Latest / The Stan R. Mitchell Show / The 2-6-25 edition of The View from the Front podcast.

Transcript

The 2-6-25 edition of The View from the Front podcast. · The Stan R. Mitchell Show

0:09
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, welcome to The View from the Front.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: My name is Stan,
0:13
SPEAKER_00: and each week I cover defense news,
0:16
SPEAKER_00: foreign policy,
0:18
SPEAKER_00: and hot spots,
0:19
SPEAKER_00: as well as any big military news happening out there.
0:22
I also do my best to lower your blood pressure,
0:25
as I do not hype the news or scare people.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: I promise you,
0:29
SPEAKER_00: I keep it optimistic,
0:31
SPEAKER_00: and I will do my absolute best to restore your faith in America.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: What is going on out there?
0:38
SPEAKER_00: I do have to say,
0:39
SPEAKER_00: I hope everyone's having an amazing week,
0:41
SPEAKER_00: but this is a challenging episode to record.
0:46
I feel like half the country is dancing and celebrating they
0:51
got the president they wanted in.
0:53
They see the president making bold proposals and getting things
0:57
done with the help of Elon Musk.
1:00
And I feel like the other half of the country believes we're in
1:03
a constitutional crisis.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: Things are really in a dark, dark place.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: And so it's been very hard for me to balance that out this past week.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: And I've got friends on both sides of that spectrum.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just going to try to keep this as middle of the road as possible,
1:25
SPEAKER_00: especially this episode.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: As a reminder,
1:29
SPEAKER_00: I will put timestamps in,
1:31
SPEAKER_00: so if you want to jump to a section further in the episode,
1:36
SPEAKER_00: you can check out the timestamps,
1:38
SPEAKER_00: jump right to it,
1:39
SPEAKER_00: and let's just get started.
1:41
I will begin by talking just for a moment about what is
1:44
happening with the FBI.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: There is clearly a purge underway from the Trump administration.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: Initially, it was against senior leadership, but it's now been going
1:57
SPEAKER_00: going down to even field-level agents.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: It's unprecedented, at least in the past 60, 70 years.
2:07
And unfortunately,
2:08
attacks such as this on the FBI,
2:11
they do weaken the independence of the FBI.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: Now,
2:14
SPEAKER_00: there have been some lawsuits filed to try to slow it down,
2:18
but there seems to be this concept that there's a message being
2:24
sent that if you
2:24
SPEAKER_00: investigate political matters...
2:27
SPEAKER_00: the next administration may come after you.
2:29
And I go into this a bit more in my political newsletter if you
2:32
want to check it out.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: It's called Thoughts from a Southern Gentleman.
2:35
I'm not going to really get into that in this podcast because
2:39
this is mostly a
2:40
SPEAKER_00: defense news podcast.
2:42
So moving to foreign policy news in the past week,
2:46
I barely know what to talk about.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: On Friday,
2:50
SPEAKER_00: you know,
2:50
SPEAKER_00: just four or five days ago,
2:53
SPEAKER_00: there was talk of tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
2:58
But now those have apparently gone away for the moment after
3:01
the stock market
3:02
SPEAKER_00: plummeted on Monday.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: at least for the moment.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm assuming our threats to Panama remain on the table,
3:10
although the State Department announced late Wednesday night
3:14
while I was recording
3:15
SPEAKER_00: this that Panama may be removing any fees for U.S.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: ships to go through, or at least naval ships.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: I didn't get a chance to research that fully for the podcast.
3:26
But even bigger news has dropped since last week,
3:29
and that is Trump discussing
3:32
SPEAKER_00: His desire to seize the Gaza Strip south of Israel.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: That is, of course, where nearly 2 million Palestinians live.
3:43
Much of the Gaza Strip has been severely damaged and much of it
3:49
has been leveled in
3:51
months and months of heavy fighting against the Israeli forces
3:56
following the
3:57
SPEAKER_00: October 7th attack by Hamas against Israel.
4:02
Trump's plan would have the Palestinians being relocated to
4:06
places such as Jordan or Egypt.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: Even though both of those countries oppose the plan,
4:13
SPEAKER_00: he has now said maybe they could be sent somewhere else.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Let me just share some of his plan using his own words.
4:23
I should mention that these comments come from a joint press
4:27
conference with the
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister of Israel,
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Benjamin Netanyahu.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: So let me just play this clip.
4:36
we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian
4:40
hearts and there are
4:41
many of them that want to do this and build various domains
4:45
that will ultimately be
4:46
occupied by the 1.8 million palestinians living in gaza ending
4:52
the death and
4:52
destruction and frankly bad luck this could be paid for by
4:57
neighboring countries of
4:58
SPEAKER_02: great wealth
4:59
SPEAKER_02: It could be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: It could be numerous sites or it could be one large site.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: The U.S.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too.
5:18
We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the
5:21
dangerous unexploded
5:23
SPEAKER_02: bombs and other weapons on the site,
5:25
SPEAKER_02: level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings,
5:29
SPEAKER_02: level it out,
5:30
create an economic development that will supply unlimited
5:34
numbers of jobs and
5:35
SPEAKER_02: housing for the people of the area.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: I envision world people living there, the world's people.
5:45
SPEAKER_02: I think you'll make that into an international, unbelievable place.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable.
5:54
SPEAKER_02: And I think the entire world,
5:55
representatives from all over the world will be there and
5:59
they'll live there.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: Palestinians also.
6:01
SPEAKER_02: Palestinians will live there.
6:02
SPEAKER_02: Many people will live there.
6:05
SPEAKER_02: We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal.
6:10
SPEAKER_02: And I don't want to be cute.
6:11
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be a wise guy.
6:12
But the Riviera of the Middle East,
6:14
this could be something that could be so magnificent.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: Quite quickly after President Trump made those comments,
6:24
SPEAKER_00: many Arab countries,
6:25
SPEAKER_00: including Egypt and Jordan,
6:28
SPEAKER_00: as well as Saudi Arabia,
6:31
SPEAKER_00: issued statements rejecting the idea of transferring Palestinians.
6:37
But even ignoring those opinions,
6:40
Palestinians themselves don't want to leave Egypt.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: Many articles will talk about and have interviewed Palestinians,
6:47
SPEAKER_00: and Palestinians view the Gaza Strip,
6:51
SPEAKER_00: as I saw one article say in the Associated Press,
6:54
SPEAKER_00: they view Gaza as an integral part of their national homeland.
6:59
And they aspire to an independent state in Gaza,
7:04
the West Bank,
7:06
and East Jerusalem.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: And so the Palestinians themselves don't want to leave.
7:12
And of course Hamas put out a statement saying they oppose the
7:16
move as well.
7:18
There were also some interesting voices that are against
7:22
Trump's idea on the
7:23
SPEAKER_00: Republican side of the House,
7:25
SPEAKER_00: including some senators.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: Now,
7:27
SPEAKER_00: some senators wanted to just speak out privately,
7:30
SPEAKER_00: but a few Republican senators – again,
7:33
SPEAKER_00: these are Republican senators – spoke out publicly.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: Senator Lindsey Graham said that he thought a,
7:40
SPEAKER_00: quote,
7:41
SPEAKER_00: takeover of Gaza would be,
7:43
SPEAKER_00: quote,
7:43
SPEAKER_00: problematic.
7:45
And he said that he did not think his constituents would be
7:48
excited about sending U.S.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: soldiers to take control of the region.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: He said,
7:53
I don't think most South Carolinians would probably be excited
7:57
about sending
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Americans to take over Gaza.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis said that,
8:05
SPEAKER_00: in his words,
8:06
SPEAKER_00: he called it a few kinks and that slinky.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: And he said, quote, obviously it's not going to happen.
8:12
I don't know under what circumstance it would make sense even,
8:16
even for Israel.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: Now,
8:18
if Israel is asking for the United States to come in and
8:20
provide some assistance to
8:22
SPEAKER_00: ensure that Hamas can never do again what they did,
8:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm in.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: But us taking over seems like a bit of a stretch.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: And then Senator Josh Hawley,
8:33
SPEAKER_00: who is obviously a strong supporter of President Trump,
8:36
SPEAKER_00: as is Senator Lindsey Graham.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: But Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said that he did not,
8:44
SPEAKER_00: quote,
8:45
think it's in the best use of United States resources to spend
8:50
a bunch of money in Gaza.
8:52
He said he would,
8:53
quote,
8:53
prefer that to be spent in the United States first.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: So, three senators speaking out against it.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
9:01
it takes about four Republican senators on anything to flip
9:05
against something to
9:07
SPEAKER_00: stop something in the Senate.
9:08
So,
9:09
not a good start for public support for the move from even the Republicans.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: Two further points on this before we move on.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: First,
9:20
SPEAKER_00: if you do much research on this,
9:22
you will see that many analysts are concerned that this could
9:26
threaten the
9:27
SPEAKER_00: temporary truce that is in place,
9:31
SPEAKER_00: which is helping to release some hostages over there from both sides.
9:36
So there is some concern that this might really put a wrench in
9:41
the original agreed-upon.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: Cease fire and current truce.
9:48
And the second thing I want to mention that I didn't even think
9:51
of until I heard
9:52
SPEAKER_00: this from a CIA retired analyst.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: These comments are from Mark Palameropoulos.
10:00
I want to share what he said because this is something that is
10:06
worth considering
10:07
and certainly something that as a defense news podcast and for
10:11
the audience
10:11
SPEAKER_00: listening to this show,
10:12
SPEAKER_00: I think you will find interesting.
10:17
CIA station chief in the Middle East woke up this morning with
10:20
a migraine headache
10:21
because there's a potential for a generational counterterrorism
10:24
nightmare here.
10:25
You have to look at the words that Donald Trump used yesterday,
10:28
quote,
10:28
take over Gaza,
10:31
own Gaza.
10:32
SPEAKER_03: These are triggering mechanisms for Islamic extremist groups.
10:35
Remember,
10:35
Osama bin Laden's biggest beef with the United States decades
10:38
ago was the U.S.
10:39
SPEAKER_03: troop presence in Saudi Arabia.
10:41
SPEAKER_03: Al Qaeda in
10:45
So this kind of language only is going to galvanize groups that
10:48
want to kill Americans.
10:49
And if I was in the CIA and is still in the CIA in the
10:52
counterterrorism community,
10:54
I'd be monitoring the Islamic extremist forums because this is
10:58
just a tremendous
10:58
SPEAKER_03: own goal.
10:59
SPEAKER_03: And I worry that even if these are just words,
11:01
SPEAKER_03: as Richard said,
11:02
SPEAKER_03: perhaps part of some strange negotiating gambit,
11:05
SPEAKER_03: Americans might be less safe now.
11:07
And I can't imagine anybody in the CIA or the State Department
11:10
who would have
11:11
SPEAKER_03: advocated this approach.
11:13
So I want to be as fair as possible to President Trump about
11:17
this proposal.
11:19
And I did do some research just trying to find some folks who
11:23
supported it and to
11:24
put as much of the positive spin on it as possible was a bit
11:29
difficult to find.
11:31
You will see some supporters who said that this was just an
11:34
opening negotiating ploy.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: that will perhaps give Israeli leaders more leverage over Hamas.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: I did see that out there.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: One person said that it was,
11:46
SPEAKER_00: you know,
11:46
SPEAKER_00: a get them to the negotiating table,
11:49
and that it was similar to Trump's threats of a trade war with
11:54
Canada and Mexico.
11:55
The person said,
11:56
quote,
11:56
it was just like a 25% tariffs on Canada statement.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: They said that with the...
12:04
agreement of anonymity so that advisor wasn't named in the
12:08
politico article adding
12:10
to this just a bit president trump's own national security
12:15
advisor mike waltz said
12:18
that trump's proposal was put out because quote the fact that
12:23
nobody has a
12:24
realistic solution and he put some very bold fresh new ideas
12:29
out on the table i
12:30
SPEAKER_00: don't think should be criticized in any way
12:33
I think it's going to bring the entire region to come up with
12:36
their own solutions.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, Greenland remains on the table for America as well.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: Here are some comments from Vice President J.D.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Vance just from three days ago.
12:52
you expect the u.s to acquire greenland i think it's possible
12:55
maria so so here's
12:56
the thing that i think a lot of folks don't appreciate about
12:58
greenland it's really
13:00
important to our national security there are sea lanes there
13:03
that the chinese use
13:04
that the russians use that frankly denmark which controls
13:08
greenland it's not doing
13:09
its job and it's not being a good ally so you have to ask
13:12
yourself how are we going
13:13
SPEAKER_03: to solve that problem solve our own national security
13:16
if that means that we need to take more territorial interest in Greenland,
13:19
that is what President Trump is going to do because he doesn't
13:22
care about what the
13:23
SPEAKER_03: Europeans scream at us.
13:24
SPEAKER_03: He cares about putting the interests of America's citizens first.
13:27
There's another angle to this whole Greenland thing,
13:29
Maria,
13:30
that people don't realize.
13:31
You've got probably 55,000 people living on Greenland who are
13:34
not actually happy
13:36
SPEAKER_03: with Danish government.
13:37
SPEAKER_03: They've got great natural resources there.
13:39
They've got an incredibly bountiful country that the Danes
13:43
aren't letting them
13:43
SPEAKER_03: develop and explore.
13:45
Of course,
13:46
Donald Trump would take a different approach if he was the
13:48
leader of Greenland.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: I will be honest,
13:51
SPEAKER_00: having watched both campaigns pretty closely this last election,
13:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm not real sure where all of this is coming from.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't recall Greenland being discussed.
14:03
I know that many of those who are part of the Trump base that
14:08
are for America first,
14:10
SPEAKER_00: they were not big fans of our very long,
14:15
SPEAKER_00: decades-long efforts in Afghanistan and in Iraq and
14:19
And so it is a little odd that he is talking about sending
14:23
troops back to the
14:25
SPEAKER_00: Middle East,
14:26
SPEAKER_00: into Gaza,
14:27
SPEAKER_00: in what would be a very bloody fight if we were to go there.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: As a reminder,
14:31
we did lose more than 200 Marines in a barracks bombing back in
14:35
the 80s under
14:36
SPEAKER_00: President Reagan.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, this is a dangerous place to send troops.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: So some of this just seems a little odd to me.
14:45
Now some on the left say that these are all distractions while
14:50
Elon Musk and the
14:52
Trump administration do other moves that they don't want people
14:56
to pay attention to.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: But as I've heard some other folks talk about...
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Trump has talked about, off and on, the Gaza Strip.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: There are some interviews even going back about a year ago.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he is a real estate developer.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: That is his background.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: And he has talked about developing it.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: There were comments just from the last few days from Jared Kushner,
15:16
SPEAKER_00: his son-in-law,
15:18
SPEAKER_00: about developing it.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: So,
15:21
it does appear that he's going to at least play a stronger hand
15:25
in trying to push
15:26
SPEAKER_00: this argument forward.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: And I will say, as I saw one...
15:31
SPEAKER_00: analysts mentioned kind of in a snarky tone,
15:35
SPEAKER_00: they talked about that pretty much whatever he says,
15:37
SPEAKER_00: much of his base goes along with it.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: And there was even a poll where if Trump said,
15:43
SPEAKER_00: you know,
15:43
SPEAKER_00: give up your guns,
15:44
SPEAKER_00: you know,
15:45
like 35% of some of the most strongest Second Amendment
15:50
supporters would be okay
15:51
SPEAKER_00: with that because for whatever reason,
15:54
SPEAKER_00: just they go with,
15:56
SPEAKER_00: he drives the agenda,
15:58
SPEAKER_00: he pushes...
16:00
Whatever is being talked about and much of his base just
16:05
believe in what he's trying to do.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: Again, I'm trying to be as fair to him as possible.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: I will say, you know, he campaigned extensively on tariffs.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: He then announced them on Canada and Mexico.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: And then once the stock market really plummeted on Monday...
16:24
then dropped the idea after saying he had negotiated a deal
16:28
with Canada and Mexico.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: But if you actually just Google this,
16:31
SPEAKER_00: I won't even put links in the episode notes,
16:33
SPEAKER_00: if you just Google it,
16:34
SPEAKER_00: and it isn't hard to do,
16:35
you'll see numerous articles that the deals in place are
16:39
basically the same deals
16:40
SPEAKER_00: that were negotiated back in November under President Biden.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't that he negotiated a better deal.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Now maybe the stock market scared him, but at the same time,
16:50
If these tariffs are supposed to help prices and be good for
16:53
the country,
16:55
why not do them?
16:56
That was what he made the argument for the entire campaign,
17:01
is that our country needed it.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: And so I obviously disagree with that line of thinking or that argument,
17:09
SPEAKER_00: but if they are indeed good,
17:11
SPEAKER_00: why not do them?
17:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand that disconnect.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: Moving along, let's talk for a second about USAID.
17:20
That is a department that Trump and Elon have absolutely taken
17:23
a hatchet to.
17:25
And I thought about trying to make a bit of an argument for the
17:29
soft powers,
17:30
SPEAKER_00: so to speak,
17:31
SPEAKER_00: and some of the good things they do.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: But frankly,
17:35
SPEAKER_00: especially Elon,
17:36
but Elon and Trump have done such a good job of undermining the
17:39
agency that
17:41
and finding some small things to point out that there's almost
17:46
no point in trying to defend it.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, I went to their website, and it's basically been taken down.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, as of Friday, so if you're listening to this on Thursday,
17:59
There is an order that has gone out that basically the State
18:05
Department is recalling all U.S.
18:08
aid employees across the world,
18:11
including family members,
18:13
back to the United States by Saturday.
18:15
I can't even imagine how hard it would be to uproot everyone
18:19
that quickly.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: But I'll keep my thoughts to myself.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: The reality is,
18:26
SPEAKER_00: as I said several weeks ago,
18:28
SPEAKER_00: President Trump narrowly won re-election,
18:32
SPEAKER_00: and he's putting his agenda in place.
18:35
And on some of these things,
18:37
we – you know,
18:39
you really – it's hard to convince –
18:43
people who don't pay a whole lot of attention to the news about
18:48
why a country does
18:50
SPEAKER_00: certain things,
18:51
SPEAKER_00: about why,
18:53
SPEAKER_00: for bipartisan reasons going back decades,
18:58
SPEAKER_00: the United States has used U.S.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: aid to help democratic efforts in various countries to
19:06
SPEAKER_00: To help use soft power,
19:08
even General James Mattis said that if you cut the State
19:12
Department and remove some
19:14
SPEAKER_00: of those programs,
19:15
you need to buy more ammunition because you will have to be
19:18
involved in more conflicts.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: So, I could make a long, fact-based, evidence-stuffed.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is that the department's quickly being gutted.
19:36
Confidence has been even further eroded in the past week,
19:41
and it's pretty much done.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Now,
19:42
SPEAKER_00: constitutionally,
19:43
SPEAKER_00: it can't really be done,
19:45
SPEAKER_00: but I did see that the House Speaker,
19:47
SPEAKER_00: Mike Johnson,
19:48
SPEAKER_00: said that Americans elected...
19:51
president trump with the full knowledge that elon musk would be
19:56
a part of the
19:57
efforts and so he did not see this as some type of
20:02
constitutional overstepping by
20:05
the executive branch onto the toes so to speak of the
20:10
legislative branch so it's
20:12
SPEAKER_00: kind of a done deal and so i'll put a link in the episode notes but
20:16
I'm not going to spend a lot of time making an argument for
20:18
something that's
20:20
SPEAKER_00: already basically been demolished or in the process of being demolished.
20:27
And I'll just leave it to future both Democrats and Republicans
20:33
who see the role of
20:36
SPEAKER_00: American leadership worldwide to make that argument.
20:38
And I will highlight that argument then because this is kind of
20:41
like the...
20:44
SPEAKER_00: Event has already happened, and it's pretty much done.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: But while U.S.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: aid may be pretty much done, Ukraine is not.
20:56
And unfortunately in the past week,
20:59
Tucker Carlson had an interview with Piers Morgan.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: And he made some pretty big false claims.
21:09
And so I want to address those and in fact just quote one of
21:14
the pro-Ukraine media
21:16
SPEAKER_00: accounts called United24.com.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: as they counter some of the things that Tucker Carlson said.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: And all of these are just blatantly false,
21:26
SPEAKER_00: easily fact-checked anywhere,
21:28
but I'll just provide what United24 Media shared as a way to
21:34
knock those down.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Here is the first big one.
21:39
The first feature of a dictator is he's not elected,
21:42
so Zelensky's not elected.
21:44
SPEAKER_03: President Volodymyr Zelensky was democratically elected,
21:47
SPEAKER_03: winning 73% of the vote in the 2019 election.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: Now,
21:52
SPEAKER_00: I know some have argued that Zelensky should have held another election,
21:57
SPEAKER_00: and actually Tucker Carlson kind of makes that point.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: So let me play his point and the reaction from Piers Morgan on that.
22:06
How could Zelensky have an election in the middle of a war out
22:08
of interest?
22:09
SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
22:09
SPEAKER_03: How did Franklin Roosevelt do that in the Second World War?
22:13
SPEAKER_03: How did he do that?
22:14
SPEAKER_03: Because no one had invaded America.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Tucker Carlson also brought up that the country had a coup attempt,
22:22
SPEAKER_00: which is what got it all started.
22:25
SPEAKER_03: Well,
22:25
SPEAKER_03: first of all,
22:26
SPEAKER_03: the country had a coup sponsored by the United States government,
22:30
SPEAKER_03: the CIA,
22:31
SPEAKER_03: in 2014.
22:32
The revolution of dignity was sparked by the violent dispersal
22:35
of a pro-European
22:36
SPEAKER_03: student protest.
22:37
SPEAKER_03: It's pretty hard to buy the idea that the CIA was behind this.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: I also want to add on this point that,
22:44
SPEAKER_00: since we're on it,
22:45
that the protest happened because the Ukrainian parliament had
22:51
overwhelmingly
22:52
approved finalizing an agreement that would have allowed
22:56
Ukraine to grow closer to
22:58
SPEAKER_00: the European Union.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: However,
23:01
SPEAKER_00: Ukraine had a president who was close to Vladimir Putin,
23:06
SPEAKER_00: and he was the one who tried to stop that,
23:10
SPEAKER_00: and that is what led to the protests.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: They saw widespread government corruption, abuse of power.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: They saw the influence of Russia and oligarchs.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: There was police brutality, and as the protests grew...
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Eventually,
23:27
SPEAKER_00: they were opened fire on by the police slash military,
23:31
SPEAKER_00: and from there,
23:31
SPEAKER_00: it only got worse.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: So,
23:34
SPEAKER_00: this was an organic movement that was started by students,
23:39
many of whom had tasted a bit of freedom and who did not want
23:42
to relinquish that as
23:44
Vladimir Putin began to try to clamp down on these increasing
23:47
calls for a move
23:49
SPEAKER_00: toward the European Union.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Let's go to another one from Tucker Carlson.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: So he didn't take Crimea.
23:58
SPEAKER_03: It's Russian.
24:00
In 1997,
24:01
Russia signed a treaty recognizing Ukraine's territorial integrity,
24:04
including Crimea.
24:06
SPEAKER_03: But in 2014,
24:08
SPEAKER_03: Moscow tore up its own commitment,
24:10
SPEAKER_03: staging a sham referendum at gunpoint to seize Crimea by force.
24:14
This next claim I wanted to address from Tucker Carlson
24:18
involves him saying that
24:20
it's all Kamala Harris' fault because she mentioned it becoming
24:23
a NATO country.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: But I will share the clip that United24 found going back to 2008.
24:31
You're going to hear a quote from George W.
24:33
Bush mentioning putting Ukraine in NATO in 2008.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: So what changed?
24:40
SPEAKER_00: So here's the clip from Tucker on that as well.
24:44
Russia would not have invaded eastern Ukraine if the Biden
24:47
administration hadn't
24:48
sent Kamala Harris to the Munich Security Conference in
24:50
February of 2022 to say to
24:53
SPEAKER_03: Zelensky on camera,
24:55
SPEAKER_03: we're going to make you a NATO country.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Here is George Bush speaking from 2008.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: Again, 2008.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Well before the first invasion in 2014 by Russia.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: In Bucharest this week...
25:10
SPEAKER_01: I will continue to make America's position clear.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: We support MAP for Ukraine and Georgia.
25:17
Helping Ukraine move toward NATO membership is in the interest
25:21
of every member in the alliance.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: So that is just a few of the falsehoods being knocked down.
25:29
There are actually a few more,
25:31
but I didn't want to go too,
25:32
too deep into all of them.
25:34
You can find them in the episode notes and go,
25:36
I believe there's 10 of them listed.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: Go look at every single one of them.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: There are videos or links and all of them backing up the claim.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: And then decide for yourself.
25:47
I just felt it was important to address these claims because as
25:52
we have seen with
25:54
SPEAKER_00: the destruction of U.S.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: aid by Elon Musk and Donald Trump,
25:59
SPEAKER_00: you have to,
26:00
SPEAKER_00: you know,
26:00
SPEAKER_00: an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure.
26:03
And so I want to keep the focus on the facts in regards to
26:07
Ukraine and their very
26:09
SPEAKER_00: brave fight against Russian aggression.
26:22
Hey guys,
26:23
if you're enjoying the show,
26:24
there are several ways you can support it.
26:26
Help me grow it into something bigger with more frequency and
26:30
just get you guys
26:31
SPEAKER_00: better and better content.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: You can subscribe through Substack.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: That's probably my preferred method if you'd like to support.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: You can do for $5 per month.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: That's a great way.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: I've got a link to that in the episode notes.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: Also, Patreon, if you're on there, that's another way to support.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: Also, $5 per month.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: You can even send a tip through Venmo or through PayPal.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate everyone's support.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: Only do this if you've enjoyed it for a while.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: And if you are,
26:58
SPEAKER_00: as we like to say in the church,
27:00
SPEAKER_00: giving cheerfully,
27:01
SPEAKER_00: if it's something you want to do,
27:02
SPEAKER_00: that's great.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: If not, hey, just share a link, drop a review.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: wherever you're listening, especially if it's Apple or Spotify.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to get the algorithms to cooperate.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: We've now been doing this for more than two years,
27:14
SPEAKER_00: so we've hit one of the minimums,
27:15
SPEAKER_00: but the other one is getting more reviews.
27:17
So a short little review,
27:19
throw five stars on there if you're enjoying the show.
27:21
It would be a great way to help me and the algorithms realize
27:26
what hopefully is good content.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: So both are great ways to help subscribing or rating and reviewing.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks so much.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's move to Ukraine news.
27:45
So I've been a little critical of the Trump administration
27:48
during this episode,
27:50
but I did want to give them some props for what has happened
27:55
just in the past week,
27:56
SPEAKER_00: which is that the U.S.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: has resumed arms shipments
28:02
into Ukraine,
28:03
which were briefly paused once the Trump administration took office.
28:08
But there's an article I've got in the episode notes from
28:13
Reuters where apparently
28:15
SPEAKER_00: there's some different...
28:18
SPEAKER_00: I guess, differences of opinions inside the Trump administration.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: And some of the factions want the U.S.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: to stop providing arms to Ukraine.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: And on the other side, some of the factions want the aid to continue.
28:37
And so it has resumed,
28:39
at least for the moment,
28:41
they have resumed sending weapons to Ukraine.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: So that was pretty big news and a bit unexpected,
28:49
SPEAKER_00: and I will definitely give credit where credit is due.
28:53
I will say,
28:53
I said weeks and weeks ago that there was a chance that if
28:58
Vladimir Putin...
29:00
Overplayed his hand with President Trump that this could
29:04
backfire on Vladimir Putin
29:06
SPEAKER_00: because President Trump would not want to be seen as looking weak.
29:10
And so there's been an indication or two that maybe meetings
29:16
slash phone calls haven't.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: perhaps gone as quickly or as expected with President Trump,
29:24
SPEAKER_00: and so maybe that's why these arms shipments have resumed.
29:30
Maybe it is just infighting while President Trump is busy
29:34
looking at Greenland,
29:35
Panama,
29:36
Gaza.
29:37
Maybe he's not paying much attention,
29:39
and so some of them have made it happen.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: It's very hard to know why it happened, but it has happened.
29:47
Now moving along,
29:49
good news for Ukraine is that Ukraine is really stepping up its defense.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: And Russia is kind of gasping as far as its attacks right now.
30:02
And I've got a couple of different sources I wanted to share on
30:07
just how that's
30:09
SPEAKER_00: happening and why.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: First, I wanted to share some reporting from Jay and Keeve.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: I've got the link in the episode notes.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: And he talked about how going back to November 2024,
30:22
SPEAKER_00: the average daily assaults by Russians were 174.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: So in November 174, in December that increased to 202.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: And then they dramatically drop in January to 164 per day.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: And in February, they're down to 95.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: So they're almost half as many.
30:42
And he cites the fact that the Russian oil industry has really
30:47
been taking a hit as
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Ukraine has been destroying it with some long-range oil.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Like drones and propeller planes.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: They're not even very advanced, but they've been taking that out.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: Backing up his facts are the Institute for the Study of War.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: Of course, they're a non-profit that closely keeps up with it.
31:06
And they've talked about how they've got a graph showing the
31:10
latest advances from Russia,
31:12
SPEAKER_00: which are very minor things.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: but they are still moving forward a bit.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: But their rate of advance has slowed down compared with previous months,
31:20
SPEAKER_00: according to,
31:21
SPEAKER_00: again,
31:21
SPEAKER_00: the Institute for the Study of War.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: There are maps of that if you want to look in the episode notes.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: But not only has it slowed from January to December,
31:32
the Institute for the Study of War mentions that from December
31:35
to November had
31:36
SPEAKER_00: slowed as well.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: So basically there's
31:39
SPEAKER_00: three months now of slowing advances.
31:42
And then a former member of the Ukrainian executive branch
31:49
mentioned the reason why,
31:51
SPEAKER_00: and he's got an image that I shared in the episode notes,
31:54
SPEAKER_00: and he shows how many Russian oil refineries have been hit.
32:01
If you look on this bingo card that he created,
32:05
let's see,
32:06
my quick math is...
32:07
4,
32:10
7,
32:16
10,
32:16
12 out of about probably 18 or so possible refineries have been hit.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: And so you see that graphic as well.
32:18
But Ukraine has done a tremendous job of targeting these oil
32:23
refineries and the
32:24
SPEAKER_00: capacity that Russia has.
32:27
And so that is really starting to play a role on the front line
32:31
because that
32:32
SPEAKER_00: affects everything from Russia's economic ability to hire more soldiers.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: It affects its ability to move fuel toward the front line.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: It just affects a lot of things.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to share that.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: Again, links in the episode notes if you want to check them out.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: A couple of other things that I want to mention,
32:53
SPEAKER_00: or three I think,
32:54
SPEAKER_00: and they all involve financial type things for Ukraine.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: Obviously the U.S.
32:58
funding is probably not going to be very good for Ukraine this
33:03
year under the Trump administration.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about that a lot in previous episodes.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Having said that, NATO is on track to send Ukraine $40 billion in 2025.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: That news came out.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: That was great news for Ukraine.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Also,
33:19
the United Kingdom has said it will send more military aid to
33:23
Ukraine this year
33:24
SPEAKER_00: than ever before.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: So that was great news.
33:28
And then on top of that,
33:30
Sweden has announced a $1.3 billion military package.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: It's the largest military aid package to date.
33:40
SPEAKER_00: And so it even includes long-range strike capabilities.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: So...
33:47
SPEAKER_00: Pretty big news there,
33:48
SPEAKER_00: and then interesting,
33:50
SPEAKER_00: too,
33:50
is there's almost a $100 million investment to support the
33:54
production of long-range
33:57
missiles and drones inside Ukraine so that Ukraine can create
34:02
more drones,
34:03
more long-range missiles inside its own borders using its own
34:06
people and resources,
34:08
SPEAKER_00: which will allow it to hit Russia back,
34:11
SPEAKER_00: you know...
34:12
at a faster and stronger pace so all in all that is all great
34:19
news for our friends
34:21
in Ukraine who have been struggling and putting up with so much
34:25
these past few
34:26
SPEAKER_00: years our hearts still break for them
34:28
SPEAKER_00: But it appears to be,
34:31
SPEAKER_00: based on the news that we've seen in the past week,
34:33
that they've stabilized in the lines further and that funding
34:37
from other countries
34:39
are being stepped up and perhaps even that there's some
34:43
softening in the Trump
34:43
SPEAKER_00: administration's position on arming Ukraine.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: So I would call that a pretty good week for them.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: So I think I'm going to wrap up the news portion there.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: It has been a heavy week.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: If you are one of the listeners out there that are very pro-Trump,
35:02
SPEAKER_00: please know I tried my absolute best to deliver as balanced and as,
35:06
SPEAKER_00: I guess,
35:08
SPEAKER_00: a calm and sober-minded report as I possibly could.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: I certainly tried,
35:13
SPEAKER_00: so please be kind in your comments and emails,
35:17
SPEAKER_00: although I do appreciate hearing from you guys.
35:20
Okay,
35:20
so let's end with some spiritual encouragement,
35:25
which I try to do every week.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: And by the way,
35:29
SPEAKER_00: as I always say,
35:29
SPEAKER_00: if you're dealing with depression,
35:31
SPEAKER_00: PTSD,
35:31
SPEAKER_00: thoughts of suicide,
35:32
SPEAKER_00: anything like that,
35:34
SPEAKER_00: I have a link I want you to check out.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: It's in the episode notes.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: It's about PTSD.com.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: It's got a number even for a hotline you could call.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: So please, if you're struggling, check that out.
35:45
SPEAKER_00: And of course,
35:46
SPEAKER_00: as you guys know,
35:46
SPEAKER_00: I say this every week,
35:47
SPEAKER_00: but I believe if you want true peace,
35:50
SPEAKER_00: I believe you should look to God and the Bible for that.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: Not a country,
35:54
SPEAKER_00: not a party,
35:55
SPEAKER_00: certainly not a person,
35:57
SPEAKER_00: and most absolutely certainly not me,
35:59
even though I do my very best each week to try to give you guys
36:03
a little hope and optimism.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: But I truly believe that
36:06
Only God can give you everlasting life and that only he can
36:10
give you peace in this life.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: He's like a good shepherd.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: He will lead you by the still waters and he will restore your soul.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: As I remind folks,
36:22
SPEAKER_00: if you know nothing about the Bible,
36:23
SPEAKER_00: but you do want to kind of test out the waters,
36:25
SPEAKER_00: maybe try it out.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: I have a resource page that talks about where you should go to look,
36:31
SPEAKER_00: where you can find apps,
36:32
SPEAKER_00: everything you could possibly want to know about the Bible.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: I have a resource page there,
36:38
but let me just share a few quotes this week that hopefully
36:41
will help encourage you some.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Here's the first one.
36:45
It's from an amazing pastor named Tim Keller who has
36:48
unfortunately passed,
36:50
SPEAKER_00: but I love listening to his sermons.
36:52
But the quote is,
36:54
You don't realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.
37:00
Again,
37:00
that quote is,
37:01
You don't realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: It's a great one.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: The next one is,
37:10
SPEAKER_00: Therefore encourage one another and build one another up,
37:14
SPEAKER_00: just as you are doing.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: That is from 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 11.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Again the verses,
37:21
SPEAKER_00: Therefore encourage one another and build one another up,
37:25
SPEAKER_00: just as you are doing.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: I also wanted to share a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
37:31
He was,
37:32
of course,
37:32
the famous theologian who died in Nazi Germany resisting Hitler.
37:39
He had a quote that said that the church is the church only
37:47
when it exists for others.
37:50
Again,
37:50
that quote is the church is the church only when it exists for others.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to share a quote from Jimi Hendrix.
38:01
When the power of love overcomes the love of power,
38:05
the world will know peace.
38:08
Again,
38:08
when the power of love overcomes the love of power,
38:14
the world will know peace.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: That was a great quote shared by my friend Don,
38:20
SPEAKER_00: who's a pretty regular listener as I understand it.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's go to another one.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Again, the only sin Jesus ever had was ours.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: The only righteousness we can ever have is His.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: That was from a pretty famous author, A.W.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: Tozer.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to share a quote from George Orwell I thought was pretty good.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
38:58
SPEAKER_00: Again, in a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
39:07
SPEAKER_00: We're going to do one more here.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: This is a quote from the famous pastor Charles Spurgeon.
39:14
You will never know the fullness of Christ until you know the
39:17
emptiness of everything else.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Again,
39:22
SPEAKER_00: that quote is,
39:22
you will never know the fullness of Christ until you know the
39:25
emptiness of
39:26
SPEAKER_00: everything else.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: And that certainly applies to my life.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: I chased ambition and
39:33
money and wealth and all those things as hard as I could and
39:36
there's never enough
39:38
and it doesn't fulfill you but you will never know the fullness
39:42
of Christ until you
39:43
SPEAKER_00: know the emptiness of everything else
39:49
SPEAKER_00: There is something better out there,
39:51
SPEAKER_00: and I invite you to get to know Him better,
39:54
SPEAKER_00: either through the resource page I mentioned earlier.
39:56
I've got the link to that,
39:58
where you can study the Bible on your own some.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: I also have a podcast that I should mention called The Search for God.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: You can hear about my faith journey.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: It's been a little rocky.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: There's been some church hurt in it, as the saying goes.
40:16
SPEAKER_00: But I think it'll help you, especially if you're
40:19
SPEAKER_00: trying to figure things out as far as your own faith journey.
40:24
Again,
40:24
as I mentioned earlier,
40:25
if you enjoy politics,
40:27
I am a moderate,
40:28
a very proud moderate.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: I am a former member of the GOP, and I believe in America.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: I do try to stay positive,
40:37
SPEAKER_00: and if you want to read political thoughts along those lines,
40:40
SPEAKER_00: you can check out Thoughts from a Southern Gentleman.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: I've got the link to end that in the episode notes.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: As you guys know,
40:48
SPEAKER_00: we are clearly navigating some turbulent waters,
40:52
SPEAKER_00: but we will get through them together.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: I do know that there's a lot that our people are concerned about,
40:59
SPEAKER_00: but I do believe that we will get through this by working together,
41:04
SPEAKER_00: by loving and helping our neighbor,
41:06
SPEAKER_00: and by having a faith in tomorrow.
41:09
SPEAKER_00: And we have to trust that
41:12
SPEAKER_00: The resiliency of our fellow citizens.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: We have to trust the checks and balances of our institutions.
41:20
And we have to believe and trust in the momentum and strength
41:24
of the actual country itself.
41:27
SPEAKER_00: It's in our blood and history.
41:31
SPEAKER_00: People who have fought the greatest empire in the world,
41:34
SPEAKER_00: the British,
41:35
SPEAKER_00: the British had superseded the strength of the French and the Spanish,
41:39
SPEAKER_00: and we fought our guts out for eight years to win that struggle,
41:42
SPEAKER_00: to have just the hope of having a democracy,
41:47
SPEAKER_00: a republic that we could make our own rules and our own laws,
41:51
SPEAKER_00: and we've
41:52
sacrifice greatly our own people in World War II to stop the
41:57
war machine in Germany
41:58
and Japan and so I'd never doubt our people not in the long
42:03
term no matter how much
42:05
they disappoint me sometimes in the short term and for those
42:09
people of faith out
42:09
SPEAKER_00: there like me we need to pray for God's protection and
42:15
But no matter what you believe,
42:16
I've said this many times,
42:18
most Americans are good.
42:19
They'll help you in a heartbeat,
42:20
whether you're left or right,
42:22
Republican or Democrat.
42:23
SPEAKER_00: So love your American, your fellow Americans, please.
42:28
SPEAKER_00: And with that, thanks for joining us this week.
42:31
SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned earlier,
42:32
SPEAKER_00: there's several ways to support the show,
42:35
SPEAKER_00: including Venmo,
42:36
SPEAKER_00: PayPal,
42:36
SPEAKER_00: Patreon,
42:37
SPEAKER_00: Substack.
42:38
SPEAKER_00: You can do those for $5 per month.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: You can do a one-time tip through Venmo or PayPal.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: It's like throwing money in a hat for a performer in a town square.
42:46
SPEAKER_00: I do have details for that in the episode notes.
42:49
And of course,
42:49
another great way to support the show is to check out my books.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: I've written 12 of them.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: Typically tell people that these are Tom Clancy-like books.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: They are military and police thrillers.
43:00
SPEAKER_00: They move fast.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: They have lots of twists and turns that you don't see coming.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: So, think...
43:07
SPEAKER_00: They're worth checking out if you enjoy Tom Clancy.
43:10
I will say that if you want to reach out to me,
43:12
I always tell folks you can shoot me an email.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: StanRMitchell2012 at gmail.com.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: StanRMitchell2012 at gmail.com.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: I try to answer every single email.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: And with that, I am out of here.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: Hope to catch you guys same time, same place next week.
43:30
SPEAKER_00: Lord Willem.