Pushback with Aaron Mate

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Anti-war veterans explain how US lost Afghanistan while leaders lied, profited Aug 22, 2021

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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

US suffocates Cuba for unwavering, victorious anti-imperialism at great cost Aug 02, 2021

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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

Syrian insurgents guilty of 'red line' 2013 sarin chemical attack, study finds Jul 26, 2021

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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

US ties to suspected Haiti assassins follow long history of intervention Jul 16, 2021

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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.

US refuses to drop Assange hunt even after key witness admits to lies Jul 09, 2021

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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.

OPCW chief misleads UN with new lies, excuses on Syria cover-up Jul 05, 2021

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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.

After backing Maidan coup in Ukraine, is Biden ready for peace? Jun 20, 2021

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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."

Biden, Putin restore talks as DC hawks promote New Cold War Jun 19, 2021

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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/.

Russiagate target Kilimnik speaks out on 'spy' claims, Trump-Russia conspiracy theories May 30, 2021

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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

Chevron colludes with US judge to persecute attorney Steven Donziger May 26, 2021

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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.

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