Retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, joins Ian Proud to discuss the Iran war, Ukraine, the collapse of US recruiting, and why he thinks Donald Trump no longer has a coherent strategy.

In this conversation, Larry argues that:
• Trump has no real plan in Iran or Ukraine
• Pete Hegseth is driving the Iran war and lying to Congress, the White House and the public
• Russell Vought and Stephen Miller now carry more weight than Rubio, Vance or Hegseth in several areas
• Iran has the capacity to strike a US carrier, but may hold back for political reasons
• The US cannot generate the 750,000–1 million troops historically judged necessary for a full-scale Iran campaign
• Recruiting has collapsed and large numbers of troops are non-deployable
• JD Vance’s claim that “this is not a war” is being used to deny normal benefits to the dead and wounded
• Zelensky’s position is weakening and winter could prove decisive in Ukraine
• Europe faces a worse problem after the war than during it
• CIA, SIS and Mossad labs inside Ukraine will not simply disappear
• Roughly two-thirds of the world, especially those under 40, now see the United States as a threat
• China is winning through industrial strategy while the West remains locked into financial capitalism and political theatre
• Hegseth has failed to account for the defence budget in the way Rumsfeld and Powell once did
• The midterms may force Trump to drop the Iran “non-war” as domestic crisis takes over

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Follow Col. Larry Wilkerson
Eisenhower Media Network: https://eisenhowermedianetwork.org/
Quincy Institute: https://quincyinst.org/

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Chapters
00:00 BBC, France 24 and catching up with Larry
03:49 Reports of an Iranian strike on a US carrier
06:30 Trump has no plan — Vought, Miller and Hegseth
08:12 750,000 to 1 million troops and the recruiting collapse
12:13 How many US troops are actually deployable
14:35 Desert Storm compared with a war on Iran
15:39 Trump’s Medal of Honor post
16:38 Witkoff, Kushner and the Ukraine track
21:30 The Ukraine battlefield and a hard winter
23:45 Why Europe loses even more when the war ends
26:01 CIA, SIS and Mossad labs in Ukraine
29:19 Two-thirds of the world now hates the United States
32:58 The Western Hemisphere strategy and the Iran aberration
33:20 “This is not a war” — Vance and denied benefits
34:33 US casualties in the Middle East
36:28 China, industry and the end of SWIFT
40:52 Midterms, the Insurrection Act and walking away from Iran
42:31 Hegseth, lost billions and Congress
46:02 Will Hegseth be thrown to the dogs?
46:28 Polishing failure as success
49:14 Industrial capitalism versus financial capitalism
49:53 Meeting John Mearsheimer in Williamsburg#LarryWilkerson #IranWar #PeteHegseth #DonaldTrump #Ukraine #China #USMilitary #Geopolitics #Peacemonger #IanProud #JDVance #NATO #RealismWherever you are in the world, whatever your nationality and religion, I wish you much peace.

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