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<v Speaker 1>Ay twenty nine, Happy Tuesday. If if you have KCD talk station,

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<v Speaker 1>it is that time of week. We do a deep

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<v Speaker 1>Dive with Daniel Davis. Find them online where your podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>are found, The Daniel Davis Deep Dive. Retired Lieutenant Colonel

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<v Speaker 1>Daniel Davis, It's always great having you on my program sir.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's always great to be here. All right.

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<v Speaker 1>So Europeans finally stepping up and maybe wanting to engage

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<v Speaker 1>in the process involving the war between Russian and Ukraine.

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<v Speaker 1>I get this sense that up to this point they

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<v Speaker 1>sort of kind of been sitting on the sidelines. I know,

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<v Speaker 1>we have been the dominant resource for Ukrainian military in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of aid, and you, as I have gone over

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<v Speaker 1>this many times before, it doesn't seem like it's really

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<v Speaker 1>stopping Russian incursion and the Ukrainians seem to be losing

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<v Speaker 1>the battle. So now that Trump's working directly with Vladimir

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<v Speaker 1>Putin trying to negotiate some sort of peace resolution, the

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<v Speaker 1>European Union is now stepping up to the plate in

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<v Speaker 1>some way. What's the story, backstory or otherwise on this one,

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<v Speaker 1>Daniel Davis.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know, I think it's not some that they're

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<v Speaker 3>stepping up is that they have been very content to

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<v Speaker 3>let the Body administration in the United States, through the

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<v Speaker 3>Biden administration, take all of the lead because then Biden

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<v Speaker 3>and the European Union were all in lockstep. Everybody agreed

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<v Speaker 3>that Russia has to lose, that Ukraine has to win,

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<v Speaker 3>and we're going to just give them all of our stuff,

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<v Speaker 3>at least in dribs and drabs, just to perpetuate the war,

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<v Speaker 3>to keep it going, because anything to keep Russia from winning.

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<v Speaker 3>Now in here comes Donald Trump, and suddenly the United

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<v Speaker 3>States is taking about a forty five degree angle course change,

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<v Speaker 3>and the rest of Europe is still on the previous course,

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<v Speaker 3>and they don't like it very much at all, and

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<v Speaker 3>they want to try to pull Trump back onto it.

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<v Speaker 3>So in one hand, they're taking the lead only because

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<v Speaker 3>they're trying to go back to where they were before.

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<v Speaker 2>They don't want to change.

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<v Speaker 3>So you have really some strange comments coming out of

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<v Speaker 3>uk where you have Kier Starmer, the Prime Minister, saying

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<v Speaker 3>that they want to put troops into Ukraine as part

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<v Speaker 3>of any kind of a deal that they want to

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<v Speaker 3>keep this thing going. You have the the Polish Foreign

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<v Speaker 3>Minister it's just we cannot stop this war.

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<v Speaker 2>We have to keep going, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 3>Meanwhile, you have, and this is out just hours ago,

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<v Speaker 3>you have senior Trump and Putin officials meeting in in Ryod.

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<v Speaker 3>Right now in Saudi Arabia, you have the you're the

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<v Speaker 3>Lavrov and some other key Russian leaders are saying the

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<v Speaker 3>same thing. Trump is saying that this has to be

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<v Speaker 3>negotiated between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Everybody else can

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<v Speaker 3>figure out what's gonna happen later. And they specified that

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<v Speaker 3>the UK and EU they specified them by name, cannot

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<v Speaker 3>be part of this because they are wholly bent on

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<v Speaker 3>preparing for war with Russia. Zelensky can't be a part

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<v Speaker 3>of it because he won't acknowledge reality.

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<v Speaker 2>Only the US and Russia.

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<v Speaker 3>And so that's making Ukraine, the European Union and others unhappy.

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<v Speaker 3>But so far Russia and US seem to be driving

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<v Speaker 3>the train. Okay, let me just pose a question here.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean my entire life, Daniel, as I've been watching,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, conflicts around the world, peace in the Middle East,

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<v Speaker 3>and how long you've been here for that?

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<v Speaker 2>Peace in the Middle East.

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<v Speaker 1>Every new administration since my birth has engaged in peace

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<v Speaker 1>in the Middle East? Now, why is it always the

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<v Speaker 1>United States' responsibility to endeavor to negotiate peace in war

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<v Speaker 1>torn areas? Okay, So with that sort of background thought

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<v Speaker 1>in mind, what would happen if we just said, you

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<v Speaker 1>know what, we're gonna wash our hands of this European Union.

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<v Speaker 1>You think you got it right, knock yourselves out. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>we seem to be moving in that direction.

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<v Speaker 3>And in fact, you had at this Munich security conference

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<v Speaker 3>last week, you had Zelenski himself was point blank ask

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<v Speaker 3>can the you continue to fight without the support from

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<v Speaker 3>the United States? What would happen if you lost it?

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<v Speaker 3>And he said, we'd lose the war. We couldn't fight

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<v Speaker 3>without it, we couldn't continue on without it. So that

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<v Speaker 3>tells you right there that there is the cognition on

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<v Speaker 3>the Ukraine side that hey, without the United States, this

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<v Speaker 3>is not.

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<v Speaker 2>Going to work.

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<v Speaker 3>You had Keir Starmer last not tell it, go on

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<v Speaker 3>a national television between in his country and say that

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<v Speaker 3>the European Union is ready to step up with troops

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<v Speaker 3>for to you know, support it, seasfire and all this

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<v Speaker 3>kind of stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>But it can't work, no security.

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<v Speaker 3>Guarantees without the United states, it is essential that the US.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's not even US trying to impose ourself on

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<v Speaker 3>people now, it's Trump trying to extricate ourselves. And I

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<v Speaker 3>guess because of all of the decades you're talking about

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<v Speaker 3>where that's been the case, they don't want to be

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<v Speaker 3>able to go it alone. But here's the thing that

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<v Speaker 3>none of these people in the European Union anyway seem

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<v Speaker 3>willing to acknowledge that they're not the Ukraine side, and

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<v Speaker 3>European Union don't have the capacity for Ukraine to do

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<v Speaker 3>anything except lose more slowly, right, Okay, And I.

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<v Speaker 1>Was just gonna say that. I mean, this is shining

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<v Speaker 1>a light on the lack of preparedness among all the

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<v Speaker 1>European Union countries are NATO allies. I saw a figure

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<v Speaker 1>the other day. Germany only has what one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>fifty thousand people in its military or something crazy like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and they have no military hardware equipment anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>They can't not only can they I guess, not afford

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<v Speaker 1>to give away supplies, but even if they embrace the

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<v Speaker 1>concept of trying to support a militarily, they've got nothing

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<v Speaker 1>to draw from.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and uk is not much different.

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<v Speaker 3>I think it's one hundred and eighty six thousand, if

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<v Speaker 3>I'm not mistaken, the entire active armed forces, that's not

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<v Speaker 3>just the fighters. I think that there you might can

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<v Speaker 3>get two combat divisions out of the entire UK military.

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<v Speaker 2>Two divisions. That's a drop in the bucket when you're

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<v Speaker 2>talking about a.

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<v Speaker 3>European wide war and they're talking about possibly ten to

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<v Speaker 3>twenty five thousand UK soldiers to be patrolling this mythical

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<v Speaker 3>seasfire line, which I don't think Russia will ever agree to,

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<v Speaker 3>so I think that's a dead on arrival conversation anyway.

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<v Speaker 2>But he's talking about signific.

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<v Speaker 3>Shifting a significant portion of his combat forces to just

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<v Speaker 3>be standing in the middle between two fighting forces, which

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<v Speaker 3>is just really strange to me.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I was thinking about our prior conversations and this

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<v Speaker 1>veiled threat that, oh my god, if Russia, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>ends up winning and taking over Ukraine, it's somehow some

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<v Speaker 1>existential threat to our NATO allies of the European Union.

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<v Speaker 1>And you and I have talked about this before and

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<v Speaker 1>said there's no way Russia can wage that kind of war.

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<v Speaker 1>But with the backdrop of these very paltry, underfunded and

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<v Speaker 1>small supplied military forces.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know, maybe maybe it is a legitimate Do

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<v Speaker 2>you think two things are important? Right now?

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<v Speaker 3>Russia is signaling that their conditions are and they've reiterated

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<v Speaker 3>this from the June fourteenth line last summer. They're saying

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<v Speaker 3>today that it's the four oblosts, the Zepparisia, Luhans, Donsk

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<v Speaker 3>and Kirshn, the demilitarization of Ukraine, and that has yet

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<v Speaker 3>to be deciphered. And then and negotiation are a deal

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<v Speaker 3>signed with a new Ukrainian leader who has passed an election.

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<v Speaker 3>It is legitimate to be able to author a sign

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<v Speaker 3>That's what they're calling for. They're not saying that we

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<v Speaker 3>want to go somewhere else and we want to attack

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<v Speaker 3>something else. If Trump is able to agree to that,

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<v Speaker 3>that's the end of it right there. That leaves the

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<v Speaker 3>European Union everybody else free to provide their own national security, which,

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<v Speaker 3>by the way, Secretary of Defense Hexcess said, you guys

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<v Speaker 3>ought to focus on Article three of the Natal Charter,

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<v Speaker 3>which says every nation is required to provide its own

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<v Speaker 3>national security.

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<v Speaker 2>Right. So Trump is moving in that direction, and I

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<v Speaker 2>really applaud that.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, I guess and I half jokingly bring this up

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<v Speaker 1>because I have a feeling you probably agree with me

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<v Speaker 1>that the United Nations is probably the most corrupt and

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<v Speaker 1>incompetent entity on the planet. I may be overstating a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit, but aren't there you in peacekeeping forces?

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<v Speaker 2>And why do they always seem.

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<v Speaker 1>To be suspiciously absent in major conflicts? Daniel, Yeah, No,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, of course there are no quote you in peacekeepers.

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<v Speaker 1>I know, they're just soldiers from other countries that wear

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<v Speaker 1>a blue helmet. And of course they're powerless because they're

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<v Speaker 1>only there for peacekeepers, which by definition means that there

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<v Speaker 1>has been a peace agreement reached and the two sides

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<v Speaker 1>have agreed that that's what's going to happen, and then

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<v Speaker 1>they just sit in the middle to try to make

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<v Speaker 1>it harder for one side or the other to break it.

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<v Speaker 3>Obviously, Russia is not even contemplating that. In fact, they

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<v Speaker 3>said there will be no peacekeepers. That's part of what

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<v Speaker 3>they define is the demilitarization of Ukraine, not the remilitarization

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<v Speaker 3>by bringing Western military forces into the conflict.

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<v Speaker 2>So they're never going to agree to it. And Russia

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<v Speaker 2>has said.

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<v Speaker 3>If there's troops come in that are that we don't

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<v Speaker 3>agree to under the EUN auspices. Interestingly enough, then we'll

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<v Speaker 3>consider them enemy combatants. Now we don't care what nationality are,

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<v Speaker 3>and we'll fight them. And you had Hexcess say, if

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<v Speaker 3>y'all do that, Europe, there's no Article five here and

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<v Speaker 3>there won't be any American troops as well. So that's

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<v Speaker 3>going to give an appetite suppression to Europe, I think.

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<v Speaker 3>But I'll just tell you, Brian, overall, I think that

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<v Speaker 3>this is just the death throws of the way things

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<v Speaker 3>have always been in Europe, not realizing that there's you know,

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<v Speaker 3>a new force in a America coming in, going in

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<v Speaker 3>a different direction, but they're gonna have to come in

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<v Speaker 3>line because they don't have the capacity.

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<v Speaker 2>To do what they want to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I just wonder how much of this is being

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<v Speaker 1>driven by the UH military industrial complex. You know, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people with powerful interests and a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money feeding the fuel fuel for the fire, and

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<v Speaker 1>as long as that more continues to rage, then you

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<v Speaker 1>know who's going to be making money off of it,

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<v Speaker 1>Which is a really sorry thing to contemplate. Lots of

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<v Speaker 1>unpack on that one, Daniel Davis, but I sure appreciate

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<v Speaker 1>your insight and your thoughts on it, and I'll always say,

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<v Speaker 1>as I always do, look forward to another discussion with

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<v Speaker 1>you in another deep dive next Tuesday at eight thirty.

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<v Speaker 1>Between now and then, best to health, my friend, see

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<v Speaker 1>you then, looking forward to it. It's a thirty nine

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<v Speaker 1>to fifty five KRC the talk station. Stick around. We

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<v Speaker 1>got a little more to talk about and you can call.

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<v Speaker 1>Got some time phone calls five one, three, seven, four nine,

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<v Speaker 1>fifty five hundred, eight hundred and eighty two three talk

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<v Speaker 1>go with pound five fifty on AT and T phones.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you got a different take on things. Love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you.

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<v Speaker 2>This is fifty five KARC and Iheartradios. Have you taken

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<v Speaker 2>your family to dinner recently