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Middle East Update with Phyllis Bennis on Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Israel, Turkey, Iraq and more…..Will Durst on Obama “The Concessionaire”

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, returns with a detailed recap of recent events in the Middle East and America’s wars;  Will Durst compares Obama’s concessions in the deficit struggle with the great cave-ins of recent history, including the one at the coal mine in Chile last year.  Bennis returns to the show at the behest of listener Desmond Ponero, and we talk about the deadly helicopter shoot-down in Afghanistan, the staggering cost of the war, wider exposure of the night raids that Anand Gopal first reported here and the dual messages Obama sends:  “we’re leaving” (to Americans) and “we’re staying” (to Afghans).  We talk about Israel, the #1 vacation destination for members of Congress this year–more than 70 are taking free trips from an AIPAC affiliate, including some major Democrats.  We talk about Syria’s deadly crackdown and contrast US response with Libya, and Israel’s interest in keeping Assad in power.  Bennis was in Turkey recently, and offers interesting views of the recent resignation of top generals as well as Turkey’s role in blocking the Gaza flotilla this summer.

At about 1:02 into the podcast, Will Durst suddenly appears with a dead-on rant about Barack Obama’s recent performance.