Title: EXTRA! Mideast in Flames
Show: DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Date: 2026-03-01
URL: https://youtu.be/aMGfqMyZz5s
Duration: 1:09:00

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[00:00] You're watching a special edition of the program with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou. It's Sunday, March 1st, 2026. We are normally here Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on YouTube and Rumble, but in streaming whenever, but obviously with the news out of the out of Iran in the Middle East, John and I decided we needed to pipe in and say our peace and answer questions and try to analyze things as best we could. Thanks so much for joining us, John.

[00:31] Hey, good to see you, Ted. Glad to be back even on a Sunday. And I want to say too, forgive forgive my my video. I'm in a hotel in Brooklyn. I have only my phone, so I I apologize for the quality of my of my picture. It actually looks pretty good, John. Oh, good. Good. Good. Okay. And you sound good, too. It's a solid >> Good. That's what I want. I'm going to I'm going to make this nicer. Okay, there we go. Great. All right, so let me go over some of the Obviously, today's we're only

[01:01] going to be talking about Iran, nothing else, even though there's plenty else going on in the world. Basically, yesterday the big news being that supreme leader Ali Khamenei was who's been leading Iran for nearly 37 years was killed by Israeli airstrike that was guided by the United States. That was confirmed by the Iranians. The CIA apparently told Trump before he decided to attack Iran that there was a strong chance that Khamenei would

[01:32] probably be replaced by someone who was at least as hardline as he is, maybe someone from the Revolutionary Guards. An interim council's been announced. Ayatollah a senior cleric named Ayatollah Alireza Araki, sorry for the butchering of the language there, has been announced. We'll talk about that. The New York Times is reporting that basically insiders are saying that the diplomacy never had a chance due to the way that the Trump administration was approaching and talking to the Iranians. And it may have just all been misdirection all along.

[02:03] Polls showed that only 21% of Americans support this war at its very at its inception. I think that's insane. I've never heard of anything like it. Normally, 21% is like after you've lost the war and everyone's turned against it. And even then, it doesn't get that bad. I think more people supported the Vietnam War in 1973 than than 21%. Trump is hiding somewhere. We don't know where. No speeches to the nation. And no no public no public statements. Um oil futures, not surprisingly, are are

[02:37] are soaring. We'll see what happens when the markets open tomorrow, but we'll know more when the Asian markets open later today due to the time difference. Uh there's uh And a key members of Congress are pushing for a war powers resolution. Notably, Ro Khanna, Thomas Massie want a public vote. Looks like they're going to probably going to get one. And so this is a unique set of circumstances. The Strait of Hormuz, Iran claims, has been closed by them. My favorite quote, John, was from their

[03:08] social media feed where they said, "You know, we have blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Let the orange pig try to unblock it." Oh my god. Oh my god. [laughter] I didn't see that. So great. I don't mean I don't mean to laugh, but >> You do have to laugh cuz war does always have like some funny moments like Baghdad Baghdad Bob. Um Baghdad Bob. And and there's like and and then there was also this really weird moment yesterday. NBC News, which used to be a news organization, um they they were

[03:39] interviewing a top Iranian official. And they said, "How can you justify um hitting these military the US military bases?" And he's like, "But that's the places that are firing the weapons at us in the war that you started." I mean, literally, there's never there's no more justifiable military action than that. Um I don't know. Very strange. Unbelievable. Well, things are things are bad, Ted. Bad all around. The I I

[04:09] spoke to friends of mine in Kuwait, uh Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates yesterday. Um it's funny. The I talked to a a Qatari the son [clears throat] of a senior Qatari official yesterday, and he just kind of chuckled and said, "Well, this is life in the Middle East. We live in a dangerous neighborhood." My my friends in Dubai were panicked. Uh the Burj Al Arab, the the giant ultra-lux hotel that's shaped like a

[04:41] sail, um the Iranians fired or not fired, but sent a drone to to blow up on it. The drone was intercepted and hit in the air, but when it exploded, it exploded against the hotel and set the hotel on fire. The fire was put out, but there's significant damage. The Iranians sent drones to attack the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. They hit it with two drones. Maybe even more importantly, though,

[05:13] Manama Airport in Bahrain is unusable. It has to be closed for a while and repaired. Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait has also been hit. >> a second, John, about the Bahraini Airport. There's reports that the Bahraini local firefighting brigade refused to put out the fire to fight that fire. You know, I would actually believe that because Bahrain is a majority Shia Muslim country, just like Iran is Shia Muslim, and

[05:44] Bahrain has a Sunni Muslim royal family, which can be a problem at times. Heads are going to roll if that's true. But I it doesn't surprise me. So anyway, the the the Iranians You know, the Iranians can't win this thing, of course, but but they can put up a fight and they can they can, you know, put some hurt out on uh on the Gulf Arab states. And they could survive, right? I mean, that's what victory looks like for them.

[06:15] Um You know, I mean, this is a this is a regime that's really built for survival. It's been under siege since 1979. Um the you know, they they have as we talked about yesterday in the other extra edition that we did yesterday morning, um John, there was a you know, there's there's redundant governmental systems there. The you know, these decapitation strikes certainly hit hard. The Israelis and the Americans killed a lot of top officials, but you know, they have a succession

[06:45] plan. They have number twos, number threes ready to step in. They always did. They always knew something like this could happen. Um I mean, I don't see how you overthrow this regime um this way unless the Iranian people rise up and overthrow it, but I don't see how that happens. >> Which we're not seeing. So I'm seeing I'm seeing video from Iran. You know, on CNN they'll show you video from Iran and it's like 300 people dancing and waving

[07:18] and whatever, beeping their horns. But then you see video of a million people out in the street self-flagellating and crying and vowing to fight the West to the death. And think of it this way, too. A peaceful transition of power from the current regime to some substitute regime is in US interests. Chaos and death is what is in Israel's

[07:49] interests. And that's what we're more likely to get. >> The and that's what we're more we're more likely to get. I think Netanyahu is hoping for a civil war. I think that's exactly what the plan is. Yes. Yeah. Um okay, so let's Should we go to the questions cuz there's a lot of in the live all that. So as usual, if you're watching live, please put your question at this point into the Rumble and the YouTube chat and producer Robbie will get will let us know what you have to

[08:19] say and we'll answer you. >> And before we before we do the first question, Robbie Robbie's reading, you know, these these live updates on Telegram, and there are reports. We don't know if they're true yet, but there are reports that the USS Abraham Lincoln is under attack, which is exactly what we said we feared last week. If you send enough drones or a hypersonic missile against an aircraft carrier, you can't defend it. So waiting to see how that plays out.

[08:51] And okay, well, we have some record Robbie says he has some housekeeping to do, so let's put him on. Yeah, just real quick cuz it's such a busy day. Later today, I do not know when cuz things are just really hectic right now, naturally. I will be launching John's official TikTok. When that happens, I will post a link on his X account, so you'll be able to actually follow the real John Kiriakou. John also has a real account on Rumble. If you go to rumble.com/c/johnkiriakouofficial, that is his official channel. His stuff

[09:22] will be going up today, including shorts. And I'll also be working on doing the same thing for your favorite cartoonist Ted Rall at a later time, but it will be this month. Last little thing, if you're in the chat, if you're a dick, I will ban you. Don't do it. I mean, you can ask questions. You can be snarky, but if you're an [ __ ] I will bury you. So don't do it. Thank you, Robbie. Okay, let's do let's do >> I lost your lost your your microphone, Ted. Oh, really? Can't hear you. You can't hear me? I

[09:52] hear you. Can't hear you. Robbie, can you hear Ted? I hear you. Then maybe it's me. Try jumping out real quick, John, and then jumping back in. Sometimes phones will act crazy. Okay. So, let's see what happens here. Um so, all right. So, yeah. Robbie, um any news any more news on the Abraham Lincoln? No? Uh nothing new from what I

[10:24] shared just before we went live. Okay. We're waiting for John to pipe back in here. Uh okay, there he is. All right, John. Do you hear us? Yeah? There we go. That that works. Okay. Cool. Cool. All right, Robbie. Thank you for that. Um all right. So, so we do a ready for some questions? Yes, sir. All right. Hello, heroes. Yeah, thank you. Do you think any of the Arab countries that were struck will actually strike back or will they count on the US and Israel to do this for them? I'm

[10:55] wondering uh the cultural dynamics playing into this decision like losing face, appearing weak, or being peaceful during Ramadan. The Ramadan thing is interesting to me, too. Yeah. This is a big sin for this to be launched during Ramadan. Mhm. Um my UAE contacts told me yesterday that um they sent their ships out of port not to fight, but just to protect them. Uh we have not seen retaliation uh from the Arab states yet. And my guess is we probably won't, that they're

[11:27] going to let the US and Israel do their thing with some British air cover. And that's going to be it. I agree with that completely. Uh Donkey Man, do we think the war will last more than a month? I think it will. Yeah, you know, that's a great question. Donald Trump said yesterday it's only going to last a couple of days. He lives in a fantasy world if he thinks this is going to last a couple of days. Um I wouldn't be surprised if there are active US and Israeli hostilities for

[11:57] weeks, but yeah, I could see this lasting for a month. Sure. I mean, especially if um the Iranians bloody the Israelis or our noses in some way that we can't fathom, right? They a missile gets through and I don't know, blows up something that Israel or we care about a lot and it and then there's a domestic there's, you know, a domestic concern that we can't just let it go. That's right. Okay. Um let's uh is Iran actually causing damage anywhere even with the numerous missiles fired? It

[12:28] doesn't seem to do much. Is Iran hoping for an off-ramp post still? Oh, I'm sure they're hoping for an off-ramp. The Israelis killed practically everybody. It's not just the Ayatollah, his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. It's it's the entire Iranian military leadership was wiped out yesterday. Yeah, the the second and third string guys were killed. Mhm. Yeah. Um yeah. No, I mean, so but is Iran actually causing any damage anywhere is the question.

[12:59] No. Not that I've seen. I mean, sure. Yeah. I mean, they they fired rockets at Jebel Ali, the the the free port in Dubai. They they have they've damaged Manama and Kuwait airports. Uh they fired a rocket at the Saudi oil fields that was intercepted. A couple of hotels were were damaged in Dubai. Yeah, there was a missile. Yeah, one rocket landed in Abu Dhabi. There's some damage, but absolutely nothing like

[13:29] what's being inflicted on Iran. No, no no question. It's definitely a a one-way street there when it comes to that. Um but all they have to do is survive. Um Diva Divya, do we think hitting Dubai hard would be beneficial for Iran right right now because of all the American interests in the region now? Uh I think no, and I'll tell you why. Because that's where Iran does its business. Iran I mean, Dubai is chock-full of Iranian businessmen, and that's Iran's outlet to the Western world. That's how Iran evades sanctions

[14:01] by having businesses in Dubai. So, I think no. Hitting Dubai is not going to help Iran at all. John, during during the Iraq war, Bush and Cheney, especially the latter, kept saying, "Oh, we're going to have a cheap oil because of this." Turned out it went exactly the opposite way. I I think I see a replay here. I think the real damage is going to be economic. I mean, high oil prices just means high everything prices. This is a president who's trying to fight inflation more than anything else, right? I mean, that's the real risk to him. That's

[14:32] right. That's exactly right. And it's not like Venezuelan oil is a panacea. It's not. It's filthy. It's heavy. You have to inject it with massive amounts of chemicals to clean it up just to make it into home heating oil. So, Venezuela is not going to be the answer to our prayers. Oil prices are going to go up. Uh Sasan, we get such great questions. Um thank you you guys are great. What do you think is the impact of the death of Khamenei on the uh future of the regime in Iran? As an Iranian, I'm worried yet another

[15:04] extremist is chosen and the cycle continues on and on. Love the show. That I think is exactly what's going to happen. Absolutely 100% agree. That is exactly what's going to happen. You know, and the thing, too, is that I think that in the West we seriously overestimated Ayatollah Khamenei's authority. Mhm. Certainly he was the final word on on religious issues, certainly. But you can take him out and have literally nothing change. It's like if you killed the Pope. Yes.

[15:35] Exactly. Exactly. No. No, that's wonderful. I'm going to I'm going to repeat that. Uh Mace uh oh let's see. Reload. Um Please reload. What are you doing? Okay, good morning, gentlemen. The sneaky part of my brain wondered how much of a beating Iran will suffer before before finally unleashing their hypersonic missiles. I think they proved during their probing strike on Iron Dome that letting Israel and the US burn through their limited arms supply that patience is the best practice. Yeah, I mean, you learn that when you have 7,000 years of

[16:07] continuous culture, right? Also, why does the American government always imagine that killing a leader will end a war? I know, right? Ted, you mentioned the time frame Germany fought beyond Hitler. If Trump was killed today, nothing about our country's day-to-day would change. And somehow and somehow we expect other countries to be different. It's it's a childish mentality. The New York Times just issued a push notification saying that the Iranian foreign minister says that a new supreme leader will be chosen in the next day or two.

[16:37] So, there it is, right there. Nothing changes. It You can take out the Pope, and there's just going to be another Pope. Yeah, if you and I were in the Iranian leadership or any leadership that was besieged like this, we would say, "Oh, we have to project continuity in order to maintain domestic control." I mean, they don't like the fact that there have been protests, even if it is just 300 people, you know, going woo. >> [laughter] >> They don't like that. That's 300 too many. Um yeah, regimes radicalize under in times of war. Yes, they do. You know,

[17:07] that's just sort of history. Um you know, hypersonic missiles, but we got, you know, Do they exist? Are they real? Oh, yeah. They're real. The Russians have them, the Chinese have them, the Iranians have them. >> Iranians have them. That's what I mean. The Iranians have them. exist. So, so they're so they're they're so the Iranians keep are, you know, using their usual florid language as as they do say like, "Today is going to be we're going to unleash our doomsday scenario." Okay, maybe, but Yeah. No, but the danger of hypersonic

[17:39] missiles is they'll go three or four times the speed of sound. So, you're you're dealing with a missile going 2,500 mph. You can't defend against a missile going 2,500 mph. And so, maybe you can get it into, you know, the Knesset building, or you can get it into the side of the USS Abraham Lincoln or something like that. And then, you know, the West is going to have to deal with it. They don't have a lot of them. They only have a couple of them. But It's like the Afghan Mujahideen in the

[18:10] '80s, right? They didn't have that many Stingers, but they had to make them count. That's right, and they did. Um Hello, gentlemen. Big fan. Wondering if he thinks Iran's sleeper cells, if they have, will be activated, and if they will be activated in the UK. In addition, what will China's likely response be? John, where do you get those lovely sweaters like you wore on Diary of a CEO from? >> [laughter] >> Well, let's dispose of the sleeper cells. Um they're they're probably they don't exist, right? Um I don't think they exist in the US, Canada. >> Maybe. Probably the UK, probably. But

[18:42] they certainly exist in places like Pakistan, India, Indonesia. Yeah, they're out there. They're out there. Um and thank you for that. I I get these sweaters at at Macy's. [laughter] Oh, really? I thought you brought them back from Greece or something. No. Uh okay, China's response. Well, we already China is doing what they always do. Um they're trying to be the adults in the room. They keep saying like, "You guys stop. Respect Iran's sovereignty. Just stop." But that I think it's going to be that's going to be about it. Ted, there

[19:12] was a headline on The Onion a couple of weeks ago that was funny because it was so true. And the headline was, "China content to sit back and watch US destroy itself." And that's what we're going to see here. No doubt. Um how much leverage, Jasper wants to know, does this give countries like Russia and China to pursue their military goals such as in Taiwan? I'm not convinced that that that China wants to invade Taiwan. No, I don't think so. If China wanted to invade Taiwan, they would have done it 2 days ago.

[19:44] Yeah, that would have been time. I I am I'm I'm You and I, Ted, we're in the minority of people who who believe that China is not interested invading Taiwan. Yeah, we are. Um and the Russians are very happy to see us distracted in fighting the Iranians so they can focus on the Ukrainians and not have the American monkey on their backs. Yeah. No, I mean I this it just definitely look you know, when the cat's away, it's always a good time [laughter] and we're the cat. Um uh Matt, I can remember Bob Baer writing extensively about the Iranian threat,

[20:15] specifically the ability to covertly retaliate against the West and shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Any thoughts? It's been years since I read this book. Memories fade easy, but yeah, I remember it. No, that that memory is correct. That's exactly what Bob Baer wrote about. And uh and he was correct then when he wrote that book 25 years ago, he's correct today. Um the Iranians can shut the Strait of Hormuz. If I were the Iranian leader, I would shut the Strait of Hormuz. Wow. They're not going to they're not going to win a sustained bombing campaign, but

[20:48] over the long term, you know, they live there, it's their neighborhood, and they can inflict real economic harm on the West. Um Ted and John, thank Declan Brady. Love the show. Welcome your unbiased opinions and analysis. Why do you think Iran is attacking its neighbors? Surely it's the aggrieved party. Iran needs all the support it can get. And how does hitting Dubai and Kuwait airports help their cause? Hope your comes through, John. >> it's because there are there are two US military bases in Kuwait. The

[21:19] headquarters of the American Fifth Fleet is in Bahrain. The world's largest US Air Force base is in Qatar. Two US Army bases are in um the Emirates. Uh there are multiple US military, both Army and Air Force bases in Saudi Arabia. So, there's no love of Iran in these countries. Well, exactly. I'm glad you you said that there. I mean, I think I think that's the final calculus, John. These aren't their friends. They're not going to get They're not going to become friends. These are not any kind None of

[21:51] these targeted countries are going to help the Iranians in any way, shape, or form. They're not even going to tweet on their behalf. Absolutely not. Uh as someone who served in the Navy, Andy wants to know this is very concerning for me. Do you think we'll need to put boots on the ground for this? Love the That right there is the $64,000 question. So, everybody at the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department, and all the talking heads from Capitol Hill say that there will be no boots on the ground. That would be the death knell

[22:22] for the United States if we were if we had to put boots on the ground and fight a country of 92 million people. You know, I'm going to reiterate what you said yesterday, Ted. And that is that the US and Israel have to win. The Iranians just have to survive, and that is much, much easier than winning. Yeah, yeah, and they have the home field advantage. Like let's not forget that. Gonk, thanks for the thanks for the fiver. I'm in John John looks pissed, rightfully so.

[22:52] Yeah, I I am actually. I'm pissed about this. World War III >> unnecessary war of war of choice. Oh, I mean, it's one of the most boneheaded and we've had a lot of boneheaded wars. All of our wars are boneheaded for the most part. Um World War III not off the table? I'd say never. Things can always spin out of control. Yeah. Um Accident member for a month, thank you so much. Is the only probable reason Turkey hasn't been hit because of NATO? If they're hit, it will trigger Article

[23:23] 5. That's a good question, too. Um That is that it could be. It could be that the Iranians, you know, have more important things to worry about right now than Turkey. But sure, that could be it. And and don't don't forget Azerbaijan. Right? There are Israeli There is an Israeli base in Azerbaijan. The Israelis

[23:53] have drones pre-positioned there. The Azerbaijanis are or the Azeris are very close to Turkey. So, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see this expand to Azerbaijan. Not at all. Who's actually driving 10 Australian dollars from Luminous? Thank you very much. Um >> Thank you. Who is actually driving Iran policy in this administration? Is there a coherent interagency process? Or [laughter] are with coffee I can answer that. significant autonomy outside of normal National Security Council channels?

[24:26] That's a great question. It's a it's quite an important question. In a normal situation, there are two bodies called the Principals Committee and the Deputies Committee. The Principals Committee is chaired by the President. And it includes the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Advisor, the um Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Director of the CIA. The Deputies Committee is the number twos for all those people. It's chaired by the Vice President. Um Normally, this policy would be coming

[24:58] out of the the National Security Council. In this odd scenario that we're in right now, Marco Rubio is both Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. And so, this is Marco Rubio's policy. We we learned from the the this leak from the White House last week that J.D. Vance was opposed to an attack on Iran. Tulsi Gabbard was opposed to an attack on Iran. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs came out and said that he was opposed to an attack on Iran. Who does

[25:28] that leave? Marco Rubio. That's it. Marco Rubio is running this policy. Yeah, Bibi Netanyahu. Um Bibi Netanyahu. Yeah. >> There's There's a report coming out of Jerusalem, John, that Israel's claiming that a Iranian strike killed nine Israelis and injured 28. Just So, so right before we started um we started broadcasting, Robbie told us that there were reports of an Iranian

[25:59] hypersonic missile that had impacted a bunker. Perhaps that's it. Got you. Um let's uh Archangel, thanks for the $4.99. How much do you guys think this war will distract from the Epstein stuff? >> Yeah. Completely. >> We're not talking. Although, I don't think the Epstein people who care about Epstein are going to forget. And they're well aware. >> Um >> That's right. Thanks for doing us a >> But but you know what though? One of the things that this may do is distract people from demanding that Pam Bondi

[26:30] release the remaining 2.7 to 3 million pages of documents. That would be nice. Um Isaac, thanks for the $5. The [clears throat] US consulate was attacked in Pakistan yesterday. Yes. I'm glad that came up. In response to the attacks on Iran, have we started a war with the Muslim world? Well, that's what we did last time. Yeah. The answer's probably yes. Yeah. We That is That's exactly what we did last time. We killed 2 million Muslims from, you know, 2001 to 2020. John, we can meet. Is Is this going to I mean, many Arab

[27:02] countries have a huge division between the politics of their street, as they say it, and the In other words, their citizens, and the policies of their governments. Um how much will this could could a schism like blow up someone's government? And it Where Where would you Honestly, if I were, you know, the leader of Bahrain, I would be genuinely worried today. If I were the Pakistani government, I would be genuinely worried today. If I were the

[27:33] leader >> They'd always be worried. Yeah, but even an Indian leader, I would be worried about what my population in Kashmir would be doing right now. Yeah, they're all They're all There's massive protests in Kashmir cuz it's >> Massive. And the Saudis the Saudi royal family, they've got to be on the verge of cracking down in the Eastern Province, which is almost entirely Shia Muslim. Um so, yeah, there There's a real risk today. I'm glad you brought up the Saudis. So, it turns out there's heavy reporting, I know you've seen, that the

[28:05] Crown Prince bin Salman is He He was a key advisor to Trump on all this. And his his counsel to Trump, which obviously Trump accepted, was that A, you they the US should and Israel should attack, and B, there would never be a better time than this than now. Yeah. Yeah, you know, the conventional wisdom was that this is all Netanyahu all day long. And it turns out it wasn't. Right.

[28:37] >> And and I think that that might be what pushed Trump over the edge to make the decision to actually attack. That, you know, you know that every time Netanyahu flies to Washington, he's going to say, "Please attack Iran. Please attack Iran. Please attack Iran." It's an entirely different thing for the Israelis and the Saudis to be on the same sheet of paper. I think that's what convinced Trump to do it. Got it. Um Kaskincy, thanks for Thank you for subscribing to Deep Programmed. $4.99 from Keep It Real. Since the war

[29:08] is very unpopular to most Americans, one By the way, my my sub question would be like, will it stay unpopular? I would say you're going to see a bounce around the rally around the flag effect. But starting at 21% is pretty bleak. Do you think the Israel will lose support from the US and rely on India more? You know, I think that's the Trump plan. And I think that was the plan from the first Trump administration. You remember the the love fest that Trump and Modi

[29:38] had in Texas when Modi came to the United States to address Indian Americans living in Texas. It was a love fest, and they had to have it in a stadium to hold 50,000 people. So, I I think that Trump and and I should add this started with Bill Clinton. This is not Donald Trump's idea. But, I think that the idea is to improve ties to India to make relations between the US and India as close as possible so that we have an ally on that side of Iran, and we have a strong and populous

[30:12] ally that can sort of offset some of the bad juju that we have in the Middle East. Um Kitty Von Meow, why do you think Germany took in Netanyahu? Although, there's mixed reports about where where Netanyahu really is, but there were there were several reports that he went to Germany that I Oh, looks like we lost Ted. Um yeah, you know, Netanyahu, every time the Israelis want to bomb somebody, Netanyahu runs away. So, the most of the

[30:43] reports are that he's in Germany. I heard a report this morning saying that he's in Cyprus, which of course is that much closer to Israel. Um and we're getting reports now that the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi has been hit, as well as an Emirati oil platform uh in the Persian Gulf. We're going to see a lot more of this, Ted. A lot more of these uh these individual strikes, targeted strikes. You know, let's compare this, too. Let's compare this, too, say the 1990-91

[31:14] Gulf War, where you just like carpet bomb and just just open the the bomb bays and let bombs drop. This is a very smart conflict. The targeting is Uh we are John, we are no longer you you we don't have you anymore. Um while we wait for him to come back, I'm just going to just kind of share a little bit of the information that I'm getting right now.

[31:45] It looks like that John is right, the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi was hit. Uh also, the navy base there has been hit. It is currently burning. Uh there are some oil platforms have been hit, and I'm seeing reports that two ships trying to run the Straits of Hormuz have been hit. So, Iran's not playing. [ __ ] around and find out. I have not I've not seen [clears throat] on the uh these days. I've not seen anything new about the Abraham Lincoln. So, that could be a

[32:15] rumor, it could be real, I have no idea. I'm seeing reports that Scott Ritter says that the Lincoln was hit, for whatever that's worth. I don't know where he's getting that from, if it's true. Uh it could just be trust me, bro, couldn't tell you. All right. Thanks, Robbie. Um yeah, we're going to see a lot more of this, Ted. A lot more. How do you I mean, John, how do you I don't You know, a lot of things about this blow my mind, but what what Oh my god, we just lost Robbie. Uh I'll ask Robbie I mean, we need to get Robbie here. We

[32:46] just lost John. John's coming to kind of come back. Um How do you deal This is a good question for you, anyway, Robbie. Sheriff, what do you make of the fact that Donald Trump There's John. Sorry, I don't know why as soon as Robbie got out, it threw me out again. Oh, sorry about that. This is for both of you guys, anyway. Uh why isn't Donald Trump talking to the American people? I mean, we're at war. Caesar doesn't have to speak to the American people. That's why. I I I I think I'm going to take a slightly different uh tack. Um uh this

[33:16] is a security measure. Uh I'm going to I'm going to use kind of a strong word here. The president is in hiding. That's what this is. Just like George W. Bush, for security reasons, went into hiding on 9/11, just in case all hell breaks loose. The chances are very, very low, but just in case all hell breaks loose, better to protect the president now and have him come out later. I got to say, I I strongly politically disagree with that. Just um strategically >> I do, too. Yeah, agreed. It's a [ __ ] move. And like, you you're the president of the [ __ ] United States. I mean,

[33:48] you know, we we read history, remember we we know that like generals used to go into battle with on at the front at the front, right? Um now they hide they hide at home and in, you know, in in their bunkers. What I mean, to me, on 9/11, it was a very bad look for George W. Bush to be nowhere to be found. People are still talking about it 25 years later. I don't know why Trump repeated that mistake. I mean, he studied what all of Bush's mistakes. That's That was key to his rise to power.

[34:18] Here's where I disagree, for whatever it's worth. When Trump started this war, he did not bother making the case to the American people. He didn't address us, he didn't go on TV, he didn't send out as much as a tweet. He is arrogant to the extreme, and he thinks that he can do whatever he wants. He does not care. I think it's peak ego, and that's why I mean, seriously, if if if you are the imperator, why do you care about what the pleb thinks? You don't. I mean, I could be dead wrong, y'all

[34:49] could be right, but that's that's the signal I'm getting. Robbie, I'm going to keep you on to talk about this. I mean, look, we got to talk about the War Powers Act, right? So, War Powers Act passed after the at the end of the Vietnam War. It was Congress's attempt to reassert their war powers that they had abandoned to numerous presidents over the 200 years. Um and basically, it requires the president, when he has a sustained commitment of troops, to go to Congress and get congressional approval, right? Not a declaration of war. Um it's War Powers Act has been kind of

[35:19] like a problematic, you know, kind of rule law ever since, but um looks Are we going to get a vote here? I mean, it looks like we are going to get a vote, and if we do, how's it going to go? You want me to answer? Either one both. Okay, I think that I think that there are going to be War Powers votes. Uh we saw this morning on CNN reporting that uh Mike Johnson is going to sort of be forced to allowing a vote on the War

[35:50] Powers Act in the House. But, my guess is that Democrats are all going to vote yes, because they're just as big warmongers as the Republicans are. Yeah. I agree. I mean, they're all paid by the same people. Yeah. I mean, if if you if you're a fat pig, you're going to the trough, are you really going to go walk away from that? No, or we have the cheapest horse government that money can buy. Yeah, we do. Thanks, Robbie. Yeah, we do. Um we do. More 499 from Perez, thank you so much. How

[36:21] ironic to wage a war based on nukes and take out the leader who withheld a religious ruling against nukes. Exactly right. You know, a dear friend of mine said yesterday that the next Iranian grand ayatollah or or supreme leader is just going to issue a new fatwa revoking the old fatwa and calling for a nuclear uh weapons program. Yeah, it's of course they will. I mean, you know, you and I have been talking about this for a long time.

[36:52] Um okay, uh thanks for the 10 Australian dollars. What's the current Israeli assessment? Does Netanyahu's government actually want a US invasion, or do they prefer Iran weakened with the regime intact as a perpetual justification for their own military posture? John, you know you know my answer to that. >> Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I think that what the Israelis want in Iran is what the Israelis got in Libya. Chaos. They want chaos. They want a civil war, and they want as many dead Iranians as

[37:23] they possibly can get. Yeah, I agreed with that. Let's see, could we Pittsburgh wants to know, could we get more Sunday morning shows besides emergency broadcasts? You know, a good friend of mine called me day before yesterday, and he says, "Buddy, I'm going to tell you something because I love you. You haven't been in church in a year, and you should be ashamed of yourself. I want to see you Sunday morning." I said, "Okay, I I promise, I'll be there. I'll be there." Yeah. I don't know about Sunday morning

[37:56] shows. Yeah, I mean, as it is, we're John and I both work very hard. We have multiple jobs and multiple gigs, and you know, we have to recharge. >> [laughter] >> We Americans work too hard as it is. I don't know, maybe. I mean, I guess there would be a world in which anything's possible. Maybe we take Monday off like restaurant workers or something. >> [laughter] >> Right. Barbers. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um what big question, why is the US Israel's [ __ ] If you could summarize, I would be grateful. That's a It's a

[38:28] big, good question. I mean, we know it is. Yeah. Cuz the the United States does anything and everything the Israelis tell it to do, even when it's not in US interests to do so. >> [snorts] >> Yeah. Um yeah, so I mean, why though is the question. >> And the the why is because of money and politics. That's what really what this comes down to. You know, Citizens United made it even worse, so Miriam Adelson could donate $150 million to the RNC super PAC, and AIPAC can just spend

[39:02] people out of office by challenging them in primaries when they do the slightest thing that the Israelis don't like. Israel is There's also other things, right? Israel is a is a tech hub, and the United States feels like um you know, the the that alliance with the intel that we get from, you know, from Israel is considered valuable. But, also, we're the the Israel the Israelis lobby. They're spectacularly effective bullies. They smear everybody. Like, you criticize Israel, you you know, you're

[39:34] slimed as an anti-Semite. Um that's been their stick forever, and up until very recently, it still worked. It's finally the you know, the spell is broken, but I mean, there's more to it than that, but what do you think, John? Yeah, I think that's it. And and I think I think this may be what breaks the spell. If the Israelis suck us into war a longer term war rather than just a few days of bombing, we're in trouble and we're going to have to seriously as

[40:04] a country reassess this relationship. What do we get out of this relationship? I understand exactly what the Israelis get, but what do we get out of this relationship? By the way, so producer Trent is reminding me to mention to everybody who's on YouTube that if you go to membership and you become a tier two member, you will be thanked by us in the closing credits of each and every show. So, please go ahead and do that. He's in the middle of updating that list. I just wanted to

[40:34] remind you of that. Um will the Bucktown crazy wants to know will the US need to escort commerce ships through the Strait of Hormuz? Well, that's what Ronald Reagan did in the 1980s when the Iranians threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. He sent the US Navy there to escort each and every oil tanker through the Strait. I remember I remember being on a on a boat in the Persian Gulf and seeing the the SS Bridgeton. The Bridgeton was famous

[41:05] in the '80s because the Iranians attacked it and set it ablaze. It It was the biggest oil tanker in the world at the time. It ended up being towed into port and repaired. It took a couple of years to repair it, but um we may be headed into the same scenario where there's going to have to be a long-term heavy US naval presence in the Gulf just to escort uh ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Um which of course could set us up for being targeted, so then you know, it it sets up it's a trigger for escalation.

[41:36] Do we think this situation will destroy the UAE's reputation and cause a mass exodus as soon as the airport reopens? No. No. No. It's the Vegas It's the Vegas of It's the Vegas of the Middle East, you know. Honest to God, it's like paradise there. >> They need it. They need it. Um do you think Israel will be happy with the US attacks on Iran so far? Do you think they'll hold back moving forward? Thank you for all you do. Uh yes and no. I think they are happy because so much

[42:09] of the leadership has been taken out. And you know, another thing too, the Israelis killed more than 100 schoolgirls in an attack on a on a school in southern Iran and people talked about it for a couple of hours and then just said, "Meh, no big deal." It's a very big deal when you deliberately target a school and murder 100 children. That's a very big deal. But I think that they're they're thrilled with the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei and his entire family. His daughter, his son-in-law,

[42:40] his grandson, they were all killed in this attack. I think the Israelis are thrilled with that. I think the Israelis are very proud that they were able to take out literally the entire Iranian military leadership. And Ted, I I just missed that. Is the French embassy under attack? Is that what that said? Um yeah, that's what Robbie's saying. The French base in Abu Dhabi has been hit. Uh base, military base, not embassy. >> Um good good segue from Matthew. Why didn't Iran plan better? I had this question, too.

[43:12] Why not have the senior commanders safe inside bunkers, which yesterday I wrongly assumed would have been the case. Same with the Ayatollah. Are the Iranian military that incompetent? No, the Ayatollah elected to not go to a bunker because he said if there are no bunkers for the Iranian people that he will not go into a bunker. And to use the the language from the Iranian media today, it said that that that Ayatollah Khamenei drank from the nectar of martyrdom and

[43:43] entered into heaven. I'm glad that you brought that up, John, because like I talked I corresponded with an Afghan friend. She's Shia and and she said, "You guys don't understand. Like for Shias, what happened to Khamenei is a win." Every Every Shia wants to be martyred like this. We did them a favor. Yeah. It's like, "Thank you." You know, like it's like winning a It's like winning a Nobel Prize. That's right. Go straight to heaven. If when you're martyred, you go directly to heaven without having to stop anywhere. Mark's

[44:14] asking, "There was reported progress on a deal just before the strikes happened. >> [clears throat] >> Do you think the US-Israeli intent was always to nuke a deal in favor of regime?" That was the Israeli intent, 1 million percent. >> Yes. And I think the and I think the Americans didn't know how to negotiate like the New York Times report said, right? Like they basically kept changing their demands. They were confusing as hell. They had They were asking for stuff the Iranians They knew the Iranians couldn't agree to. This This I think the Israelis were pulling the strings here the entire

[44:45] time. Agree completely. I can't even add anything to that. Um why wouldn't Iran make an an incursion into Iraq, maybe take an oil well or two and force the US to put boots on the ground and play to Iran's strength, especially since killing Khamenei would motivate rural Iranians? And I think there's a lot there, right? Like Iran Iran does have influence in Iraq. We know that. And you know, they have allied militias there. And they also you know, we should talk about like

[45:15] how there has been a you know, in Iran there were some reports credible supports of celebration, bigger supports of mourning, but you know, obviously it's like, "Well, what do the Iranians think about all this?" Well, it depends who you ask, right? I mean, it's a it's a diverse country of over 90 million people. But um you know, my take when I was in Iran was that the people in the cities hate the government. They're basically liberal. They don't They don't want to you know, they don't want to wear the chador. They don't want to

[45:45] you know, they they want to go drinking and and and have a good time and go to and do be Westerners. Um and then in the rural areas, it's very different It's It's different. It's more conservative. And that's where the That's the base of the government support. I think that's exactly right. I mean, it's the same divide that most countries have, right? Rural >> Including including the United States. Totally. Um so yeah, so why would they I mean, I don't think Iran's in any position to launch a ground incursion into Iraq, but No, and

[46:15] Iraq is a friendly country. Iran and Iraq have very close relations. They're They're both Shia Muslim governments. Mhm. There's no Iranian benefit. >> That's why Soleimani was over in Iraq when he was killed. >> Mhm. Um I think it does make I mean, you know, one of the takeaways here is let's say you're like North Korea and the US says, "Hey, we want to talk." Why would you believe anything we have to say? I mean, we don't negotiate in good faith. No, we don't. Um good morning to both of us. John unrelated would like to know which of your book would you suggest to read

[46:47] overall when it comes to the CIA and which of your books would you say would you suggest reading first? Um if if you can find one, I would say first read um The Reluctant Spy, my first book. And And I'm going to I I think I can reclaim the rights to that book and publish a new edition. I'm I'm looking into it now. Uh if you want to learn more about CIA tactics, my second book, uh Doing Time Like a Spy. And And the second edition just came

[47:18] out, so it's out there. Uh the Shah of Iran was impotent, says a anonymous commenter. Reza Pahlavi is not his real son. I don't know, he looks like him. He looks just like him. >> This is not a This is not a Ronan Farrow situation. No. [laughter] Um and he's just as [ __ ] dumb, too. >> Yes. And then there's that. So, >> [laughter] >> I mean, by the way, I mean, what do you I mean, isn't it [ __ ] embarrassing to see so many like my car fellow cartoonists that's on the right and journalists that's saying like, "Oh,

[47:50] it's you know, we're going to reinstall the Shah. Let's Let's make Iran Persia again." And It's like it's It's just I mean, he's the He's Ahmed Chalabi all over again. Yeah, he is. Except not as intelligent. How embarrassing. Um not relevant to recent events, but I was curious if you two had a reading list of several books you found illuminating to reach your great understanding of modern foreign policy and history. Oh, wow. [clears throat] You know, early on the the one I started with was The

[48:21] Rise and Fall of the CIA. Uh it was written in the 1980s and um and it was my first real like deep introduction to CIA uh covert action operations and covert operational failures um from the creation of the CIA until Iran-Contra. If you can find it, I'd say start with that. And anything that Timothy Weiner writes, you're going to want to check it out. Uh I'm I'm a huge fan of Robert Fisk's

[48:52] The Great War Between Civilizations um as like sort of one-stop shopping for people who want to know about Western policy in the Middle East. Um anyway, um not well versed in these things, Gabby says, "What are the chances that Iran or another country actually attacks American soil?" Very zero. Yeah, none. Yeah. Very very small. Um okay, so more questions. Uh Um Wait, hold on. I'm I'm trying to bring

[49:24] this up. Okay. John, have you read Carl Jung? Toby wants to know and thanks for the three Australian dollars. Yeah, I have read Carl Jung because I very briefly dated a a girl who was a Jungian. And um yeah, I learned a lot. Not sure I agreed with everything, but yeah, interesting stuff. And I'll tell you what, it's good for dinner conversation. >> [laughter] >> Uh managing next to the next dinner we have, I will I will uh hold you to that,

[49:54] John. Uh managing things, thanks for the 10 bucks. Is there any line that the BB Israeli government could cross that would cause the US government to stop the blank checks? I'd say going nuclear. Yeah, I agree with that. You took the words right out of my mouth. Uh let's uh let's see. What if Thanks for the uh Natsir, thanks for the $4.99. I wish George Carlin were were were still alive. Boy, would he have a field day now. I wish he were alive anyway. So true. Um Jacob, thanks for the $9.99. Is it

[50:25] likely, John, that the CIA's paramilitary is on the ground in Iran already? That's a great >> That's a great question. I would say probably not. Now, granted, my my information is dated, but to have the CIA paramilitary on the ground to carry out targeted killings, the president would have to um assert that a person is uh a what's called a clear and present danger to the

[50:56] United States, to an American installation, um and to or to an American person. And I I don't think we're there. Okay. Um thank you very much to both Shawn B and Kangorski for becoming uh members. Um Let's see. Uh Papadopoulos, thanks for the 6 euros. Hey, John, do you think Greece might get attacked as well? And if they do, do you think they have enough military strength to handle it? You know what? A friend of mine in

[51:26] the US military mentioned this to me yesterday. He said, "We really need to be worried about Souda Bay in Crete." Uh there's an enormous American naval presence there. Um it's where it's where the USS Gerald Ford is, you know, just offshore because it's the nearest major port that can accommodate a US aircraft carrier. So, the answer is yes, I think we should be a little worried about this. Mhm. Um also and uh another comment um thanks for the 5 Australian dollars from

[51:57] Luminous. Uh why? How does Israel benefit from absolute chaos like in Libya and Iraq? What's the end goal? How can this lead to lasting security for them? You know what? I don't think it can lead to lasting security. I think this is the fallacy in in Israeli policy. The Israeli view is, if there's chaos, they won't have the wherewithal to work on a bomb. And if they don't have the wherewithal to work on a bomb, then Israel's going to be safe for another

[52:28] month or 6 months or 1 year or whatever it is. And so, if you just keep the region in a state of chaos, you can protect yourself with nuclear weapons, and those other states, because they're in chaos, can't develop a a legitimate weapon again to use against you. It's a short-term view, not a long-term view. Yeah, I think I think one fallacy, especially when people on the left are analyzing like Western and US and

[52:58] Israeli policy, is that we kind of assume that the actions are based on some kind of logic that is even right for the people who are perpetrating it. Um it may be that they're engaged in something that's self-destructive, and they're just making a mistake, you know, I mean, the March of Folly, right? I mean, and I think I mean, I think that's what is going on. I mean, you and I have talked about I mean, why on earth would Israel have wanted to overthrow Assad and have an ISIS regime right on their [ __ ]

[53:30] border? That doesn't seem good for Israeli internal security, but yet they did it. The the Syrian government yesterday endorsed, announced its support for the US-Israeli attack on Iran. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. >> That's so crazy. This is a guy who was This guy was uh you know, in Al-Qaeda. Yeah. Yeah, he was the number two in ISIS. That's crazy. Yeah, I mean, I look, I think I think what's you know, the but

[54:00] look, the thing is um Stratfor, who are not always right, but they're right about some things. Uh they say that the US foreign policy is based on disruption of possibly emerging regional superpowers, right? Just just keep everyone else off guard. That's your thing. You [ __ ] them up. You throw a push a stick into the their bicycle spokes. The Israelis are just the same thing on acid. That that's what this is about. They're just trying to you know, instead of just like the Chinese approach is very different. The Chinese approach is like, we can all make money

[54:31] together. Um you know, let's just peace is war is bad, peace is more profitable, peace is smarter. But that's not the US-Israeli model. Agreed. Um let's see. Uh why uh uh Joe Reddington wants to know, why are there still British base bases, sorry, braces, in Cyprus? Will there be added pressure to remove them now? Get your Brits out. I sure hope so. Hey, Robbie

[55:01] is telling us that CENTCOM is announcing that three American soldiers have been killed in some kind of an attack. Let's see. Um Yeah, I'm seeing this. Uh they're not There's not really any details here. Um several other people also several other soldiers were injured. Does it say where? Um in action is all it says. We're withhold They're withholding additional information, including their

[55:33] identities until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified. Oh, boy. That's It was inevitable. It was inevitable. Uh >> [sighs] >> um Yeah, people keep asking about the sleeper cells. I got We got to reiterate, there's probably no sleeper cells. No, and if they are, they're in places that don't have very many Americans. I The The when I think of Iranian sleeper cells, I think of Pakistan. Because when I was living in Pakistan,

[56:03] there absolutely were Iranian sleeper cells, and they were doing bad [ __ ] Um Otaku, thanks for the 10 bucks. Um do we think Huckabee is another individual who became an interloper after being in Israel for so long and sees himself as an Israeli more than as an American? Oh, I think before he got to Israel, he saw himself as more Israeli than American. This guy is This guy is actually dangerous to US foreign policy. He needs to be removed. Anybody who would fet the traitor Jonathan Pollard in the American

[56:35] embassy like some kind of [ __ ] hero needs to be removed from office. He's doing damage to our country. Uh couldn't agree more. Um And and by the way, um thanks Managing Things for the dollar. Outside of Israel, which regimes in the Middle East are happy with the removal of the Shah / Islamic Republic? Well, that's different. Um let's say say the Islamic Republic. Yeah, the Islamic Republic uh every one of the Gulf countries.

[57:06] Every single one of them. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. Thrilled. >> Thanks for the from where I sit. >> I'm sorry, let me finish real quickly. You can add to that Jordan, Egypt, and apparently now Syria. Weird. Uh where I see it, thanks for the generous uh two $10 donations. Much appreciated. Thank you. Um let's see. Oh, and um Jay support from Utah. You guys heard about the former Iranian president being confirmed to be dead, right? That's Ahmadinejad. Yeah, they killed

[57:38] Ahmadinejad yesterday. Uh inexplicably, and apparently they wiped out his entire family as well. And there was another What was Who was the other one that they attacked? >> They said he was a reformer. That's not true. >> Who was the Who was the the other the other uh former president that they attacked? That's it. Ahmadinejad. It was just Ahmadinejad. Okay. Um if the intelligence Luminous Cutter, thanks for the 5 Australian dollars. If the intelligence community thinks that the current administration is making

[58:09] Iran decisions based outside of the US national interest assessments, why aren't they trying to solve that, John? Well, it's because at the end of the day, these agencies and departments have to do what the president tells them to do. And if this is the president's policy, they are compelled to carry out the president's policy. Keep in mind my favorite quote from former Egyptian president uh Gamal Abdel Nasser. The thing about you Americans is you

[58:40] never make clear-cut stupid decisions. You only make complicated stupid decisions, which [laughter] makes us wonder if there is something to them which we are missing. That's so [ __ ] awesome. That's so great. And the US Army is now announcing that it sank an American ship. I'm sorry, an Armeni- an Iranian ship, forgive me. The US Army is saying that it sank an Iranian ship. Well, Trump had threatened at the beginning of this war uh a couple of days ago that he was going to destroy the uh Iranian navy.

[59:12] Yeah, there's not much to the Iranian navy. They've got a sub or two. They've got a couple of ships. It's not going to be They've got a bunch of patrol a lot of patrol boats. A lot of patrol boats, and they're mostly IRGC. Uh Zizi uh Kagianis, uh thanks for the 29 um and uh donation. Much appreciated. Um yeah, so um John, uh are we're in it we're an hour in I can keep going but it's what do you think? Let's answer our questions. Okay, let's answer our questions indeed. Um

[59:45] Okay, so complicated stupid actions is so great. Thanks for the 999 from keep it real. Have you heard the conspiracy about how it's really tourists burned down part of Patagonia's forest Argentina and before the fires occurred the president of Argentina changed the law allowing foreigners to buy land in Argentina. All right. New to new to me. I hadn't heard that. Yeah, don't know. And now AP is

[1:00:16] reporting that three service members killed and five seriously wounded. But not where or how. >> No, not where. Weird. Okay. Um Can you Oh, this is good. Trevor House. Can you guys simply explain why you are so against the attack? Do you agree that Iran is extremely dangerous when left alone in a perfect world? What do you think America's stance should be on

[1:00:47] Iran? I'm really glad for this question. John why don't why don't you take it? >> [snorts] >> Iran posed no threat to the United States. None. None. It had no nuclear weapon. It had no nuclear weapons program. That was confirmed twice by the CIA and by the International Atomic Energy Agency. >> And don't and didn't want one. And didn't want one and there was a fatwa against developing one. >> [snorts] >> And even if they had one they didn't have a delivery system to to deliver it.

[1:01:19] So um you know, why are we doing Israel's dirty work for it? If the Israelis want to attack Iran then go ahead attack Iran. But why did we have to do it? Why are Americans dying in the name of Israeli foreign policy? Would you agree with the assumption that Iran was quote unquote dangerous? I mean the the brief against Iran has been that it's a promoter of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen and that they basically are an exporter and destabilizing force

[1:01:50] throughout the Middle East. Do you agree with that? Um no. I believe that terrorism is in the eye of the beholder. There are I mean Hezbollah certainly is a terrorist group or has been a terrorist group in the past it blew up American Embassy twice. It blew up the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut killed hundreds and hundreds of Americans including several of my CIA colleagues decades ago. It is now [clears throat] a legitimate political

[1:02:20] entity in in Lebanon. It's a major parliamentary force. Um With the exception of targeting civilians on October 7th I think that that Hamas was created to liberate the Palestinian people from Israeli oppression. And so often times terrorism is in the eye of the beholder. I would say that that the Iranians were responding with their support for these groups to

[1:02:51] what they saw as Israeli terrorism against Palestinians and more broadly against Iran. Yeah, let's not forget, right? Like when the rebel I mean let's take go back in the way back when machine to 1979 they overthrow the repressive Shah of Iran whose son they'd like to now install who is presiding over a despotic tyrannical regime with a torture regime that is crazy under this horrible SAVAK

[1:03:23] organization. 1980 Iran Iraq supported and armed and financed and encouraged by the United States attacks Iran. They end up having to fight this brutal war that we never paid attention to or even covered in the American media the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1986 if memory serves. 80 88 89 something like that. >> And then when and then like out of all that we basically you know

[1:03:54] the Iranians basically never got a start. We imposed these horrible these brutal sanctions against their economy for the entire time. I mean they've been on defense. I mean I mean I think the brief in favor of Iran is that they're also like a regionally um non unipolar force in that region, right? It's kind of like US and Israeli dominance would be complete if not for Iran. Iran is the counterweight the counter

[1:04:25] balance. I would argue that counter balances are useful and more stabilizing than having um you know hegemonic control by one power in a region. I mean so I mean but like you John I mean it's basically it's like who who the Iranians want to have govern them is not our [ __ ] business cuz we're not Iranians. It's their [ __ ] country if they want to overthrow it they can if they want they have in the past they know how and we and if even if we want to we can't get

[1:04:55] the new government that we want we'll just end up breaking things which is what we're doing. Um we are bad at this. I mean point to one example of the United States you know bombing a country into regime change and having it work out well. It's killing people for no end what destroying infrastructure towards no end. We we could have had a peaceful economic and diplomatic relationship with these people decades ago if we wanted it. All we had to do was pick up the phone.

[1:05:25] That's it. That's true. That's true. So Yeah, that that's all right. Sorry I get a little bit heated here. Um Okay. Um John Swiss J says John says that Iran has a couple of hypersonic missiles but open source intel and other intelligence assessments is that they have a few thousand. Well, if that's true I stand corrected. It was my understanding that they had about a half a dozen that they got from

[1:05:56] the Russians. Darkness is saying questioning me Iran is useful and stabilizing? I mean it's not a bad it's not a good thing to have one look at what the whole 1991 you know after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the US and the world became a unipolar environment for a while until the Chinese and the Russians got their [ __ ] together. Um It was not a good place. I mean you know, we drove the car and we drove it into a ditch repeatedly.

[1:06:26] I don't know. That's my take. Um Yeah, it's but again basically it's not our business. Luminous counter thanks for the five. Israel isn't a monolith it's allowed to have a propaganda it's been allowed to have a propaganda and lobby network in the west to say the least. Does the west benefit from absolute chaos in the Middle East? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. We benefit from

[1:06:57] stability in the Middle East. 100%. Couldn't agree more. Um Okay, let me see like what um People I just want to say can we just all get along? Can we just get along? Can we just stop making making it horrible for the older people and the kids? Course we all know that Rodney King quote. It's pretty funny though. It shouldn't be funny but you know, you have to sort of ruefully laugh. Thank you very much Martin C Hugh for

[1:07:28] joining the program. Um And I think we are basically at the end of our questions. I'm really sorry for all the people whose questions we didn't get to. Please bear with us there were more listeners and viewers than we're used to. And so Thanks for joining us. Definitely very much so. So we are here on the program if you're some of you are new to the show. We do this every Monday

[1:08:00] through Friday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and we try to answer as many questions as possible. We're a fast moving show. We appreciate your your likes your follows your subscribes and of course your donations. Please go tune in tomorrow Monday 9:00 a.m. Eastern time. John have a good remaining time in New York. >> Thanks buddy. And I hope everything goes well and we will talk to you guys later. Bye. Bye everybody.

[1:08:32] >> [music]

[1:09:48] >> Yeah.
