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Generation Jihad Ep. 200
Bill and Joe unpack Iran’s strategy of keeping Israel and partners on their toes in anticipation of some form of retaliation for Israel’s recent assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 198 — The state of global jihad with Preston Stewart
Social media influencer Preston Stewart joins Bill and Joe to discuss Preston’s experience both serving in and covering global conflicts and wars from serving in Afghanistan to multiple TikTok bannings as well as his take on Israel’s rapidly expanding war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the conflict in Mali.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 196 — Demon Resume
Co-host worlds collide today as Bill and Wednesday CH Will Selber are joined by Monday CH Joe Truzman and Friday CH Behnam Ben Taleblu to discuss the at least two high-profile assassinations carried out in the last 24 hours presumably by Israel: one in southern Beirut that killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, and another in Tehran that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 195 — Hezbollah’s brazen escalation
Bill and Joe are joined by David Daoud to unpack this weekend’s Hezbollah rocket attack on a Druze community in Israel’s Golan Heights that killed 12 Israeli children — and whether we should soon expect an all-out Israel-Hezbollah war.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 192 — The Houthis find out
Bill and Joe discuss Israel’s retaliatory strike against Houthi targets in Yemen following the Iranian-backed terror group’s drone strike in Tel Aviv, the CENTCOM Commander’s surprisingly honest letter to the Secretary of Defense, and the irony of Pakistan designating Prime Minister Netanyahu as a terrorist (congrats to him on his new villa in Abbottabad).
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Generation Jihad Ep. 191 — Drone strike in Tel Aviv
Bill and Behnam are joined by fellow FDD expert and friend of the show David David to talk about the drone strike in Tel Aviv — what we know so far and what it means for the broader war.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 190 — Partnering with terrorists to fight terrorists
The UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team has released its latest report on Afghanistan and the myriad of jihadist activity therein. To discuss, Bill is joined by former director of this team at the UN and longtime friend of the show Edmund Fitton-Brown. Edmund is now a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and previously served as the UK’s ambassador to Yemen.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 189 — Two top Hamas commanders walk into a Gaza villa…
(…and don’t walk out.) Amidst the chaos of this weekend’s assassination attempt against President Trump, the Israel Defense Forces took advantage of Hamas being on the ropes in Gaza by conducting an operation targeting two of the remaining top brass: top Hamas commander Mohammed Dief and Rafa’a Salameh, Hamas brigade commander in Khan Younis. Bill and Joe unpack the strike and discuss a lesser-known terror group inside Gaza (is it the ‘Popular Resistance Committee’ or ‘The Committee for Popular Resistance’?), and the issue of battlefield longevity with which Israel seems to be grappling.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 188 — Hostage diplomacy with terrorists
Bill and Joe catch up on headlines related to the war in Gaza and the additional Iranian-backed conflicts at Israeli borders, including a status update on the latest round of hostage negotiations, action in the West Bank, and how Israel should handle Tehran’s noose-tightening. They also discuss the recent sighting of a top Hezbollah military official and specially designated global terrorist at the funeral of a Hezbollah commander.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 186 — A conversation with Lieutenant General Sami Sadat
Bill and Will Selber are joined by Lieutenant General Sami Sadat who among many other roles served as deputy commander of the Afghan ground forces and later the deputy chief of staff of the Afghan National Army. Now, he leads the Afghan United Front. They discuss America’s role in giving the Taliban the upper-hand that ultimately led to the collapse of Kabul; the vital role of morale during war; just how established Al Qaeda is inside Afghanistan and whether the Taliban-Al Qaeda relationship got stronger after U.S. withdrawal; and more.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 185 — Cognitive Combat
Bill is joined by his colleague Bradley Bowman to talk about a new FDD monograph edited by Brad, “Cognitive Combat: China, Russia, and Iran’s Information War Against Americans.” They discuss ways in which America’s adversaries are waging information warfare against it, how the U.S. can defend itself in the information domain — and how it can go on the offensive.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 184 — PSA for Israel: take our weapons, not our advice
Bill and Wednesday co-host Will Selber explain why Israel is not fighting an insurgency in Gaza as they unpack (and dismantle) a recent Foreign Affairs article authored by David Petraeus et al: “Israel’s War of Regime Change Is Repeating America’s Mistakes: But Israel Can Still Learn From America’s Successes” — wait, what successes? Israel should learn from our mistakes by repeating our mistakes?
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Generation Jihad Ep. 183 — Day after tomorrow in southern Lebanon?
Bill and Joe unpack recent headlines related to Israel’s defensive war in Gaza and simmering tensions in its north with Hezbollah, including the IDF chief of staff saying that Hamas brigades in Rafa have been dismantled; thousands of Iran-backed fighters offering to join Hezbollah in a battle against Israel; officials from the Islamic Republic meeting with the Taliban about taking joint action against Israel; how long Egypt will tolerate Israeli forces at its border; and why the Israeli government has yet to share a clear plan for Gaza almost 9 months into the war.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 182 — When terrorists act like terrorists
Bill and Behnam discuss new sanctions that dropped this week, including Canada’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the U.S. designation of a proxy militia in Iraq; the Houthis sinking yet another ship; and threats made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to conduct attacks in Cyprus. And an update on the Gaza floating pier because Bill.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 181 — Al Qaeda’s leader has a new rallying cry. We should listen.
The (still technically unofficial) leader of Al Qaeda, Saif al-Adel, wrote an article under a pseudonym calling for people around the world to flock to Afghanistan for training to conduct attacks against “the Zionists.” Clear efforts by Al Qaeda to capitalize on the conflict in Gaza — but is the threat credible? Does al Qaeda in Afghanistan even have the means? Yes and yes, say Bill and Will Selber, LWJ contributor and retired Middle East Foreign Area Officer. They discuss how we give an enemy time and space to innovate and then ignore their threats at our own peril.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 180 — Meanwhile in the West Bank…
The Islamic Republic of Iran tightening its noose around Israel can be evidenced by activity from the Houthis and in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and — lest we forget — the West Bank. How does the West Bank threat compare to the Gaza threat? Who holds power in the West Bank, and which terrorist groups are active there? Top of the list? Islamic Jihad. They discuss Joe’s recent research on the senior members of Islamic Jihad that were killed in a counterterrorism operation in the West Bank and losses suffered by the group’s Syria branch in Lebanon.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 179 — Uncertainty: It’s the new weapon, weapon of choice
Bill and Behnam unpack a recent DIA report on the impact of Houthi attacks on international shipping and discuss everything the Houthis have been able to do with the limited resources supplied by Islamic Republic of Iran (and considering the bang for their buck, why wouldn’t they continue to supply weapons?); the perilous pattern of the U.S. ignoring when its enemies scream from the rooftops what their intentions are; and the credibility of claims made by the Houthi leader that an attack against Israel is being planned with help from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq — should we believe him?
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Generation Jihad Ep. 178 — “Even when Israel wins, it loses.”
Bill and Joe discuss Israel’s slow news weekend which included a hostage rescue followed by a high-level war cabinet resignation. The floating Gaza pier and al Qaeda are also discussed (because Bill).
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Generation Jihad Ep. 177 — Gaza: “There is no pretty end to this.”
Bill and Behnam discuss a Tablet Magazine article “Israel is Succeeding in Gaza” and whether there are any possible “settle-for-less” military and political outcomes in Gaza that involve anything other than the total defeat of Hamas; an IDF soldier killed by Hamas terrorists attempting to infiltrate Israel from Gaza; Iran’s IRGC vowing revenge for an Israeli strike in Syria that allegedly killed an IRGC general; and Israel’s new normal of daily skirmishes with Hezbollah on its northern border.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 176 — Israel’s new normal with Hezbollah
Bill is joined by FDD colleague and show regular David Daoud for an update on Israel’s other battle on its norther border with Hezbollah.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 175 — Afghanistan’s emerging resistance movement
The botched U.S. withdrawal in 2021 left behind a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with al-Qaeda running training camps using abandoned American military equipment. Terrorism confined by the borders of Afghanistan until history repeats itself and it isn’t. Luckily, a major resistance movement is taking shape in Afghanistan and attempting to organize against the Taliban. To learn about three groups that have emerged at the forefront Bill is joined by Will Selber, retired Middle East Foreign Area Officer with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. They discuss who’s who in the resistance, which groups could be effective enough to take the fight to…
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Generation Jihad Ep. 174 — Attrition Warfare
Bill and Behnam catch up on new Houthi activity, reports of the Iranian regime leveraging criminal groups in Sweden to target Israeli and Jewish interests, and an update on the most expensive piece of performance art in history, the floating humanitarian aid pier in Gaza.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 173 — Who was Ebrahim Raisi, AKA the Butcher of Tehran?
Bill and Behnam discuss the helicopter crash in northern Iran that killed multiple regime officials, chief among them Ebrahim Raisi who was President of the Islamic Republic and a top contender to be the next Supreme Leader. Was it an accident? Given the Islamic Republic’s constitutional mandate that elections be held to replace Raisi, who might be the next president? What does the president even do? What will it mean for Iran’s foreign and security policy They also revisit Raisi’s history in the regime or as Behnam calls it, “failing up.” From being the youngest hand-picked by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to head…
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Generation Jihad Ep. 172 — Afghanistan autopsy: General Miller
Bill is joined again by our most special guest, Long War Journal/Generation Jihad OG and now senior fellow at Just Security, Thomas Joscelyn, to unpack another marathon, closed-door HFAC testimony. This time, the more than 200 pages of testimony they sifted through is from General Miller, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan during the botched withdrawal. They discuss testimony highlights, including when Gen. Miller throws shade at Bill and Tom but in the same breath admits that “they had it right.”
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Generation Jihad Ep. 171 — Weekend update: more gasoline poured on dumpster fire
Bill and Joe catch up on the last few days of headlines, including the helicopter crash that killed the Iranian president and foreign minister and whether this will impact Israel’s defensive war in Gaza; the International Criminal Court’s issuing of arrest warrants for Hamas leaders in addition to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant; the situation in Rafah; an airstrike in the West Bank; and Israel recovering the bodies of four hostages.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 169 — The Houthi Origin Story
Bill is joined by Long War Journal regular and long-time friend of the show, Edmund Fitton-Brown to talk about the Houthis. If you’re here, you’ve heard of them — but how much do you actually know about them? What is their relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran? Why are they in Yemen? Edmund previously served as the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Yemen, a role which required him to negotiate and spend a significant amount of time in close quarters with Houthi leaders. He details some of his interactions with them and how the experience shapes his understanding of the…
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Generation Jihad Ep. 168 — The U.S.-Israel impasse
Bill and Joe discuss the current low lows of U.S.-Israel relations as Israel prepares to proceed with finishing its stated goal of defeating Hamas without the blessing of its closest ally.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 167 — Rafah red lines
Israel’s operation in Rafah officially underway and met with the threat of pausing military aid from the Biden administration. Bill and Behnam discuss the potential consequences and ripple effects.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 166 — Bill and Tom’s Excellent Debunking
On November 8, 2023, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs conducted a closed-door interview with Zalmay Khalilzad, the Former Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation and master architect of the Doha Agreement which cemented the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Many items of interest came up during the marathon meeting, including Long War Journal. If you know, you know. Bill poured over transcripts of the nearly ten hours-long interview, and he had help from none other than LWJ OG Tom Joscelyn. Bill and Tom discuss the highlights.
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Generation Jihad Ep. 165 — Israel’s boiling point (BONUS: Joe goes to a “protest”)
Bill and Joe catch up on top Israel headlines, including this weekend’s attack by Hamas that killed four IDF soldiers and in which the Iron Dome was curiously not activated to intercept the rocket fire; the issues of humanitarian aid, pier, and port; the anticipated Rafah operation; the concept of a permanent ceasefire; the cycle of civilians being kidnapped and held hostage by armed Palestinian groups; reports of the U.S. withholding a shipment of military aid to Israel; an update on the eerily quiet West Bank; and Joe’s visit to his local “pro-Palestine protest.”
