Media Roots Radio

Abby and Robbie discuss the recent slew of far-right attacks in the US, Trump's rhetoric feeding white nationalists, how neoliberalism paved the road to fascism, and the total failure in coverage of today's complex reality. Donate to William Blum: https://bit.ly/2RNTZWz New Empire Files on Roots of Gun Violence: https://bit.ly/2z1BuH6 Dan Cohen in Israel: https://bit.ly/2ROLomA Abby in Israel: https://bit.ly/2BedU8I Trump & Rise of 21st Century Fascism: https://bit.ly/2ogrjIW Rise of 'Anti-Establishment' Fascists: https://bit.ly/2g72ezk Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW // twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Please consider supporting Media Roots Radio on Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio 17 years ago, less than one month after the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, weaponized anthrax was sent through the mail in a biological attack that stunned an already traumatized nation. The first American died from anthrax infection on October 5th. During the weeks that followed, letters sent through the US postal system containing anthrax were targeted at US media organizations and sitting US senators. In the end, five people were left dead--two US postal workers, a Florida photojournalist, a New York city hospital worker and a 95 year old widow in Connecticut. Over 22 people were hospitalized from exposure. Many dozens more tested positive for anthrax in the months that followed. It was a one-two punch of guttural horror. Americans were already glued to their television sets, watching 24/7 coverage of planes exploding and iconic skyscrapers crumbling. Over and over, we watched thousands perish. But terrorism was still abstract to those removed from the tragedy. The anthrax attacks changed that, localizing the fear of terrorism to everyone––even your grandma living in the suburbs of Connecticut. Anyone could get a letter. Anyone could be the next target. With the remains of the World Trade Center still smoldering, the Bush administration made several attempts to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The anthrax attacks gave them the perfect opportunity to piggyback ‘weapons of mass destruction’ fears on a very real bioweapons attack. They used willing reporters as instruments to tie nonexistent bentonite from the anthrax letters to Saddam’s nonexistent weapons cache. Journalist stenographers in DC were the conduit for government propaganda, hyping up the threat of terrorism. The anthrax attacks justified the fear-mongering that 9/11 was not simply a one-off incident, and that terrorism was America’s new normal. Not since the Zodiac killer letters had Americans been subjected to such strange visual threats like the block text in short lines that the anthrax letters read: “ARE YOU AFRAID? YOU DIE NEXT.. DEATH TO AMERICA, DEATH TO ISRAEL. ALLAH IS GREAT.” The letters were almost a parody of an islamic terrorist. But who was actually behind the attack? Who had the expertise necessary to secretly manufacture and then distribute weaponized anthrax spores? Who had the motive? In this special episode of Media Roots Radio, after conducting extensive research from public documents, tv news archives, wire stories, first hand interviews and eye witness accounts, myself and Robbie Martin will tell the story of the 2001 anthrax attacks, what preceded them, what happened during the investigation and how this seemingly small event was instrumental in selling the Iraq war, shaping the reality tunnel we live in now. In Part 1 of our investigation, we start with a chronology of the lead up to the attacks and a blow by blow account of how they unfolded. Show Notes & References: Anthrax: Bioterror as Fact and Fantasy by Philipp Sarasin The 2001 Anthrax Deception: The Case for a Domestic Conspiracy by Graeme Macqueen The Anthrax Letters by Leonard A. Cole GERMS: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War by Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, William Broad American Anthrax by Jeanne Guillemin The Mirage Man: Bruce Ivins, the Anthrax Attacks & America's Rush to War by David Willman FRONTLINE: The Anthrax Files https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSLqFihXFyc&t=3s TLC: Anthrax Detectives https://youtu.be/HcyYh_QDY74 Thom Hartmann Program: The Untold Story of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKGtF3zmrvc CBC: Anthrax Wars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PquqlX8wnT0 American Anthrax 1.5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PqU7dXEirU Marcy Wheeler: Anthrax Timeline (revision 2) https://www.emptywheel.net/2008/08/06/anthrax-timeline-two/

Robbie and Abby Martin chat about Michael Moore's new movie "Fahrenheit 11/9" and his film trajectory tip toeing around hard critique of Democrats. They also discuss Israeli social media psyops, the upcoming midterm elections in California on November 6, including proposition 10 for affordable housing, and give an empire update on the 17-year-long Afghanistan War, US special ops in Tunisia and a new anti-US governor in Okinawa, Japan. CA Peace & Freedom Party Voter Guide: https://bit.ly/2ythKvI Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW // twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Abby Martin discusses what the media missed during the spectacle of the disgraced Kavanaugh hearings, belligerent neocon Nikki Haley's sudden departure, 800 Facebook pages banned in the latest tech purge of dissident voices, police efforts to dox activists and treat nonviolent protests as "terrorism" on a solo Media Roots Radio. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio INTRO // Trnqilo & Anahedron - Wisp: https://bit.ly/2OmTUf8 OUTRO // Anahedron - Inevitable Collapse: https://bit.ly/2NDNqDu FOLLOW // twitter.com/AbbyMartin

Abby Martin interviews Max Blumenthal and Camilo Mejia about the history of CIA interference in Nicaragua and the role of US civil society groups to meddle in the country's democratic processes. They go into detail about the latest insurrection, allegedly over pension hikes, that resulted in 300 people being killed and a call for Ortega to hold early elections. They also discuss the opposition violence against Sandinistas, and why it is ignored by the corporate media. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal / twitter.com/cmejia0875

Abby and Robbie Martin discuss the Likudnik tendencies of the Trump administration and how he's actually accelerating neoconservatism and Zionism in ways that even George W. Bush wasn't willing to do. They go into the bizarre cover story by Dallas police to excuse the 'accidental' murder by one of their officers of Black immigrant, Botham Jean, in his own apartment. The beginning of the podcast focuses on the 17th anniversary of 9/11 and the shocking amount of inconsistencies in regards to the official story. Skip ahead to 1.5 hours in for the Palestine discussion. Hi-rest episode artwork: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnQI9lFVYAAI3gn.jpg Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Abby and Robbie talk about John McCain's legacy waging wars of aggression that cost millions of lives, the DC blob mourning him as a symbol of US empire, how Sarah Palin was groomed by neoconservatives and Steve Bannon as the proto-Trump, the claim Iranian 'bots' are 'sowing discord' online to influence US elections and the new black list that names Abby and others as 'Assadists'. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Robbie Martin interviews John Duffy and Ray Nowosielski, authors of "The Watchdogs Didn't Bark", a new book revealing the massive national security failures allowing the 9/11 attacks, and the national security state fire sale that followed. Building off their previous works "9/11: Press for Truth" and "Who is Rich Blee", John and Ray tackle 9/11 and its aftermath in exquisite detail, providing a riveting narrative of the events. Show Notes: "Who Is Rich Blee?" Podcast http://secrecy-kills.s3.amazonaws.com/BleePodcast1.mp3 The Podcast Transcript http://www.scribd.com/doc/66014142/Who-is-Rich-Blee Investigative Piece for Salon http://www.salon.com/2011/10/14/insiders_voice_doubts_cia_911/ The Gawker Article by John Cook https://web.archive.org/web/20110924011347/http://gawker.com/5842912/chief-of-cias-global-jihad-unit-revealed-online Our Richard Clarke Interview Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6w1YaZdf8 --END Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Abby and Robbie Martin interview Iraq War veteran Mike Prysner and Afghanistan War veteran Spenser Rapone about their experiences that turned them from patriotic soldiers into anti-imperialist socialists. They also talk about their new project @EyesLeft, a podcast encouraging rebellion within the ranks of the war machine. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio Mike Prynser amazing anti-war speech: https://bit.ly/2N8zGnO FOLLOW twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey

Abby and Robbie talk about the implications of Michael Cohen's guilty plea, the school bus bombing in Yemen, history of Saudi internal repression and oil relationship with the US Empire, updates on the ongoing Israeli massacre of unarmed protesters in the Great March of Return, the evidence pointing to US/Colombian involvement of the assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. 37:46 // Ronnie Barkan on Israeli nation state law: https://bit.ly/2uQbP1j 49:15 // The bomb was actually Lockheed Martin Mark 82 54:41 // CNN list of US bomb massacres in Yemen: https://bit.ly/2P8xMRB 1:03:05 // Empire Files documentary on Saudi Arabia: https://bit.ly/1Pbr9Kp 1:06:09 // Saudi to behead woman for protesting: https://nbcnews.to/2NdiryQ 1:09:00 // World Cup migrant deaths in Qatar: https://bit.ly/2hydFgF 1:16:53 // Seymour Hersh on CIA economic war in Chile: https://nyti.ms/2LSePpd 1:21:00 // US sanctions shut down Empire Files: https://bit.ly/2LiEOku Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast please consider donating to Media Roots Radio on Patreon: www.patreon.com/mediarootsradio FOLLOW twitter.com/AbbyMartin // twitter.com/FluorescentGrey