Inside-America

Attending the first Conference of the Parties since the US returned to the 2015 Paris Agreement, President Biden joined other heads of state and government meeting at COP26 in Scotland this week —calling the need for urgent climate action both a moral and economic imperative.

There is growing pressure on the US and the world’s other major industrialized nations, the G20, which are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, to do more.

This follows a stark warning from the UN Secretary General who described the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) as a “code red for humanity”, with scientists warning that global temperatures were projected to rise beyond the 1,5 degree Celsius goal set in Paris, largely due to fossil fuels.

And while President Biden reiterated his administration’s commitment to cutting emissions by 50% from 2005 levels, by 2030, he faces significant challenges on Capitol Hill to enact his proposed $1.7 trillion social spending legislation which includes 555 billion dollars in climate-related spending —the oil and gas industry would be forced to share the cost by raising more than $100 billion dollars from fossil fuel firms over the next decade.

Guests:

Slater Jewell-Kemker

Filmmaker of ‘Youth Unstoppable’ and climate activist

Beverly Wright

Founder and Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University in New Orleans

Antonio Villaraigosa

Former Mayor of Los Angeles

A record-breaking 4.3 million people in the United States have quit their jobs in the month of August alone according to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s 2.9 % of the total workforce. The month before that, 4.1 million Workers resigned. These are the highest numbers ever reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Experts who have called this “The Great Resignation”, say people are leaving their jobs because workers across the US are demanding better pay and working conditions as well as more flexibility in their daily lives. A new poll found that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 91 percent of Americans want to do at least some of their work from home.

States such as Kentucky, Idaho, South Dakota and Iowa have the highest rates of workers quitting their jobs. They also have higher rates of new COVID-19 infections.

So what are the driving forces behind the “Great Resignation”?

Guests:

Alicia Bowen

Cleaner who quit her job

Ulrike Malmendier

Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley

Dennis Kucinich

Former US Congressman from Ohio (D)

The passing on Monday of General Colin Powell, an icon of US military and political life, revered by Republicans and Democrats alike, and whose illustrious career at the service of both Republican and Democratic Presidents is quite uncommon, has reignited the debate over Powell’s responsibility in making the case for war in Iraq, internationally, and to the American people.

The four-star general, son of Jamaican immigrants, who served directly under Presidents George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W Bush, died from Covid complications at the age of 84. He was suffering from multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that can severely compromise the immune system.

Despite being a member of the Republican Party, Powell endorsed Democratic candidates in the last 4 presidential elections, starting with Barack Obama in 2008. He was also a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, calling him a “national disgrace” who should have been removed from office through impeachment. Following the Jan 6 storming of the US Capitol, Powell said he no longer considered himself a Republican.

Despite his trailblazing record as the first Black American to hold the highest national security positions, Powell’s legacy remains overshadowed by his public advocacy for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and his infamous presentation before the United Nations Security Council on February 5th, 2003, claiming that President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and presented a gathering and imminent danger. Powell later called it a permanent “blot” on his record.

One issue Powell was particularly critical of, over the last few years, was the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. He criticized the Bush administration’s treatment of detainees and called for closing the military detention facility, saying it would be in the “best interest” of the US to do so.

Asked earlier this year if President Biden would shut the prison at Guantanamo by the time his presidency ends, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters: “That certainly is our goal and our intention.”

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration has told the US Supreme Court that it will allow Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo detainee who has never been charged, to present limited testimony about his alleged torture by the CIA. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments in Abu Zubaydah’s case to determine if testimony from CIA agents and contractors who oversaw his torture, can be subpoenaed.

Guests:

Sarah Leah Whitson

Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now

Mark Denbeaux

Attorney for Guantanamo Bay Detainees and Director of the Seton Hall Law School for Policy and Research

Moazzam Begg

Former Guantanamo Bay Prisoner and Director of Outreach for CAGE

Joe Biden has become the first sitting US president to issue a proclamation commemorating Indigenous People’s Day, which has traditionally been marked across the United States as Columbus Day, honoring Christopher Columbus, the explorer, who was also a brutal colonialist. In the proclamation issued by the White House, Biden described the contributions of Indigenous peoples throughout history as an “integral” part of the American nation, culture and society, while acknowledging “the significant sacrifices made by native peoples”.

Guests:

Raul Grijalva

US Congressman from Arizona (D)

Tara Houska

Former Advisor on Native American affairs to Bernie Sanders & Native American Lawyer and Activist

Gregg Deal

Native American Artist and Activist

Was it sound long-term policy to uproot tens of thousands of Afghans and place them in precarious settlement schemes abroad?

Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/BtEXmV6x2Fs

During a politically charged hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, with Republicans seeking to place the blame for the fallout on president Biden, and Democrats pointing to ill-advised decisions by President Trump, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and the head of US Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told Congress that they had advised President Biden against a full withdrawal and recommended keeping a military presence in Afghanistan.

General McKenzie said he had believed “for quite a while” that if the United States reduced the number of its military advisers in Afghanistan below 2,500, the Kabul government and the military would inevitably collapse. He said in addition to the morale-depleting effects of the Doha agreement signed in February 2020, the troop reduction ordered by Biden in April was

”the other nail in the coffin".

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified that he agreed with McKenzie's analysis. He added that the Doha agreement also committed the United States to ending airstrikes against the Taliban.

Last week’s House and Senate hearings marked the start of what is likely to be an extended congressional review of US failings in Afghanistan, especially after years of limited congressional oversight of a war that ended up costing American taxpayers $2.3 trillion dollars.

As many as 14,000 Afghan evacuees are expected to begin arriving in the US this week on humanitarian parole, a process by which they are allowed to enter the US without visas. While humanitarian parolees could stay and work in the US temporarily, they are not eligible for the same resettlement services extended to refugees, such as federal cash assistance.

Guests:

Sayed Aqa

Chairperson of the Experts for Relief and Development of Afghanistan

John Zadrozny

Former Deputy Assistant to President Trump and Director of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at AFPI

Will the AUKUS agreement give the US and Australia a strategic military edge to counter the unstoppable emergence of China as a superpower? Inside America host Ghida Fakhry gives us her take in this week’s In Short.

Watch the full programme here: https://youtu.be/kJC52cHkJ04

Diplomatic relations between the US and France hit an all-time low earlier this month following the announcement of a strategic defense agreement known as AUKUS —between Australia, the UK and US—that provides for the sale of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

The agreement, which led Australia to scrap a $66 billion dollar deal with France for the delivery of diesel-electric attack submarines initiated in 2016, provoked a rift between the transatlantic allies.

France, which took the unprecedented step of recalling its ambassador from Washington for consultations, accused the US of engaging in “lies”, “duplicity” and backstabbing.

AUKUS, largely seen as a strategic alliance to contain China’s growing air and sea power, drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, which characterized the agreement as a step towards a new cold war and criticized Washington’s decision to export its weapons grade naval nuclear technology to a non-nuclear weapon state as a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The transfer of Highly Enriched Uranium —at over 90% enrichment levels— foreseen in the AUKUS agreement, would be a first and raises serious concerns from a non-proliferation standpoint, not only in Beijing. So, is AUKUS opening a Pandora’s box?

Guests:

Tariq Rauf

Former Head of Verification and Security Policy Coordination at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Sean O’Keefe

Former US Secretary of the Navy under President George H W Bush.

At the UN’s annual General Assembly meetings this week there has been a renewed call for upholding the values and principles the UN was founded on 76 years ago: peace, justice, equality and human rights.

Nowhere more so than in Afghanistan, where the UN has warned that the country is facing one of its most perilous hours. The country had been facing a humanitarian crisis for years despite 2 decades of heavy American, NATO and UN involvement.

How should the UN respond to Afghan’s humanitarian and economic needs at this critical moment? And will member states engage with the Taliban?

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights joins a special edition of Inside America from outside the UN Headquarters in New York.

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

Follow us: 👉www.twitter.com/_InsideAmerica 👉www.twitter.com/Ghida_Fakhry

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The crisis in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan challenges world leaders as they convene for the 76th United Nations General Assembly.

Will the UN recognize the new Taliban interim government in Kabul or will regional players, like Pakistan, take the lead?

Pakistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi joins a special edition of Inside America from New York.

Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics. 👉http://trt.world/InsideAmerica​

Follow us: 👉www.twitter.com/_InsideAmerica 👉www.twitter.com/Ghida_Fakhry

Subscribe: 👉Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3d0LYLy