Month: September 2024

Background Briefing: September 3, 2024

Mounting Pressure on Netanyahu From the Israeli Public as the UK Cuts Off Arms Sales

We begin with mounting pressure on Netanyahu from the Israeli public outraged by the killing of hostages in Gaza as the UK government cuts off some arms sales, citing a “clear risk” of violating international law. Joining us is Paul Pillar, who served for 30 years as an analyst at the CIA, in which his last position was National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. Previously, he served as chief of analytic units at the CIA covering portions of the Near East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. He has also headed the Assessments and Information Group of the DCI Counterterrorist Center. Paul Pillar is currently a nonresident senior fellow of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University and a nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His latest book is Beyond the Water’s Edge How Partisanship Corrupts U.S. Foreign Policy and we discuss his article at Responsible Statecraft, “Trigger happy Israel and its thirst for revenge.”

 

How the Republicans Are Funding and Boosting the Cornel West and Jill Stein Campaigns

Then we look into a disturbing article at the AP “GOP network props up liberal third-party candidates in key states, hoping to siphon off Harris votes.” Joining us to discuss how the Republicans are financing and boosting the campaigns of Cornel West and Jill Stein is David Daley, a senior fellow at FairVote and the author of Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America’s Democracy,which helped spark the drive to reform gerrymandering. He is the former editor-in-chief of Salon, and has taught political science and journalism as a fellow at Wesleyan University, Boston College, Smith College and the University of Georgia. His latest book, a national bestseller, is Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections and we discuss his article at The Guardian “There’s a fair way to ensure third-party candidates don’t ‘spoil’ the US election.”

 

The Putin-Orban-Heritage Foundation-Project 2025 Connections

Then finally we get an update on the trials Donald Trump is facing which have been delayed and undermined by the Supreme Court and the Federalist judge in Florida who is shilling for the felon-in-chief and speak with Scott Horton, a professor at Columbia Law School and a contributing editor at Harper’s in legal affairs and national security. He serves on the American branch of the International Law Association, and has represented a variety of journalists and whistleblowers and we discuss the Putin-Orban-Heritage Foundation-Project 2025 connections.