Radio War Nerd EP #478 — Israel's War on Lebanon, feat. Cyrus
Guest: Cyrus, MENA researcher
Recorded: October 21, 2024
We're joined by RWN guest "Cyrus" from Beirut, to talk about Israel's sectarian war strategy in Lebanon, Nasrallah's legacy, profound changes taking place in the Arab and Muslim world that have so far gone little reported, and Cyrus's own recent travels through Iraq and Jordan...
Check out RWN EP #233 with Cyrus on the Arab Spring & 2020
Total time: 1:07:56
Direct link to this episode's mp3 here
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Comments (42)
Cyrus episodes are very information dense, it’s like a nourishing meatloaf for the inquisitive mind.
👍👍👍super interview guys
Amazing interview. Cyrus has such an intimate knowledge of the sociological components to the regional war.
Hope you don’t need to do another emergency ep soon
Spectacular guest, love Cyrus
Great episode - had to re wind several times to make sure I caught everything
Anyone know if Cyrus publishes/posts commentary anywhere? I got a lot out of this episode and listened twice.
For a similarly powerful Arab guest, check out Ghadi Francis on Rania Khalek’s Dispatches
Great episode, already relistened more than once. I wish Cyrus nothing but the best and am very grateful he took the time to speak to you / us again. His perspective views analysis were all extremely valuable.
Zaydis are Shia, no?
Just add to the praise for the episode. Excellent guest with thoughtful and very detailed answers.
"Wow. That's grim" is the RWN catch phrase these days. Great interview, thanks guys.
It’s great to hear there is some pan-Arab/Muslim feeling forming, but what is up with the UAE’s huge crackdowns on any Palestine solidarity? The flight attendant fired for wearing a Palestine pin, the college student busted for a Palestine banner? Is the UAE’s population genuinely that indifferent? And/or is this just the sheer terror/acquiescence of living in a real dictatorship?
The UAE is relatively small and has a repressive security apparatus (as is sadly typical among the Gulf Monarchies.) My bet is that, much like in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, there’s a lot of support for Palestine- but this support is crushed whenever it coalesces into open dissent. I’d add that the UAE has long been a glaring blind spot of the anglophone international press. Aside from Al Jazeera, few if any major outlets break stories that present the Emiratis in a bad light. The fact that the UAE is the only state (aside from Morocco) which “normalized relations with Israel”- and that they are considered a key ally of the US- likely makes any acknowledgment of dissent over Palestine tacitly verboten when it comes to international coverage.
I’d like to see the claim of a sectarian sorting by Israel inquired of more … the idea that they’re specifically targeting Shia areas over Sunni ones seems overdetermined, could be geographical ‘accident’ that aligns Shia with the south? - but I have absolutely no idea myself
Kurt Cobain suicide reference LOL
Reminiscent of the point made by the Iranian cleric after Soleimani's assassination that the US has no comparable figure for Iran to assassinate in retaliation other than perhaps SpongeBob
I think what he said about the music festival was a little fucked up It’s justified for Cyrus to say that, because he’s actually over there in the shit and has every reason to be mad - but that’s the type of killing that made people hate ISIS so I don’t think it helped anyone and people aren’t legit targets just for being decadent at the wrong moment like I said, Cyrus is totally fine for saying what he said, I just think it’s fucked up a little from my perspective but I don’t live there. (For the record, obviously israel does something equally heinous every hour, that’s not my point) Also if this community wants to jump on me for saying that, go ahead, I still pay for and love and support this show regardless
Also Cyrus is cool and a great guest and I would hear from him again, in case that’s not clear either from what I said
Saudi and the gulf see how much US military support is needed in order not to lose a war against the axis. And they know Israel is the only country that can count on that level of support.
Don't forget Turkey and Japan. The current South Korean regime, too. Britain, probably. There's a few countries America would go to the wall for besides Israel. Frankly, the Israelis just need more help because they're weak, stupid, rabid animals who can't even massacre children without enormous support from their imperial patron. When the Turks want to blow up Kurdish schools and hospitals, they don't need to run crying to Uncle Sam for shells and bombs.
Incredible interview. Probably one of the most insightful ones since the conflict began.
Really an exceptionally good episode. More from Cyrus, please, whose insights are going to stay relevant for a truly horribly long time.
Very informative episode, thank you I would've appreciated more discussion of the Maronites and anti-Hezbollah/Shia political forces. Given that Shia are only a plurality (~32%), not a majority, why wouldn't the non-Shia (Maronites, Sunni) form a coalition against them? Guest refers to the Nova Festival attack as justified for "dancing outside a concentration camp". Gaza just had its border controlled by Israel and Egypt. A concentration camp is not run by the elected inmate dictatorship. It does not typically have its own commercial infrastructure, shops and cafes, hospitals, pharmacies, internet access, parks and beaches you can walk to, agriculture and other industries. It typically does not have a life expectancy (74) and gdp per capita similar or better than other countries in the region. Many of the participants in Oct 7 had guest worker passes, because Israel made the mistake of letting them work in their country.
I think you’re listening to the wrong podcast.
Great episode
Great episode.
Isreal is so fucking stupid. They’ve had two years to see how Russia has struggled against 6-8 years of fortification; hezbollah has had, what, 16 years to fortify even WORSE terrain for an invading army?
It would be hilarious if the US and Isrally efforts to divide and sow discord among the different factions in the Middle East actually served those factions to pull together. In the end, I guess it would depend on how long this goes on for; does it last long enough to forge a cohesive identity or does it dissolve into in-fighting soon after their victory, a la British efforts in Saudi Arabia around ww1
It’s working wonders in regard to China and India.
Lebanon sounds like Yemen, in the sense that the local organization most affiliated with the axis of resistance seems to be the only viable political apparatus
I’m not sure about “political” but definitely when it comes to military capacity. That being said, it is striking that Hezbollah manages to keep its services funded and cadre paid, even as the economy of Lebanon collapses. In this respect, you’re definitely right. I’d add too that Hezbollah seems to benefit (like the Houthis) from taking a broadly popular, militant stand against Israel. It speaks to how deeply Israel is hated in the region (as well as the clear ineffectiveness of repeated cycles of sanctions on Iran.)
Several times, Cyrus mentioned that the Saudis have stopped funding anti-Shia propaganda. I'd like to hear more about that. The Sunni-Shia conflict has been one of the main themes of RWN, and Cyrus makes it sound like the schism is currently at a relatively low level of violence.
there have been a few stories lately about china negotiating a rapprochement between iran and saudi arabia, but i don't know any of the fine details there
Great guest
Fantastic insights, thanks!
No matter how much I hate America and its clique of sycophants and enforcers, it's not enough.
Great interview, do you know where to find his article on 2003 as a meteor strike?
Amazing interview, radio war nerd is the goat. First
That point about Nasrallah underestimating Israel’s threat to him personally is fascinating- and tragic. Ive been reading Patrick Seale’s biography of Abu Nidal. A point he hits, again and again, is that Israel targets “moderates.” Many speculated that Abu Nidal, knowingly or not, was carrying out Israeli preferences by killing moderate Palestinian leaders. Many within the PLO believed that he was a Mossad agent for this reason. The point that Seale makes is that Israel went after moderates in the first years of the resistance, but then laid off as Abu Nidal killed moderates (Abu Nidal was notably never targeted by Mossad and his bases were never hit by the IDF- he also purged members of his group who fought with the PLO against Syria during the “War of the Camps.”) For this reason, Seale argues, he was strategically useful to Israel. Whatever Abu Nidal’s role- the broader point regarding Israel holds true. They kill moderates to radicalize the opposition and make peace (and thus recognition of Palestine) impossible. Nasrallah, clearly, forgot this hard learned lesson. Israel does not want diplomacy- they want total victory and are clearly willing to extend the state of war for as long as is necessary to attain their larger revanchist aims. The very fact that Nasrallah “moderated”- and offered the chance for peace- made him a target (the opposite of protecting him.) For all of us who want peace and dignity for the Palestinian people- this is a tragic and bitter lesson. Great episode, keep up the great work!
Great insight, thanks.
Oof, this will be grim.