Showing posts with label Robert Young Pelton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Young Pelton. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Modern Warfare and Security Issues ~ Robert Young Pelton

War & Security - July 30 2013 - Coast to Coast Am - C2CAM Date: 07-30-13

George interviews Robert Young Pelton & M.J. Rose.



About the show:

In the first half, author and adventurer Robert Young Pelton discussed modern warfare and security issues, current areas of turmoil around the globe, and related topics. Regarding the recent military ruling on Bradley Manning, in which he was acquitting of aiding the enemy, but found guilty of lesser charges related to the WikiLeaks documents, Pelton said there was a huge difference between him and Snowden. As a soldier, Manning was under very specific laws and requirements, while Snowden, a civilian contractor was working for a private corporation. Also, the kind of information that Snowden leaked wasn't private communications between diplomats, but rather secret government policies that could be construed as breaking the law, he said. Looking at such things as the IRS' selective targeting of certain groups, and people imprisoned at Gitmo without trials, "all the bits and pieces are in place for an Orwellian society," Pelton remarked.

As we see with Snowden, some 70% of intelligence gathering is done through freelancers and outside companies, he said, adding that we now "outsource" wars calling them "stability operations." For instance, the US hires contractors, typically ex-military, who go into a troubled spot like Mali in North Africa as consultants and train the local military, who the US provides with weapons surreptitiously through a second country to fight a war, he detailed. Egypt seems to be having "Arab springs" every month, and some countries like Syria are in a constant state of turmoil, Pelton noted. He sees al Qaeda as a continuing threat as their organization has grown larger. They are trying out different acts of terrorism, and watching with interest to see which attacks are most effective, he cautioned.

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In the latter half, author M.J. Rose spoke about the history of seances and techniques that have been used by the likes of Victor Hugo, Mark Twain, Mary Todd Lincoln and Arthur Conan Doyle to access the souls and spirits of the departed. Seances reached their height of popularity during the Victorian era, with the rise of interest in Spiritualism. Yet, trickery was enormously prevalent during this era, such as the use of a "trumpet" in which people at a seance listened through it and heard the voices of spirits, but it was actually the sitter manipulating their own voice through it, she explained. A lot of trick photography (see example) was used to portray ghosts, spirits and other phenomena, and because the photographic medium was so new, people tended to believe it was authentic.

The Ghost Club was a group started in 1862 in London with the goal of carrying out scientific studies of paranormal activity, and well known members included Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens. They sought to investigate, and in many cases debunk, spiritualists and seances, and the group led to the formation of the Society of Psychical Research some 20 years later. A kind of seance involved "table tapping," a forerunner to the Ouija board, with messages spelled out in taps on a stool. In Paris, the renowned French writer Victor Hugo became obsessed with seances after the death of his daughter. In a two-year period he was involved in some 100 seances, in which not only his daughter came through, but Jesus, Shakespeare, a Martian, and Plato were said to send messages, she recounted. Rose also touched on her interest and study of reincarnation and soul groups.

News segment guests: Catherine Austin Fitts, Dannion Brinkley

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Geopolitics & War Trends ~ Robert Young Pelton

Geopolitics & War Trends Main Show Only Jan 2013


Date: 01-09-13
Host: John B. Wells
Guests: Robert Young Pelton, Stewart Rhodes
Author and adventurer Robert Young Pelton discussed the geopolitical situation in various countries such as Afghanistan, his experiences working with private military contractors, and the war trends he currently sees happening. The mistake the US made with Afghanistan was getting into the nation-building business, installing Hamid Karzai as the president, and creating a kind of "kleptocracy," he said. Currently, US soldiers go out and arrest or kill people identified as murderers or terrorists, yet at the same time the Afghan government is working diligently to bring these murderers and terrorists into political power, so it's a no-win situation for the US, he commented.

Regarding, the Benghazi assault in Libya, repeated requests for increased security were turned down by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Pelton noted. Then, "instead of admitting that this had been a predictable and expected situation, the State Dept. came up with a ridiculous story about a video that incited these people to riot, even though the actual al-Qaeda insurgents were saying, 'no, that's not why we attacked your Embassy,'" he detailed. The problem with al-Qaeda, he continued, is that they are now spread across the globe like a franchise, and can't be attacked on a single battlefield.

Pelton analyzed the situation in countries such as Russia, and Mexico, as well as various nations in Africa, and how AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) has been deployed. He also talked about how private contractors are often ex-military personnel who discover that they can make more money as a contractor, and won't have to be constrained by military regulations. There has been an increase in the use of proxy forces, where for instance in Uganda, the US hired the Ugandan army to go after the Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia, he reported.

2nd Amendment Rights
First hour guest, Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, talked about 2nd Amendment rights, and reacted to the news that Pres. Obama could use executive orders to restrict guns. He suggested that citizens should resist any orders to disarm, and that the administration may be trying to take people's guns away before a coming collapse. Further, he argued that military semiautomatic rifles like the AR15 or AK47 are exactly the kind of arms people might need to defend themselves against tyranny

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Geopolitics & War Trends - Coast to Coast AM



dm
Date: 01-09-13
Host: John B. Wells
Guests: Robert Young Pelton, Stewart Rhodes

Author and adventurer Robert Young Pelton discussed the geopolitical situation in various countries such as Afghanistan, his experiences working with private military contractors, and the war trends he currently sees happening. The mistake the US made with Afghanistan was getting into the nation-building business, installing Hamid Karzai as the president, and creating a kind of "kleptocracy," he said. Currently, US soldiers go out and arrest or kill people identified as murderers or terrorists, yet at the same time the Afghan government is working diligently to bring these murderers and terrorists into political power, so it's a no-win situation for the US, he commented.

Regarding, the Benghazi assault in Libya, repeated requests for increased security were turned down by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Pelton noted. Then, "instead of admitting that this had been a predictable and expected situation, the State Dept. came up with a ridiculous story about a video that incited these people to riot, even though the actual al-Qaeda insurgents were saying, 'no, that's not why we attacked your Embassy,'" he detailed. The problem with al-Qaeda, he continued, is that they are now spread across the globe like a franchise, and can't be attacked on a single battlefield.

Pelton analyzed the situation in countries such as Russia, and Mexico, as well as various nations in Africa, and how AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) has been deployed. He also talked about how private contractors are often ex-military personnel who discover that they can make more money as a contractor, and won't have to be constrained by military regulations. There has been an increase in the use of proxy forces, where for instance in Uganda, the US hired the Ugandan army to go after the Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia, he reported.
2nd Amendment Rights

First hour guest, Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, talked about 2nd Amendment rights, and reacted to the news that Pres. Obama could use executive orders to restrict guns. He suggested that citizens should resist any orders to disarm, and that the administration may be trying to take people's guns away before a coming collapse. Further, he argued that military semiautomatic rifles like the AR15 or AK47 are exactly the kind of arms people might need to defend themselves against tyranny.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

World War 3 Trends ~ Coast To Coast Am - April 8 2013

Coast To Coast Am - April 8 2013 - War Trends

First hour guest, space historian Robert Zimmerman reacted to NASA's announcement that they will not lead efforts for astronauts to return to the moon.
Skip to: 00:09:15

■ Last three hours guest, author and adventurer Robert Young Pelton discussed global war trends, his experiences working with private military contractors, as well as geopolitical hot spots. Skip to: 00:39:14

Date: 04-08-13

Host: George Noory

Guests: Robert Young Pelton, Robert Zimmerman

Author and adventurer Robert Young Pelton discussed global war trends, his experiences working with private military contractors, as well as geopolitical hot spots. Regarding North Korea, he characterized the country as one of the last holdovers of the Cold War-- still reacting from the Korean War in the 1950s. "The leadership of the country is very similar to Saddam Hussein and some of the older dictatorships, where to stay in power they can do whatever they want-- they don't have anyone to regulate them," he noted. However, North Korea's recent bout of aggression, posturing, and saber-rattling was actually instigated by one of the US' military exercises, not Kim Jong Un, Pelton pointed out.

While American troops are dwindling down in Afghanistan, private contractors are on the increase there, he reported. Many retire from the US military, only to get similar jobs as contractors for more money, he explained. "I was surprised at how many contractors were integrated into the fighting force," non-uniformed civilians performing things like intel gathering, interrogations, training, and servicing of equipment, he remarked. If a quick military action is required such as setting up a drone base, "they use contractors because they can call them up and they can be there with exact skills and then they can send them home and nobody knows about it," Pelton revealed.

The real tinderbox today is the evaporation of the middle class all around the world, he stated. The bedrock of stability is being eroded, and predatory government systems like in Cyprus are preying on its citizens, he said. What we're seeing in the Arab Spring is a predominance of young people who have no future economic prospects, and this is a very dangerous trend, he continued. Afghanistan is experiencing an extraordinary brain drain-- all the young people that worked with Americans because of the aid money, are getting visas to Europe, and "that's what's going to plunge Afghanistan back into the stone age," he warned.

Space Exploration Update

First hour guest, space historian Robert Zimmerman reacted to NASA's announcement that they will not lead efforts for astronauts to return to the moon. Private companies however are likely to spearhead getting humans into orbit, "and eventually the profits from that are going to pay for further exploration, which will get us to the moon, and beyond," he commented. Innovations from companies like SpaceX are reducing costs for launch vehicles such as their Falcon 9 system, which helps to increase their customer base beyond NASA, he added.

News segment guests: Dr. John McDougall, Mitch Battros

Website(s):
comebackalive.com
dangerousmagazine.com
behindtheblack.com

Book(s):
Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror
The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places
The World's Most Dangerous Places
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel
The Universe in a Mirror: The Saga of the Hubble Space Telescope
Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8 (ebook)

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Geopolitics & War Trends with Robert Young Pelton - Jan 9 2013




Coast to Coast AM Date: 01-09-13
Host: John B. Wells
Guests: Robert Young Pelton, Stewart Rhodes
Author and adventurer Robert Young Pelton discussed the geopolitical situation in various countries such as Afghanistan, his experiences working with private military contractors, and the war trends he currently sees happening. The mistake the US made with Afghanistan was getting into the nation-building business, installing Hamid Karzai as the president, and creating a kind of "kleptocracy," he said. Currently, US soldiers go out and arrest or kill people identified as murderers or terrorists, yet at the same time the Afghan government is working diligently to bring these murderers and terrorists into political power, so it's a no-win situation for the US, he commented.

Regarding, the Benghazi assault in Libya, repeated requests for increased security were turned down by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Pelton noted. Then, "instead of admitting that this had been a predictable and expected situation, the State Dept. came up with a ridiculous story about a video that incited these people to riot, even though the actual al-Qaeda insurgents were saying, 'no, that's not why we attacked your Embassy,'" he detailed. The problem with al-Qaeda, he continued, is that they are now spread across the globe like a franchise, and can't be attacked on a single battlefield.

Pelton analyzed the situation in countries such as Russia, and Mexico, as well as various nations in Africa, and how AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) has been deployed. He also talked about how private contractors are often ex-military personnel who discover that they can make more money as a contractor, and won't have to be constrained by military regulations. There has been an increase in the use of proxy forces, where for instance in Uganda, the US hired the Ugandan army to go after the Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia, he reported.

2nd Amendment Rights
First hour guest, Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, talked about 2nd Amendment rights, and reacted to the news that Pres. Obama could use executive orders to restrict guns. He suggested that citizens should resist any orders to disarm, and that the administration may be trying to take people's guns away before a coming collapse. Further, he argued that military semiautomatic rifles like the AR15 or AK47 are exactly the kind of arms people might need to defend themselves against tyranny