What do you think this war does to the US Israeli relationship going forward? And I ask because it's not a popular war in America. I understand it's not a popular war in America because, you know, usually people do not know the intricacies of the war, and they also compare it [00:00:19] to previous and other wars. This is a unique war. And I listened very carefully to Secretary Rubio's statements yesterday in Congress. It's a unique war. It's a focused war. It is a war that comes in a time [00:00:35] where you can really bring real change in the Middle East for the future. Well, it turns out the American people are not buying it. You just heard from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and it turns out that more [00:00:51] polling has come out, which indicates that this war against Iran is deeply unpopular with the American people. Your $0.02. Yeah. I want people to see how bad it's going in terms of this war with the polling, but I also want to talk about how bad the war is going in terms of the bombings, [00:01:10] because they've now begun a genocide in in Iran as well. So it's not a genocide yet, but they're doing the same exact tactics they used in Gaza. We'll talk about it in a minute. Yes. Now, as for public opinion, the Guardian did something really interesting. [00:01:26] They reached out to their readers and they asked their American readers in particular, you know, what are your thoughts on the fact that we, you know, are now at war with Iran and, they spoke to a lot of interesting people, including, you know, Persian Americans, Iranian Americans. [00:01:43] And I want to start off with 66 year old Iraj Roshan, who's a retired cardiologist. He was born in Tehran, but he's been in the United States for many decades. He's a US citizen. And here's what he had to say. I don't have any love lost for the ayatollahs, but these wars are won [00:02:00] by narrative, which I thought was a really interesting point. He continues I don't see any way this war is going to end in a way that the U.S. Can declare victory without putting boots on the ground or without arming the Iranians themselves. [00:02:16] I hate to see that so many American kids are going to be eventually dragged into a war that we cannot win, at least by any definition, that we could write down today. So he's being very real about the risks that are being taken, and he does [00:02:36] not have a rosy outlook in regard to how this is all going to play out. Then you have another, you know, Iranian 18 year old, Ram Shanmugam, from Texas, who identifies as a Republican and in fact loathes, absolutely loathes the regime in Iran. [00:02:57] He called them controlling and horrible. However, he did say this the U.S. Is not doing much to minimize civilian casualties, and we have no real plan after we finish this operation. What will replace the government of Iran? And will we have boots on the ground? [00:03:15] Is there any guarantee that this won't be our generation's Afghanistan or Iraq? And, you know how we feel about that. You know how Jake and I feel about that now? 41 year old Meg, who's a small business owner in Brooklyn, told The Guardian. [00:03:31] For a lot of my Muslim friends, this is their favorite time of year. So to have this renewed tragedy strike in the middle of that, and of course, she's referring to Ramadan. As someone on the outskirts who cares about people in my community and in my circle of friends, it breaks my heart. [00:03:49] You have 74 year old Barb, a retired mental health counselor based in North Carolina, who told the Guardian, we can be sure that Trump has launched this war for selfish purposes, whether to flaunt his power to control the headlines away from Epstein, [00:04:05] or to entertain himself. This needless war is not for the benefit of the Iranian people, nor is it to the benefit of the American people. So let's be clear about that as well. But outside of these individual, you know, testimonies and anecdotes, [00:04:22] you know, the broader public opinion also shows that this war is not being handled well by the Trump administration. At least that's what the majority of Americans think. Now, let's go to the CNN poll, which found that about 60% of Americans disapproved of the attacks, according to a CNN poll conducted immediately after the strikes. [00:04:42] Two other polls by Reuters and Ipsos and The Washington Post had similar results. For instance, a majority of Americans, 56%, said that President Trump was too willing to use military force to advance U.S. Interests. That was in the Reuters Ipsos poll. [00:04:59] Then you look at a new Fox News poll, and that also had some pretty interesting results. Currently, 43% approve and 57% disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president overall. But then you take a look at, you know, some of the specific issues. [00:05:17] So another 6 in 10 say he is focused on the wrong things. By comparison, 54% said Biden had the wrong focus in November of 2021. So at the same point in Biden's presidency. And then when you look at Trump's ratings, they're underwater by 35 points [00:05:36] on the cost of living, 32% approve, 67% disapprove. He's underwater 27 points on tariffs, 23 points on the economy and health care, 20 points when it comes to foreign policy. [00:05:51] He's underwater 19 points on taxes, 13 points on jobs and six points on immigration. Back to you, Jake. Yeah. So I want to give you guys context. When we started the Iraq War, was it popular or unpopular? [00:06:07] It was actually very popular. Why? Because the American people were lied to. They were told that there was weapons of mass destruction. And this is a really important one. They were told that Iraq attacked us on nine over 11. And that's just not true at all. Not even 1% true. [00:06:22] In fact, they would attack al Qaeda. Al Qaeda was also opposed to Iraq, and 69% of Americans believed that Saddam had personally attacked us on nine over 11. They were lied in the war in that way. So hence, when we started the war, it was at a 72% approval. [00:06:39] This war, when it starts, is already at a 60% disapproval. So that is all the difference in the world. Iraq got super unpopular through like a series of Debacles [00:06:55] and disasters through many years. This one starts out deeply unpopular. And guys, when we start a war, even if most people were against it, like there was two different polls before the war started. One had a 70% of Americans oppose, another one had it at 85% of Americans opposed. [00:07:13] But once the war starts, you usually rally around the flag and you get a little bit more popular. The war gets a little bit more popular. In this case, barely moved, still 60% unpopular. So America hates this war, doesn't want it at all. And neither does Iran, obviously, based on what Anna Radwan, [00:07:30] let alone what you're about to hear next. And there's only one country in the world that wants this war, and that's Israel. Now, the thing that's really concerning is the fact that Trump seems to be under this delusion that the majority of Americans actually love that we're at war with Iran. [00:07:48] So Politico spoke to Trump, and I just want to give you an excerpt from their piece where they say that Donald Trump has brushed off concerns over any backlash sparked by the U.S. Israeli military operation against Iran, saying the public is loving it. In an interview with Politico, the U.S. [00:08:04] President said, quote, people are loving what's happening. We're taking out a threat to the United States of America, major threat and doing it like nobody's ever seen before. Now, most Americans don't buy that excuse for military intervention against Iran. [00:08:21] Most people know that this is being fought on behalf of Israel. But to your point, Jake, why don't we take a quick look at some of the issues that have already come up when it comes to the U.S., Israeli attacks on Iran in particular, because it turns out that the civilian [00:08:38] casualties are really starting to, increase significantly. The total number of reported civilian deaths stands at 1114, including 181 children. The New York Times published their investigation into the elementary school, [00:08:58] the all girls school in Minab that was part of the opening strikes against Iran. And it turns out that their investigation found that the United States did carry out those strikes, which is incredibly devastating. You know, you have an incident like the death toll in that strike keeps changing. [00:09:17] But there's evidence that a double tap happened, double strike and that, you know, as many as 160 little girls were killed as a result of of these strikes against the school. Anyway, now there's more because, there's a new report in the UK [00:09:35] publication, known as the Telegraph and, the title of the piece, if you want to read it for yourselves, is Tehran an apocalypse of Hospitals in flames and children buried beneath the rubble. Certainly sounds a lot like Gaza, doesn't it? [00:09:52] The report indicates that Kamran, a Tehran resident, told The Telegraph that the United States and Israel have been bombing endlessly with no care about where or what they're striking. He says, quote, they are striking buildings where families live. [00:10:09] After each explosion, people rushed to help, and then another bomb hits the same area. And again, it bears repeating. These double tap strikes were carried out against the girl's school in Minab, the girl's school in Iran, where 165 people were killed by an apparent U.S. [00:10:27] Israeli attack, was hit with two strikes, with the second missile killing, sheltering survivors to first responders and the parent of a slain child have told Middle East Eye. And according to Kamran, going back to his statements, [00:10:45] remember he's the guy who lives in Tehran. He says many people are trapped under the rubble. Hospitals are filled with injured patients and staff are overwhelmed. They are even striking hospitals where the wounded are being treated and hospitals are being struck. [00:11:00] A hospital in the southern Berkshire area have been destroyed. Then you also have the emergency workers who have been, seen evacuating newborn babies from that hospital which suffered the terrible strike. [00:11:16] You know, trying to get those newborn babies out into safety. The Gandhi Hospital in Tehran and multiple other medical facilities across the country were also struck by the Israelis and the US. Ashkan a mother, or I'm sorry, another Tehran resident told the Telegraph, [00:11:34] quote, an apocalypse is unfolding here. Today has been the worst day. Those who had cars fled. Those of us without cars are left here under the bombs. So the bodies are piling up and it's it's absolutely devastating. [00:11:50] And what also should be reported but isn't really reported in US media, unfortunately, is the fact that the Iranians have actually carried out some strikes on important military installations and military capabilities [00:12:06] that we have in the region. So, for instance, to be fair, CNN did do this investigation. They found that Iran has destroyed a key US radar system supporting a missile defense battery at our base in Jordan, more than 500 miles away from Iran. [00:12:22] The radar, a critical component used to detect and track ballistic missiles for interception, appears to have been completely destroyed during the early days of this war. That's not a good sign for the United States, certainly, and it's not a good sign as the United States runs low on these, you know, interceptor missiles. [00:12:43] Yeah. So let me add a couple of things to that. A refugee crisis has begun. A lot of Iranians are Iranians starting to move to Turkey, and from there they'll probably move into Europe. So Israel driving yet more mass refugee and immigration crises towards the West. [00:13:01] Number two, we're trying to make a deal with the Kurds to have them do a disastrous, basically incursion from Iraq into Iran, and they'd get slaughtered and [00:13:16] but they're trying to foment a civil war. They were waiting for the green light from the Americans. Marco Rubio said, we haven't armed them, but I can't speak for the Israelis. So that means the Israelis have armed the Kurds, which, by the way, then leads to another problem. [00:13:31] The Turks are not going to be happy at all about the Kurds being armed very near their border. So they're going to be even more irate about this and pushes them closer to Iran on it. So now, guys, this entire epic disaster, especially on the Iranian people, brought [00:13:48] to you by the same Israelis who told you we have to attack Iran because they care so much about the Iranian people? The protesters were killed and the Israeli hearts broke over it, so they had to go in there and kill them more. [00:14:04] So I want to address that real quick, because I think that there are a lot of well-meaning people who even watch our show. In fact, I got a lengthy email from one of our viewers, a long time viewer of t y t who, you know, seems to think that we are defending the regime in Iran. [00:14:21] That is not the case. I am against U.S. And certainly Israel's involvement in what's going on, because they don't care about brutalizing the Iranian people. In fact, in Tehran, they have been brutalized [00:14:37] from the very beginning of this war. I mean, the opening strikes killed hundreds of little girls in an elementary school. So do you guys understand where I'm coming from? I'm not. I'm not rejecting this war because I don't care about the Iranian people, [00:14:52] and I want them to suffer under a regime they don't like. I think that the situation will be far worse with U.S. And Israeli involvement, because, as we've heard Pete Hegseth say now in multiple press conferences, there are no brakes on the car. They don't believe in war crimes. [00:15:09] They don't believe in being held back by international law, meaning they don't care about killing civilians. How is that liberating the Iranian people? Please explain that to me. That is not some, you know, default support for the Iranian regime. [00:15:27] I just know better as as an Armenian. Okay. Armenian American. I was born and raised in the United States, but nonetheless, I care about Armenia. I would rather put a gun to my head than encourage the US military to do an invasion into Armenia for any reason, because I know it's not going to end well. [00:15:46] So I just don't get it. I don't get how people don't understand this. I don't get how people can see what Israel has carried out in Gaza and think that the Israelis would care to protect its civilians. And so far, all we've seen is civilians getting battered and killed. [00:16:06] Yeah. So, look, I know people are so frustrated with the regime in the Iranian diaspora that they think anything to change it, anything. And I want to go back. I want to be with my family or I, you know, want to be able to visit and I want to trust the Israelis. [00:16:22] Oh, no, no, never trust the Israelis. Are you crazy? I mean, just because you want regime change doesn't mean that any way to do it makes sense. Okay. What if North Korea said, all right, great. Your wish is our command. We're going to do a regime change in Iran, and we're going to start by nuking them. [00:16:39] Well, how would that help? Like, I guess what you're saying is, well, obviously Israel is not North Korea. They have our best interests. Oh my God. Do you think they have your best interests in mind? No, no they don't. So which brings us to today. So what's happening is Anna told you. Here we go again. [00:16:55] They're bombing schools, hospitals, apartment buildings. So I was debating this on Piers Morgan yesterday. And Matt Schlapp, the head of the, you know, one of the largest conservative, [00:17:10] conferences about the 165 girls killed in the elementary school. He said, well, if they'd grown up, they were going to wear burqas anyway. Yeah. He's a disgusting, despicable excuse for a human being. Honestly, like, these people disgust me. [00:17:28] Absolutely disgust me. And it's just it's pure evil. Like, these are the people who are going to liberate the Iranians. They don't even see the Iranians as human beings. They think that they're all like religious extremists worthy of slaughter, including little girls. So I apologize to people who are offended that I don't want U.S. [00:17:47] And Israeli involvement or intervention in Iran. And it's not because I don't care about the Iranian people. It's actually the exact opposite of that. I don't want them to be slaughtered. Yeah. Beware of Israelis bearing gifts. They're usually bombs. Okay. So and by the way, as Anna pointed out, the double taps have begun. [00:18:04] So why do you do a double tap? So that you murder the rescuers that came in to find the wounded and save their lives. Only the most evil people do that. And that's inarguable. A double tap is incredibly evil. It's to kill the ambulance drivers, the medics, the doctors that show up. [00:18:24] So this is to help the Iranian people. We told you we. I mean, God, I wish we could help the Iranian people in some other way. But if you're looking for the Israelis to help you, well, listen to Boswell Smotrich, now, one of the most important people in the Israeli cabinet. [00:18:39] He said, we're going to turn Iran into Khan Yunis, that's in Gaza. So they basically say Lebanon. Lebanon. Oh, sorry. Lebanon. Lebanon. Yeah. But I mean, the point remains. I mean, they're not they're not just focusing on leveling Tehran. They're going to do the same to Lebanon. And they're saying it out loud. [00:18:57] And by the way, at this point, I think it's pretty obvious when the Israelis tell you they're going to do something, you should believe them because they do it. Yeah. Especially when they tell you that they're going to do something terrible. And finally, so just, saw a little earlier huge rallies in Iran. [00:19:15] Guess for who? For the regime. Why? Because they're bringing 165 girls and everybody sees the graves 24 over seven and burying the kids there. So now, as expected by rational human beings, they have rallied around the flag. [00:19:32] And now they hate America and they hate Israel even more. And they're going to resist changing the regime with everything they've got. So it had the exact opposite effect, just like we told you.