Judging Freedom - What_s next in Ukraine_ Are more drones on their way to Russia_ Col Doug Macgregor

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

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Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Wednesday, May 31st, 2023. It's about 3.35 in the afternoon here on the east coast of the United States. Colonel Douglas McGregor returns to the show. Colonel, always a pleasure. Thank you very much for joining us. Since you and I spoke last, we have seen explosions in a residential neighborhood of Moscow purported to be about 10 minutes from the official residence of President Putin. There's one of the explosions now. In fact, that's the biggest of them. Your colleague, Colonel Tony Schaefer, says that that could be 500 to 1,000 pounds. He also says that there's some significance. Gary, if you'll run it

again, at the very beginning, very, very beginning of the red flash, which would tell ordinance people about how large and powerful it is. So how did it come about that something like this occurred in a residential neighborhood in Moscow? Is President Zelensky a loose cannon? Has the U.S. consented to this or both? Well, we know a couple of things. First of all, this was launched, this attack was launched from inside Russia. And Americans are always saying, well, you know, what's wrong with the Russians? Can't they secure their borders? They have 1,100 miles to be concerned about. That's quite a border. and it's inevitably going to be penetrated most of it is heavily forested what isn't forested involves large rivers so trying to secure all of it is difficult

somebody said that roughly 19 of these drones were launched all were shot down except these three and these three exploded harmlessly on the ground. Now, as far as the payload is concerned, I'm a little skeptical of the size. You can make a small explosion look like a big one, depending upon where you photograph it. I think they were using the Orlon drones that were originally devised or developed in the Soviet period, And they carry a payload of perhaps 30, 40 pounds of explosive max. So I have difficulty believing that that was a 500 or 1,000-pound bomb. Are the Russian air defenses weak?

No, absolutely not. How did something like this get through? If this had hit the president's house, it would have destroyed it, I would imagine. Yeah, well, it didn't come anywhere near the house. It's a residential area, but they seem to have petered out on their own. Maybe they ran out of fuel or they had some kind of problem with the motors. Or it could also be they were jammed because the Russians have done a brilliant job. They probably knock 300 or 400 Ukrainian drones out of the air every day,

thanks to their jamming systems, which are the best in the world. So I don't know, except that I'm not even sure this was Ukrainian. There's some evidence that the SAS is involved, penetrating into Russia. What's SAS, Colonel? Special Air Service. That's the British equivalent of Special Operations. They ultimately, behind the scenes, took credit for the explosion. It was an attempt to disable the bridge between Crimea and Russia.

They're very good at this sort of thing. I'm sure that that's a distinct possibility. If they were Ukrainian, they had someone with them that knew what they were doing. If they were Ukrainian, is it likely that American intelligence knew about it? And if the answer to that is yes, is it likely that the DOD or the Department of State or the National Security Council or whoever is giving Ukraine marching orders knew about it? I'm trying to figure out if President Putin would have an argument that Joe Biden or somebody who works for him ordered an attack on his house. Well, I'm sure President Biden would insist on plausible deniability. Well, I wasn't informed, or we did not urge them to do that, something like that.

You have to be realistic. Everything they do is based on data that we provide to them. In other words, overhead surveillance, overhead photography, down to the smallest detail. These things are not accidental. So the intelligence support is absolutely definitely there. But again, plausible deniability. They didn't tell us they were going to do it today, but we knew they were going to do it for weeks. You know what I'm saying?

It just doesn't finish. I hear you. Here's Admiral Kirby just a few minutes ago on this very subject. Clarify for us again, the US policy here, because it says that as a general matter, Ukraine shouldn't strike inside Russia. What exactly does that mean, general matter? And does Ukraine, you know, a country that's been under attack for more than a year, not have a legitimate right to attack its aggressor back on its own territory? We don't tell them where to strike. We don't tell them, you know, where not to strike. We don't tell them where to strike. We don't tell them, you know, where not to strike.

We don't tell them how to conduct their operations. We give them equipment. We give them training. We give them advice and counsel. Heck, we even do tabletop exercises with them to help them plan out what they're going to do. But ultimately, President Zelensky and his military commanders decide what they're going to do from a military perspective. And they decide what they're going to do with the equipment that has been provided to them and that they now own. All that said, we have been very clear that we do not support attacks inside Russia,

and we do not enable and we do not encourage attacks inside Russia. Credible, Colonel. I remember another public figure who said, I feel your pain, but I did not have sex with that woman. Yes. We later discovered, oh gosh, surprise, surprise, he had sex with her. I think this falls into the same

category. I would not expect him to say anything else, but I would not impute any integrity to it. I'm just trying to come to grips with the idea that the United States government may have looked the other way or facilitated an attack on the capital of Russia and whether they have the remotest idea of the ramifications of that behavior? Well, the combination of arrogance and self-delusion is very powerful. Remember, the majority of people that you're dealing with in Washington today still view Russia through the lens of 1994-95. They think they're dealing with a failed state that has a weak economy, a society that is on the verge of revolt. I mean, these kinds of things are widely

believed. None of it's true. Anyone else with half a brain understands the economy in Russia is very strong. Russia has the resources and the capability to last indefinitely. They have a huge manpower pool. I mean, we go down the list. It's just not true. But unfortunately, these delusions persist, and then you add this to arrogance. And they think also that we are the same military power that we were in 1991, and judge we're not. There's nothing we have today that the Russians do not also have. Whatever advantages we once had in many key areas, they're gone. You've seen this clip before, but I can't resist the temptation of running it past you again in light of what you just said about arrogance. Here's Victoria Nuland about four or five months ago encouraging an invasion of Crimea with American military support. There is a drone base in Crimea where the drones that the Iranians have given Russia are being launched from. There are command and control sites in Crimea that are essential

for Russia's hold on all of the territory, including the land bridge. There are mass military installations on Crimea that Russia has turned into essential logistics and back office depots for this war. Those are legitimate targets. Ukraine is hitting them, and we are supporting that. There's the battering ram argument right out of the mouth of the number three official in the United States Department of State. Yeah, well, she's telling you the truth. Everything she said is accurate. I obviously don't support the policy position. She would have made a great spokesman for the Soviet armed forces back during the Second World War in 1941 when the heroic forces of the motherland were throwing back the Wehrmacht. We all know that didn't happen.

Went on for years. So this is the sort of thing you just take it in. You understand that this person is part of a partisan group of people who are determined to keep us at war. And not just us, but our allies. And they will do anything in their power to sustain this. And if that involves lying, then so be it. Here's another one of those partisans, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, just four days ago, meeting with President Zelensky in Kiev. Nice to meet you. We have, I think, a little meeting.

Thank you very much. Thanks, United States people of the United States for all big support. Thank you so much. Free or die. Free or die. Now you are free. Yes. And we will be. And the Russians are dying.

This is the best money we've ever spent. Thank you so much. How reckless is that? The best money we've ever spent is on Russians dying. Well, there are two kinds of fools. There's the harmless fool that tells funny jokes and is self-deprecating. And then there are dangerous fools. This man falls into the second category.

He's a dangerous fool. He does not understand what he confronts. He does not understand the consequences of our actions that could ultimately spread to Europe and ultimately to the United States. Russia is not just a great power. It is one of the great powers on the planet. And he doesn't seem to get it. He doesn't want to believe that. He's happy with the delusion and the arrogance.

And that's what you saw. Remember, he, at the outset of the military conflagration, advised President Biden in a very public way that Putin should be assassinated. Yeah, of course. Well, look, the Senate is a strange place, Judge. The Senate is the closest thing that you're going to find to fantasy land in politics. It's kind of a Mount amount olympus with a circus on it and people bloviate in it all the time saying lots of things for which they're never held accountable and which they that don't really ultimately involve themselves they say it for effect he's one of the best says lots of things for effect. And he assumes that there's no buck stopping at his door.

And he misses the point that dragging us into a major war with Russia would be catastrophic for us, for Europe, for the Russians. He's one of those people, whether they call themselves neocons or supporters of the military, whatever they call themselves, he really never met a war he didn't embrace. I don't mean personally embrace, but politically embrace. Well, he's a combat lawyer, remember? He served as an attorney in places like Iraq and Afghanistan for brief periods as an attorney on the staff of generals. So he knows all there is to know about war. Iraq and Afghanistan for brief periods as an attorney on the staff of generals. So he knows all there is to know about war.

These people are dangerous because- You ever drive a tank in combat? Well, I mean, he just doesn't understand, doesn't get it. And he doesn't think there are consequences for his actions or his speech. He's wrong. And I think we're going to see that in the near future, unfortunately. Here's Deputy Secretary of State Nuland again. This is just over the weekend. It's unclear to whom she's speaking. It sounds as though she's speaking to Ukrainian leaders or elite in Ukraine. She may be in the U.S., but perhaps via the computer is speaking to them. But I'm interested to hear your thoughts on

what she admits and what she expects. And even as you plan for the counteroffensive, which we have been working on with you for some four or five months, we are already beginning our discussions which we have been working on with you for some four or five months. We are already beginning our discussions with the Ukrainian government and with friends in Kyiv, both in the civilian side and on the military side, about Ukraine's long-term future. We'll start with the offensive, about which they've been speaking since the wintertime. Spring is almost over.

Tomorrow's the first day of June. I don't want to get semantic about whether it's truly a spring offensive, but are you surprised to hear her say in public, we, that either means the State Department, the CIA, the DOD, the Biden administration, the federal government, have been working with you on the spring offensive for four or five months. In God's name, would she say that even if it were true? Well, she's very proud of it. And she wants to identify herself publicly with the

entire crusade to destroy Russia. And that's what this is really all about. She's telling you the truth. And I'm sure that we have worked tediously for many, many months to try and organize for this thing, particularly as the backboot slaughterhouse was underway. That's why 30,000 to 35,000 Ukrainian soldiers who've been training at areas in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, and elsewhere are coming back to Ukraine. They're going to form the backbone for much of this offensive. They'll be augmented by whatever is still alive and can carry a weapon and so forth. So no, I think she's telling you the truth, and she's very proud of that. The second part is actually more interesting. Yes. Because it reminds me of this scene. I don't know if you've seen it or not. Many of your viewers may have in the movie Downfall. At the end, just before Hitler shoots himself in the bunker,

one of the women comes up to him and says, but Mein Fuhrer, what about the inevitable victory? And he looked at her. He just turns his head away, goes into the room and shoots himself. Well, I think we're dealing with something similar to that. You know, they're putting the cart way out ahead of the horse and they're never going to see that cart. They're going to be standing around a dead horse. But that's that's part of the push the I believe button.

You can't you cannot be part of this administration, part of the war fever that they've created unless you push the believe button. You cannot be part of this administration, part of the war fever that they've created, unless you push the believe button. I believe in the inevitable victory. It's coming. I believe. And if you walk in and you talk sensibly, say that's utterly ridiculous, there's no chance of ever happening, then you're going to be thrown out of the meeting. It's the same reason why many good, solid intelligence estimates that tell people the truth about what's really happening in Ukraine on the ground and in Russia never reach the top, because they don't conform to the narrative. At some point, the narrative becomes the truth that must be believed and defended. And there's nothing more effective than a messenger who believes the lie that the messenger is sending. I want to play it again because I want

to pick on the last few words she used. Gary, run it one more time. The last few words she used. And even as you plan for the counteroffensive, which we have been working on with you for some four or five months, we are already beginning our discussions with the Ukrainian government and with friends in Kyiv, both in the civilian side and on the military side, about Ukraine's long-term future. Ukraine's long-term future. Ukraine's long-term future. The United States State Department is speaking to Ukrainians about Ukraine's long-term future. Does it involve President Zelensky? Will it be dictated by Mrs. Nuland, just as she? Well, I think you saw evidence for this planning several months ago when you saw a picture of Mr. Zelensky seated at a table with Bank Friedman, who subsequently was revealed as a huge fraud, and Larry Fink from BlackRock. These are some of the key figures that are involved in deciding what's going to happen to Ukraine when, quote-unquote, they win.

I'm not sure I'd want any of those people deciding the future of anything inside the United States, least of all my home state or the city where I grew up or anything else. But those are the people driving this train. You've got to go back and always ask the question, who are the oligarchs? I always talk about government by donor. The government in Washington doesn't pay any attention to you or me.

We're irrelevant. We're not mega donors. The mega donors own Washington, D.C. They're the ones making these decisions. Identify them. Figure out who they are, where their money is going. We've seen some in the past, like Zuckerberg, for instance, a good example. But there are many others.

They're donating and they're shaping policy. They're determining that we're going to fight this to the bitter end in Ukraine. It's not Biden. Biden's a cutout. He's just a front man. He's being handed the script. And he delivers it with enthusiasm. But that's where we are. So none of this should be surprising to the American people.

The real question is, how long do they put up with this? And if you're waiting for somebody on the right to stand up and be counted, forget it. You've got plenty of people on the right. They're interested in the donors, too. And the donors own most of them. Find somebody who's not donor-owned and see what they will do. Just as an aside, I would imagine that our friend,

the great Congressman Andy Biggs is suffering a thousand deaths as we speak. Of course. To decide how to prevent the government from allowing Joe Biden to borrow without limit a deal concocted by Republican leadership. Well, they're poised to violate the Constitution, which puts that in the hands of the House of Representatives. In other words, you can't just press the button and create money over in the Treasury. And the Fed can't do it. But guess what we're going to do? We're going to do that. Right, right.

It's a terrible state of affairs. I was surprised by the clip we're going to show you now. I guess I had never really paid attention to him. Perhaps you know him, Prime Minister Viktor Orban. I thought this statement that we're now all about to watch was one of the clearest, most articulate, even eloquent statements I've heard from an Eastern European leader on this issue of the war in Ukraine. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts. You made a great deal about 1956 and fighting for freedom. You have a neighbor who was invaded by Russia, the very country.

You grew up with pictures of tanks going into Budapest. Why are you opposing the European aid? No, no, it's emotionally. It's tragic. So all of our heart is with the Ukrainians. We understand how much they suffer. But I'm speaking here as a politician who should save lives. The most important thing for the international political communities to save lives.

Especially when you are convinced, as I do, that there is no chance to win this war. So therefore, what we should do far more energy invest into to convince everybody that the only solution is ceasefire. And then after the ceasefire, peace talks should start. And then we could back to your point, yeah? But do you really think there is no chance of Ukraine winning? That's my point. And surely they stand very little chance of winning without the aid which you are currently blocking. My position is that looking at the reality, looking at the figures, looking at the surroundings,

looking at the fact that NATO is not ready to send troops, it's obvious that there is no victory for poor Ukrainians on the battlefield. Well, I thought it was terrific. What did you think, Colonel? Oh, well, he's pragmatic. Most Hungarians are, by the way. And thank God he spoke English because nobody speaks Hungarian except Hungarians.

That language is a built-in security system. And it's always worked brilliantly in war because nobody can understand it. No, Orban is a realist. And he's right. The only thing that I dislike is this comparison of the Soviet era and the Soviet state that existed 80 years ago and what exists today. They are not the same. And the rationale for intervention has nothing to do with the thinking and mentality of the Soviet Union. But that was a British, ostensibly an Englishman,

and they are all drunk on this notion that Putin and Russia is the Soviet Union. So that's why he prefaced his remarks. But no, the Ukrainians have no chance of winning and nobody in Europe is going to send any troops. And we've been saying that for a long time, Judge. Hasn't made any difference. In the past 24 hours, Evgeny Progozhin made some very interesting statements about the need for mobilization to collect 2 million mobilized, trained and prepared and not be meet, M-E-A-T. And until we mobilize, we will not win the special operation. Sounds like yet again, he's making a very strong statement intended to reach

the ears of President Putin. And some of this stuff is a little terrifying. The country must go to a state of war and society must be mobilized, ready that it will be necessary to live in these conditions for a long time to come. I'm not so sure that Vladimir Putin did not discuss this with Prokhorin before he said it. I think it's a mistake to assume that there is some sort of climate of hostility between or around Prokhorin and Putin. I don't see that at all. I think this is very serious.

And I think that it's a response to us. Every time the Russians have evinced any interest in a negotiation of any kind, we've refused it categorically. We've presented ultimatum after ultimatum and insisted that unless the Russians pull out of Ukraine completely, not just Ukraine, but the new borders from 1957, which were never Ukrainian, and then ultimately humiliate themselves and bow down and beg for forgiveness, there can be no peace. I think Putin and his colleagues have finally come around to understanding this reality. I don't think they wanted to believe it. It's true. So if it is true, and you take, for instance, the recent announcement where President Biden said, well, we should send the Ukrainians attack them. These are the army tactical missile system that reaches out 200 miles, still delivers a relatively small warhead, but it's nonetheless a good-sized warhead that can

do a lot of damage. We said from the beginning that we were not going to provide these kinds of long-range strike weapons to the Ukrainians. Now, all of a sudden, we're going to do it. If you are a Russian and you're listening to this and watching this, you reach the inevitable conclusion that we are escalating. Every time we make an announcement, every time Biden speaks, the war escalates. Remember, if you go back to the beginning, we're not sending tanks. We're not going to send any aircraft. Whatever we do send is going to be for defensive purposes.

All of that is gone, and everything now is one-upsmanship. We're going to send F-16s. Of course, the F-16 is useless without AWACS and a significant ground infrastructure. But, you know, suddenly we're going to send F-16s. Pretty soon somebody's going to say send F-15s, I suppose. And, oh, by the way, now we're going to send ATACMs that reach out 200 miles. And Putin has said, well, you know, if you listen to his comments just within the last 24 hours where he talked about the recent strike on the military intelligence headquarters in Kiev,

that was struck, I think, either by an Iskander missile, tactical ballistic missile, or Kinshaw missile, killed large numbers of people, destroyed the entire headquarters. And I think it killed probably several NATO officers, about which we're hearing nothing. And that's something we should hear about. We should know the truth. If Americans are dying over there, along with Frenchmen and British and other officers, then for God's sakes, tell us. But they're not going to, obviously. But Putin has said, well, we've often talked in the past about hitting the quote-unquote decision centers. Well, now they will. And Russian intelligence has always known where everything is. You cannot hide from this overhead surveillance. They've got the equivalent to the

National Security Agency and the equivalent of the CIA. They can see everything and hear everything. So now they can systematically go after all of these headquarters filled with the so-called decision makers. I think that's just the beginning. And now we're being told, well, you know, we're going to have to hold the line in Ukraine until the Russians retreat. Well, the Russians aren't going to retreat. They're going to roll up everything to the Dnieper River.

They're going to retake Kharkov and Odessa. They're going to pause one more time. And then if nothing happens, they're going to move all the way to the Polish border and Romanian border. But if you're going to do that, what do you need to do in advance? What Progozhin outlines. So we've succeeded now in pushing the Russians to the brink of national war mobilization. Congratulations. That's what everyone in Europe wants. They want 2 million Russian troops on their borders. And this is the great gift of President Biden and our friend Lindsey Graham

and a host of other fools who don't know what they're talking about, who have put us in this very tenuous position. Brilliantly said, Colonel. Tragic, but a brilliant and courageous analysis. Thank you very much. Thanks for your time. We'll talk to you again soon. Good. Thank you for watching. If you like this, please share and tell your friends

about Judging Freedom. Our numbers are growing and we'll continue to deliver the type of courageous, insightful statements that you just heard from the great Colonel McGregor. More as we get it. Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom.