Radio War Nerd EP #372 — Iraq War 20th Anniversary, pt. 3: The Forever Warmongers
Recorded: March 28, 2023
In part 3 of our look back at the Iraq War, we name names & throw a few feckless rocks, because all the Iraq War perps are still with us, still warmongering away with lifetime tenure...
*Memories:
*Kenneth Pollack, the liberal interventionists' big brain bug (according to the New York Times, George Packer, et al)
*Amb. McFaul, today:
vs. famous antiwar activist McFaul, 2003:
Total time: 1:38:30
Comments (25)
Biden doesn't get any positive credit for anything ever. He's spent fifty years being a lying, corrupt shine boy for the worst people on earth and he has not changed in the slightest. He's the Democratic John McCain.
I cannot stand McFaul’s incompetent, milk-toast, pseudo-moralist politics. The fact this phony is still sucking away at a Stanford job and any sort of international credibility makes me incredibly cynical.
McFaul being a fellow at the Hoover institute might be the most poetic example of failing upwards.
very funny. Enjoyed thoroughly
John mentioned his readings on Northern Ireland in the last episode. Any suggestions on good books covering both the tactics/strategies of the insurgency/counterinsurgency, and the overall political strategies?
Remember that time the US occupied Afghanistan for 20 years, reluctantly retreated, and then continued kicking rocks in Syria and Iraq despite the requests of each of those soveriegn nations, all while China avoiding pissing anyone down there off and brokered a peace with the Iranians and Saudis? These imperialist clowns are dogmatically committed to their own imbecility, and when it all blows up in all of our faces (because the blowback is just getting started friends) they'll be the first to blame everyone else for the shit results of their shitheaded 'suck on this' arrogance.
It's true that America's imperialist actions are a double-edged sword, but it's always going to cut our victims worse than it cuts us. As long as there's no viable alternative to the empire, it just doesn't matter if the U.S. embarrasses itself or wastes a ton of resources on disastrous misadventures. The system is totalized. There's nothing else and no other way to be. There's nowhere for anyone to go, and no way to defy the empire that doesn't ultimately redound to its benefit.
Great episode, thanks guys
Lyudmila Pavlichenko does talk about how much Russians fucking hated Churchill in her autobiography, but she doesn't go deep in detail.
This is so good!
The people who claim we're living through the fall of the American empire are like Roman citizens proclaiming the fall of the Empire in, like, 240CE at the height of the crisis of the Third Century. It's far more likely that this is just the inflection point where a Diocletian comes around and patches up the empire, streamlining into a more efficient, lightweight instrument for inflicting cruelty. The experience of being an actual citizen will degrade dramatically at the same time, becoming virtual slavery for anyone except a top 1% as the last remnants of imperial perks are stripped away in the streamlining. Hell you could argue the 00s were the beginning of this process. Basically if you think this is the nadir of how far an empire can fall you ain't seen nuthin yet
Yes. While their ability to suck wealth from the rest of the world is steadily declining, there is so much internal exploitation still available.
David Kelly was almost certainly "suicided" by the security services. - it's almost unheard of for a male his age to commit the act of suicide with cuts to the wrists - the cut itself was unlikely to cause sufficient blood loss, having barely severed the ulnar artery, and there was very little blood at the scene - the knife found at the scene had been wiped clean of fingerprints - he had not taken anything close to a fatal overdose of the opioid painkillers found with his body, and the blister pack had also been wiped clean of fingerprints
I think Craig Murray has some writing on it
Apropos of nothing, that illustration of the war nerd wading in the deep end of the resort pool with his desert cap would make great merch on t-shirts , coffee cups, fridge magnets, etc. I find it reminiscent of Peter Ustinov's Hercule Poirot "swimming" through ankle deep water in Evil Under The Sun.
Maureen Dowd didn’t rhyme those lines about the danger zone- Tom Whitlock did when he wrote the song for Kenny Loggins! She just straight up quoted four lines from the song right there!
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/330d2cfa-1692-4706-b205-aca244449fd5
Still waiting on Salammbo pt. 2! Bought the book and read it after hearing pt 1, so excited for the war nerd & Mark's opinions on an amazing book and war!
Great episode, one of the best this year. Love when you guys reminisce about the exile days and cut to the heart of the american culture & elite.
Paul Bremer now sells his own oil paintings online. He takes commissions as well, apparently.
We can argue over stupid vs evil - but it doesn’t matter. In fact, the only way it would make any impact is if you call them stupid to their literal or digital face. You’re opinion has no bearing otherwise and they are doing and saying incredibly stupid things
That was Mark's whole ethos behind The Exile.
Libs love to condescend, “oh, you simple child. I know you think X but it’s really so much more complex than that. I would explain, but there’s so much you’re not considering…” It’s just a bunch of nerd bullshit that’s really an excuse for them to get their way. Kind of like the senate parliamentarian from a few years ago
That Department of Democratic Regime Change is the dumbest thing I've heard of in a while
Feeling spoiled! I havent even finished part 2 yet!