Amb. Chas Freeman: Israel’s Multi-Front War Is Falling Apart

0:00Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's noom. They combine GLP ones to quiet the food noise, with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. NUME. Lose for keeps. Get started at nume.com. Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications. Individual results may vary. Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notification screaming at you. It just disappears into your call log. And nine times out of ten, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by QUO, spelled QUO. The business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it.

1:03All your calls, texts, and voice mails live in one place, so anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more, wait, who talked to this customer last? And if you're worried about after hours lead slipping through, QUO's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline. It's the number one rated business phone system on G2, and over 90,000 businesses already trust it to stay reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with QUO. Try QUO for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to QUO.com slash tech. That's QUO.com slash tech. Mod.com is changing the way people battle excessive fatigue. Ever hit a wall in the middle of the day and the third coffee just doesn't do it anymore. Here's what's actually happening. Coffee only briefly blocks a denocene, the chemical that tires you out. When it stops working, your system is flooded and you crash.

2:05Medafinil is a prescription treatment that works in a completely different way. Medafinil works by stimulating multiple receptors in the brain associated with wakefulness, including dopamine, serotonin, noripinephrine, histamine, glutamate, and erexin. It's a more complete solution that gives you 10 to 12 hours of steady focus and energy. To learn more, go to mod.com. Fill out your intake form, meet with a license provider, and if approved, modeler ships straight to your door. Go to mod.com to get started. That's m-o-d.com. Hi everybody. Today is Friday September 25th, 2020, sticks and our dear friend, Ambassador Chas Freeman. He's here with us. Welcome back, Ambassador. Bonjour. Let me start Ambassador with the comments of Donald Trump about the conflict between the United

3:12States and Iran, between Israel and Iran, which the United States is part of it in my opinion. How did you find Donald Trump said he wants to annihilate? Then you see Iranian President for the first time I would confess, I saw him this way firing back and saying, you know, firing back or responding to Donald Trump. How did you find the way that Donald Trump was, you know, trying to intimidate Iran and the way that the Iranian President responded? Well, Donald Trump did something truly atrocious. A statement of intent to commit genocide, which is what he threatened, annihilating Iran and 93 million people who live in Iran, destroying Iranian civilization as he put it once before. This is a work run under the genocide convention. It's also a gross violation of the United Nations Charter. And yet he did this, brazenly, in front of an audience. And the

4:14remarkable thing to me was that the audience sat there and said nothing. Nobody walked out, nobody protested at this behavior. President Pazeshkin, by contrast, I thought was very measured and dignified in his response. Apparently he had a prepared text which he set aside and replaced with the words that he uttered. And I thought what was most interesting about that. And perhaps I misunderstood. I'd be interested in your reading. I thought he said, of course, he was defiant. He said to Iran, will reserve the right to that it has under international law and to engage in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. And then he said, we have no intention of building a bomb. Now there was a slightly different wording than I've heard before.

5:19And I didn't say building a bomb is immoral. It didn't say we will never build a bomb. It just he just said we don't have any intention of building a bomb. And I think as you and I have discussed before that the Israeli American attack on Iran has resulted in the death of most of those who started the opposed to development of weapons of mass destruction on moral grounds and replaced them with nationalism, military nationalism, the IRGC, which doesn't have the religious theological objections, apparently that the civilian leadership has had. And of course, we have to factor in also that the leader of Iran now is the

6:21the the is grieving for his father who was murdered by the United States and Israel and is burning with a desire for revenge. And so I think I thought this was a terrible exchange between Trump and Pasezkyin, but that Pasezkyin at least was rational and dignified, whereas Trump was boastful and threatening. And I think probably in to the extent that anyone in New York and at the United Nations actually pays attention to what goes on there. I think Pasezkyin served better than Donald Trump served the United States. There were Donald Trump said negotiations are going on between Iran and the United States, which were later on it was confirmed by Iranians

7:22why the negotiations were indirect means that the Rathari government was taking the messages back and forth to these two delegations. On the part of Iranians said nothing has changed. The terms are the same. We didn't change anything on the part of the United States on the part of Donald Trump. We haven't heard that much. He said it was productive. And do you think I don't know if you saw the interview Iran, Iran president had with the Fox News. Yeah, he had an interview. I'm I confess I don't watch Fox News. In fact, I don't even own a television because I don't want to have my mind alerted with corporate drivel. But he mentioned in that interview that Iran is prepared to talk. Iran doesn't care about midterm elections before and after. If the United States is ready to talk, Iran is prepared to talk with the United States

8:26to achieve an agreement. An agreement which would serve each and everybody in the region, not only one party or two parties. And this is where do you see the Trump administration today? Do you think they're prepared? Is is it all about the midterm elections? Is it some sort of political theater on the part of Donald Trump or they're serious to take or to get somewhere positive in what's going on between the two sides? I think the administration is far more obsessed with its own image in the United States with its own mega movement than it is concerned about foreign affairs. And I think we've seen it consistent pattern. Of course, the great irony of the moment is perhaps a subject we'll talk about later. The president of China, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is in Washington. But there's no television coverage because Donald Trump is at war with the media.

9:29He seems to believe that the First Amendment means freedom from the press, not freedom of the press. And so the press is not covering him. And he just staged his spectacular made for television event. And there were no television cameras turned on to broadcast it. So I would say my reaction is very suspicious that Donald Trump in saying there are negotiations going on. They were productive, was simply trying to manipulate prices of oil and gas as he has done in the past. And indeed, prices went down a little bit. Most people now believe that they are headed for $130 a barrel, which is way above where they have been even during this war, because we have run out of stored oil, with which to moderate the price fluctuations. I think when President

10:39Pzezekin says Iran is prepared to negotiate, he's not saying anything new. Iran has always been prepared to negotiate, and notwithstanding the fact that the U.S. has used the negotiations on two occasions to conceal surprise attacks, and has negotiated apparently not in good faith, reaching a memorandum of understanding with commitments in it that the United States is not complied with. So if there are, the negotiations are described as focused on the opening of the straight of war mose. But I think Iran has made it very clear that it's not prepared simply to open the straight of war mose without the United States addressing the other issues that it has raised. And that includes sanctions, the release of frozen assets, includes pulling the plug on the

11:43Israeli operation in Lebanon. It includes basically the normalization of situation in West Asia as a whole, not simply the straight of war mose. Of course, we have an additional complication now in the Babel Mandab where Ansarullah now commands the shoreline and is able to effectively blockade Saudi shipping in and out of the Red Sea with the exception, of course, of the exit through the Suez Canal. The Saudis are working very hard to repair the pipeline that I think was blown up by Iraqi militias, not Ansarullah or Iran, although those militias are connected to both Ansarullah and Iran. So who knows how the decision to blow up the East West pipeline was reached? In any event, I think what we're seeing again from the Trump administration is an effort to manipulate

12:48of the opinion and therefore thereby affect prices. And I noted that in his speech Donald Trump emphasized that he was not running for re-election in the midterms, implying in fact that this was, in fact, all about him, which is increasingly clear. 75% of Americans disapprove of his tariff policies, for example, and believe they have hurt the United States. Very large majorities in the Democratic Party disapprove of the war with Iran, even Republicans, a majority of Republicans disapprove of it. So this was a case of his protesting too much, as Shakespeare said, and thereby confirming that that was, in fact, his concern, that he is going to be badly embarrassed by these midterms. I would like to know one other

13:54thing, and that is when he threatens to annihilate Iran, I think many people imagine that he's not serious, because he has a history of making outrageous threats and then not implementing them. But he's basically talking about the use of nuclear weapons. And whether it's a bluff or a real intention, we don't know, but that itself is outrageous. And the United States remains the only country that has used nuclear weapons in war, and that is a bit controversial. But I don't think the American military, the American people would support another resort to nuclear weapons simply to act into to buttress the vanity of Donald Trump,

14:57who cannot admit failure. During his ambassador, something deeply wrong when it comes to the policies in the West Asia. I'm talking about Donald Trump deeply, wrong with Donald Trump. And he raised what Tucker Carlson said when he was warning Donald Trump before the war started. And once again, I'm in an unusual position because I talked to Trump. But you've quoted him as waving off the wrist by saying it'll all be fine, which could you know what he said? Go tell you exactly what he said. I haven't said this, but I'm just going to tell you sure. And this is a fact. And I could look at my calendar, but it was in, it was I had flown back from Tel Aviv from Bengurine Airport after seeing the ambassador and two days later it was in the oval with Trump alone. And he was annoyed that I had given Huckabee a hard time with this whole conversation about Huckabee. And I said, here, your US, as the son of an ambassador, I know what the job entails. And your ambassador, your representative to this nation just called for rearranging the

16:00Middle East and allowing Israel to take parts of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria like this is a diplomatic incident. As we had this whole conversation about this, but then I said, this war is not about Iran's nuclear program, which you told me in the world that you eliminated back in that summer in June. Yeah. This war is being pushed by Israel with three aims. One, its own regional hegemony take Iran off the map. You can't they don't have freedom of movement as long as Iran is a regional power. Two, diminishing the power of the GCC, the six Gulf states, which are arrival to Israel and are becoming this kind of Switzerland of the Middle East. And that's bad for Israeli interests. And three, getting the US out of the Middle East because we can strain their ambitions, getting our bases out, destroying our bases. Israel wants our bases out of the Middle East. I said this to Trump to his face in the Oval Office days before the war began. And he looked at me and said, yes, you're right. But in the end, we all die anyway. So it doesn't

17:04matter. That's exactly what he said. In the end, we all die anyway. And I said to him, shocked but what about our kids and our grandkids and like our country? And he goes, ah, that's that's a verb. I don't know. He didn't understand that's a verbatim exchange. And I said and it was God watches. I said that. Okay. And I think it was I thought it was true then. And I think it's been proven true now. The goal was to get the US out to diminish the GCC and obviously to take a run off the map and sink it into permanent internal strife into civil war, sectarian strife. And he said it doesn't matter because in the end, we're all dead anyway. And I was shocked by that because it's nihilism. And that's the last thing any leader should display or any person should display. It does matter. Who lives or dies does matter. The future does matter. I don't know. That's a remarkable exchange. I had not seen that. And it's very disturbing indeed.

18:11You know, I mean, I think and I may have said this before and I apologize for repeating myself if if I have. I think Donald Trump really respects only two kinds of people. Those who are very powerful like Xi Jinping, whom he and he if he's in their company, it implies that he is powerful too. That boosts his ego and people who can blackmail him. And I think Benjamin Netanyahu bodies both. He has a powerful lobby. He has donors to the Trump treasury camp. The Trump campaign funds who without whom Donald Trump is cannot survive politically. Therefore, he's very powerful. And he probably has the Epstein files with which to blackmail Trump. Let's not forget that

19:13there were several reasons that Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, probably the most the least independent, most subservient Speaker of the House ever in American history, adjourned the House of Representatives early. One was that he feared that the bill that Thomas Massey had introduced to impeach and remove from office Pete Exet would pass, which he probably will. Because I think Exet performance is widely regarded as unacceptable. The other another reason was the Epstein files where again, Massey and Rokana have pushed very hard for transparency and have been resisted by the Trump Justice Department. There has been no complete release of those files. We know there's material in them that is very damaging to Donald Trump. So, and there were other factors, but those two

20:18were the main ones. And if you look at what is happening in the Congress, you can see the mega coalition falling apart. There are more and more Republican members of the House and the Senate who are trying to repudiate, distinguish themselves from Donald Trump's policies, whether they are the war in Iran, which I think now almost everybody regards as a total failure and catastrophic counterproductive move by the United States, but also the tariff policy. I think what we're seeing is the second wave of effects from the shortage of oil and gas that comes from the closure of the St. of Armours and now the closure of the Babel Mandab. And this is a wave

21:19of inflation, inflation of everything because transportation costs have gone way up. Diesel, which is the basis of much transportation, is in short supply. The administration is toying with the idea of an export ban on diesel, which would probably aggravate the situation and not help it. But in any event, I think again, the Trump administration's reaction to everything is to try to manipulate its image and to create narratives that undercut access to the truth. And the truth is things are going very badly, both in the underlying economy as a result of the war in Iran and in the war itself, where Iran has indeed, as you suggested, and as President Posseshkin stated,

22:23maintained the same position from the beginning. It has not changed its position on what is required to replace the situation of low intensity conflict or the major war that has ensued with peace, peace, meaning some sort of stability that is sufficiently acceptable to those who can overthrow that they don't try to do that, that is peace. We're not anywhere near it, apparently, despite the talk about negotiations going on in New York. I'm glad there are negotiations going on if indeed there are, but I don't think we should place too much hope in those because I see no evidence that Donald Trump is in a mood to compromise. There is a report ambassador on what's to general. It says the efforts to restart the U.S.-Iran peace talks are facing a position from Saudi Arabia

23:24and the UAE and which are urging Washington to maintain sanctions and its naval lock-8 rather than offer Iran concessions. It says that, by the way, that Qatar and Iran are pushing for renewed negotiations, potentially as early as next week, including a proposed seven-day pause in fighting and a phase reopening of the straight-of-formals. Do you see that sort of division? I think that sounds like a very accurate report. What it says is the only surprising element of it since the UAE's position has been public and open all along. UAE was involved in the attacks on Iran, was part of the war effort. It is aligned through the Abraham Accords for Israel. Saudi Arabia is influenced by Israel because Saudi Arabia is in a desperate

24:29position. It tried to get help from the United States, from Egypt, from Turkey, from Pakistan, Europeans, and it has had no positive response. Israel is helping Saudi Arabia with under the table with intelligence support and other support very likely. I think the stated position that the Wall Street Journal reports is very plausible for two reasons. One, it reflects the Israeli influence that I mentioned. Second, because there is no one else helping Saudi Arabia. Second, it reflects the belligerent attitudes of Mohammed bin Salman, who is known to have a temper and be impetuous. I don't think this is wise on the part of Saudi Arabia.

25:31I think Saudi Arabia needs a mediator to restore a relationship with Ansarullah that both can live with. The only mediator I can think of in the undercurrent circumstances is Iran. To argue for the continuation of maximum pressure on Iran in this circumstance, it seems to me to be rather short-sighted. But what do I know? There may be other factors at work here. Benjamin Netneau, before giving his speech at the UN, we've seen 75 countries walking out before his speech. The other point which was mentioned during the talk that he gave, he's one of the Israelis just going around and just riding down those countries who are not in the hall.

26:34Here is the video. The remaining two are definitely talking to people. Every day they try to murder our people. Yeah, he was just going around noting which country is not there. Yeah, no, this is typical. I have a little list at Joseph McCarthy of all the communists in the state department. Today there are 57 of them. Yesterday there were 103. Now there are 43. Anyway, this is of course the technique of intimidation and that is what Israel has practiced from the very

27:40beginning. When you go back to the original UN approving the partition of Palestine supported by Israel, you find multiple instances of blackmail and extortion and murder threats against the representatives of different countries, including India, by the way, which was quite open about the viciousness of the pressure that it faced. That was in 1948. Nothing has changed. Ashtay judges on the International Criminal Court or on the International Court of Justice, what they have faced. Israel thrives through blackmail and threats. So what you just saw was the collection of hit list. Here is Ambassador what Benjamin Netanyahu said about your part of what he

28:45said. But I want to give you the good news. Despite your silence, despite your hypocrisy, it's only a matter of time that in Iran something incredible will happen. The power of the people will overcome the people in power. I want you to listen to my words carefully. One day, and it may not be far away, the Iranian people will be free. Their murderous regime will be toppled by its lies, by its corruption, by its cruelty. This evil regime will fall and we will all celebrate that day. Will he be describing Israel rather than Iran? A murderous regime that holds its people in thrall, that will fall. Maybe he's describing himself in the forthcoming elections in

29:49Israel, but he will fall. I mean, this kind of thing, the pot calling the kettle black as the phrase in English is, accusing others of what you're doing yourself is very common in Hasparat, in the ex-Culpatory propaganda that Israel specializes in. It has no credibility. I would say the 75 countries that walked out, if that's indeed the number might have been more, might have been less, but if that is indeed the number, those 75 people missed a great show. Netanyahu always puts on a great show. He's absolutely brazen in his lies and absolutely unforgiving in his hypocrisy, accusing others of hypocrisy as his specialty, but he is its principal practitioner in

30:56the region. And so, I mean, what is the purpose of all this? It had nothing to do with the United Nations, with international relations, with Iran, with anything, to solve for the home audience. That was a campaign speech for Israel who applauded Israelis in the peanut gallery and some in the delegation floor. So, Donald Trump, same thing. He wasn't talking to the world, he was talking to the American voters. This is a bad thing about the UN General Assembly meetings, that people talk to their home audience. I don't think that was true of President Pizesky, and I think he was talking to the international community. I don't know what the reaction was in Iran. Many people in

31:59Iran are very critical of him for being too diplomatic, too flexible, too willing to embrace negotiations. So, I'm not sure that it did him anything, it gave him any benefit in Iran, but it certainly, as I said earlier, will have bolstered Iran's reputation for seriousness internationally. Here is what he said, part of what Pizesky has said. Being threatened, we do not wish to use our power for hegemony, and we do not seek our security and the insecurity of others. Yeah, that's important because as we've remarked before, Israel demands absolute security for itself, and absolute insecurity for everyone else.

32:59So, he is directly countering that Israeli stance with an alleged stance on the part of Iran. Now, whether you agree with him, that Iran does not want hegemony in West Asia is another question. But as a statement of policy, that is a contrast with the Israeli position. Losing weight can feel like a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and being thrown for loops, like when someone brings donuts into the office, or your kids' dino nuggets start giving you that look again. That's why there's noom. They combine GLP ones to quiet the food noise, with healthy habits that help you keep it quiet, even if you get off the meds. Their program is designed to make weight loss a smooth ride, helping you understand what drives you, so you can build better habits to not just lose weight, but keep it off. NUME. LOSE FOR KEEPS. Get started at nume.com.

34:02Not all customers will clinically qualify for medications. Individual results may vary. Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. A missed call doesn't feel like anything. No red flag, no notification screaming at you, it just disappears into your call log. And nine times out of ten, that was someone ready to hand you money. That's why today's episode is brought to you by QUO, spelled Q-U-O. The business phone system built so you never miss a call. Here's what I like about it. All your calls, texts, and voicemails live in one place, so anyone on your team can pick up a conversation, see the full history, and respond fast. No more, wait, who talked to this customer last? And if you're worried about after hours' lead slipping through, QUO's optional built-in AI agent can answer questions and even book appointments while your team's offline. It's the number one rated business phone system on G2, and over 90,000 businesses already trust it to stay reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with QUO. Try QUO for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to

35:07QUO.com slash tech. That's q-u-o.com slash tech. The other point I'm asking is the way that Israel is really prime minister and the foreign defense minister of Israel is talking about Turkey. They're basically trying to do everything to make new conflicts or new escalations with Turkey, and Turkey is trying to avoid that as much as possible. But they said that the Israeli defense minister said, Erdogan is a paper sultan, he's all talks no actions. Benjamin Nau yesterday said Erdogan is a tyrant, and his aunt is Samite, he's doing, you know, he's against Israel. What do they want? Do they really want each and every country in the region attacking them? That's would put them in a better position in the

36:07mind of those people in Israel, Benjamin Netnau and his administration. No, this is campaign rhetoric. It's directed at the elections, and, you know, rally behind the leadership of the coup d'av Benjamin Netnau, because everybody in the world is out to get us. That's the argument. Now, of course, the great flaw in Israeli politics is its celebration of victimhood. It's belief that, you know, people those Israelis and hate Israel, not because of what it does, but because of who they, who Israelis are. They're Jews, or they're people who claim to be Jews. Many of them are really not Jewish. A lot of the Russian Israelis are, have very dubious credentials as Jews. Anyway, this is not anti-Semitic. This is anti-Criminal, anti-Israel's behavior is criminal,

37:15and people are against it. But I think you win in Israeli politics evidently by by emphasizing danger to the state of Israel and the people of Israel and claiming that everyone is planning to do to you what you are, in fact, doing to the Palestinians, namely commit genocide. So, I don't think they really want to get into a war with Turkey because they'd lose badly. But I think Turkey is a very useful boogie man in the elections. The other point was Mahmoud Abbas was not given the visa to go to New York to the United States. At the same time, Benjamin A. O'Guard that he was there despite having that ICC

38:15war issue, war and exactly. But even Mahmoud Abbas is, they don't tolerate Mahmoud Abbas. Mahmoud Abbas, which is so much close during the Biden administration, you remember, Anthony Blinken, he said that he recognizes Mahmoud Abbas as the representative of Palestinian people. But today, with the Trump administration, they don't even tolerate Mahmoud Abbas, and they don't want to hear from him. Well, I'll make two comments. First, there is a headquarters agreement pursuer into which the United Nations is in New York, and that headquarters agreement obligates the United States to facilitate the travel of Mahmoud Abbas. It also obligated the United States to give visas to the communications support staff for Pzezekian, which they denied. The United States denied those visas. So this is a violation of international law in American international obligations.

39:17And it raises the question of whether the United Nations and the long run can continue to be headquartered in New York. There is an alternative, which is Geneva, where the League of Nations was headquartered and where there are UN offices. So that's the first point. The second is that Mahmoud Abbas is a subcontractor to the occupation, to claim that he is the representative of the Palestinian people, is to overlook the elections that have taken place among Palestinians, which he lost. He is the reese, the president of the Palestinian authority, but he's many, many years beyond his constitutional term in office. When the last elections were held in 2006, Hamas won, not Fatah. So,

40:22Anthony Blinken was very conveniently declaring that the Kapo and the prison was the representative of the prisoners, rather than the administrator of the occupying of the prison authorities over the prisoners. Mahmoud Abbas represents a corrupt regime in Palestine. And now, even to, even he is barred because the United States has closed Palestinian represented Haitian and Washington in every world and has joined Israel in basically in colluding with Israel in ethnic cleansing in genocide. And that's why Mahmoud Abbas can't get a visa. I feel sorry for him, history has bypassed him. There were Benjamin Netanyahu said, the West, he didn't save West Bank, he said, Judea is part of

41:29Israel, Golan Heights is part of Israel because as you know before Benjamin Netanyahu giving his speech at the UN, we had Al-Shara of Syria saying that the Golan Heights is part of Syria is not part of Israel. And how do you see the conflict on the West Bank? It seems that the whole world is getting behind the Palestinian people, some way or other, there's somehow expressing them, their policies. As we saw with the 75 countries getting it walking out, that's a sign for Israel. But you don't see Israel accepting anything. And is that possible politically convinced Israel? You know, I would hope so because I would, I think, Netanyahu said nobody would cry if the Iranian regime were overthrown, if people would applaud. I would cry if Israel were to

42:32disappear. I would not like to see that. But if it disappears it will be by suicide, not because its neighbors overthrow it, overthrow it. And while it is absolutely true, Israel is an international pariah. Now, not an acceptable in polite company anywhere much except I guess New York. And that is part of a trend which eventually is going to do Israel in. Israel can't survive without foreign support. And it is swandering that foreign support through its activities. More of the same is in the future, apparently. It's a modern Ben Greer who is the most despicable character in Israeli politics, which is saying a great deal. Apparently, believes he should be the defense

43:32minister in the next government in Israel. And his program will be the annihilation of the Palestinians and their complete removal from the area is claimed by Israel, including the West Bank Gaza and so forth. Finally, of course, Al-Jalani's speech was a pretty good one. Fourth-right statement of Syrian positions. I know that before he reverted to Al-Sharah, he was known as Al-Jalani, meaning from the Goal on Heights. So it was hardly any surprise that he introduced that. And under international law, very, very few countries, I think, I think Colombia now is joined the United States in recognizing the Goal on Heights as part of Israel, but no one else does. So this is illegally annexed by Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu

44:36is defying, once again, defying international opinion international law. Let me just make a one other point here. And that is I was ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Goal 4 to the Great Kuwait. There were many justifications for the UN and coalition effort to remove Iraq from Kuwait, but one of them was to establish and affirm the principle that you cannot legally annex territory by force. Iraq could not be permitted to do what Israel now does with impunity. And international law is very clear on this. Everything Israel is doing beyond the borders of 1967 is illegal. And the settlements, and there is beginning to be international effort to enforce

45:40international law. It's pretty pathetic, frankly, at this point. At this point, people are mainly ringing their hands while sitting on them. They're not doing anything terribly concrete. The UK has adopted a ban on imports from the settlements. It's not clear how I can enforce that. Those settlements which are not in Israel, nonetheless, brand their product has made in Israel. So, it would have to be an entire investigative effort, an organization started to determine where specific items were made in order to enforce that. I don't think it will hold. I think we are headed toward a boycott of imports from Israel down the road in many countries. And if I were Israeli, I would be very upset about that. And indeed, I believe many Israelis now

46:46despite their defiant attitudes toward international law, lack confidence in the future of their country. And many are emigrating. And we're seeing more and more Israelis, people do nationals arriving in the United States, ironically in Spain, which is one of the most forthright of European countries in its condemnation of Israeli apartheid and genocide. But in Spain, out of an effort to rectify the expulsion of Jews and Muslims in 1492, has offered second passports to anyone in Israel who can prove a connection to that to pre-1492 Spain. So, but, you know, a country that is bleeding its intellectual talent, that is bleeding its professional class, that is increasingly worried about whether it's safe to

47:52live under Israeli sovereignty is not a country that any insurance company would ensure. So, I think, you know, things are moving in a direction that I personally find terribly distressing. There are good people in Israel. I know some of them. They're being left high and dry by the actions of their government and their defense forces. Now we have the Naza film, which is being vigorously opposed by Israel, but which is meticulous in its documentation of genocidal atrocities by the Israeli occupation forces. And, you know, there's an interesting dynamic here. The more Israel objects to something, the wider the publicity for it, the more it is taken seriously. Naza evidently means collateral damage in Hebrew. It also sounds like Nazi,

49:02I suppose, that is a coincidence. The other important thing that is happening and has happened, it was the meeting between Donald Ramay and Xi Jinping. And Xi Jinping, it was so positive in the way that he was expressing the future, the present and how the cooperation, compromise and cooperation could change the world. Heuris Wattis said, part of what he said. Mod.com is changing the way people battle excessive fatigue. Ever hit a wall in the middle of the day and the third coffee just doesn't do it anymore? Here's what's actually happening. Coffee only briefly blocks a denocene, the chemical that tires you out. When it stops working, your system is flooded and you crash. Medaphonil is a prescription treatment that works in a completely different way.

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51:12Facing the changes in our world in our times and of historical significance today. China and the United States as two major countries shoulder a historic responsibility of advancing human development and progress. No, he, I think he made a very strong case for cooperation as opposed to confrontation, which he pointed out could end in disaster for both countries and indeed the world. I think, you know, basically the impression that this summit meeting has given most people is of a very steady, calm, dignified Chinese leader representing a country that is prepared to shoulder its responsibilities internationally versus Donald J. Trump, who comes across as a

52:12pure aisle exhibitionist what the British call a swank pop. This means something like a teenager who drives around in a convertible with allowed music and in the car expecting that this is going to boost his attractiveness to women. You know, a show off an exhibitionist and not a very mature one. So I think, and of course the great irony as I mentioned earlier is that Donald Trump has picked a fight with the television media, the press pool, and they're not covering him anymore. So he did this incredible spectacle welcoming Xi Jinping and nobody covered it. Nobody noticed also that Prime Minister Takaichi of Japan came to the United States and no one greeted her.

53:13You know, while Donald Trump was out at Joint Base and Andrews Joint Base and greeting Xi Jinping with a red carpet and an honor guard. America's greatest ally in Asia was not treated with comparable dignity. So this is no way to conduct foreign policy. The best it can be said of this meeting is that the two sides are continuing to talk. But what they're talking about is unclear because there was no substantive result. The net result of the visit today, at least, seems to be a two-month extension in the truth in the trade war, which basically the United States violates it will anyway. So it doesn't mean much. Two months is not enough to provide certainty or to steady markets. And the other major result was the donation by China of two pandas to the Atlantic, Atlanta Zoo. Well, you know, that's it. So this is all pageantry and pretense and no

54:25results. But better than no meeting at all, I guess. There were two major issues with the foreign policy today. I assume. And besides what's going on in Taiwan, each is the war in Ukraine and the West Asia. It seems that the priority for Donald Trump is the West Asia. I don't know if you saw the video Donald Trump sitting next to the Prime Minister, a British Prime Minister, and talking about you didn't come to help us in the Prime Minister of, you know, it's just amazing looking at the face of the British Prime Minister. When Donald Trump is somehow mentioning the war in the West Asia. Here is what that's happened. I think that a settlement is going to be reached. They want to talk to us. They have been talking to us even today. They've been talking to us. The relationship is developing, I'd say.

55:26But we can't let them, they understand that. We can't let them have a nuclear weapon. And there's a price to pay for that. They should have been done by other presidents. Or, frankly, other countries, you know, some some countries could have stepped forward, but there aren't too many countries, frankly, they could have handled it. So I think... Just... Oh well. When he says other countries, look at the face of the British Prime Minister. No, I'm saying I'm... Some kind of step forward, but there aren't too many countries, frankly, they could have handled it. So I think we've done a great job. So you see two guys sitting next to each other, you know, focusing on different things. One of them focused on the West Asia. The other is focusing on Ukraine. Ambassador, go ahead. Well, but, you know, I think the British Prime Minister is focusing on Britain, of this relationship with the United States, which is in a shambles. Thanks to Donald Trump. I mean, you don't... He is on the record insulting the honor of British troops in Afghanistan

56:29and deriding the British military performance. He's on the record, you know, castigating Britain for failing to support what is, frankly, regarded internationally as an idiotic attack on Iran. And who joined the United States in this attack on Iran? Israel, United Arab Emirates. I can't think of anyone else. Others provided facilities on their territory, which they demanded not be used against Iran. The United States nonetheless did use them to some extent against Iran and they paid a price. I think we've all seen the pictures of the aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Haraj and South of Riyadh, destroyed by Iranian hypersonic missiles and drones. So, you know, even the Saudis who tried very hard to stay out of this were dragged into it.

57:33And it is an illustration of a point that... that you go back to the Chinese they seem to understand more than others and that is that alliances are liabilities as well as assets. People with whom you're allied can get you into trouble by doing things that you don't want them to do. In this case, the United States got the Gulf Arabs into trouble and they've paid a high price. And what is it that these countries could contribute to the United States other than the use of facilities on their territory? Answer nothing. And what have they learned? They have learned that the United States has neither the will nor the ability to defend them and that the United States places its relationship with Israel ahead of its relationship with all of them. Again, possible exception of the United Arab Emirates. And so, the lasting damage to the United States from this is huge. And we've just seen

58:40another evidence of more damage, which is to the US relationship with the United Kingdom. I don't imagine the Prime Minister appreciated being put in that position by a tactless ghost American president. Do you think Donald Trump would get something important from Xi Jinping or would accept Xi Jinping helping him with the two wars? Well, I imagine he asked. I don't think I don't think he would get any pushback from Xi Jinping. That is to say, Xi Jinping and China would be happy to see both of these wars and they don't want the Russians to lose, but the Russians aren't losing. The point has been made that effectively that Ukraine cannot join NATO. And I believe it's also been made that Ukraine cannot join the European Union

59:45because of internal problems. And the Chinese almost more than anyone because they are the world's largest trading country and very dependent on imports of oil from the Persian Gulf. They want the straight-of-armos open. Do they care in the end whether they pay a fee of some sort to transit the straight-of-armos? I'm sure they don't want to pay a fee, but would that be unacceptable to them? I don't think so. And do they see the United States, which is blockading the straight-of-armos as Iran is? As doing something sensible? I doubt it very much. But the Chinese have already indicated that they would like to mediate between Iran and the Gulf Arabs. And they have urged mediation by others of the Ansar al-A' Saudi war. So they're trying to

1:00:50be helpful. Frankly, the situation does not lend itself to an easy resolution in large measure because of the obteracy of the United States. The unwillingness of the United States to accept that we did something stupid and we are paying a price. The result of the midterm elections, let's put it, let's assume Donald Trump wins, which is quite, it's not that... But let's assume the two scenarios in which Donald Trump wins or loses the midterm elections. How is that going to influence the new escalations that he has in his mine as he said he wants an eye later on? He wants to escalate, I assume. The use of nuclear weapons, as you mentioned, or maybe attacking the power grids in Iran or in Tehran or somewhere in Iran in order to influence the whole country? I don't think the United States has any stomach for more war.

1:01:54And I believe Donald Trump's power is, unless, as you suggest, he is, views win in the election, which seems highly improbable. I think his power is going to be greatly impaired. His authority will be lessened. If he tries to use nuclear weapons, I don't know what the US military will do. I can imagine a mutiny on this issue because I don't think anyone would regard that as sensible or reasonable. If he tries to do something else, I don't know what would happen. I think he's going to face a hostile Congress, maybe both houses of Congress, maybe not just the House of Representatives, seem very likely to be in under the control of the Democratic Party. Of course, the Democratic Party doesn't stand for very much, except against Trump. So we don't know what that will mean. The Senate is now in a real contest.

1:03:04There's a good possibility that the Senate will also be under Democratic control. The Democratic leadership in the Senate is not helpful on many issues. I think Senator Schumer, who is the current minority leader in the Senate, is an hardened Zionist supporter of the war in Iran and not representative of the view of his party more broadly. In fact, I would expect there will be severe challenges to the existing leadership of the Democratic Party in both the House and the Senate. But in our system, we have an election in November and people are not sworn in until January. So there's two months I ate us. And who knows what will happen in that time. I honestly am very perplexed. I don't think anybody can tell you what the future and the

1:04:07immediate future was like in your brain. Thank you so much Ambassador for being with us today. Great pleasure as always. Terrible issues that we're talking about. Terrible. Exactly. Very depressing. So thank you for getting me off to a bad start today. Great pleasure, Ambassador. As always. Hey everyone, it's Chris Kalebo here, host of the Side Hustle School podcast. This episode is powered by AT&T Business. In my early days, I did some of my best work in parked cars or coffee shops. But when I landed my first big contract, I realized I couldn't bet my future on a public connection that cuts out if someone turns on a blender. As a small business owner, you're already wearing at least 10 hats. You shouldn't have to be your own

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