Angry Planet

America is leaving Afghanistan. President Joe Biden has set a September 11th withdrawal date and things are continuing apace. As America packs up its gear and goes home it’s leaving behind something far more valuable than MRAPs and M16s—people.For two decades individual Afghans have stepped up to help the United States and as it leaves the battlefield, some of these interpreters are being left behind.With us today is former Marine Sergeant, Afghanistan War veteran, and Purple Heart recipient Michael Wendt. He’s an advocate for interpreters and recently published an op-ed in The Hill titled “Getting Afghan interpreters out of Afghanistan isn't progressive: It's the right thing to do.”Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are we living in a declining empire in need of renewal? Maybe.But one thing to keep in mind? Romans thought the same thing centuries before the great empire fell.So what’s up with the fascination with the decline and fall of Rome? And what lessons does it have for US politics?To help us answer that question, we’ve got Edward J. Watts. He’s a professor of history at UC San Diego and the author of a new book, The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome.Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Life in Haiti has rarely been easy. It’s the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Corruption is rampant. And it’s been invaded more than once since independence, including by the United States.It’s little wonder that the half-Island nation has suffered repression and political turmoilAnd, on July 7, it’s president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated.To help us understand the current situation -- and a bit of the history as well -- I’m joined by Francois Pierre-Louis of Queens College in New York.Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When I was a kid I learned about the Alamo. It’s 1836. Houston said to Travis, fortify the Alamo. Volunteers came from across the continent to fight and die for the dream of a free and independent Texas. Like the Ballad said, One hundred and eighty five holding back five thousand.In the southern part of Texas, near the town of San Antone, like a statue on his pinto rides a cowboy all alone. And he sees the cattle grazing where a century before Santa Anna’s guns were blazing and the cannons used to roar. And his eyes turn sorta misty and his heart begins to glow and he takes his hat off slowly. To the men of the Alamo. To the thirteen days of glory at the siege of Alamo.What a load of bullshit.The Alamo and its effect on Texas, the country, and Phil Collins, is the subject of the new book Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of An American Myth. Two of its three authors are here with me today, Bryan Burrough and Chris Tomlinson. They’re both writers and they’re both from Texas, so you can be sure that what you’re about to hear is the gospel truth.Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Afghanistan, the site of America’s longest war, is changing. The Taliban is gaining ground in the North while peace talks stall. The U.S. continues its withdrawal and the Afghan military is left to pick up the pieces.Here to help us understand what’s going on is Ali M. Latifi.Latifi is an Afghan journalist living in Kabul. His work has appeared in Al Jazeera, Business Insider, and NBC News.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It doesn’t take high technology to kill someone. Simple chemicals propel pieces of lead out of steel tubes. Other simple chemicals are placed in larger vessels and are triggered by the weight of a vehicle or even a human body. Some are even set off by strings attached to fuses. Not one computer involved.But the weapons of warfare do evolve - some into trillion dollar monsters that gobble up whole defense budgets and can destroy life on earth with the turn of a key. And new weapons are always on the horizon.Today, we’ve brought on Patrick Tucker to talk about some recent developments and what may lie ahead. Patrick is the technology editor at Defense One and writes about weapons technology every day.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So far, in the political battles at the heart of our democracy, they have been AWOL. Just as they should be.The military is an expressly non-political institution, even if they do report to an elected commander-in-chief.But with political divisions deepening, could that change?Eliott Ackerman took on just that issue in a recent column for the New York Times. Ackerman is a combat veteran, journalist and author. And he’s here to talk to us today.Ackermans’ article is here:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/opinion/contested-elections-military.htmlAngry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few months the world watched as the conflict between Israel and Palestine flared up. I’m not interested in litigating the facts of that conflict in this opening and you’ve likely already decided where you stand on the conflict.For some, it’s complicated. For others, the very idea that someone would call it complicated is an insult.Here to help us untangle some of what’s happened and to discuss the future of Palestine is Joey Ayoub. Joey is a writer, scholar, and podcaster who grew up in Lebanon and is of Palestinian descent. He writes, broadly, about the experiences of displaced peoples with a particular focus on the Middle East.Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the last two decades, America has been possessed with a Global War on Terror. The threat of militant Islam has funded the security state and given the Pentagon an overarching goal. But that threat feels increasingly distant and a new specter is haunting America—that of white nationalism.Both groups are complicated, varied, and prone to in-fighting. Both groups rely on apocalyptic visions of the future to drive home their message. Both groups are waging war against the United States.With us to talk through all this is Dr. Sara Kamali. Kamali is a scholar of white nationalism, militant Islam, and systemic inequality. Her new book is Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Military Islamists Are Waging War Against the United States.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you hear the word Sparta, there’s an immediate association with war and the military. Of the Greek City States, it’s the one most associated with battle. Spartan men were expected to be warriors and their society was geared almost entirely toward training for war. For generations, military leaders have drawn inspiration from Sparta.Much of the romance around Sparta centers Around the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, where the Persian Empire crushed a small and ill-equipped collection of elite soldiers. Since then, historians, propagandists, Hollywood, and the American military have turned Sparta’s epic defeat at the gates of fire into a myth of slavery vs freedom, east vs west, and democracy vs despotism. But the thing is … a lot of what hear about the Spartans is bullshit, the truth is more complicated.Here to help us unpack modern day mythos around Sparta is Pauline Kaurin. Kaurin is the Chair of Military Ethics at the US Naval War College and the author of The Warrior, Military Ethics and Contemporary Warfare: Achilles Goes Asymmetrical.Disclaimer: Pauline Kaurin's opinions are her own and do not reflect the opinions or policy of the US Naval War College.Angry Planet has a substack! Join the Information War to get weekly insights into our angry planet and hear more conversations about a world in conflict.https://angryplanet.substack.com/subscribeYou can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.