*** COL. Doug Macgregor *** : Preparing for the Next Phase

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Gradually, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes, to love your country, you had to alter or abolish the government? What if Jefferson was right? What if that government is best which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Hi, everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Wednesday, February 7th, 2026. Colonel Douglas McGregor will be here with us in a moment. It now appears that the new start treaty is over, at least according to the former president of the Russian Federation. 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We have a lot to talk about. Some of these events have happened very quickly even since you and I said hello to each other a couple of minutes ago. You sent me an ex posting from Demetri Medvedyev who is the former president of Russia and currently the vice chair of the Russian National Security Council. I'll read it. That's it. For the first time since 1972, Russia, the former USSR and the United States have no treaty limiting strategic nuclear forces. Part one, salt two, start one, start two, sort, new start all in the past. What does this tell you, Colonel McGregor? Well, first of all, in start terms, remember the start process and the last was the new start. Limited the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads on 700 deployed nuclear delivery systems. Now they also talked about 800 deployed and non-deployed nuclear launchers of those missiles and airplanes that can launch nuclear weapons. Why does any of this matter? Well the point is there are no limits on what you can produce, no limits on the numbers of platforms at sea in the air and on the land. This means that it's open season now for Russia. Russia is in a stronger position than we are, they've already got more nuclear warheads. It would not be difficult at all for them to dramatically add to the existing arsenal or for that matter to add nuclear delivery systems. Now will they do that? Will they race to do that? That's something we can't know yet. But the biggest problem with this judge is that we're sending a clear and unambiguous signal that we are abandoning the structures of the past, 100%, that we've said that is no longer important to us. We, the United States, will do whatever we think is important for us and be damned with anybody else on the planet thinks. Now that sounds very cavalier and very romantic, but that comes across to the Russians as though we're going to build up for an attack against them. This goes back to our earlier discussion and the video I made where I talked about the criticality of adopting a no-first use posture from all of that out. All of that is now gone. And the Russian interpretation is, these people are not interested in peaceful coexistence. They want dominance. They want hegemony and they're going to do whatever is required to get it. That's a very dangerous message to send at this point. When I, Chris, if you'll post that again, when I read Demetri Medvedyev's ex, I didn't read the bottom. Look at that. Winter is coming. It looks like a zombie attempting to survive nuclear winter. Well, a message for them to send on the basis of our silence. All right. We lost the Colonel, I assume he'll log right back on with us. All right, so we are, the Colonel and I are discussing start two, which expires 10 hours from now. Here he is. Okay, your back, Colonel. Yeah, I guess maybe somebody over the NSA decided to shut us down. Who knows? But the bottom line is that was a snapshot from the Game of Thrones, which involves a massive invasion of zombie-like creatures from the north, and they're bringing winter with them. In other words, a holocaust of sorts. Wow. Let me play for you, President Trump's response when he was told of President Putin's offer to extend the treaty. You know, the treaty ends at midnight tonight, it's two o'clock in the afternoon. There are 10 hours to go, but there must have been some notification or Mr. Medvedyev would not have said that's it. Nevertheless, here's what the president said when he was told of President Putin's offer to extend this limitation of 1,500 warheads per country for another year. After February 5, 2026, Russia is prepared to continue adhering to the central quantitative limits of the strategic arms reduction treaty for one year. Going forward, based on an analysis of the situation, we will make a decision if we continue adhering to these voluntary self-limitations. We believe this measure will only be viable if the United States acts in a similar manner. The president is aware of this offer extended by President Putin, and I'll let him comment on it later. I think it sounds pretty good, but he wants to make some comments on that himself, and I will let him do that. Well, who knows if the president knew what he was talking about or what Neo-Con whispered what into his ear? How dangerous is this event, the series of events that occurred today, even American silence or American rejection, followed by Russian recognition that in 10 hours that treaty is over. All limits are off. Well, again, as you pointed out, I think some message was delivered to the Kremlin, or I don't think Medvedev would have said what he did. You know, it's dangerous, and there are no limits to the danger depending upon how people interpret this. But the Russians have to interpret this very negatively. And I think this is a hard truth for Mr. Putin in particular to accept. I think Putin has always believed that Trump, whatever his faults, was sincere and interested in avoiding a conflict. And extending the treaty was clear evidence for doing that. In other words, avoiding conflict. Well, we're not going to do it. So this completely undermines any assumptions that President Putin may have had about President Trump. When you talk to the Russians, one of the things that you get, Judge, is the view that the Europeans are the problem, that the Europeans are behind the Ukrainian war. The Europeans are sustaining it. The Americans are really good guys, and President Trump is really a good leader. I mean, this is actually popularly believed in Russia. Now, the truth is very different. Ukraine and that regime would be over tomorrow morning if we pulled the plug on it. And President Trump, despite the fact that I'd hoped he would do that early on, has failed to do that repeatedly. Now we're talking about a new start and essentially walking away from it after he reacted initially instinctively. Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I think President Trump was in receipt of information that was designed to persuade him otherwise. I think we have to understand that the White House is now neoconoccupied. And we are on a path, excuse me, to confrontation in numerous places. If I were going to try to look for an analogy to figure out where the White House is at this point, I would look at a nuclear power station that's facing a meltdown. And you've got hundreds of technicians all over the installation, putting out fires and trying to bring things under control. And as Trump himself mentioned just yesterday or the day before, "Oh, we're busy all over the world. We have things in Ukraine, we have things in Venezuela, we now we're talking about Cuba. We have difficulties in Iran and he seems to be very comfortable with the idea that we've got raging fires all over the planet. I don't think any of us should be comfortable with that at all. And I don't think the fires for the most part are necessary." How long does it take to build a nuclear warhead? Weeks, months, years? We can construct nuclear warheads and weeks without any difficulty at all. The Russians can do the same thing. They can multiply the air stockpiles very rapidly. The constrained are nuclear launch platforms. In other words, how many aircraft ships and various platforms do you have on land, air, and sea that can launch warheads? Now you can add to those, that takes a little longer. But the truth is, if you look at the numbers, 1,550 warheads, 700 launching systems, that's enough to destroy the planet as it is. What is to be gained by doubling or traveling that number, other than boasting rights? Nothing. In fact, I would say it's worse than just boasting rights. It's an invitation to disaster. How many times do we have to be told that a small accident in a far corner of the globe could precipitate on again? I mean, we've been saying this for 40, 50 years. You pick up any number of books I've got to have them lying around me. Thinking about the dangers of unanticipated events that precipitate a nuclear exchange. Then we have the tactical nuclear weapon fantasy, the notion that, "Well, it's only a small nuke." Because it's a small nuke, the Russians will say, "Oh, it's a small nuke." Everybody that's looked at that in uniform has said, "That's absurd." It uses a nuclear weapon of any size. The other side has an incentive to launch everything, to launch a first strike. Why wait around to be exterminated? It doesn't make any sense. The whole thing is on the margins of sanity. In fact, I think it's near insanity. This is why it's so tragic and unnecessary. The best thing we could do right now, given what's happening in Ukraine, given what's going on in the Middle East, given the potential hostilities with the Chinese over various things. The best thing we could do is extend this treaty. That would send a very powerful and positive message. My inclination is to believe that that's something that President Trump would normally do. Why is it he doing it? Before this breaking news, I was going to ask you about negotiations between the White House and the Russians over Ukraine and whether those negotiations will spill into will the United States attack Iran, because we know that Russia does not want Iran attacked. I guess those negotiations will continue, not with standing President Trump's silence or whatever they sent to the Kremlin and former President Medvedev's response. But do you think that Donald Trump is listening to any arguments in the White House advising him not to attack Iran? No, I do not. In fact, if I were to characterize the negotiation revolving around the Ukraine war right now, those are the ones with this man, Demetri, that we conduct, or the supposed talks that are scheduled between Ukraine and Russia, they're all meaningless. The Ukrainians led by Zelensky, the Zelensky government. I don't like to call him Ukrainian, because I don't think he represents the best interests of the people of Ukraine, but right now, he's termed a President of Ukraine. I don't see any evidence that his particular regime is going to give an inch on anything. And the Russians have already made their positions very clear. And President Trump has already said to the Ukrainians you're going to lose territory. You quote unquote have to make a deal. But apparently, the Ukrainians don't agree. There's no real pressure on them to do so from Washington, contrary to whatever President Trump may be saying. And then when you turn to the Iran situation, I think these new talks are very similar to what we've had in the past. And by that, I mean, they're playing for time. Who's playing for time? Not the Iranians, we are. And this goes back to the sudden recognition that the Mossad CIA inspired coup in Tehran a few weeks ago failed. And it was an assumption based on utterly inaccurate information that we've heard before. The regime is weak. It's widely hated. The people in the streets want to remove it. That wasn't really the case. The original demonstrations had began, were very legitimate. And they did not result in violence and they were not violently suppressed. What happens is, as we know now, as we had Mossad agents in these crowds, we had money being distributed. There were weapons distributed. And 40,000 starlight terminals that were designed to help orchestrate the entire event with the goal of weakening the regime to the point where a few strikes in the minds of some people in Washington, D.C. would precipitate the fall of the regime. Let's go on that failed that had no chance to begin with. So now, what are you left with? You have to attack. And the attack on Iran has to be so destructive that the state itself, perhaps the nation itself will disintegrate. And that's what we're building up to. And enough firepower is not yet on hand in the region. And more firepower is coming. So we're going to hold talks. Those talks aren't going to go anywhere. We know that. And I think the Iranians know it. This time, I don't think the Iranians will be fooled. What American military purpose would be served by an attack on Iran? Well, there is no military purpose in utterly destroying Iran. The purpose is entirely to make the entire region of the Middle East safe for Israel. Israel will not be safe until Iran is completely obliterated, until Iran no longer exercises any influence, ideally loses control of its oil and gas reserves, can't export, and can't import food, is coping with a terrible water shortage that could become deadly. Those are the things that the Israelis want, and we are obliging. We're the instrument that is designed to achieve that outcome. Well, it's important to understand some things. I don't think a lot of Americans get this. You cannot destroy Iran in isolation. We're going to try. There's no doubt about that. But you can't do it. Why can't you do it? Well, first of all, you've got the Turks watching from the sidelines. And the people of Turkey are already enraged. They are angered beyond description over what's happened in Gaza. The hatred for Israel inside Turkey, and to some extent, us is very powerful. Although, the Turks, much like the Russians, tend to forgive the Americans much more than I think they probably should, but we should be grateful that they do. But nevertheless, the Turks are looking at what's happening, and they're beginning to ask themselves a very important question, Judge. Well, if Iran goes setting aside the enormous refugee problem, the millions of people will pour into Turkey and into surrounding Arab countries. Who's next on the menu? Because it's very obvious that the Turks now confront the Israelis in southern Syria, and they confront the Kurds who are bankrolled in large part and supported by the Mossad in Israel. So they see the future, and the future is grim. If Iran is destroyed, they're likely next. So at some point, the Turks are going to have to make a decision. Do we simply stand by and watch this unfold and see Iran eliminated as a major player? Because whatever differences the Turks and the Iranians have, the Turks have no interest in the destruction of Iran. And that then brings us to China and Russia. Will China and Russia engage immediately in support of Iran? That's unlikely. But they will watch as these events develop, and neither Russia nor China are willing to sit by and do nothing when it comes to Iran. If they think Iran is going to be pulverized out of existence, the necessity of intervening to prevent that is very clear, and I think they will. And that brings us back to Turkey, because the Turks will look to the Russians and secondarily to the Chinese as well. Because they'll ask if we join in, because we don't want to see Iran destroy, where will you stand? Will you stand with us? And I think it's pretty clear the Russians definitely will. I'm sure the Chinese would do so from a distance. That's why the leader, this Ayatollah Komeni, who leaves Iran, has warned. This will not be like the war in June of last year. This will be a regional war. And he's right. It will be a regional war with global implications. To President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, whoever's the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio or Steve Whitkov, do they understand this as far as you know? Do you have any intel on any of this that you can share with us? Well, I can't comment on Whitkov for Kushner or any of the other people in the White House. It's around President Trump. They obviously have allegiances and loyalties, and those are to Israel. And I'm willing to believe that in their minds, they're also trying to be loyal to the United States. The problem is, I don't see a close identity in terms of interest and objectives between ourselves and the Israelis, but they obviously do. I think what we need to understand, once again, is where are the Russians at all of this? We know what the Iranians will do. The Iranians have no incentive to exercise any restraint. So they will use whatever they have quickly and decisively. The Russians, however, don't want to do that. But it was brought to my attention something that I hadn't paid attention to, I should have. You know that two February was the anniversary of the fall of Stalingrad in 1943. Now, that was a turning point for the Russians because up until that point, the Russians had lost continuously to the Germans. And that was a dramatic turnaround. And at first, it looked like the entire Eastern Front would crumble. We don't have to go into all of that, it didn't. The Germans actually recovered. But Putin attended those ceremonies, and people who spend hundreds of hours studying President Putin and other senior members of the government said something that I found very interesting. And he said, you know, Putin's family lived through the siege of Leningrad, which was horrific in and of itself. And he knows that. He understood all of that. He saw his parents go through that. Just as I used to watch my mother every seven December would sit and cry for an hour or two over Pearl Harbor. My grandfather used to do the same thing on 11 November because of World War I. So Putin feels that way about what happened. And at this ceremony, he made the right kinds of remarks, but people noted that he was noticeably solemn downcast. He was far more serious than usual. And it's not too difficult to ascertain that he's deeply depressed because he's afraid that Russia is being forced into another event, much like what they experienced during World War II. And that, of course, is something he does not want. But he may not see that Russia has much choice based on the kinds of signals that Washington is sending. And one of those is the signal that we talked about at the beginning of this hour. Well, believe it at that kernel. This is profound and terrifying. And I don't think the right person is in the Oval Office to address this with knowledge, courage and maturity. I mean, if there's nobody there who's saying to him, this is a time for restraint. If Pete Haggiseth is saying, yeah, we'll win and we'll fight and we'll achieve whatever you want. Donald Trump is listening to that. Good God. We are in for a dark winter. Winter is coming. I'm quoting President Medvedev. Well, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General King, has spoken to the president in the past about what was necessary to achieve success, whether or not they had enough force on hand and so forth. He can certainly make arguments that touch on some of these issues from a purely military standpoint. But again, I doubt seriously that he was appointed with that goal in mind. I think he was appointed because he was seen as somebody who was probably not going to push back against this. Who would be the yes man that has bossed the secretary of defense who calls himself the secretary of war is? Oh, Colonel McGregor, thank you very much. You may need your back soon, depending upon what happens in the next few days if we can prevail upon you. I think we've got a week at least before they assemble additional assets. I'd be surprised if it happened earlier. These are profound issues and admire your intellect and your courage, Colonel. Thank you very much. And your loyalty to this show. Thank you very much. All the best. We'll see you again soon. Sure. Thank you, Judge. Coming up on all of this, as well as the Israeli's reporting Americans free speech to the FBI. Well, it's Phil Gerardi, three o'clock, the great Phil Gerardi. Judge the Palatino for judging freedom. [Music]