Title: Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, Iran — Empire in Plain Sight
Show: Unfiltered With S.A.M.
Date: 2026-01-09
URL: https://youtu.be/gbvuY-IqXvQ
Duration: 53:00

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[00:00] If you want to really hit naroterrorism, attack Mexico. That's where the cartels are. It's it's the Mexican cartels working with the Chinese to flood the United States with fentinel, [music] for example. It's not uh Venezuela. Venezuela has [clears throat] some of the dirtiest oil in the world. It was more about the dollar than about the oil. I would say there were multiple rats, [music] >> not just somebody in Maduro's inner

[00:30] circle, but at least one person in the military as well. The Democrats are just as guilty as the Republicans. So, I believe very much that yes, this was in part calculated to push Epstein out of the headlines so that nobody is talking about Jeffrey Epste. And that's just the way that the 1% want to keep it. And I wouldn't be surprised now if Cuba falls in the next 6 months. This is something that the United States has sought for the last [music] 65 years.

[01:00] They're serious about Greenland. They're not going to attack it, but they certainly want to buy it. In my 15 years at the CIA is if the US begins moving aircraft carrier battle groups to a region, [music] they're going to attack. If we add one or two more battle groups to either the [music] Red Sea or, god forbid, the Persian Gulf, >> Mhm. >> we're going to attack Iran. And so, yeah, he just came to say the protests are a go because what do the Israelis

[01:31] get? The Israelis get a military base. This was a very bold move on the part of the Israelis and it's going to work out well for them. Joining me today to help unpack what's unfolding across several geopolitical hot zones, bringing his trademark uh cander and straight talk to the conversation is author, whistleblower, former assistant to the CIA deputy director John Kiryaku. Welcome back, John. >> Thank you so much, Susie. It's good to see you. >> Same here. John, I wanted to get right into things because a lot of things are

[02:02] happening at the same time at different parts of the globe. So, [snorts] let's start off with Venezuela. Following the capture of Maduro, Trump has openly floated the what do you say the the possibility of US intervention in all these other um jurisdictions, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Iran, and most importantly um Greenland. In that context, I mean I feel that we're witnessing a historic pivot in [snorts] how diplomacy and foreign policy Jon are conducted. one that no longer um fits real politic or any established school

[02:35] of thought, but instead reflects a blunt might is right logic and the open return of a colonial empire. >> I I couldn't agree with you more. Um boy, there are so many different facets to this to this issue. I'm hearing a lot in Washington, well, it was about the oil. It's all about the oil. It's always about the oil. I don't think this is about the oil. I think that and well, you know what? Let me tell you why I don't think it's about

[03:06] the oil. Because Venezuela has some of the dirtiest oil in the world. It's it's very heavy. It's the highest sulfur content of any oil in the world. And so it has to be it has to be injected with with chemicals in order to make it viable. And it most of it can't be used for gasoline. You have to use it for home heating oil because it's so heavy. Uh for many many years, for decades, the only place where Venezuela could refine

[03:37] that oil was in Texas. Because in Houston, we have specialized refineries that can handle high sulfur content oil. It's similar to the oil in northwestern Canada. We don't really need that oil. We're sitting on an ocean of oil uh in in terms of um shale oil, fracking oil here in the United States, an ocean of it. We don't need it. It was more about

[04:09] the dollar than about the oil. In 2019 2018, Kuwait sold a shipment of oil to China and they took payment in Yuan. This was the very first time that a major oil deal was brokered, not using the dollar. The United States recognized that as a long-term threat to the American economy. And so what better way to ensure that the petro dollar

[04:39] continues to be the currency used in international oil transactions than to overthrow the government that was leading the charge to use the yuan, to use a basket of currencies, to use the euro or to promote the creation of a unified bricks currency. So I think this was more about the dollar. Now Nicholas Maduro, I don't believe for one minute that

[05:10] Nicholas Maduro was running a terrorist state. I don't believe for a [clears throat] minute that Nicholas Maduro was a narco terrorist. If you want to really hit narotism, attack Mexico. That's where the cartels are. It's it's the Mexican cartels working with the Chinese to flood the United States with fentinel, for example. It's not uh Venezuela. I read something in the Washington Post just yesterday or the day before accusing Venezuela of being a base for Hezbollah

[05:43] and the Iranian government. Well, you know what? I wrote an article about that for the for the Los Angeles Times. Do you know what that base is? It's a bicycle factory. Yeah, >> it's a bicycle factory. But then the argument today is, well, they could turn that into a factory for tanks if they wanted to. Yeah, but they haven't. And the Iranians have been there for 20 years. So what? Now today, you're going to decide that this is somehow a threat to the United States, that there's a bicycle factory in Venezuela.

[06:14] So I really I think that Maduro was easy to overthrow. Um, I think that um that this this kidnapping of Maduro has sent shock waves uh all around the world. I think that the US calculated correctly that the Chinese wouldn't say anything, that the Russians wouldn't say anything, that the Indians wouldn't say anything. And at the same time, we just cut off Cuba's sole source of oil. >> And I wouldn't be surprised now if Cuba

[06:46] falls in the next 6 months. This is something that the United States has sought for the last 65 years. So I think there are a lot of aspects to this. Now you raised Greenland, too. I have um I have a friend uh in the White House with whom I had coffee yesterday and I said, "Come on, man. What is this with Greenland? We look like fools." And he said, "They're serious about Greenland. they're not going to attack

[07:16] it, but they certainly want to buy it. I said, but the the king of Denmark and the prime minister of Denmark have both said that Greenland is not for sale. And he said, well, look at it this way. He said, "What the US position is going to be in the coming months is that the treaty that we signed with Denmark in whenever it was 1951 or 1953, giving us essentially unfettered rights to have bases in Greenland and, you know, take

[07:48] uh rare earth metals from Greenland, whatever. We're going to rely on that with the argument that Greenland is deacto ours." anyway. So, just take this money for it and we're going to keep it. I said, well, that's a violation of international law. And I said, one of the things I think the the White House is underestimating is the unity of the European Union on this issue. Just day before yesterday,

[08:18] every member country in the European Union signed a document pledging support for Denmark. I think that if the United States were to either forcibly take Greenland or to coers Denmark into giving up Greenland, it would be the end of NATO. And what would what we would see in NATO's place would be a unified military of the European Union, >> which is what they're striving to do

[08:49] through the safe um uh doctrine. That's exactly right. already. It's already um started being implemented. [snorts] >> Very very interesting the information you just shared. >> Um I wanted to ask you uh so regardless of the fact that they're saying that you know Venezuela is sitting on the largest oil deposits in the world 300 something plus billion barrels more than Saudis 267 doesn't matter. It's how you analyzed it. It's

[09:20] for other reasons. I think it's for other reasons. And look at it this way, too. The United States literally cannot invade Venezuela. Why? Because Venezuela is the size of Germany, France, and Austria combined. And it's almost entirely jungle. There's not an army in the world big enough to invade and occupy and run Venezuela. And so I think what we're going to see is continued pressure on the Venezuelan

[09:52] government, whether it continues to be this government or it becomes a puppet government of the United States. Continued pressure for oil um concessions, but there's not going to be an American occupation. It wouldn't make any kind of sense. Uh John, um the other thing that rung to my mind when this whole thing unfolded was um [snorts] how for decades when it came to Central and South America starting from the ' 50s through the 80s,

[10:24] um regime change in that part of the world relied on slow covert CIA operations designed to look like organic popular uprisings. Whereas Trump this time dispensed with that entire playbook >> straight in. Oh my god, he achieved everything in a matter, you know, operationally in a matter of hours in what previously took months and plausible deniability following, you know. So given [snorts] that context, how luckily is it that Maduro Zares could have could only have happened uh with an inside job, someone from his inner circle tipping tipping them off or

[10:56] facilitating access. >> 100% that's what happened. >> Okay. >> 100% that's exactly what happened. As soon as the US put a bounty of $50 million on Maduro's head, you know that people in his immediate inner circle lined up to volunteer to rat him out and turn him over to the US government. Listen, I can tell you Susie with firthand

[11:27] knowledge >> Uhhuh. >> that when we put a bounty on someone, we pay the bounty. Mhm. >> We pay it. And I know because I have gone to meetings with $10 million in two giant gym gym bags full of cash to pay off the bounty. I can tell you that we've paid bounties with gold, with diamonds, with dollars, with land. However you want to take payment, we're happy to make the payment. And so as

[11:59] soon as we offered $50 million, we only offered 20 million for Osama bin Laden, >> $50 million, somebody turned him in. >> Yeah. >> And I would I would go so far to say, and this is just an educated guess based on my own experience. I don't have any inside information. I would say there were multiple rats. >> Not just somebody in Maduro's inner circle, but at least one person in the military as well. at least one person in the military. The military never fought

[12:29] back. There were no US casualties in this operation. None. >> None. The 80. >> And at the same time, the Delta forces, they killed 80 people, including 35 Cubans. There were no American casualties. So, how does h how do I know that there was this rat? Well, number one, the government said that there was a rat. The the American government said that there was a rat. But number two, and I'll give there a three. Number two, in August,

[13:00] Maduro's personal pilot went public and said that the CIA had approached him. The CIA had offered him $50 million so that when Maduro were to get on the plane to run to Cuba or Russia or Spain or wherever he was going to run, the pilot would land the plane instead in Florida so the FBI could just grab him off the plane. And and number three, we know that Maduro was changing

[13:32] the locations where he was sleeping every single night, just like Saddam Hussein did. Um, so he was not sleeping in the same bed two nights in a row. Well, the Delta forces knew exactly where he was sleeping and they literally physically pulled him out of the bed. >> So that just spells informant. >> Yeah. But um regarding the bounty, George uh John, sorry. So from where I sit in the Eastern Mediterranean, there's a

[14:04] striking irony in watching the Democrats go crazy and denounce the legality of Maduro's capture when it's the Biden administration that itself placed the bounty, the reward on him back in January 25 for 25 million with Trump bumping it up to 50 million later on in August 25. So it's it which is an unprecedented bounty for a head of state and that should be noted just so Democrats don't Yeah. for people to know >> Susie I have I have to tell you a story

[14:35] apppropo of this of this comment that you just made. My two oldest sons were in love with fake wrestling WWE Smackdown you know whatever. And so I got tickets to a World Wrestling Entertainment uh show at Madison Square Garden in New York and I took them. They were like 8 and five or or nine and six at the time. And we're watching these grown men smash each other against the floor and break

[15:06] chairs over each other's backs. And I said to my oldest son, I said, "I don't think I understand. Which one is the good guy?" And he said, "Well, that's just it, Dad. There is no good guy. That's the situation that we find ourselves in today. You look at Trump, Trump put a $50 million bounty on Maduro. You look at the Democrats, they put a $25 million bounty on the on Maduro. There is no good guy in this situation. The Democrats are just as guilty as the Republicans in being

[15:39] cowboys who want to invade and occupy any country whose leader does not do exactly as he or she is told. So there is no good guy in the Democratic party. >> Something else I wanted to ask you again from my standpoint all the way here in the East Mediterranean John and you being there. So there's a we all know at least us as outsiders I don't know if Americans realize this that there's a recurring pattern in um in US in US

[16:09] politics where major national security escalations coincide with the sudden disappearance of uncomfortable domestic issues. So where I'm where I'm alluding [laughter] at is the Epstein file dominated headlines across party lines for a number of weeks and now it's suddenly abruptly been vanished. Was the timing of the Mad Dura operation chosen to clear the new cycle, refresh? >> I believe it. I believe it was actually. I think you and I are the only people in

[16:40] in the the world today talking about Jeffrey Epstein. Yesterday, the Justice Department very quietly issued a memo >> that was barely covered saying that by December 31st, they were supposed to have released all of the Epstein documents, >> but they are admitting that they have released 1% 1% of the Epstein documents. So I believe very much that yes, this was in part

[17:12] calculated to push Epstein out of the headlines. Not just out of the headlines, out of the newspapers so that nobody is talking about Jeffrey Epstein. And I said on on my own podcast the other day, how many people related to Venezuela and drugs have been arrested in the past in the past 6 months? Two. Nicholas Maduro and his wife. How many people have been arrested in regards to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and pedophilia at the top levels of the US

[17:44] government? Zero. And that's just the way that the 1% want to keep it. >> Yeah. And it's it's it's it's interesting what you're saying with the DOJ announcement. It just went under the radar. I [snorts] mean, if people really know that what has been released is just 1%, they were going to be they're going to be in the streets, but not it's not um dominating the headlines this announcement. >> So much has been released that they do think >> unconsciously that oh they've released all the files and it's gone under the

[18:14] radar this announcement. >> H >> yeah they haven't released anything practically. >> Yeah. So something else I wanted to ask you also I wanted your take on is the the the military operation with the capturing abduction of Maduro whatever you want um call it you saying it's been rightfully criticized by legal experts and the UN as a violation of international law and a dangerous precedent. What message John does this Madura abduction signal to other leaders like Putin, MBS of Saudi Arabia,

[18:47] Muhammad bin Salman, Xiinping and Erdogan I mean I'm just throwing out names there but >> sure [snorts] I think it's a couple of different messages to tell you the truth. uh on a on a personal level, on a onetoone level, um it's that the United States the United States is always going to be a threat to leaders with whom it disagrees. Right? If you are Nicholas Maduro, if you are Manuel Moriega, if you are

[19:20] Saddam Hussein, things could get bad for you. I'm not saying that's right. I'm not saying it's legal. I'm saying it's the reality. Number one. Number two, in a very odd way, this was a reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine. Now, the Monroe Doctrine dates to, you know, the 18s, the the early 19th century, saying that the Western Hemisphere should be free of foreign intervention.

[19:51] And what that meant in 1814 was British naval intervention. Well, first of all, it's an imperialist policy that's not based in law. It's none of the United States business who, you know, Argentina has good relations with or Paraguay or Honduras or any other country in the Western Hemisphere. But the United States makes it its business to keep foreign powers out. I said at the beginning of our talk

[20:22] that I thought this was about the dollar. Sure, it was about the dollar. But visav China, >> for example, the Chinese built a refinery in the Caribbean [snorts] that's not quite ready to open that could handle the refining of Venezuelan oil. We wanted to make sure that the Chinese never got I think it's in the Turks and Kikos Islands. We wanted to make sure that the Chinese could never use that that refinery. Um at the same

[20:52] time, the Indians built a refinery in India and they were shipping Venezuelan oil all the way to India, refining it and then using some and exporting some. So we don't want any of that to happen. We want all of that oil to be refined in Texas, but it couldn't be refined in Texas so long as we had sanctions imposed on Venezuela. So, we put ourselves in this position. The only way to get out of the position is to

[21:22] overthrow Maduro, install somebody else, and then lift the sanctions. And I think that's exactly what we're going to see. Now, this new uh this acting president, Dulce Rodriguez, it was very funny to me and very telling that as soon as Maduro was taken, she went on national television in Venezuela. She said, "This is a grave international crime that Maduro is the dulyeleed president of Venezuela." And then two days later, 2 days later, she said, "Well, we believe we can work

[21:55] with the Trump administration and we're engaged in talks right now. So either number one, she's the American puppet that we've been wondering. Oh, I wonder who the American puppet is that's going to be installed. Either she's the puppet or the Trump administer administration has so frightened her that she's just essentially going to do what she's told to do. I will add though that I'm I'm shocked at the lack of any response at all from the Chinese and the Russians

[22:26] unless their analysis is the Americans are going to um resurrect the uh Monroe Doctrine. So that's their sphere of influence and that that means that Taiwan is China's sphere of influence and the Americans are going to back off and Ukraine is Russia's sphere of influence and the Americans are going to back off. It remains to be seen. >> Yeah, it's interesting. But um

[29:10] again watching Now I want to turn it towards the US. Are we once again watching the US public being maneuvered towards the idea of war through cover operation operations and staged events with the US and Israeli intelligence instigating unrest inside Iran as we speak? There's all this unrest to set the conditions and rally American support for military uh action. [clears throat] >> The the easy answer is yes. That's exactly what we're looking at. So, let's break it down. Uh, the Mossad has

[29:43] blanket coverage of Iran. Not only do they do they intercept all Iranian communications, including military communications and leadership communications, they have successfully infiltrated Iran on the ground. There are lots and lots of Iranian Jews who have immigrated to the West, whether it's to the United States, to the UK, or to Israel, and have been sent back. Now, they speak Farsy

[30:13] as natives. There's no accent. And many of them have been able to successfully target Iranian military leaders and Iranian scientists, specifically nuclear scientists. Another thing that the Israelis have been very very successful at is recruiting Afghan refugees. Now, here's how this how this worked. Iran has a problem. There are literally millions of Afghan refugees who have run

[30:43] to Iran over the last 25 years, 35 years, and the Iranians can't handle them. Iran is a poor country mostly because of sanctions and you know they have trouble taking care of their own people. They can't handle millions of Afghan refugees as well. And so they don't have benefits for Afghan refugees. There's no free food. There's no free housing. There's no free medical care. The Israelis knew this and so they began

[31:14] approaching uh Afghans and say, "Hey, uh if we give you $300 a month or $500 a month, how about if you tell us where the general lives, where the scientist lives, what time he leaves his apartment every day, what route he takes to go to work, whether he establishes a pattern, so we know where he is at any given time." And that's how they were able to decimate >> the Iranian military leadership and to

[31:44] set back by years the Iranian nuclear program. That's phase number one. Phase number two is that the Iranians fund an organization called the Mujahedin Khal. The MEK began as a communist organization. It was based in northern Iraq and it would launch anti- mostly anti-western attacks in Iran during the Sha regime. Um they tried to kill the

[32:15] American ambassador in Iran in the 1970s. They tried to kill the senior most American general in Iran in the 1970s. They would kidnap and execute Iranian government officials. Well, it's more of a cult than it is a uh a communist organization. And many people say now it's actually a a Muslim militant organization. I disagree with that. I think it's a cult, a cult of personality. It's headed by a woman named Miriam Rajavei. Um her husband

[32:47] founded the Mujahedin and just vanished one day. Just disappeared like he went up to the moon or something. and Miriam Rajavi took over. The consensus is that she murdered him and disposed of his body so that she could take over the organization, which she has. Now, the reason why the MEK even matters is twofold. Number one, Hillary Clinton took the MEK off of the State Department's list of international

[33:18] terrorist groups. And immediately bigname Democrats and bigname Republicans began taking MEK money to lobby on their behalf in Washington. So now Miriam Rajavei is frequently seen in Washington and in New York at large fundraising dinner parties where Hillary Clinton is talking about what a great leader she is and Rudy Giuliani is talking about what a great leader she is

[33:49] and secretaries of state, former secretaries of state and secretaries of defense are saying what a great friend she is to the United States. We know that the Mujahin takes Israeli money and they are the ones we're we're 100% certain about this. They are the ones instigating these these demonstrations and revolts, the protests that we're seeing around Iran that have resulted in at least 15 deaths so far. I think the number is higher

[34:19] today, but at least 15 deaths as of yesterday or the day before. The third point is that the Washington Post the day before yesterday ran an op-ed piece on the editorial page written by no less than Raza Palavi, the >> God >> exiled Sha of Iran. this idiot again who is given a soap box by one of the

[34:50] richest men in the world um Jeff Bezos who owns the Washington Post and he said Raza Palavi the son of the overthrown sha said now is the time for Iran's return to democracy well guess what Iran was never a democracy especially under your father your father who was more bloodthirsty than anybody in power in Iran today, who with his intelligence service, the

[35:20] Savak, uh tortured and executed untold thousands, tens of thousands of people, who raped and pillaged the country and stole billions of dollars as they were running away to save themselves uh in February of 1979. And now this clown wants to go back and bring democracy to Iran. The truth is that he is financed by the Israelis. >> And so he writes this op-ed piece and

[35:51] then the Israeli government comes out and says, "Oh, there's a very interesting oped today in the Washington Post. Everybody should read it. [clears throat] It has a really great idea to bring peace to Iran. Like we're retarded." >> But we know that >> and we don't see the connections. >> Acts as a as an arm of what do you say? A speaking arm. I don't know the expression in English. You know what I'm trying to say. >> Sure. Yeah. Yeah. It's a mouthpiece. >> Mouthpiece. Exactly. >> Mhm. It is. It's the mouthpiece of the

[36:22] 1%. That's exactly right. >> Operation Mockingbird has never um been shelved, >> right? >> Yeah. >> So, in your >> Well, you know what? I'm actually glad that you brought that up because that's an that's kind of an important thing for me. >> Okay. So, Operation Mockingbird was a CIA program that ended in 1975 where they would plant stories in the American media. [snorts] It It did end in 1975. And I I'll explain why. It's because the CIA doesn't need it anymore.

[36:54] Why would you pay American journalists to plant stories when they'll plant the stories for free? You don't need to pay them. Listen, a couple of years ago, a great friend of mine who's a journalist and an an incredible investigative journalist for Bloomberg, his name is Jason Leupold. Jason Leupold was was called by the Pentagon spokesman a foyer terrorist. Foya standing for Freedom of Information

[37:25] Act. because nobody on the planet has filed more Freedom of Information Act requests for classified documents than Jason Leupold. So Jason is the one who broke the Hillary Clinton email story because he just wrote a Freedom of Information Act request and said, "I want all of Hillary Clinton's emails. Period." And they said, "No, you can't have them." He filed a lawsuit like he does every single time. He won the lawsuit like he does every single time. and he got

[37:55] Hillary Clinton's emails and he blew the whistle on the fact that she was using an unclassified server. Big big scandal in the United States. So a couple of years ago, Jason, it was over Christmas, nothing was happening. Jason didn't have a story he was he was working on. So just because he was bored, he wrote a Freedom of Information Act request to the CIA and he asked for all emails, all communications between the CIA's Office

[38:26] of Public Affairs and all American journalists. And they denied his request and he filed a lawsuit like he does every time and he won. So they gave him tens of thousands of pages of emails. In these emails, he found two things that were particularly interesting. One was a series of emails between Ken Delaneian, who used to be the chief investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times and now is the chief national security

[38:57] reporter for NBC News and MS Now, which used to be called MSNBC. He's one of the most important national security reporters in America. He was writing stories about the CIA and sending them to the CIA for clearance and comment before sending them to his own editor. So, it was essentially the CIA running the news operation at NBC News and

[39:28] MSNBC. Another thing Jason found was a small independent outlet. There was a junior reporter at this little tiny independent outlet and he actually stumbled onto a serious story that pointed the finger at the CIA and he sent the article to the CIA and said, "I'm publishing this. Do you have a comment?" And they answered him and they said, "So help us God. If you publish this, we will cut you off.

[40:00] We will never give you another interview and you will never be invited to the CIA Christmas party ever again. And so he killed his own story. So the CIA doesn't need Operation Mockingbird anymore when it can just bully reporters and get them to publish whatever they want by threatening them. And it's because journalism is dead in America. Big papers are in a death spiral and

[40:30] there is no such thing as investigative journalism. >> Not in Europe also the same. >> Yeah. >> It's terrible. >> Terrible. Um, John, I wanted to ask you, what indicators should the American public be watching to know whether US involvement [clears throat] um, in an Iran attack is imminent? >> That's easy. >> Something that stands out. >> That's easy. >> Look for naval movements. >> Okay. One of the most valuable and important things that I learned in my 15

[41:02] years at the CIA is if the US begins moving aircraft carrier battle groups to a region, they're going to attack. >> Okay? >> Plain and simple. I said this a couple of months ago in a podcast. Uh, I was asked if um if um if I believed that the US was going to attack Venezuela this 6 months ago and I said, "No, I didn't believe it. Why? Why don't you believe it?" And I said, "Because we haven't sent any naval assets." If if we were serious about

[41:34] attacking Venezuela, we would send an aircraft carrier battle group. So, an aircraft carrier battle group is the aircraft carrier, dozens of fighter jets that sit on it, and 11 support ships, including destroyers, frigots, and battleships and supply ships. A couple of months later, we announced that we were moving the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier and its battle group from the Pacific to Venezuela. And I said, "Ah, now yes, I believe we're

[42:04] going to attack Venezuela." Well, we always keep, [cough] excuse me, we always keep a battle group somewhere in the Mediterranean and somewhere in the Arabian Sea. If we add one or two more battle groups to either the Red Sea or, god forbid, the Persian Gulf >> Mhm. >> we're going to attack Iran. >> Huh. Okay. Point taken.

[48:50] articles might have you believe. The real fight was in the capitals, Abu Dhabi and Riyad. >> And the Saudis came out the winners on this one. >> And the Zionists lost in effect >> big time. You know, we should also say in a couple of minutes that we have left, we should also say that last week, Israel became the only country in the world to recognize an independent country calling itself Somali land. I've actually been to Somali land. I was in

[49:20] um Djibouti when I was with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and our ambassador to Djibouti asked me if I wanted to go to Somalia. I said, "Sure." I had never been to Somalia. He said, "We're going to drive tomorrow." I said, "Great." So it was the ambassador, the defense attaches, the chief of security and me. We drove to Somali land. I was surprised at what a decent place it was. It has a functioning city with about 100,000 people in it. It's a real city with

[49:50] real, you know, infrastructure. It's so far away from Moadishu. It has nothing to do with Shabbab. It has nothing to do with piracy. These are just people in search of recognition. And on the way back to Djibouti, I I I said to the ambassador, "So what do you think about this? What do you think about an independent Somali land?" And he said, "Well, if it was up to me, I would recognize them. I would recognize them not as Somali land. I would recognize them as the legitimate government of

[50:20] Somalia because Somalia doesn't have a functioning government. It hasn't in decades." But he said, "It's never going to happen. Nobody's ever going to recognize those poor people." Well, the Israelis did. Now, this is great for the people of Somali land because there's going to be an Israeli embassy in Somali land for what that's worth. But it gives them some level of, you know, international stature. It's far, far more important for the Israelis because what do the Israelis get? The Israelis get a military base. >> And this base is only about 30 seconds

[50:54] flight from Yemen. Yeah. >> Where they can bomb the Houthis to their heart's content. That's what this was about. And at the same time, they're working with the Saudis, who are in turn working with the Yemeni government to squeeze the Houthis from the south. This was a very bold move on the part of the Israelis, and it's going to work out well for them. >> Well, John John, thank you so much for your insight and for breaking all of all of these all of these uh angles down clearly for the viewers. And I I want to tell you congratulations on your

[51:26] channel, Deep Focus, surpassing the 100,000 subscriber mark. In under a year, it's an incredible milestone. >> Crazy proud. >> Crazy. Nine and a half months we made 100,000 subscribers. I'm very proud of myself. We We have a lot of fun talking about exactly these same issues. >> Way to go. Way to go. >> Thank you. >> The sky's the limit. Onwards and upwards for >> Amen. >> Focus. >> Thank you all for watching. Please continue to like, to comment, and to share. And ask your friends and family members to subscribe by pressing the

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