Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Vanessa Beeley, Andy Worthington September 23rd, 2021

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded September 18th and 19th, 2021

America’s military admitted this week, all Afghans killed in a drone bombing it carried out in Kabul last month were civilians. The admission followed three weeks of Pentagon insistence those killed were ISIS-K terrorists, and denials of contrary reports from the scene. In a statement issued September 17th, congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff expressed regret for those killed in what he characterized a “mistake with horrific consequences“, and offered his prayers for the dead and their surviving relatives. Schiff also expressed concern about the “accuracy and completeness of public statements made in the immediate aftermath of the strike” by the Department of Defense.

General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of United States Central Command and man answerable for the massacre, too expressed his “profound condolences to the family and friends” and reassures his government is “exploring the possibility of ex gratia payments“. Left unexplained by the general, and unquestioned by Chairman Schiff, was just why America was continuing its attacks against the country it has reportedly withdrawn from.

But then the same could be asked about Syria.

Vanessa Beeley is an award-winning independent journalist and photographer who has worked extensively throughout the Middle East; covering the U.S./NATO wars from where their bombs land in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. She’s also reported the ongoing humanitarian disaster of Yemen since 2015. Her accolades include a Serena Shim Award for uncompromising integrity in journalism, finalist for the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, and was named one of Britain’s “most respected journalists” in 2018. She currently calls Damascus home.

Vanessa Beeley in the first half.

And; while Adam Schiff is bending a figurative knee for the “victims and their families” of America’s most recent “mistake” in Afghanistan, perhaps he could spare a prayer for the men rounded up, shipped off, and remaining still in the U.S.A.’s prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba?

Andy Worthington is an English journalist, activist, author, photo-historian, filmmaker, musician, song-writer and principle of The Four Fathers band. He is too co-founder of both the ongoing Close Guantánamo campaign and successfully completed We Stand With Shaker campaign. Worthington’s book titles include: ‘The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison’, ‘Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion’, and ‘The Battle of the Beanfield’.

His articles appear at his website, AndyWorthington.co.uk, where he’s inviting participants for 2022’s Close Guantanamo effort.

Andy Worthington and sending the prisoners of the forever war home in the second half.

But first, Vanessa Beeley and America’s secret second front in Syria.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, J.B. MacKinnon, Eva Bartlett June 17, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded June 10th and 12th, 2021

After the shock, fear, and uncertainty had subsided somewhat, benefits of the pandemic soon became apparent. Who didn’t marvel in those early days at the serene stillness; the peace and quietude settling over the cites like a muffling snowfall; surprising commuters and putting a halt to our frantic everyday? And didn’t the stars seem closer; the air fresher? And, wasn’t there too an unaccustomed moment to hear ones thoughts; to take time to think?

Bestselling, award-winning Canadian author J.B. MacKinnon’s first book, ‘The 100-Mile Diet’, (co-written with Alisa Smith) was an international sensation, catalyzing the locavore movement. He followed that with ‘The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be’, the poignant examination of Nature’s past, the parlous anthropocene present, and our possible futures. His latest is ‘The Day the World Stops Shopping‘ a book he says began as a thought experiment and work of “imaginative reporting” that World events caught up with.

J.B. MacKinnon in the first half.

And; the result of last month’s Syrian presidential election was hardly surprising. The besieged country’s leader Bashar al-Assad won by a margin poll-watching cliches like “landslide victory” can’t do justice. Equally unsurprising was the Western press and “World Community” reaction to that victory.

Eva Bartlett is an independent Canadian journalist and activist who has lived in and reported extensively from Syria over the last decade. She’s been one of the few Western witnesses to the destruction of war from where the missiles and bombs land, and one of even fewer to fix properly the blame on those responsible for it. Eva was in Syria again witnessing both the reelection of Assad, and widespread celebration of national survival.

Eva Bartlett and Syria, still standing after a decade of war in the second half.

But first, J.B. MacKinnon and stopping what we must, and can’t, stop: Shopping.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: https://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Mark Taliano, Leslie Robinson, Jeremy Brind April 8, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded April 5th, 2021

March marks the 10th anniversary of the regime-change war against Syria. Following the well-worn pattern, sanctions preceded military action, as animus against the country was stoked through the usual acceptable media sources. The script parroted by those press outlets changed little from Afghanistan and Iraq, to Libya then Syria; the destruction of these societies was all for peace and betterment of the people. But where those others fell, Syria remained standing. And so, the war goes on.

Mark Taliano is a retired teacher whose next career as researcher and investigative reporter led him to travel to Syria to discover for himself the truth behind the brutal war against the population there. The result of his 2016 dispatches from the country is the book, Voices from Syria, recently revised and reissued in a second edition.

Mark Taliano in the first half.

And; terror isn’t always borne of bombs falling from the sky. There is too the existential fear of losing ones home due to a dysfunctional economic system. Call it a War on Poor. Right now, millions of Canadians live with the Damaclean prospect of failing to make rent or mortgage payments, or just being dispossessed by a landlord enticed into cashing out of the market by sky high property prices.

Leslie Robinson and Jeremy Brind are volunteer tenant organizers with VTAG, the Victoria Tenant Action Group, “a membership-based organization committed to transforming the housing system and ensuring access to housing for all”.

Leslie Robinson and Jeremy Brind and tenant issues from the municipal, provincial, and federal levels in the second half.

But first, Mark Taliano and refuting the persisting “mainstream” media narrative on embattled Syria.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: https://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com