Radio War Nerd EP #163 — Syria War Withdrawal, Betraying Kurds (Again) + 2018 In Review
Recorded: December 29, 2018
We always knew the betrayal would come, and here it is: Trump announces US withdrawal from Syria war, and DC neocon crocodile tears started flowing for Rojava Kurds, and blue state liberals are now the outraged militarists they once pretended at least to oppose . . . We also review Michael Weiss's weird twitter meltdown, described by Ames as a "a neocon Finnegans Wake" . . . A weird ending to a very weird & nasty year . . .
At 1:40:00 the Nerd & Ames look back at a great year in War Nerd episodes . . .
Books cited: "A Brutal Friendship" by Said Aburish; "Poisoning The Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington's Scandal Culture" by Mark Feldstein; "Our Friends from Frolix 8" by Philip K. Dick.
Total time: 2:37:04
Direct link to this episode's mp3 here
Thank you to all of our subscribers for making 2018 an amazing year of RWN episodes!
(Also, special thanks to Anastasia Ames for this episode's artwork, on a 10-minute panicked deadline no less.)
Comments (21)
the idea of Ames and Dolan streaming games on Twitch sounds amazing.
Before I forget my 2019 wishlist, I also hope you cover Zanzibar!!
That's a great idea. That was the site of one of the most bizarre island genocides in history, when a strange Pan-African coalition massacred the Arab population. We should definitely cover that, and the hundreds of years of history before it.
I think the 30 years war text Dick referenced in The Transmigration of Timothy Archer was Wallenstein by Schiller
Yes, that was it. I was so impressed with PKD's novel that I tried to read it(in translation), but it was a little slow and I didn't get far enough to see the occult obsession PKD mentions.
Verdun is way better than Battlefield 1, and even Verdun is not good enough. Greatest shooter game of all time was Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
what is your take on this? "there’s always a natural proportion – a sort of ‘divine’ or ‘golden ratio’ between the three strategic powers in Eurasia: Europe, Central Asia and China. Cue to a fast tour of the rise and fall of empires, with “history showing how in the main zone of the continent – between 30 and 60 degrees of north[ern] latitude – there can be only 2.5 strategic forces.” Which means one of the three major spaces always becomes fragmented. <a href="http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-scholar-offers-insight-into-beijings-strategic-mindset/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-scholar-offers-insight-into-beijings-strategic-mindset/</a>
off-hand, I don't really understand this. It seems like quite a while since Central Asia was a major power on that scale.
"war is a simple but unavoidable network phenomenon that is hard-wired into the structure of society." what you have been saying for quite some time, right? <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612704/data-mining-adds-evidence-that-war-is-baked-into-the-structure-of-society/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612704/data-mining-adds-evidence-that-war-is-baked-into-the-structure-of-society/</a>
If you're gonna hold your noses and cover Ancient Rome, I want to hear you cover Alexander and the Hellenistic Era!! I have to confess I can't get enough of that time period. Please cover it someday even if it's just to diss Alexander and Oliver Stone and the Alexander Cult!! I can't wait to hear some really good Alexander disses (and whatever else comes to mind)
Hell yes! That stuff is way more interesting than most Roman stuff.
war nerd twitch stream please
Happy to oblige except I don't know what that is. Let me consult our technology department...
Battlefield 5 was actually made right after Battlefield 1. Don't ask me what was going through the marketing department's mind, but that's how it is. Also, the PS4 has built in streaming! You just need to make a Twitch or YouTube account and connect it. You might need a headset mic, but I think the PS4 has one built in.
I also second the Crusader Kings 2 recommendation. It's entirely about making political and war decisions, so what could work is if both of you could play, with one controlling and the other following the stream and making suggestions. Likewise, I'd also suggest Hearts of Iron 4. It's an extremely detailed WW2 sim, and though I'm sure you're sick of endless normandy's, it doesn't have to be like that. For example, the most recent expansion is centered around China. All of it, letting you play as any of the warlords and simulating the political situation between them all. As for why I'd recommend the game overall though would be how it really hammers home how massive a logistical nightmare modern war is. An example would be... rubber. You need it. Where are you going to get it? If you want it from Thailand, you'll have to make sure the political situation there is in your favor. By force or subterfuge. And then there's actually acquiring it. You'll need screening ships to defend your convoys. Which require steel. Where are you going to get it? You can see where I'm going now, heh.
Not trying to be mean but you guys look at ypg from a corny western leftist daydreamer angle. It's not like that. Syrians view the ypg as basically a secessionist armed group who allowed a hostile force to occupy part of the country. Case in point, they're having to fight an uprising of the Arab tribes and some other elements at the moment in and around raqqa. Whether they had options or not at the start of the war is debatable. Also, abdulkareem kassem wasn't a kurd. He was a pure baghdadi as far as I know.
I think Mark and John are looking at YPG from a Kurdish angle, rather than the angle that the Arab Syrians see the Kurds, which was never going to be too favorable regardless of their military choices. Also, thank you Mark for linking directly to the Said Aburish book you were talking about
The ideo of the war nerd playing Battlefield 1 really makes me laugh. But really though, you guys should look into strategy games instead, especially Paradox Games. I reccomend you google Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis IV. Those are games that scare most people with their scope, but I imagine that you guys would get a lot out of games that dedicate so much of their time to recreating geopolitics of the world over the course of history. Personally, I always enjoyed trying to take a lowly duke up from the british isles or western france, and try and work my way up the ranks by murder and marriage, only to convert to a heresy, islam, or if I can, one of the indian religions, and then watch the absolute hell break out as the papacy and all the the surrounding kings try and pull enough troops from the levant/killing each other to deal with my jainish horde
The head of “integrity initiative” Simon Bracey lane gave a lecture about information war to an IT company a couple weeks ago that got millions from the army and navy. Alexander Reid ross the red/brown conspiracy guy was speaking there too. <a href="https://youtu.be/wb-jDLju2O8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wb-jDLju2O8</a> The link to the company’s website is in the description
An actual Fed, not even hiding it. What a cretin.
Wow, "Network boring"?!?! Might be THE most problematic thing you guys have ever said on this podcast.