Useful Idiots with Katie Halper and Aaron Maté

Watch Pepe's excellent documentary: The Golden Corridor, BRICS and Iran's New World Order https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgsStCtRSWEGo to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interviews with journalist Hala Jaber and Professor Sami al Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-us-iran-failure-accidentally?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch the Friday Free-For-All: Tulsi Gabbard Just Hit Rock Bottom https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/tulsi-gabbard-just-hit-rock-bottom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's cohost is Sana Saeed! Follow her work here: https://x.com/SanaSaeedGo to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interviews with journalist Hala Jaber and Professor Sami al Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-us-iran-failure-accidentally?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Tulsi Gabbard Just Hit Rock Bottom https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/tulsi-gabbard-just-hit-rock-bottom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.This morning President Trump told Fox News that Iran “wants to make a deal badly,” and that the most recent talks happened last night with Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and their counterparts.Awkwardly, the Iranians claim that no talks have happened. So who’s lying?Are the Iranians misleading the media? Is Trump boasting a deal he’s unable to make? Or is this a repeat of what happened in Cuba, where Marco Rubio lied to Trump about fake negotiations in order to convince him that war was the only possible option? Did Witkoff and Kushner fake these talks to Trump?Aaron and special guest Sana Saeed unravel the story and react to the varying degrees of warmongering responses given on social media. It’s an hour and 45 minutes jam-packed with liars, sycophants, warmongers, and corporate tools. You won’t want to miss it.During all this, Katie’s on a mission to Cuba with CodePink, Jeremy Corbyn, and other brave journalists to end the murderous siege on the country. Your support for Useful Idiots helps fund the journalism we do!Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interviews with journalist Hala Jaber and Professor Sami al Arian: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-us-iran-failure-accidentally?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Tulsi Gabbard Just Hit Rock Bottom https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/tulsi-gabbard-just-hit-rock-bottom?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.“It’s a psyop!” says Professor Sami al Arian, responding to the blustering and bloodthirsty address Pete Hegseth gave this week.In the speech, Hegseth claims that US “capabilities continue to build. Iran’s continue to degrade. We’re hunting and striking death and destruction from above. Iran’s air defenses [are] flattened. Iran’s defense industrial base, the factories, the production lines that feed their missile and drone programs [are] being overwhelmingly destroyed.”For good measure of ridiculous sadism, Hegseth quotes a World War II admiral to flaunt the murder of Iranians: “And to borrow a page from Admiral Ernest King in World War II, we’ve decided to share the ocean with Iran. We’ve given them the bottom half.”But, Professor al Arian claims, this is bluster. This is a psyop against the American people.“What he’s trying to do is to psyche the people and tell them that we’re winning and that the other side is totally decimated and obliterated and defeated. But the fact of the matter is that Iran is still shooting. Iran is having a war of attrition.Whatever he’s blustering, whatever he’s saying, it’s total exaggeration as I see it.First of all, you cannot defeat your opponent or change the regime from the air. The Taliban didn’t have a single air [defense]. And who won at the end? Who was fleeing and leaving in a hurry? Hamas didn’t have any air. And two years, they couldn’t pacify Hamas over Gaza, which was 360 square kilometers.Iran is a vast country. Iran is 1.65 million square kilometers. We’re talking about an area greater than Western Europe. So whatever is hitting is hitting, obviously. But Iran is not going to surrender. It’s not going to submit to whatever dictates he may have.”Subscribe for the full interview with Professor Sami al Arian in which he predicts how Iran’s regional allies like the Houthis in Yemen will affect the war, why Iran is striking other Arab nations, and whether the US actually gets any material benefit from helping Israel in their hunt for dominance over the Middle East.We also speak with Lebanese journalist Hala Jaber, who joins us from Beirut as Israel expands its assault on Lebanon. She reports on Israel’s continued targeting of journalists, including this week’s “deliberate” airstrike on journalist Steve Sweeney, caught on video in Southern Lebanon, the surprising and stifling control the US has over the Lebanese government, and Hezbollah’s role in the fight against Israel and the broader Iran War.00:00 Intro00:53 Hegseth wants $200 BILLION for Iran War03:34 Resigned Counterterrorism Dir. Called ANTISEMITIC for Opposing Israel05:52 Jake Tapper is so mad about it06:32 Hala Jaber interview from Beirut16:24 Israelis Caught on Film Trying to Kill Journalist36:48 Professor Sami al Arian interview on Iran41:59 Debunking Hegseth: Iran isn't losing49:42 How will the HOUTHIS change the course of the war?Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"Palestine 36" screening in New York City, Tuesday March 17: Aaron will be doing a Q&A with director Annemarie Jacir. Ticket here: https://angelikafilmcenter.com/nyc/sessions/72557/HO00008114Read Professor Behrooz Ghamari's excellent new book: The Long War on Iran https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-long-war-on-iran/Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interview with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-interview-israel-shocked-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Jake Tapper: Iran Wants Us to Bomb Them! https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/jake-tapper-iran-wants-us-to-bomb?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Read Professor Behrooz Ghamari's excellent new book: The Long War on Iran https://orbooks.com/catalog/the-long-war-on-iran/Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out the Peace Corps at https://peacecorps.gov/serveCheck out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interview with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari: https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/full-interview-israel-shocked-after?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Jake Tapper: Iran Wants Us to Bomb Them! https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/jake-tapper-iran-wants-us-to-bomb?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.This week we’re speaking with Iranian Professor Behrooz Ghamari, whose unique history gives him an important perspective that challenges Trump’s regime-change war-of-choice in ways few others can.In the 1980’s, Ghamari was sentenced to death by the Iranian government for being part of a Marxist group trying to overthrow the Islamic Republic. He was held in Evin Prison’s death row, where countless political prisoners have been tortured, and was denied cancer treatment for his worsening lymphoma.But, Ghamari explains in his excellent new book, The Long War On Iran, four decades after getting freed from a place he never thought he’d outlive, Israeli airstrikes hit the prison, along with over 17,000 other civilian sites. Ghamari “had this feeling as if my home was attacked.”Today, we’re asking him why, after the horrible treatment he endured, does he still reject US regime change of a government he fought to oppose.Useful Idiots: It’s fascinating that you were literally scheduled to be executed, you were on death row, you were deprived of cancer treatment, and yet your analysis is so clear-eyed. You are able to criticize regime change. You are even able to give credit to this government that wanted you to be killed.Behrooz Ghamari: A political project cannot be the extension of your own trauma. We need to transcend that trauma in order to advance a political project. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people who are celebrating these military attacks. They’re supporting Israel bombing Iran, supporting President Trump bombing Iran.There are actually people who use the trauma of others to justify their own celebration, which is a very bizarre kind of logic.But I think it’s a sign of political maturity if one tries to transcend these things and understand: what price are we willing to pay? Because that’s the main question.People always cite Immanuel Kant, saying ‘dare to know and speak truth to power.’ But people usually forget the second part of it: ‘Speak the truth to power and be willing to lose your head for it.’ And so I challenge those people who are celebrating in the US, if they’re willing to speak the truth and also willing to lose their head for it. Because they stand at a distance and are quite ambivalent about loss of life in Iran.Subscribe to hear our full discussion with Professor Ghamari where we ask him to respond to the Iranian diaspora claims about foreign regime change, Iran’s treatment of its own people, and why Iranians should have to “pay the price for Palestine.”00:00 Intro01:26 Steve Witkoff TRICKED Trump into Saying Iran Nuke Lie06:50 Professor Behrooz Ghamari interview11:53 Iran War update20:00 Oil is raining from the sky29:50 Why should Iranians "pay the price for Palestine?"Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Watch our Iran Update with Iran experts Trita Parsi and Negar Mortazavi: https://youtube.com/live/G9X2saz2HpI?feature=shareGo to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Check out Ali Alizadeh's excellent YouTube show Jedaal: https://www.youtube.com/@JedaalEnglishGo to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Check out Ali's excellent YouTube show Jedaal: https://www.youtube.com/@JedaalEnglishGo to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Click here for the full interview with Iranian Journalist Ali Alizadeh: https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/full-episode-israels-plan-backfires?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webWatch this week's Friday Free-For-All: Let's talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran https://open.substack.com/pub/usefulidiots/p/lets-talk-about-the-democrats-who?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.The big question hanging over the world right now is whether Trump, the guy who campaigned against endless wars, especially in the Middle East, is about to launch another endless war in the Middle East, assembling the largest military deployment there since the Iraq War and threatening to bomb Iran.There have been indirect talks in Geneva between the US and Iran, but the Trump Administration is still talking as if it wants to go to war because it sounds a lot like the Bush Administration when they were making the case to go to war with Iraq.Just this week, Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff claimed, without evidence, that Iran is a week away from having enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. Which means the WMD hoax is back in full swing.To understand all this, we spoke with Iranian journalist Ali Alizadeh, host of the excellent YouTube show Jedaal.Useful Idiots: There has just been a third round of indirect talks held between the US and Iran in Geneva. Based on what you’ve heard so far, what is your assessment of these talks?Ali Alizadeh: Americans have claimed they don’t want Iran to ever reach nuclear weapons, and Iranians have provided something which can give them such guarantee.But then if you just listen to the Americans, just before the two sides were supposed to sit at the negotiation table, it seems that they are cheating. Vance talked about the fact that the president has all the options on the table, and again threatened Iran militarily. Marco Rubio suddenly said Iran’s missiles and navy are a threat to the peace and security of America.Since when has Iran’s navy has been a threat? Iran has a navy in its own waters, which is called the Persian Gulf, and it’s been called that since 2,500 years ago.And then your navy and your aircraft carriers have come from 15,000 kilometers away to their land. So how can the Iranian Navy be a threat to your security? And so they are constantly adding pressure and trying to squeeze other things into the negotiation, which in my opinion can sabotage the deal.Useful Idiots: Do you think there’s a chance of an actual deal being reached?Ali Alizadeh: If Iran and America were sitting at a negotiation table, I think Iran could have given Trump something which was stronger than the JCPOA and would send him home happy so he could sell it to his people that he did something better than Obama.But is Iran negotiating with the United States? Or is it negotiating with Israel? Who is Steve Witkoff? Who is Jared Kushner? Because it seems that Israel has a completely different agenda, which is constantly pushing Trump. And now Trump, I think because of his lack of expertise in diplomacy and politics, despite what he thinks of himself, has badly cornered himself.Useful Idiots: You spoke about how you think that Trump miscalculated the strength of the Iranian government and how he’s actually strengthened the government, because the actions of the United States and the actions of Israel, flaunting the role of foreign intervention in people’s faces, has actually rallied the masses around the government. Can you talk more about that?Subscribe to watch our full interview with Ali Alizadeh on what actual Iranians want to change about their government, Nancy Pelosi’s murderous threat to working-class Iranians, and an update on the Geneva talks from an Iranian official.00:00 Intro00:59 JD Vance WMD Hoax02:32 Marco Rubio CONTRADICTS Trump03:24 Sen. Markwayne Mullin does the dumb version of warmongering05:39 Does he really not know who the leader of Iran is?06:14 Ali Alizadeh interview08:56 Israel is trying to sabotage US-Iran talks11:46 Marco Rubio makes up a threat23:58 EMBARRASSING moment in Congress with the National Endowment for Democracy34:40 Do Iranians like their government?Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Go to our sponsor https://venice.ai/useful and use code useful to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using our code will get you 20% off a pro plan.Visit www.functionhealth.com/USEFUL and use gift code USEFUL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULCheck out Webroot: https://webroot.com/USEFULCheck out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com/IDIOTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Watch this week's Friday Free-For-All: We Can't Take the Risk of Not Going to War with Iran https://www.usefulidiotspodcast.com/p/we-cant-take-the-risk-of-not-going?r=je5va&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=webJoin us LIVE on Youtube every Monday at 10am EST for Monday Mourning, where we watch the Sunday morning news shows so that you don't have to.Our Sponsors:* Check out Quince: https://quince.com/USEFULAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy