Latest / The Stan R. Mitchell Show / Ukraine gets a 'yes' on long-range wpns, but faces a brutal counter-attack in Kursk

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Ukraine gets a 'yes' on long-range wpns, but faces a brutal counter-attack in Kursk · The Stan R. Mitchell Show

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, welcome.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: My name is Stan and I am so thankful you guys have joined me this week.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: I think we're going to have a great show and I can't wait to get into it.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: If by chance this is your first time ever tuning in and you have no idea who this
0:15
SPEAKER_00: guy Stan is that you're listening to,
0:17
SPEAKER_00: just who am I?
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm a 12-time author, I'm a long-time journalist, and I'm a prior infantry Marine.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Besides all of that, I am infatuated with podcasts.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: So a couple of years ago, I figured I'd launch one myself.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: Because if you've ever deployed and had almost no one know what you did or care
0:38
SPEAKER_00: about what you did,
0:39
SPEAKER_00: you probably realize we need more attention focused on what our military is doing
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And you probably also realize we need more discussion about potential hot spots and
0:52
SPEAKER_00: conflicts that we may get involved in before we get involved in.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: So that's what I'm trying to do here.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: And besides that,
1:00
SPEAKER_00: at the end of each episode,
1:01
SPEAKER_00: I share some scripture from the Bible without being too pushy.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: Because who doesn't need that?
1:08
SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't need that kind of encouragement and grounding in your life?
1:13
SPEAKER_00: I also end the show by talking about PTSD and depression because life is hard and
1:20
SPEAKER_00: the veteran suicide rate is far too high.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: So with that out of the way, let's get started.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: What is going on, everyone?
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining us.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: We've got a ton of news stories we're going to get into tonight,
1:34
SPEAKER_00: but I thought before we would start,
1:36
SPEAKER_00: we would talk about the debate.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm kidding.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: We are not talking about the debate.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: I did actually write a political piece about that.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: If you want to track that down in the episode notes,
1:48
SPEAKER_00: you can find a link to the political newsletter that I do usually about once a week.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: You can check that out there.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: I tried to write as fair, balanced a review of the debate as I could.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: But we are definitely not talking about the debate.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: But before we get into the news,
2:05
SPEAKER_00: what I did want to talk about is something that's a little bit more high level.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: More at the 10,000 feet level, so to speak.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Now the topic I want to discuss is isolationism versus being the world's policeman.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: Because those are basically the far extremes of the terms that American foreign policy has used
2:29
SPEAKER_00: weaved in and out of for the past, what, 100, 200 years.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Basically at least 150 years, but certainly going back to World War II.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: And this is a topic that I care a lot about because I've been on both sides of the issue.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: So I want to talk about it just for a second,
2:47
SPEAKER_00: especially since we have an upcoming election and there's been lots of talk,
2:53
SPEAKER_00: especially on the right of late,
2:56
SPEAKER_00: about not getting involved in places.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: And this is usually the topic that folks on the left have talked about.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: And so it's funny how it sometimes can...
3:06
SPEAKER_00: switch between parties as to who's saying it, but the ideas are essentially the same.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: It's isolationism versus being the world's policeman.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: And I gotta say that after 9-11, which right now I'm recording this on the anniversary of that,
3:23
SPEAKER_00: After 9-11, obviously, America initially came together.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: We were hurt,
3:29
SPEAKER_00: we were angry,
3:31
SPEAKER_00: and we were ready to once again pay attention to what was happening in the world.
3:36
SPEAKER_00: Because Al-Qaeda had been attacking America for well over 10 years,
3:42
SPEAKER_00: and Africa,
3:43
SPEAKER_00: and the Middle East,
3:44
SPEAKER_00: and we knew about them,
3:46
SPEAKER_00: and we...
3:47
SPEAKER_00: Sort of kind of tried to bomb them,
3:49
SPEAKER_00: but mostly we had ignored them because everything that was happening was happening
3:54
SPEAKER_00: out there,
3:54
SPEAKER_00: and America is really good at not paying attention sometimes.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: And so 9-11 happens,
4:02
SPEAKER_00: country comes together,
4:03
SPEAKER_00: and George Bush obviously says,
4:06
SPEAKER_00: we're going to go get these guys in Afghanistan,
4:09
SPEAKER_00: al-Qaeda.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: Taliban wouldn't release them, so we go to war with Afghanistan.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: Now,
4:14
SPEAKER_00: one of the big words said back then,
4:16
SPEAKER_00: or terms or phrases,
4:18
SPEAKER_00: that George Bush used to say a lot was,
4:21
SPEAKER_00: you're either with us or you're against us.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, NATO helped us fight in Afghanistan, but it was kind of a ham-handed phrase, in my opinion.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: It was too strong,
4:34
SPEAKER_00: because there were a lot of countries that kind of wanted to be with us,
4:38
SPEAKER_00: but they can't be seen as being with us.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: So maybe their leader supports the United States because maybe we're helping them
4:47
SPEAKER_00: with financial aid projects,
4:49
SPEAKER_00: maybe selling some military equipment to them,
4:52
SPEAKER_00: maybe training some of their military personnel.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: But maybe 60 or 70% of their population hates the West or hates the United States.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: And that was the situation with many of the countries in the Middle East.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: And so it's very difficult to tell someone you're either with us or against us
5:11
SPEAKER_00: because there's areas of gray.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll share some intelligence.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll allow U.S.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: forces to operate out of their country without necessarily telling all of their
5:22
SPEAKER_00: people because if they did...
5:24
SPEAKER_00: There would be a massive uprising, and possibly the leading powers would be run out of the country.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm setting all of this up because the invasion of Iraq was a controversial thing,
5:38
SPEAKER_00: and it's something that many Americans did not support,
5:41
SPEAKER_00: and even those who did pretty quickly began to sour on the idea and eventually turn
5:48
SPEAKER_00: against it.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: And it was about that time that I myself was increasingly saying,
5:55
SPEAKER_00: man,
5:55
SPEAKER_00: we can't be the world's policemen like everywhere.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: So I was one of those isolationists.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: I was one of those, why are we sending our troops everywhere?
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Two different wars,
6:07
SPEAKER_00: been there for a while,
6:09
SPEAKER_00: and it just,
6:10
SPEAKER_00: it didn't seem like either of them were going the best.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I was one of those guys that I just like, I don't really get what we're trying to do.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: And so I've been in that camp.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: Now for me, part of what started changing my mind was a couple of things.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: First of all,
6:32
SPEAKER_00: if you recall,
6:33
SPEAKER_00: as we kind of started pulling out of the Middle East,
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Russia started moving in with some of their troops into Syria during their civil war.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: And it was really, it was a little shocking how fast the power shifted, at least for a very short time.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Russian effort...
6:51
SPEAKER_00: It was a lot more bluster than it was staying power.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: I think everyone would agree with that.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Their carrier that they sent was blowing out black smoke, and they lost a couple of planes that crashed.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: But they did send in air power into Syria.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: They did help stabilize things.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: They did horrific bombing.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: They did use some ground troops, and they did...
7:13
SPEAKER_00: You know,
7:13
SPEAKER_00: push forces in and help stabilize an ally of theirs and a terrible dictator,
7:19
SPEAKER_00: which is the leader of Syria.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: But besides that, what I started to see was, I was like, whoa, these, you know, it isn't like...
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people like to give America a hard time,
7:30
SPEAKER_00: but you can't compare American troops and what America tries to do versus a country
7:36
SPEAKER_00: like Russia or versus a country like China.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: And so it was about that time that you had Russia pushing troops in.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: You had China starting to take over Hong Kong.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: They obviously were doing the horrible human rights violations across their country.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: The repression of freedom of speech and even preventing their people from being
8:01
SPEAKER_00: able to get even free information to get on the internet.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Everything's controlled.
8:05
SPEAKER_00: Everything is monitored.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: And it's like little old Stan in East Tennessee started to say, whoa, wait a minute.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Even if we pull back,
8:15
SPEAKER_00: it's not like everyone else is like,
8:17
SPEAKER_00: oh,
8:17
SPEAKER_00: it's great that the bad people in the West are gone.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: Everything can just be at peace now.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: No.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: When we pulled back, others expanded.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: And it was at that time as well that it started hitting me that...
8:30
SPEAKER_00: Iran, obviously pushing toward a nuclear weapon.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: Saudi Arabia started talking about it because, hey, if the U.S.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: is going to start pulling back and if Iran's going to get a nuke,
8:39
SPEAKER_00: well,
8:40
SPEAKER_00: then most certainly Saudi Arabia needs to get a nuke.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: And so that's kind of a crazy thought to have Iran and Saudi Arabia,
8:46
SPEAKER_00: two countries that absolutely hate each other,
8:48
SPEAKER_00: to have nukes.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: Not to mention at the same time,
8:51
SPEAKER_00: as we're kind of starting to pull back,
8:53
SPEAKER_00: you've got Pakistan and India,
8:55
SPEAKER_00: both of them with nukes.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: Both of them have about 170 nukes.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: Do you know how many wars India and Pakistan have fought?
9:04
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a shocking list.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: It's almost worth going to look.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: I'll hit them just real fast.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: They had an Indo-Pakistani War in 1947.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Turned around and did it again in 1965.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Did it again in 1971.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: Did it again in 1999.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: And then, oh by the way, you should see how many...
9:25
SPEAKER_00: Past skirmishes and standoffs.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Just go look on Wikipedia.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: There's the contested area to the north in Kashmir.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: They fought over that several times.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: So these two countries hate each other.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: So much distrust.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And oh, by the way, they've both got nukes.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: And they've got a bunch of nukes.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: And they've got people.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Every time there's an election, both sides love to ramp up the anti-Pakistan or anti-Indian hatred.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: So it started to occur to me that...
10:10
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of crazy, because as we pull back, the instability around the world gets so much worse.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: So, so much worse.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, these are countries that have nuclear weapons.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: These are pretty sophisticated countries that can,
10:26
SPEAKER_00: you know,
10:27
SPEAKER_00: shut down straits where shipping or oil is shipped.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: It's like you could very quickly see that if we pull back,
10:34
SPEAKER_00: we might have to turn around and push back out to literally reopen C trade or C routes.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: And so,
10:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm not necessarily the smartest guy in the world,
10:43
SPEAKER_00: but it pretty quickly seemed to me that,
10:47
SPEAKER_00: hey,
10:47
SPEAKER_00: this is...
10:49
SPEAKER_00: And then, boom.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: In no time at all, you've got Putin who says, hey, America's pulling back.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: They look weak.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: Their president's weak.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go take what I want right on the flank of NATO.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't like it was the first time he'd done it.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like this is all on Biden or on Trump.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: This is the Crimean Peninsula was taken under Obama back in 2014.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: So this was actually the third invasion of Ukraine.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: But it was so much larger.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: 100,000 plus troops.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Europe is suddenly like, whoa.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: This is feeling very World War II-ish like it was in World War II.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: Although this might be World War III.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: And by that point, it was very clear to me that when it comes to foreign policy...
11:52
SPEAKER_00: Like it or not,
11:54
SPEAKER_00: having a strong military that is controlling important parts of the world,
12:01
SPEAKER_00: maintaining alliances,
12:03
SPEAKER_00: maintaining deterrence is a very important thing.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: It's not easy to sell to the American public.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: It's not always fun to be that man or woman who's standing a guard post over there
12:13
SPEAKER_00: in sometimes high levels of risk.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: I've done that, but...
12:19
SPEAKER_00: The more mature Stan saw that it can be dangerous to pull back.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: So let me get to what I really want to share with you guys is a column that was
12:34
SPEAKER_00: published in the Washington Post by former Vice President Mike Pence.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, he was the 48th Vice President.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: And he wrote a column in the Washington Post.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: I'll put a GIF link in the episode notes.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: But the column title is, We Cannot Give In to the Isolationists.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: Taiwan Must Not Fall.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: So here it is.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: Here's how it begins.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: In 1950,
13:00
SPEAKER_00: General Douglas MacArthur,
13:02
SPEAKER_00: who obviously was a very famous World War II general,
13:04
SPEAKER_00: but in 1950,
13:05
SPEAKER_00: General Douglas MacArthur wrote a top-secret memorandum warning of the dire
13:11
SPEAKER_00: consequences of allowing Taiwan to be dominated by communist China.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: "...the strategic interests of the United States will be in serious jeopardy," he wrote,
13:22
SPEAKER_00: concluding that China's domination of Taiwan would "...be a disaster of utmost
13:29
SPEAKER_00: importance."
13:32
SPEAKER_00: Now continuing back with Mike Pence's words.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: For more than 70 years, America heeded MacArthur's warning.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: For decades, standing with Taiwan has been a cornerstone of American strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: Our leaders have recognized that Taiwan is a crucial barrier to the expansion of
13:52
SPEAKER_00: communist influence in the region.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: With virtual unanimity,
13:58
SPEAKER_00: leaders of both political parties have acknowledged that abandoning Taiwan and
14:03
SPEAKER_00: allowing it to fall into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party would not only
14:08
SPEAKER_00: betray our values but also endanger the security and prosperity of the United
14:14
SPEAKER_00: States and the free world Let me do a quick sidebar here in case you're not aware
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Taiwan is a democracy they hold elections
14:24
SPEAKER_00: They have fair human rights.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: They are a beacon of what America is trying and has tried for decades and decades
14:35
SPEAKER_00: to show to the world on how a country should be run.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: So that's why America has always been, at least since World War II, a stable partner of Taiwan.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to continue reading what he said.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: So this is, again, words of Mike Pence.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: But now,
14:54
SPEAKER_00: even as Chinese President Xi Jinping has candidly admitted his intention to annex Taiwan,
15:02
SPEAKER_00: a new and troubling strain of isolationism is emerging within the Republican Party
15:08
SPEAKER_00: that advocates turning our backs on Taiwan and other allies.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: This new isolationism masquerading as realism dismisses the strategic imperatives
15:21
SPEAKER_00: that have underpinned American foreign policy since World War II.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: And this right here is where it gets so good.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: This is again Pence writing, It's 68 miles from China.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: End quote.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: This is Pence writing again,
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Such comments reflect a dangerously narrow understanding of America's role in the
15:54
SPEAKER_00: world and ignorance of the far-reaching consequences of American disengagement.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: Now again,
16:01
SPEAKER_00: in case you're not paying attention,
16:02
SPEAKER_00: by the way,
16:03
SPEAKER_00: this is Mike Pence,
16:04
SPEAKER_00: who was the vice president of Donald Trump,
16:06
SPEAKER_00: so he clearly feels very strongly about the difference in direction that his former
16:12
SPEAKER_00: commander-in-chief and friend feels.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: So, this gets so good right here.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Again, these are the words of Mike Pence.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: As a reminder,
16:37
SPEAKER_00: Iwo Jima was the island that the Marine Corps so famously took toward the end of
16:41
SPEAKER_00: World War II.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Now, continuing the paragraph, it's roughly 7,000 miles from Washington, D.C.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: to Afghanistan.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
16:50
SPEAKER_00: the point I was making earlier,
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Afghanistan is where we went to fight to get through the Taliban to al-Qaeda.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: It was also from where al-Qaeda launched the attacks that dropped both Twin Towers.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: 7,000 miles away.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: So that's 7,000 miles away.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: Taiwan is 9,500 miles away.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Continuing what he said.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: America remains the world's only true superpower,
17:16
SPEAKER_00: fully capable of projecting forces to every corner of the earth.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Distance has no bearing on our responsibility to safeguard American interests.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: Many commentators have noted that one of China's goals in annexing Taiwan would be
17:34
SPEAKER_00: to gain a stranglehold over the global supply of semiconductors.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: There is also the risk of collateral damage from an invasion.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: Taiwan is home to more than half of the world's chip fabrication facilities,
17:49
SPEAKER_00: so it's easy to envision a scenario in which much of the world's chip-making
17:53
SPEAKER_00: capability is damaged or destroyed,
17:57
SPEAKER_00: thrusting the global economy into a deep and painful recession,
18:01
SPEAKER_00: if not an outright depression.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: And even if chip fabrication were not disrupted,
18:08
SPEAKER_00: China could use its consolidated control over the world's high-tech supply chain to
18:13
SPEAKER_00: force its will on countries throughout the region and around the world.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Again,
18:19
SPEAKER_00: part of why I'm sharing this is Mike Pence really,
18:23
SPEAKER_00: really does a great job of summarizing why it's so important that we build those
18:29
SPEAKER_00: alliances around China now and that we prevent them from continuing to push out
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Almost every week I'm talking about what they're doing down in the Philippines and
18:38
SPEAKER_00: other areas,
18:40
SPEAKER_00: pushing people,
18:41
SPEAKER_00: bullying them.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Countries like Vietnam,
18:43
SPEAKER_00: I can name so many countries that they are pushing against,
18:47
SPEAKER_00: pressing against,
18:48
SPEAKER_00: constantly trying to force into their or intimidate into their own will.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: So let me continue reading.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, this paragraph is just unbelievable.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: Again, quoting Mike Pence here.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: Most concerning of all,
19:04
SPEAKER_00: the fall of Taiwan would probably spark a new nuclear arms race,
19:10
SPEAKER_00: not just between major powers,
19:12
SPEAKER_00: but including smaller Asian nations concerned about Chinese aggression but no
19:18
SPEAKER_00: longer confident in American deterrence.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: If Taiwan were annexed, American security commitments would be viewed as empty promises.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Many nations would feel they had no choice but to develop their own nuclear
19:33
SPEAKER_00: arsenals if the United States is incapable or unwilling to stop China's predatory behavior.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: The end result?
19:42
SPEAKER_00: would be hundreds,
19:44
SPEAKER_00: perhaps thousands,
19:46
SPEAKER_00: of nuclear warheads added to global stockpiles and a much higher risk of nuclear
19:52
SPEAKER_00: proliferation or even nuclear war.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: Here's this final paragraph.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: The United States must stand firm in its support for Taiwan,
20:05
SPEAKER_00: not because we view ourselves as a self-appointed global police force,
20:10
SPEAKER_00: but because it is in our national interest to do so.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: We cannot afford to be led astray by the isolationists who promise the illusion of peace,
20:22
SPEAKER_00: but guarantee the reality of a more dangerous world.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: Instead, we must continue to lead...
20:30
SPEAKER_00: to honor our commitments, and to ensure that Taiwan remains free and secure.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: You see,
20:37
SPEAKER_00: it was that last sentence that I had started sensing before I was even smart enough
20:43
SPEAKER_00: or sophisticated enough to put into words,
20:46
SPEAKER_00: but I sensed that the promise of the illusion of peace was
20:52
SPEAKER_00: was a guarantee of the reality of a more dangerous world.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: That's what I sensed.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: That's what I described,
20:59
SPEAKER_00: not in the best of terms before I read this,
21:01
SPEAKER_00: but that's what America got a small taste of as we pulled back.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: It's certainly what Ukraine has gotten a taste of.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: And again,
21:09
SPEAKER_00: we cannot afford to be led astray by the isolationists who promise the illusion of peace,
21:15
SPEAKER_00: but guarantee the reality of a more dangerous world.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
21:20
SPEAKER_00: that is just so well said,
21:24
SPEAKER_00: and I'm sure you guys felt the way I felt,
21:26
SPEAKER_00: that when China took over Hong Kong,
21:29
SPEAKER_00: when the United Kingdom had pulled back,
21:32
SPEAKER_00: and there were all these promises by China that,
21:34
SPEAKER_00: well,
21:34
SPEAKER_00: we won't change the rule too much,
21:37
SPEAKER_00: and in no time at all,
21:39
SPEAKER_00: they're changing laws,
21:40
SPEAKER_00: people being arrested without due process,
21:43
SPEAKER_00: people starting to disappear,
21:45
SPEAKER_00: and it's like,
21:46
SPEAKER_00: oh my word,
21:47
SPEAKER_00: like,
21:49
SPEAKER_00: This is scary stuff.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: And as I said last week, you've got China already, already organizing activity in the United States.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Having the power to transfer funds,
22:07
SPEAKER_00: to organize groups of men to bully and fight and beat up other people.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is like already happening.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: And so do we,
22:21
SPEAKER_00: are we naive enough to think that if we're like,
22:23
SPEAKER_00: oh,
22:23
SPEAKER_00: let's just pull back,
22:25
SPEAKER_00: let's just leave China alone.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: I mean, do we really think they're just going to leave us alone?
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Do we think that they don't have their sights way beyond Taiwan, way beyond Taiwan?
22:38
SPEAKER_00: It's naive to think that way.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: They always say in the Marine Corps,
22:44
SPEAKER_00: and I'm pretty sure most of the armed forces say this,
22:46
SPEAKER_00: that if you want peace,
22:48
SPEAKER_00: prepare for war.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: We cannot... I mean, I'm a Christian.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: In a perfect world, I don't like violence.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: But you cannot...
23:01
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is about some countries,
23:04
SPEAKER_00: but when countries are aggressive,
23:06
SPEAKER_00: when they're already expanding,
23:07
SPEAKER_00: when they're military...
23:09
SPEAKER_00: Why is China putting so much money into its military and expanding at such an
23:13
SPEAKER_00: incredible clip?
23:16
SPEAKER_00: They have...
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Literally, no enemies.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: Russia can't invade China.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Taiwan certainly can't.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: They're much smaller.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: We can barely even keep an aircraft carrier in the area.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the last week we haven't even had one because we've moved them toward the Middle East.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: We've shifted them to counter threats from Iran.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: We're certainly not threatening China.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: We've been trading with them for 30-something years.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: They've made trillions off of us.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: We've built their economy.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: We're not a threat to China.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And so why are they doing this?
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Why?
23:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's the question you've got to ask yourself.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Why are they organizing people in the United States to beat up peaceful protesters
23:58
SPEAKER_00: just so that Xi Jinping isn't offended that he might see the reality of what his
24:03
SPEAKER_00: regime is doing?
24:05
SPEAKER_00: These are not nice people.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: These are dangerous people.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: And so we've got to be careful here.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: We've got to really,
24:13
SPEAKER_00: really – as we go through all this political turmoil in the next few months,
24:18
SPEAKER_00: there's one thing that is a guarantee.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I thought about going into some details on it, but I really won't have time.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: But this week alone, the Republican Congress was – they're calling it China Week.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: They're putting together dozens of bills today.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: to punish and to appear strong against China.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Now, you can say they're doing it for political reasons.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: There's some truth to that.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: But they do feel that because of some of the isolationist wing of their party,
24:48
SPEAKER_00: they want to show that,
24:49
SPEAKER_00: hey,
24:49
SPEAKER_00: we are strong on China.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, so are the Democrats, because this is a bipartisan issue.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Both parties realize that.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: that they see the buildup.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: We've studied, we know world history.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: We see what happens when a power like Germany or Russia starts building up its
25:08
SPEAKER_00: forces and starts bullying its neighbors.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: It only goes one direction.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: It's not like they take one country or gain a new ally or two or coerce their
25:19
SPEAKER_00: leadership into other countries and then say,
25:21
SPEAKER_00: you know what,
25:22
SPEAKER_00: we've had a good month or a good year or two.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: We've gained, you know,
25:28
SPEAKER_00: 10,000 miles and 30 million more people, we're good.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: That was all we wanted, that we're stopping there.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: That's never how it goes.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: It's greed.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: They will keep going.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: And so I just want to encourage those folks listening out there that sometimes the
25:46
SPEAKER_00: easy way ain't the right way.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: And we have started really rebuilding our military,
25:53
SPEAKER_00: getting our munitions up because Ukraine is really taxed.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: The amount of our ability to produce artillery shells and other munitions.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: We are starting to fix some of those problems.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: We're horrific at making ships right now.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: We're slow.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: We're behind.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: We have so many issues.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: That's why we're trying to build up the alliances,
26:15
SPEAKER_00: but we have to be very serious and very aware and very alert to what is happening,
26:23
SPEAKER_00: to what China is doing,
26:25
SPEAKER_00: to the increasing alliance between Russia,
26:28
SPEAKER_00: China,
26:29
SPEAKER_00: North Korea,
26:30
SPEAKER_00: and Iran.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: These are very aggressive countries.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: These are countries run by leaders who sometimes make very short-sighted decisions
26:42
SPEAKER_00: because their people aren't fully even aware of what is happening.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: These are countries where they control the media, control the information flow.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: And so we just need to be very aware.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: And while it's not fun to be the world's policeman, as the term is, it's not even really a good term.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: It is important that we have alliances and that we remain engaged and that in many
27:07
SPEAKER_00: cases we cannot give an inch because when you give an inch,
27:10
SPEAKER_00: they're going to take a foot.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: That's just the reality.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate you guys listening to it.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: If you have any thoughts on that, I would love to hear it.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: You can email, you can leave comments on the post.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: We'd love to hear your thoughts.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Love to hear where you've come through the last five,
27:26
SPEAKER_00: ten years,
27:27
SPEAKER_00: your own process,
27:30
SPEAKER_00: your own,
27:31
SPEAKER_00: I guess,
27:32
SPEAKER_00: the route that your mind has gone as you've watched World Affairs the past ten
27:37
SPEAKER_00: years and how your own views have shifted.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: All our views are often shifting as situations change around the world,
27:44
SPEAKER_00: but the increasing threat from China...
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Is a real thing.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: All of this.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: As I said before.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: We've had trade with them.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: Is completely unnecessary.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: It's completely on them.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: And so.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: There you go.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: It is what it is.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: So let's get to the news.
28:03
SPEAKER_00: Again, I appreciate your guys' patience for letting me share that.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: I like having a good topic to talk about and to challenge your minds and to make you think.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: I did just glance down at my notes,
28:13
SPEAKER_00: and I can't remember if I said this at the beginning or not,
28:15
SPEAKER_00: but I did want to share a great quote I saw on Twitter that involves this very topic.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: And the quote is, The problem with appeasement is you eventually run out of other people's countries.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: How good is that?
28:29
SPEAKER_00: The problem with appeasement is you eventually run out of other people's countries.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: And remember,
28:33
SPEAKER_00: that's exactly what happened in World War II,
28:36
SPEAKER_00: as Hitler took one country and then another,
28:40
SPEAKER_00: and you got Neville Chamberlain with Great Britain saying,
28:44
SPEAKER_00: well,
28:44
SPEAKER_00: you can have that,
28:45
SPEAKER_00: or you can have this.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: It's not like Hitler said, okay, you guys have been very generous, we're going to stop now.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: No, he kept going.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: And so again, the quote is, the problem with appeasement
28:56
SPEAKER_00: is you eventually run out of other people's countries.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: So a good quote to think on and chew on.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: And again, if you want to share your thoughts on this topic, send them along.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's move to news about Ukraine.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: And Ukraine has had an up and down week since the past week.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: I've got some good news I'm going to be sharing.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: I've got some not so good news.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: And I guess as I was compiling all of this this week,
29:23
SPEAKER_00: I thought,
29:23
SPEAKER_00: you know,
29:24
SPEAKER_00: this is what a country at war fighting for its existence looks like.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: There are ups and there are downs.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: So let's just get right to it.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Good news item number one is the United States is finally,
29:41
SPEAKER_00: finally,
29:42
SPEAKER_00: we've talked about this so much the past few weeks and months really,
29:45
SPEAKER_00: but after basically a year of pressure,
29:48
SPEAKER_00: the United States is finally signaling that Ukraine is going to win.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: can use long-range weapons in their war against Russia,
29:55
SPEAKER_00: against targets that are deeper inside Russia itself.
30:00
SPEAKER_00: So this is a story we've talked about in the past quite a bit,
30:04
SPEAKER_00: so I'm not going to get much into the details of it.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: You guys know the situation.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: We have some long-range missiles for them called the Atacoms.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about those a lot in the past year.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: The United Kingdom has provided some missiles called Storm Shadows.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: And I actually have,
30:21
SPEAKER_00: if you want to look in the episode notes,
30:23
SPEAKER_00: some shared images that one of the defense analysts had kind of prepared.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: Just an approximate range of these missiles themselves.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: So you'll see...
30:37
SPEAKER_00: maps of ukraine and launching points of 300 kilometers 560 kilometers so that you
30:43
SPEAKER_00: can see just how far into russia they can actually reach and some of the targets
30:48
SPEAKER_00: that the russians will now have to worry about so this is obviously very good news
30:51
SPEAKER_00: for ukraine they've been begging for the ability to use these munitions for like i
30:58
SPEAKER_00: said really months and months heavily but almost going back a year now
31:04
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to do another good news small thing,
31:07
SPEAKER_00: and then we're going to get into some rougher news,
31:10
SPEAKER_00: and then after that it'll be a hodgepodge of news about Ukraine.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: Some additional good news is the head of the CIA, Bill Burns, was assassinated.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: quoted as saying during a joint discussion they were doing kind of a press briefing
31:27
SPEAKER_00: he was with the head of the intelligence for the united kingdom but that the push
31:33
SPEAKER_00: into kursk you know russia ukraine pushed into russia into the kursk region we've
31:39
SPEAKER_00: been talking about that for a few weeks that what the head of the cia bill burns
31:46
SPEAKER_00: said that it has been not only a boost in morale for ukraine but
31:50
SPEAKER_00: but that it also exposed some of the vulnerabilities of Putin's Russia and of its military.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: And he went on to say that the Kursk offensive,
32:03
SPEAKER_00: as well as the mutiny by former Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin,
32:10
SPEAKER_00: It's a guy you haven't heard in a while, but he's the guy who led that mutiny and later died.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: He stopped and then died in a very suspicious jet crash.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: But again, the Kursk Offensive as well as a mutiny by former Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: have, quote, put a dent in Putin's narrative, according to the CIA director.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: He said that this invasion north into Russia has raised questions about where all
32:38
SPEAKER_00: of this is headed among the Russian elite.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: So, that's kind of the good news.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: We've talked a lot in the past year or so about whether some group of gentlemen...
32:53
SPEAKER_00: or some force might finally topple Putin,
32:57
SPEAKER_00: but he's been pretty firmly lodged,
33:00
SPEAKER_00: and he has gotten rid of some of his rivals,
33:02
SPEAKER_00: so I'm not sure how many questions are really being asked inside of Russia.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: I hope there are some being asked.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a thousand percent sure.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: In fact,
33:14
SPEAKER_00: I think a year ago,
33:15
SPEAKER_00: I was at that point thinking there was a better chance that maybe Putin would be toppled,
33:21
SPEAKER_00: but...
33:22
SPEAKER_00: The war has grounded on,
33:24
SPEAKER_00: grinded on,
33:25
SPEAKER_00: whatever the right word is,
33:26
SPEAKER_00: and not a lot of movement happening there.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: Although, as they always say,
33:32
SPEAKER_00: After a revolution,
33:34
SPEAKER_00: you always say,
33:36
SPEAKER_00: of course everyone could see it was about to happen,
33:38
SPEAKER_00: but before the revolution happens,
33:41
SPEAKER_00: no one ever sees it coming.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: So that's the way those typically go, but not seeing a lot of any hope for something like that right now.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: So that was the good part.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: Here's the bad part.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: In the past couple of days, in that Kursk offensive...
33:58
SPEAKER_00: And you're not going to find this in a single major news story yet.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: I literally looked about an hour ago.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: It has not made the news yet.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: But many of the defense analysts that I respect and follow...
34:12
SPEAKER_00: say that Russia has launched a major counteroffensive against Ukraine in the Kursk region,
34:18
SPEAKER_00: and that they managed to cross one of the rivers where the bridges had been blown.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: They hit Ukraine from a side that I don't think Ukraine expected to be hit from,
34:28
SPEAKER_00: so they've achieved some...
34:31
SPEAKER_00: tactical and strategic surprise, it appears.
34:35
SPEAKER_00: That's the words of me on that, but that's what I'm saying because clearly they're being pushed back.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: They didn't see this coming.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: And so I've got some information in the episode notes that in this major counteroffensive,
34:47
SPEAKER_00: and by the way,
34:48
SPEAKER_00: one of the folks I'm quoting,
34:49
SPEAKER_00: if you're doubting whether any of this is true,
34:52
SPEAKER_00: is a Wall Street Journal reporter,
34:54
SPEAKER_00: one of their lead foreign correspondents who's been right on about everything.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: But
35:01
SPEAKER_00: The information I'm sharing has been all over Telegram,
35:03
SPEAKER_00: all over X,
35:05
SPEAKER_00: pretty well confirmed,
35:07
SPEAKER_00: including with lots of video.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, I even have in the episode notes video of an armored column.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: Eight tanks, armored vehicles.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: The unit is even identified.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: It's the 51st Airborne Regiment.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: You can tell that they're not meeting hardly any resistance, and so...
35:27
SPEAKER_00: It's not really a fun video to watch as this armored column,
35:31
SPEAKER_00: which looks pretty daggone scary even just in video,
35:34
SPEAKER_00: is pushing forward against almost limited to almost no resistance.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm sure Ukraine will shift forces.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure they'll start to address this.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: But the reality is, in just about the past 24 to 36 hours, the Wall Street Journal reporter said that...
35:55
SPEAKER_00: Russia has taken back at least one-tenth, possibly even more, of the Ukrainian-occupied part of Russia.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: One-tenth in just a day or so.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: So this is a very large force that came in from a flank, wasn't seen until it was probably way too late.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: And so hopefully Ukraine can re-stabilize the lines.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: I have in the episode notes as well a map that shows this very large force pushing in.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: And the crazy part about it is if you look at the map,
36:28
SPEAKER_00: they're not only hitting on one side of this land that Ukraine has grabbed,
36:33
SPEAKER_00: they're hitting on the other to kind of drive toward each other and to cut off
36:36
SPEAKER_00: Ukrainian forces.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: It's honestly a pretty good strategic move if you're just looking at the map.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: It certainly appears that way.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: And so...
36:47
SPEAKER_00: That's the not-so-great news that I wanted to make sure I share.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: As you guys know,
36:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm obviously very pro-Ukraine,
36:55
SPEAKER_00: but I'm also very pro-honesty and realistic and all of those things.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: And so when bad news happens, we just have to share it.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: And so it does appear that, at least for the moment...
37:07
SPEAKER_00: they're getting pushed back pretty bad in part of the land they have taken.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully the Russian forces there are hasting or rushing forces to stop the Russians.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't come off very well off the tongue, but let's hope that's the case.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: Let's share some good news to try to balance out that pretty tough reporting there.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Some good news for Ukraine this week since the last episode is that Spain has
37:36
SPEAKER_00: agreed to transfer a complete Hawk battery to Ukraine.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Hawk anti-air missiles are...
37:46
SPEAKER_00: They're a medium range missile.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: They're actually from like the 1960s, although they have been updated some.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: So they're not as good as Patriots, but they are medium range.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: They are pretty good.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: And a single battery has six launchers, each of which has three missiles.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: So these are...
38:03
SPEAKER_00: 18 missiles can be loaded, ready for some type of drone or airstrike from Russia.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: You can launch those.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: The good news too is that there's plenty of Hawk missiles out there.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: At least there used to be.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure how many we've been transferring,
38:20
SPEAKER_00: but I haven't heard anything about any issues as far as how many we have of those
38:25
SPEAKER_00: and that NATO has.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: So it's a great weapon system that, whereas we were running low on some of the other stuff,
38:31
SPEAKER_00: There are plenty of these in storage, and so Spain will be transferring those.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: According to the reporting,
38:39
SPEAKER_00: the launcher is already located in Poland,
38:42
SPEAKER_00: so it's very close to Ukraine,
38:44
SPEAKER_00: and it will soon be operating inside Ukraine.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: So that is some good news as Ukraine still tries to strengthen its air defenses
38:53
SPEAKER_00: because Russian air power is still getting through,
38:56
SPEAKER_00: unfortunately,
38:58
SPEAKER_00: far too often.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Now I did say earlier in the show it's been an up and down week.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: There's good and bad.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: And so literally on the flip side of that news about those additional anti-air missiles,
39:10
SPEAKER_00: those Hawks,
39:12
SPEAKER_00: the not so great news is that it has been confirmed by U.S.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: intelligence that Iran has shipped more than 200 ballistic missiles to Russia.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: That's according, again, to U.S.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: intelligence, although Ukraine was reporting it a few days before U.S.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: intelligence would confirm it.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: These 200 ballistic missiles are decently short range in the neighborhood of about
39:34
SPEAKER_00: 75 miles,
39:35
SPEAKER_00: so not like they can fire 500 miles,
39:37
SPEAKER_00: but...
39:39
SPEAKER_00: they will help the long-range missiles that russia has to be more used toward
39:47
SPEAKER_00: priority targets and then these shorter range ones can be used more toward the
39:51
SPEAKER_00: battlefield and some of the closer-in cities because again these have a little bit
39:56
SPEAKER_00: shorter distance about 75 miles
40:00
SPEAKER_00: And again, there's about 200 of them.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: And so that's just unfortunate news, but it is what it is.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: I will say the U.S.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: has already launched or announced sanctions against Iran because of this missile shipment.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: And so the sanctions target Iranian airlines, ships, and officials involved in the arms trade.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: And additionally,
40:27
SPEAKER_00: the United Kingdom,
40:28
SPEAKER_00: France,
40:28
SPEAKER_00: and Germany have also put into effect some restrictions and sanctions on Iran.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: So,
40:36
SPEAKER_00: you know,
40:36
SPEAKER_00: it's kind of a good news,
40:37
SPEAKER_00: bad news thing there as well because things are a little dicey with Iran right now.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: And so we are increasingly moving toward a less than perfect situation with Iran.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: It's probably the nicest way I can say that.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Moving along,
40:57
SPEAKER_00: also on the plus column for Ukraine this week,
41:00
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I saw this really reported anywhere because it's kind of a story in progress,
41:06
SPEAKER_00: but Ukraine has launched its second ship inside Turkey as it works to rebuild its
41:13
SPEAKER_00: own navy.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: These are corvette-sized ships, so not quite as big as a destroyer.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: Definitely bigger than anything they have.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: They obviously sank.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: They lost part of their fleet, sank the rest to keep it from being captured from Russia back in the day.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Russia did have full control of the Black Sea,
41:34
SPEAKER_00: but since then,
41:35
SPEAKER_00: Ukraine,
41:36
SPEAKER_00: using sea drones and anti-ship missiles...
41:41
SPEAKER_00: in some other really innovative ways have sunk lots of russia's black sea in fact
41:49
SPEAKER_00: they've destroyed about a third of russia's black sea fleet so russia has pulled
41:55
SPEAKER_00: its navy back and so this second
42:00
SPEAKER_00: A Corvette, as they're called, which will have a 76mm gun and some air defense weapons.
42:08
SPEAKER_00: It's not a massive ship, but it's still a pretty good-sized ship.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: The second one will be, will actually not arrive until 2026.
42:16
SPEAKER_00: So it's about a year plus, a year and a couple of months away.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: One of the others is there, but they haven't brought it in yet.
42:23
SPEAKER_00: So they're basically preparing their Navy so that as they continue to push Russia
42:29
SPEAKER_00: back toward the Crimean Peninsula,
42:32
SPEAKER_00: push their fleet back,
42:34
SPEAKER_00: they're obviously thinking multiple moves ahead.
42:37
SPEAKER_00: But it will be nice that Ukraine is building up its fleet because it will need a
42:43
SPEAKER_00: fleet to control all of that water around Ukraine.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: So that was a story.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: If you want to read the details of it, it's kind of a cool story.
42:52
SPEAKER_00: I got a link to it in the episode notes.
42:55
SPEAKER_00: One other positive story I wanted to just briefly share.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to get in the weeds on this one at all.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: Ukraine has hit the economic targets that it needed to hit to get more funding from
43:07
SPEAKER_00: the IMF or International Monetary Fund.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: Ukraine hit...
43:14
SPEAKER_00: First quarter GDP growth of 6.5%,
43:18
SPEAKER_00: and its inflation is at 5.4%,
43:21
SPEAKER_00: so that did allow it to open the door to another $1.1 billion in aid.
43:27
SPEAKER_00: Now,
43:27
SPEAKER_00: obviously,
43:27
SPEAKER_00: a lot of countries that are struggling often use the International Monetary Fund,
43:32
SPEAKER_00: or IMF,
43:33
SPEAKER_00: to help them,
43:34
SPEAKER_00: and obviously Ukraine's been in a war for the past two years,
43:37
SPEAKER_00: so they've been struggling.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: getting access to it.
43:40
SPEAKER_00: So that's some good news from a funding perspective for Ukraine.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: But like I said, I'm not going to get in the weeds on that because I'm not really an economics guy.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm not an expert on that stuff.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: But there's a link to it if you want to dig into it just a bit.
43:54
SPEAKER_00: But just definitely did want to see it because it didn't make much Western news media.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to share one final thing
44:03
SPEAKER_00: relatively quick ukraine story it's kind of cool and definitely an achievement and
44:08
SPEAKER_00: good news for them i've got two different videos in the episode notes of we've
44:13
SPEAKER_00: talked about how drones are such a pivotal part of warfare now and ukraine is
44:18
SPEAKER_00: increasingly using its own drones to knock out other russian enemy drones and there
44:24
SPEAKER_00: are two videos one of them's up pretty high i think it's about 2 000 meters in the
44:28
SPEAKER_00: sky
44:31
SPEAKER_00: Which is, you know, what is that, like 6,000, 7,000 feet?
44:36
SPEAKER_00: So this drone in this video approaches a Russian drone.
44:40
SPEAKER_00: And it's a pretty expensive Russian drone with lots of cameras.
44:45
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you can tell it's one of their expensive ones.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: Rams it and manages to crash it.
44:51
SPEAKER_00: So...
44:52
SPEAKER_00: Huge win for an inexpensive drone.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: But the second video is even more impressive.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: It is believed to be the record of the highest altitude destruction of another drone.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: 3,600 meters, which is almost 10,000 feet.
45:11
SPEAKER_00: We're talking...
45:17
SPEAKER_00: more than two miles in the air.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know how they were getting signal to it that well for such a smaller drone,
45:23
SPEAKER_00: but you can tell it knocks out a very expensive and sophisticated Russian drone.
45:29
SPEAKER_00: So we didn't have to use a multi-million dollar missile that's an air-to-air missile.
45:36
SPEAKER_00: They used a very inexpensive drone that goes up almost,
45:39
SPEAKER_00: like again,
45:41
SPEAKER_00: 3,600 meters,
45:42
SPEAKER_00: almost 10,000 feet,
45:43
SPEAKER_00: which if you know much about flying,
45:44
SPEAKER_00: that's getting on up there.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: You can tell by
45:47
SPEAKER_00: It's worth watching the video.
45:48
SPEAKER_00: It's only about 20 seconds long.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: You can tell how high it is off the ground based on how far away the ground looks and the houses and all.
45:57
SPEAKER_00: But how thin the air is, you can tell the drone is straining to fly that high.
46:04
SPEAKER_00: Clearly when you get that high,
46:05
SPEAKER_00: the air gets much thinner and it's far more difficult for especially drones to fly.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: But it does succeed in taking it down from what it appears anyway.
46:15
SPEAKER_00: And so pretty big win for an inexpensive thing and probably a new achievement for Ukraine to get.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, they're getting better at destroying these Russian drones.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: And in the process,
46:31
SPEAKER_00: they're advancing drone warfare just by leaps and bounds in the ideas that they're having.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I almost wonder if with this, if
46:41
SPEAKER_00: We had talked about,
46:42
SPEAKER_00: it's been about six months or so ago,
46:44
SPEAKER_00: that one of the things they did to hit targets deeper is they had a drone lift up
46:50
SPEAKER_00: another drone.
46:51
SPEAKER_00: And so the drone that was carrying the wind that was below it that carried a bomb
46:55
SPEAKER_00: flew about as far as its battery would allow,
46:58
SPEAKER_00: released the lower drone.
47:00
SPEAKER_00: The top drone flew back.
47:03
SPEAKER_00: The lower drone went out and dropped its bomb on a target that wasn't expecting it.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: And so...
47:08
SPEAKER_00: They've been doing all kinds of innovative things.
47:11
SPEAKER_00: We talked a couple of weeks ago about they literally attached a stick,
47:15
SPEAKER_00: a very long stick,
47:16
SPEAKER_00: to one of their drones,
47:17
SPEAKER_00: and they were using it to go around and knock out the propellers of other smaller
47:20
SPEAKER_00: Russian drones.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: But they seem to have taken it even further now, and they're using their drones.
47:27
SPEAKER_00: Again,
47:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they did some type of piggyback thing where they took one up like a mile,
47:32
SPEAKER_00: released the other one,
47:32
SPEAKER_00: and then the second one
47:34
SPEAKER_00: used its battery to go up another mile,
47:36
SPEAKER_00: but they somehow got that drone up that far,
47:40
SPEAKER_00: somehow with a signal good enough that they could still control it,
47:44
SPEAKER_00: and they knocked out a very expensive Russian surveillance drone,
47:49
SPEAKER_00: a winged one.
47:50
SPEAKER_00: You can tell it's a very expensive one.
47:52
SPEAKER_00: So definitely good news for Ukraine there.
47:55
SPEAKER_00: Small things, but sometimes in war, it's the small things that start to add up.
48:01
SPEAKER_00: After the break,
48:02
SPEAKER_00: we're going to do one final news story about China,
48:04
SPEAKER_00: and then we'll get into the encouragement part where I read a little bit of
48:09
SPEAKER_00: scripture and do the PTSD section.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: So stick around.
48:13
SPEAKER_00: I think it'll be worth it.
48:23
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, just a quick reminder.
48:25
SPEAKER_00: If you enjoy the show,
48:26
SPEAKER_00: you've been listening to it for a while,
48:28
SPEAKER_00: and you'd like to support what I'm doing,
48:30
SPEAKER_00: there's a few ways you can do so.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: You can sign up on my Substack page, support the show at $5 per month.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: You can also do it through Patreon.
48:39
SPEAKER_00: I've got a link to that in the episode notes.
48:41
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, you can even do so through Venmo or PayPal.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: I have links to both of those in the episode notes as well.
48:50
SPEAKER_00: Your support is honestly so important because as you guys know,
48:54
SPEAKER_00: I do work a normal job 40 hours a week and long term.
48:59
SPEAKER_00: I really think the podcast needs to be twice a week coming out on Tuesdays and Fridays.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: I think that not only would that help not the country better,
49:09
SPEAKER_00: not only would it help me reach more people,
49:11
SPEAKER_00: I think it would allow the show to grow greatly with the way that the algorithms
49:17
SPEAKER_00: are set up on the various podcast stations.
49:20
SPEAKER_00: It's just pretty challenging with a weekly show to get where you need to be on the charts.
49:26
SPEAKER_00: Twice a week would help that a ton as most of the shows that go up the charts come
49:32
SPEAKER_00: out sometimes daily or at least twice a week.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: So doing it once a week,
49:38
SPEAKER_00: it's very challenging to get the kind of traction that in a perfect world you would
49:42
SPEAKER_00: like to have.
49:43
SPEAKER_00: Not to mention there's often updates on news that I would love to put out that
49:48
SPEAKER_00: doing it once a week is a little more challenging.
49:51
SPEAKER_00: As I love to say,
49:52
SPEAKER_00: there's a quote,
49:53
SPEAKER_00: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
49:56
SPEAKER_00: committed citizens can change the world.
50:00
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
50:03
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm hoping that this small group of thoughtful,
50:07
SPEAKER_00: committed citizens that listen in every week can help this show grow to where we
50:14
SPEAKER_00: can have the kind of impact that goes far beyond our own internal borders and
50:19
SPEAKER_00: actually helps people out there.
50:21
SPEAKER_00: That's the long-term goal,
50:23
SPEAKER_00: and of course,
50:24
SPEAKER_00: I want to help people inside our own country as they face so many weekly and
50:30
SPEAKER_00: sometimes daily challenges.
50:32
SPEAKER_00: All of us need pep talks,
50:34
SPEAKER_00: and I would love to be doing this full-time and doing that at least twice a week.
50:39
SPEAKER_00: So thanks if you're supporting already,
50:42
SPEAKER_00: and thank you for those who are on the fence and thinking about it.
50:45
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate even your consideration.
50:57
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's do one final news story.
50:59
SPEAKER_00: And this is,
51:00
SPEAKER_00: in some ways,
51:02
SPEAKER_00: more of a teaser because I don't know how likely this is,
51:05
SPEAKER_00: but it's one of those things I feel like I have to mention just in case it were to happen.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: There is a chance.
51:15
SPEAKER_00: We've talked a lot about how Beijing has been pushing around the Philippines,
51:19
SPEAKER_00: which is a country that we have a treaty alliance with for the past 50 years.
51:25
SPEAKER_00: We've talked a lot about how China's pushing them around a bit the past few weeks.
51:30
SPEAKER_00: It really goes back further than that,
51:32
SPEAKER_00: but it's been particularly a little aggressive the past couple of weeks,
51:36
SPEAKER_00: including a week or two ago I showed Chinese ships surrounding and ramming a
51:42
SPEAKER_00: Philippine ship.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: It looked like to me they were trying to disable it and maybe even try to capture it.
51:50
SPEAKER_00: That would be about as close as starting a war as you could get.
51:53
SPEAKER_00: So that's just a very scary thing.
51:58
SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to share that and I've got a link in the episode notes.
52:03
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, it's behind a paywall, so it's hard to find news on this.
52:06
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to get media down there.
52:08
SPEAKER_00: China doesn't want media down there.
52:09
SPEAKER_00: This is a long ways away from any mainland,
52:14
SPEAKER_00: but along that disputed set of small little islands and built-up area,
52:25
SPEAKER_00: It appears there's a small chance,
52:27
SPEAKER_00: or at least a possibility,
52:30
SPEAKER_00: that China is thinking about trying to tow a Philippine vessel that has been kind
52:36
SPEAKER_00: of sunk slash positioned down there.
52:39
SPEAKER_00: I talked about this a lot a month or two ago,
52:41
SPEAKER_00: about how China had put this ship there and they keep Philippine Marines there.
52:46
SPEAKER_00: Well, there are some tow ships that...
52:50
SPEAKER_00: China has down there and it appears there's a chance that they're thinking about if
52:56
SPEAKER_00: there was any way that they could somehow
53:01
SPEAKER_00: grab that ship and basically take it away, tow it away, so that they could control the area better.
53:08
SPEAKER_00: The problem is,
53:10
SPEAKER_00: of course,
53:10
SPEAKER_00: there are Philippine Marines on it,
53:11
SPEAKER_00: but there aren't many ships or supporting forces around.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't even appear the U.S.
53:16
SPEAKER_00: has many forces around, so hopefully this is nothing.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: The fact that it's made the news in even a small outlet...
53:25
SPEAKER_00: surely would have the United States and the Philippines preparing for such a thing.
53:29
SPEAKER_00: So it probably won't happen.
53:32
SPEAKER_00: But again, I feel like I had to just kind of throw it out there because I wouldn't want a week from now.
53:38
SPEAKER_00: Of course, I'd probably do some type of
53:41
SPEAKER_00: emergency update but and send out an email to you guys which is why you should be
53:45
SPEAKER_00: on the list by the way if you haven't if you're listening on apple podcast or
53:48
SPEAKER_00: somewhere else make sure you sign up for the email list anytime there's big foreign
53:52
SPEAKER_00: policy news i do like an emergency newsletter because i don't have the time or
53:57
SPEAKER_00: capability while working a full-time job to record an episode but i do try to
54:02
SPEAKER_00: follow up like when just when big things happen i won't go through all the times
54:07
SPEAKER_00: i've done in the past i don't know why i even thought about doing that but
54:10
SPEAKER_00: I just want to throw out there that I don't know how aggressive China wants to be,
54:16
SPEAKER_00: and there is a chance that since we don't have a carrier in the area,
54:20
SPEAKER_00: as I mentioned earlier,
54:22
SPEAKER_00: as they're near Iran in the Middle East,
54:26
SPEAKER_00: If there was a time to be aggressive, it could be that China may try to see.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: But let's hope that's not the case.
54:34
SPEAKER_00: Let's, you know, hope and pray, honestly.
54:36
SPEAKER_00: But just wanted to throw it out there.
54:38
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully it's nothing.
54:39
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully it's just some analysts worrying a little too much.
54:43
SPEAKER_00: But it's a pretty good-sized little armada of Chinese Coast Guard ships that they
54:49
SPEAKER_00: have around there already.
54:50
SPEAKER_00: There are vastly more of them.
54:51
SPEAKER_00: than there is from the Philippines,
54:53
SPEAKER_00: and there's vastly more of them than there are from the United States.
54:57
SPEAKER_00: However,
54:58
SPEAKER_00: if any Philippine Marine were to be wounded or killed,
55:02
SPEAKER_00: certainly,
55:04
SPEAKER_00: then at that point,
55:04
SPEAKER_00: the defense treaty would kick in.
55:07
SPEAKER_00: The only part is it gets a little complicated if they were to get surrounded,
55:13
SPEAKER_00: not defend themselves,
55:14
SPEAKER_00: and perhaps surrender.
55:15
SPEAKER_00: If you recall...
55:17
SPEAKER_00: This goes back to the George Bush administration, and I should probably look up the notes.
55:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing this off the top of my head,
55:23
SPEAKER_00: but we had a C-130 that crashed,
55:27
SPEAKER_00: landed on an island that China took and had U.S.
55:33
SPEAKER_00: air crew held hostage or prisoner there.
55:37
SPEAKER_00: for a number of days.
55:39
SPEAKER_00: I think it was a week or two, actually.
55:41
SPEAKER_00: I just remember being livid at the time as they tried to steal technology and make us look weak.
55:47
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know how aggressive China will be, but I did want to put that out there.
55:53
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully it's nothing.
55:54
SPEAKER_00: If it starts to look like it's more likely, I'll try to put out an emergency newsletter.
55:59
SPEAKER_00: If
56:01
SPEAKER_00: It starts to make any more waves and nothing happens in the next week or so.
56:04
SPEAKER_00: I'll cover it more in depth in the next episode,
56:07
SPEAKER_00: but I just want to make sure you guys were aware of it because it has not made any
56:11
SPEAKER_00: media that I have seen except for a very,
56:14
SPEAKER_00: very small paywalled article.
56:17
SPEAKER_00: That's out of the Pacific.
56:19
SPEAKER_00: So,
56:20
SPEAKER_00: with the presidential elections,
56:22
SPEAKER_00: of course,
56:23
SPEAKER_00: it almost has to be a shooting war for anything to make the news in America right now.
56:29
SPEAKER_00: Because with the debate and everything else,
56:32
SPEAKER_00: it's just hard to break through what most people are focused on in the United States.
56:36
SPEAKER_00: Which is why I think, in my humble opinion...
56:40
SPEAKER_00: This podcast serves a pretty important service,
56:44
SPEAKER_00: but anyway,
56:46
SPEAKER_00: let's get to the best part of the show,
56:48
SPEAKER_00: shall we?
56:50
SPEAKER_00: So let's end the show with some scripture because I know that life is hard and
56:55
SPEAKER_00: sometimes you just need to hear something that will lift you up.
56:58
SPEAKER_00: And as you guys know,
57:00
SPEAKER_00: I always like to share some verses from the Bible or quotes that touch on the Bible
57:04
SPEAKER_00: or Jesus just because my Christian faith has become such a source of strength and
57:10
SPEAKER_00: wisdom and calm.
57:12
SPEAKER_00: For me the past couple of years since losing my mom and now worrying an awful lot
57:16
SPEAKER_00: about my dad and his serious memory problems.
57:19
SPEAKER_00: So,
57:20
SPEAKER_00: you know,
57:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm betting that if you don't have something going on in your life right now,
57:25
SPEAKER_00: you are wise enough to see that in the...
57:30
SPEAKER_00: Not so far distant future.
57:33
SPEAKER_00: You are probably headed towards some challenging rough waters yourself.
57:39
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm hoping that by sharing some of these,
57:41
SPEAKER_00: it might encourage you to get into the Bible on your own.
57:44
SPEAKER_00: Because I think it will change your life if you let it.
57:48
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's the first one.
57:49
SPEAKER_00: It's just a good quote.
57:52
SPEAKER_00: Have peace in knowing that.
58:07
SPEAKER_00: That's really good, isn't it?
58:08
SPEAKER_00: Again, stop overthinking.
58:09
SPEAKER_00: If it's God's will, it'll happen and nothing will stop it.
58:13
SPEAKER_00: If it's not, He has a better plan.
58:16
SPEAKER_00: Have peace in knowing that.
58:18
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's the next one.
58:22
SPEAKER_00: It's a good quote about reading the Bible.
58:26
SPEAKER_00: Again, this is a quote from Charles Spurgeon.
58:28
SPEAKER_00: I love quoting him.
58:29
SPEAKER_00: He's from, I think, the 1800s, a very famous theologian and pastor.
58:34
SPEAKER_00: The quote is, So, just a reminder, if you're reading the Bible quickly...
58:49
SPEAKER_00: That isn't always the best way.
58:51
SPEAKER_00: It's not by hasty reading, but by deep meditation that we gain the most from the Word of God.
58:58
SPEAKER_00: And I'll add that a lot of pastors and churches,
59:02
SPEAKER_00: they memorize scripture and memorize a few verses or an entire chapter.
59:07
SPEAKER_00: And as you do that more and more,
59:09
SPEAKER_00: it literally embeds the Word of God into your mind and body and soul,
59:17
SPEAKER_00: I guess.
59:17
SPEAKER_00: It definitely will start changing your life.
59:21
SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's another good quote.
59:23
SPEAKER_00: A yes from God blesses you.
59:26
SPEAKER_00: A no from God protects you.
59:30
SPEAKER_00: And waiting on God...
59:34
SPEAKER_00: Man, that is so good.
59:35
SPEAKER_00: Again, a yes from God blesses you, a no from God protects you, and waiting on God prepares you.
59:43
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's do a verse from Isaiah chapter 43 verse 2.
59:50
SPEAKER_00: When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.
59:54
SPEAKER_00: And the person who shared that said,
1:00:11
SPEAKER_00: Quote or that verse I had a small quote below it as well that said ships don't sink
1:00:17
SPEAKER_00: because of the water around them Ships sink because of the water that gets in them
1:00:23
SPEAKER_00: don't let what's happening around you get inside you and weigh you down It's a
1:00:29
SPEAKER_00: pretty good pretty good principle right there
1:00:34
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to share just a verse from Psalms, or Psalm chapter 119, verse 28.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_00: My soul melts from heaviness.
1:00:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's crazy imagery, isn't it?
1:00:49
SPEAKER_00: My soul melts from heaviness.
1:00:52
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen me according to your word.
1:00:57
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sharing that because so often we live on our phones and 24-7 news,
1:01:04
SPEAKER_00: and we worry about some of the dumbest things sometimes.
1:01:07
SPEAKER_00: And it's like we have Bibles sitting around us that we can read,
1:01:12
SPEAKER_00: which so often,
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: if you will just read it,
1:01:16
SPEAKER_00: it just strengthens you.
1:01:18
SPEAKER_00: It gives you peace.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_00: It gives you hope.
1:01:22
SPEAKER_00: I must share another quote from Charles Spurgeon, who I mentioned earlier.
1:01:27
SPEAKER_00: And this kind of helps sum up Christianity.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_00: And the quote is, Saved from sin, that makes us safe.
1:01:37
SPEAKER_00: Saved to holiness, that makes us happy.
1:01:42
SPEAKER_00: Again, saved from sin, that makes us safe.
1:01:45
SPEAKER_00: Saved to holiness, that makes us happy.
1:01:48
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, what he's referring to is that typically when someone comes to Christianity and, you know...
1:01:58
SPEAKER_00: gives their life to God,
1:02:00
SPEAKER_00: they ask for forgiveness of sin,
1:02:02
SPEAKER_00: and by putting their faith in Jesus,
1:02:04
SPEAKER_00: they're saved.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_00: They're guaranteed eternal life.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_00: They're guaranteed, you know, redemption and not having to go to hell.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_00: But that's the first step.
1:02:15
SPEAKER_00: And that's the...
1:02:17
SPEAKER_00: A lot of people do that,
1:02:20
SPEAKER_00: and not so many continue to persevere through the study of the Bible and
1:02:26
SPEAKER_00: transforming yourself and becoming more holy and pure.
1:02:33
SPEAKER_00: And that takes a lot of time, a lot of reading, a lot of deep thoughts, listening to lots of sermons,
1:02:42
SPEAKER_00: And as you do that, you start to transform yourself.
1:02:45
SPEAKER_00: I know so many people share the same experience where after you either rededicate
1:02:51
SPEAKER_00: your life or you get saved,
1:02:52
SPEAKER_00: you see the sin,
1:02:54
SPEAKER_00: some major sin.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_00: And it's funny because before it happens, you think...
1:02:57
SPEAKER_00: I was telling someone the other day,
1:02:59
SPEAKER_00: before I restarted my faith journey two years ago,
1:03:03
SPEAKER_00: I was a pretty good guy.
1:03:04
SPEAKER_00: I was a good dude.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_00: I'd help you if you were broken down.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't committing anything that by world measures were that bad.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_00: But then as you get in the light of the word or in the presence of Jesus,
1:03:21
SPEAKER_00: you start to see all of these things that you never thought were that big a deal.
1:03:25
SPEAKER_00: And you start to clean up your life.
1:03:28
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, for me, it started out with just I cursed, you know, quite often cussed.
1:03:35
SPEAKER_00: As parts of jokes, or if I was angry, and you start to realize, man, I can't even control my tongue.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: I can't believe that.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: And that was one of the easiest sins to start to get rid of.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_00: Every time I cussed, I felt guilty.
1:03:49
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, wow, I can't even control, you know, I'm cussing near my stepson.
1:03:54
SPEAKER_00: Why am I doing that?
1:03:56
SPEAKER_00: It's not the example I want to provide.
1:03:58
SPEAKER_00: So you clean that up, and then, you know, like most military folks, you add a pretty short fuse...
1:04:04
SPEAKER_00: A little bit of a temper sometimes.
1:04:06
SPEAKER_00: You start cleaning that up.
1:04:07
SPEAKER_00: And it's like as you clean up stuff, it's like cleaning up your home.
1:04:10
SPEAKER_00: You decide, I'm going to clean up this office or this corner or this.
1:04:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to just dust this one part.
1:04:18
SPEAKER_00: And the next thing you know, you're dusting the whole room or cleaning the whole house.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_00: Because as you clean, you see more things that need to be cleaned.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_00: And it becomes a process.
1:04:29
SPEAKER_00: And so the kind of people that...
1:04:33
SPEAKER_00: Christians are just phenomenal Christians that are happy and joyful and all of that.
1:04:39
SPEAKER_00: That takes many years, and a lot of people don't want to do it.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_00: It takes effort.
1:04:45
SPEAKER_00: It takes time.
1:04:47
SPEAKER_00: You know, it takes not giving up on the process and making time for the process, not getting too busy.
1:04:53
SPEAKER_00: And so, again, the quote was, And that is the most amazing part, is as you start to get into it,
1:05:07
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that makes you happier than just spending time with your Bible.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_00: I used to love to watch football.
1:05:12
SPEAKER_00: I talked about this a year or so ago.
1:05:14
SPEAKER_00: Man, I used to love to talk football, watch football, go to games, but you spend so many hours playing.
1:05:24
SPEAKER_00: Studying the teams,
1:05:25
SPEAKER_00: the players,
1:05:25
SPEAKER_00: the strengths,
1:05:26
SPEAKER_00: who's going to do what,
1:05:27
SPEAKER_00: this or that,
1:05:28
SPEAKER_00: the predictions,
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: blah,
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: blah,
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: blah.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: And you set up fantasy teams and you watch.
1:05:32
SPEAKER_00: You spend so much time and then you're just disappointed because your team falls
1:05:36
SPEAKER_00: short or someone gets hurt or the season is...
1:05:39
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly, you know, completely a 360 and your team's no longer good or the coach is gone.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_00: You're just going through these ups and downs, which seemed so important at the time.
1:05:50
SPEAKER_00: And then later,
1:05:51
SPEAKER_00: as you look back on it,
1:05:53
SPEAKER_00: especially,
1:05:53
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
1:05:54
SPEAKER_00: we're talking about eternity and,
1:05:56
SPEAKER_00: you know,
1:05:57
SPEAKER_00: being a light and saving your own soul.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_00: It just seems so minor.
1:06:03
SPEAKER_00: It seems so...
1:06:05
SPEAKER_00: It's like little sugar highs is how I describe it.
1:06:08
SPEAKER_00: And when you're reading the Bible,
1:06:10
SPEAKER_00: you're reading a book that parts of it are more than a thousand years old,
1:06:14
SPEAKER_00: and it's just...
1:06:17
SPEAKER_00: There's so much wisdom there,
1:06:19
SPEAKER_00: and it just makes you realize how shallow social media and all the things that we
1:06:23
SPEAKER_00: spend so much time just paying attention to.
1:06:27
SPEAKER_00: In the grand scheme of things,
1:06:31
SPEAKER_00: none of us 40 years from now on our deathbed are going to think back to the 2024
1:06:36
SPEAKER_00: year and what our professional or college team did or didn't do.
1:06:40
SPEAKER_00: It's just not that important, but we really do wrap our lives around it.
1:06:45
SPEAKER_00: And it's hard to see how much you wrap your life around it until you get moved away
1:06:49
SPEAKER_00: from it and then you realize,
1:06:51
SPEAKER_00: man,
1:06:52
SPEAKER_00: what was I thinking?
1:06:54
SPEAKER_00: How did I prioritize that so poorly and what really mattered?
1:07:00
SPEAKER_00: This is...
1:07:02
SPEAKER_00: I had paused it and I was trying to decide whether to like read one more verse.
1:07:05
SPEAKER_00: And I popped open this book of verses, which probably has like a couple hundred pages.
1:07:11
SPEAKER_00: And literally the first one that popped open,
1:07:13
SPEAKER_00: it was almost like it was meant to be because it's what I was just talking about.
1:07:16
SPEAKER_00: So I'd love to say I could take credit for this or planned it.
1:07:19
SPEAKER_00: or whatnot, but I think it's probably just a God thing.
1:07:22
SPEAKER_00: But the quote is from Philippians 1,
1:07:25
SPEAKER_00: verse 6,
1:07:27
SPEAKER_00: He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
1:07:33
SPEAKER_00: Which is literally what I was just talking about,
1:07:35
SPEAKER_00: that as you,
1:07:36
SPEAKER_00: it's called sanctification in Christianity,
1:07:38
SPEAKER_00: but as you
1:07:40
SPEAKER_00: Clean up yourself as you begin to be transformed.
1:07:44
SPEAKER_00: You become sanctified and you become more and more like Jesus, slowly but surely.
1:07:47
SPEAKER_00: It's obviously something you can't attain, but you can move toward.
1:07:52
SPEAKER_00: And then it's just like exercising or something.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, when you first start, first few weeks, first few months, maybe even the first year.
1:08:00
SPEAKER_00: you can't really see many changes others can't see changes but then if you go far
1:08:04
SPEAKER_00: enough down two three four years or depending on how serious you are it might be
1:08:09
SPEAKER_00: three really hard months of waking up early and changing your diet you see someone
1:08:14
SPEAKER_00: you haven't seen in a while and they're just like holy cow like you're just a
1:08:16
SPEAKER_00: different person and that's how christianity works in your life as you continue to
1:08:22
SPEAKER_00: move down that road
1:08:25
SPEAKER_00: One other thing that I want to do tonight is something I do in every show.
1:08:29
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk to you just for a moment about depression, PTSD, and even suicide.
1:08:36
SPEAKER_00: Just for a moment.
1:08:38
SPEAKER_00: I do this because,
1:08:39
SPEAKER_00: you know,
1:08:39
SPEAKER_00: most people aren't aware of this,
1:08:41
SPEAKER_00: but veterans are at a 57% higher risk of suicide than
1:08:45
SPEAKER_00: than their peers of the same age group of folks who haven't served.
1:08:49
SPEAKER_00: So but this section isn't just for veterans.
1:08:52
SPEAKER_00: I know we can all get in really low spots in our lives.
1:08:55
SPEAKER_00: So I just want to remind people that it's a season.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_00: It's a valley.
1:08:59
SPEAKER_00: So when you're in that thick, deep
1:09:02
SPEAKER_00: tough situation that just seems like you can't see over it.
1:09:06
SPEAKER_00: Just remember, it's just a season.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_00: It's just a valley, like I said.
1:09:10
SPEAKER_00: If you are having serious issues, you can call 988 and select one.
1:09:15
SPEAKER_00: You can talk to a crisis line responder anytime,
1:09:18
SPEAKER_00: day or night,
1:09:19
SPEAKER_00: and you can do this whether you're a civilian or a veteran.
1:09:23
SPEAKER_00: But I do know that this is hard to do, and I know most of you who are struggling probably won't.
1:09:28
SPEAKER_00: So I have to be a little mean here because the fact is,
1:09:31
SPEAKER_00: is when we've had a drill instructor or a tough coach in the past who pushed you,
1:09:37
SPEAKER_00: you've experienced that you can go further than when it's just yourself just
1:09:41
SPEAKER_00: talking to yourself.
1:09:42
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to be mean for a moment, and I've got to remind you guys that you cannot give up.
1:09:46
SPEAKER_00: You can't give in to those really terrible thoughts you're having.
1:09:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to lose this fight.
1:09:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to, you know, don't make your parents or your family have to plan your funeral.
1:09:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't want them to feel guilty that they didn't check on you enough or that they couldn't reach you.
1:10:03
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that you can hold on for another day,
1:10:06
SPEAKER_00: and I think if you do,
1:10:07
SPEAKER_00: I think the next day is going to be a little easier.
1:10:10
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, if you're in a fight that you worry you may lose, please call someone.
1:10:14
SPEAKER_00: Call a friend or a family member.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_00: This is really easy to do, and it's something I beg of you to do.
1:10:20
SPEAKER_00: We've all lost friends that we wish had reached out to us.
1:10:24
SPEAKER_00: So, again, reach out to one of them.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_00: Just be honest.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_00: Say, hey, I'm struggling right now, man.
1:10:29
SPEAKER_00: Can't catch a break.
1:10:30
SPEAKER_00: But you can also call 988-SELECT-1, as I said.
1:10:33
SPEAKER_00: But whatever you do, please do not quit.
1:10:36
SPEAKER_00: You're just in a valley, and this world does need you.
1:10:40
SPEAKER_00: Probably,
1:10:40
SPEAKER_00: if we're honest,
1:10:41
SPEAKER_00: your parents need you as well,
1:10:43
SPEAKER_00: because seriously,
1:10:44
SPEAKER_00: who's going to take care of your parents in 30 years,
1:10:47
SPEAKER_00: or in 10 years,
1:10:48
SPEAKER_00: or whatever age you are?
1:10:49
SPEAKER_00: And I'm serious about this.
1:10:50
SPEAKER_00: I just helped take care of my mom before she passed.
1:10:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm helping take care of my dad.
1:10:56
SPEAKER_00: And so, I just want to ask you, who's going to do it?
1:11:00
SPEAKER_00: Are you just going to let the system take care of them?
1:11:02
SPEAKER_00: How horrible is that?
1:11:04
SPEAKER_00: So...
1:11:05
SPEAKER_00: The broader point is you cannot quit.
1:11:07
SPEAKER_00: And you need to think about beyond this season that there's something you're meant to do.
1:11:13
SPEAKER_00: You just can't see it because, like I said earlier, you're in this immediate fog and pain.
1:11:17
SPEAKER_00: You can't see the end result.
1:11:19
SPEAKER_00: But I believe that there's a mission for you to do.
1:11:22
SPEAKER_00: I believe that God has a mission for you to do.
1:11:24
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's to coach Little League.
1:11:26
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's to help others with PTSD.
1:11:29
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're supposed to run for office.
1:11:31
SPEAKER_00: But I believe there's some calling for you and you just haven't found it.
1:11:34
SPEAKER_00: But I want to encourage you to get involved.
1:11:38
SPEAKER_00: Stop isolating yourself.
1:11:40
SPEAKER_00: Visit a veterans group such as the VFW, something like that.
1:11:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe visit a church near you.
1:11:45
SPEAKER_00: Maybe visit some family you've lost touch with.
1:11:48
SPEAKER_00: Maybe call or text that friend you've grown apart with from,
1:11:52
SPEAKER_00: you know,
1:11:53
SPEAKER_00: the one from high school or the one from the military.
1:11:55
SPEAKER_00: They're probably dying to talk to you.
1:11:57
SPEAKER_00: But again, if you're struggling, I beg of you.
1:11:59
SPEAKER_00: Call 988.
1:12:01
SPEAKER_00: Select one.
1:12:02
SPEAKER_00: Or, of course, you can start moving closer to God, which is something I would certainly recommend.
1:12:06
SPEAKER_00: Read the Bible if you never have.
1:12:08
SPEAKER_00: I really do think that will help.
1:12:10
SPEAKER_00: You can read some of Psalms or Proverbs, or you can start with the New Testament in John.
1:12:15
SPEAKER_00: I think you'll find the Bible will start drawing you in, and I think it will start changing your life.
1:12:20
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you don't have a Bible, you can download a Bible app on your phone, or you can look it up online.
1:12:25
SPEAKER_00: There are dozens of sites with it.
1:12:27
SPEAKER_00: But again, the broader point is I just want to encourage you not to give up.
1:12:31
SPEAKER_00: I think there's a plan for you.
1:12:33
SPEAKER_00: I hope you'll reach out to God or maybe check out the Bible, as I've mentioned so many times.
1:12:40
SPEAKER_00: If that's not your thing or if you're not ready for that step,
1:12:43
SPEAKER_00: I hope you try to surround yourself with some more community or some more friends.
1:12:48
SPEAKER_00: I know...
1:12:49
SPEAKER_00: A lot of the websites say don't guilt someone who's thinking about suicide,
1:12:53
SPEAKER_00: that that's cruel,
1:12:54
SPEAKER_00: but I sadly think suicide's the easy way out.
1:12:59
SPEAKER_00: It's a short-term solution to what you think is a complicated problem that you can't solve.
1:13:06
SPEAKER_00: And hey.
1:13:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm not stupid.
1:13:08
SPEAKER_00: I know life is hard.
1:13:10
SPEAKER_00: I know going on,
1:13:11
SPEAKER_00: whether it's life or a marathon or a really long rucksack run or forced march in
1:13:19
SPEAKER_00: the military,
1:13:20
SPEAKER_00: to keep going is often more painful.
1:13:22
SPEAKER_00: There's no doubt about that, but it's also the right answer.
1:13:26
SPEAKER_00: not only will you get tougher and stronger and have more endurance but if you fall
1:13:34
SPEAKER_00: out of that race someone's got to carry your gear someone's got to care for you or
1:13:39
SPEAKER_00: maybe you arrive at the mission objective with fewer people which is going to lead
1:13:44
SPEAKER_00: to more strain
1:13:45
SPEAKER_00: in danger, and probably casualties to those around you.
1:13:49
SPEAKER_00: And so that same thing happens if you decide to pull the plug and check out.
1:13:55
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's going to have to carry your load.
1:13:58
SPEAKER_00: Somebody's going to have to care for your family, for your parents.
1:14:02
SPEAKER_00: Someone's going to have to plan your funeral.
1:14:04
SPEAKER_00: Someone is going to have to deal with all the things that you left hanging out there.
1:14:09
SPEAKER_00: So am I trying to guilt you?
1:14:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm really not trying to, but I just want you to think about these things.
1:14:15
SPEAKER_00: When you are in that lowest point in your life, that really dark place, please think of others.
1:14:22
SPEAKER_00: You're a good person, and I just think you're stronger than what you think you are right now.
1:14:27
SPEAKER_00: And I just encourage you, please keep fighting.
1:14:31
SPEAKER_00: Please keep taking that next step.
1:14:34
SPEAKER_00: It's going to get better.
1:14:44
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
1:14:46
SPEAKER_00: I hope as you go through this week that you act a little nicer on social media and in the world as well.
1:14:51
SPEAKER_00: Smile at folks in the grocery store.
1:14:54
SPEAKER_00: Do small acts of kindness.
1:14:55
SPEAKER_00: And remember that most Americans are good,
1:14:58
SPEAKER_00: and they will help you in an emergency,
1:15:00
SPEAKER_00: even if you don't agree politically.
1:15:02
SPEAKER_00: As you go through this week, I want you to aim to be more motivated and more disciplined.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_00: Try to improve yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually.
1:15:13
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to set impossible goals on these matters.
1:15:15
SPEAKER_00: Just be a little more motivated and disciplined than you were the week prior.
1:15:21
SPEAKER_00: As I said earlier, I really hope that you spend some time in your Bible this week.
1:15:26
SPEAKER_00: If you have no idea where to read on your own, just start with Psalms or Proverbs.
1:15:32
SPEAKER_00: Read some of those and then start with the New Testament by reading the book of John.
1:15:37
SPEAKER_00: Moving to a final note on the political front,
1:15:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm confident after this episode,
1:15:42
SPEAKER_00: you're going to hear some bad news this week,
1:15:45
SPEAKER_00: where you're going to hear something ugly,
1:15:46
SPEAKER_00: and it's going to remind you of how divided we are.
1:15:49
SPEAKER_00: This is as certain as the law of gravity.
1:15:52
SPEAKER_00: But I'm begging you, please do not give up on this country.
1:15:56
SPEAKER_00: I know it's pretty ugly right now.
1:15:58
SPEAKER_00: And I know we're living in dark times,
1:16:00
SPEAKER_00: but we've made it through nearly 250 years together,
1:16:03
SPEAKER_00: and we're far stronger together than we'll ever be apart.
1:16:06
SPEAKER_00: Don't ever believe anyone who tells you differently about that.
1:16:11
SPEAKER_00: Let me wrap up the show by talking about my books and a couple of other newsletters that I do.
1:16:16
SPEAKER_00: First, a bit about myself and my books.
1:16:19
SPEAKER_00: I am a military vet.
1:16:20
SPEAKER_00: I spent four years in the Marine Corps, all of that time in the infantry.
1:16:24
SPEAKER_00: And yes, that does matter.
1:16:26
SPEAKER_00: After my enlistment, I went to college at the University of Tennessee.
1:16:29
SPEAKER_00: I became a journalist.
1:16:30
SPEAKER_00: I spent more than 10 years in the news business.
1:16:33
SPEAKER_00: Besides all of that, I've also written 12 books.
1:16:35
SPEAKER_00: Those books include a series about a Marine Corps sniper,
1:16:39
SPEAKER_00: several novels about a police detective and a private investigator,
1:16:42
SPEAKER_00: and a few books about war,
1:16:44
SPEAKER_00: such as World War II and Afghanistan.
1:16:46
SPEAKER_00: Basically,
1:16:47
SPEAKER_00: these are all fast-moving books with lots of action and plot twists,
1:16:51
SPEAKER_00: because those are the kind of books I've always enjoyed reading.
1:16:54
SPEAKER_00: You can find all of those books in the link in the episode notes,
1:16:58
SPEAKER_00: or you can look on Amazon by just searching my name,
1:17:01
SPEAKER_00: Stan R.
1:17:02
SPEAKER_00: Mitchell.
1:17:03
SPEAKER_00: Buying a book,
1:17:04
SPEAKER_00: telling a friend about a book,
1:17:05
SPEAKER_00: or buying one as a gift for someone,
1:17:08
SPEAKER_00: friend or loved one,
1:17:09
SPEAKER_00: is a great way to help support the show.
1:17:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, I always like to end each show by reminding people that you can comment anytime.
1:17:15
SPEAKER_00: I try to monitor those.
1:17:17
SPEAKER_00: You can also reach out privately by email to me at AuthorStanRMitchell at Yahoo.com.
1:17:24
SPEAKER_00: And that's in the episode notes, by the way.
1:17:25
SPEAKER_00: But again, it's AuthorStanRMitchell at Yahoo.com.
1:17:30
SPEAKER_00: Hey, here's one other thing.
1:17:31
SPEAKER_00: This podcast is about defense news, but I also do a political blog.
1:17:36
SPEAKER_00: So if you love my moderate, optimistic views, you might enjoy that.
1:17:40
SPEAKER_00: It's called Thoughts from a Southern Gentleman.
1:17:42
SPEAKER_00: You can find a link to the episode notes to that, or you can just search that on Google.
1:17:48
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for hanging with me this week.
1:17:50
SPEAKER_00: It's truly an honor to talk with each of you and to know that there's a few of you
1:17:54
SPEAKER_00: out there who are listening and who care about our country and our military and all
1:17:59
SPEAKER_00: the issues that we face.
1:18:01
SPEAKER_00: I know there are a lot of scary issues out there,
1:18:03
SPEAKER_00: but we're going to get through them together,
1:18:05
SPEAKER_00: the same way America's gotten through everything before this.
1:18:08
SPEAKER_00: If you can at all this week,
1:18:10
SPEAKER_00: reach out to a friend or anyone who you know is struggling,
1:18:13
SPEAKER_00: whether they are young or old.
1:18:15
SPEAKER_00: Life is truly hard.
1:18:17
SPEAKER_00: We know this.
1:18:18
SPEAKER_00: But the true strength of this country is its people,
1:18:21
SPEAKER_00: and that includes you folks listening to me right now.
1:18:23
SPEAKER_00: So be a leader, be a doer, be a servant to someone.
1:18:27
SPEAKER_00: With all of that being said, I'll catch you all next week.
1:18:30
SPEAKER_00: You have been listening to The View from the Front.
1:18:34
Thank you.