Ep 69 The Rise & Fall of John Brennan (Part 1)

Around The Empire

Friends of the show Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter join Joanne Leon for a special three-part series on the Rise and Fall of John Brennan, done in a roundtable format and released in three separate episodes in the coming week for our listeners or available in advance, in full for patrons.

Kyle Anzalone is the host of the Foreign Policy Focus podcast and the editor-in-chief of ImmersionNews.com. He also writes the Daily News Roundup at Libertarian Institute.

Will Porter is a freelance journalist with a focus on US foreign policy and conflicts abroad. His work can be found at the Libertarian Institute, Antiwar.com and Consortium News

In American political life, few officials have weathered as many storms as former CIA director John Brennan. With a career marred by a virtually endless series of scandals, Brennan’s ability to maneuver himself within institutions of power has served him exceptionally well both inside and outside of government.Brennan’s decades-long tenure at the CIA presents a microcosmic portrait of US foreign policy since the fall of the Soviet Union—a true exemplar of the American role in a “unipolar” world. His name has become synonymous with torture, regime change, targeted assassinations, drones, spying, the arming of foreign militias and now, in the era of Trump, politicized intelligence.But that may have finally come to an end. The recent revocation of Brennan’s security clearance could represent the final nail in a coffin that, until now, has simply refused to stay shut.Join us in this 3 part series reviewing Brennan’s career at the CIA, the litany of scandals tied to his name, as well as what could come next for the retired intelligence officer.

Support Kyle at https://www.patreon.com/ForeignPolicyFocus. Support Will at patreon.com/WKPJournalist.

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This discussion was recorded in two sessions: August 24 and 31, 2018.

Music by Fluorescent Grey.

Reference Links:

1. President Trump’s Claims of No Collusion are Hogwash, New York Times, John Brennan
2. William H. McRaven: Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President, Washington Post
3. Scores of ex-spies join in rebuking Trump over security clearances, Politico
4. The Seven Deadly Sins of John Brennan, Micah Zenko, Foreign Policy
5. Confront and Conceal (book), David Sanger
6. Gates to National Security Team on Osama Raid: 'Shut the F--- Up', Daniel Halper, Weekly Standard
7. Exclusive: Did White House "spin" tip a covert op?, Mark Hosenball, Reuters
8. Who Bombed Khobar Towers? Anatomy of a Crooked Terrorism Investigation, Gareth Porter, Truthout
9. Brennan-led secret raids may have led to Benghazi retaliation, book claims, FoxNews
10. The media are misleading the public on Syria, Stephen Kinzer, Boston Globe
11. US Special Forces sabotage White House policy gone disastrously wrong with covert ops in Syria, SOFREP, Jack Murphy
12. Secret Kill List Tests Obama’s Principles New York Times, Jo Becker, Scott Shane
13. A Spymaster Steps Out of the Shadows, New York Times Magazine, Mattathias Schwartz