Pushback with Aaron Mate

Igor Danchenko, the main source for the Clinton-campaign funded Steele dossier, has been indicted for lying to the FBI. The indictment's revelations are humiliating for the influential political, media, and intelligence voices who promoted Steele as credible, and raise new questions about the FBI's handling of the Trump-Russia probe. Veteran journalist Barry Meier, author of "Spooked", and Aaron Maté discuss. Guest: Barry Meier. A veteran, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. His latest book is "Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies." https://www.barrymeierbooks.com/ Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In his new documentary "Drills of Liberation" (Simulacros de liberación), filmmaker Juan Carlos Dávila goes inside Puerto Rico's social movements as they resist crippling Washington-imposed austerity and provide life-saving mutual aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Guest: Juan Carlos Dávila. Journalist and documentary filmmaker whose new documentary is "Drills of Liberation" (Simulacros de liberación). https://twitter.com/juancinedoc https://www.simulacrosdeliberacion.com/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate As a CIA analyst, David McCloskey covered Syria from 2008 to 2014. He draws on his experience for his new spy thriller, "Damascus Station," set during the early years of the Syrian war. David McCloskey joins Aaron Maté to discuss "Damascus Station"; the early years of the Syrian war; the role of foreign powers including the US; the US decision to support the insurgency despite knowing that Al Qaeda and other Salafi jihadist groups were its "primary engine"; allegations of chemical weapons attacks in Syria; and the direction of US policy in post-war Syria. Guest: David McCloskey. Former CIA analyst who covered Syria for six years, from 2008 to 2014. Wrote memos for the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), lived and worked in CIA field stations throughout the region, and briefed senior White House officials, members of Congress, and Arab royalty. His new book is "Damascus Station", a spy thriller set during the early years of the Syrian war. "Damascus Station", by David McCloskey https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393881042

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate As a top investigator on the House Intelligence Committee, Kash Patel helped uncover the Clinton campaign's funding of the Steele dossier and the FBI's extensive and deceptive reliance on it. Patel joins Aaron Maté to discuss Steele's new attempt to defend his discredited work via a softball interview with ABC News. Patel also addresses the key role of newly indicted Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann in hiring and overseeing another heavily influential Clinton campaign contractor, CrowdStrike, the cyber-firm behind the foundational allegation that Russia hacked the DNC. "CrowdStrike is one of the biggest culprits of the Russia fraud," Patel says. "For some reason, for the only time in FBI history that I can think of, they allowed an outside non-government entity to referee. That is, to go in and seize the servers of a target of an investigation and let a third party, CrowdStrike, referee what the FBI could and could not have access to." Guest: Kash Patel. Former senior government official in the Trump administration. Previously, Patel served as a top investigator on the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee, where he was instrumental in exposing US intelligence misconduct in the Trump-Russia investigation. Also served as a national security official in the Obama-era Justice Department and Pentagon.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate On the eve of the 2020 presidential election U.S. media outlets and social media platforms censored reporting on the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop, based on the evidence-free claim that the story was "Russian disinformation." In his new book "The Bidens: Inside the First Family’s 50-Year Rise to Power," Politico reporter Ben Schreckinger authenticates multiple emails from that laptop as part of a deep look at the Biden family and Joe Biden's 50-year political career. Guest: Ben Schreckinger. National political correspondent for Politico and author of "The Bidens: Inside the First Family’s 50-Year Rise to Power." https://twitter.com/SchreckReports http://benschreckinger.com/

In his new book "Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War," scholar Samuel Moyn argues that post-9/11 efforts to reform the conduct of US military operations have ultimately sanitized and prolonged the underlying illegal warfare. Moyn discusses the Obama administration's key role in sanitizing warfare and how it undermined the US anti-war movement. He also addresses criticism of how the legendary human rights attorney Michael Ratner factors into his book's arguments. Guest: Samuel Moyn. Professor at Yale Law School and a professor of history at Yale University. His new book is "Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Glenn Greenwald weighs in on a series of new embarrassments for the Russiagate disinformation campaign targeting the US public: Hunter Biden's laptop confirmed; Hillary Clinton's lawyer indicted; and 'Havana syndrome' debunked. Plus, the CIA's war on Julian Assange. Guest: Glenn Greenwald. Independent journalist who writes at https://greenwald.substack.com/.

As the Biden administration continues to seek the extradition of Julian Assange, new details have emerged about the Trump administration's secret war against Assange and his organization, Wikileaks. Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News discusses his team's explosive reporting on the CIA plot to surveil, kidnap, and even kill Assange -- all overseen by Michael Pompeo. Isikoff and Aaron Maté also debate Russia's role in the Assange controversy, particularly the allegation that Russia stole Democratic Party emails in 2016 and gave them to Wikileaks. Guest: Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News. "Kidnapping, assassination and a London shoot-out: Inside the CIA's secret war plans against WikiLeaks." https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london-shoot-out-inside-the-ci-as-secret-war-plans-against-wiki-leaks-090057786.html Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

After being toppled in the war's early months, the Taliban managed to defeat the US military and return to power 20 years later. Author and scholar Antonio Giustozzi on how the Taliban beat the world's most powerful army and what the future holds under its rule. Guest: Antonio Giustozzi. Senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and visiting professor at King’s College London. His books include "The Islamic State in Khorasan" and "The Taliban at War." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Released 50 years ago, Marvin Gaye's album "What's Going On" remains just as relevant today. David Ritz, author of "Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye" and friend/collaborator of the late singer, on the lasting power of Gaye's 1971 timeless anti-war masterpiece. Guest: David Ritz. Author and songwriter whose many books include "Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Two US veterans, Matthew Hoh and Daniel Sjursen, explain how the war in Afghanistan was lost, Afghans suffered, and military contractors profited -- all while the American public was kept in the dark. Guests: Danny Sjursen. Retired US Army officer, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. He served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at West Point. His latest book is "A True History of the United States." Matthew Hoh. Former Marine and State Department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan over U.S. policy in September 2009. Now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Cuba's anti-imperial foreign policy helped end apartheid in South Africa and sustain liberation movements worldwide. Historian Piero Gleijeses says that's one of the main reasons why the US has terrorized the island nation through today. "There are very few examples [in history] of the idealism demonstrated by the Cuban government in its foreign policy in Africa," Gleijeses says. Guest: Piero Gleijeses. Professor at Johns Hopkins University. Author of "Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976" and "Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for Southern Africa, 1976-1991." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate A new open-source study concludes that Syrian insurgents carried out the Ghouta sarin chemical attack in August 2013 -- not the Syrian government, as the White House, U.S. intelligence, and other Western sources publicly alleged. Rockets carrying sarin killed hundreds of people and left thousands wounded. Based on their trajectories, the study traces all seven missile impact locations back to the most likely launch spot where they all intersected: a small area within insurgent-controlled territory. In their first joint interview, the study's authors lay out their explosive findings. Guests: Michael Kobs and Adam Larson, co-authors of a new study on the 2013 chemical attack in Ghouta. Saar Wilf: Founder of Root Claim, which published the Ghouta study. Read the Ghouta study: https://rootclaim-media.s3.amazonaws.com/syria2013evidence.pdf Read a summary of the findings: https://blog.rootclaim.com/new-evidence-2013-sarin-attack-in-ghouta-syria/# Adam Larson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CL4Syr Michael Kobs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaKobs Saar Wilf: https://twitter.com/saarwilf

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate A growing number of suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse have US ties. At least one is a former DEA informant and several have received U.S. military training. Scholar Jemima Pierre of The Black Alliance for Peace discusses the unfolding mystery surrounding Moïse's killing and the context of longtime US, foreign intervention in Haiti. Guest: Jemima Pierre. Haiti/Americas Coordinator for The Black Alliance for Peace and Associate Professor at UCLA.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate The US government is continuing to seek the extradition of Julian Assange even though a critical witness in its indictment has admitted to fabricating key claims. Bjartmar Alexandersson, the Icelandic journalist who broke this story, discusses the explosive confession of US witness Sigurdur "Siggi" Thordarson. Guest: Bjartmar Alexandersson. Journalist with Icelandic newspaper Stundin.

Facing growing outcry, OPCW Director General Fernando Arias went before the United Nations Security Council and told new falsehoods about his organization’s Syria cover-up scandal — along with more disingenuous excuses to avoid addressing it. Scholar and researcher Piers Robinson joins Aaron Maté to debunk Arias' latest evasions and distortions. Guest: Dr. Piers Robinson. Co-Director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies, and convenor of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media.

As Vice-President in 2014, Joe Biden backed the Maidan coup in Ukraine that set off an ongoing proxy war with Russian-backed forces in the Donbass region. Now as President, Biden met with Vladimir Putin at the Geneva summit to discuss key flashpoints, including Ukraine. Is Biden ready to make peace? Guest: Nicolai N. Petro. Professor of politics at the University of Rhode Island and editor of "Ukraine in Crisis."

At the Geneva summit, President Biden of the US and President Putin of Russia announced the restoration of their ambassadors and agreed to new talks on vital issues. Meanwhile in Washington and major US media outlets, Russiagate-addled hawks promoted increased confrontation. James Carden analyzes the talks and the bellicose US media response. "US media outlets seem to be egging biden on to take a harder line than than the President wanted to," Carden says. "It's a product of the last several years of Russiagate hysteria. But it also shows who make up the American press really don't know that much about Russia or foreign policy." Guest: James Carden. Former State Department adviser and the executive editor for the American Committee for US-Russia Accord. He writes at https://thescrum.substack.com/.

In the last year, US government, intelligence, and Congressional bodies have accused former Paul Manafort aide Konstantin Kilimnik of being a "Russian intelligence officer" or "Russian influence agent" who passed secret Trump campaign polling data to Russia in 2016. The FBI has even issued a $250,000 reward for Kilimnik's arrest on a lowly witness tampering charge -- more than double the amount for six murderers on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. In exclusive audio excerpts, Konstantin Kilimnik talks to Aaron Maté about the explosive -- and evidence-free -- US government claims about him. Despite his supposed central role in the Trump-Russia saga, Kilimnik says that no US government investigator has ever contacted him. He believes it's his Russian passport, not any actual evidence, that put him in the US intelligence crosshairs. To make the Russiagate narrative work, Kilimnik says, "they needed a f-----g Russian. I happen to be that f------g Russian." Guest: Konstantin Kilimnik. Ukrainian-Russian political consultant and former aide to Paul Manafort. Wanted by the FBI on a $250,000 bounty for a witness tampering indictment in the Mueller investigation. Neither the FBI or Mueller probe ever contacted him. Read more: https://mate.substack.com/p/accused-russian-spy-kilimnik-refutes

Rather than pay up for a multi-billion dollar environmental damage ruling in Ecuador, the oil giant Chevron is persecuting one of the attorneys who defeated it in court. Steven Donziger has been subjected to nearly two years of house arrest in a Kafkaesque prosecution engineered by one of the world's top oil giants. Guest: Steven Donziger, human rights attorney now facing persecution after helping to win a landmark legal judgment against Chevron in Ecuador.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Author and scholar Norman Finkelstein discusses the global outrage at Israel's murderous assault on Gaza and how Palestinian resistance and solidarity, after a dormant period, has been revived. (This interview was recorded before the Hamas-Israel ceasefire took effect.) Guest: Norman Finkelstein. Author and scholar whose books include "Gaza: an Inquest into its Martyrdom."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Speaking from Gaza City, Hamas official and former Gaza Health Minister Basem Naim discusses the civilian toll of Israel's assault on Gaza and its damage to the besieged territory's medical system. Naim also addresses the Biden administration's support for Israel's assault; the world's indifference to non-violent Palestinian resistance; and Hamas' proposed terms for a ceasefire. Guest: Dr. Basem Naim. Hamas official who heads of the Council on International Relations in Gaza, and former head of Gaza's Health Ministry.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Full interview with Glenn Greenwald on the collapse of the "Russian bounties" story and the revival of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory; his new book "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro's Brazil"; and the decline of left media in the Russiagate era, where bastions of dissent have gone from challenging the national security state to promoting it. Guest: Glenn Greenwald. Journalist whose latest book is "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil." He writes at https://greenwald.substack.com/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate On the same day that the claim of "Russian bounties" in Afghanistan collapsed, another US intelligence-sourced, evidence-free claim was treated as vindication for conspiracy theories about Trump-Russia collusion. Glenn Greenwald and Aaron Maté discuss the predictable demise of the "Russian bounties"; the Biden administration's new evidence-free assertion that Paul Manafort associate Konstantin Kilimnik passed Trump campaign polling data to Russia; and why major US media outlets continue to parrot Russiagate disinformation no matter how many times the "bombshells" turn into duds. Guest: Glenn Greenwald. Journalist whose latest book is "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil." He writes at https://greenwald.substack.com/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate As Vice-President, Joe Biden pledged that all US troops would be out of Afghanistan by 2014. Seven years later, is President Biden's new withdrawal pledge any different? Scott Horton, editorial director of Antiwar.com and author of "Enough Already", discusses how the US has previously extended the war in Afghanistan and how it might continue it in new forms. Guest: Scott Horton. Director of the Libertarian Institute; Editorial Director Antiwar.com; and host of the "Scott Horton Show." His latest book is "Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Facing new outcry over the Syria cover-up scandal, OPCW chief Fernando Arias has been caught lying, while the US-UK-France are desperately trying to change the subject. Aaron Maté recaps recent meetings at the European Parliament and United Nations where the growing Douma controversy was center stage. The US-UK-France bombed Syria in April 2018 after accusing it of a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma. Leaks later revealed that OPCW inspectors found no evidence of a Syrian government chemical weapons attack. But their findings were suppressed, their original report was censored, and the team was sidelined. Rather than having their concerns addressed, the inspectors have since faced a concerted smear campaign. On April 15, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias faced questions about the Douma cover-up from Mick Wallace and Clare Daley of the European Parliament. Both Wallace and Daley asked Arias why he has refused to address the Douma cover-up and meet with the dissenting inspectors. The meeting chair, former French cabinet minister Nathalie Loiseau, tried to cut-off the questions and even apologized to Arias for them being posed. Arias then made a series of excuses and even false claims. The following day, the Douma scandal was discussed at an Arria Formula Meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The ambassadors of the nations that bombed Syria in April 2018 -- the US, UK, and France -- tried to dismiss the Douma cover-up scandal as Russian propaganda and refused to offer any substantive comments on the issue. The invited briefers at the meeting included Hans von Sponeck and Lawrence Wilkerson, two veteran diplomats who have signed a Statement of Concern about the Douma scandal, alongside other notable voices including five former OPCW officials. In his comments, von Sponeck revealed that Arias, the OPCW chief, refused to read the statement and returned it to sender. Audio: Aaron Maté recaps the European Parliament meeting on April 15 and UN Security Council Arria Formula meeting on April 16. Featuring: Mick Wallace and Clare Daley, Members of the European Parliament; Fernando Arias, OPCW Director-General; Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq; Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary State Colin Powell; Richard Mills, Deputy US Ambassador to the UN; Nicolas de Reviere, France’s Ambassador to the UN; Jonathan Allen, UK Ambassador to the UN; Jose Bustani, former OPCW Director-General; and Aaron Maté of The Grayzone. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In remarks to the United Nations Security Council, two veteran, retired diplomats -- Hans von Sponeck of Germany and Lawrence Wilkerson of the US -- confront the OPCW and powerful state backers about the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal. Hans Von Sponeck is the former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. He spent 32 years as a UN official, from 1958 to 2000, when he resigned in protest of the US-led sanctions on Iraq. “The manner in which this serious controversy has been handled by OPCW management… has sought to cover up any serious questioning of the OPCW through stonewalling and unacceptable smear tactics,” Sponeck says. “The Security Council can not be surprised that there is increasing public pressure for UN leadership to find an unbiased resolution of this troubling controversy.” Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired Army Colonel who served as Chief of Staff to Secretary State Colin Powell. In 2003, Wilkerson helped prepare Powell's infamous speech to the United Nations making the phony case for invading Iraq. Wilkerson has since renounced those Iraq war fabrications. "This OPCW business really needs to get settled," Wilkerson says. "Here we have an egregious situation that from everything I can, really calls on people of concern to straighten it out." Sponeck and Wilkerson are among the signatories of a Statement of Concern about the Douma scandal, joined by notable global voices including five former OPCW officials. In a podcast-exclusive edition of Pushback, we hear both Sponeck and Wilkerson's UN comments. Related: At UN, Aaron Maté debunks OPCW’s Syria lies and confronts US, UK on cover-up https://thegrayzone.com/2021/04/18/at-un-aaron-mate-debunks-opcws-syria-lies-and-confronts-us-uk-on-cover-up/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ [Note to listeners: this is audio of a visual presentation to the UN. To watch the video, go to: https://bit.ly/2Q6chHs] Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone takes apart the OPCW's excuses for refusing to address the organization's Syria cover-up scandal. OPCW inspectors found no evidence to support allegations of a Syrian government chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. But their findings were suppressed, and the team was sidelined. The OPCW leadership now claims that "most of the analytical work took place" in the "last six months" of the Douma investigation, when the original team was out of the picture. Comparing the OPCW's own published reports, Maté shows why that is demonstrably false. The bulk of the work was in fact carried out by the original team in the first weeks of the probe, and the “analytical work” conducted after their censorship is minor in scale and riddled with deceptions and unsupported conclusions. Maté also addresses a new claim by OPCW Director General Fernando Arias that "I don't know why" the OPCW's final Douma report "was contested." This is another demonstrably false claim, as Arias' own prior statements show. Maté also asks the US and UK ambassadors if they will support a new proposal from distinguished signatories -- including five former OPCW officials — to let the OPCW's own Scientific Advisory Board assess the claims of the dissenting inspectors. The US and UK Ambassadors left the meeting -- it is unclear when -- and so did not respond. Video: Aaron Maté's presentation to an Arria-Formula Meeting of the United Nations Security Council, April 16 2021. https://bit.ly/2Q6chHs Berlin Group21 proposal to OPCW: https://www.berlingroup21.org/background

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Amid a public relations campaign to rehabilitate the Al Qaeda franchise in Syria -- which rules Idlib, Syria's last militant-controlled province – former top US diplomat James Jeffrey has called the group a US "asset." Lindsey Snell, an independent journalist who escaped captivity by Al Qaeda in Syria, responds. Guest: Lindsey Snell, independent journalist covering the Middle East and North Africa. In 2016, she was kidnapped by the Al Qaeda group in Syria, what was then called al-Nusra, and escaped after 10 days.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In its opening months, the Biden administration has targeted Russia and China with belligerent rhetoric, new sanctions, and continued military provocations. Lyle Goldstein of the US Naval War College discusses how the US is inflaming the key flashpoints of Taiwan, Xinjiang, the South China Sea, Ukraine, and nuclear weapons, and how Russia and China are deepening cooperation in response. Guest: Lyle Goldstein, research professor and founding director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College. [Note: Speaking in a personal capacity. Opinions don’t reflect in any way the official assessments of the US Navy or the US government.]

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ Noam Chomsky weighs in on the Putin-Biden row; new US claims of "Russian interference"; the "savagery" of US sanctions on Cuba, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and other nations; US pressure on Brazil to reject Russia's COVID-19 vaccine and on Panama to reject Cuban doctors; and more. Chomsky's latest book is "Chomsky for Activists." Guest: Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, author and political dissident. His latest book is "Chomsky for Activists."

Robert Ford served as US Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014. On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian war, Ford speaks to Aaron Maté about the roots of the conflict; the US role; the current US sanctions that target Syria’s reconstruction; chemical weapons allegations against the Syrian government; and why he now supports the withdrawal of US forces. Guest: Robert Ford, retired US diplomat who served as US Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Five former officials from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have joined a group of prominent signatories to urge the OPCW to address the controversy surrounding its investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018. Leaks from inside the OPCW show that key scientific findings that cast doubt on claims of Syrian government guilt were censored, and that the original investigators were removed from the probe. Since the cover-up became public, the OPCW has shunned accountability and publicly attacked the two whistleblowers who challenged it from inside. The "Statement of Concern" is signed by five former OPCW officials, including the organization's founding leader, José Bustani, and others including Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Tulsi Gabbard, John Pilger, Lord West of Spithead, as well two former senior UN officials, Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck. "The issue at hand threatens to severely damage the reputation and credibility of the OPCW and undermine its vital role in the pursuit of international peace and security," the statement says. "It is simply not tenable for a scientific organization such as the OPCW to refuse to respond openly to the criticisms and concerns of its own scientists whilst being associated with attempts to discredit and smear those scientists." Pushback host Aaron Maté details the letter and airs clips of his and Tulsi Gabbard's recent "Tucker Carlson Tonight" appearance discussing the OPCW controversy.

While Joe Biden has faced some mild Congressional pushback for bombing the Iraq-Syria border, Tulsi Gabbard says her former colleagues are ignoring the larger issue: the ongoing US dirty war on Syria. After a decade of proxy warfare that empowered Al Qaeda and ISIS, the US is now occupying one-third of Syria and imposing crippling sanctions that are crushing Syria's economy and preventing reconstruction. While Gabbard has been vilified for her stance on Syria, many top White House officials -- including Joe Biden himself -- have already acknowledged the same facts that she has called out. Aaron Maté plays clips of Biden and some of his most senior aides admitting to the horrific realities of the US dirty war on Syria, and argues that Gabbard only stands apart in being wiling to criticize it. Featuring clips from: Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic Congressmember; President Joe Biden; Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa; Martin Dempsey, former Joint Chiefs chairman; Rob Malley, Special Envoy for Iran; John Kerry, Special Envoy for Climate & former Secretary of State; former President Donald Trump; Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions; Dana Stroul, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East; Vice President Kamala Harris.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Anne Sacoolas, a State Department official who fled the UK after killing British teen Harry Dunn in a car crash, is actually a US intelligence officer. An attorney for Sacoolas made the explosive admission to a Virginia court, where Dunn's family has brought a wrongful death lawsuit. Radd Seiger, a spokesperson for the Dunn family, says that the revelation that Sacoolas is a spy raises new doubts about the US government's claim that she has diplomatic immunity. Guest: Radd Seiger, spokesperson for Harry Dunn’s family.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ After The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal reported on newly leaked documents exposing a massive UK government propaganda campaign against Russia, Twitter added an unprecedented warning label that the material "may have been obtained through hacking." Although Twitter may have intended to restrict the article, the warning had the opposite effect: it quickly went viral. Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté discuss the suppression effort and the damning UK government leaks at the heart of it. After years of fear-mongering about Russian interference in Western democracies, these UK government files expose a sprawling propaganda effort that explicitly aims to "weaken" Russia. The documents reveal that this propaganda campaign has also enlisted major media outlets Reuters and the BBC, as well as the NATO member state-funded website Bellingcat. Guest: Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone and author of "The Management of Savagery."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate As a senior House Intel investigator and Trump administration official, Kash Patel helped unearth critical misconduct by the intelligence officials who carried out the Trump-Russia probe. In his first extended interview since leaving government, Patel tells Aaron Maté that still-classified documents expose more malpractice, as well as major evidentiary holes in the pivotal -- and largely unquestioned -- claims of a sweeping Russian interference campaign to elect Trump in 2016. According to Patel, the release of these critical documents was "continuously impeded." "I think there were people at the heads of certain intelligence agencies who did not want their tradecraft called out, even though it was during a former administration, because it doesn't look good on the agency itself," Patel says. Among the tradecraft that Patel criticizes is the hastily produced and highly consequential "Intelligence Community Assessment" of January 2017, as well as the FBI's reliance on Crowdstrike -- the DNC contractor that generated the Russian hacking allegations despite later admitting, behind closed doors, that it lacked concrete evidence. Patel also discusses other aspects of his time in the Trump White House: a secret mission to Syria; Trump's record on foreign wars; and the January 6th riot at the Capitol. Guest: Kash Patel. Former senior government official in the Trump administration, where he served as senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, and chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense. Previously, Patel served as a top investigator on the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee, where he was instrumental in exposing US intelligence misconduct in the Trump-Russia investigation. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Haitian president Jovenel Moïse has cracked down on a wave of popular protest as he tries to cling to power. While tens of thousands of Haitians have taken to the streets in the face of government repression, the Biden administration is backing Moïse's effort to remain in office for at least another year. Haitian activist and radio host Dahoud Andre discusses the background to Moïse's power grab; the continued US deportations to Haiti; the enduring popularity of Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- twice overthrown in US-backed coups; and how the Biden administration's support for Moïse continues a long legacy of US attacks on Haiti's popular movements and backing of right-wing autocrats. Guest: Dahoud Andre. Radio host and activist with the Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship in Haiti.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ In a landmark ruling, the International Criminal Court has ruled that it has jurisdiction to investigate Israel for war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. However, scholar and author Norman Finkelstein warns that the ICC decision, while historic, is unlikely to deliver justice. According to Finkelstein, the Palestinian Authority's capitulation in the Oslo accords gives Israel room to flout the court's jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the reality of Israel today -- what the Israeli group B'Tselem recently called a "regime of Jewish supremacy" -- undermines any notion of a separate Palestinian state. Guest: Norman Finkelstein. Author, scholar, and leading expert on Israel-Palestine. His latest book is "I Accuse!". http://normanfinkelstein.com/ B'Tselem statement: "A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid" https://www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ The imprisoned Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny has been held up in the West as the poster child of the Russian opposition. Two Russian leftists, Katya Kazbek and Alexey Sakhnin discuss why they don't see Navalny as a genuine alternative to Vladimir Putin, and instead as a representative of a different faction of the ruling Russian elite -- one more willing to cater to Western counterparts. Guests: Katya Kazbek. Writer, translator and the editor-in-chief of arts and culture magazine Supamodu.com. Alexey Sakhnin. Russian activist and a member of the Left Front. He was one of the leaders of the anti-Putin protest movement from 2011 to 2013.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate President Biden has taken important steps to reduce the US role in the war on Yemen, while still leaving room to continue supporting the Saudi-led campaign and imposing its terms on the Yemeni people. Isa Blumi, associate professor at Stockholm University and author of "Destroying Yemen", discusses Biden's change of course and whether it's enough to end the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Guest: Isa Blumi. Associate Professor at Stockholm University and author of "Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us about the World."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate As Donald Trump faces an impeachment trial for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, critical questions remain over how the sprawling US national security state failed to stop it. Newsweek reporter William Arkin discuses the lingering issues surrounding one of the biggest domestic intelligence and security failures in US history. Guest: William Arkin. Award-winning reporter for Newsweek and author of a dozen books on national security policy. Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/2021/01/08/exclusive-how-officials-fear-donald-trump-paralyzed-intelligence-agencies-led-capitol-riot-1563221.html

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In his first major foreign policy move, President Biden has committed to renewing the New START treaty, which imposes the last remaining limits on the US-Russian nuclear weapons arsenals. The treaty was just days away from expiring -- and possibly setting off a new arms race -- after the Trump administration refused to renew it, and stalled negotiations. While saying that it will renew New START, the Biden White House also announced that it will conduct an intelligence assessment of various allegations against Russia -- including the SolarWinds hack, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and the debunked "Russian Bounties" in Afghanistan -- and respond with punitive measures if necessary. That pledge signals that despite Biden's nuclear diplomacy with Russia, more conflict could be ahead. Guest: William Arkin. Award-winning reporter for Newsweek and author of a dozen books on national security policy.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Rather than prioritize accountability for US intelligence officials' failure to prevent the pro-Trump mob attack on the Capitol, the incident is instead being used to expand the national security state's powers. Max Blumenthal, who witnessed the Capitol mob and reported on a key participant, discusses his coverage of the attack and the dangers of a militarized, myopic response. Guest: Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone and author of several books including his latest, "The Management of Savagery."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Crippling US sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act are decimating war-ravaged Syrian civilians, are illegal, and should be lifted, the UN Special Rapporteur on sanctions says. An independent United Nations expert is calling on the US to lift its crippling sanctions on Syria. Under the Caesar Act, US sanctions explicitly target Syria’s reconstruction in the aftermath of a catastrophic 10-year war. Alena Douhan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the impact of sanctions, says that the US sanctions are illegal and depriving Syrian civilians of their basic needs. “People shouldn’t die, people shouldn’t suffer, and people shouldn’t fear whether they can survive after tomorrow, because they have neither medicine or food, because of the sanctions applied,” Douhan says. Guest: Alena F. Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on sanctions, and a professor at Belarusian State University. Video/transcript: https://thegrayzone.com/2021/01/14/un-expert-crippling-us-sanctions-on-syria-are-illegal-and-hurting-civilians/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate A UK judge has rejected a US attempt to extradite Julian Assange, citing the Wikileaks' founder's risk of suicide and the poor conditions of US prisons. But Judge Vanessa Baraitser accepted the basis for the US government's espionage case against Assange and ruled against releasing him on bail. Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, discusses the longstanding persecution of Assange and the lies that have been used to justify it to the public. Melzer, who has visited Assange in prison, has played a critical role in exposing the deception surrounding Assange's initial Sweden extradition case. "Based on 20 years of experiences of visiting prisoners, many of whom are being exposed to to extremely severe conditions including ill treatment, it is a miracle that this man is still alive," Melzer says. Guest: Nils Melzer. UN Special Rapporteur on torture and Professor of International Law at the University of Glasgow.

President Trump is leaving office by overseeing a record level of federal executions, with 10 prisoners killed in 2020 and three more slated for this month. George Hale, who has covered the executions for NPR, discusses Trump's last-minute killing spree and witnessing the barbaric executions first-hand. Guest: George Hale. Reporter covering federal executions for NPR member station WFIU. https://twitter.com/georgehale Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

For the first time, OPCW chief Fernando Arias was asked a series of direct questions at the United Nations about the cover-up of a Syria chemical weapons probe. Arias answered none of them. Russia's UN ambassador asked Arias about several damning leaks, some revealed by The Grayzone, as well as ongoing deceptive attacks on the veteran scientists who challenged the censorship of their investigation. Arias refused to answer in public session, and gave vague, non-substantive answers in private. Aaron Maté recaps the unanswered questions to Arias, as well as recent attacks on the OPCW whistleblowers via Western state-funded outlets Bellingcat and the BBC.

Pushback rounds out 2020 by airing an unpublished interview with Stephen F. Cohen, the eminent Russia historian and scholar who passed away in September at the age of 81. In an interview recorded one year before his death, Stephen F. Cohen discusses local elections and protests in Russia; opposition leader Alexei Navalny; as well as the state of Russia’s post-Soviet democratization and how US meddling undermines it. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Guest: Stephen F. Cohen. Professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University, contributing editor at The Nation, and author of books including “War with Russia: From Putin & Ukraine to Trump & Russiagate.” This interview was recorded in September 2019, one year before his death.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Veteran US diplomat Chas Freeman says that despite talk of a New Cold War between the US and China, the US in reality is reacting aggressively to a rising Chinese power whose economic gains threaten US global supremacy. Freeman, who served in top State Department positions and as Richard Nixon's chief interpreter on his historic 1972 visit to China, discusses the state of US-China relations and flashpoints such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the repression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. "Since around 1870, we have been the preeminent society on the planet -- the wealthiest and technologically most advanced, the most influential. And China's overtaking us," Freeman says. "So there's a psychological issue here. The good deal of what we're doing is better explained by psychology than by statecraft. China does threaten American economic supremacy, may have already passed us in many ways... Whether that's a threat or not depends on your perceptions. We've chosen to treat it as a national security or a military threat. It'll be very good for the military industrial complex for a while." Guest: Chas Freeman. Veteran U.S. diplomat and public servant who has served in many senior positions, including as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and as the principal US interpreter during President Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972.