Judging Freedom - Col. Douglas Macgregor: America's Failed Diplomacy

Episode Date: November 7, 2023

.Judge: "Is it moral and lawful to kill so many civilians?"#israel #IDF, #hamas #gaza #netanyahu #war #peace #hostagesCol. Doug A Macgregor: "I'm not saying it's morally justified. I'm trying to get people to understand the logic. That's something that you either accept or reject. If you don't like it that's fine the issue is strategic, Judge "Watch the Full YouTube Interview Here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ummiGWp3KBgCan you imagine a world where the Russian forces are virtually unstoppable? Where the Ukrainian army is in ruins? Welcome to our latest episode where we dissect the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Our guest, Colonel Douglas McGregor brings his extensive experience into the conversation, taking us through the Ukrainian army's struggle against a seemingly invincible force. We also question Washington's potential involvement with President Zelensky and the future of the new Polish government. We don't shy away from the tough questions, asking whether a drastic shakeup of European governments is the solution to their escalating problems.Shifting our gaze towards the Middle East, we dive headfirst into the complex conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. We explore the Israeli forces' uphill battle for ground, the obliteration of infrastructure, and the tense hostage situations. We bring the strategic objectives of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into the light and probe the moral and legal quagmires surrounding the ongoing war. Finally, we analyze the dynamics of the US's frayed relationship with the Middle East, the looming threat of Turkish intervention, and the potential repercussions for Iran. We raise questions about the strength of the Turkish military and the ticking time bomb of a false flag that could ignite a full-blown conflict between the US and Iran. We look over the presence of American troops in Syria, Iraq, and northeast Syria, and discuss their role as an early warning system for Israel. To wrap things up, we express our gratitude for the wisdom imparted by Judge Napolitano on freedom and liberty. His insights are a beacon in the fight for universal rights. Listen in and join us for this thrilling journey through international affairs.Sponsored by: Lear Capital - https://LearJudgeNap.comIt's time to take control of your financial future and consider investing in gold.Consider adding gold to your portfolio with the company I trust – Lear Capital. Over 25 years of experience, thousands of 5-star reviews, and a 24-hour risk-free purchase guarantee.Give Lear a call today at 800- 511-4620 – the information is Free and there is no obligation to purchase. Get your Gold and Silver wealth protection guides, get your questions answered, and there is zero pressure to buy.Or inquire online @ https://LearJudgeNap.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thank you. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, November 6th, 2023. Colonel Douglas McGregor here in a moment on what happens when the commanding general in Ukraine says we reached the stalemate. And can Israel possibly achieve its goals by decimating Gaza? But first this. Judge Napolitano here. The world is falling apart and the government wants to spend money to try and save it. The Israelis are defending themselves from the greatest onslaught in their history. Ukraine is collapsing. We are trying to fund both on borrowed money and borrowed time. The Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates

so everything you own is worth less and everything you earn can buy less. What can you do about it? You can buy gold and silver, the most stable commodities on the planet in the past 3,000 years. The government can't print more of it and can't interfere with it. Where should you buy your gold and silver? Do what I did and go to Lear Capital. Call 800-511-4620 or go to learjudgesnap.com. You'll have a very interesting conversation with a very knowledgeable person. No heavy pressure.

And if you want to diversify what's in your IRA from stocks and mutual funds, consider physical gold and silver. Ask about a gold-backed IRA. You can take this information and discuss it with your spouse. And when you call, find out if you can qualify

for up to $15,000 in bonus gold or silver. Call today, 800-511-4620, learjudgenap.com. When you talk to them, tell them the judge sent you. Conor McGregor, welcome here, my dear friend. Welcome back to the show. Over the weekend, General Zeluzhny, the commanding military officer in Ukraine, for whom I think you and others have indicated there is general respect in the military community, told The Economist magazine that the military conflagration in Ukraine between Russia and Ukraine is at a stalemate, and President Zelensky erupted and sent one of his aides to condemn the general statement. What do you think is going on?

I think General Solution is trying to put a happy face on a dead rat. There is a stalemate. Ukraine is defeated. Ukrainian army is in ruins. The Russians are advancing. And wherever they are advancing, they are meeting very little resistance. And the one town that the Ukrainians tried to make a stand, Advidyka, has ultimately been destroyed and turned into another bakhmut exercise for the Ukrainians. I think what he's trying to do is get someone in his own government, as well as in Washington, to deal with the truth. Now, privately, behind closed doors in Washington, Judge, they do know the truth. They know it's over. And the longer they stall and refuse to acknowledge that publicly, the further and further the Russians will advance. And that's where we are. Our friends at NBC News are reporting

yesterday that officials from the State Department and from the EU, I don't know who, are talking to each other about the need for negotiations. Are they talking, as far as we know, to President Zelensky? Is this in the offing? If true, this would reinforce what you said, that Washington finally has learned the truth, have turned off Mrs. Nuland. Well, I'm not sure she's been turned off yet. She's just sort of been put on ice. It would be nice to see her gone completely. But in truth uh what they're all saying behind closed doors judge is how do we get out of this without looking ridiculous right you know what can we say or do that will conceal the enormity of the disaster in the past you know we have simply packed our things and left we did that in vietnam i think we did that in Afghanistan. We've done that, I think,

for the most part in Iraq, though we've left some people there to maintain the fiction that we have some measure of influence in that country, which I don't think we do. But the bottom line is it's over. And the sooner they get Zelensky out of the way, they can come to some sort of arrangement with the Russians. But let's be frank, the arrangement that they reach is not going to be one that they like. And it may take time before an agreement is reached, because when they say no to the first offer, the Russian forces will resume their advance. And I think we'll be in this position until someone shows up and says, we'll meet your terms and signs on the dotted line. Nobody wants to do that. And whatever the terms are, we know they're not going to be what they could have been and would have been two years ago when President Putin offered terms that were acceptable until the

Americans came in. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, this is something important, and I'm glad you brought that up. The only people lying throughout this entire episode have been in the West, particularly the Western elites, globalist elites that remain wedded to Biden and his government and our elites. he's been truthful. When he halted the advance of his forces in response to a stated willingness on the Ukrainian side to accept neutrality, he was being very serious. Fine. You accept neutrality. We can make some adjustments and we're out of here. That was all botched badly. And Zelensky was promised everything. And Zelensky believed it. He's going to end up like everybody else that's ever cooperated with us over time, out of a job and maybe lose his life in the process. Last subject matter on Russia. RT, Russia Today, reports that former Russian president and now deputy national security advisor, I think is his title, or deputy chair of the National Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, is saying that the Russians need to worry about the Poles, the Polish government.

If true, I was surprised to hear him say that. The new Polish government should be more friendly to them than the one that is in office now. Do you know anything about this? Well, I know my friends in Poland tell me that this new government will probably not last more than six to 12 months, if that. I think we're going to see governments turn over all across Europe until finally governments are in place that are both rational and capable of dealing with the enormous problems that face all these countries. So I think his statement about the polls is not entirely groundless, but I think he's exaggerating. But then again, Medvedev is somebody that is almost, you know,

periodically released, you know, from the kennel to go out and bark and frighten people, after which he shuts up and is put back in the kennel. When he was president, he got a bad reputation because he was seen as too friendly to us, as too willing to cooperate with us. And ever since, he's been trying to make up for that disaster. I mean, this is the guy who once said the Russian troops, if we unleash them, will go to Poland's western border, which would mean run over all of Poland. Yeah, well, that was always nonsense. But again, you know, Putin's in charge of Medvedev.

Right, and Medvedev makes Putin sound not only rational, but tame by comparison. Absolutely, yeah. but tame by comparison. Okay. Okay. Is Israel running into significant resistance in its efforts to subdue Hamas in Gaza? Antiwar.com reported this morning that 500, excuse me, 350 Israeli troops were killed over the weekend. The IDF doesn't comment on that. If antiwar.com numbers are accurate, is that a significant number to be concerned about? Well, first of all, I don't know what the real numbers are for either side, and expecting the truth at this stage is unrealistic. We're going to be told whatever the various sides want us to believe.

Is that a realistic appraisal? I'd say it probably is. And keep in mind that the Israelis are just as concerned about casualties in their ranks as the Russians are about casualties in their own. The Russians have been moving very deliberately, very slowly and advancing, and that's true for the Israelis as well. But the Israelis have gained ground. Now, how do you gain ground in this environment? Well, it's scorched earth. You annihilate everything in front of you, and essentially flatten large areas. That's happening.

And when you do this, then you try to move in and establish a permanent presence, which I think is what the Israelis are trying to do. But it's a long time coming. Remember, think is what the Israelis are trying to do. But it's a long time coming. You know, remember, this is about the size of Manhattan, maybe a little smaller, and the rubbled buildings make it that much tougher. And of course, you have the tunnel networks. Hopefully, you know, I think the Israelis take the position that hopefully they are depriving the tunnels of oxygen, killing people inside them by collapsing them.

But again, you know, it's a tough position because they're also trying to rescue what they say are now 248 hostages. With each passing day, it seems less and less likely that they will survive. It seems a little out of character to me that their thrust seems to be on massive destruction of infrastructure as opposed to surgical efforts to rescue the hostages, for which the IDF has had some fantastic, remember Entebbe, some fantastic historical success. Does Benjamin Netanyahu really want to rescue the hostages? Does he want to fight a war that's going to take five years so he can stay in office for five more years? Well, I think he would like to rescue the hostages. The problem is that in contrast to something like Entebbe, where you had an airplane that was holding hostages that could be attacked by special operators that practiced for months to do it, this is not that kind of environment. This is the worst of all imaginable environments. And inevitably, unless

you want to lose large numbers of your own soldiers by sending them room to room, building to building, crawling through the tunnels, you're probably going to do exactly what Mr. Netanyahu wants to do. And remember, his interest is in annihilating Hamas, and anyone who is near it is viewed as a co-combatant or co-belligerent. In other words, you said surgical. There's nothing surgical in a real war. This is for the Israelis, for the first time, I would argue, since 1973, a real war. There's no nonsense here. If you go into the building, I'm not going to send 10 soldiers in to find you. I'm going to level the building and move to the next structure. We did that, by the way, in Fallujah to a large extent, and even more so in Mosul. You know, soldiers are not surgeons.

And those Israeli soldiers, whether they're in tanks or armored fighting vehicles or dismounted, are not saying, oh, look over to the left. Well, that's obviously not a combatant. That person can't possibly be part of Hamas. But more to the right, those have got to be Hamas fighters. You don't say that. They want to survive.

You survive by killing the enemy before he kills you. So I would never criticize, having been in that position myself on the battlefield, anybody who opens up on a target that they see in them that they think is an enemy whether or not it is those are the facts of war that's always been true that the problem though is that he wants to do more than simply destroy Gaza I think he wants to drive the population out if it doesn't die there then drive it out and eliminate the Gaza Strip. When he makes the argument, Prime Minister Netanyahu, that civilian casualties are the cost of war, and when those casualties are now over 10,000, we all see the pictures, are those. Is his argument accepted by Western governments and even Arab governments?

Well, accepted is probably the wrong word. Certainly inside Israel and people that know what the long-term strategic goal is, they'll view this as absolutely acceptable. From his standpoint, he's trying to administer an object lesson that he hopes is going to impress the entire region, that if you do what Hamas does or did, then this is the fate that awaits you, and we will no longer tolerate populations that harbor these people. If you have an organization within your population that is threatening us and kills us, you and your population will pay the ultimate price.

Now, we can discuss whether or not this is a truly intelligent solution, given the numbers of enemies that are multiplying as we talk today, and those that can actually destroy Israel. That's another subject, but that's his view. And there's a lot of evidence historically that sometimes it works, and it has worked on occasion. And we can go through that. We've even done that here in the United States to some of our enemies historically. But is it the sort of thing that's going to work for him?

I don't know. Is it moral and lawful for him to kill so many civilians? They dropped six 2,000-pound bombs on a refugee camp to kill one Hamas official whom they killed, along with several hundred others. I can't imagine any discord. Not that this is ever going to play out in a courtroom. I'm putting my old hat on, but I just can't imagine anyone saying with a straight face

that this is moral and lawful. You know, you go back to the Nuremberg trials. And if anybody had looked at that objectively, they could have lined up far larger numbers of Soviet commanders guilty of far more heinous destruction. Ah, but the Soviets won. Yeah. And we also did many things that on more than one occasion probably fell into the same category. Certainly the bombings that went on by our air forces when there was nothing left to bomb. We were still bombing heavily in March and April when the war was effectively

over. We were killing all sorts of people. The so-called carpet bombings. Yeah. So look again, he looks at this and others really say, all right, we killed 10,000 and that's, or killed whatever it was, 2000. That's sad and unfortunate, but we got the individual that we were after. And the fact that he is not going to survive sends a signal to everyone. And more important, it sends the same signal I mentioned earlier. Well, if you want to live and get along with us, don't allow

someone like this to live in your area, to operate or swim in your pond. If you do, you're going to die with him. Look, we did things in Afghanistan that were similar. And we did things, as I said earlier, in Iraq that cost civilian lives. And we took the position they shouldn't have been there. Now, I'm not saying it's lawful. I'm not saying it's morally justified. I'm trying to get people to understand the logic. That's something that you either accept or you reject. If you don't like it, that's fine. The issue is strategic, Judge. What is happening strategically in the region as a result of that?

All right, that's my next question. Strategically, it's to me, you're the expert, a disaster for the Israelis in terms of the animosity and preparation for doing something from Jordan to Iran to Lebanon to Turkey in response. Yes, it is a disaster. what is the value, if any, of Secretary Blinken's diplomacy in the past three days? Well, let's look at Blinken's experience with the Turks, which I regard as perhaps the most important. Secretary Blinken shows up in the dark. He's greeted by the u.s ambassador and a few people no one of consequence from the turkish government is there to greet him the next day he meets with the turkish foreign minister there's a brief grip and grin at the outset they disappear in for a discussion there is no joint news conference afterwards he comes out and gives his side of whatever was discussed.

We hear nothing from the Turks. He is never invited to speak with Mr. Erdogan, the president, nor is there any joint protocol discussing what went down. And then he leaves. Now let's compare that with the visit of the Iranian foreign minister to Ankara. The Iranian foreign minister shows up and is greeted by the Turkish foreign minister and high dignitaries. He then is taken to the Ministry of State, where he meets with the Turkish foreign minister at some length. Then he is taken in to meet with the president, Mr. Erdogan. After it is over, there are pictures and discussions, there are published accounts, and he gets up and he leaves and goes back to Iran. Now, what are we seeing? We're seeing the rejection of the United States.

We are seeing a snub, a snub of our national power, national influence. And we are witnessing between two rival powers an obvious recognition that they share the same interest. That interest is in stopping the horror in Gaza and evicting us or expelling us and our influence from the region. That's how I read it. and evicting us or expelling us and our influence from the region. That's how I read it. Do you think we are any closer to American troops on the ground than Gaza? No. We're not going to see conventional armed forces on the ground there because we frankly have almost nothing to send.

What we've got are special ops, special forces, and somebody is saying advisory roles. That may be true, but I can't imagine the Israelis needing a great deal of advice from us. They've got plenty of experience. They know the history as well or better than we do. So no, I don't see that. I do see our air power and missile power as lurking in the background. And interestingly, the Nasrallah, the spokesman and leader of Hamas, or not Hamas, Hezbollah, essentially said, we are already, in fact, at war with Israel, but we are not escalating, at least not until we see what happens next.

And I think that's very important because that means that the Iranians, the Turks, and everyone else are watching carefully to see what we do and what Mr. Netanyahu does. If there is suddenly a ceasefire of some kind, call it what you will, humanitarian pause or anything else, then I think we will see numbers of people stand down and await an outcome. But if nothing occurs, and the killing continues, and the destruction continues, then I think we will see some action. But Nasrallah has said not yet. And I think that's also Mr. Erdogan's position. Mr. Erdogan is looking at it. And he's much closer to Hamas in many ways. Remember, Hamas is at least partially the offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood. He's the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East. He leads it in the United States and Canada.

He talked to over a million people about what was happening in Gaza. That discussion was just not a rally for Gaza, Judge. That was mobilizing the public, its opinion, its feelings against Israel in support of a potential Turkish intervention. And another comment over the weekend, which I thought was very telling, he actually said, Turkish soldiers will eventually fight in Gaza. You know what side they're going to be on. Well, I think we know that, but just keep in mind, inside the Beltway, people are dismissing it. Oh, he's a blowhard.

He's not serious. He wouldn't do that. He doesn't want to jeopardize his position in NATO. Well, NATO is about as meaningless as any document I can think of off the top of my head. How respected, how compelling is the Turkish military? Well, NATO is about as meaningless as any document I can think of off the top of my head. How respected, how compelling is the Turkish military? The Turkish military is excellent.

It's well-trained. Now, some people will say, well, they think we're better trained. I hear that all the time, but I don't necessarily buy the argument. They're very well-equipped. They have their own scientific industrial base that supports military production, aircraft, missiles. They have the largest drone fleet in the world, I'm told. These are unmanned aerial vehicles. They have a very substantial navy. They have the same submarines built in Germany in the dolphin class that the Israelis have. The bottom line is if the Turks enter this thing, it will not be piecemeal. It'll be full force,

and it would be very difficult for us to prevent Israel from being destroyed. The real question is, after the meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, is if this intervention occurs, for whatever reason, what happens with Iran? The Iranians are obviously not interested in a direct confrontation with us. They never have been. But who knows what might precipitate it and trigger it. You know, I keep looking for the potential for something like the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. You know, something happens that results in the commitment of forces. And it turns out in retrospect that the trigger was either a false flag or unjustified. We now have Senators Graham and Blumenthal submitting legislation that would confer authority on the president to effectively

declare war on Iran and attack it. So these are very dangerous situations right now that we should be avoiding. Instead, we seem to be walking headfirst into the wall that stands in front of us. And the basis for those resolutions offered by Senators Blumenthal and Graham are attacks by militia groups allegedly with the support of Iran and American troops in Syria. Oh, American troops are in Syria? Let's see. Did the Congress declare war on Syria? Here we go again. President Trump actually directed their removal.

He was subsequently lied to and told, yes, we're moving them out. They were never moved. And you also have this presence in Iraq. The real question is, what are they doing there? And I had people tell me when I was in the building, well, they're there to help contain Iran. Well, if we're containing Iran, then I suppose all these Shiite militias that are a number into the thousands that cooperated with us, incidentally, to destroy ISIS, somehow or another, they don't matter. And then you have these thousand soldiers up in the northeast corner of Syria. Well, if the Iranians

really wanted to destroy them, it would not be difficult to do so. Those are light forces. What if the Turks decide to enter the fray? Those soldiers are potentially in the way of advancing Turkish army as it moves through Syria. Oh, well, that'll never happen. And then finally, we have to keep those forces there because they're supporting israel their early warning for israel well my experience with the israelis is anything that happens in syria or iraq they know it before we do so the notion that we're providing them with early warning of anything is nonsense and remember at the time this is three years ago two years ago we the israelis still had good relations with

the Russians. And the Russians accommodated them when they said they saw a threat from Iran on the ground in Syria. And the Russians said, fine, go for it. We're not going to interfere with you. But I think those days are over. Senator Manchin, this is almost comical because of Secretary Austin's inability to answer, asked if the U.S. has enough military equipment and ammunition ready for its own needs in light of everything it has given away to Ukraine and Israel. What's this? Next of all, it brings me to the munitions. I know it's been asked about what we can produce.

Is the United States running a risk, maybe not having enough to defend ourself if we're pulled into any of these battles because of what we're basically producing? Are we producing enough here with the trusted allies and ourself producing enough ammunition to defend our own homeland and help our allies too. Thanks, Senator. The first order of business for us is to make sure that we have the capability required to defend our nation and protect our interests. And then above and beyond that, we can't – What do you think we're producing enough?

We're ramping up. I know we're trying to. SECRETARY POMPEO Yes, we are ramping up. But if it was – if we had to only resource ourselves, yes. But we're at a point in time where we're resourcing allies and partners like Ukraine and Israel, and it's going to require more – SECRETARY POMPEO I'm just asking the question because people are asking me, are we running ourselves critically low on our own volume of what we need

in our own basically inventory, or are we basically overproducing, or can we produce enough, or are we supplying more than what we can produce to backfill? You can't answer it. We all know what the answer is. You told us that months ago from your own sources. Yeah. If we are suddenly engaged in either Europe or in the Middle East, we do not have the war stocks we need to sustain ourselves for more than two weeks to 30 days.

We just don't. We need much more. He's talking about ramping up. The problem is, Judge, we have no surge capacity. Surging suddenly to produce vast quantities of ammunition and missiles and rockets. We should have that capacity, but we don't because we don't pay for it. You know, we have these very slow, ponderous assembly lines that consist of highly specialized technicians that put these things together. I'm talking about your missiles and rockets in particular. And there were discussions back in the 90s and certainly over the last 21, 22 years of the need to address this

and build a true surge capacity. It never happened. So he doesn't want to deliver bad news. But the truth is we're not ready for a major war in either Eastern Europe or in the Middle East. Colonel McGregor, thank you very much for your time, my dear friend. No matter what we talk about, your insight is so profoundly appreciated by me and by everybody watching. Thank you. Sure.

Thank you, Judge. See you again soon. Judge Napolitano, for Judging Freedom, before I go, thank you again for all the subscriptions. We're up to 228,000. We'll hit that quarter of a million by Christmas at the rate you have been showing your generosity. Please keep it up.

What do we do at Judging Freedom? We look out for your liberty. Thank you.