Speaker 1: A twenty nine at fifty five KCD talk station. Love
Speaker 1: this time of the week because it's when we do
Speaker 1: the Daniel Davis Deep Dive with our friend, retired Lieutenant
Speaker 1: Colonel Daniel Davis, talking about well, of course war Russian
Speaker 1: Ukraine the subject matter again today. Welcome back, my friend.
Speaker 1: It's always a pleasure having you on my show.
Speaker 2: It's always a pleasure to be here, Brian, thanks for
Speaker 2: having me back.
Speaker 1: Happy to do it looks like you got a change
Speaker 1: of venue there. I have a video conference call going
Speaker 1: on with Daniel Davis. Every week we do this and
Speaker 1: you have a different environment now we do.
Speaker 3: We're kind of upgrading our studio here a little bit.
Speaker 3: There'll be some changes even probably next week too. All right, Well,
Speaker 3: so just trying to make you better for the viewer.
Speaker 2: Fantastic.
Speaker 1: I'll encourage my listeners to get your podcast Deep Dive
Speaker 1: or Daniel Davis Deep Dive. You can find it wherever
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. Well, Daniel, what is going on
Speaker 1: in Ukraine right now? I see NATO is chimed in
Speaker 1: talking about maybe peace talks. We gotten to the point
Speaker 1: where they're gonna be talking peace. Some North Korean soldiers
Speaker 1: or troops got captured by the Ukrainians the other day,
Speaker 1: and I still can't figure out the whole idea about
Speaker 1: North Korea being involved, except, as you've noted before, because
Speaker 1: they're there to get some genuine fighting experience, which I
Speaker 1: suppose is something people need to have if they're going
Speaker 1: to plan on getting into a war with South Korea.
Speaker 1: But where are we at this stage of the game.
Speaker 3: Listen, I'm more optimistic now that this thing can come
Speaker 3: to an end that I've been in quite a long time,
Speaker 3: and that's based on comments by both the Russian side
Speaker 3: as recently as earlier today, as well as some of
Speaker 3: the official statements from some of the incoming Trump administration officials,
Speaker 3: because I think everybody is zeroed in on that this
Speaker 3: war has to come to an end. Lavrov this morning
Speaker 3: actually said the Foreign Minister for Russia said that he
Speaker 3: was encouraged by some of the comments coming from the
Speaker 3: Trump team that they're eager to talk to him on
Speaker 3: an official basis after the twentieth of January, and they
Speaker 3: said they're encouraged by the fact that the Trump team
Speaker 3: is talking about realities on the ground, which is the
Speaker 3: term that the Russian side has been used and said
Speaker 3: that without a common understanding of what the reality is,
Speaker 3: that it's impossible to make a deal. And it looks
Speaker 3: like they're starting to coalesce around that. Trump, for his part,
Speaker 3: has said he just wants the war and the killing
Speaker 3: to come to a stop. And applaud him for that,
Speaker 3: because I think that's exactly what we need. That's got
Speaker 3: to be your first focus. Then you can worry about
Speaker 3: the details after that. But listen, I just got to
Speaker 3: make sure everybody understands the deal is not going to
Speaker 3: be good from the Ukraine side, but it's going to
Speaker 3: probably be the best it can be attained here because
Speaker 3: if a deal isn't resolved and found, then Russia will
Speaker 3: simply keep fighting until they went on the battlefield and
Speaker 3: more Ukrainians.
Speaker 1: Will die, right, And that seems to be the most
Speaker 1: likely scenario absinte deal.
Speaker 2: But is it possible?
Speaker 1: And I'm just throwing this out that a deal and
Speaker 1: you're optimistic more so than ever you have been for
Speaker 1: a while. Anyway, the new Trump administration and the idea
Speaker 1: that it would foster and encourage a deal is because
Speaker 1: it's going to have far less of an appetite to
Speaker 1: continue funding billions of dollars to arm the Ukrainians.
Speaker 2: Well, that's a huge part.
Speaker 3: Of it, without question, that's something that many I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, Vice President elect Advance said in an April
Speaker 3: of twenty twenty four op ed in The New York Times,
Speaker 3: he said, look that the numbers just don't add up.
Speaker 3: He said, this doesn't make any sense to continue shoveling
Speaker 3: billions and billions of dollars into an empty hole that
Speaker 3: can't succeed and banned. Was he ever proven right because
Speaker 3: he was talking about at the time, this sixty one
Speaker 3: billion dollars that the administration, current administration said was going
Speaker 3: to change the course of the war. And it's really
Speaker 3: ironic when you look at the tracking how much territory
Speaker 3: the Russians gained through that year once that money became
Speaker 3: available at starting with June, the amount of territory lost
Speaker 3: every month rose after that, meaning it got worse. So
Speaker 3: Trump is very focused on just I mean, he's a
Speaker 3: businessman at heart, right, So he's you know, pros and
Speaker 3: cons the profit and lost balance sheet, and he sees
Speaker 3: this is not good, this is not helpful. And then
Speaker 3: you add in the human cost to that, and it
Speaker 3: doesn't make any sense at all to keep going down
Speaker 3: a path that can't win, and instead he's like, we
Speaker 3: need to get this thing off the table. Cut cut
Speaker 3: the losses, not just of our losses, but the Ukrainian
Speaker 3: physical losses as soon as possible, so that rebuilding and
Speaker 3: recovery can start. That's so important for the Ukraine side,
Speaker 3: it really is, and it's important for you know, the
Speaker 3: globe as well. I mean, we kind of look the
Speaker 3: fact that Ukraine was previously described as you know, the
Speaker 3: bread basket of the whole region. It fed and provided
Speaker 3: you know, food for multiple countries, not just Ukrainians. And
Speaker 3: of course maybe it would go a long way to
Speaker 3: solve the ongoing and self inflicted wound that is the
Speaker 3: energy problem their experience in the European Union. And Brian,
Speaker 3: let me just point out something on that point there.
Speaker 3: It's really important and hardly anybody thinks about this. They
Speaker 3: will later in the future, but right now they it's
Speaker 3: not on the radar. If the Biden administration had taken
Speaker 3: the advice of then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Speaker 3: Staff Martin Millie in November twenty twenty two, it said
Speaker 3: because of the successes that the Ukraine had had then
Speaker 3: that that was the perfect time to negotiate from a
Speaker 3: position of strength. Then the Russians were at their weakest.
Speaker 3: They would never be weaker than they were at that time.
Speaker 3: He said, they could have gotten a good deal, but
Speaker 3: the Biden administration and Zelenski said no, we're going to
Speaker 3: keep fighting. As a result of that, they did the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three offensive, which literally destroyed that bread basket
Speaker 3: and now it's sowed with millions of minds that are
Speaker 3: going to take probably decades to undo, and it's going
Speaker 3: to be a long time before that bread basket starts
Speaker 3: producing them to the level it did.
Speaker 1: And you know that is so heartbreaking. Those land mines
Speaker 1: and anti personnel minds. I just it seems to be
Speaker 1: some sort of Geneva Convention violation when it comes to
Speaker 1: those things. And I mean, hell, they're still blowing up
Speaker 1: in Vietnam from the conflict, right, So what do you
Speaker 1: And we've talked about this before, and I think my
Speaker 1: listeners are well aware the Russians have controlled the Crimea
Speaker 1: region formerly part of Ukraine but filled largely with Russian
Speaker 1: and Russian supporting, Russian leaning, Russian aligning population, so they're
Speaker 1: not unhappy necessarily be under Russian control, assuming and I
Speaker 1: think the way our discussion is going here, we're talking
Speaker 1: about Ukraine having to give up more land as a
Speaker 1: mechanism to resolve the conflict. Are there areas like Crimea
Speaker 1: that we would be talking about or they would be
Speaker 1: negotiating with where the people would be more inclined and
Speaker 1: more desirous of living under a Russian rule than the
Speaker 1: Ukrainian rule or.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the demographics are really important in terms of where
Speaker 3: these lines are and what the Russians are even seeking,
Speaker 3: because they are only seeking areas where it's predominantly ethnic
Speaker 3: Russians or Russian leaning people in the Ukraine side, But
Speaker 3: the crime In side, if I'm not mistaken, it was
Speaker 3: somewhere around ninety five percent Russians are ethnic Russians going back,
Speaker 3: so that one was like the easiest one. The other
Speaker 3: ones they're talking about now, you know, Zaparija, Kirson, Luhans, Donetsk,
Speaker 3: those are a majority of ethnic Russians, but not to
Speaker 3: the extent as before. So whatever these lines get drawn,
Speaker 3: there will be more percentage of people on the Ukraine
Speaker 3: side that don't want to live under Russian control. And
Speaker 3: that's going to be a part of the negotiations too,
Speaker 3: because they've got to be able to migrate over to
Speaker 3: the West if they don't want to live there, and
Speaker 3: then those that do want to live there will remain.
Speaker 2: Well as the ones that remain.
Speaker 1: And I keep thinking along the lines of, well, you know,
Speaker 1: if the if the Chinese Communist Party came in and
Speaker 1: took over my neighborhood, I might be inclined to, you know,
Speaker 1: wage my own individual guerrilla war or independent war against
Speaker 1: those forces, because I don't believe in that philosophy. I
Speaker 1: don't want to be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Speaker 1: Do you do you see any of that sort of
Speaker 1: militarization of the remaining Ukrainians if the Russians do take
Speaker 1: over other areas.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I have no doubts that there are those already
Speaker 3: actively planning on doing that sort of thing and whatever
Speaker 3: ends up in the Russian side, because I think that
Speaker 3: they have the exactly the mentality you're talking about, that
Speaker 3: they just will never be satisfied living under those conditions
Speaker 3: and they'll just do whatever they can just to you know,
Speaker 3: inflict a pain and a cost on the Russians as
Speaker 3: far as they can see. I mean, there's no end
Speaker 3: date on that. It can go a long time. And
Speaker 3: you may recall that before the invasion, the initial invasion
Speaker 3: in February twenty two, there was a lot of talk that, hey,
Speaker 3: the Ukraine side can't win a conventional war against Russia,
Speaker 3: so they're already planning with CIA help. Back then, by
Speaker 3: the way, it was publicly reported that they're trying to
Speaker 3: help them foment and start these you know, these kinds
Speaker 3: of gorilla activities inside there that got shelved when they thought, oh,
Speaker 3: wait a minute, we actually did good on the battlefield.
Speaker 3: I doubt very seriously that there will be any doubt
Speaker 3: that a lot of people on that side. Whether the
Speaker 3: CIA is involved this time, I don't know, because now
Speaker 3: Trump's in charge, but there will be many, and certainly
Speaker 3: in Ukraine that will do everything they can to, especially
Speaker 3: those on the western side.
Speaker 2: We'll try to support that. I suspect.
Speaker 3: I don't know how big it will be, but it's
Speaker 3: hard for me to imagine they would just say, all right,
Speaker 3: let's just move on with their lives.
Speaker 1: Does the president really have any control over what the
Speaker 1: CIA does? I just have to ask that, Daniel, all.
Speaker 3: Right, Well, ostensibly he does, he's putting his director in there.
Speaker 3: I'd like to think that there is some, but I
Speaker 3: can't say that with the full throat at affirmative.
Speaker 1: I had to insert that little joke there, if you
Speaker 1: don't mind. A quick pivot over to now resigning FBI
Speaker 1: Director Christopher Ray and his comments on sixty Minutes the
Speaker 1: other day about China and the threat the Chinese Communist
Speaker 1: Party poses, talking about, you know, pre positioning on America's
Speaker 1: civilian infrastructure, lying in wait for those networks to be
Speaker 1: in a position to wreak havoc and inflict real world
Speaker 1: harm at a time and place of their choosing, noting
Speaker 1: that they have infiltrated and it's been documented. I've read
Speaker 1: multiple articles in Soviet water treatment plans, transportation systems, he said.
Speaker 1: We're talking about our energy sector, the electric grid, natural
Speaker 1: gas pipeline, as well as targeting of our communications systems
Speaker 1: with that most recent virus sault typhoon as I stare
Speaker 1: upon and hate to draw a parallel with Los Angeles
Speaker 1: and the gross and competence of elected officials out there
Speaker 1: and not doing anything they promised to do by way
Speaker 1: of fire breaks, and you know, im creve water supplies
Speaker 1: and lessening the fire risk. We know this is a problem.
Speaker 1: It's well documented. An FBI director raise out there and
Speaker 1: telling the world about it. We've goten other reports recently
Speaker 1: from the FBI and the DHS warning about you know,
Speaker 1: copycat attacks and attacks on our infrastructure. Do you have
Speaker 1: any faith that they're actually trying to get ahead of
Speaker 1: the problem and doing something to batten down our hatches
Speaker 1: and our resources to prevent this from happening or otherwise
Speaker 1: getting any virus or hacks or attacks out of our systems.
Speaker 3: Well, look, I mean I will just look on the
Speaker 3: broadside first. I certainly hope that the incoming Trump administration
Speaker 3: will actually do something, but gracious, I mean my first
Speaker 3: comment was like, wait a minute, you're telling me that
Speaker 3: you on the way out the door know about all
Speaker 3: this stuff, and what have you done about it? I mean,
Speaker 3: we're not talking about one or two things possibly. I mean,
Speaker 3: there was a big laundry list, and so my obvious
Speaker 3: question is, why the hell did you not do anything
Speaker 3: to resolve this issue?
Speaker 2: Why you've had the power to do so.
Speaker 3: So, if the problem is as big as he says
Speaker 3: it is, then there needs to be some hearings to
Speaker 3: find out why you didn't do anything about it and
Speaker 3: what has been the plan so far. You know, we
Speaker 3: don't know obviously from outside here, it's very plausible because
Speaker 3: it's logical from the Chinese perspective that if you know
Speaker 3: there's possibility, because Biden three times in his administration said yes,
Speaker 3: if China takes how one, we will fight China for it.
Speaker 3: So then their minds are going, Okay, then we're going
Speaker 3: to prepare for war and that could mean domestic you know,
Speaker 3: trojan attacks, however you want to characterize them.
Speaker 2: And so it's logical they would do that.
Speaker 3: But it should also be freaking logical that we would
Speaker 3: see that potential and be on the extra care to
Speaker 3: find and root out those kinds of things.
Speaker 2: And that's where I have a big problem.
Speaker 1: And that's where I do too, and that's why I
Speaker 1: drew the parallel with Los Angeles. I mean, they've been
Speaker 1: talking about these fires for years and years, there had
Speaker 1: been multiple fires, years and years. They had passed billions
Speaker 1: and billions of dollars of money in budgets to deal
Speaker 1: specifically with the forestry work and cleaning up the mess
Speaker 1: and everything out there, only to not do it. So
Speaker 1: you know, I'm seeing this is a huge red flag,
Speaker 1: and I can only pray to God with very little
Speaker 1: hope that they're actually trying to get ahead of it
Speaker 1: and and and stop it.
Speaker 3: And then's certainly let's hope that the Trump administration does
Speaker 3: two things. Number one, to find out what the true
Speaker 3: scope of the threat is, take action to get rid
Speaker 3: of it.
Speaker 2: And then also to not.
Speaker 3: Follow with the path of the Brieous administration and get
Speaker 3: us into a war with China that cannot be won.
Speaker 3: And while defending our interest in Rotchet and our freedoms
Speaker 3: everywhere else, we don't have to get into a war
Speaker 3: with China to remain free.
Speaker 2: I'll just tell you that categorically.
Speaker 1: And I agree with you on that as I read
Speaker 1: the headline from Fox News, China directs largest military build
Speaker 1: up since nineteen thirties Nazi Germany just put an exclamation
Speaker 1: point on it there. Daniel Daniel Daniel Davis Deep Dive
Speaker 1: every Tuesday here in the fifty five Carce Morning Show
Speaker 1: Again search for them online wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 2: Daniel.
Speaker 1: Until next Tuesday, my friend, have a great week. Always
Speaker 1: my pleasure. See you next time with a new president.
Speaker 1: Take care. Eight forty two. Right now fifty five car
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Speaker 1: sheriff in town. Don't go way, folks, get a little
Speaker 1: bit more to talk about. I hope you can stick around.
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