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Radio War Nerd EP #163 — Syria War Withdrawal, Betraying Kurds (Again) + 2018 In Review (Patreon)

Published:
2018-12-31 23:45:25
Edited:
2018-12-31 23:46:56
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

Recorded: December 29, 2018

We always knew the betrayal would come, and here it is: Trump announces US withdrawal from Syria war, and DC neocon crocodile tears started flowing for Rojava Kurds, and blue state liberals are now the outraged militarists they once pretended at least to oppose . . . We also review Michael Weiss's weird twitter meltdown, described by Ames as a "a neocon Finnegans Wake" . . . A weird ending to a very weird & nasty year . . . 

At 1:40:00 the Nerd & Ames look back at a great year in War Nerd episodes . . . 

Books cited: "A Brutal Friendship" by Said Aburish; "Poisoning The Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington's Scandal Culture" by Mark Feldstein; "Our Friends from Frolix 8" by Philip K. Dick.

Total time: 2:37:04

Direct link to this episode's mp3 here 

Thank you to all of our subscribers for making 2018 an amazing year of RWN episodes!(Also, special thanks to Anastasia Ames for this episode's artwork, on a 10-minute panicked deadline no less.)

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Comments

Animals in Motion

Wow, "Network boring"?!?! Might be THE most problematic thing you guys have ever said on this podcast.

Mohamed Dalmar

The head of “integrity initiative” Simon Bracey lane gave a lecture about information war to an IT company a couple weeks ago that got millions from the army and navy. Alexander Reid ross the red/brown conspiracy guy was speaking there too. <a href="https://youtu.be/wb-jDLju2O8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/wb-jDLju2O8</a> The link to the company’s website is in the description

Matthew C

The ideo of the war nerd playing Battlefield 1 really makes me laugh. But really though, you guys should look into strategy games instead, especially Paradox Games. I reccomend you google Crusader Kings 2 or Europa Universalis IV. Those are games that scare most people with their scope, but I imagine that you guys would get a lot out of games that dedicate so much of their time to recreating geopolitics of the world over the course of history. Personally, I always enjoyed trying to take a lowly duke up from the british isles or western france, and try and work my way up the ranks by murder and marriage, only to convert to a heresy, islam, or if I can, one of the indian religions, and then watch the absolute hell break out as the papacy and all the the surrounding kings try and pull enough troops from the levant/killing each other to deal with my jainish horde

mark

Not trying to be mean but you guys look at ypg from a corny western leftist daydreamer angle. It's not like that. Syrians view the ypg as basically a secessionist armed group who allowed a hostile force to occupy part of the country. Case in point, they're having to fight an uprising of the Arab tribes and some other elements at the moment in and around raqqa. Whether they had options or not at the start of the war is debatable. Also, abdulkareem kassem wasn't a kurd. He was a pure baghdadi as far as I know.

A Sentient Katamari of Bad Life Decisions

Battlefield 5 was actually made right after Battlefield 1. Don't ask me what was going through the marketing department's mind, but that's how it is. Also, the PS4 has built in streaming! You just need to make a Twitch or YouTube account and connect it. You might need a headset mic, but I think the PS4 has one built in.

A Sentient Katamari of Bad Life Decisions

I also second the Crusader Kings 2 recommendation. It's entirely about making political and war decisions, so what could work is if both of you could play, with one controlling and the other following the stream and making suggestions. Likewise, I'd also suggest Hearts of Iron 4. It's an extremely detailed WW2 sim, and though I'm sure you're sick of endless normandy's, it doesn't have to be like that. For example, the most recent expansion is centered around China. All of it, letting you play as any of the warlords and simulating the political situation between them all. As for why I'd recommend the game overall though would be how it really hammers home how massive a logistical nightmare modern war is. An example would be... rubber. You need it. Where are you going to get it? If you want it from Thailand, you'll have to make sure the political situation there is in your favor. By force or subterfuge. And then there's actually acquiring it. You'll need screening ships to defend your convoys. Which require steel. Where are you going to get it? You can see where I'm going now, heh.

Avery

I think Mark and John are looking at YPG from a Kurdish angle, rather than the angle that the Arab Syrians see the Kurds, which was never going to be too favorable regardless of their military choices. Also, thank you Mark for linking directly to the Said Aburish book you were talking about

Mark Ames

An actual Fed, not even hiding it. What a cretin.

Mohamed Dalmar

Yea and sadly some people on the left listen to this guy, especially all the pro Syrian “rebel” left wing people after calling Max Blumenthal and Rania Khalek fascists or duginist or whatever. He’s even written for jacobin before.

Jason Thompson

If you're gonna hold your noses and cover Ancient Rome, I want to hear you cover Alexander and the Hellenistic Era!! I have to confess I can't get enough of that time period. Please cover it someday even if it's just to diss Alexander and Oliver Stone and the Alexander Cult!! I can't wait to hear some really good Alexander disses (and whatever else comes to mind)

Mark Ames

The Atlantic Council Left. What's not to love about the 21st C.

mt

what is your take on this? "there’s always a natural proportion – a sort of ‘divine’ or ‘golden ratio’ between the three strategic powers in Eurasia: Europe, Central Asia and China. Cue to a fast tour of the rise and fall of empires, with “history showing how in the main zone of the continent – between 30 and 60 degrees of north[ern] latitude – there can be only 2.5 strategic forces.” Which means one of the three major spaces always becomes fragmented. <a href="http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-scholar-offers-insight-into-beijings-strategic-mindset/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-scholar-offers-insight-into-beijings-strategic-mindset/</a>

Jimothy Realname

Verdun is way better than Battlefield 1, and even Verdun is not good enough. Greatest shooter game of all time was Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45

Marekedo (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-07 15:00 Puzzled why there's never been any discussion of the actual pre-war history of the PYD and the Ba'athist state in Syria. This is too important to neglect at this point as it could point to how reconciliation between the two could be achieved. Both Mark and John seem to just fall back on the assumption that the Syrian state is pathologically hostile to Kurds. But did not Hafez Assad cultivate the PKK? Would it even still be around today without decades of Ba'athist sponsorship and offer of refuge? As far as I understand the PYD in particular is what it is today in no small part because of the Assads, and its relative neutrality as well capacity to defend Kurdish communities throughout the war stems from this pre-war arrangement. Maybe there's a potential guest who can clarify this. A cursory history of the PKK could probably help resolve this misdirection.
2019-01-06 08:23

Avery

They included enough history to remind us that the Kurds have been on the roller coaster of US backing before, which is more than the pro-jihadist commentators I saw talking about this, and therefore deep enough to be satisfying to me. Based on what I know about the history of Assad dynasty's treatment of Kurds, I think they have ample reason to be wary of Bashar and his cronies, but I agree Mark and John could have looked into this a little more.

John Morrissey

I think the 30 years war text Dick referenced in The Transmigration of Timothy Archer was Wallenstein by Schiller

Jason Thompson

Before I forget my 2019 wishlist, I also hope you cover Zanzibar!!

radiowarnerd

That's a great idea. That was the site of one of the most bizarre island genocides in history, when a strange Pan-African coalition massacred the Arab population. We should definitely cover that, and the hundreds of years of history before it.

radiowarnerd

Yes, that was it. I was so impressed with PKD's novel that I tried to read it(in translation), but it was a little slow and I didn't get far enough to see the occult obsession PKD mentions.

radiowarnerd

This is a valid point. I'm well aware of it. The embarrassing truth is that most of the hostile pressure, at least in English-language media, comes from pro-jihadi pundits funded, directly or otherwise, by US, Saudi, Turkish, Israeli or British intelligence. We've been called Assadists so many times that we've probably bent too far backwards to emphasise that we're not beholden to 'The Regime'.

radiowarnerd

I've said before that the SDF's decision to make a deal with 'Assad' makes perfect sense and is obviously preferable to dealing with the genocidal Turkish state. But yes, we should do more about pre-war PYD/SAA relations. If you have a guest in mind, please tell us.

radiowarnerd

off-hand, I don't really understand this. It seems like quite a while since Central Asia was a major power on that scale.

radiowarnerd

Hell yes! That stuff is way more interesting than most Roman stuff.

radiowarnerd

Happy to oblige except I don't know what that is. Let me consult our technology department...

Billy Callahan

as referred to by mark to stream Battlefield One. the chapo trap house guys do a gaming stream, maybe they could help!

Benjamin Glover

the idea of Ames and Dolan streaming games on Twitch sounds amazing.