piece of this series but not really the end, and Whitney gives us some hints about spinoff investigations that will be pursued. 

Whitney Webb is a MintPress news journalist and the co-host of the MintCast podcast. She is based in southern Chile and has contributed to numerous independent media outlets with writing and interviews and Whitney is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.  

FOLLOW @_whitneywebb, find her work at MintPress News and the MintCast podcast. Support her work by contributing to MintPress News or by becoming a patron at patreon.com/MintPressNews.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. 

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on August 23, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. MintPress: From “Spook Air” to the “Lolita Express”: The Genesis and Evolution of the Jeffrey Epstein-Bill Clinton Relationship (Part IV of “Too Big to Fail” investigative series by Whitney Webb)
2. Around the Empire: Ep 115 Epstein, Trafficking & Blackmail feat Whitney Webb
3. Around the Empire: Ep 117 The Mega Group and the Epstein Affair feat Whitney Webb

Guest: Mark Sleboda. Mark Sleboda joins us today from Moscow to talk about political affairs in Ukraine and the recent snap elections in the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada. The “throw the bums out” trend continues and the new president,Volodymyr Zelensky and his brand new political party now has a rare absolute majority and they begin the task of actually governing this troubled state. 

Mark is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist.

FOLLOW Mark on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, look for his appearances on RT, Sputnik and other international channels. 

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on August 7, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Timestamps:

01:30 Ukraine presidential and snap parliamentary elections, Zelensky, “Servant of the People”, rejection of Poroshenko, anti-corruption, vague policies that appeal to East and West Ukraine, new inexperienced Zelensky party in Rada with diverse policy positions, no party platform or ideology

11:00 Oligarch Kolomoisky, originally pro-Maidan, funded & armed nationalist/neo-Nazi battalions, Privat Bank, fled country with IMF funds, self-exiled and later returned, possibly created Zelensky

16:30 Zelensky continues orientation toward EU and the West, Minsk agreement, privatization and austerity

18:30 Civil war, refusal to talk with Donbass separatists leaders, relations with Russia

21:30 Ukrainian economy

27:30 Control of military and national guard, intelligence services

30:30 Ukraine elections and parties (also with an introduction to Mark’s pets voicing their opinion in the background :) (see photos in reference links)

44:00 VICE article (see reference links) propaganda on the far-Right militias, influence on Europe, missiles found in Italy, blowback of Western proxies, current situation with neo-Nazi militias, previous contradictory work of VICE in Ukraine

Reference Links:

1. Around the Empire: Ep 99 Ukraine feat Mark Sleboda
2. Netflix: Servant of the People
3. VICE: FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS HAVE BEEN USING UKRAINE’S WAR AS A TRAINING GROUND. THEY’RE RETURNING HOME. 
4. Pics of Mark’s pets (including Morrigan the crow)

Guest: Carl Zha. A wide-ranging discussion about colonial Hong Kong, the transition back to China, and the social and economic changes that developed. We analyze the current Hong Kong protests, the forces at work and the prospects for a military crackdown or peaceful resolution. 

Carl Zha is an engineer, historian, podcaster, and a Caltech Alum. His podcast, Silk and Steel, is about China, US-China Great Power competition and the history of Empires, past and present.

FOLLOW @carlzha, SUBSCRIBE to his podcast Silk and Steel and listen to his previous podcast, Clash. 

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. 

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on August 15, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Promo Video of PLA troops stationed in Hong Kong since 1997
2. New York Times: Opinion: A Hong Kong Protester's Tactic: Get the Police to Hit You
3. Documentary: The Gate of Heavenly Peace
4. The Silk and Steel Podcast

Guest: Douglas Valentine. We talk about the CIA, foreign intelligence and liaison operations, Donald Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein affair. 

Douglas Valentine is an author, investigator, journalist and poet. He’s the author of many books, including  “The Phoenix Program: America’s Use of Terror in Vietnam,” and “The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World.” He is well known for his extensive research and interviews of numerous CIA officers, former CIA director William Colby and others involved in the Phoenix Program. The Phoenix Program was a large operation that involved kidnapping, torture, and assassination. Its goal was the destruction of the Viet Cong insurgency, a political and paramilitary movement that worked against the United States and the US-backed South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam war. 

FOLLOW Douglas Valentine @dougvalentine77 and find his books, writing and archives on his website www.douglasvalentine.com.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on July 29, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Timestamps:

2:30 Clip from Andrew McCarthy interview on expectations for the IG report on Russiagate/Spygate, foreign intelligence and liaison operations

7:45 Origins of CIA, political police force, liaison operations, Trump and Epstein, gangsters, ideology based in capitalism, makes it possible for people like Trump & Epstein to thrive, anti-communism/socialism, patriarchy, system enables sexual predatory activity

14:00 Mafia is a model for capitalist corporate enterprises, CIA exempt from laws, all intel services organized similarly, CIA tries to shape social and political environment in other countries for US business enterprises

18:30 To control other countries CIA must control criminal underworld in those countries, Various tactics like sexual blackmail used to coerce businessmen and officials in other countries, partners with organized crime for blackmail, arms and drug trafficking

22:30 1980’s Donald Trump wanted to advance his business overseas, money laundering

26:00  CIA has intel on American businessmen and makes use of them to do its bidding in the US without conducting operations here, immunized and covered up by the national security state

31:30 Five directorates of CIA, directorate of operations has two parts. Foreign intelligence/liaison branch spies and recruits assets, partners with and bargains with foreign intelligence services. 

41:30 Recruiting people to spy on their own countries, wittingly or unwittingly. Creates many “proprietary companies” including charitable entities and NGOs, intelligence operations under cover of civic action. 

46:00 Assets like Epstein are expendable. Trump became president, so not expendable. Ghislaine Maxwell and blackmail operations. Operations will never be revealed because covered by national security laws

50:30 Women can also perpetuate the corrupt, patriarchichal system. Details of various spectacles aren’t very important in the big picture, as nothing will change until the system is changed

Reference Links:

1. John Batchelor Show 7/25/19: Durham and Horowitz aim to answer the hard questions about Spygate [and Liaison Operations]
2. Book: “The Phoenix Program: America’s Use of Terror in Vietnam”
3. Book: “The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World”
4. www.douglasvalentine.com

Guest: Whitney Webb. We continue the discussion on Whitney’s multi-part investigative journalism articles on the Jeffrey Epstein affair, his ties to intelligence and organized crime, trafficking networks and sexual blackmail operations, and the origins of the Epstein case, going back decades. We focus on Part 3: Mega Group, Maxwells, and Mossad: The Spy Story at the Heart of the Jeffrey Epstein Scandal,

Whitney Webb is a MintPress news journalist and the co-host of the MintCast podcast. She is based in southern Chile and has contributed to numerous independent media outlets with writing and interviews and Whitney is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.  

FOLLOW @_whitneywebb, find her work at MintPress News and the MintCast podcast.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. 

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on August 7, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Around the Empire: Ep 115 Epstein, Trafficking & Blackmail feat Whitney Webb
2. Mega Group, Maxwells, and Mossad: The Spy Story at the Heart of the Jeffrey Epstein Scandal, Whitney Webb, MintPress News

Guest: Major Danny Sjursen, US Army (ret.). We discuss what Danny refers to as “The Tulsi Effect” and its impact of forcing the issue of war onto the Democratic party agenda and the 2020 presidential election. 

The issue of war and foreign policy is something that liberals and progressive candidates would much prefer to ignore in debates and on the public stage. As Danny Sjursen wrote: “This was ever so apparent in the first two nights of Democratic primary debates this week. Foreign policy hardly registered for these candidates with one noteworthy exception: Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard—herself an (anti-war) combat veteran and army officer.” All of this is true, and stunning, especially given that our country “remains mired in several air and ground wars from West Africa to Central Asia.”

Tulsi has made ending the wars a centerpiece of her campaign and even though she is not a frontrunner she does stand out for making this her priority and not only that, she is forcing the issue of war onto the Democratic agenda. We also talk about Joe Biden’s Iraq War problem, Trump’s chaotic and contradictory foreign policy cabinet, the silent anti-interventionist majority in America and the state of the anti-war movement. 

Major Danny Sjursen is a retired US Army strategist and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of a memoir and critical analysis of the Iraq War titled: Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge. His articles are published by numerous media outlets: antiwar.com, The American Conservative, Truthdig, TomDispatch and others. He is the co-host of the Fortress on a Hill podcast. 

FOLLOW Danny @SkepticalVet, find his podcast at Fortress on a Hill. 

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.  SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on July 10, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. The Tulsi Effect: Forcing War Onto the Democratic Agenda, Danny Sjursen, The American Conservative
2. Tulsi Gabbard Was the Clear Winner of the Democratic Debates, Truthdig, Danny Sjursen
3. Here's one way Democrats can defeat Trump: be radically anti-war, The Guardian, Mark Hannah, Stephen Wertheim
4. Putting the Warriors on Terror on Trial, Danny Sjursen, antiwar.com
5. Giving Trump Credit (But Not Too Much) on Iran, Danny Sjursen, antiwar.com
6. Troika Fever, Danny Sjursen, TomDispatch

Guest: Whitney Webb. We discuss Whitney’s multi-part investigative journalism articles on the Jeffrey Epstein affair, his ties to intelligence and organized crime, trafficking networks and sexual blackmail operations, and the origins of the Epstein case, going back decades. We focus on Part 2 of the series, titled Government by Blackmail: Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s Mentor and the Dark Secrets of the Reagan Era. 

Whitney Webb is a MintPress news journalist and the co-host of the MintCast podcast. She is based in southern Chile and has contributed to numerous independent media outlets with writing and interviews and Whitney is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.  

FOLLOW @_whitneywebb, find her work at MintPress News and the MintCast podcast.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. 

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on July 26, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Hidden in Plain Sight: The Shocking Origins of the Jeffrey Epstein Case, Whitney Webb, MintPress News
2. Government by Blackmail: Jeffrey Epstein, Trump’s Mentor and the Dark Secrets of the Reagan Era, Whitney Webb, MintPress News
3. WSJ: Jeffrey Epstein’s Pilots Are Subpoenaed in Sex-Trafficking Investigation
4. NYT: How Jeffrey Epstein Used the Billionaire Behind Victoria’s Secret for Wealth and Women

Guest: Dr. George Szamuely. We talked about the strengthening alliance between Russia and China, the shock and concern expressed by US officials after recent meetings and comments by the Chinese and Russian leaders and about the American policy decisions and imperial adventures over the last few decades that made that convergence inevitable. We discussed the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Brzezinski, McFaul and the long history of opposition to detente with Russia by factions of the US national security state. Then we talked about how this relates to Russiagate as well as recent developments in that arena. 

George Szamuely is the author of Bombs for Peace: NATO's Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia and a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute. 

FOLLOW George at @GeorgeSzamuely  Read his book Bombs for Peace: NATO's Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia. 

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on June 15, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. China’s Xi calls Putin his ‘best friend’ against a backdrop of souring US relations, CNBC
2. Book: Bombs for Peace: NATO's Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia, George Szamuely

Guest: Max Blumenthal. We discuss his new book, The Management of Savagery: How America’s National Security State Fueled the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump

Here’s an excerpt from the promo for the book: 

The rise of international jihad and Western ultra-nationalism

In the Management of Savagery, Max Blumenthal excavates the real story behind America’s dealings with the world and shows how the extremist forces that now threaten peace across the globe are the inevitable flowering of America’s imperial designs.

Washington’s secret funding of the mujahedin provoked the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. With guns and money, the United States has ever since sustained the extremists, including Osama Bin Laden, who have become its enemies. The Pentagon has trained and armed jihadist elements in Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya; it has launched military interventions to change regimes in the Middle East. In doing so, it created fertile ground for the Islamic State and brought foreign conflicts home to American soil.

These failed wars abroad have made the United States more vulnerable to both terrorism as well as native ultra-nationalism. The Trump presidency is the inevitable consequence of neoconservative imperialism in the post–Cold War age. Trump’s dealings in the Middle East are likely only to exacerbate the situation.

This interview became a longer and more wide-ranging discussion than we had anticipated, and a really interesting one at that. Not only did we talk about the book and what we think is one of the biggest scandals in American history, but we also talked about the rise of anti-interventionism both as a generational movement and a general awakening. The current positions taken by Democratic candidates for the 2020 presidential election also comes up in the conversation.  In Part 2 of the interview, we discussed our own evolutions and how we came to understand the role of the US and the empire in the world. We ventured into what we think are the best practices for helping others who are in varying states of their own awakening. Max then explains how the book, The Management of Savagery, is actually the compilation of his new understanding of the US role in the world. 

FOLLOW Max on Twitter @MaxBlumenthal. Find and support his work at The Grayzone and at Moderate Rebels. 

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on June 14, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

Book: The Management of Savagery: How America’s National Security State Fueled the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump, Max Blumenthal, Verso Books

Guest: Max Blumenthal. We discuss his new book, The Management of Savagery: How America’s National Security State Fueled the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump

Here’s an excerpt from the promo for the book: 

The rise of international jihad and Western ultra-nationalism

In the Management of Savagery, Max Blumenthal excavates the real story behind America’s dealings with the world and shows how the extremist forces that now threaten peace across the globe are the inevitable flowering of America’s imperial designs.

Washington’s secret funding of the mujahedin provoked the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. With guns and money, the United States has ever since sustained the extremists, including Osama Bin Laden, who have become its enemies. The Pentagon has trained and armed jihadist elements in Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya; it has launched military interventions to change regimes in the Middle East. In doing so, it created fertile ground for the Islamic State and brought foreign conflicts home to American soil.

These failed wars abroad have made the United States more vulnerable to both terrorism as well as native ultra-nationalism. The Trump presidency is the inevitable consequence of neoconservative imperialism in the post–Cold War age. Trump’s dealings in the Middle East are likely only to exacerbate the situation.

This interview became a longer and more wide-ranging discussion than we had anticipated, and a really interesting one at that. Not only did we talk about the book and what we think is one of the biggest scandals in American history, but we also talked about the rise of anti-interventionism both as a generational movement and a general awakening. The current positions taken by Democratic candidates for the 2020 presidential election also comes up in the conversation.  In Part 2 of the interview, we discussed our own evolutions and how we came to understand the role of the US and the empire in the world. We ventured into what we think are the best practices for helping others who are in varying states of their own awakening. Max then explains how the book, The Management of Savagery, is actually the compilation of his new understanding of the US role in the world. 

FOLLOW Max on Twitter @MaxBlumenthal. Find and support his work at The Grayzone and at Moderate Rebels. 

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com. 

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on June 14, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

Book: The Management of Savagery: How America’s National Security State Fueled the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump, Max Blumenthal, Verso Books

Guest: Kyle Anzalone. Escalation of the conflict with Iran. Tucker Carlson’s major pushback against John Bolton and others urging Trump to provoke or start a hot war with Iran. Iran’s retaliatory “maximum pressure” campaign against the United States. The downing of an American drone over the Persian Gulf and Trump’s last minute stand down on missile strikes. Increasingly sophisticated strikes on Saudi Arabia by the Houthis.

Find Kyle’s work at ImmersionNews.com and at LibertarianInstitute.org

Support Kyle at https://www.patreon.com/ForeignPolicyFocus

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on June 21/24, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Trump Approves Strikes on Iran, but Then Abruptly Pulls Back, NYT
2. White House Pushes 'Trump Pulled Back' Story - He Likely Never Approved To Strike Iran, Moon of Alabama
3. IRAN AND TRUMP ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS, Elijah Magnier
4. Around the Empire episodes 77-78 The Khashoggi Affair
5. Around the Empire episodes 69-71 The Rise and Fall of John Brennan

Guest: Kevin Gosztola studied and analyzed the 17 superseding indictments brought against Julian Assange on May 23. He argues that a familiar contrived, conspiracy narrative and timeline underpin the Dept. of Justice charges.

Kevin says that: “In order to defend the First Amendment and investigative journalism itself, it is crucial to understand the timeline of events for Chelsea Manning’s disclosures to WikiLeaks and their publication in 2010.” He uses his extensive experience covering that military trial to demonstrate the prosecutor’s dilemma and to show how specific arguments based on those details will be more crucial than the broad defense of rights.

Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof. He also produces and co-hosts the excellent weekly podcast with Rania Khalek, "Unauthorized Disclosure."

FOLLOW Kevin @kgosztola, find his work at shadowproof.com, and subscribe to his podcast Unauthorized Disclosure.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 31, 2019 / June 19, 2019.. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Unraveling the Justice Department’s Conspiracy Theory Against Julian Assange, Kevin Gosztola, Shadowproof
2. Trump Justice Department’s Prosecution Of Julian Assange Relies On Contrived Conspiracy Theory, Kevin Gosztola, Medium
3. WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Charged in 18-Count Superseding Indictment, US Dept. of Justice
4. Around the Empire Ep 97 Chelsea Manning’s Resistance feat Kevin Gosztola

Guest: Jeb Sprague. We discuss the hybrid war being waged on Venezuela with an end goal of regime change. We also talk about recent events at the Venezuelan embassy under siege in Washington and the Venezuelan opposition figures who operated outside to help with a seizure in violation of the Vienna Convention.

Jeb Sprague lectures at the University of Virginia and formerly taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Globalizing the Caribbean: Political Economy, Social Change, and the Transnational Capitalist Class (Temple University Press, 2019) and Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti (Monthly Review Press, 2012). In addition, he has authored and co-authored a number of scholarly articles, and is the editor of Globalization and Transnational Capitalism in Asia and Oceania (Routledge, 2016). He is a founding member of the Network for Critical Studies of Global Capitalism (NCSGC) and has taught sociology in the Caribbean, East Asia, and North America. Find his articles at The Grayzone, MintPress News, The Canary and at his website jebsprague.blogspot.com.

FOLLOW Jeb Sprague @JebSprague and find his writing at The Grayzone, MintPress News, The Canary and at his website jebsprague.blogspot.com. Visit him at Jeb Sprague CV.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 21, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Who’s Behind the Pro-Guaidó Crowd Besieging Venezuela’s D.C. Embassy?, Jeb Sprague, Alex Rubinstein, Mint Press News
2. Washington’s hybrid war on Venezuela – a very 21st-century attempt at regime change, Jeb Sprague, The Canary

Guest: Douglas Valentine. We discuss the CIA warrior class. As Doug says, they “truly believe the heroic myth they have created about themselves… endowing the warrior class with the highest social virtues, while justifying the tragic consequences of their imperial marauding as ‘fate’”.

Douglas Valentine is an author, investigator, journalist and poet. He’s the author of many books, including  “The Phoenix Program: America’s Use of Terror in Vietnam,” and “The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World.” He is well known for his extensive research and interviews of numerous CIA officers, former CIA director William Colby and others involved in the Phoenix Program. The Phoenix Program was a large operation that involved kidnapping, torture, and assassination. Its goal was the destruction of the Viet Cong insurgency, a political and paramilitary movement that worked against the United States and the US-backed South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam war.

FOLLOW Douglas Valentine @dougvalentine77 and find his books, writing and archives on his website www.douglasvalentine.com.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 18, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

www.douglasvalentine.com.

Guest: Dave Foster. We discuss the evolution of the military-industrial complex, Cold War weapons systems and “last war-ism.”

In Dave’s own words:

“The U.S. status quo model of the military is one composed of advanced conventional forces equipped with modern ships, planes, tanks, sensor networks, and logistic capability and also nuclear weapons. The Pentagon, the broader government, and the industrial base is beholden to this status quo and favored visions of future operations. The Pentagon can modify to a degree for operations but finds it difficult to adapt structurally to new realities. The primary reasons are financial. Last War-ism and nostrums of future scenarios always vastly outweigh truly fresh thinking. The commitment to the ideas of the past that exist today – as business relationships, existing infrastructure, organizations, systems, plans, and past research – dominate the Pentagon’s budget. With rare exception, the entire Pentagon budget funds the status quo.”

Dave Foster is a data analyst in the private sector. He’s a former Marine Corps pilot and a Defense Department contract and civilian weapons engineer and operations analyst. You can find his writing at antiwar.com.

Timestamps:

• 1:45 Dave Foster’s background
• 6:30 Anti-war vs anti-interventionism vs pacifism
• 7:15 Empire, military-industrial complex, weapons evolution
• 9:15 Last war-ism, building weapons for the last war or last century’s war, air war
• 13:15 Reviving the Cold War, peer level competitor adversaries, for-profit wars
• 16:15 Return to priority on conventional land forces and weapons with Russia as adversary. Competition between different branches of the military, repurposing anti-Soviet weapons for Middle Eastern wars, GPS aided weapons. Adversaries focusing on surface-to-air weapons
• 20:15 Iraq war, all volunteer force
• 26:00 Excerpt from Lawrence Wilkerson’s speech at a Maine Peace Action speech, May 2019
• 31:15 Military-industrial complex, profiteering, maintaining the status quo, form of welfare and what we build isn’t really suitable for the future.
• 33:45 Post-WWII, Korean war, Vietnam war, setting up a military poised to go out and look for things to do, wasted good will, world views US as a threat
• 38:45 War is no longer dependent on having a big conventional military, vulnerability due to large number of bases and ships
• 42:15 Batteships are outdated, size of the navy, difficulty making big changes in big organizations, life cycle costs of military products, assumptions and estimations
• 54:15 Recent proposal for fighting Chinese navy
• 56:15 Arleigh Burke class destroyers accidents, vulnerabilities, vast operations present opportunity for adversaries to study our systems, network-centric systems
• 1:02:15 Digital systems, testing complex systems
• 1:09:15 Pentagon has a hard time dealing with disruptive realities, inertia and profits, investing in old fashioned notions of what a military should be
• Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

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Recorded on May 12, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. The Pentagon’s Days of Future Past, Dave Foster, antiwar.com
2. National Security in Three Diagrams and Six Takeaways
3. Maine 2019 Spring Gathering & Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson Speech
4. So Much for Conventional Wisdom, America Actually Seems to Care About Foreign Policy, Deep State Radio podcast

Guest: Patrick Lawrence. We discuss President Trump’s relationship with his chosen cabinet hawks, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton and what Lawrence sees as a foreign policy coup by the Bolton-Pompeo axis.

Patrick Lawrence is a columnist and essayist who specializes in foreign affairs and media analysis and his work is published at The Nation, Consortium News, Salon and other outlets.  Also he’s the author of the book “Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century.”

FOLLOW Patrick Lawrence @thefloutist. Find his work at his website patricklawrence.us and support his work at patreon.com/thefloutist.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 16, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. A Week of Dangerous Developments from Iran to North Korea,  Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News
2. The US Moves on Iran’s Oil Market as an Expression of an Irrational Foreign Policy, Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News
3. Trump & the Bolton-Pompeo Axis, Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News
4. White House Reviews Military Plans Against Iran, in Echoes of Iraq War, New York Times
5. Pompeo, Russia’s Lavrov see hope for improved US-Russia ties, AP

Guest: Elijah Magnier. According to Elijah’s analysis, the recent sabotage attacks in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were a warning from Iran to the US and allies in the region about what kinds of retaliation would occur if escalation continues and an attack on Iran is carried out. We also talk about his recent reporting about the prospects for a summer war in Lebanon and the wider region.

Elijah Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and political analyst with over 35 years of experience covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

FOLLOW Elijah Magnier @ejmalrai. Read and support his work at ejmagnier.com

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 17, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. What Would be the Role of Iraq in a US-Iran War Scenario? Elijah Magnier
2. No Attacks Against US Forces in the Middle East but Against US Allies, Elijah Magnier
3. No War Between Iran and the US Anytime Soon: Trump Doesn’t Know How to Negotiate With Iran, Elijah Magnier
4. Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on Full Alert Sending a Clear Warning to Gulf Countries, Elijah Magnier
5. From Karbala to Al Fujairah: An Act of Sabotage May End Prospects of a Summer War in the Middle East, Elijah Magnier
6. US sets course for its next Middle Eastern war of choice, Financial Times, Edward Luce

Guest: Michael Krieger. Michael explains how the extraction of Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and subsequent arrest and request for extradition to the US was a profound turning point for investigative journalism, freedom of speech and for liberty and civilization. This event might end up being as consequential as the bailout of the “too big to fail” banks and the impact that had on the financial system and the rule of law.

Michael Krieger is the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg. He’s a former Wall Street analyst from New York now based in Colorado where he is, as his Twitter profile says, “ poet laureate of the debt apocalypse.”

FOLLOW Michael on Twitter @LibertyBlitz and find his work at LibertyBlitzkrieg.com.

Timestamps:

• 04:00 Kreiger’s background and article, Wall Street, TARP bailout bill, information arbitrage, Tech giants, a turning point, precedents set, no rule of law
• 11:00 Assange arrest another precedent being set, national security state, no transparency, loss of freedom of speech and investigative journalism
• 14:00  No accountability for elites aligned with empire, lying on a ridiculous level, outrageous propaganda
• 22:00 Too big to jail, voluntary corporate surveillance, passive population, rulers and the ruled
• 31:00 The “problematic” people, dissidents, Assange, Manning and Snowden
• 35:00 Decline of empire, acceleration of abuse of power
• 41:00 Investigative journalism, voluntary suppression of leaked or hacked information
• 44:00 Suppression of speech online, deplatforming from the public square  
• 50:30 Open source software, platforms, systems, journalism

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 8, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

Krieger 4/15/19: Arrest of Julian Assange is an Attack on Journalism, Liberty, Self-Government and Civilization Itself

Guest: Daniel Lazare. We discuss the origins of Russiagate, some key questions that we have about the Mueller Report and surprising things that the Mueller Report doesn’t cover at all.

In Lazares’s own words:

“Mueller’s door-stopper of a report may be chockfull of facts, but it’s also filled with the non sequiturs, loose threads and self-serving arguments that we’ve come to expect from official Washington.  It’s good on collusion, pointing out that reports of a Trump-Russia conspiracy remain unsubstantiated despite desperate Democratic efforts to spin it otherwise.”

“But it’s lousy on interference, regurgitating the standard intelligence-community line that Russia ‘interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.’ Simultaneously, it is remarkably incurious about how the scandal began, who propelled it along, and how it all snowballed into a mega-Watergate.”

Timestamps:

• 02:00- historical recap (from 2014) of US-Russia relations and flawed US foreign policy: Maidan revolution, Crimea, Syria regime change war, Russian intervention and subsequent fury and panic of US War Party, Trump campaign’s pro-Russia stance leading to War Party believing Trump was in league with Putin
• 8:30 Origins of Russiagate: US and foreign intelligence suspicions about Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians, counterintelligence investigation. Informants, creating pretexts for investigations, Papadopoulous, Mifsud, Roger Stone, Felix Sater
• 18:00 Mueller and Weismann reputations, Manafort, collusion section of Mueller report
• 24:00 Other foreign policy and empire ambitions and problems that influenced Russiagate, e.g. Syria, Ukraine, refugee crisis in Europe, rise of right-wing parties
• 32:00 Watergate narrative, DNC alleged hack, neverending Russiagate, Assange
• 36:00 Key questions we have about the Mueller Report and questions the Mueller report does not answer, creeping conspiracy culture, the Steele dossier, IRA, GRU, new investigations and the political impact

Daniel Lazare is a journalist and author of three books: The Frozen Republic; The Velvet Coup, and America's Undeclared War.

FOLLOW Dan  on Twitter @dhlazare. Find his work at Consortium News and find his writings and his books at daniellazare.com.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 8, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Top Ten Questions About the Mueller Report, Daniel Lazare, Consortium News
2. The ‘Guccifer 2.0’ Gaps in Mueller’s Full Report, Daniel Lazare, Consortium News
3. The Tale of a ‘Deep State Target’, Daniel Lazare, Consortium News
4. Bachelor Show 5/7/29 interview with Andrew McCarthy: "I think they're not finding Mifsud because they don't want to find him."

Guest: Joe Emersberger. We talk about the latest failed coup in Venezuela, the sanctions causing tens of thousands of deaths, and the level of political support or resistance to intervention in the US and Europe. We also discuss Canada’s foreign policy and involvement in the American and British empires. Lastly we assess the risk of a larger war with Russia and China as they oppose American aggression and sanctions in various parts of the world.

Joe Emersberger is a Canadian engineer and UNIFOR member with Ecuadorian roots. He writes for FAIR, Venezuela Analysis, Counterpunch, The Canary, MintPress News, Telesur English, and Znet.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Canada’s foreign policy and involvement in US empire and British empire
• 10:00 LIMA Group
• 12:45 Venezuela Constituent Assembly, 2018 election
• 18:20 Sanctions causing tens of  thousands of deaths in Venezuela
• 19:30 January 23 and April 30 coup attempts
• 36:00 Political support and resistance to intervention and sanctions in US and Europe
• 43:00 Maduro cabinet members’ false defections
• 48:00 Warnings against military intervention
• 57:00 Anti-interventionist movement
• 1:00:00 Trump-Putin phone call on Venezuela, larger risk of war with Russia & China

FOLLOW Joe on Twitter @rosendo_joe and find his writing at FAIR, Venezuela Analysis, Counterpunch, The Canary, MintPress News, Telesur English, and Znet.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on May 4, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Report finds that US sanctions have killed 40,000 people in Venezuela since 2017, Joe Emersberger, The Canary
2. The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, Yves Engler
3. Trump’s May 3 tweet about phone call with Putin
4. Kremlin readout on Trump’s phone call with Putin
5. Venezuela's Failed Uprising: How a Deal to Oust Maduro Unraveled, Bloomberg
6. Quotes from retired Adm. James Stavridis in Foreign Policy: Venezuela Is at a ‘Tipping Point’

Journalist Zaid Jilani joins the show to talk about the ideological differences in the Democratic party which have been on display in a recent public feud between the Bernie Sanders campaign and Neera Tanden, the leader of the Democratic party think tank, Center for American Progress (CAP). Jilani draws on his experience working at CAP for several years to help analyze the deep divide. We talked about how flooding the field with a large number of primary candidates might be used as a strategy to undermine Bernie Sanders. Lastly we discussed Russiagate and the politics of impeachment.

Zaid Jilani is a journalist from from Atlanta, Georgia, currently a Writing Fellow for the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. He has previously worked as a reporter and blogger for ThinkProgress, and for other political organizations and media outlets. He is the co-host of the Extremely Offline podcast.

FOLLOW Zaid on Twitter @ZaidJilani and subscribe to his podcast: Extremely Offline

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on April 20, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Bernie Sanders Is Right: Money Always Corrupts. Will The Liberal Establishment Listen?, Zaid Jilani, The Forward
2. Zaid Jilani Twitter THREAD April 14 thru April 18
3. The Rematch: Bernie Sanders vs. a Clinton Loyalist, NYT
4. Bernie Sanders' campaign escalates feud with top liberal think tank, CNN

As Russiagate winds down, its toxic legacy endures in more ways than one. Journalist Bryan MacDonald has witnessed this first hand in his dealings with ordinary Russians. They’re losing their good will and admiration towards America largely because of Russiagate. Due to their broad exposure to western media and social media, Russian citizens are fully aware of the growing xenophobia and hatred expressed toward Russians by prominent Americans in government and media. Bryan tells us that “admiration and curiosity towards the US has been replaced with disappointment, hostility and often anger”. And this is a drastic change from the positive attitudes he found to be common just a few years ago.

Bryan MacDonald is an Irish journalist living and working in Russia. He writes for RT and previously Before moving to Russia, Bryan worked in Ireland for the Evening Herald, Ireland On Sunday and the Irish Independent and has written for many other publications and was a regular guest on various networks.

FOLLOW Bryan on Twitter @27khv and find his work at RT.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Website: aroundtheempire.com.

SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon.

SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app.

Recorded on March 31, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. Bryan MacDonald: Mueller report: ‘Russiagate’ hoax helped turn ordinary Russians against the US
2. Ex-Intel head Clapper: Russians ‘almost genetically driven to co-opt & penetrate’
3. Wes Clark - America's Foreign Policy "Coup"

Mark Sleboda joins us today from Moscow to talk about the state of affairs in Ukraine, the Ukraine elections and the larger geopolitical picture. Mark is an International Affairs & Security Analyst, a US Navy veteran, a university lecturer and a foreign policy realist.

We do a deep dive into the 2014 Maidan / Euromaidan uprising and intervention by the US, EU and NATO, and how Ukraine became the country that it is today. There is an ongoing separatist movement, civil war and an economic and ideological break from Russia. But there has been no significant improvement for its citizens, leaving the country with a crisis of confidence, poverty and corruption. We discuss the three frontrunner candidates in the elections: the current president Poroshenko, former prime minister Tymoshenko, and Zelensky, a dark horse, anti-corruption comedian who plays a president on TV on a media channel owned by an infamous exiled oligarch, Kolomoisky.

This interview was recorded on the day before the first part of the elections on March 30. We now know that Poroshenko and Zelensky will now advance to the runoff elections on April 21.

FOLLOW him on Twitter @MarkSleboda1 and on Facebook, find his appearances on RT and other international channels.

Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in if you can at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com.

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Recorded on March 30, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey.