Author: Admin

Trump on the Brink of Embroiling the US in Another Forever War

We begin with the United States poised to enter another “forever war” if Israel does not succeed in ending Iran’s nuclear program and bringing about regime change and if Trump joins in with what looks like the winning side now, but, just like Iraq, it could turn out to be the losing side in the long run. Joining us is Steven Simon, who served on the National Security Council staff as senior director for Middle Eastern and North African affairs and also worked on the NSC staff on counterterrorism and Middle East security policy. These assignments followed a fifteen-year career at the U.S. Department of State and he is currently a Fellow in International Affairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the co-author of The Age of Sacred Terror, and his latest book is Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East. We discuss his article at Foreign Affairs “America Should End Israel’s War on Iran – Not Join It.”

Repeating the Ignorance and Hubris That Got Us Into the Iraq War, There Appears to Be No Plans For the Day After We Bomb Iran

Then we look into the ignorance and hubris that led to the Iraq war repeating itself following yesterday’s embarrassing Senate testimony by Secretary of Defense Hegseth who clearly does not have a “day after” strategy should Trump decide to bomb Iran. Joining us is Adam Weinstein, the Deputy Director of the Middle East Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. A former Marine deployed to Afghanistan, he previously worked as senior law and policy analyst at the National Iranian American Council. We discuss his article at The Nation, “Trump Is Blowing Up Soft Power: And he’s shooting America’s diplomats in the foot.”

The Iran Nuclear Issue Moves From Crisis to Tragedy

Then finally we speak with Mark Fitzpatrick, an Associate Fellow for Strategy, Technology and Arms Control and former Executive Director of the Washington-based Americas office of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, as well as former head of the Institute’s work on non-proliferation. He served as US Foreign Service Officer and was acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Non-Proliferation at the State Department, and his books include Asia’s Latent Nuclear Powers: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, Overcoming Pakistan’s Nuclear Dangers and The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: Avoiding worst-case outcomes. We discuss his article at iiss.org “Iran nuclear crisis moves to tragedy.“