by Marc Steiner | Mar 10, 2026 | Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, The Marc Steiner Show, Trump, War
President Trump’s catastrophic decision to plunge the US into a war with Iran is following a depressingly familiar playbook to those who lived through—and those who served in—the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with military veteran, author, and peace activist Rory Fanning—who served two tours in combat as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan—about the reality of what the US military has done in the Middle East, and about the veterans who are speaking out against the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Guests:
Rory Fanning is a war resister, military counter recruiter, and writer living in Chicago, IL. Fanning served two deployments with the Second Army Ranger Battalion in Afghanistan, and he is the author of Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger’s Journey Out of the Military and Across America.
Credits:
Producer: Rosette Sewali
Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Marc Steiner:
Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s great to have you all with us. As the insanity of this Trump-Hegseth War with Iran intensifies, we’re going to bring you a conversation today and hear an analysis of what we face from a man who knows our military, who fought in it, and that stands the danger of wars that have no meaning of than pulling us deeper into a quagmire that endangers our future. Roy Fanning did two tours in combat as an army ranger in Afghanistan. He wrote an amazing book entitled Worth Fighting For: An
by Sonali Kolhatkar | Dec 9, 2025 | Afghanistan, Asylum, CIA, Donald Trump, Gun Violence, ICE, Immigrants, immigration, Kristi Noem, National Guard, Op-Ed, Racism, War On Terror
The aftermath of the November 26, 2025, shooting in Washington, D.C. has underscored yet again that we live in a white supremacist world where people of color are target practice for racist leaders, and where the actions of one are enough to incur collective punishment against all. As Emran Feroz laid out in his recent Truthout op-ed, abundant evidence suggests that the suspected shooter…
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by Emran Feroz | Dec 3, 2025 | Afghanistan, CIA, Deportations, National Guard, Op-Ed, Taliban, War On Terror
After two National Guard soldiers were shot in Washington, D.C. last week, several U.S. pundits and politicians were quick with their descriptions of the alleged attacker. They erroneously assumed that he brought his “culture” or “society” to the United States. “You are not just importing individuals. You are importing societies… At scale, migrants and their descendants recreate the…
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by Amy Goodman | Dec 1, 2025 | Afghanistan, CIA, DC Shooting, ICE, Interview, Shooting, White House
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the man who authorities say shot two National Guardsmen outside the White House, had previously worked in a CIA-backed “Zero Unit” in Afghanistan, often called “death squads” by human rights groups. “The United States made this person into a child soldier, and now is experiencing what I think is one of the most horrifically bright-line cases of imperial blowback that we’ve…
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by Stephen Prager | Nov 27, 2025 | Afghan refugees, Afghanistan, Joe Biden, Kristi Noem, National Guard, News, Washington D.C.
Following Wednesday’s shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington, DC, President Donald Trump has responded with a pair of authoritarian measures: flooding the city with hundreds more guard members and pledging a crackdown against Afghan immigrants. A suspect is in custody after firing at the two guard members outside the White House, which left them in critical condition.
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by Rory Fanning | Nov 11, 2025 | Afghanistan, Department of Homeland Security, Donald Trump, ICE, immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Op-Ed, Veterans, Veterans Day, Veterans for Peace
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) helicopters will undoubtedly be circling my neighborhood looking for roofers and landscapers this “Veterans Day,” just as they have been for weeks. In the U.S., you’re an easy mark when you have brown skin and your job demands that you labor out in the open. My town, located just outside of Chicago, has been crawling with ICE agents or soldiers (the…
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