Going Underground

‘It’s time to try to end the war’ - Dr. Morton Halperin on the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Dr. Morton Halperin, who supervised the assembling of the Pentagon Papers, which revealed the extent of the disaster in the US’ imperial war on Vietnam, and served as a former Director of Policy Planning at the State Department. He discusses the effect the Pentagon Papers had on the Vietnam War and the work of Daniel Ellsberg in helping bring the Vietnam War to an end, the continued persecution of Julian Assange under the Espionage Act, and why the act in its current form is too broad, and why Henry Kissinger bugged his phone when he served in the National Security Council. Later in the interview, Dr. Halperin and Afshin Rattansi debate the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, where Halperin discusses what concessions should be offered to Russia to end the conflict. Dr. Halperin also discusses Israel’s genocidal slaughter in Gaza and much more.

The Russian Art of War: How the West led Ukraine to defeat (ex-NATO analyst Col. Jacques Baud)

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Col. Jacques Baud, a former analyst for NATO who was on the ground in Ukraine after the Maidan coup, and author of ‘The Russian Art of War: How the West Led Ukraine to Defeat’ and ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: The Defeat of the Vanquisher’. He discusses his role on the ground in Ukraine and the growth of the Donbass rebellion and the defection of Russian speakers in the Ukrainian army to the rebels following the Maidan coup in 2014, the extreme repression of the Russian-speaking regions in Ukraine by the post-coup governments, the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023 and why Ukraine’s tactics continue to fail against Russia’s military strategy, the involvement of Western militaries in assisting Ukraine on the ground, how Washington’s strategy evolved to weaponize Ukraine to weaken Russia, resulting in catastrophe for Ukraine, why the West is at the ‘face-saving’ stage in the proxy war against Russia, UK and French efforts to provoke the US to intervene in Ukraine, and much more.

Gideon Levy: Israel’s society has been brainwashed… Empathy for Palestinians has been criminalized

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, Editorial Board member of the Haaretz newspaper. He discusses his disagreements with the remnants of the Israeli peace camp, who think the departure of Netanyahu from power would lead to radical changes, the state of Israeli society, and the criminalization of empathy with the Palestinian people in Gaza, the views of the different classes in Israel with anti-Palestinian sentiment being most prevalent among the working class, the ‘ridiculous’ label of Israel being ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’ and his belief that Israel is ‘playing with fire’, whether Israelis care about the potential for an Israel-Saudi normalization agreement, the brainwashing of Israeli society to ignore the plight of the Palestinians and how he overcame it, the ‘one-state solution’ and much more.

Prof. John Mearsheimer: Israel wants to drag the US into war with Iran, Ukraine proxy war is lost

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago. He discusses Israel’s bombing of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus and Israel’s attempts to drag the US into a war with Iran, how US protection allows Israel to ‘get away with anything’ in international politics, how the Gaza genocide is paving the way for a Donald Trump victory in November, the Israel lobby’s grip on US foreign policy, the deliberate failure of the Minsk agreements in Ukraine leading to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the special military operation, why the US and Europe have lost the proxy war against Russia, the risk of direct conflict between NATO and Russia, and much more.

Norman Finkelstein exposes October 7 propaganda, says Biden is pursuing PR as Palestinians starve

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Norman Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors and author of the book ‘Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom’. He discusses and exposes Israel’s propaganda over mass rape during the October 7 attacks, which have been uncritically reported by mainstream media, Pramilla Patten’s report on mass rape on October 7, and why the report itself reveals why there was not widespread rape committed by Palestinian armed groups. He also discusses Biden ordering the building of the unnecessary Gaza pier, which he calls a PR move while Palestinians starve to death, the Israel lobby’s increasing grip on US politics, and much more.

Gaza: US hypocrisy on the ‘Rules-Based Order’ has been exposed (Harvard Prof. Stephen Walt)

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Stephen Walt, Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. He discusses the US-UK persecution of Julian Assange and why his potential imprisonment in the US would have a ‘chilling effect’ on press freedom, the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese labelling the US-backed Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza a genocide and the US’ abstention at the UN Security Council on a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the egregious inconsistency of the US in following international law, which is hurting its image around the globe, the Biden administration’s dilemma in doing the right thing in cutting military support to Israel versus facing the wrath of pro-Israel forces domestically during an election year, why he has called the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine ‘provoked’ rather than ‘unprovoked’ as journalists in the mainstream media do, what NATO’s goals are in Ukraine as the war becomes increasingly disastrous, the Moscow Crocus City Hall terror attack, and much more.