Editor’s Notes: Join Judge Andrew Napolitano on Judging Freedom for a provocative and high-stakes analysis of the escalating conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran with guest Scott Ritter. Ritter offers a blunt assessment of why he believes Iran is winning the war, labeling U.S. military actions as a “war of aggression” with devastating global consequences. The conversation delves into the logistical failures of current military strategies and the sheer impracticality of a successful ground invasion. This episode provides a critical perspective on the shifting power dynamics in the Middle East and what Ritter describes as a significant strategic defeat for the U.S. and its allies. (March 31, 2026)
TRANSCRIPT:
“Undeclared wars are commonplace. Tragically, 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.”
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: 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 Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Scott Ritter will be with us in just a moment on why Iran is winning this war.
The War Against Iran: A War Crime
SCOTT RITTER: I mean, so many people have died. It’s murder. Let’s start. Let’s get just dead serious right off the bat. It’s a war crime. The United States is a nation that is committing the most egregious of war crimes — a war of aggression. This was a war of choice. There was no imminent threat from Iran. In fact, what had been articulated as an imminent threat by the United States — Iran’s nuclear program — was being resolved diplomatically. And then the United States and Israel carried out their surprise attack. When the Japanese bombed us, it was called the day of infamy. Imagine what the Iranians call it. But it was perfidy. Literally, we were operating under a flag of truce and then we attacked the Iranians.
So we are a war criminal state, and Pete Hegseth is a war criminal. And we have to start out by saying this because it frames everything that follows. America, wake up. Our government is committing crimes in your name, our name. We are a war criminal nation.
So now let’s take a look at this. Some people would say, well, the ends justify the means. I mean, if we get rid of the Iranian state and we can secure Middle East oil and all this stuff, what’s international law? We’ve been breaking it. We invaded and occupied Iraq back in 2003, spent the better part of a decade doing that, and thousands of Americans died. But nobody cares.
For all you people out there that say you support the troops — I just despise these people. Do you really support the troops? You’ve never supported them, because you haven’t gone to the VA and changed the colostomy bag of a guy that got his guts blown out. You haven’t held the hand of a wife or a daughter who has to sit there and stare at her husband or father drool into a cup because his brain has been addled by a roadside bomb.
Nobody cares about the American troops. We like them when they’re good looking and in uniform. But what happens when he comes back in a wheelchair, or a basket case, or he comes back with a drinking problem or a drug addiction because of the pain that was inflicted on his body, or the psychosis in his mind? Do you love him then? No. You walk away. You leave him abandoned. His guts are torn out and his heart’s torn out. America sucks as a nation. We don’t support our troops at all.
The Failed Objectives of Pete Hegseth’s War
SCOTT RITTER: So we’re talking about sending people out to fight and die in a war to achieve what? Pete Hegseth says that this is because we’re going to remove the regime in Iran. Forty-seven years those people have been tormenting America. Really? I think it’s America that’s been tormenting them. Iran hasn’t sanctioned us — we’ve been sanctioning them. Iran hasn’t assassinated our nuclear scientists — we’ve been assassinating theirs.
America, the stupidity of the American people is beyond belief. Buying into this notion that we’re going to get rid of the Ayatollah and suddenly the regime is going to collapse, and in the process of collapsing, we’ll get them to agree to get rid of their missiles — because that’s the other stated objective, to stop Iran from launching missiles and drones.
Well, the regime didn’t collapse. We killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The regime is still there. His son is now the Ayatollah. Yeah, we got rid of the one Ayatollah that said it was against the law to produce nuclear weapons, and we replaced him with another Ayatollah who said, “Who knows? Maybe we’ll have to reconsider this, because you guys attacked us.” Nuclear-armed nations attacking us when we’re supposed to be protected from this attack by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — it says when you sign the treaty and enter a safeguards agreement, you’re sort of immune from this sort of thing. But nope, here comes the United States and Israel, because we don’t care about international law.
Bombing Iran, we didn’t collapse the regime. We made them stronger. So, Pete, you lost. If your job was to collapse the regime — they’re there, they’re winning, you’re losing.
Now, what about those missiles, Pete?
How did that happen? Ask the Gulf Arab nations getting bombarded every day. Ask yourself, Pete — where’s the classified report on the battle damage assessment done to the US bases in the region? They’re being wiped off the map, Pete. That’s on you, pal. And what about Israel, our ally? They’re getting slammed every single day. That’s on you, Pete. You haven’t won anything.
We have lost this war. We’re losing it now, and we’ve lost it badly. Because now the unintended consequences — well, I say unintended, but they were knowable. Everybody knew it. The global energy crisis that’s taking place right now — that’s Donald Trump’s crisis. He did it. Pete Hegseth did it. These war criminals have now also committed economic crimes against the world.
How would you like to be Japan, thinking America’s your ally? South Korea, thinking America’s your ally? And suddenly wake up one morning not only to find out that your energy prices are going through the roof — South Korea is going to have to start rationing gas because they don’t have any. They got it all from the Middle East, and it ain’t flowing right now.
But it’s not just that. We took away all their air defense too, and sent it off to the Middle East, because our air defense sucks. We don’t know how to defend against missiles. So not only did we not knock them out, we can’t shoot them down. The Iranians have free reign to strike wherever they want, whenever they want, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them. We lost this war.
The Impossibility of a Ground Invasion
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: What a tremendous dissertation. My hat is off to you. I don’t even think you came up for air. What military purpose would be served by the introduction of boots on the ground?
SCOTT RITTER: None whatsoever. Let’s back this up. In Trump’s first term, the Iranians shot down one of our Global Hawk drones — a big drone — over the Strait of Hormuz, for theoretically flying into Iranian airspace. And Trump, being the blustering fool that he is, said he wanted to bomb them in return. And the Pentagon said, “Hey, boss, we may have strayed into their airspace.” But Trump said, “I don’t care. America, you can’t shoot down our drones. We have to punish them.”
So they drew up a plan to strike Iranian air defense sites — the ones responsible for shooting it down. But the Pentagon said, “Hey, you hit them, and we’re going to start a sequence of events that’s going to finish with them blowing the hell out of all of our bases, knocking the crap out of everything else, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. We don’t have the forces arrayed for this.”
And they said — here’s the important part — in order to defeat Iran, we would have to come in with about 900,000 troops. It would take us easily nine months to one and a half years to assemble these troops. And even once we assembled them, there’s no guaranteeing we would get them across the beach, because this ain’t going to be Desert Storm, where American troops are flying into airfields where nobody’s attacking them or landing in ports where nobody’s attacking them. The Iranians will be destroying all the infrastructure, and they have missiles that can hit our ships as they come close to shore. Trump wisely refrained from striking.
So now today, you’ve got people talking about ground action. Understand that anything — when we’re talking about 10,000 troops — guys, you can’t do anything with 10,000 troops. When I helped plan — I was just a junior lieutenant at the time, I did the intelligence assessment for the amphibious operation to take Bandar Abbas, which is a major Iranian city — we went in with 60,000 Marines. That was the plan. 60,000 Marines. And then the Army was going to follow through with about 180,000 soldiers. So we had 240,000 guys on the ground to take Bandar Abbas — a major effort.
We don’t have that capability today. We don’t have the pre-positioned ships. We used to have all our stuff on ships so we could come in with amphibious forces, seize the ground, bring the ships into the port, offload them, fly in the troops, and off they go to fight. We can’t do that today. We don’t have any of this capability. We’d have to mobilize troops. It takes us six months to get a single heavy Army brigade out of its base in the United States ready for deployment — to ship down and go off to Europe to do its little rotational duty. Now you want to talk about moving hundreds of thousands of troops? We don’t have the shipping to do it. We don’t have anything left. We suck as a military. People need to understand this.
No Plan, No Reinforcements, No Victory
SCOTT RITTER: So now what have we done? We’re sending two Marine Expeditionary Units — battalion landing teams, the Thundering Herd and Dark Horse. These are legendary Marine units. But Marines aren’t immortal. And you put them on a beach without appropriate support, they’re going to die.
We put multiple battalions across the beach at Iwo Jima to take on the Japanese. Now what? We’re going to take on Iran with two Marine battalions? And where are the reinforcements? There are no more Marines there.
Oh, the paratroopers are going to come in, you hear? Guys, ever think about airborne operations? They jump in with what they have. What happens when they run out of ammunition and you can’t resupply them because everything’s getting shot down, or the drones are coming in hitting them? They all die. They tend to surrender. Think the British at Arnhem — “A Bridge Too Far.” You might want to look at that movie. What happened to the 1st British Airborne Division? What’s going to happen to any paratroopers we send in this ground invasion?
This stuff is nonsense. The Rangers are going to come in? Really? The Rangers aren’t that good. First of all, a bunch of young kids with shaved heads who proved they could do a bunch of tough stuff — but they’re not that good at fighting. And they’re going to go in and do what? Die. That’s what they’re going to do. Die.
Delta Force? Delta Force went SCUD hunting during Desert Storm. Every insertion was detected by the Iraqis. Every Delta Force team that went on the ground was running for its life within the first hour it was on the ground. That’s how good Delta Force is. Now we’re going to go into Iran, which has many, many more troops?
We don’t have a plan. This is Pete Hegseth making it up as he goes along. The fact that we’re mobilizing these forces now means we didn’t think about it up front. So now we are reacting.
Iran Owns the Decision-Making Cycle
SCOTT RITTER: And when you’re reacting, we come into Colonel John Boyd’s decision-making cycle — the OODA loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Fighter pilots use it because that’s how you shoot people down. The Marine Corps adopted it as part of our maneuver strategy. You want to get inside the enemy’s decision-making cycle so that you’re acting and they’re reacting. And when that happens, you win 100% of the time.
Guess who’s reacting? The United States. The Iranians own our decision-making cycle.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Well, are we negotiating, or is Trump making this up?
The Fantasy of Negotiations
SCOTT RITTER: He’s making it up. The Iranians aren’t negotiating.
We — this is Judge again. I’m laughing because it’s just mind boggling. Hollywood couldn’t come up with a script like this. I mean, people would read the script and go, “No, no, this would never happen. That’s unrealistic. No diplomat would ever do that. And no nation would allow itself to be fooled twice.”
Donald Trump in June 2025 said, “Hey, let’s have a nuclear deal.” Iran went, “We’re ready to negotiate in good faith. We’re going to go to bed on Friday night, work Saturday, Sunday, on Monday we’ll show up and we’ll conclude this deal.” They went to bed Friday night — bam, bam, bam. Assassinated by Israel using US intelligence. Trump bragged about it. Not making this up, guys. That’s what we did perfectly.
Now we come to this one and Trump said, “We want a deal.” And the Iranians went, “Okay.” And they sat down and they made a deal. They actually had a deal ready. People flying into Washington D.C. to get it signed off on. When there we go again. Surprise attack. Perfectly.
The Iranians are done. The Iranians have shown so much restraint over the course of the past years. They haven’t gone full bore, but now they said it’s all bets are off. “Guys, we’re taking everything out. You want to play this game? We’re going to take it all out.”
Wait till they start hitting the desalination plants. They already hit one in Kuwait. When they take them out, there won’t be a single nation left. I mean, I love the United Arab Emirates. Those fat, stupid Arabs with all their oil money, ruling over a country where 85% of the population isn’t Arab. They’re foreigners coming in, 85% of their military, mercenaries. The Sparta of the Middle East. They’re sitting there talking big and bad. Your desalination plants are about to go boom. And when that happens, you won’t have anybody left in your pathetic little country. All you have is a bunch of sand and good luck. You’ll have some oil. You can drink that, maybe, but that’s it. You won’t be drinking water unless it’s salt water. Then you’ll die.
That’s what’s going to happen to the totality of the Gulf Arab states if this war continues. And it’s on Donald Trump and it’s on them, because they’re just sitting there playing the victim. “We didn’t want anything to do with it.” BS — you gave safe haven to American troops that were then used to attack Iran not once, but twice in the past year. And you want to pretend you’re innocent. No, you’re paying the price.
The only way you get out of this is to kick the United States out, which is one of Iran’s principal negotiating positions. But they’re not negotiating. They just said, “You have to get the hell out of here.” This isn’t a game of us sitting down to talk. Who are they going to sit down with? Steve Witkoff? Jared Kushner? No, they’re the same guys they sat down with the first and second time. They’re not going to do that.
There are other nations out there that are desperate for a peace deal that are in contact with the Iranians. The Iranians are telling them, “Pound sand, we won’t negotiate.” Then they go to the United States and say, “Well, we think what the Iranians might want.” And Donald Trump then says, “I’m in negotiations with the Iranians.” The Iranians aren’t giving the United States anything. They’re not doing it. Directly or indirectly. This is the fantasy of Donald Trump. I mean, the man is just a psychotic liar.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Here’s Pistol Pete just a few hours ago, about 8 o’clock this morning, trying to convince a skeptical press that negotiations are going on. Chris, cut number 21.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
Pete Hegseth’s Claims of Ongoing Negotiations
Pete: Having been with Steve and Jared and the Vice President and many — Marco and many others yesterday. They are very real, they are ongoing, they’re active and I think, gaining strength. And we appreciate that.
As I said in my remarks, we would much prefer to get a deal if Iran was willing to relinquish material they have and ambitions they have. Open this great. That’s the goal. We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to. But I didn’t mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime, we’ll negotiate with bombs. Our job is to ensure that we compel Iran to realize that this new regime, this regime in charge, is in a better place if they make that deal. And so we’ll continue. We’re working hand in hand, but the primary effort is a deal. We want that deal to be accomplished if at all possible. If not, then we’re prepared to continue.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
The Strait of Hormuz and the Cost of Failure
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Headline in the Wall Street Journal saying, Trump willing to give up on the Strait of Hormuz.
SCOTT RITTER: Give up. Your ass has been kicked. And Pete, screw you, you lying sack of manure. I mean, this guy is pathetic. A deal? There is no deal, Pete. You lost the war. Our negotiating is bombing. What the hell have you been doing for the past several weeks, Pete? You used all of your precision guided munitions. You got nothing left, Pete. Nothing. You blew it all. You shot your wad, buddy, and what did you do? Squat. Iranians are still there. And now you got to come in with what? Conventional bombs? Gravity bombs? Because that’s all you got left.
Hey, Pete, you might want to pick up a history book. We spent a couple years bombing the crap out of Nazi Germany. Didn’t work, pal. Didn’t break their spirit. Did the same thing to the Japanese. Bombed their cities, committed war crimes. Dresden, the firebombing of Tokyo. You want to firebomb Tehran, do it. They’re ready for you now, Pete, because Iran doesn’t care. They recognize you for what you are — a lying war criminal. They’re not going to negotiate with you, and they’re not going to negotiate with Donald Trump. Another lying war criminal.
This is the problem. When the United States operates the way it has, arrogantly and ignorantly, we are liars. There’s no credibility. There’s no reason for anybody in the world to believe us. Hell, Europe doesn’t even believe us anymore. Italy just said, “Pound sand. You can’t use our base.” America’s like, “What? I thought we could use those bases.” Hey, good planning, Pete. You never thought about your European allies, did you? You might want to check that box. Secure European support before going to war with Iran.
Where we require European support now — Spain. I’m just telling you, when I flew out to the Gulf War, landed in Spain going there, landed in Spain going back. Because Spain’s an important intermediary. Stop. Not anymore. Sigonella, Italy. Nope, can’t use that anyway. Randy. No, it’s all gone. You didn’t secure the European support before engaging in your illegal war of aggression. And now Europe’s telling you to pound sand. And you got your feelings hurt, Pete. You and Marco Rubio. “Oh, NATO didn’t come to our assistance.” NATO isn’t going to participate in your illegal war of aggression, especially the one that is crushing their economies right now. And you failed to coordinate with them.
I mean, this is literally — we’re talking about the most amateur criminal minded idiots in the world. At least Dick Cheney wasn’t incompetent.
Hegseth on Boots on the Ground
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: I can see you’re on fire, but this is actually going to raise the heat a little bit.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: This is also Hegseth from this morning. Chris, number 17.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
PETE: As far as President Trump and boots on the ground, I don’t understand why the base, which they have already, they understand, wouldn’t have faith in his ability to execute on this. Look at his track record of pursuing peace through strength, America first outcomes.
What he’s simply saying, and it’s exactly true. And I’ve said from this podium too, we’re not going to foreclose any options. You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do — to include boots on the ground. The end. Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are. So if we needed to, we could execute those options on behalf of the President of the United States and this department.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
SCOTT RITTER: Pete, you got 15 ways to go into Iran. They got 31 independent autonomous military districts. So let’s just say your 15 ways takes out 15 of them. They got 16 left, Pete. I mean, your math sucks, Pete.
This is what happens when you have a clown that’s been promoted to the Department of Defense, which he calls, the Department of War. Pete can’t wage war. Doesn’t know how to wage war. Never did wage war. I mean, he went in there and did low intensity conflict on a limited basis. He’s no war hero. He’s a joke.
And what he couldn’t even be — he’d be fired. If Pete Hegseth gave that briefing in my Marine battalion — I wasn’t a commander, I was just in it — but I just tell you, I’ve done briefings. Battalion commander. If you came up and pulled that kind of crap with that kind of semantic structure, fired on the spot. Because that is as shallow as it is. There’s no substance to what he’s saying. He’s just out there throwing platitude after platitude, saying big words, big plans.
I want details, Pete. Boots on the ground. Yeah. Your president is saying all options on the table. It’s not about options, Pete. It’s about capabilities. All right, Pete. I mean, my God, man. Stop bench pressing. Stop doing push ups, and start thinking. Oh, you can’t think because you’re Pete Hegseth. This is frustrating because Americans are dying, and Americans are going to die.
James Webb on the Dangers of Invading Iran
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Here’s one of your fellow Marines, a young man by the name of James Webb. His grandfather, whom I knew, was the Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan and then became a US Senator from Virginia. The grandfather was a great man. This young man told our friend and colleague Tucker Carlson he would never let his sons join the Marine Corps because he didn’t want them to become mercenaries fighting a war for a foreign country. Then he began to talk about war games in which he participated, and it didn’t go well. Cut number eight, Chris.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
James Webb: We have war gamed this, and it didn’t go well. The other parts of it are — if you look at the terrain of Iran, it is Afghanistan, but worse, with a larger population that is obviously well more equipped than any other war we fought in recent memory. That’s why it’s the oldest empire in the world, probably. Geography matters. Absolutely. And their traditions matter. Like, they have survived for two millennia, and a lot of that was by having to fight. They’re not pushovers. I’m not a fan of their policies. I don’t want to live in Iran. But at the same time, you have to recognize realistically who you’re dealing with. And they’re not a backwater. They are a very advanced philosophical mathematical society. They’ve given the world a lot. And if you don’t take that into account, you rely on hubris to make your planning. You’re going to walk into a trap.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
Hubris in Spades
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: The hubris — Trump, Hegseth — hubris in spades.
Iran, Israel, and the Limits of American Power
SCOTT RITTER: 100. Well, I mean, look, you and I share a great affinity for James Webb, former Secretary of the Navy. He is a war hero, a highly decorated Vietnam War hero, and he’s just a hell of a guy. I remember when he ran for president. The thing that lost him the presidency is he said, what was one of those adversarial relationships in life and how did it work out for you? He said, well, that North Vietnamese guy that threw a grenade at me and I threw it back and killed him — it didn’t work out for him. The American people couldn’t understand that, so they didn’t vote for him. But I understood it. He would have made a great president.
But look, his son — I respect his son. But let me just correct the record here. If you’ve never been to Iran, don’t ever talk about Iran, all right? He said he wouldn’t want to live there. You haven’t been there, okay? Iran is a fantastic country, filled with just loving people, intelligent people. I’ve been to Iran and I have to tell you, I was never treated better. I mean, I was treated pretty good on my last trip to Russia. But when you’re friendly with people, they tend to treat you well. And if you’re friendly with the Iranians, they will treat you well.
And he speaks of their scientific capability — yes, these are some of the best scientists in the world. Is it possible to defeat Iran? Iran was occupied by the United States, Great Britain and Russia during World War II. So it’s possible to defeat Iran. I mean, you can talk about history all you want. Learn your history, Mr. Webb, before you speak and study about Iran. I agree with his basic sentiment. But you can defeat Iran. They’ve been defeated in the past. It’s not as though they’re invincible.
But Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump aren’t going to defeat them. The terrain is a factor, but not in the way people think. Again, no one’s talking about landing in Bandar Abbas and surging across the mountains and the desert to get to Tehran. If you’re going to do Tehran, you come in through Azerbaijan, you go down the Caspian Sea coast and you do an amphibious hook. We’ve been planning that one too. Can’t do it anymore because we don’t have the troops or the resources.
But if we’re going to go in — we could secure the Strait of Hormuz, but it would be a major effort. I’m talking about a major effort, World War II style — D-Day, Battle of Okinawa effort — where we’re going to lose tens of thousands of troops. For what? I mean, we only have 10,000 there now. I’m talking about if you want to secure the Strait of Hormuz, you better bring 20,000 body bags, because that’s what it’s going to take.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Let me correct myself — you probably know this, but we’re too diplomatic to correct me. The Jim Webb who was the Secretary of the Navy, who is a great man, who is a decorated war hero, is the father, not the grandfather of this fellow. The grandfather was also a decorated Marine, but it is his father who was Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy.
SCOTT RITTER: Yep.
John Brennan Attacks Trump and Hegseth
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: John Brennan, head of the CIA in the Biden years, had quite a tongue lashing for Trump and Hegseth. Chris, cut number 20.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
JOHN BRENNAN: It’s clear that there’s this toxic mix of traits that Donald Trump has, which is he’s a pathological liar, he is incompetent on so many fronts, and he’s also deeply corrupt, which I think is now manifesting itself in terms of the Gulf War. That’s why you have these wholly incoherent, wholly inconsistent flailing about. Because first of all, again, there was no real rationale for this war. Secondly, he’s trying to figure out what his next move is, and he doesn’t understand exactly how he’s going to get himself out of this mess. And thirdly, the Iranians now seem to have a lot more influence and cards to play, especially in terms of the Strait of Hormuz and allowing shipping to get out or not. And so therefore, I think Donald Trump is trying to present a false narrative to the American public by saying, yes, the Iranians now seem more reasonable, they’re trying to negotiate. But he’s protected himself for so many years in this cocoon of disinformation. But the reality now is just penetrating and taking away that cocoon of disinformation.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: That cocoon of disinformation is laying the ground for a summary departure. If we depart, what happens to Netanyahu and his crew?
SCOTT RITTER: Well, first of all, let’s start with having John Brennan talk about a “cocoon of disinformation.” This man’s a lying sack of crap, too. He’s the guy who made up Russiagate. He manufactured intelligence. He’s the worst CIA director we’ve ever had. He’s a man who belongs in jail for telling lies. So I really don’t need to be lectured by John Brennan, who is a pathological liar himself. I guess it takes one to know one. Maybe he brings some insight to it, but John Brennan — I’ll spit on him.
But we don’t need John Brennan to make the point that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are incompetent.
What Happens When America Withdraws?
SCOTT RITTER: You know what happens when we withdraw? Israel is going to have to pay the piper, baby. I mean, I saw people posting on X — a five-man artillery crew killed in Lebanon. They were killed in South Lebanon. May God rest them. What were they doing in South Lebanon? Israel is Israel. South Lebanon ain’t their country. And so they’re invading South Lebanon and Hezbollah is kicking their ass. Literally 76 tanks destroyed in the last 48 hours — that’s more than a battalion. If an American tank battalion gets annihilated, there’d be hell to pay here. This is what’s happening to Israel. They can’t beat Hezbollah. They’re getting the crap kicked out of them and Iran is pounding them to death.
Israel is going to have to get rid of Netanyahu and get a government capable of making peace. And a key aspect of that peace will be one of the principal Iranian demands — a Palestinian state. This is what happens when you lose wars. There are consequences. And here, Israel will have to accept a Palestinian state and the United States will have to get the hell out of the Middle East.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Wow. If there are boots on the ground, if this ill-advised, suicidal land invasion takes place, will the IDF invade as well or will it be all American?
The IDF’s Combat Limitations
SCOTT RITTER: Can’t invade. The IDF sucks. They’re not very good at what they do. They get killed when they face competent fighters. They got the crap beat out of them in Gaza. Hamas didn’t roll over. Yeah, Hamas got pummeled because it takes a lot of courage to fly an airplane over undefended airspace and drop bombs on women and children. So no, Israel sucks when it comes to actual fighting — closing with and destroying the enemy through firepower and maneuver. The Israelis aren’t very good at it at all.
Just look at what’s happened. They got the crap handed to them by Hezbollah back in the 1990s. They had to withdraw in 2000. They got the crap beat out of them in 2006. They got the crap handed to them last year. They’re getting it handed to them now. They’re not any good. And now you want them to do what? Move on Iran? Bring it on. The Iranians would love a chance to slaughter the Israelis.
This is why the Israelis are having problems — because they’re mobilizing their fat, incompetent reservists who don’t want to do anything. They want to be living in their air-conditioned homes doing IT. They don’t want to be out there getting dirty, fighting and killing. That’s not what modern Israelis do. These aren’t very good warriors. They like to wear tight uniforms so they can posture and look good. I’ve been there. I know. I’ve seen them. But they’re not very good at fighting.
I just came from Chechnya. Those Chechens can fight. Why? Because they’re willing to die. You look in their eyes and you realize if they’re coming at you, you’re going to have to kill them, because otherwise they’ll just keep coming until they kill you. The Israelis don’t have that look in their eyes. They’re very good at shooting pregnant women in the belly — that’s what Israeli snipers do. They’re not very good at actually beating people.
And you want to go up against Hezbollah, the Radwan special forces, who will eat you for breakfast? And then you want to say you want to go and fight the Iranians on Iranian territory? Israel would never get across the border. They wouldn’t make it. They’d all retreat. They have reservists right now who are refusing to be mobilized because they know that if they go to southern Lebanon, they ain’t coming home. And you’re going to send them to Iran? There will be no Israeli forces. There might be some special operations forces to go in and do a raid here and a raid there, but in terms of mainstream combat units, they suck. They’re not any good and they’re never going to make it outside of Israel.
Hegseth’s Prayer and the Misuse of Religion
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: One more clip before we finish. Did you know that God is on the side of the Americans? I want you to tell me how your troops, your colleagues would have reacted if the Secretary of Defense said this. Chris, cut number nine.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
PETE HEGSETH: “Almighty God, who trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle, you who stirred the nations from the north against Babylon of old, making her land a desolation where none dwell. Behold now the wicked who rise against your justice and the peace of the righteous. Snap the rod of the oppressor, frustrate the wicked plans and break the teeth of the ungodly. By the blast of your anger, let the evil perish. Let their bulls go down to slaughter, for their day has come, the time of their punishment. Pour out your wrath upon those who plot vain things and blow them away like chaff before the wind.”
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
SCOTT RITTER: First of all, he’s quoting the Old Testament. I mean, we’re supposed to be a Christian nation. Christianity comes from Jesus Christ. Jesus — the guy that stayed Peter’s hand when he was cutting off the ear of the man who came to arrest Jesus. “No. No violence. Put it back on.” Turn the other cheek. That’s the Jesus of Christianity. Not this crap that this guy’s pouring out.
Pete Hegseth is the worst Christian possible. Everything he said in there is as unchristian as it gets. Not only that, we live in a nation where there’s a separation of church and state. So keep your goddamn church out of my state. I’m sorry, I’m using bad language. I apologize for that. But no — we aren’t a nation of state religion. And yet he’s trying to imply that somehow we are the Crusaders.
Hey, Pete, let me tell you how the Crusades worked out. They all died in the end, Pete. They all died. You’re going to die. Everybody’s going to die. And you’re going to go straight to hell because you’re sitting there pretending to posture some godlike figure. You’re just a pathetic cartoon. Marvel Comics couldn’t make somebody as pathetic as you. This is just ridiculous.
Closing Remarks
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Scott Ritter, thank you, my man. Scott on fire — as a bunch of the chatters have been writing. Your audience is enormous and deeply appreciative, and not the least of whom is your humble host right here. Thank you, Scott. All the best to you. Happy Easter to you and your family.
SCOTT RITTER: We celebrate the Orthodox Easter.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: So this Sunday is what, Palm Sunday for you, and Easter is the following Sunday?
SCOTT RITTER: For my wife. Yeah, for me — I just do whatever she tells me to do.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: God love you. All the best to you and your family.
SCOTT RITTER: Okay, thanks.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Thank you, Scotty. Wow. What a tour de force — as only Scott Ritter can do. Coming up at 2 o’clock is Matt Ho — a hard act to follow. If you want to hear my thoughts on personal liberty in a free society, you’ll get a new one of these every week. We just recorded it yesterday. They’re about six or seven minutes long. It’s just me, audio only, so catch it on Apple Podcast, iHeart, Amazon, Spotify — Judge Napolitano Weekly. Thank you for watching. We’ll see you at 2 o’clock. For Matt Ho, Judge Napolitano for Judge Freedom.
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