Moderate Rebels

Pepe Escobar discusses the failure of the US-Russia talks in Geneva, NATO's refusal to make any diplomatic concessions, and if war could be on the horizon. We address the impact on Ukraine, Europe, Germany, and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. PART 2 OF 2

Geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar discusses the violent coup attempt in Kazakhstan, and its crucial importance as an ally of Russia and the center of China's Belt and Road Initiative. He also addresses US, British, and Turkish meddling, and why this massive and misunderstood country is suddenly at the heart of the new cold war. PART 1 OF 2

Economist Michael Hudson discusses the global inflation crisis and how the US Federal Reserve has given trillions of dollars to large banks. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=m7eAbbVMr_4

In Chile's presidential election, far-right Pinochet dictatorship supporter José Antonio Kast, the son of a German Nazi, was defeated by young center-left social democrat Gabriel Boric. Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with journalist Pablo Vivanco about what this victory means, Boric's major weakness on US imperialism, and the prospects of rewriting the Pinochet-era constitution. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=dSCmGvcxXWU Follow Pablo on Twitter at @PVivancoGuzman

The US government claims Russia is planning to invade Ukraine, but is this true? Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with analyst and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter about Western governments' dubious claims, and NATO's designs for the region. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NLpPyuzxSf4 Follow Scott on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RealScottRitter

Nicaragua's Sandinista government has broken diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognized the People's Republic of China. We discuss the historic decision and its huge geopolitical implications. A Chinese company plans to build an inter-oceanic canal in Nicaragua, to challenge the monopoly of the US-dominated Panama Canal. And the same week, Nicaragua signed agreements strengthening ties with Russia and collaborating on nuclear energy projects. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EDADaUXL6kM

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won the November 21 mega-elections in a landslide, getting more votes in 20 of 23 states and the capital Caracas. So the US government responded by trying to discredit the vote. Venezuelan journalist Diego Sequera speaks about the elections, the historic victory of the ruling party of President Nicolás Maduro, and Washington's attempt to de-legitimize the process. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=p5ZrAMexvk8 Follow Diego on Twitter at twitter.com/QueraElse

Nicaraguan diplomat Michael Campbell Hooker speaks with Ben Norton about why they are leaving the Organization of American States (OAS), which he says is a "failed," "coup-plotting" organization dominated by Washington. Campbell also responds to US attempts to discredit Nicaragua's November elections, and explains the importance of autonomy for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities on the Caribbean Coast. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DTRODfuRp6o TRANSCRIPT: https://thegrayzone.com/2021/11/21/nicaragua-leaving-oas-elections

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss Washington's new hybrid war on Nicaragua's Sandinista government, the US/EU/OAS refusing to recognize the election results, Congress passing the RENACER Act, and Biden imposing sanctions. We speak with British journalist Steve Sweeney of the newspaper Morning Star, who was due to travel to Nicaragua to observe the election, but was detained in Mexico in mysterious circumstances. Follow Steve on Twitter at twitter.com/SweeneySteve Read Ben's report from inside Nicaragua's elections: thegrayzone.com/2021/11/11/nicaragua-2021-elections

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with Stella Moris, the fiancée of imprisoned WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange, about CIA threats, the appeal hearings in the US extradition case, and how this scandal threatens freedom of the press around the world.

Remember Russiagate claims of "Kremlin meddling"? Well, the US government is blatantly interfering in Nicaragua's elections. Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal discuss how, mere days before Nicaragua's November 7 elections, Meta/Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, and Google/YouTube purged thousands of pro-Sandinista journalists, activists, and media outlets. Meanwhile, the US Congress voted for more crushing sanctions. We address the gaping holes in Facebook's bogus report falsely claiming the Sandinistas it purged were "government-run troll accounts," which was written by former Pentagon-funded NATO press officer Ben Nimmo, a symbol of how social media corporations have effectively merged with the US government. Read Ben's report "Meet the Nicaraguans Facebook falsely branded bots and censored days before elections" here: thegrayzone.com/2021/11/02/facebook-twitter-purge-sandinista-nicaragua

Ben Norton speaks with Ángel Rodríguez Rivera, president of the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, about the devastating neoliberal economic policies forced on Puerto Rico. Washington imposed an unelected fiscal control board, called the junta, to control Puerto Rico's finances. Now it is pushing through so-called "debt restructuring," in law PC1003, that will slash social benefits, defund public universities, and crush working-class people in order to pay off foreign corporate debt vultures. Meanwhile, the US-imposed privatization of Puerto Rico's electrical grid in a neoliberal public-private partnership has caused chronic blackouts, while executives at LUMA Energy make huge salaries.

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak with economist Michael Hudson about his book "Super Imperialism: The Economic Strategy of American Empire." Professor Hudson just published a 3rd edition that updates his analysis for the 21st century, discussing the new cold war on China and Russia and the ongoing transition from a US dollar-dominated financialized system to a "multipolar de-dollarized economy." VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Uiz934HVZjY Michael Hudson's website: michael-hudson.com

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the Pandora Papers, how zero US politicians or oligarchs were implicated, and the CIA's growing use of "hack-and-dump" operations. The group behind the Pandora and Panama Papers, the ICIJ, is the anti-WikiLeaks. It is funded by regime-change organizations and billionaires, while working with US government front groups. We show how the Washington is increasingly weaponizing so-called "anti-corruption" efforts against Official Enemies as a form of lawfare (judicial warfare) and hybrid war.

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss shady Facebook "whistleblower" Frances Haugen and how her testimony only helps US spy agencies, justifying further government censorship while demonizing Washington's Official Enemies, from China to Iran, Myanmar to Ethiopia. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ilOl9bLfFgc

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the CIA's plot to assassinate or kidnap WikiLeaks journalist Julian Assange, which was first reported by The Grayzone in 2020.

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the absurd media propaganda about "Havana Syndrome," claiming without any evidence that Cuba, Russia, China, Vietnam, and Official Enemies of the US government are supposedly attacking CIA spies with microwave energy, or sonic weapons, or ray guns, or... something. In reality, scientists say it is most likely psychogenic, or psychological, a kind of mass hysteria for coup-plotting spooks.

Ben Norton analyzes the lies and misleading claims in US President Joe Biden's speech at the United Nations, and shows how the corporate media coverage is very misleading. VIDEO: https://rokfin.com/post/53970/Bidens-UN-speech-shows-further-US-commitment-to-war-and-meddling-not-diplomacy

Ben Norton speaks with journalist Brian Mier of independent news website Brasil Wire about the fascistic Jair Bolsonaro government in Brazil, the far-right's attacks on democracy, and the rumors of plans for a military coup to prevent popular leftist former president Lula da Silva from returning to power in the 2022 elections. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BiVixfNIfSs Check out Brasil Wire: https://brasilwire.com Follow Brian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianMteleSUR

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with Professor Asad Abukhalil, and the millions of victims of the "War on Terror." We speak about US imperialism's constant meddling in the Middle East, and Washington's hybrid wars on Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and more. We also addressed how Bush-era neocons have been rehabilitated by and even merged with the Democratic Party and liberal "humanitarian interventionists." VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Oca3UvG2HPA

Ben Norton was invited to give this talk on US hybrid warfare in Latin America. He analyzes how imperialism has evolved in the 21st century, and looks at Washington's interventionist campaigns across the region, from Bolivia to Venezuela. Then Ben discusses the case of the 2018 coup attempt in Nicaragua. The talk goes from the beginning to 1:00:00. A 30-minute Q&A then follows after. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=X87h8kh_8cI

Ben Norton discusses his The Grayzone investigation "How elite US institutions created Afghanistan's neoliberal President Ashraf Ghani, who stole $169 million from his country": https://thegrayzone.com/2021/09/02/afghanistan-ashraf-ghani-corrupt VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=bgTu7MC3gVc Watch Ben's weekly show Propaganda Today, where he streamed this video, and get access to exclusive content over at Rokfin: https://rokfin.com/benjaminnorton

On Foreign Agents, Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton expose the biggest frauds recruited as defectors and dissidents to lie about Official Enemies by the US regime, from North Korea's Yeonmi Park to Kuwait's Nayirah to Syria's Bana al-Abed. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pJCY7dS7StU You can watch Max's show Foreign Agents at Rokfin and subscribe to get all exclusive content here: https://rokfin.com/stream/8605/Foreign-Agents-5--Dissidents-defectors--deceivers-of-the-US-regime

We discuss how the US government is destabilizing the strategic Horn of Africa with Eritrean journalist Elias Amare. We talk about the conflict in Ethiopia, the TPLF's attacks on the government in the Tigray region, and the role of the Biden administration's sanctions and meddling. Is the United States using the "humanitarian interventionist" playbook like it used to justify the devastating NATO regime-change war on Libya in 2011? VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=v8vRaWgI86Q Follow Elias on Twitter at twitter.com/eliasamare

We continue our discussion with geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar of the end of the 20-year US/NATO war in Afghanistan, the opium ratline the CIA used to fund dirty covert ops, the fight over pipelines, and the estimated $1 trillion worth of untapped mineral reserves in the country, as well as Washington's "pivot to Asia" and how Afghanistan is central in the new cold war on China and Russia. PART 2 OF 2 VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QiF3TQZSxhs

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss the end to the 20-year US/NATO war in Afghanistan with journalist Pepe Escobar, who has extensive experience reporting in the country and was even arrested by the Taliban. We talk about how the geopolitics of the conflict, how the Taliban has changed, what the future government could look like, and the corruption of US puppet President Ashraf Ghani and other CIA assets. PART 1 OF 2 VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QiF3TQZSxhs

Max Blumenthal discusses US government-backed regime-change guru Gene Sharp with scholar Marcie Smith Parenti. They talk about Sharp's NED-funded Albert Einstein Institution; his explicitly neoliberal, pro-corporate, and pro-imperialist politics; and the manuals Sharp wrote teaching people how to do so-called "color revolutions" (ie, soft coups) against Washington's targets, from Yugoslavia to Venezuela to Hong Kong. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ruu9aDHTqJU Read Marcie's article "Change Agent: Gene Sharp's Neoliberal Nonviolence": nonsite.org/change-agent-gene-sharps-neoliberal-nonviolence-part-one You can watch the censored part two of their discussion over at Rokfin: rokfin.com/stream/8188/Foreign-Agents-3--meet-regime-change-guru-Gene-Sharp-and-CDCFDA-vaccine-misogyny

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss how the US government laid the groundwork for unrest in Cuba, the Biden administration's escalation of the economic war, and how CIA cutouts like USAID and the NED have cultivated a counter-revolutionary cultural network of rappers, artists, and social media influencers to push propaganda. We had planned on speaking with Havana-based journalist Cristina Escobar, but at the last minute when we started recording she unfortunately was unable to join us. Read Max's report "Cuba's cultural counter-revolution: US gov't-backed rappers, artists gain fame as 'catalyst for current unrest'" here: https://thegrayzone.com/2021/07/25/cubas-cultural-counter-revolution-us-govt-rappers-artists-catalyst VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=KLMuuGtaxes

Max Blumenthal discusses his reporting at the US Capitol on the protests demanding an eviction moratorium, the huge impending economic crisis, the opportunism of the Squad, and how Democratic Party warmongers like Adam Schiff cynically exploited it to do a photo op. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3aHgChJxsdg

We briefly discuss how the US government and corporate media are heavily amplifying small protests in Cuba to destabilize the country. While Washington suffocates the Cuban people with an illegal, 60-year blockade that the entire world just voted against at the UN, C-list celebrities are promoting #SOSCuba propaganda, and thousands of bots are spreading fake news on social media.

We discuss the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse with Haitian journalist Nazaire St. Fort and scholar Jeb Sprague. We talk about the "interim" presidency of US asset Claude Joseph, his request for American troops, the history of UN occupation, and the role of Colombian mercenaries and US citizens contracted by a Florida-based firm run by a right-wing Venezuelan-American.

We recount the insane story of how a pampered heiress and journalistic wannabe, enriched by millions of dollars seized from Iran by the US government, sued us for exposing her bogus Hezbollah sources, and hired an influential pro-Israel lawyer to try to bankrupt The Grayzone. After 2.5 years of silence, Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak out about the McCarthyite legal assault. We expose Sulome Anderson and the powerful neoconservative forces supporting her lawfare campaign against us. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=6vCnQKPznzM Read about the case here: thegrayzone.com/2021/06/29/lawsuit-sulome-anderson-hezbollah

We discuss Mexico's progressive President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and the left-wing Morena party alliance victory in the June 2021 elections with journalist José Luis Granados Ceja. We also address US meddling via NED/USAID funding for the neoliberal opposition, as well as the constant media attacks. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=vp1no7Idbx4 Follow José Luis on Twitter: twitter.com/GranadosCeja Article link - "'Sexy tricks': How journalists demonize Venezuela's socialist government, in their own words" thegrayzone.com/2019/12/09/sexy-tricks-journalists-demonize-venezuela-anatoly-kurmanaev Article link - "US Special Forces trained Mexican drug cartels linked to decapitation, torture, rape" thegrayzone.com/2021/05/06/us-special-forces-mexican-drug-cartels

Journalist Aaron Mate and Professor Mohammad Marandi continue talking about the trip they took to Syria, after a decade of Western proxy war. We also discuss the OPCW cover-up of so-called "chemical attacks," as well as the role of Israel in the war, and Palestinian resistance to its brutal bombing and blockade of Gaza. We address the political situations in Iran and Nicaragua, and then respond to questions from our patrons over at Patreon.com/ModerateRebels. PART 2 OF 2 VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=g9iqWnpBFZk

We speak with journalist Aaron Mate and Professor Mohammad Marandi, who just took a trip to Syria to see the real-life impact on average people caused by the decade-long Western regime-change war and suffocating US/EU sanctions. PART 1 OF 2 Video: youtube.com/watch?v=g9iqWnpBFZk

We were joined by musician Roger Waters and author Gabor Maté to discuss Israel's war on Gaza, the Palestinian resistance struggle, the psychology of Zionism, the music industry, and a variety of other political and cultural issues.

Israel is bombing Gaza, while extremists ethnically cleanse Palestinians. We are joined by Ali Abunimah and Rania Khalek, as well as Aaron Maté and Anya Parampil, to discuss the colonial violence - and indigenous resistance. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=-SaqRY7qHV0

Following his talk on the cultural cold war and the fake left, Ben Norton takes questions and discusses the "woke" CIA ads, the Biden administration's "intersectional imperialist" foreign policy, the Kurdish YPG/SDF and US military occupation of Syria, and new cold war myths about China. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=sZ79-gXVHos This is part 2 of 2. You can watch or listen to part 1 here: moderaterebels.com/cia-fake-left-cultural-cold-war TOPICS 0:00 Intro 4:25 Biden, Trump, and intersectional imperialism 29:00 China and new cold war propaganda 54:45 Syria and the Kurdish YPG/SDF 1:06:13 Ideology and hegemony

Ben Norton was invited to give this talk about the fake left and imperialism. He discusses how the CIA's "woke" recruitment ad is not new; it is rooted in an "intersectional imperialist" history going back to the first cold war, in which the CIA poured money into cultivating anti-communist, pro-imperialist progressive groups, using fronts like the Congress for Cultural Freedom and billionaire-funded foundations like Ford and Rockefeller. Ben goes through the book "The Cultural Cold War," and talks about supposed "leftist" CIA assets like feminist leader Gloria Steinem and Trotskyite civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, then analyzes examples of astroturfed, Nonprofit Industrial Complex-backed pseudo-left campaigns in the US, Western Europe, and Latin America. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=rMap-6KxQJI Links and show notes: moderaterebels.com/cia-fake-left-cultural-cold-war

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss with world-renowned economist Michael Hudson his concept of US "Super Imperialism," the new cold war on China and Russia, the Joe Biden administration, and dedollarization - the potential end to the dollar as the global reserve currency. From 1:00:37 on, we also respond to questions from our patrons at Patreon: patreon.com/ModerateRebels

As the anti-Russia hawks in the Joe Biden administration push for more aggressive policies in Ukraine, we speak with Russell Bentley, an American from Texas who moved to the Donbas region to fight on behalf of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic. Bentley discusses the ultra-nationalist fascists and neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian forces. He also explains the Christian Communist ideology that motivates him and his combat unit. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=F5O8h1dpP_k -- Bentley's YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/RussellBentleyTexac

Ben Norton discusses Ecuador's 2021 election results, and how the US government and intelligence-linked billionaire foundations spent decades funding and cultivating liberal environmental groups and rightist Indigenous leaders to divide the left and weaken the socialist Citizens' Revolution movement launched by former President Rafael Correa. * Read Ben's investigation "How the US gov't cultivated environmental and Indigenous groups to defeat Ecuador's leftist Correísta movement" here: thegrayzone.com/2021/05/04/ecuador-election-us-pachakutik-lasso-yaku State Department cables released by WikiLeaks show how the US embassy recruited members of the Indigenous confederation CONAIE and its political arm Pachakutik, which has been directly supported by US government soft-power weapons like the NDI. CIA cutouts USAID and the NED poured tens of millions of dollars into building a fake "left" opposition to Correísmo, using "anti-extractivism" as a cover. The result was Pachakutik/CONAIE and its coup-supporting neoliberal candidate Yaku Pérez got more than 1 million extra Ecuadorians to vote null in the April 2021 vote, compared to previous elections, thereby handing the victory to right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso. After left-wing candidate Andrés Arauz conceded losing by 400,000 votes, Pérez boasted of "burying Correísmo." The US-backed fake "left" had succeeded in defeating a real leftist movement. Norton documents how these tactics mirror US imperialist strategy targeting Bolivia, Nicaragua, Mexico, and more. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=k8FHNlbGKC0 -- Read more at The Grayzone: "How Ecuador's US-backed, coup-supporting 'ecosocialist' candidate Yaku Pérez aids the right-wing"

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss US meddling in the protests in Myanmar with Brian Berletic, and how Washington seeks to weaken a neighbor of China and key ally in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. We discuss the coup by the Tatmadaw military, the NED-funded Burmese networks calling for R2P ("Responsibility to Protect") foreign intervention, eerie parallels to the regime-change operations targeting Syria and Libya, and how the violence risks a dangerous destabilization of Southeast Asia. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=Hr24DLS16C8 - Check out Brian's website Land Destroyer: landdestroyer.blogspot.com - Follow Brian's YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/LandDestroyerReport

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Ajit Singh and Aaron Maté to discuss the new cold war on Beijing, and how the US government is funding far-right extremist Uyghur armed separatists, to try to divide and balkanize China. We also debunk the absurd Western accusations of genocide in Xinjiang province, and pick apart the propaganda of Adrian Zenz and other charlatans. -- Link to Ajit's The Grayzone article "'Wipe out China!' US-funded Uyghur activists train as gun-toting foot soldiers for empire": thegrayzone.com/2021/03/31/china-uyghur-gun-soldiers-empire -- Link to Ajit's other The Grayzone article "China detaining millions of Uyghurs? Serious problems with claims by US-backed NGO and far-right researcher 'led by God' against Beijing": thegrayzone.com/2019/12/21/china-detaining-millions-uyghurs-problems-claims-us-ngo-researcher

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Aaron Maté to discuss the dirty war on Syria, how murderous US/EU sanctions have destroyed the country's economy and led to many civilian deaths, and Washington's military occupation of its oil/wheat-rich territory. We respond to a ridiculous open letter that smears the anti-war movement, signed by regime-change operatives and fake "leftist" imperialists like Gilbert Achcar. -- Link to Ben's The Grayzone article "Elite UK military unit secretly trained by leftist regime-change advocate Gilbert Achcar and other academics": thegrayzone.com/2019/10/03/leftist-regime-change-activist-gilbert-achcar-academics-train-uk-military

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Aaron Maté to discuss the radlibs in academia who pretend to be radical but use anti-materialist post-modern philosophy and neoliberal identity politics to defend Western imperialism, from Ecuador to Syria, China to Venezuela. We also make fun of Bernard-Henri Lévy, who has never seen a US war he didn't love. -- Link to Ben's article "Coup-supporting academics spread lies to censor The Grayzone reporting exposing Ecuador's pseudo-left candidate Yaku Pérez": thegrayzone.com/2021/03/01/academic-letter-censor-grayzone-ecuador-yaku-perez

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Aaron Maté to discuss the hawks in the Joe Biden administration and Washington and NATO are pushing for a dangerous proxy war between Ukraine and Russia.

Max Blumenthal documents the deceptions behind the US government's accusation that China is committing "genocide" against Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang region, picking apart NED-funded studies that rely on botched statistics and exposing extremist Adrian Zenz and his error-filled research. This was part of a panel discussion held on March 19, 2021, hosted on Daniel Dumbrill's channel. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=qZkxaEC1xjY

Ben Norton was invited to give this talk on US imperialism in Latin America for the anti-war group Massachusetts Peace Action. He discusses the similarities in the aggressive foreign policy of Biden, Trump, and Obama, and talks about Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and "Plan Biden" for Central America, Chile, Colombia, Peru, immigration in the United States, and more. Ben's The Grayzone article "Right-wing Central American leaders praise neoliberal 'Biden Plan' to strengthen US 'sphere of influence'": thegrayzone.com/2021/03/08/central-america-neoliberal-biden-plan

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton continue speaking with Daniel Dumbrill, a Canadian in China, about the new US cold war, the Washington-backed secessionist campaign in Xinjiang, and other propaganda. We also discuss "socialism with Chinese characteristics," and respond to questions submitted by patrons over at patreon.com/ModerateRebels. Part 2 of 2