Military Pressure Mounts As Israel Confronts A Deepening Crisis | Scott Ritter

[00:00:00]going to create a politically unsustainable position because he's going to be exposed. You know, it it this was his last gambit. This is why the Israelis are holding on um because it's now turned out that he's defeated nobody.

[00:00:14]You know, he started out with October 7th. They still haven't had that full investigation. When they do, Benjamin Netanyahu's political career is over because it'll become apparent that, you know, his failures as a leader helped create the potential for October 7th to happen. Um >> [clears throat] >> as he fought the Hamas as Hamas fought him to a standstill, he had to, you know, expand the war to justify staying in power. And so he went to war against Hezbollah. Um and you know, he killed not Hassan Nasrallah and you know, had the Patriots blow up and you know, he was going to win there. Then he expanded the conflict into Syria, but this wasn't enough because no matter what he did, he didn't solve any of these problems. He still had, you know, the same domestic political problems that he faced totally unpopular with the people of Israel.

[00:01:00]Remember, this is the guy that even before October 7th had happened had hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the streets demanding his resignation because he was seeking to alter uh fundamental law in Israel so that he was above the law. He couldn't be prosecuted for the corruption charges he's currently being prosecuted with right now.

[00:01:17]Um and it you know, he's like a Ponzi scheme. In order to stay in power, he had to keep expanding.

[00:01:24]But it was all a lie cuz he was never going to achieve any victory. Uh the final straw was of course Iran. Now for Iran, that'd be possible, the United States had to be a part of it. Israel would never have attacked Iran to the scope and scale they did without American involvement. And he just happened to have an insane sucker in Washington D.C. that would listen to his garbage and agreed to this.

[00:01:46]But it failed.

[00:01:48]There's nowhere else Netanyahu can go with this. Nowhere else. So you're looking at the political collapse of Netanyahu inevitably. Uh he cannot this.

[00:01:58]Um you know, the truth will come out about the damage that has been done. If you >> [clears throat] >> just don't pretend you live in a world where Iran took out the totality of American military infrastructure in the Gulf Arab states and did no damage to the Israelis.

[00:02:12]The same weapons that took out uh the American bases took out the damage and Israel's hiding this. But, significant damage has been done to Israel. The Israeli military knows this. Now, they're trapped in a forever war in Lebanon. Hezbollah, who they thought they had defeated, isn't defeated. And um Gaza could blow up again. Uh Syria's out of control. Um you know, and now you know, what Netanyahu's done is created a new Iranian threat in the in the form of Turkey. Um where they're saying, "Well, we have to expand this Turkey Turkey's a NATO member.

[00:02:45]And Israel's talking about the potential of armed conflict against Turkey?"

[00:02:48]Um it's over. And so, from from the Iranian perspective, you know, this is one of those situations. Just wait, and the problem will resolve itself. Uh Israel's on the fast track to national insolvency. Their economy is trash.

[00:03:06]That's why they needed the Abraham Accord. And their biggest partner in the Abraham Accord, United Arab Emirates, is going bankrupt as we speak.

[00:03:13]Acts of desperation. Calling in $3.5 billion loan they gave to the Pakistanis. Evicting 15,000 Pakistanis and stealing their money in the process.

[00:03:21]Um withdrawing from OPEC so they can flood the market with their oil, but they can't because the Strait of Hormuz is, you know, is closed to them.

[00:03:31]So, you know, Israel is collapsing. The the whole scheme of Greater Israel is collapsing.

[00:03:37]The best thing the Iranians could do is just let it collapse. Sometimes just get out of the way and let and let things happen.

[00:03:42]And that's why I think that um you're you're not going to see a comprehensive regional peace plan because it's a it's it's impossible um to Israel right now is I mean look at the Iranians. If you would if we had had this conversation, I don't know in April of this of last year and we said Iran was going to you know destroy everything and do all this we'd be both be like >> Exactly.

[00:04:15]>> Maybe escalation management maybe but I mean you know the Iranian government doesn't do decisive stuff like this.

[00:04:22]Well, they did.

[00:04:24]Why?

[00:04:25]>> [music] >> Because it's a battle of existential proportions. They have no choice.

[00:04:30]They were given no options. Trust me had they been given options, I believe they would have taken those options. History shows this.

[00:04:38]But they had no options. So they struck and did Israel's in a similar boat right now.

[00:04:42]Israel's facing a struggle of existential proportions.

[00:04:46]And the last thing you want to do is try and back a nation that's facing such a struggle into a corner where they have no options.

[00:04:54]All right, let Israel die.

[00:04:56]Let them die cuz that's what's happening. They're dying. Let them die.

[00:05:02]That would be my advice. But but I don't I just don't see if Iran forces this issue, I don't see Israel yielding because we're talking about again another narcissist Benjamin Netanyahu who's looking at his political legacy and looking at dying in jail.

[00:05:19]So it's very personal to him.

[00:05:21]Um You know, why why force the issue? Why force his hand? Why why compel him to do you know something irrational?

[00:05:28]Um Right now he's contained containable.

[00:05:32]He's he's he's trapped in a war that he can't win in Lebanon.

[00:05:36]Um and he has political problems at home.

[00:05:40]Um don't give him an opportunity to become the martyr.

[00:05:45]That's that's I so that's why think it isn't you know we're not going to be seeing decisive moves against Israel.

[00:05:53]Israel lost this war. They lost it. It was a it was a big gamble on his part.

[00:05:58]That's why Israelis are mad at the United States because they know that if the United States is seeking to withdraw, that's the end of the gambit.

[00:06:04]They can't win without the United States.

[00:06:08]>> I I think that's the main concern right now because an Israeli official source told CNN that the United States is seriously considering removing sanctions on Iran.

[00:06:19]And Israel is concerned about it.

[00:06:22]>> We have no choice. I I I love that they're seriously con- It's one of the demands that Iran's put down for conflict termination. Iran's not walking away with sanctions in place.

[00:06:33]That's not going to And remember, it's not like you know Scott Bessent sitting there in his little desk going, "Sanction them. Sanction them." And there's no repercussions to America.

[00:06:43]Iran's got the world by the throat.

[00:06:47]Choking the world off.

[00:06:49]So the United States can't sit there and say, "Well, we're going to delay."

[00:06:53]We have to make a decision. We have to make a decision soon.

[00:06:56]And um and so you know, this is where I think Iran, you know, has I love that meme they put out there.

[00:07:05]Donald Trump, you know, "America's holding all the cards."

[00:07:08]And so the Iranians show Donald Trump a handful of cards, but it's Uno cards where holding the cards is a bad thing.

[00:07:14]And the Iranians are sitting there with the smaller hand with all the good cards going, "Yeah." Um you know, so you know, but that's the truth. The Iranians have the advantage here. Um there's not We proved Operation Freedom can't do anything. Do you understand how humiliating it is that we went to war against ourselves?

[00:07:31]That means we panicked.

[00:07:34]That means we have no impact. We have no ability to project power in there.

[00:07:37]The red, white, and blue uh shield that we put over the Strait of Hormuz was fictional, just like everything else we do is fictional.

[00:07:46]Um so the United States is going to lift sanctions, and I think that's one of the things the Russians are telling them, the Chinese are telling them, that there can be no peace without the lifting of sanctions.

[00:07:57]Uh now the United States is going to we always play stupid games, and so we'll say, "Well, there are certain sanctions that are um in play, they're linked to uh you know, terrorism. And if Iran continues to support Hezbollah and and the Houthi, then they're supporting terrorist entities, and therefore these sanctions will stay in place." That's a bold statement to make while you're being choked off. So, um we'll see how long that lasts. I have a feeling the Russians and the Chinese are saying, "No, it must be comprehensive, that all um laws, all um you know, it's going to be tough for the United States, but at a minimum all international uh sanctions, United Nations sanctions have to be lifted, and the United States needs to lift sanctions that are attached to the nuclear program, ballistic missiles.

[00:08:42]The the terrorism aspect of it, you need congressional consent. And so here we have a an issue right now uh cuz a lot of Republicans aren't uh inclined to support, you know, the total lifting of sanctions. And even if they were, um you know, the Democrats could drag this thing out until November, and then, you know, we have a different reality. So, that's one of the areas I I think Iran is going to have to be frustrated with because there are certain political realities uh at play that that aren't conducive to the total lifting of sanctions, no matter how justified that is.

[00:09:18]Um you've got to be realistic. But the most important thing is the lifting of international sanctions. China's already shown that American secondary sanctions no longer frighten anybody.

[00:09:30]Um you [clears throat] know, they've just told the United States to pound sand. Um if you if you sanction us, we sanction you back, and it's total economic war and you can't win.

[00:09:39]And that's that's the truth. So, Iran, you know, I think it's by by having international sanctions lifted then diving into the SCO, diving into BRICS, and and just hugging them so tight that the United States will never be able to separate them with any domestic legislation and the Russians and Chinese will never again allow the United Nations to impose Security Council mandated sanctions.

[00:10:05]You know, I think that's the future of Iran. It's a good future, by the way. I I I personally You and I You and I have had this talk before. I I think that's the future for Iran. I think the future isn't militancy, isn't aggression.

[00:10:18]I think the future is, you know, a decisive pivot to the east.

[00:10:23]Now, your president's going to have to stop being in love with the west and your foreign minister's going to have to stop being in love with the west and a lot of Iranians are going to have to start falling out of love with the west.

[00:10:32]I don't mean to hate us, but we're not the solution, we're the problem, especially as long as you have Europe the way it is and the United States the way it is.

[00:10:42]It's fanciful thinking to to imagine in the near future a United States willing to do trade with Iran on an equitable basis. Um, you can't trust us.

[00:10:55]We're liars. We lie about everything. We can't be trust And Europe's the same way. They're dysfunctional liars.

[00:11:02]The people who've been upfront and honest with the Iranians over time, especially recently, are the Russians and the Chinese.

[00:11:09]And I I I just I am continually flabbergasted that there's still an element within Iran and I understand it because there's a significant Iranian diaspora here in the west, a lot of connectivity back and forth.

[00:11:21]But at some point in time, you know, even the Iranian diaspora has to recognize that the if you truly love Iran, the solution isn't anything imposed by the West. The solution is Iran pivoting to the global economic future of the world, which is in Asia.

[00:11:42]>> Scott, do you see any sort of false flag operation to sabotage everything because we had Naftali Bennett 2 days ago arguing that if the United States leaves the region, that's going to bring a new 9/11 to the United States.

[00:11:58]And >> No, I don't I don't see that. Um No.

[00:12:07]I I don't I don't see it at all. There's I mean there may be an attempt, but the idea that that's going to trigger a repeat of a failed uh legacy. I mean, I know the United States is insane. You know, and Albert Einstein once or at least been attributed to him said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

[00:12:30]So, we had a 9/11 that got us involved in 20 years of global war on terrorism that we lost.

[00:12:36]Straight-up lost. I know we killed a 57-year-old diabetic. Yay, SEAL Team Six. You guys are so good. You rock, baby. Um you know, and we got Saddam Hussein hung by the neck until dead. Um you know, even though he had nothing to do with 9/11. Um you know, so you But we just were humiliated in August of 2021 with the final withdrawal from Afghanistan.

[00:13:00]And the idea that we're you know, we're we've now just lost a war with Iran and we're going to be sucked back in because of some false flag attack.

[00:13:09]I don't see it. I don't see anybody falling for that.

[00:13:14]>> How do you see it, Scott, the future of the United States foreign policy when it comes to Israel and what Israel wants from the United States, which we know that these endless wars. They literally wanted the United want the United States to fight each and every war in the Middle East and in the region for them.

[00:13:31]And it seems to me that Donald Trump is just the peak of what could have happened and it's not going to be the same way as it was as we've been witnessing with the Trump administration as time goes by in the United States.

[00:13:48]>> Donald Trump's a political animal and the game is survival.

[00:13:53]And you know, he he needed Miriam Adelson to get elected.

[00:13:58]So he took her $200 bribe.

[00:14:00]And he staffed his team with all the people that Miriam Adelson liked especially Marco Rubio.

[00:14:07]And she said she said she wanted him to be vice president. And this team this golden team of Zionists uh have humiliated Donald Trump. Humiliated him. And this is a man who you know, is in is in is been victim as the day is long.

[00:14:24]If his political legacy is on the line and the threat that you know, exists that can you know, destroy this legacy comes from this various this this very Zionistic enterprise that he is empowered with Miriam Adelson's money.

[00:14:41]He'll drop that in a heartbeat. There is no loyalty in Donald Trump. None whatsoever. He has no obligations. It's all about power and um I think you'll see that he's going to divorce himself from the Zionists as quick as possible and anybody who peeps gets fired. You know, heads will roll because of this war. Just people need to understand that and it won't be Donald Trump's head.

[00:15:05]He's going to take Pete Hegseth is dead man walking. I don't know when it's going to happen but it's going to happen soon because the man's just an embarrassment. You saw his testimony before the United States Congress.

[00:15:14]The the guy is you know, hyped up on you know, some sort of testosterone induced cocaine substitute. Um how dare he speak to the United States Senate the way he did. I wish I had been a senator cuz I would have leaped out of the seats and punched him dead in front of the world.

[00:15:29]I'd go to jail for that gladly cuz he's a disgrace this this secretary of war.

[00:15:35]Why You know, he doesn't he doesn't have a right. He works for the American people and he's up there arrogantly [clears throat] defending illegalities and you know, and he and he's not smart.

[00:15:48]He's just not a smart person at all.

[00:15:51]So his head will roll. I think Donald Trump's going to get rid of him as fast as possible. This will be Pete Hegseth's failure.

[00:15:58]Marco Rubio is a more difficult um you know aspect You know, he's he's combined national security advisor, secretary of state. It might be time to pull Rubio in and you know, relieve him of his national security advisor status, bring in somebody new and leave Rubio with the with the secretary of state because I think that the dual headed also helped get us involved in this war.

[00:16:29]You know, Scott Bessent again is a man who's just brought economic catastrophe.

[00:16:35]Um, and he's also alienated the United States with China and it may you know, we'll we'll see if Trump does have this meeting with Xi Jinping. I don't think Bessent comes out of this meeting looking very well. I think he's a humiliation to the United States. He's a detriment to Donald Trump's legacy and we may see his head roll too. And now suddenly you're you're sort of in a Zionist free zone. You've created a Zionist free vacuum and if you staff it with the right people you're no longer doing Israel's bidding.

[00:17:05]And I think that's the that that's the direction we're heading. Donald Trump is a political animal. 60% of the United States population today views Israel as as bad juju. 59% view Netanyahu as bad juju. These are unprecedented numbers and it's only going to get worse. You know, the American people unfortunately aren't moral we don't have a moral compass. I thought we did, but we don't because we allowed genocide to take place and we allowed this illegal war of aggression to take place. You know, the people aren't against the Iran war because it was the wrong thing to do or it was against the law. They're against because we lost and they're feeling the pinch the pinch at the pump.

[00:17:43]You know, Bill Clinton knew this. That's why in his war room in 1992, they had the the sticker it's the economy, stupid.

[00:17:52]It is the year 1991. It is the economy, stupid.

[00:17:56]92, I guess. Um Got to remember which year election year cycle. But that's what wakes America up.

[00:18:03]We don't have a moral compass. We just understand when it pinches us in the pocketbook and right now Israel is pinching us in the pocketbook.

[00:18:10]And so goodbye Israel and I think that's what we're going to see. We're going to see a decoupling of the United States from Israel. I don't know how it is a sustainable because now it comes down to a question of how quick Israel collapses.

[00:18:23]Um I I do think that Israel is going to be experiencing extreme economic difficulty in the not-so-distant future. And it's going to be so extreme as to promote depopulation. And as people flee Israel and go back to where they belong, which isn't Israel, you know, demographically becomes almost impossible to sustain the notion of a a Jewish homeland. So, you know, that's what I think is the direction we're heading with Israel.

[00:18:52]>> Scott, we had two administrations, the Biden administration, forcing Russia to react to somehow start, you know, to start a new war with the case of Ukraine. And again, the Trump administration doing the same, forcing Iran.

[00:19:07]As we know, by the way, the two the two countries were trying so hard with Russia in 2021, December 2021, trying to do everything to negotiate with the United States and NATO.

[00:19:20]And we had the same case with the Iranian case. They They were negotiating two times while the United States was, you know, somehow you know, preparing behind the scene to attack, to do a surprise attack. The two countries were forced into these new positions that they're in.

[00:19:36]And is that going to happen with the case of China as well?

[00:19:40]Because we had some sort of tariffs on China, but militarily is that going to happen again?

[00:19:47]>> We have no military power. What are you talking about?

[00:19:51]What do we got? We had theory.

[00:19:54]We had the theory that we were the most powerful blue water navy in the world.

[00:19:58]We had theory that our aircraft carriers would be able to project power in a way that could intimidate China.

[00:20:04]Or the US Air Force could do the the same. Um what the Chinese now know is that the US Navy is a paper tiger. Uh it'll get sunk before it gets anywhere near the Chinese coast, and there's nothing the United States can do to stop that from happening. Um and they also now know that uh the air defense umbrella that's um currently postured over Taiwan won't work. And that um you know all they have to do is take the Iranian game plan, saturate it with drones on day one, and the Chinese have a whole bunch of drones. Uh watch uh the depletion, then come in with their uh sophisticated ballistic missiles, and in three days Taiwan is destroyed.

[00:20:44]Um that's the reality right now. And so the United States isn't going to militarily intimidate uh China. The other reality is that China can shut down the South China Sea and um and choke off Japan and South Korea at will now. It's no longer a theoretical capacity. We now know the United States has no ability whatsoever to uh to to to, you know seize control of the South China Seas from from China.

[00:21:13]We also know that China can use proxies to shut down Strait of Malacca perhaps Indonesian proxies another choke point.

[00:21:21]You know we're we're seeing literally the end of an empire the American Empire and the American Empire was premised on control of the seas you know our blue water Navy we control we were everywhere. We can't control anything and we just proved it. I mean that's why this operation freedom defeat is such a big deal because it proves the United States is just as impotent as the day is long.

[00:21:47]So I don't think we have the same thing and now we get back to Russia.

[00:21:52]You know the the thing about Russia that people need to understand is that Vladimir Putin's been playing in in my mind a >> [clears throat] >> a brilliant game that that happened because he made a mistake.

[00:22:08]He didn't make a mistake going into Ukraine the special military operation he had no choice he was given no choice.

[00:22:14]Um the mistake was believing that Ukraine was agreement capable.

[00:22:23]Because the whole premise of the special military operation was to get Ukraine to the negotiating table quickly.

[00:22:29]It wasn't to take Kiev it wasn't to do any of that stuff it was to put pressure on Ukraine to have an equal negotiating and we saw that immediately after the conflict started they began negotiating in Gomel in Belarus after three or four rounds there they ran off to Turkey and within a month or so they had an agreement.

[00:22:49]>> [laughter] >> And uh that would have been the end of it that would have been a great Russian victory to get the agreement they wanted. Um but NATO the United States and Ukraine turned out to be in agreement incapable.

[00:23:03]Um And so the war escalated and Russia's been dealing with that escalation.

[00:23:09]People forget um that when they started the special military operation, the Russians weren't looking at it as a long-term conflict. Um And so when you speak about an economic plan to deal with sanctions, they had a plan, but Putin wasn't sure if that plan would work.

[00:23:27]I mean people like, "Why didn't he mobilize early on?" Oh gosh, I don't know why. Um because you didn't know if your economy was going to be um going through, you know, not just recession, but perhaps depression because of sanctions. Um you know, there was talk about 20% uh you know, a constriction of of Russia's economy.

[00:23:48]Turned out to be single digit. And then the Russia turned right around and and started having a growing economy.

[00:23:54]Um but you know, Putin has been managing things. If Putin came [clears throat] in hard, um China may have found itself in a little bit more difficult position politically to to support that. Putin had to play um a game that was premised on, you know, that this wasn't a war, that it was a special military operation linked to legitimacies found under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter in terms of collective self-defense, preemptive in nature, all of which are cognizable claims. The Russians have law on their side even though the West doesn't like to acknowledge it. Um but he's had to manage this. He has to had to manage then the game-changing event where the United States and Western Europe, rather than acknowledging that Russia defeated the Ukrainians, are pushing for, you know, a a closure through a peace treaty, um doubled down and and started new lend-lease and started injecting tens of billions, hundreds of billions of dollars worth of military aid. Um and Russia found itself in a proxy conflict with the collective West. Now, how do you manage that? Um the first thing Russia had to do is take care of its strategic base. You know, all these people again are out there Russia needed to do this, that, the other thing. I don't know, maybe what Russia needed to do is expand their military from 900,000 to 1.6 million so that the other fronts were now taken care of as you draw down resources to the special military operation. So they reap