October 18 - Right Wing Israeli Politician's Fan Flames; A New Cold War in the Middle East; "Black Flags; The Rise of ISIS"

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with an update from Israel on the growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians that may portend a third intifada breaking out and speak with the former spokesman for Shimon Peres, Gideon Levy, who is a columnist and member of the board at Ha’aretz where he writes the “Twilight Zone” column on the Israeli occupation.  Following official denials by Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev, we will examine how much the threat to close off Palestinian access to the al-Aqsa mosque is perception or reality inflamed by the statements and actions of Netanyahu’s cabinet ministers and other right wing politicians who seem intent on provoking Palestinian rage.

Part 2

Then we speak with veteran CIA Middle East operative Robert Baer who is now the national security affairs analyst for CNN, about rising Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Russia in the Mediterranean as Russian submarines shadow ships and aircraft carriers of the Sixth Fleet off Syria where Turkey just shot down a Russian drone and de-confliction of the airspace over Syria remains problematic. We also discuss Iran’s deployment of troops into Syria and assess whether the recent P5+1 deal with Iran has freed up their hardliners to work closer with Russia against the U.S., while they increase domestic pressure on Iran’s moderate president Rouhani.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with the Washington Post’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Joby Warrick, about his new book “Back Flags: The Rise of ISIS”, and discuss how this virulent strain of militant Islam behind the rise of ISIS began in a remote Jordanian prison and spread with the unwitting aid of two American presidents.