Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steven Simon, NSC Senior Director for Transnational Threats under President Bill Clinton and NSC Senior Director for Middle East and North Africa under President Barack Obama. He discusses his reaction to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee meeting convicted Israeli spy Jonathon Pollard responsible for the biggest breach of US intelligence in history, the lack of any real set compass for Donald Trump as regards foreign policy with constant u-turns, Russia’s standing in the Middle East following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, and Trump’s welcoming of Al-Sharaa/Al-Jolani to the White House. In the second half of the interview Afshin Rattansi challenges him on why the US had been meddling in Syria leading to more bloodshed and the infamous admission by Jake Sullivan that the US was on Al Qaeda’s side in Syria. The conversation then moved into Iran realising that negotiations with the US over its nuclear program are pointless and the threat of attack by the US and Israel again, how long Jolani/Al-Sharaa can remain in power, and more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Member of Russia’s Foreign and Defence Policy Council and Former Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. He discusses why the Ukraine proxy war is far more dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis with the world at the precipice of nuclear war, the possibility of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons should current negotiations with the US fail, whether there are splits in the approach to negotiations in the Russian and US leadership, the leak of the Ushakov-Witkoff phone call and who could be behind it, why Donald Trump keeps caving to demands from the European countries on Ukraine, Trump’s approach to pressuring both Russia and Ukraine into agreeing to a peace deal, Vladimir Putin’s aim to help the US distance itself from Ukraine, the tenets of the ‘28-point-plan’ and whether Russia is likely to accept it, the potential of Russian strikes against European targets in the event of Western provocations and false flags to torpedo a future peace agreement, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Susan Miller, Former Chief of the CIA’s Station in Tel Aviv. Afshin Rattansi asks her about the close relationship between the CIA, Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel’s level of influence over US foreign policy, Israel and the CIA’s involvement with ISIS and Al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, Syria’s Al-Sharaa/Al-Jolani being welcomed to the White House by Donald Trump, the CIA’s role in the assassination of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani, whether the CIA’s policy of assassinations are actually successful in furthering US foreign policy objectives, the Trump Administration’s bogus pretext of narco-trafficking for pushing regime change against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, the CIA’s own history of being involved in drug trafficking, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Steve Keeen, Distinguished Fellow at UCL’s Institute for Strategy Resilience and Security. He discusses the ‘failed sideshow’ of the G20 and the non-attendance of the leaders of the big powers, the high levels of private debt crushing the poor and reducing demand across the West, the zero-sum games of FDI-led growth and war-led growth that the US is trying to pursue under Donald Trump, the short-sighted and ludicrous economic aims of our contemporary leaders, the elite increasing their wealth and power through war while ignoring growing private debt, the IMF being a major destabilising force causing economic misery in Africa, the US’ weaponisation of the US dollar and international commerce system against Russia, Iran, and others, the catastrophic economic impact of Europe cutting itself off from cheap Russian energy, the need for BRICS to create an alternative international financial system to replace the US’ authoritarian and flawed system, some of Donald Trump’s good economic instincts which are in tune with the demands of the working class, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Colonel Roxane Towner-Watkins, US Air Force Veteran and Host of the Colonel’s Corner podcast. She discusses the history of NATO’s Operation Gladio and the use of terrorism and false flags to suppress and keep socialist and communist movements out of power not just in Western Europe but all around the world, the real objective being to suppress and attack labour movements and strengthen oligarch power, how Gladio networks are still attacking anti-imperial leaders in the modern era from Gaddafi to Maduro now in Venezuela, Israel and Taiwan as a ‘strategy of tension’ for control of the Middle East and Asia’s resources, how Operation Gladio today uses student movements against designated enemy governments, the assassination of Charlie Kirk and how it fits into the historical pattern of assassinations of mass movement leaders, the Jeffrey Epstein blackmail campaign and how it fits into the Operation Gladio strategy, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Ruthie Blum, Former Advisor to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. She discusses Syria’s Ahmed Al-Sharaa's visit to the White House and the resignation of Netanyahu’s Strategic Affairs Minister, Ron Dermer. Afshin Rattansi challenges her on Israel’s arming and supporting of Hamas, Ron Dermer advocating the use of economics to lower Palestinian birth rates and preserve an Israeli majority, the assassination of Charlie Kirk and his turn against Israel before his death, J.D. Vance’s embrace of the anti-Israel MAGA base, Donald Trump’s admission of Miriam Adelson’s significant influence over his administration, the exodus of Jews from Israel as the Gaza genocide continues despite the ceasefire, a potential second Israeli war on Iran, whether it’s time to wrap up the Zionist project, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Nick Maynard, a Volunteer Surgeon at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital. The failure of UK medical institutions to call out the Gaza genocide, why he decided to speak out in media interviews with the horrors of what he’s seen in Gaza, the media’s role in covering up the genocide and parroting Israeli propaganda, Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian children, British officials ignoring the clear photographic evidence he presented and choosing to believe Israeli propaganda instead, Israel’s blocking the entry of most doctors and medicine into Gaza despite the ceasefire, how he watched a baby named Zainab pass away from malnutrition after Israel blocked the entry of baby formula, the attempts by medical and academic institutions in the US and UK to silence him and others providing evidence of the horrors in Gaza, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Alastair Crooke, Former Middle East Advisor to the EU Foreign Policy Chief. He discusses Donald Trump’s resumption of nuclear tests after accusing Russia and China of covert tests, the US’ move towards a regime change war against Venezuela to topple Nicolas Maduro, the US financial crisis being the real reason for targeting Venezuela, the potential for the Supreme Court to declare Donald Trump’s tariffs as unconstitutional, the European Union’s and Britain’s push to keep funding the Ukrainian proxy war despite not having the money, China’s domination of trade talks with the US, Israel’s reliance on US hegemony to survive, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Arab Barghouti, son of Palestinian Leader Marwan Barghouti who has been imprisoned by Israel for over 23 years. He discusses the terror attacks against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank and what life is like under Israeli occupation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed requests for an update on the potential release of his father, why Marwan Barghouti is a trusted and revered figure in the eyes of Palestinians who could lead a future Palestinian state, Israeli refusing to even allow him to hug his father for 23 years, the recent torture and vicious beating of Marwan Barghouti by Israeli prison guards under the orders of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the efforts of his father to educate Palestinian prisoners despite the horrific conditions he faces, his disappointment with the international community over the double standards over the Gaza genocide, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Jason Hickel, Co-Creator of the Global Inequality Project. He discusses the US’ historical and contemporary real motivations for supporting Israel to crush Arab national liberation movements and protect Western economic interests, the Gaza genocide being a mask-off moment for Western liberalism, the global apartheid of international law only applying to the global majority and not the West, the destruction of Gaza’s environment and the silence of the environmental lobbies and NGOs, the challenges the grassroots environmental movement faces, the need to rebuild institutions such as the UN Security Council to give the global majority more power, the profound anti-democratic nature of capitalism and it being the root of the major problems we face today, why the capitalist system does not address the threat of climate change, why China has been able to make huge strides in the development of renewable energy, the high level of trust of the Chinese people in their government compared to Western countries, the Trump Administration’s push for a regime change war on Venezuela and the devastating effect of sanctions, and much more.