Chairman of Joint Chiefs Gives Warning on Trump Losing War

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1:30Ben Meiselas:I previously shared with you warnings from the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, C.Q. Brown Jr., on Donald Trump's catastrophic and unlawful war in Iran and Donald Trump's use of our troops in order to intimidate people here in the United States. You know that former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, C.Q. Brown Jr., was forced out of his position by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth because he was black and the Trump regime is racist. Let's not mince words and call it what it is. And despite being not just qualified, but overly qualified for the position of the Joint Chiefs, C.Q. Brown Jr.

2:10Ben Meiselas:was unceremoniously pushed out of his position and replaced with an individual named General Dan Cain, who they call Raisin Cain, a white guy who was a three-star general, not a four-star, and had to get a statutory waiver to hold his position because he had not served as a combatant commander. commander, vice chairman, or service chief, which is the requirement before you could be the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And if you looked at C.Q. Brown Jr.'s background, C.Q. Brown Jr. did everything he was supposed to do and more. So we gave you C.Q. Brown Jr.'s warnings. Now I want to talk about the warnings, though, by Dan Raisin Cain, Donald Trump's guy, warning about the catastrophic and unlawful war in Iran and warning that the U.S.

3:04Ben Meiselas:really does not have the capabilities to defeat Iran. Now, much attention was paid to Hegseth's disastrous performance when Hegseth testified the other day in the Senate. Very little attention was given to the words of Dan Raisin Cain, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs. But I think that's a mistake. Because when you go through what Raisin Cain, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said, he gave some very serious warnings. Let me show you what happened, for example, when he was being cross-examined or asked questions by Senator Reid. And you'll see right over here, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Raisin Cain, says that, yeah, using airstrikes alone probably won't be able to achieve the so-called objectives that Donald Trump has in Iran.

4:02Ben Meiselas:I mean, by the way, I don't call them objectives. I call them war crimes, to be clear where I stand on these issues. And so he says, that's why we need a toolkit of diplomacy and other political tools, he says. In other words, the current strategy doesn't work. Listen to him say it for yourself. Let's play it. General Kane, these airstrikes have not yet deterred and defeated the Iranians. Do you think airstrikes alone will do that? Sure, I think academically, as you look across the totality of history, air power's got limits, and we always have to be mindful of those. I think where America's area of exclusivity is, is when we bring the totality of the diplomatic, informational, economic, and pair that with the military.

4:51And there's a lot of that work going on. Well, the military, the next step would be escalation by ground combat. Do you anticipate that escalation? Sir, I think it'd be unhelpful for me to opine on hypotheticals. What I can tell you is we always develop an unbelievable amount of options and the associated risks. And then my main job is to always ensure that leaders understand those options and the risks. Now, if you employ ground troops to seize objectives, which I would assume would be the first stage. Are you prepared for an extended guerrilla war, which would likely happen in that area? Sir, with all due respect, I think it'd be unhelpful for me to opine on hypothetical situations on whatever decisions the president may or may not take in the future.

5:38Have you advised the president that a ground combat would be very expensive in the lives of our soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and also could probably lead to an extended unconventional war in that area. I don't see the Iranians sort of throwing the hands of saying, you know, welcome to Iran. Senator, I always advise the president on a range of military options and all of the risks that are contained within that, but I have to keep my military advice to the president private, sir. But well, thank you.

6:17Ben Meiselas:Then he was asked some questions by MAGA Republican Senator Kennedy, and you'll hear Dan Raisin Kane, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, state that Iran still maintains the capabilities to control the Strait of Hormuz, that it has those capabilities. And he doesn't say specifically Trump's lying, but it's basically what he says right here. Let's play this clip. Will they put tolls on the straight? I don't know, sir. That's a decision that's a hypothetical and will depend on what happens in the future. It's not hypothetical. We've got a blockade to stop them. We do, sir. That's putting economic pressure on them.

6:58I'm not asking you for, I'm not trying to get you in trouble. I know your advice to the president is private. But this is serious as four heart attacks and a stroke. Now, what happens if we come home and end the blockade to the world? Sir, Iran has the potential to continue to be a threat, and we will need to prepare military options to do that. Will they toll the strait? Sir, that's a hypothetical question, and I don't know the answer to that. Oh, it's not hypothetical. You come up, we come home. It's not going to be hypothetical. You know that, General. And I do, too. And I appreciate your discretion.

7:47But we're down to it. We need some hard answers and some straight talk.

7:52Ben Meiselas:more questioning over here this time i think some very powerful question from senator merckley and senator merckley again cross-examining hey did you know that iran would have the capabilities to shut down these trade-off removes you did realize that bombing iran would actually make their resistance stronger like you you realize that are you telling this to Donald Trump? Are you explaining to Trump what's going on right now? And you'll see chairman of the Joint Chiefs, current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he won't admit, oh yes, I tell Donald Trump this specific thing, but he basically says, you'll hear him, I tell him candid advice.

8:39I let him know what's going on.

8:42Ben Meiselas:And in other words, he's admitting that he gave the advice that exactly what's happening is happening and he was basically overruled by the idiot sitting next to him pete hegseth you can watch for yourself and tell me if you believe this is what he's saying but i mean i think it's fairly obvious let's play this clip right here i think there was a a sense that the the president expressed at the start of the war uh that the u.s military power was overwhelming and would likely produce unconditional surrender quickly by Iran. And that obviously hasn't happened. Was it your opinion as well? Did you feel like our military force could produce an unconditional surrender and quick order?

9:31Sir, I won't. With due respect, I won't share my private advice to the president. What I will assure you and the American people is I always speak truth to power and offer an accurate assessment of what my assessment is of both our readiness, the plans and activities that might be undertaken, the associated risks, and the secondary and tertiary considerations that go with those opinions or options. Thank you. So you feel like the various risks that the Iran would close, could possibly close the strait, even despite the destruction of their navy, that the possibility of assassinating their political leaders and their military leaders could produce a strengthened hardline and weakened reformers, that Iran would have the ability to sustain its ability to attack sites throughout the Middle East, that the initial requirements of the war could surely deplete our basically high-end standoff munitions, that this could affect our relations with our allies.

10:34All those were factors well considered in this decision to go to war. Sir, as I said, I won't opine on or share my private advice to the president. I'm not asking about your advice, president. I'm asking you, did you understand these issues or have these become revelations as the wars unfolded? Sir, my job is to understand all of the considerations that go into the carefully considered use of military power. Let me ask you this then. Yes, sir. I understand why you don't want to respond, but these are all massive risks that seem to be poorly weighed in the beginning of this misadventure.

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13:11Ben Meiselas:It's like you realize that's the exact wrong lesson from all of this, right? Where the money should be going. And again, I'm not for war. Let me be very clear. I think Trump's a war criminal. So I'm not endorsing lethality and weapons and killing people. I always want to find peace first. That's my own view. I still think we need to strongly defend ourselves, of course, and we need to make sure that people are safe. But I want to be very clear that I don't like when that's used as pretext to do what Trump regime is doing. But the lessons to learn is that drones, unmanned submersive, drone interceptors, FPV drones, Lucas Shahid style drones, that's the future.

13:57Ben Meiselas:Not big clunky battleships, aircraft carrier groups. You're just wasting money. And you'll see over here, I think that he is acknowledging this as well. Let's play this clip also. We find ourselves living and leading in complex and dynamic times. Our adversaries are aligning in their interests, creating simultaneous challenges across multiple domains. They are sharing intelligence, combat capabilities, and technology. Technology that is accelerating the speed of war. It is an imperative that Americans understand that the character of war is changing. Advances in technology are fundamentally and irreversibly changing the way we fight, which necessitates capital to properly arm America's military.

14:51Rapid advancements in AI autonomous systems deliver critical technological advantages to our national defense and simultaneously introduce unprecedented strategic vulnerabilities and uncertainty across the world to include right here at home. The low barrier to entry created by affordable, ubiquitous, unmanned systems means our adversaries, rogue actors, state and non-state actors, and violent extremists have access to disruptive and potentially lethal technologies at scale. We've seen this in Ukraine, and we must adopt elements of this fight for our future fights. Conflict is never confined neatly to the land, sea, or air domains.

15:42The modern battlefield stretches from the seabed up to cislunar space and beyond, cyberspace, and in the information domain, all at the same time.

15:54Ben Meiselas:And then finally, when questioned by Senator Merkley about war crimes being committed by the Trump regime. And by the way, I mean, you're the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. You're complicit in these war crimes also. But he shifts the blame to CENTCOM. And he's like, I'm just the guy, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. I give the advice. I'm not – I trust that CENTCOM is doing what it needs to be doing. And this is very significant to me because Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of CENTCOM, has turned CENTCOM into this fascist clown show. It's sad to see what CENTCOM has become. And I've spoken to top military people.

16:33Ben Meiselas:They see these Brad Cooper social media posts, his press conferences about we control the Strait of Hormuz. False. Iran doesn't control it. Truth. We control it. Feel free to go ships. Meanwhile, you have captains of these tankers saying, get the F out of here. The fact that in the pecking order of maritime law, you have captains of these VLCC tankers telling the super carrier groups, Abraham Lincoln and George H.W. Bush, get the F away. Shut the F up. tells you just no one trusts this Trump regime. And Brad Cooper, when he testified in Congress, I mean, he was getting grilled because he was saying the biggest, dumbest, hagseth-like lies.

17:14Ben Meiselas:And I think that, tell me what you think, that Raisin Cain realizes that, you know, Cooper may be tried in the Hague one day. I mean, these are the war crimes. These are war crimes. So he's trying to, I think, distance himself over here. Tell me what you think. Let's play this clip. Currently, there are reports that we have hit the Bonji desalination plant that provides water to about 20 villages or about 10 ,000 people. And we also damaged the desalination plant at Keshem Island. Were these deliberate targets by the United States? Sure, I'm not aware of those as being particular targets, nor am I aware of those reports.

17:53And I'll have to go back and get back to you on that. If you could, I'd appreciate that. You are aware that infrastructure that civilians rely on to survive is not generally considered legitimate military targets? Sir, as you know, we have a robust process which considers a target that goes through a system that looks at a variety of considerations to include what you're alluding to around both purely civilian or dual-use targets. I have trust and confidence in CENTCOM that they're looking at the range of those things on a daily basis. It sounds like you are assuring us that we will, the United States, not target, even in retaliatory sense, infrastructure that is generally considered to be primarily for civilian survival.

18:37Sir, as I mentioned, we have a robust process, and we have the most professional military force. It'd just be nice to have you say yes, because this is international law. Yes, sir. You understand the international law. I do, sir. I've got a lot of lawyers that help me understand. Thank you. Yes, sir. Will you get back to us on that question of whether we targeted the desalination plants? Of course. And if so, why?

19:01Ben Meiselas:Now, as I noted at the beginning of this video, Dan Cain, Raisin Cain, he got the job after the Trump regime pushed out CQ Brown Jr., like the most qualified guy for the job imaginable. Let me go back, though, to March 24th, 2026. March 24, 2026, when Donald Trump said the following about Hegseth and General Cain. Let's play it. And that's exactly what we're doing in historic fashion. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Appreciate it. Mr. President, I'm sorry. You know, the only two people that were quite disappointed, I don't want to say this, but I have to, I said, Pete and General Raisin Cain, I think this thing's going to be settled very soon.

19:45Here they go. Oh, that's too bad. Right. Pete didn't want it to be settled. These guys are doing a great job. That's a good attitude, though, Tom, right? They were not interested in settlement. They were interested in just winning this thing.

20:02Ben Meiselas:Yeah, please. Mr. President. And if you want to know why Donald Trump picked General Cain, back when Donald Trump was campaigning, back when Donald Trump was campaigning and Trump liked Cain for the following reasons. Here's what he said. He said Cain, he said that Cain said, I love you, sir. I love you. I think you're great, sir. Who can I kill for you, sir? Here, play this clip. And this is why I flew. So I met generals. I didn't know general one, general two, general three. I mean, these generals, there's no person in Hollywood that could play the role. These guys are like perfect people. I said, what's your name?

20:45Sir, my name is Raisin. What the hell kind of a name? I said, Raisin, like the fruit? He goes, yes, sir, Raisin. What's your last name? Cain. Raisin Cain. I said, you got a big name. It's true. Raisin Cain. I just made him a big star. Just like I did with Mattis when I said, we're going to give you a new nickname, because chaos is not a good nickname. So we changed his name. Called him Mad Dog, but it wasn't working too well.

21:19Ben Meiselas:Here's what Hegseth previously said back in February after they fired C.Q. Brown Jr. Let's play it. And I have a lot of respect for C.Q. Brown. I got to know him over the course of a month. He's an honorable man, not the right man for the moment. And ultimately, the president made that call. And Dan Raising Cain is going to be a fantastic chairman. I look forward to working with him. And he will give straightforward advice, as he did to President Trump on the defeat of ISIS. No one else said it could be done in a matter of weeks. Raisin Cain said it could. And guess what? It happened. And the president respects leaders who untie the hands of warfighters in a very dangerous world.

21:55I think Dan Cain's the man to meet the moment.

21:57Ben Meiselas:And this is what Caroline Levitt, Donald Trump's disgusting propagandist. Here's what she had to say. Let's play. There have been some personnel moves that have been announced by the president. And I wanted to ask you about them. One was the president replacing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown Jr. What was the reason for the president naming a replacement for General Brown? And then I'll follow up with another personnel announcement that's been made over the last few days. He thinks he's doing a bad job and it's time for a shakeup at the Pentagon. They failed seven audits in a row.

22:31The trust in our United States military amongst the warfighters is low. The president is shaking up the Pentagon and the Department of Defense, of course, with Secretary Hegseth leading. And he has the right to do that. It's actually quite common from administration to administration to do such a thing.

22:47Ben Meiselas:The president, when he swore him in as the chief of staff for the Air Force, called him a great man and a great gentleman. Does he distance himself from the remarks that he made back in August of 2020? I think replacing him speaks for itself. Well, let me know what you think, everybody. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Thanks for watching, everybody. We really appreciate you. Thanks for watching.

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