Judging Freedom - Pepe Escobar: How Strong Is the Resistance?

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

Pepe Escobar: How Strong Is the Resistance?See 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 August 27th, 2024. Pepe Escobar is back with us on just how strong is the resistance to Israel. But first this. A divisive presidential election is upon us and the winner is gold. Let me tell you what I mean. Since 2016, our national debt has grown a staggering 70 percent and gold has increased by 60%. Do you own gold? I do. I bought my gold in February, 2023,

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or go to learjudgenap.com protect your savings and retirement before it's too late 800-511-4620 learjudgenap.com remember hope is not a strategy but gold is pepe welcome back my dear friend we missed, you were traveling you're always a wealth of knowledge and information, a lot of things happened while you were away, I know you were in Iraq and we are very anxious to hear about that and particularly your assessment on

the stability and plans of the resistance in the Middle East but before we get there, you're in Moscow. I know you just got back. What is the latest feeling in Moscow, if you can put your finger on the pulse, of the invasion in Kursk? It is clear that this was a NATO invasion. It is clear that the United States spearheaded it. President Zelensky, I think falsely but loudly, is claiming it's a game changer. How does Moscow view this?

Well, I'll be very succinct, Judge. I'm here for a little over 24 hours. But it was enough to talking to people and to feeling the pulse that we are at another cliffhanger moment. And there is absolutely less than zero possibility of any negotiation with Ukraine, NATO or the US. So the Kremlin, the foreign intel agency, the FSB, think tanks, they all agreed that now there are only two options left. Unconditional surrender of Ukraine Ukraine under Russia's terms or NATO going on an all-out war against Russia. So this is as serious as it gets. That's where we are at the moment. So I'll have more in the next few days. But you know, when in the first 24 hours you get that feeling, why? I have to comment because of what so many viewers are saying. Something else happened in the past 24 hours.

You shaved. I mean, there you are with that beautiful baby face that I've never seen before. Well, it's good to have a lighthearted moment like this, right? Well, my life is crazy enough. One day I am at the Gulf of Thailand on the beach. The next day I'm on the desert in Iraq. And on the next day I shave. Wow.

Before we get to Iraq, can you tell us, if you're aware, if there's any extraordinary pressure on President Putin from the right, whether it's the military community, the intelligence community, the political community, or the Moscow elites, for him to come down like a sledgehammer? Well, that's very complicated. It's going to take another few days for us to have a clearer picture. There is pressure from the hardcore siloviki fashions these are people who are inside the SVR foreign Intel especially inside the FSB under botnikov who is a much more hardcore character compared to Putin whatnikov is not a diplomat with this taoist aura like Putin no uh He's part of the let's go for the head of the snake. So there is internal pressure. Of course, we have glimpses of leaks here and there, but we don't get the full picture. One thing is clear. President Putin is angry. And of course, heads will roll much later about Kursk. But the possibility that they would go for the head of

the snake within the next few weeks, let's put it this way, is not discarded yet. But it's not a certainty at the same time. So it's a very fluid situation. It depends on what sort of provocation will come up, you know, Kiev will come up next. And anything goes. goals. Another attack on Zaporizhia. Zelensky and those crazy Podoliak and company in Kiev now want to attack Moscow

and St. Petersburg directly. They're saying this on the record. Oh, good Lord. Really, it's completely out of control in terms of the dementia in Kiev. And, of course, absolutely no signs from Washington or Brussels to reigning the crazies, the lunatic. Here is a very recent response to all of this from Foreign Minister Lavrov, which you could easily entitle, the West is looking for trouble. Yes. The West does not want to avoid escalation. The West,

how we say in Russia, is looking for trouble. It is very important to understand that we have our own doctrine, including doctrine on the use of nuclear weapon, which by the way, has been adjusted now. And American representatives are well aware about it. I've never heard him speak that way. Have you? He never did, Judge. He never did. And he's pointing directly to this tweaking of the Russian nuclear doctrine, which is something that a year ago, exactly one year ago, like next week is going to be the was at the Vladivostok Forum, and he was basically challenging Putin to alter the Russian nuclear doctrine because he said, look, these provocations won't stop. And in the end, Karaganov was right. The provocations won't stop, and Russia is seriously contemplating a tweaking of their nuclear doctrine.

This is as crazy as it goes in a matter of only one year. And Lavrov is the portrait of a Taoist master. Even Lavrov has lost his patience nowadays. Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister, the same thing. So it's very, very, very serious. Kursk, in a sense, well, we're back to the original Kursk, Second World War. This mini Kursk could be a game changer in the sense that the Russians are, you know, they're starting to get ready to go for the kill. Okay.

Before we get to Israel, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, why do you think he was arrested in Paris? Wow, that's a very complicated story. My column came out a few hours ago on Sputnik in English. So it should be circulating in the US soon. Basically, the people that I talked to from yesterday to today, some very good intel agencies, they were saying, they were giving many reasons for this, let's say, Macronist offensive, in fact. The fact that Telegram is used in the Sahel against French interests by absolutely everybody. The fact that the French cannot control the narrative on Telegram in terms of

the Ukraine war and more and more people in Europe and even in France are starting to pay attention to what goes on on Telegram. But the more complicated scenario which I'll try to put together in this column, is that this is a European Commission Macron offensive to try to get control over Telegram. So basically, they set up a trap to Durov. The most important thing about his arrest is that he didn't know that he would fly to france

and be arrested because the arrest warrant was issued when he was on the air and after his pilot has already um the flight plan was already on so the french knew it they got a hint from somebody, ample speculation could have been his Instagram addicted, Durov's Instagram addicted lover, which was posting everywhere where they're going together. So they said, okay, let's set up a trap and let's get him because we want something from him considering that three years ago Macron gave the raw French citizenship because this is very very important this was a personal intervention by Macron to give him to get the raw French passport in the name of our values freedom of speech, etc. And now the whole thing turned upside down,

because what they really wanted from the beginning is some sort of control over Telegram. Now, will he be released on bail or is he locked up for the duration of this litigation? We don't know, Judge. Apparently, it stops on Thursday, the legal period that they can keep him under interrogation. Let's put it this way. I wonder what kind of interrogation this is. After that, the judge has to press charges or release them. We don't know what's going to happen. When you look at the communique by the French prosecutor of the Republic, it's an absolute joke, in fact.

This has been circulated in English as well. Basically, he's being accused of being complicit with everything. You know, money laundering, drug trafficking, pedophilia, etc. So he's being blamed by people who use the platform, which is completely absurd. We will encourage people to look for your column. Thank you. And we'll monitor this and we'll look for you

to let us know what's going on with it. What did you discover? What is your impression from your recent trip to Iraq? Well, I was there last week, and it was an absolutely mind-boggling experience. For me, at the same time, it was quite emotional. I worked a lot in Iraq before shock and all, during, afterwards, I came back many times afterwards. I was there in 2002 during the axis of evil period in the last years, the last year of Saddam in fact. So this was extremely emotional.

And at the same time my first impression was an enormous shock. Yes, this is the famous literary café in one of the streets of old Baghdad, which preserved miraculously from everything. There was a lot of bombing, shootings, etc. in this particular street. Now the street is more or less rebuilt it looks great and the owner of the cafe i can't believe that he recognized me he said yes you were here 20 years ago i said i can't believe you remember because not many more or after you shaved you're shaved. Exactly. Exactly. Maybe because of the beard,

but because no Westerners were visiting Iraq in 2002 before shock and awe. And then there were different layers of the trip. We were invited by the Prime Minister's

office. So this was a very serious trip, extremely well organized. A small group of bloggers and influencers from the Arab world in general, very popular. And a few foreigners, including myself. There was a conference on Palestine on the first day, which was when more or less the prime minister's office revealed an absolutely fascinating concept, which then we saw in action when we went to Karbala last week on Arbaim, commemorating the 40th day of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, which is a very sacred date for the Shiites. They linked Karbala in terms of resistance and martyrdom to Gaza. So, you know, it was amazing. There was, this is our Soviet ride with Commander Tashin, who took us from Baghdad to Karbala. An absolutely amazing trip because he instructed the pilot to follow the road above the pilgrims.

So while we were flying, we were looking down and we will see this mass of pilgrims, absolutely amazing, walking from Baghdad to Karbala. And this is only one of the many accidents where people actually walk. There are people who are walking from the Iraq border all the way to Karbala for days on end, something absolutely extraordinary. And then we learned by the end of the week that there were 21.4 million pilgrims going to Karbala during Arbaeen. It's the largest urban movement on the planet. Is it fair to conclude that the Iraqis are, the Iraqi people now, I'll ask you about the government in a minute, are furious at what is happening in Gaza? Absolutely correct, Judge. And for instance, I'll give you an example. We couldn't get close to the shrine in Karbala because it was absolutely packed.

So we were like five kilometers away, but we were very lucky because we were in a sort of mini Al-Aqsa on the way to the shrine with an exhibition about Al-Aqsa with martyrs, Palestinian martyrs, and the fact that many Iraqis support them. They were collecting funds to send to Al-Aqsa as well, food, etc. And the people that we were talking to over there, pilgrims from not only from different parts of Iraq, but from all over the lands of Islam. There were people from Azerbaijan, from Pakistan, from Iran, from Central Asia, from the Persian Gulf, absolutely outstanding. And this mini Al-Aqsa compound was a discussion center on the ramifications of the genocide in Gaza and the fact that Iraqis not only support Palestine as a whole, but they support the government's position on Al-Aqsa and on Palestine. E no último dia, nós fomos ofertados uma audiência especial com o Primeiro-Ministro ele mesmo, Mohammed Soudani, que é um cara muito, muito inteligente, muito bem preparado, ele era um ex-ministro nos governos anteriores, um humanista, um humanista shí e ele fez a conexão direta, resistência, Karbala, Arbaim, Gaza

e foi excelente e então ele abriu o chão para nossas observações, todos nós também, então foi muito interessante porque os visitantes árabes, os blogueiros árabes, para muitos deles foi a primeira It was very interesting because the Arab visitors, the Arab bloggers, for many of them was the first time they had ever been to Iraq. Many of them were quite young, in fact. So for them, it was a shock and China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. But now under a policy that the Prime Minister of Sudan described very aptly as Iraq first. We could not even imagine something like this happening two years ago, maybe two years ago. What is your sense of what, if anything, the government of Iraq can do or want or might

do to resist the Israeli genocide? Well, in practical terms, Judge, not much. And the people who are doing the heavy lifting are the militias. Kataib Hezbollah, Hashd al-Shaabi, etc. These are the people who will know. They are directly involved. And if there is a lot of American support, I would say overblown American support to Israel,

the remaining American bases in Iraq will be hit. There's no question about that. But the government, it's a very, very fine line that they are threading. So it's diplomatic support. As much as they can, they are sending, they're trying to send funds, health equipment, as long as it crosses the border from Rafah, etc., to Gaza. And they're coordinating what they're doing with the Iranian government, with the Turkish government as well. So it's important in terms of organizing, let's say, a solidarity corridor with Palestine. Got it. Where do you see the slaughter in Gaza going? How do you see it ending? A physical resistance of Houthis, Hezbollah, Iran, and militias or the United States which just conducted its 500th delivery of arms to Israel,

continuing to arm Israel without end? Exactly. He just said it. 500 deliveries. So it won't stop. It won't stop because the United States does not, or the people in power at the U.S. don't want it to stop. And they legitimize anything that this, I would say, this gang of Talmudic psychopathological genocides in Tel Aviv are doing. Supported by 800,000 settlers in the West Bank armed to their teeth as our friend Alistair

Crook perfectly describes it right so it is an eschatological cult supported by the collective West this is the short headline of this whole story so we have the collective West basically supporting a genocide conducted by a tiny esatológico destabilizando toda a Ásia do Ocidente. Não é só essa parte, é toda a Ásia do Ocidente. Então, a resposta vai ser uma resposta gradual. Nós já tivemos o começo, Nasrallah descreveu a fase 1 da resposta the response, over 300 missiles, drones, etc. But, you know, not the top-of-the-line missiles that Hezbollah has, you know. And this was enough to shock the Israelis to the point that they more or less agreed that for the moment, this thing is settled in terms of Israel-Hezbollah. Israel knows that they cannot win a war against Hezbollah

and they know how Hezbollah is dangerous if they decide to go all out. The problem is there's no way out for this cabinet in Tel Aviv, apart from, you know, over and over and over and over and over again. The fact that they basically didn't achieve anything substantial apart from the destruction of Gaza. And the fact that if they try anything more daring, let's put it this way, this time it won't be only from Hezbollah, but it will be the Houthis, it will be the militias in Iraq, and eventually Iran, because Iran, on the record, is saying practically every day, look, there will be a response. We decide when and how.

Got it. Before I let you go, Chris just informed me that in a recent, back to Pavel Durov, in a recent interview with my friend and former colleague, Tucker Carlson, Pavel said the U.S. government has been spying on him and even attempted to hire away his chief engineer. Question, is the U.S US behind the arrest in Paris? Well, we don't have a smoking gun, Judge, but let's say to be extremely diplomatic, they encouraged Macron's move. And basically the European Commission's move.

Don't forget that this ties in with the Neo-Orwellian Digital Services Act, which basically applies to all the big tech companies. So Elon Musk is a big, big target for the EU. And even to Telegram. Telegram is not big in Europe. Telegram has less than 45 million users a day, which does not qualify Telegram as a big social network in Europe. X is a completely different story. So this could be the beginning of the EU going after Musk later on as well. This is what they want. This is something that I think practically nobody knows or forgets,

that Europe does not have any social networks. So they need to control at least one. And they are picking Telegram because they think it's the easiest way to get it. Got it. My dear friend, Pepe Escobar, thank you very much. I know you just arrived from your whirlwind tour. We deeply appreciate your time.

We'll look forward to seeing you next week, my dear friend. Enormous pleasure, Judd. See you. Thank you. Thank you. Coming up later today at 2 o'clock, Matt Ho at 3 o'clock, all times Eastern as usual.

Karen Kwiatkowski at 4 o'clock Eastern. The always worth waiting for Professor John Mearsheimer. Let me also remind you, as you know, last week at this time, we had been struck. We were off of YouTube because of something said two months earlier. When that happens, go to judgenap.com and it will direct you to how you can find you. And don't forget to like and subscribe. We're at close to 430,000 subscribers. Our goal is a half a million by Christmas. Thank you for helping us to get there. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.