Episode 93: Syria II

We are joined by investigative reporter Matthew Petti to talk about the recent alleged oil deal in Northern Syria, different factions in the State Department, Washington's possible desire for militiafication in the North, and what the future might portend.----------On the Trump/Pompeo team: nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/state-department-seeks-maximum-pressure-iran-syria-116666On the history of rebels and Brett McGurk: nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/made-america-how-us-government-paid-turkeys-war-syria-94401On the pencil incident: nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/exclusive-inside-state-departments-meltdown-kurds-90241On the CIA analyst talking about an Arab SDF: nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/inside-iran-hawks-hijacking-trumps-syria-withdrawal-plan-90041On the Bolton book the multicolored map: nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/exclusive-john-bolton-tells-how-iran-hawks-set-trump%E2%80%99s-syrian-kurdish-disaster-163062On the oil and Assad: https://reason.com/2019/12/03/the-madcap-scheme-to-take-syrias-oil/On Delta Crescent: nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/did-mike-pompeo-mislead-congress-about-syria%E2%80%99s-oil-166158On Russia and the oil: nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/us-general-were-talking-russia-about-syrias-oil-166762On the peace talks: nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/syria%E2%80%99s-kurds-we-were-cut-out-syrian-peace-negotiations-167396plus other recommended readingThe cursed photo of Rayburn and some other details on the oil by Zack Kopplin: newrepublic.com/article/158841/pompeo-trump-steal-oil-kurds-syria-iraqOn the reason for being in Tanf: al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/06/us-tanf-base-syria-john-bolton-trump-troops.htmlOn the corruption at Tanf: thedefensepost.com/2020/04/16/syria-rebels-defect-maghawir-al-thawra/On Mazloum’s leaked message to US leaders: cnn.com/2019/10/12/politics/us-syria-meeting-doc/index.html