WEBVTT - Executive Disorder: Iran, US Munitions Shortage, Texas Primary Election 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:06.840 Col Zone Media. 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:09.119 We should have kept working on that bomb that they 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.040 thought would turn the entire enemy army gay, which was 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:13.640 the thing they really put money into. 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:17.560 This is it could happen here. Executive Disorder, our weekly 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.599 newscast covering what's happening in the White House, the crumpling world, 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.160 and what it means for you. I'm Garrison Davis. Today 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.400 I'm joined by Mia Wong, James Stout, and Robert Evans. 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.120 This episode, we are covering the week of February twenty 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:33.240 fifth to March fourth. A House committee just today on Wednesday, 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.760 as subpoenaed ag Pambonid to testify on her handling of 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.479 the Epstein investigation, with five Republicans joining all Democrats in 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.600 the vote. Hillary Clinton was asked about Pizzagate and UFOs 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.800 during her congressional testimony on Jeffrey Epstein. More on that 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:52.480 next week, in a special episode, God and Netflix declined 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:56.240 to raise their offer to buy Warner Brothers, resulting in 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.400 Paramount winning the bidding war. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr held 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.600 CNBC that the Paramount deal would be approved quote unquote 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.880 pretty quickly and that Netflix quote would have had a 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:11.080 very difficult path saying the paramount deal is quote a 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.400 lot cleaner does not raise all the same types of 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.080 concerns unquote. More on that in the episode before this 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:22.000 one insane. He just said that out loudon yeah. 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:22.960 Yeah. 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:28.720 On Thursday February twenty sixth, almost a year after Mahmoud 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:33.400 Khalil was first attained, Ice agents arrested another Columbia student 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:37.680 in the early hours of the morning. Shortly after six am, 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.679 five playing clothes agents from the Department of Homeland Security 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.600 showed up outside a Columbia apartment building without a warrant, 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:49.520 demanding to be let inside. The agents gained entry by 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.920 falsely telling the buildings superintendent that they were police searching 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:58.520 for a missing child, even bringing pictures of this fake kid. 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:02.320 The agents used this lie to enter into the apartment 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:06.320 of twenty nine year old student Ellie Agaheva, where she 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.919 was then arrested and taken off campus. After being detained, 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:17.120 Agaheva posted on Instagram quote, dhs illegally arrested me. Please help. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.600 This same day, Mayor Mom Donnie happened to be meeting 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.360 with President Trump in the White House regarding federal funding 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.360 for the Sunnyside Yards housing project. During this meeting, the 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.480 Mayor voiced opposition to ice raids and concerned about the 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.520 detention of the Columbia student earlier that morning. 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:38.359 I shared my concern with the President about IS's detention 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.880 of Columbia student Elmina Agajeva yesterday morning, as well as 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:45.960 the detention of four additional New Yorkers in relation to 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:50.400 the university, Mahmo Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, jinse O Chang, and 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:54.160 Thea Kakordia. I asked that their cases be dropped. I'm 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.480 grateful that shortly after our meeting, the President called me 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.640 to inform me that Elmina would be imminently relief, and 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:01.600 indeed she was. 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.360 The mayor also discussed the release of Akaheva in a 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:07.640 question during this press conference. 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.200 During your advocacy with President Trump, what do you think 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:14.359 the winning argument was and did they reverse course? 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.160 All I can tell you is what happened, which is 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:21.959 that I shared directly with the President a list of 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.400 names of Columbia students and those who've also been detained 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.320 because of their activity on Columbia campus, and that these 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.040 actions do nothing to advance the cause of public safety, 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:35.520 and I asked that these cases be dropped, and the 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.080 President said that he would look into it. Soon after 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.760 the meeting, I received a phone call from the President 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.480 saying that he was going to eminently release her. 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:47.680 At three forty five pm, Akaheva posted on Instagram that 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.840 she'd been released and was quote unquote safe and okay. 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.280 On Thursday night, at DTS spokesperson told a reporter that 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:59.000 Akaheva's student visa was terminated in twenty sixteen for failing 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.240 to attend classes, and that quote Ice placed her in 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.800 removal proceedings, and she's been released while she waits for 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.240 her hearing unquote. The current state of her case is unknown, 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:13.080 with neither her lawyers nor DHS providing any follow up statements. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.760 That last part is very confusing to me, right, because 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:19.839 if she had lost her student visa for non attendance, 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.160 that that can happen, that would have shown up in sevis, right, 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:24.599 and that was a decade ago. 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:26.440 That part confused me. 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:28.480 I just so I was scanning it right before we started, 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.280 and I figured I'd just ask you in the episode. 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.200 But yeah, I mean, she has no pending cases with 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:37.360 DHS in their system, or no pending appeals. It's very 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.279 unclear what happened here or the exact cause of why 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.520 she was arrested, and the state of whatever visa she's on. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.040 Right, Yeah, she could have been on a completely different visa. 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:47.400 Yeah, it's very unclear. 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:49.920 There's a lot here that I'd like to know, many 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.039 such cases, I guess, So to start with a couple 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.000 of immigration things, you want to send it. Hearing yesterday, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:00.440 that's Tuesday, Christine Nome doubled down on the he claims 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.920 she's previously made about Alex Pretty, which are, as far 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:06.359 as we can tell, false, right, saying his action to 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.120 a quote the definition of domestic terrorism. She's in the 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.599 house testifying today, So I will try and summarize both 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.800 those testimonies in next week's ED, just so we don't 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:19.600 end up covering this twice. And we've got a lot 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.559 to address today. This is breaking news right before we 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:28.440 release the podcast. Christine Noam, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.520 is going to be leaving that job at the end 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:33.840 of March, and she will be replaced by current United 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:38.279 States Senator for Oklahoma Mark Wayne Mullin. Nom will be 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.320 moving into another job where she will be the Special 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.800 Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, which is a 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.760 security initiative for the Western hemisphere that Trump is planning 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.960 on telling us more about this weekend. Mullin, for those 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:56.680 aren't familiar, is a sittin of the Cherokee Nation. He 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.800 has been in the House of Representatives for ten years before, 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:02.640 he was in the Senate for the last three years, 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.920 and he used to be a professional MMA fighter. Secondly, 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:11.960 Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has announced an investigation into 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:16.120 potential misconduct by federal officers in the state and response 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.680 to DHS has claimed that quote federal officials acting in 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.480 the course of their duties are immune from liability under 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:28.920 state law. This isn't true in legal terms, right, officials 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:32.080 can be prosecuted if their actions weren't necessary or proper 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.800 or not in the course of their duties. So this 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.599 pertains to the supremacy clause of the Constitution. Right, and 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:42.120 there's a two part test for supremacy clause immunity aid 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:46.040 the federal officials actions authorized under federal law and be 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:48.960 that they are quote necessary, improper in the execution of 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:51.960 their duties as a federal officer. I will link in 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.239 the sources of our document to a tenth circuit case 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.360 on this. The case was about some federal Wildlife officers 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:03.440 who had crossed onto private land during a wolf coloring operation. 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:05.760 In Wyoming, and then Wyoming it. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.760 Tempt to prosecute them for trespassing, right, so we can 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.760 see like a previous example of this, But it's not 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.520 true that they have a complete immunity from state laws, 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:18.240 which is what's important here. I want to move on 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:23.320 to Iran, just like most of the US military has done. 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:28.080 But thank you, it works so hard on these Yeah. 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.120 So we made a whole episode about this, which came 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:33.520 out on Wednesday of this week, and I don't want 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:35.120 to recap. 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:35.520 What we said there. 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.280 That is why we make lots of episodes so you 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.320 can go into depth on things. So I will for 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:46.120 the most part be picking up on that by updating people. 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:47.720 And things have happened in the twenty four hours since 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.720 we recorded that. Firstly, it seems that the attacks or 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.440 eat said timing was heavily driven by Israel, who were 0:07:55.560 --> 0:08:00.280 likely acting on intelligence about the whereabouts of Harmoni. The 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:03.800 attacks occurred in the daytime, which is pretty unusual, like 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.520 normally they want to time these things with moon phase. 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:08.960 They want to do them at night, just to make 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:13.040 them safer for any of the piloted aircraft that they're using. 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:13.400 Right. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.280 I also wanted to point out so that the source 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.720 for this Israel claim, let's start there, comes from the 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:23.640 Rapid Response forty seven account. I guess I described that 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.640 as like a White House affiliated Twitter account. I can't 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.640 think of the Yeah, it's one of the accounts at 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.400 the It's not White House, but it's one of the 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.679 accounts that the Trump administration runs. 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.600 One of the accounts the administration users to disseminate information. 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.040 Yeah, it's quotation here from Marco Rubio quote. The President 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.560 made the very wise decision. We knew that there was 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:45.160 going to be an Israeli action, We knew that that 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.200 would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.480 that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.240 launched other attacks, we would suffer higher casualties. 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.560 It seems like the initial push came from Israel. 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:56.800 Right. 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:00.160 I'd also like to add that Tafran is getting bombed 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:04.079 very heavily as we record this, something that I think 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.200 is missing in that discourse. We were actually going to 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.319 have an episode about the water crisis in Iran. This 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:13.840 week for obvious reasons, we made another Iran based episode. 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:18.160 But Iran is critically low on water. Lake Uma, which 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.320 was the largest lake in Asia, is essentially gone now 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:25.920 from damming from a draining of aquifers, and Tehran is 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.959 sitting on top of an empty aquifer, which leads to 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.840 greater potential for damage. I guess with some of these 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.840 large bombs that we're seeing dropped there right. 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.760 I mean, it also means that absent even any of 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.080 this military aggression from the US that we're seeing right now, 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:47.280 Iran was in realistic danger of becoming a failed state. Yes, 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.520 because of the sheer lack of water. That is an 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.040 existential threat when your capital city is running out of water, 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:56.360 like there's no other way to look at that kind 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.520 of scale of problem. And the fact that now dealing 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:04.600 with this massacre of the people who had been running things, 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:07.000 as well as mass destruction via the air of a 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:10.400 lot of civil infrastructure, this is just so much more 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.240 of a problem, and it makes the odds of the 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.800 end result of all this being a failed state in 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:19.520 the region that leads to a humanitarian crisis on scale 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.480 of the refugee crisis we saw during the early stages 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:24.120 of the series of a war much likelier. 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.280 Yeah, especially when you consider that there are millions of 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.160 refugees already living in Iran, right from Afghanistan. 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:30.520 Right. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.080 RANI has been deporting them on a massive level. But like, yes, 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.600 the chances of this being an absolute humanitarian disaster are 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.840 worryingly high. Tehran received one millimeter of rain. Yeah, last 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.800 year according to some Guardian reporting. I read like they 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.079 were already, as you said, very close to people turning 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:48.400 on the taps and nothing coming out. 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:50.640 Yeah, they say, is not helping that. 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.520 I want to move on to these claims that we 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.559 have seen in the past twenty four hours about a 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:03.160 Kurdish partner force in eastern Kurdistan, right, And in Kurdish 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.240 that would be called roger Lat that would be western Iran, right. 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:11.360 Right, Like Kurdistan. The broader region is western Iran, northern Iraq, 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.040 northeast Syria, southern Turkey. Right. You can draw kind of 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:17.360 a big glob around all those parts of the world 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:18.200 that's Kurdistan. 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:20.360 Yeah, exactly, if you can like draw up blot that 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:23.560 encompasses all of those things. Yeah, Obviously Kurdistan is not 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:23.959 a state. 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:25.280 It is an area. 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:28.080 It's not at all that is part of the issue 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.640 at stake here. Kind of a big deal kind of 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:32.400 the thing. Yeah. 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:36.480 So, Axios has reported that Trump called Buffal Talabani and 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.160 Musud Barzani, who are the leaders of the two biggest 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:43.040 factions in Iraqi Kurdistan. Yeah, Southern Kadistan North in Iraq. 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.520 The piece was written by Barak Ravied. This is not 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:50.920 Barak's first time joining us on executive disorder. Brind of 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:55.920 the bad yeah, yeah, regular guests, biography. People remember last 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:57.640 time that we talked about Barak, it was in the 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:02.080 context of a leaked proposal for peace between Russia and 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:05.560 Ukraine that appeared to be essentially a list of Russian 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:09.400 demands but was not present was presented as a US proposal. 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.480 I will try and remember what week we talked about 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.000 that and and that link in case people want to 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.800 go back right, Like, I've spent a lot of time 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.440 appointing out on various websites how bad this piece was. 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.040 It was atrocious in its understanding of Kurdish movements. For instance, 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:28.079 it it listed Talibani and Bazani as leaders of Iranian 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:36.360 Kurdish factions. What Yeah, I think it's important to note 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:38.760 at this point that like media perceptions of the Middle 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.439 East are often formed by people whose understanding is eclipsed 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.040 by the introductory part of the Wikipedia article on a 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:49.440 given topic vastly like that's not an exaggeration. 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:50.880 Like this, this is this is this is like saying 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:54.359 Macran is the leader of like the Quebecy separatists. Yeah, 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:55.520 like that kind of ship. 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:57.400 Yeah, and I see that. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:01.800 I do believe actually an episode I will be actually 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:06.320 doing that in partnership with INFO Wars France. Very excited 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:07.640 to see that get off the ground. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.400 Info War with France is a frightening concept. 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.520 Like genuinely, hey, baby, they're turning the frogs. Gay, we 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:19.880 gotta do something about that. That was a French French 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.240 very excellent. Sorry. 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.160 They also kind of didn't understand that the SDF and 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:26.800 Peshmega were distinct entities. 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:31.439 That appears Jesus Christ wildly different. Yes, and combat efficacy too. 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:35.200 Yes, yeah, yeah, very just like unless they're talking about 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.720 the Peshmega Roja I guess, which like exists lightly telegram 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:39.680 rumors these days. 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:42.600 The piece does. 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.600 Line up with the strategies that we are seeing, though, 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:49.120 right there has been significant bombing of il GC and 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:54.280 police facilities along the border with a rock. There have 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:59.720 been and continue to be many Eastern Kurdish groups who 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:03.640 are based in Iraq right now, right there has been 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.600 significant bombing along the road from Halabduk to Kamancha right, 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.040 which would be like a road that you would use 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:12.600 if you're planning to move some people. 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:14.360 In that way in theory. 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.320 The KDP and the p UK, so they are the 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:22.600 two major Kurdish factions in Iraq, have unified their Peshmerger. 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:26.560 Peshmerga means those who face death. They're the armed forces 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:29.800 that are affiliated to the two Kurdish political parties. This 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.000 is really kind of a rhetorical construct because they have 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.280 regional commands which effectively mirror the areas where the KDP 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:38.760 and the p UK are in control anyway, but they 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:42.080 have unified payroll, which is interesting. It is also worth 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:45.440 noting that pro Iran groups inside Iraq have been targeting 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:49.160 Peshmerger with drone attacks. Both sides in its conflict are 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.520 bombing Iraq create now, which really does suck for people 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:53.000 in Iraq. 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:57.280 Yeah, I mean, like this conflict has been ever present. 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.720 Obviously after the Iraq war. Iran exert had a significant 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.720 amount of influence. They brought explosively formed penetrators to the 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:08.320 Shia militias in the region. The cleric Maccadal Sadar, who 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.320 was probably the most successful political figure of the war 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:16.280 years and was very heavily involved with Ran. During the 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.360 fighting in Mosul, you had Peshmerger, you had Iraqi army 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.080 soldiers generally from around Baghdad, and then you had the PMFS, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.720 the Popular Mobilization Forces and these were all Iran backed 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.120 militias and traveling, especially as I was with Courage, you 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.800 had always be really careful in the PMF positions because 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.240 you never knew what would happen because again they are enemies. 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:35.520 They were tied together fighting Isis, but they are not 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.200 allied forces and they have a history of fighting each other. 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:41.280 Yeah, that was a wild time ked a lot of 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:43.120 people who had a lot of beef on the same 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.960 side that particular contract. It's also probably worth noting at 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.880 this point that like it was the Department of Defense, 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:52.800 not the CIA that was really driving the boat. Yes, 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.480 when it came to like supporting the Kurds in Syria, Yeah, 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:02.200 the CIA went with the TFSA that Turkis Shri Syrian army, 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.520 which does not have a great record as far as 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:08.440 not doing war crimes goes. I also received confirmation today 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.840 that Barzani and Talibani spoke with Iran's foreign minister, so 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.920 they've spoken with both Trump and the Iranian foreign minister. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.920 Kubad Talibani, who's a deputy Prime Minister of Kurdistan, not 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.800 the same person as Baffel Talibani, the leader of the PUK, 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.480 made a statement to say that the Kurdistan region was 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.840 not involved in the conflict. I think it's very unlikely 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:34.960 that we will see large Pesh merger groups from northern 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:39.000 Iraq southern Kurdistan entering Iran in the near future. I 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:42.160 do think it's interesting that Revied got this piece leaked 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:46.480 to him because things don't generally get leaked because one 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.320 person has a crisis of conscience. It does happen sometimes, 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:52.880 but in events like this, it is normally a choice. 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:57.360 And this particular story leaves the Kurdish people in a 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:01.080 very difficult position because it puts to target directly on 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:05.320 them for the Iranian regime right, and they can fight 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:07.600 or not fight, but they have been singled out as 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.920 a group that is going to be the ground forces 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:15.399 of this Israelian US aggression. And what that means is 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:17.520 they will be singled out for oppression at home, whether 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:19.240 or not they fight. That leaves them in a place 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.679 where they might have to choose to fight right or 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.480 they might fight but not through their own choosing. There 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:28.479 has been for some time an alliance for some time. 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:30.280 I think twenty second of February is when it was 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:34.520 made of five Kurdish groups, five Iranian Curdish groups. These 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.000 are rather than saying them like phonetically how to read 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:41.600 out the initials, people want to look them up PJAK PAK, KDPI. 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.640 And then these two groups have names, not initials. There 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.640 are two of the three parts of Kamala and Hubbat. 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.920 It is more likely that these groups, specifically KDPI, will 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.920 be willing to engage. We do know that Trump spoke 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.399 to Mustafa Hidri that he's a KDPI leader. I have 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:04.680 had source suggest it some Kurdish and some non Kurdish 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.880 groups have at least the intention or desire to enter 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:13.880 Iran and fight. I'm not really comfortable naming, particularly which 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:17.160 ones i'd want Deata sourcing on that. Yeah, what they 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.480 plan to do is unclear, right, None of these rogulati 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:24.960 groups are massive, like numerically, they don't have the manpower. However, 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:29.159 ITV reported that weapons have been stuck piled in eastern 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:33.640 Kurdistan for a while, and as we saw in in Rajavos, 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:37.080 as we saw in southern Kerdistan and the Islamic State 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.960 times like, their ability to scale up their forces pretty 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:44.000 rapidly is something that the Kurds have retained for a 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:44.520 long time. 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.760 Yeah, an advantage they have over so obviously, it is 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:50.960 act true that in the months preceding this there were 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.520 uprisings in Iran and tens of thousands were killed by 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:58.359 the government, And that represents the people who in normal 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:01.160 Iranian civil society would have and kind of best positioned 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.840 to be active and a part of any sort of 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.640 like government that were to follow. If the current government 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:10.080 collapses under the onslaught being directed against it, a lot 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:13.240 of those people are dead. That's not really the same 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:16.320 case with the Kurdish movement because at any given time, 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.720 three quarters of the Kurdish movement is not you know, 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:21.560 more or less is outside of Iran, no physically present 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:23.760 and This is what happened in Syria too. When you 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.359 had other parts of the country massively depleted by the 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:30.399 slaughter fighting asad in northeast Syria, you were able to 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:33.440 have Kurds from southern Turkey and from northern Iraq come 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:35.800 in and provide a lot of the backbone of what 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:39.240 became these large and effective fighting units that were able 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:42.160 to defeat. Isis when you're talking about, like, well, what's 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:45.480 going to happen if the government of Iran starts to crumble, 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.840 There's a pretty good odds that you wind up with 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.760 a sizeable Kurdish force, and it would very likely be 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:55.480 supported by Western at least initially by Western munitions in 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.920 that chunk of Iran. Like, that's a very possible outcome. 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:02.359 Yeah, I think it's probably if we do see like 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.600 continued air strikes. For the Iranian state to disappear in 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.200 its current form, there needs to be a ground element, right, Yes, 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.719 And these are among the most likely people that It is, 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:16.720 of course important to include the context that the US 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.879 is less than a month of abandoning its Kurdish allies 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:21.800 in Syria, right, Yeah, And. 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:24.760 You should never if you're if you're listening to this 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.240 and a member of like a foreign militant group that 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:32.360 the US is talking to, don't ever trust us? Yeah yeah, 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:33.920 bad friends. 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.520 Yeah yeah, bad friends indeed. Yeah yeah, not friends at all, 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:38.400 but allies. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.720 Not friends at all. Guys that will fuck you the 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:45.000 second we can, like the second we can. Yeah. 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.679 I will say that the Americans in Syria were specifically 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:51.679 there to fight isis. They weren't there to aid in 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:55.160 the curtige freedom struggle, right right, and they have been 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:57.000 very inconsistent about not aiding. 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.719 The other thing about Rojava was it was very explicitly 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:03.679 not a state and not an attempt to carve out 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:07.000 a separate state, and they were always extremely emphatic about that. 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.080 So it's a very different situation than anything you're seeing 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:13.080 with the regime change the Trump administration is working on. 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:13.800 Yeah. 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.320 Yeah, let's take a break here and then we're going 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:17.320 to talk about boats. 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:18.840 Huzzah. 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:33.240 All right, we are. 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:34.400 Back and it's boat time. 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.000 It boat time, yeah, James Stout PhD. 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:40.520 Yeah you can't see it, but I'm wearing my little 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:42.280 boat hat right now. 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:43.159 I've got one of the. 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:44.080 Stripey shirts on. 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.919 So the United States has sunk a submarine and a 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:53.119 total of seventeen Iranian ships, it's claiming. In a briefing, 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:56.760 Saint comm said they were going after the entire Iranian navy. 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.600