We briefly discuss how the US government and corporate media are heavily amplifying small protests in Cuba to destabilize the country. While Washington suffocates the Cuban people with an illegal, 60-year blockade that the entire world just voted against at the UN, C-list celebrities are promoting #SOSCuba propaganda, and thousands of bots are spreading fake news on social media.

Moderate Rebels

US govt, celebrities, bots fuel astroturfed Cuba protests to push regime change

We discuss the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse with Haitian journalist Nazaire St. Fort and scholar Jeb Sprague. We talk about the "interim" presidency of US asset Claude Joseph, his request for American troops, the history of UN occupation, and the role of Colombian mercenaries and US citizens contracted by a Florida-based firm run by a right-wing Venezuelan-American.

Inside Haiti crisis: Who killed president, and what is role of Colombian mercenaries?

We recount the insane story of how a pampered heiress and journalistic wannabe, enriched by millions of dollars seized from Iran by the US government, sued us for exposing her bogus Hezbollah sources, and hired an influential pro-Israel lawyer to try to bankrupt The Grayzone. After 2.5 years of silence, Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton speak out about the McCarthyite legal assault. We expose Sulome Anderson and the powerful neoconservative forces supporting her lawfare campaign against us. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=6vCnQKPznzM Read about the case here: thegrayzone.com/2021/06/29/lawsuit-sulome-anderson-hezbollah  

Judge throws out millionaire's frivolous lawsuit aimed at bankrupting us

We discuss Mexico's progressive President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and the left-wing Morena party alliance victory in the June 2021 elections with journalist José Luis Granados Ceja. We also address US meddling via NED/USAID funding for the neoliberal opposition, as well as the constant media attacks. Follow José Luis on Twitter: twitter.com/GranadosCeja Article link - "‘Sexy tricks’: How journalists demonize Venezuela’s socialist government, in their own words" thegrayzone.com/2019/12/09/sexy-tricks-journalists-demonize-venezuela-anatoly-kurmanaev Article link - "US Special Forces trained Mexican drug cartels linked to decapitation, torture, rape" thegrayzone.com/2021/05/06/us-special-forces-mexican-drug-cartels

Mexico's anti-neoliberal movement grows despite US meddling and media smears

Journalist Aaron Mate and Professor Mohammad Marandi continue talking about the trip they took to Syria, after a decade of Western proxy war. We also discuss the OPCW cover-up of so-called "chemical attacks," as well as the role of Israel in the war, and Palestinian resistance to its brutal bombing and blockade of Gaza. We address the political situations in Iran and Nicaragua, and then respond to questions from our patrons over at Patreon.com/ModerateRebels. PART 2 OF 2 VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=g9iqWnpBFZk

Inside Syria, OPCW cover-up, and Israeli aggression, with Aaron Maté and Mohammad Marandi

We speak with journalist Aaron Mate and Professor Mohammad Marandi, who just took a trip to Syria to see the real-life impact on average people caused by the decade-long Western regime-change war and suffocating US/EU sanctions. PART 1 OF 2 Video: youtube.com/watch?v=g9iqWnpBFZk

Report back from Syria after 10 years of Western dirty war, with Aaron Maté and Mohammad Marandi

We were joined by musician Roger Waters and author Gabor Maté to discuss Israel's war on Gaza, the Palestinian resistance struggle, the psychology of Zionism, the music industry, and a variety of other political and cultural issues.

Roger Waters and Gabor Maté on Israel/Palestine, Gaza war, music, and more

Israel is bombing Gaza, while extremists ethnically cleanse Palestinians. We are joined by Ali Abunimah and Rania Khalek, as well as Aaron Maté and Anya Parampil, to discuss the colonial violence - and indigenous resistance. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=-SaqRY7qHV0

Gaza under attack: Behind apartheid Israel's latest war with Ali Abunimah and Rania Khalek

Following his talk on the cultural cold war and the fake left, Ben Norton takes questions and discusses the "woke" CIA ads, the Biden administration's "intersectional imperialist" foreign policy, the Kurdish YPG/SDF and US military occupation of Syria, and new cold war myths about China. This is part 2 of 2. You can watch or listen to part 1 here: moderaterebels.com/cia-fake-left-cultural-cold-war TOPICS 0:00 Intro 4:25 Biden, Trump, and intersectional imperialism 29:00 China and new cold war propaganda 54:45 Syria and the Kurdish YPG/SDF 1:06:13 Ideology and hegemony

Biden admin's intersectional imperialism, 'woke' CIA, wars on Syria and China

Ben Norton was invited to give this talk about the fake left and imperialism. He discusses how the CIA's "woke" recruitment ad is not new; it is rooted in an "intersectional imperialist" history going back to the first cold war, in which the CIA poured money into cultivating anti-communist, pro-imperialist progressive groups, using fronts like the Congress for Cultural Freedom and billionaire-funded foundations like Ford and Rockefeller. Ben goes through the book "The Cultural Cold War," and talks about supposed "leftist" CIA assets like feminist leader Gloria Steinem and Trotskyite civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, then analyzes examples of astroturfed, Nonprofit Industrial Complex-backed pseudo-left campaigns in the US, Western Europe, and Latin America. VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=rMap-6KxQJI Links and show notes: moderaterebels.com/cia-fake-left-cultural-cold-war

How the CIA cultivates a fake left: From the cultural cold war to intersectional imperialism

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss with world-renowned economist Michael Hudson his concept of US "Super Imperialism," the new cold war on China and Russia, the Joe Biden administration, and dedollarization - the potential end to the dollar as the global reserve currency. From 1:00:37 on, we also respond to questions from our patrons at Patreon: patreon.com/ModerateRebels

Economist Michael Hudson on new cold war, Super Imperialism, Biden, China & Russia, dedollarization

As the anti-Russia hawks in the Joe Biden administration push for more aggressive policies in Ukraine, we speak with Russell Bentley, an American from Texas who moved to the Donbas region to fight on behalf of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic. Bentley discusses the ultra-nationalist fascists and neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian forces. He also explains the Christian Communist ideology that motivates him and his combat unit. -- Bentley's YouTube channel: youtube.com/c/RussellBentleyTexac

From Texas to Donbas: Meet the American fighting Ukrainian fascists

Ben Norton discusses Ecuador's 2021 election results, and how the US government and intelligence-linked billionaire foundations spent decades funding and cultivating liberal environmental groups and rightist Indigenous leaders to divide the left and weaken the socialist Citizens' Revolution movement launched by former President Rafael Correa. State Department cables released by WikiLeaks show how the US embassy recruited members of the Indigenous confederation CONAIE and its political arm Pachakutik, which has been directly supported by US government soft-power weapons like the NDI. CIA cutouts USAID and the NED poured tens of millions of dollars into building a fake "left" opposition to Correísmo, using "anti-extractivism" as a cover. The result was Pachakutik/CONAIE and its coup-supporting neoliberal candidate Yaku Pérez got more than 1 million extra Ecuadorians to vote null in the April 2021 vote, compared to previous elections, thereby handing the victory to right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso. After left-wing candidate Andrés Arauz conceded losing by 400,000 votes, Pérez boasted of "burying Correísmo." The US-backed fake "left" had succeeded in defeating a real leftist movement. Norton documents how these tactics mirror US imperialist strategy targeting Bolivia, Nicaragua, Mexico, and more. -- Read more at The Grayzone: "How Ecuador’s US-backed, coup-supporting ‘ecosocialist’ candidate Yaku Pérez aids the right-wing"

How Ecuador's US-backed fake 'eco-left' helped a right-wing banker win the election

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton discuss US meddling in the protests in Myanmar with Brian Berletic, and how Washington seeks to weaken a neighbor of China and key ally in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. We discuss the coup by the Tatmadaw military, the NED-funded Burmese networks calling for R2P ("Responsibility to Protect") foreign intervention, eerie parallels to the regime-change operations targeting Syria and Libya, and how the violence risks a dangerous destabilization of Southeast Asia. - Check out Brian's website Land Destroyer: landdestroyer.blogspot.com - Follow Brian's YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/LandDestroyerReport

Does US meddling in Myanmar risk Syria/Libya-style war?

Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton are joined by Ajit Singh and Aaron Maté to discuss the new cold war on Beijing, and how the US government is funding far-right extremist Uyghur armed separatists, to try to divide and balkanize China. We also debunk the absurd Western accusations of genocide in Xinjiang province, and pick apart the propaganda of Adrian Zenz and other charlatans. -- Link to Ajit's The Grayzone article "'Wipe out China!' US-funded Uyghur activists train as gun-toting foot soldiers for empire": thegrayzone.com/2021/03/31/china-uyghur-gun-soldiers-empire -- Link to Ajit's other The Grayzone article "China detaining millions of Uyghurs? Serious problems with claims by US-backed NGO and far-right researcher ‘led by God’ against Beijing": thegrayzone.com/2019/12/21/china-detaining-millions-uyghurs-problems-claims-us-ngo-researcher

As new cold war on China heats up, US govt funds extremist Uighur armed separatists

Moderate Rebels is a news and politics podcast and video show hosted by journalists Max Blumenthal and Ben Norton. We report on the US empire and the endless war propaganda sold to us each day in the corporate media.

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Moderate Rebels

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