Judging Freedom - Pepe Escobar : Is Europe preparing for war with Russia?

Episode Date: July 2, 2026

Pepe Escobar : Is Europe preparing for war with Russia?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes to love your country you had to alter or abolish the government? Jefferson was right? What if that government is best which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live

as a slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Thursday, July 2nd, 2006. Pepe Escobar will be with in just a moment. Is Europe preparing for war with Russia? And what is it in the memorandum of understanding that Donald Trump is afraid of? But first, this. Today's headlines aren't just bleak. They're an indictment of a government that has abandoned the Constitution. You are witnessing the direct result of the Federal Reserve's relentless war on the value of your dollar. For centuries, gold and silver have been the ultimate shield against the state's favorite tools. Monetary expansion and runaway inflation.

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Take possession of your precious metals or diversify your IRA by adding gold and silver. Call 800, 5114620 to see if you qualify for up to $20,000 in bonus medals. That's 800,5114620 or go to Learjudgeonap.com. Pepe, before we get to, is Europe preparing for war with Russia. I have to ask you about comments that you made here and elsewhere. Did the Mossad plot to assassinate the head of the Pakistani army, the chief and principal mediator between Iran and the U.S.? Well, Judge, Larry and I got flak from literally all across the spectrum. We did not come up with this information.

information came straight from Pakistani military intelligence. And we rejected it. And yes, it was a credible plot not only in terms of the Iranian delegation going to Switzerland, but a field marshal Assin Munir. And when Pakistani military intelligence discovered this plot, they sent an indirect message to Tel Aviv, basically saying, try that, and you're going to see what happens. you. Wow. So you believe, obviously you believed it because you reported it. What would the Israelis

gain by murdering the most powerful man in Pakistan? Not only that, Judge, he's very close to Donald Trump. He's one of the few, of course, he's not the leader of, he is the de facto military leader of Pakistan. And he, we can say that he's the most powerful character in the whole Pakistani government. There's no question about that. He's very bright. He's very, very smart, has excellent transit from east to west. And it's one of the few people in Asia in a position of command that is respected by the president of the United States. So, but of course, we come back to the same rationale or non-rational for the death cult. It's a killing machine. There are only two kinds of people for them in the world.

Those that obey them and everybody else. And everybody else could be exterminated anytime. You're talking about the Israeli government. Yes, sure. How did Iran engineer its multipolar breakthrough? I know that you could write a treatise on that. Yes, we could write a treaty on that. How did they engineer this?

Because the whole world recognizes that Iran defeated Israel and the United States. The whole world except the characters in Tel Aviv and in the Oval Office. First of all, Judge, they were prepared for this war. They have been preparing de facto for this war in practice, at least since the early 2000s, at the time of the Excess of Evil in 2009. So they had time to organize themselves strategically, upgrade their military knowledge, equipment, etc., which is something that we see when we go to Tehran and we are allowed to visit some of the installations of the IRGC. They had General Soleimani, which not by accident, was at the beginning of our decade, which I call the raging 20s.

It was with a murder. On January 3, 2020, Donald Trump ordered the assassination of General Soleimani, who was at the time on a diplomatic mission going to Baghdad to more or less reorganize the ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia. But General Soleimani was the mastermind of what we can say is the military strategy of the overall. access of resistance. Not only Iran, but also Hezbollah and Sarala, the militias in Iraq, Hashq al-Shaba, the militias across Iraq. And of course, after his assassination, everybody that worked with him started to implement what later was later in fact only three months ago became known as the decentralized mosaic military strategy. which is what they applied not only in the war against Israel and the US,

but the axis of resistors was applying that all across the spectrum as well. The Houthis, they basically were implementing decentralized mosaic against the U.S. and the U.S. had to flee the Red Sea. So it's a very well-organized military strategy long term, And at the same time, politically, with the assassination of Ayatollah Kaminake, which, by the way, was deeply involved in military matters. Mostaba basically continued tweaking what his dad had already envisaged. And this has a lot to do with how the decentralized Mosaic strategy works. So they knew the enfeebled points of the Israeli and the American machine.

They reacted in the beginning, then they went on the attack. They calibrated what kind of military equipment they would use along the 39-day war, as per the 40-day war. And, of course, because they were not striking civilians, and they were striking American military. assets all across the Persian Gulf, they got immense political capital in terms of support by the global South. So they also won the soft power war all across the global South. Not only they won in the battlefield by resisting sovereign resistance and by repelling everything that Israel and the US

threw against them, but they also all across the global South from Africa to Latin America. And all of this happened right under the noses of the Central Intelligence Agency and Assad and the Defense Intelligence Agency and all these other tentacles that the Pentagon has? Yes, which proves once again don't pass with the Persians. 2,500 years of history and, of course, military clashes as well. And of course diplomacy. They have some of the best diplomats on the planet. it always had. They certainly do in Foreign Minister Arachi, who I had the privilege of meeting at the UN with our friends, Scott Ritter, Jeff Sachs, and Max Blumenthal. What is Trump afraid of in the

MOU? Well, he cannot implement it. If you read the 14 points, Judge, basically the U.S. might implement one or two. When we look at the key points, there is a clause in the, it's the 13th point of the 14 point memorandum. If you don't apply

points 14, 5, 10, and 11, nothing happens. And this is in the MOU that he signed in Versailles. So obviously he didn't read what he was signed. And this has to do with unblocking frozen Iranian assets, basically follow the money,

give Iran back its money. It's about the Strait of Hormuz, the status of the Strait of Hormuz. And number one is, number one already is about Lebanon. So this means he has to reign in Israel. So we don't know if he is unable or unwilling. or both in terms of reigning in Israel. So when you look at the 14 points, and Trump, obviously, he simply cannot fulfill it. It's simple as that. And the Iranians know it.

And the craziest thing is that he actually signed that. So it's a binding commitment. And it's by, sorry, Judge, it's bilateral now. You used to be unilateral, as you know very well. But now, if the Americans break it, the Iranis can also break it. What is he going to do about Lebanon? He's never going to get the IDF out of Lebanon.

So this means that for, well, I try to be slightly playful in my latest column, reminding everybody about the famous Deng Xiaoping, no matter the color of the cat as long as he killed. The problem is we don't know if this current cat, is that alive or comatose, the MOU cat? for all practical purposes, this is comatose and almost dead. And the Iranians know it. And Galibath at the start of today is the Thursday.

On Monday, Galibath, among other things, very important things that he said. And he said these things because the next day on Tuesday, the formal mediation of the Pakistanis ended. So two days ago, Pakistan mediating between, the U.S. and Iran, the whole thing stopped. And now it stops for a few days because there are the, I would say, the rituals, in fact, connected to the large ceremonies in Tehran, in Com and in Mashad of the burial of Ayatollah Kameh and his family. So this goes until July 9. So in the best possible scenario, the Americans, the Iranians and the Pakistanis, will restart talking,

indirectly, of course, after July 9. But we don't know, Judge. At the moment, it's an enormous interrogation point. Because the Iranians already said to the Americas over and over are going to be on the Pakistanis, if you don't fulfill what you signed in the MOU, that's it. There's nothing to talk about.

Wow. Has any of the money in the bank accounts around the world, which the U.S. froze by 30, threatening those banks. Has any of the Iranian money been released back to the depositors? That would be the government of Iran. This is what the Qataris are working on. The Qataris are working on $6 billion, which it's the first trench could be three plus three in the next few days. And in the second, trench is going to be during the 60-day negotiation. So the total is 12 billion. Most of these

are in Qatari banks. So Iranians and the Qataris are trying to find, they already found a mechanism. And the Qataris promised to Iran, look, if Trump walks back and decides not to pay you guys, we do, we guarantee it. And the Saudis, this is something that Larry and I, we got this information last week. The Saudis also told the Pakistanis, and then the Iranians, look, if there is a problem, we can also guarantee the 12 billion. So we are in a follow-the-money scenario now. If until July 9, that was going to be Thursday next week, if I'm not mistaken, if Iran gets at least $6 billion, they continue to talk.

If they get no money, they won't talk to anybody. Period. And they already said that explicitly because this is, in the MOU. And of course, apart from that, we had $3 billion from the UAE, which, by the way, arrived in Tehran on a special Emirati's flight almost two weeks ago. What options does Trump have remaining for him in order to survive this debacle that he and Netanyahu began? Sincerely, Judge, the only off-ramp available is this one on the table, still on the table until this Tuesday, two days ago, the MOU.

But to have this off-ramp working, he has to fulfill his commitments. There are no indications whatsoever that he wants to fulfill this commitments. And when we compare the situation to the latest, I'm not sure if it was the latest, but one of J.D. Vance's interviews earlier this week, when Vance actually said on the record, Trump and I only signed the MOU to buy some time, to replenish our stocks, to improve the cards in our hand. Words to that effect.

So you have the vice president of the United States basically saying, we're playing for time. And we're fooling everybody, including the mediators who work very hard for it. So this means they are fooling the Pakistanis, the Qataris, the Egyptians, the Saudis, everybody. Wow. We have that statement by the vice president on June 30th. Chris, cut number four. So I think what the president has told us to do is use this MOU to sort of refill the world's oil economy,

to refill some stocks. and then to see where the hand is. And, you know, as I've said this repeatedly, if the Iranians are willing to make the commitments that we would like them to make and are willing to back those up with verifiable milestones, then we are going to change our relationship with Iran. And if they don't do that,

then nothing has really changed except for what we've already accomplished from the military campaign, which is a lot. So we kind of have two options here. We have the option of pursuing a long-term deal with the Iranians, but that requires a significant change in their behavior. we have the option of banking our wins and then of course doing things on top of that if the president feels that we have to. And I think both of those options are very much in play.

And the president's going to let this play out. But what's happening right now is he's letting those options play out in an environment where there is significantly less pressure on the world energy economy. So in other words, it's completely upside down. It's completely upside down, Judge. It's the Americas that don't want to fulfill the commission. It's the absolute opposite of what he said. This is the document that he negotiated for. I don't know if President Trump read it before he signed it, knowing the president of

yes, he did not. But surely the vice president read it before he sent it to Washington. Absolutely. Wow. So is the U.S. military preparedness maintained in the Gulf? Could they resume the war tomorrow? They can't. Logistically, they can't. They don't have not.

They cannot. They cannot. Logistically, they cannot. Militarily, they cannot. They don't have the equipment or the troops to do it. They don't even know what would they bomb or attack or invade or whatever. And they will go not only against Iran, but against the whole GCC, judge. This is very important. There was a clear message sent via the Pakistanis to Washington, not only from Iran, but especially from the Saudis and the Qataris. Trump cannot restart this war, and we're going to do everything in our powers so the Americas will not restart their war. Because we know, if the war restarts, we are going to pay the price. We mean the top GCC nations.

We're not even talking about the Emirates, because the Emirates, for all practical purposes, they were at war against Iran from the beginning. But we're talking about Saudi and Qatar, which are involved in the rapprochement between Washington and the possible rapprochement. Nowadays, it's wishful thinking when you think about it. But the Pakistan and the Homanes and the Qataris, they don't give up. The back channels continue, and they are trying to impress to the Trump administration. Look, we broke our backs trying to get this MOU.

Please fulfill the obligations that you said you were going to fulfill. After all, you signed it. But for the moment, no signs of... And what Vance said casually in this interview, oh, yeah, we're just playing for time, essentially. It's not serious. And it's very dangerous because it's not serious. But for everybody in West Asia, it's immensely serious.

At the same time, the Iranians, they set the pace. And Washington already understands that they're not going to rush the Iranians to do anything. If they don't fulfill what they signed for at the MOU, Iran will just be over there watching the river flow, literally. Wow. Let me switch gears. Why is Europe preparing for war with Russia? Because they don't learn what history has told them over and over again for centuries, Judge. Judge, when you look at the non-quality of the political leadership all across Europe, it doesn't matter where. The Bratvus Chancellor in Germany, Le Petitouet here in France, Meloni, which, you know,

the only thing Melanie has going for her, now she's dressing our money and she had a very nice hairdresser. But that's about it. You know, it's just appearances. And of course, when you combine that with the leadership, of the European Union and European Commission. And on top of it, the people who are leading NATO, that absolutely disgusting the most unpopular Dutch prime minister in modern history, it's no wonder. And obviously, they never had a plan B.

Plan A is, okay, we go there and we destroy the Russian economy, and we provoke regime change. It didn't work. They never had a plan B. So their plan B is war. Wow. And it's in the NATO statutes. It's in NATO secret documents that not so secret because everybody in Brussels know about these documents.

And there are different dates, 2008, 2009, most probably in 2030. And they think that they're going to be fully armed from now to 2030 to do a sort of operation, Barbarossa 2.0 against Russia. And the Russians look at that, and say, obviously, you didn't learn anything from this. Last question. The Kremlin launched a massive attack on Kiev in the past 36 hours. Is Putin at the end of his excruciating patience? Excellent point, Judge.

This is what everybody is discussing in Moscow. But is it an exclusive Putin decision? Is it a consensus among, the Security Council? Is it because he's under pressure including public opinion or all of the above? It's probably all of the above because the attacks on a civilian infrastructure and civilians inside the Russian Federation. Now it's a de facto terrorist war of drones against Russia. So there's no, this is no war anymore. This is a terrorist operation, which is a, was for a long time, but now it's crystal clear. So even if Russia continues to advance

slowly but surely the Russian way on the battlefield, I'm not sure if you frozen or if I am, Pepe. Are you back with us, Pepe? Yes, I'm back. Yes, the last I heard you now you're frozen again. Oh well, we're going to play something for you as that's a little humorous at the very end of our conversation today. I hope you'll be able to see this. President Trump visited the Theodore Roosevelt Museum. You're back with us, Pepe? Yes, I am.

I wonder what happened. Now I have full Wi-Fi. Yes. Sorry about that. Now you have a full Wi-Fi. Well, before we get to Trump and Theodore Roosevelt, you were telling us that the public in Moscow in Moscow is running out of patience?

Is the President of Russia running out of patience? This is what we don't know, because none of us has a direct insight into Putin's brains, of course. But obviously, he is feeling the pressure, because now it's all over the spectrum. And obviously, when he sees attacks on Russian critical infrastructure, oil infrastructure, refineries outside of Moscow, civilian buildings, etc. For Russian public opinion, this is absolutely out of proportion.

Something has to be done about it. And the previous strategy doesn't work anymore. Wow. President Trump recently visited the Theodore Roosevelt Museum and had a conversation with somebody he apparently thought was Theodore Roosevelt. Watch this. Every day a president

faces storms most people never see. Keep your nerve and remember the nation comes first you get through. I know you know that feeling

yourself. Well, I appreciate those words. Those words are fantastic and I just want to say it's an honor to be with you today. Do you consider

the Panama Canal your greatest achievement? The Canal stands as one of my proudest battles. No question. But greatness. is a strange thing. When I stood in the mud watching those steam shovels, knowing ships would pass through, changing the world's map forever, I felt I'd left a mark that would last.

Okay. You did. Thank you. I even had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt. I said, what did you think about the Panama Canal? Do you consider that your greatest achievement? How do you feel about the fact that the Democrats gave the Panama Canal? now away to Panama for one dollar. The same speech in which he said, I had a conversation with Theodore Roosevelt. He also said, Theodore Roosevelt fought against communism, which of course wasn't in existence as a political force at the time was alive. This is what the Pakistani mediators and the Iranians have to deal with.

Exactly. And, you know, your presentation of the case is definitive. There's nothing to add to it. How can you convince somebody like that to fulfill commitments when you sign a serious document and you have to fulfill commitments and the other side the same thing? And you ignore it completely. And you try to change the rules of the game that you have been playing. Right. Right. Pepe, thank you very much. I'm going to be away for a couple of weeks, as you know. Maybe I'll be near where you are. Enjoy, Colmo. We'll look forward to seeing you the second half of July. Thank you, my dear.

Fantastic. Thank you so much. Enjoy Comel. Thank you. It should be a pleasure. Coming up tomorrow, Friday, February 3rd, the end of the day, the end of the week, four in the afternoon, the Intelligence Community Roundtable. Josh Napolitano, for judging freedom. Thank you.