Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Donald Trumps war in Iran is creating 'perpetual global chaos' Rep. Adam Smith

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Donald Trumps war in Iran is creating 'perpetual global chaos' Rep. Adam Smith · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: Today is day one hundred and forty of Donald Trump's
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  Speaker 1: unauthorized and illegal war in Iran. And in his twenty
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  Speaker 1: five minute speech last night, this is all Donald Trump
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  Speaker 1: had to say about that war.
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  Speaker 2: We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will
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  Speaker 2: see the fruits of that labor very very shortly.
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  Speaker 1: Just a delusional statement about a war that has killed
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  Speaker 1: fourteen American service members and made prices soar here at
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  Speaker 1: home and across the globe. And as for very shortly,
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  Speaker 1: nearly half of voters think Trump's war will drag on
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  Speaker 1: well into twenty twenty seven. A recent poll from the
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  Speaker 1: Economist in Yugov found that forty six percent of Americans
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  Speaker 1: think the war will go on a year or more.
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  Speaker 1: Add to that, the phrase forever war has entered the chat,
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  Speaker 1: as the conflict appears to be in a salemate, The
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  Speaker 1: New York Times is chief diplomatic correspondent writes in a
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  Speaker 1: new analysis, with diplomacy at a dead end, at least
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  Speaker 1: for now, a frustrated mister Trump finds himself back at war.
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  Speaker 1: The ceasefire broken, the straight blocked. The memorandum of understanding,
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  Speaker 1: he said, achieves everything we set out to accomplish despite
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  Speaker 1: wildly divergent interpretations of it is in tatters after less
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  Speaker 1: than a month. Both sides look to the Memorandum of
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  Speaker 1: Understanding as the continuation of the war by other means,
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  Speaker 1: not as a bridge to peace, said Alivayas, Iran Project
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  Speaker 1: director for the International Crisis Group. Without a long term
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  Speaker 1: strategy to produce a sustainable settlement, he said, there's a
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  Speaker 1: risk of creating the circumstances for a forever war. With
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and nine days until the midterms, Democrats are
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  Speaker 1: making sure voters know they do not support a forever
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  Speaker 1: war in Iran, or more US troops to Iran, or
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  Speaker 1: blank check to try to help Trump say face in
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  Speaker 1: Iran Congress and Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on that
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  Speaker 1: House Budget Committee, put it this way.
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  Speaker 2: You might think, given that the top issue in the
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four election was affordability, and that the top
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  Speaker 2: issue today is affordability, you might think the majority would
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  Speaker 2: want to spend time in a reconciliation bill addressing the
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  Speaker 2: number one issue.
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  Speaker 3: On voters' minds.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you forty seven pages in their bill,
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  Speaker 2: six five hundred sixty.
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  Speaker 3: Words, and not one word on bringing down costs for
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  Speaker 3: the American people, not one word. Instead, we have tens
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  Speaker 3: of billions of dollars for the most unpopular war in
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  Speaker 3: American history.
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  Speaker 1: Joining US now Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State. He
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  Speaker 1: is the top Democrat on the House Arms Services Committee.
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  Speaker 1: Congressman Smith, thank you for coming back to the last word.
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  Speaker 1: Have you been briefed on the current situation in Iran
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  Speaker 1: that we are quote winning big according to President Trump?
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  Speaker 4: We have not gotten a direct brief.
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  Speaker 5: My staff works very diligently to keep in touch with
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  Speaker 5: the Pentagon and try to find out what's going on.
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  Speaker 5: But no, there hasn't been a brief to Congress for
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  Speaker 5: quite some time, and there's not really secret going on here.
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  Speaker 5: Trump just keeps thinking that he's going to drop a
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  Speaker 5: few more bombs in Iran and he's going to win,
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  Speaker 5: despite the fact there's no evidence of that.
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  Speaker 4: And what he's really creating is what you.
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  Speaker 5: Just described, sort of perpetual global chaos.
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  Speaker 4: You know, given how important that.
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  Speaker 5: Region is, certainly for oil but for other things as well.
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  Speaker 4: As this war just keeps going on and on and on.
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  Speaker 5: It is massively disruptive, certainly to the US economy, to
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  Speaker 5: the global economy as well. And Trump has no better
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  Speaker 5: idea now how he's going to get out of it
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  Speaker 5: than he has at any point in this process.
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  Speaker 1: Coverson, do you support blocking the National Defense Authorization Act
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  Speaker 1: then THEA as some of your fellow Democrats are.
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  Speaker 5: Well, it depends on what. I don't support just blocking
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  Speaker 5: it no matter what.
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  Speaker 4: I mean. Look, we need to support our military.
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  Speaker 5: Our troops need their pay raises, they need to pay
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  Speaker 5: they need housing allowances. You know, the basic oversight that
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  Speaker 5: we need to conduct needs to be done. And I
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  Speaker 5: think that's an important point. If we decide we're just
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  Speaker 5: not going to pass legislation to protest Trump, well that
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  Speaker 5: weakens the legislative branch in favor of the executive branch.
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  Speaker 5: So no, I'm not blanketly going to say, no matter what,
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  Speaker 5: I'm not going to pass an in DAA. But I
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  Speaker 5: don't support the one. Well, I have major problems with
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  Speaker 5: the one that we're putting together now, A because it
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  Speaker 5: doesn't do anything about the Iran war. B because it's
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  Speaker 5: one point one five trillion dollars. It's a massive defense
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  Speaker 5: budget in part to help continue to fund a war
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  Speaker 5: that's taking us in the wrong direction. So on the
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  Speaker 5: substance of the bill, I have deep concerns and am
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  Speaker 5: likely going to oppose it. But no, I wouldn't blanket
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  Speaker 5: say no matter what, we're not going to pass anything.
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  Speaker 4: This is how we exercise oversight if we do it right.
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  Speaker 1: Let me get on another topic we've been talking about
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  Speaker 1: last night on this program. You're a colleague congress in
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  Speaker 1: Jim Hines, excuse me, warned about what Trump's election obsession
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  Speaker 1: could lead to. Do you have any concerns about how
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  Speaker 1: Trump might try to involve the US military, especially with
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  Speaker 1: the emphasis he put on malign foreign actors last night.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 5: I think it's more likely that he will rely on
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  Speaker 5: sort of the personal police force that he's created over
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  Speaker 5: at the Department of Homeland Security. Remember in last year's
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  Speaker 5: reconciliation bill, the Republicans plus that up by one hundred
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  Speaker 5: and ninety billion dollars.
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  Speaker 4: This is an agency this yearly budget is like sixty
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  Speaker 4: so they gave him three.
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  Speaker 5: Times as much money, well on top of what they
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  Speaker 5: got in that year, and we've seen the result with
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  Speaker 5: ICE agents all across the country. It's like Trump's own
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  Speaker 5: personal paramilitary force more. But yeah, I think he could
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  Speaker 5: also try to use the military, and I completely degree
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  Speaker 5: with Jim Himes's remarks. I think this is an incredibly
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  Speaker 5: dangerous moment for democracy, and you can even marry the two.
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  Speaker 5: We've got this issue of Trump, you know, basically setting
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  Speaker 5: up for the possibility of you know, overturning legitimate elections,
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  Speaker 5: and also.
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  Speaker 4: The war in Iran.
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  Speaker 5: I mean he threatened that when the US was going
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  Speaker 5: to take over the straight of horror moves and charge
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  Speaker 5: the rest of the world to go through that. I mean,
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  Speaker 5: freedom of navigation is a cornerstone of what we believe
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  Speaker 5: we are witnessing a fascist takeover of this country. And
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  Speaker 5: I really hope the Republican Party wakes up to that
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  Speaker 5: and starts helping us those of us who want to
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  Speaker 5: stop it.
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  Speaker 4: Stop it.
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  Speaker 1: Commerce froman Adam Smith of Washington State. Thank you as
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  Speaker 1: always for coming to the last word.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you