Chaos in Iraq and elections in Nicaragua (E410)

Many people worked hard to prevent Western leaders from committing the terrible blunder of invading and occupying Iraq. The fact that the invasion and subsequent occupation ended in calamitous failure with catastrophic consequences is scant consolation to those who raised concerns that have been proven right. Since then, the same blunders seem to be repeated on an endless loop, the latest being in Afghanistan. Scott Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector, is a vocal critic of American foreign policy in the Middle East. He joined Sputnik to discuss the ongoing situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Almost 40 years ago, the United States entered the politics of Nicaragua. The Sandinista Front was the darling of the international left as it mounted that most daring of challenges to the US: the threat of a good example. But the US prevailed in Nicaragua and the good example was snuffed out. The Sandinistas are now back, though shorn of some of their allure and much of their leftist support base around the world. But not all of it. Daniel Ortega secured his fourth consecutive term in this week’s elections, which were all but written off by much of the global community. We invited Caleb Maupin of RT America, who is currently in Nicaragua, to give us his eyewitness observations.

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Podcast https://soundcloud.com/rttv/sets/sputnik-orbiting-the-world-1