a with me ah ah . hello and welcome to cross stock where all things are considered. i'm peter lavelle. it would seem we have reached the point of no return. after being the target of sabotage, the north stream pipe wines will be mothball. the mutually beneficial energy relationship, europe and russia had for decades has come to an end. the geopolitical implications

are enormous, and europe is the biggest loser. ah . discuss these issues and more. i'm joined by my guess, karen krakowski and mount jackson. she is retired. united states air force colonel who served at both the n. s a and the office of the secretary of defense. and in washington we have michael maloof. he is a former pentagon senior security policy analyst, right, prostitute rules and effect. that means it can jump any time you want, and i always appreciate it. i want to start out with karen 1st. karen, it didn't make a lot of news in the west. well actually when the pipelines were blown up, it didn't get a whole lot of coverage. it kind of just disappeared. am in the act of probably the largest industrial sabotaged that i can think of. but it just, you know, went into the ether. everybody forgot about it, rushes just announced that it's going to mothball the thing. there is no energy

relationship in the future as far as rush is concerned, when it comes to europe, why would they rebuild those pipeline? someone would just blow it up again. um, i just, you know, in looking at this conflict here, i think the way i can is nato. and particularly the united states. they just thinking tactically, step by step. they have no real strategy here. and it's only good. it's only creating a river of tears, which the u. s. doesn't necessarily, is impacted in least in the, in the immediate term. it's, these are all craven acts of choice. karen? yes, they are acts of choice and it does appear like you said, to be focused only on tactical steps that aren't really connected to each other. but there is a philosophy that drives the sustainment long term sustainment of american unipolar global power. and they see russia and control of russia's resources and the

elimination of rushes, any type of near peer threat. that's part of the process. so, you know, the idea of throwing weapons continuing low level wars. i mean, this was, in fact, this is why we helped the taliban back in 79. you know, let's, we, can russia gone? this isn't, this is a long constant that it says it, it appears very disjointed, very stupid. but it is connected to a way we have done foreign policy for a long time. yes, bittman michael, it doesn't work. i would go all the way back then. and they're still trying to same a process. you know, the only difference is, you know, and i think it's important to point out for viewers, is in the, these adventures in afghanistan in iraq, in syria, in libya, g m. and for the average of western consumers, last citizen, these are just kind of pigments of them. it's something you hear on the news. ok. it but, but now this place called ukraine,

which nobody cared about in europe and in the united states, all sudden their, their entire lifestyle, their entire prosperity is at stake. here for something that never is never been explained. anyone, why is it important to be supporting this regime that was installed on democratic lee in 2014? never get that. and of course, you know, the conflict started on february 24th, but nobody talks about what happened in the 8 years before that. and then, and maybe this is all by design because it's complicated or they would show that this is just another adventure, michael? yes, well, it's a see no evil here. no, we will issue here that we have going there. this is all by a reaction to the, to the impulses by the, by the administration and the, and the goons. he has working for him, namely, victoria newland blinking, and sherman. they are driving,

they've been driving this, and when bitin was vice president, he was driving this the service narrative and resulting in that 2014 coo this he still to this day, cannot convince the american people what the national security imperative is of ukraine cannot do it, and it's, and people have asked, and you never get an answer. it's really much larger than ukraine. it's, it's trying to contain russia even try to change the, the government. they're all together. even partition by the is the tories for partitioning. he loves it. he will, he envisioned it for syria. he's envisioned it for iraq. so that, that, and that what we're seeing here today is that we haven't learned our lessons beginning from the vietnam war. and then f n a stamp we,

we've left all kinds of equipment. what have you strewed all over asia, all over and, and now ukraine and then in the middle east. and we haven't gained anything from these adventures. and they, and they're just reacting to events. there's no plan by the, by the, by the administration for them or even by the bush administration, with respect to iraq. so this, we haven't learned our lessons and we're doomed to failure. and it's just not going to, it's just not going to work. russia has turned more eastward in his involved in that karen well points out to the unit in terms of a unipolar world order that us, thanks. it's still leading, but it is now turning into a multi polar world order that involves the entire eurasia portions. and it's also get a middle eastern countries in gates such as bricks. if they all of them together

combine constitute over half the population of the world. and here to us just is isolating itself. it has even caused europe to be angry at it for driving. it into this malaise. and i think the in the anger is only started. i would just started it, it just started. this is that it was it from the tyranny this mentor that ukraine is winning, which is patently false. ok, it's patently also. and, but that, that creates a momentum of its own. that means, so send even more weapons, but don't on them. don't hold the government, they're accountable. i mean, this is lunacy here. ok? because these weapons are going all over the place. you know, the lord of war where it wasn't about the former, it was up former you communist ukraine. it wasn't about russia. ok. it was about

odessa and what was all the web? it's a wonderful film. nicholas cage. it's great in it. but i mean, this is what we're having, we're having weapons are going to end up all is going to end. we've weapons will end up being used against people that are providing them. ok, it's a and it is sacrosanct. no, no oversight, because he's are, are ours lose an and democratic government it's, it's a, it's a comes from a qu, we have very nefarious a meets neo nazi, ultra nationalists, and very well documented. the european union documented this way before 2014 and but no ukraine is winning, which gives the the impetus to send it more arms. we'll, you can turn it around and say, well, if they're winning, why haven't they won? because with the west is entity on all of it's of stockpiles and it still hasn't made a difference here again where the inquiring minds and well, they're starting to emerge even in america because the logic doesn't,

doesn't fit. i'm certainly ukraine is. it's not waning that's, that's pretty clear on the, when you look at the audit and the move to even suggest an audit and not necessarily ukraine, but the on it resolution that the republicans have put forth only after in the germ elections, they wouldn't even touch it before that, but after the midterm election, they have a short audit proposal which may or may not get through. and now it does this look at not the ukrainian side, the american side, which of course they do not want to do because we have emptied out quite a bit. and that's the object. that's the object. this, this is a, is a, yeah, a purge in preparation for great reloading of, of the western side of the u. s. i said there's tons of money been made and i'll, you know, i looked at the audit resolution language and am they, they went emails, they went phone conversations, they want a, who knows who and said what, but it's all on the mostly on american side because we have very little power and

access to see what's on the ukrainian side. and also it's, it's, it's a joke really on the ukrainian side. because if you do not deploy and send weapons over with on it mechanisms in place at the time that you don't have a system, this is how we operate. you don't go after the fact that we are going to track down this. you will never track it down and like you said about a desa, absolutely one word odessa. anyone who, who knows anything about is going to say, oh, i know it does is famous for because we do know what it's payments for. so they're not going to track this down, there's gonna be, well, there is already has been and it will be up to the interpol and global launch for spent over many, many years in the future to track the sinks. and if they ever are. but this, the big chat, the big oh, interesting problem for americans is what we have done in washington. and, and what that's about because it certainly is not about saving ukrainians there. there wasn't much ukraine democracy to saved him because not about that. it,

it is about poetry and managing our puppet and, and to me that the next big news will be, keep an eye on zalinski for his own safety and for what it says about that process . and so, but i mean, this is so rend us that the disregard for ukraine as a country ukraine became people the history of ukraine, the buildings, you know, i think hootin has in the way he didn't, he didn't conduct the strike sunday infrastructure like what has got like we did interact with us the 1st and 2nd time, you know, we're going big time. wipe it all out and we don't talk about impacts on people's lives. we don't talk about that. it's just not mentioned. it's buried like what happened to the nordstrom ice behind. you know, we don't talk about it, but, but russia knows exactly what it was about and then on trying to kill, you know, they had a very clear jet, which is shocking. it's shocking to americans. if they're paying attention, this person had a plan, it made sense, it was limited, and then he followed through with that almost. exactly. and we're not used to that

we're, we're looking for. where's the sag message? you know, actually he's not in, he's not an american policy. maker, so there, you know, we actually had a plan and that thing was not to, i think, kill and destroy all of ukraine. but that's what's happening. thanks to the united states. i think i'm only in michael and michael, what we had was we had the assemble process were, you know, the, the, the, the sort of a quote unquote russian column going up to care. which of course, was to, was a diplomatic par lane. look at me. we've shown you where we can go, we show you our problem this year, and you didn't listen to us before the conflict. now the conflict of started, we want to go back to what we wanted in december before the conflict. and then you have my voice johnson show up probably just as a, as an errand boy from the the vitamin ministrations. i know if you want to make this deal, we're not going to back you up here. but that, that was the, the, the sense of the special military operation. i think we all have to agree that it

failed because you were dealing with a free agent. the ukrainian government was a puppet of nato. and that's why we had this. and now it looks very likely that there will be a winter offensive the ukrainians can try whatever they want, because it's nato now. but the russians know how to fight in the winter, and now you got the window. the ground is getting hard, michael. yeah, well the, the, the, the point you make is very valid because i think it was a rat's enough. zelinski had every opportunity to settle things. sorry in the implement the mens one mens 2 agreements. but you had the us army, he ran on and it is a presidential candidate. yes. and the u. s. pro and europe prodded him not to do that and never realized in that that, that russia would carry out its its threat because it was feeling threatened with the expansion of nato coming in. and now that we have put now that we pushed out

putin's button and he reacted to it. it now we don't have a plan on her to the west and europe doesn't have a plan. and as, as karen's points out, and i think that you, you just don't go into a conflict lesson until you know where, what the end game is going to be. and yet we repeatedly violated that in a way hold that thought they were going to go to a short break. and after that short break, we'll continue our discussion on some real new stay with our tea. ah ah ah

ah not another way you. while you easy while fantasizing with one slide yes. south. yeah. thrashing south with the new dock cause i'm not biased now. which dumb up all me at that a bull up right. pete on that is emma? yeah. full body of whom shall i be? skims room. she thought seriously the y fi ela, a bill, and that's my thought or join in that again, your fortune pretty up my be

a lot about it more than just for natural ah, who welcome out to cross stock were all things are considered. i'm peter lavelle. this is the home addition to remind you were discussing some real news with ok. let's go back to karen, karen, he know, i guess one of the things, it's very frustrating me. you're a veteran of the armed forces alone air force. um, and when i look at the rhetoric of, you know, unprovoked attack ok out of the blue and, and, you know, and, and then you know, you have this ukraine, this david and goliath of propaganda. well, i mean,

for 8 years ukraine was fortified as an anti or russian military bastion, which is not taught though you can read it in the, in the washington post in december of last year about the arms transfers massive arm transfers that were going to ukraine. and, and then you know, victimology, and this is what really irritates me the most. and i think future historians, we'll, we'll, we'll focus a great deal of time on this. ukraine is, is a volunteer. it's not a victim, it's a volunteer. it is i, it's politically decided to volunteer itself to be a nato proxy. now, i think of all of the other proxies over the last 50 years, and you'd say to them, you know what, it doesn't usually work out very well for you guys, but they do it any way that the victimology goes even further. is the euro allowed

itself to play the victim? no, it was a volunteer. ok. and then you have your great american ally definitively turning off your energy relationship with russia. they volunteered for this. they're not victims. well, it's a good point and it's, it's fascinating that they did volunteer to do something. i'm so opposite of the interest of their own people, you know, and i don't not a european and i don't follow green policies, you know, global, that movement, you know, but that seems to be, has, it has messed nicely with them. let's freeze out europe. let's destroy europe's ability to, to use any fossil fuels and, and we'll, we'll jumpstart the new green. i, revolution or whatever. and i don't understand that, and i don't know why it doesn't seem any more logical than, than the russians going up their own. hi, blaine, i mean we hear these things and they're not logical. and yet we accept them. media

accepts them and then the people who consume the media feel that, that they've been well served when in fact they know, you know, nobody has been served and we don't have the information that we need. so it's not really logical. and, you know, there is, and you mentioned this at the beginning, you know, there is a lot of our anger and angst in it's, it's beyond angst. it's, it's anger and rage, i guess it's developing across the various countries of europe. and you're seeing, you're seeing arguments amongst the siblings, amongst the you, siblings, of the debate between italy and france over a shipload of immigrants, you know, has it has been a major issue and, and people are and this happens, this happens when in families when the food and energy dries up and they are a family that is, that is beginning to starve and fries to some extent or to see that on the horizon . and i am going to fight amongst themselves. and so if we were, if we were against the e. u and against the united states. and i would not give, couldn't, is credit because i have no reason to, but in fact,

what the russians have done has put all of the west on its heels. now of course, it's what we have done, as you said, we volunteered to do this. we, we blew up the pipeline. we collectively, we are decided not to have a energy relationship with europe. you know, we've chosen all these things we've chosen to expand nato for no reason. we've chosen these things, but in fact, it's put us all on our heels and it, it, it has even impacted the united states to some extent. it's not the only thing that's affected our, our recession and our crisis of confidence in our politics or whatever. but all this is coming back on. i seem to think that it's going to wait before it comes back on to. so it will be 5 years in and we'll see no, no, the historians need to get working right now because it acne, it's happening in the middle of whether the media, so myopic and so biased. but michael is the, the predicate for the special military operation was the fact that the west

nato specifically decided to ignore russia security requirements and made it very clear on the 7th and december 17th of last year and know to nato natal. i don't know to washington saying the situation is become untenable. pen. european security is in tatters right now. the pan european security has been, has been design without russia, in fact, against russia and we things cannot stand. okay. we got, they got crickets. ok. and then this conflict started. now they can keep to negotiations, you know, diplomatic solution. well, i think that's ridiculous because russia will continue until it is achieved, what it's what it wants. it's not going to be done through diplomacy and negotiation. stuff in that time is passed because russia will not under any circumstances mrs. custeel please. and let this happen in another 5 years, another 10 years, another 15 years. you know, they want

a definitive outcome, and it's all about pants, pain, european security. now personally, i would say i'm putting either one of you on the spot, but the 1st step in creating pen european security is, is taking, is dismantling nato. go ahead. well, it should have been dismantled because it wasn't. there is no more warsaw pact and, but nato saw an opportunity and this was all driven by the neocons in the united states to isolate, to, to contain russia now russia to putting himself. so the that you're approaching a red line. he made that very clear in the december discussions and an exchange of documentation that the stolen burgundy us didn't believe it. just take him at his word and they and they kept pressing. we should have learned lessons from the georgia, 2008 excursion. we didn't, we put georgia,

in fact they had money in the us marines. i just finished maneuvers in a joint operation or joint exercise with georgia back in 2008. we, we don't, we think that we're so invincible that, that was what we say rules, and it's not when, when you, when you contain a country such as georgia or russia rather, and you bring in nato right up to the federation line. you're going to feel threatening as is nowhere else to turn pollutant made it very clear. and we were, we came half way across the world to, to exercise our power. and now we're, we're reaping the, the, the consequences we are not. we are again, our own worst enemy each we, we have, even though we have pledged ourselves to, to, to arm ukraine till the end. we were all running out. we probably thought this thing was going anyway,

but now we're hurting ourselves once again. and we're, we're now sending over another $30000000000.00 that says this is insane. and i'm now that we, we have republicans coming into the house. they have promised to be much more skeptical of the, of any assistance to ukraine. and they could really hold things up. and i, i really wish sherry, i wish i could share your optimism. this is what you're saying, that this is what they're saying. i'm not going to say it's going to happen. they're going to be improving some stuff. but, but you know, it's, it's, we are our own worst enemy in the stuff we've got to stop it. when we haven't lurch, look, when you talk about accountability of, of where stuff goes. we have no idea. look at, look at the $85000000000.00 of equipment we handed over to the telecom in iraq, in and not only afghanistan, but,

but elsewhere. we had in afghanistan, we could, we had an inspector general who was constantly monitoring. we're stuck. what were all the procurement was going? he couldn't do it. it was an interesting question. karen, i have said repeatedly on this program. is it, it's it's, it's not a coincidence that the afghan griff comes to and when the ukraine risk starts. ok, and the numbers are there is matter of fact. and they've been it extremely generous with ukraine. i mean, when you think of every single year they had to beg, borrow and steal, and you know, it's for the children are not going to stand to get the money there. you know, just one more year we were almost around around the corner just, you know, one more year in this is going to be just in there with ukraine. what, how it did blank check is really there. this is something that did. this is an

amazing grip. in such a short amount of time, no descent whatsoever in the media. and then you have kevin mccarthy, just kind of, you know, week of sheepishly saying, well maybe there shouldn't be a blank check and then you saw what happened with that. okay. the thing that the jury is out on your thoughts care? well, i mean, i think if, if we were doing a criminal investigation, this is, these are the things we would be looking at. okay. you know, it's like the mob, it's are like what we think the mob is from television. you know, it's, it's like that kind of an operation. it's. yeah, we should be talking about it, but it's so close to home. maybe we can't. and certainly both sides of congress are, are, are very much beholden to the defense establishment and the process in washington as how by which money is allocated in and sent out there. and nobody is interested in any type of audit. nobody is interested in a forensic investigations,

they don't want to know and, and it really is some, it's interesting they could have, you know, by an administration really doesn't like trump. and so they buy them buying, pulled the people out very awkwardly from afghanistan. well, you'd think maybe they would have looked into where the stuff went, because then they couldn't blame truck for it. you know, something critical like that. but they don't, they don't even care. it's not even enough. if we can blame truck for it, we do not want to look at it. but i do want to say thank mike very much for seeing what i think me a lot of people think. why is nato still a construct? you know, how many years after the fall of them were so packed and it, instead of it, he didn't even shrink. you know, it's one thing to say, well, it should have gone away. i thought so too, at the time i thought it would, i just assumed that it would an infected not only did it not go away, but it began to get new missions and expand and become more of a bigger entity, which is again my theory. my theory of the case of that is that the nato aspires to

be an alternative to the united nations. you know, make mccain's, you know, i'll make nations of them. democratic was the, some kind of league of, of democracies and things like that. just to be able to replace the united nations with the u. s. t only uses when it to it's to works. there was advantage or i think they tell us of a much bigger calling, and that's why it's out of out of area operations. and when that's why last 20 seconds, you can remember almost out of time. well, we had a big problem on our hands here. and now how it, how it is. i think we're running out of really positive options. we need to start listening to the russian side and being serious about ending this. and i don't see that seriousness. i think the american people are not informed. so they're not pushing back. and it'll just take some more negative things to happen before we do . ok, learning is very difficult for this felicia,

that's all the time i want to thank my guest, man jackson and him watching it. one thing our viewers are watching and seen r t c. next time. remember across apples ah ah ah, i'm wrong. i just don't a sheep out because the african and engagement equals the trail. when so many find themselves worlds apart, we choose to look so common ground. i am, my name is frank from a reserve from philadelphia. got in the movement in any age, 13 or 14,

we are violent towards those people because we believe that we're in this race. we're here 1st and this is our country being part of that movement. i got your sense of power. when i felt powerless, we got attention when i felt invisible and accepted when i felt lovable. life after hey, is an organization that was founded by for skin neo nazi white supremacist in the u. s. in canada. and they found each other and they knew that they wanted to help other guys get out was 2 parts to getting out of a violent extreme. this was the 1st part of disengagement, which is where you leave the social group. and then the next part is d, radicalization. work belief systems. audiology are removed. it was very impactful when someone finally came along with no fear, no judgement, you heard my story did nothing to challenge it without.