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Ralph welcomes back retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson to talk about American military policy, including the record $816.7 billion Pentagon budget, the war in Ukraine, the insanity of nuclear weapons, potential conflict with China and what the right-wing caucus in the House of Representatives really wants when they say they want to cut military spending. Plus, Ralph reads and responds to your questions and feedback from previous programs.

Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. During the course of his military service, Colonel Wilkerson was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Bronze Star among other awards and decorations. At the Department of State, he earned the Secretary\u2019s Distinguished Service Award, as well as two Superior Honor Awards.

My position on Ukraine now is: Shut up and start talking. To both sides. I\u2019m convinced, from my contacts in Moscow, that the Russians would do that. If we even seemed to be serious. We\u2019re the impediment.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson

Let\u2019s just take a scenario: let\u2019s put ourselves down on the ground in Ukraine. Let\u2019s say we put our army (which is smaller than the army of Bangladesh) on the ground in Ukraine, with the purpose of fighting the Russians. We would have 10,000 casualties a day for the first 30 days\u2026 The American people have never had these kinds of casualties. NEVER. Never. Not in any of their lives have they had these kinds of casualties. And they\u2019re going to have them. That\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson

One person, an otherwise very gifted diplomat, said to me the other day, \u201cWe don\u2019t know how to do diplomacy anymore. We don't do diplomacy anymore. Because our diplomacy has been replaced by bombs, bullets, and bayonets.\u201d He\u2019s right. He\u2019s absolutely right. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve done. That\u2019s the kind of insanity I\u2019m talking about. You have no diplomacy.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson

We do not have a democracy. We have a deep-state oligarchical corporatocracy. And the American people are on the outside. And the American people\u2014 intuitively and, in some cases, intellectually\u2014 understand that and go about their business and do what they have to do\u2026 but they don\u2019t participate in the government.

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerso

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