Is Biden Sending U.S. Troops Into War?

Today on Sekulow, is President Biden sending US troops into war? Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you.

Share and post your comments, or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. So as it stands with Thursday's deployment of the 1st Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, there will be 14,000 US troops, along with fighter jets and other aircraft, that have been moved closer to the Ukrainian border, into surrounding nations. And we know that Ukraine feels like it's just a matter of time for Ukraine to fall to Putin. Kiev is surrounded by Russian troops at this point, so it's a matter of time. It's a matter of Ukrainian resistance. The Ukrainians have put up a fight in some areas of the country that have certainly slowed the Russian plans down, I think significantly.

But, as most military experts say, that's about as best as they can hope for. The President of Ukraine made a speech to his people and the world saying, this may be the last time you see me alive. He knows those Russian troops are right outside his office, with little protection in between. They're talking about potential guerrilla warfare.

But the question of the day, because we're going to be joined by Rick Grenell, member of our ACLJ team, but also Congressman Bob Goode, who's very concerned about our US troops being sent over to act as even humanitarians, because that is not their job or role. But also, that if Vladimir Putin is successful in Ukraine, that the sanctions were not the sanctions that are totally crippling to his economy, that he will then look to other countries, other nations. You could go to a nation like Moldova, which is not a NATO member state, much smaller.

Then, after that, you could decide. It would be a big decision by Putin. Do you want to go into a NATO member state that's maybe smaller, like Lithuania? And then you'd test NATO, Article 5. Would the US really be willing to go to war against the Russian military for Lithuania? Could you imagine trying to explain to the United States, the people of the United States, that men and women in our armed services are in military conflict because, and even though they're NATO members, some of these countries are NATO members, that we're going to go into a war because we're going to defend Estonia. Now, we'll say, well, that's part of our NATO obligation.

But could you imagine putting troops in harm's way here? So, the question is going to be how calculating Vladimir Putin is going to be in all of this. We're going to also look at the international law ramifications. I want you to understand what's really at play here legally. I mean, Vladimir Putin violated the laws of aggression in war completely.

And, of course, he ignored territory solidarity and territory sanctity. So, there's a lot of that going on. At the same time, this could escalate very quickly. One of the commentators last night said, you have these generals, Russian, Ukrainian, whoever they might be, and they go wrong on you.

And you don't know what, that's the danger of armed conflict. And we're already seeing it. So, if you're listening on radio, thank you as always.

And you could call us at 1-800-684-3110. We want you to weigh in. We have a congressman, as Jordan said, is going to be joining us.

Also, former Director of National Intelligence Rick Grenell, our Senior Advisor on Global Affairs, is going to be joining us as well. And if you're watching on any of our multiple social media platforms, whether it's Facebook, whether it's Rumble, or YouTube, we encourage you to share it with your friends. And then you know that if you go to Rumble, it will not be censored. And we, again, thank our friends at Rumble that we know we don't have to not say something that we think is something you need to hear because we're afraid we're going to get flagged. Remember, we got flagged by Facebook last week. All those have been removed, by the way.

That partly false statements, all that's gone. But we're still cautious. So, if you're watching on Facebook, that's fine. We encourage you to go to Rumble. If you're watching, though, on any of these media platforms, Facebook, YouTube, Rumble, I'm probably leaving something out. Share it with your friends as we go into a break. We've got some really important information in this break you're going to want to see. We encourage you, again, there's a link on your Facebook page. You can go right over there to Rumble.

But if not, share this information with your friends and support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org. So, there's already 100,000 troops in Europe. That's because we have big bases there. But 14,000 have been deployed for this mission. It's a humanitarian mission.

They are in the surrounding countries around Ukraine. So, as those flow of people, which is already occurring in Poland into Romania, our troops are acting that same way they acted in Afghanistan, which ended disastrously. We're going to talk about this and more with Rick Grenell and then Congressman Bob Goode. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. All right, welcome back to Secula. We are joined now by our senior advisor for foreign policy and national security, the former acting director of national intelligence, former ambassador to Germany as well, which is certainly playing a role in this Ukraine matter, and the invasion by Russia. We know the Russian troops are now surrounding every major Ukrainian city, including the capital Kyiv. I want to go right to Rick Renell, who's joining us by phone today.

I know he's at CPAC down in Florida. Rick, you tweeted out, and I retweeted this actually, that Joe Biden said the U.S. would pose an unprecedented set of sanctions if Putin invaded. The Germans said no, so Biden didn't go with swift sanctions. I want to point out right away, we're not using swift as a term like the word meaning swift. Swift is a specific banking acronym, and Rick, because he could not get world buy-in, for all this time he had to work on that, the Russians still have access to the world's financial markets. Well, first of all, Jordan, I just have to say that's an amazing distinction, because I never even imagined that people were thinking that we were using swift to describe sanctions. You're exactly right.

We need to stop for a second and explain it. Swift banking sanctions are the way that every single bank around the world does business. It's called the swift system, and so if you would sanction the Russians from that system, they have access to the world banking system, and we've done that in Iran, by the way. We've done this before with other countries, and the Germans didn't like it then, and they always tried to work around us, but look, I think we have a real problem with Germany.

I think we've been saying this for about four years. The Germans have left the Western alliance. They want a transatlantic alliance that doesn't have a Western-facing flavor, and I think that's a real problem, and it also, I think, is particularly problematic for many Americans, because generations of Americans have sacrificed for the Germans, and they need to understand that we have this special relationship between the Germans and the Americans, and we have tried to move on from the atrocities that the then German government perpetrated on the world, and yet we've rebuilt.

Germany has been unified, and we've really tried to move forward, and yet I think it's a slap in the face to Americans to see the Germans reject the Western idea, continue going towards the Russian pipeline, and really, I think they're undermining Europe, NATO, and the Western alliance. I want to ask two questions. Rick, I'm going to play a sound bite in a moment, but let me ask you a question.

Question one. Based on what has transpired so far, do you have any doubt that Vladimir Putin and Russia will be in control of Ukraine, including the capital of Kiev, within days here? You know, Jay, it's really sad for me to even ponder that question. We shouldn't be in that situation. We're only in that situation because Donald Trump is not the President. There's no question if he was the President, we wouldn't be here.

He would have never gone in. Putin would have never done it. Putin was, you know, look, he took Georgia under George W. Bush. He took Crimea under President Biden. He didn't do anything under President Trump. He did not grab land and rewrite the borders of Europe. But now he's back to his old ways, and I think you've got to be able to distinguish from his plans under other Presidents and his plans under President Trump. He didn't do a land grab. And that's because Donald Trump was unpredictable to him.

He couldn't figure out what would happen. Joe Biden is completely predictable. So it's a long answer to say I'm actually I'm in the pissed off phase that we have to answer questions like this between a terrible choice and a really terrible choice.

Yeah, I know. If I were in charge and if I were, you know, going to get to decide the policy of the United States, the first thing I would do is kick Joe Biden out of the White House. Yeah, and I'd open up our oil reserves and I would get our the Keystone pipeline finished immediately and get it functional. Now, I said that the first part because, Rick, kind of the consensus is that Kiev is going to fall and Zelensky is going to be out or maybe an exiled government in Poland. But let me play for you a question that came from Norah O'Donnell over at CBS and it was Anthony Blinken, our secretary of state, because this is the next question I hate to even I cannot believe.

Listen, I had family members, but one side of my family was wiped out in the Holocaust. And the idea that we're now talking about a war in Eastern Europe again is I never thought I would see that in my lifetime. I really did not. Not with the fall of the Soviet Union, but listen to this question and I'll get you to comment. Is there intelligence to suggest that President Putin will advance beyond Ukraine? You don't need intelligence to tell you that that's exactly what President Putin wants. He's made clear that he'd like to reconstitute the Soviet empire. Short of that, he'd like to reassert a sphere of influence around neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc. When it comes to a threat beyond Ukraine's borders, there's something very powerful standing in his way. That's Article 5 of NATO. An attack on one is an attack on all. So Rick, here's my question. If Vladimir Putin were to attack, say, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, three of the countries that border directly on him were either on Russia or Belarus, and Article 5 was implemented, troops get in harm's way real quick.

Look, it just infuriates me that we're having to have this discussion. Joe, this was avoidable. When you're messaging to the world for weeks that there's a bloody war on Wednesday, and as an American President you don't take peaceful measures like sanctions or a variety of other tools that the United States could do peacefully. When you don't take those measures and yet you know there's a bloody war coming on Wednesday, I would say that's un-American. Americans don't sit back when there's an absolute blood war killing spree coming. And let's be very clear, Joe Biden said he was 100% in belief that this was a bloody war that was coming very soon and yet he failed to act. So look, we've got to stand for NATO. If NATO members in Article 5 are not enforced, then I fear the collapse of the whole system.

And so I sense a NATO country... It's a dramatic moment in time, Rick, historically. Go ahead, Jordan. But it is a dramatic moment in time when you realize how close he will be to being able to pull something like that off or trying to. Rick, you talked about your anger that we're even at this point, but then we've got President Biden when he was talking to the media.

I'll just play it for you because it's pretty unbelievable what he said. No one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening. This is going to take time and we have to show resolve so he knows what's coming. And so the people of Russia know what he's brought on them.

That's what this is all about. So Rick, we've been told that these sanctions that have been announced even yesterday will take more than a month to really implement. It doesn't include the swift banking sanctions like we include. But the President and his team, Rick, had months, months to work on this so that a sanctions regime could have been put in place that may have, at least would have been the potential to prevent this conflict. But as President Biden said, Rick, he already believed that nothing he could do was going to prevent this war.

Well, let me just tell you, I am at CPAC, as you said, and at three thirty today I'm delivering a speech that really goes to the heart of what you're talking about. And in summary, I believe that official Washington has now come into this cycle of crisis and shoving the State Department aside and immediately going for troops and military action. And the State Department exists to avoid war. And when diplomats fail, then we have war. And I think it's very clear that our diplomats failed. They failed to stop a war. They failed to use every tool that they had available.

For some reason, official Washington raced to the military option without utilizing the State Department diplomatic measures. I believe that diplomacy with muscle can avoid war, and we didn't have that. So I'm going to outline how I believe the State Department should be reformed, how Washington, D.C. should be reformed when it comes to viewing crises. And I just thought of something. After I deliver this speech, I think I will give it to our team and have it posted on ACLJ.org as an exclusive so that if you miss a speech, you can read it at ACLJ.org.

That would be great, Rick. We really appreciate that. You mentioned about diplomacy is power. It was Disraeli who famously said, diplomacy is war if you use the power correctly.

But you avoid bullets. And unfortunately, this has been handled horribly. Rick, we appreciate it.

Thanks as always. Again, folks, this is serious stuff. We're joined by a congressman coming up.

That's right. Congressman Bob Goode is going to be joining us. He's very concerned about the U.S. troops and where they're being placed. He's a congressman from Virginia.

There are a lot of military bases in Virginia, so his constituents, but also at the national level. We've got 14,000 U.S. troops who have now been repositioned on countries that border Ukraine. And guess what they're doing? The same job that they were supposed to be doing in Afghanistan, that didn't end so well for our U.S. troops.

Thirteen killed during the final days of that when we were leaving Afghanistan. All right, folks, if you're watching on any of our social media apps, applications, whether it's Facebook, YouTube or Rumble, share it with your friends. We're thrilled to be over on Rumble where we know we're not going to be interrupted. Share it with your friends right now.

Back with more. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org.

Welcome back to Secular. We are getting reports now to the EU. It's not the US, but the European Union has issued sanctions on both Putin and Lavrov, his foreign minister in Russia. So will the US follow? The US has not gone there yet. President Biden did not announce that yesterday. Again, I think to underscore President Biden's whole view, remember this whole time diplomacy is going to work, diplomacy, we still have time?

But yet then he admitted after the war began that, you know what, we put all these sanctions in place, we knew it wasn't actually going to prevent anything. Now we're being joined right now by Congressman Bob Goode from Virginia's 5th Congressional District. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us on Secular. Great to be with you.

Thank you for having me again. Congressman, I want to start off with this. You put out a statement yesterday.

I think it really resonates with a lot of people. In the statement, you made clear that this idea of putting US troops in harm's way, that our military, instead of winning battles, is doing humanitarian work right on the border of Ukraine, of a war zone. And I wanted you just to address that because I think there are a lot of Americans who are just concerned that our US troops could be being put in position right now, and if Putin decides to continue this past Ukraine, they're going to be right there. Yeah, the sad reality is, and the tragic reality, and the brutal truth is that Ukraine is more important to the Russian nuclear power, the Russian country, if you will, than it is to the rest of the world, whether it's Europe, whether it's NATO, whether it's the United States.

So in the short run, we found ourselves in this situation. We can talk about or debate how we got here or how we shouldn't have gotten here, but there's not a lot that can be done in immediacy other than Ukraine fighting for itself. They've been admiral.

They've shown great courage on what's happened to citizens as well as the military. Russians have been slowed down to some degree, but we fear, of course, that Ukraine ultimately conquered. So what we've got to do is look to the future, and we've got a 30-year playbook here to economically diminish Russia. Russia is not a strong country economically. They're a poor country by comparison to other world economic powers. Will they be able to sustain this?

Will they be able to continue this occupation however long it goes into the future? Of course, tied to that is reinvigorating American energy production. What this President has done in the past year to diminish our energy production, American energy independence, and which has strengthened Russia and its influence on the world stage as well as in Europe. Secondly, we have got to build up NATO and build up Europe in terms of encouraging them to take responsibility for their own defense. We're, of course, a partner with NATO, but to require other nations. President Trump was right six, seven years ago going back when he said they've got to invest in their own defense, bring them up to a similar GDP investment that we're doing percentage-wise. But the fears and other bad actors fear NATO. They fear Europe, Germany in specific.

But then finally, to your point here is it applies to the United States. Would it be any stretch to think our administration based on how they focused in the past year that they may be sending, you know, let's send COVID masks. Let's send vaccines to the Ukrainian troops because if they'll be armed with COVID masks and making sure all their troops are vaccinated, they could clearly defeat a Russian army that maybe wasn't wearing masks or had discharged all their unvaccinated troops. Or maybe, you know, Ukraine, you could keep your troops focused on the climate war instead of fighting Russia.

Congressman John Kerry said that. He said he hopes that when Putin, as he's going into Ukraine, doesn't forget the priority, we've got the sound, let me play the soundbite. And so I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.

Now, Congressman, this is where you say, this is, I'm living in an alternate reality here. John Kerry, former Secretary of State, now the climate czar, is not worried about Putin destroying Ukraine or taking over Ukraine and decapitating the government there. What he's worried about is while he's going in, make sure he doesn't, you know, mess up the trees.

And listen, I'm all for a clean environment, but I mean, really, climate change would not be on the top of the list. But I want to ask you another point here, and that is, the consensus is that will Putin stop at Ukraine? It's going to take him probably the weekend, unless Ukrainian forces are much stronger than we think, to get control of all of Ukraine. Is he going to stop at Ukraine? And what if he did go after an Estonia, a Latvia, or a Lithuania, which is a NATO country?

What happens then? Great point. And I do think it seems clear that his intention is to occupy all of Ukraine, conquer all of Ukraine, decapitate the government. And I think in the short run, yes, that's where he stays, because they're going to have enough trouble maintaining, absorbing, managing that, if you will, with their limited resources economically and otherwise. They don't have a real large army. They've only got an estimated 400,000 troops from what I have seen in their army.

They've got maybe 200,000 engaged now. But you're exactly right to ask that question, because what about the future? We can only imagine the visions of grandeur that this President Putin has for the future of Russia or the resurgence of the Soviet empire.

He may have visions of glory in that standpoint. That's why it's so critical. NATO cannot be a facade. NATO, once NATO is challenged, if and when that were to occur, then, you know, if we don't stand up together for all of NATO together, then of course there's no existence of NATO. That's why it's so important for NATO to be imposing so that Russia would not dare test it.

Right. I'd be curious to know what you're hearing from the White House at this point, because it was just last month that the Senate was actually prepared to pass, in a bipartisan fashion, sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and it was the White House that shut that down with Senate Democrats. What is the White House telling members on Capitol Hill right now? I know they're talking tough, but are they asking you to bring new sanctions to them?

What are you hearing from them? I'm not hearing that, certainly not hearing that from the White House, but yes, what they have done, and it ties into what Jay was saying just a moment ago about John Kerry. The first senior official, we sent to Moscow what the climate czar, and then to have him embarrassingly, as Jay said, begging, oh, don't attack or don't invade because of climate. The inability for them to recognize why we have a military, why the military exists, can you not just imagine also them telling the Ukrainians, hey, read Abraham Kennedy, study white rage so you can understand why Putin is doing what he's doing, and make sure your military is diverse enough, because if you have a diverse military, you can defeat these Russians who are probably largely straight white men.

That is who they are, and they're telling us that in order to attend the State of the Union address, we've got to get a COVID test before we can come in, we've got to wear an N95 mask to get there, and we'll have our President shuffling in there, taking off his mask while Pelosi and Vice President Harris are behind him with their mask on. I want to be clear. Secretary of State Kerry didn't say to Russia, don't go in there.

Okay? He didn't say don't go in. He didn't say don't go in. He says, while you're doing this, make sure you don't hurt anything. Be mindful of the climate. Be mindful of the climate. That's what he said.

It wasn't don't go in as this was an excuse not to go in. It's going to impact the climate. We appreciate it, Congressman, very much.

We'll have you on again soon is great. I mean, I think putting that all together, that it is what is raging American people. We're trying to get back to normal at home. And that's all the Congressmen say with all that.

But we don't even get a break. Just as COVID starts winding down. Just as the blue states and the blue cities start opening up again, you feel like you can plan some travel, plan some events and be certain of it. World War, not World War yet, but war breaks out in Europe and it could be an expansionist war, which we're going to start continue to break down for you. So, I mean, think about these different perspectives. You had a Congressman who just flat out told you the White House isn't asking them for anything.

Right. Nothing. And you're going to want to stay tuned this next half hour, folks. A President who said sanctions weren't going to work and we knew it the whole time.

So I guess he knew the entire time they were lying about trying to do diplomatic solutions because they knew that wasn't going to work. Share this with your friends, everybody. Share this with your friends. We'll be back with more in just a minute.

One minute. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today.

ACLJ.org. Keeping you informed and engaged. Now more than ever, this is Sekulow. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow.

All right. Welcome back to Sekulow. We are going to get back into some of these other world issues that are going to impact the U.S. And in fact, some are impacting the U.S. in ways that are a little different than people thought. Now, I still think the price of the pump, gas, things like that. But the stock market kind of corrected yesterday when President Biden announced weak sanctions on Russia. So they were so weak that Russia would, you know, if you were a bank and you had a loan out with Russia, you weren't worried about getting repaid on that loan. It's clear that you would still get payment. And that's what would have put the markets in more trouble. But then there is some other big news that's not getting a lot of attention. Usually it would.

But I think for a couple reasons. One, the makeup of the Supreme Court won't be changing. We know Justice Breyer is retiring. But we do now know the indication is that President Biden has made his decision for Supreme Court pick Judge Kintaji Brown, Jackson of the D.C.

Circuit Court of Appeals. She was right at the top of the list. She's already got some Republican support. She'll be making, I guess when that's ultimately announced, she'll make the rounds in the U.S. Senate. But what do you expect that confirmation battle or will it even be a battle to look like?

Well, we're going to find out here pretty soon. The announcement is supposed to be made at two o'clock this afternoon. And yes, Kintaji Jackson, judge on the D.C. Circuit, probably the frontrunner from the beginning. Jordan, what the what the confirmation process will look like.

You're right. She has been confirmed by the United States three times before, once by voice vote. The last time was just last year for a D.C. or for the D.C.

Circuit Court. Jordan and she got three Republican votes. Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.

Although I will tell you, I thought it was interesting this morning. Lindsey Graham actually put out a statement. He said that this confirmation says that the radical left has won President Biden over yet again. Some of that may have been Jordan that he preferred Judge Childs from South Carolina.

But all that to say, you never quite know. You have to see how the first few weeks of this process plays out. Judge Jackson will be meeting with senators over the next week. Then we expect her to complete her questionnaire, have a hearing the middle of March, Jordan. And Leader Schumer put out a statement today that says he would like to have her vote on the floor of the Senate as soon as early April.

So that would be a very quick process. We will see. Again, it is a nominee with some bipartisan support coming in, though. Interestingly, in a regulatory case, which is where the Democratic appointed judges tend to side with the agencies. She, in an emergency proceeding, Judge Jackson, joined Judge Naomi Rao, who is a Trump appointee, in ruling against the agency. So you just don't, you know, look, you don't know. I think she's going to be, if she is in fact the nominee, I think she will be confirmed.

She was a law clerk for Justice Breyer. That seems to be one of the trends going on right now. So the net-net is probably the same. I don't know if the left is really happy with this one or not.

Because she made it. Yeah, we haven't really got a sense of that yet. In fact, I heard some Democrat senators, and they were pretty much like all the way for our meeting.

They weren't like rah-rah-rah, which means they have, they're doing their research now. We'll see. That will be very indicative. You will know a lot more about this nominee, not based off her short time at the D.C. Circuit, but about how enthusiastic the more far left members of the U.S. Senate, and even the U.S. House that weigh in, are they enthusiastic about this? Who would be the first black woman to be on the Supreme Court?

It doesn't look like, and again, it will not change the balance of power on the court for now. This would be a replacement for a Democrat nominee for a Democrat nominee. We're not even sure yet if she is as liberal in her judicial philosophy as Justice Breyer, who was very liberal in his judicial philosophy. Everybody's going to be doing their research now, but I think what we look for here, really, we're going right back into Ukraine, Russia, our troops, the sanctions, the effect on our economy, going right back to that. I think what you want to look for is you start getting a lot of rah-rah-rahs from the left.

Yeah, then because. You know, it's one that we need to put tough questions, get the answers out there through the confirmation, get her to answer the questions to the senators and the American people, remember what they did to our nominees, never forget that. I'm not saying you should repeat that kind of behavior, but be tough, U.S. Senate.

Don't just give them a pass. Ask difficult questions that make them think, and don't just give them a green light here, because they're not changing the bounds of power, because they happen to be the first black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Remember how they've treated our nominees, questioning their faith, accusing them of criminal activity, the list goes on.

We'll be right back on Secular. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side.

If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.

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Welcome back to Secula. Now, one of our top concerns we talked about with Rick Grenell, we talked about with Congressman Bob Goode, is U.S. troops in harm's way and playing a role they're not trained to do. They are not trained humanitarians. Yet, the guise of how they've been sent to these border countries of Ukraine has been to help with the humanitarian crisis of people going across the border. Why we are not sending State Department staff, USAID staff, you know, we've got State Department staff all over Europe that could come together that would help with processing. These are brave people, like Rick Grenell says, they work in war zones and tough countries to do something.

They've got that more hands-on approach. Keep the guns in the hands of our military. But is it all being done under the guise of we're there to help with this humanitarian crisis, which if you see the images coming out of Kiev and the people rushing the trains, cars, it's going to be one. Because there's going to be a mass influx of migration into multiple countries surrounding Ukraine.

But here's the question. Is this just a smokescreen to get U.S. troops on the border with Ukraine so that ultimately, in a few days, our U.S. troops are going to be face-to-face with who? Russian troops. And we know that NATO countries have already, they haven't implemented Article 5, which is the article that says an attack on one is an attack on all. But Andy, they have implemented Article 4.

Yes, they have. Article 4, which encourages, there's three main articles that are in play here. Articles 4, 5, and 6 of the NATO treaty. This is the NATO treaty.

People need to know what that is. Alright, I'll just give you a little background on it. NATO was founded in 1949. The idea was collective defense as the foundational and motivational purpose of the alliance.

So an attack on one is an attack on all. They have a diplomatic mission that permanently is existing in Brussels, where there are ambassadorial-level officials representing each of the NATO countries. The Council can meet promptly at any time, and I go back to what I was saying, that the decisions of NATO are not voted upon.

They're made by consensus. In other words, consultations and discussions take place until a decision acceptable to all is reached. Now, Article 4 is any party to NATO, that is any state that is a member of NATO, can call for consultations among its members to identify problems and seek solutions before they get out of hand.

That's already been implemented. And that, with respect to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland jointly called for consultations. So I wanted to put up a map for our audience.

Okay. So if you look at Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and if you're listening on radio, these are three countries that border the western, northwestern portion of Russia. Russia. And Poland has also called for consultations. Yes, but these three countries in particular were also part of the Warsaw Pact. They were part of the Warsaw Pact. They were called the Baltic states.

They were Russian-federated Soviet republics. And Antony Blinken said yesterday that their concern is that Putin's goal is to get further than Ukraine. He's got to get control of Ukraine first.

That may take him another couple of weeks or another week or two. But if those three countries, Estonia, for instance, says, we've been attacked, what happens? Well, Estonia can invoke then Article 5 and say, come to our aid.

And the ambassadors in Brussels would meet and will decide, but the important thing to understand is that each country decides the extent to which it is going to give aid and assistance to the other countries. So when you mentioned, Jordan, troops on the border in harm's way, let's now listen to what President Biden said. This is what has me concerned, folks, about a war in Europe that goes for, I mean, it's already a war in Europe that goes further.

Listen to President Biden yesterday. As I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power. And the good news is NATO was more united and more determined than ever. There is no doubt, no doubt that the United States and every NATO ally will meet our Article 5 commitments, which says an attack on one is an attack on all. So Andy, the President just said, for our audience to understand, that if there is an attack on an Estonia, a Latvia, a Lithuania, on the border with Russia, U.S. troops and NATO forces will be committed.

That's exactly what I heard him say. If Article 5 is invoked, then the consultations would take place and the American troops would be put in harm's way facing Russian troops potentially as part of a, obviously under the supreme command of NATO facing Russian troops. My question for this is you, and I want you to call us right now, 1-800-684-3110, would you support U.S. troops dying for Lithuanians, dying at the hands of the Russian military, maybe winning, but considerable casualties of U.S. troops to protect Lithuania?

Because that's what Article 5 is really about. Or was NATO doing this at a time when they thought, we're so powerful, Russia's so weak, and everybody else is post-World War II that, you know, this will never really happen, and we'll be able to prevent it through sanctions, through blocking people off economically. 1-800-684-3110, would you send your son or daughter to go fight and die for Lithuanian rights?

That's a real, folks, that's a very hard question, and a very real question. Because I was thinking about this, because I think your age group, a lot of the military from your age group, I think that they are more inclined to say, we must keep NATO aligned. But I think that the next generation down, my generation, NATO looks useless.

They look like they can't fight their own battle. How have we had time to get these countries enough weapons and military and technology so that we can just play a background role? And I'd be fine with that, but a background role, instead of being the only country I can see in NATO that has enough troops to deal with Russia, is us. The rest have little tiny European sized militaries.

They don't invest money in their guns, they don't invest money in their ammo, they don't invest money in technology, they don't invest money in fighter jets. It would be us fighting the war. But what you said is also how world wars start, because if in fact, you said Lithuania, let's say it was Estonia. Would you want your son and daughters to go fight for Estonia? Will the French and Germans, Andy, put their NATO troops in place on that?

In my opinion, no. So NATO is very fractured. So Putin succeeded on that front, if that's true. He's already got it to a point where we're questioning whether NATO survives. This is what Putin's goal was, was to rattle NATO and to show that it was a fragile organization, if not an organization that was a feat and no longer able to do anything. And I don't think, Jay, to answer your question directly, that the French or the Germans are going to die for Latvia.

No, and this is the situation. Now, Putin is a calculating dictator. Calculating. Look, goal one was draw a wedge between NATO. He did that. He did it. Goal two was draw a wedge between European countries. Germany's saying we don't want restrictions on swift banking.

He did that. The other goal was get to Ukraine. So Article 5, a country's attacked, is there any kind of voting mechanism or do you just go to – No, there's no voting, Jordan. So there's no way for Germany to say no. They technically must go.

They have to attend the consultations. But there is no actual voting procedure as to whether – and it's all done through consultations on the ambassadorial level in Brussels among the leaders who are empowered by their sovereigns. What if the countries say, no, we shouldn't do this? Well, that has not happened so far. I mean, they have worked – And what if it was a cyberattack? Well, that's an interesting thing because in 1949 – There was no cyber – This thing is cyberattacks, but today the word that is used in the treaty is armed conflict, armed attack. So I think that may be interpreted cyber.

It may be interpreted armed or not. That's one thing you can do a cyber war with another country. I think we'd all agree we want to protect our infrastructure.

So you'd attack them with cyberattacks and you'd fix your cyber program, too. I don't think any Americans have questions about that. Great question. Yeah, we could go to Jason, Pennsylvania line three. Hey, Jason. Hi.

Yes, I have two questions. The invasion to Ukraine by Russia, what does that mean for China? And secondly – It means goodbye, Taiwan.

Yeah, be very clear here. Taiwan is gone. If this goes to success, which it looks like it will be for Putin, Taiwan, goodbye. You're now part of the CCP. Yes.

So it's a good question. And the Chinese are looking at this. And it was no accident that Vladimir Putin, Andy, met with Chairman Xi, the great premier now of China – Who's backing his efforts here. Who, by the way, is backing his efforts here. Because usually he would not back efforts to take another independent, sovereign country. That's not his – But he is here. He basically met with Xi and he says, I'm going west, you go east.

Yeah, that's what it sounds like. And China is the much bigger player here, obviously, when it comes to – World economy. The technology – And the military.

And the kind of military they have, which are much more modern military. I mean, I only throw this out. I don't know. I thought about this last night. You get into – we say, well, we could take Russia's military down really quick.

Yeah. Because the United States military is strong. What if China was backing up the Russians? You've got World War III. That is World War III. That's World War III. That's World War III at a level World War II didn't reach. Undoubtedly. With the kind of weapons that are available now. Yeah, no one wants to see that.

The questions are step by step. I mean, no one wants to see NATO be destroyed either. It had served a good purpose. It's whether or not its purpose was ever really fulfilled because, as Rick said earlier in the broadcast, the European NATO member states never paid their fair share. Never really built militaries that were sizable. Didn't want to spend their money on that.

They were all peacenicks and hip, you know, oh, we don't want to spend on that. We're not warriors. We'll rely on the U.S. to come in and save our butts when we need to. But they're not – but I don't think we're a country. We might have a President who wants to do that. But I don't think we're a country that would be supportive of that.

Which would also put us in a weird position. I don't think we're a country that would be supportive of that. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Secula.

I want to start going to the phones. We asked that question about, again, what do you want your sons, your daughters, your grandchildren going to fight for Lithuania against the Russian military? Not that we wouldn't beat the Russian military.

That's not really the question. The question is, serious bloodshed, serious loss of U.S. life, a lot of young people dead. They didn't attack us. They attacked an ally of ours.

So, this test that could be coming of NATO, it was a hypothetical that is starting to become more and more realistic as Putin takes Ukraine. We're going to go back to the phones. 1-800-684-3110 Page in Georgia, online 1. Hey, Page, welcome to Secula. Hi there.

Thanks for taking my call. So, I have a son that just turned 18 a couple weeks ago. I have an older son who is 19.

And when I had to register my oldest son, that was a very realistic thing. And now with this conflict, how likely is a draft if we as the U.S. entered into this conflict with Russia? Depend on the nature and scope of the conflict. We haven't gotten into a war with a military that size since World War II.

No. We did have a draft, and I know this because I was that age, we did have a draft during the Vietnam War, which was a conflict, like you said, you'd think, but why are we fighting in Vietnam? And it was, well, Harry, it was the Russians then too. I mean, that was asymmetrical warfare in a sense. And it was the United States fighting in Vietnam with the Russians on the other side. Well, with the Russians and the Chinese backed government.

Yes. So basically we were fighting communists. And if you think about it, Putin is deeply embedded in a communistic system, ex-KGB officer.

He sees strong cultural ties between Russia and the Ukraine, and he wants all of the satellite countries back. Let's go to Jeff in Florida on Line 6. Hey Jeff. Hey, how are you guys doing?

Thanks for taking my call. And the other day I heard where China, I think that was yesterday, they are blaming the United States for this. Secondly, I believe there's a good chance, I don't know what your opinion is, that China will join Russia. And what's to stop Russia from putting the coalition together if this continues? The only way I would flip it around is that I think China would be the lead. China would be putting the coalition, they're the stronger power. But that's exactly what we were talking about, is that if you get into engagement with Russia and China starts backing Russia, you're back into Vietnam Part II with way more powerful weapons and a lot of Americans being killed. And it could be a country like Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania that becomes the battleground kind of thing.

A place we have no connection to. Here's the question I have for you, Professor Hutchinson, you've taught law and economics, and that is, economically, China, we're a big trading partner for China. So how does that play into their calculus? Well, I think it strengthens the Chinese hand. So the Chinese government realizes that it has the United States over a barrel, particularly when it comes to drugs and medicines, particularly when it comes to high tech.

So, at the end of the day, we are far more dependent on undependable powers. And if you think about it, you could see a coalition involving China in the lead, as Jordan correctly suggests, joined by Russia. Russia would then bring in India and Pakistan. So, at the end of the day, then you would encircle the West from the Far East, and then you would perhaps pick off Serbia long term. There is already discussions from the European conservative that the whole country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, that is fracturing. That's an opportunity for Russia and China to exercise influence and then move perhaps into Serbia and Moldova. And you look at Moldova, they want that because it goes right up to the edge and would give them another sea access. But it's what Andy said.

Is China going to go east while Russia goes west? I mean, that's part of what's going on here. Let's go back to the phones. Brandon in Texas Online 2. Hey, Brandon. Hey, how's it going?

Thanks for taking my call. I just wanted to add to what you guys are saying about how the U.S. or how its citizens would feel if we would take up for Lithuania, Estonia. I wonder how they would feel if we had a larger military presence and then they would potentially look at it as, OK, now the U.S. troops are being attacked in these countries that we are allied with.

Well, I mean, that's what we're saying that Biden is doing right now. He's putting the troops in harm's way in those countries because they're going to be face to face. If Putin is successful, Ukraine falls like they say the U.S. is predicting by this weekend. That he's not right on the border of the NATO countries. Russian troops on the border in Ukraine would be facing U.S. troops. Remember, Ukraine was not a NATO partner. Secondly, we already have 100,000 troops in Germany that we're not including in this number. So how many more troops? That's almost as big as the entire Russian, a third of the Russian military we already have there. Putin is not going to shoot. He's not going to target an American intentionally. No way. Right. But if we put ourselves in the middle of it, he's got China back. It's a whole different world. Let's go to Carol first, then we'll wrap, get into some of the sanctions talk too.

Carol in Massachusetts, line three. Hi, thank you for having me. I would absolutely not send any of our troops to defend the NATO countries. Let's defend the U.S. borders and work on building our military back up again. But absolutely, I would not send my grandsons over there. This is interesting. Yeah, this is interesting because, you know, Carol sounds like she's my age, she's talking about her grandkids. I don't, I thought you said you did, your generation you don't think would support it. I'm not so sure.

Harry, mine's would either. I don't know here because it's been so many years where they could have been building. The United States cannot be the world police. We've seen what happens. Nobody wants a world war and we certainly don't want with China, which brings in this statement, President Biden and Harry said sanctions were never going to deter Putin. That is precisely the opposite of what Kamala Harris recently said, that sanctions will in fact deter Putin.

Now he is saying we've got to allow these sanctions to work. The problem has always been Joe Biden and his absence of forethought, his absence of leadership. Keep in mind, Russia was massing troops on the Ukrainian border for almost an entire year. And what was the Biden administration focused on? They were focused on climate change and they were focused on all sorts of other peripheral issues that have strengthened Putin's hand immeasurably allowing energy prices to explode upward. We have indeed financed, if you will, Putin's aggression. So that's whether the sanctions are, he's right, the sanctions is a deterrent?

No. Meaningless. Stock markets are up in the United States today. I suspect they say that we're not severe sanctions. I think that is correct and they see the world moving forward as usual. Even with Ukraine about to fall. And ultimately that will affect food prices. So again folks, there's a lot to continue to bring, it's a lot to think about.

Because you've got to now start saying outside Ukraine how this starts affecting the American people. Now we've got a commander in chief who I think has no problem putting our troops in that harm's way. I think Joe Biden would love a big war. He needs something. We've got inflation in our country, supply chain issues, they can't get out of their COVID mindset.

What's the best distraction? US troops and warfare. They haven't been so good at that already, they've been botching that since they've been in office. With the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rise again of terrorism that we're starting to see in these states. Not following up on the Abraham Accords, I mean the list goes on and on, they have a horrendous foreign policy. I can't repeat what Barack Obama said about Joe Biden, but he said basically don't trust this guy when it comes to foreign policy and war decisions.

He never gets it right. And now he's the commander in chief. So it would take mass protests in the streets if this were to occur. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org.