Hope Hodge Seck, a writer for Military.com, discusses the deployment of Marines attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) into Syria, and their preparation to provide artillery back-up to American supported militia fighters poised to attack the Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa.

Former CIA terrorism analyst Cynthia Storer discusses the credentials of Sebastian Gorka, President Trump’s deputy advisor on national security affairs, who claims to be an expert on Islamic terrorism; Cynthia’s earlier CIA work tracking Osama bin Laden and warning about Al-Qaeda’s intent to target the US; and why labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization would be a stupid thing to do.

Samuel Oakford, an investigative journalist and contributor to Airwars.org, discusses the grossly underreported official number of civilians killed by coalition and Russian airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in the ongoing fight against ISIS; and why the Airwars estimates are much more realistic.

Joost Hiltermann, program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group, discusses the Trump administration’s mistaken view that the Houthis in Yemen are an Iranian proxy-militia like Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hiltermann also debunks claims that Iran is allied with Al-Qaeda, and examines the clan-based divisions in Yemen, the country’s unique religious makeup, and what kind of political solution could end the war.

Jason Ditz, news editor for Antiwar.com, discusses why a few thousand more US troops in Afghanistan won’t stop the steady loss of ground to the Taliban; President Trump’s deployment of troops all over the Middle East/North Africa to fight ISIS; and the official understatement of civilian casualties from US air strikes in Iraq and Syria.

Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine and the author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins, discusses the history of Yemen’s (sort of) civil war, the different factions and foreign backers, and why President Trump is escalating US support for Saudi Arabia and its Al-Qaeda allies (yet fighting them at the same time).

Zaid Jilani, a writer for The Intercept, discusses President Trump’s apparent concessions to critics accusing him of being soft on Russia, including his selection of Richard Grennell (who is in favor of arming Ukraine and leaving direct military confrontation with Russia “on the table”) for NATO ambassador, H.R. McMaster for national security adviser, and Nikki Haley for UN Ambassador.

Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses WikiLeaks’s exposure of the CIA’s powerful hacking toolkit, what devices are most vulnerable to being exploited, and why this leak might be a Russian operation using WikiLeaks as a cutout to release sensitive documents.

Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses what a responsible North Korea policy would look like after successive US administrations have failed to gain anything from isolating the regime and eschewing diplomacy; and why we should look to Europe for clues about Russia’s so-called threatening intentions – if France and Germany aren’t furiously expanding their military budgets, why should the US?

Raeford Davis, a speaker for Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and a former North Charleston police officer, discusses how drug prohibition and gun control laws create both dangerous criminals and corrupt cops, like the seven Baltimore “high-profile gun unit” officers, who all stand to profit from government-created black markets.