CovertAction Bulletin

Trump, Netanyahu Threaten Gaza

After Hamas submitted a two-page report documenting multiple violations of the tense ceasefire in place since January 19, and said it would on its end delay the release of some hostages until the issues are resolved, the Israeli government is now ramping up for another phase of all-out war against the Palestinian people. Benjamin Netanyahu threatened that if all Israeli hostages are not released by Saturday the 15th, he would “let all hell break loose.”

The developments also come days after Donald Trump claims that there is no right of return for Palestinians, who have been fighting for their homeland since even before the Nakba, or catastrophe, in 1948. He boasted of creating a “riviera of the Middle East” in Gaza, along with American and Israeli real estate developers. Some versions of the proposed plan being pushed by hardcore Zionists would force Gazans in particular to the island of Soctra, southwest of Yemen, eerily reminiscent of the Nazi plans to deport German Jews to Madagascar drawn up by Adolf Eichmann in 1940.

As imperialism brings the world closer to regional and possibly global conflict once again, we’re going to get into what’s happening in the Middle East, the White House and beyond.

USAID Should Be Shut Down - For Real

Over the weekend and early into this week, Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, effectively shut down the US Agency for International Development on a temporary basis. Musk, Donald Trump and their lackeys attacked USAID because they claim it’s a “viper’s nest of radical-left [m]arxists who hate America,” to quote a Musk post on X, saying it’s a corrupt organization that promotes so-called DEI across the world and is used to waste money.

But behind the scenes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now the Acting Director of USAID, which is to be reconstituted under his State Department. Rubio, a fierce hawk when it comes to Cuba, Venezuela, China and beyond, will now be in charge of whatever comes up from the rubble.

USAID absolutely should be shut down, for real and for good, not just moved from one spot on the government org chart to another. It’s an arm of US soft power, often operating as a front for funding counter-revolutionary activity under the guise of aid or democracy programs.

LA Fires: Natural Disaster Made Worse By Capitalism

After getting rain over the weekend, three of the main fires devastating the Los Angeles area are nearly 100% contained, meaning that firefighters have been able to create barriers around the fires. But the Palisades Fire, the Eaton fire and the Hughes fire continue to burn a combined nearly 48,000 acres of land. And to the south, just a few miles north of Tijuana Mexico, the Border 2 Fire has burned over 6,600 acres and is only 74% contained.

More than two dozen people have been killed as a result of the fires since they started in early January. Over 200,000 have been forced to evacuate, and tens of thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed.

Rachel was in Los Angeles recently reporting on the fires, their causes, and the response of both the government and the people on the ground. While wildfires are often covered as only natural disasters and the victims of the fires are portrayed as helpless figures, the reality is much more damning for the capitalist system that refuses to take public safety, climate change and disaster recovery for working people seriously. 

Trump Inauguration Met With Nationwide Protest

Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday was met with protests around the country. As he immediately launched attacks on immigrants, the environment, LGBTQ people, labor and beyond, people took to the streets in opposition, pledging to continue organizing to defend the oppressed against the onslaught of attacks from Trump and the billionaires.

On this episode, we get into some of the many executive orders that Trump put out on his first day in office. We also analyze the foreign leaders he did - and didn’t - invite to his inauguration, highlighting the presence of the European far right in the form of parties like the German AfD. And we talk about the protests connecting struggles from coast to coast and across the world.

Whistleblowers And Activists Speak: What Can We Expect from Intelligence Agencies Under Trump?

On January 13th, CovertAction Magazine held a webinar featuring whistleblowers and activists who formerly have served in various U.S intelligence agencies to discuss their perspectives on what to expect from those agencies and beyond under Donald Trump. On today’s show, we bring you part of the webinar, which featured John Kiriakou, Coleen Rowley, Ray McGovern and Larry Johnson, and was moderated by Jeremy Kuzmarov.

To watch the full panel, including Kuzmarov’s introduction, Johnson’s presentation and the Q&A we couldn’t fit on an episode, visit CovertAction Magazine on YouTube.

The Media’s Real Agenda On The Alleged ISIS Attack

Early on New Year’s Day, a truck drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, resulting in dozens of injuries and at least 14 deaths. The alleged attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a shootout with police. Immediately, the media and government seized on supposed and self-described connections with ISIS with no critical thought towards what they’re calling a terrorist attack.

On this episode, we interrogate who benefits from this framing, what else is behind this story and how it’s being used by the system to prop up the war drive as well as Islamophobia and anti-immigrant hate in the context of the Biden-Trump transition and beyond. We’re joined for the conversation by Syed, a human rights activist and local organizer with Al-Awda in Houston.

Deny, Delay, Depose: The Tragedy of Health Insurance in the U.S.

When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on December 4th in New York, the casings of the bullets used to kill him had “deny”, “delay” and “depose” written on them. These so-called “three Ds” of the insurance industry describe how companies go out of their way to get out of paying claims.

Even before a suspect was identified and arrested, popular sentiment was broadly with the shooter. The health insurance industry in the United States is so hated that people sympathized with the motives they ascribed to the shooter. Defying the traditional left-right political poles, the real division came through: working-class people all over the political spectrum who have experience with the health insurance industry could at least understand why someone would commit this act.

To look more at what the shooting tells us about society, we’re joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue on WPFW radio.

South Korea Fights Back Martial Law

Calls for the resignation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have rung out from civil society and beyond after Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) called for strikes until Yoon steps down, and groups under and beyond that organization are heeding the call.

Yoon’s brief and apparently sudden declaration of martial law caused many to protest outside of the National Assembly chanting “Abolish Martial Law! Down with Dictatorship!” The members of that body who were able to get into the building without being blocked by troops voted unanimously against the decree, with the chair declaring it to be “invalid” after their vote.

Yoon claimed that the measure was necessary “as an act of national resolve against the anti-state forces” and that he would target “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” Now, an arrest warrant has been filed against the former Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, alleging that he collaborated with Yoon and intended to cause an insurrection.

To talk about this still-developing story and help us understand the history, Yoon’s relationship with the U.S., what these events mean for popular movements in South Korea and the prospects for Korean reunification, we’re joined by Jia Hong, a member of Nodutdol. Learn more about Nodutdol’s US Out of Korea campaign here.

Syria: A History of Proxy Wars & US Imperialism

At the end of November, groups aligned with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or the “Levant Liberation Committee” and previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, launched significant attacks on the Syrian government in the Idlib and Aleppo regions, taking part of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Arab Army has mobilized to push back against HTS.

The offensive of course comes within days of the ceasefire in Lebanon that we discussed in our last episode, but also after more than a decade of US-backed insurgent groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government. Syria has long been a target of attempted coups, assassination attempts, regime change operations, sanctions and war. This legacy and the current Western-backed attempts to overthrow the Syrian government show us why there is a critical need for anti-imperialist politics in the anti-war movement in the United States.

To dive into this history and what's happening today, we’re joined by Taylor Gol, an anti-war organizer who is originally from Türkiye.

What does the Lebanon ceasefire mean?

On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the cabinet and then with a pre-recorded video addressed the Israeli public, expressing his support for the deal. But in the leadup to the security cabinet vote, and while Netanyahu was making his case in support of the deal, Israel has been engaging in some of its heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since mid-September. On Monday the 26th, attacks killed 55 people and injured 160 in Lebanon. And on Tuesday, the IDF launched an intense blitz of 20 bombings in just 2 minutes, then later in the day bombed an apartment building in Hamra, a commercial area of Beirut.

Over 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon and nearly 16,000 wounded by the IDF since October 7, 2023.

In making his public case for the ceasefire, which is a much-needed development to give reprieve to the people of Southern Lebanon, Netanyahu gave three reasons: First, to “focus on the Iranian threat.” Second, to “give our forces a breather and replenish stocks,” referring to the IDF. And third, to “separate the fronts” in the war.

To make sense of these breaking developments and put them into an appropriate historical context, we’re joined by Richard Becker. He’s an anti-imperialist activist and organizer and the author of Palestine, Israel and the US Empire, which you can find at 1804 Books.