Trump’s Comments Enrage Iraqis: What’s the Real Role of US Troops?

Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran.
President Trump caused consternation in Baghdad over the weekend when he said that he may leave US troops in Iraq to “watch” Iran. Those US troops had been in Iraq fighting ISIS. The problem is that the president never asked the Iraqi government’s permission to leave those troops, and now there is legislation in the Iraqi parliament to evict US troops from the country.
Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show.
Venezuelans are being forced to consider the possibility of civil war as major European Union countries today recognized Juan Guaidó as president and huge street mobilizations both in favor of and opposed to the government of President Nicolás Maduro took place. Brian and John speak with Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com.
Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard formally announced her candidacy for president on Saturday. Her campaign is off to a rough start because of internal dissent, but her problem may be bigger than that. Is there room for an anti-war Democrat in the presidential race? Garland Nixon, the cohost of Sputnik News’s Fault Lines, on air every day between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m. eastern time, who was on the ground covering the campaign announcement this weekend, joins the show.
Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Today Bill discusses education in Venezuela, along with several teacher strikes in the US. Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian and John.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to call for a national referendum to reduce the size of government in an effort to stem increasingly large yellow vest protests across the country. That would take place in May, at the same time as elections for the European Parliament. At the same time, however, Macron has authorized police to fire rubber bullets at unarmed protestors, causing serious injuries and inflaming still more would-be protestors. Yellow vest leaders have called an assembly of assemblies, that is, Yellow Vest leaders from around the country, to discuss next steps. Gilbert Mercier, editor in chief of News Junkie Post and the author of “The Orwellian Empire,” joins the show.
The truce in the US trade war with China ends on March 2, when additional sanctions will go into effect absent a new trade agreement. President Trump says that a “great deal” is in the works, but he may have to fight anti-China hawks in his own cabinet to come to such an agreement. Brian and John speak with Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.