Government Secrets Podcast · Lee Camp and Graham Elwood

CIA Kidnaps Satellite & Hidden Cause Of Mass Casualty Events - Gov Secs Ep 174

·1 hr 2 min·3 clips

Lee Camp argues military training, PTSD, and access to weapons can turn some soldiers toward mass casualty violence.

1. Government Secrets episode 174 links Los Angeles wildfire politics with a Cold War CIA story and a Fort Bragg crime pattern. 2. Lee Camp and Graham Elwood host the episode, and both speak as comedians with repeated references to Red Cross volunteer work and military life. 3. The episode asks why U.S. institutions keep producing violence, secrecy, and opportunism, from LA fire funding to CIA operations and military training. 4. They start with LA smoke, fire season, and Karen Bass, whom they describe as the first Black woman mayor of Los Angeles. 5. Lee Camp says Bass cut the fire department budget to give more money to police, and the hosts joke that police and city developers should be sent into the flames. 6. They contrast that with Red Cross shelters, where Camp says politicians arrive with cameras and “thoughts and prayers” while families lose homes. 7. The conversation also covers contractors who look for fire victims to sign up for reconstruction work, which the hosts describe as predatory. 8. They argue that the United States teaches people to focus on money and survival, leaving less time for charity, teaching, or volunteer work. 9. The episode then pivots to the title topic of “hidden cause of mass casualty events,” beginning with recent attacks linked to military service. 10. Lee Camp cites Nick Turse’s Intercept reporting that U.S. military service is the strongest predictor of extremist violence inside the United States. 11. He gives a statistic that the rate rose from about seven extremist crimes per year from 1990 to 2010 to 45 per year since 2011. 12. The hosts point to the New Orleans attack and the Cybertruck explosion as examples where the suspects were in the military. 13. They discuss training, PTSD, access to weapons, and the military’s habit of breaking down the idea that killing is wrong. 14. Graham Elwood and Lee Camp talk about how soldiers are trained to dehumanize an enemy, using examples from Iraq, Vietnam, and Israel-Palestine. 15. Camp says the military can reprogram recruits to accept violence, even while some recruits join for patriotism, family tradition, money, or lack of alternatives. 16. The Fort Bragg section adds a 1995 case where William Kreutzer shot 18 soldiers from a wooded position and told a judge, “it was the right thing to do at the time.” 17. Camp also recounts a 2002 span of six weeks when four wives of Fort Bragg soldiers were murdered, which they connect to special operations service and domestic violence. 18. The tone alternates between angry commentary and punch-line delivery, with Lee Camp and Graham Elwood interrupting each other, correcting details, and joking through grim material. 19. Listeners who follow military policy, antiwar commentary, or institutional corruption will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting a light, structured history segment without political ranting may skip it.

As heard by us

Smoke, jokes, and a pointed anti-war argument about how soldiers are trained to kill.

It starts with a smoke-choked Southern California scene and moves into a clear-eyed critique of how military training can build teamwork and duty while also teaching people to kill.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a blunt, angry conversation about how soldiers are trained to take lives, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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