HomeVideos

COL. Douglas Macgregor : Israel's Critical Dependence on US Military Aid

Now Playing

COL. Douglas Macgregor : Israel's Critical Dependence on US Military Aid

Transcript

82 segments

0:00

How bad a setback is this

0:03

for Israel in general and Netanyahu

0:06

specifically?

0:08

>> I think it's a disaster for Israel.

0:11

And this was always my reason for

0:14

opposition to broadening the war in Gaza

0:16

to make war on the whole region, which

0:18

is a

0:19

effectively what the Israelis did.

0:21

And they were absolutely confident that

0:23

they had such complete control of us

0:26

that between us and them

0:28

they could mobilize firepower and

0:31

strength to defeat Iran.

0:33

I I was never very confident of that. I

0:35

always urged against it.

0:37

And now what they've done is that

0:39

they've unbalanced the region against

0:41

them. The Israelis have no friends left

0:44

in the region and we are not going to

0:46

restore our former

0:48

military presence in the region to its

0:50

pre-war height. It's not going to

0:51

happen. First of all, we don't need it.

0:54

It was never necessary for us.

0:57

Uh it was a legacy of the Cold War to a

0:59

large extent.

1:00

And we had an interest in in downsizing

1:03

in any case, just as we have an interest

1:05

in downsizing in Europe and elsewhere

1:07

and Northeast Asia. So, that's not going

1:10

to happen. What does Israel do?

1:12

Israel has steadily refused under any

1:15

and all circumstances to fundamentally

1:17

assimilate itself into the region.

1:20

It won't do it. So, how long can it last

1:24

as it sits there behind its walls

1:27

refusing under any circumstances to

1:29

cooperate with anybody on the other side

1:31

of the wall?

1:32

>> Well, if the United States will not

1:34

extend the war for greater Israel, will

1:37

Jewish people begin to leave Israel?

1:41

They mean you you have argued that the

1:43

entire architecture that the United

1:45

States and the United Kingdom created

1:47

after World War II

1:49

will soon be gone?

1:52

>> Yes, absolutely. The whole Sykes-Picot

1:55

construct is all going to be swept away.

1:59

I I'm not confident that the so-called

2:01

Emirates are going to survive or Bahrain

2:04

or Kuwait

2:06

or Qatar. Now, perhaps Qatar for various

2:08

reasons could slip through and survive.

2:11

Qatar has good relations with the Turks.

2:14

Qatar wants relations with Iran. They

2:16

they may be able to do it.

2:18

The others, I'm not so sure.

2:20

There may be new states that emerge.

2:22

That's eminently possible under new

2:24

leadership.

2:25

Uh some may go away completely. I think

2:28

Kuwait is very much on the road to

2:29

extinction.

2:31

Uh because Iraq, which is a strong ally

2:33

of Iran, and a lot of people don't

2:35

understand that. [laughter]

2:36

They think we actually fought and won a

2:38

war in Iraq. We didn't.

2:40

Uh

2:41

that's that's a almost a foregone

2:43

conclusion, I think.

2:45

So, you're right. Uh

2:47

the world has been turned upside down.

2:50

This is a dramatic moment in the history

2:52

of the Middle East and in world history

2:55

as as important as the defeat of France

2:58

by the Prussians in 1871 and the

3:01

creation of United Germany.

3:03

Uh this this is a a strategic inflection

3:07

point on a nearly global scale.

Interactive Summary

The video discusses the strategic crisis facing Israel, arguing that the expansion of the war in Gaza has isolated the nation in the region. The speaker posits that the post-World War II regional architecture is collapsing, predicting significant instability and the potential disappearance of various Middle Eastern states as global power dynamics shift dramatically.

Suggested questions

2 ready-made prompts