#1289 How to Build a War from Scratch (Iran)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2019
⏱️ 81 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 7/12/2019
Today we take a look at the well-planned and completely predictable build-up to war with Iran from the Republican neocons and theocrats who've wanted this war for decades
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Gulf of Tonkin Redux - Intercepted with Jeremy Scahill - Air Date 6-19-19
The U.S. accuses Iran of attacking civilian ships while offering scant evidence, grave historical parallels are emerging with the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 that was manipulated to justify Lyndon Johnson’s dramatic escalation of the war in Vietnam
Ch. 2: Trump Imposes New Sanctions with Trita Parsi - Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman - Air Date 6-25-19
Iran said the new round of sanctions “permanently closed the path to diplomacy” between Iran and the United States. We speak with Iranian-American author and analyst Trita Parsi, former president and founder of the National Iranian American Council.
With the announcement that Iran will break the terms of its nuclear agreement, for stockpiling enriched uranium, the stage is set for a confrontation between the US and its European allies. The situation will contribute to greater US isolation.
Taking a look at the theocrats running Trump's foreign policy
Ch. 5: "Drifting" toward war with Iran - CounterSpin - Air Date 5-16-19
Taking a look at the theocrats running Trump's foreign policy
Experts keep pushing for war. They are fueled by right-wing think tank Foundation For Defense of Democracies.
Iran has internal politics worth considering too
Ch. 8: Iran vs America: What's Next with Jamal Abdi - The Hartmann Report - Air Date 6-24-19
Trump’s Iranian sanctions are designed to force Iran into accepting what the US wants. The Iranian sanctions are Trump and Pompeo wanting the Iranian administration to change.
Ch. 9: The Iran Standoff with Ben Rhodes - Stay Tuned with Preet - Air Date 6-20-19
What the hell with US politics and foreign policy? The US believes we have to fix everything around the world until have we delivered democracy.
Ch. 10: Is the US Heading for War With Iran? - The Inquiry - Air Date 5-29-19
War with Iran would be bad enough, but it may also escalate into a more widespread conflict
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 11: Advice on self-preservation for today's activist - Emily from Cleveland
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on keeping perspective as a way to maintain our mental health
MUSIC(Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Eventual Victory - Codebreaker
- Astrisx - Bodytonic
- The Envelope - Aeronaut
- The Back Lot - Sunday at Slims
- Gondola Blue - Towboat
- Gullwing Sailor - Migration
- Gusty Hollow - Migration
- Milkwood - The Cabinetmaker
- On Early Light - Cholate
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This program is made possible by members and donors, so a huge thanks to everyone who |
| 0:07.6 | contributes on Patreon to support the show. |
| 0:10.2 | And now, welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:14.5 | learn about the well-planned and completely predictable build-up to war with a run from |
| 0:20.1 | the Republican Neocons and Theocrats who have wanted this war for decades. |
| 0:24.4 | Clips today come from Intercepted Democracy Now, The Real News, |
| 0:29.1 | Unauthorized Disclosure, Citation Needed, People's Republic, The Hartman Report, Stay Tuned, |
| 0:35.8 | and The Inquiry. |
| 0:44.3 | This is the Maddox, one of the two destroyers that were attacked while patrolling international |
| 0:48.6 | waters in the Gulf of Tunkin near North Vietnam. 55 years ago, in 1964, the seventh fleet sent two |
| 0:56.8 | lethal destroyers to the waters around North Vietnam. At this point in the war, the US had not yet |
| 1:03.5 | deployed its masses of ground troops. There were US personnel on the ground fighting covertly |
| 1:09.5 | and directing South Vietnamese forces and operations, but they were categorized simply as advisors. |
| 1:16.6 | The all-out war that powerful hawks and war mongers had been agitating for for years |
| 1:22.3 | had not yet materialized. They needed an inciting incident, a justification. |
| 1:32.2 | In late July 1964, South Vietnamese forces began attacking North Vietnamese bridges, |
| 1:39.2 | communication posts, and other sites, along North Vietnam's coastal waters, |
| 1:44.8 | and islands in what was known as the Gulf of Tunkin. On August 2nd, the US war ships off the coast, |
| 1:51.6 | reportedly detected North Vietnamese ships responding to the attacks, |
| 1:55.9 | and claimed that they thought that those vessels were actually coming to attack the US ships. |
| 2:01.6 | There are conflicting versions of what happened next, but declassified NSA documents |
| 2:07.0 | reveal that the USS Maddox fired warning shots at the North Vietnamese ships, |
... |
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