Radio War Nerd EP #590 — Bahrain and the Iran "Situation", feat. Aamer
Guest: Aamer
Recorded: March 18, 2026
Aamer returns to discuss how Bahrain is managing the US-Israel-Iran "situation", the early videos of Bahrainis cheering on the Iranian missiles hitting US bases, the loathed ruling family, Bahrain's relations with other GCC states, and more.
Further listening with Aamer:
-EP #246 — Arab Conquests, Part I: Pre-Islamic Arabia to Muhammad (4-part series)
-EP #286 — Bahrain
-EP #279 — Inglorious Qataris' Bustards
Maps
Total time: 1:33:41
Direct link to this episode's mp3 here
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Sound production by Telescope Audio
Comments (29)
The Bahrein situation is both more interesting and less spectacular than I thought. Thank you for the insightful episode!
And the band played Waltzing Matilda, As Pete Hegseth reeled from the booze; After two weeks he’d found, He needs boots on the ground, And they sent me away to Hormuz.
Within the context of the U.S. system, I don't think putting this Iran war just on Trump is sufficient. Congress has war powers and funding -- two major levers -- that it could exercise. They aren't using these powers because a clear majority of the elected leadership in both parties supports the war. These elected leaders, however, are cynical enough not to go on record co-signing a war that is already a quagmire. The politicians assume their voters are stupid. However, it is interesting to note that a clear majority of Democrats disapprove of the party right now. The politics of this era are going to play out in ways that I don't think anyone can predict.
Before this war Dubai sounds like what Moscow was like in the 90s. The eXile Dubai would have been great.
Moscow minus all of the culture, politics, and thousand year history
Great interview. The RWN brain trust only grows stronger 💪
On the mention of the "American alley" place filled with underage girls for sex, it dawned on me that every place that has soldiers is bound to have a brothel industry nearby... not just Vietnam with the Thai girls. I can only imagine the size of the prostitution ring in the middle east with so many USA bases.
you'd imagine that the average denizen of Flyover America would be happy that, say, Portland Oregon would get hit by suicide drones, but in 2001 when New York City, the HQ of Liberals and the hated finance capital, it seemed to have been considered a bad thing by the majority of americans
Well, the U.S. is really in love with its famous landmarks, for one thing. That's why they selected these big symbolic targets rather than going after weak points in the infrastructure that could have theoretically done a lot more damage. And New York is a lot more than just the HQ of liberals and Jews. That's part of it, but it's also got the biggest police force of any city on Earth, and reactionary scum love cops, and a lot of first responders died when the towers fell. Also, 9/11 was a useful rallying cry to get the government to murder a lot of Arabs. If the only people who died were Arabs and Jews, I'm pretty sure the types of Americans you're thinking about would say they brought it on themselves for not being good conservative Christians or whatever. The hard right, the neo-Nazi right, are pretty open about celebrating the 9/11 attacks, both because it was a symbolic blow against the Jews and because they worship death and killing in general. I don't know how representative they are of the Republicans in general, but it's worth mentioning.
I’m a newer listener and I gotta say I appreciate the inclusion of maps in the posts. I like to think I’m pretty knowledgeable on geography, yet I had no idea Bahrain was an island lmao
Name the states!!!
H
how do i get an rss link for the podcast?
How is this going to affect all the Blood Gold that the UAE has been buying from Eastern Africa?
A
there are two states that matter more than israel, connecticut and California
Get goosebumps just thinking about that song
Still listening to Exodus’s Tempo of the Damned, esp tracks “war is my shepherd” and “scar spangled banner”. George dubya brought back a wave of great metal
World War I was described as nations sleepwalking into war, the comment in the podcast about the apathy about it all made me think of it. Likewise Europe and the rest of the Arab states just seem to be on cruise control. The center cannot hold and the gyre keeps widening.
Absolutely excellent episode! The War Nerd Army is so stocked with great insightful voices across the world. Perfect guest at a time like this especially, and I loved his Arab Conquest series as well
Thanks Aamer
Oh man what a tantalizing tidbit about the Ghost of Kuwait. Great guest, great episode.
Thanks! Very much appreciated Aamer
Looking very forward to the episode, much as I wish its predicate facts hadn't happened. That Alex Chilton/Big Star song reliably wrecks me. It's on a personal list with "The Outer Skin" (Tall Dwarfs), "I Bet On Losing Dogs," a couple of Vic Chesnutt songs, and not that many others: songs that go down and don't go up again, stuff I actually have to be careful about listening to. That can't have been a pleasant drive, John. Hang in there!
Another classic in this vein is So You Wanna Be A Superhero by Carissa’s Wierd
Good to hear from Aamer again, was hoping you guys would do another episode with him in light of recent events.
Bah bah bah Bah bah Bahrain
It’s bahraining missiles and drones
Whoever smelter it dealter it