The Castle Report

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Darrell Castle talks about the fact, proven over centuries, that war is easy to start but hard to get out of and if one gets out, the continuing effects exist long into the future.

Transcription / Notes

THE SHELF LIFE OF THE IRANIAN WAR

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 13^th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. Once again my beat is war and Friday the 13^th seems like a good day to talk about something so unpleasant. I will be talking about the fact, proven over centuries, that war is easy to start but hard to get out of and if one gets out the continuing effects exist long into the future.

Yes, this is Friday the 13^th once again and we are only two days from the Ides of March which was the date of Julius Ceasar’s assassination on 15 March 44 BC. He was born in 100 BC so by my rough calculations that would make him 2126 years old today. Why talk about Ceasar more than 2000 years after his death, because he has been the gold standard for leaders who became emperors since then. Emperors in Rome, for example, continued to be called Ceasar after his death and today we ask as did Shakespear, upon what meat doth this our Ceasar feed that he has grown so strong.

Our Ceasar today has certainly grown strong. But I submit that his meat is money and especially oil. Reports say that the U.S. has borrowed more than $50 billion per month for the last 5 months and that this war is costing in excess of $1 billion per day. The more important problem is oil and how much does it cost. The price of oil at the pump for the American consumer is what will determine if the U.S. can stay at war indefinitely or will have to declare victory and come home. It’s really hard to just come home when you have demanded unconditional surrender in an undeclared war.

Gas prices have accelerated but there are still a few desperation moves to temporarily moderate them. For the average American rising gas prices mean lowered standard of living because the real effect is similar to a cut in pay. The employer doesn’t increase wages because it costs more to get to work so you have a lower standard of living and lowered optimism. Oil effects virtually everything price wise because everything has to be made or harvested and transported and that drives up the cost of living for each American.

Iran is a major source of oil for the world or at least it was. Iran was a major supplier of oil to China with about 45% of China’s 11 million barrels per day of imports passing through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. That Strait is now closed by Iranian mines and anti-ship missiles. The administration has made it clear that the Iranian navy and air force are no more so this closing is a little hard to understand. Reports stated that the U.S. Navy sank 10 or 11 mine layers earlier this week so my question is why not sink them before they laid the mines.

The end of Iranian oil has created opportunities for others to step up production which I imagine has made Russia and Vladimir Putin quite happy. The world price of oil is rising rapidly which puts money into Rusia for domestic use and to prosecute the Ukrainian war. Trump is very aware of the effect of rising oil prices on his poll numbers and on the upcoming mid-term elections so he has taken steps to alleviate it. He and Mr. Putin had what was described as a very good call on the 9^th and Russia has been freed from sanctions to sell its oil on the world market. It will be a little higher in price for China than the cheap Iranian oil but nevertheless it will help. Trump is also freeing up several million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve something he criticized Biden for doing to help his poll numbers.

China has to be hurting from all this war and oil strangulation because reports are that about 90% of Chinese oil came from Venezuela, Iran and Russia and now only Russia is left. Perhaps telling China that it will no longer get energy from the Western Hemisphere or from U.S. allies is the point of the war. That is just speculation on my part but with the attack on the cartels in collaboration with other South and Latin American countries it makes sense. Rising energy prices will be hard for China’s export driven economy to absorb because it makes all their exports less affordable worldwide. Trump is scheduled to travel to China later this month to meet with Xi Jinping so we’ll see how that goes.

So, as the title of this Castle Report suggests the U.S. and Israel need to end the war before prices in the U.S. rise so much they effect public support for the administration. There are many events from war that can be hidden or censored from the public but it is hard to hide price increases at the pump. Casualties can be hidden to a certain extent for example getting real casualty figures has been close to impossible so far. We learned this week that at least 8 Americans and today 4 crewmen in a refueling tanker died so 12 are now dead and about 150 wounded. Some of those are gravely wounded with brain injuries and burns and may not recover. Those numbers have been censored but they leak out so accurate or not, we can’t be certain.

The other thing that is easier to censor from Americans is damage to infrastructure and casualty figures from others targeted because they host Americans. The U.S. bases and embassies in several of the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia have been seriously damaged by missile and drone attacks. In addition, the attacks have hit infrastructure and civilians which have nothing to do with Americans.

These problems are much harder to solve because no one seems to know who is currently in charge in Iran. The Supreme Leader is dead and his son was appointed in his place. He might be dead or wounded but for some reason he seems to no longer be in charge. The very religious and new Islamic supreme leader apparently owns about $140 million of prime real estate in London’s billionaire row. Does he control the military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or (IRGC) and if not who does. There are indications that no one does and the IRGC is acting on orders of individual officers. That would explain why the new leader apologizes to the Arab states which Iran attacked and said it was a mistake which would not be repeated. The attacks continued after his apology as if it had not been made.

The U.S. cost of living and that of the world for that matter is why the Strait of Hormuz seems likely to be the deciding point of the length of U.S. involvement. A war of conquest with a ground invasion of Iran would probably be long, bloody, and very expensive and therefore can’t happen. Oh, wait I’m sorry I mean it can’t happen if there are rational, non-insane people making the decisions. The key to the war, then, is the battle to keep the Strait open and with it the flow of oil. Air power can probably destroy the IRGC and that should make it somewhat easier, but we have known since the end of World War ll that air power alone will not make determined people give up their homeland.

The options then seem to me to be destroy the IRGC very quickly, which may or may not be possible, somehow get a new regime into power which can control them and which also may not be possible, or just fight it out however long it takes in the Strait. I guess some combination of all three is also possible. I am certain that Trump wants out of this mess, but I doubt if the Israelis do.

 He held a meeting this week with the heads of various defense firms and told them to ramp up production of missiles both cruise and Patriot air defense missiles so the U.S. is running low. The Iranians answer by making 100,000 suicide drones at $20,000 each instead of the multi-million missiles to attempt to shoot them down. The Iranian tactic seems to be the rope-a-dope whereby the U.S. fires all its missiles then the Kamikaze drones counterattack. People tried to warn Trump but apparently he wasn’t listening or had bad advisers as well.

My own view, and this is pure speculation on my part, is that Trump believes that World Warlll has already started but it is a cold war right now pitting many forces against each other. We have what Reagan called the axis of evil consisting of China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran and North Korea. Two of those are gone and the rest are nuclear armed. Trump is apparently trying to cozy up to Putin which I imagine makes Xi a little nervous.

Then we have the forces of the European global elite as managed by the World Economic Forum and its great reset of global bureaucracy and its unelected world government. Opposing those we have the American way of individual nation states living in freedom so that seems like the battle to me.

In conclusion, I remember the wise words of a man I once heard say that if I am proud of anything about my life I am proudest of my humility. Well, I echo that now and admit that I know very little firsthand just what logic and research produce so I use my best guess powered by some experience. I know from history that the Middle East contains a lot of people with long memories. Apparently they are still settling disputes that happened over 1000 years ago.

Finally, folks, children don’t start wars they just die in them. It is a terrible thing to go to war and this one seems especially brutal. It appears that this attack was unprovoked and that makes it even sadder. I pray that it ends soon.

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

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Darrell Castle talks about the war, declared by President Trump, against the nation of Iran. Does he have Constitutional authority to declare war; why would he do so; and what does it mean?

Transcription / Notes

PRESIDENT TRUMP DECLARES WAR AGAINST IRAN

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6^th day of March in the year of our Lord 2026. My beat is war today and war is obviously the most important story in the world right now as President Trump, unilaterally it seems, decided to make war against a nation that apparently had not harmed the U.S. and was not a threat to the U.S.

Why then did President Trump do it. I’ll give my thoughts on that but first let’s look at what he did. The U.S. spent a few months building up forces in the Middle East region while negotiating or pretending to negotiate a settlement. The U.S. demands became increasingly more difficult for the Iranians to comply with including give up the use of peaceful nuclear power except for medical purposes. Surrender all enriched uranium that you currently possess and allow international inspection. Give up all offensive missiles and drones. Cease all support for your terrorist proxies across the region. Finally, you must change your head of state and give up your oppressive theocratic government.

Well, those are some bitter pills for a sovereign country to swallow and some people believe they were designed to lure the Iranians into complacency while a serious attack was always the plan. The battle forces assembling in the region would have said to me were I head of state in Iran, prepare for serious war. I would have made defensive preparations such as moving my leadership and especially myself to a safe area. Iran didn’t do that and with the Ayatollah’s rejection of the peace proposal on Friday, he was dead within 24 hours.

Once again, the U.S. war machine and the high-tech war fighting ability of the U.S. are amazing and a demonstration for the world. Two carrier battle groups including the largest warship in the world. Two hundred fighter jets which, by the way, cost $10,000 for each hour of flight operations so if they were all in the air at once which they often were, that’s $2 million per hour. The last time I looked these figures up it cost about $25 million per day to keep a carrier battle group at sea and in-flight ops. Fifty thousand U.S. personnel, we are told, are currently engaged in combat.

Six U.S. soldiers are known dead having been killed in Kuwait from an Iranian missile or drone strike. It seems that the Iranians misread he reactions of their neighbors because they reacted by attacking everyone in the region, thus driving the entire region into a military alliance with the U.S. The U.S. at the time of this recording has launched over 2000 sorties against Iran and the Iranians have fired over 500 missiles and over 2000 drones about 10% of which get through,.  Iran attacked U.S. bases and civilian targets in countries including Israel, The Gulf Arab States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. Only one has been fired at Turkey even though the U.S. has bases in Turkey. These figures don’t consider the Israeli attacks which were, of course supplied by the U.S. for the most part. The arrangement was apparently that Israel would attack command and control systems and assassinate personnel including the head of state while the U. S. attacked the ability of Iran to retaliate with missiles and drones.

So, does the President of the United States have the Constitutional authority to take the nation to war. My short answer is no but ever since the Korean War the U.S has held the view that as Commander-in-Chief the President can constitutionally command the military to do what he wants but that is not my view and it was not the view of the founders. Commander-in-chief means that once war is declared by congress he runs it. Our system of government does not allow one individual to put the entire population at risk by unilaterally and individually making war.

What about the War Powers Resolution passed in 1973 which gives the President authority to commit troops to battle anywhere in the world for 90 days without congressional approval. Anyway, he said he briefed the 8 leaders of congress known as the gang of 8. My opinion is that the War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional. No one seems to care anymore what that document says or what it means and very few want to be limited by its words. So, to prevent the restraint it requires, congress passed a resolution essentially amending it and as I said that is unconstitutional.

However, I admit that the resolution is what he used and even though it is misused and misapplied it gives him a pretty good argument for unlimited power. Most in congress will no longer argue that the President does not have authority to do what he has done. So, having looked at what he did now we ask why he did it.  Part of the answer was the usual i.e. the Iranians are terrible people who arrest a protester and hang him the next day. Prison guards routinely rape virgin girls who are arrested by the moral police because they believe that when they murder the girls they will be barred from heaven.

Most of the explanation he gave had to do with nuclear weapons. Although just a few months ago he “obliterated” their nuclear program they were, he said, rebuilding it. The International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN said that Iran was enriching to 60% and only nuclear armed countries did that. Iran was supplying the whole hostile world including Russia with drone and missile technology. My understanding is that Iran’s hypersonic technology came from China. There is an elephant in the room that he did not mention and that is Israel. This entire war is so obviously at the behest of Israel that I can’t understand why the U.S. is not a little humiliated by it. Netanyahu said publicly that what Israel and the U.S. are doing is something he has dreamed of doing for 40 years.

The real reason diplomacy could not work was not any of the things listed but something Marco Rubio announced to reporters on Monday.

“It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone, the United States or Israel, or anyone, they were going to respond and respond against the United States. We knew there was going to be an Israeli action, we knew that would precipitate an attack on American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after Iran before Israel launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”

So, if you reason this out and apply logic the reason we attacked Iran, killed many civilians, destroyed much infrastructure was that if we hadn’t our ally would have gone rogue and launched its own war thus exposing the U.S. to much higher casualties. In that sense, then operation Epic Fury was an act of self-defense, against Israel. The nation of Israel puts Israel first so I wonder why the U.S. won’t do the same.

Why won’t U.S. leaders tell our ally you launch your jets which you got from us and you will lose all American support and all-American bases in the Middle East or you can restrain your murderous impulses and remain our ally. The answer to that question probably explains the whole war but who knows the answer for sure. Maybe the answer is in the Epstein files but who knows. I know that when JFK gave Israel a firm no on their development of nuclear weapons he didn’t live long and LBJ quickly reversed his decision.

So, whatever the relationship between U.S. presidents and Israeli leaders throughout Israel’s history President Trump is inclined to listen to Bibi and neocons in America rather than his Maga base. He promised the Maga people he would not start another disastrous, stupid, pointless, and very costly Middle East war but here we are. It appears that for the second time in President Trump’s second term he used negotiations as a cover for a decision already made to go to war. Launching a military strike during negotiations could have the long-lasting effect of destroying trust in U.S. diplomacy so it’s risky.

Another reason for this that I admit is not obvious but this attack is an attack on China and Russia as well as the other BRICS. The U.S. does not want WWlll in the traditional sense because in today’s nuclear world that would result in a worldwide catastrophe with no winners, only losers. Instead, today’s war is about trade, money, commerce, etc. Who gets to run the world order of today. World orders come and go and they have throughout the centuries. In fact, the world order that emerged in 1648 formed by the Peace of Westphalia or the treaty by that name makes the most sense to me. It lasted It ended the 30 years war in which Europe was devastated and starving. It lasted from 1648 to 1803 when it was destroyed by Nepoleon. The treaty involved much of old Europe including the Holy Roman Empire and it allowed a world in which nations agreed they would stop unprovoked attacks on each other and would not assassinate each other’s leaders. It brought peace and allowed the people of Europe to prosper and be fed again.

Eventually, world orders and peace agreements always break down into violence and bloodshed. Today, the new order of the world is trying to form and it has devolved into proxy wars, economic wars, cyber wars, biological wars, sabotage wars, and information wars. Russia and China resent U.S. dominance and attempt to topple it while the U. S. will hold it by any means necessary.

In conclusion, I don’t know anything about this war for certain but I try to use logic to make the best guess possible. I know that China has stopped export of oil and gas and restricted its domestic use.  China imports 11 million barrels per day 45% of which comes through the gulf. Perhaps Chinese tankers could buy the new U.S. provided insurance thus bypassing Lloyds of London which has run shipping for over 100 years. Could that result in a new U.S., China, Russia alliance, who knows.

Finally, folks, I close with the words of Ron Paul now 90 years old but as wise as ever. “Here’s a plan: End this today. Return the destroyed U.S. bases to the countries where they are located. And just come home. That is what a real “America First” movement looks like.”

At least that’s the way I see it,

Until next time folks,

This is Darrell Castle,

Thanks for listening.

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Darrell Castle talks about the State of the Union Address by reviewing a few of the things President Trump said and the reaction of his opponents, as well as providing a Constitutional response.

Transcription / Notes

SOTU – A RESPONSE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 27^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the State of the Union Address delivered last Tuesday by President Donald Trump. I will comment on a few of the things he said and on the reaction of his opponents to those things and then I will do what I am often asked to do and that is give a Constitutional response.

The President spoke for almost two hours the longest speech in SOTU history. He spoke mostly about the achievements of his second term and he mentioned that America is entering a golden age. He emphasized patriotism and heroes and he invited many of them to the speech including the gold medal winning men’s Olympic hockey team.

According to the reports I’ve seen more than 70 Democrats chose not to attend the speech but most of them did and they exercised their choice which was to set and glare straight ahead or occasionally to boo him. He noticed and called them out repeatedly for their failure to muster even the most basic bipartisanship in moments that should have been beyond partisan politics.

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Darrell Castle talks about the continuing saga of Jeffrey Epstein and what that saga means for the relationship between the global ruing elite and the people.

Transcription / Notes

EPSTEIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF TRUST

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 20^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about the continuing saga of Jeffrey Epstein and what that saga means for the relationship between the global ruling elite and the people.

Yes, folks we are faced with a moral dilemma today and that dilemma is what to do when we find out that the ruling elite of the West, not just America but the West has completely abandoned the moral bedrock upon which the whole system is based. Western Civilization also known as Christian Civilization is based on a system of moral principles and if those principles are adhered to by everyone the system works and we can pass it on to our offspring.

Now that entire belief system has been turned upside down and destroyed and that is of great concern to me. The elite, and I will call them that for lack of a better word, but hopefully you know what I mean by that term. The elite know that their power is also based on moral authority which they don’t even believe exists. Their goal is to keep us from learning of their complete moral depravity because that might mean the end of their privileged and protected lives.

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Darrell Castle shares his thoughts on those who seem caught up in the Epstein files and if correct, suggests that every system of power on earth is currently run by satanic pedophiles.

Transcription / Notes

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday, the 13^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. Friday the 13^th and it is apparently a very unlucky day for some of those caught up in the Epstein files. Who is caught up in the files, just about everybody who is anybody it seems, all the rich and powerful, but as I said in the title the devil literally is in the details.

Yes, folks it is rather shocking to find that the whole world is run by satanic pedophiles but that is what the recent release of over 3 million documents that constitute about half of the Epstein files seem to be telling the world. Royal families torn apart, heads of state, cabinet secretaries, titans of banking and industry, owners of sports teams, ex-commissioners of sports leagues, but most of all billionaires were all very connected to Jeffrey Epstein. He connected them apparently through blackmail, greed, and money to his satanic pedophile circle of the most disgusting.

It is indeed unusual to find a politician of national status who was not enamored with Epstein and what he had to offer but not him. No, not the one man that many put all their hopes of catching in this net. The man they all wanted to be guilty, even demanded be guilty came out smelling like a rose. Orange Man Bad, President Donald J. Trump it seems was the whistle blower who called the police and said this woman is evil and Epstein is disgusting, get them out of here.

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Darrell Castle talks about what is going on in Minneapolis as well as the state of Minnesota — what is going on there, does anyone care, and what about fraud.

Transcription / Notes

MINNESOTA IS A STRANGE PLACE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 6^th day of February in the year of our Lord 2026. Although I am a little late for the party I will be talking about what is going on in Minneapolis as well as the state of Minnesota. What in the world is going on there and does anyone care about the violence and death, and also what about the fraud.

Was a 37-year-old ICU nurse really a threat to the ICE agents in Minnesota? Do Americans who film such agents as they try to do their jobs belong on government lists. Should the presence of ICE agents in Minnesota be eliminated since the politicians and the people apparently are violently opposed to their presence. The answers to these questions, unfortunately, almost always depend on one’s political party affiliation. Republicans back ICE in its deportation efforts while Democrats stand with Alex Pretti. Sometimes these positions require members of both parties to abandon the principles they once held dear.

The struggle this time around has often centered on the real culprit, the ruling class. Everything seems like a diversion or distraction. When you see the Minnesota politicians parading around talking about the demonization of the Somali community one might wonder if they are just trying to distract attention away from the billions in fraud from which they allegedly received hefty amounts.

Due to the severe winter storm that hit our area, there will be no podcast this week. I will join you again, God willing, on Friday, February 6th. Until then, this is Darrell Castle. Thanks for checking in!

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Darrell Castle talks about President Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland presented earlier this week and the important issues surrounding the speech including Greenland, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and of course Minneapolis.

Transcription / Notes

TRUMP SPEAKS TO THE WEF

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 23^rd day of January in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about President Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland which was given on Wednesday of this week. I will also talk about some of the important issues surrounding that speech including Greenland, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, and of course Minneapolis.

Yes, President Trump traveled to Davos this week accompanied by a large U.S. delegation including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. California Governor Gavin Newscom was in attendance although not part of the US delegation. He was quick to gather a news event to question everything the President said. So, the President spoke for over an hour to the richest, most powerful, most pompous and self-important people in this world.

He used the occasion to sign the Board of Peace Charter, officially launching a new international organization tasked with overseeing the peace process between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza. Trump said as he signed, “This Board is the chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created, and it’s my enormous honor to serve as its chairman.”

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Darrell Castle talks about Iran today and exploring the possibilities for changing the regime there from one run by Islamic fundamentalists to one run by the ex-Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi.

Transcription / Notes

REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 16^th day of January in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be talking about Iran today and exploring the possibilities for changing the regime there from one run by Islamic fundamentalists to one run by the ex-Shah’s son Reza Pahlavi. What does the US want in Iran and what is it willing to do to have it.

Yes, it seems that revolution is in the air once again in Iran but this time it seems to be different. Every few years people grow weary of the Ayatollah’s strict laws, its moral police, etc. and they take to the streets to protest. This time it seems to be different for several reasons. The protests are much more massive and widespread this time and the people are showing great courage because the last report I saw showed more than 2500 dead and 10,000 arrested so not just protests but war in the streets it seems.

The Iranians don’t waste much time on niceties such as a fair trial either because they arrest a protester one day and publicly hang him the next as a warning to others. Another reason why this time might be different is that the US President is clearly fully supporting the protesters with his words and promises of military action. The primary reason, however, is that this time there are real reasons other that the resistance to fundamentalist Islam. The last large-scale protests happened when a young woman was arrested by the moral police and she ended up raped and murdered in their custody.

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Darrell Castle discusses the raid in Venezuela, the capture or arrest of Nichalas Maduro and his wife and whether it was beneficial to anyone.

TRUMP’S VERSION OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 9^th day of January in the year of our Lord 2026. I will be discussing the raid in Venezuela and the capture or arrest as the DOJ calls it of Nichalas Maduro and his wife and their criminal prosecution by US Federal authorities in the federal district court of New York. Did it benefit anyone, was it right or wrong, was it legal or illegal.

Yes, folks 2026 has barely started and it has already been quite a year. Was the capture of Maduro an indication by the administration that one year of his term is complete and now the gloves come off. I certainly think that was one of the many intentions of the raid, but not the most significant by any means. What then was the real intent or reason for the raid. The truthful answer to that question is, I don’t know and neither does anyone else. We look at it and we see the results short term but what was in his mind only he knows for sure.

Let’s look first at the legality of the raid. In my opinion it was clearly legal if US law is the judge. The 1973 War Powers Resolution allows the president to deploy military forces; however, he chooses without prior approval of congress if he decides its in the national security interest of the United States. Its’s more than a little hypocritical for any Democrat with a microphone to scream illegal because they could always repeal the War Powers Act but they don’t/ Why not, because they use it too, and they want it available.