Why the Right Became Skeptical of War — and Should Stay That Way ｜ 6⧸19⧸25
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
159.98822
Summary
Conservancy and foreign policy have long been at odds with each other, but now, with President Trump in the White House, it s time to realize that the two parties are at odds on foreign policy issues that matter most to the American people.
Transcript
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We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
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Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
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After the COVID lockdowns, the Western global leadership class had little credibility left,
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so it seemed insane that they'd immediately pivot to a new crisis.
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Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered demands from elites in Europe and America
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for NATO-aligned nations to involve themselves in the conflict.
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Many Republicans were initially on board, with Fox News and CNN marching in lockstep behind intervention.
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But the Republican base quickly soured on the war,
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once it became clear that U.S. involvement didn't serve American interests.
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In a strange inversion, the right became anti-war, while the left championed military escalation.
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That reversal matters now, as some in the GOP look to drag the country into another long conflict.
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We should remember what the war in Ukraine taught us.
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When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded, many conservatives instinctively aligned with Ukraine.
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The Soviet Union was an evil empire and a clear enemy of the United States.
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It was easy to paint Russia as an extension of that threat.
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President Biden assured Americans that it would be no troops on the ground
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and that the economic sanctions would cripple Russia immediately.
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Hundreds of billions of dollars flowed to Ukraine while America entered a painful economic downturn.
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Conservatives began asking whether this was worth it.
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Now, to be clear, Putin was no friend of the U.S.
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and conservatives had valid reasons to distrust him.
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But suddenly, anyone questioning the war effort was smeared as a Russian asset.
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Opposition to the war became an extension of the left's deranged Russiagate conspiracy,
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which painted Donald Trump as a blackmailed Kremlin agent.
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Some Republican politicians kept pushing for the war.
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But much of the conservative commentariat broke ranks.
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They knew that the boys from Appalachia and Texas,
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exactly the kind of red state Americans progressives despise,
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would again be asked to die for a war that served no clear national purpose.
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From that disillusionment, conservatives drew some hard-learned lessons.
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They saw that U.S. leaders lie to sustain foreign conflict,
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that politicians in both parties keep wars going because of donors' profits,
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that Fox News can become a mouthpiece for military escalation,
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that you can oppose a war without betraying your country,
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and that American troops and tax dollars are not a plaything for globalist fantasies.
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Peace through strength didn't require constant intervention.
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Unfortunately, many of those lessons evaporated after the Hamas terrorist attack
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That attack was horrific, and no serious person denies the brutality of Hamas
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But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has treated the attack as a green light
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to target long-time adversaries, including Iran.
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As a sovereign nation, Israel can pursue its own foreign policy.
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But it can't dictate foreign policy for the United States.
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In 2002, Netanyahu testified before Congress that Saddam Hussein
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He said that toppling both the Iraqi and Iranian regimes
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Many were wrong about weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq war.
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But Netanyahu's track record is highly relevant now.
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While conservatives once fervently supported the Iraq invasion after 9-11,
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many, including prominent commentators like Tucker Carlson and Dinesh D'Azouza,
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The war in Afghanistan, while flawed, did have clearer justifications.
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The Taliban had harbored Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
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But the lies about weapons of mass destruction and failed nation-building in Iraq
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In March of this year, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard
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testified that Iran had not resumed efforts to build a nuclear weapon.
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Gabbard, like Trump allies Robert Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth,
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was chosen precisely for her skepticism of the organization she runs.
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Trump remembers how his first term was sabotaged by insiders loyal to the status quo.
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This time, he selected appointees loyal to him and the voters.
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Gabbard's assessment clearly contradicts that of Netanyahu,
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who claims that Iran is just months away from having a bomb.
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Either Iran hasn't restarted its program, or it's on the brink of building a nuke.
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Did Gabbard just lie to Congress and the public?
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Or did she simply say something the ruling class didn't want to hear?
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Trump, Gabbard, and even Vice President J.D. Vance have made it clear that they understand how Iraq went wrong.
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They know Americans deserve evidence before another war,
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especially one that risks dragging us into a region we've already failed to remake at great cost.
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Yet the war hawks keep repeating the same line.
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The United States is too powerful, too advanced, too economically dominant.
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And hundreds of billions of dollars later, we remain in a grinding proxy war with Russia to this day.
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Now, while still financing that war, Americans are told that they must back a new war.
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The U.S. faces domestic strife, crippling debt, and an ongoing open border crisis.
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Involvement in yet another conflict makes no sense.
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Look, ultimately Israel might be right about Iran.
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Tehran may indeed have developed a nuclear program behind the world's back.
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But if Israel wants to wage a war, it must do so on its own.
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The Trump administration has already made it clear that it wasn't involved in Israel's preemptive strikes and did not approve them.
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If Israel starts a war, it should fight and win that war on its own.
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America should not be expected to absorb retaliation or commit troops to another Middle Eastern project.
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These wars are never short, and they're always expensive.
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Even if Iran's regime collapses quickly, the aftermath could bring a long, brutal occupation to prevent it from descending into chaos.
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Israel doesn't have the capacity, let alone the political will, for that task.
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And I promise you, that burden would fall again to America.
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And that's not even touching on the refugee crisis, which at this point has completely transformed parts of Europe,
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just flooding them with Muslim immigrants who are fleeing these different regime change wars.
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Another one of these, another destabilized Islamic country where everyone heads west for benefits and safety,
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could be the final nail in the coffin for many of these European societies.
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So before conservatives fall for yet another round of WMD hysteria,
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they should recall what the last two wars have taught them.
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If the situation really is dire, let the Trump administration make its case to the American people.
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Present the evidence, debate in Congress, vote.
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But please, don't sleepwalk us into another forever war.
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