This week on Bombshell, special guest Elizabeth Rosenberg explains the art of unmaking the Iran deal and the consequences of the Trump adminstration’s Iran ‘strategy.’ Foreign relations are keeping us busy with a tinderbox in Kirkuk at the worst possible time, and a new lens on the Pentagon’s under-scrutinized advise and assist efforts in Africa that resulted in four soldier’s killed in an ambush this month. Mattis and the White House are sending mixed signals on transparency and democratic accountability on the Hill and in the press (what else is new?). Erin, Radha, and Loren are as usual looking out for budget deals, new and potentially harmful MAVNI guidelines, and Trump appointees. And yeah. Us too.

Episode Reading:

• Radha Iyengar and Rebecca Friedman Lissner, “Iran, Terrorism, and Nonproliferation After the Nuclear Deal,” War on the Rocks
• Angela Dewan, “Why Turkey-US tensions have come to a boil,” CNN
• “Iraq conflict: Peshmerga ‘deadline to leave Kirkuk’ passes,” BBC
• “Iraqi, Kurd forces in Kirkuk standoff as tensions rise,” Al Jazeera
• Colin Cookman, “Pakistan-Afghanistan Update: Canadian-American Couple Freed After 5 Years Captivity; UN Release Civilian Casualty Update,” Colin Cookman
• Sarah Polley, “The Men You Meet Making Movies,” New York Times
• Ilan Goldenberg and Elizabeth Rosenberg, “If Trump Won’t Certify the Iran Deal, He Should Do This Instead,” Foreign Policy
• Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Eric Schmitt, “Niger Attack Lays Bare U.S. Troops Long Wait for Medical Help in Africa,” New York Times
• Phillip Carter, “Questionable Calls,” Slate