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After defeating the US and its allies' decade-long dirty war, Syria is finding ways to rebuild under US military occupation and crippling sanctions/economic warfare. 

Author Tim Anderson discusses Syria's post-war recovery under sanctions and occupation; routine Israeli bombings and Russia's failure to stop them; Syria joining China's Belt and Road Initiative; and, in the wake of recent New York Times exposes on deadly US airstrikes that were covered up in Syria, how the US used ISIS as a tool for regime change while claiming to fight it. 

Guest: Tim Anderson. Writer, academic, and Director of the Sydney-based Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies. His books include "The Dirty War on Syria" and "Axis of Resistance." 

Discussed in this segment:

Tim Anderson: "Syria: Why the US massacre at Al-Baghouz?"
https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/analysis/syria:-why-the-us-massacre-at-al-baghouz

Aaron Maté: "To keep troops in Syria, US leaders are lying like in Afghanistan"
https://mate.substack.com/p/to-keep-troops-in-syria-us-leaders

Syria’s post-war recovery challenges US hegemony

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After weeks of US claims that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent, Vladimir Putin instead recognized the breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donetsk. The decision has triggered a new round of US-led sanctions while bringing attention to rebel-held areas, where,  according to UN figures on the Donbas war, 80% of civilian casualties have occurred since 2018.

Professor Richard Sakwa analyzes the factors behind Putin's move, and its likely consequences. Putin's decision, he says, comes after Kiev refused to implement the 2015 Minsk accords, which could have ended the conflict, and a longstanding US-driven project to expand NATO to Russia's borders. 

Guest: Richard Sakwa. Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent. His books include “Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands” and his latest, “Deception: Russiagate and the New Cold War.”

Rejecting NATO expansion, Putin recognizes forgotten Donbas civilians

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The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate speak live with ex-UN weapons inspector and military expert Scott Ritter about the Russia-Ukraine war. Ritter provides a detailed analysis of the battlefield that stands in stark contrast to the rose-colored perspective of most Western analysts, and offers his perspective on the political follies that drove the conflict.

Guest: Scott Ritter. Former UN Weapons Inspector and Marine Corps Intelligence Officer.

The battle for Ukraine, with ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter

Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson is the first black woman nominated for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Her confirmation hearings provided many opportunities for political performance. But what is the true significance of her nomination to black people? Dr. Anthony Monteiro, Duboisian scholar and founder of the Saturday Free School for Philosophy and Black Liberation, discusses.

Ketanji Brown-Jackson and Political Spectacle

Joe Biden travelled to Europe for NATO and G7 meetings one month after Russian troops entered Ukraine. Biden predictably condemned Russia but also suggested he was seeking regime change against Vladimir Putin. Dr. Gerald Horne, author and historian who currently holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston, analyses US policy in Ukraine.

Ukraine and the American Crisis

To support independent media, receive bonus content and to help make this show possible, please join us at: https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow

Rapper and campaigner Lowkey (https://twitter.com/Lowkey0nline) talks about the Israel Lobby's campaign to get Spotify to remove him from their platform. Sign the petition telling Spotify not to cave here (https://www.change.org/p/spotify-do-not-buckle-to-pressure-from-the-israel-lobby-to-deplatform-lowkey?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=0ccb39d0-b020-11ec-b015-6f843b977d7f). 

Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist, academic and political campaigner. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS university and is an advisor to the website Declassified  which investigates the activities of the Ministry of Defence and British Intelligence Services.  He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album Soundtrack To The Struggle 2 featured Noam Chomsky, Frankie Boyle and Ken Loach and has been streamed millions of times. He produces and hosts his own weekly podcast for Mintpress and has interviewed US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Roger Waters, Naom Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Ahed Tamimi, Ken Loach and Stella Moris (wife of Julian Assange).

Lowkey has become the target of a coordinated smear campaign to demonize, defame and deplatform him. Earlier this month, organised groups forced the University of Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Society to postpone his lecture and were able to stop his appearance at the National Union of Students in Liverpool. 

Now, a campaign by lobby group "We Believe in Israel" is demanding that his content be removed from music streaming service Spotify. This is unacceptable censorship.

The campaign against Lowkey is designed to silence Palestinians and their supporters. Anti-Palestinian censorship is now reaching into the artistic realm.

Israel Lobby Pressures Spotify To Remove Pro-Palestinian Rapper Lowkey

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters a new phase, former Swiss intelligence officer, senior United Nations official, and NATO advisor Jacques Baud analyzes the conflict and argues that the US and its allies are exploiting Ukraine in a longstanding campaign to bleed its Russian neighbor.   

Guest: Jacques Baud. Former intelligence officer with the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service who has served in a number of senior security and advisory positions at NATO, the United Nations, and with the Swiss military.   

Jacques Baud's article on the Ukraine war: https://www.thepostil.com/the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine/


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US, EU sacrificing Ukraine to 'weaken Russia': fmr. NATO adviser

Today's bonus episode is a recording of Brian Becker's keynote speech at the Los Angeles Socialism Conference on May 7th, 2022.

Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

"We Are At A Crossroads." — Brian Becker Keynote Speech At L.A. Socialism Conference

While claiming to fight a "war on drugs," US intelligence agencies have used drug trafficking to fund their dirty covert operations. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were caught taking massive bribes to give sensitive information to Colombian cartels.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6XCDGCgvPYo

US drug war is a farce: DEA agents exposed helping Colombian cartels

Multipolarista host Benjamin Norton speaks with Venezuelan journalist Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza, editor of independent news outlet the Orinoco Tribune, about the victory of left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro in Colombia's presidential election, the easing of a few US sanctions, and Venezuela's 20-year cooperation agreement with Iran.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=wpouWfsvLYI

Read the Orinoco Tribune at https://orinocotribune.com

Venezuelan's view on Gustavo Petro victory in Colombia, US sanctions, Iran pact

The chief of the UK Army, Patrick Sanders, told his troops to prepare for World War III with Russia. Benjamin Norton discusses how Western imperialists are threatening nuclear apocalypse to try to save their declining empires.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MKO1v65OSt0

British army chief tells troops prepare for World War III with Russia

A news show hosted by Aaron Maté. Presented by The Grayzone.

The battle for Ukraine, with ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter

Pushback with Aaron Mate

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