Prof. Glenn Diesen : Meanwhile in Ukraine: The War Continues

0:00When you really need care, you need 24-7 access to a care team, not a maze of paperwork from a third party. Every day, America's hospitals and health systems show up for you. Navigating healthcare can fuel overwhelming, but you can count on real doctors, real nurses, real people, providing quality around the clock care when you need it most. They're in your corner, in communities across America, your neighbors, your lifelines, right beside you holding your hand and helping find answers. That's what putting patients first actually means. Learn more at strengthinhealthcare.org Brought to you by the Coalition to Strength in America's Health Care. Finding a hoodie that lasts through the season can be tough. The American Giant Classic Fulza Putty is made to last a lifetime, so you can count on it year after year. The iconic Classic Fulza Putty is the jacket that started it all for American Giant. Custom heavyweight fleece and side panels for mobility make it the best hoodie ever. Every American Giant piece is made in America and designed to last. No exceptions. The result is durable clothing. Like the premium Slub Crew T, no BS high-rise pant,

1:00and slim roughneck pant that become part of your life. Snag the hoodie that will bring you comfort for life. The American Giant Classic Fulza. Save 20% off your first order at american-giant.com when you use code staple20 at checkout. Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes, to love your country, you had to alter or abolish the government? What if Jefferson was right? What if that government is best which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave?

2:05What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Hi everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for a judging freedom. Today is Wednesday, March 11th, 2026. My dear friend, Professor Glenn Dison joins us now. Professor Dison, thank you so much for your time. I do want to focus with you on the war in Ukraine, which of course is off the front pages here in the United States because of the Netanyahu and Trump war of choice in Iran. But before we get to Ukraine, how is the war in Iran playing out in northern Europe? How do elites view it and how do ordinary folks view it as best you can put your finger on those pulses?

3:06Well, I guess you can split into two categories. That is the justification versus how it's going. In terms of the justification, one gets impression that most of the politicians and media are on board with the narrative that it's a good thing that Iran got attacked because, as they suggest, the regime is illegitimate. They would like to have more, you know, peace or freedom for Iranians. So this is the usual regime change narrative you see. Actually, in this country, one of the heads of one of the political parties even reported that the regime had fallen once the committee was dead because apparently this is how they think that you kill a leader and then suddenly that means the end of the regime and now you can choose the next one. So that's the legitimate aspect. In terms of how it's going, there's a lot of coverage on what's being hit in Iran. But there's still, I think, across Europe. This assumption that the US is all powerful.

4:09That is, if the US sets its mind to destroying or defeating Iran, then it can achieve this. Again, this is one of the reasons I think the United States have gambled a lot on this war because this reputation, it's what gives it such a high standing in the gold states as well as in Europe. Again, that assumption that is this all superpower, which only is restrained by a lack of will. Well, do we know if Russian intel is informing Iranian intel of the location of American assets and helping them target American personnel and American assets in the Gulf? Well, the Russians aren't confirming it for, I guess, yeah, good reasons. It appears on the American side, they're neither confirming it or nor denying it. But yeah, from what I understand, but again, I don't have any source to have been

5:11able to say this definitely, but it's almost taken for granted that, of course, Russia would do this because well, for the past years, the United States has been giving intelligence to Ukraine about who to strike. Indeed, Russia is still doing this. So, so the idea is why why wouldn't Russia do the same? Not just as a retaliation against the US, but also because if Iran would fail, then being knocked off on the greater Eurasian chessboard, this would be devastating for Russia as well. Because keep in mind that, since Gorbachev's time, all the way to 2014, the Russians embraced what they called the greater Europe initiative, that is they wanted to integrate with the US and the West to be a part of this post-Cold or West, but they were always excluded from the main institutions of Europe, that is NATO and the EU. After the coup in 2014, when the UNO coverage was toppled by

6:12NATO governments, it became evident that Ukraine would not be a bridge, but it would be a front line. And this is when the Russians began to shift their entire economy. This is for the first time in 300 years, the Russians' developments for path to development did not go through the West. It went through the East, and suddenly this all economy has been reorienting Eastwards. It's industries, technologies, transportation corridors, banks, payment systems, everything. So, yeah, for this reason, the Iran is an important part of this Eurasian constellation because it can't be too China-centric. They want to have other partners in the East as well, so Iran, India, Korea, all of these countries. So, Iran is an important node. It's a central node of this international north-south transportation corridor from Russia, Iran, to India. So, they will not let Iran fall. So, I think it would be irresponsible, to be honest, if they weren't giving some intelligence to Iran to defend themselves. Iran is also

7:16a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in BRICS, so for them not to do anything would be almost unthinkable. Well, I mean, do we know if Trump's duplicity in the Iran negotiations, twice he tricked Iran negotiators into believing there were serious negotiations, and both times he attacked Iran almost literally during the negotiations? Can we conclude that that behavior would cause the Russians to be very skeptical of negotiating with the U.S.? Well, no, I think this sends some shockwaves through Russia. That is, look at the decapitation strikes. There is no rules anymore. And indeed, I would say that a lot of pressure is mounting now on Putin to not do this slow attrition warfare and not be duped by the U.S. diplomatic efforts. As you said, Iran got attacked first in June,

8:24and then now yet again, during negotiations, even as the mediator and the American side was making the point that they were making great progress. So the Russians, of course, they see some parallels to what's been happening with diplomacy with Russia. Keep in mind that when Putin was on the phone with Trump at his residence in Valdei, then there was this attack on Valdei, which they now have to consider that this was likely an effort over the decapitation strike against Russia, you know, with cooperation. It's not just a CIA, but also with the knowledge of Trump. They also have to think about what has actually been happening over the past years. That is, last year there was the attack on, sorry, in 2024, it was the attack on the early radar system, which is what detects a nuclear first strike in June, this same month when Iran was subjected to a surprise attack when we remember all those drones had been smuggled into Iran, which we were used to do a decapitation

9:27strike while on the same month. Western intelligence services had helped to smuggle in drones into Russia. We say it was the Ukrainians who then attacked their Russia's nuclear retaliatory capabilities, that is, this nuclear bombers. And now, of course, in December as well, we have this attack on Valdei, which is considered to be an attack on Putin's life, and also what could have been nuclear command centers nearby. So there's a lot of distrust now, and they see a lot of parallels between the way the Iranians have been deceived and how Russia has been deceived. And given that Putin isn't the only decision maker in Russia, there's a lot of pressure suggesting that they have let themselves be strung along for too long. And well, essentially they should do what the Iranians did. The Iranians focused on restoring their deterrent. Russia has let this slip. I mean, only today, as we've seen now last night, we had attacks on Briansk in Russia. The Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said now that the UK was obviously involved in this attack

10:31on these sensitive military targets in Briansk and Russia. So how can Russia sit back and watch the UK just strike inside Russia and do nothing? So essentially, the pressure now comes on Putin that, you know, they should also restore their deterrent. Do what the Iran did, strike back, and make sure that whoever attacks Russia will face a cost. So Briansk is not only a munitions plan, it's 200 miles inside of Russia. They not only destroyed part of the plant that killed six civilians. It's almost inconceivable to me. And it was a storm shadow. And you're right. Dmitry Peskov said, the British did this. Sooningly they did. I don't think MI6 does anything on its own. So probably CIA was involved. But wouldn't you expect Putin to respond? I mean, can you imagine if that Chinese destroyed an American munitions plant in Dallas, I would think the

11:34American military would be engaged in a mess of retaliation? At Verbo, we understand that even the best of plans sometimes need a little support. So we plan for the plot twists. Every booking is automatically backed by our Verbo care guarantee, giving you confidence from the very start. Whenever you need help, it's ready. Before your stay, through the moments in between, and after your trip. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind. And maybe a good playlist. But we've got the peace of mind part covered. The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.

12:39No, exactly. And this is why there's a lot of pressure growing now. And the fact that if they do not show pressure on President Putin. Yes, that's correct. Because if they do nothing, the argument is, well, why wouldn't the Americans? So the British try to carry out the decapitation strike to bomb the Kremlin or try to kill the political leadership of Russia. There's no consequences to these actions. So this pressure is quite real. And the fact that the British did this attack at this point in time when there's so much pressure on Putin to take a tougher stance, especially towards the British and the Germans, is quite extraordinary. But again, I think this is kind of a good example of how the run war is also impacting the calculation from the Kremlin because, yeah, this can't go on like this anymore.

13:39And I think that we might see something coming up in the near future that they will start to take a much stronger stance. Again, especially against the British because for some reason, they always tend to be on the front line, whether it's attempts to destroy the Kremlin bridge, the attack. Again, keep in mind that back in June, the attack on Russia's nuclear deterrent, the bombers, the Russian FSB, they came with a statement saying that the MI6 was involved in this. So you have the British attacking the nuclear deterrent of Russia. I mean, this kind of things would be unthinkable during the Cold War. And now it's happening and there's no consequences. I mean, there's a legitimacy problem here in Russia. If Putin doesn't do anything, people will challenge him. I know in the West it's portrayed as being this anti-Western very extreme person, but in Russia they seem often as being soft. That is, he always had a goal and objective of integrating

14:42with Europe to have this greater Europe. He's been always, they say, to pro-American and essentially the main opposition to him doesn't come from some fantasy new yeltsin pro-West. He was essentially the new pro-Western alternative. The opposition comes from the hawks who say, what have we been doing the past decade? We should have pushed back hard a long time ago. Here is a very recent clip from President, well, from Vladimir Zelinsky, in which he says, I said that we will have World War III, but Trump didn't hear me. Watch this. I said that we will have World War III. That President didn't hear me and we, with his guys, maybe they heard and etc. But I'm not sure that they can estimate that, for example, Russia began with the weapon. Russia began to support with drones and it definitely will have

15:46with missiles. And 100% it's helping now with air defense. So it's been what next? In such a situation, the question is only one. When first country will support to send troops? Like with Russia, when North Korea said 10,000. 10,000 in North Korean soldiers are standing now on the territory of Russia. Yes, they are on territory of Russia, but they can come to Ukraine. So it can be the same with Iran, Russia against. I mean, I don't know if this is wild speculation. If he's actually discussed this with a President Trump or a Secretary of State, Rubio, but it is profound what he's saying. I told Donald Trump, we will have World War III, but it didn't hear me. I told Donald Trump that the Russians will send troops to Iran. I can't imagine. You give me your thoughts. Putin sending Russian troops to Iran, can you? No, I don't see that happening. I think even if

16:53of course the Russians are held up with their own conflict now with the West in Ukraine. So they did that. They would send troops down to Iran. No. And again, over the past years, the Russians have had significant warfare themselves and the Iranists in sent troops either. This is just more nonsense, but I do think that, as I said before, the Russians are helping Iran with intelligence. They likely sent significant amount of weapons, especially in air defenses. In terms of introducing Russian troops, it wouldn't be unprecedented. I mean, this happened in Syria back in October of 2015. They didn't want the South government to collapse and be replaced by some jihadists, which is what eventually happened. But they wouldn't want to be involved in a direct shooting war with the United States. Why would you? First of all, the US is the foremost military power in the world, and also would likely result in a nuclear exchange.

17:54So this does make any sense. I think the only way the Russians would strike directly with missiles would be if the US would use some proxies, be it some Kurds or Kurdish groups others. I doubt that they would do direct acts, but this is the only conceivable scenario where they would get involved to such an extent. But what I said, what's a lensk is describing is what happened in Ukraine. This is gradual incrementalism, which internationalizes and even globalizes a conflict. Keep in mind that when the West first began getting more and more direct involved in the Ukraine war, it began with arguing that tanks would be too controversial. Highmars would be too problematic. Artillery would be too problematic. As Biden said, F-16s would mean World War III. And here we are today, the British launching missiles into Russia, destroying military targets. You had recently, in Munich, you had a German chancellor, Merz, bragging, essentially, that he said

18:57that the Germans have imposed untold casualties and costs on the Russians. This is how they talk now. This was unthinkable only four years ago. So there is an incrementalism. One should be cautious about it. I just don't see any pathway how or why the Russians would introduce their own troops into Iran. So when Steve Whitkov calls the Kremlin saying, we want to meet with President Putin, will the Kremlin take his call? Yeah, I guess the will pick up his call. I mean, put in the spoke to Trump. Well, again, the Russians, I think, they describe the call as Frank and business like, again, Frank, not friendly, which is a big difference. And I don't think they're spoken since the attempt on Putin's life back in December. So the mood isn't great. And also the Russians, they haven't really positioned

20:03themselves as neutral in this Iran war either. Indeed, if you listen to the four minister Lavrov, he more or less scolded the Gulf states for allowing this attack, that is, they made themselves into frontline states attacking Iran, yet their only condemnation has been towards Iran. So Russia doesn't take a neutral position on this. So I think how fragile, how fragile are US, Russia, diplomatic relations as we speak, Professor Diz, and do you have a handle on that? Well, I think many have given up on the hope that Trump would be able to bring an end to this war. And that is also much like we're looking towards the Iranian case that there's a lot of deception going on. I mean, this is why I'm also a bit surprised when Western media comments like, oh, Russia supports the Iranians, how could they,

21:07as if Trump and Putin are some kind of friends. But keep in mind that the war in Ukraine was instigated primarily with the US involvement in the coup in 2014. After the coup, it was CIA bases that emerged along the border of Russia. It was the US primarily that trained us off. And it was the US who had a key role also in sabotaging this double peace agreement. So as we learned in 2022, the objective was the strategic defeat of Russia. This is important, that is, the Russia still sees itself fighting a war, an existential threat for its survival, and the US is a key sponsor. That is, you know, I know Trump's rhetoric, he wants this war to end, but still under Trump. This is still US intelligence being used to attack Russians, still American weapons, still American targeting, still American generals doing the war planning, still American contractors. So the Trump administration assists in killing Russians every day. So the relations aren't great. And as I said, they've been quite cool since December,

22:13when there was this attack on Putin's residents. Was Putin in the residence when it was attacked? No, I think he had, he was out. I'm not sure, they're not telling me, but apparently he was supposed to stay by the, well, they take the call from Valdai from Trump when the attack occurred. So I'm, again, I'm, I'm not sure where he was at that point in time. Well, I mean, did the Americans lure him to Valdai knowing that the CIA was going to attack his house? Well, again, at this point, it just becomes speculations. And I think they hoped the best that either the CIA did this without the knowledge of Trump, you know, that was kind of the best case. However, now that we see the deception twice on Iran, I think a lot of these considerations would have to change. And so I don't think the, the call between Trump and Putin are especially

23:17friendly these days. But I do think that as we've learned from the American side, well, that this, according to World Street Journal, at least some, there's some advisors in the Trump administration suggesting that it's time for the US to pull away from this war because it can't achieve its objectives. However, it's very difficult. There's no off-ramp to get away from this war. Even from this Israeli media, there's some reports that Israelis don't think that Iranians would either collapse or capitulate. So, so how exactly is this war going to end? As time goes on, the advantage will shift more and more in Iran's favor. So given that Trump wants to put an end to this, there is no off-ramp. It makes sense to reach out to Russia. However, the Russians are going to put mass pressure on the Iranians. They would like this war to come to an end. But much like the Iranians, they don't want simply to put this war to an end and then have the US and Israel come back in another six months, have another go at it. Just like the Russians, Russians don't want the temporary ceasefire to allow NATO to simply rearm Ukraine and again,

24:19have another go at it. So they need a massive shift. That's what both the Iranians and the Russians are saying. Got it. Got it. What is the current status of the special military operation? Are the Russians retaining control of the lands that they've seized and conquered? Are they continuing to move west? Is the Ukrainian military suffering the massive losses that it was the last time we focused on it, which was before the Americans and these really attacked Iran? Yes. Well, the Iran war has taken a lot of the media coverage, but the war is still going on in Ukraine. The Russians are still making advances. I think they're preparing the battlefield and also preparing themselves for a spring and summer offensive. They have the possibility now of encircling large parts of the Saperishia region as they keep pushing westwards towards

25:23the city of Saperishia. And also, there is a hope in Moscow that we will be able to to essentially create a cauldron over what remains of the Ukrainian control over the nets that is primarily Slaviansky and Kremlin, which are the two main cities remaining. So the Russians have been preparing for this. And now, of course, with the Iran war, it changes the dynamic further on the ground because all of the weapons, which were supposed to go to Ukraine, the American weapons are instead going to the Middle East and being depleted quite quickly to the point that the US actually had to divert weapons from Asia and send them down to the Middle East. And also the Europeans. This is another problem in their economy that is the high oil prices, the high gas prices. It essentially Europeans have less money now to buy American weapons that don't exist. And at the same time, Ukrainian forces continue to take mass casualties. So again, it's the same problem

26:27as before, but even worse. No European money to buy American weapons that don't exist to arm Ukrainian troops, which are now dwindling away. So it's a very difficult situation for Ukrainians, which is why it's still surprising, which is why Trump might want to put an end to this war as well in Ukraine, because every day that passes, the Ukrainians will lose more men, more territory, and more infrastructure. Professor Dosen, thank you very much. A terrific analysis of the interplay of the Russian special military operation on Ukraine and the American and Israeli attacks on Iran. Thank you, my dear friend. We'll look forward to seeing you again soon. My pleasure, George. Thank you. Thank you. Coming up later today at two o'clock this afternoon, on all of this Pepe Eskobar at three o'clock, the great Phil Geraldi, just in the Paltana for judging