I like to watch those prominent commentators like Larry Johnson, Douglas McGregor, and Scott Ritter. At least they are entertaining. However, in this phase of the war, they don't have much reliable hard news to contribute, and their message is usually "US is screwed, the administration is a bunch of liars, and Iran wins by just surviving". OK, maybe they are right, but I'm looking for some deeper insights.
One interesting source is Larry Wilkerson. He has a solid military background, obviously has good inside sources he doesn't disclose, and is the only one besides Brian Berletic who argues that Israel is the proxy of the US, and not the other way round. On the other hand, he is very emotional and usually goes on a heavy rant with explicit language, which is sort of his trademark. Similar to his Russian equivalent Stanislav Krapivnik. Interesting to watch, but not always adds to the viewer's knowledge.
One of my favorites is Jacques Baud, an author of many worthwhile books about politics and warfare, with a lot of inside knowledge and a sharp mind, who gives logical in-depth explanations without ranting. His analyses of Ukrainian inside information around Arestovich earned him EU sanctions, which are sort of a house arrest sentence without a trial. He doesn't have his own channel, but appears regularly on various shows, like Nima Alkorshid, Patrick Lottaz, and Glenn Diesen.
It's a bit difficult to navigate through all this stuff.
In my experience all of the expert commentators (except Ray McGovern, who seems too old and wise to bother) tend to get carried away and express themselves with bad language. And no wonder! Just as long as they eventually come back down to earth and rationality. Andre Martyanov has a tendency to drift right up through the stratosphere, cursing in a variety of languages and getting higher and higher pitched.
Oh yes, I forgot Andrei Martyanov! Also entertaining, but becoming increasingly boring by lack of creativity in his rants. It's always like: "So we've got this shyster here, oh my gosh... how to put it politely... look at his CV, this bimbo got a degree in political science, which means he has no education whatsoever! He wouldn't be able to find his own a** in a fully lit room..." and so on and on and on and on... Don't get me wrong, I think he's got a lot of knowledge in war mathematics and weapon technology, but if he just would get rid of all his stereotypical noise about the education and mental state of the people he cites, his videos would shrink to no more than 10 minutes.
And maybe that’s the problem: I have never “monetised” anything, but perhaps the video has to be a certain length and retain its viewers for that time in order to make money. I hope not, but as I get older I notice that things I hope are not true have a strong tendency to be true.
"...Israel is divided between secular Jews who tend to be rational and Messianic Zionists who are irrational and amoral. ..."
Settler colonialism, which is what "Israel" is, is about as amoral a practice as one could find. All internatonal norms, laws and conventions define such actions as a crime against humanity - which are the gravest of all crimes. Added to that, is genocide, another crime against humanity. The kind of crime for which the Nurnberg trials judged to be worthy of hangings - and which in today's era is a crime with a sentence of life imprisonment at The Hague.
I dont know what to say about anyone that does those kind of crimes “rationally”.
All the "differentiation" there is between sociopaths and psychopaths, both committing mass murder. Or just psychopaths. The sooner they off each other, the better.
I have noticed that Zionists who identify as "atheist" are no less eager to claim that God gave them Eretz Israel. And that Gentiles have no proper souls - but if there is no God, are there such things as souls? So maybe Jews don't have souls either.
Yes, forget about Russia's vaunted S-300/400/500 systems, who would have guessed that UAE have by far the best air defence systems. At one point they were claiming something like a 99.5% interception rate!
I have also wondered about all those US refuellers and transports in the region. If Iran is relentlessly striking all the US air bases how are the US not sustaining heavy losses and damage to those fleets?
That's nothing! As The Duran has been observing, the Kiev mob claim to shoot down at least 150% of incoming drones and missiles. "Stunning & brave" arithmetic! 8-)
The post summarizes a YouTube video about an Iranian missile attack on March 13, 2026, on the Al Dhafra Air Force Base in the UAE, in which seven F-35 fighter jets were destroyed and the UAE asked the US to leave within 48 hours to ensure security.
News sources such as Wikipedia and Iran International confirm the attack with precision missiles and drones as retaliation for previous US-Israeli actions since February 28, 2026, including satellite images of damage, although the number of destroyed F-35s is disputed in some reports.
The author predicts a strategic chain reaction among Gulf states, similar to the US withdrawal from Lebanon in 1983, in which allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar may close US bases to evade Iranian threats.
A very entertaining read from yesterday and it's daily so far:
"A second KC-135 declared emergency, squawked 7700, and limped into Ben Gurion with a chunk of its tail missing. Photos confirm the damage. The Pentagon says both incidents are “not combat-related”.
Not combat-related. During combat. In a war zone. While being shot at.
The downed plane brings the acknowledged US death toll to at least 14. I say “at least” because Landstuhl is still running medevac flights – CBS reported another one from Saudi Arabia carrying 19 wounded, including two hit by a drone that exploded next to their vehicle.
“Not combat-related” is doing a lot of heavy lifting this week. The Ford caught fire in its laundry. Not combat-related. The KC-135s collided or malfunctioned or whatever the story is by tonight. Not combat-related. The medevac flights. The blood drives. Dover hiring body handlers. All, presumably, not combat-related.
At this rate, the war itself will be classified as not combat-related."
The Houthies hopefully will close Bab-al-Mandab strait, there are rumours of this as well.
I guess the conglomeration of military bases in Djibouti will then also come under the looking glass.
Interesting how Russia has also slowly started displacing the US/European forces from Africa, through Wagner and a very positive perception of Putin.
It strikes me as possibly the best chance to rid the ME, and North Africa from US presence.
Iran has been supporting all these groups Hezbollah, Hamas the Houjthis in any case. They have all the structures in place. All they needed was to have the shackles taken off, to now overtly repeat the same processes and fight the US occupier, observed for 40 years, squatting in their countries, so decandently comfortable in their super power status.
Even the Pakistanis are getting antsy. I can't see Jordan doing much, they've already been struck.
May the sophisticated Persian culture on their home soil crush the fast food consuming instant gratification hollywood holocaust rambo killing culture of the ugly American.
I view the codex with skepticism ,appears AI generated, sensational.
Sometimes it makes sense.
Larry Johnson is on a social whirlwind along with Col. Wilkerson, Colonel MacGregor. They are talking everyday. Their analysis isn’t like yours as they are speaking socially to people who aren't informed as you are with your years of experience.
It’s communicating with those who think ‘ just nuke Iran” from years decades of being raised from a child with propaganda.
They know what goes on however through their friends.
The problem in general: if you hear something in a 20 min video for the first time, you may hear 90% things you don’t know. If you want and read a lot, like us, you only hear maybe 2% of things you don’t know. But you have to watch the full 20 minutes to find out😀. The diminishing return on investment
That's the problem if you have any kind of background in this stuff; most of the videos are not meant for the informed individual.
Video in general is a poor format for sharing anything with substance. A few commentators do this well - Alexander Mercouris of The Duran does this quite well if you can get past the slow pace of his speaking.
One simply has to consume a lot of information by whatever means then apply their own BS filter to separate the gold from the dross.
Agree. Watching Alexander more or less everyday, but at 1.25 speed, sometimes at 1.5. English is not my first language and with 2x I ‘miss’ too much. I often listen in 2 sessions , cause I listen to him in the evening in bed and I tend to fall asleep rather quickly☹️😀. Second time I start half way or so.
Collapse Codex and a couple of other extremely similar YT channels have excellent (interesting) visuals, often based on ‘what if’ designs and scenarios. Possibly best watched and not listened to too seriously.
First time I hear about Collapse Codex, but I was following two of its avatars on You Tube, ie. same commentator. One disappeared two weeks ago, the second one last week, wiped out by You Tube masters. Careful about this site (unless there are copycats), first it releases posts at the cadence of a machine gun, second it makes outrageous claims such as the one where 73 or so commercial jets were destroyed at Ben Gurion Airport two or three days ago including an A380. That's far fetched.
I saw a mass of posts from that particular presenter, and they bear the stamp of clickbait. Quite good craftsmanship, but cynical and probably false. In fact, they might well be "AI" slop.
For the reasons mentioned, I never assume that I know the truth. I believe that I know the truth. By proceeding from a belief, I am always able to revise this truth of mine, or to permanently examine and question it. Every one of my arguments is countered by at least one other argument that calls my belief into question. Furthermore, at some point new information emerges, which either produces this counterargument or reinforces my belief. All of this may sound very confusing. But it is simply a method for examining purported knowledge. I hope my convoluted explanation is understandable.
Collapse Codex is a useful and interesting site. I've been watching their essays for a while, though I find the quick rate of visual changes behind the host kind of distracting. (Just the artistic renditions. The strategic ones are great.)
You're oh so right about the split between Messianic Zionists and Secular Jews. Unfortunately, their form of government gives a lot more representation to the Zionists--and the only surprising thing is that they waited this long before deciding to destroy Iran. I suppose it helps to have two successive USian presidents on your side who think the sun shines out of Israel's shorts.
Do you think it possible Trump will give Iran all it wants, while declaring victory and getting the hell out? And if he goes after easier game (probably Cuba), who will fill the power vacuum in the MidEast? China?
The Fog of War! We can listen to many ex military, ex secret servicemen, ex ambassadors & gov officials. Having an half decent memory can help us realise who is giving the most realistic picture. Or those who are giving us the best entertainment. For total fantasy & deranged statements. We just have to find out what Trumps latest childish rant is, all about. He has the attention span of a Goldfish. The patience of a starving polar bear. The atitude of a spoilt brat aged 7 or 8yrs old. By how outlandish & aggressive his statements are. The more success Iran is having. The more he claims 100%victory yet again. The less likely it is, embarrassing himself as, always. He obviously has his own World view, which doesn't align to reality. He believes wholeheartedly the US military is the one he's watched in Hollywood productions. Every success of his enemy is AI generated. What do defeated people always resort to in arguments, conflicts & everything in between. They start throwing insults about. Trumps regime is so predictable in it's actions. Up to a point, that point is when rational decisions have to be made. Sadly they have no concept of being rational actors.
Thank you! There’s also the entire packet of documents Hamas filed with Yvette Cooper in April last year as part of their application to be removed from the British proscription list. Doubt she ever read it, but it was a strong application. Jonathan Cook wrote in support of Hamas—and of independent journalism.
I like to watch those prominent commentators like Larry Johnson, Douglas McGregor, and Scott Ritter. At least they are entertaining. However, in this phase of the war, they don't have much reliable hard news to contribute, and their message is usually "US is screwed, the administration is a bunch of liars, and Iran wins by just surviving". OK, maybe they are right, but I'm looking for some deeper insights.
One interesting source is Larry Wilkerson. He has a solid military background, obviously has good inside sources he doesn't disclose, and is the only one besides Brian Berletic who argues that Israel is the proxy of the US, and not the other way round. On the other hand, he is very emotional and usually goes on a heavy rant with explicit language, which is sort of his trademark. Similar to his Russian equivalent Stanislav Krapivnik. Interesting to watch, but not always adds to the viewer's knowledge.
One of my favorites is Jacques Baud, an author of many worthwhile books about politics and warfare, with a lot of inside knowledge and a sharp mind, who gives logical in-depth explanations without ranting. His analyses of Ukrainian inside information around Arestovich earned him EU sanctions, which are sort of a house arrest sentence without a trial. He doesn't have his own channel, but appears regularly on various shows, like Nima Alkorshid, Patrick Lottaz, and Glenn Diesen.
It's a bit difficult to navigate through all this stuff.
In my experience all of the expert commentators (except Ray McGovern, who seems too old and wise to bother) tend to get carried away and express themselves with bad language. And no wonder! Just as long as they eventually come back down to earth and rationality. Andre Martyanov has a tendency to drift right up through the stratosphere, cursing in a variety of languages and getting higher and higher pitched.
Oh yes, I forgot Andrei Martyanov! Also entertaining, but becoming increasingly boring by lack of creativity in his rants. It's always like: "So we've got this shyster here, oh my gosh... how to put it politely... look at his CV, this bimbo got a degree in political science, which means he has no education whatsoever! He wouldn't be able to find his own a** in a fully lit room..." and so on and on and on and on... Don't get me wrong, I think he's got a lot of knowledge in war mathematics and weapon technology, but if he just would get rid of all his stereotypical noise about the education and mental state of the people he cites, his videos would shrink to no more than 10 minutes.
And maybe that’s the problem: I have never “monetised” anything, but perhaps the video has to be a certain length and retain its viewers for that time in order to make money. I hope not, but as I get older I notice that things I hope are not true have a strong tendency to be true.
Side note on this:
"...Israel is divided between secular Jews who tend to be rational and Messianic Zionists who are irrational and amoral. ..."
Settler colonialism, which is what "Israel" is, is about as amoral a practice as one could find. All internatonal norms, laws and conventions define such actions as a crime against humanity - which are the gravest of all crimes. Added to that, is genocide, another crime against humanity. The kind of crime for which the Nurnberg trials judged to be worthy of hangings - and which in today's era is a crime with a sentence of life imprisonment at The Hague.
I dont know what to say about anyone that does those kind of crimes “rationally”.
All the "differentiation" there is between sociopaths and psychopaths, both committing mass murder. Or just psychopaths. The sooner they off each other, the better.
I have noticed that Zionists who identify as "atheist" are no less eager to claim that God gave them Eretz Israel. And that Gentiles have no proper souls - but if there is no God, are there such things as souls? So maybe Jews don't have souls either.
Yes, forget about Russia's vaunted S-300/400/500 systems, who would have guessed that UAE have by far the best air defence systems. At one point they were claiming something like a 99.5% interception rate!
I have also wondered about all those US refuellers and transports in the region. If Iran is relentlessly striking all the US air bases how are the US not sustaining heavy losses and damage to those fleets?
That's nothing! As The Duran has been observing, the Kiev mob claim to shoot down at least 150% of incoming drones and missiles. "Stunning & brave" arithmetic! 8-)
The New Math. 2+2=10
With a bit of 360 degree maths!
They are! The U.S. is simply not reporting.
I checked the Video (text). I asked GROK.
Here is her reply: Confirmation by GROK:
The post summarizes a YouTube video about an Iranian missile attack on March 13, 2026, on the Al Dhafra Air Force Base in the UAE, in which seven F-35 fighter jets were destroyed and the UAE asked the US to leave within 48 hours to ensure security.
News sources such as Wikipedia and Iran International confirm the attack with precision missiles and drones as retaliation for previous US-Israeli actions since February 28, 2026, including satellite images of damage, although the number of destroyed F-35s is disputed in some reports.
The author predicts a strategic chain reaction among Gulf states, similar to the US withdrawal from Lebanon in 1983, in which allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar may close US bases to evade Iranian threats.
Well... what now ?
Cassandra
I used Grok as well and Grok insisted the claim was "unconfirmed" and probably false because CENTCOM hadn't said anything! LOL
I get those Bias answers too. I ask then to inspect other probably biased opinions and that helps often.
Cassandra.
What about the claim about 4 E-3's being destroyed and the UAE asking the US to leave? Any word on that?
A very entertaining read from yesterday and it's daily so far:
"A second KC-135 declared emergency, squawked 7700, and limped into Ben Gurion with a chunk of its tail missing. Photos confirm the damage. The Pentagon says both incidents are “not combat-related”.
Not combat-related. During combat. In a war zone. While being shot at.
The downed plane brings the acknowledged US death toll to at least 14. I say “at least” because Landstuhl is still running medevac flights – CBS reported another one from Saudi Arabia carrying 19 wounded, including two hit by a drone that exploded next to their vehicle.
“Not combat-related” is doing a lot of heavy lifting this week. The Ford caught fire in its laundry. Not combat-related. The KC-135s collided or malfunctioned or whatever the story is by tonight. Not combat-related. The medevac flights. The blood drives. Dover hiring body handlers. All, presumably, not combat-related.
At this rate, the war itself will be classified as not combat-related."
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2026/03/14/march-13-schrodingers-war/#more-399532
Reminds me of Vietnam and my days in Laos during the Secret War. Same-old,
The Houthies hopefully will close Bab-al-Mandab strait, there are rumours of this as well.
I guess the conglomeration of military bases in Djibouti will then also come under the looking glass.
Interesting how Russia has also slowly started displacing the US/European forces from Africa, through Wagner and a very positive perception of Putin.
It strikes me as possibly the best chance to rid the ME, and North Africa from US presence.
Iran has been supporting all these groups Hezbollah, Hamas the Houjthis in any case. They have all the structures in place. All they needed was to have the shackles taken off, to now overtly repeat the same processes and fight the US occupier, observed for 40 years, squatting in their countries, so decandently comfortable in their super power status.
Even the Pakistanis are getting antsy. I can't see Jordan doing much, they've already been struck.
May the sophisticated Persian culture on their home soil crush the fast food consuming instant gratification hollywood holocaust rambo killing culture of the ugly American.
Not all Americans are ugly.
I view the codex with skepticism ,appears AI generated, sensational.
Sometimes it makes sense.
Larry Johnson is on a social whirlwind along with Col. Wilkerson, Colonel MacGregor. They are talking everyday. Their analysis isn’t like yours as they are speaking socially to people who aren't informed as you are with your years of experience.
It’s communicating with those who think ‘ just nuke Iran” from years decades of being raised from a child with propaganda.
They know what goes on however through their friends.
Not all analysis is alike as you say.
Glad your still active!
The problem in general: if you hear something in a 20 min video for the first time, you may hear 90% things you don’t know. If you want and read a lot, like us, you only hear maybe 2% of things you don’t know. But you have to watch the full 20 minutes to find out😀. The diminishing return on investment
That's the problem if you have any kind of background in this stuff; most of the videos are not meant for the informed individual.
Video in general is a poor format for sharing anything with substance. A few commentators do this well - Alexander Mercouris of The Duran does this quite well if you can get past the slow pace of his speaking.
One simply has to consume a lot of information by whatever means then apply their own BS filter to separate the gold from the dross.
Agree. Watching Alexander more or less everyday, but at 1.25 speed, sometimes at 1.5. English is not my first language and with 2x I ‘miss’ too much. I often listen in 2 sessions , cause I listen to him in the evening in bed and I tend to fall asleep rather quickly☹️😀. Second time I start half way or so.
I used to watch Alexander a lot. I don't bother these days. He was just wrong about Trump too many times.
In wars it is best to view everything sceptically.
Collapse Codex and a couple of other extremely similar YT channels have excellent (interesting) visuals, often based on ‘what if’ designs and scenarios. Possibly best watched and not listened to too seriously.
I would take them more seriously -- but you need to think critically about the content. That can yield information.
I still believe that IRAN needs to concentrate the attacks during WEEK DAYS... this alone will ensure a higher COST for the western terrorists.
Plenty are already complaining about the GAS PRICE at the pump... Wait till they see the tsunami of PRICES that will hit their wallets at Warp Speed!
Courtesy of the same terrorist... mutTrump & Bibi, of course. (Better known nowadays as the Epstein Cartel)
First time I hear about Collapse Codex, but I was following two of its avatars on You Tube, ie. same commentator. One disappeared two weeks ago, the second one last week, wiped out by You Tube masters. Careful about this site (unless there are copycats), first it releases posts at the cadence of a machine gun, second it makes outrageous claims such as the one where 73 or so commercial jets were destroyed at Ben Gurion Airport two or three days ago including an A380. That's far fetched.
Seems there are some copycats. Hadn't heard about commercial jets destroyed at Ben Gurion.
I saw a mass of posts from that particular presenter, and they bear the stamp of clickbait. Quite good craftsmanship, but cynical and probably false. In fact, they might well be "AI" slop.
And rather impressive. I found a channel where the same presenter speaks perfect French and lips reading confirm he is talking this language.
From what little I know about “AI”, the presenter himself may be synthetic - an avatar.
For the reasons mentioned, I never assume that I know the truth. I believe that I know the truth. By proceeding from a belief, I am always able to revise this truth of mine, or to permanently examine and question it. Every one of my arguments is countered by at least one other argument that calls my belief into question. Furthermore, at some point new information emerges, which either produces this counterargument or reinforces my belief. All of this may sound very confusing. But it is simply a method for examining purported knowledge. I hope my convoluted explanation is understandable.
Excellent explanation I think.
Collapse Codex is a useful and interesting site. I've been watching their essays for a while, though I find the quick rate of visual changes behind the host kind of distracting. (Just the artistic renditions. The strategic ones are great.)
You're oh so right about the split between Messianic Zionists and Secular Jews. Unfortunately, their form of government gives a lot more representation to the Zionists--and the only surprising thing is that they waited this long before deciding to destroy Iran. I suppose it helps to have two successive USian presidents on your side who think the sun shines out of Israel's shorts.
Do you think it possible Trump will give Iran all it wants, while declaring victory and getting the hell out? And if he goes after easier game (probably Cuba), who will fill the power vacuum in the MidEast? China?
The Fog of War! We can listen to many ex military, ex secret servicemen, ex ambassadors & gov officials. Having an half decent memory can help us realise who is giving the most realistic picture. Or those who are giving us the best entertainment. For total fantasy & deranged statements. We just have to find out what Trumps latest childish rant is, all about. He has the attention span of a Goldfish. The patience of a starving polar bear. The atitude of a spoilt brat aged 7 or 8yrs old. By how outlandish & aggressive his statements are. The more success Iran is having. The more he claims 100%victory yet again. The less likely it is, embarrassing himself as, always. He obviously has his own World view, which doesn't align to reality. He believes wholeheartedly the US military is the one he's watched in Hollywood productions. Every success of his enemy is AI generated. What do defeated people always resort to in arguments, conflicts & everything in between. They start throwing insults about. Trumps regime is so predictable in it's actions. Up to a point, that point is when rational decisions have to be made. Sadly they have no concept of being rational actors.
The secular Jews will want it all over now but the messianic zionists ( both Jew and Xian) will be prepared to burn it all down.
Julian, will you explain more about Yawya Sinwar’s vision?
https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/hamas-40-the-upgrade?utm_source=publication-search Hmmm....maybe I should post this again?
Thank you! There’s also the entire packet of documents Hamas filed with Yvette Cooper in April last year as part of their application to be removed from the British proscription list. Doubt she ever read it, but it was a strong application. Jonathan Cook wrote in support of Hamas—and of independent journalism.