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Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate The US government is continuing to seek the extradition of Julian Assange even though a critical witness in its indictment has admitted to fabricating key claims. Bjartmar Alexandersson, the Icelandic journalist who broke this story, discusses the explosive confession of US witness Sigurdur "Siggi" Thordarson. Guest: Bjartmar Alexandersson. Journalist with Icelandic newspaper Stundin.

Facing growing outcry, OPCW Director General Fernando Arias went before the United Nations Security Council and told new falsehoods about his organization’s Syria cover-up scandal — along with more disingenuous excuses to avoid addressing it. Scholar and researcher Piers Robinson joins Aaron Maté to debunk Arias' latest evasions and distortions. Guest: Dr. Piers Robinson. Co-Director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies, and convenor of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media.

As Vice-President in 2014, Joe Biden backed the Maidan coup in Ukraine that set off an ongoing proxy war with Russian-backed forces in the Donbass region. Now as President, Biden met with Vladimir Putin at the Geneva summit to discuss key flashpoints, including Ukraine. Is Biden ready to make peace? Guest: Nicolai N. Petro. Professor of politics at the University of Rhode Island and editor of "Ukraine in Crisis."

At the Geneva summit, President Biden of the US and President Putin of Russia announced the restoration of their ambassadors and agreed to new talks on vital issues. Meanwhile in Washington and major US media outlets, Russiagate-addled hawks promoted increased confrontation. James Carden analyzes the talks and the bellicose US media response. "US media outlets seem to be egging biden on to take a harder line than than the President wanted to," Carden says. "It's a product of the last several years of Russiagate hysteria. But it also shows who make up the American press really don't know that much about Russia or foreign policy." Guest: James Carden. Former State Department adviser and the executive editor for the American Committee for US-Russia Accord. He writes at https://thescrum.substack.com/.

In the last year, US government, intelligence, and Congressional bodies have accused former Paul Manafort aide Konstantin Kilimnik of being a "Russian intelligence officer" or "Russian influence agent" who passed secret Trump campaign polling data to Russia in 2016. The FBI has even issued a $250,000 reward for Kilimnik's arrest on a lowly witness tampering charge -- more than double the amount for six murderers on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. In exclusive audio excerpts, Konstantin Kilimnik talks to Aaron Maté about the explosive -- and evidence-free -- US government claims about him. Despite his supposed central role in the Trump-Russia saga, Kilimnik says that no US government investigator has ever contacted him. He believes it's his Russian passport, not any actual evidence, that put him in the US intelligence crosshairs. To make the Russiagate narrative work, Kilimnik says, "they needed a f-----g Russian. I happen to be that f------g Russian." Guest: Konstantin Kilimnik. Ukrainian-Russian political consultant and former aide to Paul Manafort. Wanted by the FBI on a $250,000 bounty for a witness tampering indictment in the Mueller investigation. Neither the FBI or Mueller probe ever contacted him. Read more: https://mate.substack.com/p/accused-russian-spy-kilimnik-refutes

Rather than pay up for a multi-billion dollar environmental damage ruling in Ecuador, the oil giant Chevron is persecuting one of the attorneys who defeated it in court. Steven Donziger has been subjected to nearly two years of house arrest in a Kafkaesque prosecution engineered by one of the world's top oil giants. Guest: Steven Donziger, human rights attorney now facing persecution after helping to win a landmark legal judgment against Chevron in Ecuador.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Author and scholar Norman Finkelstein discusses the global outrage at Israel's murderous assault on Gaza and how Palestinian resistance and solidarity, after a dormant period, has been revived. (This interview was recorded before the Hamas-Israel ceasefire took effect.) Guest: Norman Finkelstein. Author and scholar whose books include "Gaza: an Inquest into its Martyrdom."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Speaking from Gaza City, Hamas official and former Gaza Health Minister Basem Naim discusses the civilian toll of Israel's assault on Gaza and its damage to the besieged territory's medical system. Naim also addresses the Biden administration's support for Israel's assault; the world's indifference to non-violent Palestinian resistance; and Hamas' proposed terms for a ceasefire. Guest: Dr. Basem Naim. Hamas official who heads of the Council on International Relations in Gaza, and former head of Gaza's Health Ministry.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Full interview with Glenn Greenwald on the collapse of the "Russian bounties" story and the revival of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory; his new book "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro's Brazil"; and the decline of left media in the Russiagate era, where bastions of dissent have gone from challenging the national security state to promoting it. Guest: Glenn Greenwald. Journalist whose latest book is "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil." He writes at https://greenwald.substack.com/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate On the same day that the claim of "Russian bounties" in Afghanistan collapsed, another US intelligence-sourced, evidence-free claim was treated as vindication for conspiracy theories about Trump-Russia collusion. Glenn Greenwald and Aaron Maté discuss the predictable demise of the "Russian bounties"; the Biden administration's new evidence-free assertion that Paul Manafort associate Konstantin Kilimnik passed Trump campaign polling data to Russia; and why major US media outlets continue to parrot Russiagate disinformation no matter how many times the "bombshells" turn into duds. Guest: Glenn Greenwald. Journalist whose latest book is "Securing Democracy: My Fight for Press Freedom and Justice in Bolsonaro’s Brazil." He writes at https://greenwald.substack.com/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate As Vice-President, Joe Biden pledged that all US troops would be out of Afghanistan by 2014. Seven years later, is President Biden's new withdrawal pledge any different? Scott Horton, editorial director of Antiwar.com and author of "Enough Already", discusses how the US has previously extended the war in Afghanistan and how it might continue it in new forms. Guest: Scott Horton. Director of the Libertarian Institute; Editorial Director Antiwar.com; and host of the "Scott Horton Show." His latest book is "Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism."

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Facing new outcry over the Syria cover-up scandal, OPCW chief Fernando Arias has been caught lying, while the US-UK-France are desperately trying to change the subject. Aaron Maté recaps recent meetings at the European Parliament and United Nations where the growing Douma controversy was center stage. The US-UK-France bombed Syria in April 2018 after accusing it of a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma. Leaks later revealed that OPCW inspectors found no evidence of a Syrian government chemical weapons attack. But their findings were suppressed, their original report was censored, and the team was sidelined. Rather than having their concerns addressed, the inspectors have since faced a concerted smear campaign. On April 15, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias faced questions about the Douma cover-up from Mick Wallace and Clare Daley of the European Parliament. Both Wallace and Daley asked Arias why he has refused to address the Douma cover-up and meet with the dissenting inspectors. The meeting chair, former French cabinet minister Nathalie Loiseau, tried to cut-off the questions and even apologized to Arias for them being posed. Arias then made a series of excuses and even false claims. The following day, the Douma scandal was discussed at an Arria Formula Meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The ambassadors of the nations that bombed Syria in April 2018 -- the US, UK, and France -- tried to dismiss the Douma cover-up scandal as Russian propaganda and refused to offer any substantive comments on the issue. The invited briefers at the meeting included Hans von Sponeck and Lawrence Wilkerson, two veteran diplomats who have signed a Statement of Concern about the Douma scandal, alongside other notable voices including five former OPCW officials. In his comments, von Sponeck revealed that Arias, the OPCW chief, refused to read the statement and returned it to sender. Audio: Aaron Maté recaps the European Parliament meeting on April 15 and UN Security Council Arria Formula meeting on April 16. Featuring: Mick Wallace and Clare Daley, Members of the European Parliament; Fernando Arias, OPCW Director-General; Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq; Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary State Colin Powell; Richard Mills, Deputy US Ambassador to the UN; Nicolas de Reviere, France’s Ambassador to the UN; Jonathan Allen, UK Ambassador to the UN; Jose Bustani, former OPCW Director-General; and Aaron Maté of The Grayzone. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In remarks to the United Nations Security Council, two veteran, retired diplomats -- Hans von Sponeck of Germany and Lawrence Wilkerson of the US -- confront the OPCW and powerful state backers about the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal. Hans Von Sponeck is the former UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. He spent 32 years as a UN official, from 1958 to 2000, when he resigned in protest of the US-led sanctions on Iraq. “The manner in which this serious controversy has been handled by OPCW management… has sought to cover up any serious questioning of the OPCW through stonewalling and unacceptable smear tactics,” Sponeck says. “The Security Council can not be surprised that there is increasing public pressure for UN leadership to find an unbiased resolution of this troubling controversy.” Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired Army Colonel who served as Chief of Staff to Secretary State Colin Powell. In 2003, Wilkerson helped prepare Powell's infamous speech to the United Nations making the phony case for invading Iraq. Wilkerson has since renounced those Iraq war fabrications. "This OPCW business really needs to get settled," Wilkerson says. "Here we have an egregious situation that from everything I can, really calls on people of concern to straighten it out." Sponeck and Wilkerson are among the signatories of a Statement of Concern about the Douma scandal, joined by notable global voices including five former OPCW officials. In a podcast-exclusive edition of Pushback, we hear both Sponeck and Wilkerson's UN comments. Related: At UN, Aaron Maté debunks OPCW’s Syria lies and confronts US, UK on cover-up https://thegrayzone.com/2021/04/18/at-un-aaron-mate-debunks-opcws-syria-lies-and-confronts-us-uk-on-cover-up/

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ [Note to listeners: this is audio of a visual presentation to the UN. To watch the video, go to: https://bit.ly/2Q6chHs] Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone takes apart the OPCW's excuses for refusing to address the organization's Syria cover-up scandal. OPCW inspectors found no evidence to support allegations of a Syrian government chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. But their findings were suppressed, and the team was sidelined. The OPCW leadership now claims that "most of the analytical work took place" in the "last six months" of the Douma investigation, when the original team was out of the picture. Comparing the OPCW's own published reports, Maté shows why that is demonstrably false. The bulk of the work was in fact carried out by the original team in the first weeks of the probe, and the “analytical work” conducted after their censorship is minor in scale and riddled with deceptions and unsupported conclusions. Maté also addresses a new claim by OPCW Director General Fernando Arias that "I don't know why" the OPCW's final Douma report "was contested." This is another demonstrably false claim, as Arias' own prior statements show. Maté also asks the US and UK ambassadors if they will support a new proposal from distinguished signatories -- including five former OPCW officials — to let the OPCW's own Scientific Advisory Board assess the claims of the dissenting inspectors. The US and UK Ambassadors left the meeting -- it is unclear when -- and so did not respond. Video: Aaron Maté's presentation to an Arria-Formula Meeting of the United Nations Security Council, April 16 2021. https://bit.ly/2Q6chHs Berlin Group21 proposal to OPCW: https://www.berlingroup21.org/background

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Amid a public relations campaign to rehabilitate the Al Qaeda franchise in Syria -- which rules Idlib, Syria's last militant-controlled province – former top US diplomat James Jeffrey has called the group a US "asset." Lindsey Snell, an independent journalist who escaped captivity by Al Qaeda in Syria, responds. Guest: Lindsey Snell, independent journalist covering the Middle East and North Africa. In 2016, she was kidnapped by the Al Qaeda group in Syria, what was then called al-Nusra, and escaped after 10 days.

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate In its opening months, the Biden administration has targeted Russia and China with belligerent rhetoric, new sanctions, and continued military provocations. Lyle Goldstein of the US Naval War College discusses how the US is inflaming the key flashpoints of Taiwan, Xinjiang, the South China Sea, Ukraine, and nuclear weapons, and how Russia and China are deepening cooperation in response. Guest: Lyle Goldstein, research professor and founding director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College. [Note: Speaking in a personal capacity. Opinions don’t reflect in any way the official assessments of the US Navy or the US government.]

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate​ Noam Chomsky weighs in on the Putin-Biden row; new US claims of "Russian interference"; the "savagery" of US sanctions on Cuba, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and other nations; US pressure on Brazil to reject Russia's COVID-19 vaccine and on Panama to reject Cuban doctors; and more. Chomsky's latest book is "Chomsky for Activists." Guest: Noam Chomsky, renowned linguist, author and political dissident. His latest book is "Chomsky for Activists."

Robert Ford served as US Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014. On the tenth anniversary of the Syrian war, Ford speaks to Aaron Maté about the roots of the conflict; the US role; the current US sanctions that target Syria’s reconstruction; chemical weapons allegations against the Syrian government; and why he now supports the withdrawal of US forces. Guest: Robert Ford, retired US diplomat who served as US Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Five former officials from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have joined a group of prominent signatories to urge the OPCW to address the controversy surrounding its investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018. Leaks from inside the OPCW show that key scientific findings that cast doubt on claims of Syrian government guilt were censored, and that the original investigators were removed from the probe. Since the cover-up became public, the OPCW has shunned accountability and publicly attacked the two whistleblowers who challenged it from inside. The "Statement of Concern" is signed by five former OPCW officials, including the organization's founding leader, José Bustani, and others including Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Tulsi Gabbard, John Pilger, Lord West of Spithead, as well two former senior UN officials, Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck. "The issue at hand threatens to severely damage the reputation and credibility of the OPCW and undermine its vital role in the pursuit of international peace and security," the statement says. "It is simply not tenable for a scientific organization such as the OPCW to refuse to respond openly to the criticisms and concerns of its own scientists whilst being associated with attempts to discredit and smear those scientists." Pushback host Aaron Maté details the letter and airs clips of his and Tulsi Gabbard's recent "Tucker Carlson Tonight" appearance discussing the OPCW controversy.

While Joe Biden has faced some mild Congressional pushback for bombing the Iraq-Syria border, Tulsi Gabbard says her former colleagues are ignoring the larger issue: the US ongoing dirty war on Syria. After a decade of proxy warfare that empowered Al Qaeda and ISIS, the US is now occupying one-third of Syria and imposing crippling sanctions that are crushing Syria's economy and preventing reconstruction. While Gabbard has been vilified for her stance on Syria, many top White House officials -- including Joe Biden himself -- have already acknowledged the same facts that she has called out. Aaron Maté plays clips of Biden and some of his most senior aides admitting to the horrific realities of the US dirty war on Syria, and argues that Gabbard only stands apart in being wiling to criticize it. Featuring clips from: Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic Congressmember; President Joe Biden; Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa; Martin Dempsey, former Joint Chiefs chairman; Rob Malley, Special Envoy for Iran; John Kerry, Special Envoy for Climate & former Secretary of State; former President Donald Trump; Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions; Dana Stroul, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East; Vice President Kamala Harris.