On this episode of “Political Misfits,” hosts Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas are joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss the proxy wars underway in Syria and fears that Turkey’s offensive in the country could spark more direct conflict there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recalcitrance on Syria could be propelling him toward a dramatic fall, and how much of the state he’ll take down with him remains a crucial question. The three also discuss the similar proxy faceoff in Libya, where global powers are reshuffled and again stacked up behind opposing factions vying for power.
Bob and Jamarl also noted the beginning of a seven-day reduction of violence in Afghanistan. The metric is fuzzy, but, if met, it would set the stage for a peace deal between the US and the Taliban and the beginning of pulling US troops from the battlefields of its longest-running war.
Greyzone journalist Anya Parampil joined Political Misfits for the second hour to discuss the New York Times’ efforts to relaunch Russiagate and the US mainstream media’s endless appetite for anonymous intelligence sources. With even mainstream media beginning to note that Trump’s policies aren’t exactly Russia-friendly, how quickly should we expect that narrative to be turned on Democratic presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders, and to what effect? They also reviewed the revelations by Middle East Eye earlier this week of the history and breadth of UK efforts to generate propaganda about the Syrian conflict from within Syria, and similar efforts to sway public opinion at home. A caller chimed in to recall the mysterious death of journalist Serena Shim, after reporting on the Turkish government’s involvement in supporting militants in Syria, and the shameful silence of the media class on that tragedy.
Finally, the hosts took a quick look ahead to the Nevada primary, the tactics candidates are employing or should be and some likely winners and losers.
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