Judging Freedom - Larry Johnson: View of Ukraine from St. Petersburg

Episode Date: June 3, 2024

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Thank you. Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, June 3rd, 2024. Larry Johnson is with us on a view of the Ukraine war from the heart of Russia. But first this. You all know that I am a paid spokesperson for Lear Capital, but I'm also a customer, a very satisfied customer. About a year ago, I bought gold and it's now increased in value 23%. So $100 invested in gold a year ago is now worth $123. If you have $100 in the bank, it still shows $100, but $100 in the bank is now worth 24% less. Inflation has reduced all of your savings, all of your buying power, and mine, by 24%. And gold is largely immune from that.

If you want to learn how gold will soon hit $3,200 an ounce, call Lear Capital, 800-511-4620, or go to learjudgenap.com. Get your free gold report. Same experts who predicted the 23% rise that I've enjoyed have predicted this $3,200 an ounce gold. Learn about how to transfer this to an IRA. Protect your savings. 800-511-4620. Learjudgenap.com. Tell them the judge sent you. Larry Johnson, welcome here, my dear friend. Larry is, of course, in Russia. I thought I would be on the way to St. Petersburg to join him. My end of the trip was canceled. It has nothing to do with Larry. He's happily there.

Larry, welcome to the show, and thank you for coming on, what is effectively the last minute, accommodating my change in schedule. For those concerned about me, I am fine. I am well. The cancellation was beyond my control and had nothing to do with me personally. Do you get a sense of feel for the attitude of the Russian people about the military operation in Ukraine? I think this is the second time you've been to Russia in the past year, once it was in the winter. It's now June, it's summer-like weather. You get a sense of their attitude about President Putin, about the war, about where it's going and why it's going on? I see a lot of, let's call it happy, busy people strolling along, you know, the main

thoroughfare, Nevsky Prospect, and you don't see a lot about the war. It is sort of out of sight, out of mind. I did sit in a local cigar bar yesterday and had a chance to sort of listen to some of the conversation. Most was in Russian and I didn't understand it. But there were discussions about the special military operation and the situation. I think what's taking place is there is a growing resolve in Russia that they're going to end this and end it on their terms. That any desire that they may have had two and a half years ago to try to placate the West, that's dead.

And the West has really crossed, or in the process of getting ready to cross some red lines. And that's what's so critical for people in America and Europe to understand. When Russia sets out red lines, they're not kidding. These are not suggestions. These are what they view as life and death issues. And the Russian people have, you know, they have a history of this. I mean, the city I'm in, St. Petersburg, was known as Leningrad during World War II.

And when you look at the fact that the Germans encircled the city and tried to starve them out. I mean, Hitler's desire was to kill every Russian inside Leningrad at the time. 800,000 died in about two and a half years. Most of them died of starvation and disease. Think of that number. That's twice as many Russians died in this one city as a result of a two and a half year siege as died in the United States in both theaters of war, Pacific and Europe and Africa.

So, you know, again, this stays with the Russian people. They've paid with their blood for having faced threats in the past from the West. So they don't take the current threats from the United States and Europe about launching missiles into Russia as, oh, no big deal. I mean, and I've written this and I challenge every American. Donald Trump recently said what he's going to do is he's going to go cross-border into northern Mexico after the drug cartels. And I understand why he wants to do that, because they're killing over 110,000 Americans a year. However, if Russia then at that point intervened and started supplying missiles to those drug cartels, and those drug cartels were launching

those missiles at San Antonio, at Austin, at Phoenix, at Los Angeles, or San Diego? Do you think we in America would sit back and say, oh, no big deal? Oh, hell no. We would view that as an act of war. So how in the name of God do we have politicians advocating that sort of madness against Russia and expecting that Russia will behave differently than we would? For God's sakes, people, wake up. Well, Larry, you're, in my view, 100% correct, and I share your passion. But that political advocacy is across the board. It's not just conservative Republicans. I mean, this is the war party, the unit party in Congress. But tell me what you think President Putin thinks of this. This is Secretary Blinken just two or three days ago on President Biden's authorization for the Ukrainians to use American offensive weaponry inside Russia.

Over the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us and asked for the authorization to use weapons that we're providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine. And that went right to the president. And as you heard, he's approved the use of our weapons for that purpose. Going forward, we'll continue to do what we've been doing, which is as necessary, adapt and adjust. How does the Kremlin take that? I'm going to guess you're going to say with the utmost seriousness.

Oh, yeah. Dead ass serious. On a previous visit, I met the number three person in the Russian foreign ministry. And he's a very measured, cultured, calm individual. And I saw he made a public comment two days ago in response to what Blinken said. And basically made it very clear that Russia is prepared to strike the United States. They're not going to sit back and take this. Nor would we. If Russia was doing to us what we're proposing doing to Russia, we would view that as an existential threat. We would view that as a provocation for war. And Americans need to wake up and understand that. This is as serious as it has ever been in the history of U.S.-Russian-Soviet relations. We are on the brink of something terrible.

And here's the difference. The United States will pay the price. The Russians will not. What do you mean by that? The United States will pay the price and the Russians will not. We have lived with this cocoon of security that's called the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. We have never been invaded since the Brits came back in 1812. Or maybe you want to say Pancho Villa riding across the Mexican border into Texas.

That's it. Okay? And yet we are vulnerable in ways that Russia is not. Russia has robust air defense systems that can defeat most of our aviation and a significant portion of our intercontinental ballistic missiles. The United States has nothing, has nothing, let me emphasize that, nothing to defeat Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. If it comes to that. Most people would say, Larry, the Defense Department has a budget of $886 billion a year and has had numbers in that category since the Bush-George W. administration. And now you're saying we have no Iron Dome, no defensive weaponry? Do we have an early warning system? Suppose the Russians

aim something at New York. Would it be shot down or would it land? It would land. I mean, remember 9-11. You know, it took everybody a while to figure out you had four hijacked aircraft flying around. But in this case, the Russians have a very capable, robust submarine fleet off the coast of the United States, both in the Atlantic and the Pacific, as well as other means to attack us. They're not playing. They're not viewing this as something that's just inconsequential. What they're witnessing is the United States and Europe, most of Europe, overtly threatening to attack Russia. And it puts Putin and other political leaders in a position. They can't be seen as ignoring that. Because, again, when you look at the history of Russia, they've been invaded at least four times overtly and twice covertly. I mean, the war in 1812, the Crimea War in 1854, the World War I, World War II. Then you had the US-backed insurgencies that we tried to spin up

in Ukraine from 1949 into the mid-1950s. And then you had the CIA helping provide funding to the Chechen Islamic guerrillas that were fighting the Russians from 1999 to 2009. I mean, at some point, the West has got to take responsibility that we get upset with the idea that Russia was buying Facebook ads to support Donald Trump, which was a lie. But we get really upset about that. And yet we've got this history of funding violence against Russian people. And we think we can get away with it with no consequence? Sorry, the day of no consequence is over, and we are playing with nuclear fire. Let me ask you to address this from two different perspectives.

One is European leaders themselves have been threatening Russia. They, of course, have far more to lose. One of the Russian professors, I don't know if you sent this to me or Governor McGregor, someone sent it to me, showed this Russian professor saying, if we wanted to, the Polish state and the Polish people would be eradicated in about 35 minutes. The other layer that is terrifying to me, and this is the direct fault of Blinken and Biden, is there's no diplomacy going on. They don't even talk to each other, the State Department and the Kremlin. I don't think that that was ever the case, even during the Cuban Missile Crisis, even during the coldest parts of the Cold War. Correct me if I'm wrong, Larry.

No, no, you're absolutely right. And again, I heard that from the Security Council recently, and I spoke directly with the Russian ambassador to the UN Security Council. And they can't believe it. There is no communication, no even kind of civil discourse. The Russians have been open to it. The Russians have been sort of going through this quizzical time of saying, what's wrong with these Americans? And they don't, you know, what it is, and I think I was talking with someone earlier today,

she put her finger on it. America is the ultimate now in a narcissistic personality. We see the world only as we want to see it. It revolves all around us. We're the most important thing in the world. Everybody else is of secondary, tertiary importance. If it doesn't benefit us, it's not worthwhile. And as a result of that, we get away with bullying and attacking other countries. The body counts that George W. Bush is responsible for, for dead Iraqis and dead Afghanis, and then similarly for Barack Obama,

that we're talking hundreds of thousands of civilians dead because of their decisions. You don't have a similar body count by the Russians, by Vladimir Putin. That's just the reality. Vladimir Putin and Russia over the last 30 years have not been invading other countries. The United States has been. And now we are witness to politicians, as you correctly noted, on both Republican and Democrat side, talking about China as our enemy, that we've got to fight China, prepare to go to war with China.

What? For God's sake, stop. America has got to stop. We are this narcissistic drug user, and we're about ready to try to incinerate the world because of our craziness. As we speak, organizers are attempting to put together some sort of a, well, Vladimir Zelensky calls it a peace conference in Switzerland. The Russians are not going to show. Of course, they won't deal with him. As we're on air, Chris just told me that Saudi Arabia announced that if the Russians don't go, they're not going.

A, is that significant? Not, we're not going. But if the Russians aren't go, they're not going. A, is that significant? Not, we're not going, but if the Russians aren't going, we're not going. B, is this whole conference a fool's errand? Yes. No, it's a waste of time. It's Zelensky trying to shake down the rest of the world and make the world, you know, speaking of narcissistic jerks, I mean, this little cocaine cowboy, you know, is famous only for how he can play the piano without using his fingers. So he's trying to intimidate and bully the world, but he's no longer even the legitimate president of Ukraine. So the BRICS nations, they're coming together. Look, they have differences among them.

You know, India and China aren't exactly best buddies. And so it's not to say that they're all in concert. But what they do share is this awakening that all of them are vulnerable to being bullied and attacked by the United States if they remain dependent upon the U.S. dollar. They're recognizing we've got to cut off that dependence. We've got to become independent. We have to act for ourselves. We'll act together. And, you know, congratulations to Joe Biden and his astute foreign policy team, they have managed to create unity among Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and

Russia in a way that has never existed in history. So I guess they get to, you know, retire from office with that as an accomplishment. But it's a reflection of the fact that you've got so many people in the world that are sick and tired of being bullied. And, you know, one of the genres in American film are, you know, whether it's Karate Kid or this theme where the bully is always out beating up on the smaller person, on the weaker person. And at the end of the movie, the bully gets his comeuppance. It's usually a him, not a her. Well, guess what?

The United States is that bully, and we're in the process of getting ready to have our comeuppance because the rest of the world is saying, we're sick and tired of it. We're not going to take it anymore, and we're going to figure out how to separate ourselves. That's why you saw the countries in Sahel and Africa start to kick out U.S. troops. That's why you're seeing a growing, this people lining up, including Thailand, to say, hey, we want to become a member of BRICS, because they recognize the United States is unstable, untrustworthy, and dangerous. Oh, you're on fire, Larry. God bless you.

Switching gears, over the weekend, President Biden made an announcement for a ceasefire and hostage exchange, release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and release of Palestinian hostages held in Israel. And then he claimed that it was an offer from the Israelis. Hamas people said, we're looking at it carefully. They didn't blast it. Israel said two reactions.

One is it might work. And the other is, yeah, try it and we'll leave the government and it'll collapse and Bibi will be out of office. Did the State Department just make this up out of thin air for some domestic political benefit? Or did they work on something and get Israeli consent to it? No, it goes back to what I said earlier about our narcissistic personality disorder that is U.S. foreign policy. We think that everything we say and do is blessed of God or whatever God we decide to put in there at the moment. And that all the rest of the world has to pay attention to us because we're so powerful.

We're so important. And instead of normal diplomacy, I know that Alist Kirk talked about this earlier today, fully agree with him. The rest of the world, including both the Israelis and the other countries in the Middle East and Hamas are sitting there scratching their heads going, what the hell is wrong with these Americans? They just make this stuff up. up because as soon as i heard biden announcing that i thought nah that's not gonna work that's not gonna that dog won't hunt in israel if nothing else you know smotrich and ben gavir will put the kibosh on it right away and well surprise surprise they did and then netanyahu's what rejects it walks away i mean in theory it's a nice plan. But when you look at his phase one and phase two, it's really one phase together.

Declare a ceasefire, force Israel to get out and stop killing Palestinians, period. No, Israel wants to kill Palestinians. And that's the reality. This isn't about getting rid of Hamas. This is about getting rid of Palestinians. So, and all of this comes against the backdrop of here you have this U.S. carrier task force in the Red Sea. And supposedly the Houthis fired some missiles and drones at it.

They may have hit the carrier. It wasn't sunk. Someone claimed it was sunk by no means. But it has had to move to Jeddah, the port of Jeddah, maybe to refit because all of the cruisers and destroyers were so busy firing off missiles to fend off drones and Houthi missiles that they have to reload now. They can't reload at sea. They got to go to port. But what this underscores is, judge, we're six months into Operation Prosperity Guardian. We're going to reopen the Red Sea. Well, how's that worked out?

It's still closed. And the United States, despite having the most powerful Navy in the world, can't stop the Houthis. And that message is starting to spread around the world because they're going, if the United States can't stop the Houthis. And that message is starting to spread around the world because they're going, if the United States can't stop the Houthis, how in the hell are they going to deal with the Iranians or the Chinese or the Russians? It's got to be a very bad sign for Netanyahu if the United States can't stop the Houthis. I mean, his dream for a greater Israel is predicated on destroying or at least neutralizing Ukraine. I know you're on fire, but just to raise your blood pressure, one or two more texts, dear friend. Here's President Biden. Chris edited it down. Here's President Biden, either Friday or Saturday, with his so-called peace plan.

The first phase would last for six weeks. Here's what it would include. A full and complete ceasefire. A withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza. Release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During the six weeks of phase one, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two. Then phase two would be in exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers. Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza. And as long as the mosque

lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become, in the words of the Israeli proposal, the cessation of hostilities permanently, end of quote. Finally, in phase three, a major reconstruction plan for Gaza would commence, and any final remains of hostages who've been killed would be returned to their families. That's the offer that's now on the table. When he says that's the offer that's now on the table, that was crafted by the American negotiators. The implication was that it's an Israeli offer, but I can't see the Israelis going for it or that far right will leave the Netanyahu government. And with all their problems there, they'll be confronted with an election in the middle of this. Now, Joe knows how to put a stop to this, but he would have a hard time with the donor class if he cut off all the military supplies to Israel, which under the

law he can do on his own. Yeah, this is pure domestic politics. The Biden team put that proposal out pretending that it was something that the Israelis had actually agreed to, and that maybe Hamas was the one dragging its feet, when that was entirely to placate the protesters against the, you know, Genocide Joe, as they're calling him, for enabling the Israelis to bomb and kill so many civilians in Gaza, particularly in light of their latest strike in Rafah, which was supposed to be a safe area for refugees. No, this is just cynical politics at its worst. And, you know, Biden, it's going to come back to bite them because already you're seeing the Israelis reject it completely.

And, you know, the United States might be able to coerce the Israelis into doing this. And this is the deal. Do it or no more bullets. You no more ammunition no more no more bombs no more economic aid that's all it's done it's cut off either do it or you're cut off well larry joe biden is no larry johnson i mean they're they're not going to do this but you're right that's the only way the only way to do it i'll let. Thank you very much. I don't know your travel plans, but if you can make the round table on Friday from wherever you are on the planet, we'd love it. And I have to tell you, you have a huge audience this morning from St. Petersburg and you have a very large number of commenters and fully one third of the commenters are commenting on your shirt. Tom, tell me the hub and Florida. We call this business casual.

All right. Let you go, Larry. Good luck at the conference. I'm sorry I'm not there. Best of everything. Let them have it. And we'll see you again soon. Thank you so much, Judge. Of course. Coming up tomorrow, my dear friends, let me just check the schedule here. At 11 in the morning, Eastern Times, as always, Professor Jeff Sachs at 2 in the afternoon, Matt Ho at 3 in the afternoon, Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski. We're putting our schedule back together after my aborted trip, and we hope to have all or

nearly all of your favorites on throughout the week. Thank you for watching. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thanks for watching!