00:00Paul, you did mention that you served in the Iraq War, and I wonder what you think are any mistakes
00:06that the United States is making that we made back then?
00:10Are we making any of the same mistakes, or have we learned those lessons, and do you see us avoiding
00:17those mistakes?
00:20I think we're making many of the same mistakes, and to some extent we're making them more.
00:25I mean, the most important thing that I talk about a lot, Mimi, that I think folks need to understand
00:29is that the amount of control and free reign that the president has is really unprecedented in American history.
00:36You know, in the Iraq War, you know, you may not have supported it, but at least George Bush made
00:41the case.
00:41At least there was a vote in Congress.
00:43At least he made an attempt to create an international unity around a coalition of the willing.
00:49Trump is in a position where I think the most important story in the world is that he can do
00:54anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen, and nothing is stopping him.
00:59There are no speed bumps.
01:00There are no guardrails.
01:01The congressional votes are just, you know, pushed off in the side.
01:05He gives them a stiff arm and just keeps going.
01:07So I think the really troubling part about Iran is it's not just Iran.
01:11I mean, he said now he wants to hit Cuba.
01:13He's floated the idea of Colombia.
01:15Along the way, he's hit multiple countries, including Venezuela and even Ecuador.
01:19Some folks watching may not even know we had military operations in Ecuador.
01:23So we're in a position where we have forever war.
01:25And that's what we had in Iraq and Afghanistan.
01:27But this is much more extensive.
01:29It has the potential to be much longer, and it's much less popular.
01:32I think that's the stunning part of this, is this is less popular than any recent war in American history.
01:38And I go back to that point.
01:39You have to commit the country first and then commit the troops.
01:42When you don't have the country committed, our troops are in a situation where they're fighting an unpopular war.
01:47And here's a big mistake we didn't learn, Mimi.
01:50When we went to war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, they kept asking for defense budget requests.
01:54They kept asking for billions of dollars.
01:56They never asked for money for VA funding to take care of all of us when we came home.
02:01So for over a decade, I came on your show and so many others to fight for increased funding at
02:05the VA,
02:05to fight for more resources for everything from traumatic brain injury to burn pits.
02:10Right now, the president and Hags have asked the country and the Congress for an additional $200 billion to fund
02:16this war.
02:17That's just for the Department of Defense.
02:18They've made no request whatsoever for the Department of Veterans Affairs to care for all these men and women when
02:23they come home.
02:24And I think that's one really clear example of a lesson we have to finally learn in America.
02:28If a president presents a cost of war, he has to present the full cost.
02:33And that includes funding the VA and ensuring we can take care of all these men and women
02:36who even if he pulls the plug tomorrow, they're going to be facing health issues for the rest of their
02:40life.
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