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Radio War Nerd EP #132 — Socotra Island, Yemen & the U.A.E. Empire (Patreon)

Published:
2018-05-10 16:10:59
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Guest: Bethan McKernan, journalist (The Independent)

Recorded May 6, 2018

The War Nerd talks to Beirut-based journalist Bethan McKernan about her brilliant reporting on the emerging United Arab Emirates stealth-empire stretching from the Indian Ocean up the Red Sea, and her venture into one of the UAE empire's major new points: Socotra Island, nominally part of Yemen, and home to some of the weirdest alien fauna in the world. . . .

At 1:14:55  The War Nerd & Ames look at the latest war news: Green Berets helping Saudis against Yemen Houthi rebels . . . War Nerd rightly guessed it was a drone that killed Houthi president Sadad . . . New York Times  outraged over Trump's continuation of Obama's Yemen war . . . AP long-form article on Yemen famine, but focuses on non-Houthi region . . . Morocco blames age-old West Sahara on Iran, to Gulf States' glee . . . Trump ripping up Iran deal . . . Trump cuts funding for White Helmets . . . Pentagon arms & "Arab Army" to replace SDF? . . . Head of OPCW blows credibility on Skripal poisoning, changes its story, self-fact-checks . . . OPCW has lowered its forensics standards to determine chemical weapons attacks in Syria . . . Billionaire Christopher Chandler, whose Legatum Institute launched the "Russian disinformation" panic in 2014, now accused of being a Russian intelligence agent himself . . . 

Read Bethan McKernan at The Independent and follow Bethan on Twitter

Maps:

* Map of Socotra Island

* Socotra Island's famous dragon's blood trees

* Map of United Arab Emirates 

* Map of Gulf region 

Total time: 2:19:20

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here 

Files

Comments

Paul Vd

My unpopular opinion is that the Houthies et al have to consider making a deal. They can't take on the Whabbi axis + the US. They can't just keep going like this.

Gregory Martin

With the talk of the old sultante still having supporters is there any chance that the emarati try to restore the sultan and try to use him as a puppet ruler? That seems like a way to unite the pro-UAE faction with the faction that is still nostalgic for the sultanate and it seems like a good PR move to put a Socotran face on the government they are setting up there rather than just having Abu Dhabi trying to control the island directly.

HT Dong

russian intelligence whipping up a frenzied mania about russian intelligence seems to make more sense (as far as the “fomenting chaos” theory of their objectives goes) than hacking the blogs of liberal pundits to be about 25% more homophobic than previously known so it’s got that going for it

Paul Vd

How bad would an occupied govt be ? Make a deal. Make a new long term plan. This is just fuct. Houthies don't have external support. Not Russia. Barely Iran

Karl Knight

I love left wing podcasts as much as the next guy, but Radio War Nerd is a grade above the rest. This episode demonstrates that fact. Much appreciated. Keep it up!

mark

What a great guest and what an awesome episode! Really enjoyed that. John regarding the conflict in western Sahara, there's also an ethnic dimension to it. The Moroccan royals are Arabs descendants of the prophet, while the Sahrawis are all Berbers. Green is the color of the flags of the early Islamic conquests. Love your show. Keep em coming.

Borje

How often does the newsletter get sent out? I subscribed on the first of this month but haven't been able to find an RSS link from the emails to use with a podcast app. Also, great content, keep it up!

Curli Linds G

Why would the Saudis be interested in making a deal? They don’t seem willing to settle for anything less than unconditional surrender

radiowarnerd

Hi Ryan, Please send an email to radiowarnerd@gmail.com and I'll send it to you today. The newsletters should be weekly, but I have been behind--planning to send them more regularly from now on.

Mark Morales

There's a Russian-run and staffed hospital on Socotra, a relic of the Soviet support for South Yemen. That's probably where the Russians and maybe where the Tajik were working.