Tucker Carlson warns that the current campaign to strike Iran’s nuclear program again bears striking similarities to the prelude to the Iraq War, accusing pro-war voices within the Republican Party like Sen. Lindsey Graham and Fox host Mark Levin of “flooding the zone” with emotional propaganda. “The United States may not have a choice about whether or not this war starts. Because, of course, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu could always act unilaterally, preemptively against Iran, and just do it,” he said. “So it’s possible that the U.S. government, while not anxious to go to war with Iran, is trying to find a way to contain the behavior of its closest ally, Israel, rather than sit back and wait for Bibi to do something that we have to clean up, that we’re implicated in and then sucked into. It’s possible that the U.S. government is attempting to steer this in a less destructive direction.” “This is their last chance, they believe. This presidency is the last presidency where they’re going to have unequivocal bipartisan support, period.” “So the idea is to flood the zone, the information zone, to make sure that no Republican in Washington hears anything but that. And the proponents of this war are very intent on that. They’ve made no effort to convince you it’s a good idea. They aren’t staying up night and day convincing the decision makers it’s a good idea,” he said. “They’re trying to shout down and threaten and defame and slander and exclude anybody who has a contrary view, who might pipe up and say, wait a second, are we sure this is a good idea?” “And the truth is, it works because people are intimidated,” Carlson said. “People around Donald Trump have been intimidated, understandably, by the level of pure aggression aimed at anybody who raises totally reasonable points about the downsides of a war with Iran. So they haven’t said anything.” “And by the way, this is a message to anyone who knows Donald Trump, or has a good relationship with him, likes him, loves the United States. Now is the time to maybe call and say, whoa, wait a second, have some concerns here,” he said. “Now is the time — right now — because the decision has not yet been made.” Iran does not have nuclear-tipped ICBMs, and they’re not aimed at the United States,” he said. “That is a lie. It is a provable lie.” “Now, why is he saying that? Not because he hopes to win an argument, but because he hopes to whip his listeners into such a frenzy of fear and rage that they will support something that will hurt them,” Carlson said. “This will hurt the United States, almost without question, if it happens. This is not good for you.”

TUCKER CARLSON: Iraq was a true disaster, and Trump was the first big political candidate to say that out loud. He knows this. He always has. So why would he even be considering a war with Iran? Well, one way to think about it is that the United States may not have a choice about whether or not this war starts. Because, of course, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu could always act unilaterally, preemptively against Iran, and just do it. Just strike Iran. What would happen then? Well, most likely the Iranians would strike Israel and then potentially strike American assets in the Gulf and then potentially strike energy facilities in the Gulf. And the United States would be, by definition, drawn in. So it’s possible that the U.S. government, while not anxious to go to war with Iran, is trying to find a way to contain the behavior of its closest ally, Israel, rather than sit back and wait for Bibi to do something that we have to clean up, that we’re implicated in and then sucked into. It’s possible that the U.S. government is attempting to steer this in a less destructive direction. It’s possible. None of this, of course, is filtered down to people paying attention — the few who are paying attention to this — because all the noise has been about Iran’s nuclear weapons. They’re on the verge of building a nuclear weapon any day now. Now, if you’re semi-awake, you may remember that it was only about eight months ago, back in June of last year, during the short but hot 12-Day War against Iran, that the United States took out nuclear processing facilities deep underground and then announced we have ended the Iranian nuclear threat. And then without you noticing, while, you were on summer vacation or going to your kids’ graduation or bringing them back to school or watching the Super Bowl halftime show with your jaw slack, while you were not tuned in. All of a sudden, that threat out of nowhere reemerged. And there’s Benjamin Netanyahu on television or at the White House for a seventh time in a single year, making the case that we’re right on the verge of a nuclear Holocaust. Any day now, the Iranian government will have a nuclear weapon. And by the way, as noted, the president does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. That is one thing that takes very, very seriously. And he said that to the Iranians. And unfortunately, turns out, whatever side Iran is on, the current Iranian government is very hard to deal with. … But some number of Iranians protesting the Iranian government were apparently killed by the government, and we feel bad about that. And we legitimately do feel bad about that. Is that a good reason to topple the existing power structure and just let the country devolve into whatever happens next? Probably not. And the administration hasn’t really made that case or really any case other than they can’t have nuclear weapons. So you can at least feel satisfied that they’re not trying very hard to lie to you. They’re basically just saying, it looks like we could have a war, because everybody knows the only reason we’re having this war is because Israel wants it. This is their last chance, they believe. This presidency is the last presidency where they’re going to have unequivocal bipartisan support, period. You can’t primary every Thomas Massey, and there’s a whole army of them coming at some point because everyone can see what’s going on. And you could shut down X and you can just shut down the Internet. You can be like Great Britain and arrest people who protest Israel, but attitudes are not going to revert to what they were five years ago, sorry, and they know this. So this is their last chance. What’s so amazing is that Israel, which at least is acting in what it perceives to be its own national interest, is joined by its shills in the United States, of course. But really, the only other ally in this is the American news media, whose job it is to tell you the truth and informing you as to what’s happening to tell you: Hey, wake up. The world could be changing and it’s going to affect you and your family. That’s their job. Instead, they’ve been lulling you to sleep with the same variety of transparent lies and propaganda. And so just for fun, we decided we would pick a cross-section. And not just from a liberal media or right-wing media, but from all media, because it’s not a left-right question. Chuck Schumer is every bit as much in favor of an invasion of Iran, a regime change war in Iran, as, I don’t know, pick a brain-dead Republican senator, which is almost all of them. They’re all for it. And so we’re all the Democrats. You don’t see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez making a real case against. She’ll make a pro forma case because she knows that all of her constituents hate it. But is she really working to stop this? Of course not. Because they’re all for it, because they’re paid to be for it. And so are the media. So here’s a quick cross-section. Now, it goes to that saying that the Wall Street Journal, owned by the Murdoch family, has been by far the most egregious and the most stealthy. Because starting new regime change wars on behalf of Israel is like the whole reason to have the Wall Street Journal now, apparently. But here’s just a few headlines. “The diminishing risk of an Iran attack,” quote, “Two years ago there was a strong possibility the region would spiral out of control. Not anymore.” Really? Oh, really? What is the plan the day after we depose or kill the 87-year-old Supreme Leader or President Pezeshkian? What’s the plan? Do you have a plan? No plan. But don’t worry. It will not spiral out of control. The Wall Street Journal assures you of that. Here’s another: “A fractured Iran might not be so bad.” Well, yeah, it could spiral out of control and break into different provinces and, you know, it could become Libya or Syria or Lebanon. That’s not so bad because you know why, quote? “Its borders are artificial.” Oh, they’re fake! “And a breakup would frustrate the interests of China, Russia, and others.” Okay. So our global rivals wouldn’t like it, therefore it’s good. And, quote, “its borders are artificial.” As compared to whose borders? All borders are artificial. God didn’t draw them. Sorry, Mike Huckabee. They’re drawn by people. Artificial. What? No, it’s a country. Has been for a while. And if you blow it up into constituent parts and incite a civil war, there are going to be downstream effects of that. Again, like refugee crises into Europe and the Gulf States, probably the United States too, since it is the iron law of American foreign policy that once you start bombing people, you have to let all their angry kids into your country. That’s how, by the way, we got the Boston Marathon bombing and many other acts of terror. Thanks, neocons. And then there’s this. John Bolton still exists, writing for the Wall Street Journal. “The Gaza ceasefire has diverted Western attention from the real threat, Tehran and its surrogates!” You’d really have to be John Bolton to think that Tehran and its surrogates or even in the top 100 issues Americans are worried about at the moment. They’re not. This is knowable. It’s polled all the time by Gallup and others. Tehran and its surrogates are, admittedly, an issue of concern to Israel and to its shills here, but they’re not actually a problem for a continent-sized country separated from the world by two great oceans. Not a problem. As long as you don’t like start a war with Iran or something. … Now, one of the main cheerleaders for an invasion of Iraq and every other invasion and every other instance of shedding of human blood, just of killing in general, would, of course, be Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina. Now, if you don’t watch Fox, you may have no idea what he actually says, when he goes on Fox, which is all the time. So we want to play you a short montage of Lindsay Graham and watch as you watch this, his eyes. And you can see that he is maybe for the first time that day, feeling elevated and light and happy, but also tantalized. You can almost watch his mouth fill with saliva. Some people feel this way in strip bars, others in bakeries. Lindsay Graham is excited by killing. And if you think that’s cruel, watch this. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Change is coming to Iran. It’ll be the biggest change in the history of the Middle East to get rid of this Nazi regime. Hit Iran. They have oil fields out in the open. They have the Revolutionary Guard headquarters you can see from space. Blow it off the map. There’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades. And I think it would be in the world’s interest for us to decimate the Iran and nuclear. threat while we can. Be all in President Trump in helping Israel eliminate the nuclear threat. If we need to provide bombs to Israel, provide bombs. If we need to fly planes with Israel, do joint operations. So pray for our troops in harm’s way. They’re a risk associated with any operation. They joined the military to keep their country safe and to make the world a better place. And taking on the Ayatollah does both. If I were you, Mr. President, I would kill the leadership that are killing the people. And to the Ayatollahs, you need to understand that if you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J. Trump is going to kill you. TUCKER CARLSON: Now, you can look at that and say, you know, this guy’s risking his soul talking like this. This guy’s wrong on the evidence. This guy’s clearly a buffoon with some kind of psychosexual problems that we’re not qualified to diagnose, but that are totally evident. But you should also keep in mind as you watch Lindsey Graham, he’s taken very seriously by his colleagues in the Senate, not just the Republicans, but also the Democrats, and he’s taken very seriously by Republicans in Washington more broadly. Of course he is. He’s taken very seriously. This has an effect, and that effect could get us into, you know, certainly the worst war in 23 years. So the idea is to flood the zone, the information zone, to make sure that no Republican in Washington hears anything but that. And the proponents of this war are very intent on that. They’ve made no effort to convince you it’s a good idea. They aren’t staying up night and day convincing the decision makers it’s a good idea. They’re trying to shout down and threaten and defame and slander and exclude anybody who has a contrary view, who might pipe up and say, wait a second, are we sure this is a good idea? What would happen if the energy trade were shut down in the Persian Gulf? What would happen if Iran successfully lobbed some sort of armament into a U.S. aircraft carrier, and Americans died? What would happen? What would happen if Israel felt threatened enough to use nuclear weapons against Iran, which is a possibility, despite what they tell you? That’s a possibility. What would happen? Once these things get going, you don’t know where they wind up, but anyone who says he does know is lying, obviously. So anyone who raises those, those people, you know, questions must be called a Nazi and an anti-Semite, and you want to kill Jews. No, don’t want to kill anybody. The game is to make sure that the only noise in the room comes from Graham and people like Graham. Until, of course, someone pushes play, and it’s too late to stop it. And at that point, we can all pretend we were never for this, or they just did it wrong or whatever. We’ve seen this movie so many times, you know exactly what’s going to happen if it goes south. And the truth is, it works because people are intimidated. Donald Trump, to his great credit, listens to everybody. And by the way, in his speeches, when he starts rolling and ad-libbing and all that, the weave, as he calls it, he’ll often say, I talked to this guy, and, like, he actually kind of listens to people. But people around Donald Trump have been intimidated, understandably, by the level of pure aggression aimed at anybody who raises totally reasonable points about the downsides of a war with Iran. So they haven’t said anything. So keep in mind, and by the way, this is a message to anyone who knows Donald Trump, has a good relationship with him, likes him, loves the United States. Now is the time to maybe call and say, whoa, wait a second, have some concerns here. Now is the time right now because the decision has not yet been made. … But one last clip, and this is from, I think two days ago, and this is from a man at Fox, a weekend show host called Mark Levin. And really nobody has elevated his own visibility to a greater extent or worked harder to get the United States into war with Iran than Mark Levin has. And he’s done it not through brilliant argument, incisive analysis, basically through screaming. But as we get closer and closer and closer to the time where this war could actually start, Levin has decided to just make stuff up. And the clip you’re about to hear is from his podcast, I believe, and you can check it two days ago. And it is grounds for dismissal from Fox News, immediate grounds for dismissal. And it’s also, at the very least, grounds for, like, questions to him, like, what are you doing? What are you doing saying something like this? This is Mark Levin telling his listeners, such as they are, that Iran has nuclear-tipped ICBMs aimed at the United States. Watch this. MARK LEVIN: They’d slaughter a million of their own people if it meant retaining power. That’s not a government of a country. Those are terrorists that control a country. It is a police state that’s slaughtering its own people to stay in power so it can slaughter us. It believes, as the 7th-century primitive barbarians believed, that they must destroy civilization. They believe today that they must destroy the West. Most prominently, the United States of America. Those nuclear ICBMs aren’t aimed for Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. They’re aimed for New York and Los Angeles and Chicago and everywhere in between and around, the United States of America. TUCKER CARLSON: “The enemies of civilization.” If you wake up in a world where Mark Levin is publicly identified with, quote, civilization, you are an upside-down world. Civilization begins with the acknowledgement that human life is sacred, that God created each person as an individual, that identity politics is therefore wrong, and that telling the truth matters because truth is absolute. You may get it wrong, but the idea that nothing is true is a form of nihilism and that attitude is the enemy of civilization. And yet that’s exactly what you just saw. Iran does not have nuclear-tipped ICBMs. And they’re not aimed at the United States. That is a lie. It is a provable lie. Now, why is he saying that? not because he hopes to win an argument, but because he hopes to whip his listeners into such a frenzy of fear and rage that they will support something that will hurt them. This will hurt the United States, almost without question, if it happens. This is not good for you. It’s not good for our actual allies, the energy-producing countries in the Middle East, which are our actual allies. Israel is in no sense our ally in this, and yet Mark Levin will not, and none of these people will address that debate. Instead, they’re just lying to scare people into supporting something that will hurt them. Mark Levin actually tweeted this. And if you’re old enough to remember the Iraq War, this is going to make you laugh. Iran producing ballistic missiles with chemical and biological warheads. We mustn’t delay any longer. They have WMD. Where did that information come from? Well, it came from the free press. No, I beg your pardon. It did not come from the Free Press. Don’t they probably repeated it. It came from another aligned publication in Washington. Is there any evidence of that? No, of course, there’s no evidence of that. And I’d be willing to bet my house that that lie originated in the same place. The original WMD lie originated in 2002, before the Iraq War. In Israel, of course. Tell Americans, tell the Congress, tell the White House that the country we want you to spend your money and your lives to overthrow so we can have a greater degree of control or hegemony in a region, that that country is a threat to you because they have weapons of mass destruction. That was a lie then. It’s a lie now, but they’re saying it.

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