Levin: These arguments are ABSURD...

[0:00] Hello America, I'm Mark Levin and this is Life, Liberty and Levin Saturday. We have two great [0:04] guests, General Jack Keane and Senator John Fetterman. But first, you may not know it from [0:09] our media, but this war effort against Iran, I call it a peace mission, is going incredibly well [0:16] by any measure, by any historical context. It's going incredibly well. I thought the president's [0:23] speech last week was perfect, right on. And he talked about two or three more weeks. He's not [0:31] going to be pushed into some kind of a quick action one way or another. He's very prudential [0:37] about what's taking place. Lots of stuff's being leaked to the media, lots of things being pushed [0:43] out there, but he's focused. And in my view, he's following a steady course. But I wanted to talk [0:51] about a few things with you related to this. The opponents of our military action against Iran [0:58] have thrown several arguments against the wall, hoping some or all of it will stick. [1:04] And virtually all of their arguments are reckless, deceitful and or absurd. But they can do this [1:12] because they're arguing in the abstract. What do I mean? That is, they can say this wasn't necessary [1:18] or we had time or there's no evidence of certain missile capabilities or it's not imminent or [1:26] whatever they want to say, because nothing they say requires anything tangible or provable. [1:33] It's an assertion that can't be measured. Now, what am I talking about? [1:39] They attacked al-Qaeda in Afghanistan or in Saudi Arabia before 9-11 and prevented the slaughter [1:46] of nearly 3,000 of our fellow Americans, which, of course, we could not know in advance that we [1:53] would have 3,000 of our fellow Americans slaughtered. But if we could, we'd hear the [1:59] same things we're hearing today about President Trump's courageous decision against Iran and its [2:05] nuclear and ballistic missile program, because it's a preemptive attack to make sure that millions [2:12] are slaughtered by nuclear missiles by an insane seventh century primitive Nazi-like regime. [2:22] And so the president has to explain why he's doing this. And his opponents, all they have to do is [2:28] throw wrench after wrench into the works and say, no, no, and you can't prove this and you can't do [2:34] that. But you can't wait for some catastrophe to happen. Say, see, I'm right. If we had attacked [2:41] the Japanese before they attacked us at Pearl Harbor on December 7, [2:46] 1941, and prevented that catastrophe from taking place, and it could have even been a worse [2:52] catastrophe if our carriers were there, well, you'd hear the same things we're hearing today, [2:59] but even on a much larger scale. What a blunder. There was no imminent threat and all the rest of [3:06] it. But imagine how that would have changed the war. Preventative military actions are crucial [3:16] at times, and yet they're much more difficult to explain and defend. [3:22] Because of an opposition that builds and so forth and so on. Then we have, after the fact reports [3:30] like we did on the 9-11 commission telling us we should have been ready, we should have been [3:34] thinking outside the box was one of the things they said, we should have seen the signals, [3:39] what happened to our intelligence agencies, to the case of Iran. You can't miss the signals. [3:46] Every president since 1979 has read the signals. Every intelligence entity has read the signals. [3:55] Every intelligence entity has read the signals. [3:55] I went back and read the Congressional Research Service reports, one after another after another. [4:00] That's you, Congress, saying the threat is real, we're not sure when, but it's real. [4:07] And so for the president not to do what he's done, as past presidents have not acted, [4:12] would be utterly irresponsible, because the signals are right in your face. [4:17] And yet, look at this opposition. Look at this opposition, and they don't even make any sense. [4:23] You can't even tell what they're talking about half the time. Let's be honest, [4:27] for so many of our fellow Americans, it's just easier to believe as the naysayers and the [4:32] propagandists argue, because we want to believe them. That is, we want to believe that diplomacy [4:38] and negotiations will keep us safe, and that's that. We would rather that than see military [4:45] conflict, of course. And if we're told military conflict was unnecessary, and all the other [4:52] comments that they use, well, some people want to believe that, and they will believe that. [4:57] And when that's combined with a temporary, temporary, temporary, temporary, temporary, [4:59] increase in gasoline prices, which is exploited by the opponents, we're told that the price [5:05] increases are absolutely unnecessary, and are the direct result of an unnecessary military action, [5:12] and we want to believe that too. So the opponents of Operation Epic Fury are a little different from [5:17] all opponents of every war, where we have yet to be directly attacked. The opponents of the 1930s, [5:25] well, despite the rise of Hitler and Tojo and Mussolini, and despite all the evidence that [5:31] was accumulated over time, well, we had to wait until we were attacked at Pearl Harbor. [5:35] When propagandists compare every military threat to particularly unpopular wars and [5:40] military operations, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and every military action thereafter [5:47] raises the specter of, quote unquote, a forever war, or a war of choice, or a high-casualty [5:53] war, the combination of all these factors have an impact, don't they? Not on a great [6:01] leader. [6:02] President Trump and other great leaders in the past, in our country and in other countries, [6:09] they have to actually see through it, deal with the politics, but do what's right. [6:15] And it has been 35, 36 days since the president ordered military actions against Iran. [6:21] There's been nothing but military success, period, on a scale and in a manner never seen [6:28] in military combat, I don't believe. It is a spectacular military success, [6:33] despite the naysayers who are motivated. [6:35] It is motivated by many things, none of which involves honesty and integrity. [6:39] There's constant talk of off-ramps and ceasefires and immediate stoppages, mostly based on political [6:45] and economic considerations. [6:48] The problem with this is that even an overwhelming military victory doesn't necessarily ensure [6:54] an overall victory. [6:56] In other words, if remnants of this regime remain, if they survive, and the domestic [7:04] police state survives... [7:06] The ideology survives. [7:09] And enough of the regime, even the entrails, they survive and they continue to do what [7:16] they wanted to do. [7:19] And the question is, will we be safe in the midterm and the long term? [7:22] What of the people of Iran? [7:24] They must not be abandoned. [7:27] Should we not at least, and I'm not an expert, but I'm thinking about it, arm them so they [7:32] can not only defend themselves, but overthrow that regime? [7:38] It's clear that regime is going to shoot people. [7:40] Murder them right on the spot. [7:42] It's kind of hard to rise up against a regime that still has the domestic armaments to wipe [7:49] out the people. [7:50] And remember, this isn't some communist regime that's being overthrown, as in Romania or [7:56] Poland or that sort of thing. [7:58] This is an Islamist Nazi regime that will slaughter, slaughter, slaughter to the end. [8:06] And that's what they're doing. [8:08] Should we not arm them? [8:10] We have precedent for this, excellent precedent, President Reagan. [8:13] He armed the freedom fighters. [8:14] The freedom fighters in Afghanistan, they overthrew the regime there that was controlled [8:18] by Russia, the Soviet Union, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Angola. [8:24] That was part of the Reagan doctrine. [8:27] I think it should be part of our doctrine today. [8:30] We should arm the people. [8:32] In that case, the vast majority of the people in Iran want to overthrow that regime. [8:38] Let us give them the means to do so if they wish to do so. [8:41] Now the president has made clear that after all has been done. [8:44] At his command, he will never allow that regime to build nuclear weapons, ballistic [8:50] missiles, spread terrorism, threaten the region or the world. [8:54] And that can be accomplished in multiple ways by people who are a lot smarter than I. [8:59] But some of the public reports have out there the suggestion, among other things, that we [9:05] have a base in Israel. [9:07] I don't know if they would go for that or not. [9:09] I'm not even advocating it. [9:10] I'm just talking about possibilities. [9:12] And the other, of course, is that we have a military presence. [9:15] We have a military presence. [9:16] It doesn't have to be right directly next to Iran, but a military presence. [9:21] So when we are aware of this sort of rebuilding effort that might take place internally, we [9:30] can hit them. [9:31] In other words, pinpoint hits, something of that sort. [9:34] I'll leave it to generals and admirals who are a lot smarter than I to figure that out. [9:39] But we must make sure that this enemy never rises again, and we need to help the people [9:46] of Iran. [9:47] And I'm saying that in the past, it has been very effective to arm the freedom fighters, [9:54] to arm the resistance, to arm the people. [9:57] And I feel very strongly we should do that. [9:59] Now, of course, I'm called a warmonger, even though I view myself as a peacemonger. [10:05] The president's now being called a warmonger. [10:07] In other words, anybody who believes peace through strength and is not an isolationist, [10:11] that is, doesn't believe in national suicide, is apparently a warmonger. [10:16] But this is par for the course. [10:17] I went back and I looked. [10:18] You know who else was called a warmonger? [10:21] Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard [10:30] Nixon, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and in some circles, particularly circles of the [10:38] mentally unhinged, the president. [10:41] Our president today is called a warmonger, not warmongers. [10:47] And you know what? [10:48] We talk about these polls, and the media love polls, because in the middle of a war, even [10:53] in operation like this, presidents take a hit in the polls. [10:59] And that's been every case, as I went back and looked, every single case. [11:04] And so their popularity might take a little bit of a hit. [11:09] Some of our greatest presidents had periods of time where their popularity sank, but always [11:14] came back. [11:15] Let's go back to Ronald Reagan. [11:16] His approving ratings dropped to a low of 35 percent in early 1983. [11:22] Why? [11:24] Because of the economy. [11:25] We were in a recession. [11:26] Abraham Lincoln. [11:28] Well, his popularity was remarkably low throughout his presidency, because of the casualties [11:34] in the Civil War and the bad news over and over again. [11:38] And he was going to lose reelection, he was going to lose reelection, until General Sherman, [11:46] with the support obviously of General Grant, won the Battle of Atlanta and cut through [11:50] Georgia and was bringing the Civil War to an end. [11:54] But they needed that victory. [11:57] And he won. [11:58] He only got like 54, 56 percent of the vote. [12:01] You might say, well, that's a lot. [12:02] It wasn't a lot back then. [12:05] Franklin Roosevelt, believe it or not, the great liberal hope, he had periods of very [12:12] low support. [12:14] They called it the Roosevelt recession from 1937 to 38. [12:18] As we were coming out of the Depression, it fell again. [12:22] The court packing scheme, which, of course, the Democrats believe in today, that had an [12:27] impact on popular support. [12:30] And his popular support took a dive as a result of that. [12:34] He had congressional support. [12:35] He had congressional purge attempts in 1938. [12:37] What was he doing? [12:38] He was trying to blow out in his own party, in the primaries, the more conservative Democrat [12:42] members. [12:44] And he mostly failed. [12:46] And he took a hit for that. [12:48] What about George Washington? [12:50] You know, George Washington was very popular for a very long time. [12:54] But he was also unpopular for a period of time, too. [12:58] Toward the end of his presidency, he faced intense criticism from political opponents, [13:02] including Jefferson and Madison, who accused him of being influenced by, back then, the [13:08] notorious Alexander Hamilton. [13:11] And despite Washington's efforts to remain above politics, rise above the Federalist [13:16] and Democratic Republican parties, he became a partisan target. [13:21] The Jay Treaty, which was the treaty with Britain in 1794, was viewed as highly unpopular, [13:29] although it was very important. [13:31] Critics accused him of having a formal European style of leadership with his receptions. [13:39] He liked. [13:41] nice, proper receptions. He liked ballrooms. I think I know another president who likes [13:46] proper receptions and ballrooms. You know what it shows? Class. Class. Well, Washington [13:51] had class, but he was attacked for it. And by the time he left office, he was not as [13:57] widely celebrated as he was during the Revolutionary War as he is today. These are great presidents. [14:03] These are great men. Let's look elsewhere. Churchill. Churchill was called a warmonger [14:11] because you had a huge sort of movement, an appeasement movement throughout Europe and [14:17] especially in England. Appeasement movement. There's Churchill at the top of his voice [14:23] warning about Hitler. Hitler, even before he was really well known, he was yelling Hitler. [14:30] We got to watch Hitler. And then Hitler became more powerful and he was warning about Hitler. [14:34] In the 1930s, Churchill's call for rapid British rearmament. I mean, they were basically disarmed [14:42] effectively. [14:43] And the warnings about Adolf Hitler were viewed by many in the government and the public and [14:47] in the media as dangerous provocations that could drag Britain into another unnecessary [14:53] conflict. I mean, they just fought World War One and they'd had enough. A forever war. [14:59] They didn't want another forever war. And they didn't want all the casualties that came [15:03] with it. And Churchill warned them, we're going to have more casualties. We're going [15:10] to have more destruction if we don't rearm and get prepared for this maniac. And he was [15:19] right. [15:20] But then we had, of course, Neville Chamberlain peace in our time. It was a false peace, a claim [15:28] of peace early on in the process, too early on in the process. And, of course, we know what took [15:35] place after that. Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher worked extremely well and closely with [15:40] Ronald Reagan to defeat the Soviet Union. She won three elections. She was a long-serving prime [15:46] minister, by the way, forced out by a Tory party that was absolutely ungrateful, that was led by [15:55] individuals here. [15:56] Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher worked extremely well and closely with Ronald Reagan to defeat the Soviet Union. She was a long-serving prime minister that we would call rhinos. Just around too long. You get the same thing going on in Israel with their, what we would call rhinos, back biters, little chihuahuas, want to force out Netanyahu. But in the case of Thatcher, there was at one point in 1981, she was the most unpopular prime minister since World War Two, with 70% of the voters dissatisfied with her, more than half the country behind the new moderate alliance of social Democrats and liberals, according to the Gallup poll. [16:21] Margaret Thatcher. [16:22] Margaret Thatcher. [16:22] Margaret Thatcher. [16:22] Margaret Thatcher. [16:23] Margaret Thatcher. [16:23] Margaret Thatcher. [16:23] Margaret Thatcher. [16:24] Margaret Thatcher. [16:24] Margaret Thatcher. [16:24] Margaret Thatcher. [16:24] Margaret Thatcher. [16:24] Margaret Thatcher. [16:25] Margaret Thatcher. [16:27] Margaret Thatcher. [16:27] Margaret Thatcher. [16:28] Margaret Thatcher. [16:28] Margaret Thatcher. [16:28] Margaret Thatcher. [16:29] Margaret Thatcher. [16:30] Margaret Thatcher. [16:30] Margaret Thatcher. [16:31] Margaret Thatcher. [16:31] Margaret Thatcher. [16:31] Margaret Thatcher. [16:32] Margaret Thatcher. [16:32] Margaret Thatcher. [16:32] Margaret Thatcher. [16:33] Margaret Thatcher. [16:33] Margaret Thatcher. [16:33] Margaret Thatcher. [16:34] Margaret Thatcher. [16:34] Margaret Thatcher. [16:34] Margaret Thatcher. [16:35] Margaret Thatcher. [16:35] Margaret Thatcher. [16:35] Margaret Thatcher. [16:36] Margaret Thatcher. [16:36] Margaret Thatcher. [16:36] Margaret Thatcher. [16:37] Margaret Thatcher. [16:37] Margaret Thatcher. [16:37] Margaret Thatcher. [16:37] Margaret Thatcher. [16:38] Margaret Thatcher. [16:38] Margaret Thatcher. [16:38] Margaret Thatcher. [16:38] Margaret Thatcher. [16:38] Margaret Thatcher. [16:39] Margaret Thatcher. [16:39] Margaret Thatcher. [17:02] is and it's obvious that president trump is not influenced by it it's obvious that the media are [17:08] trying to handicap and undermine his effort which they always seem to do as well as the party [17:15] opposite the democrat party as well as the woke reich podcasters and isolationists as well [17:23] this static or these howling coyotes is not new as irritating and as annoying as it is but what [17:30] is new here is you have in real time and we can see it with modern technology [17:39] victory after victory if they're victory in the battle of iran they have no air force they have [17:47] no navy they have no radar they have no ground to air systems and yes they still can fire off [17:54] missiles from here from time to time but that's going to come to an end too and the casualty [18:02] numbers as horrible as any casualty is need some context let's look at world [18:08] war ii the battle of the bulge eighty thousand to ninety thousand plus casualties deaths and [18:15] injuries and so forth nearly ten percent of all the casualties in world war ii happened at the [18:19] battle of the balls near the end of the war the battle of okinawa fifty thousand plus casualties [18:26] over twelve thousand nearly thirteen thousand killed on that island which is what convinced [18:31] truman that we would lose a million men if we didn't drop the atomic bombs that we did [18:37] the battle of normandy that you're familiar with a hundred and twenty [18:40] thousand plus total casualties almost twenty one thousand killed the battle of iwo jima where my [18:46] grandfather fought you had twenty eight thousand casualties almost seven thousand killed on this [18:53] this island that wasn't even really an island the battle of guadalcanal where my great uncle fought [18:59] you had over fifteen thousand casualties and so forth now you might say well that's world war [19:04] ii this is a war or a peace mission to stop nuclear weapons that can blow [19:11] away [19:12] millions of americans every bit as important as world war ii the battle of gettysburg the civil [19:19] war over 51 000 casualties in that one battle about three three and a half days the battle [19:27] of chudamanga almost 35 000 casualties spot sylvania courthouse almost 32 000 casualties [19:35] the wilderness 30 000 casualties chancellorsville over almost 30 000 casualties shiloh 24 000 i got [19:45] to go on and on horrendous casualties crucially important wars now this is a crucially important [19:55] military operation war call it what you want peace mission and we ought to be celebrating the success [20:03] of our military unifying around our military and our commander-in-chief and urging them to complete [20:11] the task so our country is safe from nuclear weapons by insane suicidal primitives from the 7th century [20:22] be sure to like and subscribe for all the fox news latest on youtube [20:25] and catch full shows streaming now on fox one