Scott Ritter – Ukraine & Russia, is one side winning?

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hi everyone judge andrew napolitano here
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for judging freedom
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today is thursday may 12 2022 back by
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popular demand
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far and away the most popular
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of uh judging freedom’s guests when he
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left the marine corps
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major scott ritter now happily publicly
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mr scott ritter former united nations
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weapons inspector true expert and
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courageous human being on the nature of
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war today and the harm that it causes
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beyond those in the battlefield scott
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it’s always a pleasure welcome back to
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the program
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thank you very much for having me you’re
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uh one of the first to say along with
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our friend
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who shares your views and mine and those
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of most of the folks watching us phil
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giraldi
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uh who left the uh cia for some of the
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reasons that you left
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uh the marine corps uh that the war is
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over that the russians have won that
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there’s nothing the ukraines can do and
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that the more aid we give to the
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ukraines the the more innocent uh people
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will be killed fair summary of what
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you’ve said
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and there’s a fair summary of what i’ve
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said
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has anything changed
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since you last spoke to us which was
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about two weeks ago has the situation
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gotten worse for ukraine
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worse for the russians
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uh is president putin ill like the media
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uh is hinting
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or
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well i’ll get into where that’s coming
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from in a in a minute but the
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battlefield
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does ukraine still of its back to the
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wall
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there’s no doubt that ukraine has its
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backgrounds to the wall uh there’s also
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no doubt that um
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uh
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53 billion dollars uh is a lot of aid
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and while all that it hasn’t been
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presented to ukraine a significant
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amount of it has
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and
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it has prolonged
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uh this this this conflict uh russia is
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still prevailing um you know russia
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continues to define this war
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uh as a special military operation i
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think that’s important for people to
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understand russia is not at war with
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ukraine
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uh being at war with ukraine would be a
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completely different uh
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a
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different level of escalation and
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violence that would be brought to bear
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this is a very limited conflict
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it’s bloody uh it’s deadly but it is
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very limited with limited objectives
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that
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uh figure primarily on
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um
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recovering the donbas for russian
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speakers the the liberty the the newly
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declared independent states of uh
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dondezque and lugansk uh creating a land
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bridge between um
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the um
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the the the donbas in crimea and then um
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denotify and demilitarizing however
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russia chooses to uh
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to to define that but it is not about
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defeating ukraine it is not about
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destroying zielinski uh that’s a
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completely different level and russia is
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accomplishing its tasks uh i think one
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thing has changed the last time i think
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we talked uh the war in the in in the
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dome best was the phase two was just
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beginning and there was a lot of
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anticipation that this would be a little
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bit more freewheeling than it is a lot
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of mobility etc
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turns out that the ukrainians have spent
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eight years uh transforming their
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defenses into
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sort of a combination of verdun and the
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maginot line they’ve been pouring
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concrete and digging deep
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and um the russians have been um
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steadily
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defeating these defenses but it takes
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time it’s taken
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if this were a war scott
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to defeat zielinski
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how different would it be i mean
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according to the news now you could stop
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right there but according to all the
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news reports perhaps influenced by the
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caa but there are reporters on the
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ground
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hospitals schools
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churches
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apartment buildings residential
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neighborhoods have all been attacked
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what more or what worse
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would putin’s troops be doing if this
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were a war against
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ukraine first of all let’s just start
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with the premise that russia is
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attacking um
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locations that are protected under the
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international humanitarian law that
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would constitute a war crime if russia
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was targeting hospitals schools etc uh
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look the washington post which is no
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friend of vladimir putin has uh been
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compelled to admit
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uh that the ukrainians have converted
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normally protected areas into
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militarized zones they’ve dug in they’ve
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placed weaponry they’ve placed
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ammunition uh there’s all videos all
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over the the the internet on of uh
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ukrainian forces uh using schools as
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barracks uh using churches as ammunition
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storage sites so
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any destruction i mean at the end of the
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day you know each accusation allegation
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has to be investigated it’s it’s
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irresponsible to make sweeping pronounce
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about anything but the the evidence
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suggests that russia is being very
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careful in its targeting that when it
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does target
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locations that are otherwise protected
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it is done because ukrainians have
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converted into a military target and
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russia is applying
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uh the principles of military necessity
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and proportionality when striking this
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but and the washington post also had to
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admit that the ukrainians were using
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humans as uh civilians as human shields
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you mentioned the 53 billion
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which is actually more than what joe
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biden asked for i think whatever he
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asked the congress for they gave him
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more how far can 53 billion go now we’re
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talking about 53 billion
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in already present in europe correct me
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if i have this wrong
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military surplus that belongs to the us
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or to nato is that right we’re not
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talking about giving a check to raytheon
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to build something and ship it over
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there we’re talking about military
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surplus that’s there
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ukraine’s have to learn how to use and
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repair when it gets damaged
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correct and well also including that for
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instance we’re paying the salaries of
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the ukrainian armed forces ukraine has
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no functioning economy right now their
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government is not bringing in uh income
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um
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so they’re broke they’re flat out broke
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and uh we’re we’re underwriting
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everything and part of this uh this this
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money uh includes we’re paying the
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salaries of the ukrainian soldiers and
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then there’s a lot of um uh civilian uh
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stuff that you know we’re paying for
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we’re running ukraine basically the u.s
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taxpayer isn’t just rearming the
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ukrainian military along the lines that
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you stated using um
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a material that’s warehouse stockpiled
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um it’s not new production it’s stuff
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that uh much of it’s already out of date
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and the other stuff was was mothballed
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it’s been brought out of mothballs and
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being turned over to the ukrainians they
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have to be trained on it um if it’s
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going to survive on the battlefield they
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have to have a logistical uh tail that’s
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that’s built full of maintainers and
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spare parts um this costs money it takes
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time but it’s a lot of money i just
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let’s remind your viewers that the total
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russian military budget per year is
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around 40 billion dollars
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so we’re giving ukrainians
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more than what the russians spend in
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totality on their military in a year so
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this is significant
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let me ask you geopolitically
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how dangerous is this for the us
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stated differently
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does anthony blinken the secretary of
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state and i don’t expect you to be in
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his brain but you know the way these
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people think
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does lloyd austin former four-star
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general secretary of defense does the
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president of the united states whatever
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you think of him
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appreciate and understand how deeply we
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are in this and do they appreciate how
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vladimir putin appreciates how deeply we
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are in this this is the first time i’ve
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heard anybody say
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we are financing the ukraine military
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and government that they are dead broke
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and we’re paying their salaries so meals
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ready to eat the infamous
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um
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meals that guys in the military joke
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about
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that stuff’s coming from us
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everything’s coming from us
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how dangerous is that
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to
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drag us into a world war three like
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scenario this is the most dangerous
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situation i’ve experienced in my life
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i’m 60 years old i’ve been through the
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cold war um
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i was around in the 80s when uh
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you know i helped implement the
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intermediate nuclear forces treaty which
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got rid of nuclear weapons that in the
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late 1980s another time when we were on
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the cusp of uh you know stepping off
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into the nuclear abyss this is far more
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dangerous than that
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i i know that blinken lloyd austin biden
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and uh you know others like jake
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sullivan the national security adviser
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have all said they don’t want to go into
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world war iii and they articulate why
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that it could mean nuclear war which is
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the end of the world and yet they are
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embarked on policies which are heading
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us only in that direction there is no
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de-escalation there is no off-ramp all
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we are doing is ensuring that ukraine
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will be destroyed as a nation because
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russian russia cannot continue this
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special military uh operation
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indefinitely with some kind of resources
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coming in at some point in time russia
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will have to escalate an escalation
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means you know right now zielinski’s
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hosting people zilinski’s having
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teleconferences zolinski will die his
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government will die
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um
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ukraine will be annihilated not
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nuclearly but
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all the civilian infrastructure that’s
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been avoided will be targeted and it’s
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not just this
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finland’s talking about joining nato
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what part of russia will not allow the
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eastward expansion of nato do the fins
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and nato not understand russia today has
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said there will be a military technical
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uh solution to this that’s the same
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language they use with ukraine this
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means russia will go to war against
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finland and sweden russia can russia
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fight can russia fight a war on two
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fronts i mean ukraine and finland are
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nowhere near each other well first of
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all again ukraine’s not a war it’s a
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special military operation russia would
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have to mobilize
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russia would have to mobilize general
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mobilization put a million and a half to
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two million men under arms uh
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train them equip them be ready to roll
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by this summer and i believe that’s the
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direction that putin’s going to he has
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no other option nato’s giving him no
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other choice let me ask you if your
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uh former colleagues in intelligence
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have shared with you any information
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about putin
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his mental state his physical state his
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political strength
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has any of it deteriorated since this
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thing has gone on for four months rather
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than for a couple of weeks as he had
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hoped
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i don’t i don’t have a direct mind to
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in the intelligence community about poop
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but i will say this uh the people that
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are in the intelligence community today
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who
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are um
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in a position to talk about putin don’t
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know what they’re talking about
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they don’t study putin they study the
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the cartoon character they’ve created of
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putin uh they view him in in a way
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that’s unrealistic and totally detached
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from reality so any assessment that
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comes out of the intelligence community
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today about putin i would take it with a
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heavy grain of salt okay my intrepid
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producer and how he did this found this
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guy called matthew van dijk
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matthew van dijk is the founder of the
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sons of liberty international he’s a
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soldier of fortune an american on the
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ground in ukraine we had hoped to have
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him on earlier but he’s in some
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so we could have a tape for you but he
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says he’s in some area where there’s no
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uh internet we said to him
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that our military expert scott ritter
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says this is a lost cause the russians
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have won the russians will win we’re
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just prolonging it russia will be
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eventually victorious here’s what
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matthew said in response
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i believe it’s quite the opposite
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russia cannot resupply as well as
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ukraine with support from the west and
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cannot sustain a long-term conflict with
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sanctions now scott i don’t know this
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fellow
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gary found him we believe he’s being
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truthful we looked up sons of liberty
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international they train
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civilians
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to fight military style they also aid in
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the training of military he says he’s on
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the ground he has an entirely different
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picture from you he may have a financial
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interest in that i don’t know what do
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you say about this
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i’m not going to denigrate the gentleman
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uh he’s doing what he believes is right
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um
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etc i will say that uh
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i don’t understand how he thinks
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ukraine is resupplying better than
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russia russia even though they only
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spend 40 to 45 billion dollars a year
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has been stockpiling um
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ammunition material etc so when russia
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for instance generally mobilizes they’ll
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fall on equipment that they’ve all
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trained on that they’re logistically
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prepared to to use and it’s sustainable
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uh using ammunition that
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is common to the weapons being used um
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ukraine is right now being provided by
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the west five different kinds of
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artillery
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five different kinds of artillery all of
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which require different levels of
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training different levels of maintenance
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different kinds of ammunition
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that is a logistical sustainability
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nightmare you will not find a
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logistician in the world that would
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recommend this course of action so
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uh not only that but ukraine then has to
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bring this stuff with minimal levels of
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training to the battlefield and seek to
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incorporate it in a hostile environment
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where the russians are actively
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searching them out and destroying them
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um you know god bless mr van dyke um i i
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disagree with what he’s doing i don’t
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believe it’s good for ukraine him or the
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united states he’s doing it i’m sure
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he’s a man of honor but uh i will have
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to take exception now i hope he survives
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because he’s in harm’s way
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he’s literally in harm’s way and uh he’s
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going up against a um
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a nation that i’ve studied my entire
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life and um if he doesn’t think he’s a
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target he needs to think again he
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probably needs to think about his family
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his loved ones his future and come home
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as soon as possible we we asked you this
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last time so i’ll ask you again does the
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pentagon have a plan b
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which would involve
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the use of american personnel in ukraine
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i mean joe biden can’t afford to lose
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this war
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and he’s made it his war and you’ve
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argued he shouldn’t have any more than
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vladimir putin can afford to lose it
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what will joe biden do what will the
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pentagon do
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if this gets worse and we’ve just blown
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55 billion dollars as if they threw the
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cash into a fireplace
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i think that uh
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joe biden is willing to fight this
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conflict to the last ukrainian and um
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and that’s the direction he’s heading
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ukraine is going to suffer
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horrific losses
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uh the danger isn’t ukraine getting out
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of control i mean joe biden has shown
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he’s fully capable of
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walking away from lost causes
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such as afghanistan and i believe
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ukraine left in a vacuum will be a lost
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cause the real danger comes if um
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you know
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this expands into finland and now we we
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see a chance for a russian nato conflict
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where american troops will become
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involved that’s not a plan b
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that’s that’s something that nobody
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wants nobody says they want nobody
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should want but it’s the direction we’re
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heading and there just isn’t an off ramp
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right now i don’t see joe biden putting
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in place an off ramp and you you can’t
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speak of trying to deflect russia away
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from conflict towards peaceful
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resolution while pouring in
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tens of billions of dollars of u.s
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taxpayer money to sustain this fight you
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think that nato will accept finland uh
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in light of what putin said in the light
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of of the uh
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powder keg
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tinderbox nature
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of the relationship between russia and
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finland with nato troops and and and
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weapons at the border as you described
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it would would nato be foolish enough to
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accept finland now
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why this eastward move as if to bloody
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putin’s nose and taunt him into doing
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something
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i think nato is embarrassed by ukraine
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uh it’s been an unmitigated disaster for
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them uh they set ukraine up to fail and
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nato is desperate for um a win and there
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are some in nato
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who would view uh bringing sweden and
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finland in as a victory um but again
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all one has to do is take a look at
16:52
finland let’s let’s just remember
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finland went to war against the soviet
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union in the 1940s allied with nazi
16:58
germany the reason why finland exists
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today is because of a peace treaty that
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they signed with the soviet union and
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continued with russia that guaranteed
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the neutrality in perpetuity i don’t
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know what the finnish word for
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perpetuity is but the english word means
17:11
forever and if finland breaks this
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treaty
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finland is de facto declaring war
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against russia
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and anybody in nato should take a close
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look at article 10 which is the article
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that allows for the expansion of nato
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and understand that it is not an open
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door policy it requires nato to consider
17:28
the application within the context of
17:30
the overall security of the alliance the
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alliance will be going to war if it
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allows finland in the alliance will be
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destroyed
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either conventionally or nuclearly
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there’s no way anybody can articulate
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that finland enhances the security of
17:45
either europe or the alliance and i’m
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hopeful that one or more members will
17:50
recognize that this is a suicide pill
17:53
and they will not vote in favor or they
17:56
will at least slow roll the finish in
17:58
swedish
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membership applications
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until which time the ukrainian conflict
18:03
is finished and maybe more rational
18:05
minds can be brought to bear on how to
18:06
resolve this problem how much longer
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can the
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war in ukraine go on how much longer can
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the ukraine military forces hold out
18:16
the special military operation is going
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to end sooner rather than later i think
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russia is making great headway and
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they’ve broke they approached those to
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reach those defenses i spoke of they’re
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rolling up the ukrainians um it’s you
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know it’s
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it’s going to be over in days if not
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weeks but then the question is what do
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you do with this rejuvenated ukraine
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that’s receiving tens of billions of
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dollars worth of arms reconstituting
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their military russia just can’t leave
18:42
that sitting there um so i think you’re
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going to see a transition from special
18:47
military operation to war general war
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and this is a whole new ball game again
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uh i’m here to tell you if you think
18:54
you’re seeing violence on the
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battlefield now wait until russia
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declares war on ukraine and ukraine will
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understand what total conflict looks
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like it’ll be the destruction of their
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nation
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scott ritter there’s nobody like you
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thank you very very much for joining us
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thanks for having me oh thanks for all
19:12
the emails and texts and questions my
19:15
friend friends we don’t have time to
19:17
look at them but thanks for watching
19:18
thanks for listening and thanks for
19:20
liking and subscribing judge napolitano
19:23
for another
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lively session of judging freedom
19:27
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