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Sept. 30, 2024 - Judging Freedom - Judge Andrew Napolitano
27:12
Larry Johnson: Who Are the Real Terrorists?
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Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
Today is Monday, September 30th, 2024.
Larry Johnson will be here with us in just a moment on just who are the real terrorists in the Middle East.
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Larry Johnson, welcome here, my dear friend.
Alistair Crook reported this morning that the attack that killed Nasrallah outside of Beirut was 80, 8-0, 2,000-pound U.S.-made bombs.
Could something of that magnitude have possibly have occurred without the United States Department of Defense, without the CIA, without MI6 knowing about it?
No.
No.
It had to be coordinated.
The United States is going to keep up plausible deniability.
Oh, we knew nothing.
Nothing.
More like the famous police captain in the movie Casablanca.
Gambling in the casino?
Heavens no.
But absolutely involved.
Has Mossad successfully infiltrated Hezbollah?
It's possible.
There's also can't discount.
I know that Alistair is inclined to lean more towards a human penetration.
And I can't argue that way.
I don't disagree, but we've also had some developments on
In the same way that Israel succeeded in planting bombs and pagers, it also could have very well succeeded in planting a particular communications device on someone they knew was directly involved with Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
And it allowed it to be tracked that way.
But in any event, Israel clearly had good intelligence on this.
That's why they were able to, you know, hit that location.
But would MI6 and CIA have helped them, or would they have just reported back to London and Langley what was about to happen?
Well, if by help, you know, load the bombs, arm the bombs, do the navigation, Israel is quite capable of doing all of that on its own.
Were CIA and MI6 aware, knowledgeable of the plan, witting of what they were about to do?
Sure.
And you know that that is so dangerous because the the it the a wanton murder almost.
And they are simply out of control.
They're killing civilians.
They're killing women and children.
You know, it's one thing to have a targeted assassination.
Say you want to kill Nasrallah, okay.
You can make a case that he's a bad guy and he needs to go.
Okay, kill him, but that's not what they did.
They killed hundreds of other civilians who were not military targets, and they think nothing of it.
You recently published the piece, The Result of Your Own Research.
I believe your research was based on Israeli-generated statistics.
What did those statistics show about which state actor or which group engages in more acts of terrorism and has killed more people than any other in the Middle East?
If you're going to use the definition of terrorism without ignoring the political motive, but it's the killing and wounding.
Then by any objective measure, the number one terrorist actor in the Middle East is Israel, hands down.
The casualties among the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and now the Lebanese people, the Shia that are dying throughout Lebanon, that's all Israel.
When you go to the Israeli Foreign Ministry site, They've recorded every act of, quote, terrorism, Palestinian violence, since August of 2000.
And I took the statistics simply through April of 2024, this year.
And they exclude the October 7th attack.
They treat that separately.
But, you know, over that 24-year period, a total, a grand total.
Of 1,425 Israelis or foreigners visiting Israel were killed in these acts attributed to Palestinians.
As far as Hamas and Hezbollah in particular, the Israeli foreign ministry, understand it's not Larry Johnson, this is the Israeli foreign ministry, only identified 105 attacks over a 24-year period that could be linked to Hamas, even fewer to Hezbollah.
And yet, here in the United States, we perpetuate this myth that Iran is number one sponsor of terrorism in the world.
It is not.
That Hamas and Hezbollah are these massive terrorist organizations.
So all I did also was I went back to my old office.
And it's now called the Bureau of Counterterrorism at the Department of State.
Every year they put out a report.
It used to be called Patterns of Global Terrorism.
Then the name changed.
So they're looking at current, you know, country reports on terrorism.
And when they list the top 10 groups that are carried out terrorist activities in the world, not a single one is sponsored by Iran.
Not a single one is named Hamas or Hezbollah.
That tells you the story right there.
And yet, this propaganda, this lie, it's all designed that the United States, we've got several agitators, John Bolton, Lindsey Graham, others think that we absolutely ought to go attack Iran, that we need to attack Iran.
And we forget, we got blood.
We always say, we got blood on their hands.
The Iranian-backed terrorists, quote, attacked us in Beirut, Lebanon, because we were attacking them.
It was not like we were sitting there minding our own business, selling lemonade, selling candy apples.
Hey, would you like to buy a candy bar?
And then they attacked us?
No, no, no, no.
We were throwing battleships, we're throwing shells into the Bacav Valley, killing Lebanese Shia.
That's why they started attacking us.
And you'll notice over the last 20 years, to my knowledge, there's not been a single Hezbollah attack against an American citizen, particularly on American soil.
Zero.
And the other element to consider is that Hezbollah has actually been in Syria fighting the Islamic extremists, al-Nusrah in particular, Oh, that would be us.
So that's our hypocrisy on using terrorism as a club to beat up the rest of the world when we kill an American citizen with a drone because he's a terrorist.
As long as you put him as a terrorist, you can do anything you want to then.
That, to me, is dangerous.
Under United States federal law, Funding, paying for terrorism, is the legal equivalent of carrying it out.
It's the same crime.
Who funds the Israeli terrorism, Larry?
American taxpayers.
Again, it's one thing if you've got, let's call them incidental civilian casualties or collateral damage.
That was, you know, from military attacks.
But that's not what's going on.
Israel is, they're telling Palestinians, for example, hey, go to this safe area, flee there, show up here, you'll be safe, and then they bombed the area.
So, you know, and let's be honest, the United States engaged in similar acts during World War II when we were bombing German.
Civilians in places like Dresden and Hamburg.
Because we were at war and we, you know, that's the problem with war.
Once you get into it, everything becomes possible and morality goes right out the window.
And the danger for us right now is there's a very strong movement here in the United States.
Zionists, supporters of the Zionist cause.
That are agitating for the United States to attack Iran.
And they firmly, I can read you a couple of messages I've just received overnight, that what Israel's going to do is it's going to attack and devastate Iran, it's going to attack Syria, kill Bashar al-Assad, and it's going to wipe out the Houthis.
Quite an agenda.
That's what they're saying.
Israel, the Netanyahu plan is they're going to...
They're going to try to destroy Syria.
They're going to try to destroy the Houthis.
And they're going to try to destroy Iran.
Now, the people are saying this thing are crazy.
It is impossible for Israel to do that, even if they use nuclear weapons.
But what it says is that they're ignoring that there are other people out in the region that actually have a say in all of this.
We've got to give Israel credit for one thing.
And maybe Netanyahu will deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for this.
And you're going, what?
He has united the Sunnis and the Shias, and they never have been in hundreds of years.
In the past, you've had the Sunni versus the Shia, and that's one of the sort of the basis of when Hezbollah was fighting these Sunni extremists in Syria.
But now, as Alistair Crook correctly noted in your show earlier this morning, throughout the region, Sunni regimes are mourning the passing of Nasrallah.
And it's creating, at least in the streets right now, a very strong movement of support for the Palestinian people, both the Shia and the Sunni, as well as growing opposition.
I wouldn't be surprised if the United States loses an embassy or two in the next month.
I want to talk to you about the latest in Gaza, but before we do, here's Netanyahu himself boasting about what you just said.
We're going to play two cuts in the first one.
He very snarkily says, just ask Nazarela.
This is obviously taped after he died.
This is this morning.
And the second one he boasts about when we're finished, Iran will be free.
So Chris, back to back, cuts number 14 and 15. Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza.
Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war.
Every day, their puppets are eliminated.
Ask Muhammad Def.
Ask Nasrallah.
There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach.
There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country.
With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you, the noble Persian people, closer to the abyss.
When Iran is finally free, and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think, everything will be different.
Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace.
Our two countries, Israel and Iran, will be at peace.
When that day comes, the terror network that the regime built in five continents will be bankrupt, dismantled.
Iran will thrive as never before.
Global investment, massive tourism, brilliant technological innovation based on the tremendous talents that exist inside Iran.
Doesn't that sound better than endless poverty, repression and war?
*Sigh*
You know, much of what he says he could easily be saying about Israel if he were being truthful.
Netanyahu in that scene right there reminds me of a Nazi guard in the movie, The Pianist.
And if you remember that movie, there was a scene where this pianist, And this commandant comes out and he says, you Jews, you like to make the money!
So there he's saying, hey, you Iranians, you like to make the money?
You'll sell out your honor.
The fact remains between August of 2000 and April of 2024.
A grand total of 1,425 Israelis were killed in these so-called massive waves of terrorist attack.
He doesn't even know what a massive terrorist attack is.
In that same period, almost 8,000 Palestinians, and that's not counting what's happened since October 6th, killed Israelis.
So the Israelis are killing Palestinian civilians at a rate of eight to one minimum.
But that number has now changed because now they've killed approaching 45%.
And yet, after 11 months, 12 months now, in Gaza, they have not defeated Hamas.
And yet, this delusional windbag?
He's going to take on Syria.
He's going to take on the Houthis.
He's going to take on Iran.
Good luck with that.
What is the status of the war in Gaza?
There have been no meetings with negotiators since July.
Does everyone involved in the so-called negotiations recognize, at least to themselves, if not publicly, that Netanyahu was not serious about any ceasefire?
The media attention, of course, is on Hezbollah waiting and wondering what, if anything, Iran is going to do.
But is the killing still going on in Gaza?
It had a reduced rate, thank God, because the Israelis are distracted with what's going on up in...
along the border with Lebanon.
But I don't see...
had told him, look, hold off, don't retaliate over the assassination of Haniyeh.
If you hold off, if you show restraint, Man, we're going to give you money.
We're going to lift those sanctions.
We'll bring you back into the community of nations.
We'll be friends.
And Pazewski and a dummy believed him.
Well, now he comes out and he goes, they lied to me.
No kidding.
Well, didn't they watch what happened to Putin and the Minsk agreements?
The West lied there.
So what's happening right now is Western credibility is being destroyed, and the West doesn't even recognize it, doesn't even care.
But enough countries out there, I think, are going to wake up and go, Americans, Europeans, you can't trust a damn thing, they say.
And so there will be no negotiations.
There is no longer good faith.
That's the reality.
As we speak, the New York Times is reporting.
That Israel has commenced land raids in Lebanon to set up a possible invasion.
There are sources, military officials.
It doesn't say if they're American military officials or Israeli military officials.
What will this trigger?
Will this trigger...
I don't think it's going to trigger Iranian intervention there in southern Lebanon, because I think Hezbollah, its military forces, are quite competent and capable of fending off an Israeli invasion.
We'll see.
Compared to 2006, Hezbollah is better armed, better trained, better equipped.
The Israelis have not had significant improvements and capabilities along those lines.
So we'll see.
But I think Iran is under enormous pressure now that Iran is going to have to take retaliatory measures against Israel.
And if they do so, then all of a sudden Israel is going to be faced with fighting a three-front war.
Forefront, actually.
They'll be fighting in Gaza, they'll be fighting in Lebanon, they'll be fighting Iran, and they'll be fighting the Houthis.
The United States couldn't even handle a two-front war in 2003.
We struggled to handle both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Let me just say that Israel does not have the same kind of military power and clout that the United States had back then.
If we can't fight a two-front war...
Before we raise your blood pressure with Senator Graham, here is a new spokesperson for Hezbollah with an English translation saying, come and get us, we're ready.
Cut number 16. We will face any possible attack, and we are ready.
If the Israelis decide to enter by land, the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement.
We have prepared and got ready, and with our trust in God Almighty, we are confident that the Israeli army will not achieve its goals, and we will emerge victorious from this battle.
Is it a fair explanation of what has happened in the past week or so from the exploding pagers to the killing of Yeah, I mean,
clearly Hezbollah has lost some key leadership, but they're not irreplaceable.
The notion that there is, you know, Well, you know, nobody, people that assert that just haven't studied the history of what's happened with Hezbollah since its founding 42 years ago.
So, you know, they've gone through these periods.
But the bulk of the fighters, they're intact.
They're underground.
The facilities, they've got more elaborate defensive networks set up than they had back in 2006 when they stopped the Israelis.
We may be losing you, Larry.
Can you hear me now?
Am I back?
Okay, we're having some difficulty with Larry.
Let's go to number four, Senator Graham waiting for one more missile strike before the United States goes after Iran.
Well, we're one missile away from civilians getting killed in Israel and maybe Israel having to hit Iran.
Blinken said the Iranian nuclear program was weeks away from having a weapon, potentially.
I think what Iran's learning from all this is probably better to have a nuclear weapon than not.
I mean, he's just the cheerleader for the United States attacking Iran, Larry.
Yeah, yeah.
Larry, are you back with us?
I can hear you.
Can you hear me?
Okay, we got you now.
Were you able to hear Senator Graham?
I heard the very end.
You know, look, the United States is not in a position to fight a war with Iran.
We lost you again, Larry.
I'm sorry about this.
Let's play another Senator Graham O'Larry.
I forget.
Go ahead, Larry.
Yeah, no, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry about this, but my internet was cut.
So this is a temporary fix.
The United States is not in a position to fight a war with Iran.
Hell, we couldn't even defeat the Houthis.
And yet we think we're going to go toe-to-toe with the Iranians, even though on paper we look bigger and better.
But the reality is...
I don't think the United States wants to run the risk of going to war with Russia and China.
Wow.
Do you think that the Russians would actually come to the aid of the Iranians if the United States used air or naval power to attack Iran?
Yes, absolutely.
They've signed.
Number one, Iran has been doing joint military exercises with Iran.
And now of late, there have been regular contacts between the head of the National Security Council for Russia, Shoigu, the former defense minister, with Iran.
And the talk of formalizing a defense agreement.
So yeah, I think that's going to be in the back of U.S. military planners' minds that if they go to war with Iran, they're going to go to war with Russia.
What do you think Austin will advise President Biden to do or not to do if the Israelis engage in a land invasion of Lebanon and ask for militaries?
We lost you again, Larry.
All right.
Hopefully this will be fixed by the time we see you next.
Larry, thank you very much.
Thank you for your time, and thank you for your patience, and thank you for your struggles with the internet.
Now you're back.
All right, one last question.
What will Lloyd Austin tell Joe Biden if Netanyahu says we're engaging in a land invasion of Lebanon?
Will you help us out?
If the United States decides to get involved militarily, It is likely that we'll see massive attacks against U.S. installations throughout the region.
So they have to take that into account.
Got it, Larry.
Larry, thank you very much for your time today.
Thank you for your patience with the Internet issues.
Damn it.
In the afternoon with Ray McGovern for the Intelligence Community Roundtable.
Thanks very much for joining us.
Coming up later today at noon.
Anya Parampil at 3 o 'clock this afternoon.
Scott Ritter at 4 o 'clock this afternoon.
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