Judging Freedom - Scott Ritter: Ukraine / Israel Views from Live from Moscow .

Episode Date: January 14, 2024

Scott Ritter: Ukraine / Israel Views from Live from Moscow .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 Thursday, January 11, 2024. Scott Ritter returns to our cameras directly from Moscow in Russia, and he's accompanied by Alexander Zhirjanov, his friend and colleague who is the director of a Russian development corporation, the translator, the very able translator whose English is superb, is Pavel Ezov, who was with us last time. So Scott, Alexander, Pavel, welcome back to Judging Freedom. I was quite surprised and pleased, Alexander, to hear what you told me before we started the show, and that is that the show we did last week was seen by over И это то, что мы провели в прошлой неделе, когда более миллиона людей в Москве видели нашу передачу. Добрый день, господин Наполитано. Я также рад приветствовать всю вашу многочисленную аудиторию. Судя по комментариям, она по всему миру. Я видел комментарии из Новой Зеландии, из Франции, из множества других стран. Добрый день, господин Наполитано. Я рад приветствовать вашу аудиторию.

Мне кажется, что у вас есть люди из всего мира. Я видел в комментариях, что есть люди из Новой-Зеландии, Франции и других стран. И я видел переводы предыдущего шоу на хотя бы два канала. И на одном из них было 300 тысяч зрителей, а на другом было 550 тысяч зрителей. Но это только два канала, поэтому, я думаю, что в цел популярностью большого Скотта Риттера среди русских людей. же время и показывает насколько велик у россиян запрос на диалог с американцами на чтобы люди знали их точку зрения и диалог между нашими странами был я спаррик сайдерсу поиск ту the fact that the russians are very willing to engage in a dialogue with american's to convey their views and to have this dialogue between the two nations. You know, Scott, that's a very interesting statement that Alexander just made. You've been making that statement for the two years that you've been on this show. There should be no animosity whatsoever between the Russian people and the American people, and therefore there should be no animosity between the Russian government and the American people,

or between the Russian government and the American people, or between the Russian government and the American government. But the present American government under Joe Biden has attempted to demonize the Russian government, Scotty. Not just the Russian government, but demonize the Russian people. The disease of Russophobia is rampant in the United States. We bought into this notion that the Russian people are somehow culturally inferior to us. Judge, I went on Christmas. I went to the ballet in St. Petersburg to watch Peter Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite. It was written by Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer. It was initially performed in St. Petersburg in 1892. It's a Christmas story. So to see

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker in St. Petersburg on Christmas Day not only was one of the ultimate highlights of my life, but it just underscores that Russia is a nation of deep cultural traditions. These are not local yokels who run around with bears and roll around in the snow naked, although they do that too. But these are people that have a level of culture that's unimaginable. Their history is as deep as the day is long. And we disrespect them when we treat them as anything less than this unique culture, this unique people. And Americans can learn so much from the Russians and Russians can learn so much from Americans. Do the Russian people understand that the neocons and the war party in Congress have just chosen Russia

as the enemy with which to whip up the enrichment of the military-industrial complex? Do they understand this is a government decision and not a decision of the American people? There's no doubt. Every Russian I've met has said that they make a sharp distinction between the American government and the American people, that they have no problems whatsoever with the American people. But what they do say is, while they know that that's what the American government is doing,

they don't understand why. They don't understand why the American government is behaving in this fashion, because it's illogical. It doesn't advance American interests. The more we beat up on Russia, the more we sanction Russia, the more we try to target Russia through proxies like Ukraine, the weaker America gets and the stronger Russia gets. And the Russians just don't understand what's the reason behind this. I tried to explain to them that you can't view this from the lens of geopolitics. You have to view this from the lens of domestic American politics. That's where, of course, things get insane because

America right now politically is a clown show. I hate to say that, but it's the truth. Well, I don't know if you saw this, but two or three days ago, two professors from Stanford published a piece called Ukraine's Path to Victory. This is crazy and fanciful. There is no path to victory for Ukraine. Isn't that true? Aren't they almost literally on their last legs as we speak? Ukraine is on their last legs. Even if we infuse them with money, there's no amount of money that can reverse the strategic defeat that Russia has inflicted, not only on Ukraine but the collective West. That includes the United States, NATO, the European Union. The entire Western world ganged up on Russia, thinking that they had found a weak target.

They thought that they could destroy Russia's economy. Alexander Zyryanov is a man who's largely responsible for the economic vitality of the Novosibirsk region, the third largest city, one of the wealthiest regions in Russia. It's thriving today, despite all of the sanctions. And this is happening not just in Novosibirsk, it's happening everywhere in Russia. We have failed in our policy to sanction Russia. And then militarily, you know, there's not a serious military analyst out there right now that can say with a straight face that the Russian military is weaker than the American military or any Western military. The Russian military today is

literally the strongest military on the face of the earth because of what the United States has done in Ukraine. We have compelled Russia to re-examine its military, to learn from its mistakes, to improve its capabilities. And today, it's the most capable, combat-hardened, experienced fighting force in the world, thanks to the United States. Alexander, do you agree with this? Александр, вы согласны с этим утверждением, что российская армия та, которая воюет. Конечно, она приобрела определенный опыт, произошло обновление вооружения с учетом практики, которые были учтены, все ошибки. И я считаю, что сейчас наша армия это номер один армия в мире. As the saying goes, the strongest army is the army that is fighting in a war. So, of course, we have taken account of the experience that we have generated. We have upgraded our weapons and we have taken into account the practice. So, yes, I guess Russia could be seen as the strongest army currently because of the combat experience that we've had. You, Alexander, manage a lot of the development, economic development, in the third richest region in Russia. Have you had difficulty getting supplies and have you had Александр, вы управляете экономическим развитием в региечении поставок или в привлечении инвестиций с тех пор, как президент США Джо Байден ввел экономические санкции?

Да, с определенными сложностями мы сталкиваемся. У нас сейчас идет так много инвестиций, что мы с трудом уже находим участки земли, обеспеченные инфраструктурой, чтобы размещать новые заводы и предприятия. Но это приятные сложности, мы с ними справляемся. Мы рады, что мы имеем их. В отношении России они ни к чему не привели, они привели к обратному эффекту. Мы только увереннее себя чувствуем, наша экономика находится на подъеме. А в отношении глобального мира, я думаю, что Америка подорвала свое влияние, потому что другие страны, глядя на то, как нарушаются международные законы, когда Америка односторонне вводит санкции, конечно, тоже будут задумываться о том, с кого брать свои партнеры.

И, конечно, они будут стараться вести более самостоятельную экономическую политику, чтобы не зависеть от односторонних санкций США. only had the opposite effect because we are now feeling more confident and our economy is on the rise. But globally, I guess what the US was able to achieve is only to undermine its influence because of these unilateral sanctions. And other countries, its partners are now looking at what the US are doing and start thinking maybe they should be more cautious in choosing their partners И сейчас я думаю, вы знаете, что доллар все-таки была основная резервная мировая валюта для многих стран. Сейчас, когда страны смотрят, как суверенный долг России, практически 300 миллиардов рублей заморожен абсолютно незаконно конечно страны будут стараться постепенно избавляться от доллара что тоже нанесет америке экономический ущерб Скажите, люди в Москве улыбаются ли, когда они благодарят Джо Байдена за все вот это, что он сделал? Да, они улыбаются, я могу это подтвердить. to Israel. You're in Moscow. I'm in New Jersey. We just interviewed Professor Sachs in Cambodia.

But as we all speak, opening arguments are being made at the Hague in the South African complaint against the government of Israel for engaging in genocide. Is this an issue in Russia? Of course it is. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has made numerous statements talking about the crimes of the Israeli government towards the Palestinian people and the need for Palestine and the Palestinian people to have their own state. Judge, the Russian people are as well informed about global issues as you can imagine. As I said, these are not people, they're not local yokels. They don't live in log cabins and run around with bears, although they do live in log cabins and run around bears, but that's just for fun. But these are sophisticated people. They have access to the internet, the same information that we have access to. There's no censorship here.

And they're people that are very focused on global events. So the Russian people know all too well about what's happening in Gaza, what Israel is doing. and they also know what the position of their government is because their government, it's not, this isn't a dictatorship. This is a government that's responsible to the Russian people and keeps the Russian people informed. There is near total transparency here on policy decisions. And so the Russian government, including its president, have made numerous statements about this situation. And the Russian people are as appalled about what's happening in Gaza as anybody who has a conscience should be.

We're going to play the opening statement of the lawyer for South Africa. It's just about a minute, 30 seconds in length. Pavel, you're welcome to do a running translation. It's in English. You're welcome to do a running translation if you wish for Alexander. But Scott, you, Professor Sachs, Professor Mearsheimer, me, I have all looked at this complaint. It is astounding in its detail. The information is public. The

language in the complaint out of the mouths of Israeli leaders is utterly damning. But here's the opening remarks of the lawyer for South Africa before the International Court of Justice just a few hours ago today. The violence and the destruction in Palestine and Israel did not begin on the 7th of October 2023. The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years. On 6 October 2023 and every day since October 7th, 2023. In the Gaza Strip, at least since 2004, Israel continues to exercise control over the airspace, territorial waters, land crossing, water, electricity and civilian infrastructure, even an attack involving atrocity crimes can provide any justification for or defense to breaches to the convention, whether as a matter of law or morality. Israel's response to the 7th of October 2023 attack has crossed this line and give rise to the breaches of the convention. This is a slam dunk to you and to me. The evidence is overwhelming and it's from public sources.

Do you expect that the American government will do something to undermine the credibility or even the deliberations of this court? I think the United States government will allow the deliberations to go forward. There's not much we can do about it. I think if the court reaches, as I believe and you believe it should, the conclusion that Israel has committed genocide or is preparing to commit genocide, then the United States will take actions that will prevent any accountability toward Israel. We will veto anything from the Security Council, and we will seek to undermine and prevent and block any General Assembly initiatives. But the fact of the matter is, this indictment, as you said, is a slam dunk.

And Israel is forever stained by this. This is, you know, this is the beginning of the end of the Israeli state as we know it. I'm not saying that Israel will go away, but whatever emerges from this crisis will be an Israeli state that is not governed by the people it's currently governed by and will not engage in the kind of actions that it has because the world has rejected this. And if Israel is not careful, it'll find itself canceled by the world. Is Benjamin Netanyahu in control of his own government, or is he held captive by the extremists in his coalition, whom, if they departed, would deny him a majority in the Knesset? He's a prisoner of his own ideology. He has created a government that can only exist by bringing in the worst of the worst, the far right wing of the

Israeli political spectrum. These are the people who call for genocide. Judge, you said it. We're talking about statements made in public by Israeli officials, including the prime minister, that are genocidal in nature. There's no other way to interpret what the Israeli government officials have said. Under normal circumstances, if any government official went out on the limb on articulating with vigor support for a war crime, a crime against humanity, normally one would expect them at a minimum to be expelled from the government. But the Israeli government is composed almost entirely of these like-minded individuals who espouse hatred, who espouse death and destruction for innocent Palestinian people. They will be condemned by their own words, by their own actions. You will not have to, you know,

put together a circumstantial case against israel it's right there their mouths their you know their their hands um their bodies have have provided the proof that they have committed genocide against the palestinian people watch this clip of israeli Israeli soldiers dancing in the streets in Gaza celebrating their genocidal slaughter of Gazan civilians. Now, you're going to see it in the context of another opening statement by another lawyer for South Africa who has chosen to play this tape, which is publicly available, as part of his opening remarks. On 7 December 2023, Israeli soldiers proved that they understood the Prime Minister's message to remember what the Amalek has done to you as genocider. They were recorded by journalists dancing and singing.

We know our motto, they are no uninvolved, that they obey one commandment to wipe off the seed of Amalek. The prime minister's invocation of Amalek is being used by soldiers to justify the killing of civilians including children. These are the soldiers repeating the inciting words of their prime minister. I think it is a slam dunk case, Scott. I don't know what conceivable defense the Israelis are going to present, but their defense starts tomorrow. tomorrow? What arguments can they make in the face of irrefutable evidence of genocidal intent, genocidal purpose, and genocidal acts? I think the Israeli defense will be one that emphasizes what they will say are isolated acts, that the events of October 7th so insulted the Israeli nation that there were isolated events of excesses, but it does not represent a genocidal policy that the Israeli government, they will argue, is the most humane government in the world when it comes to these issues. The Israeli army

is the most moral army in the world. They'll try to make that case but it's a an awful lot like you know Adolf Hitler trying to argue that the Waffen SS is just a sadly misunderstood institution or the Ukrainian government trying to argue that the Azov battalion is a vocal minority, ignore the murders and the crimes that they've done. I think the case will fail. So the ICC, the International Criminal Court, has indicted President Putin because he saved babies from the dangers of war. Why doesn't the same court indict Prime Minister Netanyahu for intentionally slaughtering 21,000 civilians? I mean, who do you know could defend morally

the slaughter of 21,000 civilians? Nobody can defend the slaughter of 21,000 civilians. But the problem is the International Criminal Court is a court in name only. It is an extension of American foreign policy and national security policy objectives where the United States has seized international law, the concept of international law, to pursue its own targeted things. As you know, justice is supposed to be blind. But when you selectively prosecute or you manufacture a case for prosecution, understand that the ICC will never

try Vladimir Putin. They never will. This indictment is 100% politically motivated to create the perception of Ukrainian moral superiority over Russia. The International Criminal Court is a joke. It's a travesty. Unlike the International Court of Justice, which is founded in international law and is part and parcel of the United Nations and it adheres to the values enshrined in the United Nations Charter,

I only wish that the International Criminal Court operated the same way because, A, there would be no indictment of Vladimir Putin, and B, Benjamin Netanyahu would have been arrested Александр, а что думают россияне о том, что делает правительство Израиля и вооруженные силы Израиля в Газе? Вы знаете, для россиян, для нас всегда очень важна справедливость. И в этой ситуации мы верим, что справедливость не на стороне Израиля. Да, трагедия 7 октября ужасна, и мы не спорим, что Хамас это террористическая организация. Но, к сожалению, правительство Израиля превысило все возможные пределы ответа. И вот в моих глазах, а я думаю так, думает и большинство россиян, правительство Израиля сейчас выглядит не менее террористической организацией, чем Хамас, а возможно даже и значительно более. I think that the same applies to many Russians. The Israeli government looks as an equally terrorist one at the moment.

And I have no doubt that most of the Russians support Palestine in this situation. Thank you. Scotty, we're going to play your favorite retired admiral commenting on the official view of the Biden administration. This is cut 16, Chris, of the South African complaint. South Africa's filed this 84-page lawsuit against Israel, accusing them of genocide. Israel says that this is blood libel. Does Washington agree? And where does this put Washington and Pretoria? We find this submission meritless, counterproductive and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever. And could he undermine Joe Biden any more than he has?

Meritless, counterproductive, and without basis in fact. It is profoundly filled with merit and it is totally based on fact. Well, it just shows that words are meaningless to the Biden administration. One of the things that I've learned in dealing with Russians and the Russian government is that words matter, that when an official speaks, they are very careful about the words they use because words have meaning. And what, you know, Admiral Kirby has done here has shown that to the United States government, words mean nothing, that literally he can say things to become a politically acceptable soundbite. But as you pointed out, to say something's

meritless when it has merit means that his words have no meaning. This is an embarrassment. As an American citizen, I'm embarrassed by John Kirby's performance. I'm embarrassed by the actions of the Biden administration. But, you know, again, what do we expect? This is, the United States government's doing this for some time. I need only say, there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We have irrefutable proof that there's weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. They're here, they're everywhere. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It seems that the U.S. government exists for the sole purpose of lying to the American people, lying to the world. And

that's what John Kirby just did. I'm going to show you another embarrassing comment, this by Lord David Cameron, who's the former prime minister of Great Britain and is now the defense secretary. He was testifying yesterday before a parliamentary committee that was trying to extract from him and his chief deputy, who talks like this and it's difficult to follow him, exactly how many UK hostages are in Gaza and how many have been returned. And they keep using a bizarre phrase about people highly connected to Britain. And I wonder if you can see or read through this.

Take a listen to this. Be specific about the number of UK nationals who remain as hostages. Yes, there are two. And do we have proof of life? There are two British nationals that remain as hostages. I don't want to make any further comment on them. There are also, of course... Do we know they're alive, though? I just don't want to say any more. We don't have any information to share with you.

There are also, of course, people very connected to Britain who are also hostages. A few of us were in Doha in December where we met with Roger Carstens, who is the US hostage negotiator. He can tell me in a minute's notice the names of all the hostages who are American who are still being held by Hamas, let alone the ones in Venezuela or anywhere else in the country. And he can most certainly tell me how many have been brought back to the UK, back to the US. How many have been brought back to the UK who had UK citizenship?

There are two. As the Foreign Secretary mentioned, who had British nationality who were hostages. There were others who were connected to the UK through family ties. I think the answer to your question is brought back to the UK by the UK government is, I think, it will have to confirm... I don't really care who brought them back. I care about British nationals who were held hostage. How many have been brought back?

Let me confirm after this, but I'll speak for myself rather than for Thornstead. I don't think there are any. Okay. So the answer's zero. I think that's right. Think they're trying to hide. Who could these people connected to the British government be? Is he talking about MI6? Is he talking about people with dual British and Israeli citizenship? Is he talking about British troops? No, no, no. What he's talking about is that in the UK social circles, financial circles, et cetera, there are families of UK citizens who have family members who are not UK citizens, but who travel often to the UK and play a very important role in the financial, the real estate, and the economic aspects of the UK. So they are UK citizens and everything, but having a passport. They're very closely connected. And the families of these people are putting pressure

on the British government to try and get them released, even though they aren't passport-carrying UK nationals. They're people that have extremely close ties to the political and economic elites of the UK. Last question for you, and then I have one more for Alexander. Were you surprised at all the nonsense perpetrated by the Secretary of Defense, a former four-star general, going AWOL for two weeks, not telling his bosses about his medical condition, transferring power to his deputy,

who learned of this while she was on a beach or in a hotel in Puerto Rico and attempted to manage the Defense Department from there. How reckless and irresponsible, potentially criminal, is this? It's the most reprehensible behavior one can imagine from a Secretary of Defense who has a duty and responsibility to the American people and to the American Constitution to be available to do his assigned duties. And if he can't do his assigned duties, he must transfer command in a legal manner to his deputy who must be able to carry out these tasks. You know, there's two aspects of this. One is, can you imagine a situation where Vladimir Putin didn't know where Marshal Shoigu was,

where for three days Vladimir Putin just wandered around Moscow, not caring at all what's happening in the special military operation, not questioning why he's not getting a briefing from Marshall Shoigu about things that are happening. No, it's unimaginable. No coherent government, no responsible government would tolerate this. And yet the Biden administration, the president of the United States, wasn't asking any questions about where his Secretary of Defense was while the United States is engaged in warlike activities on the European continent, while we have forces that are claimed to be deterrent forces,

meaning they're ready to use military force at any moment in the Middle East, while we are talking about the potential of armed conflict against North Korea and China and the Pacific. And he didn't wonder where his Secretary of Defense was. And let's take it to not so extremes. I'm not saying that Russia would ever launch a preemptive nuclear strike against us, but nuclear deterrence only works if the other side believes that if they attack you with nuclear weapons, you will destroy them as a result. Therefore, don't attack us.

The Secretary of Defense is an indispensable part of the nuclear response system. And when he is not available and his deputy is not briefed and available, you have created a system that will not function as intended. Therefore, the possibility exists that a hostile force could attack us and we would not respond in a timely fashion. Therefore, we've lost all deterrent value. Joe Biden has done so much harm to the American people by allowing Lloyd Austin, and I have to say that my heart goes out to Lloyd Austin. Prostate cancer is a very serious disease, and I hope he recovers well, but that's not an excuse for failing your constitutional responsibilities of the American

people to be available to do your job that we demand of you. And this is a failure of Austin. He should be fired or resigned. He needs to be replaced. And this is a failure of Joe Biden. It shows the absolute incompetence of the American government today under Biden's leadership. Alexander, do you have any comments for the American people, maybe to American businessmen? You're a Russian businessman. What would you say to American businessmen and women who are looking for the opportunity to invest Александр, а вот что бы вы могли сказать американским гражданам, американским бизнесменам, предпри мире для инвестиций. Можно в нее инвестировать, Вы можете инвестировать, или вы можете не инвестировать. Мы можем делать все сами. У нас есть партнеры в других странах, которые могут работать с нами.

Но для американцев. Как я уверен, в США есть много проблем. И вместо того, чтобы зарабатывать около 200 миллионов долларов США, которые финансирует нацистский режим в Украине, США правительство было бы лучше, чтобы зарабатывать это деньги, чтобы улучшить жизни обычных американцев. На эти деньги можно было бы построить школы, дороги, улучшить образование, медицину, то, что нужно простым людям. Вместо этого обогащается фашистский режим в Киеве, который благодаря этим деньгам гонит простых украинцев на убой. Погибло уже около 500 тысяч украинцев.

Но вместо этого, этот денег используют, чтобы улучшить фашистский режим в Киеве, который использует этот денег, чтобы отправить своих людей на убой. Сейчас более 500 тысяч украинцев уже умерли в этом конфликте. И глобалисты, и владельцы оружейных компаний Соединенных Штатов Америки. Пусть американский народ задумается, нужно ли им это. И это деньги также используются, чтобы улучшить глобалистов и производителей оружия в США. Поэтому, я думаю, что это дело у американцев, кто хотел бы узнать нашу страну поближе. businesswomen or tourists, we are open to contacts with you. Thank you, Alexander Zhirinov.

Thank you, Pavel Eshov. And of course, Scott Ritter, thank you very much for joining us. Scotty, we'll see you again soon, whether it's from Moscow again or nice, freezing cold New York State. Okay, Judge. Well, thank you very much for having us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. A busy day for you. We just finished, as you saw, Ritter live from Moscow. We have Carl Anzalone

at 3. We have Professor Mearsheimer at 2, Professor Mearsheimer at 3, and the Intelligence Community Roundtable at 4.30. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom. Thank you.