Retired Col. Douglas Macgregor argued on “World Stories TV” that Russia is emerging as the geopolitical beneficiary of the war in Iran. Macgregor warned the current conflict could mark the end of U.S. influence in the Middle East.

CYRUS JANSSEN, ‘WORLD STORIES TV’ HOST: Colonel, when you look at the broader geopolitical landscape, we’re looking at Russia, China, energy markets, and global alliances. Who do you think is the biggest beneficiary of what’s going on right now in the Middle East? RET. COL. DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: Well, if there is a beneficiary right now, it’s Russia. And the crisis, the energy crisis in Europe is particularly acute. And I think Mr. Putin has been waiting some time now for the governments in Europe to turn over. Because the majority of people in Germany are absolutely fed up with the government. It’s true in France. I think it’s true in England. I think it’s true in Scotland. So the question is, in his mind, I don’t want to fight these people. I’m just going to wait. In the meantime, I’m going to sell oil elsewhere into other markets and the biggest markets are Asian. And so he’s doing that and he’s making, you know, billions. So for all of the geniuses that were trying to use Ukraine to destroy Russia and harm Russia, they’ve destroyed Ukraine. Probably not even going to exist anymore as a viable nation state given the losses they’ve sustained. They’ve told all these lies about how Russia has failed and Russia’s lost. No, Russia has been very successful, but he’s preferred to exercise patience and wait for things to fall apart rather than expend large numbers of Russian lives to make them fall apart. I didn’t always understand that at the beginning, but I think in the history of Russia, no one has been more concerned about Russia and life than Putin, which is, I pay tribute to the man for that because his predecessor certainly never felt that way. But bottom line is, no, Russia is coming up top and I don’t think, you know, I thought perhaps President Trump yesterday when he called Mr. Putin was going to say, look, we’ve got to focus down here in the Middle East. I want to wrap this up in Ukraine. I’m pulling all American advisors in and out of uniform. Everybody in the in Ukraine out. I’m ceasing any more aid to Ukraine, stopping equipment, stopping cash for going there. I want to settle this. So if you know, this is going to happen within the next 24 hours when that happens, call me and we’ll start talking. I’ll send a team over and we’ll sort the territorial arrangements out. That’s what I would have done. So let’s stop screwing around with this dead end in Ukraine, which has become a bottomless pit for money and resources. Stop fighting Russia and find a way to end this thing in the Middle East. But that didn’t happen. And I don’t see anybody thinking like that. JANSSEN: Yeah, Colonel, one last question for you today. Do you believe that the United States is making the same strategic mistakes that we did in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are we preparing ourselves for another, you know, forever war? I mean, we were in Afghanistan for 20 years. Is there a chance that the conflict goes down that similar road? MACGREGOR: No, because I don’t think we can finance it and sustain it economically. But I think what we are doing is that this is the last act in the American theatrical production in the Middle East. When this ends, we will be finished in the Middle East. There will be no restoration of the status quo ante. We will simply get out and everybody in the Middle East will want us out. I mean, if you’re living in the Gulf right now, what have you done? What have we demonstrated? We can’t protect them. Our deterrence is failed. So what good are we to them? JANSSEN: Well, very, very powerful way to conclude our interview today. Colonel. I want to just say thank you so much for being a great patriot and thank you for coming on the show to educate our viewers and all of us about the truth about this war and conflict and I look forward to speaking with you again in the future and thank you for everything you do.

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