Hour 1 The Author of “The War State” Michael Swanson continues the series of critiques regard the Ken Burns Documentary on Vietnam. The domestic unrest of 1967 and the how and why of the rise of the anti-war movement itself was the main topic. Has COINTELPRO become reborn? Is Jeff Sessions running Drug War 2.0 ? Is the script of a documentary only important in that you must keep the viewer awake ? Are there better films for one to get a realistic portrait of Vietnam ? Is Burns making a point or just putting his audience to sleep? Should we even take all the air time that we have dissecting this series? Chuck and Mike suggest films that WON’T waste your time. Hearts and Minds , Fog Of War , and Winter Soldier make the list among others.
Hour 2 Pearse Redmond joins us to break down much of the current media chaos caused by the Trump era of alternative facts and brush fire war with the truth, good taste and anything thing that once was the artist formerly known as America. The host of Porkins Policy Radio and Chuck attempt to keep pace with the madness. Vietnam War Racket Raqqa Rolling Thunder ? is history repeating itself or simply stuttering? Can anyone keep up? If people keep saying things are getting better , does it count? Who’s cooking for Putin? As The People of Puerto Rico suffer , Trump complains they haven’t helped themselves? Wars and Rumors of Wars? Wars of Rumors , and Fake News as described by…?
This month Christoph and I recorded a special Newsbud related episode of PGG. We focus mainly on Turkey’s increased intervention into the Syrian War. We discuss Christoph’s recent article in Boiling Frogs Post analyzing this very issue. We begin with the increased Russian airstrikes and how this has completely changed the course of the war. Christoph and I touch on how this is being interpreted by NATO and the US. We next move on to Turkey’s reliance on Syrian Turkmen militants to fight their proxy battle. Christoph and I update the listeners on the Grey Wolf “Turkmen” leader Alparslan Çelik, and his recent appearance in Turkey for the funeral of a high level MHP official. We also touch on the shift of the MHP towards a more Islamist friendly political stance. Christoph and I also provide our analysis on the recent statements by the FSB that the Grey Wolves may have been working with ISIS to bring down the Russian Airbus of the Sinai Peninsula. Later we talk about an important article former NSA agent John Schindler, in which he attempts to dismiss these claims and the existence of Operation Gladio. We also explore the possibility of a Turkish ground invasion of Syria and the further Pakistanization of the country.
Christoph and I also talk about our participation in Newsbud and how this will further expand the podcast. Christoph and I talk about the new cold war and the good vs. evil media landscape. We also discuss the importance of objective in depth geopolitical reporting. We talk about the launch of our Kickstarter campaign that begins this Sunday February 14th, and why fans of Porkins Great Game should donate.
For today’s podcast we had the great pleasure of speaking with Ryan Dawson of Anti-Neocons Report. We had a wide ranging discussion about Iran, the death of Ariel Sharon, 9/11, JFK, and much more.
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring Turkey has been singing the praises of those fighting for freedom in countries such as Egypt and Yemen. When it comes to their neighbor Syria, Turkey has taken a very strong tone in terms of their support. Turkey has been hosting both the Syrian National Council as well as the Free Syrian Army. As Al Akhbar reports today, Turkey has set up a secret military base with the support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This base is being used by Turkey to coordinate FSA attacks in Syria. One of the unintended consequences of Turkeys meddling in Syria is the recent development of an autonomous Syrian Kurdistan. Assad has handed over power of Syria’s Kurdish region to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD). The PYD has ties to the PKK in Turkey, which Ankara designates as a terrorist group.
Part of the reason for Assad’s handing over of power to the PYD is due to the need for more military personal in Aleppo. Assad has removed soldiers form its Kurdish region to fight the Turkish backed FSA in the pitched battle in Syria’s largest city. Unsurprisingly Turkey has declared that it will intervene in Syria so as not to let this “terrorist” group gain a foot hold. Prime Minister Erdogan told Turkish TV that “We will not allow a terrorist group to establish camps in northern Syria and threaten Turkey.”
If this strikes you as hypocritical thats because it is. Turkey is in favor of toppling Assad and brining democracy to Syria only if they can control the outcome. Turkey wants a Sunni dominated Syria that will be subservient to Turkey. Erdogan calling the Syrian Kurds terrorists is also laughable while he is openly funding Sunni extremists carrying out bombings in Syria. What happens when the Kurds in Turkey start demanding the freedom that their brothers in Syria gained? Will Turkey respond like Assad, with bullets and bombs?
Porkins Policy Review 