Short ep explaining the two year hiatus -- TL;DL: Spencer is gone, moved on to other projects, is still good friends with Mike. Mike lost two close friends to suicide. For Mike's part, after his callout of George Bush and several copycat people doing the same at every public speech, he became disgusted with the fact the videos went viral and focused too much on Mike's callout rather than Bush's war crimes, and decided to keep a lower profile. He was also busy doing other projects, Empire Files, film production, as well as organising The Troops against any possible invasion of Iran circa 2020 and after, and figured the role of Eyes Left was fulfilled by other groups like -- he plugs Hell of a Way to Die pod, Courage to Resist, and Left Flank Vets. The show is officially relaunched, albeit with a slightly different format as it's just Mike handling the bulk of the work.
The most interesting part of this for me is his explaining that a big motivation for him to keep going was active duty troops writing him talking about rebelling against any potential war with Iran after Trump almost started one:
One of the biggest things that kept that ember alive for me was the really unforgettable experience after Trump almost started a war with Iran. I was contacted in large part through Eyes Left by literally dozens of active duty personnel who were suddenly moved into political motion, who were determined to refuse to take part in any war against Iran. Everyone from sailors out at sea, to guys in special operations. I had never experienced that in all my years organizing GI's, even during the worst years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars at a time when the anti war movement and the broader population was definitely much larger. I believe that if there had been a war, and we really were on the precipice, but I believe that if the war had been started with Iran that that core of people I was in touch with would have not only resisted themselves and likely resisted publicly, but as a network would have become the bedrock of a much larger rebellion within the military, the type of thing that can be decisive in preventing or ending a war. So really that potential is there bubbling under the surface. I had always thought, when the next war crisis breaks out, what opportunities will be missed if Eyes Left no longer existed as a magnet for radical minded troops. Not to say we are super popular or important, but the Iran war debacle showed me that even small projects can become something much more significant during key moments.
Unlikely as it might be, a large scale public mutiny like that would be a massive defeat for the US imperial war machine.
Fuck yes more anti-war troops is what we definitely need in the anti-imperialist movement.
Those troops are braver than the troops :rat-salute-2:
It's still alive baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUKUtxtBvMA
