Declared Hostile: This Is America

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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jocko Willink?

  In Iraq in 2006, I was in charge of a SEAL task unit and our job was to help conventional forces secure and stabilize the city of Ramadi from evil insurgents who were torturing, raping, and murdering the local populace. And it was a complete war zone at the time. And my SEAL task unit, Task Unit Bruiser, we conducted hundreds of operations to support coalition forces on the ground. And our operations consisted

• 0:41Jocko Willink?

  of reconnaissance missions, presence patrols, direct action raids, and sniper overwatches to help out and support the US Army and the Marine Corps troops who had the insanely difficult job of clearing the city, house to house, street to street, and neighborhood to neighborhood. And the fighting was brutal. And there were many brave soldiers, sailors,

• 1:22Jocko Willink?

  airmen, and Marines who took the fight to the enemy. And many of those were wounded and many were killed. And the civilian populace in the city, they suffered heinous crimes against humanity committed by the demonic insurgents. And a couple of months into that deployment, we received some intelligence about a specific Al Qaeda insurgent leader. And he was one of the worst of the worst. He had a reputation of absolute brutality.

• 2:07Jocko Willink?

  He was a bloodthirsty boss in this evil death cult. And the intelligence that we received about him gave us a window of time and place and an opportunity to kill him.

• 2:27Jocko Willink?

  But the window was small and it was extremely high risk.

• 2:33Jocko Willink?

  And the window was small because this particular insurgent leader traveled frequently and he never settled in one place for any length of time. And the risk was high because he traveled with significant security.

• 2:47Jocko Willink?

  A detail of would be martyrs who were ready to kill and die for this homicidal maniac. And due to those parameters,

• 2:59Jocko Willink?

  I made an extremely uncommon request up the chain of command. You see, in Iraq, we followed very strict rules of engagement. And the rules of engagement required that an individual, a potential enemy individual, must display either a hostile act, or they must show hostile intent before we could engage them. And to put that into layman's term, what that meant was before one of my SEALs could shoot,

• 3:37Jocko Willink?

  they were required to determine with reasonable certainty that the individual they were shooting was either committing a hostile act or was showing hostile intent.

• 3:50Jocko Willink?

  And my SEALs had to confirm that before they could shoot.

• 3:55Jocko Willink?

  And the soldiers and Marines had to follow those same rules of engagement. And these rules of engagement, they are in place to protect the civilian populace and to mitigate collateral damage. But in this particular case, this insurgent leader was not likely to be committing a hostile act or displaying hostile intent in the location where we predicted he was going to be. He was simply scheduled to pass through a specific location. We had intelligence about that.

• 4:33Jocko Willink?

  And so what I asked my chain of command was for this individual to be declared hostile.

• 4:44Jocko Willink?

  And declared hostile, this is a a legal term.

• 4:50Jocko Willink?

  You can declare an individual hostile and this can only be done by appropriate, high-level US command authorities and what that means is senior flag officers with the responsibility to weigh all of the available intelligence, all the legal obligations, the political considerations, and they have to think about the consequences for US interests. And then they have to make this decision to declare an individual hostile.

• 5:30Jocko Willink?

  But from my perspective, this was the perfect time for the use of this type of declaration. Because after all, to restate at this time, Al Qaeda and the insurgents had the upper hand in both Ramadi and in Al Anbar province. They were killing and wounding coalition forces on a daily basis and they were wantonly butchering the civilian populace day in and day out. And so this high-value targeted individual that we wanted to kill was a leader of this savagery.

• 6:15Jocko Willink?

  So if we had the chance to kill him, it made perfect sense to me that we should do just that. So I sent that request up the chain of command that they deem this individual hostile so that we could shoot on sight. And quite frankly, I figured that we would get the approval. So the platoon prepared to conduct the operation, they put together a plan, they rehearsed the actions, they dialed in their weapons, they prepared the vehicles and then waited. And it was a tight timeline as we stood by to execute this mission.

• 6:57Jocko Willink?

  So we were a little bit impatient, but finally, just before our drop dead time to launch the operation, we finally received word from our higher headquarters and the answer was no.

• 7:15Jocko Willink?

  The answer was no.

• 7:17Jocko Willink?

  They would not allow us to declare this Al Qaeda leader hostile. We would not be able to shoot him. When we confirmed it was him. When we made positive identification, we would not simply be able to engage. No, in keeping with the standard rules of engagement, we would only be able to engage him.

• 7:42Jocko Willink?

  If he committed a hostile act or displayed hostile intent.

• 7:47Jocko Willink?

  Now this threw a wrench into what our plan was and unfortunately, due to the tight timeline. Due to the restraints of the rules of engagement in this particular situation.

• 8:00Jocko Willink?

  We did not execute the mission.

• 8:05Jocko Willink?

  We canceled the mission and of course, at the time, it was very frustrating. I was frustrated.

• 8:16Jocko Willink?

  But I know that we can't let our emotions drive our decisions that can have catastrophic results, but seeing so many brave Americans wounded and killed. It was hard not to get emotional.

• 8:31Jocko Willink?

  When an opportunity to kill enemy leadership like that was missed.

• 8:38Jocko Willink?

  So I was frustrated, but at the same time.

• 8:43Jocko Willink?

  This was something that reinforced

• 8:49Jocko Willink?

  an idea in my mind.

• 8:53Jocko Willink?

  About who we are.

• 8:58Jocko Willink?

  We are Americans.

• 9:02Jocko Willink?

  And even in a devastating war zone. Where American lives are at risk. And a clear enemy is present and even when a targeted individual.

• 9:18Jocko Willink?

  Is without question. A targeted individual who is a sadistic, deranged, remorseless, depraved monster. Even then, we seldom declare people hostile.

• 9:37Jocko Willink?

  We, as Americans, we are supposed to value human life that much.

• 9:49Jocko Willink?

  We aspire to live up to our own ideals.

• 9:58Jocko Willink?

  The rule of law.

• 10:07Jocko Willink?

  And that's what we did.

• 10:10Jocko Willink?

  We take and we maintain the moral high ground, even at great risks to ourselves and our American brothers and sisters on the battlefields.

• 10:25Jocko Willink?

  But we remember our American values.

• 10:32Jocko Willink?

  And we do our utmost to maintain those values and those standards.

• 10:46Jocko Willink?

  Now, right now, we have seen those standards and that ideal shattered here at home.

• 11:02Jocko Willink?

  Murder is rampant, destruction is commonplace, and assassination.

• 11:16Jocko Willink?

  Assassination, one man, Charlie Kirk, declared hostile by another man and executed

• 11:27Jocko Willink?

  for his beliefs and for the words that he spoke.

• 11:35Jocko Willink?

  And we see this

• 11:40Jocko Willink?

  in our country, on our hallowed homeland.

• 11:46Jocko Willink?

  And we see some people cheer and celebrate this execution.

• 12:02Jocko Willink?

  And that's sickening.

• 12:08Jocko Willink?

  And

• 12:10Jocko Willink?

  I ask myself, what have we become? Where does this come from?

• 12:20Jocko Willink?

  And I've been asking myself that question.

• 12:25Jocko Willink?

  How do people become

• 12:31Jocko Willink?

  so depraved?

• 12:37Jocko Willink?

  And when I think about that, I think it's important to remember how

• 12:41Jocko Willink?

  pliable and impressionable the human mind is.

• 12:46Jocko Willink?

  How people are influenced by what they see and what they hear. And if you just look at just normal pop culture trends in music or fashion or language, the words that we use. These things, they, they change all the time. They they grow and then they fade and then something else grows and people follow each other and they follow trends.

• 13:18Jocko Willink?

  It's part of our psychology.

• 13:22Jocko Willink?

  We as humans,

• 13:26Jocko Willink?

  we like to be part of a group. It's an instinct for us. We want to feel secure.

• 13:32Jocko Willink?

  And when we don't have those things,

• 13:37Jocko Willink?

  that's how brainwashing happens.

• 13:42Jocko Willink?

  People

• 13:45Jocko Willink?

  in moments or situations of isolation and fear and confusion.

• 13:56Jocko Willink?

  Those are fertile grounds

• 14:00Jocko Willink?

  for manipulation. And once it is recognized that someone is in a bad state, an isolated state, a confused state, then it's just exposure.

• 14:16Jocko Willink?

  And repetition and reinforcement and group pressure and social influence and indoctrination. And eventually people change.

• 14:27Jocko Willink?

  Eventually people change. They change what they think and they change what they believe.

• 14:39Jocko Willink?

  And that's brainwashing.

• 14:42Jocko Willink?

  And in the old days,

• 14:46Jocko Willink?

  and by old days, I mean 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 40 years ago, in order to brainwash someone, you had to physically control them. You had to physically remove them from their community. You had to forcibly expose them to the information that you wanted them to accept. And this is pretty challenging to do because it's difficult to get physical access and physical control of another human being at that level.

• 15:20Jocko Willink?

  But it's very different now.

• 15:24Jocko Willink?

  And everyone is carrying around and glued to a conduit of brainwashing.

• 15:35Jocko Willink?

  And we're carrying around

• 15:38Jocko Willink?

  that conduit all day, every day in our hands.

• 15:45Jocko Willink?

  And it's our phone. And you only have to go on that phone for five minutes to realize the kind of destructive and manipulative and divisive content that's on there. And when you subject a human being to that for four hours or six hours or eight hours or 10 hours or 12 hours a day with an algorithm that is specifically engineered and tailored

• 16:15Jocko Willink?

  to keep them watching and keep them listening and keep them scrolling and keep them feeling.

• 16:25Jocko Willink?

  Keep them feeling emotions based on 30-second clips that are curated to make them emotional, to make them frustrated, to make them angry, to make them spiteful,

• 16:43Jocko Willink?

  to make them hate.

• 16:48Jocko Willink?

  And clicks, and likes, and shares as stupid and meaningless as we think they are.

• 17:00Jocko Willink?

  When they happen over and over and over and over again to someone that is insecure,

• 17:10Jocko Willink?

  to someone that is alone, to someone that has a pliable, young mind, the result is very predictable. Isolation, polarization, dehumanization, and radicalization.

• 17:31Jocko Willink?

  Radicalization.

• 17:34Jocko Willink?

  The rejection of societal norms,

• 17:40Jocko Willink?

  the adoption of the most extreme views, and the abandonment of reason.

• 17:50Jocko Willink?

  And it keeps going until it reaches a point where one disturbed and twisted soul believes that he has the right and the authority to declare another man as hostile

• 18:05Jocko Willink?

  and execute that man.

• 18:13Jocko Willink?

  This is

• 18:18Jocko Willink?

  a devolution. This is a regression. This is a decline of our culture, and we cannot accept this behavior. This is tribal murder.

• 18:37Jocko Willink?

  And what caused it? It's an infection of the mind. And we cannot accept that either. There have to be rules. There must be rules. And I'm not talking about rules to be imposed by our government. I'm not talking about rules to be imposed by the technocrats. I'm talking about rules that we need to apply to ourselves as humans, as individuals, as families, as communities, as Americans, as individual Americans.

• 19:20Jocko Willink?

  Do not allow yourself to be manipulated by electronic emotions. Do not allow yourself to be possessed by digital demons. There is darkness in the world. There is evil in the world. And it has never been easier for that evil to crawl inside your head. It has never been easier for that evil to grab a hold of your heart. And it has never been easier for that darkness and that evil to get

• 20:05Jocko Willink?

  control of your soul. You must cast it out. You cannot accept that master.

• 20:32Jocko Willink?

  Listen to your friends, not your feed.

• 20:37Jocko Willink?

  Talk to people, not to the pixels. Connect with your family, not with firmware.

• 20:50Jocko Willink?

  And steer away from the darkness that surrounds us. And as strong

• 21:00Jocko Willink?

  as the lure of temptation might be,

• 21:10Jocko Willink?

  do your utmost, your utmost, to walk in the light,

• 21:20Jocko Willink?

  in the principles that founded our great nation.

• 21:28Jocko Willink?

  Our great nation, ours. Our country is us. It's us.

• 21:36Jocko Willink?

  It is what we do. It is how we behave. It is what we allow and it is what we forbid.

• 21:48Jocko Willink?

  Not the legislation, not the political class, not the elite, but us, it's us.

• 21:57Jocko Willink?

  You and me.

• 22:01Jocko Willink?

  Our forefathers fought for freedom.

• 22:09Jocko Willink?

  Many in my generation did the same.

• 22:15Jocko Willink?

  We have fought for freedom and we will do it again. We are not afraid.

• 22:24Jocko Willink?

  And we will not tolerate

• 22:29Jocko Willink?

  those who aim to destroy us or destroy our way of life, or harm our families, or infringe on our freedom.

• 22:41Jocko Willink?

  Freedom is our God-given right.

• 22:48Jocko Willink?

  It's ours to protect. It's ours to cherish. That is our choice.

• 23:01Jocko Willink?

  It's on us

• 23:05Jocko Willink?

  to carry on

• 23:08Jocko Willink?

  to stand up for what we believe in

• 23:15Jocko Willink?

  to be

• 23:18Jocko Willink?

  better people to be better people to each other and to be better people for each other

• 23:34Jocko Willink?

  This is America

• 23:39Jocko Willink?

  We are Americans

• 23:43Jocko Willink?

  Brave

• 23:46Jocko Willink?

  We are strong

• 23:50Jocko Willink?

  We are free

• 23:54Jocko Willink?

  We must not be hostile to each other

• 24:01Jocko Willink?

  We must not be enemies here in our own land. That is unacceptable

• 24:14Jocko Willink?

  Too much blood has already been shed

• 24:29Jocko Willink?

  We need to make

• 24:32Jocko Willink?

  bridges instead of blood

• 24:39Jocko Willink?

  For God's sake and for the sake of our country

• 24:48Jocko Willink?

  We are Americans

• 24:51Jocko Willink?

  And we must act like Americans

• 24:58Jocko Willink?

  One nation Under God With liberty and justice

• 25:06Jocko Willink?

  For all