1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Hey, guys, ready or not, twenty twenty four is here 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: and we here at breaking points, are already thinking of 3 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: ways we can up our game for this critical election. 4 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 2: We rely on our premium subs to expand coverage, upgrade 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 2: the studio ad staff, give you, guys, the best independent 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 2: coverage that is possible. If you like what we're all about, 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 2: it just means the absolute world to have your support. 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 2: But enough with that, let's get to the show. Jocko, 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining me. 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: Us really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 2: Oh well, you're the one who thinks so gracious for reason, 12 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 2: your studio, your setup, so won't ever forget it. The 13 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 2: reason the genesis of all of this is I was 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 2: listening to your podcast with Darryl Cooper on Jocko Unraveling. 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 2: It was on October fifteenth, and you said something that 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 2: really caught both my eye and actually a segment that 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 2: we did that got quite a lot of attention. You 18 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 2: said that Israel is losing the information operations in this war, 19 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 2: that if you were the emperor of Israel, that you 20 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 2: would stop bombing Gaza and you would shift towards a 21 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 2: traditional counter insurgency campaign. So it's been more than a 22 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 2: month since you made those comments. What are your thoughts 23 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:14,839 Speaker 2: generally on where the war is today? 24 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: I would say that actually, after that podcast came out, 25 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: it did seem like Israel started to shift some of 26 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: its media and I think they've done a decent job 27 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: of that. Not an outstanding job, but a decent job. 28 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: And as I look at where the war is, I 29 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: haven't actually looked at it today, but you can start 30 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: to see what does look more like a traditional counterinsurgency campaign. 31 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: Primarily what you're seeing is sort of the isolation of 32 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: northern Gaza, which is an important move. And I think 33 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: there's a there's a limitation that Hamas is going to 34 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: run into What do you think that is? I think, 35 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: you know, there's that quote at the beginning of the 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: Civil War. I forget who set it off the top 37 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: of my head, but he told the South, you have 38 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: the will, but you don't have the means. And you know, 39 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: in the South, what they were doing was making cotton, 40 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: and once they'd made cotton, they had to send it 41 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: over to France to get it turned into to get 42 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: it woven into cloth, because they didn't have the capability 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: of doing that in the south, so really all they 44 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: could do is grow cotton and in the north. The 45 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: North was making locomotives. It was just a completely different scenario. 46 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: They could make weapons. The technology that they had, the 47 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: manufacturing capability that they had was was not even comparable, 48 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: not comparable in any way, shape or form. So I 49 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: think Hamas is going to run into that problem where 50 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: they have the will, but they don't have the means. 51 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: I also, and I have not been to Gaza, but 52 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: you see a lot of a unified front, or what 53 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: appears to be sometimes a unified front in Gaza, meaning 54 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: you see the right from October seventh, people cheering in 55 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: the streets, celebrating that unified front. I believe in many 56 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: cases is not true. It is people that are intimidated. 57 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: It is people that are trying to live their lives 58 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: and trying to When the mob moves into your neighborhood, 59 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: you you know, when the cops come into town, you 60 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: don't talk to the cops. Course, when you have the 61 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: opportunity to support the mob in some way that's going 62 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: to make your life and your family's life better and easier, 63 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,480 Speaker 1: you show support. And this is the situation that the 64 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: Palestinians are in now. Is there a Is there a 65 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: large group of Palestinians, especially younger Palestinians that have been 66 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: brainwashed through the point and raised in that culture. Sure, 67 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be hard. It's gonna be a hard 68 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: time to get them to come back. But I think 69 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: that the unified front in Gaza isn't as unified as 70 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,239 Speaker 1: it appears to be on TV. And I think once 71 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: the strain is imposed on Gaza, they're going to have problems. 72 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 1: And this is again a very close comparison, or you 73 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: could make a close comparison to the Battle of Ramadi, 74 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: where when we showed up in Ramadi, it certainly appeared 75 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: on the surface that the local populace was in support 76 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: of the insurgency, But as soon as the insurgency started 77 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 1: to break, the local populace was very thankful and they 78 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: were allowed to they they took the opportunity to support 79 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: the coalition forces. So I believe we might see that 80 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: kind of thing in Gaza, and I think the Israelis 81 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: are starting to It certainly appears that appears to be 82 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: that they are treating this more like a counterinsurgency. I 83 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: think they're making efforts to take care of the civilian populace, 84 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: and I think they're moving in the right direction. 85 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,799 Speaker 2: Interesting because that was That's one of the main reasons 86 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 2: I found you such an authoritative voice. Is with the 87 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 2: Battle of Ramadi our. You know, our mission was to 88 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 2: destroy al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgency inside of the 89 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 2: embedded inside the city. You participated into the height of 90 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 2: that war in a similar like modern combat environment. And 91 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 2: so given the similarity to where we are right now, 92 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 2: how would you say the best what were the most 93 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 2: strategic what were the most strategically important tactics and decisions 94 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 2: that were made to actually achieve that victory In the 95 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 2: interim period, well, we had some sort of security control 96 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 2: over that city in Ramadi. 97 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: Yes, the most important thing essentially was building relationships with 98 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 1: the local populace. And when you build relationships with the 99 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: local populace, the local populace starts to give you information 100 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: that you need and then you build relationships with the 101 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: power brokers inside the city. So there was shakes, the 102 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: shakes that had stayed or the shakes that had come back. 103 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: Once they what we did was we helped them because 104 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: once we helped them, and by helping them. It meant 105 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: hiring the shake to help us rebuild this section of 106 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: the bridge. So then what does he do. He gets 107 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: with his tribesmen. They were construction. He got three guys 108 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: that were construction. They run this project, they rebuild this bridge. 109 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: We pay them money. He has money. Now what does 110 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: he do with that money? He reinvested in the local populace. 111 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: He hired someone to start taking care of his yard 112 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: and all the sud and you start rebuilding the economy 113 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,599 Speaker 1: and you're moving in the right direction. So that's I 114 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: hate the expression hearts and minds, but hearts, minds and 115 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: wallets very important, and that's where you make true progress 116 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: in these situations. 117 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 2: That's why it's interesting because, as I understand it, the 118 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 2: most important thing that happened during the campaign against al 119 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 2: Qaeda in Iraq was separating the Jihatas from the local population. 120 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 2: The worst critics of Israeli military strategy would say that 121 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 2: hasn't happened at all. If anything, you've seen collective punishment, 122 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 2: the denial of water, some of the general treatment, even 123 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 2: some of the calls you know, just generally for making 124 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 2: the Palestinians and all of them pay a price. From 125 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 2: a military perspective, Why is that the wrong thing to do? 126 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 2: Just from a conceptual level as opposed to tactics, Why 127 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 2: is it the wrong thing to do to not try 128 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 2: to separate the Gjihatas from the civilian population. 129 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: Well, it's for what you just said. Yeah, it's for 130 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: what you just said. If you treat everyone in Gaza 131 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: as if they're then you're gonna end up inflicting harm 132 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: on people that, as I said earlier, may on the 133 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: surface support Hamas, but they live with Hamas, right, That's 134 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: who they live with. That's who their government is. That's 135 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: who is going to give them or not give them food, 136 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: give them or not give them water, give them or 137 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: not give them medical treatment. That's who's doing it. So 138 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: if they don't build, if you're a local Palestinian and 139 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: you live in Gaza and the government is Hamas, what 140 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: are you gonna do? Are you gonna Are you gonna 141 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: be the one that stands up and stages a rebellion? 142 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: You can, but what's gonna happen to you? You're gonna 143 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: get killed. So what do you do? You try and 144 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: keep your family safe. You try and do what you 145 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: can to get by and part of getting by is 146 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: showing support to the government, so that's what they're doing. 147 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: So now if we start treating or if the Israelis 148 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: treat everyone there as if they're Hamas, they're gonna inflict 149 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: harm on people that are not Hamas, and that is 150 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: going to end up being problematic. Now, there are some 151 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: people that make this reference to you know, if you 152 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: kill one innocent person, you've just created five more terrorists. 153 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: I have not found that to be true. Interesting, I've 154 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: not found it to be untrue, but is not completely true. 155 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: There are times that most of the time the local populace, 156 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: they recognized the difficulty of the job that was happening, 157 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: and so when an innocent civilian would be killed, of 158 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: course they'd be heartbroken, But there was also the recognition that, oh, 159 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: we know what you guys were trying to do. We 160 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: know that my son was in the wrong place at 161 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: the wrong time, and that's what happened. And of course, 162 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: you know, we would pay them money to, you know, 163 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: apologize for what had happened when civilians got killed. So 164 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: and it would rarely would you see that kind of animosity. 165 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: In fact, most of the time the was directed towards 166 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: the insurgents and not towards the coalition forces, So I 167 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: would my guess is that in Gaza you would find 168 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: some of that as well. Again, I haven't been to Gaza, 169 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: but my guess is, if you're a normal Palestinian and 170 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: you're not a Hamas supporter and one of your family 171 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: members gets wounded or gets killed, sure you might be 172 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: mad at Israel, but I bet you're a lot more 173 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: angry with Hamas for putting you in this situation in 174 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:36,679 Speaker 1: the first place. So I think that Israel's probably aware 175 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: of that as well, and I think that Israel's weighing 176 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: that to the best of their ability to try and 177 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: keep the local populace safe. I mean, they're setting up 178 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: these corridors. You can see people leaving through these corridors. 179 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: They're doing the best they can. This is a terrible situation. 180 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: This is a nightmare. This is a nightmare to try 181 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: and solve. This is what's a problem that no one 182 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: is going to come out of unscathed. It's not gonna happen. 183 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: It's getting into a knife fight. When you get into 184 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,679 Speaker 1: a knife fight, you're gonna get stabbed and you're gonna bleed, 185 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: and the other person's gonna bleed and die, and that's 186 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: what's gonna happen. So thinking that we're gonna go into 187 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: a knife fight and you're somehow gonna miraculously not get cut, 188 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: not get wounded, it's not gonna happen. Yeah, So that's 189 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: that's the situation that Israell's in right now. 190 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 2: It's true I've described as a Gordian knot. I think 191 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 2: that's really the best way I think, just to maybe 192 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 2: parse a little bit what you're talking about here. It 193 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 2: seems to me that there needs to be a baseline 194 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 2: level of trust and so a lot of the early criticism, 195 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 2: actually the early podcast you guys did, was really in 196 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 2: the bombing phase of the campaign, and I was curious, 197 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 2: you know, as somebody who operated in a similar type environment, 198 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 2: what were the considerations that went in, Like, let's say, 199 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 2: if you were calling in an air strike, what level 200 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 2: of thought and consideration would you have to make when 201 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 2: you're employing airpower? Because I think the critics that I've 202 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 2: seen of the Israeli strategy would say, you know, the US, 203 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 2: we went to pretty extraordinary links. I think we can 204 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 2: get to this in a little bit to protect the 205 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 2: civilian population then a civilian casualty number in Moseil, I 206 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 2: think bears that out for the battle against Isis. So 207 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,680 Speaker 2: what were the thoughts and the decisions in your mind 208 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 2: when you were trying to think about inflicting damage on 209 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 2: an enemy target, weighing the possibilities of civilian casualties, and 210 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 2: then also when not to call on an air striking 211 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 2: instead put your troops in harms way, because you're a 212 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 2: commander's actually had to make all these real time decisions. 213 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: The effort that was made to not have civilian casualties 214 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: in Ramadi was extraordinary. It was absolutely extraordinary. The amount 215 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: of air support that was used was minimal. I'm talking 216 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,319 Speaker 1: a handful of times when I was there that buildings 217 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: were hit with air support, were hit with bombs. In 218 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: those situations, it would be because there was no other 219 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: way to resolve a scenario that was happening and you 220 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: had confirmed let's say a multiple sniper, multiple GI hottess 221 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: sniper element in a building and they have now killed 222 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 1: two three four coalition that's Americans and Iraqis. People have 223 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: tried to maneuver on and can't get it done. In 224 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: those few situations, you would get okay, they're gonna drop this, 225 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: but we're gonna drop this building. We're gonna hit this 226 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: building with some kind of air assets. We used occasionally 227 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: a C one thirty, and do you know a AC 228 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: one thirty is so AC one thirty is very precision 229 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: and they also have very good target identification. So there 230 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: was a couple times where AC one thirty was used 231 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,559 Speaker 1: to engage. But that's like I said, it's it's about 232 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 1: as precise as you're gonna get from the air. But 233 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:51,600 Speaker 1: the vast majority of the time we didn't use any 234 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: air support at all. Why because the chances of collateral 235 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: damage in civilian civilian deaths was too high and so 236 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: we probably used closer or support five times wow, in 237 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: you know, a seven month deployment where we were troops 238 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: in contact hundreds of times. 239 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 2: So was there ever So obviously you had to justify 240 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 2: that to your men when you're rolling into this combat environment, 241 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 2: they're like, Hey, wouldn't it be easier to just drop 242 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 2: a bomb? You know, we're putting our lives at risk 243 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 2: every time we go outside the wire we can get 244 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 2: blown up by an Ied. It seems to me that 245 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 2: Israel has made a different calculus where they are trying 246 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 2: to minimize their idea of casualty as much as possible. 247 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 2: And it sounds like a stupid thing to say, because 248 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 2: everyone said, well, isn't that obvious. Isn't that what every 249 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 2: military should do? So how did you work through the calculus? 250 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 2: I assume that there was also a strategic decision made 251 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 2: at some point where like, no, we're not going to 252 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 2: do this explicitly for the civilian mission. Was it because 253 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 2: this overall strategic goal was we have to separate the 254 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 2: Gihatis from the population. Was it because that there was 255 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 2: you felt like you could still militarily accomplish the mission, 256 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 2: and risk is just inherent whenever you're conducting these type 257 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 2: of operations. I'm curious he can go into that. 258 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you'd have to really trace it back 259 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: to the fact that Maliki had been elected prime minister, 260 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: right he was a Shia, The Iraqi Army itself was 261 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: vast majority Shia, and they're now rolling into the city 262 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: of Ramadi, which is vast majority Sunni. So you already 263 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: have a very ten tenuous situation here where if the 264 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: Shia army goes into the Sunni city and just starts 265 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: wantonly killing it's going to be a problem. So they 266 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: had done that in Fallujah, and or coalition forces had 267 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: done that in Fallujah and really gone super kinetic and 268 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: cleared the entire city and left no one living that 269 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: were enemy. And they'd also gotten all the vast majority 270 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: of the civilians out of there. When you when you 271 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: stayed in Fallujah after there was you know, the fourteenth 272 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: leaflet put on your doorstep, you knew what was coming. 273 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: And those Gihannas didn't keep the civilian populace there either. 274 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: Where it certainly seems that in Gaza they're being kept 275 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: in areas where they're being told to leave. So because 276 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: Maliki didn't want to start a civil war between the 277 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: Shi and the Sunni, he knew that it had to 278 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 1: be a more surgical operation, a slower, more methodical operation 279 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: than it was in Fallujah. And therefore you can't go 280 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: in and just start dropping buildings. And furthermore, for my guys, 281 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: they're going out in operations and seeing a bunch of 282 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: civilians and seeing a bunch of civilians with wives and 283 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: kids and these normal people, and my guys are seeing 284 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: them there. That's the best. There's four hundred thousand people 285 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: in the city of Vermandi, there's estimated between somewhere around 286 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: five thousand insurgents. Is what these kind of like what 287 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: the average report? Sometimes they say three, sometimes they say seven. 288 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: But you're talking about five thousand enemy combatants in a 289 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: city of four hundred thousand. So it's not like it's 290 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: hard to look in there and go, oh, yeah, these 291 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: five houses that we just entered that had a bunch 292 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: of normal Iraqis in them, we don't want to hurt 293 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: these people. So it wasn't a hard conversation or it 294 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: wasn't even that big of a deal. No one thought, 295 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: no one, there was no there was no no one 296 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 1: coming back to me saying, damn it, Jocko, we should 297 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: be able to drop these buildings. Never had that conversation 298 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:28,679 Speaker 1: with any of my guys when a building like I said, 299 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: if there was a building that was housing an active 300 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: insurgent group that was doing actual damage to coalition forces, yep, 301 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: that we'd attack that building or we possibly could drop 302 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,880 Speaker 1: that building. But most of the time it was, oh, yeah, 303 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,440 Speaker 1: there's insurgents in that building right now, and now they're 304 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: moving to another building. And the building that they were in, 305 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: and the building that they're going to all have civilians 306 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: in them, So for us to start dropping buildings is 307 00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: not what we're doing, and we didn't do it. Well. 308 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 2: I'm curious because you know, again, if we think back 309 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 2: to some of the early phases of the Israeli campaign, 310 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,399 Speaker 2: it was that all the conversation of ald around what 311 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 2: we're talking about here, which is what are legitimate targets 312 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 2: and what are not? What was the threshold that you 313 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 2: in your experience that the US military would go into 314 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 2: an area where collateral damage was not just was likely, 315 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 2: and yet the military necessity of going into conducting that 316 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 2: operation was such that the commanders were willing to send 317 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 2: somebody out and put American troops in harm's way or 318 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 2: even drop an air strike. Just in your overall experience, like, 319 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 2: what was the calculations that were being run? And then 320 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 2: do you think that Israel is employing the same one 321 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:39,880 Speaker 2: or is it a different threshold? 322 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,400 Speaker 1: I would say that their threshold right after October seventh 323 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: was was pretty open. Yeah. Right, Hey, look, we've just 324 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: suffered a significant attack, a horrendous attack, and we need 325 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:56,880 Speaker 1: to put some people in check right now. We don't 326 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: know what they're planning next. There's three hundred miles worth 327 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: of tunnels. We don't know what supplies. They just caught 328 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: us off guard. What else are they going to do 329 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: to us? We need to put them in check right now. 330 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: And I think that's why they were very open to 331 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:14,880 Speaker 1: that immediately after the October seventh attacks. So I think 332 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: that's the calculus that they ran. I think they wanted 333 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:23,919 Speaker 1: to I think that they wanted to regain their footing. Yeah, 334 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,440 Speaker 1: and it took them a couple of weeks to where 335 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,399 Speaker 1: they probably felt like they It probably took them a 336 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: week to regain their footing and then another week of like, hey, 337 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,719 Speaker 1: we still don't know. I still don't feel comfortable. We 338 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 1: need to get them, we need to put them, put 339 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 1: the enemy off balance even more. And I think that's 340 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: what they did. That's probably the calculus that they were running. 341 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 2: It's interesting too, because you know the initial talk and 342 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 2: you guys touch on this about the three hundred miles 343 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 2: of tunnels something like that, we don't know the exact number, 344 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:55,200 Speaker 2: and you were like, man, I'm going to take a 345 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 2: lot of casualties if we start doing that. I've just 346 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 2: been I find it odd looking at it because the 347 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 2: number of IDF casualties as of today that you and 348 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 2: I are talking, it's somewhere between fifty and sixty, I 349 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 2: would say, relatively low. What does that indicate to you 350 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,160 Speaker 2: in terms of the way, So now we have actual 351 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 2: operators on the ground, we have guys clearing the hospital. 352 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 2: How do you achieve that? Is it through being very 353 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 2: slow and methodical? Does it mean that they're not necessarily 354 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 2: has a mosque given up? What do these things tell you? 355 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: Yeah? So I believe. On one of those two podcasts 356 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: that I do with Darryl I talked about siege warfare. Yes, right, Hey, 357 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: if I'm looking at this city that has three hundred 358 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: whatever miles and booby traps and a bunch of enemy fighters, 359 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: I'm not looking forward to going in there. And yet 360 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: I'm in Israel. I have all the time in the world. 361 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: I have unlimited supplies. We can live forever. We have water, 362 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: we have food, we have unlimited ammunition, we have power, 363 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: we have energy. Why am I rushing in here? And 364 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: I was sort of hoping that they would go into 365 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: a siege warfare mentality, because when you go into a 366 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: siege warfare mentality, you let time do the work instead 367 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: of your men and so it appears, certainly appears that 368 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,200 Speaker 1: that's what they've done. They've they took some bold action 369 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: in the beginning, regained their footing. Now they've the premiere. 370 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: It looks like, again I'm not on the ground, and 371 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: you know only I take everything that I read with 372 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,399 Speaker 1: a grain of salt. But when I see battle maps 373 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: in the past few days, they have Northern Gaza enveloped, 374 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: and you're gonna take casualties as you push in there, 375 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: as you set up sort of containment around this area, 376 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: which they took casualties. And now I think you go 377 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 1: into siege warfare and listen, I look at a tunnel. 378 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: I'll drop a microphone in that tunnel. Listen, listen to 379 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: that tunnel for three days. Why am I going in there? 380 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: I'll listen. Oh, put a camera down there, put dogs 381 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: down there, put cut off the cut off the power. 382 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:58,360 Speaker 1: I'm gonna do all kinds of things before I send 383 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:00,919 Speaker 1: my guys down there. So I think that's where And 384 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 1: what's nice about that is that also provides us more 385 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: opportunities to help the civilian populace. It gives us more 386 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: opportunity for discretion between civilian populace and Hummas fighters. So 387 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: I think Israel certainly appears that Israel has taken a 388 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: has shifted their mentality, and they're now into a slower, 389 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: more methodical phase of the war looks more like siege warfare. 390 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: I think that's good, and I think they're moving in 391 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 1: the right direction. And I also think they recognize that 392 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 1: Hamas might have the will, but they don't have the means. 393 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: And I also think they're probably they're on the ground 394 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: talking to the locals, and as they talk to the Palestinians, 395 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: what do you think those Palestinians are telling them? You 396 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: think the Palestinians are saying, oh, we all support Hamas 397 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: and we hate you. That you would probably see a 398 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: different mentality from Israel if that's what they were hearing 399 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: from the local populace. The local populace is probably saying, yeah, 400 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,639 Speaker 1: thank you for coming in. We hate these people. And 401 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: look are like I said, are there some Hama supporters? 402 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: I'm sure there are, of course there are. But once 403 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: you're sitting there in a refugee camp and you've got 404 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: some medical care for your kid, and the Israeli soldiers 405 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: talking to you, and the Israeli intelligence officer is sitting 406 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: down and wanting to know about what you've been going through, 407 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you're saying, these aren't the 408 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,160 Speaker 1: monsters that we were told they were. So that's that's 409 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: my assessment. I think that Israel is probably making adjustments, 410 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: and I bet and it certainly seems as their adjustments are, oh, yeah, 411 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: we can do this in a more methodical way. You know. 412 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: I got asked I was on a panel recently and 413 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: people were talking about war with China and what would 414 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: you what would your what would your mindset be going? 415 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 1: And if we were going to China invaded Taiwan and 416 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 1: you were Jako, you were going to be leading troops 417 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: into the battle, what would you be doing? What would 418 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,239 Speaker 1: you what would your strategy be? And you know, there 419 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: was a couple other people on the panel and they 420 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: all gave their kind of assessment of the technology and 421 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: the peer to peer or near peer adversary and how 422 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: this is different in these kind of things, And I said, 423 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: my major mindset would be the mindset that I always have, 424 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 1: especially when going into combat. And then is keeping an 425 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: open mind because we don't know, and anybody that says 426 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: they know is arrogant. Yes, you don't know. What's going 427 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: to happen When you engage in combat. You don't know 428 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: what's going to happen when you start it. You don't 429 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: know what's going to happen twenty minutes into it. You 430 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 1: don't know what the enemy. You don't how the enemy's 431 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: going to react. You don't know how your troops are 432 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,760 Speaker 1: going to react. You don't know how the civilian populies 433 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: are going to react. You don't know these things. Ensure 434 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: you can have suspicions, but if you are too married 435 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,119 Speaker 1: to your suspicions, you're going to get caught in a 436 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: situation where you're doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons. 437 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: So it certainly appears that Israel. Their initial assessment was 438 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: probably like, oh my gosh, we just got caught off guard. 439 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: God knows what they have in store for us next 440 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,119 Speaker 1: next three days. We need to get we need to 441 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 1: establish our we need to re establish our footing. That's 442 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: what they did. Then they said, well, it looks like 443 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: we kind of got this under control, but I'm not 444 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 1: sure yet. We need to put more control. Okay, they 445 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 1: got that done. Now they're looking around going okay, we 446 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,200 Speaker 1: need to isolate, we need to isolate slow this thing down, 447 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: and it certainly seems that that's what they've been doing. 448 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: So I think we're going to see continued modification from Israel. 449 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: I think they're going to continue to adjust. I think 450 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: that we are all going to learn, and I think 451 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: the world will learn about what Hamas is like as 452 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,360 Speaker 1: a government and what it's like to live under Hamas. 453 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,159 Speaker 1: It certainly appears from the outside that that is not 454 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: a great place to live. And the chances that people 455 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,800 Speaker 1: Palestinians that lived in Gaza, who had lived in Israel, 456 00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: who had lived in other parts of the world, who 457 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 1: had lived in in Gaza during different times that remember 458 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: that are looking around saying, wait a second, this doesn't 459 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: make sense. This doesn't have to be this bad. So 460 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: I think that will come to light, and I think 461 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: Hamas will come out over time as looking like a 462 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: really bad group of people. 463 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 2: It seems like everything you're saying is that there has 464 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,200 Speaker 2: to be a real baseline of trust for the people 465 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,440 Speaker 2: who have been now been hopefully liberated by Hamas will 466 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:31,320 Speaker 2: see that something better will come. And last time, when 467 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 2: you had talked about with the podcast on Jocko Unraveling, 468 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 2: was the necessity of immediately showing Palestinians that a better 469 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 2: way as possible. So you were like, well, we should 470 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,680 Speaker 2: give work visas. We've got to get these people in Israel, like, 471 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 2: we got to make sure that there is not only 472 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 2: a commingling, but a light at the end of the tunnel. 473 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 2: It's something that the US obviously did quite well, I think, 474 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 2: at least during the surge years in Iraq and during 475 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 2: that period while you were operating there as well. It 476 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 2: seems though that you have to do that simultaneously, and 477 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 2: I'm curious. You know, you talked about the work visa 478 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,920 Speaker 2: and all of that at the same time. These really 479 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 2: have got to manage their own domestic politics, which is 480 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 2: they don't want any of those people coming in there. 481 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 2: If anything, they want to build a wall ten feet higher, 482 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 2: they want to include a security zone and all that. 483 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,640 Speaker 2: It seems to me that's probably the more likely scenario. 484 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 2: So if we do end up with that, which is, 485 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 2: you know, you come in, you blow everything up, you 486 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,040 Speaker 2: or you know, you envelop Gaza City, you clear out 487 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 2: the Al Shifa Hospital, and then you include some let's 488 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 2: say fifty kilometer zone or something that's been floated by 489 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 2: the population. You have no commingling. Is that is that 490 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 2: just setting up the fight for another day or is 491 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 2: it an acceptable thing from a military perspective. 492 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: The first, some kind of peace has to be established, right, 493 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:49,479 Speaker 1: So you talked about there has to be some kind 494 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 1: of trust. Well, in order to get some kind of trust, 495 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: there has to be some kind of piece. You know 496 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: what I used to say in Iraq, one of the 497 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,160 Speaker 1: best things we could do is like, oh, let's bring 498 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: in Walmarts Starbucks and because when people see, like, oh wait, 499 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,400 Speaker 1: I'll go work for that place. They pay me seven 500 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 1: dollars an hour and I'm going to get you know, 501 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: a ten percent discount, and it's this huge place and 502 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 1: we can get food and we can get water, and 503 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: we can get clothing and all these things are there. 504 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,679 Speaker 1: So when people start to see, oh, this way of 505 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: life is possible for me and for my family, there's 506 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: that's that's what people want essentially, a hey, look are 507 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: there extremists that don't want that and they see that 508 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,400 Speaker 1: as Western and evil and satan? Yep, absolutely there are. 509 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: But that's not normal. That's not the normal person. The 510 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: normal person wants to take care of their family, they 511 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: want to have a good job, they want have an income. 512 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: They want their kids to have more opportunity than they did. 513 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: They want to own a house. This is I'm talking 514 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: when when you would talk to an Iraqi family, that's 515 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: what they would talk about. Oh you know, I used 516 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: to have this. I used to I used to sell tires, 517 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: and right now there's no cars driving through here, so 518 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: I can't sell any tires. And you know, I'm just 519 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 1: waiting for I've got look come back and they can 520 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: go back in their garage and they've got some big 521 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: stacks of tires, some tires for our little tractors and 522 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: some tires for cars, and they just want to get 523 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: back to that life. That's what they're concerned about. They 524 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: don't care about al Qaeda, they don't want them there, 525 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: And so giving people some kind of stability seems like 526 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: a that's sort of a precursor to any kind of 527 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 1: co mingling. And then I think you just have to 528 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: be really really strict about the co mingling, Like here's 529 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: the protocol that you've got if you want to work 530 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: in Israel. Here's the protocol that you've got to go 531 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: through on a daily basis until you get to your 532 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: What we have down here in California for Mexico is 533 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: like a century pass. Like, Okay, if you're this person, 534 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: if you've been cleared and you've had this, and you 535 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 1: have had that, then then you're gonna get some kind 536 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: of a expedited protocol. But again, when you talk about 537 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: Israel separating Hamas from the populace, I would hope that 538 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: the world can do that as well, because I think 539 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: that the world, much of the world is looking at 540 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: Gaza as if everyone is hardcore anti Israel and borderline 541 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: if not full support of Hamas. And I don't believe 542 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: that to be the case, and I think it'll I 543 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: think it'll play out that way in the long run. 544 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: But you do have to give the opportunity for prosperity 545 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: and growth and peace before people, before people accept that. 546 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: And if you're a Hamas and you want a population 547 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 1: that hates Israel, what do you do. You keep them poor, 548 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: you keep them uneducated, you keep them suffering. And the 549 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: more that they're uneducated, poor, suffering, the more they're gonna 550 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: hate Israel. 551 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, the satsquo is good for them. That's why I 552 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 2: think a lot of people also didn't understand is that no, 553 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 2: they liked it they actually really enjoyed the way everything 554 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 2: is going. And you know you said previously Hamas doesn't 555 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,560 Speaker 2: have the means, Well they don't really. I mean the 556 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 2: Jihatas never had the means to destroy or defeat the 557 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 2: US military. They did have a capacity to just outlast them, 558 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 2: which in the end they work on it, right at 559 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 2: least whenever it came to Isis and all that I 560 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 2: came to a whole in their military pop operation that 561 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 2: was required. Is this then a battle of wills or 562 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,600 Speaker 2: is it a battle of means? 563 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 1: If that makes sense? All wars are a battle of wills, 564 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: for sure. But here here's the one big difference between 565 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: Iraq and Gaza. Israel is in like America, Well, you 566 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: can out you can outweigh us, you can outweigh us. 567 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: In Afghanistan, you can outwait us. In Vietnam you can outwaite, 568 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: you can kill us with a death of a thousand cuts. 569 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: In Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, yep are populous will eventually say 570 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: what are we doing? We don't care about this anymore, 571 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 1: and we'll go home. But Israel's got no place else 572 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: to go, and so they're they're not going anywhere, and 573 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 1: that's why it'll be it'll be a test of wills, 574 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: but there's also the test of means, and I think 575 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: that's what I think, that's what Israel's focus is. I 576 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: think they see Hamas as a finite group of people. 577 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,000 Speaker 1: And what's the number being flowed around thirty thousand. 578 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:25,720 Speaker 2: Thirty it's thirty to fifty is PIJ plus Hamaska PIJ 579 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 2: is like probably ten k of that if we're thinking 580 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 2: on the high end. Yeah, when we think about those numbers. 581 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 2: Last I checked, I went back the Battle of Mosl 582 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 2: was I think eight thousand is As fighters. It took 583 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 2: about one to one civilian casualties, and it also took 584 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,719 Speaker 2: a ton of Iraqi casualties. That's something that a lot 585 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 2: of people have forgotten, how literal heroes fought in that war. 586 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 2: It doesn't seem to be tracking at all like that though. 587 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 2: Right now the civilian casualty number, we don't know what 588 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,560 Speaker 2: it is, somewhere between twenty ten to twenty thousand. It'll 589 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 2: probably drop as they move away from bombing towards the 590 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 2: more ground operations they're pursuing. But as they go south 591 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 2: into communists, are they going to go back to air 592 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 2: power like we'll see. But with the thirty to fifty thousand, 593 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 2: do you think it's militarily feasible that they could accomplish 594 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,040 Speaker 2: that within the embedded population of two million because you 595 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 2: had what five thousand? I think And yeah, as I 596 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 2: said too, with this, it's a bit different. 597 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: It depends on the strategy that Hamas takes. It depends 598 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: on the strategy that Hamas takes. If Hamas, if Amas 599 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: stands up in fights, it's feasible. Yeah, if a mosque 600 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,920 Speaker 1: goes to ground, it's going to be long gorilla insurgency 601 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: and a terrible nightmare. So that's what that's that's the 602 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,000 Speaker 1: way it'll go down. That makes sense. And what is 603 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: Hamas going to do? They're going to do what Hamas does. 604 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: They're gonna They're gonna go and go to ground and 605 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 1: go into a long insurgency of terrorism and then it'll 606 00:33:55,800 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: go back to sustained kind of intel operation. But I 607 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: think one of the best things that Israel could do 608 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: is the more they can prop up the economy and 609 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:13,239 Speaker 1: the the general life way of life in Palestine, the 610 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:17,359 Speaker 1: more local Palestinians will be like, Hey, we don't want 611 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: this anymore. We want we want to we want normalcy, 612 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,799 Speaker 1: we want prosperity. That's what we want, and they'll root 613 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,800 Speaker 1: their own problems out. 614 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 2: There was something I want to come back to about. 615 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:33,879 Speaker 2: There's a pretty decent chunk of Israeli society, and to 616 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 2: a lesser extent, some Americans who are like, look, these 617 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 2: people voted them in, they're all the same, We shouldn't 618 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,399 Speaker 2: care about them. You're right in that. You know, many 619 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 2: Iraqis didn't nest, they don't like al Qaida, but they 620 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,280 Speaker 2: many of them were probably observant Sunni Muslims who believed 621 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,240 Speaker 2: in very similar values. That are a couple of different, 622 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 2: you know, places away from and ISIS is extremist interpretation. 623 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,879 Speaker 2: I'm please disagree with you feel free? 624 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, not so m much, Okay, I mean really not 625 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: so much. 626 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:03,279 Speaker 2: Uh. 627 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: There's a there's some very small number of like hardcore 628 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: gy hottists that were Iraqi, but the normal hierarchies, the 629 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: normal Iraqi populous, they were not supportive of al Qaeda. 630 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:19,359 Speaker 1: And you know, there was a great piece that WEIS 631 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 1: did and it was as it was, I forget what 632 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 1: year it was, but basically ISIS was starting to surround 633 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,920 Speaker 1: Ramadi and the governor of Ramadi or the mayor of 634 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: Ramadi was he's talking. He's like, please get me on 635 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,919 Speaker 1: the call. We need American we want the Americans back. 636 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: Like that's what you was saying, and that's how that's 637 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: how they felt. 638 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 2: I think I meanted more. The reason I was framing 639 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,520 Speaker 2: that way is more so like they're not the same 640 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 2: as us, and I think that that's an easy way 641 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:46,799 Speaker 2: to other them and then to put them together. And 642 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,839 Speaker 2: so there's a desire for collective punishment, and I think 643 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 2: I just want to return, not even just from a 644 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,360 Speaker 2: military perspective, but as somebody who actually had to see 645 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,040 Speaker 2: some of this and kind of parse it together. You 646 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:01,240 Speaker 2: probably heard similar things, at least from people around especially 647 00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:01,839 Speaker 2: after nine eleven. 648 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:02,239 Speaker 1: I remember this. 649 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 2: The only thing I ever needed about Islam was, you know, 650 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 2: I found on nine to eleven, just bomb the crap 651 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 2: out of Afghanistan and that that'll solve the problem. And 652 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 2: obviously you know it's I guess, but it's not necessarily feasible. 653 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,920 Speaker 2: How did you work through that? Then, whenever you're talking 654 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:20,239 Speaker 2: and having a conversation with somebody who would have that 655 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 2: type of mindset and wanted to employ it in a 656 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,959 Speaker 2: military in a military setting as somebod who actually would 657 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,280 Speaker 2: have had to carry out such things. 658 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: No one said that, Yeah, but there is there's no 659 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,040 Speaker 1: one that was saying, oh, well, we should just kill 660 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: everyone and you know, destroy all the buildings and bomb everything. 661 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 1: No one said that. No one said that, Wow. 662 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 2: Well yeah, I mean it's interesting because I'm watching. I'm 663 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:44,800 Speaker 2: I guess I don't know the mind of the individual 664 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,640 Speaker 2: israelly soldier, but we've seen some cabinet officials and other 665 00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 2: people with security governments similar ish type thing. Is part 666 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:53,640 Speaker 2: of why I'm asking is just to say, I guess 667 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 2: what I'm really learning is that there was profound lessons 668 00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:00,360 Speaker 2: that were learned from the US military inside of Iraq 669 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,239 Speaker 2: to eventually get to the high level of capabilities that 670 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 2: we reached, you know, at the peak of like the 671 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 2: operational tempo against against al Qaeda, against ISIS and with 672 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,840 Speaker 2: all that, what what were the what was the learning 673 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,759 Speaker 2: curve like as somebody who had to go through and. 674 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: Experience that, Yeah, well the learning curve was definitely steep. 675 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,359 Speaker 1: And you know, luckily for me, I deployed in two 676 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:24,080 Speaker 1: thousand three, two thousand and four, two thousand and six, 677 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 1: and you know, this was this was us failing to 678 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 1: recognize what was happening. And there's a whole series, you know, 679 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:34,399 Speaker 1: Darryl and I did a whole series of podcasts about 680 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:36,319 Speaker 1: the Iraq War and about how that thing kicked off 681 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,240 Speaker 1: and what we did with the Bathist and how we 682 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:40,680 Speaker 1: we fired all the people from the from the military, 683 00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: and we made all kinds of mistakes there, and we 684 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 1: took us a while to recognize that we were fighting 685 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,960 Speaker 1: an insurgency and that we needed to employ people and 686 00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:51,560 Speaker 1: take care of them. So we made all kinds of mistakes. 687 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,840 Speaker 1: And once we figured that out, we did a pretty 688 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:57,439 Speaker 1: good job. It just took us too long to figure 689 00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: it out, so the learning curve was very steep. And 690 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:03,800 Speaker 1: then unfortunately, once once we figured it out, we left. 691 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:08,799 Speaker 1: And you know, I've seen Darryl defend the sort of 692 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 1: counterinsurgency that took place in Ramadi a couple times online 693 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:15,080 Speaker 1: because people say, well, look, it didn't work because you 694 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: had ISIS and all this other stuff. But we had 695 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: ISIS because we left, and if if we stayed, there 696 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: would have been embers of extremists that would have pomped 697 00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:30,800 Speaker 1: up and US forces in direct conjunction led or actually 698 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,200 Speaker 1: we would support. We would have supported Iraqi forces as 699 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,160 Speaker 1: they went in and as they took out these last 700 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: remnants of extremist whether it was ISIS or al Qaeda, 701 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 1: they would have taken them out, and it would have 702 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 1: been we would have moved in a really good direction. Unfortunately, 703 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:48,759 Speaker 1: we left, and that's that's where you got the You know, 704 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: I always describe it as if you had a fire 705 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:54,239 Speaker 1: in your kitchen and you kind of put out the 706 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:56,480 Speaker 1: fire real quick, and then you said, all right, well 707 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,480 Speaker 1: I'm going to the movies and you left. Well, you're 708 00:38:58,480 --> 00:38:59,880 Speaker 1: gonna come back in your house is gonna be burned down, 709 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,080 Speaker 1: cause there's still little embers that you didn't take care of. 710 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:06,000 Speaker 1: So that's what we did in Iraq. We left and 711 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,959 Speaker 1: we let that let those embers start to burn again. 712 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, yea, it was mismanaging all kinds of ways. 713 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:14,960 Speaker 2: Even if you defend the withdrawal, there are certain things 714 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 2: that we could look back. 715 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,080 Speaker 1: But I'm not sure I answered your your original questions. 716 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,799 Speaker 1: Sure of you know what's going to happen here, I'm 717 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,000 Speaker 1: not sure yet. Yeah, Yeah, I know we'd be a 718 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 1: lot better off. 719 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:28,200 Speaker 2: We would be very lucky if we were able to 720 00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:31,040 Speaker 2: be clairvoyant, and to kind of look at it, I 721 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,400 Speaker 2: guess from a counter insurgercy perspective, Israel is almost in 722 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 2: the in a situation where as you said, they have 723 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:39,240 Speaker 2: a border with these people, they don't have a choice, 724 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:41,600 Speaker 2: I think, at least to eventually learn these lessons and 725 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,200 Speaker 2: get to the point where this is going to happen. 726 00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:46,359 Speaker 2: That's the only type of sustainable solution. Whereas as you said, 727 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:47,840 Speaker 2: you know with the US, you can outweight at the 728 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 2: US in Afghanistan, you can outwait, and they did successfully 729 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 2: in Afghanistan, they did successfully in Vietnam, they did successfully 730 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,160 Speaker 2: to a certain extent in Iraq, requiring the US to 731 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:00,279 Speaker 2: go back in. They're almost in an ideal scenario for 732 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:04,040 Speaker 2: having to eventually arrive at this to get to a 733 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 2: peaceful resolution, simply because they really don't have another choice 734 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 2: in the long run. At least that's how I see it. 735 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:11,680 Speaker 2: There are a lot of people wh would disagree with me. 736 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,879 Speaker 1: Though, Yeah, and so that's what when I think about 737 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:18,600 Speaker 1: Israel's situation, israel situation. If I was Israel, I wouldn't 738 00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,560 Speaker 1: want to be on defense for the next thousand years. 739 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:23,920 Speaker 1: And the only way you're not on defense is if 740 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,160 Speaker 1: you start making friends with your neighbors. Otherwise you got 741 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,759 Speaker 1: to protect your borders to an extreme level. Look, are 742 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 1: they always going to have to be wary, Yes, they're 743 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,680 Speaker 1: always gonna have to be wary. But I would want 744 00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:34,400 Speaker 1: to have to be less wary. And how are you 745 00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,440 Speaker 1: going to have to be less wary? It's by having 746 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: better relationships with the people that are around you. And look, 747 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:45,200 Speaker 1: Israel's tried that. They've also done things that have cost them, 748 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:52,480 Speaker 1: you know, many many more years of attacks. So but essentially, 749 00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:55,960 Speaker 1: what I'm saying is the best solution for Israel is 750 00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:58,920 Speaker 1: some kind of normalized relations with the people that are 751 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:02,600 Speaker 1: their neighbors, right, And I think that they understand that. 752 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,279 Speaker 1: Are there extremists that think, well, nope, we would rather 753 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:09,520 Speaker 1: just build a like you said, build a fifty foot 754 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:13,719 Speaker 1: wall and put a no man's land for twenty kilometers 755 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:18,360 Speaker 1: around that, and we'll just be Israel here. That's tough. 756 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:23,520 Speaker 1: Whether it's even feasible, I'm not sure, but I think 757 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:28,520 Speaker 1: most people would rather have some sort of normalized relationship 758 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 1: with our neighbors and have a lower level of security 759 00:41:33,520 --> 00:41:35,440 Speaker 1: and live a more normalized existence. 760 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:38,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree. I want to zoom out even 761 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:40,239 Speaker 2: from just Israel Gaza, which I know it's tedious to 762 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:43,920 Speaker 2: talk about, I totally understand, is to just think about 763 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 2: employing use of force and negotiation. So you guys have 764 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,600 Speaker 2: talked previously about Ukraine, and this is something we focused 765 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,319 Speaker 2: on quite a bit where I live in Washington. It's 766 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:56,279 Speaker 2: basically anathema. To float the idea of negotiation. You get 767 00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:00,520 Speaker 2: immediately tarred as like either pro Russian activist or oh 768 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:02,920 Speaker 2: or are you saying that that's Russian propaganda? Are you 769 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:06,000 Speaker 2: saying that Ukraine doesn't have an absolute right to defend 770 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:07,600 Speaker 2: all of its territory. It's like, well, no one is 771 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:10,640 Speaker 2: saying that. What we're saying is that it's simply not feasible. 772 00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 2: I've heard you talk a little bit about this in 773 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,840 Speaker 2: the past, but I've often heard it as an idea 774 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 2: of caving, whereas to me it just seems like a 775 00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:22,040 Speaker 2: level of feasibility about a test of arms means. As 776 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 2: you said, so, as somebody who was in the fight, 777 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:29,080 Speaker 2: how do you think about negotiation and diplomacy and peaceful resolution? 778 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,800 Speaker 2: How do we separate those two even when we're thinking 779 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:34,840 Speaker 2: of both the Ukrainian fighting man on the ground and 780 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:36,759 Speaker 2: then also the big strategic perspective. 781 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:43,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, the people that are always anti compromise, and there's 782 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:46,239 Speaker 1: usually a lot of them, they're not the ones that 783 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 1: are on the front line getting killed, and of course 784 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:54,200 Speaker 1: they don't want to compromise, right, So that's what happens. 785 00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:56,200 Speaker 1: They don't want to compromise because they're not out there 786 00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:59,440 Speaker 1: having drones drop grenades on them. That's what's going on. 787 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 1: And if the leadership better understood what the people on 788 00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:06,480 Speaker 1: the front lines were going through, they'd be a hell 789 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,399 Speaker 1: of a lot more open to compromise than they are. 790 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:13,319 Speaker 1: So it kind of discussed me when the people that are, 791 00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,879 Speaker 1: you know, shaking the sword, are shaking the sword from 792 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,400 Speaker 1: one thousand miles away, and they're shaking the sword and 793 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:22,759 Speaker 1: it's the young guys on the front line that are 794 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:25,040 Speaker 1: suffering and dying. Yeah, it's horrifying. 795 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,440 Speaker 2: I mean, the level of prosthetics has now reached like 796 00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:30,040 Speaker 2: World War One levels inside of Ukraine, which I didn't 797 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,680 Speaker 2: even think you would ever see again. In twenty twenty three. 798 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 2: We're talking about the average age I believe of the 799 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,200 Speaker 2: Ukrainian fighting soldier right now is like forty three. I mean, 800 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:42,080 Speaker 2: even an entire generation of young men, which is valiantly 801 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,360 Speaker 2: you know, wants to defend their territory and God bless me, 802 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:46,960 Speaker 2: you can't think anything otherwise. But then when you look 803 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,719 Speaker 2: at the long term strategic picture and you realize where 804 00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:52,480 Speaker 2: it's heading and can continue to put arms into the country, 805 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,680 Speaker 2: and then you know, dispel any idea of negotiation. It 806 00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,240 Speaker 2: just feels, as you said, as if it's like saber 807 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,960 Speaker 2: rattling from thousands of miles away looking at these guys 808 00:44:01,040 --> 00:44:04,960 Speaker 2: as pawns, and that is just dehumanizing to them at 809 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:05,879 Speaker 2: a very real level. 810 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:08,279 Speaker 1: One percent. Yeah, that's what it is. 811 00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:11,759 Speaker 2: It's watching I often find and this was actually I 812 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:15,600 Speaker 2: was curious too, is because I'm you know, around Washington politics, 813 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:18,840 Speaker 2: and you know everything everything is talked about at a fifty. 814 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:19,399 Speaker 1: Thousand foot level. 815 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 2: I think got a necessity actually, because they have so 816 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:23,680 Speaker 2: many different decisions and things that they had to deal 817 00:44:23,719 --> 00:44:27,000 Speaker 2: with when you were actually fighting on the ground, to 818 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:29,479 Speaker 2: what extent was it even important or are you paying 819 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:33,000 Speaker 2: attention to big level discussions about should we go petray 820 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:35,440 Speaker 2: Us his way, should we go Joe Biden's way, like 821 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:39,959 Speaker 2: the bigger strategic conversation? How much did that even factor whenever. 822 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:42,759 Speaker 1: You were operating, you're definitely paying attention to it. Are 823 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:47,120 Speaker 1: you paying attention to it while you're receiving machine gun fire? No, nope, 824 00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:50,560 Speaker 1: you're not thinking about it then. But when you're you know, 825 00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,680 Speaker 1: you're when you're planning for an operation, when you're in 826 00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,640 Speaker 1: between operations, you're definitely paying attention to what's going on 827 00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:58,680 Speaker 1: and how we're conducting this thing, because it's affecting, it's 828 00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:02,439 Speaker 1: impacting how you're conducting your miss I think I told 829 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:06,160 Speaker 1: a story with Daryl where there was a there was 830 00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:09,400 Speaker 1: a battalion sized operation that was going to take place, 831 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:11,719 Speaker 1: and my guys we were supporting it. So we were 832 00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:15,440 Speaker 1: going out with the big Army battalion and as we 833 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,399 Speaker 1: pushed this plan up the chain of command, the army 834 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,719 Speaker 1: battalion was told, hey, we're not doing any battalion sized 835 00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:26,120 Speaker 1: operations in Ramadi. And the reason was because a battalion 836 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:29,399 Speaker 1: sized operation is like a flex of Oh we're doing 837 00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:33,000 Speaker 1: a big battalion sized operation with seven hundred soldiers. We're 838 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:34,719 Speaker 1: not doing that when you guys are not allowed to 839 00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,719 Speaker 1: do that. Okay, well why not? Okay, Well it's because 840 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,080 Speaker 1: we don't want to. We want to show that the 841 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:40,840 Speaker 1: iraqis are taking the lead. We want to show that 842 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:45,520 Speaker 1: we don't. We're not engaging in battalion sized missions in 843 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,320 Speaker 1: the war anymore. That's not what we're doing. Okay, Roger 844 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:52,920 Speaker 1: that And you know the operation got changed to a 845 00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:56,840 Speaker 1: two company plus operation, which is almost a battalion but 846 00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:59,080 Speaker 1: but that's what we were doing. So we're all thinking 847 00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:02,880 Speaker 1: about this and yeah, so those things have an impact 848 00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:03,520 Speaker 1: for sure. 849 00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,120 Speaker 2: If you had a message, I think to people who 850 00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:10,560 Speaker 2: are cavalier in there. Just so in Washington is very 851 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:12,920 Speaker 2: in vogue to call for war with Iran, it's very 852 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:16,040 Speaker 2: in vogue to call really for war with Russia. With anyone. 853 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:18,960 Speaker 2: Everything starts to become pieces on a chess board. It's like, oh, well, 854 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:21,480 Speaker 2: if they do this, and we'll do this. What would 855 00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:23,799 Speaker 2: your message be to people who are very cavalier in 856 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:26,440 Speaker 2: their discussion of the use of force in the US military. 857 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:30,239 Speaker 1: From everybody, from the people in Washington, DC that are 858 00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,880 Speaker 1: cheering for war to the people in the streets that 859 00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:36,040 Speaker 1: are cheering for war on either side, I would say, 860 00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:38,040 Speaker 1: get your shit on, get your gear on, and go 861 00:46:38,840 --> 00:46:40,840 Speaker 1: lock and load a weapon and go fight, because you 862 00:46:40,880 --> 00:46:42,399 Speaker 1: have no idea what you're doing. You have no idea 863 00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:49,360 Speaker 1: what you're talking about. And you're sending young, brave people 864 00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:52,400 Speaker 1: to fight, and you have no idea what it's like. 865 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:54,680 Speaker 1: So I'd say, if you want war, go get your 866 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:55,120 Speaker 1: kid on. 867 00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:57,320 Speaker 2: Well, I think that's a great place to end it. 868 00:46:57,360 --> 00:47:00,200 Speaker 2: But I do have one last question for you. This 869 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:02,239 Speaker 2: is somebody who works up at four thirty am. This 870 00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:04,440 Speaker 2: may seem random. As a personal pet thing of mine. 871 00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:07,919 Speaker 2: Are you pro standard time or pro daylight savings time? 872 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:11,640 Speaker 2: Would you rather the sunrise earlier or would you rather 873 00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:13,560 Speaker 2: have more sunlight in the afternoon. 874 00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:16,160 Speaker 1: I would rather have more sunlight, sunlight in the afternoon. 875 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:19,359 Speaker 1: And because by the like right now in California, it's 876 00:47:19,400 --> 00:47:22,480 Speaker 1: getting dark, like at four thirty eight in the evening, 877 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,880 Speaker 1: so that that's not cool. And in the morning, I 878 00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:27,440 Speaker 1: can do the stuff I do in the morning, I 879 00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,040 Speaker 1: don't need light for right I'm in the gym, I 880 00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:31,360 Speaker 1: can go for a run and it can be like 881 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:33,080 Speaker 1: dark outside is not that big of a deal. But 882 00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:36,840 Speaker 1: you know, you can't surf. You can't surf in the 883 00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:41,239 Speaker 1: afternoon and it's dark outside. So I and California had 884 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:44,080 Speaker 1: some weird thing happen where we voted to it to 885 00:47:44,239 --> 00:47:46,960 Speaker 1: stay on permanent daylight savings time. But then it somehow 886 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,240 Speaker 1: didn't pass. It needs to get approved through the federal government, 887 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,160 Speaker 1: so it's one more, one more reason for everyone to 888 00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:54,240 Speaker 1: be mad at the federal government. 889 00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:56,520 Speaker 2: Well, you just put you put a knife in my 890 00:47:56,600 --> 00:47:59,439 Speaker 2: heart as someone who's pro standard time. But it's okay, Jocko. 891 00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:02,080 Speaker 2: I really appre huge you doing this and taking the 892 00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:03,640 Speaker 2: time out of your schedule for all. That was a 893 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:05,440 Speaker 2: great discussion and we thank you very much thanks for 894 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:06,359 Speaker 2: having me appreciate it.