Reese Erlich

-by Reese ErlichThe mainstream media stories were straight out of a science fiction movie. Somebody in Cuba was aiming a super sophisticated "sonic weapon" at US diplomats here in Havana, causing them to experience hearing loss, dizziness, nausea, severe headaches and even brain damage similar to a concussion.From December 2016 through February 2017, according to the Trump administration, 22 American diplomats heard strange sounds in their homes and hotel rooms.

-by Reese ErlichDuring a recent reporting trip to Iran, I interviewed almost two dozen people at random in both rich and poor neighborhoods of Tehran. All the middle and upper-middle class people I spoke with said the government of President Hassan Rouhani had made economic progress, although not as much as they wanted.

-by Reese ErlichDuring a trip to Barcelona, I sat down to read a local newspaper and, although I understand Spanish, I couldn’t fathom a word. The newspaper was in Catalan. Catalonia is part of Spain but has its own distinct language, territory, culture and history of resistance to oppression.It was the Spring of 2003, and I was speaking on a panel with other US journalists opposed to the Iraq War. The conservative government in Madrid supported the US invasion; the progressive government in Catalonia did not.

Our old friend Reese Erlich’s most recent book,  Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect, just came out in paperback and he’ll be speaking at UCLA on January 19. I’m planning on attending and I hope you’ll make it as well if you’re in the area. Meanwhile, he wrote a fascinating piece that will give you some idea about what a reality-based Trump administration would be confronting in the Middle East while Reese is speaking in Westwood.

Pro-war fanatics Schumer and CruzAfter joining forces with the extreme right to derail the Iran nuclear deal, Chuck Schumer has been widely criticized by progressive groups-- but heartily congratulated by the likes of Tailgunner Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.

If you've been reading DWT for a while you've had the opportunity to get intense behind-the-scenes insight into places in the news, from Egypt, Iran and Libya to Cuba, Palestine and Afghanistan from award winning foreign correspondent and author Reese Erlich.

You may recall, that we've been looking at the U.S.-backed coup in Egypt as a replay of the tragic U.S. coup against popular Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq in 1953. Wednesday Rand Paul brought up an amendment recognizing that the military overthrow of Mohammed Morsi was a coup and that, legally, the U.S. had to stop sending aid until democracy is restored.