The Castle Report

Darrell Castle
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Defending Western Civilization

  1. 3d ago

    What Is A War Criminal?

    Darrell Castle discusses the concept of a war criminal. Who gets to define what a war crime is and once that is established, who determines when someone has committed one of the criminal acts defined as a war crime? Transcription / Notes WHAT IS A WAR CRIMINAL? Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 24th day of July in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat is still war today, but with the added distinction of talking about what some choose to call war criminals. The question for today then is who gets to decide what a war crime is and who decides if someone has committed one of those crimes he has defined as a war crime. The International Criminal Court, established by the 1998 Rome Statute and beginning operations in 2002 has been given the right to declare certain people war criminals and to issue indictments against that person which should involve arrest and prosecution. We know from our American system that charges and indictment do not make one guilty, but in the minds of certain people it gives an opportunity for selectively prosecuting those with whom they politically disagree. This war crimes talk started again when NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani ran for office on a promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he ever came to New York. Well, Bibi has announced that he will attend the United Nations meeting in NYC to be held in September. The mayor’s plans, announced in an interview with the New York Times, brought a storm of protests from supporters of Bibi including the President of the United States who declared on social media that the mayor’s plans would not and could not happen. In response the mayor admitted that he is not the president and is not even congress or the U.S. attorney general so his plans would not be fulfilled. He went on video and said his legal team had exhausted “every avenue available” under the law and concluded “we do not have the independent legal authority” to arrest the head of state of a foreign country who is attending a UN meeting which happens to be located in NYC. Some may have reacted with outrage if the mayor had ordered the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu but since he is now not planning to risk that those people are reacting with outrage anyway and calling him a dishonest politician. I want to leave the mayor and talk about war crimes in general but I can’t do so until I mention the first lady of the city of New York. Yes, right now, as I record this she is conducting a conference for Muslim women with the stated purpose of informing them that Mary, yes that Mary. The mother of Jesus, who delivered the child on that Christmas was not only not Jewish but was actually a Muslim. What, how can that be. Well, it can’t because of a fact apparently unknown to the first lady of our greatest city. That fact is that when Jesus was born, Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was not born for another 570 years. Well, be that as it may facts are often lost on people today especially when those facts do not fit a person’s world view. Back to the International Criminal Court which issued the indictment against Prime Minister Netanyahu and has often referred to him as a war criminal. The ICC has no jurisdiction in the United States which refused to join the 125 nations which signed the agreement. I remember the debates around it quite well and the US representatives were afraid that it would be used to prosecute members of the US military engaged in combat in some politically sensitive spot. Congress instead did the opposite by passing the American Servicemember’s Protection Act which was designed to shield the US personnel from ICC prosecution. The ICC might be seen as a kind of virtue signaling organization or perhaps it is deeply idealistic and committed to peaceful resolution of conflict. How does it select its targets or how does it decide who is a war criminal and who should be left alone. Do you need to be engaged in actual war to be a war criminal or can you simply commit acts of extreme violence. My own view is that the term war criminal or war crimes is decided by winners. Would Hitler, his generals and bureaucrats have been criminals if they had won the war. Would some division of the UN have ordered them arrested, no of course not, but instead many of them were hanged and some chose cyanide as the best option. Over in Japan several Japanese officers were hanged as war criminals. One general split his stomach open in 1945 but American doctors saved his life so he could be hanged in 1948. Back in 1908 there was another tribunal, at that time at the Hague, which decided to define rules for the conduct of armed conflict. That tribunal dealt primarily with humane treatment of prisoners of war and dignified rules for how civilians were to be treated. Keep in mind that in 1908 war planes, poison gas, and machine guns had not been invented. I don’t think those people could have imagined the horror that would rain from the sky onto civilian populations for over the next 100 years. I have studied the war archives from World War ii as much as I could especially after the internet made them all available to anyone. My conclusion is that the US authorities went out of their way to abide by the rules of the Geneva Convention which was part of the Hague series of international agreements. The Geneva convention defined how prisoners of war were to be treated and most nations knew that if they followed it their enemies were more likely to do so. So, with a few exceptions, it was the policy of the US to follow it and even NAZI Germany followed it to a large degree. The Japanese however, had other ideas. Their treatment of American prisoners was exceptionally brutal. The percentage of prisoners who died in captivity under the Germans was about 2% but under the Japanese it was more like 60%. Now, let’s return to Bibi for a moment. Is he or is he not a war criminal. To some extent it’s a matter of opinion and is usually determined by the winners. Right now, I would call him a loser at least in the matter of international politics and especially in the matter of armed conflict. He has no friends and everyone in the UN except the US hates him. His cities and military bases are badly damages by Iranian missiles and drones but does any of that make him a war criminal. No, but he and his IDF have violated virtually every one of the rules for armed conflict established by the various international conventions I just mentioned. He has repeatedly targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. In fact, he doesn’t recognize the difference between civilian and military targets. Testimony accuses him of mistreating, even torturing prisoners of war and many have accused IDF soldiers of brutally raping them with objects that destroyed their intestines. Testimony seems to indicate that he intends to destroy an entire people group through warfare and starvation. I would call those things war crimes, but remember the victors get to determine such things and as long as the US military is solidly behind him it’s hard to say he is defeated. In fact, he and his country most likely would cease to exist without the US. He would be arrested if he set foot out of Israel without the US. That brings up an interesting point and that point is that if Donald Trump is his enabler and before Trump Joe Biden received more money in the form of contributions, donations, bribes, or whatever you choose to call them does that make them war criminals too. During the Nuremberg trials of NAZI officers, a new charge was invented to cover the massive crimes of which those people were accused. Since the normal criminal code of any of the victorious allied nations was insufficient they invented the crime they called crimes against humanity. Is Bibi guilty of crimes against humanity, is Donald Trump. The president has vowed to attack civilian infrastructure as a result of Iranian attacks against Hormuz shipping and the deaths of US. Soldiers. When I saw that a 19-year-old woman was killed in a missile attack against her base in Jordan I was very destressed. Many of those men who landed at Omaha Beach were 19 years old but they were not beautiful young women with babies ahead of them. In fact, those men fought for people back home like her. They fought for each other and for their families and their way of life which were threatened by a terrible enemy. The death of that young woman just lays out the complete moral depravity that has infected this government and the entire globalist system. I pray for her family and that we can find a way to prevent such willful death and destruction. Finally, folks, we’ve talked about the subjective nature of the term War criminal but sometimes the label may be appropriate. I’m certainly tired of sending teenaged women to fight and die for the benefit of a foreign leader and his vision. This country seems to be looting our tax dollars for people who are not American and might legitimately be called war criminals. God forgive us if that is true. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

  2. Jul 17

    The Enemy Gets a Vote

    Darrell Castle discusses war once again because it seems that the more we are told a political solution has been reached, the more missiles and drones are fired at more targets. Then retaliation has to come so, no solution. Transcription / Notes: THE ENEMY GETS A VOTE Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 17th day of July in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is war once again because it seems that the more we are told a political solution has been reached more missiles and drones are fired at more targets and then retaliation has to come so no solution. The president is in a difficult position but it is apparently of his own making. He is not an Eisenhower with many years of experience commanding vast armies in some of the biggest campaigns in human history. He instead is forced to rely on his team of advisors and so they tell him where he should go and what the consequences will be. They must have told him that Iran was ripe for the taking and would fall just like Venezuela but Iran is different and any experienced military person should have been able to see that. Power unhinges people and people who seek it are often unhinged to start with. That is part of the reason Mr. Jefferson told us that every 20 years or so we should have a revolution to reset things such as personal liberty. He reminded us that government agents are not saints or angels but they are instead ordinary humans with all the vices and weaknesses of other ordinary humans. President Trump started rearranging his group of military advisors as soon as he was elected because having no real military experience himself I suppose he wanted people around him who would put the best spin on what he wanted to do. Do you think I can force Iran, a real and very large country, to surrender and concede its own desires using only naval and air forces. Oh yes, Mr. President, Iran will crumble when attacked and the people will rise up and overthrow the government and that will be it except that you will be an international conquering hero. To get the team of advisors who would tell him that certain changes had to be made. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who is supposed to be his top military advisor announced his retirement one month after the inauguration. The Secretary of Defense was changed which is normal for the new president but then the Department of Defense became the Department of War. I admit that is a more honest name and cuts out some hypocrisy but it sends a very bellingerite message. So, this war, this attack against a country that was apparently no threat to the United States was supposed to resolve problems standing in the way of the Greater Israel Project but it had the opposite effect. Israel is much weaker and in a more tenuous position and Iran is much stronger and in a more commanding position because of the war. When I say Israel is weaker I mean that it literally has no friends except the United States and is for the most part hated around the world. A nation that has sponsored terrorism through proxies across the Middle East is now seen as the heroic barrier to Israel’s genocide. The United States has suffered a humiliating defeat or at least it is unable to keep the Strait of Hormuz open with its navy. U.S. bases across the Middle East have been repeatedly attacked by Iranian missiles and drones as have U.S. allies in the region. Just the other day Jordan which has tried very hard to stay out of the struggle and says it has no foreign bases had 10 or 12 missiles fired at its bases and suffered considerable damage. The bottom line for U.S, interests is that Iran has proven to the world, the U.S,. Israel and other allies that the promises of protection cannot be met. If one of the Gulf States, for example, responds to an Iranian attack it is swarmed by Iranian missiles and drones and much of their military bases have been severely damaged already. The bottom line for Israel, well let’s look at it. Israel has no political way out of this that I can see. Israel’s goal from the beginning has been the destruction of Iran which would leave Israel in complete domination of the Middle East south of Turkey. Israel simply cannot accomplish its goals without the U.S. but its leadership acts as if it doesn’t care what the U.S. president wants. I can tell you what he wants with a fair degree of certainty. He wants out of this debacle before it creates a worldwide depression. Bibi apparently cares nothing for the United States and its people or its survival. For example, last week reports are that Bibi and the president had a lengthy phone conversation and President Trump asked him to leave southern Lebanon so he could meet one of the Iranian demands before peace. Bibi has still not complied with that request and perhaps has no intention to comply and if so Trump has no way out. Israel is not interested in peace right now, only war. Israel has not let go of its original goal and that was the complete destruction of Iran. Bibi said when it started that he had been waiting for this war for 40 years. So, let’s get this straight. The United States started bombing Iran because Israel wanted and demanded it. The bombing only hurts the U.S. and makes it weaker and it is now threatening the world economy with depression. Israel will not do the basics that would allow the U.S. to escape and so Trump feels trapped, blames it all on the Iranians and restarts the bombing on an even more massive scale. Why would Donald Trump, an obviously proud and even vain man, put up with such shabby and embarrassing treatment by this ally of 9 million people which could not continue to exist without the U.S. That is the question of the day isn’t it. Could it be revelations from the Epstein files. Possibly, but I don’t think so because the Democrats had those files before his election and they didn’t use them. Could it be money. I’m sure there’s money involved but I don’t think its pure greed for Trump because he is already a multi billionaire. Could it be something as simple as nuclear blackmail. That’s pretty horrible to contemplate but I suppose it’s possible. How would that work, who knows for sure, but maybe something like this. If you don’t help me destroy Iran I will do it myself with nuclear weapons. Or maybe we have planted dirty bombs all over Washington just in case. Let me be clear folks that I have no information at all to suggest that has happened I’m just wondering where the control comes from. When Trump was campaigning in both 2016 and 2024 he ran on an antiwar promise. He said he would be remembered for the wars he didn’t start and that was a very appealing message to me. All I know for sure is that after the assassination attempt in Butler Pennsylvania he emerged a completely different man. First he ordered a halt to the investigation which raises all kinds of red flags. Why would you order the FBI and Secret Service to stop investigating an attempted assassination. He became close friends with super war hawks like Lindsey Graham and many others. Trump is apparently trying to get a little distance from Bibi by using Turkey and putting the Turks forward as the next rising power which could replace Iran and hopefully control Syria and Lebanon which of course includes Hezbollah. Years ago, Turkey, although a NATO member agreed to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia. NATO was outraged because that would give Russia inside knowledge of NATO aircraft, radars, etc. The U.S, congress sanctioned Turkey and delisted it from the F-35 program. Now trump says despite the congressional ban he will sell the F-35 to Turkey as well as selling them or allowing their purchase of Taal engines for the new stealth fighter they are trying to build so if they have those engines they can make their own 5th generation fighter. The U.S. congress is not the only group outraged by the deal. Can you imagine what Israel thinks about it. I’m pretty sure Bibi would want the U.S. to destroy Turkey after it destroys Iran but I’m just guessing folks. This is not how diplomacy has been conducted in the past folks. One party never releases partial information about any deals until the paper is signed. In other words, there should be no release of information that we have a deal, the Iranians called me begging me to stop bombing, but that is what he has been doing. There is indeed something really weird about this war and the negotiations. I’ve lived awhile and I’ve been a student of history during most of that and I can’t remember the U.S. attacking a country for no obvious reason, not even a bogus one that could be used as cover, so it’s quite a departure from the American way. Or maybe we were born from war. We fought wars of expansion and a war that freed enslaved people, wars to help out friends in Europe and now wars apparently to maintain military control over the earth so maybe it’s not such a departure. In conclusion, since the enemy gets a vote as the generals like to say, and the enemy votes to continue the war one side can’t just make it all go away by proclaiming that it has. Ther is no political solution but there are a few military solutions one of which makes sense. Number one the U.S. and or Israel could destroy Iran with nuclear weapons. That would be the most catastrophic disaster in the history of man’s time on earth. Number two the U.S. could invade, conquer and occupy Iran with ground troops. That solution would be very bloody and costly in terms of human destruction but also would severely damage the world economy and would probably provoke a worldwide depression. The only solution that makes any sense is the simplest one and that is to disengage. Not only from Iran but from the Middle East itself. Just come home from there and announce that the Project for a New American Century has been flushed. Announce that the U.S. will feed its own pe

  3. Jul 3

    250 YEARS OF BEING AMERICAN

    Darrell Castle talks about the 4th of July and how Americans traditionally celebrate the independence of our country from England. For those who say they won’t celebrate because they are not getting everything they want from America, I say perhaps you don’t understand what the ideals of America really are supposed to be or perhaps it is because in your heart this is not your country. Transcription / Notes 250 YEARS OF BEING AMERICAN Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 3rd day of July in the year of our Lord 2026. Tomorrow is the 4th of July when traditionally we celebrate the independence of our Country from England. To those who say they won’t celebrate because they are not getting everything they want from America I say perhaps you don’t understand what the ideals of America really are supposed to be or perhaps you don’t celebrate because this is not your country. That is more than just a snarky, love it or leave it comment, because I have traveled and even lived abroad and when you do that you might like the country you are in but you don’t love it. To love a country, it has to be in your blood or your DNA. Terra Ferma or firm ground or the land under your feet is yours to live on and to defend with your life if necessary. It used to be that almost everyone felt that way so what happened. Many things have happened but mass immigration from the Third World has had a profound effect on our culture and our politics. Now we elect members of congress who aren’t even American. Many other things happened of course but paramount among them was that our attitude and the attitudes of our politicians changed profoundly. For one thing the new media allowed us to finally get a glimpse at what the global ruling elite really are. Let’s just start from World War ll and go forward from there. With a few notable exceptions prior to that war, America minded its own business for the most part. One of those exceptions was Woodrow Wilson deciding to spend thousands of American lives to rescue Britain and France from Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm. Staying out of European wars is pretty good practice and it always has been, but we seem to struggle with that from time to time. When World War ll ended and NAZI Germany was defeated, Japan was defeated, and the lesser Axis powers were gone, America had about 10 million men in uniform and under arms. To some extent we demobilized and most of those men were sent home to their factories and farms but something else happened as well. We did not completely demobilize and instead we decided we could garrison the entire world. The idea was that in the event of a Soviet attack in Europe American troops could not be reinforced by ship due to Soviet submarines so the strategy was to forward garrison them. Now it can’t be done because of missiles and drones so it was never a viable concept and leaving would be the most obvious strategy. We kept bases and troops just about everywhere including occupying the countries we had just defeated. People still loved us because after all we had just saved civilization from a return to the dark ages. Even with troops everywhere for the most part we still left other people alone to decide their own leadership. Korea and Vietnam were two places we intervened to prevent our great enemy, The Soviet Union, from expanding its politics into other countries against their will. We were at least able to convince ourselves that was the reason. By the end of the Vietnam War a new generation was coming on the scene and that one had not fought and did not seem to remember World War ll. The bodies piled up and they filled the cemeteries. The American people finally started to listen to the new generation and the war became very unpopular. When we finally just left after all those dead, the Communists did prevail but now 50 years later Vietnam is one of the capitalist “miracles” of Southeast Asia. In the meantime, we still had our great enemy, The Soviet Union” to occupy our time and resources and it kept our war production factories running at full speed. The philosophy that we lived with since World War ll had been containment or just don’t let them expand but don’t try to defeat them. Ronald Reagan said he had a different philosophy and it was “we win, they lose.” He and Gorbachev negotiated an end to the Soviet Union which was collapsing under the economic weight of cold war competition and maintaining 16 totally dependent colonies which could produce nothing. The end of the Soviet Union was probably the greatest opportunity for world peace in modern history but we failed miserably and the world is still suffering from that failure. Instead of living up to the deal we made with Gorbachev we agreed to advance NATO to the very border of Russia. The purpose of NATO was to defend Europe from the Soviet Union which didn’t even exist anymore so it made no sense and NATO made no sense. A new great enemy was needed and quickly found, When the Soviet Union was dissolved into the Russian Federation we had Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and the new enemy of radical Islam was found. Along with that a few very bright and very sinister American Neocons drafted the Project for a New American Century and that ambition has been followed since then. Invade and conquer the countries around the Middle East and make this an American century. Other countries such as Russia and China had their own ideas about this unipolar American world and there has been conflict since then. The attitude of America and that of mind your own business and let others do the same changed into something else. We are the sole superpower and we run the world. We claim the right to intervene anytime, anywhere we choose in the world and we don’t care what you think about it. If we don’t like the people who lead your country and your leaders are misbehaving, we will invade and change your leaders if you do not comply. That attitude has kept us constantly at war and it has changed the way the world sees us. The situation has been made much worse because it has become obvious that for whatever reason America has become nothing more than the military arm of Greater Israel. Much of the world sees that and they see that Israel would not exist and would not do what it does without us and so the world hates us along with Israel. Yes, the world and much of the United States literally hates Israel.  Before the attacks on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, support for Israel was one of the most reliable things in politics, but now in just a few years its all changed. The fact that we are fighting wars for nothing but the policy of Greater Israel is becoming so obvious no one can ignore it except those who are bought and paid for. That the Israeli lobby is using our money to buy our leaders is very distressing and most see that. Even the dependable white liberal and Northern Jewish alliance has been broken. Couple all that with the results of the war being humiliation for the U.S. and people are very dissatisfied. Recent polls reveal that the Iran War is more unpopular than Vietnam in its final stages. The war is saying something about us that is hard to take and that is that our leadership from Congress to the Senate and the Presidency are bought and paid for and possibly blackmailed for even worse reasons. So, we the people are supposed to send our sons and now even our daughters to die for that. No thanks the people are saying. Well, that is quite enough about what is wrong with us right now so let’s look at some good news. The good news is that Washington is not America because it has become something almost foreign. We are America and when the world meets us and sees that the world recognizes it. The World Cup of soccer is a very good example of that happening and it has been very uplifting to watch. Huge stadiums filled with foreign fans shouting USA along with the Americans. Stadiums full of people from around the world singing American folk songs. I saw a video of one German woman who said “if you want to hate America watch the news, if you want to love it drive its roads and meet its people. The outpouring of affection most of the fans have expressed has been heartwarming in the extreme. Even back in the Vietnam days more than 50 years ago I found that most people liked Americans but they did not like the American government. For the first time in recent memory people are at least beginning to see that this is not just a Democrat/Republican issue but one that affects the entire country the same. In other words, I have been right all along and they are all in it together. Their differences and name calling are just theater for us and unfortunately sometimes we watch but many have stopped believing. I’m not talking about the people who have been conditioned through propaganda to hate each other so leaders can loot them. The leaders are all in it and if one is not he or she is quickly gone. In conclusion, is there a way back. Yes, I think there is and it starts with disengagement from not just Israel but from the Middle East. I noticed that Bibi has returned to Washington for the 7th time during the Trump presidency. Tell him we are leaving and that he is on his own. We will sacrifice no more lives for the desires of a foreign leader. Finally, folks, Happy 4th of July. Celebrate with fireworks and hot dogs. Honor America as it should be and could be again if the people wanted it badly enough. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

  4. Jun 19

    Father’s Day

    Darrell Castle talks about Father’s Day, what it means, and why it is important to honor fathers. Transcription / Notes: FATHER’S DAY Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 19th day of June in the year of our Lord 2026. I previously did a Report on Mother’s Day and what it means so today I will be talking about Father’s Day, what it means and why it is important to honor fathers. Yes, we are two days away from Father’s Day which falls on the 21st of June this year. It is dedicated as a Federal Holiday falling on the third Sunday of June each year. The holiday was started in Spokane, Washington in 1910 by a woman named Snora Smart Dodd who was inspired by a Mother’s Day sermon and she wanted to honor her father in the same way. Her father was a Civil War veteran named William Jackson Smart who was the father of 6 children. His wife died in childbirth and he raised his 6 kids alone. His daughter thought that he had lived his life with honor so she persuaded local authorities to set aside a day to honor her father and all the others. In1972 President Nixon made it a federal occasion and now we celebrate it each year by honoring or remembering our fathers. The National Retail Federation (NRF) tells us that the average gift per person given to each father in terms of dollars is $196.23. Interestingly for this year June 21st is the summer solstice or the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere which means it is the day of maximum daylight. So, I guess we can spend more daytime at all those cookouts with our fathers. In this Report I will endeavor to make recognition of fathers something you can easily see as vitally important. Social scientists tell us that data overwhelmingly confirms that children born to their married parents have much better outcomes than children born to single mothers. The data indicates that children born to married parents are “significantly more likely to be on track” at every life stage than children who are born to unmarried parents. Children who are “on track” are those who achieve age-appropriate benchmarks for every stage in life. At the end of elementary school an on-track child has mastered basic math and reading skills, has behavioral competencies that predict later success, has a strong relationship with parents and is in good health.  From elementary school to adulthood the child born to married parents is more likely to be on-track and significantly so than the child born to single or unmarried parents. The report from which I am quoting said that even babies benefit greatly from married parents. A baby born to an unmarried mother is three times more likely to need Medicaid or other government assistance to pay for the delivery of the child and is twice as likely to have received late or no prenatal care. That child is twice as likely to be born prematurely and much more likely to be born at a low birth weight. That child is 14 times more likely to have been fathered by a man not identified on the birth certificate (29% versus 2%). This all serves to illustrate the importance of fathers involved in the upbringing and in the lives of their children but there’s a lot more. The data also shows many other problems which present themselves when a father is not involved in the raising of a child. The study shows that the absence of a father leads to children who report feeling abandoned, struggling with their emotions, and experiencing self-loathing, increased behavioral problems, poor academic performance, much higher rates of delinquency, youth crime, promiscuity, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and homelessness. If that were not all fatherless children are at greater risk of suffering physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and many times more likely to experience physical and emotional maltreatment with the risk of fatal abuse 100 times greater. The report from the Institute for Family Studies concludes that there is a growing list of disadvantages for children in households without fathers but the report concludes that current U.S. welfare policies tend to encourage fatherlessness. The current policies subsidize unmarried parenting by paying for prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care while allowing the men who fathered the children to escape accountability. The authors of the article conclude that as a society, and especially our churches we have to start recognizing the value of fatherhood again. Our education system in general seems to be failing right now and the belief is that our moral standards have fallen first and a large part of that failing is how we view fathers. The poverty rate in the black and Hispanic communities lowers by 80% when the parents are married. So, why wouldn’t fathers want to remain with the children they fathered. Why wouldn’t people want to get married and remain married if the statistics I just recited are true. That’s a good question but it seems that our society now sets up marriage to fail from the outset. There are many exceptions to that such as mine for example. I’m in the 49th year of my marriage and many people ask me how I do it because they recognize that lifetime commitment is unusual enough to deserve explanation. To continue the point of absent fathers and no marriage I reviewed a recent report done by The American Enterprise Institute in which the authors looked at the issue from a purely economic standpoint. The report was entitled; “Land of Opportunity: Advancing the American Dream.” From their report I learned that one of the chief things causing failure or at least lack of success is the gap between married and non-married Americans. In the middle of the last century and I mean the 1900’s, one in 20 children were born out of wedlock. Now it’s two in five. America has the world’s highest rate of children living in single parent homes: 23% in the U.S. against 7% internationally. Forty percent of millennials from intact, two-parent families graduated from college and 77 % achieved middle class incomes or higher. For those who didn’t grow up in intact families, only 17% graduated from college and 57% achieved middle class income. They are twice as likely to be incarcerated, even after other socioeconomic factors are considered. Quoting from the article for a moment. “Research using tax-return data suggests that neighborhoods with high rates of single parenthood cultivate lower social mobility, including among kids who themselves are not raised by single parents.”  The conclusion from the research is that absence of fathers on their offspring has very long-term negative effects on the well-being of children. This study concludes that among all races marriage protects against poverty. From a personal perspective I can say that for 46 years I counseled thousands of people in my law office and my conclusion has been that divorce especially for women and their children leads to a life of poverty. Married parents regardless of race and education suffer significantly less poverty than unmarried mothers. Another interesting thing about these reports is that the phenomenon is not happening evenly but it seems to have a self-perpetuating pattern. For example, from 1970 to 2018 marital births dropped by 29 points overall but they dropped 47 points for the bottom education group and just 6 points for the top. From the early 1960’s to the late 2010’s marriage rates fell by roughly 46 percentage points for the least educated young women compared with 17 points for the most educated which leaves those least able to bear the cost of single parenthood the most likely to experience it. Government, for whatever reason seems to be putting its thumb on the scale to tilt the outcome against marriage. The institution of marriage is obviously the most important factor in raising children and for income mobility, but that is not how the government views it apparently. For example, a couple with two kids, with each parent earning $30,000 receives around $5000 in earned income tax credits benefits if they remain unmarried. They lose all the benefits if they marry which is in effect a tax on marriage. Medicaid, housing vouchers and SNAP benefits all phase out and punish couples who get married whereas they do not if the couples live together without marriage. It seems that careful research keeps finding the same conclusion regarding economic success and opportunities for children despite efforts to debunk it. In conclusion, I would like to thank the occasion that is Father’s Day for the opportunity to be honored by my wife and our daughter. In addition, it gives me the opportunity to talk about something besides war and the opportunity to put into words something that I have observed over a very long legal career. Speaking of families, I have a family obligation next week so there is no Castle Report next week. Finally, folks, may God bless you and your families. If you can’t visit your father on Sunday, at least give him a call because he will be so glad you did. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

  5. Jun 12

    The Israelization of the U.S. Military

    Darrell Castle talks about a bill currently working its way through the U.S. Congress which would, if passed, literally integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries and would put funding for the Israeli military on auto pilot. Will it pass and be signed by the President? Many people seem to think it will so he takes a look at it today. THE ISRAELIZATION OF THE U.S. MILITARY Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 12th of June in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about a bill currently working its way through the United States Congress which would, if passed, literally integrate the U.S. and Israeli militaries and would put funding for the Israeli military on auto pilot. Will it pass and be signed by the President. Many people seem to think it will so we take a look at it today. Yes, unfortunately it seems that certain members of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States are now ready to complete the process of uniting the two countries militaries. The first bill introduced in the House would have literally combined the two. Many of the Israel first politicians are already dual citizens so why not complete the process and stop all the hypocrisy. Just go ahead and make the U.S. military the official enforcement arm of Israeli foreign policy. The most egregious provision of the original bill is that the benefits due to American veterans like me, such as medical and educational benefits would have also been available to all Israeli veterans. That would have been a supreme insult to every American veteran who has ever served. The last time I checked there were about 15 million living American veterans so why not just insult them all while they are still alive. Just tell them all that “your service to this nation meant nothing” but certainly no more to America than an Israeli veteran meant to America. Fortunately, that portion of the bill was pulled before it advanced but there are rumors that it is still out there in Congress or at least in some of their minds and it will be added back in. The bill being considered is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would fund the U.S. military for another year. According to members of the House whose opinions I have read, there is near certainty that Section 224 of that bill will pass through the House and become law with the President’s signature. Congressman Ro Khanna, Democrat, and Thomas Massie, Republican tried to pass an amendment to delete Section 224 but the amendment failed. That section will set up a “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” that integrates US-Israeli military research and development co-production of weapons systems, licensing agreements, AI, directed energy. Data integration, and missile defense. It creates the framework for bilateral research and development, co-production of weapons, joint ventures, licensing agreements, and virtually every manner of U.S.-Israeli military cooperation. The Director of this “Initiative” who will be responsible for coordination of the work will reportedly be an Israeli. The funding will come 100% from the U.S, treasury through part of the $1.5 trillion defense budget requested by President Trump. The purpose as stated is to fully connect the functionality of the U.S. military with that of the Israeli military in what is being described as an equal partnership that will include the government of Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces as full partners. There will be intelligence sharing and in fact the bill includes a requirement that intelligence must be shared. Israeli forces will be included in the planning process of how U.S. weapons are developed and procured.  This serves to explain at least in part why Netanyahu has been indicating recently that Israel might be willing to forego some of the mandatory $3.8 billion the U.S. gives it every year. He obviously knows there is an even bigger slice of American Pie coming his way via Section 224. The intelligence sharing portion of the bill was introduced by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas which he calls “US-Israel Intelligence Sharing Enhancement.” Interestingly, at the same time the New York Times recently carried an article entitled “Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat from Israel.” The article is sourced to the Defense Intelligence Agency which says that the espionage threat from Israel is at the highest possible level and even says that Israel eavesdropped on negotiations between the United States and Iran conducted in Pakistan. The senators pushing this bill often refer to Israel as our best friend and most trusted ally but at the same time the DIA has that country listed as the highest possible espionage threat. Just to keep following this espionage threat let me tell you or remind you of a couple of things this best friend has done during its roughly 78 years as a political nation. In 1984 when a man named Yitzhak Shamir was prime minister and Ronald Reagan was the US president; Israel dispatched an American of dual citizenship named Jonathan Pollard to do some spying against the US. Pollard worked in the US defense establishment and had access to some of the most highly classified military secrets. He stole and delivered the entire 10 volume DIA manual of in person or human intelligence operatives all over the world. The manual contained the names and locations of US intelligence operatives working in the Soviet Union and Communist China both countries in a desperate cold war with the US. Pollard delivered the manual along with many other vital intelligence documents to his handlers in Israel. Can you guess what our best friend and most trusted ally did with the manual and other information. Yes, that’s right, they gave it to the Soviet Union and Communist China in exchange for “favors”. Thousands of US personnel along with foreign operatives working with US Intelligence were arrested and many were killed so I guess as the saying goes with friends like that who needs enemies. Pollard did his work in 1984 and in 1987 he was sentenced to life in prison and he served exactly 30 years plus five years of probation. He was then allowed to move to Israel where he has hero status. The American Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, had him over to the US Embassy for a little get together recently. That Pollard incident illustrates the one-sided relationship the US has with Israel quite clearly but as bad as it was it was not the worst. No, the worst happened in 1967 when a man named Levi Eshkol was Prime Minister of Israel and Lyndon Johnson was US President. In fact, last Monday the 8th of June was the 59th anniversary of the Israeli attack on an American ship named USS Liberty. The Liberty was an intelligence gathering ship operating in International Waters in the Eastern Mediterranean when it was attacked by air forces of Israel. This attack was not an accident or improper identification or anything except a deliberate act of murder. The Liberty, an unarmed vessel, was relentless bombed and strafed by Israeli jets while clearly flying the American flag. The attack severed the radio mast and cut off the crew’s ability to send a distress call but one crewman managed to climb on deck despite strafing fire, raise an antenna and get off a distress call. Out in the Med a US carrier heard the message and immediately launched jets for a rescue effort. I can tell you from a lot of personal experience that there is nothing that motivates US soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines like coming to the rescue of brothers in trouble. Unfortunately, the US Commander in Chief, Lyndon Johnson personally ordered the Carrier captain to withdraw his jets. They left Liberty to die on its own but the little ship and its crew refused to die. 34 men were killed and 171 wounded but the ship would not sink and made it back to port. The pilots of our most trusted friend and ally even machine-gunned wounded sailors in the water something honorable men do not do even when their nations are at war. No real investigation by government investigators with subpoena power has ever been conducted to my knowledge. Oh, there was a cursory inquiry as there always is but according to reporter Donald Jeffries who did a yeoman’s job of private investigation and who has written extensively about the matter President Johnson ordered the board of inquiry to rule it an accident. Why did the Israelis attack the USS Liberty. Without going into a lot of what amounts to guesswork, it was probably because Israel was fighting what came to be known as the six-day-war against a coalition of enemy nations one of which was Egypt. The Liberty was to be sunk and the incident blamed on the Egyptians which would have given the US an excuse to enter the war against Egypt as retaliation. In both the Liberty attack and the Pollard incident not a single thing regarding US policy toward Israel changed. Not one dollar was cut from the very generous support.  Compare this to the reaction upon news this week that an Apache Attack Helicopter had been shot down in the Persian Gulf near Hormuz. The President said he would retaliate with a massive bombing attack and would “take over” Iran’s petroleum industry. I don’t believe the story which makes no sense but not much in this war makes sense. An Apache is an attack helicopter with a mission of finding and destroying enemy armor but it can be used for armed reconnaissance as well. Perhaps that was its mission over the Gulf. It landed in the water with no injuries to crew so no I don’t believe it and it was probably done by Israel if it was done at all. I don’t think it was more than an excuse to resume the war. Finally, folks, the US has reportedly given Israel more than $300 billion since its founding in 1948 but it is on the brink of an even more egregious relationship whereby it combines its military with t

  6. Jun 5

    Trump Unloads on Netanyahu

    Darrell Castle discusses President Trump’s angry, profanity laced tirade directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Did it really happen and if so why did it happen and if it did not happen, why say that it did. Transcriptions / Notes TRUMP UNLOADS ON NETANYAHU Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 5th day of June in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat today is war and as usual there is no shortage of war to talk about but today I discuss President Trump’s angry, profanity laced tirade directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. Did it really happen and if so why did it happen and if it did not happen then why say that it did. Its no secret that Trump wants the U.S. role in the war against Iran ended and quickly. The war has placed the world’s economy in jeopardy and therefore its end is imperative. To that end Trump has been negotiating with somebody representing Iran while using Pakistan as the broker. Every time it looks positive and Trump announces that fighting has stopped it turns out to be a little premature. Trump says we have a deal ending the war and fighting has ceased. In response gas prices in the U.S. come down and the stock market soars. The next step is for Israel to continue attacking in Lebanon as if there were no peace talks. Apparently Trump got tired of it this week and placed a call to the Prime Minister. The story, reported at first by people physically present for the call, and later admitted by the President himself went something like this. Trump called Netanyahu F-ing crazy and accused him of ingratitude. “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving you’re a**. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” In the meantime, whether Netanyahu got the message or not Israel continued its war in Lebanon as if nothing had happened. According to Lebanese news agency NNA, the Israeli attacks continued and Hezbollah continued attacks against Israeli forces inside Lebanon. Lebanon’s Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah would refrain from further attacks if Israel would show the same restraint but Israel does not seem interested. Israel announced that the fighting would continue but it would not strike Beirut while talks were ongoing. Israeli and Lebanese Ambassadors are in talks at the State Department in Washington. That makes me wonder if the Lebanese government has the authority to negotiate for Hezbollah. I guess one answer to that question is that Hezbollah is the Lebanese government. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that President Trump backed the strikes in Southern Lebanon. It’s all very conflicting and confusing but there is one other possibility. There is a possibility that the phone call never took place at all or if it did then the whole thing was a stage show between Trump and Netanyahu staged for our benefit. Why would the President stage a profanity laced conversation he had with a foreign leader. To me the better question is why would he allow that conversation to be publicly leaked and then why would he admit that he said those things. I suppose the answer lies in his response to criticism he has been getting from the media and from people in his own party about how he does the bidding of Netanyahu and that he says America First but in practice its Israel First. I don’t know what is true here but if it were all fake it would be to bolster his image of a strong leader who doesn’t tolerate disrespect from allies. I don’t know which version is true but it is very suspicious that the administration made such a big deal out of what should have been a private conversation. Israel, through its defense minister, has said that it would be remaining permanently in Southern Lebanon so why does this tiny country of 9 million seem so aggressive and so intent on expansion. For one thing its tiny size relative to its neighbors makes it very vulnerable. At its widest point it is only 71 miles wide and at its narrowest point it is only 9 miles wide. In other words, defense in depth is virtually impossible because it has no avenue of retreat to fall back and regroup as any retreat would put enemy forces right in Israeli cities. Therefore, it must attack constantly to push back its enemies who state clearly that they seek its destruction. Looking at Israel from the Israeli position they probably see their status as expand or die. Since defense in depth is essential and determines if a country has enough space to recover from an initial attack Israel believes it must constantly seek to push out its borders because a defeat on its borders leaves it extremely vulnerable. Now, with the new form of unmanned warfare coming to light with drones and missiles one of Israel’s chief advantages is taken away or diminished. That advantage is pilot courage and training which thanks to the U.S. is some of the best in the world along with top-of-the-line aircraft it all serves to make Israel a foe to be reckoned with. Drones and missiles are rapidly changing the dynamics of war and Israel and the U.S. are apparently late to the game and a little behind in how best to defend against them. Israel’s tactic seems to be to attack with as much force and with tactics as ruthless as necessary to push the enemy back as far as possible. I admit this is guesswork, but to much of the world the Israeli tactics is genocide but to Israel they just don’t care because for them it is survival. Israel, it seems to me, could be controlled enough for the U.S. to make peace because it lives in a very bad neighborhood and without the U.S. Israel could not exist as a sovereign nation. It is a little unrealistic to think Israel, with its 9 million population would never face a superior force or coalition of forces. Therefore, Trump’s phone call, if it did happen and was not a preplanned exhibit was probably necessary although the crass profanity which is so very common now could have been tempered. That type of profanity is so common it no longer has any meaning except that its user has no appropriate vocabulary. It reminds me of a different time when Harry Truman reportedly used the word Damn in the presence of Madame Chiang Kai- Shek the widow of Chaing who had been ruler of China until he was overthrown in the Maoist revolution. Madame Chaing resented it and complained and it was a front-page scandal. A few Presidents have apparently resisted Israeli pressure to attack Iran. If the testimony of Obama’s Secretary of State is accurate then he is one who did and George Bush would not do it either but lots of Israeli money poured into the campaign of one who would and did do it. Often, national leaders opt for whatever they think necessary for staying in power rather than what they truly believe to be in the national interest. The smaller the group they actually have to please and make happy the better or at least that makes it easier. If staying in power and the national interest happens to coincide well that’s just great, but in my opinion they rarely do. Finally, folks, there are reasons for why people do things but quite often we don’t know what the real reasons are. In Truman’s day we were different and perhaps a little naïve about leaders and maybe we still are. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

  7. May 29

    Tulsi’s Gone

    Darrell Castle talks about the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard from her position as Director of National Intelligence, and why she made the decision to resign. Was it because of her husband’s illness or something else. Transcription / Notes TULSI’S GONE Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 29th day of May in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard from her position as Director of National Intelligence, and about why Tulsi made the decision to resign. Was her decision because of her husband’s illness or was it something else. Tulsi never seemed to fit into Washington like a typical Washington politician. She never seemed willing to lie and cheat her way to the top as is typical of Washington. From the beginning of her prominence, she seemed a little too honest and too forthright for Washington politics. Nevertheless, she was a politician having served as a Democrat in congress from the state of Hawaii. She left congress and ran for president as a Democrat but lost in the primary to Joe Biden. She became disenchanted with the Democrat Party and decided to back President Trump in his run for that office. President Trump appointed her Director of National Intelligence, in theory the most important national security position in the country. The U.S. now has 18 intelligence agencies or departments if you count their various components and they all report to the Director of National Intelligence, but once in the office I imagine that the DNI found out who holds the real power in the intelligence world. When I learned a few weeks ago that the CIA had apparently broken into, raided, or whatever you want to call the CIA’s visit to their boss’s office, I knew Tulsi would soon be gone. Whistleblower James Erdman blew his whistle in congress and testified that the CIA had “seized” documents from their secure area in the office of the DNI. Some of the files they seized related to the assassination, or perhaps their assassination, of JFK. They apparently also took the files related to MKULTRA which was and probably is the CIA’s experimental program designed to alter and control human behavior through the use of mind-altering drugs and torture. They sought to and apparently did learn the art of mind control including control of whole populations through these experiments. There are people who exist now who are suing the CIA in an effort to get some answers to the questions of what happened to their minds and the minds of their parents because of MKULTRA. That’s not all they got because apparently they got the files on “Havana Syndrome” in which U.S. diplomats and others stationed in Havana and other places were apparently subjected to some kind of mind-altering rays. In response to the CIA raid, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and James Comer (R-KY) chairman of the house Oversight Committee, sent a preservation letter to the CIA demanding that all evidence related to the taken or stolen material be preserved. I imagine the CIA got a good laugh over that letter as they endeavored to show naive members of Congress who actually runs this country. Apparently someone spoke to someone and explained the facts of life as it exists in Washington because when that letter of preservation became public people started to backtrack their statements. Even Erdman, the whistleblower said no I didn’t say it was a raid instead I just said CIA refused to comply with “lawful oversight and documented everts to circumvent oversight.” He testified to Congress that not only did CIA refuse to comply with the directives of the ODNI Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG) investigations into the origins of COVID-19 and other “phenomena” but retaliated against those who did not support their own conclusions. Quoting long-term CIA agent Erdman, “The CIA illegally monitored the computer and phone usage of DIG personnel, their investigations, and contact with whistleblowers, which significantly impacted Director Gabbard’s implementation of several Eo’s issued during this administration and tasked to the DIG.” In addition, “when the DIG ceased operations, the CIA also took back 40 boxes of JFK files and MKULTRA files being processed for declassification by DNI Gabbard.” The CIA’s spying was referenced as tracking every keystroke of DIG personnel as they processed files directed by presidential EO to be released or unclassified. These files included files concerning JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, the origins of COVID-19, Crossfire Hurricane, The Biden Administration’s domestic surveillance, Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI) and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. So, just speculating here folks, but trying to do it with logic I think it went something like this. The President appoints this intelligent and experienced, but most importantly honest woman to head the nation’s intelligence organizations. He then says that as he campaigned on a pledge to be transparent and release long classified files he issues an Executive Order (EO) to that effect. Tulsi, his DNI, who most likely took the job based on a promise to be forthcoming, sets out to obey the President’s EO. She appoints a working group from among those in the office of the DNI which she calls DIG to sort through the files to determine if there was anything that should not be released. The CIA completely ignored that  report to DNI which was Tulsi and in fact they ignore or refuse to abide by the direct written orders of the President of the United States. They break into, or raid, if that is better, her office, take the files and even congress can’t get them back. My conclusion, then, is that this case reveals as clearly as anything has who or what runs this country. I knew when I heard the story of what happened and looked into it that Tulsi would not be able to remain in the administration. Who would want to be director of the office that controls American intelligence agencies, all 18 of them, if one of those agencies was completely exempt from you, their boss’s orders, and apparently didn’t even follow the orders of the President. So, is that why she resigned because she didn’t say that it was. In fact, she didn’t complain about the President’s inability or unwillingness to control the CIA but instead she thanked him and the American people for the opportunity to serve. In her letter she cited her husband Abraham and his diagnosis of a “extremely rare form of bone cancer” as the reason. She said he had stood by her every step of the way including when her Army guard unit was deployed to East Africa and through her political campaigns so she wanted to be with him full-time during such a difficult time. In 18 months as DNI she restructured the office, cutting its size and saving the American people more than $700 million per year. She launched many investigations and sought the release of previously classified material related to the programs previously listed. She has declassified more than 500,000 pages thus far. Her National Counterterrorism Center stopped thousands of narco-terrorists from entering the country until finally its head, Joe Kent, publicly resigned citing the Iran war as the reason. I saw her interviewed on the Shawn Ryan Podcast the other day and she was very forthright as she normally is. She said that the people who opposed her in her efforts were very intolerant of anyone who believes in God because in their minds they are God. They are the ultimate deciders of right and wrong and their choices are never wrong because they determine what right is. If a person opposes them, even if their boss opposes them, that person is on the way out. She said that before she goes at the end of June she will release many files related to the programs in question. Likely, these files will be released in weekly installments over the weeks of June. Her deputy director, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director until a permanent director is appointed. I predict without knowing one way or the other that the new director will have a CIA or perhaps military, meaning ex-General background. Politicians seem to be sweating over the prospect of files related to Crossfire Hurricane or the Russia gate hoax and other weaponization of law programs. I’m just speculating because I admit I don’t know but I will wager that Tulsi grew very weary of constantly trying to follow presidential directives and being stymied at every turn while doing so. That type of constant stress is very difficult to bear long term.  Why would the CIA take her JFK files along with the other assassination files. That’s a good question isn’t it but the answer is very obvious but unsayable in public. Yes I know the assassinations were all done by lone nuts who were killed or prosecuted without any real investigation but nothing to see here folks just move along. Finally, folks, Tulsi seems to be an intelligent, honest woman who loves her country and its people and who puts them before any political party. There aren’t many left like her and I for one will miss her. I wish her well. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

  8. May 22

    Nixon Went to China Too

    Darrell Castle talks about President Trump’s recent summit with Premier Xi in China and points out the similarities with President Nixon’s summit in China in 1972. Transcription / Notes NIXON WENT TO CHINA TOO Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 22nd day of May in the year of our Lord 2026. President Trump just completed a three-day historic summit with Premier Xi in China. He is not the first President to visit China since President Nixon made that trip in 1972 when China was a far different nation than today as it was in the throes of suffering through the Maoist revolution. This is the Friday before Memorial Day when we pause to remember the fallen and for most it is the start of a 3-day weekend, but for Joan and I it is a different sort of anniversary to remember. Forty-nine years ago, on this date we saw each other for the first time because we were introduced on a blind date with mutual friends. So, we met forty-nine years ago on this date and we have been together ever since but our actual anniversary, the forty-nine will be in December. This Memorial Day falls 81 years after the end of World War ll, seventy-seven years after the end of the Korean War, and fifty-one years after the end of the Vietnam War. I guess the other wars, the desert wars, are still going on. Since we are into a little nostalgia this week and to prevent burying the lead it was 54 years ago that Nixon made his historic trip to China. It was historic because China and the US, although friends in World War ll had been bitter enemies for 23 years or since the Maoist revolution. The governing principle upon which the Chinese government has been based for all those years now 77 has been that capitalism would inevitably fail, and communism would ultimately triumph around the world. The triumph would come by way of revolution as it did in China but with the aid of countries where the Communist revolution had already occurred. That principle explains why the real enemy of the Western forces fighting in Korea and Vietnam was China and Russia, not North Korea and North Vietnam. When Nixon arrived in China in 1972 the Communist Revolution had been ongoing since 1949 or 23 years but China had not fared well under Communism. It was a desperately poor, agrarian society in which the people were making little or no progress. There was very little indoor plumbing, especially in rural areas, and very little access to electricity. GDP per capita was barely at subsistence levels. Unlike today, China was technologically backward with a massive military but unable to technically compete. Trade with China was at $95.9 million and Nixon sought to build a bridge across the hostility of that world. He famously declared it “the week that changed the world.” President Clinton had a different approach to China because he apparently believed that massive technology transfers and resulting economic success would ease tensions and result in a more peaceful world. In 2000 he gave the Chinese PNTR or Permanent Normal Trade Relations and supported Chinese membership in the WTO or World Trade Organization in 2001. Before Chinese entry into the WTO the US-China trade deficit was about $83 billion but by 2015 it was $367 billion. Chinese imports into the US also surged massively with an estimated replacement of US jobs at about 2.4 to 3.4 million. Communities built in the US around the manufacture of electronics, clothing, furniture, automobiles, and other products were devastated and became just the rust belt. Nixon visited a weak, agrarian society but the new economic policies turned it into an economic and military superpower. Now President Trump has visited this country which has been hostile to the United States for 77 years. Trump’s approach to negotiating is to assume he has the strength in the relationship and to use it to his advantage. Tariffs, export controls, global alliances, and military power are all used in an effort to help benefit US farmers, manufacturers, energy workers, and many others. I predict that Trump’s trip to China will prove similar to Nixon’s in some ways. They both sought direct personal negotiation producing tangible economic benefits to both sides with protection from dangerous strategic competition. There is a knowledge or at least an assumption that President Clinton’s belief that economic success alone would moderate strategic behavior did not work and guardrails have to be installed and adhered to. Nixon engaged an impoverished third-world China for the purpose of using it to counter the Soviets. Trump engaged a powerful superpower to prevent it from obtaining or maintaining dominance in key areas. He got a public commitment from Xi to stop supplying weapons to Iran and to not aid in Iranian nuclear efforts. I have some thoughts on Xi’s statement about Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons. In my view his statement meant nothing or it was what in the law is referred to as legal fiction. He said that Iran should not have nuclear weapons and Iran should reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Well of course for the world’s economies the Strait should be reopened; a no brainer. Both sides know that nukes are not the reason for the attack on Iran and not the real reason for the continuation of the war. Thomas Massie just found out in his Republican primary what the real reason is. If the Israel lobby or the friends of Israel wants you out of congress then you are out of congress. There aren’t many surviving Republicans who are not totally sold out the Israel lobby. Rand Paul is an example and Thomas Massie was another. So almost no Republicans and about the same number of Democrats although some Democrats seem to survive without total subservience. If there are grounds for optimism coming from the summit they can be found in Xi’s public speech or at least that’s how I see them. The English version of Xi’s speech comes to me via George Friedman and his Geopolitical Futures so quoting Mr. Xi. “Honorable President Donald J. Trump, ladies and gentlemen, friends, looking back at the cause of China-U.S. relations, whether or not we could have mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation is the key to whether the relationship can advance steadily. The world today is changing and turbulent. China-U.S. relations concern the well-being of over 1,7 billion people of both countries and affect the interests of the over 8 billion people of the world. Both sides should rise up to this historic responsibility and steer the giant ship of China-U.S. relations forward steadily and in the right direction.” To me that statement says this is a multi-polar world and if we are to progress together and for the good of the world’s people you must recognize that. If you are willing to do that then 77 years of hostility can end at least open hostility can end. President Trump probably had the speech examined by his China people and he probably pointed out the thousands of Chinese spies who occupy every university of note, every corporation of note and even hold political office. Yes the mayor of Alameda, California has confessed to being a Chinese agent. There are hardly any members of Congress or the Senate who haven’t slept with at least one Chinese spy. Mr. Xi let me ask you this if the Chinese are so smart and so technologically proficient why do you have to steal your technology and your scientific advances from us. I’m just guessing but I imagine all those things were discussed. In short, China needs the American market to save its economy. In recent years economists have noted that Chinese domestic consumption has fallen off a cliff, but production is soaring. Thar means that China cannot absorb nearly enough of its production and needs the American market to do that. America needs China and Russia to help it find a face-saving exit from its war against Iran. You both control Iran and we will endeavor to control Netanyahu. To carry my point a little further Xi mentioned the Thucydides Trap in which the ancient Greek Geopolitical Thinker pointed out that when a rising power collides with an old power war is always the result. Xi said he hopes that can be avoided for China and the U.S. If that is the case and both sides want to avoid war then talking is at least the first step and a necessary one. To that end they have scheduled another summit for Washington in September, I think. Finally, folks, it seems to me that China has everything to lose and nothing to gain by war with the United States. George Friedman pointed out the fact that he mentioned Thucydides but did not mention Lenin, or Marx, and to me that’s pretty significant and could mean a turning away from 77 years of false assumptions. Why are these two men meeting and negotiating, well, I think necessity is the mother of invention and right now they need each other. At least that’s the way I see it, Until next time folks, This is Darrell Castle, Thanks for listening.

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Defending Western Civilization

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  • Creator
    Darrell Castle
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    299
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    Clean
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    © Darrell Castle
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