Please note at the start: I am using the word “agent” in the British sense of an asset, not in the American sense of an officer of an intelligence service.
This is one of the most extraordinary shows in the podverse, certainly for those of us who follow international affairs The main host, Thomas, is a Mid-Atlantic man. Bluff and hearty at times bringing out the American in him and then formal, stilted and prissy in his use of the English language, an American’s idea of an Englishman, which he pulls off with a great deal of effort and artificiality.
But the real star of the show is the madcap jabbering Bahraini, Ayman Dean. I overlapped with him at HSBC many years ago —though I did not know him personally. But I heard from my colleagues in the Commercial and Retail & Wealth Management divisions that he was a truly extraordinary figure, straight out of an espionage novel. He claims to be a former Salafist who then crossed over and became an MI6 asset. But what I have heard that that too is a cover. He really works for Israel. His private intelligence company in the GCC —Cruikshank and Dean —is a Mossad front according to my colleagues at HSBC.
Nevertheless, the show is well worth you time because of what Dean brings to it, if you can endure his high estrogen voice and mirthless cackling. That said, the substance is very good, You won’t find it anywhere else. But keep that one thing in mind. Mossad is always tricking you. Dean might be a mouthpiece for that spy agency but you have to get under his words: what does Israel want you to believe? What is rationalization of Israel’s actions, what is misinformation and deflection, and what is disinformation and therefore a ruse to let down your guard, all are in play here. Fascinating!
