Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago. He discusses the reports of the depletion of US critical munitions in the war on Iran including THAAD and Patriot missiles and inability of the US to escalate against Iran now, the influence of Rupert Murdoch and the role of his media outlets in manufacturing consent for the war on Iran, the future of US bases in the Gulf states after Iran’s barrages of missiles and drones, Zelensky’s apology for attacking Iranian vessels in the Caspian Sea, why drones have averted complete collapse for Ukraine but sped up the end of the war with Russia’s severe response to Ukraine’s long-range drone attacks, why sanctions have failed against Russia & Iran and only made their population more militant than their leaders, Türkiye’s understanding that it is next for Israel after Iran, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Hasan Ünal, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Ankara’s Başkent University and Host of the Strategic Compass podcast. He discusses Türkiye’s position on the US-Israeli war on Iran and the anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment of the Turkish public, Türkiye’s intelligence sharing with Iran to combat US-backed Kurdish groups who would have been Trump’s regime change ground troops, the US’ use of Incirlik Air Base and the presence of US troops in the country, Türkiye’s ultimatum to the US over the war on Iran, the view in Israel that the next target after Iran will be Türkiye, why Türkiye helped overthrow Bashar Al-Assad in Syria despite him being a leader against Israel, Türkiye’s supplying of Ukraine with weaponry while calling Russia a partner, why he believes NATO will crumble in the multipolar world, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Gabor Maté, Holocaust Survivor and renowned Trauma Specialist. He discusses why the last few years have been particularly tough to watch with the Gaza genocide, Israeli war on Lebanon, and war on Iran, how the era of social media has changed people’s responses to the horrors happening in the world, the increasing opposition of young Jews to Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership being the culmination of Zionism’s dehumanisation of Palestinians, the segment of the Iranian diaspora that opposes the US-Israeli war on Iran and why diaspora populations from Cuba and Iran support the US’ wars against their home countries, the dehumanisation of the victims of American and Israeli wars and selective empathy, his advice for the survivors of the US’ and Israel’s wars, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Robert Barnes, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and host of the Viva and Barnes podcast. He discusses Anthony Fauci’s testimony in Congress and the allegations against him, the lack of prosecution against Biden Administration officials as was promised in Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign over Russiagate, how the deep state is intertwined with the Israel lobby as the US war on Iran rages on, how Donald Trump is trapped in an escalation cycle against Iran, Russia, and China, Trump’s irritation at J.D. Vance since everything Vance had predicted about the Iran war was proven right, why Trump has ‘lost his mind across the board’, the Trump Administration’s delusions about Russia in the Ukraine proxy war and Iran, how Ukrainians have become the US deep state’s grey army, the Trump family’s ‘oligarch island’ plans from Albania and Gaza, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Director of Shin Bet Admiral Ami Ayalon. He discusses why Israel’s wars against Palestinians and the Arabs are wars that Israel wants, why the perpetual war will hasten the end of the Zionist project, why he supposed the JCPOA nuclear deal in opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli government, the failures and shameful actions of Benjamin Netanyahu from Gaza to Lebanon to Iran, Israel’s financial support for Hamas prior to 2023, why he feels Israel does not understand its enemy: the Palestinian people, why the US-Israeli war on Iran has brought Iran closer to making the decision to build a nuclear weapon, Israel’s treatment of whistleblower of Mordechai Vanunu who exposed Israel’s nuclear weapons programme, why Israel has never been attacked by Al Qaeda or ISIS, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy. He discusses the state of the Trump-Netanyahu relationship as the Iran quagmire deepens and why the frustrations haven’t made a difference to US foreign policy, the Israel-Lebanon deal and how it overwhelmingly favours of Israel, the reasons for the failures of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, why Israel has not gotten involved in the resumed war on the Iran so far, J.D. Vance’s political calculations behind his recent comments against Israel, how Israel is trying to strengthening its regional ambitions using up American power as the unipolar world ends, the unpopularity of the war on Iran in the United States, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Doug Bandow. Former Special Assistant to Ronald Reagan and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He discusses the risk of a global Great Depression following the resumption of the war on Iran and the looming prospect of a catastrophic energy shock in the US, why Donald Trump knows he must end the war on Iran quickly, whether the echo chamber of neocons around Trump can tell Trump he made a mistake by starting the war, the Gulf States’ view of the war on Iran and their defence against Iranian capabilities, whether Iran could already have a nuclear weapon, Trump’s potential pivot to Ukraine as the NATO-Russia proxy war continues to escalate, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson. He discusses Trump’s war on Iran being part of Washington’s conflict against China, the transformation of the US military into a mercenary military as most armed forces service people don’t know why they are fighting Iran, the propaganda for US military-industrial complex companies and their ineffective weaponry, Iran’s ultimate leverage being the Strait of Hormuz and their nuclear program, the world sleepwalking into a potential nuclear war over Iran, the psychological warfare campaign in the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, the US’ flagrant violations of international law and the possibility of either a civil war or coup d’état in the United States leading up to the midterms, China’s concern over a direct war against the US as Washington’s empire continues to decline, the sidelining of the Palestinian issue and the Gaza genocide as the world focuses on the US-Israeli war on Iran, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to CMSGT. Dennis Fritz, Former Principal Advisor to Richard Myers, who became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He discusses why he believes the US-Iran MoU will be torpedoed by Donald Trump’s negotiation tactics and the influence of Israel, the possibility of an Israeli false flag to drag the US back into the unpopular war against Iran, why he believes some of the attacks on GCC countries were carried out by Israel as false flags to frame Iran, the amount of influence Israel has over the Pentagon now under Pete Hegseth and the Trump Administration, whether there is a risk of Israel assassinating Donald Trump in the ultimate false flag attack, Donald Trump’s potential pivot to Ukraine and whether he would be successful in negotiating a peace deal, his surprise at Vladimir Putin allowing the Ukraine proxy war to go on for so long without a decisive victory, and much more.

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to James Carden, Ex-Asvisor to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the US State Department. He discusses Trump’s remarks at an increasingly fractured NATO Summit and the continuing war on Iran, why he believes that the Trump Administration isn’t serious about ending the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, why Ukraine’s drone attacks against Russia don’t change the balance of power in the war, the goal of Europe’s leaders and American neocons being the dissolution of Russia and regime change, Russia’s mistakes since the 2014 Maidan Coup, the team surrounding Trump believing the Ukraine proxy war should be continued, the window of opportunity for the Ukraine proxy war to be ended closing by the day, why the US must use NATO as leverage to force Europe to abandon its hawkishness towards Russia, why he believes Trump’s threats to leave NATO are an act, the US-Israeli war on Iran being intrinsically linked to the Greater Israel project, and much more.