Judging Freedom - LtCol. Tony Shaffer: No Way Ukraine Can Win

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

LtCol. Tony Shaffer: No Way Ukraine Can WinSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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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. Colonel Schaefer, welcome here, my dear friend. Thank you for your time. France, Germany, United Kingdom, Sweden, and of course the United States have all authorized the Ukrainian military to use the equipment that those countries have sent to attack inside Russia. How dangerous is this for the think authorizing it yeah well i think um this is an attempt to widen the war for no good reason and i full full um credit to those who said it first over in the durand they talked about this being this this authority being the latest wonder weapon. So Alex and Alexander over at the Duran have talked about this over and over. And I agree with their assessment that this is more about one more incremental step of moving Europe,

all of Europe and us, into a full-blown conflict with Russia without regard to the consequences. An intentional effort i don't know how to describe it otherwise a conflagration i don't know how to describe it otherwise because they keep thinking they keep saying that oh putin is just bluffing uh putin is not it's interesting they've created, they, the West, the collective West, NATO and the United States, have set up all these quote-unquote red lines, self-imposed red lines. Oh, we're not going to do this. And then they do it.

You know, the F-16, oh, we would never do F-16s. They do it. They would never do certain classes of weapons. They do it. Oh, we'll never send cluster bombs. And they do it oh we'll never send cluster bombs and they do it so they've they've they've created this false impression that putin is not going to do anything when we cross a red line it's like dude you set up the red lines like putin putin's been very sedate he's been very

quiet he's been i think um i'm going to use a word that's going to give him trouble reasonable in responding to the provocations of the West at this point. I'm not trying to defend Putin. I'm simply trying to say the West has been kind of putting up these straw man arguments like, oh, well, we're not going to cross this line. And then they cross it. And they say, oh, Putin didn't respond. It's like, because it wasn't Putin's red line. So they're creating a false sense of security by essentially creating the illusion that,

oh, we're crossing these red lines and there's no response. Well, there's no response because it wasn't Russia's red line. Russia's defined some pretty clear red lines. NATO troops, red line. NATO troops show up in Ukraine. They're going to be targeted. Oh, by the way, Judge, the moment French trainers show up, military folks show up, they're already there, kind of the French Foreign Legion, despite the fact they deny it, they're there. I think they become a legitimate target for Russian attack. That is these French troops,

Western troops in general. So this is a long way to getting to the answer to your question because yes, now that the West has opened the door for use of advanced weapons to attack targets within interior of Russia, I think you will open the door for the Russians to retaliate more directly back to the West. And that would include infrastructure tax, other things that we may not necessarily understand or do. But I think there will be some level of retribution once these things start having an effect on Russian targets inside of Russia. Do you think that Joe Biden and company put aside his mental deficiencies but the yeah whoever's making uh the decisions to the United States wants this war whether for a domestic political reasons or

because they hate Russia and want to make life miserable for Vladimir Putin? I think there's a group of neocons and neolibs, the Kagan's, Victoria Nuland. They're essentially the Trotskyites, the folks who've kind of gone back and forth between parties, who I do believe in their heart, sincerely believe that the best way to enriching and sustaining the United States is through foreign interventions, foreign entanglements, which George Washington warned us against. They go the opposite way. And yeah, unfortunately, I think they want the war. I think, look,

going back to 9-11, I think a lot of people wanted the war there we need a war but people wanted the war so i i tend to believe the same people who wanted us to go to war after 9-11 to the scale we did and by the way i mean i wrote a book operation dark heart we've talked about it we could have been in and out of afghanistan in two years we could have been done with this like yeah we're done let me just stop for a second and segue is that the book that your former bosses tried to prevent from being published that's the one yeah i remember confirming with you yeah the sections that they wanted to right blackout okay yeah and so i'm just telling you judge alone. That alone, Tony, is worth an hour. That is a great story. But back to this. Yeah.

Here's my dog, Chris. Here's Foreign Minister Lavrov three days ago warning about what the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany and Sweden are doing now. Cut number one, Chris. We have shown that we will not put up with this and that we will not allow Ukraine to be used as a direct threat to our security, as an instrument for the destruction of everything Russian on historical Russian lands. They did this for more than two decades, or even 30 years, immediately after the disappearance of the Soviet Union. Their goal was to destroy everything Russian, from the language to the government in this territory, which they wanted to take for themselves.

And they were counting on it. But as always happens, if they wake up the Russian bear, then our people have united like never before. These are not empty words. We saw this during the Russian presidential elections. The Nazi regime continues to use Western weapons to attack civilian targets, towns, and cities. I assure you that they will not be able to cross this line unnoticed.

Don't poke the Russian bear. I don't think I've ever actually heard a Russian leader use that sort of Western phrase. I mean, he sounds serious to me. How do you interpret that, Tony? He defined the red line there. It's like, it's not the Western define. It's like they're meddling in traditionally russian territory that's the issue this is all about to the russians the history as a nation this goes

beyond the soviet union beyond the russian republic back you know almost a thousand years of the russians feeling that they've been invaded over and over and so they're not they as a culture they as a people will not permit having what they believe to be a potential threat that could come in and devastate their nation it's just it is what it is you cannot change that and so Lavrov accurately says yeah this is our issue and so you and I can sit here and talk about this rationally. I'm a Reagan guy. I get it. And Reagan was a master of negotiating and trying to figure out what does someone want? How do you address their wants and needs? And then how do you figure out

a way to coexist? Nobody here wants to coexist, Judge. I mean, we do. You and I and our little people who talk. There's no coexistence. It's all about trying to poke the bear by those I mentioned, the neocons and neolibs. And they believe somehow that engaging Russia using Western technology via, you know, I mean, he said it too, Nazis. They view Ukraine as the Nazis. And that's not me it's them and as long as that's the view you're going to see a russian population who backs up a hundred percent behind putin remember they call world war ii the great patriotic war they don't they use different terms than what we do to describe it. Patriotism is what drove that victory against the Nazis,

and it was overwhelming. So, you know, today while we recognize D-Day, I'm wearing my D-Day Invasion Stripe t-shirt in recognition of June 6, 1944, which we had the greatest generation go do amazing things to retake the Normandy beaches and then opened the Western Front against the Nazis. The Russians lost millions during World War II, and they remember that. People have a deep-seated memory, a visceral memory of what happened. So when they are able, and I think justifiably so, to say the Nazis in Ukraine are trying to take Russian territory. That's why you see the enthusiasm of their military. And despite what Biden said on his 24 May interview with Newsweek,

the Russians haven't been devastated. So I think it's just insane some of the rhetoric. That was a good statement for him to make. We have a clip from President Putin. It's about a minute and a half. A reporter asks him if he's contemplating using nuclear weapons. He doesn't like the question. And he says this is a very grave subject. And let me remind you, only the Americans used nuclear weapons during World War II. It's very telling. Cut number seven, Chris.

Take a listen. There are always accusations flung at us that we are nuclear cyber-rattling. But am I the one asking the question about the possible nuclear war? You were the one to ask the question. You are pushing me towards this question, and then you'll say that I've been brandishing the nuclear truncheon. This is a very grave subject. The U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons during the Second World War.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, 20 kilotons. Our tactical nuclear weapons is 70, 75 kilotons, just the tactical nuclear weapons. So let's not push the situation towards the point when even a threat is involved, let alone the use of nuclear weapons. For some reason, the West believes that Russia is never going to resort to that. But we've got the nuclear doctrine in place. Have a look at it. What does it say? It says that someone else's actions threaten our sovereignty or territorial integrity, then we believe we have the right to use all the tools at our disposal. And no one should take that lightly or superficially.

There needs to be a professional view of that. We have the right to use all the tools at our disposal. No one should take that lightly or superficially. Yeah. Does he bluff, Tony? Here's a book called War Scare. It's about 1983. My dear departed friend, Dr. Vincent Prye wrote it. The Russians, at the tactical level level almost went to war with us based on the perception,

the perception they perceived us as about to strike them, and they were ready to launch on us, Judge. 1983. So Putin is from that era, as am I. We all remember these things directly. We were there. And I know for a fact that uh based on everything that's in this book i highly recommend it i don't get anything out of it

dr and and peter's dead so peter's estate may get something this goes through in great detail the the who shot john so to speak of what almost happened so the russ Russians are not bluffing. Well, I don't believe they would necessarily go with first use. They would use. I mean, they thought we were going to strike them during something called Operation Abel Archer. And I think it was October, November, somewhere in there of 83. I was a very young lieutenant at the time, just saying. And so, no, I don't think he's bluffing

at all he's saying look at look at our doctrine look at what you know look what we can do that's a very rational statement that's not that's not someone trying to create conditions for provocation it's just saying you know we we have established a methodology and policy for use. So, by the way, I couldn't tell you what our policy is at this point. And I'm, you know, I served a long time in our military and I have no idea what our policy is. Let me ask you some precise questions. Colonel McGregor and Scott Ritter tell me and the public that there is an point, or two assembly points, one in Romania, one in Poland, where a lot of our gear comes and then is distributed, put together, assembled, out, maintained, repaired when it's damaged, sent down to Ukraine. There are hundreds of NATO officers there, including hundreds of Americans.

Yes. Are those points fair game for Putin if the equipment being assembled and maintained there is eventually being used to attack inside Russia? I think the Russians will think so, yes. I, there's been a gentleman's agreement, kind of both sides adhere to it, kind of, that whatever happens in Ukraine stays in Ukraine, to use the Vegas metaphor. And everything has been incidental to that region or just outside of it. There's been some incursions into other space, but nothing significant. But yeah, the moment you open the door as a policy issue, which you pointed out correctly,

the United States and all these other NATO nations have opened it up. Except for the Italians, Judge. Did you notice the Italians, they like pizza and living, so they're not on board with all this expansion of the effort. Well, they are. I mean, you're Italian. I'm saying

this with all due love. I'm smiling because of all the cultural implications of uh what you said but uh prime minister maloney has said she's not on board with it i don't know what italian equipment is there but she doesn't want to get involved and she doesn't want uh russian military uh attacking Russian military attacking Italian soldiers. Does Joe Biden want Russian military attacking Americans? Are they there in Poland and Romania? And we know some are on the ground in Ukraine out of uniform as a tripwire, Lieutenant Colonel Schaefer. Well, this is the issue. So I posted them to see the day on X. NATO was created as a response to the berlin air crisis

there was a legitimate reason to organize western forces against the russians the russians were trying at the time as an aggressor they were an aggressor no doubt under stalin trying to to take and and and solidify their their grasp on eastern europe they wanted to take and make that part of the soviet union we didn't stand for that this is where i was i'm a reagan guy we know you need to their grasp on Eastern Europe. They wanted to take and make that part of the Soviet Union. We didn't stand for that. And this is where I was, I'm a Reagan guy. No, you need to give it up. Mr. Gorbachev, tear this wall down.

So that was the response. NATO inherently is a defensive organization. It's supposed to be there to defend the equities of our allies. It's not meant to be an organization that's expeditionary, although they were in Afghanistan. We turned Afghanistan over to them in 2004, the war anyway, and then they're not supposed to be an offensive military organization. They're not. So what has happened is the likes of the Kegans and Newland's and others. They're trying to reform NATO into something that can do offensive operations to destabilize. Inherently, NATO was supposed to be a passive military organization that was prepared to respond.

Now, they're trying to shape it into a sword that will cut and create conditions for offense which is dangerous so i i would this is a long way of answering your question but i think we've we've changed the very essence and understanding of what nato is for purposes of 21st century politics uh globalist politics some have said that nato is going to has become the globalist army, which I think in many ways is true. Its nature has changed from the DNA which created back in the 1950s. What happens if the U.S. awakens the Russian bear? We already have. The question is because what do the russians want to do okay what will the russians do if we awake

since we have awakened uh the russian bear will they already do it will they attack those american troops in poland and romania does that trigger article 5 of nato does joe biden want this war to get re-elected are they going to attack Miami or Boston or New York? Yes, the Biden administration wants them to attack in Poland. No, the Russians aren't going to do it. The Russians are pretty smart about this. The Russians are much more methodical in this. They're already doing it.

The BRICS nations, they're already doing it. And also, the second thing remember what nixon did he played the china card well that's what putin's done to us he's played the china card against us they are looking at how we won the cold war and they're mirroring it they're doing the things which we did to them back to us so it's not going to be that obvious judge it's going to be very subdued it's going to be very gradual they're going to try to do to us what we did to them during the cold war it's not going to be that obvious, Judge. It's going to be very subdued. It's going to be very gradual. They're going to try to do to us what we did to them during the Cold War.

It's like if what's good for the goose is good for the gander. So, no, they're not going to cross the tripwire. Last question, Tony. Does Russia fear NATO? Oh, of course. That's why. Sorry. Because your colleague, Colonel McGregor, he says that Russia knows that or believes that NATO is a paper tiger.

But tell me why you say no. Yeah, it's a paper tiger, but they still got guns. So even the most ineffective, feckless nation with guns can do damage. Putin doesn't want to see Europe in ruins. One of the lessons from World War II, Judge, something called the Marshall Plan. We had to rebuild Europe. Putin does not want a hobbled Europe that he has to worry about instability. He's not going for instability. Remember that. He's very rational. He's not going for instability. So he does fear NATO in that he thinks NATO might do something stupid and he'd have to respond to it. That's what the issue is. Lieutenant Colonel Tony Schaefer, a pleasure, my dear man. We will do a

segment on the efforts of the intelligence community to block that book because the memories are coming back to me. Yeah, it was quite the story as we covered back then. I appreciate that, Judge. Thank you for having me. Thank you for your time. A very large audience. Much appreciated. Thank you. You do. I know it's early here in the U.S., but I appreciate your time as always. Thank you, Colonel. Thanks, Judge. Of course. Coming up later today, Dr. Gilbert Doctorow at 9.15 U.S. Eastern Time, at 11 U.S. Eastern Time,

Professor John Mearsheimer at 2 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. And boy, is he hot today after what The Washington Post did to him, Max Blumenthal. And at 4 o'clock this afternoon, U.S. Eastern Time, equally as hot over what the Washington Post attempted to do to their website. Aaron Mate, Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.