Judging Freedom - Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Netanyahu’s Influence on US Gov’t

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Netanyahu’s Influence on US Gov’tSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Resolve to earn your degree in the new year in the Bay with WGU. WGU is an online accredited university that specializes in personalized learning. With courses available 24-7 and monthly start dates, you can earn your degree on your schedule. You may even be able to graduate sooner than you think by demonstrating mastery of the material you know. Make 2025 the year you focus on your future. Learn more at wgu.edu. Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Friday, April 26th, 2024. Apologies for our late start. These things happen from time to time.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson is with us now. Colonel, always a pleasure, my dear friend. Thank you for joining us. Colonel, what good will come from the United States government allocating $61 billion to the Ukrainians, only about one-third of which will ever reach them if there's a government there to receive it? In my view, a fairly experienced view, none whatsoever. You have to parse that and say, well, it won't do any good at all in terms of reversing the situation with the Russians. Two, it won't do any good for Ukraine because what it will probably do is oil some very filthy already corrupt channels of influence in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine. And three, the opportunity costs are significant. There are other reasons to have spent that money, in other words, that far outweigh spending it on a lost cause in Ukraine. What is the status of the Ukraine government now and the Ukraine military? Even the Wall Street Journal, a flag waver for American support of the debacle in Ukraine,

is saying their manpower is so low that some of the equipment we may send there might not even have human beings to operate it. Can that possibly be so? Would the Defense Department possibly send equipment there without humans to operate it? I wouldn't put anything past this Defense Department. And let's just say that the Wall Street Journal and others, and mark my words on this, will begin to craft a story and each of them will have his own input to it. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other warmongering mainstream media, including cable news, will begin, as The Wall Street Journal apparently has already done, to craft their own narrative on this so that we build up to why Ukraine failed. Not NATO, not the United States, but why Ukraine failed. Now, down the road, we'll start blaming other NATO countries, leading with probably Macron in France, because he's given us an open window to walk through, as it were, in order to criticize him.

He wants to take the mighty French force that he commands into war in Ukraine against the Russians. What is the French Foreign Legion? Is that something separate and apart from the French Army? It is, yes. It's distinct from the French Army in a lot of ways, in its codes, in its laws, in its rules, even in its, as I understand it, even in its paymaster and its pay system, and in terms of how you qualify for it as opposed to qualifying for the regular French forces. But is it under his control? Could he order a few thousand of those troops into Ukraine? I mean, about two weeks ago, we all thought he had sent a thousand troops in. Either he tried to and his generals said no, or it was just a crazy rumor. It didn't happen. But for a few days, it seemed like it was going to happen. Would they have been regular army,

foreign legion, or who? I would have thought they'd been regular, but they could have been foreign legion. I think Anatole Levin's recent article on the man who wants to be Charles de Gaulle but isn't Charles de Gaulle is quite illustrative of Macron at this moment. Charles de Gaulle would not be doing what he's doing. What he's doing is utterly ridiculous. And to compare himself to Charles de Gaulle or even aspire to being Charles de Gaulle is as ridiculous. I think Anatole's right. It's hard to figure out what he's doing other than because he has no force to do it with. The French forces would be eaten alive in a matter of weeks if they entered Ukraine en masse.

The only thing he has that is significant and has to be noted is his nuclear capacity. Apparently, Colonel, while the House of Representatives was sitting on the disastrous decision that it eventually made, which was to approve $90 billion, $20 billion for the Israelis, $5 billion for the Taiwanese, $61 billion for the Ukrainians, and some other billions, throw around billions as if they were child's toys. I'm not sure for whom. But while that decision was pending, President Biden secretly ordered attackams that can reach 190 to 200 miles to Ukraine. And apparently they did reach a Russian airfield. How dangerous is it for American security, Colonel Wilkerson, for American equipment and American missiles to be fired into the mainland of Russia?

Very dangerous. And my understanding of President Biden's understanding and telling the American people about this and his vouchsafing to the Congress, as he must do, or Blinken or whomever did it for him, that this munition or munitions will be used in certain ways is a lie if what you said is true, because my understanding is that they could only be used on Russian targets that were immediately engaged or about to be engaged in Ukraine or near Ukraine by Russian forces, meaning very categorically that they were not to be used for strategic targets inside Russia. It sounds to me like, from what you've just said, that may have been already violated. One knew it was going to be violated because one knows Zelensky now.

This is very dangerous, very dangerous. Putin would have every right to come back in a similar manner or, let's say, in a more devastating manner. This is war, after all. How, my understanding is that President Zelensky's term ends next week, and that he's going to stay in office anyway. We all know that he canceled elections. Does General Zelensky rear his head? Does something untoward happen? Will the government even listen to him after Wednesday, May 1st? Resolve to earn your degree in the new year in the Bay with WGU. With courses available online 24-7 and monthly start dates, WGU offers maximum flexibility so you can focus on your future. Learn more at wgu.edu. That's a significant question, Zolushny or whomever. In the past, ever since I closely monitored the Ukrainian situation, roughly 2001 on, they've not had that much problem, some difficulties, but not problem in making the decision to

change regimes. It seems now that with Zelensky and the contenders that might be out there for replacing him, they're having significant problems. I have to imagine that that might be because Washington has said this better not happen. And maybe NATO has said the same thing through Jens Stoltenberg or whomever. And that's holding them back with a dramatic move to remove Zelensky and put somebody else in there. And that's one reason why, to this point at least, there have not been significant protests, I don't know if they're going to be, over his having postponed the elections, because

his poll numbers, as you know, are not too promising. Yeah. Scott Ritter reported that Bill Burns, whom I think you probably know, who is now the director of the CIA, had a second sit down with President Zelensky over this topic of graft, saying your generals are complaining, you're still stealing, and they're not stealing as much as you are, and we're hearing this, and you all have to stop it. And unless you promise to stop it, the House of Representatives is not going to give you what you want. I don't know what that promise is worth. Is this still an issue as far as you understand it? As far as I know, and I think it's pretty far,

nothing has stopped in the modus vivendi of Ukraine and Ukraine's government in particular, which is massive corruption, massive ripoff of funds, massive pollution of the political process by those funds, that's Ukraine. It's been Ukraine, it is Ukraine, and I dare say into the not too distant future, it's going to continue to be Ukraine. Corruption would be the word I would use to describe Ukraine's government, wartime or otherwise. How many Americans are on the ground in Ukraine, whether they are active duty military in uniform, active duty military out of uniform, contractors, volunteers, soldiers of fortune, intelligence community members? Do you have a handle on that, Colonel? I don't. All of those people are there that you just mentioned. I didn't miss any of them and maybe some more categories, but I don't know what the total number is. Do you understand that Netanyahu will invade RAFA, notwithstanding the likely humanitarian disaster that that will cause?

That is what I understand. And from my experience on a college campus within hours of now and my experience in watching what's happening at college campuses all across America from California to New York, they understand it too. They know it. This reminds me vividly of my own time period and the Vietnam protests. Only they do not have, this is what I like about these young people. They do not have the Democles sword of the draft hanging over their head. Correct. Correct. They're doing this for clearly humanitarian reasons. You and I remember this well, and we were both exposed to the draft at the time. I live in,

as you know, in the New York City metropolitan area where the events at Columbia University get a regular drumbeat of coverage in the news. In my view, the arrival of the Speaker of the House of Representatives there and a contingent of Republican members of Congress threatening those who are trying to express free opinion as reprehensible. But I'll let you evaluate this on your own. Here is Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday, yesterday at Columbia University calling for the National Guard. If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard. We have to bring order to these campuses. We cannot allow this to happen around the country.

We are better than this. We are better than this, and I'll ask the president to do that, and I'll tell him that very same thing. And I genuinely believe there's bipartisan agreement on this. We'll stand for what is good and what is right. It does not matter who shouts in our faces. We're going to do what is right by America. We respect free speech. We respect diversity of ideas. But there is a way to do that in a lawful manner. And that's not what this is.

It's hard for me to believe they respect free speech. If you recall the image of him, there was a shoulder of a large gentleman next to him. That's Representative Anthony Desposito, a former New York City police officer, now a member of Congress from Long Island, who introduced legislation, which Mike Johnson voted in favor of, that condemned the phrase from the river to the sea. So Congress is now in the business of not only condemning free speech, but evaluating the free speech of others. I'll let you talk about this, but I want you to know where I'm going. I'm going to a horrific statement condemning free speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu, which I will play for you. But first, your comments on Speaker Johnson. My comments will be those of Sarah King, whom I listened to twice as I was coming down on YouTube.

Sarah King is a Columbia student who was there for Speaker Johnson's little diatribe. Sarah King said, he speaks, and the proud boy's head, Gavin McInnes, speaks with him. The worst discussion that could possibly take place at Columbia. We are a multigenerational coalition of students against racism and discrimination. We are not anti-Semites. We might be anti-Zionists. We are not anti-Semites. Many of us are Jews, including me. This is a very brave woman who stood up there and told the truth about Mike Johnson, about the people he associates with, and about the totalitarianism that he brings to the campus of Columbia, not the young protesters. The governor of Texas sent 100 state troopers or Texas Rangers,

I'm not sure what they call them, on horseback to wade into and arrest protesting students at the University of Texas in Austin. And the governor of Georgia sent hundreds of state police to arrest students at Emory University. I'm going to show you a photo which is difficult to look at. It's just a photo. We can't show you the film that precedes it, but what precedes it is this. A student is protesting. The police knock the student to the ground. They zip tie the student. A professor walks by, a female professor. She recognizes her own student on the ground. She leans over to say, oh my God, are you okay? And a cop jumps on her back, pummels her, and zip ties her while she screams, what are you, crazy? I'm a professor. I'm a

professor. I'm looking after my own student. You'll hear the yelling and screaming, but we're not allowed to show you the motion. So you'll see the still of the professor on the ground, but you'll hear the screaming that surrounds the attack on her. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Give me some cups. Give me some cups. My head. You hit that tree with your head. You hit that tree with your head. That's a concrete. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. You people are fascists. You are Hitler. You are a laughing dog. Damn on you. May you never have another day. I am a professor. This is a a professor. That's what Mike Johnson and company have unleashed at the hands of conservative Republican

governors that want to make some kind of a statement, but whatever the hell it is, it's not consistent with the freedom of speech as I understand it. Not at all. Not at all. I'm very familiar with Georgia. I spent a lot of my military career at Fort Benning, Georgia and other places like Fort McPherson with Colin Powell. And there are some of the worst police forces, both statewide and county and citywide in Georgia as any place in the world. You hear that, Georgia? You have some of the worst police on the face of the earth. They're Nazis. Well, that's what the response that was elicited by some of the students that came to the professor's aid. Now, at the risk of raising

your blood pressure even more, here is Prime Minister Netanyahu complaining about the freedom of speech in America. What's happening on America's college campuses is horrific. Anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty. This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It's unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally. But that's not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful.

Now, fortunately, state, local, federal officials, many of them have responded differently, but there has to be more. More has to be done. It has to be done not only because they attack Israel. That's bad enough. Not only because they want to kill Jews wherever they are. That's bad enough. It's also, when you listen to them, it's also because they say not only death to Israel,

death to the Jews, but death to America. And this tells us that there is an anti-Semitic surge here that has terrible consequences. We see this exponential rise of anti-Semitism throughout America and throughout Western societies as Israel tries to defend itself against genocidal terrorists, genocidal terrorists who hide behind civilians. Yet it is Israel that is falsely accused of genocide, Israel that is falsely accused of starvation and all sundry war crimes. It's all one big libel. But that's not new.

We've seen in history that anti-Semitic attacks were always preceded by vilification and slander, lies that were cast against the Jewish people that are unbelievable, yet people believed them. And what is important now is for all of us, all of us who are interested and cherish our values and our civilization to stand up together and to say enough is enough. We have to stop anti-Semitism because anti-Semitism is the canary in the coal mine. It always precedes larger conflagrations that engulf the entire world. So I ask all of you, Jews and non-Jews alike, who are concerned with our common future and our common values, to do one thing. Stand up,

speak up, be counted. Stop anti-semitism now. I don't know how he lives with himself, Colonel. I don't either. I don't either. He is the living manifestation on Earth today of what causes anti-Semitism. Those are the words of a rabbi who's been my friend for a long time. His exact words were, the greatest motivator for anti-Semitism in the world today is Bibi Netanyahu. But Bibi is trying and he's very expert at this sort of thing. He's trying to turn it around and show the other side.

I'm innocent. I'm the guy who's promoting democracy. Oh, I'm committing a genocide. Oh, no, I'm not committing a genocide. How unblind do you have to be to know that what's happening in Gaza is genocide, or if not actual genocide, it is close to it enough to where Netanyahu should be absolutely ashamed of what he has ordered. And yet here he is giving the exact same picture that he's given all along. He is the savior. He is the genius. He's the protector

of Judaism. Oh my God, he's the protector of democracy, not just Israel's, but ours. This is a charlatan par excellence. This is a guy who has no business running anything at all, let alone his state. And I'm sad to say he's trying to run America too. And in the past, he's got reinforcement for that because he's done a pretty good job of doing that. And we've let him do it. This has to come to an end. It has to be stopped. Otherwise, we're both going off a cliff together. Colonel, his reinforcement is massive. The majority of the Republican Party, a majority of the Democratic Party. In fact, all the Democrats voted in favor of the aid to Israel.

The only dissenters were Republicans who dissented on the basis of either it's genocide or we're spending too much money on foreign affairs, we don't have the money. Whatever it is, it was a principled opposition. But his support in the United States Congress, in the White House, in the State Department, if you know otherwise, please tell me because of your expertise in the State Department. His support is vast and broad. That's all money. That's all money. It's AIPAC.

It's the influence that's been exercised. But it's coming to a head, Judge. It's coming to his head. And I am really proud of these young people all across this country who are putting these protests off. Because I know people on most of these campuses, including University of Texas at Austin, UCLA, USC, Columbia. I know people at Emory, and they're telling me what these protests consist of. Many of these protesters are Jewish Americans. What does Bibi say about that? They are young Jewish Americans who think Smotrich and Ben-Gavir and Bibi Netanyahu and Likud in general are taking Israel into hell.

They are leading the race to hell and they are joining these non-Jewish students on these campuses. I'm proud of them. I hope they swamp every campus in America. Colonel Wilkerson, thank you very much. Thank you for your analysis. Thank you for your passion. Thank you for your courage. Thank you, Judge. One of these days, I'd like to share a podium with you in front of thousands of students who will share exactly what you and I would say.

Thank you, my dear friend. Have a great weekend. You too. That's it. Thank you, my dear friend. Have a great weekend. You too. That's it for the week, my dear friends. Another week for you next week with all of our regulars and all of your favorites. Judge Napolitano, and maybe some surprises. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom. I'm out.