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Oct. 28, 2024 - Judging Freedom - Judge Andrew Napolitano
28:27
Larry Johnson : Israel and Ukraine Covering Up Failures.
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Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
Today is Monday, October 28th, 2024.
Larry Johnson will be here in just a minute on just what are Ukraine and Israel covering up.
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Larry Johnson, welcome here, my dear friend.
Always a pleasure and with much appreciation, of course.
I do want to talk to you about one of your very interesting posts over the weekend about Israel and Ukraine covering up their failures.
Let's start with Ukraine.
How weak is the military?
How apparent are the Russian triumphs?
Yeah, well, it's accelerating with each passing day.
And so, you know, a year ago, the Russians would be lucky if they could move, you know, five kilometers into Ukraine over the course of a month.
Now they're making those movements in one day.
So all up and down the line of conflict.
They took over Solidova.
He just yesterday raised the flag over that.
They took six other towns and villages.
So they're moving in such a way that they're creating a real dilemma for the commanders on the Ukrainian side because they don't have built defensive emplacements that they can fall back into.
At this pace, It is very possible that Russia could push all the way to the Dnieper River, up and down that line, by the end of December, in the next two and a half months.
A more likely timeline could be six months, but it could happen much quicker than that.
Is this apparent to the public in Ukraine?
That they are suffering this kind of a loss and are in this kind of jeopardy.
No, not yet.
It really hasn't sunk in.
I think we're looking at...
Ukraine's going to be in a bit of a holding action until the election.
Um, if Donald Trump is, uh, elected, uh, in two, two weeks, then, uh, I, I think we'll see sort of the mass come off over in Ukraine.
Zelensky will be replaced, and the Ukrainians will be looking for a negotiated way out.
As long as Zelensky is there, there's not going to be any negotiation.
He's made it clear that he's in a no-negotiation position.
I assume that you mean Zelensky will be out.
That the Americans will decide that Zelensky is out, or will this be a decision made by the Ukrainian military?
I think it would be both.
It would be a combination of the United States, but also we've already seen General Zeluzny, who was forced out and exiled to the UK as Ukraine's ambassador.
He's sort of now resurfaced, and he's talked openly and been interviewed in the press about the fact that Yeah, Ukraine's going to probably have to make some territorial concessions in order to bring this to an end.
Zelensky has refused to admit any such thing.
So, again, I think all of this hinges upon what happens on Election Day.
If Kamala Harris prevails, then I think Zelensky will calculate that he's still got some time left.
If Kamala Harris prevails, is there more likelihood...
No, probably less at that point.
Because Kamala Harris isn't running the show.
This has been run by a combination of the folks who are so heavily financially invested in Ukraine.
The BlackRock folks.
I mean, they got billions, billions of dollars at stake that if Russia wins...
So that's part of what's helping drive this war.
It's Western money.
And to that extent, those financial interests in the United States have enormous influence within the U.S. government, within the Pentagon in particular, and within the CIA.
So from the United States, this has nothing to do about...
It's all about the Benjamins.
Larry, are both wars, Gaza and Ukraine, boondoggles for the American arms industry?
Ukraine is.
Israel is not.
You know, the United States is sort of a...
We enable it.
We make it possible for Israel to continue to carry out these acts, which the International Court of Justice correctly notes are acts of genocide.
But Israel is doing what Israel is going to do, regardless of what the United States was.
Now, what has been exposed by both wars are the limited depth of the U.S. defense industry.
That it's not the behemoth that it was during World War II where you could, you know, literally produce a plane in a day and produce an aircraft carrier in a month, maybe two months.
You know, now if they're going to produce an aircraft carrier, it's going to take five or six years.
An F-35 jet, you know, it has an enormous lead time to try to build just one.
And it's terribly expensive.
What we have created is a system in the United States, militarily, that produces very expensive weaponry that is not necessarily very useful on the battlefield, and that once it is used up, the United States is in a position that it can easily replace it.
So it really doesn't make any sense anymore from a...
Take the Patriots, for example.
Lockheed Martin, and we've talked about this before, every year produces 550.
Well, a recent study, you know, 550 missiles, not separate launchers.
So we're just the missiles that come flying out of the launchers.
A recent study by the Kiel Institute in Germany noted...
Well, just do the math.
If you fire 12 of those, 13 Iskanders, all of a sudden the entire year production of Lockheed Martin is gone.
And you have to wait until next year?
I'm interested in your comments that the war in Gaza is not a boondoggle for the American defense industry.
Is that because the Israelis already have so much equipment?
Why is that?
I mean, surely they would be nowhere without American military equipment, right?
Yeah, no, the supply of U.S. bombs to Israel had been, you know… It's essential for them to be able to sustain their operations of blowing up hospitals, blowing up mosques and churches, blowing up schools, killing aid workers.
You know, it's been critical in that regard.
But what I mean is the actual...
Simply because the West saw some great benefits to be derived from that economically, both in terms of the defense industry benefiting.
And if you look at the stock price of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, they've gone through the rough.
So they've made out financially.
Whereas what's taken place in Israel, the defense industry's reacted to Israel's decision to go on the offensive against Hamas and Hezbollah.
They see opportunity where they can get new contracts.
But the problem they've run up against is, you know, if the United States turns around and says, okay, we need 155, we need 200,000, 155 millimeter shells by next month, can't do it.
They'd be lucky to get that by next year, if that.
The financial incentives for the war in Ukraine are much stronger than the financial incentives for the war in Israel.
Okay, what is Ukraine covering up, either from the West, from the U.S., or from its own people?
Well, the actual losses of personnel.
I forget the name of the group that has been counting obituaries that have been published in Ukraine.
Soldiers that have died.
And just over the weekend, the number was 522,000.
And the actual number of Ukrainian dead is far higher.
I think Doug McGregor is sensitive.
It could be over a million, I think, is correct.
But they're covering up the fact that They're not able to hold the territory against the Russians.
Now, the U.S. intelligence, they can see it.
We've got overhead imagery.
We've got other intelligences coming in.
And the Russians are moving so methodically now and creating one cauldron after another.
A cauldron is basically where you can encircle forces on the ground.
Go back a year ago, Russia might have been fortunate to create one cauldron.
Every two or three months.
Now they're literally, they've got at least four cauldrons underway right now.
And circling upwards of, like in the Kursk area, 2,000 troops are encircled.
So it is, the tactical situation for Ukraine is deteriorating with each passing day.
And that deterioration, it's increasing the pace.
It's not decreasing.
Is Kyiv bombing and killing Ukrainian civilians trying to flee to safety in Russia?
Yeah, there was a video that surfaced yesterday out of Pokrovsk or near Pokrovsk.
So you had a group of about 10 to 15 Ukrainian civilians with a white flag walking down a road.
And, you know, they're walking towards a Russian position.
As they got near the Russian position, the Ukrainian side began firing at them.
Initially with artillery, they scampered into a bunker, a nearby bunker that had been abandoned.
And then the Ukrainian forces began flying kamikaze drones at them and killing them.
So, you know, this is...
It's now recorded.
So this is sort of indicative of what Ukrainians are about.
They're not about protecting the civilians.
Here we are more than two and a half years into this war, and Russia has taken care throughout the entire conflict to not kill or wound civilians.
They've taken great risk to try to save civilians and get them out of harm's way.
The Ukrainians, though, are not so inclined because they're using their own people as cannon fodder.
That's what's becoming increasingly clear, that these soldiers are being thrust into positions without proper training, and then they are retreating at the drop of a hat.
This is...
That's not going to happen.
So I think we're at a point where this war really is tipping in a way that it is irrecoverable, not only for the Ukrainians, but for NATO.
Switching over to Israel, is it true that the Israelis really didn't lay a glove on Iran with their so-called retaliation on Friday and Saturday?
me.
Well, if you read the Israeli press, man, it was a massive victory.
They wiped out all of Iran's air defense.
It couldn't get any better.
But when you monitor the Iranian media, I was talking to one friend who is, he's Iranian, but he lives in South America.
But he's been in touch with family.
He says, boy, they're all remarkably calm.
It's like, was that it?
What happened initially, it looks like, is that Israel intended to use what's called SEAD, S-E-A-D, Suppress Enemy Air Defense.
So their first wave of attack was to wipe out the Iranian air defense system.
They were going to bring in the big guns and really go and attack some military sites.
That was their goal.
Precise military strikes.
Didn't happen.
The Israelis succeeded, I think, in causing some damage to a couple of air defense sites, older air defense sites.
But it looks like that the systems that Russia provided were very effective.
In fact, they defeated.
The Israeli wave.
I think the Israelis intended for multiple waves of attacks because I can show you comments from some ardent Zionists early on about, oh, they were so enthusiastic, and oh, my God, this is going to be overwhelming, and they wiped out Iran's air defense, and it's a massive victory.
And then six hours later, they were going, well, actually, this was a limited attack.
Israel didn't want to do much damage.
You know, the copium is incredible.
Israel actually took a defeat in this, a real defeat, because you can put it side by side.
Look at Iran's attack in Israel on October 1st and the video from the Nevatim airbase where...
And they've got video out of Iran where you can see all the Israeli missiles coming in, and they're getting intercepted.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
It looked like a video game being taken out.
Did Israel send manned jet fighters or just missiles and drones?
Well, their aircraft, they deployed.
They admitted they sent over 100 aircraft.
But it was a limited strike, okay?
Can you believe the nonsense of that?
Yeah, we got 100 aircraft left, but it's a limited strike, okay?
They launched around, or were they shot down?
No, no, they launched their missiles from outside of Iranian territory.
They never did enter Iranian airspace.
They stayed outside, because at least they had enough sense to recognize.
Yeah, we suspect Iran's got a pretty robust air defense system.
But they thought their missiles would overcome it, would defeat it.
And they did not.
You know, really, Judge?
This is the first time in 75 years that Israel has taken a loss like this.
Where in the past, it was able to defeat the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Syrians, and all these previous wars.
That's why they've been rolling around like they're such a bully.
They can do whatever they want to anybody else, and nobody can hit back.
Well, what we've seen now over the course of the last, well, five months, go back to April, with the first massive drone, cruise missile, ballistic missile attack by Iran against Israel, which was just clearly a demonstration of Hey, we can reach out and touch you.
And then that was followed up October 1st, where Iran sent in ballistic missiles that Israel was unable to stop.
They shot some down, but most of them got through.
And again, Iran at that point wasn't trying to kill and destroy.
They were trying to demonstrate, look, we can hit some targets, and we can do some damage if we want to.
Put you on notice.
Well, Israel didn't get the message.
So this time, they said, oh, we'll show you.
And 100-plus aircraft, and each of those aircraft probably carried at least two air-launched ballistic missiles and other armaments.
And they fired.
And the Iranians proved that they could, with Russian assistance, could take them down and stop it.
Go ahead, Larry.
No, I said that's why you're not seeing...
Because they recognize they took a victory.
And the rest of the Middle East is noticing this.
I mean, they're not blind.
You know, Israel and the United States, they can pump out all the propaganda they want about what a great Israeli victory.
It caused massive damage.
It's nonsense.
They're lying to themselves.
So, you know, keep lying to yourselves.
Keep giving yourself a participation ribbon.
But you didn't win the race.
Here's a report from a venue called Crux, C-R-U-X.
The long-running, just a few minutes ago, the long-running feud between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his number two Defense Minister Gallant has once again come to the fore.
In a recent letter, Gallant has warned Netanyahu on the lack of war strategy and clear direction.
Gallant expressed serious concerns that while the threats to Israel evolve, the war's objectives have not kept pace.
The Israeli defense minister has added that lack of strategy is leading to potential missteps in cabinet decision-making.
Israel's Channel 13 reported that Gallant sent the letter to Netanyahu and the security cabinet hours before Israel attacked Iran on Friday.
Not a good sign.
Well, no, Galant's right, because look at the situation Israel is in.
So we're now going on 14 months since they've started military operations in the Gaza Strip.
They haven't pacified it.
You know, the Zionist dream is that they're going to go in there and they're going to take over the Palestinian territory, that they're going to build resorts, condos, and that they're going to occupy it.
They're going to settle it.
Well, they can't go in there right now and build it.
They may control the northern part.
In terms of what I mean by control, they may be able to prevent Palestinians from living there, conducting normal daily life events, eating, surviving, going to a hospital.
But Israel does not control it to the extent that they can keep Hamas fighters and other Palestinian insurgents from attacking them.
What settlers are going to go there wearing body armor all the time, hunkered in a bunker?
And so 14 months, they haven't been able to control just that Gaza Strip, which is a small, contained area.
Now they've got the tiger by the tail up in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah fighters, who are far more capable and effective than anything that Hamas has, Is killing a large number of Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli losses in Gaza over the past year were maybe one soldier a day killed on average, whereas what's taking place up in southern Lebanon looks to be more like three to four.
Israel can't sustain those kinds of casualties.
The number being wounded are increasing.
And then Hezbollah, as yesterday, sent a warning to the Israelis.
Clear out your 25 settlements that are up on the north, because they're a fair game now.
We're going to take them out.
As the Ukrainian government is lying to the West and its people, is the Israeli government lying to its own people?
Does the average Israeli, I shouldn't say average, do Israeli elites and Israelis in the street know how poorly Israel has done in the past week?
They believe the lies about the success of the mission in Iran, but they also know that they're having to scamper into bomb shelters almost every day now in places like Tel Aviv and Haifa because of incoming rockets and missiles from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
So, you know, that's undeniable on that front.
The contraction of the Israeli economy, that's starting to bite too.
And on top of it, you've got a large number of Israelis, I think it's estimated well over a million now, have left Israel.
They've said, we'd like to stick around, this is getting too uncomfortable.
In the meantime, you do have the hard right people.
Still beating the drums.
Ron Dermer, the former Israeli ambassador to the UN, whom I know because he was at Fox so many times, he was born in the US, he was born in New Jersey, been a confidant of Netanyahu's for his entire adult life, said we have to de-radicalize the Palestinians.
Well, what does that mean?
Kill them?
You're going to change their minds by brute force, by slaughtering their neighbors?
Now, this is not solvable through negotiations because the position of the Zionists, who are, you know, we've heard it out of, you know, the finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said very clearly that the Zionist goal is to not only take over the current land occupied by Palestinians on Gaza and the West Bank,
But to take over Lebanon, take over Syria, take over Iraq and Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Now, I mean, you listen to him say that and you think the guy is crazy.
But he genuinely believes that, and he's not an isolated voice.
These ultra-extremists, and that's the only way to characterize them, are convinced that they are fulfilling...
Only, you know, this isn't the Blues Brothers heading to Chicago.
They really believe that they have an obligation to exterminate these people.
So this is not like a negotiation over, are we going to serve chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream?
No, this is about, are we going to allow Palestinians to even live and exist near us?
And the Zionist vision is no.
So they portray, therefore, every Palestinian is a viable target, including little children, including babies, which is why we've seen, you know, I wish I had the video skills.
All you got to do, there's so much video out there over the last two years.
If you put together a clip of every child dead, I guarantee you're going to come up with, objectively, you can count it on screen, of over 10,000 dead children.
Heartbreaking.
Larry, thank you, my dear friend.
Thank you for your extraordinary analysis on both of these issues, devoid of emotion but filled with your unique understanding and analytical skills.
We'll see you again at the end of the week.
With the old-timer.
Yes, sir.
You have a great week, Judge.
Yeah, you too, Larry.
All the best, my friend.
And coming up later today at 3 o 'clock this afternoon, I know he's usually on Wednesday, but he's on Monday this week, Phil Giraldi.
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