Eric Margolis, author of American Raj: Liberation or Domination, discusses why Republican presidential candidates and the mainstream media want Americans to hate and fear Russia; and why the US doesn't pressure its Middle East allies to stop supporting Islamic State.

Brad Hoff, the managing editor of Levant Report, discusses the battlefield prowess of ISIS leader Omar "the Chechen" al-Shishani, who received US backing until 2013 while he transformed the demoralized Syrian rebels into a formidable fighting force.

Ramzy Baroud, editor of The Palestine Chronicle, discusses the Israeli government's efforts to limit Palestinian entry to Al-Aqsa, the third holiest mosque in Islam; and his article "How Yarmouk Came About: Israel’s Unabashed Role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis."

Mitchell Prothero, a McClatchy special correspondent, discusses how he met top Islamic State military commander Tarkhan Batirashvili (a.k.a. Abu Omar al Shishani), who was trained in part by US special forces.

Lauren Walker, a staff writer for Newsweek, discusses how a botched translation landed Yemeni Emad Hassan in Guantanamo for 13 years; his years-long hunger strike; and how he finally got released.

M.J. Rosenberg, a former Congressional aide and AIPAC staffer, discusses his article "AIPAC Spent Millions of Dollars to Defeat the Iran Deal. Instead, It May Have Destroyed Itself."

Chris Woods, a London-based investigative journalist and author, discusses the Airwars.org project that monitors the international coalition's airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, in an attempt to verify civilian deaths and bring accountability to the US and its allies.