Syrian rebel commanders have admitted that the US military helped them overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey and Israel played a key role as well. Ben Norton reviews the evidence.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qicLi6kqt7M

Topics

0:00 Intro

0:41 US troops occupy Syria's oil & wheat fields

2:56 US military oversaw Syrian rebel assault

6:22 Turkey backed Syrian rebel operation

6:48 Israel helped Syrian rebels

8:06 US military funded Syrian rebels

10:54 Rebranded Al-Qaeda takes over Syria

12:19 USA & Turkey carve up Syria

13:05 Israel colonizes Syrian land

14:31 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria"

15:15 CIA armed & trained Syrian rebels

16:18 Jabhat al-Nusra rebrands as HTS

17:20 US diplomats meet with HTS leader al-Jolani

19:12 Western media whitewashes Al-Qaeda 2.0

21:05 Outro

Did Israel and the United States win the Syria war? What about NATO member Turkey? Were Iran and the Axis of Resistance defeated? Political economist Radhika Desai discusses with Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za2HfCFbHt8

This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

After helping to overthrow leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel destroyed Syria's military capabilities and is seizing territory, annexing the Golan Heights and occupying more land. The Al-Qaeda-linked Salafi-jihadist rebels who now rule Syria, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have allowed Israel to do this. HTS leader (and former Al-Qaeda chief) Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said "We are not looking to engage in a conflict with Israel". Ben Norton reports.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEOiNDVFJ_o

Topics

0:00 USA & Israel occupy Syrian territory

2:49 Israel destroys Syria's military capabilities

4:14 Israel expands illegal settlements in occupied Golan Heights

5:26 UN vote demands Israel withdraw from Syrian Golan

6:33 Israel supported Syrian rebels (including Al-Qaeda)

7:52 Netanyahu: "We are changing the face of the Middle East"

8:51 Israel threatens Iran

10:50 HTS leader al-Jolani wants peace with Israel

13:35 (CLIP) HTS refuses to criticize Israel

14:23 The US empire's "Syrian Revolution"

15:08 US State Dep't talks with Al-Qaeda 2.0

16:27 UK sends millions to rebranded Al-Qaeda

17:10 CIA armed & trained Syrian rebels

17:43 Syrian rebels vow neoliberal "free-market" shock therapy

19:08 Uyghur extremists declare war on China

21:34 HTS denies rights to Syrian women

23:00 HTS stoned Syrian women to death

23:30 Outro

South Korea's US-backed President Yoon Suk Yeol launched a coup attempt, but failed. He tried to provoke war with North Korea by attacking with drones, hoping to justify imposing martial law, but the DPRK showed restraint. Ben Norton analyzes the geopolitics of the crisis, addressing NATO, China, Japan, and more.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGXKAkieFkY

Topics

0:00 Intro

1:10 Yoon Suk Yeol, DC darling

2:11 Authoritarianism in South Korea & Japan

3:07 Washington's anti-China alliance

3:46 Yoon plotted war with North Korea

6:15 Yoon ordered military to assault lawmakers

7:51 South Korean opposition

9:00 Crazy coup plot

10:55 Coup planned in advance

11:39 Opposition warned of martial law

12:11 Yoon's corruption & unpopularity

14:01 Class war

15:02 Chaebols: corporate oligopolies

17:21 US military bases

18:49 South Korea: a US "client"

19:54 (CLIP) Yoon's speech to US Congress

22:23 Yoon blames "Chinese spies"

23:04 US cultivates anti-China assets

23:54 Lee Jae-myung opposes conflict with China

26:20 Japan

29:32 NATO

30:30 USA targets "Axis of Adversaries"

31:14 US nuclear threats

33:12 NYPD spends more than DPRK military

34:06 Korean War

34:43 USA killed 20% of North Korea's population

36:56 UK plans for world war

38:00 Outro

The Syrian government was overthrown, and Salafi-jihadist rebels led by a rebranded version of Al-Qaeda called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in Damascus. US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu boasted of helping topple Bashar al-Assad. NATO member Turkey played a key role as well. Ben Norton explains how the West dealt a major blow to the Axis of Resistance and Iran.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pZgwOdIuA

Al-Qaeda-linked ‘rebels’ in Syria say they ‘love Israel’. USA gave them billions in weapons & support: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/06/al-qaeda-rebels-syria-israel-usa/

US troops are occupying Syria’s oil fields. Congress refuses to withdraw them: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/12/12/us-troops-occupy-syria-oil-congress-withdraw/

Topics

0:00 Syrian government is overthrown

3:17 Al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani

4:39 AQ rebrands: Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham to HTS

6:16 Western media whitewashed Osama bin Laden

7:53 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria"

8:49 CIA spends billions arming Salafi-jihadists

10:06 Diplomat says HTS is US "asset"

11:33 HTS' medieval rule in Syria

12:44 Libya: where NATO brought back slavery

15:40 (CLIP) Biden takes credit for overthrowing Assad

16:58 Syrian Al-Qaeda got US weapons

17:24 Turkey backed Syrian assault

17:50 Ukraine's role in Syria

18:30 Israel boasts of Syria regime change

19:12 (CLIP) Netanyahu: Israel helped topple Assad

19:26 Israel supported Syrian rebels

20:38 Syrian rebels say they "love Israel"

22:09 Israel seizes more Syrian territory

23:15 Axis of Resistance is weakened

25:15 Syria's territorial integrity

26:41 US military occupies Syria's oil fields

27:19 (CLIP) Trump boasts: I took Syria's oil

27:46 Congress backs US military occupation of Syria

28:33 US starved Syria of oil revenue

29:43 Western sanctions suffocated Syria's economy

32:42 Inflation in Syria

33:35 This is not about "authoritarianism"

36:08 US strategy to collapse Syrian state

37:30 (CLIP) US official outlines Syria regime-change plan

39:46 Will Syria's borders be changed?

41:41 Iran: the ultimate US target

42:45 (CLIP) Wesley Clark: US planned to topple 7 governments

43:38 US collapsed 6 of 7 states on regime-change list

44:34 Will US war on Iran be next?

46:24 Outro

While the United States provokes conflicts across the world, China has promoted economic development, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, building infrastructure, and encouraging win-win cooperation. Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson are joined by Beijing-based scholar Mick Dunford to discuss the significance of the 75th anniversary of the Chinese revolution.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKG___qK-8

This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

The United States spent billions over years arming and training militants in Syria, many linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The extremist "rebels" who took over Aleppo (and rule Idlib) said they "love Israel". Ben Norton documents the Western dirty war on Syria, and how Washington is trying to divide and conquer the anti-colonial Axis of Resistance in West Asia (the Middle East).

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl-vX1RBapo

Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/12/06/al-qaeda-rebels-syria-israel-usa/

Topics

0:00 CIA armed & trained "rebels" in Syria

2:14 Rebranded Al-Qaeda (HTS) takes over Aleppo

4:54 Jake Sullivan: "AQ is on our side in Syria"

6:04 Syrian Al-Qaeda (Nusra Front) got US weapons

6:50 Israel supported Salafi-jihadist "rebels" in Syria

7:52 Syrian "rebels" say they "love Israel"

11:47 US demands Syria cut ties with Iran & Hezbollah

13:14 Israel violated Lebanon "ceasefire" 100 times in 1 week

14:09 USA tries to divide Axis of Resistance

15:31 Geopolitics of West Asia (Middle East)

16:23 Israel is US empire's unsinkable aircraft carrier

17:46 (CLIP) Biden: If Israel didn't exist, US would have to create it

18:11 USA uses Israel to crush anti-colonial resistance

19:59 ISIS got US weapons

22:05 (CLIP) Biden: US allies supported ISIS & Al-Qaeda in Syria

24:10 DIA memo shows Pentagon knew ISIS & AQ led Syrian opposition

29:21 NATO-backed Israeli think tank said ISIS was "useful tool"

31:30 US-led war on Syria continues

32:15 Outro

As the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine escalates, the US Army is funding research on "the impacts of nuclear weapons on farm systems" in Eastern Europe. Numerous scientific studies warn that this would cause a nuclear winter that would starve billions and kill off the majority of the human population. Ben Norton discusses the extreme dangers.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV8rCGchY-k

94% of Americans want to end Ukraine war, but US rejects China peace deal, opposes talks with Russia: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/06/08/end-ukraine-war-us-china-peace-deal-russia/

Topics

0:00 Intro

0:27 Doomsday Clock is 90 seconds to midnight

2:09 US Army studies effects of nuclear weapons on agriculture

3:47 Scientists say nuclear war would kill billions

5:46 Nuclear winter

6:47 Escalation of Ukraine proxy war

7:48 Ukraine (and NATO) is losing

8:58 Most Americans want to end Ukraine war

10:03 US nuclear war strategy

11:37 USA spends trillions on nuclear weapons

14:39 Donald Trump tore up Russia arms treaties

17:37 Trump gave Ukraine lethal weapons

18:23 (CLIP) Trump boasts of Ukraine arms shipments

18:40 Trump is not anti-war

19:11 Bipartisan US war drive

20:19 Outro

To defend their colonialism in Gaza, the United States and Israel have attacked every single legal institution upholding international law, including the UN, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and more. Ben Norton explains how the imperial war on Palestine is a neocolonial assault on multilateralism and multipolarity.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EAAytPjQzc

Check out our related video - US threatens ICC & allies over Netanyahu arrest warrant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqBtZxSYwaU

Topics

0:00 Intro

0:40 US vetoes Gaza ceasefire in UN Security Council

2:24 Israel uses food as weapon in Gaza

4:19 Israel violates ICJ rulings

5:26 US attacks ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant

6:36 Washington Post: ICC is for Global South & Russia

7:59 Billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos owns Washington Post

9:20 ICC was "built for Africa" & Russia

10:26 (CLIP) ICC prosecutor on Western pressure

10:51 Rules-Based International Order

12:47 UN Security Council

14:27 Wolfowitz Doctrine

15:35 US unipolarity

17:02 Western colonialism

18:23 Israeli colonialism

19:25 Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza

20:45 Israeli minister Smotrich vows to annex West Bank

21:52 Israel attacks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

23:42 Trump's UN ambassador pick Elise Stefanik

24:26 Trump withdrew US from UN Human Rights Council

25:15 Biden-Harris administration

25:54 UN experts warn Gaza war destroys international law

27:42 Outro

The Western alliance is divided over Israel, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, charging him with crimes against humanity in Gaza. The United States is threatening sanctions. Ben Norton discusses the severe political crisis in the "rules-based order".

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqBtZxSYwaU

Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/11/24/west-israel-us-threat-icc-netanyahu-arrest/

Here you can see the September 2024 UN vote demanding an end to Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/09/19/end-israel-occupation-palestine-un-vote/

Topics

0:00 ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu

0:25 West divides over Israel

0:57 US politicians threaten allies

1:35 UN accuses Israel of g-cide

3:03 Israel is ethnically cleansing Gaza

3:41 ICC tries to save its reputation

4:36 ICC delayed arrest warrants for 6 months

5:01 US sent Israel $18 billion in military aid in 1 year

5:25 US pressure on ICC

6:20 (CLIP) US Senator Lindsey Graham warns: "We're next!"

6:44 Biden attacks ICC

7:27 The "rules-based international order"

7:55 Senator Tom Cotton wants to invade the Hague

8:25 Hague Invasion Act

9:27 Trump officials threaten ICC

10:07 Trump sanctioned ICC personnel

11:23 House of Representatives calls to sanction ICC

12:14 Australia, Canada, UK support ICC

13:54 Senator Lindsey Graham threatens US allies

14:31 (CLIP) Lindsey Graham calls to sanction US allies

14:53 US threatens Western allies

15:27 EU backs ICC arrest warrants

16:32 France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland back ICC

16:51 UN vote on Israel-Palestine

17:33 Viktor Orbán's Hungary supports Israel, attacks ICC

18:24 Javier Milei's Argentina backs Netanyahu

19:17 Germany refuses to honor ICC warrant

19:48 West is split on Israel

20:49 Outro