Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Iran Strikes US Bases & Israel’s Secret Nuclear Plot w/ Jeremy Scahill & Sami al-Arian

Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Show Notes

Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war "Their Blood, Our Bullets": https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership. Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serve Check out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFUL Check out Mint Mobile: https://mintmobile.com/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Support our work and get the ad-free interview with Jeremy Scahill and Sami al-Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-iran-strikes-us-bases-and?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Analysis: Establishment Dems are seizing the Graham Platner scandal to slander progressives across primary elections https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. This week we have a powerhouse panel on Useful Idiots: Professor Sami al-Arian and investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of DropSite News, who join us to analyze Trump’s wars in West Asia. The breaking news is that Trump is renewing the bombing of Iran, insulting its leaders, and threatening to take out more civilian infrastructure, all while Israel is allowed to continue its genocide in Gaza as well as steal and destroy land in Lebanon. Useful Idiots: Trump has said the deal is likely over. So where are we with the state of war against Iran?Sami al-Arian: The deal was basically an admission by the United States that it’s been defeated. It is surrender in all points. And I think the Zionists have upped the pressure against this administration, which has been beholden to it for whatever reason. They were trying to find justification to renege on this deal.But regardless, there is nothing that the US could do to defeat Iran. There is nothing that it could do to achieve its objectives, which is basically regime change, regime collapse, breakup of the country, and to reverse its advanced scientific achievements in nuclear power or in missiles or even to stop its support of its allies in the region.None of these objectives were reached in the first thirty-nine days of the war and they are very unlikely to be reached again.Jeremy Scahill: What we’ve seen since Trump took this deal is that he has not been able to effectively spin his victory-narrative on this thing. This is the latest iteration of the Trump pattern, which is that he’s flailing around like a child throwing a tantrum and threatening.And the more he escalates it, the more it becomes clear that he is in the quagmire of all quagmires in this situation. One thing that we have to be always concerned about is that Trump is a very erratic character. I wouldn’t put it past him to authorize a much more significant escalation of the bombing against Iran.My understanding from Iranian officials is that if that happens, if a Rubicon is crossed and it becomes a full-blown war again, that Iran’s response to this in the Persian Gulf and aimed at Israel is going to exceed what it did in the initial weeks when it fought the United States and Israel to a point where Trump was the one essentially begging for some kind of a deal.Watch our full, unpaywalled interview with Professor Sami al-Arian and Jeremy Scahill. Please consider subscribing to support our work and watch the ad-free version of the show. 00:00 Intro 01:05 Aaron's new book 03:16 CNN manufactures a scandal w

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Support our work and get the ad-free interviews with James Carden and Kylie Cheung (@kylietcheung): https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/ad-free-democrats-melt-down-over?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Stupid Fact Check: Does Abdul El-Sayed REALLY Sleep in an “Osama Bin Laden Jersey?” https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Order James' new book: THE GREAT BETRAYAL: How the Democrats Became the Party of War https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-great-betrayal/ Order Kylie's new book: Playing the Victim: How the Powerful Deny and Attack Survivors of Violence, from Domestic Abuse to Genocide https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/826796/playing-the-victim-by-kylie-cheung/ Check out Lean: Visit https://takelean.com and enter USEFUL for your discount. Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out HomeServe at https://homeserve.com/useful Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let’s take a look at the midterms: Democrats are looking pretty good in the polls, especially because Trump has betrayed two of his key promises, which was to have No New Wars and to address the cost of living. In his second term, we’ve seen him do the exact opposite. He started a war on Iran, which has driven up the cost of living, especially energy prices. But are Democrats seizing the rage? Are they taking up the anti-war mantle? No! Here’s why: in an effort to escape this predicament of spiking energy prices and win back the polls from Democrats, Trump recently made a gas deal with Vladimir Putin to claim he’s bringing prices down. And rather than simply point out that Trump is only doing this to save face because he’s lost the anti-war lane, Democrats are instead accusing him once again of being a traitor, warmongering for Russia. That’s right: it’s Russiagate Part (10?) To discuss the Democrat blunder of missing the easy opportunity to pin Trump for his disastrous war of choice on Iran and potentially blowing their midterm lead, we speak with James Carden, author of the new book, The Great Betrayal: How the Democrats Became the Party of War. Share We also speak with journalist Kylie Cheung, author of the brand new book, Playing the Victim: How the Powerful Deny and Attack Survivors of Violence, From Domestic Abuse to Genocide, which makes the connection between the tactics of domestic abusers and the tactics of imperialism and Zionism. She explains how the perpetrators of Israel’s genocide on Gaza, from decision makers like Benjamin Netanyahu to his chief propagandists like CNN’s Dana Bash, enact the domestic abuse term known as DARVO: deny, attack, reverse victim and offender. Kylie shows us clips of Dana Bash and Vice President JD Vance and reveals how they manipulate their audience with each tactic of DARVO. These interviews are free to all, but to support our work and get the ad-free version of the episode, please consider subscribing to Useful Idiots. 0:00 Midterm politics and preview 01:56 GOP Senator drools over bombing Iran (but only after the midterms) 04:22 Ted Cruz claims Abdul El-Sayed is in the Muslim Brotherhood 06:14 Ted Cruz knows nothing about the Bible 08:08 James Carden on why Dems have become the party of war 28:32 D

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Support our work and get the ad-free, extended interview with Miko Peled and Trita Parsi: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-interview-netanyahu-panics?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Kamala and Pete Are Trapped in a Cult https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join Miko Peled in supporting Palestine House of Freedom, which creates a high-profile presence for Palestine in Washington, DC: https://www.daralhurriya.org/ Follow Trita Parsi on Substack: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/ Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out HomeServe at https://homeserve.com/useful Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Support our work and get the ad-free, extended interview with Miko Peled and Trita Parsi: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/extended-interview-netanyahu-panics?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Watch the Friday Free-For-All: Kamala and Pete Are Trapped in a Cult https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Join Miko Peled in supporting Palestine House of Freedom, which creates a high-profile presence for Palestine in Washington, DC: https://www.daralhurriya.org/ Follow Trita Parsi on Substack: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/ Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out HomeServe at https://homeserve.com/useful Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This week, two special guests return to Useful Idiots. First up is Trita Parsi, the geopolitical analyst who has kept us updated with on-the-ground information on Trump’s war on Iran that breaks through the walls of corporate propaganda. We asked Trita what are the most important stories coming out of the Middle East that corporate media is hiding. Trita Parsi: Look, this could change in three days because things are changing so fast. But right now, I would point to two things, one that the media is not necessarily ignoring, but the other one they’re largely hiding.The open one is the fact that we are now seeing increasing movement towards what I think can end up becoming uncontrollable escalation. As bad as the war has been so far, it’s been calibrated escalations by both sides.What is happening now between the Houthis and the Saudis risks transforming into something much bigger, and the calibration can be lost, control can be lost, and that would be very dangerous for everyone.The second thing is the manner in which the Israelis are openly discussing how their security doctrine has changed and turned into something that you certainly wouldn’t associate with what claims to be a democratic country.What I’m referring to is the article by the head of the INSS, the big Israeli think tank, in which he described several points of the new doctrine that should really give you chills.There’s some stuff in it that from an American perspective, I’m sure many people in Washington would not like to hear, such as treating the United States as a declining power, believing that the US is going to abandon Israel anyway, and as a result Israel itself should sever ties with the US.But the other parts of what they’re saying as principles of this new doctrine should really make decision makers and others in America think twice about what does it mean to be a strategic ally of a country that pursues this doctrine…Watch the episode for Trita’s full take. Share Second, we speak with Israeli peace activist and founder of Palestine House of Freedom Miko Peled about the upcoming Israeli elections. Will the elections, which have the potential to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, lead to any major shift in Israel? Spoiler alert: No. Useful Idiots: A lot of people present Netanyahu as the unique cause of the genocide. Once they get rid of Netanyahu, it’ll be OK. What are your thoughts on that claim?Miko Peled: It’s the most unfounded claim anybody can make. I have no idea why anybody would say something so ridiculous.Everyone in th

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Support our work and watch the Friday Free-For-All: It Doesn’t Go Well When JD Vance Tries to Define Socialism https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Please watch and share this full interview with Muhammad Shehada. Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out HomeServe at https://homeserve.com/useful Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Support our work and watch the Friday Free-For-All: It Doesn’t Go Well When JD Vance Tries to Define Socialism https://usefulidiotspodcast.com Please watch and share this full interview with Muhammad Shehada. Join us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to. Go to https://groundnews.com/useful to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on the stories shaping our world. Pre-order Aaron's new book on the Ukraine war: Their Blood, Our Bullets https://orbooks.com/catalog/their-blood-our-bullets/ Check out Quince and use our code https://quince.com/useful for a great deal: https://www.quince.com Check out TruDiagnostic and use our code USEFUL for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.com Check out HomeServe at https://homeserve.com/useful Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS Check out Chilipad and use my code sleep.me/USEFUL for a great deal: https://sleep.me/useful ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This week, we’re joined by Useful Idiots fan-favorite Muhammad Shehada, the political analyst and writer from Gaza who has guided us through the mirk of corporate media propaganda since the first week of Israel’s genocide three years ago. On the week of the third anniversary of October 7, and as Gazans prepare for their fourth winter in these unimaginable conditions, Muhammad shares what he’s heard about the conditions on the ground from his friends and family, many of whom have been killed by the Israeli military. My late friend, Ali, my closest friend, was in a refugee camp in the center of Gaza. I asked him how it was going. And he said, ‘Well, you know what? If there’s a God, if there is a judgment day, I would ask him for one thing, one thing only.‘I would ask him to force those Israeli soldiers to go on the same adventure that I have to take every single day to find water and food. Nothing more. That is enough punishment for them. The idea of going every day, out in the open under airstrikes, under constant gunfire, and walking around desperately from one place to another, ten hours just to find water, that is enough punishment.Share Recently, Israeli filmmakers premiered a new film called Naza in which they interview Israeli soldiers confessing to war crimes. The Israeli government has threatened the filmmakers and there have been protests at the homes of one of the filmmakers’ parents. We asked Muhammad about the film and what he makes of the backlash. The most striking thing in that movie was how casually soldiers describe the atrocities they unleashed in Gaza, as matter-of-fact with zero remorse or contortion, nothing.And the thing that strikes you the most is that those soldiers were not providing these confessions out of guilt or shame. They were providing it out of excitement. They were very eager to brag about the formidable force that was at their disposal.I’ll give you an example. I read an article in an Israeli newspaper describing soldiers who were coming back from Gaza and falling into severe depression. They interviewed a psychiatrist in that article to provide analysis about why soldiers feel depressed when they come back.The psychiatrist didn’t say it’s because the soldiers feel guilt or shame. He said it’s because the soldiers in Gaza felt like gods. They were superhumans. They decided who lives and who dies, like they are in charge of life and death of two million people.And then that psychiatrist says that when those soldiers come back home, they feel like nothing. Nobody knows them. Nobody recognizes them. Nobody opens the door for them. There’s no prestige. And that’s what tears them down the most.That’s why a lot of people go back to serve in Gaza, because of the adrenaline, because of the excitement, because of the euphoria of feeling like a god, feeling like a superhuman. And it see

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