Judge Napolitano’s “Judging Freedom” interviews began today with Alastair Crooke, followed by Larry Johnson, Ray McGovern, Scott Ritter and Jeffrey Sachs. All in a day’s work…
Crooke began by confirming that Israel and U.S. are running out of ammunition. “This war will be determined by logistics,” he said, which is true of most wars. Iran has huge stocks of missiles. Another consideration is energy both for the combatants and for the world. In the case of India, even though they will get some temporary relief with the U.S. allowing them to buy Russian gas again, they no longer will be able to enjoy the discounts Russia had previously allowed, said to be due to their support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.
He emphasized that Shia Iran is a civilization. The Sunnis, he said, had given up their civilizational identity, but that the Shia had not. Rather, they had kept their emphasis on poetry and music - and that a personal identity came not from religious slogans or pledges but from personal transformation. They have been willing to accept huge sacrifices, seeing setbacks as “moral victories” of their civilization, as moral and religious victories.
He said the choice of the new Ayatollah has been greeted with a massive outpouring of support. When the Ramadan fast is lifted each evening there are huge throngs on the streets shouting their support for him. This is true across the region, especially in Iraq, where the Grand Ayatollah decreed that it was a “religious obligation to support Iran.”
