Burkina Faso’s🇧🇫 Thomas Sankara was assassinated on this day in 1987, 3 months after calling on African countries to not pay back debt to European countries and institutions such as the IMF and World Bank:

‘I would like this conference to clearly declare that we cannot pay this debt…just to avoid being assassinated individually. If Burkina Faso is the only one to refuse, I won’t be at the next conference.’

Donald Trump SLAMS Zelensky:

‘Zelensky is not a good guy for us to deal with. If they're going to end up with a settlement of some kind, they're not going to do it with him.’

Less harsh words have been used in the past against leaders who would fall victim to a US-backed coup.

‘Trump’s alignment with Putin is out of fear of China🇨🇳 and an attempt to create a new US🇺🇸-Russia🇷🇺 axis.’

—John Perkins, Former Economic Hit Man

He joins us for Saturday’s episode of Going Underground.

Don’t miss it, follow us on X and follow our Rumble channel: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

🚨 NEW EPISODE OF GOING UNDERGROUND ⚡

Iran War Could Be TRUMP’S DOWNFALL: An ENORMOUS Strategic Mistake (Ex-Economic Hit Man John Perkins)

https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

‘The war on Iran could be Donald Trump’s downfall. It’s emblematic of an enormous STRATEGIC FAILURE, Iran has TREMENDOUS leverage.’

—John Perkins, Former Economic Hit Man

‘The war on Iran, I think, is emblematic of a terrible strategic failure on the part of Trump.

I was very involved in building the military bases along the Strait of Hormuz in Iran under the Shah.

The Shah’s petrodollars paid American corporations to go in and build these vast military bases in Bandar Abbas and elsewhere along the Strait of Hormuz…

We knew at that time, and for the next 50 years, the CIA, the Pentagon, presumably the White House, has known that whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz, controls global oil to a very large degree, and therefore global economies to a very large degree.

And it’s pretty obvious that when the Iranians took ownership of those military bases that we built so that America could control the Strait of Hormuz, when Iran has control of those and you go out and take out the Supreme Leader, why would you not realise that Iran is going to use the leverage that it has?

And it’s a mystery to me that this country made such an incredible strategic mistake. The only answer I can come up with, and I’m asked this a lot, is Trump was on a high, an adrenaline rush after his success in Venezuela.

And so he thought, “Well, I can do the same thing in Iran.”

What he didn’t take into account was that Venezuela didn’t have leverage. It doesn’t control the oil flow through the Caribbean, or the Panama Canal, or anything.

Iran has tremendous leverage by having that control over the Strait of Hormuz, control that we gave them by building those military bases for Iran.

So it’s a really deep strategic mistake, and it may be Trump’s downfall ultimately, because this war with Iran is certainly not popular in the US, and what’s going on throughout the entire world, including where you’re located, is having a huge impact.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

Prof. Hasan Ünal on Going Underground:

‘Iran has not only won the war, it is a STRATEGIC DEFEAT on the part of Israel and particularly the United States. Iran’s victory has contributed to the transforming of the world order.’

231 days into Trump’s war on Iran, the state of Washington’s power and position in the world is in utter shambles.

Once again, the most powerful, bloated, and expensive military in the world fails to defeat Iran a much smaller power, after embarrassing defeats in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam.

The US’ power projection in the Middle East has been greatly diminished, with many of its bases destroyed and turned into rubble, and Generals in Washington knowing that if they are rebuilt, Iran can target them just as easily again.

The global majority views the US as a dangerous rogue state that has pushed the global economy, let alone its own economy, to the breaking point with spiralling energy and fertiliser prices. Anti-American sentiment continues to rise in every house, and on every street, as families struggle with spiralling inflation.

Iran now has de facto control over the Strait of Hormuz and has proven it doesn’t need aircraft carriers or an expensive navy to use it as leverage, with Washington being powerless to stop its attacks on shipping.

A war that was promised to take a few weeks has ended up being a disastrous neocon quagmire, and an embarrassing defeat for the United States.

‘Donald Trump’s war on Iran has given Iran a lot MORE POWER than it had before, all of this plays into the hands of China🇨🇳.’

—John Perkins, Former Economic Hit Man

‘If you were looking at this in any sort of a rational way, and I'm not sure that Trump does look at things in a rational way, but if you were, you would see that the ultimate consequences of the attack on Iran are incredibly detrimental to the United States and to the global economy.

It gives Iran a lot more power than it had before all of this happened. And I'd also point out that all of this plays into the hands of China.

If you're Xi Jinping, you're sitting back there with a big grin on your face, like, "Oh, keep it up, Mr. President of the United States. Keep doing these dumb things, because China is staying out of the fray."’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

Vladimir Putin🇷🇺 on the US war on Iran:

‘The whole world is amazed by the courage and heroism of the Iranian nation and its resilience.’

Ex-Economic Hit Man John Perkins:

‘Colonial powers like Europe in the Middle East & Africa…Spain, Portugal, and the US in Latin America, have always known that the way to keep power is to divide people, DIVIDE & CONQUER, because united, people have power. Divided, it dissipates.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

How the US🇺🇸 uses the World Bank, IMF, and regime change to enslave developing nations through debt and economic servitude, while robbing them of their resources.

If a nation doesn’t comply, the US uses military force or covert CIA operations to bring vassals to power.

Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins:

‘The United States has been headed toward this OLIGARCHY and very IMPERIALISTIC state of being for a long time under both Democrats and Republicans.

But Trump has really highlighted this. He’s brought it out into the open. We’ve never had a President that so openly was corrupt, and so openly was striking deals that are not good for this country.

And so I wanted to use this time of the Trump Presidency as a time to point out that this economic hitman strategy that I helped to develop back in the 70s has now just gone crazy, if you want to call it that, and taken the United States into a position that I could never, never have imagined we would reach.

The United States is, it’s a mystery to everyone, but it’s also a laughing stock. It’s just, it’s a real shame. I’m ashamed to be an American today, quite frankly. It’s just a real shame. I’m ashamed to be an American today, quite frankly.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

The late, great John Pilger: ‘Trump is a caricature of the US system…he strips away the mask from a rapacious, rogue state.’

Countries that have been subjected to US military attacks, CIA coups and clandestine operations since WWII:

🇮🇷 Iran
🇨🇳 China
🇬🇷 Greece
🇮🇹 Italy
🇵🇭 Philippines
🇰🇵 Korea
🇻🇳 Vietnam
🇬🇹 Guatemala
🇱🇧 Lebanon
🇭🇹 Haiti
🇨🇩 Congo
🇨🇺 Cuba
🇱🇦 Laos
🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇵🇦 Panama
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
🇬🇭 Ghana
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇴🇲 Oman
🇨🇱 Chile
🇦🇴 Angola
🇱🇾 Libya
🇸🇻 El Salvador
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
🇬🇩 Grenada
🇭🇳 Honduras
🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇵🇰 Pakistan
🇱🇷 Liberia
🇮🇶 Iraq
🇸🇴 Somalia
Yugoslavia
🇧🇦 Bosnia
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇸🇩 Sudan
🇦🇫 Afghanistan
🇲🇰 Macedonia
🇻🇪 Venezuela
🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇵🇸 Palestine
🇾🇪 Yemen
🇸🇾 Syria
🇳🇬 Nigeria
🇹🇷 Türkiye
🇦🇺 Australia
🇵🇪 Peru​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

*note: this is not a complete list

Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins:

‘It certainly looks as though Iran gets
STRONGER and stronger, the US🇺🇸 gets weaker and WEAKER, and it’s not just those military bases.

One of the things that comes out of the Trump administration is a future where people will not take the United States nearly as seriously as they have in the past, and certainly won’t trust us…

We’ve proven that one President can negate very important deals that were made by previous administrations, and sometimes even by his own at a previous time.

So in that process, what does the United States look like? A country that just can’t strike deals and keep them.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins on the US’ war on Iran:

‘China’s🇨🇳 Xi Jinping has been playing his cards very close to the vest…

He’s sitting on the sidelines. He’s letting the USA🇺🇸 make HUGE MISTAKES. And meanwhile, he’s riding on the wave of it.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs:

"How many wars has China🇨🇳 been in, in the last 40 years? Let me count them. That would be zero. Not one war in 40 years.”

While the US spends its trillions bombing poor people in the global south, China invests its trillions on improving the lives of its citizens, and building economic partnerships with the rest of the world.

Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins:

‘Trump has given us a GIFT, and that he’s brought the economic hitman strategy out into the open. The things that I did in secret and on a much smaller scale, he’s now doing totally publicly, and on a very, very large scale.

And the country is going along with him to a large degree. And by the country, I don’t necessarily mean the people, but the politicians, certainly the Republicans are going along with him.

The corporate executives are going along with him. The universities, everybody has given in to him.
He’s used, I talk about the four pillars of the economic hitman strategy, and he’s used them all brilliantly.

But fear is perhaps the one he’s used most brilliantly of all. People are scared of this man, and you can understand why they’re scared of him.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins SLAMS the IMF & World Bank:

‘GDP really measures how well the wealthy are doing and their corporations. It doesn’t significantly measure the majority of people in most countries.

For many years, I believed that the policies that I was implementing were increasing prosperity for everyone because the statistics showed that building these huge infrastructure projects like power plants and industrial parks, highways, ports, airports, increased GDP per capita.

And per capita, doesn’t that mean for everyone, per person? But what it turns out is that, GDP per capita is just the amount of GDP divided by the number of people.

And GDP is a measure of how well the big industries are doing, the corporations, the banks, the insurance companies, and now the media moguls, how well the rich are doing. It is not a measure of overall prosperity.

So GDP per capita, GDP and total GDP per capita can be increasing, at the same time the gap between rich and poor is getting bigger and deeper, and the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer.

GDP is really a very, very, very misleading measurement. And I think it’s intended to be that way. Here these people are all meeting, these bankers in their fancy ties and coats.

They’re coming in on their private planes and they’re talking about economic stability and economic growth and financial stability and how do we get rid of poverty.

But the very policies that they’re implementing are tending to do exactly the opposite of that. And they must be aware of it. I certainly became aware of it after a while.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

Deputy Chairman of Russia's🇷🇺 Security Council Dmitry Medvedev:

'For decades, this fraudulent work has been cemented by the institutes of the Bretton Woods system, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank Group.

They operate under the classical scheme of neocolonial racketeering. If the countries of the Global South, East, or Latin America are facing a fiscal deficit or a balance-of-payments crisis, they contact the IMF for assistance.

The IMF and the World Bank issue a loan, but tie the countries by truly humiliating conditions. They oblige the countries to undertake the programme of structural reforms, and through those so-called reforms, their country does not become just inefficient, but actually dependent on other countries.

They end up in a debt spiral, and they are forced to take new borrowings, and there is no way out of it. And all the blame for that is cynically put on the shoulders of the victim.'

Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins explains how Trump PERFECTED being too big to fail, and why Africa and Latin America should replicate his strategy:

‘Trump certainly was extremely successful at being too big to fail. He borrowed so much money from these banks, particularly Deutsche Bank and others, that they couldn’t allow him to fail…

Because then they would probably go bankrupt, or at least their books would look very, very red, and they’d have mud on their face.

So this whole idea of if you borrow so much that the lender becomes your partner and has to make sure that you don’t fail, Trump learned that very early in his real estate career, and he’s been practising it.

Could this serve as an example for countries in Africa, Latin America, and other parts of the world? It could, I think, but only if they all unite.

Because the problem is that this pillar of divide and conquer is so strong that if one country, let’s say Nigeria, tried to do this, then the pressure would be put on all the people, corporations working in Nigeria to stop working in Nigeria and move to one of the neighbouring countries in Africa that had very similar resources.

So the way for it to work would have to be for all of these neighbouring countries to come together and decide that they’re all going to take a similar stand, and use the Trump model to be too big to fail.’

Watch the full interview: https://rumble.com/v7gxuzu-iran-war-could-be-trumps-downfall-an-enormous-strategic-mistake-ex-economic.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a