August 26 - Secret Bombing of Libya and a Long Civil War Ahead; Public Support for Israel is Eroding in the U.S.; Saudi Responsibility for the Spread of Radical Islam Around the World

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the secret bombing of Libya by warplanes from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates that caught U.S. officials by surprise, and speak with Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, the Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of New England and author of “The Making of Modern Libya”. We discuss Libya’s descent into chaos following the ousting of the dictator Qaddafi by the U.S. and NATO and the capture of Tripoli’s main airport by ultraconservative Islamists, and the patchwork of warring factions involving various Islamist groups, a renegade general and tribal militias that all suggest Libya is in for a long civil war.

Part 2

Then we look into the extent to which the latest assault on Gaza by Israel has eroded their public support in the U.S. and whether AIPAC, the Israel lobby, which has been undermining Obama’s Middle East policy, is losing influence. Lisa Goldman, the director of the Israel-Palestine Initiative at the New America Foundation and the co-founder and contributing editor to 972mag.com, a progressive digital magazine based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, joins us to discuss recent polling by Gallup that finds only one quarter of Americans under the age of thirty thought Israel’s actions in Gaza were justified.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Dr. Ali Alyami, the founder and director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia. He joins us to discuss Tuesday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia between Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and Saudi officials and whether the two countries who are fighting a Cold War in the region, have decided their proxies are getting out of hand. We also discuss the routine beheading that goes on in Saudi Arabia that ISIS are copying and Saudi responsibility for the emergence of Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram and Al Shabab, and the spread of radical Islam around the world.