THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN IS AT A SCARY PLACE
CONSIDERING THAT NOW THERE HAVE BEEN MISSILE STRIKES EXCHANGED
BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES AND THERE ARE WORLD LEADERS NOW
URGING BOTH PARTIES TO HOLD FIRE, TO CALM DOWN, AND NOT LET
THINGS ESCALATE FURTHER.
LET ME GIVE YOU A QUICK TIMELINE OF HOW
THINGS PLAYED OUT THIS WEEK.
ON TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK SYRIA
CLAIMED THAT ISRAEL CARRIED OUT AN ATTACK ON A MILITARY BASE
JUST SOUTH OF DAMASCUS, WHICH BY THE WAY IS BEING USED, OR WAS
BEING USED, BY IRANIAN FORCES.
AS WE KNOW, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
OF ISRAEL HAS BEEN PUSHING THE UNITED STATES TO A) AND THE
NUCLEAR DEAL WITH IRAN AND B)
ENGAGE IN A MILITARY CONFLICT TO
DEFEND ISRAEL BECAUSE NETANYAHU BELIEVES IRAN POSES A
THREAT TO ISRAEL.
CAN I JUST SAY, SUPER IMPORTANT PART OF THE TIMELINE,
ISRAEL LAUNCHED THOSE PARTICULAR STRAKES ONE HOUR AFTER DONALD
TRUMP WITHDREW FROM THE DEAL WITH IRAN.
SO THE DEAL WITH IRAN
WAS WITH MANY DIFFERENT PARTIES INCLUDING EUROPEAN ALLIES LIKE
GERMANY, FRANCE, THE U.K., AND RUSSIA, WE ALL AGREED TO STOP
IRANIAN NUCLEAR ENERGY PROGRAMS, AND NOW AFTER WE RENEGE ON THE
DEAL ISRAEL THOUGHT GREAT, AND THIS IS THE RIGHT WING
GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL, THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO START A WAR.
SO LET'S TRY TO MAKE SURE WE HIT
IRAN HARD, KILL SOME OF THEIR
PEOPLE, SO THEY WILL BE FORCED TO RESPOND, AND WHEN THEY DO WE
WILL GO OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE SOMEONE WILL STRIKE BACK
AFTER WE BOMB THEM.
AND THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
THAT'S AN IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION TO BRING UP
BECAUSE THE WAY THIS STORY IS PLAYING OUT IN THE MAINSTREAM
MEDIA MAKES IT SEEM LIKE ISRAEL WAS ATTACKED BY IRAN AND IT WAS
UNPROVOKED WHEN THAT IS NOT THE CASE, IN FACT THE MILITARY IN
ISRAEL IS ADMITTING, THEY ARE THEMSELVES SAYING, WE DID THIS
ESSENTIALLY PREEMPTIVE STRIKE BECAUSE WE WERE WORRIED THAT
IRAN POSED AN IMMINENT THREAT FROM SYRIA, THAT THEY WOULD
STRIKE ISRAEL FROM SYRIA.
LET ME CLARIFY THAT.
IF THEIR IDEA IS CORRECT, YOU COULD JUST
DO A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE BECAUSE YOU ARE WORRIED THAT SOMEONE
ELSE MIGHT ATTACK YOU, THEY SAY THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD WEAPONS
POINTED TOWARD US -- WELL, RUSSIA HAS WEAPONS POINTED
TOWARD THE UNITED STATES RIGHT NOW, SHOULD WE NUKE THEM?
THAT
SOUNDS LIKE A BAD IDEA.
THE U.S. HAS WEAPONS POINTED AT RUSSIA,
SHOULD RUSSIA PREEMPTIVELY ATTACK AND DESTROY SAN ANTONIO?
WE COULD WIPE THEM OUT.
PREEMPTIVE STRIKES ARE ANOTHER
WORD FOR I WOULD LIKE TO START A WAR, AND I HAVE STARTED A WAR.
PREEMPTIVE STRIKE DOESN'T MEAN A DAMN THING.
IT USED TO MEAN
SOMETHING BACK IN THE DAY, A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE THAT EXISTED
WAS THERE PLANES ARE IN THE AIR SO WE HAD TO HIT THEM.
A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE IS NOT THEY HAVE WEAPONS SOMEWHERE SO
LET'S START A WAR WITH THEM.
WE IN THE UNITED STATES SET A PRETTY TERRIBLE PRECEDENT
WHEN IT COMES TO PREEMPTIVE STRIKES.
THAT'S RIGHT, AND BY THE WAY ISRAEL SUPPORTED THE PREEMPTIVE
STRIKE AGAINST IRAQ WE DID.
NETANYAHU AND THE
NEOCONSERVATIVES IN AMERICA ALL BELIEVE THAT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE
TO ATTACK ANY COUNTRY YOU LIKE AND CALL IT A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE.
SO LET'S BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, ISRAEL STARTED THIS.
ISRAEL IS
OUR ALLY, I DON'T WANT THEM TO START IT, I DON'T WANT THEM TO
GET BOMBED, I DON'T WANT THEM TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONFLICT,
I AGREE WITH THE LEFT WING OF ISRAEL.
AND IN TERMS OF IRAN,
DON'T GET ME WRONG, I DON'T WANT THEM IN SYRIA, I DON'T WANT
THERE WEAPONS THERE, I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD BE THERE, I
DON'T THINK THE RUSSIANS SHOULD BE THERE, I DON'T THINK WE
SHOULD BE THERE.
I DON'T WANT ANY OF THAT CONFLICTS.
BUT I
KNOW THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WHO STARTS BOMBING
FIRST, BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE LOOKING FOR CONFLICT,
LOOKING FOR WAR.
AND IF YOU ARE WONDERING HOW DOES THIS HELP
ISRAEL, TO START A WAR WITH IRAN IN ORDER TO QUOTE UNQUOTE EVENT
A WAR WITH IRAN, THAT MAKES NO SENSE IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE
CITIZENS OF ISRAEL AND ITS SECURITY.
BUT IF YOU ARE RIGHT
WING POLITICIAN YOU THINK WAR ALWAYS HELPS YOU.
IT CERTAINLY HELPS HER GET REELECTED.
ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF DOMESTIC ISSUES LIKE
NETANYAHU IS, CHARGED WITH A TON OF CORRUPTION AND IN POLITICAL
TROUBLE, HEY, YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME, WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A
WAR, I'M YOUR STRONG LEADER.
WHAT A NICE COINCIDENCE FOR THE
RIGHT WING IS ALWAYS.
LET ME TELL YOU HOW THE REST OF IT PLAYED OUT JUST THIS WEEK.
AGAIN ON TUESDAY ISRAEL STRIKES A MILITARY BASE JUST SOUTH OF
DAMASCUS TARGETING IRANIANS, ACCORDING TO SOME CIVIL RIGHTS
GROUPS 15 PEOPLE DIED INCLUDING EIGHT IRANIANS, SO AT THAT POINT
ISRAEL REALIZES IRAN MIGHT RETALIATE, THE ISRAELI CITIZENS
THEY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT WERE THOSE WHO LIVE IN THE GOLAN
HEIGHTS, A TOWN THAT BORDERS SYRIA.
SO THEY ESSENTIALLY TOLD
THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE, GET READY, PREPARE YOUR BOMB
SHELTERS BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE RETALIATION.
ALSO KEEP IN MIND
THERE WAS AN APRIL 9 AIRSTRIKE BY ISRAEL THAT KILLED SEVEN
IRANIAN MILITARY ADVISERS AND MEMBERS OF IRAN'S MILITARY
GUARD, SO THIS PROVOCATION HAS BEEN HAPPENING AS EARLY AS APRIL
9 AND IRAN DIDN'T RETALIATE UNTIL THIS WEEK.
FINALLY IRAN
DOES RETALIATE WITH MISSILE STRIKES IN GOLAN HEIGHTS, THE
ROCKETS WERE INTERCEPTED BY ISRAEL THOUGH.
AS FAR AS I KNOW
AND HAVE READ THEY DIDN'T SUCCEED IN TARGETING THE
ISRAELIS.
NOW --
AGAIN --
ALSO --
AGAIN
IT'S THE FIRST TIME THEY ARE IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL.
THIS FOR THE MOST PART HAS BEEN A PROXY WAR UP UNTIL THIS WEEK.
VERY IMPORTANT CONTEXT FOR A LOT OF THAT AS WELL.
THE
ISRAELIS KEPT BOMBING THE IRANIANS LAST MONTH, WHY DIDN'T
IRAN RESPOND?
THEY WERE WAITING TO SEE WHAT THE U.S. DID IN
TERMS OF THE PEACE DEAL.
THEY DIDN'T WANT TO STRIKE BACK AND
RISK THE U.S. PULLING OUT.
IT TURNS OUT IT DIDN'T MATTER, THE
U.S. PULLED OUT ANYWAY, SO WHEN THEY DID, THIS IS WHY TRUMP
PULLING OUT OF THE DEAL IS SO IMPORTANT AND SO NEGATIVE,
BECAUSE THEN IRAN SAID I HAVE NO INCENTIVE NOT TO STRIKE BACK.
AND NETANYAHU KNOWS THAT, HE'S TRYING DESPERATELY TO START A
WAR, SO AS SOON AS THE U.S. WITHDRAWS HE SAYS GREAT, NOW I'M
POSITIVE IRAN WILL HIT ME BACK.
YOU SEE THAT?
HE IS ENDANGERING
HIS OWN CITIZENS ON PURPOSE ONE HOUR AFTER THE U.S. WITHDRAWS
FROM THE DEAL.
HE IS LIKE I KEPT HITTING THEM AND THEY WOULDN'T
HIT BACK.
THEY DID DOWN AN ISRAELI JET AS IT WAS BOMBING
IRANIAN POSITIONS INSIDE SYRIA, ISRAEL WAS FURIOUS ABOUT THAT,
THE FIRST TIME THEY LOST PLANE IN DECADES, THEY ARE USED TO
BOMBING PEOPLE AND NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO COUNTER THEM -- AND
THEY TELL YOU THAT BECAUSE ISRAEL IN THE U.S. THINK WE
CAN'T EVER LOSE A WAR, WE CAN GET MIRED IN IT BUT IT'S NOT
LIKE WE LOST.
IRAN IS A DIFFERENT ANIMAL, I'M NOT SAYING
THEY WILL BEAT THE U.S. OR ISRAEL BUT THAT WILL BE AWAY
HARDER WAR, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GETTING THEMSELVES INTO,
IRAN HAS MORE THAN FOUR TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE AS IRAQ AND HAS AN
ALLY AND RUSSIA, AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO BUY WEAPONS FROM NOT
JUST RUSSIA BUT CHINA AND THEY JUST DOWNED AN ISRAELI JET.
THIS
IS SERIOUS STUFF BUT OF COURSE THE RIGHT-WINGERS IN MOST
COUNTRIES ARE LIKE, NO PROBLEM, WE CAN'T LOSE A WAR, LET'S JUST
START IT AND SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE ON OUR SIDE AND THE OTHER SIDE
DIE.
LUCKILY BARACK OBAMA GAVE ISRAEL THE IRON DOME AND THAT'S
PARTLY WHAT SHUT DOWN THE IRANIAN ROCKETS.
I'M SURE
NETANYAHU HAS CALLED OBAMA TO THANK HIM FOR SAVING ISRAELI
LIVES.
OH, THAT'S RIGHT, HE DID NOTHING BUT CRITICIZE OBAMA.
BY
THE WAY THE GOLAN HEIGHTS IS OCCUPIED TERRITORY, ISRAEL
SHOULDN'T BE THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE RESPONSE FROM RUSSIA AND THE UNITED
STATES, THE RESPONSE FROM MOSCOW HAS BEEN MORE CRITICAL OF
ISRAEL
--
ISRAEL FOR ITS PART IS NOT DENYING WHAT RUSSIA IS SAYING,
IT IS JUST RESPONDING WITH, WE WARNED YOU, AND WE DID WHAT WE
SAID WE WOULD.
THE UNITED STATES UNSURPRISINGLY IS SIDING WITH
ISRAEL AND PRETENDING THERE WERE NO PROVOCATIONS COMING FROM
ISRAEL --
AGAIN, REMEMBER, THIS CONFLICT DIDN'T BEGIN THIS WEEK
WITH IRAN, IT BEGAN WITH ISRAEL LAUNCHING ITS ROCKETS TOWARD A
MILITARY BASE THAT HAD IRANIAN MILITARY MEMBERS IN IT.
AND THEY KILLED EIGHT IRANIANS IN THE RECENT BOMBING, SEVEN IN
ANOTHER BOMBING, SO IMAGINE WHAT AMERICA WOULD DO IF IRAN BOMBED
AMERICAN POSITIONS, KILLED EIGHT AMERICAN SOLDIERS, ALONG WITH
OTHER PEOPLE TOO.
YOU THINK WE WOULD BE LIKE, WE JUST HAVE TO
TAKE THEIR BOMBING?
NO, WE WOULD STRIKE BACK, AND WHEN IRAN
STRIKES BACK THEY ARE LIKE, HOW DARE THEY?
THEY ARE BEING SO
BELLIGERENT.
NO, NO, WE ARE GOING TO KILL THEM AND WE SHOULD
NOT PRETEND TO BE SURPRISED WHEN THEY FIGHT BACK.
I DON'T WANT
THEM FIGHTING BACK, I DON'T WANT EITHER SIDE DOING ANY OF THE
BOMBINGS, BUT IT'S OUR JOB TO TELL YOU THE REALITY AND THE
FACTS ON THE GROUND, AND THE FACTS ARE IN THIS CASE ISRAEL
DEFINITELY STARTED IT.
GO BACK FOR DECADES AND DECADES, ISRAEL
AND PALESTINE AND ALL THE MIDDLE EASTERN WARS, BEFORE THAT
WAS THIS AND BEFORE THIS WAS THAT, IT'S ENDLESS, BUT IN
THIS CASE IT'S CLEAR THAT ISRAEL DID THE BOMBINGS LAST MONTH,
THEY DID THE BOMBINGS THIS WEEK, AND THEN IRAN RETALIATED.
AND IRAN RETALIATED BECAUSE IT HAD NOTHING TO LOSE IN REGARD TO
THE UNITED STATES AND THAT NUCLEAR DEAL, THE U.S. ALREADY
PULLED OUT OF IT.
AND ONE THING I WANTED TO MENTION ABOUT THAT,
IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A TANGENT, IS WHEN TRUMP PULLED OUT OF THE
NUCLEAR DEAL HE BASICALLY DID AWAY WITH ANY CREDIBILITY THAT
MODERN -- I'M SORRY, MODERATE IRANIANS HAVE IN THE COUNTRY.
BECAUSE THEY PUSHED FOR THE NUCLEAR DEAL.
SO THEY HAVE NO
CREDIBILITY NOW, THE MODERATES IN IRAN HAVE NO CREDIBILITY,
THIS IS BAD NEWS FOR THE FUTURE WHEN IT COMES TO THE NUCLEAR
PROGRAM AND CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
MY POSITION IS I CAN'T STAND THE IRANIAN LEADERSHIP,
GOVERNMENT, THE MULLAHS, AYATOLLAH, I THINK THE PEOPLE OF
IRAN SHOULD BE FREE, I SUPPORT THE IRANIAN PEOPLE, I DO NOT
SUPPORT THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT, BUT YOU HAVE TO CALL IT LIKE IT
IS.
I'M NOT GOING TO LIE FOR OUR SIDE BY PRETENDING THEY STARTED
THESE PARTICULAR HOSTILITIES, AND IN FACT ANA'S POINT IS A
GREAT ONE, IF WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE THE MODERATE FORCES
THAT MIGHT GO TOWARDS A WESTERN DIRECTION OR MORE IMPORTANTLY A
DEMOCRATIC DIRECTION IN IRAN, WELL, WE'VE DONE THE WORST
POSSIBLE THING WE COULD DO IN THIS CASE.
THE NEOCONSERVATIVES
CONSTANTLY HAVE THIS ATTITUDE, IF WE BOMB THEM THEY WILL THEN
WANT TO BE LIBERATED BY US.
THAT IS INSANITY.
IF WE KILL THEM
THEY WILL WANT TO KILL US BACK.
SO THE EXTREMISTS IN IRAN ARE
TELLING EVERYONE ELSE, WE TOLD YOU, YOU CAN NEVER TRUST THE
WEST, YOU CAN NEVER TRUST AMERICA, THEY ARE OUR MORTAL
ENEMIES, LET'S MOUNT UP AND FIGHT THEM.
THAT'S THE
PROPAGANDA THEY ARE PUTTING TOGETHER IN IRAN RIGHT NOW, AND
DONALD TRUMP AND NETANYAHU MADE THAT MORE PERSUASIVE AND
MADE WAR MORE LIKELY.
IT IS DEFINITELY THEIR FAULT.