The Duran Podcast - War grinds on (Live) w/ Brian Berletic (Live)

Episode Date: March 12, 2026

War grinds on (Live) w/ Brian Berletic (Live)

All right, we are live with Alexander McCurse in London, and we have a special guest joining us on the Duran, the one and only Brian Berletic. Brian, thanks for joining us on this live stream. How are you doing, and where can people follow your work? I'm doing very well. Thank you both for having me on. It's always an honor and a privilege.

If people want to find my work, just go to YouTube, type in the new Atlas, and then in the video description of each video, you can find all the other places my my work is posted rumble x and telegram primarily i have those links i'll have those links as a pin comment when the live stream is over and in the description box as well definitely paula brian's work he is doing great work and he is covering a lot of the iran war as well as ukraine continues to cover ukraine but he also talks a lot about the the war in iran and that is what we are going to talk about Iran and maybe a little bit Ukraine.

And of course, we'll get to everyone's questions as well. So a quick hello to everyone that is watching us on all of the platforms. A shout out to our moderators as well. Alexander Bryan, we have a lot to get to. So I'll pass it off to you, gentlemen. Indeed. And I would say we are exceptionally privileged today to have Brian with us. Brian's coverage of all of these wars, which goes back, well, years now, has been outstanding.

The New Atlas is a place I always go back to for enlightenment and understanding about what is taking place. And I think at so many levels we see that events both in the Middle East, in Ukraine, and in terms of the global conflicts that have been taking place around the world, have been following very much the kind of contours that Brian has been talking about for a very, very long time. So here we are. We have a conflict in the Middle East, a war against Iran, a war of aggression against Iran. I think people really do need to understand that this is indeed a war of aggression. We hear all the time about Russia's unprovoked attack against Ukraine. We've discussed that at inordinate length many times. The war in Ukraine was the Russian advance into Ukraine in February

2022 was absolutely not unprovoked. Not at all. This war is unprovoked. There is no Iranian nuclear weapon. There hasn't been a Iranian nuclear weapon. There was an enrichment program about which, concerning which Iran had previously entered into an agreement with the United States and by the way the global community ratified by the Security Council, the JCPOA, which placed limits on that nuclear enrichment program which Iran was observing and which the United States walked out of, the United States then resumed the whole issue about Iran's nuclear enrichment program, which still had not developed to anything close to a nuclear weapon. As the U.S.'s own intelligence agencies repeatedly said, the United States introduced the entirely extraneous

issue of Iran's ballistic missile program and its foreign policy, just a very important. to model and confuse everything. It ended into what were clearly phony negotiations, both before the June war last year and this latest war this year, over the course of which Iran nonetheless made substantive and very far-reaching concessions, and in spite of all of that, Iran was attacked. Now, that is, to my mind, clearly a case of a war of aggression, and the President of the United States and his officials had made little attempt to disguise the fact, both before the start of the war and over the course of this war itself, that what they've been naming for is regime change in Iran. So I think this has to be the starting point of any disdain.

discussion of this conflict. This is not an anti-American position. Just to say, it is a simple statement of fact. Anybody can look at all of the historical events leading up to this conflict and you can see it there. Obviously what the administration is doing is not, it does not encompass everybody in the United States. It is not encompassed the majority of people in the United States who are also opposed to this war. But in terms of the administration, its decisions, the American political class as a whole, there is no doubt at all to my mind about what they have done. So that's my first introductory comments, Brian, what you have to say, either in response to that or perhaps building upon it.

I absolutely agree. It was a premeditated war of aggression. And that is all that it, that's all it could be called. It is a premeditated war of aggression. And it is, unfortunately, it's not just a premeditated war of aggression launched by the Trump administration. This goes all the way back to the Bush Jr. administration at least. I mean, let's just confine it to the. 21st century. I remember reading in 2007, Seymour Hirsch warning about the Bush Jr.

administration, getting extremists from across the Middle East together to fight wars and proxy wars against Iran and its allies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. In 2009, the Brookings Institution put out a paper, which path to Persia. And it is essentially a blueprint for everything we just watch take place across the terms of the Obama administration, the first Trump administration, the Biden administration, and now the very last option in which path to Persia is invasion. And that is where we are right now under the second Trump administration. Each presidential administration played their part setting this up. The Obama administration in the paper, they say, let's create a deal, sabotage the deal,

blame it on Iran and use that as a pretext for war. So it was essentially not diplomacy to avoid war. It was diplomacy to be used as a pretext for war. And that is exactly what happened from the Obama to Trump administration. It was unilaterally withdrawn from, as you say, Alexander, and that it was used as a pretext for maximum pressure and this incremental push towards war. And I warned people that the whole reason the U.S. was in Syria was to collapse it because, again, in the 2009 paper, they said, we need to clear air force. corridors to Iran and Syria was one of those potential air quarters as soon as Syria collapsed. The U.S. and Israel, Israel is an accomplice in all of this, went in and took out all of Syria's air defense systems and then they began this campaign of first hitting the consulate in Damascus. And then we began seeing the first strikes on Iran itself and then Iran retaliating with its

ballistic missiles. And that is what has been escalating up to this full scale war that we're watching right now. Now we're getting lots of reports in the media all over the media that the United States, that the Trump administration, that his officials, the people in the Pentagon, underestimated the difficulties and complexities of this war and that they did not anticipate the closure of the Gulf of Hormuz, which I find astonishing. I find it absolutely bewildering that they would not anticipate that Iran might do something like that and that they had expectations that Iran would collapse

almost immediately. What makes me think that those reports might be true is that it follows very similar optimistic expectations of the same kind that the United States had about Russia in February 2022, that I very well remember. Do you think this is true? Actually, I'm not so sure,

because even with the whole conflict in Ukraine, if we go back to the Rand Corporation paper from 2019 extended Russia, they proposed provoking a war with Russia in Ukraine, and they admitted in that document that if that war began, Ukraine would almost certainly lose. And they were very explicit how it would lose, and now we're watching it in real time lose in exactly the manner the Rand Corporation laid out.

And so these are policy papers that go to experts that inhabit all of these administrations, whether they're Republican or Democratic. And these people know all of these things. And I would assume that publicly they want people to fight on and to continue to support the Ukraine more. So they need to create the illusion that there's some way for Ukraine to win. But they know that it's not going to.

But the way to keep it going is to lie and convince people that it can. And now this whole conflict, this war of aggression on Iran pending invasion into Iran, They had to know all of this. There was another Rand Corporation paper from 2009. It's titled for people that want to look it up, Dangerous but not omnipotent, exploring the reach and limitations of Iranian power in the Middle East. The whole reason I was talking about mosaic defense

and the missile arsenal that Iran was building and had and the missile cities is because it's all detailed in that paper, an excruciating detail. And closing the straight of four moves is in there. Everything is in there. So these are policy papers that they themselves aren't, it's not original ideas. It's just a snapshot of the consensus in Washington, in the Pentagon at that time. So they're well aware of all of this.

And this is what makes me worry because if they knew all of this and they've rushed into this war, and we've all been talking about the completion of anti-missile munitions, how they cannot make them faster than they're using them. and we're seeing how stretched out the U.S. military is the serial wars of aggression. It has launched around the world or proxy wars that it's backing around the world. Why would they do this? And something else I think we've all been talking about for a couple of years now is who is America's number one primary rival?

Who keeps America up at night and it is China? China is not just a rival. It is surpassing the U.S. in ways the U.S. has no ability to compete against. And China is on a trajectory to irreversibly surpass the U.S. in all metrics, of all kinds, except maybe starting wars of aggression, invasions, and political interference. That's something the U.S. has cornered. So there's a window of opportunity the U.S. has to act to cripple or set back China. That window is closing.

We've heard American military officers say, China wants to start a war in 2025 or 2027, and that's them projecting. They need to start a war before that because if they don't, the window will close and that opportunity will be gone forever. So by starting this war with Iran and now having closed the Strait of Formos, oil flow to China has been significantly stopped and there is a potential to cut it altogether, not just Iran closing the Strait of Four Moos, but the U.S. has even before they started talking about interdicting Iranian tankers. They're already interdicting tankers going through China and

coming from Russia. And so there's this opportunity to create a much larger conflict out of what's going on in Iran right now. And just can just make one quick point, though? I mean, who really is becoming overextended by these wars? Not China, it seems to me. If we're talking about the Ukraine war weakening Russia, I think. that there is a very strong case to be made, that the Ukraine War has strengthened Russia. It has meant, for example, that the Western economic presence in Russia

has essentially collapsed. It means that Russian society has consolidated on a strongly anti-Western direction. I experienced this myself very powerfully last June, when I was there, when I attended a conference of lawyers, Russian lawyers, the kind of commercial lawyers that I was meeting, are at the farthest end of the pro-Western liberal spectrum within Russia, or at least they used to be.

They're not that anymore, not in any way. We've seen re-industrialization processes accelerate in Russia. They'd already started before the war, by the way. but they've now accelerated markedly. We've seen a very, very large increase in the power of the Russian armed forces. Whereas it's the United States that is having all of these problems with supplies, whose military looks increasingly overextended, and which in the Gulf region at this particular precise moment,

is struggling to protect its allies, the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, very much to their shock and disappointment. I do sometimes wonder, because I read the same people in the United States that you read, I've always found that they never really understand that the United States itself has its own limits. What do you say about all of this? Yeah, I absolutely agree. And we've actually talked about this in regards to the proxy war against Russia and Ukraine and the growing shortage of munitions of all kinds for the United States. And they knew this. They were aware of this in 2022. They were actually aware of it before 2022. And they were attempting to fix this. But the whole system, the United States as a system, these corporations that prioritize profit and power above, everything else, including purpose. It's self-sabotage.

And it's the sort of imperial overreach that you can see repeating itself all throughout history. And now we're watching it repeat itself again, except right now it's incredibly dangerous because the United States has, you know, an immense power that no other empire has ever possessed. It has this power that's still incredibly dangerous. We can see them destroying entire nations as they flail and try to, to, catch up. I think a lot of these plans, and again, when you look at the dates on these policy papers, 2009, and a lot of these are policies that were already ongoing for 10 years, 20 years, 30 years for China. They've been doing this since the end of World War II, trying to encircle

and contain it. That was from a paradigm, a mentality, a way of thinking back when the U.S. had industrial power and had that momentum. And they never thought, and again, because they They also have this superiority complex where they are better, inherently better than everyone else. And China couldn't match us even if they had every advantage that we have because they're China. They're not us. We are better, inherently better. And this is unraveling now for them. China has surpassed them.

As you mentioned, Russia even is surpassing. They have a smaller population, but they have greater munition production, military industrial production of all kinds, actually. And now the United States sees this, and they're rushing and they're panicking. And something that, again, we've always warned people about is a wounded empire is an extremely dangerous empire. And I think we see this danger manifesting itself in the Middle East and emanating its way outward. Indeed. I mean, can I just say that I think you're actually onto something about a structure. And it's something that I'm familiar with from British history, which I've studied obviously and experienced very closely,

which is that in any political system, there are always going to be lots of different groups, thinkers, policymakers. There will be those who want to take an aggressive position. There are those who are closer to some perhaps to understanding the production side. but always the default position is towards more confrontation and belligerence and pushing forward. Even if there are people who are saying, well, hold on, can we really do this? They're always going to find themselves in any debate on any specific issue in a minority, and they will lose. And there are, of course, those people who say, can we really take on this battle, might themselves be confrontational or aggressive in some other, in some other, you know, theatre or issue. I'll give an example of this, which is that the British Empire is already becoming, there were really debates in London in the 1890s about the fact that Britain and its empire were overextended.

and that it needed to retrench. So what actually happens? There's never any agreement over where it should retrench. So it goes on expanding. And in fact, the biggest period of expansion happens after 1890. I mean, it's a strange fact, which many people don't know. But the British Empire actually reached its biggest territorial, level, not under Victoria, but in the 1920s, when it was already self-evidently in decline.

And that, I wonder whether there is some element of that in the United States also, that everybody agrees that there has to be some atrenchment at some point, but nobody can agree where, and everybody pushes for expansion and confrontation in every particular particular, in any special particular case, be it Iran, be China, be Cuba, be Venezuela, be wherever. What do you think about that as a view? I mean, absolutely. And something both you and Alex repeatedly say is they don't have a reverse gear. So even if they wanted to go backwards, how could they?

They have no reverse gear. And so we're watching them speed forward because that's their only option is to speed forward. And again, I want people to think. about how these conflicts are all connected. These aren't random, independent conflicts. U.S. just started all at the same time. Hitting Venezuela, Venezuela was sending most of its oil to China, hitting Iran. Iran was sending most of its oil to China. Starting this proxy war with Russia, Russia sends a lot of its energy to China, and most of China's energy that's importing is coming from Russia. And so people should look at the pattern that is emerging,

They are trying to cut China off. They are trying to encircle and contain China in terms of energy. They have a physical military encirclement in the Asia-Pacific region. They have an asymmetrical color revolution and also terrorism campaign that they are waging all along the Belt and Road initiative. And so if you look at all of these conflicts connected, you can see the common denominators, they're all aimed ultimately at China. And I don't know how to express this to people. When you read the policy papers, when you listen to these people talk, these people, the think tanks especially when they're talking about China, they have this panic. There's this panic that has set in. They see what China is doing. They know they can say we're superior in every way and we'll

find a way to win. But in the back of their mind, there's this voice that is screaming louder and louder saying, no, you can't, and you're not going to be able to. And so they're rushing forward with all of this, hoping that the momentum of their initiative is greater than China and the rest of the multipolar world's desire to fight back, to unify and fight back. And so I think that's where the gamble is. And I think that is what's at the root of all of this. In fact, there was a comment over the course of the last few days,

which was not actually specifically about China. but which shows the extent of American worry about China. Because an American official, the senior American official, talking about India, said that the United States would not make the same mistake with respect to India that they made to China. In other words, that they would not allow India to develop in the same way that China did. Which is, I think, very indicative, actually. I don't know how widely that was noted in India.

India itself, but I find that an extraordinary statement. And we'll come back to India, by the way, later with the program. There's a lot to be said about India at the moment. The very, very complex course and difficult course is navigating. I should just, now, turning to China. I actually now have been talking to various people in China. One of the things I've found is that they are perfectly well aware of what the Americans are doing.

I had some time ago a very interesting discussion. interesting discussion with somebody who's very active, a Chinese person, very active on Chinese social media, who has previously served in the Chinese Air Force, found him a very interesting man. And basically, he said quite clearly that right across the military political system in China, they understand perfectly well what the United States is up to. He also said to me, and I found this very interesting, that the military itself in China is very, very much straining at the leash,

especially with respect to Taiwan. It is the political leadership that is holding them back. So China is aware of what is going on, and they're not being passive. I think this is a thing get people perhaps underestimate, because I get the same thing, sense that just as the United States, perhaps underestimated the kind of things the Russians might

do and underestimated the kind of things that the Iranians have done, it's also doing exactly the same with China. I mean, China has been working very hard to insulate its economy in anticipation of the siege that they anticipate will one day. come. Now, you're closer to China geographically than we are. Do you also get the same sense? Yes, absolutely. And I guess we could tie this back to the conflict in Iran. So regardless of who is closing the Strait of Hormuz and whoever is striking Persian Gulf State energy production and storage, China knew this was coming. They knew for years and years because there's scores of policy papers openly saying, we're going to do this through China. They have maps. They reconfirmed.

the U.S. Marine Corps during the Biden administration specifically for anti-shipping missions all throughout the Asia-Pacific region to stop Chinese maritime shipping. And so they knew this. And this is why they invested in the Belt and Road Initiative. These are land routes that allow them to circumvent any sort of maritime interdiction. You said they're insulating their economy and specifically their dependence on external energy imports. And from the Middle East, specifically, they are maybe 85% energy independent already, and they are working hard to be 100% energy independent. And the U.S. knows this, which is why I think they rushed into Iran, ready or not, they rushed into Iran because they know five years from now when maybe they are

ready or they think they're ready. It'll be too late because China will already be energy independent. They have coal-to-liquid facilities that they already have and that they're expanding. They have a 100-day reserve for oil. And they've been working on renewables, nuclear power. They have these small, modular reactors. This is what the U.S. says they're going to use to transform energy and accelerate their AI race. And China already has one that is up in operation, and they have an assembly line where they can just build these out now. And so they knew this was coming, and they had been preparing four years and they are this close to being completely, you know, reach escape velocity from all of these threats the U.S. can impose on them,

which is why I believe the U.S. is acting now. They have no time left. Yeah. And by the way, and this is, I know, we've grown up, I'm closer, obviously, for historic reasons. I studied it. I'm closer to knowing what the Russians have been doing. I mean, the Russians have been developing their northern sea. route. A Russian official actually said yesterday, something I've been saying for a long time,

that they can send LNG cargoes and oil cargoes by ship to China without leaving Russian or Chinese waters, which they can do. And they're working together to develop Bricks' navies to protect the seed trade, which means, of course, the Chinese Navy, but also the Russian Navy, which is not a force to be completely discounted. So both of these countries are taking steps to insulate themselves. But you're absolutely correct. I mean, if you read and listen to what the Americans are saying, they're overwhelmingly focused on China,

China most of all, so much on China. And this is the next question I'm going to ask, that perhaps they're not studying the other countries that they're coming after as carefully as they should do. Iran being a case in point. I get the sense that the US actually knows very, very little about Iran. The papers that I've read in the United States about Iran are extraordinarily thin. They don't seem to understand the political system at all and how it works.

They make assumptions about the attitudes of the population to the political system, which are not basically founded on proper research. I accept that there are different views about the political system in Iran. But they're not actually very well informed about Iran because their weight of intelligence and analysis has been so obsessively focused. on China and to a certain extent on Russia too. What do you think about this? I would say because again,

and maybe I will send this paper to you afterwards, it's extremely interesting to read, even though it was published in 2009. I mean, they really outlined everything that we are seeing happening. Now, now you have to remember that was 2009. Iran has advanced significantly, but they even said in the paper that they will advance significantly. So I think at least in terms of military power

and the resilience of at least Iranian military forces and the way they have organized that they know they cannot build a conventional force to face off against the U.S. and its proxies. But their asymmetric abilities were formidable even then, and they've become more so now. And I think, again, I think the main problem is, whether it's Russia, Iran, China, Venezuela,

They hollowed that country out for years and years and years. And that was low-hanging fruit. And they did that not just because it's linked to China, but there's also a message that they're trying to send to either the multipolar world or the non-aligned world that if you try to diversify away from us towards multipolarism, this is what we will do to you. But I think they do, to a certain degree, understand what they need to do to say knock-over Iran. They don't have it and they don't have any time to build it. And so what do they do? Do they go

in reverse? Do they abandon pursuit of global primacy? Do they accept that the West will no longer be the most powerful force on Earth and gracefully allow China to surpass them? There is no way. I think they would rather burn the entire planet to the ground. And I mean, I live on the planet. So I really hope not for that to be the case. But I think they would rather burn it to the ground than to admit defeat and allow China to surpass them. The most insane part of all of this is you can see China's rise. It's become a superpower. This 21st century has not invaded a single country in the process.

It's not done any of the things that the U.S. and other Western empires before have done to rise to power. It really has a unique approach toward building up power and wealth and working together with the rest of the world, that the people at the top in the West, simply can't wrap their minds around. But if they could, they could easily join a multipolar world, be a significant pole in that world, and be wealthy and have stability and peace.

But it's just this mindset that has been ingrained, not just for decades, but for, I would say, centuries, generations. I remember Vladimir Putin making a speech, a long, long speech in which he discussed and made exactly that point, that the West absolutely, if it put aside all these ideas of global dominance and all that, and embraced the multipolar world, it would find an absolute full and honoured place in it. It has a lot of things it could bring and it would also receive a great many things. But of course, that speech, like all of Putin's speeches, was completely ignored in the West.

Let's talk about the war itself, the conflict in Iran. because as of today, if you go to the media here in Britain, even the sections of the media that were very, very strongly in favour of the war and were agitating and demanding that it be fought before it started, they're starting to have their doubts. Nigel Farage, who is a well-known political figure here in Britain, who had said that Britain should involve itself and participate in the wall. He's now done a 180 degree U-turn. He says, absolutely, we should stay out. It was a terrible mistake. We can't afford $100, $150 oil, or whatever it comes to. How is this war going? My own sense, my very clear sense is it's not going terribly well.

whoever, as you said, whoever has closed the straits of hormones, I am not sure it is affecting China more than it is affecting certainly the West European economists. I'm already seeing signs of stress. I think that there are going to be signs of stress in the United States also

before very long. And Iran looks perhaps as if it's going through a similar process to the one that Russia did. I read an article yesterday in the Financial Times, which says that instead of the country fracturing, it appears to be consolidating. And I also read in another part of the British media today,

that the Kurds have absolutely collectively decided that they're going to stay out, and one of their journalists was there going through the Kurdish, villages and places, and they're saying, this is not our fight. We're not going to involve ourselves. We're not here to do America's bidding or to have ourselves killed and our towns and places destroyed in order to fulfill some chess, bottle of game that the Americans are playing. So where is this going?

And, I mean, the British are talking about America's Suis, moment, Suez was the conflict in 1956 over Egypt, over the Suez Canal, where the British basically suffered a massive political defeat and which is seen as the last basically big throw of the British Empire. I don't think anybody thinks this is quite that for the United States. It will remain a major power beyond this. But do you also get the sense this isn't going well? It depends on what their ultimate objective is. If their ultimate objective was a lightning fast regime change operation, then it has already failed. It's already failed in that regard.

The amount of munitions that they are expending, the equipment that they are losing, they're significant damage to their bases, these are all things that are going to take years, years to replace. And again, we're talking about Russia and China building out their military and the U.S. depleting their military. At the same time, they're not building up the military industrial base to even catch up. They're not even going to be able to replace what they've lost, let alone catch up. And so this is, in that sense, a complete disaster already.

If their goal is to just destroy Iran, I think they're well on their way to do that. I think they have the ability to continue systematically destroying Iran. If the goal is to keep the straight-of-hormuz closed and to incremental, attack and destroy the production, the energy production, and energy depots in the region, both Iranian and across the Persian Gulf, if that's their goal, and you mentioned that it will destroy Europe, it will destroy many places around the globe. And I liken this to a body who perceives it has an infection. For America, the empire, the infection is China. This is a nation that we cannot subordinate.

And we need to do something about it. So the body develops a fever and tries to cook the infection out. Even if it starts cooking your internal organs and damaging that, even if it ends up killing you, the Americans believe that by doing this, if this is the goal and we'll be able to tell maybe one or two weeks, if this is still going and expanding, it's very obvious that they're just trying to disrupt energy

coming from the Middle East. they feel that no matter how much damage they do to the world and even to themselves, they'll be able to come out on the other side, stronger relative to China. And just for people to have an example to compare it to World War II, Eurasia was destroyed, Europe was destroyed, and the United States on the other side of the planet completely intact. And they came out the sole undisputed superpower after that. And I think they're thinking, this is our last chance. And this is not such a bad plan.

If we can just burn everything down, we come out on the other side strong. We win. But this is where the big difference is, because in the 1940s, the United States was beyond compare the biggest manufacturing and technological power on the planning. I mean, people forget this. but in 1946, the United States accounted for something like 60% of world industrial production, much more, a much bigger proportion of world industrial production than China does today. Just saying, I mean, American dominance in the 1940s was on a completely different scale from certainly anything that we're seeing today.

And I was reading about how we look at the complex supply chain, in the United States. There's one particular factory, for example, which plays an important role in producing rocket fuels. And they were comparing its production levels today with those when it achieved its peak of production, which was actually in 1944, by the way, during the Second World War. And as I said, it's collapsed.

It apparently takes two years for the United States to make a Tomahawk missile. Yeah, obviously they're not making just one missile at a time. They're making lots of them. But from the start of the production process, all the way through to get to the point where you've got an actual complete, shall we say, batch of Tomahawk missiles, it takes two years.

Production of Tomahawk missiles recently was running at about 90. I was just reading 90 a year. 90 a year. I mean, they're going through hundreds of them in this war. I mean, we are not looking at the landscape, the industrial economic landscape of the 1940s, when everything is burnt down with the United States is there still standing. it seems to me that if you want to look for a country that is closest to being like the United States was in the 1940s, it's not today's United States, it's China instead. Just asking, just putting that, throwing out back to you.

Absolutely. And I think this is the predicament that the US finds itself in. It has nothing but bad options in order to achieve this objective that they have no right to attempt to achieve in the first place. It's irrational when you really think about it. And even if they were able to cut all oil coming out of the Middle East, all energy coming out of the Middle East and cut it off from China, we know that Russia is sending energy into China. And we know that China itself internally is working on energy independence altogether. And so it'll make things difficult for China, but it's not going to stop China,

specifically for the reasons you point out the immense amount of industry. I keep seeing people say America built China, go to China and look, America did not build that. The Chinese people built that. And if you look at that, it's unlike anything you will ever see anywhere else on Earth. And it's something that I think the people in America driving this policy cannot understand. Because again, in their mind, they are superior. And the things that are happening in China, they think China is incapable of having. And so they cannot possibly see that they have this.

And so I'm not saying that it's a good plan, but I'm just saying that is their plan at the moment. And I think the reason they rushed into Iran like this is because they don't know what else to do. Yeah. I mean, as we discussed, they do have the other option, which is to pursue policy of peace. But probably that never occurs to them. I just wanted to make a point here, which is that, I'm some, as I've discussed many times, I have someone with a certain limited experience of industry. And nothing in terms of industry can replace scale.

That is something that is difficult perhaps for some people to understand. So you have a smaller industrial base, a declining industrial base. If you have fewer engineers, if you're pure skilled workers, that industrial base by definition is going to be much more rigid than a massive industrial base with lots of engineers, lots of skilled workers. You can then deploy factory space. You can deploy engineers, technicians, all sorts of people. And you can do things very quickly, just as the United States was able to do in the 1940s. when they were producing 30,000 aircraft fighters, aircraft fighters,

a year from basically a standing start, China can do the same because it has that scale, it has that depth of resources, which means that he can mobilize them and move them around and shift them quickly. And if you're going to start trying to cut off oil and energy, in that kind of system, you can find workarounds very, very fast, much faster than more rigid, smaller systems can do. So this is something, again, I think people in the United States don't understand because most of the people who work in the think tanks have no background,

just to say. Have you any comment, thoughts about that to me? I agree. And also, the type of government China has. It has the ability to prioritize purpose over profit and power, whatever the individual companies are pursuing on their own for their own self-interest. The government can override that and prioritize purpose. In the United States, they cannot do that.

The corporations are driving these policies. They want a global empire, but they're so selfish and greedy that they cannot part with the money necessary to prioritize purpose, the purpose of achieving this objective. It's insane. And I was listening to Eric Schmidt, and he's talking about how bad this is, how China is rapidly advancing and surpassing the U.S. And he and many others in America are pinning their hopes on AI. They think if we could just get AI to a certain point, it'll give us all of the answers and it'll just magically solve. And that's magic.

If when you fall back on magical thinking, this was like the Germans back in World War II. looking like in Indiana Jones looking for an artifact they thought would give them ultimate power to turn the tide of the war. I mean, this is where they are right now. So it is very, very dangerous. One last thing I want to say is KJ. No makes this great analogy. He refers to the U.S. as like a mean drunk in a bar looking to pick a fight and everyone in the bar just trying to calm him down and quietly usher him out. And that is pretty much what is going on with the U.S. it needs to be sent out. And I don't mean out from existence.

I just mean back to their hemisphere where they belong to go mind their own business. And when they sober up, they can rejoin the rest of the human race and play a constructive role with it. And it's a very delicate process because the U.S. has nuclear weapons. And right now they still have a huge dangerous military and they're still capable and are destroying entire nations in the process. I think that's such a wonderful point that you've just made here. So this is where I think it's a perfect place to stop. Brian Vallettic, thank you very much for you, this enormously interesting and wonderful conversation.

Alex is going to have questions, which I know he's going to want to put to us. Yeah, let's run through the questions. And once again, Brian, whenever you need to cut out, if you need to cut out, just let us know. And I'll just go through the questions. There's a lot of questions for Brian here as well. Yes. Let me pull up.

A question from Jeffrey Brown on locals. Up since four, it's now 2043 here in Australia. I'm going to falter the last hurdle and go to bed. I'll watch tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll enjoy the program. So thank you to event. Thank you. Jeffrey, shout out to everyone watching us from Australia. Aurelia says, love Brian standing on the top of the mountain,

screaming and warning the world of what is going on. Please never stop. From Commander Crossfire, good day, everyone. Alex says I just want to remind everyone, don't overconsume yourself with all the tragedies for if you stare too deeply into the abyss, sooner or later the abyss stares back. Well, I tell myself that all the time.

I'm sure Brian says the same. We are well aware of that advice, but we thank you for it nonetheless. Thank you. Commander Crossfire also says, and always remember there is beauty in the world. Yeah. True.

Haroko, thank you for those two super chats. Thank you so much for that. From Fuzzy Balls, question for Brian, do you agree that there's no way Russia can end the Ukrainian conflict until they have Odessa? Otherwise, Crimea will never be safe. It's hard to say, but I think we could all rule out any sort of negotiated settlement with the United States,

considering what the U.S. has done. I was listening to you, Alex and Alexander, your discussion about the phone call between President Trump and President Putin. And I'm just wondering what President Trump said. Did he call up and he said, yeah, I'm sorry about that time we tried to kill you the last time we talked. I want to talk to you about helping me end this war, this other war that I started and killed the leader of the country. Can you help me out? Who wants to deal with, negotiate with, or make any sort of agreement with the United States at this point? I think it's obvious that the only solution for Russia and Ukraine is going to be on the ground.

And it probably will include Odessa. It might include much more than Odessa. Can I just make a point here, which is something that I was thinking about last night, which is that the Iranian and the Russian position about their respective wars is in one respect, very similar. both are saying that they will not agree to an interim ceasefire. They're both categorically ruling that out. They say we've been there, we've done that, it turned out disastrously for us.

Both are saying that the only way that the fighting ends is if there is a complete permanent comprehensive, resolution with absolute certainty that it will be never repeated again. So I can't help but think that the similarity has clearly been forced on both of them by events, but that they've also been talking to each other about this. Just so. I would not be surprised if Trump actually did say that to Putin. No hard feelings, Vladimir.

I sent some drones into Valdae. Can you help me get out of this mess with Iran? Let's see. FedExJ says, What does Brian think of the narrative that Trump is really at war with the city of London as promoted by Rich does politics? Is the UK absence proof of that?

Actually, Brian and Alexander, I think you both can answer this London theory that is going around. It's utterly absurd. Please people learn about material reality and study it, it will tell you all of the answers. There's a reason why good analysts are constantly right about many things, including years in advance because they're studying the material reality of how all of this works. And cutting through the political theater, the religious veneer that is applied,

and almost always to try to manage public perception while the material reality is driving the entire agenda. that if you look at the trajectory of the U.S., just in the 21st century alone, it's very predictable, and we can see it. And you can see the momentum in the trajectory right now. And London, and as Alexander was just saying, regarding Suez, and you could see the British Empire collapsing, dying, and then it refused to die, just kept clinging to life.

And then when the U.S. empire went by, it just kind of grabbed on, and it's been being dragged along. ever since. It's very obvious. I absolutely agree. I think that I live in Britain. I don't want to say things about my country, which, you know, appear to be running it down.

But the sense that we, the idea that we have that level of power, especially that level of power over the United States of all places, is a fantastic one. We are a exhausted, very run down, very tired, very unhappy country. We do not have that level of influence. And the city of London and all of that is a shadow of the institution it used to be. And even the institution that I remember from 30 years ago,

there is no truth to this. And I think this is an idea that should be completely buried. Vincent says, Brian, do you have any idea as to how Palantir works? Like, what actually is it and how is it used, especially in armed conflicts? Is it really a game changer? Thanks. I think they're referring to the way artificial intelligence from these companies, these big tech companies and other contractors,

they're trying to integrate AI into the U.S. military in every conceivable way. it does provide advantages, but Russia and China have AI too. And China, China's AI is reaching parity and in some regards it has surpassed it. And so, you know, it's going to make the U.S. military much more effective against, say, a country like Venezuela. But it was already an overmatch to begin with. But against Russia, against China, even Iran. Now, and we can see in Ukraine, that's where they've been testing all of this. Is it working? Is it working out? I don't think that it is. Not yet.

Sparky says, Brian, if Iran successfully allows its allies and non-enemies to use the Strait of Hormuz, while denying its enemies, will the U.S. close the Strait of Hormuz? Like, if we can't use it, no one can. I think that's a very good point. That's kind of what I was referring to. And I have seen U.S. policymakers talk about, if not at the Strait of Hormuz, using the U.S. Navy to interdict everything coming out of it and going towards China. And you can already kind of, and when I was listening to you and Alex and Alexander's shows recently, they are talking about, they're still talking about seizing Russian tankers or

tankers carrying Russian energy. We saw them interdicting ships coming from Venezuela, going to China. And they're still building up this narrative where they're saying, Russia is helping Iran, China is helping Iran. And you know how that's going to morph and expand into taking direct action against both Russia and China. I just want to add one thing, which is, again, I was, again, I read it this morning somewhere, but there is an enormous amount of false information floating around, including claims that Iran is still exporting oil and is able to export oil to China

and that tankers laden with oil from Iran are sailing through the Straits of Hormuz going to China. And I believe that this was actually published in a world place is the Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal, yes. Apparently it is absolutely not true. And it made no sense. I mean, surely the United States would be stopping those tankers.

But it seems that anyway, it isn't true. So there's a lot of things floating around. Lots of people are getting wrong information about this. And it's very, very difficult to work out what is true and what is not. I've never seen such a myasma of this as we have over this conflict. Why is the WSJ publishing that? I presume that they were given wrong information. I mean, I presume somebody gave them that wrong information.

Alexander Brian, why did China and Russia abstain from the UN resolution? Have you guys heard about that? Yes, absolutely. And controversial in which blames Iran. Exactly, it blames Iran. The reason they abstained, but rather than vetoing it, because they don't want to upset the Arab states. And that's always the problem.

And I mean, I don't personally think that's the correct diplomatic strategy, but that was the decision they made. I suspect, by the way, the Russians would have been prepared to veto the resolution. I'm going to make a guess that the Chinese, for very complex reasons, which we can discuss, perhaps more detail, I think that they said that they're not prepared

to damage their relations with the Arab states, especially with the Saudis at this time. Saudi Arabia being a bigger exporter of oil to China than Iran is, and Saudi Arabia is still exporting oil to China at this time through the red seaports. A lot of people are asking that question, why would China and Russia veto? Abstain and not veto that resolution. I mean, the Russians have made it already very clear that they don't agree with the resolution.

So you can take that as you wish. Nico says, Mr. Belletic, do you agree that if Russia responds to the atrocities, the West commits through Ukraine, all of Europe will go to war and ruin Russia? Well, I mean, it depends, respond in what way. Russia knows this is a proxy war against them. They know that if they were to attack Europe. Let's just say not the United States. The United States is the one waging this war against Russia. If they attack the United States directly, how would that escalate out of control? I think they know that it would and they don't want to do that. I think if they believe they can handle what's going on in Ukraine and just defeat the U.S. in Ukraine, then that, then that. is good enough. A lot of people see these things happen, and it makes them angry and they want immediate revenge, but you have to think the best revenge is just winning.

It's just winning. And if you react emotionally and immediately, you can end up sabotaging yourself in the process. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. Build a better world with bricks, says Sparky. Dan says, Alexander, do you think the British are a little embarrassed by their U.S. problem child completely out of control? No, I don't think they're embarrassed. I don't think the British have any strong senses of ownership about the U.S.

British attitudes to the U.S. are very, very complex. I mean, there is within Britain a very, a long tradition of resentment of the U.S. as well, which is not something that, comes to the surface very often, just as as there is within the US a certain antipathy to Grison as well, by the way. Sparky says, Brian, President Trump's decision-making reminds me of Idi Amin's decision-making in the movie The Last King of Scotland. Thank you, Sparky.

And Nico says, Mr. Brian, can you convince my fellow Greeks that, as Alistair Crook says, the Western leaders are willing to cause nuclear war instead of capitulating? It's a possibility. It's a possibility, but what everyone should remember, if you're not these people in the United States running things

and you don't have your own personal bunker to go to, these people, and I can guarantee you, if they think that it is necessary, they would be willing to do it, and they would have no compunction about doing it, and they have no, look at what they're doing to Ukraine, they're destroying Ukraine, look what they're doing to Europe. They are also destroying Europe in the process of fighting destroy Russia and Ukraine.

They will destroy anyone, anywhere. They will pay almost any price to maintain primacy over the globe, even if the globe is reduced to ashes. This is something that you can't prove it. There's no policy paper that says we're going to nuke the entire planet. But when you listen to them talk, that is the sense that you get. I just want to add something else. In what sense is the United States and the collective West,

if we can call it that, being asked to compete your leg? I mean, who is asking them, who is asking that of them? Who is actually threatening their independence and their future? How can their independence and future be threatened? I mean, it's not, I mean, that is a possibility that does not exist. And the options are not between capitulation and destruction. They're between war and peace. we're choosing war instead of peace.

Yes. Sanjava says everybody is blaming India for not taking sides, but the truth is India cannot put out statements every time the USA says obnoxious things. India never stopped buying Russian oil. India population supports Iran. Look at the rallies. There's a second part. There's a question one second.

India and China governments don't do this PR game. What you hear in Western media is not the truth. India bought Russian oil despite USA bullying. Similarly, it will not let Iran fall. I think that this is actually being confirmed now. The Indian government published a very strong statement. I think it was the day before yesterday, in which they said they do not need permission from the United States to buy Russian oil. They claim that they're doing so because they've been granted some kind of license. by the United States to buy Russian oil is completely untrue.

The United States claims that they stopped buying Russian oil in January and February were completely untrue. They've already said in the past that Trump has made up stories about telephone conversations he had with Modi, which never happened. I think people need to be very, you know, understand that all of this cavalcade of stories that come out of the administration about what the Indians have said that they're going to do and what they've agreed they're going to do, that most of this is completely made up out of the, out of the air by people within the administration.

It's as simple as that. Rotan Rayner says, am I going a bit crazy or do I hear chickens in the background of Brian new Atlas videos. Yes, I have several chickens, including three roosters and two out of the three are very loud, and you can hear them and they do it all day. So you're just got to learn how to tune them out. You're not going crazy. You have your chickens and I have my dogs.

Yeah, we have dogs and cats and my wife is an animal person, so we have all kinds of things running around. All right. Daniel Alpha November says, Brian's continuity of agenda videos after the last Trump election really helped me make sense of how the U.S. political machine actually works. Much appreciated. Thank you for that.

As Scooby says, big fan of Brian's work, curious if he sees evidence that nations are actually trying to take control of their information space given it is so prevalent in certain Briggs nations. Yes. I mean, some countries have outright tried, and then they were over. overthrown by the U.S. Nepal is an example of this right on China's border. And there are efforts to do it in many places, but they have to do it very slowly and incrementally because as soon as they start doing it, the U.S. is going to come and try to decide.

They know what they're doing and why they're doing it, and they're going to come in and try to stop it because this is how the U.S. this is one of the main levers the U.S. uses to turn entire populations against their government so effective. It was a huge mistake for these countries to allow the U.S. to dominate their information space in the first place. So it is going to be a hard fight to wrestle it back. And I think this is something that I would hope to hear BRICS or maybe SCO or something start really prioritizing. Well, it's interesting you said this, Brian, because just this morning, Peskov, who was, of course, Putin's spokesman, made exactly that point. And he says, Russia is dealing, I'm reading this from Tas.

We are dealing with the hostile social media that dominate the competitive space across the Confederation of Independent States, that's the former Soviet Union and worldwide. We do not operate there. We need to figure out what to do going forward. Russia is rapidly losing the toolkit for information abroad, especially. close to our borders. Television is not what we used to be. One click and it's off. And then there's a big discussion. This is all part of a big discussion that took place in the Kremlin. Actually, in the Kremlin, no, no, at the high school of economics. I'm sorry. Today, looking at how to

respond to all of these things. So that was this morning, just a second. Yes. Kras says my favorite Trio. Jeff Bickpert says, thank you. And Sparky says, Brian, it will be a long road to redemption for the U.S. A good start to the road of redemption is the U.S. sponsored public deletion of the war criminals. Ralph Steiner says, is Trump praying for a come to Jesus moment to win? I will. I think he's praying to do American people. I think he's. I think he's. He's praying because this is what these sort of people do. They hide behind religion rather than exercise it in any sort of meaningful way. I mean, yeah.

Trump is an expert at, he's very good at messaging and putting out slogans, easily digestible slogans. Yes. Excursion. We deleted their Navy. We deleted their Air Force. There's nothing left anymore. These are very simple to understand slogans and catchphrases for him to get his message across. make America great again, right?

All of these things are, this is what Trump is good at. And he is very good at these things. From Alba kid, Brian, are you familiar with Professor Yang's Paxe, fiducius theory or prediction? If so, what are your thoughts on its likelihood after Pax Americana hegemani ends? It's, again, it's nonsense. It's a variation of the city of London control.

the world, Jews or Israel controls the world. Just look at the whole history of the United States. It was doing all of these things before Israel ever existed. It helped create Israel. It completely sustains Israel's existence to this day. It is to the Middle East, what Ukraine is to Eastern Europe and Russia. And if you zoom out of an obsession from Israel and the Middle East, and you look at the whole world. The U.S. is doing this all over the entire world. They have proxies everywhere, and they build them up in the same manner. The only difference with Israel, it's been around longer and it has been very, very successful. So it has a certain special place within the imperial courts, but it still has a place in the imperial court is not running it. It has no means of

doing again, material reality. Please look at material reality. San Jeva says many thanks for all that you do, Brian. You are outstanding. Thank you for that. Chavez. Nikos, this is a three-part question comment. Another episode of the UN show, where Iran is blamed for being attacked. You'll disagree with what I am about to say, but this is the West's attitude. They go to the UN and say, give us your shit and we'll send you back to the Stone Age. Your nation will become unlivable. Your children will perish. What are you going to do, Nukas, we are ready for it. We have bunkers with food for 80 years, either We rule or no one does. Wait and see Duran. That sounds about right to me. I don't know. Why would we disagree?

I'm not disagreeing. I'm going to say something here, by the way, about that UN, UN discussion. A lot of people are talking about it, yeah. I know, I know. The Russians and the Chinese abstain, but the people who are really, really behave incredibly, foolishly, ridiculously were the Arab states. I mean, what it demonstrates yet again is the utter political and diplomatic bankruptcy of the Arab rulers. Their countries are caught in a war, a war that was clearly manufactured around them.

Their societies are being destroyed, and instead of blaming the true party, they're blaming the wrong party. There it is. Niko says, I mean, look at Orban. Zelensky threatens his life, and Europe reprimands him, and he'll lose the election because people consider him corrupt and old. Well, we haven't seen the election yet. I don't know what's going to happen in the election. I agree it's going to be very, very difficult.

We've discussed the European Union many times and the very, very ruthless way that they behave. If they win in hungry, Hungary, yes, it's a win for them, but how does it improve their position long term? On the contrary, they lose one person who might conceivably be able to negotiate for all of them with the other various parties in the future. But that's the way the European Union works. And Nicos has a follow up to that, saying not just him, in reference to Urban,

but China as well. They see what is happening in Iran and are afraid it will happen to their countries. You should just come out and say so. Is China afraid and what might happen to them? No, well, again, Brian Alexander. Well, I'll tell you what I think, again, I've had some interactions. I did think they're afraid, but they're perfectly well aware of what is going on. And China has obtained a long time ago control of its information.

space. So despite which they do seem to be very well informed. So I don't think they are afraid, but they are aware of the fact that they have major challenges ahead of them. I don't know what Brian thinks. And Brian, just to add to that, Nikos also says, I do agree with Alexander that Putin doesn't trust Trump, nor does he believe in negotiations. But is Putin afraid of Trump as well? So you can answer both of those questions, Brian, as well. China and then Putin. Yes. Well, the Arab states, I mean, they are politically captured, so they really don't have a choice. They could disagree with what the U.S. is saying, and then they will be gone tomorrow, just like what happens to any politically captured state the U.S. exercises power over. But Russia and China, the U.S. really doesn't. Russia and China are able to defend themselves, but they do understand the danger the U.S. represent.

So again, it goes back to this analogy where you have a dangerous drunk trying to pick a fight in a bar. You don't know what he's going to do. And you know he's not thinking clearly. And he doesn't care how big of a scene he creates or how much damage he causes. Russia cares. China cares. They've worked very hard to build what they have. And they don't want to see it destroyed because of the U.S.

They're trying to handle this in a very careful and patient manner. There may be the day where they no longer can afford to be patient. And I think people will be surprised by what they do. It's just like how people were surprised when Iran was suddenly, shooting ballistic missiles back at Israel and the United States, something people had never seen before. They've never seen the U.S. and Israel get back what they've been giving out for so long. And so I think when Russia and China finally do it, I think it'll be a bigger shock still.

Elliot says, is Iran at risk of arrogance? What are realistic security guarantees that Iran can get to end the war? Sanctions are tougher now, harder to rebuild. Well, I'm going to answer that. I think that one of the major mistakes that Iran has made for the last 20 years is that it has prioritized to a dangerous degree a policy to try to get sanctions lifted. It would have been much wiser for the Iranian leadership to understand and accept, as Russia has done, by the way, Putin has said this, that sanctions are never going to be. lifted. Whatever you do, they're not going to be lifted unless you are basically prepared to go back to the kind of situation that Iran had before where you're essentially part of the American system and the Americans run you and the British run you as used to be the case in Iran. So if you make that

decision, if you accept that sanctions are there to stay, there are actually lot of of options. There are lots of things you can do. And at that point, you can recalibrate your diplomacy, you can pursue different economic policies. There are now alternative trade systems that are open to you and you could start to exploit them. I think that Iran is now basically at that point of realization. That's what I wanted to say. So I don't think they're arrogant. I think in fact, The mistake that they made was not a mistake of arrogance. It was a mistake of trying to prioritize too much better relations with the West. That is what the current Iranian president, Masu Peschka, was all about for its own.

I totally agree. And I think what Iran needs to do, and I think Iran, like you say, Alex, they're almost certainly going to go this route is, look at North Korea. Nobody's attacking North Korea. I think they should think about that long and hard and work with the Russians and the Chinese to get to that point. Sir Mous game says when it comes to Israel, Trump's always been circumcised from the waist down and the neck up if you get my drift.

Well, I would say that on balance, I'm in agreement with Brian on this. I think that the key decisions are made in Washington, nowhere else. get to a question on that, actually. Big thanks from Trevor Watt, and we'll get to that question from Hugo Chavez, 1287. Let's cut to the chase, Brian. How do you square your assertion that America leads the U.S.-Israel relationship with Mersheimer and Walt? America could have primacy in MENA similar to in Europe if it weren't for Israel. What does that even mean?

America could have primacy in the Middle East and North Africa, similar to in Europe. It already does. Well, how do people not see that? And Israel was key to achieving it. That's why they put it there. It's just like they have the EU. It's a bureaucratic layer. The U.S. laid over Europe and smothered their sovereignty.

How do people not see that? And so with this whole Israel argument, it is a tiny forward operating base or an unsinkable aircraft carrier. The U.S. put there in the Middle East and the British, this was their idea, but their empire was falling apart. So the U.S. said, that's a good idea. We'll take that and we'll continue that. And that is what they have done ever since. And think about this. The United States, since its inception, has built itself by expansion, by taking other people's land from them, eliminating the people living on that land and continuing to spread. They spread from the east coast to the west coast. They spread across the entire Pacific Ocean into Asia. They were in the process of,

colonizing China before the world wars broke out. And they fought a world war with Japan over countries and islands and land that belong to neither one of them. And for people to think that the U.S. wouldn't be interested all on its own of taking over the Middle East and controlling it, except because Israel is forcing them to, when it's the largest, most important energy production region of the planet, it's just insane. It's insane. Again, material reality. Think material reality. Turbo Turbo Tertoto Tull says, yes, Brian, again.

Sangeva says Iran's divisions with exact proportions unknown to us is the variable that will determine the result of this conflict. Don't you agree? Yes, absolutely. I think this has been the, if you're talking about this immediate conflict, yes. If there are fractures within Iran, which is what I think at the time, at the time, present time the United States is counting on, then, as I said, the conflict will take a completely different turn. For the moment, nobody can see them. There's another report, I think, in Reuters today, which says that the U.S. intelligence community can't see them. So there it is. Have we done this, Brian, can China or if China totally, Brian, can China or if China totally

cuts off the empire from everything it needs out of China? Will it be war? China doesn't totally cut off the U.S. Y. Brian, you're the best, appreciate you. Thank you. I think China is playing a very complex strategy. And again, this goes back to the whole concept that China and the rest of the world knows what the U.S. is doing and what its ultimate objective is. So how do you deal with a nuclear armed superpower that wants to bury your country? You have this tremendous power. You've worked hard to build what you have in China. And so how do you make this transition where China irreversibly surpasses the U.S. without having this cataclysmic conflict that the U.S. really, really wants? And so what they've done is they've intermeshed their economy and their supply chains with the United States.

You see how desperately the U.S. wants to cut it, but they cannot. And how desperately they want to ramp up production, especially military industrial production. And they can't because of China. So China has, it's like when you see people fighting, you know, they might start by, punching, but now the way China has meshed with the United States, it becomes very hard for the U.S. to create the distance that they need to then strike at and destroy China. And I think that's why they're doing that. Houtis says, if we wanted to make Iran a friendly country and pull them away from all we needed

to do was follow through on the JCPOA and push the two states. tomato potato says what's the chicken's opinion on the u.s war plans with china i think they just hope it just hope it doesn't interrupt their food their food yeah um ralph says brian comes in packing the truth wake up world uh elliott says what end do you see to this war will there be an end at all or will it go on and turn Iran into a dysfunctional state? Yeah, I think that's the goal. I mean, even if it does stop, it's just going to be a pause.

For the U.S. to completely walk away from war with Iran would mean, basically it's giving up on global primacy altogether. It needs to control the Middle East. It needs to seriously degrade Russia before it works on encircling, containing, and collapsing China. And if at any point along the way, they stumble and they can, cannot get back up, then that is it. It's over. And so I don't see them walking away from Iran. I see them paying almost any cost to keep it going. Again, if they pause it, they will just start it

again, and it will just continue and continue until they succeed or until the world finally works together and stops the U.S. I just would make a point here, which is that the experience of long wars of this kind, long wars and wars where there is massive devastating. is that at the other side of them, at the other, when we come through that, if the political structure survives, it tends to be much, much stronger than it was previously. And you have two examples of this. One is North Korea, which went through a devastating war. And there's no doubt at all that one of the reasons why the political structures in North Korea emerged and took the shape that they did was partly because of the response to the crisis of the 1950s,

the massive bombing of North Korea, which people know very little about, by the way. And the other, of course, is Vietnam, where, again, there was massive devastation of Vietnam, but the political system that came out of it at the other end was in some way stronger and more disciplined that it had been previously. Just so. to RCS says, getting a little tired of America's great plan angle from Brian. If this is such a great plan, wouldn't having industrial capacity be part of the plan? Maybe this is Israel's plan, not Americas. Again, this is ridiculous. So what is Israel's plan is to have the U.S. fight all the

wars and take over the world for Israel, but without any military industrial capacity. It's not even making sense. And I have arguments with people like this all the time. And they spend the whole time chasing their tail with their irrational argument saying Israel captured the U.S. and then when I explained the U.S. has been genociding and stealing land since it began, they said, well, the Jews controlled the U.S. since the very beginning. So then what has Israel captured? It doesn't make any sense because the whole concept is irrational. Hugo Chavez says, thanks for your answer, Brian.

Very compelling. It's the Epstein class and the Epstein's. And not the Epstance. Have a nice life in Thailand. Brian is an expert for Southeast Asia. What's your thoughts about the U.S. puppets in the region and pose of Indonesia pro-Israel and Malaysia pro-Trump? I'm not sure what they're referring to. But as far as here in Southeast Asia, there are countries, the U.S. has tried to politically capture here.

The Philippines is basically the Ukraine of Southeast Asia. They've sacrificed deals with China that were going to build them badly needed modern emphasis. structure. They took that and they redirected all the money to building missile bases for the U.S. to appoint missiles at China, who's their largest, most important trade partner. And so again, this is what the U.S. does. They capture these countries and they marshaled them to become a battering ram for whatever targeted nation is in the region. And they're doing it everywhere, including here in Southeast Asia. Nico says Iran struck back, but as I was saying yesterday, the U.S. isn't stopping because the destruction is not happening at their land. Look at the cost in Iran.

The cost is enormous, and one should not overlook that. Orlando, thank you for that super sticker. Sir Mugge's game says, official foreign office guideline, never climb a fence when you can sit on it. Payback for Andy, Mandy, and secure a Malta, Moldo, important voter group. Is this about the Mandelson scandal, about which we've had... Yes, yeah. Yes, we have very important developments about it, which based, by the way, are exactly what I said.

There's been information from the papers about Mandelson's appointment, which really points clearly at Kirstama. I predict that Alex and I go to do a program about it tomorrow. Far says thanks. The hockey goalie says Iran controls the off-ramp. They've been handed all the leverage they need. Victim status, geographic economic levers, greater missile stocks, etc. How do our governments and markets not see this?

Well, you know, again, look at Syria. Many of us, including myself, I thought, look, Russia went in. They stabilized Syria. And they pretty much had put a pin in that. then over time, it will eventually work out in their favor. But the U.S. is unrelenting. This is, they're obsessed with this objective. And any obstacle you put in their place, they will try to find a way to dismantle it.

And they will continue doing this until you take away their ability to try to dismantle these obstacles. Sparky says, Brian, what about truth, justice and the American way? And Sparky also says, Brian warned us about continuity of agenda. and from locals, Nikki Ball says, what, if anything, can Iran do about Demona? In Britain, we are supposed to have nuclear deterrence,

but to my mind, this is more a curse than a blessing. As the Greenham comment protesters knew, it makes us a target, and only a tiny minority would be protected from fallout. Alexander, Brian, Demona. Or having a pure weapon makes you a target. Domona is the big nuclear facility in Israel. Will it become a target? I think at some point if this war drags on, probably.

I'm not going to speculate on what that would do, but it would be clearly seen, I think, as an enormous step of escalation. And maybe Iran does not want, at this present time, to make that enormous escalatory step. This is the problem. I don't know what the planning is. in Tehran. I don't know what the planning is in Washington. I don't know what the planning is in Israel. So, you know, none of these people share their military plans with me. Iran does have the capability to strike. Demona, if they haven't done so, they haven't done so for some reason, which is best known, best known to themselves. I don't remember what the other part of the question. That was, yeah. Yeah. You answered the question.

Alexander, pathetic Albion says, Brian, Iran has announced that after attacks on an Iranian bank, that its future attacks will focus on Western economic infrastructure. Does the West realize how much of their wealth is in jeopardy? I'm, you know, I'm not sure, but again, look at Ukraine. Look at what they created Ukraine as a proxy. And now they're burning it to the ground to fight Russia. and I think they're very willing to do that in the entirety of the Middle East. They're willing to burn all of it to the ground if it will advance their objectives.

I don't think people should underestimate how willing they are to sacrifice their proxies. It's the whole point of having proxies in the first place. Again, for people obsessed with Israel, who's catching ballistic missiles right now? Is it the United States or is it Israel? Israel. Their people are dying right now and their infrastructure is being destroyed. in this war, the U.S. started alongside all their Arab proxies in the region. Sparky says, Brian, most boomers, not me in the U.S. tend to not hold people accountable.

Least they be held accountable. What goes around comes around is my favorite saying, this inhibits war criminal justice. Thank you, Sparky, for that. Karen says, no nukes, please. I agree with that. Carlos Durand says, MAGA unity is dangerous to elites and hard to control. Owens and Tucker sudden change of opinions. Is it meant to divide MAGA, Kirk Organization being the contrast for divide and conquer?

Your thoughts? Maga was always a deep state brand. It was a new brand they came up with to sell continuity of agenda. I warned people all the way back in July, in 2024, months before the elections, I said, nothing's going to change. If you look from Bush up until now, including one previous Trump administration, this has all continued the agenda against Russia and circling and containing Russia, encircling and containing Iran, and encircling and containing China, has all moved unimpeded, regardless of who was in power, including Trump and his previous administration. This was just another trick that they are using to just get at another four to eight years. And it worked kind of, and here we are.

they're moving the agenda along, just as they have been. Ralph Steiner asks, were weaponizing this war into a religious crusade of American evangelical Christians versus Muslims sitting on American oil be successful? Yeah, I think, well, Alexander, you can answer if you want. I would have thought not. I think that ultimately it's such a far-fetched idea

that I think that far too many people, if this is the way it's sold to them, are going to rebel against it, including Christian people, frankly. In fact, definitely Christian people. So I would have thought not, if I go to sort of Christian sites, the ones that I read in the United States,

they're the ones corrupt and now have been most hostile to the war, just saying. Big Simpson says, Brian, is the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia fully over yet? or is it connected to a bigger strategy by the USA? Yeah, it is part of a bigger strategy by the U.S. Again, it goes all the way back to the Vietnam War, a lot of this.

People can say it goes all the way back to when the French controlled Indochina. I mean, that's the pretext, but of course nobody really cares about that. But nobody's going to go to war over that border. It's just an excuse that's being used. And so, yes, the U.S. was using that to put pressure on Thailand because they were trying to get their client regime into power here in Thailand, and they were failing. And so they were looking for everything.

The terrorism in Thailand's deep south always spirals out of control at points like that. And now we're getting these bursts of conflict with Cambodia. And Cambodia is deeply impoverished. It's in shambles. And so where are they getting all the money and resources to constantly do one wave of violence after the other? And it's inevitable that it's going to break out again whenever the U.S. feels that it will be beneficial to them. Ex-Professor Wang says, question for Brian. I am also American.

I have had difficulty talking to friends and family still in the USA because they are a combination of ignorant, disinterested in accepting of or cheerleading for U.S. military aggression and theft across the world. Even if the public is not directly responsible, they are complicit in some sense. sense, how much blame do you place on the masses of people in the U.S. for what we are doing to the world? It's easy to blame Americans. I used to be one of them. I used to, I signed up for the, I voted for George Bush, and I signed up for the Marines, and I was in the Marines. And the reason why I did that wasn't some conscious decision. I was brainwashed since I was born until I signed the dotted line and joined up. And then when I went overseas, I saw what was going on. other people planted seeds in my mind.

And when I saw these things, those seeds grew. And I was able to wake up. And so we shouldn't blame people who were deliberately preyed on through propaganda, a lifetime of propaganda. We should not blame them. We should do everything we can to plant those seeds and help them wake up like we have. Wurluck Lander says, do you think the U.S. is using auto-a-I targeting in Iran?

maybe in some it's like experimentally but i don't think it's quite there yet you know they have they have orbital isr capabilities that allow them to find all of these targets not in real time but but pretty you know within a couple of hours they have the ability to do this and that's probably the vast majority of targeting is being done that way that and drones maria's diaries of ascension say why haven't you mentioned the military summary channel in a while Is Dima still reliable? By the way, I love the Duran and I love Brian. I'm ecstatic when you guys are together.

I mean, I do watch it. I do watch it regularly. I don't always agree with Dimas assessments. As somebody who tracks the war, I find it very useful. Wilma Thomas says, Iran is the only Islamic country that says no to Israel. It is also very reassuring that Iran is having great supportive friends in Russia and China. God is good.

Sir Muggeam says Trump's own pastor is so pro-Israel she makes BB look like Professor Mirandi. Trump loves diehard. Next, the Farage mirage gag. Thank you for that. Elliot says, what are the actual consequences from the UN vote? Does it pave the way to anything? It makes no difference. None at all. It's one of those events, which in a few weeks time, we will completely forget. It's like the big vote that happened in the General Assembly directly after the start of the special military operation where all sorts of countries voted against Russia.

It was heavily promoted in the Western media. Nobody remembers this anymore. Ralph Steiner says, Have you heard the latest that Jewish archaeologists found a 3,000-year-old parchment stating that Persia was only two weeks away from a nuclear weapon.

The Mighty Cutie says, is the U.S. like Monty Python's Black Knight losing three limbs and still talking tough? It's a beautiful, amazing sketch the one in the Holy Grail, that film, but I mean,

we shouldn't push it too far. Jamila. Thank you, gentlemen, for your great work. My question is why America leaders feel they feel around the world that they have enemies, and does the power make them crazy? I can just say something about that, which is that, again, I've had to deal with all sorts of very complicated people in my time. And I can tell you one thing, megalomania and paranoia are two sides of the same coin. people who have the one almost invariably have the other, just saying.

Sir Muzgames says, in the near future, there will be a huge Trump sign on the UN New York City building. Rubio will greet you at chicken. Alex Fanoff says refineries in India actually owned by British and Israeli owners and money going to London. Is that true? Well, I've heard that the major owner, the biggest refinery, is Adami, who is, an Indian businessman based in Mumbai. So I don't think it is true. And Lou Coil owns a major refinery in India as well. So again, I don't think this is true. Arcan Eclectic says, what is the MIC going to do when they rebuild their arsenal and are no longer able to source

sufficient quantities of rare earth metals from China? That's a good question. Brian Alexander. What's the rare earth situation? I'm not exactly sure, but even if they had all the rare earths in world. They still, for whatever reason, they cannot get their act together and build these missiles. I was just, I was just listening to CSIS, which is a U.S. government and arms industry, big oil, big farm out. Those are the interests that actually run the United States, funded think tank. And they were talking about, we're going to, we're going to ramp up Patriot production to 2000 a year. And then someone was asking whoever the expert was that they had on. Well, so where are we now? Well, we're making agreements to make agreements. But we need.

the contracts and before we can make the contracts we need to make sure that all the money for all 2 000 a year for like 10 years is in place which is an astronomical sum of money that will never be approved up which means they're never actually going to do that so they're their own their greed uh their greed and they're less for powers their own worst enemy brian is making an absolutely excellent point you hear constantly you hear this in europe as well about a major rearmament that is supposedly taking place There is no realignment taking place. There's a lot of talk about rearmament.

There's a lot of contracts about rearmament. There's a lot of money going out. But if you're actually looking at factory space, machine tools, production, that kind of thing, it is not happening. And if you understand the industrial structures and the economic and financial structures that underpin them, you can understand immediately why. So, you know, 1,000 new Patriot missiles a year. Don't be fooled by this.

Same with Tomahawk missiles. It can't be done. At least not in any time scale that makes sense and not within any budget that makes sense either. Ralph says, does Trump building a ballroom worry you at all? A ballroom. All right. Thank you for that, Ralph.

Sparky says, known many transactional thinkers like President Trump, though not all bad, what they all have in common is they are genuinely shocked when they found out everyone isn't full of BS like them. True enough.

True. John says, I don't know about others, but all of a sudden, clips from the movie The Dictator are appearing regularly on my YouTube feed. Oh, really? That's interesting.

I see it's very interesting. Sir Mugge's game says, isn't it funny how Iran loses leaders and generals, but the Israelis never lose anything higher than a corporal and yet keep expanding, very strange? Thank you for that, Sir Mug's game. And I think I got all the questions answered. Let me go through.

Let me go through. Well, here's one from Ralph. You know how Saddam Hussein flew his jets into 9-11? Well, the FBI is now saying that Iran might plan to fly drones to California. Is this possible? It's possible the CIA will do it and blame it on Iran, but it's not possible for Iran to do it. Trump yesterday said something very alarming. He said that he was asked about sleeper cells in the United States, and he says that we have our eye on them.

Reporter asks them that question, a planted question. They have their eye on them. Why don't they just... He says, I know where they are. I know where they are. I know what they're doing, he said. And why don't you go get them? Exactly.

Exactly. Exactly. Captain Acehawk says, can nukes be stopped without exploding the warhead? I don't want to find out. No. Sir Mug's game says to pass through the straight, you don't need insurance.

You just got to pay the IRGC's tax. These are the days of huge pay days. Again, please be careful. about many of these stories. I understand that even some of the satellite data that is now being circulated is no longer reliable as it used to be.

There's apparently a huge number of AI fakes floating around. There was even an article in the Financial Times about it. So just be very careful. Believing what you read and what you see and what you hear. So most games says Americans repaired

in record time bridge highway I-95. They can work miracles mock and dismiss the US to your detriment. No, I'm not saying that. I'm talking about military production, which is a completely different thing. The United States has enormous capabilities, but not in its military industries, as it has repeatedly shown. Yes, they are, sorry, they have demonstrated that they are incapable. They are desperately trying to do it, and they cannot do it.

And that's not to say American people are dumb and lazy. They're human beings just like human beings all over the world. They have infinite potential. It's up to the government to unlock it and utilize it. But they aren't. They're praying on it and feeding off of it. Yes. Elsa says, good day, gentlemen.

Thank you for your great work. Nico says, Duran, I don't thank you enough for answering my comments. Thank you, Brian. You are right. I am more cynical and I believe nuclear war is inevitable. It's not inevitable. Well, I hope not. I mean, I think if we start talking about things like that,

we're going to get ourselves into very, very serious trouble. Peter Raoul says, any thoughts of the Arab Spring, Bahrain, the first domino to fall, return of Ayes on the carts? I don't know what the situation exactly is in Bahrain. And again, there's a lot of stories. I mean, the Iranians are spreading a lot of their stories as well. I mean, they were claiming some days ago that the king of, Bahrain had fled and it doesn't seem as if that was true.

So let's be very, very cautious before jumping to any conclusions like that. Yeah, no, regarding the Arab Spring of 2011, the US had prepared that years in advance. They had entire workshops where the leaders who are leading the protests in the Middle East and North Africa. They were in the US. They were in Mexico City. They were in a European city.

Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State at the time. She did like a Skype, not she recorded. she wouldn't waste her time doing a live one and was telling me when you go back, you're going to make history. And there's, it's all document. I remember trying to report this in 2011 when it first started. And the whole point of that was to reorganize the entire Arab world into a united front against Iran, just like the U.S. at the same time was working to turn Europe into a united front against Russia and Asia into a united front against China. And if you look, if they use the exact same tools and techniques,

the National Endowment for Democracy, U.S. aid, their media, their control over political power in all of these regions. They did all of these things. And I warned at that time, I remember writing an article, and I put a map, and I said it's going to go across the entire region, surround Iran, topple Iran, Russia, and then China. And that is exactly where we are right now. And so it's very important for people to not look at all of these conflicts in isolation,

either geographically or in terms of time. You have to look at how it's all connected across time and across the entire globe. And then you will see the big picture, and then you will know exactly what they're going to do next and why. Sir Muzgames says, look up how many American politicians and elite have received knighthoods and honors.

Oh, really? Nico says, Duran, what do you think will happen to President Putin and the trust and admiration from his people if he continues the theatre without addressing the reasons. Well, I think this is, again, a point that I want to provide it he doesn't make any really serious concessions, which he has never done. I think people will be get bored and frustrated by this theatre, but is the outcome

in the end is what they want. They won't care. It's as simple as that. I mean, you know, it's we find it frustrating because we have to report this and discuss this as it happens. But there were lots of negotiations, for example, during the Vietnam War and lots of discussions and all kinds of meetings. Does anybody really go back and look at the minutiae of all of these things today? No. The mighty cutie says the American ruling class has started to believe that.

reality contorts itself to whatever they want it to be. As a Marxist, it is the scariest demonstration of materialist versus idealistic thinking. A postmodernism has lots to, is responsible for many things. That is my impersonal view. Gorbachev's forehead says, not to belabor the point, but has it occurred to you, gentlemen, that the Tao is up? What of it? It's over 50,000, Alexander. Sham says China wins.

Wow, wow, wow. Nico says Russia is using Wagner to protect their ships. We know that there's a state Wagner and a thousand men private group led by Pavel Pergogian. Is he loyal? I don't know. And I've heard this story about Wagner being present on the ships, but I've seen no evidence of it so far.

Most of the stories that I'm hearing, what, What I can say is happening, definitely, because the Russian media reporting it, is that the Russian government is telling ships to register in Russia and to have proper Russian flags and to have all their paperwork sorted out and that the Russian Navy will provide convoys for them, and there is talk about doing this. So that is what I think the Russians are doing. Whether Wagner is present on Russian ships, I don't know. I am going to make a guess, remember it's a private company,

that when it has happened, it is a result of a private arrangement made by Wagner with a relevant ship owners, just a same. Left side news says, I take a shot when Brian mentions which way to Persia, I'm drunk. Thank you, Brian. Sorry about that. Unless you wanted to get drunk. Quite drunk, sorry, quite drunk. Elena says, can the USA build, Brian, can the USA build their low-cost drones rapidly and efficiently to make a difference against Iran like the Shaheed has done in Ukraine?

They were bragging about this Lucas drone that was a re-engineered Shaheed drone and they're like, we re-engineered it and sent it right back at them and everybody was laughing and giggling. But the problem is the problem that they have with everything else, the company that they had built these was basically already, making that they said it's a it's a revolutionary we this is the first time we had an idea and we made it into a real weapon in six months this company was already for years making shaheed style target drones and so all they did was change some some of the electronics and put a warhead in it and they they were making like handfuls of these and the company had no time to expand to make any sort of large quantity of these drones they say they're going to scale it up to 5,000 but that's what they're saying about everything. I'll believe it when I see it. And the problem is they'll be

making 5,000 of these. Are they going to be able to make the sort of adjustments, the investments and adjustments to them to continue to be relevant on and above the battlefield? That's the question. This is what Russia can do. This is what China can do. This is what Iran can do because they have state-owned enterprises doing it. And they put purpose over profit. The company is making these Lucas drones cannot and will never do that. Sir Mugge's game says, look at the film WAM's China Tour in 1985. The transformation of China is mind-boggling. Monty says, just how strong will the energy crisis that seems to be building up Europe,

given that when it comes to Russia, the EU today functions under a virtual moratorium on reason? If we get to $150 of barrel oil, and a real crisis in gas, it's going to hit us very hard, very, very hard. Le Bonbon says, thanks gentlemen for your hard work and expertise. Sir Mug's game says, red flag number one position,

title supreme leader, red flag number two, son replaces father in said position, no bench. Very true. Sparky says, Brian, if Iran successfully allows its allies and non-enemies

to use the Strait of Hormuz, while denying its enemies, will the U.S. close the Strait of Hormuz? I answered that, didn't we? Yeah. I think so. We answered that. Salim, thank you for that super chat.

Sabinator says, Love to see the Duran and Alex Jones one day. Sir Mug's game says, regarding China invading Taiwan, regarding China invading Taiwan, one word, forget about it. Taiwan is already part of China. Sparky says, Brian, I agree with you.

Israel is primarily a forward-operative base for the U.S., but I believe it's deletious a positive step toward a period, albeit never long enough of world peace. Adam Fuller says, the consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive, abroad, and despotic at home will be the certain precursor of ruin, which has overwhelmed all that preceded it, Robert E. Lee. Interesting. Shamm says, love your work, guys.

I think, okay, build a better world with bricks. We got that. One second, guys. Sparky says, not my favorite song, a favorite saying, you changed the meaning. Thank you for that. Jamila says, why is America's leader a warmonger, whatever they do? It is a question Americans should ask themselves. Maybe if they ask themselves that question, they will understand.

I think many people actually in America do understand that it is a structural problem. Sir Mugge's game says regarding Iran, Sir Smears gang sitting on the fence may be the only political success, also putting a stake through Blair's gang of pro-US zombies. He had no choice. If you're talking about Stama, he had absolutely no choice. He went to cabinet, apparently, with every intention of getting written and fought in the war and was told by a number of cabinet ministers who remembered very well Iraq, you must be joking. I mean, that's basically what they said to him.

I made a mistake, I think, on Sparky's. What goes around comes around is not my favorite song, but it is for most boomers. You mischaracterized me by misreading my previous. I apologize for that. Sorry about that. Robert Robert Trapten says, any thoughts on Chomsky? He correctly identified U.S. imperialism for many decades, but he seems to be implicated by Epstein. Well, I'm not going to discuss Chomsky, which is a colossal topic. of one of these programs. I should say that if you read

his books in the past of the past, there's never been a more insightful writer from within the American system of the American system itself. Ralph says Trump said the people wounded in wars like this are now walking around without arms and legs. Is this like

a miracle that has been performed by Trump? I mean, it's terrible. I mean, it's funny, but it's not funny if you've ever seen these people. And you could say, well, they deserved it or whatever, but it's still horrible. I mean, lives are being destroyed on both sides. But I get what they were saying. Yes. Sir Mug's game says, got relatives that are Greek tanker captains. Oh my goodness.

Roton says, so long story short, Iran has to fight to the bitter end. Yes, we'll see what that end is and how long this goes on for. Ralph Steiner says, if Larry Silverstein double and massively overinsured an oil tanker through the U.S. government and Trump and ran it through the Strait, the Hormwood Street, would you be suspicious? Well, I've been told by very authoritative people who understand insurance that what you've just described can't be done, that insuring ships in that way is impossible. and that this $20 billion scheme that the United States government has come up with is unworkable. So there we go. Why does nobody wonder where Bibi is from Elena? Oh, lots of people do.

I mean, there's lots of discussion and speculation about that. Russell Hall says the Dow is under 48,000. We're all screwed. Latushka says, Niko doesn't understand how Russians think there is an old proverb. One doesn't exchange horses while crossing the river. Russians will support Putin till the end of the SMO. Thank you for that.

Sparky says, I think the Duran having Alex Jones on would be quite entertaining. It somehow seems wrong, though. It would be great to have a bond. Sir Muskeam says, is it a miracle that Biden is not mentioned in certain files? Well, possibly. Bear in mind, we haven't yet seen all the files, just a second. Many millions missing. And finally, from topato,

Tomato, Totto, Potto, thoughts on the recently deceased Michael, Michael Parenti. Michael Peretti. I'm not sure where that is, actually. That name sounds familiar. Yeah. If I'm not mistaken, it's an author who has written about American imperialism and has worked to expose it.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's true. Yes. Yeah, he passed away about a couple of, weeks ago actually yes yes of instance says surely iran has received equipment and know-how for fpb drones from its allies is there a ground invasion if if there is a ground invasion is the USA really ready for this brian Alexander ground invasion well always be very careful when you use a word like surely because when you say that it means an effect that you don't know i believe they have

and I believe they have been provided with a lot of information and advice. But I'm never going to proclaim that what I believe is what I know, a ground invasion of Iran, I think would be a massively difficult operation to carry out. But then I'm going to hand over to Brian on that one. I will just say this. If there was ever an intention for a ground component to go into Iran, They would have been preparing it for months, if not several years. As soon as Syria collapsed, they knew they were going to go strike Iran.

It didn't matter who won the 2024 election. And they even began striking at Iran during the last days of the Biden administration. And so almost certainly they began taking all those forces that they had in Syria and began turning them around and getting them ready to go into Iran. Where are they? What are they doing? I hope someone's paying attention to that because that's almost certainly how they're going to do that. and they'll have them go in, and then they'll have the U.S. do exactly what they did to Syria. And then who knows how long this goes? Because look at how long the U.S. was able to sustain that conflict in Syria.

And they ultimately ended up succeeding. And I'm not saying that everything the U.S. does is unstoppable, but I'm just warning people not to underestimate them. Sparky says, saying not song. I messed up that super chat, Sparky. There's no coming back from it. Sorry, man. Sankaro says yes.

Sir Muggev says, then it's Hunter 2028. Hunter Biden, 2020. Great artist. A lawyer. Finance. Gas industry. Author.

Author. Painter. Chemist. Exactly, yes. Photographer. Let's see, solution from a ill JD 8202. Trump agrees to implement two-state solution. Israel agrees, Gulf states agree.

Iran halts-holtz attacks. UN agrees, Russia and China back, opens straits immediately, immediate implementation. What one can wish? It's all I can say. None of these things are going to happen. So I'll give you a solution. Yes. For Trump.

I'll give Trump a way out, guys. Just declare victory, pull out. And then in the very same truth social post, I mean the very same truth social post, say that you're going after Greenland again. Yes. Just completely get all the attention to Greenland. Yeah, focus on something else, which he does brilliantly, by the way. Ralph Steiner says, you know how a guy in a cave remote control.

a tomahawk missile into the Pentagon 9-11. Is that why Trump thought that the Iranians had one too? That, Ralph. Pavlik, Pavlin Nickich says, Hi, gents. Any chance you can make contact with Marinos Rizzuthis, a captain that refused to bomb the Yugoslavia, 99, would be a great interview considering now is the anniversary of the bomb.

That would be interesting. From Pregglio, why China is so passive? even though it is being cornered in general, but also energy-wise. Why is China so passive, Brian? Well, I would say they're not. Yeah, no, they're not being passive. They're being patient. And I have gotten this question a lot.

And I understand why people ask the question. They're upset. They're frustrated and they want to see this stop. And they say, why hasn't China sent its built? It has this huge military. Why don't they send it to Iran? Because they physically have not built their military to project power around the globe like the U.S. has.

The U.S. has done that, and that's why everything else in their country is collapsing, because they have pumped all of their money into building empire. And you can only project power by having empire, and China is not interested in an empire. So what it has done instead, and both of you have talked about this, they have almost certainly sent all kinds of support to Iran. They're almost certainly helping with ISR right now, maybe Russia and China together. And they've been bailing Iran out with the illegal sanctions. the U.S. is placed on them for years and years and years, and they're pledging reconstruction.

They will almost certainly pledge reconstruction support, but they have to make sure they themselves are safe. They have tens of thousands of U.S. troops encircling them in Asia Pacific. The U.S. is using armed terrorists to kill their engineers in Pakistan. They're already at some sort of asymmetrical war with the U.S. The U.S. is waging it on China. So this is the reason why they have to be very careful and patient with what they're doing. incredibly dangerous situation that they're in. Nico says, Duran, I am so thankful to have found your channel for the shake of my wallet. I'll take a break.

Also, for the sake of my wife, I'll take a break. Alexander, my mother is not a fan of your aunt. Well, I used to fight and argue with her all the time. So I can perfectly understand why people wouldn't be a fan with it. And Sparky, we'll end it on this super chat. Sparky says, Brian needs to appear more often on the Duran. Alex Alexander, thank you again for everything. the truth can be quite profitable when the establishment media is so mendacious.

Yes. All right. We will end it there. Thank you, Brian, for joining us. Once again, where can people follow your work? You can find my work by just typing the new Atlas into YouTube, and then in the video description of every single video, can find all the other places I post my work.

I'm on YouTube, Rumble, Telegram, and X. And there's also an old blog that I've been much. running since 2009. I want to thank you both for having me on, and I want to also thank your audience for listening to us discuss these topics. Fantastic questions. Great live stream. Thank you to our moderators. Thank you to everyone that watched us, that joined us on this live stream, and we'll be back soon. We will indeed. Thank you very much, Brian. Good to have you again. Yes, thank you.