Watch: Jimmy Kimmel's Fake Ad Hilariously Points out Cruz and Trump Are One and the Same | Alternet

When both of your options are awful, it can be hard to find the silver lining...
http://www.alternet.org/media/watch-jimmy-kimmels-fake-ad-hilariously-points-out-cruz-and-trump-are-one-and-same

Donald Trump says Iran military will have nuclear weapons as soon as enrichment limits expire

Donald Trump: "When those restrictions expire (in the Iran nuclear deal), Iran will have an industrial-size military nuclear capability ready to go."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/24/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-iran-military-will-have-nuclear/

Censorship in the Islamic World, Through the Eyes of Journalist Jessica Davey-Quantick (Josh Zepps, Point of Inquiry)

We know more and more about how repressive attitudes about blasphemy and religious criticism in parts of the Islamic world can become explosive, as with the Charlie Hebdo attacks or the murder of secularist bloggers in Bangladesh. But these extreme instances don’t tell the whole story.

This week our guest is Jessica Davey-Quantick, who spent several years in Qatar as a reporter and editor for Qatar Happening and Time Out Doha. She experienced first hand the often laughable degrees of arbitrary censorship and cultural oppression, and simultaneously the liberty with which certain members of society could behave as they pleased. She discovered a world that both reinforced and contradicted commonly held beliefs about the restrictiveness of the culture of Islam in the Gulf States, and wrote about her experiences in a recent article at Vox.

She and host Josh Zepps discuss the problems with how we discuss cultures outside our own, the ways religion is intertwined with repressive norms, and how we might hold a mirror up to our own practices.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/censorship_in_the_islamic_world_through_the_eyes_of_journalist_jessica_dave/

Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings

http://democracynow.org - Belgium has entered its second day of mourning following Tuesday’s bombing attack targeting the Brussels Airport and a crowded subway station near the headquarters of the European Union that killed at least 31 people and injured over 230. The bombings took place just days after authorities arrested Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the November Paris attacks that killed 130 people. In response to Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels, Texas Senator Ted Cruz said, "We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized." Republican front-runner Donald Trump called for "closing up" U.S. borders and doubled down on his vow to bring back waterboarding and other forms of torture. And Hillary Clinton asked for Silicon Valley’s help, calling for "an intelligence surge" to help track online activity. For more on the election, the attacks in Brussels and more, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald... Interview:
https://youtu.be/lnpVyYOG0GI

Meet The People Behind Ted Cruz's Terrifying Foreign Policy Plan | ThinkProgress

Cruz has previously called for carpet-bombing the Middle East to combat ISIS, said the United States should send troops to Iraq and Syria, and said something is torture only when it causes “pain equivalent to losing organs and systems.” Still, the list of advisers were surprising to many.
Here are three of the most shocking names...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/17/3761344/cruz-foreign-policy-advisers/

Real Time with Bill Maher: Michael Ware - Only the Dead (HBO)

Journalist and filmmaker Michael Ware joins Bill Maher to discuss his Iraq war documentary, "Only the Dead," which premieres March 28th on HBO.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/-fK8hBSpWw4

Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime – March 18, 2016 (HBO)

Bill Maher and his guests – Michael Ware, Sister Simone Campbell, Barney Frank, Rick Wilson and Esperanza Spalding – answer viewer questions after the show.
https://youtu.be/-spudb4lzHo

American IS fighter: I made a bad decision

“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Khweis said. “My message to the American people is that the life in Mosul is really, really bad,” he said, adding that he doesn’t believe the Islamic State group accurately represents Islam.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/american-is-fighter-i-made-a-bad-decision/2016/03/18/b54a32fa-ecf9-11e5-a9ce-681055c7a05f_story.html

First European Country Votes To Stop Selling Weapons To Saudi Arabia

“Germany licensed arms exports of almost $200 million to the Sunni kingdom in the first six months of 2015, the latest economy ministry data available,” Reuters reported. “Dutch figures were not immediately available.”
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/03/16/3760965/saudi-netherlands-arms-embargo/

Iran election

Young people hope for a better future.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/4mMOUnuFviQ

Real Time with Bill Maher: General Michael Hayden on National Security and the Election (HBO)

Former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden joins Bill Maher to discuss a hypothetical Trump presidency in this clip from February 26, 2016.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/pC7-RMhfSos

The E.U. To Cut Off Arms Supply To Saudi Arabia After Reports Of Humanitarian Rights Abuses

Citing the “disastrous humanitarian situation” caused by Saudi Arabian military action in Yemen, the European Parliament approved a measure to block E.U. member states from selling arms to Gulf state.
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/02/25/3753721/eu-saudi-arms/

ThinkProgress: Donald Trump Still Deserves Credit On Iraq. Here’s Why.

“George W. Bush made a mistake,” Trump said. “We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East.”
“They lied,” Trump continued, referring to Bush administration officials. “They said there were weapons of mass destruction and there were none. And they knew there were none.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/02/19/3751265/donald-trump-still-deserves-credit-on-iraq-heres-why/

Trump's 1st Question To NatSec Team: What Do We Want To Do?

"Take the wealth away. Attack the oil and keep the oil," Trump said.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-first-3-questions-national-security

U.S. planes bombed Syria's Aleppo hospitals and than accussed Russia for doing it (Russian Insider)

"This is quite an amazing statement of Major General Igor Konashenkov. I don’t think I have ever heard before a senior Russian officer so openly express his disgust and contempt for his US “colleagues”."
https://youtu.be/7Eg6IGPquAM

Barbara Lee: Post-9/11 Vote Should Not Be Used as Blank Check to Keep Waging Perpetual War

A year ago today, President Obama sought congressional approval to attack the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The request came six months after the U.S. began bombing Iraq and Syria. The resolution imposed a three-year limit on U.S. operations but did not put any geographic constraints. It also opened the door for ground combat operations in limited circumstances. However, Congress has yet to hold the constitutionally mandated debate and vote on the war against ISIL. Instead, the strikes have been carried out using an outdated authorization passed by Congress in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Now, over 20 members of Congress have sent a bipartisan letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan calling for a debate and vote on the multibillion-dollar war raging in the Middle East. We speak to one of the signatories, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). She’s the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Peace and Security Task Force and the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/T7xpdmMMNHw

CNN Has a Unique Take on World History

CNN makes a fascinating juxtaposition between Chechnya and Syria. Truly, truly fascinating.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/xYQ81KguuM0

Why Western Warmongers Create One Disaster After Another in the Mideast

The wars in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan failed because short-sighted Western interests trumped the needs of the people.
http://www.alternet.org/world/why-western-warmongers-create-one-disaster-after-another-mideast

Should We Go All-In On ISIS? (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

The heat on President Obama to go heavy with military action against ISIS is high now. There are body bags in Paris, multiple deadly ISIS attacks outside its self-proclaimed caliphate, and a political season on in the US that amps up everything. Critics say that in his determination to get the US out of a central role in the Middle East, Obama has been too restrained. And ISIS has grown. The President is clearly skeptical of big intervention. But the debate is on, again. This hour On Point, the next move. Roger Cohen calls for rage and NATO intervention. Barry Posen says even now, restraint. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/11/23/isis-syria-iraq-paris-attacks-ground-troops

Robert Gates: Republicans' Grasp of National Security Is at Child's Level

Former defense secretary says level of dialogue among candidates "would embarrass a middle schooler."
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/robert-gates-republicans-grasp-national-security-childs-level