Judging Freedom - Scott Ritter: Iran and Hezbollah Crushing IDF.

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

Scott Ritter: Iran and Hezbollah Crushing IDF.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 Monday, October 28th, 2024. Scott Ritter will be with us in just a moment on why and how Iran and Hezbollah are crushing the IDF. 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% and gold has increased by 60%. Do you own gold? I do. I bought my gold in February, 2023, and it has risen 33%. You've heard me talk about Lear Capital, the company I trust. Let me tell you why.

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Before we talk about Iran resisting the IDF and Hezbollah resisting the IDF, I was privileged to be part of Operation Dawn, a program that you ran yesterday at a lovely restaurant in Manhattan where we had hundreds of people who are anti-war, pro-peace, maximum individual liberty folks, many of them fans of yours and fans of the show. program, you made an incredible argument about how close we all are to nuclear war. Can you summarize that argument, please? Well, I mean, in summary, we're literally just one bad decision away, either made by Joe Biden in signing off on giving Ukraine permission to strike deep into Russia, or on the United States greenlighting Israeli action targeting Iranian nuclear leadership or oil infrastructure. A bad decision by the United States in seeking to take advantage of perceived Chinese weakness and promote Taiwan independence that

triggers military conflict. Either way, any one of these scenarios will instantaneously take us down an irreversible path that will inevitably lead to a general nuclear war. There is no such thing as limited nuclear war. Once it begins, it will spin out of control and it will be the death of us all. The reality is, had Joe Biden signed off on Saturday, for instance, allowing Ukraine to use U.S. weapons, our Sunday brunch would not have occurred. We'd be all dead. That's how quick this will unfold. And so I don't want to be accused of fear-mongering,

but I do want to put the fear in the hearts of every American so that they understand that there are consequences to elections. And it's important that the people we empower through our vote to lead us embrace policies that are designed to preserve the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that we all aspire to pursue. And even though the Constitution requires that Congress declare war, the federal statutes, you pointed this out yesterday, the federal statutes are crafted in such a way that the President of the United States and him or her alone can make that decision, which would be far more destructive than any declaration of war the U.S. Congress has made. 100%. The President of the United States is given sole authority for the launch of nuclear weapons.

People can advise him, but nobody can stop him. There is an extreme scenario where the U.S. military could refuse to obey an unconstitutional order, but the president would have to be so grotesquely out of line to make that happen. Generally speaking, the way the nuclear war system works is once the president authorizes the use of nuclear weapons, the military will automatically implement that order. And would the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff be in a position to neutralize or delay the order? No. The president has a unique communications capability that operates independent of any input by the chairman. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is an advisor, as is the Secretary of Defense. But in a nuclear war, the communication will go from the president of the United States to the commanding general of strategic command, who operates the independent military command that owns all of our strategic nuclear weapons.

And it will be an order from the president directly to the commanding general of strategic command. And there's obviously no standards. There's no checklist for the president. He's just going to give that order because somebody has told him, you better do it and you better do it now. No, actually what will happen is they will open up the briefcase and the president will have, they already have prepared little cheat cards, three by five cards that have different war plan options. And what will happen is the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Security Advisor say, Mr. President, we recommend that you implement Plan B in this scenario. It's a range of options that meets the threat. Ideally, you would like the president to have some time to talk through this.

But given the realities of nuclear weapons, especially with the advent of hypersonic weapons, what could have at one point in time been a 12 to 15 window of deliberation before the president had to issue the order has been shrunk down to less than five minutes and again and uh and jacobs annie jacobson's outstanding book nuclear war scenario uh she talks about what these five minutes will be um which is disbelief on the part of the president is this really happening mr you must open the suitcase but is this really what we're talking about? Mr. President, you must open. Now he opens. Well, what options? If I do this to the world, it's Mr. President, we are running out of time. You must make a decision, Mr. President. We have 30 seconds until they cross the line and we can't make a response. But I don't want, Mr. President, we are running out of time. Issue

the order, Mr. President. And that's the kind of pressure he's going to be put under. Now, it turns out that it was a bluff, but once you give the order, it can't be taken back. Once the process begins, it's done. Everything's on full automatic. Why do they call it a nuclear football? Is it in the shape of a football? No, it's just where the game plan is uh you know it's sort of a take on uh you know where the coach has his playbook but it's um it's literally a communications

device uh where he will open up the codes and then he he'll do authentication codes ultimately he will give the order he will will issue an authentication code that's unique that has to be opened that time while the other person on the other opens it. They will confirm the authentication. He will input it, confirm, and then we all die 72 minutes later. What happened on Friday and Saturday when Israel claimed it launched a missile attack on Iran? Well, Israel launched a missile attack on Iran. The missiles they used are called air-launched ballistic missiles as opposed to Iran's ground-launched ballistic missiles. These are derivatives of weapons that are used. For instance, the Russians use a weapon called the Dagger, the Kinzhal,

which is an air-launched ballistic missile. These Israeli missiles have been around for some time now. They've used them in the past in combat. They have some capabilities. Israel launched around, I think they were preparing 56 of them for launch for an operation of this sort. So I would imagine that they went forward with a strike package that represented that. 56 ballistic missiles is enough to hit a handful of targets, not enough to take out all of Iran's capabilities. It's about the package that we would have used in the Gulf War to take out, for instance, a site like the Taji missile

production and assembly and storage area north of Baghdad, which we hit with 35 cruise missiles, air launch cruise missiles on the night of the Gulf War opened up. And this appears to be what Israel did. They fired a large number of these missiles, approximately 40 of them were probably used to clear out air defense sites, to take out radars that would allow around 18 of their longer range missiles to hit a missile production facility in the vicinity of Tehran, known as Parchin. And there may have been another missile production facility hit as well. But it appears that, you know, Israel was trying to send a signal by saying,

we're striking the facilities to produce the missiles that you used to attack us. The extent to which this is a success, if you listen to pro-Israeli media, it was a great success. If you listen to the Iranians, it was a horrible failure. As an experienced battle damage assessment officer during times of war, I will say the truth is somewhere in between probably sliding in favor of the Iranian version events. Did the Israelis encounter some sort of a missile defense system or radar system with which they were unfamiliar and it deterred them from a second or third wave? I don't believe that's the case at all. I believe Israel launched an attack that was in itself consisting of three waves.

Again, you have to launch attacks that clear the way. You have to clear a corridor in towards Tehran because there is layered air defense. But, you know, the Israelis had to put 100 aircraft in the air to make this thing go off. None of those aircraft, by the way, came close to penetrating Iranian airspace. All of these air-launched ballistic missiles

were fired over Iraqi airspace all of these air launch ballistic missiles were fired over um iraqi airspace um north of uh baghdad uh but 100 airframes of this quality these were talking f-35s f-15is f-16is um you know that's it that's the bulk of israel's strike package right there um so there's not like there's a you know a whole bunch of waves lining up to go on. This was it. This was their Sunday punch. This is what Israel had. And did Israel have approval from the Iraqi government to use its airspace in which and from which to attack Iran? Absolutely not. Even more curious is the question, did Israel have permission to use Jordanian airspace? Because the Israelis flew in the past to launch the last strike in April 19th.

Israel actually flew over Syrian airspace, southern Syria, into Iraqi airspace, again, without permission. But the Russians have their enhanced detection techniques in Syria. And so to avoid being detected by the Russians, who then would tip off the Iranians, the Israelis flew over Jordanian territory at very low level. That's not something they could have done without permission of the Jordanian Air Force. So they had permission of the Jordanian government to launch a strike against Iran. And that's going to be embarrassing for the Jordanian government to launch a strike against Iran. And that's going to be embarrassing for the Jordanians going forward. Did the IDF suffer some serious setbacks in southern Lebanon in the past several days? The IDF's goal was to launch an attack that would

be about, well, basically would take control of a large chunk of southern Lebanon. The goal was to push Hezbollah out of this, to push Hezbollah beyond the range of some of their rocket bases, thereby creating peace and prosperity so that Israeli settlers could go back into the northern settlements. 60,000 of them were displaced. They were supposed to be 20 kilometers deep by now inside southern Lebanon on a front of about 100 kilometers.

They've penetrated a couple hundred meters in areas. They haven't taken over a major town yet. They continue to be ambushed as they push in. Their elite forces are being hit. Their armored forces are being hit. And the bottom line is Hezbollah has basically pounded them to a standstill and is now punishing them with continued rocket strikes, not only inside Lebanon, but in the force assembly areas in Israel. So as Israel brings up reserves to come in and replace the forces that had been beaten to a pulp in Lebanon, they're being hit by Hezbollah rockets. And instead of being able to bring 60,000 settlers back in, tens of thousands

more settlers are fleeing Israel. This is an absolute disaster for Netanyahu. He ran a few trick plays early on, the pagers, the assassination of Sroa, the killing of Hezbollah leadership, thinking that this would win him the war. Hezbollah has proven the fact that they are a very resilient resistance movement that has very deep layers of leadership, and they have a battle plan that they're implementing. And right now they're beating the Israelis head to head in a standup fight in Southern Lebanon. Do you think he recognizes that either his days are numbered or his military plans are numbered and that he can't go much farther, Netanyahu? I think he realizes that if he has the continued political mix that he has,

that that's the case, because the current military structure, especially with Galant, his minister of defense, they basically said, you're losing, and we're not going to win, and your plans don't work and all this. So either Netanyahu has to accept the fact that, that Israel needs to change course, or he's going to fire Gallant and replace the senior military leadership, something that is unprecedented in, in a time of crisis.

But this is an unprecedented crisis because this war isn't about the security of Israel per se. It's about the legacy of Benjamin Netanyahu. So he's doing things to preserve his legacy as opposed to preserve and protect, as opposed to actually help Israel out. And I think we're going to be looking at him cleaning house soon in the defense area as one last desperate measure to maintain some sort of political viability. This too will fail, and eventually Netanyahu is going to be removed because he is the problem, not the solution for Israel. In furtherance of what you've just articulated, Scott, here's a report from Crux, C-R-U-X. It's about two or three hours old. The long-running feud between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his number two, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, has once again come to the fore.

In a recent letter, Galant has warned Netanyahu on the lack of war strategy and clear direction. Galant expressed serious concerns that while the threats to Israel evolved, the war's objectives have not kept pace. The Israeli defense minister has added that lack of strategy is leading to potential missteps in cabinet decision-making. Israel's Channel 13 reported that Gallant sent the letter to Netanyahu and the security cabinet hours before Israel attacked Iran on Friday. So, I mean, over here, that would be inconceivable that the defense secretary would be attacking and challenging the president in a written publication in wartime. It just shows the total disarray that exists in the Israeli leadership and the Israeli government because of Benjamin Netanyahu's stance, which again, when Gallant says there's a lack of

strategy, he's talking about the lack of a military strategy attached to what would normally be rational national security related issues. But because this is about preserving the political legacy of netanyahu uh the strategy that netanyahu is pursuing is completely different from the one that galant would like to see pursued and so galant is calling him out and this is becoming expensive we're we're talking about you know israelis are losing you know uh up to you know 10 10 soldiers a day uh in lebanon with scores. These are casualties that cannot be sustained by Israel. And they're losing them in some of their most elite units. The IGOS unit is

a elite commando unit specifically trained to operate in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. And they're just getting waxed by Hezbollah because, as I said before, Hezbollah has been preparing for 16 years for this fight. Every valley, every stream, every wadi, every hill is an ambush site already prepared by Hezbollah in advance. Is Defense Minister Gallant popular with the troops, or stated differently, will there be a fallout amongst the IDF if Netanyahu fires Gallant? Hard to say. Remember, he is also somebody who is responsible for what happened on October 7th, and he still has to be held to account. And so there's many who believe that he too has to go. I do believe, though, that we'll see within the generals, there will be dissatisfaction,

depending on who Gallant is replaced by. If Gallant is replaced by a warfighter who looks out for the interests of the soldiers, who will advocate for the soldiers, then the military might let this one pass as simply a political dispute. But if Gallant is replaced by a Ben-Gavir type, this political right-wing, foaming at the mouth lunatic, the military won't put up with that and you might actually see the beginning of an active revolt within the military against Benjamin Netanyahu. Is Israel an ally or a friend of the United States? In theory, yes. In practice, no, absolutely not. The opposite. And this isn't just going back in time to talk about, you know, the USS Liberty, which is reflective of the absolute cavalier approach Israel has towards American national security interests. It's not just about

Jonathan Pollard, who as an American citizen stole the crown jewels of the U.S. intelligence community back in the 1980s. That is the book that listed all of the frequencies that we collected and how we collected them, what intelligence we're getting, billions of dollars worth of intelligence data that he gave to the Israelis who then sold it to the Soviet Union, our archenemy at the time, to open up some immigration. So Israel took the crown jewels of the U.S. intelligence community and gave it to the Soviets who now can listen to anything and everything and block us from listening to anything and everything because they wanted to have immigration. It's not just that. Israel spies on America more than any other nation. They spy on the White House, they spy

on the Pentagon, they spy on industry. Israeli intelligence has penetrated the United States. They're not spying on us to protect us. They're spying on us to collect information to be used for their benefit and sometimes to the detriment of the United States. Israel is not an ally of the United States. Israel contributes nothing positive in this day and age to American national security. In fact, Israel weakens us. Ask any ambassador who represents the United States abroad today what America's unquestioned support for Israel has done to the reputation of the United States on the international front. Ask the BRICS people why the world is gravitating towards Russia and China and

away from the United States. And at the end of the day, a lot of it comes down to America's blanket support for Israel and Israel's behavior, which is so un-American-like. What Israel is doing right now, open genocide, open murder, mass murder. They just did a funeral for an Israeli soldier where his brother in soldiers in arms came up, and this is supposed to be the eulogy they give. We remember when you volunteered to go into Gaza and you said, I'm going there so I can kill every Arab man, woman, and child I see to get revenge. They're saying this as if it's pride. We remember as a joke to cheer us up how you blew up that Palestinian home. We remember how you shot

that Palestinian farmer and murdered him. And they're saying this is good things. This is the sickness of Israel. And this is why America today is being hurt so bad because we've attached ourselves to this cancer that is infecting not only the Middle East, but the entire world. While you and Colonel Wilkerson and others were talking about peace yesterday in New York City, on the other side of town, a madman was addressing 25,000 people in Madison Square Garden. Here is a 60-second clip of what the madman said. Cut number four. They are our best friend. I worked for Ronald Reagan for eight years. Ronald Reagan said, we have to be there for Israel always because they are always there for us. Hamas is not there for us. Iran is not there for us. They want to kill us. And the Palestinians

are taught to kill us at two years old. They won't let a Palestinian in Jordan. They won't let a Palestinian in Egypt. And Harris wants to bring them to you. They may have good people. I'm sorry I don't take a risk with people that are taught to kill Americans at two. I'm on the side of Israel. You're on the side of Israel.

Donald Trump's on the side of Israel. And they're on the side of the terrorists. Yeah. Does Iran propose the slightest iota of threat to the national security of the United States? So long as the United States doesn't pose a threat to the national security of Iran. And remember, Iran's a nation that's interested in preserving its sovereignty, not projecting its power around the world. There's not 800 plus Iranian projecting its power around the world. There's not 800 plus Iranian base military bases around the world. There are 800 plus American military base around

many of them surrounding Iran. But no, as long as the United States is not threatening Iran, attacking Iran, then Iran poses no threat. In fact, it's just the opposite. Iran, and I say this with firsthand knowledge, having spoken to ambassadors, presidents, and other senior officials in Iran, they would love nothing more than to have normal relations with the United States. They don't see an inherent ideological conflict between the two. They recognize the sovereign status of the United States, and they just asked that the United States recognize and respect the sovereign status of Iran. Is there any legitimate argument to support or any evidence to support Mayor Giuliani's claim that

Israel is always there for us and the Palestinian children as babies are taught to kill. Well, I mean, I'm no expert on, you know, childhood education, but I am a father who raised two wonderful daughters. You met one yesterday. You've met the other at our event in September. You know, and I remember when they were two years old, the idea that you're going to teach a two-year-old anything is ludicrous. You can teach them love. You can expose them to love. Maybe you could expose them to hate,

but their ability to comprehend what's transpiring around them is nil. So this is a true reaction. That is maverick hearing Chris. I was doing such a good job playing with my dog with my foot. And anyways, but no, so this is stupidity in the extreme and it's just racist on the part of Giuliani. But Israel, again, does not contribute anything.

This is a nation that has a support network that brags about buying the United States Congress, buying. They spent $100 million this year alone, AIPAC, to buy. If you add all the pro-Israeli lobbies together, we're probably talking close to a billion or more dollars. We have an American Jewish lady who is pledging $100 million to Donald Trump's election just so he supports Israel. American democracy cannot be bought. I mean, it is being bought, but it cannot be allowed to be bought. And Israel is in the business of buying American democracy cannot be bought. I mean, it is being bought, but it cannot be allowed to be bought. And Israel is in the business of buying American democracy. Why? Is it a friendship, Judge, if I have to buy your friendship? I mean, if I'm taking a lady out for dinner and I have to pay her for the night, I think there's another term we use for that. So America is Israel's whore.

We're not Israel's friend. Scott Ritter, thank you very much, my dear friend. It was great being with you all day yesterday, just like it was up at Salenti's gathering in Kingston last month, and we'll do it again soon. I appreciate you coming on today, and hopefully we can talk again next week. Okay. Thank you, Judge. Thank you. All the best. Coming up tomorrow at noon from Paris, Pepe Escobar at two o'clock, Matt Ho at three o'clock, Karen Kwiatkowski at four o'clock, Colonel Douglas McGregor. Please remember to like and subscribe, my dear friends. We're just about up to 470,000 subscriptions. You've heard me say this before. Our goal is a half a million by Christmas. I think we'll get there. We have two months to go, but of course, we can't do it without your help. Help us to spread the words of people like Scott Ritter by liking and

subscribing. Both of those extend our reach. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thanks for watching!