"In the last 24 hours or so, some of our Special Ops forces and Israeli Special Ops forces went into Gaza to reconnoiter, to plan for where they might want to go to free hostages and make an impact, and they were shot to pieces and took heavy losses, as I understand it," Macgregor told Tucker Carlson on Twitter/X. "And once we are a co-belligerent, we enter this thing, it is going to be very difficult for Russia and Turkey not to also come into this fight against us because they will not tolerate the sort of collective punishment that Israel plans for Gaza."
Israeli media is reporting that one IDF soldier was killed in Gaza on Sunday but there appears to be no mention of Americans.
DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: We have to expect the worst if we strike Iran.
TUCKER CARLSON: How is the U.S. military, do you think, having spent your life in it leading troops in combat and at the Pentagon, positioned to respond to a war with Iran right now? Are we in a strong position or not, in your view?
DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: No I think we are not in a strong position, we are probably at the weakest point in our recent history. I think you've got to look at the realities of new weapons systems and new capabilities.
The United States Navy, if it is going to preserve its capability, is probably going to be compelled to operate somewhere North and West of Sicily. If it comes within closer range, it falls into this envelope where the Iranians can strike it. And as I said before, you have to assume the Russians will come into this. Once you move into the Eastern Mediterranean, you are vulnerable to the [Russian] Kinzhal [ballistic missiles] and other cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles that the Russians have.
This makes it very difficult to fly strikes in support of the Israeli Defense Force against Hezbollah because now you are flying a very long distance, you deliver your ordinance, and you have to land in Israel in order to refuel. Israel is going to be operating under a hail, if not a rainstorm, of missiles and rockets, making it very dangerous to do so. So our Naval power, while substantial, may not have the desired impact on the ground that we would like.
And finally, we have no real Army anymore, the Army is down to perhaps 450,000, and how much of that is ready to fight is open to debate. Much of it is sitting in Eastern Europe right now. We don't have the means to rapidly ship a large force of 80-100,000 troops on the ground into the region, which means were are reliant on Special Forces. And right now 2,000 Marines and perhaps 2,000 Special Forces and special operations forces.
That's not going to make much of a dent, and as we've seen quite recently in the last 24 hours or so, some of our Special Ops forces and Israeli Special Ops forces went into Gaza to reconnoiter, to plan for where they might want to go to free hostages and make an impact, and they were shot to pieces and took heavy losses, as I understand it. I think that is where we are headed and I don't see that as a win for Israel in any way, shape, or form. And I certainly think it is very dangerous for us.
As I've tried to point out to a number of people, until Britain entered World War One, it was just another European war. Once Britain entered it, it became a global war.
Well, once we are a co-belligerent, we enter this thing, it is going to be very difficult for Russia and Turkey not to also come into this fight against us, because they will not tolerate the sort of collective punishment that Israel plans for Gaza.
TUCKER CARLSON: Uh, the U.S. military does have an awful lot of generals. Multiples of the absolute number we had during World War Two. And they're paid to think about this stuff. Why has it dawned on no one, apparently, who has spoken publicly anyway, that this could really harm our country, gravely? Why is no one saying that?
DOUGLAS MACGREGOR: Well, I am sure there are people in the U.S. military who are aware, but let's be frank, most of the people at the top of the military have never operated under artillery fire or rocket fire. They haven't seen direct-fire combat, they haven't seen real war, per se. Remember, we've had the luxury of sitting around forward operating bases and striking opponents who were armed with AK-47s and command-detonated mines with the occasional mortar or rocket. Very, very low-intensity combat. This is a high-end conventional war we're looking at with the potential to go nuclear. Obviously, I don't think we or the Russians want that to happen, but we have the wild card in Israel. They do have a nuclear capability and we don't know what the trip wire is for them to employ such a weapon. At that point, of course, all bets are off, and I think most of the world would turn against Israel. Right now they just have to worry about the Muslim world against them. It would certainly widen if they went that far.
There are too many unknowns and uncertainties here. Everyone always assumes at the beginning of such a conflict, "Well, it will be contained, we'll only have to fight these people, Hamas and maybe Hezbollah." It never works out that way. These things always last longer than everyone thinks, and the resources required are much more profound than we anticipated. And remember, we've already used up much of our war stocks in Ukraine. And we've left Ukraine in a state of ruins, the place is on life support. Half a million dead. What are we going to do to Israel if we press ahead down this road?
And it seems, listening to Secretary of State Blinken this morning, who more and more sounds like our commander in chief, that there is no room for negotiation, no room for mediation, Hamas must be destroyed, we must go into Gaza. If so, I think we're on a very dangerous road to Armageddon.
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