Judging Freedom - Why Retired U.S. Generals Are So Often WRONG w/Larry Johnson fmr CIA

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

Why Retired U.S. Generals Are So Often WRONG  w/Larry Johnson fmr CIASee 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 Tuesday, August 29th, 2023. Where does the summer go? Larry Johnson joins us now. Before we start with Larry, a reminder, we're just about at 191,000 subscriptions. You have my deepest and my most profound gratitude for that. Our goal is 200,000 by next Monday, which is Labor Day. Like, subscribe, tell a friend, particularly if you like Larry Johnson. Larry, thank you for joining us. You have a great article entitled, Why Are Retired American Generals So Consistently Wrong? And I want to talk to you about it. But before we do, let's just talk a little theory and a little history. I know that you know the history. Vladimir Putin has been threatened by NATO. George H.W. Bush and Jim Baker told President Putin's predecessor, President Gorbachev,

NATO will never move one inch eastward. It has moved 800 miles eastward. It has moved 800 miles eastward. The last time the United States of America felt threatened the way Vladimir Putin did, it was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, and JFK illegally intercepted ships on the high seas and then eventually worked out a deal using his brother, Robert, as the intermediary with Khrushchev, which resulted in us removing missiles from Turkey and Italy in return for the removal of the missiles from Cuba. The missiles from Cuba, as far as we know, have not returned, but our missiles have returned to Italy and to Turkey. Take it from there. What do you expect Putin to do? How do you expect Putin to feel? How would Joe Biden or Donald Trump or any, I'm trying to think of two very

different presidents, react if the Mexicans entered into a treaty with the Chinese and the Chinese put missiles in Guadalajara aimed at Dallas? Yeah, I had a discussion with one of my old high school buddies last night, and I was really sort of surprised to learn how much the propaganda has colored his view and I suspect the view of many other Americans. For example, when I pointed out to him that Putin and Russia made two different attempts to try to join NATO, he goes, oh, that's not true. Well, it is true. Initially, Boris Yeltsin, right after the collapse of the Soviet Union,

talked to George H.W. Bush administration about, hey, can we become part of NATO? And then Putin directly raised it with the former head of NATO. And in both cases, it was rebuffed. Why? Well, if you bring Russia into NATO, then you no longer have an enemy that can justify an 800 billion dollar defense budget so up against this putin was watching the united states put aegis missile systems now in romania and poland which are capable of carrying nuclear tipped warheads he watched from 2014 on of every year the united states through the european command based in Stuttgart, Germany, with NATO, which is headquartered in Brussels. They would conduct annual military exercises with Ukraine, including deploying U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine. So if you're Russia watching this, you know, as you correctly noted,

you can just imagine the kind of panic that would ensue in America if we saw Russia carrying out military exercises in Mexico, conducting joint amphibious landings in Mexico, simulating a landing on the Texas shore. Oh my God, we would say this is crossy, this is a line too far. Yet we can turn around to do the same thing to Russia and we say, oh, they're supposed to take it. How dare they attack Ukraine when we're creating a very direct threat to Russia in Ukraine? So Ronald Reagan, who of course is beloved by most conservative Americans and even by a few libertarians, was duped into the neocon attitude that Russia is the evil empire, that infamous phrase he used. the old Soviet Union. And his idea was we'll spend so much money on defense, we'll bankrupt the Soviet Union because they'll try and keep up with us and they can't. It's almost as if the reverse is the case now. Vladimir Putin has the best army in the world. We spend so much more

than he does. We spend more than Russia, China, and the next 10 countries combined on defense. It's almost as if Putin, by sitting back, protecting his borders, not giving in, steadfastly maintaining a consistent ideology, is making the United States waste hundreds of billions. Look at the $ 113 billion in Ukraine. Gone. Not an inkle will come back. Oh, Goldman Sachs will probably rebuild the cities at some point, but nothing's going to come back directly to the American taxpayer.

Well, think of it this way. We have given in the last 18 months, we've given more money to Ukraine that exceeds the amount that Russia spends on its own national defense budget. So, you know, basically, if we would have funded Russia's national defense budget, we would have saved money compared to what we've done in Ukraine. And the problem is there's no results. The results are not turning out success. And this gets back to all of these generals, these retired generals, are reflecting what's being said by active duty generals, guys who used to be their subordinates, where they're saying,

the Russian military is brittle. The Russian military is poorly led. The Russian military has lousy morale. The Russian military is poorly supplied. They don't have enough weapons. And it's all wrong. It's all wrong. It's wrong on a staggering level. So when you make the mistake of diminishing and belittling your opponent, and in the process, you underestimate their capability, you're setting yourself up for a big problem.

It's like, Judge, if I came to you and I said, Hey, Judge, there's this guy Mike Tyson. You can kick him to one side of the ring or another. I'm going to put you in the ring with him. You're going to kill him. Well, when you got in the ring with him, you'd be angry with me. You know. But what is unique about this, our friend Matthew Ho put his finger on it, and you've said something similar to this. This is the most propagandized war in the modern era, where the whole mainstream media is in lockstep with the neocons and with the

government arguing that uh president putin is wrong president zielinski uh is a hero and zielinski and the and the ukrainian military with our help can win this war war if we just keep up the help. Yeah. I've never seen anything like it in terms of the unified voice. You know, I wrote a piece the other day about my experience becoming a pundit back in 1994 with the capture of Carlos the Jackal. And my early days on CNN, I was on Crossfire probably 14, 15 times, even with Tucker Carlson back when he was a youngster. And back then you could have two people

with opposing views who were not screaming at each other, who could sit down and have a rational discussion. We had actual debates and there would be pros and cons. But what we've seen over the last, particularly over the last three to four years, is alternative voices to what is considered government policy are squelched. They're not allowed on television. And they've tried to shut them down on the internet, as we've seen with the censorship that's taken place in the past on Twitter, on Facebook, on Google. Yes. internet as we've seen with the censorship that's taken place in the past on twitter on facebook on google yes well youtube took our dear friend scott ritterdown one of the most articulate and knowledgeable military analysts in the world no reason uh stated he believes he

was taken down because of a documentary that he did on Vladimir Zelensky, in which he referred to him as a criminal, an argument that you could make, an argument that the American CIA has quietly made when Bill Burns, the director of the CIA, went over there and said, you know, it's $40 million we can't account for. Maybe it was $400 million. I don't know. We can't account for it. But here's the people in your administration that have been stealing. You'll recognize a name there. It's at the top of the list. It's your name, Mr. President.

Now, it wasn't there when the conversation was had, but this is the way it was reported. It's well known in the intelligence community that money is being stolen. And still, we keep sending it. And still, they refuse to install inspectors general to confirm how it's being spent one theory and this was articulated um by Phil giraldi just about an hour ago is that the neocons really want another endless war well I was going to say I don't think it's fair to call Vladimir Zelensky a criminal. I mean, just the fact that they've reported he bought a new estate in Egypt today,

I like to think of him as an international real estate mogul. I think that's a more fair approach. I didn't know he bought an estate in Egypt today. I wonder where he came from. That's been reported in the news. Right along with his place in Miami Beach and a place in Switzerland. You know, yeah. You don't get that kind of money through just being a frugal saver. He's not

known for his economic price controls. So yeah, those are the signs of something crooked is afoot. And I think you're exactly right about what you know with Phil said it though they hope to string this war out the the meme in the West is all this is a stalemate it's not a stalemate a stalemate is when you got two people basically of equal strength

who have fought each other to the neither is has enough strength to lift another fist against the other. That is not the case with Russia and Ukraine. Russia has growing strength. Ukraine has diminishing strength. And even with the support of the West, Ukraine is not going to be able to hold up. Colonel McGregor reports that a Ukrainian website, a charitable website, was holding some sort of a fundraiser for the military dead and they inadvertently reported 400,000 Ukrainian military dead and then the government made them take that number down. Do you think 400,000 is about right or do

you think it's a low ball number? No, i i think it's about right it's probably a little higher than that and others in the west are you know coming into that uh you know agreeing with that decision bbc news today just put out an article it was titled dying by the dozens every day ukraine loses climb well it's losing more than climb it's losing lots of men and what is the word Ukraine is losing uh it's loses loses climb c-l-i-m-b it's a odd British expression but uh what it reports is in the past uh the BBC was always said oh the Ukraine's only lost like 15 000 dead now they've they've they've gone up five times that amount uh claiming and it's so that's a sign already that the west is starting to come to realize ukraine has lost this there's no way they can recover and so they're starting to

let the truth filter out more and more each day and it's again it's just a simple math problem the fact that russia fires seven to eight times the number of artillery shells that ukraine does means they're going to suffer seven to eight times the number of casualties all things being equal you um have uh argued that even the even the shells that the Ukrainians are firing are deficient. The 155-millimeter cluster munitions are there because the West no longer has the more effective standard 155-millimeter shells. So it's the same diameter, but they're using the less effective ones because the West, the U.S. and NATO doesn't have the more effective ones remaining or it's keeping them for our own uses. Yeah. Think of it like firing a shotgun shell. So if you if you ever shot a shotgun with birdshot, it's got all these little BBs and they come out and the longer the distance goes goes it spreads out and it's not as effective in

killing well with with these cluster munitions spread out along the front yes they can they can maim some people they can wound some people but it's not going to be a very effective killer in contrast to a shell that comes in and either you can concentrate on one area and blow that up so you know it's just it's a difference in firepower. It's not, it's not the most effective for going against entrenched positions. Do you think that General Petraeus, General Hodges, General Milley, Milley's still on active duty for a few more days, are actually ignorant of Ukrainian casualties, or they're overlooking them for some political or financial to themselves purpose? I think it boils down to the fact that they got to the positions

they did within the military, those upper ranks, not because they were good critical thinkers, not that they were original thinkers. They were not. Not that they were good writers. They had staffs work for them, and staffs come in and say, here, General, here's option A, here's option B, here's option C. And a lot of times those options would be, you know, specifically written in a way that you knew which one you had to choose. Well, now they don't have those staffs. but what they're getting is from the pentagon what option a is option a is ukraine's winning so that's what they're repeating the the lack of original critical thinking on these folks is just it's shocking to see it but it

reflects what is one of the big problems with the u military. You can't imagine a junior officer standing up and saying, sir with respect to Ukraine, Russia has a very effective army and Russia does not have supply problems and Russia has ample supply of ammunition. That staff officer would be gone by tomorrow. They don't want to hear that. They don't want a troublemaker. They don't want somebody that's rocking the boat and these guys have all benefited from that in their careers. They didn't rock the boat. They learned how to brown nose and kiss up. And, you know, they reap the rewards. Once you get those stars, you get to go out as a consultant and rake in some cash from the military industrial complex. So let's move from the Pentagon to the White House. What is Joe Biden's

best option to drag this out for another 14 or 15 months, to drag it out past Election Day and have something happen in October, an October surprise that makes him look like a gifted military genius? Well, I think that's their hope. But I think reality is going to intrude in a number of ways. One, Ukraine, they've lost this counteroffensive. It will become quite clear within another three to four weeks. They have no more military strength to throw into the breach. Then they're going to be facing the task of,

well, where are we going to find some more soldiers? You know, they start off as a 40 million person country. They're down to 27 million and shrinking. And a lot of the military age guys have already fled the country. So that's why they're dragooning people that are 50 years of age and my age to come back in. They just had a 71 year old show up in Germany two days ago to be trained on a tank as a tank crew. I have to run this clip of General Petraeus, not to raise your blood pressure, but because he's claiming the opposite. And I'd like you to, in your unique way, unpack what the generals, former generals. The big question in my mind, I think, is whether or when the Russians might begin to crack and crumble. They've been in the line for

over a year in many cases. Yes, they have actually established very impressive defensive belts, but they don't have the same motivation that Ukrainian soldiers do, who can look over their shoulder and see what it is that they're fighting for. They're very independent. They're survival. They're citizens. That's not the case for the Russians, many of whom have been conscripted, not volunteers, clearly. The question is, when might that moment arrive? And it's very hard to answer, having been in a number of battles where the enemy all of a sudden cracked, but you couldn't predict that until that moment actually happened. So the Russian army is filled with conscripts. The Ukrainian army is not. The Russian army has morale problems. The Ukrainian army doesn't. The Russian army is going to crack and be crippled. Where does this nonsense come from other than between his ears well it's it's

psychological projection they they project onto the russians the very thing that is happening in ukraine and and and therefore with without realizing it you know what's really but petraeus's ignorance on this is not surprising because remember this this was the guy who was known as the the kind of cadet at West Point who had married the superintendent's daughter to get ahead and that's exactly what he did he ended up marrying the superintendent's daughter so he says over the Russians don't have anything to fight for oh really the Russians still remember World War II. They remember

the loss of 27 million of their citizens at the hands of Nazis. They look to the west and they see the United States and the United Kingdom backing neo-Nazis. They see guys wearing swastikas. They see Ukrainian tanks with German images of the kinds of crosses that were on the Wehrmacht vehicles during World War II. Everyone in Russia lost someone in that war. And to think that Russia's not motivated by that, it's just, again, it reflects on the stupidity of Petraeus and his shallowness. One more, General Ben Hodges. This is almost as ludicrous, Larry, suggesting that there is a legitimate bona fide military path to Ukraine expelling the Russians from Crimea.

I believe that the operational priority is to cause the Russian forces to leave Crimea. That, I think, is the most important thing that has to be done. In order to do that, Ukraine needs more long-range capabilities that could hit all the airfields, the seaport of Sevastopol, for example. But that also means they've got to get closer to the land bridge. So more progress that would enable them to bring up more high mars for example that could reach the road between mariupol and melitopol and crimea to stop the logistics movement there i mean this sounds like victoria newland uh grafted in and he's been on

this um general hajus whom i don't know i don't know if in, and he's been on this, General Hodges, whom I don't know. I don't know if you know him. He's been on this we can get Crimea, we can get Crimea rant for a couple of months now. I can't imagine anybody in the Pentagon, much less an American intel, your former colleagues, taking that seriously. Can you? seriously can you well yeah i'd like to sit hodges down and say okay ben for starters please explain to me how russia how russia air defenses are going to be taken out since they've already been proven to be very effective in defeating the high mars unless except one of those times the ukraine's firing high mars at purely civilian areas because the russians are not defending purely civilian

areas because they assumed i think incorrectly that the that the Ukrainian forces would have a little more respect for not just deliberately killing civilians. So, you know, he's wrong on that. He minimizes the importance of Crimea to the Russians, not just from Sevastopol, where the Black Sea fleet is based. I mean, for Russia, this is a critical existential threat. And they have demonstrated in the past, they don't let critical existential threats go easily. And frankly, even if all of NATO came in right now, they wouldn't be able to take it. So it's just, you know, you know it's again frightening to think that

at one point hodges was in charge of the european command uh this this testosterone deprived guy is uh you know com combined with with you know the uh the mentality of a juvenile not not at all sophisticated not at all thoughtful one last uh clip from uh patrick lancaster the uh very courageous very intellectually honest independent video journalist who we interviewed earlier today on uh uk Ukraine shelling parts of Ukraine and killing children. This morning, I actually went to a location in the Kubashivsky district where the day before yesterday, there were three children injured when Ukraine hit a market with artillery. And these two of the children were actually physically injured with shrapnel. And the other child took a concussion from the shockwave of the blast. And all three of them were taken to the hospital. And hopefully tomorrow I'm going

to go make a report on how they're doing in the hospital. So what i clarified with him is what the audience already knows now so let me get this straight patrick ukraine is lobbing shells at ukrainians in eastern ukraine and it doesn't care if it hits children answer yes yeah well in fact they killed they did they just killed another child today with another strike on a civilian area. Look, it would be one thing if the Donbass and Luhansk militias and Russian troops were taking refuge in hospitals, in schools, in normal civilian areas in order to create human shields in hopes that Ukrainians wouldn't hit them. But they're not doing that. The ones who have been doing that are actually the Ukrainians. They have been taking over schools and hospitals and churches and using those and then daring the Russians to hit them. And yet in the course since the Maidan in February of 2014, Ukraine has been involved with consistent military actions directed solely against civilians throughout the Donbas,

throughout both Luhansk and Donetsk. And at least, and now the numbers are in excess of 15,000, have been killed as a result of that. And these are not people, these are children. These are young adults. These are not people carrying weapons. These are not people enabling military operations. And yet, without regard to the human life, the Ukrainian government has been killing them. Paid for by the American taxpayer. Yes. Larry, thank you. Always a pleasure,

my friend. We'll see you at the roundtable on Friday afternoon. Okay. Really appreciate your time today. Thank you for listening. We've had a busy day. We'll put a lot of content up on the board for you today on judging freedom. We hope you'll share it with your friends. We're up to 191,000 subscribers. Our goal is 200,000 by Labor Day, which is a week from yesterday. We try to tell the truth. We try to show you a side of the world which mainstream media, including my former employer of 24 years, is not interested in showing you. And in terms of my personal goal here, it's to look out for your liberty. Your business needs AI solutions that are not only ambitious, but also practical and adaptable. That's where Domo's AI and data products platform comes in. With Domo, you can channel AI and data into innovative uses that deliver measurable impact.

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