We're having direct talks with Iran, and, they've started. It'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting and we'll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that, doing a deal would be preferable [00:00:16] to doing the obvious. And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it. So we're going to see if we can avoid it. Well, look, if a hot war between the United States and Iran is something that [00:00:33] President Donald Trump wants to avoid, he's got a funny way of showing it, because the United States has just sent its single largest deployment of stealth bombers in history to essentially threaten Iran with war. [00:00:48] Now, here's retired General Blaine Holt with more details on that. A large buildup of U.S. Bombers. Now, tell us what you think the strategy is. Obviously, you know, the Houthis in Yemen terrorizing. And there's the map that really clearly puts out where it is [00:01:04] and the strategic point that sits at. Diego is such a strategic base, and we have moved a third of our strategic bombers from the B-2 side there. We're sending a message. This is a message of deterrence. There's two carrier strike groups, but it also gives the president [00:01:19] a military option that he can actually use these weapons against Iran if needed. We could go take if we have a nuclear weapons program to eliminate, could be done. But what what I think lends itself more to a deterrence package is the fact that all the bombers, they're not they're not in hangars. [00:01:35] They're they're underneath satellites where they can be photographed and seen. And the idea is, do you see our sword? Because we could use this sword if we need to. Okay. Deterrence. From what? From Iran building a nuclear weapon. Because we had a nuclear deal in place that was negotiated [00:01:55] under the Obama administration. But Netanyahu didn't like it and wanted Trump to rip it up. And Trump did as he was told, and he ripped it up. So what are we what are we talking about here? We want to talk about deterrence. Let's talk about which country needs to be deterred from engaging [00:02:11] in military action on sovereign soil in sovereign countries like Iran, by the way. Okay. How many times has Israel assassinated people in Iran with, by the way, no consequences for Iran? Yeah. So, we're about to tell you that about an important, though unfortunate [00:02:31] ally we have in this fight. But, but we need all the allies we can get to stop this war. So, first of all, if Trump does actually attack Iran, it would be the biggest piece of hypocrisy you've ever seen. And so maybe he could finesse a, you know, a position [00:02:47] on the budget here or taxes there. And. Oh, well, we cut this, but we didn't cut that. But if he starts a giant war in the Middle East, there is no finessing running as an anti-war candidate and then starting a war with a country four times the size of Iraq. [00:03:03] Because Netanyahu told you to. So this that was that would be his entire presidency. And it would be the most unpopular thing you've ever seen. No one in the country wants to go to war with Iran. No one cares. This is nonsense. [00:03:19] The only people who care are all in Washington, and they all support Israel. This has nothing to do with us. I think Ben Shapiro is in Florida, though. Yeah. Okay, whatever. Yeah. Or support Israel. I said. There you go. And so the Israeli supporters want us to fight their war for them, as we've done now several times. [00:03:36] And the people starting the wars are not the other side. It's Israel demanding a war. That's why Trump, like, sheepishly looks at his boss and goes, you know, nobody wants the war, of course. It's the new deal would be not even Israel. [00:03:51] - No, they want the. - War, right? No, Netanyahu told him in the meeting. How many times do I have to tell you I want the goddamn war? Put the b-2s there, etc.. Now, look, it doesn't mean you're definitely going to get a war, because even Trump might understand how disastrous that is. [00:04:08] So that's it's 5050. He follows almost everything Israel tells him to do. But he ran on antiwar and this would be a catastrophe. And we have some allies on the right wing that might actually help our cause. So Ken Klippenstein wrote about this whole situation. [00:04:25] He's been following the escalations with Iran, and his reporting is excellent. He says that the bombers are uniquely suited to evade Iranian air defenses and can carry America's most potent bunker busting weapons. He also notes that the aircraft are not well suited [00:04:43] for a sustained military operation. So you know, the point about this really serving as a deterrent does stand, however, as we know, one misstep in an escalating conflict and you can find yourself in a hot war, right? [00:05:00] So I think that Trump is playing with fire here. And to what end? Like to what end and for what reason? And we're going to hear from Netanyahu in just a moment. But it's hard to see how that type of physical threat to Iran. It's not hard to see how that kind of physical threat to Iran could cause things [00:05:17] to basically get out of control, especially with Bibi Netanyahu in Trump's ear. This weekend, the United States, by the way, will hold talks with Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal. And I hope that they reach a conclusion on that. They reach a deal on that. There was an Iran nuclear deal. [00:05:33] Netanyahu wasn't happy with it because he doesn't want a nuclear deal. He wants the U.S. To go to war with Iran because Iran, you know, supports the proxy groups that has attacked Israel, including Hamas, in the past. So, according to Bibi, the United States will at the very least be exploring [00:05:50] exploding Iran's entire nuclear program and at most, entering an all out war. He says, quote, we agree that Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. This can be achieved through an. Agreement, but only if it is a Libya style agreement, one where the facilities [00:06:10] are entered, dismantled and destroyed under American supervision and execution. That's good. Now he also says. But should Iran drag out the talks, Netanyahu said the second option would be a military one. Everyone understands that, he said, adding that we discussed it at length. [00:06:28] Okay, well then you send your troops to Iran. If you want a hot war, why are we sending our troops to fight your war on your behalf? Yeah, because they realized when they did the last bombing run. This is really interesting Intel of Iran that, [00:06:44] the radars picked up the Israeli planes. And in fact, they turned around quickly and and didn't, drop as many bombs as they could. So now they've doubled down on making us go to war because they think the b-2s will not be detected by the radar. [00:07:00] So they like it. Basically, Israel is saying if we go to war with Iran, it'll be really messy and it'll cost us a lot in terms of planes and people and money. Why don't you suckers do it for us? You suckers have already given us $300 billion throughout this entire time [00:07:19] that Israel has existed. If Netanyahu was one of the neo cons that pushed us into the Iraq War, you guys, you suckers already went through a giant, disastrous war on my behalf. - I think I could push you into any war. - I mean, he's right. He has succeeded in doing that. [00:07:34] And what would it make anyone think that Donald Trump would be any different? Donald Trump has done Netanyahu and the Israeli government's bidding. I mean, certainly in his first administration, and he's continuing that trend in his second administration so far. By the way, here's what Trump said just yesterday about Iran. [00:07:53] I think if the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger. And I hate to say it, great danger because they can't have a nuclear weapon. So, you know, it's not a complicated formula. [00:08:08] Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That's all there is. You can't have it. Right now we have countries that have nuclear power that shouldn't have it. Yeah, I agree, I agree. Iran shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. They didn't have a nuclear weapon. They weren't even enriching uranium because of the Iran nuclear deal [00:08:26] that the Obama administration negotiated and was able to secure. Our European allies were part of that deal as well. There was oversight to ensure that they weren't secretly developing nuclear weapons. But Trump came in and at the behest of Benjamin Netanyahu, ripped up that deal. [00:08:43] And now all of a sudden we're pretending like, oh, wow, you know, Iran is building nuclear weapons. And we had no part in any of that whatsoever. And I've got to say two things here on their, the hypocrisy here. So first of all, Trump, in the beginning of his first term, [00:09:00] threatened North Korea and said, my button is bigger than your button. And then Kim Jong UN did. Apparently a smart move. He kissed Trump's ass and was like, oh, I love you, big guy. And then they wrote love letters back to each other. I'm not exaggerating. That's what Trump called him. And so then what happened was Trump took his eye off the ball because he's like, [00:09:18] oh, as long as he's praising me. Who cares? And estimates are that North Korea built six nukes. So this whole idea of, oh, we can't let bad governments build nukes, and Trump is so strong and tough that when he's in charge, he's never going to let anybody build a nuke. [00:09:34] No, he let North Korea build nukes because he the guy wrote him a nice letter. So that's so that's a total BS excuse. Second of all, Anna's right about this and has been all throughout. Look, all the presidents Bush went to war against Iraq because of Israel. [00:09:50] Biden did whatever they wanted. Trump did whatever Israel wanted. ET cetera. One guy defined them for a little bit, and I don't think we've given him enough credit. Yeah, and that's Barack Obama. Yep. Okay, so he didn't defy them entirely. He gave them an iron dome, which was huge for them. [00:10:07] That's why none of the rockets land, or almost none of the rockets land in Israel. He gave them endless money, etc. But one time he defied them, which is one more than any other president in my lifetime. And that's when he said, no, I'm going to do a deal with Iran. And that deal was so good. It was better than the Libya deal, if you ask me. [00:10:23] We took out all of the uranium and prevented them from being able to do any create any uranium inside Iran. So they had no chance at being able to build a nuclear weapon program. So why did anyone in their right mind object to stopping Iran from building nukes, which was supposed to be our purpose and peace? [00:10:40] It's perfect. Right? The reason they that the Israeli lobby objected so much is because then you have no reason or excuse for war. And it's they're not. Yes, they're worried about Iran's nuclear program. Israel is okay, but they're also mad at Iran for financing [00:10:59] Hamas, Hezbollah and the other groups. So they're like, well, if we wipe out the Iranian regime and we put in a puppet regime there that's, you know, will be the dogs of Israel, then we wiped out our major enemy in the Middle East. Anyone? And by the way, literally the only country now they got [00:11:16] problems with the Houthis in Yemen. But but for a long time, the only country opposing our occupation of Palestine and our land grabs and our stealing of land is the only one objecting is Iran. So I don't care about the peace deal. I don't want peace with Iran. [00:11:32] I want America to do another war for me and attack Iran. So that's why they hated the Obama deal. Not because it was bad, but because it was excellent. Yeah, that's exactly right. That's exactly right. Now, this isn't something that's said on this show often, but credit [00:11:48] where credit is due because Tucker Carlson is warning against going to war with Iran. And I actually think he's being serious about this. This is like one of the more consistent things he's been saying. So let's go to his post on X where he writes, whatever you think of tariffs, it's clear that now is the worst possible time for the United States to participate [00:12:06] in a military strike on Iran. We can't afford it. Thousands of Americans would die. We'd lose the war that follows. Nothing would be more destructive to our country. And yet we're closer than ever, thanks to unrelenting pressure from neocons. [00:12:22] This is suicidal. Anyone advocating for conflict with Iran is not an ally of the United States, but an enemy. Yeah, I agree with him on that. And by the way, speaking of countries that have nuclear weapons and shouldn't, - Israel has a nuclear weapon. - Yeah. And by the way, by far the most likely to use it. [00:12:39] Of all the powers in the. World, they immediately threaten to use it against Palestinians. Yeah. I mean, if they thought they were in any kind of danger, like 2% danger, press it, press it, press it, press it, press it, press it, like Russia and America were worried that would be nuclear holocaust. [00:12:55] We're super worried about doing that. France, even India and Pakistan, another super volatile area that I think is the second biggest problem, but they get it. They kill themselves, right? Because both sides have nukes. But in Israel's case, both sides don't have nukes. [00:13:10] And the Israeli government is already fascistic and out of control. The Israeli people are paranoid. If we're being honest about the culture currently in in Israel, and if they thought, oh my God, if they lost half of what the Palestinians lost in Gaza, [00:13:26] they would have already nuked someone. So if I would love to take away nukes from Iran and Israel, but of course Israel says no, only we get to have nukes and threaten and do whatever we want, and no other country should oppose us. [00:13:41] Yeah, okay, I know, I know, you want the whole goddamn world. Okay, so now for Tucker. There's a billion issues with Tucker, disagree with him on a thousand things. And then people say, this is hyperbole, but wait a minute. He said thousands would die again. Iran is four times larger than Iraq if we went to a full out war with Iran, with [00:13:59] thousands die, thousands of Americans. Absolutely. Absolutely. And they say, oh, that's ridiculous to say we'd lose. Did we win or lose Iraq? I'm not really sure. You think we're going to win in Iran? We're going to bomb them. And by the way, the neocons are totally backed. [00:14:16] They're idiots on mainstream media going around saying no, we'll be greeted as liberators. No, the Iranian people want us to bomb them because they hate the Iranian regime. And so when we murder their grandmother and their children, they're just going to love America and Israel, and then they'll just reform everything. [00:14:32] Come on guys. So, you know, somebody and I get asked this question a lot, but also today, one of our members on Twitch, Sepolcro 1223, asked here, I'll just read the first line. He keeps bringing up MAGA infighting like it validates their strategy. [00:14:47] But how does the infighting help Jang's strategy? When you have Tucker Carlson and other right wing hosts going, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't attack Iran, don't attack Israel If you think it doesn't matter at all, you're wrong. [00:15:04] Trump watches those guys. Trump cares about that. He. He's obsessed with media. And if he thinks he's his media is on his side, he doesn't care about the left at all. Okay. Not 1%. But if he thinks he's losing Tucker Carlson and his base. Dave Smith has been speaking out against, you know, the possibility [00:15:22] of going to war with Iran. And all the rogue and all those guys. He's the Rogan is a different character. He's not Tucker Carlson. They're different parts of the political spectrum. But all those guys voted for Trump or supported Trump or endorsed Trump. And they're all going, no, no war, no war, right? Yeah. And it might not work, by the way. It might not work. [00:15:39] Because, as you've seen, Trump has gone along with what Netanyahu wants, like perfectly like he has ignored the will of his own supporters in his own base to go along with Netanyahu and his agenda. So it might not work at all. But I will say this. [00:15:56] I remember the preemptive war in Iraq during the Bush administration. You want to know how much dissent there was within the Republican Party. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Now we have dissent everywhere. Look, it's a 5050 proposition. I agree with Anna. He could easily do it, too. But remember one thing. [00:16:11] So he does a strike against General Qassem Soleimani. Mainly again because Israel asked him to. There's some pretext about how we care for some reason. And then. But when they asked Trump to do another bombing of Iran after Iran retaliated lightly, he said no. [00:16:27] He said no. That would cause too much conflict and war. And so that was one of the most shocking things I've seen from Trump. Yeah. Me too. So since he has that instinct and if his entire media side or not even entire, but a big portion of his media [00:16:43] in the right wing, go, no, don't do it. Maybe it tips the scales to 5149. And if you don't want to try that, I think that's crazy. But just because it offends your feelings to talk to a right winger, you don't want [00:16:58] to try to get allies there to stop the most disastrous war in our lifetime. No, I'm going to try as hard as I can to stop that war, and I'll talk to anyone to do it. I think it would be better suited to just complain about it on Twitter. Or you can go that route. Or you could yell at them. [00:17:14] I bet they love that. Yeah. By the way, please don't go in there and start yelling at Trump that he's a fascist and the only, etc. And oh, you, you don't attack Iran, you fascist racist. [00:17:29] That'll only make you want to do it. Please use your minds. Please. I'm asking you to do a tiny, tiny amount of strategy. Okay. Oh, Tucker Carlson's the worst. Oh, don't ever talk to him. I know, but, brother, he's trying to. He has the same goal as us in this case. [00:17:46] Can we please take yes for an answer and build a coalition to stop a disastrous war? It's like really a low bar. We're asking for the bare minimum here. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.