Pushback with Aaron Mate

International legal expert and ex-UN Office of Human Rights Commissioner whistleblower Craig Mokhiber joins the Grayzone's Aaron Mate and Max Blumenthal to discuss the ICJ's landmark ruling ordering Israel to prevent genocide by its forces in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Norman Finkelstein, historian and scholar, joins Aaron Maté for a live discussion about Israel's war on Gaza, the meaning of Hamas' atrocities, the question of genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and U.S. complicity. Recorded live in NYC on Nov. 7th, 2023.

A new report offers the most thorough exposé to date of the OPCW’s Syria cover-up scandal, in which the world’s top chemical watchdog manipulated an investigation to baselessly accuse Syria of a chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma. In April 2018, after dozens of dead victims were filmed at the scene, the US, UK, and France alleged that the Syrian government had dropped gas cylinders on Douma and launched airstrikes in purported retaliation. But leaks from inside the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons show that international inspectors found no evidence of a chemical attack, raising the possibility that the incident was staged by the insurgents who controlled Douma at the time. The OPCW team’s findings were suppressed and replaced with unsupported conclusions that aligned with the US-led narrative. When two veteran OPCW inspectors who deployed to Syria for the probe challenged the manipulation, they were silenced and later publicly defamed. The report is authored by the Berlin Group 21, which is comprised of founding OPCW Director General Jose Bustani, former senior UN official Hans Von Sponeck, Princeton law professor Richard Falk, and academic Piers Robinson of the Organization for Propaganda Studies. Its release follows the Brazilian government's recent public shift in support of accountability over the OPCW's cover-up scandal. The report was submitted to members of the European Parliament as a contribution to discussions around the OPCW. Aaron Maté speaks to Von Sponeck and Robinson about their new report, as well as the ongoing effort to challenge the OPCW's Douma deception and seek justice for the Douma victims. Guests: Hans von Sponeck and Piers Robinson. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

John Mearsheimer, the eminent political scientist who has warned for years that NATO's Ukraine policy would lead to disaster, joins Aaron Maté to assess the state of the Ukraine proxy war and the dangers ahead. Guest: John Mearsheimer. R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Former Ukrainian government official and diplomat Andrii Telizhenko joins Aaron Maté to discuss how, in his view, powerful US figures including Joe Biden have used Ukraine for personal corruption and the geopolitical aim of bleeding Russia -- all to the detriment of Ukrainians. Telizhenko worked for the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office in Kyiv before moving to Ukraine's US Embassy in 2015. He went on to work for Blue Star Strategies, a Democrat-run lobbying firm that represented Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that appointed Biden’s son Hunter to a lucrative board seat. Telizhenko, who cooperated with Rudy Giuliani's effort to dig up information about the Bidens' alleged corruption in Ukraine, has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for "having directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign influence in a United States election." Guest: Andrii Telizhenko. Political consultant who was previously a Ukrainian government official and diplomat. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

In closing remarks at a United Nations meeting, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone notes that no one disputes the fact that a probe by the Organisation For the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) of an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria was censored. Yet powerful states, including the US and UK, oppose any effort to address the suppression, including hearing from dissenting inspectors on the OPCW's Douma team. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

At a United Nations meeting that addressed a Syria cover-up scandal at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Aaron Maté of The Grayzone responds to a challenge from British diplomat Thomas Phipps. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

In a geopolitical shift, Brazil has come out in favor of accountability for the OPCW's Syria cover-up scandal. At a meeting of UN Security Council members on March 23rd, Brazil criticized the OCW's “poor” handling of the issue and rebuked the UK and other states for blocking the testimony of veteran Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, the OPCW’s first Director General. In response to remarks from The Grayzone's Aaron Maté, Ambassador João Genésio de Almeida Filho, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil, said: "You are clear, you are logical, and you come here with data." The Ambassador then asked Maté for suggestions on how to address the OPCW's Douma controversy. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Links: Video: "Aaron Mate at UN: OPCW cover-up denies justice to Douma victims" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1BCtPgyxY Aaron Mate: "Burying key evidence, new OPCW report covers up Douma’s unsolved deaths" https://thegrayzone.com/2023/03/27/burying-key-evidence-new-opcw-report-covers-up-doumas-unsolved-deaths/ Aaron Mate: "In Douma cover-up, OPCW’s new smoking gun backfires" https://thegrayzone.com/2023/02/03/opcw-smoking-gun-backfires/

Speaking to the United Nations Security Council, Aaron Maté of The Grayzone calls out the OPCW's ongoing cover-up of its investigation into the alleged April 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria. Aaron also debunks the latest efforts by the OPCW, in a new report put out by the watchdog's Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), to whitewash the scandal. Audio: Aaron Maté's opening remarks to UN Security Council members, March 24 2023. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Seymour Hersh joins Aaron Maté to discuss his report on how the Biden administration bombed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which blew up not only a vital Russian-German infrastructure project but a key off-ramp to peace in Ukraine. Guest: Seymour Hersh. Pulitzer-winning journalist who writes at https://seymourhersh.substack.com/. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

In a new four-part series for the Columbia Journalism Review, veteran journalist Jeff Gerth documents US media's journalistic malpractice in covering Russiagate. Guest: Jeff Gerth, journalist who spent three decades as an investigative reporter at the New York Times, where he won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize. His new four-part series about US media’s Russiagate coverage in the “Columbia Journalism Review” is called “The press versus the president.” Read “The press versus the president" by Jeff Gerth https://www.cjr.org/special_report/trumped-up-press-versus-president-part-1.php Aaron Maté's new article on the NYT and Durham investigation: https://mate.substack.com/p/unchastened-by-russiagate-the-ny Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Author and scholar Norman Finkelstein on how the Left undermines class politics from within; the legacy of Barack Obama; censorious culture within US academia and his new book, “I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It." Guest: Norman Finkelstein. Author and scholar whose new book is “I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It." https://www.sublationmedia.com/product-page/i-ll-burn-that-bridge-when-i-get-to-it-print-edition https://www.normanfinkelstein.com/ Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Matt Taibbi joins The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté to discuss his reporting on internal Twitter files exposing US government pressure on the social media giant to validate Russiagate propaganda — and censor dissenting voices. Guest: Matt Taibbi, https://taibbi.substack.com/. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Scholar Nicolai Petro discusses the overlooked influence of Ukraine's far-right nationalist movement and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent admission that the Minsk Accords -- the international formula for ending the post-2014 Donbas civil war -- "was an attempt to give Ukraine time" to prepare for a conflict with Russia, rather than make peace. Petro is the author of the new book, "The Tragedy of Ukraine." Guest: Nicolai Petro. Professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island, and author of the new book: "The Tragedy of Ukraine: What Classical Greek Tragedy Can Teach Us About Conflict Resolution." Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

After a 12-day visit, UN expert Alena Douhan calls for the lifting of US-led sanctions on Syria, where 90% of the population lives below the poverty line, 12 million grapple with food insecurity, millions are internally displaced, and electricity is scarce. The impact of the sanctions are compounded by a US military occupation of areas containing Syria's oil and wheat. Guest: Alena Douhan. UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

After accusing Russia of firing missiles into Poland -- and triggering calls from Ukraine for direct NATO military intervention -- US officials are now acknowledging that Ukrainian air defenses were likely responsible. Douglas Macgregor, a retired Army Colonel and former senior Pentagon adviser, says the Poland scare underscores why the US top military officer, Gen. Mark Milley, has split from White House bureaucrats to call for diplomacy with Russia in order to end the Ukraine war. Guest: Douglas Macgregor. Retired US Army Colonel and former Pentagon senior advisor. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

As Russia escalates attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and the Ukrainian attack on the Kerch bridge, diplomacy is nowhere to be found. Scholar and author Richard Sakwa on the latest in the Ukraine crisis. "The human losses are appalling," Sakwa says. "And yet, the language of peace cannot find an adequate expression." Guest: Richard Sakwa. Emeritus Professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent. His books include “Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands” and his latest, “Deception: Russiagate and the New Cold War.” Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate

Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Dennis Kucinich, who led Congressional opposition to the Iraq war, reacts to the Congressional Progressive Caucus retracting a letter calling for diplomacy with Russia. "If we don't believe in diplomacy," Kucinich asks, "then where do we go as a country?". Guest: Dennis Kucinich. Former Congressmember (D-Ohio) and former Mayor of Cleveland.

Jeffrey Sachs joins The Grayzone's Aaron Maté and Max Blumenthal to discuss escalating nuclear rhetoric in Ukraine proxy war, the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines, and why a diplomatic off-ramp is more urgent than ever. Sachs also addresses the investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Guest: Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has also served as chair of the Lancet COVID-19 commission. Support Pushback: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Aaron Mate on Substack: https://mate.substack.com/

Former Swiss intelligence officer and NATO adviser Jacques Baud on the next phase of the Russia-Ukraine war and new allegations that the US and UK undermined a peace deal that could have ended it. The West's aim "is not the victory of Ukraine, It's the defeat of Russia," Baud says. "The problem is that nobody cares about Ukraine. We have just instrumentalized Ukraine for the purpose of US strategic interests -- not even European interests." Guest: Jacques Baud. Former intelligence officer with the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service who has served in a number of senior security and advisory positions at NATO, the United Nations, and with the Swiss military. Corrections: In his Sept. 21 speech, Putin did not make an explicit threat to use nuclear weapons. He vowed to "make use of all weapon systems available to us," in the event of "a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people." On nuclear weapons, the US did not have a "No First Use" policy. On the 2020 campaign trail, Joe Biden said that he supported the idea of "No First Use." He abandoned that in his presidential nuclear posture; but that was reversing his campaign stance, not official US policy.