The

The Hello and behind the news. My name is Doug Henwood. The World May Be in Crisis? I've got a book on the shelf near my favorite reading chair with the title World in Crisis,

and I wonder every time I look at it, when is the world not in crisis? But behind the news preserves

the norms. Two guests, two segments. Mouin Rabani will talk about the war in Iran, a joint venture

of the U.S. and Israel. And Helen Yaffe will talk about the situation in Cuba, where Trump has intensified

a six-decade squeeze in that country.

The war in Iran is thoroughly appalling in every dimension, economic, political, cultural,

human. It's hard to see the point, even in ruthless imperial terms.

And it's hard to keep up with what Trump wants from the war,

in no small part, because he doesn't really know. On Wednesday night, the Wall Street Journal

reported him looking for a way out, so he can turn to other priorities, details of which were not

disclosed. Early Thursday morning, about eight hours after the Wall Street Journal report was posted,

he erupted on truth social.

The Iranian negotiators are very different and strange. They are begging us to make a deal,

which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated with zero chance of a comeback.

They better get serious soon before it's too late, because once that happens, there is no turning

back, and it won't be pretty. But Iran has

not been militarily obliterated, as we're seeing every day. Meanwhile, Alex Young, the former head of

MI6, the British Foreign Intelligence Agency, said in an interview the other day, the reality

is that the U.S. underestimated the task, and as of about two weeks ago, lost the initiative to Iran.

The Book of Winning has many chapters. What's it all mean? To answer that question, we're joined by frequent behind the news guest, Muyn Rabani. Muir has a long resume and diplomacy and journalism, and is currently co-editor of the Ezin Jadaliyah, and host of its podcast. To orient things in time and space, this interview was recorded at noon eastern U.S. time on Wednesday, Mouin Rabani. I've always thought the idea

that Israel was leading the U.S. around by the nose was inaccurate. Israel instead served

...