The Duran Podcast - Let's talk about some news

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

Let's talk about some news

All right, we are live with Alexander McCuris. How are you doing, Alexander? I'm doing very well. We're coming to the end of the year. My God, what a year has been. I gather it's been the year of the dragon. I don't pay huge amount of attention to these calendrical things. But if it's been the year of the dragon,

that might explain why events this year have been so momentous altogether. It's been quite a year. We still have some more days ahead of us as well. We certainly do. All right, let's say hello to everyone that is watching us on YouTube, on Rumble, on Rockfin, an Odyssey, but I can't really access Odyssey right now. I keep on getting a timeout error, so unfortunately I can't see the stream on Odyssey at the moment. and on locals, the durand.locals.com.

How is everyone doing in the locals community? A big hello to our moderators, Peter, Zareel. And I think that's it, Peter and Zareel. So thank you to our moderators. And Alexander, let's jump into the news. Got a lot of questions already. Do you want to say anything before we get started? No, I mean...

Let's be curses happened yesterday. We had the assassination. Decapitation strike, I guess you can call it, against a general charge of bio labs and chemicals in Moscow. In Moscow, absolutely. Which is notice absolutely gone unmentioned, uncriticized in the West. I mean, this is something that happens all the time. Now, the Ukrainians have been carrying out assassinations ever since the 2014 crisis. There's been pretenses and attempts to deny that it was

them. Now they're quite brazen about it. Of course, it doesn't change the war. It doesn't affect the direction of the war. We know they've made attempts to assassinate Putin himself. Boudana himself has actually come out and said so. And again, you know, this doesn't seem to deter or worry or alarm anybody in the West, that this is the kind of government that does these things that we support. Notice, by the way, that decapitation strikes of this kind

were not carried out by any of the warring powers during the Second World War. The only exception was that in 1942, the British and the Czechs sent assassins to assassinate Reinhard Heidek, the head of the government of well the Czech Republic

as it now is and he was a major figure within the German security services and he was killed and there were massive reprisals and after that was decided that they would never do it again but Stalin didn't try to kill Hitler Hitler didn't try and kill Stalin

Churchill didn't try to kill anybody I mean you know but the Ukrainians obviously they're different Anyway, we should not, I think, get distracted by these things. We've had a whole succession of important speeches in Moscow, from Putin, from Medvedev, from Belarus. They clearly indicate the direction of events. We've got the election of Donald Trump in the United States, and that's already having a big effect on global affairs. We have a Biden administration that is out to make as much possible trouble.

as it can. And by the way, don't put it past them. They've been heavily involved in this affair in Moscow. How else did the Ukrainians obtain their intelligence just saying? There was an expression, as I said in a previous program, in the Greece of my childhood, killing like a dead, stinging like a dead wasp. And that's what the Biden administration, it seems to me, is doing. They're causing trouble in every place. wherever they can. And we've had a massive crisis in Syria, where the Assad government has been overthrown in the space of just two weeks.

And Assad himself, who's now in Moscow, has just published a very interesting, and I thought, rather dignified and rather sad statement. But anyway, so lots going on. And by the way, reports this morning that the Turkish army is crossing into Syria in force, presumably to fight the Kurds. and perhaps to try and get control of a completely situation in Syria that's spiraling out of control.

Just to say on that, I know that there's a lot of people who think that Erdogan is now going to shift his attention to Central Asia and all of those things. I think he's going to have his hands cut out, trying to deal with the fire that he's lit in Syria, actually. I do think he's going to have much time for anything else. And yesterday, the Turks Erdogan, I think, came out quite openly in telling the Europeans to keep off the topic of the Russian bases. I think Erdogan, I've always thought that Erdogan wanted the Russian bases to stay. Now I have no doubt about it in light of the statement he published yesterday, or rather his foreign ministry published yesterday. So there we are. I guess a summary, quick summary of events, but lots, lots obviously to discuss.

Yeah, Erdogan's going to focus on Syria. He's going to focus on the Mediterranean. Yeah. And he's going to focus on the Balkans. He's not going to focus on Eurasia. No. That's where he's going to focus because he understands that it's the Mediterranean, it's the Balkans. These are the Europe.

These are the weak parts that he can exploit. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I agree. Yeah. And on the...

I completely agree with that, by the way. I think that he always goes for where he senses there is weakness. And I think in Central Asia, he knows that if he goes into Central Asia, then he really is up against the Chinese as well as the Russians. I think he's not any intention to do that. None. No, he's going to, yeah, there's weakness in Europe and the Mediterranean. That's where there's weakness.

That's what he's going to exploit. Yes. The decapitation strikes, the thing that they are going to accomplish, Alexander, is that they are going to get people talking. I don't need people asking questions. I think we're at half a dozen or a dozen. Russian military officials or Russian officials that have been assassinated by the Ukraine authorities.

And I'm not even talking about journalists and the attacks, for example, on crocus and stuff like that. I'm not even bringing that into this, but just the attacks against Russian military officials, I believe, is at a dozen, maybe less, maybe more. But it gets people. I think it's more. I don't know.

I read a dozen somewhere. I think if you tot up, not just Russian military officials, but, you know, people from the Dombas, Donbass officials, members of civilian governments. Okay, definitely more. I would say it's around 100, actually. I mean, you know, since the start of the special military operation. I don't think it's as few as that. I mean, it's been the one thing that Ukraine has been doing,

which has actually had some success, if I can put it like that. Well, I don't bring up the journalist. I don't bring up, I see Zarayel is saying, Justice for Gonzalo. Absolutely. I'm not bringing any of that into it, but it does get people asking the question. Yeah. What does Russia do in retaliation? Well, this is an exit.

This is what it gets people asking. And I think that's the purpose of these decapitation. strikes is to put pressure on the Putin government. What it is intended to do, I mean, like all of these events, what they're all intended to do is they've got two purposes. Purpose one, it lift morale in Ukraine. I think we are long past the point where this has any effect on general morale in Ukraine. I mean, I've just been reading peace in the economists of all places about how bad morale amongst Ukrainian soldiers has become. specifically in Kuzk region. So I do this has that effect.

But the other effect, which is now there overriding obsessive priority with Trump in the White House, we'll talk about negotiations, with Europeans, I think now increasingly wobbling, and we've got more information about that. I mean, it looks as if this idea of sending troops to Ukraine is a melting away, is to try to goad the Russians.

into doing something which the Ukrainians can then turn around and use and say, look, this is what Russians are about. You've got to come and save us. So I think this is what this is about. And I think going back to what the Biden administration might be doing, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're thinking the same thing. So always we come back to this problem that the Kremlin, Putin, the officials around him, or have do they respond do they go off and start carrying out decapitation strikes as of their own which by the way they absolutely can there's been one example which we know about that Zelensky was an adessa and he was being tracked by Russian drone this has happened I think last year so they know where Zelensky is they could go after him they know where the other officials in the Ukrainian government. Ah, they could go after that.

Do they do that and thereby run the risk that they'll fall into the Ukrainian narrative? Or do they do nothing and appear weak and allow anger to grow inside Russia and to have all the usual people on the telegram channels making those claims and all of these other people who go trolling, including, by the way or not the end of our videos, taking the same point. The Putin is weak, that he's dithery, that he doesn't take strong action, that he doesn't respond. So obviously there is always this problem that the Russians face in this situation.

My own sense is this is such a senior official who has just been killed that I think this time the Russians will respond in some way. But again, I predict the response will be less than some people would like it to do. strikes. It'll be missile strikes and drones into military facilities. Exactly, exactly. From Putin's point of view, he's clearly winning the war. I mean, this is the major takeaway of his speeches yesterday and the day before. He's got Trump coming in, a president who wants to reopen dialogue. He does this thing which exasperates many, many people. He looks at the long term.

And he maintains a disciplined position and doesn't let himself get provoked into doing these things. Now, as I say, I know this is very frustrating. I remember I lived through the time of the troubles in Britain, between Britain and in Northern Ireland. There were attacks on British politicians, including Margaret Thatcher herself. There was a bomb attack and attempt to assassinate her. she was absolutely furious. I remember how angry she was, but again, she was given advice, don't overreact to this thing, and she chose not to. And I think most people who look back,

now look back at that and think that was the right decision. Okay, let's go into some of the questions, Alexander, and let's start things off with Nikos says. This is, well, this is one, two, three, Okay, here's a five-parter, all right? Niko says my previous analysis gives us these enormous, wonderful questions. Anyway, carry on. Okay, Nico says, in my previous analysis, I underestimated Russia's diplomatic skills.

They should and will keep those bases in Syria. They are statically important. Russia will run those bases with minimum personnel and let the U.S. and Turkey find each other. They'll keep their bases and won't lose their influence. Iran was weakened. Russia isn't yet. but they don't react. A general was killed today.

Is George Galloway right by saying the multipolar world died? I've talked to a lot of Iranians online, and they've all said that they like Peseshqyan domestically as president. Can he improve his foreign policy? Erdogan plans to conquer Syria and Greece want to send troops to fight them. Last time we did that, we lost Cyprus. Duran, can you talk about Greece? Okay, so maybe it's not five parts.

Let's start at the basis. That's the first part of his question, of Nikos' question. Let's start the bases, the Russian bases in Syria. Well, let's start with that, because I've taken the view that since Assad fell, I thought it was unlikely, very unlikely, that the Russians would stay in the basis. And I think they've been negotiating with HDS and with Erdogan, and I think they've been streaking them both along, because basically their priorities to get all of their people,

safely out of Syria. And when I mean people, I don't just mean Russians. I also mean many, many people of the former government who worked very closely with the Russians and who might be a great danger. Remember that when the US pulled out of Afghanistan, they failed to do that. And we had all those terrible pictures

of people trying to cling on to aircraft as the aircraft were taking off and falling from... falling from the sky and all of those things. So the Russians don't want that to happen. When they pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, they made sure it didn't happen, and they're making sure that it doesn't happen next.

However, I think it is now unequivocally clear that Erdogan wants the basis to remain. And the European Union has said that they will only lift sanctions on Syria, if the bases go. At least Kayakales has said this. The Dutch foreign minister has also said this. And Erdogan was furious about this.

He's issued a statement. He says, how dare the European Union say such things? I mean, I'm kidding, use that language, but essentially that's what the Turks said. What arrangements Syria makes with Russia is their business. It's not the EU's business. And, of course, they should lift the sanctions. It would be cruelty if they didn't.

So that I think makes it clear that Oedda One wants the basis to stay. Now, it could be, it might be, that they are persuaded to stay. But if they are, I think in exactly the way, Nicos, that you say, they will not operate as full bases. There won't be lots of fighter jets and things like that there. They will operate basically with skeleton crews, but they will be used as staging. posts to the other bases the Russians apparently already have in Libya and which they're using to keep their people in Africa and other places supplied and also they'll be there in case

they're ever needed in a more serious way. But that was what happened with the Tartis base, by the way, before 2015. The Russians were given it by the Syrians back in 1971. Soviet Union collapsed. I think it was fewer than half a dozen. personnel were kept there just to keep the base ticking along, or it wasn't even proper base, but just to keep it ticking along until one day they decided to activate it. And I think this is what they will do. Okay, let's talk about the multipolar world. Yeah. Right. Yeah, I've been listening to George Galloway, for whom I have enormous respect. He was massively invested, obviously, in the Arab world, in a Palestinian cause, in Syria.

I think that if you listen to his program, I mean, this has played a huge role in the kind of discussions. He's had he's spoken about it in the Oxford Union, those kind of things. I am not invested in these causes to anything like the same degree as he is. And I, you know, when I say that invested,

what I mean is that he cares passionately about them and has devoted a huge amount of his time and his political career to them as well. He was elected an MP. Just a few months ago, he didn't stay very long an MP, but he was elected an MP specifically through his support for the Palestinian struggle. I am more remote from this. I mean, you know, I'm not interested or concerned about it.

But being more remote from it, I think I can see. the bigger picture. And in terms of the creation of the multipolar worlds, as far as I'm concerned, Syria is a detail. Certainly it's affected Iranian influence. Certainly it will be a blow to the Palestinian struggle. But Syria is a relatively small country. Its economy was, apparently his GDP was around $200 billion.

We're talking about a small country. It is not so important in forming the multipolar world, which has been created by giants like China, Russia, India and the rest. Emmanuel Todd, the French academic, who's written so brilliantly about these things, once said that the United States has a habit of trying to fool us all into thinking it is strong by committing microaggressions, as he put it. in weak countries in the Middle East that are vulnerable to that kind of attack. He wrote that a long while back, and he said, we should not be deceived by these microaggressions. They do not speak of a continued American power.

On the contrary, they are a reflection of greater weakness, because the big events are taking place elsewhere. All right, Pissachian. Nicos asks about Peschiyan and can he improve his foreign policy? He seems to be popular inside of Iran, at least with his domestic policies. The interesting thing about Peseshkiyan is, which not many people talk about, is that he's very Turkish, or at least he was coming into the role as president, very Turkish friendly, a Turkophile is what he was.

Absolutely. This is exactly what he was. It was going to be the major point of his foreign policy. Try to improve relations with the West to some extent, deep and above all the relationship with Turkey. And this is something he's, again, personally heavily invested in. I think the events since he was elected president have thrown all of this into complete confusion. And at the moment, what he is talking about,

is deepening Iran's relations with Iran and Russia. And he's made a speech about this. And he's foreign minister summoned Iran's ambassador in Moscow back to Tehran. And they had a long meeting. And over the course of that meeting, the foreign minister instructed the ambassador, do absolutely everything you can to deepen and strengthen our relations. with Russia, that this is now for Iran the priority relationship in light of all that has happened.

All right. So let's talk about Erdogan and Greece, Cyprus. What are your thoughts there? Well, Cyprus, I'm afraid I'm going to leave to you. My own view is that Greece and Cyprus are safe because I cannot imagine that Erdogan is going to attack or try and subvert a fellow NATO country in that kind of way. I'm going to make a guess the major place which he's going to start involving himself in in the Balkans is Bosnia and Kosovo, then Albania and those sort of places.

That's exactly where he's going to go. Albania, Bosnia, exactly. He'll keep the pressure on Greece and Cyprus, though. Yeah, absolutely. Of course you will. Of course you will. But he's going to focus on Balkans. I agree with that.

All right. Thank you, Nikos for some great questions. Rafael says, I am no longer a fan of Putin. Russia needs to replace him. He is not whole. Too much love for the West. Putin is compromised. Bring a closer.

Well, I don't see any sign of his love for the West that you're talking about. I'm just reading his two speeches. He's become absolutely deeply hostile to the West. At the end of the day, whether we like Putin or whether we don't, it's not really our business. It's Russia's business. And at the moment in Russia, the opinion surveys not only suggest that Putin's popularity is solid, it suggests that it is rising. In fact, there appears to be growing optimism in Russia about the direction of events,

because as far as they're concerned, I'm talking about the vast majority of people in Russia. They are winning the war and their economy is strong and their alliances are intact as well. So they see no reason to change Putin. On the contrary, when I speak to Russians, which I do from time to time, their opinion of him is rising for exactly the opposite reason because they think that he's standing up strong for Russia against the way. West. Rafael says Putin is not a cautious man. He is a scared man.

China will not get what she needs from Putin. When the war breaks out, the West knows Putin is weak. I'll say that Putin, Putin in the years when he was first, when he was first Russian president, he was courting the West. He was actively trying to integrate Russia into the West. And he does have close ties to Germany from his work. He speaks from a German. the Minsk Agreements was a compromise that he made to Angela Merkel, of building the pipelines to Germany as well,

even though he wasn't so hot on the idea. He was convinced to continue to build those connections with Germany. I just want to add that context as you answer this question. Medvedev, though, at a time, I remember when it was thought of Medvedev as being too much of an Atlantis. When he was president, everyone said he was too close to Obama, too close to the United States. And he was weak.

And now I'll look at Medvedev. Anyway, answer the question from Raphael. I just wanted to add those points. No, I mean, I don't, again, I don't see any sign of this weakness that people are saying. The thing to understand about Putin is when he became president of Russia, he took over a country that would be absolutely shattered. You have to have visited it at that time, as I did, to know how bad the situation was. I mean, he has not only stabilized the economy, but massively upgraded it. The economy is strong.

Industrial output is very strong. We see that Russia is outproducing the West in military goods. The army has been rebuilt to an extent that five, ten years ago would have appeared to be unthinkable. He's taken a very, very, you know, disciplined. but ultimately effective line on Ukraine. And the Chinese clearly trust him. If you're talking about Ukraine, it's Ukraine that makes you think that there is weakness on Putin's part.

And that that is why the Chinese don't trust him. I was going to say straightforwardly, I think you've got it the wrong way around. It's the Chinese who've been wanting Putin to find some kind of compromise. They had good relations with Ukraine until a few years ago. They're extremely unhappy. They were initially extremely unhappy about a Russian incursion, a Russian, you know, the SMO.

They said, you know, this violates the principle of territorial integrity, which is so important to us. And we got Taiwan to think about. We've got Xinjiang to think about. We've got all of these Tibet to think about. And here is Putin. and he's saying, well, self-determination is equally important to territorial integrity. The Chinese, they've been extremely careful.

They've been constantly urging him until very recently find a way out, compromise. And of course, he's had to take that into account. And what has happened is that gradually the Chinese perspective on this has changed because they've seen how impossible the Ukrainians are. They even appointed, by the way, a peace envoy, went to Kiev and spoke to the Ukrainians, met with Zelensky. They came away completely shattered, apparently,

about from the experience. And Zelensky has said incredibly abusive things about them. So, you know, I think that this is far from being correct. The opposite is true. As I said, it's not that China doesn't trust, Putin, it's that they've gradually come to realize that about Ukraine and the West, he was right all along. Yeah, it was a huge accomplishment for from the foreign ministry to keep China, India, the entire global south on side during the first months of the SML.

Absolutely. Yeah. From West Wolf, Putin has no love for the West. He is closer than any one man, one nation, when people have been in 70 years in defying and toppling the U.S. Empire? I completely agree with that. I mean, can I just make a point? I mean, I'm glad you've talked about 70 years because, of course, that takes us back to Joseph Stalin's done. Now, this is, of course, a completely different time.

But Stalin also wanted good relations at one time with the West. He needed them. He needed them to defeat the Germans. And as we now know from academic scholarship, even after the Second World, war. He tried to avoid the Cold War because he wanted a good relationship with the United States. He never understood that the Americans could never have good relations with the Soviet Union, considering the sort of regime he was running. But, you know, Putin is not the first Russian leader to seek good relations with the West. And he's changed his stance on this.

As you say, on this, he's at one with his people, who until a few years ago, also wanted good relations with the West. Stephen Walter says, good day to everyone. That West Wolf says 100% year of the dragon, not familiar with the prophecy. When Damascus falls in the year of the dragon, it will herald the beginning of a war between the East and West, the likes of which the world has never seen.

Yeah, I've heard about this prophecy. I don't know much about it. I have already said I'm deeply, deeply skeptical of prophecies. My own beliefs tell me that, you know, we shouldn't take prophecies like that, especially seriously. West Wolf also says, and the East shall destroy the West. On the East, she'll destroy the West. Andrew, Andrew says, thanks, gentlemen. Thank you.

Andrew. Sanjama says, what do you think will change in Moscow's thinking after what happened to General Kiddilov? Well, this is, we've already talked about this. As I said, there's going to, I mean, there's going to be a lot of very, very angry people. Bear in mind that all the top people in the defence ministry get Asimuth and the others. They all know him. I mean, you know, he's absolutely a part of the team. He's a very, very senior military official. So they will be furious about this.

But bear something else in mind, these are soldiers. These are military people. For them, death in battle, which is what they will see this as, is an occupational hazard. That is absolutely how Russian officers see this. And there will be a discussion. And I will say this, they will put their anger aside. And they will make a calculation, a very hard-headed calculation. And they will say, let's not make a decision on anger.

Let's make a decision that advances our cause in Ukraine. On the one hand, we need to show strength and deterrence, because if we don't, we're inviting more of these things. On the other hand, we have to be very careful not to fall into the hands of people like Wadanov, Zelenskyy, and Biden, who want to provoke us into doing something, which will backfire on us because there's all sorts of people in the West, who are wanting us to overreact so as to wreck whatever prospect for a dialogue, not put aside negotiations, a dialogue, a reopening of a dialogue,

a reopening of diplomatic context with the United States that might be, and who also want to provoke some kind of Western reaction, which could complicate our own operations in the war. I wonder if this is about driving a wedge between the military and Putin as well. Of course it is. Absolutely. I agree on the

yes. Yes. I mean, they crossed a big line with going after a general. I mean, this was, this is big. Absolutely.

Well, not just a general, but a very senior general and one who's in Moscow, who's not involved directly at the special military operation, bear in mind. So yes, it is. But again,

let me repeat once more. The Russian military is highly disciplined. The soldiers are very disciplined people. They will discuss this. They will agree a policy and they will remain loyal to their commander-in-chief. About that, I have no doubt at all. Matt Les says, I am beginning to believe that the Khmer Rouge were the first terrorist organization that the US and UK supported against Vietnam and the Soviets. The US and UK had diplomatic relations with them through the early 1990s. I remember the time very well.

The way it happened was that the Khmer Rouge seized power, as we all know, in 1975. There were the four years that they were in power, which were terrible for the people of Cambodia. I've spoken to people who lived during that time, and I've learned how truly terrible they were and how, you know, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people. not going to get into the numbers did die then there was a war which the Khmer Rouge launched against Vietnam because they were to say it frankly crazy people they were defeated they were driven out of Cambodia they established themselves on the Cambodian Thai border because Vietnam was aligned at that time the Soviet Union the West China supported them I remember that very well they

dragged on for about a decade. And it was one of the most cynical operations I've ever seen in my life. So on the one that we're having article after article, book after book, a film after film, you know, about the terror that the Khmer Rouge had launched

the killing fields and all of that. And at the same time, the West was lending these people diplomatic support. Ursula says Ursula, this is Ursula, I am not an NAZI, please tell your friends. Of course. Thank you for joining us, Ursula, on this live stream.

Kellyn says, are you guys aware of Mike Benz and his appearance on Rogan? He breaks down the entire anatomy of censorship in the deep state. Any thoughts on this? I haven't watched it, but I should do, I suppose. Yes, I mean, it sounds very interesting. Alexandros Marinos says,

Alexander, can you tell us the Greek form of the stinging like a dead wasp expression? That was a long time ago. Let me come back to the lake. Svika, Svita. Svita. Kaposetsi. Yeah. Kaposetsetsi. Remember, I've lived in England for a very, very long time now. So my Greeks sometimes does get russ. Sphika is a wasp.

where are we san jeva says a bet last year during islamic conference i said middle eastern regimes are too corrupt to unite for a common cause even for palestinians i hope russia learned the lesson india learned about the middle east regimes well indeed i mean they've been here before as i've said in programs i mean they they were heavily involved in the middle east in the 60s and 70s they thought they had good relations, strong relations with countries like Egypt, for example. And by 1980, their whole policy in the Middle East has crumbled. So, you know, I think that this has been a shock in Moscow. I don't think anybody in Moscow expected the Assad government just to collapse in the way that it did.

They're very angry about it. I think there's lots of recriminations over it. But those in Moscow, who, like the ones in India, say, stay out, have undoubtedly been strengthened by this affair. From Fuzzy Balls, the only countries that both Russia and the EU would be agreeable to are India, Slovakia and Hungary. Second, Russia can never have any peace as long as Ukraine has any black Caxia. So that Dessa is a must. Well, I think that Medvedev's comments two days ago, basically hinted at this.

He's talking about more regions joining Russia. I mean, Medvedev and Putin addressed the same conference. They will have read each other's speeches before they were delivered. They will have coordinated with each other. From Lee Donaghy,

who is, who in BRICS would allow Turkey to join now? Good question. I don't think that Turkey is joining the bricks any time soon. I mean, it's a partner state, but I don't think it's joining any time soon. From Anti-War 702.

Thank you, Alex and Alexander. All of these demons have nuclear safe mansions. Unbelievable. Biden and King C are so old that they care. Well, he is an old man. Maybe he doesn't care. Some of the people around him are not so old. I suspect they do care.

The problem with these people, is not that they don't care, it's that they don't believe it will ever happen. They don't believe they will ever be called to account for anything they do. It's not just a belief, it's an absolute certainty that they have. The idea that they will ever be called to account

is something that never occurs to them. Westwolf says, well, unlike someone, Russia doesn't have a government-approved kill list, Kha. True enough. That's completely true as well. Chili Pepper says, do you know the South Korean president tried to start a war with North Korea? KJ. Noch had the report and everyone missed it.

I know. The Korean story is getting ever more extraordinary all the time. I have lots of people, I know in Korea, by the way. So one of them, I'll be meeting over Christmas. So I should get an awful lot more insight into what happened. I still believe myself, by the way, that the single most important thing was the decision, was the question of sending arms to Ukraine. And the fact that it goes back to 2023 reinforces it. The planning for this goes back to 2023.

Because if you look at the timings, apparently the discussions are at exactly the moment when South Korea was sending shells to the United States in order to resupply. those shells through the United States to Ukraine itself. There was a lot of controversy about that in South Korea at the time. I think that's when the decision was made. I think that was when the planning started. They completely underestimated and misjudged the situation. And I think that the conflict with North Korea that they were also looking for was partly, I think, intended to reinforce these events and to basically clamp down on South Korean society itself

and bring it back to where it was before democracy came to South Korea in 1989. I should say that the sanctions on Russia in South Korea had been extremely controversial. Many people in South Korea think they're a huge mistake and South Korea has a real politics unlike places like Germany. So there has actually been a political discussion about it. Ms. Texas G says,

question, can you please speak to the Xi invitation to the Trump inauguration? I was extraordinary, but it's entirely typical of Trump, if I could say. Trump has he had as president a good personal relationship to see. he was the first foreign leader, I think, Cid to remember that Trump met. And he invited C to meet him in Mar-a-Lago. And the two men got on extremely well. And I think what Trump is trying to do

is to revive that friendship. And I think he wants to do that because on the one hand, he clearly has a very well-defined and clear-cut economic agenda and that means trying to reduce the footprint of China and its exports into the United States. At the same time, I think he understands very well that the relationship with China is an important one. And he doesn't want things to get out of control.

He's already made it clear that Taiwan, he doesn't want to see a war with China over Taiwan. So what I think he wants to do, and this is exactly like Trump. He wants to get to know the person, talk with him, see what. whether or not they can develop what the Chinese like to call guardrails and Trump explaining, look, it's the economics, it's the state of the United States that's my primary concern about all of these other matters, Taiwan and all the rest. We can agree to disagree, but let's agree also what the red lines are and let's respect them. So I think that's what that was about. Now, see, I think it doesn't

fit his agenda at the time to go to Washington and to meet with Trump. And I think that see, on his part, is calculating that the longer he keeps this thing in suspense, the better his position is going to be. Because in a negotiation, it's never a good idea to seem too keen. Sanjava says, thanks Alexander for putting context to negotiations, i.e., they might be similar to Vietnam negotiations. Putin is aware of this, but I highly doubt Trump's team does.

Unfortunately, I think you are right. I should say that I think there's many different people in Trump's team who are coming up with all kinds of ideas. At a very peripheral level, I should say that about a week ago, I had some content. with some people in Britain who apparently have some contacts with some of the people. I know that they do have some contacts with some of the people in the Trump team.

They were getting some kinds of ideas. And it was very clear to me that they have an awful lot of learning to do. Just saying. As I hear, thank you for that stupid chat. Kili Pepper says, I read there was the nuclear scientist also murdered just north of Moscow this week.

Do you know anything about it? Yeah, this story has appeared. Actually, I read about it in the Daily Telegraph. It's not clear that this was the person. The Ukrainians have published a picture of a man with a moustache who looks like a specific nuclear scientist. It might be true, but of course, we can't be absolutely sure. Russia has any number of nuclear scientists. Again, it's going to make people very angry in Moscow if this was really the case. But there's been no confirmation of that story up to now. the Russians. Artur Saab says, post-war, sorry, post-war peaceful, Russia always floods friendlies with weapons. It is one lesson the West learned.

Regardless of situation, the U.S. Ukraine will be kept on life support to give Neocons time for other wars. Well, that's what Biden wants to do. That's what the administration, the current administration, want to do. The point about, and this is a point,

it's a point made by Richard Hatch. and he's group within the Council for Foreign Relations, is that the countries whose resources are being drained by the war are first, is the United States, it's not in American interest to keep the war going indefinitely. It's the US that's loose. It's Europe even more, obviously. It's collapsing. Exactly.

If you're talking about the superpowers, the rest. This isn't working in the way that some people thought that it would. So that, I mean, Richard Haas has no liking for Russia. They're liking for Putin at all. But there is a hard line about Russia, ultimately, as anybody in Washington, but they're making a very tough, you know, cost, benefit analysis. And they're saying, we're losing more. that we're achieving from this. In fact, we're not achieving anything. West Wolf says,

do we think the Ukraine strike on Grozny was a boo-boo? Meme has been doing the rounds of Gadirov. Hey, piano man, I have an army that makes a handful of my soldiers that have been terrifying you look like peanuts. I think it's a huge mistake, but I think all of these strikes on Russia, What are they actually achieved? Very little in truth.

And in this particular case, I agree. I think that Kedirov can send more people to fight in Ukraine. And of course, if it becomes personal, then it becomes dangerous for the Ukrainians, that is. Sticky Marx says, a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Let's hope it's a good one without any fear. John and Yoko. So my Soviet gold coin, can I get an email to arrange posting, that crazy old ladyish Yorkshire? Oh, wow.

I can say, gosh. Well, first of all, a very happy Christmas to you and to your friends and family and all your dear ones. And thank you for your very kind words about gold coins. I will pass that on to Alex. The hockey goalie says, aside from the likely human tragedy, the potential historical cultural losses in Syria are deeply depressing, Palmyra, et cetera. Hope you are both able to have a good Christmas with your families.

Well, we will, and thank you for that. And thank you also for talking about the archaeological treasures and things. Now, maybe because I'm Greek, maybe also because my aunt was Minister of Culture in Greece, maybe because I take an interest in archaeology and not just archaeology, but culture generally. I am deeply depressed and very, very shocked about this, just as I was when it all happened in Iraq. I am also, and I have to say this very, very depressed that I haven't read a single article expressing any interest or concern about this anywhere in any part of the Western media.

and when there was all the looting and destruction of the archaeological and other treasures in Iraq, Ikeen was quite shocked at how calm, how indifferent people were. And to my mind, and I'm going to say this, I mean, put aside, you know, the vast numbers of people who get killed and all of that as a result of these neocon wars, this indifference to these treasures, which are the common treasures of humanity. I mean, they belong obviously to the Syrian, Iraqi people, but they are also part of our collective history. This indifference to it just demonstrates what complete barbarians these people who run things in the West are.

David March says, you two keep asking why the Russians are fighting the way they do in Ukraine. They are fighting like Monty in World War II, using artillery to minimize casualties. They always have an escape route. So UK to flee through like Filet's gap. Please remember that until the start of this war, I was completely ignorant of military things altogether. So I take your point completely. And the one thing I do know about Montgomery, field marshal Bernard Montgomery,

is that he was a military professional to his fingertips. He absolutely knew his job. Not everybody in the British Army at that time did, but he did. He absolutely did. And if you're talking about the Russian general staff, they are professionals to their fingertips in exactly the same way. Ursula says,

I totally support a multipolar world. one pole can mow my lawn while another can rub my feet i am fair and true neal please well thank you for clarifying all of these things i see low we're very grateful very grateful to ursula vanderlayan thank you very much for joining us on this live stream maybe we can have her on as absolutely let's let's have a as a guest that that really would be a scream Zaryl says, Jens, notice that again, the US wants a vulcanization

of the next country they have toppled. It's what I've been saying for years now and here it is. Yeah, absolutely. That is exactly what they want. I mean, they want everything broken up and shattered into pieces.

Quite why it benefits them objectively. It's impossible to see. It doesn't, I'm going to go further. It doesn't benefit the United States. It certainly doesn't benefit the American people. Creating chaos, getting all sorts of violent people, giving them sanctuaries.

Well, we all saw what happened. We've seen what's happened before when things like that happened. But of course, it does play exactly into the kind of complex neocon games, the geopolitical games, the neocons always play. A different perspective says a general just taken out of Moscow thoughts. Well, I think we do. I think we've talked about this at length. Yeah.

Leslie Saunders says, this Ukrainian assassination strategy is very similar to Israeli strategy. Is there a direct link? Yeah, I think there probably is actually. At least, I'll tell you what I think. I'm not sure that the Israelis have been involved in advising the Ukrainians to do this. But I think that the Ukrainians are very conscious of the kind of things that the Israelis do have copied it. Yeah. Matlis-X says Christia Freeland and Trudeau, victims of the Olensky curse. Absolutely. I sincerely and devoutly hope so.

Akash van Kessel says, are you aware of the court case against Urut? No, I'm not, actually. I'd be very interested to know a bit more about it. Yeah. Let's see. De Onisia says so much talk about the Parthenon marbles, so little about Syrian archaeological treasures. Janice, you're completely right. I absolutely agree with you about that. And I say that as somebody whose aunt, of course, campaigned vigorously for the return of the Parthenon out marbles to Greece. Gus O.G. says, is the fall of Syria the beginning of a Iron Curtain descending in Eurasia.

Have a blessed Christmas. Might be. What I personally think is going to happen about Syria is as the Turkey is going to become increasingly involved. And the risk, the really big risk, and people are underestimating it to their peril, is that instability in Syria could start to feed into instability in Turkey. And bear in mind, the economy is in recession. There's always high inflation in Turkey.

There's been a history of coups. In the late 1970s, the country almost descended into civil war, as I very very well remember. So, you know, these problems haven't gone away. They might come back. We'll see. Is the, I just said this question, didn't I? The fall of, from Gus O.G. Yeah, yeah.

I just lost my place. Abominable SWE says, do you have anything to say regarding the drone scare in the U.S.? I'm surprised that nobody is stating the obvious. This is clearly an arms project from the MIC developing AI drones. A lot of military R&D in the last years

have talked about aircraft with a swarm of support drones. The sightings have been around military bases. It's Boeing or similar that owns the drones. So the U.S. government can claim it is not theirs. It is just me with this conclusion. Yeah, I mean, you may be right. I mean, I don't know, but the extraordinary thing about this story is that it's never been completely resolved what is happening.

Now, the mighty U.S. military intelligence complex can't provide us with a satisfactory explanation of this story. I mean, that really boggles the mind, actually. If this was not their droids, they would have shot them down. The fact that they would shoot down these droves means that these are their drones. It's simple. Yeah, absolutely. West Wolf says, Alex, speaking of Cyprus, because of those three RAF bases, do the poor Cypriots clenched their butts a little every time Stommer says something dumb? We're not happy about those bases, but there's nothing we can do about them.

And those UK bases are effectively U.S. bases. Yes. There's really nothing we can do about it. Life of Brian says, how did Alexander acquire his reputation as the Oracle of London? Ah, that I will pass on to Alex. It was he who coined the word. It just came out.

It just came out. That's it. Just came out. Ursula says, I had an Ereznik. Ursula, I had an Eresnik in my late 20s, but none of the 36 guys called me the next day, sad face. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Careful what you tell us now. Yes. The Black Cat, thank you for that super sticker. Ruby Appell says, thank you guys for your tireless work, hoping the world makes it to the end of Biden's term without World War III starting. Well, everybody's talking about that. Orban said we're going through the most dangerous time since the start of the special military operation. Yes.

Old Slow says, do you guys think? there will ever be peace in the Middle East? If so, what will it take? Answer in one minute or less. Yes, the will one day be peace in the Middle East. I doubt that it will be in my lifetime. That's what I would say. Merle says, what is your opinion on government officials and pensions? Here in Canada, we are in a position where the leader of one of the opposition parties needs to to work until February to receive his pension. And he is the one guy that could get rid of Trudeau. He has even been called out on this in the parliament floor.

To be fair, to the opposition leader, it's a big pension. Right, okay. Well, I'm not going to discuss the specifics about Canada and the pensions issue there, because I'm not familiar with the inside things. What I will say is this, if you're talking about the higher civil service in Britain, when I used to work, not in the civil service, but, you know, connected to them in Britain,

what they used to do, because they were very, very skills and educated people who could have certainly got very highly paid jobs in industry, was that the trade-off was that they got a significantly lower salary whilst they were working, but they got employment security and a guaranteed, pension at the end. So that was the trade-off in Britain. That was for the higher civil service. What applies to other people? I think it varies so much from one country to another that I don't really want to get drawn into a discussion about that because that would take that would take weeks I suspect go through.

Chili Pepper says fantastic interview with Jeffrey Sachs on Tucker Carlson today. Let's hope Trump watches. Yeah, I hope so too. Great interview. West Wolf says, Alexander, remember 12 months ago during your live stream, we were discussing how I thought it would be hard for Putin to sell an end to the SMO, where Odessa is at return to the homeland. I've said that myself in many places. I think you're right. Christian says, which country will be next to cancel the election? That is an excellent question.

Unbelievable what happened in Romania. Yeah. Unfekin believable. Absolutely. Good comment. It's unbelievable. I mean, something off the scale. I mean, and notice that the evidence that was supposedly provided by the intelligence community, unsurprisingly.

Well, I haven't been able to find it. I mean, if it's made public, I haven't seen it. But let's just quickly. Even if it is TikTok, I mean, let me ask you this, even if it is TikTok, what's the problem? Well, what's the problem? Exactly. I mean, it is, nothing like this has ever happened. Let's, let's say that all the allegations were true. Let's say the Russians did run a campaign. Let's say they did put videos on TikTok. Are we saying that that is grounds to cancel an entire election? Unbelievable. I mean, bear in mind, we're only talking about. the first round. If you want to in an election, say this man is winning the election on the basis of Russian planted TikTok videos, then you argue that in the second round, you provide your proof.

Perhaps at that point you will persuade people. You don't persuade people and they continue to vote for the candidate. That's called democracy. I mean, that, this is taking the decision away from the people. It's an excellent point. Yes. You just made an excellent point. Yeah. Yeah.

If, if you have the evidence, the proof, the receipts that this guy is using TikTok along with Putin to cheat in the elections, then in the second round, just present the evidence. And I'm 100% positive that the Romanian people would say, oh, my God. Yeah. he's cheating we can't vote this guy in his president game over game over unbelievable oh boy sparky says should sultan erdogan show up to the next international conference he attends in a sedan chair would it be an epic troll it would also it would also provoke a certain reaction in turkey as well by the way i mean erdogan has these detractors in turkey i i saw

an opinion poll in Turkey, by the way, immediately after Assad fell, in which only a bare majority of people in Turkey, of all the propaganda, of all that, only a bare majority, just over 50% of those asked, said it was good news. Lots and lots of people thought otherwise. Matt Lisex says, Alex, if Erdogan turns towards the Balkans, that puts him in collision course with the Serbs and. Russia and with Greece. Well, indeed, absolutely. Lots of people.

Yeah. But that's what he's going to do. Nikos says, give me your discord so we can chat, Duran. We got Budov's discord many, many years ago. It was actually many, many years ago. Petros says, at what point and how will the Orthodox religious situation be fixed in Ukraine after the war? Well, it's the Russians have made it absolutely clear that for them, it's a, an essential part of any final settlement. So unless this is settled, unless this thing is sorted out,

and the church, the canonical church is restored, there isn't going to be a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. I think this is absolutely, I don't think the Russians are fooling on this, by the way. I think they absolutely do care about this. Hussey Ball says, if Italy joins Bricks, why would it hungry? Well, Italy hasn't made, is going to join bricks, not any time soon. If it does join, then Hungary should join. Oh, if it does join, well, Hungary should join. Absolutely, yeah. Alex Fanov says, did the Olensky curse hit Nancy Pelosi?

They hit the Democrats, all of them. Hit the Democrats, yeah, hit Biden, hit Harris, yeah. Sparky says, taking Odessa would give Russia leverage to keep rump Ukraine a check. Otherwise, Russia needs to take all of Ukraine, hold referendums in three years, and give parts to neighbors if needed. There is so much to be said about Odessa. I mean, the importance of Odessa to Russians is simply not something you can, you know, overstay. After Crimea itself, Odessa, along with Kiev, are the two most important places in Ukraine for Russians. I mean, Kiev was the mother of Russian cities because the Russian state started there.

And Odessa is this beautiful city that was created by the Russians on the Black Sea in Catherine the Great's day, named after the Greek hero Odysseus by the Catherine, the Great, by the way. It is not a recreation of an ancient Greek city. And it has played a huge role in Russian. literary and cultural life, its importance in that respect, simply cannot be underestimated. And I mean, even things like the fact that it was the organized crime capital of the former Russian Empire is important because that created a whole vast literature of, you know, criminal gangs and things of that kind, which is every bit as well known in Russia as that, say, about the gangs in Chicago. somewhere like that to Americans is. So it simply cannot be

understated and its economic importance is huge. It was the biggest port in the Russian Empire, for example. So, I mean, one can't simply stop in discussing how important Odessa is. And absolutely what you say is true if the Russians control the Black Sea coast and Adessa itself,

than any Ukraine further to the north, cut off from the Black Sea and without a port, is basically in the Russians grasp. Petros says the collective West loves territorial integrity in Ukraine. Syria, not so much. If the West didn't have double standards, it would have no standards at all. Sure enough. That's a very well-put, actually. Dusty Desert, thank you for that super chat.

Jamila says, thank you, gentlemen, for your great. work, these criminal organization war mongers. I feel they are winning because they can control anyone and I think Trump can't do anything. Well, let's wait and see. I think this is a much more organized Trump government than the one we saw before. And this time he's had a clear majority of the American people vote for him. And he comes in much more experience than he was then. So let's see. I mean, it's the power of the presidency, the support of the people, versus an entrenched bureaucracy. We'll see who wins. Sean Hurl says, Wither Palestine, what say you guys?

Well, I think that what has happened, if it's been a defeat for the Iranians, it has been an absolute catastrophe for the Palestinians. I mean, the support, the importance of Syria, as a supporter for the Palestinians, simply can't be overstated. Now, we are talking about the Middle East. Things can always turn out otherwise. Apparently, the Israelis are now worried that there's going to be a flood of weapons pouring out of Syria into the West Bank and the Palestinian territories.

So just bear that in mind. So we could see the problems, Israel's problems spread. I read a very interesting article from an Iranian sort, an Iranian source, which said that Syria's role in providing the supplies to Hezbollah and Hamas has been overstated. So things could turn out otherwise, but for the moment, this is a huge disaster for the Palestinians. And that's why, one reason, by the way, by George Galloway, is so depressed about the outcome. Ursula says, okay, enough of my trolling. How bad were the fall of the West be in light of bricks? And how many countries do you think will jump ship after the US dollar

implodes, assuming it does? It feels like growing snowball. It is a great snowball and it will be a huge event. It will be a, it will be what it will be a colossal event. The biggest event in the last 500 years, just to say, 500 years ago, the West achieved global dominance. If that ends, then as I said, it is an event of. equal scale and magnitude to that. And I'm going to say some countries will do better than others, Western countries will do, adjust better than others. I think the United States will be able to adjust,

even if it loses the dollar, because it's big, it's got an entrepreneurial and young population, it's protected by the seas and the oceans, it's a more dynamic society. The part of the West that looks to me like it's going to go into an intense decline is going to be Europe. I mean, we are on the brink of our own century of humiliation, like the one the Chinese experienced at the start of the 19th century. As Pataville says, do you think Venezuela is vulnerable to a U.S. regime change? because there is bipartisan support for it in the U.S.

Now that Saudi is in bricks, they need another petro state to back the petro dollar. I think it's extremely vulnerable to a regime change operation. Also, I really don't know how strong Maduro's position inside Venezuela is. The one thing I would say about Maduro is that he's a fighter. I mean, he's a bruiser. He's very different in that respect from Assad. Now, Assad, as I said, we have published a bit of business. very dignified and very sad statement.

But it was one that still, I thought, was written very much in the passive tense. By contrast, Maduro, I don't think is like that. Yeah. Sparky says, doesn't seem like Hezbollah and Sir Allah were depending on the Syria supply line for the last couple of years since Syria and Assad were shaky. I don't think Israel has heard the last from them.

This is now, there's a growing comment. about this in the Middle East and media and in independent media as well. And so, I mean, I'm not an expert in how all of these people get their supplies, but that does seem to be true. Marcus says, how can the wars ever stop without some sort of revolution in the US? Are we approaching a let them eat cake level of elite detachment from reality? Well, you know, there are revolutions and there are revolutions. I mean, a revolution doesn't have to be a violent event.

we might be on the brink of one now in the sense that it could be, especially after the way the election in November went, on the 5th of November went, that we could be about to see a fundamental shift in American perspectives and American policy with not just Trump, but a major movement that wants to shift America away from the neocom policies that, has followed for the last 50 years.

Sparky says, are Putin and Bricks too hopeful about Trump? Shouldn't they be more cautious and wait to see if Trump drains the swamp? They are extremely cautious about Trump. I've been reading all the various commentaries. They've all been writing. Bear in mind that Bricks countries have different perspectives on Trump. So China is much more nervous about Trump than, say, Russia is, because they're wondering what Trump is going to do on the tariffs and things of that kind.

The Russians, by contrast, on balance, since Trump wants to resume contacts, I mean, they are pleased, but they always remind you that he came, became president before, saying he wanted to improve relations with Russia, and the sanctions got more and bigger. and weapons to Ukraine, which, by the way, had already started under Obama. I know that. I know that definitely. That weapons supplies to Ukraine

became public under Trump. So the Russians are not taking out any champagne corks. They're waiting to see. Akash says the Ruta court case, a Dutch lawyer suing him for his coup handling serving January 20th in a Belgium court. He wants him to step down as NATO boss apparently turned down

3 million settlements. Wow. Wow. Gosh. Very interesting. Yeah. All of these guys have... Court issues. Al-Legarde, Routéthé, Ursula. Absolutely. They're all... Very difficult man to bring down.

He is absolute European royalty. just to say Schwab's favorite favorite son is his Ruta he's he's closest favorite

Jamila says I can't say Merry Christmas we need you any day thank you Jamila Ursula says

happy to make you guys smile in the face of global chaos thank you for informing me prayers in love still not a Nazi

Thank you very much Ursula you have indeed made your smile Thank you very time. Sasha says who does Kadirov think he is?

He forgets his place. Putin needs to reign in Kadirov. Kadirov cannot send any troops to Ukraine. Kadirov can only carry out the orders of Putin. Well, this is all absolutely true, but I think Kadirov has proved repeatedly that he's deeply loyal to Putin himself. And I think Putin knows how to handle him

and has handled him extremely well. Westwolf says every time attackums are fired at Russia, do you think Xi phones up Putin? Plan is working six less they can shoot at us. I wouldn't be at all surprised. Putin and C speak far more often than the Kremlin tells us. You hardly ever see the Kremlin or the Chinese foreign ministry published readouts of conversations between Putin and C. I read a report. I don't think it's terribly reliable,

but I read a report somewhere which said that they speak to each other every week, that they have a conversation every week. So it wouldn't surprise me. And of course they discussed the attackers. Sparky says, should Putin deploy North Korean GMO super soldiers to take Odessa or are Russian regular sufficient?

I think Russian regularism more than sufficient, actually. Tim Gibson, thank you for that super sticker. Andreas says, could Maloney stepping down as ECR president open a door for fusion with the Patriots? Who knows? I personally, I have to say this. I don't myself think that Maloney has done very much or changed very much. And I think that we're starting to see that economic conditions in Italy are becoming more difficult again.

Just saying. Raphael says, a Roman emperor said, I do not care if they do not respect me as long as they fear me. Putin does not care if he is feared nor respected. Crazy. You are referring to Tiberius. It was the emperor of Tiberius. To be precise, he said, let them hate me so long as they fear me. I think they hate and fear Putin an awful lot. All you have to do is read the newspapers here in the West.

And you can say that every day. Sparky says the drone freak out in the U.S. is to manufacture consent so the Congress can pass more draconian loss. It's the drones for consent program. You said it. I'm not contradicting you. Zareel says you guys are the best. Thank you and Merry Christmas. Zareel.

Fuzzy Ball says, if Russia takes Nikolaev and Odessa, then annexes transnistria, wouldn't it be beneficial to seed Western Odessa to Romania because there's a major nature reserve separating it, making it vulnerable. There's all kinds of issues and things that you could talk about there. I'm not going to try.

I think we've got to get to Edessa first. And then once the Russians are at Adesat then we can start talking about these things. I understand, by the way, that the Romanians have claims to Snake Island as well. Just saying. Charitard says, John Greenwald Jr., authority on UFOs commented on the drones.

He said aliens wouldn't travel billions of light years to observe New Jersey. You're telling me. Alex Fanov says, I'm glad Ursula van der Leyer following the Duran. Oh, well, we're absolutely thrilled. Sparky says, keep in mind, Israel has killed many more Americans than Iran. Remember the USS Liberty. We've discussed this before, and I think that's right. Sasha says the drones over the US are CIA up just Google Project Bluebeam.

US has anti-gravity tech and the rest is advanced hologram tech. It's a false flag up. Alex Jones has talked about this many times. It's an anti-graft, is it? I mean, this is all getting very high-tech and science fiction-ish. I didn't know that anybody had come up with anti-graft technology, just say. Russell Hall says using social media to garner votes is in charge. cheating.

I mean, you're absolutely right. There is absolutely, I mean, there isn't a, first of all, they did a recount of all the votes to try and find some problems. And then that didn't work. And then the intelligence agencies came up with this absurd explanation, which we all know that the intelligence, there isn't, there aren't many intelligence services across Europe, there is only one. And we know who controls it.

Go back to Langley, they will tell you. Yeah. Raphael says, Merry Christmas, Manchester City, rest and relax. Sparky says, Merry Christmas. Raphael, Sparky says, the new huge NATO base in Romania should be on the hair trigger list for the Ereznik. It could very well be. There have been debates about that within the Russian media as well.

Bejan, welcome to the drag community. Elza says, is it true that Hungary made the EU take back sanctions of Patriarch Kirill? I've heard this. It wouldn't surprise me. It is quite plausible, actually. David Lazarus says, TikTok made me do it. Blame it all on TikTok in Putin. West Wolf says, the NK troops walked five kilometers through a minefield,

eliminated 300 Ukrainian defenders, took no prisoners, then collected their casualties and vanished back into the forest. Laugh or cry at West doesn't realize Russians are trolling. I agree. Yeah, well said. Yeah, Johnsky says, Alex Jones says the deep state is planning to explode a dirty bomb at Trump's inauguration and blame Russia. All Dems are boycotting the inauguration. Would you put this past the deep state? No, I would not, but I don't think it's going to happen nonetheless. I think there are still people who are sane enough if such a thing is even being thought about to make sure it doesn't happen. But I have heard that the Dems are boycotting the inauguration.

And I think that is a terrible mistake. Sparky says if Rump Ukraine gets out of line, Russia can simply deny Black Sea access to them until Rump Ukraine complies with whatever agreements. To be honest, I think if Ukraine loses the Black Sea coast and Odessa, it's a shadow state. I think the Russians would control Ukraine. Miguel 666s regarding recent assassinations of Kirillov, why don't they just take Budanov out? There must be...

Well, they've tried, apparently. I mean, they have tried. I mean, Budanov lives in constant fear of assassination. He hides in bunkers. He meets people in darkened rooms. I mean, he lives in that kind of world now. Kirillov lived in the open. I mean, you could argue that he has a bet, even if he's been killed,

he had a better life than Budana does. Ms. Texas G. says, question. When Zelensky no longer has Biden to call, what will he do about negotiating with Russia? Good question. He will call his friends in Europe. His most important friend at the moment is Macro. Ursula, of course, is always a friend.

Kaya Carlos has now. being come onto the scene. But they are the people that he's going to increasingly turn to. And of course, he's also going to talk to his various friends in Congress. And of those, the most dangerous for Trump is McConnell, who is still there. Yeah. Sophisticated caveman says, will war spread to Iraq? Is Iraq more stable than Syria?

Would another Iraq war provoke America military intervention? It might very well do when he could easily spread to Iraq. there's talk that ISIS is reviving in eastern Syria now. And, of course, if it does, then, of course, it's only a question of time, I'm guessing, before it goes back into Western Iraq as well. So, you know, this is, this is getting to look very difficult. Sparky says the shaky euro is one of the only things propping the US dollar, because where else can people go at the moment?

Yeah. Very true. Sasha says, please comment on the recent episode of Candace Owens' YT channel. She had one of the survivors of the USS Liberty who said Israel attacked them with knowledge of U.S. President as a false flag up. I've heard this many times. There has been huge literature on the attack on the USS Liberty. I'm not going to pretend that I've read it all or any part of it. All I would say is that it was an Israeli attack on an American ship.

many Americans were killed. There's been lots of explanations and reasons given as to why it happened. There's never been a proper explanation. There's never been a proper accounting. And the topic is never discussed to anything like the extent that it ought to be. John D. is a new member of the Dran community. Hello, John D. Raphael says Erdogan said,

Putin and me are the two real leaders left in the world. You two think he truly believes that? or this is his grandiose personality. No, he was flattering Putin because he wants to persuade Putin to keep the basis in Syria, and he wants to maintain the relationship between Russia and Turkey. So he's, I mean, Erdogan has massive grandiosity. He's somebody who takes himself, shall we say very, very seriously indeed. He believes that he's a very important person, let me put it like that.

But he was flattering Putin because he just pulled a fast one on Putin. And he wants to make sure that despite all of that, the relationship with Putin remains intact. Putin keeps the basis in Syria and provides Erdogan with more cover, whatever it is that Erdogan wants to do in Syria and other places. So the Russians see right through all of this. Transport says, if Israel can take Palestinians land and Syrian land, why is the West upset over Russia taking Ukrainian land? So many people are making exactly that point. Sparky says, RFK Jr. strikes me as a very focused person.

I hope his focus on health and human services doesn't prevent him from passing on foreign policy truth to his colleagues who are too quick to believe the CIA. I hope so, too. Of course, he follows us as well, apparently. Matthew says Putin talks about a long war. What do you now think are the chances of a long war? I don't think he was talking so much about a long war. I think he was talking about a long confrontation with the West. And that was my take from the speech.

I mean, going back to some of the things we were talking about earlier in the program, I think he sees the relationship with the West from now on. as completely adversarial for the indefinite future. Just so. Sparky asks, has Israel bid off more than they can chew in Syria? Will they regret it? Yes, I think they will, but not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow or probably not next year.

For the moment, they've come up decidedly on top. I mean, they've also, I mean, this is a key thing to say, They've also, through the destruction of the Syrian air defense system, opened the way to launch further strikes against Iran. And they're talking about it. So for the moment, it's playing out to their advantage in the long term. And this is something that Professor Sachs has also said. It's not going to work for them because you're creating chaos all around you is never a good idea. you eventually will get pulled down into that chaos yourself.

Russell Hall says, I wonder if Assad seeing all of these events transpiring around him might not have felt the weight of prophecy moving against him and sidestepped it. It was a very sad statement that he published, but the point that he was making was that he hadn't given up, that his army basically disintegrated all around him. But he hadn't planned to leave.

He was told to leave Damascus on the 8th December, which was the day after many people thought that he'd gone. He presumably went with his security people to Latakia. His intention was to continue the struggle from there. But then he learned that Damascus had fallen. And the Russians told him, you've got to go back. You've got to go to Russia for your own safety. So it was a sad statement. I still think that he didn't rise to the challenge of what happened in the last two weeks that he was in power.

But it seems to me that he was surrounded by treachery on every side. And we haven't yet heard the full story. He's promised more and be interesting to see what he has to say. Sophisticated caveman says if Turkey and Israel are in the mood to annex states and build empire, the Middle East, does it follow that Lebanon is in very great danger? Yes, Mr. Short answer. Bear in mind that Lebanon itself used to be part of Syria, as Palestine once was, under the Ottomans, Syria. Damascus was where all this territory was run from.

So there's already been fragmentation. Right. Gala Mikhailova says, I'm worried Putin will take Trump's deal. I think he should finish the SMO. Any deal at this point will only benefit the USA. I don't think he's going to take Trump's deal. I don't think Trump has yet offered him a deal. And I don't think Trump yet has a clear idea of what he's going to offer. The Europeans who spoke with Trump got that impression as well. from binland what is your thought about germany and olif pirate pirate pirate shouts what is your thoughts on what happened in germany you know descending the country's descending of course we've now had a vote of confidence or no confidence of the german government nobody expected otherwise there'll be an election in february the only question as far as i'm concerned is not whether the cd u wins but how well the

IFD and the BSW too. If they do well enough to deny the CDU, its preferred position. I mean, they were looking at a majority at one point. That seems now unlikely. The question then is, will they be strong enough to form a coalition with the Greens, which is what I think they would

prefer, or will they have to opt for a coalition with the SPD, which they would not? But one way or the other, it's not going to change anything in Germany. Elsa says, have you talked about the new strategy of talks about Ukraine without Ukraine? The Biden administration and Ukraine are furious, L.O.L. Yeah, absolutely. I hope so. We're hearing rumors.

I don't think this is yet a clear strategy. But there do have to be talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine. There is no other way. this idea that the must be talks the only talks that can happen must be with Ukraine gives the Ukrainians a veto

over any talks it's a way of contracting out US foreign policy to Zelensky which is absurd only the Biden administration could have come up with something as idiotic as that it's also an admission though that the US

is in a conflict with Russia that's what this is all about yeah absolutely of course. Of course. Ursula says, how can the USA destroy the CIA deep state without imploding their own credibility on a global scale? Assuming 9-11 was an up, imagine the blowback. Quite true. I think that there would be a period of political turbulence in the United States and in many of the US's international relations. But once that was overcome, which it would be, I think the US would be in a much better position,

to say it simply. Pathetic Albion says, is it time for Governor Justin to face a vote of no confidence? Oh, it's long overdue. Ms. Texas G. says, question, will there be talks about Ukraine without the British? Absolutely. There should be talks without Ukraine.

You can't have talks about Ukraine if the British are involved because they will wreck them. They don't want to see peace. Russell Hall says, do we know who controls Western intelligence agencies? They're clearly linked to the tune of the CIA, but who do they really serve and to what end?

That is an excellent question. I don't know the answers to it. I've heard all kinds of stories about how these things are controlled and who controls them and where it's done. I've heard the names of various people mentioned. I heard some names while I was in Hungary, while we were in Hungary. But I don't want to speculate about that because these would be guesses,

and I don't want to guess about topics like that, you know, in this kind of open forum. Thank you, Inka, for that super sticker. Sparky says, when I said make Israel Syria again, what's happened, the recent weeks isn't what I had in mind. True enough. True enough. Charitard says, no, I'm late, but what was the deal with South Korea? What was the deal with South?

Well, I think we've discussed this. I think, well, there was a coup. Apparently planning for it started in the middle of last year. It originated with the military. The Biden administration, I am absolutely sure it was fully informed and supported it. They never opposed it whilst it was underway. I believe that it was mostly about sending arms to Ukraine. It's failed catastrophically because the people who were plotting the coup,

completely misread South Korean society, which is highly political, by the way. And I think we will have an impeached president, new elections, the opposition will win, and maybe we will get more investigations and more explanations about what happened. Charitart says Project Blue Beam was Henry Kissinger's brainchild in the WTO days. There are theories that tech was used in 9-11. Oh, well, there you go. Chris Colley, I think for that super sticker. Russell Hall says the attack on the liberty prompted a retaliatory nuclear strike against Cairo.

The bomb was on its way until McNamara of all people called it back. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. West Wolf says Our boy Budanov is the only one of the Elensky circus I bet will survive this war. Nothing more dangerous than a soldier and a patriot

with a moral code. He is prepared to sacrifice to exceed it both. I think you characterize Budanov probably correctly. He's a very dangerous man. Absolutely dangerous. And I wouldn't be surprised, given that, you know, he has all the contacts and he knows what to do, that he does manage to find his way to the West.

Apparently, Zelensky's afraid of him. And there are reports that Yarmak, Zelensky's number two, his chief of staff, is trying to get him sacked, but donna sacked. So we'll just keep informed and see what happens. Matthew says, how depressing to see that this is where geopolitics has led us. what are the chances of this ever-changing? The USA has ingrained imperialism. I completely agree with you.

I mean, I think all of these complicated chess games, the neocons play, end up invariably in a disaster. And so far, the United States has been only fractionally affected by this, but it might not continue like that forever. Sasha says, keep up the great work Durant team. you are one of the few truly unbiased voices left. You have my gratitude and respect. Thank you for that.

Sparky says Iran's the last on the list. Knowing this, shouldn't they consider moving forward with retaliation for Israel's last strike on them? Well, perhaps I think their priority. Again, I come back to what I said earlier in the program. Their priority now. As they've said themselves is to forge closer relations with Russia. Russell Hall says, official explanations are usually, confected.

It's true enough, absolutely. I've seen it done, by the way. AM says, wishing you both a Merry Christmas, hope for more walk-and-talk videos next year. Thank you. Thank you, AM for that. Russell Hall says, evil is as the eternal struggle within each of us, manifesting externally to grow beyond our independent control. In other words, blame it on the devil. Well, you can, absolutely.

I mean, we should, nonetheless, as human beings, always take responsibility itself. and accept that, you know, we are all of a sinners, but we should always remain, we should always stick to our conscience, and we shouldn't just blame outside agencies for what we do. Sophisticated caveman says, can you explain the US Treasury debt to China and Japan? That is a colossal topic. Suffice to say that the United States is clocking up debt every day at a colossal rate. one of Trump's priorities, in my opinion, ought to be to try to bring this under control because it is now becoming dangerous.

And I don't myself think that China and Japan, despite the fact that they hold an awful lot of American debt, ultimately the problem, it is the size of the debt that is the problem, the fact that it is growing at the speed that it is. Jeff Bickford, thank you for that super sticker. Jim McLaughin, thank you for that, super chat. Elza says, I hope Annalina will join our chat too. Claudia, welcome to the dread community. Jim says, interesting to see all the Western governments unraveling,

now even problems in Canada. Impressive to see what Malay is doing in Argentina, New World Forming. Well, we'll see. I read an article in the Telegraph, which took a much more skeptical view of Malay in Argentina. But, you know, well, we'll see what he achieves. But in the meantime, there's no doubt at all.

In Europe, in Canada, things are unraveling. Does it surprise you? In Canada, to be honest, my only surprise is that it's taken this long. Old Slough says you are my go-to guys on world events. Thank you again. Merry Christmas, guys. Thank you for that. Natalia, thank you for all your work, gentlemen. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it

and a happy new year to all. Thank you, Natalia. Sparky says, keep in mind, George Soros is a front man with his tongue in cheek for the CIA in the Five Eyes blob, which runs the non-Brix world. When people mention Soros, they should always point this out.

We heard people say that in Hungary. They know him. They know him, yeah. Saddam, thank you for that. Super chat. Michael says, do the Zionists want Russian regime change or is it related but separate faction of neocons? How related are projects Ukraine and Israel? I think the Israelis know enough about Russia to know that it's best left alone.

That's my own sense about the Israelis. They're very, very wary about the Russians. The neocons in the United States absolutely want regime change in Moscow. So one must make clear distinction between the neocons and the people who run things in Israel. Saddam says it doesn't make sense for Europe to continue with the ban of LNG from Russia. Will Hungary accept this? I agree. I think the Hungarians, we spoke to the energy minister while we were in Hungary.

And he was a very impressive man. He sounds to me like the kind of person who will oppose this. But of course, all kinds of things happen in Europe, which wise and rational people oppose. One mustn't ask too much of Hungary. It's a small country. Aisha says, please explain Taiwan. The world recognizes it as part of China, yet they don't want it to attack Taiwan. What right does the U.S. have to intervene?

Well, the Chinese would say none at all. The Chinese also say that when relations between the United States and China, mainland China, were established in the late 1970s, a series of agreements were reached between the United States and China, whereby the United States agreed to reduce incrementally its arms sales to Taiwan. And the Chinese are saying that the United States has gone back on its word over this. So that's the feeling the Chinese have. As far as they are concerned, Taiwan is a part of China. Officially, Taiwan agrees there is now a strong,

I don't think there's any doubt about this independence movement in Taiwan. They basically hold the government. I think they will one day want to take the step towards outright secession. And then we're going to have a massive crisis. And it'll depend an awful lot on what the United States does. Raul Pinto says Jolani, a former ISIS and al-Qaeda leader, installed as head of state, and then romanticized by Western correspondents. Your thoughts?

Absolutely. I don't have anything to add to what you were saying. I mean, the new Che Guevara. I mean, he's even the clothes, the costume that he appeared in is clearly copying Che, just to say. Yeah. I mean, you know, that kind of tiger doesn't change its stripes. Westwolf says safe and merry Christmas to you both

would love to see Rachel Blevins on the Duran in the new year having worked for RT in the US and Russia unique perspective thank you for that West Wolf OMG Mr. Teia says Alexander do you privately advise RFK no no absolutely not

I publicly advise RFK by going on to the Duran giving programs here and doing programs on my own channel. But I absolutely do not have any personal or private contacts with him whatsoever. Sparky says Iran is less, Iran is less vulnerable now with signed security agreements with Russia. A move on Israel, nukes, a move on Israeli nukes that Israeli nukes that Israel isn't supposed to have anyway, could be a good one. Well, I think the Russians will be telling the Iranians, for heaven's sake, don't escalate now when the Israelis are in a fighting mood and want you to escalate.

Build up your defenses first. There's still a lot to do, apparently, then. From Gala Mikhalova thoughts on Ujuru trial, they just got some probation and community work. This is in the United States. haven't followed this and this is more really Robert Barnes's territory than mine. One day, in the new year, no doubt we'll be doing a program with him. And we can catch up on all of that and on an awful lot else as well. Nitzwich says, in regards to Zionist origin and the involvement of the Secret Service involved,

does either of you know a book to recommend? There are so many books. I would, if you want to know about the history of Zionism, obviously it is very, very, you know, it's got its very strong political biases, just to say. But David Hurst's book, that H-I-R-S-T, that David Hurst, there's two of them. David Hurst's book, The Gun, the Olive three, are perhaps, is, for me, I think, the best single overview. Just do understand that this is somebody who's hostile to the whole movement.

But he will give you the narrative, the chronology, and he'll give you a sense of who the various major figures involved in it are. Michael Schenafeld says, do the Zionists want Russian regime change, or is it related to the neocons? No, I think people... Yeah, I think we've already answered that one. Now, about Ukraine and Israel, I don't think they're particularly connected. actually. There is some interconnections.

Then Russia and Israel have connections too. So, you know, bear this in mind. I think the Israelis understand that Russia is a place they should leave alone. They have a much more realistic understanding of Russia than many people in the Western. Hawk 23 says Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing your views from us. Thank you, Hock. Thank you. Anzo Tufutuni.

Thank you for that. super chat charitard says does the victor don't the victorian colonies u.s and japan have a defense contract with tsmc south korea also has an investment considering their tech industry i believe this is true i'm not going to pretend that i know i know the full details but um there was recently you know more more treaties done there was a treaty between south korea and um japan for example which was massively controversial in South Korea. But, you know, I believe that there are these treaties and agreements that you spoke of.

Maddie VH says Barnes has a hush-hush on the USS Liberty, with a watch. Yeah, I know. Definitely, definitely. Worth a watch. Miss Texas G. Question, what happens to the Mexican drug cartels enter Trump? Well, we'll see.

That will be a very interesting story, can I just say? And Iranian kiddo says, I want to thank Alexander, watching his daily briefings for some time now, has been very helpful in learning new Greek expressions. Merry Christmas to both of you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Alexander, final thoughts. And we will wrap it up. Let me also check to make sure I got all of the questions and comments.

Well, I'm glad to hear that it was indeed. I am right. I was right in thinking it was a dragon year. My God, what a year it's been. Syria is a tragedy and a disaster. The Middle East is going to become an even worse disaster, in my opinion. But let me repeat once again that I don't think that it is the big, I don't actually think it's the biggest event in 2024.

I think the biggest events are the war in Ukraine, the BRIC summit in Kazan and the election of Donald Trump. Those are the three things that will shape the future. Anzo says great job A&A. However, it seems like you guys are well-treated Africa like an alien region of the world. We have to do more shows on Africa. We have to do many, many more

shows on Africa. Not easy to find people who know about it, by the way. Just to say. And some reason I mean, I've reached out to people in Africa itself that I thought might want to discuss this, but I've never had responses

and I don't know why. Yeah, all right. We'll end it there. Thank you to everyone who joined us on this live stream. Thank you for all your questions and your comments. Everyone on Rockfin, on Rumble, YouTube, the durand.orgels.com, and that's it. Thank you to our moderators.

Thank you, Zareel and Peter. Yes. I think those were our moderators for today. Yes, and obviously tomorrow I'm doing my life. stream on locals, just to say. That's right. But to the GAD, thank you for moderating. Absolutely.

Can you give the time for that, Alexander? Yes, it'll be 1400 London time. Sorry, 1400, ESD, 1900 London time. Can I also extend to everybody, by the way, a very happy Christmas if you're not joining me tomorrow for the live stream. That is the duran. Dotlocals.com. Tomorrow,

Alexander will be doing a live stream. He does a live stream every Wednesday. So join us on the duran. dot locals.com for that live stream. Carol says, Merry Christmas. Thanks for your hard work and dedication. And Sparky says, what became of U.S. troops

kicked out of Niger, who went to Cote de Iver? They went to Cote. Can I just say? It's not a huge story, but Niger has now clearly broken from the Western powers. It's realigning with the Brick States, with Russia, first and foremost, with China as well. And that is important. That is important news.

It's not just France that's lost its position in West Africa. It looks like the US is doing so as well. And Mary Marse says Merry Christmas. Thank you for that. All right. Take care, everybody. Thank you.