Aftershock: The War on Terror Episode 6: Aftershock ‘Live’
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Jan 23, 2026 
Laleh Khalili, academic on global finance and technology, Patrick Cockburn, veteran Middle East correspondent, and Tom Stevenson, LRB editor and military-warfare specialist, discuss US tactics after 9/11. They tackle sanctions and financial warfare, US interventions from Venezuela to the Gulf, shifting alliances, erosion of civil liberties at home, and how grassroots resistance responds to state power.
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Venezuela Raid Echoes War-On-Terror Tactics
- The Maduro kidnapping echoes long-standing U.S. tactics like rendition and JSOC raids used since the war on terror.
- European acquiescence shows how 9/11-era language still shapes acceptance of aggressive operations.
Spectacle Over Sustainable Control
- Spectacular, short-term raids rely on showmanship but achieve limited lasting control, similar to Shock and Awe doctrines.
- The Noriega capture shows these tactics repeat older U.S. imperial practices beyond just post-9/11 methods.
Erosion Of Middle Eastern State Power
- U.S. interventions have widely degraded Middle Eastern nation-states, producing fragmentation from Libya to Iraq and Syria.
- Patrick Cockburn argues this strategic weakening often aligns with Israeli interests in reducing regional state power.