WEBVTT - Day 3 of War in Iran

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to today's podcast sponsored by Hillsdale College, All Things

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<v Speaker 1>Hillsdale at Hillsdale dot ed or I encourage you to

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<v Speaker 1>take advantage of the many free online courses there and

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<v Speaker 1>of course a listener to the Hillsdale Dialogue, all of

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<v Speaker 1>them at Hugh for Hillsdale dot com or just Google, Apple,

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<v Speaker 1>iTunes and Hillsdale.

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<v Speaker 2>A very good day to you all. It is Wednesday,

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<v Speaker 2>the fourth of March, and we join you from Texas.

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<v Speaker 2>Hugh is out today and the talk show gods are smiling.

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<v Speaker 2>There are all kinds of things going on around the world. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 2>I think you know why they call it the Department

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<v Speaker 2>of War, now, don't you. Defense was lovely, Defense is

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<v Speaker 2>part of the gig. But when it's time for war,

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<v Speaker 2>you need a Department of War, and boy do we

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<v Speaker 2>have one. So we're going to talk about various trouble

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<v Speaker 2>spots around the world, talk about various conflicts, including one

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<v Speaker 2>of the ones that we may be about to have

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<v Speaker 2>right here in my state of Texas. Listen, We've got

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<v Speaker 2>all kinds of things going on, a big slate of guests,

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<v Speaker 2>all kinds of people to talk to. We stand in

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<v Speaker 2>this war effort at a critical juncture. It's always a

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<v Speaker 2>critical juncture. But what we have right now is people

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<v Speaker 2>in a media culture and people in Democrat culture, which

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<v Speaker 2>may be an oxymoron, who actively want America to fail.

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<v Speaker 2>And what exactly are we to make of that? What

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<v Speaker 2>exactly what I've reflected with people about this, I've thought

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<v Speaker 2>about it in my own mind. What do I want

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<v Speaker 2>of the Democrat Party? When a Republican president and the

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<v Speaker 2>military that is at his command as commander in chief,

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<v Speaker 2>when they are going about an operation that they disagree with,

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<v Speaker 2>they are completely entitled to their disagreement. Their free speech rights,

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<v Speaker 2>their First Amendment rights give them the latitude to speak

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<v Speaker 2>up about that. But just because you can do something

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't mean you should do something. And I just have

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<v Speaker 2>to tell you that if the tides were turned, I

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<v Speaker 2>always try to be mister consistency on this. If a

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<v Speaker 2>Democrat president we're going about deploying American troops in some

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<v Speaker 2>way that I don't approve of, well, first of all,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm a media guy. We talk for a living, so

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<v Speaker 2>I would have an opinion or two. But if I

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<v Speaker 2>were in actual Congress, I don't think I could bring

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<v Speaker 2>myself to be part of a war powers resolution to

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<v Speaker 2>instantly interrupt something that was just days underway unless and again,

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<v Speaker 2>it's not apples and apples. This is a Trump operation.

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<v Speaker 2>It's completely well founded, it is completely justified, it is

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<v Speaker 2>completely sensible, and that doesn't mean everybody has to like it,

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<v Speaker 2>but there's a solid foundation for it. I suppose in

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<v Speaker 2>my imagination I could envision a Democrat president doing something

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<v Speaker 2>that I just thought was horribly reckless, which they say

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<v Speaker 2>they do about this, but they're just provably wrong, and

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<v Speaker 2>they've proven it by their own rhetoric. Over the years,

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<v Speaker 2>you have Democrat after Democrat after Democrat, and Trump hating

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<v Speaker 2>Republican after Trump hating Republican who has said many, many,

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<v Speaker 2>many times, the Iranian leadership has to go. It is

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<v Speaker 2>good for the Iranian people, have self determination. The world

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<v Speaker 2>will be a safer place when the Mullahs are replaced

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<v Speaker 2>in Iran. So now we're doing that, and so what's

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<v Speaker 2>the problem. The problem is Trump did it. The problem

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<v Speaker 2>is that Trump did it an Orange man bad, Orange

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<v Speaker 2>man bad. And when that is guiding your thinking, When

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<v Speaker 2>something that you know in your heart and in your

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<v Speaker 2>brain is good suddenly becomes bad because of your TDS, man,

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<v Speaker 2>it is time to look in the mirror. It is

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<v Speaker 2>time to check yourself and just think a second and

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<v Speaker 2>third time. So we have all of this laid out

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<v Speaker 2>before us, and meanwhile, in the actual war zone, we

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<v Speaker 2>are sinking boats with submarines. Have you seen us sink

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<v Speaker 2>an Iranian boat with a submarine? First time since World

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<v Speaker 2>War Two? We're doing all It's funny because in a way,

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<v Speaker 2>this modern era of warfare is a very modern era

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<v Speaker 2>of warfare. So many drones, and I know a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of people are saying, you know, the war's never have

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<v Speaker 2>been one with pure just with air superiority. That's true,

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<v Speaker 2>meaning in the old world that at some point you

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<v Speaker 2>got to kick in with some boots on the ground.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know that that is. I don't know that

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<v Speaker 2>that's true these days with with with drones. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>haven't we all read forty seven articles that say that

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<v Speaker 2>drone warfare it's not going to supplant and completely replace

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<v Speaker 2>the notion of boots on the ground. But there's a

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<v Speaker 2>long list of strategic things that we are able to

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<v Speaker 2>do with drones that make boots on the ground not

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<v Speaker 2>necessary in a wide variety of scenarios. So as we

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<v Speaker 2>take a look at the long list of successes that

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<v Speaker 2>we have had just in the opening days of Operation

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<v Speaker 2>Epic Fury. Can we maybe have it's just excuse me

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<v Speaker 2>for a minute, can we can we maybe not urinate

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<v Speaker 2>on it for a while. Can we maybe sit tight

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<v Speaker 2>on that for just a little bit? Can get if

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<v Speaker 2>you're if you're dead, Listen if any Democrat says, I've

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<v Speaker 2>heard people and this is what dry additionally crazy they say.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, I hope for it to succeed. I pray

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<v Speaker 2>for it to succeed, but I don't think it will.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, orange man bead Trump's doing it. He's a liar,

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<v Speaker 2>he's an income poop, he is corrupt because he's doing it.

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<v Speaker 2>I just know it's going to be terrible. Hakeem Jeffries

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<v Speaker 2>the other day, dragging us into war that is doomed

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<v Speaker 2>to fail, doomed to fail. Is that what an American says,

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<v Speaker 2>with our armed forces on the ground, in the air,

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<v Speaker 2>with our armed forces deployed, is that what an American

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<v Speaker 2>properly says, is that the right thing to say or do?

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<v Speaker 2>Pete hegseth this morning, let's do this. I got a

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<v Speaker 2>couple of highlights about what's going on here. In Texas

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<v Speaker 2>Cornyn and Paxton, and I got to tell you something

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<v Speaker 2>Trump may be about to make an endorsement. I'll tell

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<v Speaker 2>you it's who it's likely to be. No matter who

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<v Speaker 2>it is, it's going to be an earthquake. We don't

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<v Speaker 2>have earthquakes in Texas, but for this, we're going to

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<v Speaker 2>come close. Because no matter whom Trump would endorse and

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<v Speaker 2>according versus packs and race, it's going to be a

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<v Speaker 2>big shive in the ribs of somebody. And I don't

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<v Speaker 2>know how that's going to go, so we'll see. But anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>I believe it was cut twelve. Dwayne has a moment

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<v Speaker 2>of pete hegseth this morning at the Department of War.

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<v Speaker 3>I get it.

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<v Speaker 4>The press only wants to make the president look bad,

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<v Speaker 4>but try for once to report the reality. The terms

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<v Speaker 4>of this war will be set by us at every step.

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<v Speaker 4>As I said Monday, the mission.

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<v Speaker 2>Is laser focused.

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<v Speaker 4>Obliterate Iran's missiles and drones and facilities that produce them,

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<v Speaker 4>annihilate its navy and critical security infrastructure, and sever their

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<v Speaker 4>pathway to nuclear weapons. Iran will never possess a nuclear bomb,

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<v Speaker 4>not on our watch, not ever. And this is why

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<v Speaker 4>President Trump's moral clarity and Iran today is so vital.

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<v Speaker 4>Unlike the past, where vague redlines and endless negotiations let

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<v Speaker 4>Iran fund terror and inch ever so slightly toward a bomb,

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<v Speaker 4>this president sees the threat plainly, enacts decisively. No more

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<v Speaker 4>half measures, especially when Iran is at its weakest, No

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<v Speaker 4>more letting Tehran play for time while our people pay

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<v Speaker 4>the price. His leadership ensures that we finish what we start,

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<v Speaker 4>and that we protect our war fighters by crushing the

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<v Speaker 4>enemy before they can strike again. Our offensive operations, refined

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<v Speaker 4>through months of relentless preparation, are unstoppable, and our defensive

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<v Speaker 4>efforts are unprecedented.

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<v Speaker 2>So that line at the beginning of Secretary Hegseth saying,

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<v Speaker 2>I know what happens in the media. You know, if

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<v Speaker 2>a drone sneaks through and we have a moment of

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<v Speaker 2>tragedy like you're going to have in wartime, it's front

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<v Speaker 2>page news. This led Caitlin Collins, so get ready of

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<v Speaker 2>CNN to ask Caroline Levitt, is it the position of

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<v Speaker 2>this White House that we're not supposed to cover, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>troop deaths. And they went back and forth for a

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<v Speaker 2>couple of month. You know isn't part of the story.

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<v Speaker 2>We're not doing it to dishonor them. Yes, you are

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<v Speaker 2>a hostile media culture and a hostile Democrat party is

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<v Speaker 2>holding up these six precious lives that we've lost, and

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<v Speaker 2>there will be more, I'll tell you there will be more.

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<v Speaker 2>And they are using them to weaponize the war effort

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<v Speaker 2>against the president. And of course they lift these these

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<v Speaker 2>names up and they cherish these names, but not in

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<v Speaker 2>the way that you and I might not as heroes

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<v Speaker 2>for a good cause, for a noble cause, for a

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<v Speaker 2>just war. The left holds up these names as people

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<v Speaker 2>they can weaponize and deploy and say, look at these

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<v Speaker 2>poor people. They bravely and courageously withstood the orders of

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<v Speaker 2>an insane president. So spare me the triangulations from CNN

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<v Speaker 2>and Caitlin Collins. All right, with about like a minute here,

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<v Speaker 2>it's going to be Corning and Paxton, and a runoff

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<v Speaker 2>won't be determined until May twenty sixth. Paxton has the

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<v Speaker 2>inside track at the moment because it is the more

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<v Speaker 2>MAGA friendly conservative voters that tend to come back for

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<v Speaker 2>the runoff. And they finished like forty two to forty one,

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<v Speaker 2>Wesley Hunt way behind there may be a Trump endorsement,

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<v Speaker 2>and it may be Cornyn. I mean, the news is

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<v Speaker 2>filled with this today. Will that be helpful to Cornyn?

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<v Speaker 2>Of course it would. Is it Cornyn's only chance of

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<v Speaker 2>survival in the runoff? It might be. Will it cause

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<v Speaker 2>a major alienation in Trump's Texas Paxton loving base? Yes?

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<v Speaker 2>Is he aware of that? I don't know. That's just

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<v Speaker 2>a little of what's going on. You could say, some

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<v Speaker 2>things are happening. Mark Davison for Hugh Hewett, and we

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<v Speaker 2>are chronicling it all on the Wednesday Hugh Hewitt Show.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks for being here on the Salem News Channel along

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<v Speaker 2>Salem Radio Network. It's the Hugh Hewitt Show for this Wednesday,

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<v Speaker 2>the fourth of March. Mark Davis filling in. I mentioned

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<v Speaker 2>that we have a whole lot of talented people to

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<v Speaker 2>talk to, smart people to run a number of things by,

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<v Speaker 2>and they don't get any smarter or more valuable than

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<v Speaker 2>a gentleman I've been reading for a long long time

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<v Speaker 2>with a new gig. It's Joel Pollock, who now on

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<v Speaker 2>the business card, says opinion editor at the California Post.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll have to ask Joel what that is for those

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<v Speaker 2>who are not blessed to know. But meanwhile, it's just

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<v Speaker 2>great to talk to you again, Joel. Welcome. How you doing.

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<v Speaker 5>Great, It's good to be with you.

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<v Speaker 2>It is nice to have you. So we're almost a

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<v Speaker 2>week into this whole epic fury thing. How do you

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<v Speaker 2>think it's going over there? And how do you think

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<v Speaker 2>it's going over here?

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<v Speaker 5>Well, it's too early to tell.

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<v Speaker 6>The real test will be what happens in the rebuilding effort,

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<v Speaker 6>because I do think the Iranian regime will eventually fall,

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<v Speaker 6>and then the.

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<v Speaker 5>Question is what replaces it. That's always been the tricky part.

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<v Speaker 6>We are, of course, much better than we were at

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<v Speaker 6>knocking over these regimes. The Maduro replacement, if you will,

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<v Speaker 6>was an example of really pinpoint attention to that.

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<v Speaker 7>But George W.

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<v Speaker 6>Bush was pretty good at knocking over dictatorship. She just

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<v Speaker 6>wasn't that good at rebuilding societies. And Trump is not

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<v Speaker 6>interested in nation building. So what happens next that's really

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<v Speaker 6>the puzzle. But so far, from a military perspective, it

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<v Speaker 6>has been a stunning success. Of course, there are about

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<v Speaker 6>half a dozen American soldiers who've lost their lives, and

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<v Speaker 6>more have been wounded by Iranian missiles.

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<v Speaker 7>We lost three.

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<v Speaker 6>Aircraft to friendly fire from our Kuwaiti allies. So all

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<v Speaker 6>of that is to be mourned and hopefully to be

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<v Speaker 6>avoided in future. But thus far, militarily it has been

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<v Speaker 6>a stunning success. And also I think in the broader

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<v Speaker 6>geostrategic picture of things, I think this is a major

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<v Speaker 6>blow to Russia, which gets its drones from Iran. It's

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<v Speaker 6>also a blow to China, which gets its oil from Iran.

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<v Speaker 6>So President Trump may be resetting the global chessboard in

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<v Speaker 6>a way that's advantageous to the United States in more

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<v Speaker 6>ways than one.

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<v Speaker 2>There's very little here not to like on the list

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<v Speaker 2>that you've made. And yet, and yet we don't ever

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<v Speaker 2>expect us unanimity of support. But your use of language

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<v Speaker 2>was perfect in going to the notion of nation building.

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of people, maybe it's generational. If somebody's twenty

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<v Speaker 2>five or even thirty five, all they remember is Iraq

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<v Speaker 2>and were there any weapons of mass destruction? And that

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<v Speaker 2>looked like nation building, looked like we were trying to

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<v Speaker 2>turn Iraq into Indiana. That was never going to happen.

0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:23.240
<v Speaker 2>We don't like foreign entanglements. There's a new kind of

0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:27.480
<v Speaker 2>youth based so called new right isolationism. I think that's

0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.280
<v Speaker 2>where a lot of the grumbling comes from. But how

0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.320
<v Speaker 2>do you think this is going to play out in

0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.000
<v Speaker 2>terms of broad public opinion.

0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:43.199
<v Speaker 6>You know, Americans don't have particularly strong views on interventionism

0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:47.920
<v Speaker 6>versus isolationism. Americans want to win, So if.

0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.280
<v Speaker 5>Your strategy is successful, people will support it.

0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:55.040
<v Speaker 6>If it fails, if it involves heavy costs and long

0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.320
<v Speaker 6>periods of time, then people won't support it.

0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.199
<v Speaker 5>So I think the test of the war with.

0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:04.120
<v Speaker 6>Iran is going to be again whether this is successful

0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:06.880
<v Speaker 6>or not. President Trump has done a good job of

0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.240
<v Speaker 6>framing the Venezuela intervention as being very successful, because not

0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.199
<v Speaker 6>only did he get Maduro, but he also got tens

0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.800
<v Speaker 6>of millions of barrels of oil from the Venezuelans and

0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.920
<v Speaker 6>a much more cooperative Venezuelan regime.

0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:24.320
<v Speaker 7>With Iran, there.

0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.200
<v Speaker 6>Is a possibility that you could see a transition to

0:13:28.040 --> 0:13:32.559
<v Speaker 6>a stable government, perhaps a democratic government, but at any rate,

0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.320
<v Speaker 6>a stable government that is not constantly trying to attack

0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:39.080
<v Speaker 6>its neighbors and plant terror cells all over the world

0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:43.280
<v Speaker 6>and launch missiles against Israel and perhaps even Europe, maybe

0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:48.640
<v Speaker 6>eventually the United States, or you get a disintegration of

0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.840
<v Speaker 6>the Middle Eastern state that is perhaps one of the

0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.760
<v Speaker 6>most strategic places in the world, and then you have

0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.600
<v Speaker 6>a free for all. So I think we still have

0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:01.599
<v Speaker 6>to see where this is going and what kind of

0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:05.800
<v Speaker 6>leadership can emerge from among the Iranian people themselves. But

0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.640
<v Speaker 6>I just think the president had decided that there was

0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:14.800
<v Speaker 6>no more faith to be placed in the Hamoni regime,

0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.960
<v Speaker 6>and that's why he acted the way he did. I

0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.640
<v Speaker 6>had been a proponent of a diplomatic solution, and I

0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.440
<v Speaker 6>think the Trump administration really tried hard, but in the

0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:29.400
<v Speaker 6>end ran out of options, and the Iranians, by the way, pushed.

0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:29.960
<v Speaker 3>All the wrong buttons.

0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.200
<v Speaker 8>I said before the war that the only way.

0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:33.760
<v Speaker 6>I could see a war happening, because I didn't think

0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:38.640
<v Speaker 6>Trump wanted one, was if the Iranians miscalculated, and it appears.

0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:38.840
<v Speaker 9>That they did.

0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.520
<v Speaker 6>They came out, they made public statements about how they

0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.320
<v Speaker 6>weren't compromising, they weren't going to give up nuclear enrichment,

0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.480
<v Speaker 6>they weren't going to give up their missiles, you know,

0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:50.040
<v Speaker 6>and with Trump, if you do that, then you're essentially

0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.680
<v Speaker 6>begging for some kind of a response, and they got it.

0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:59.040
<v Speaker 2>You could say everybody likes diplomatic solutions, and I don't

0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.680
<v Speaker 2>think it was inherent unwise to remain hopeful for one,

0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.360
<v Speaker 2>but the Trump calculus was. I think we've tried quite

0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:07.680
<v Speaker 2>enough for about forty seven years. Now it's time for

0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.240
<v Speaker 2>something different. Joel Pollock is here, there's something different in

0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.800
<v Speaker 2>your life. Let's take our final sixty seconds. If somebody

0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.280
<v Speaker 2>looks at California Posts, they go, oh, that looks just

0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.360
<v Speaker 2>like the New York Post logo, precisely tell everybody what

0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:19.480
<v Speaker 2>the California Post is.

0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.640
<v Speaker 6>The California Post is the California edition of the New

0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:25.280
<v Speaker 6>York Post.

0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.640
<v Speaker 3>But it's not just reprinting the New York Post.

0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:33.120
<v Speaker 6>It is a California news organization that's not just online

0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:37.160
<v Speaker 6>but also in print. And it's really taken the California

0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:41.400
<v Speaker 6>media by storm, and it's producing dozens and dozens and

0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:45.880
<v Speaker 6>dozens of new articles every day, hard hitting journalism, investigative pieces,

0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:51.200
<v Speaker 6>exposs and it's already changing the landscape of California politics.

0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:54.000
<v Speaker 6>And I get to see that firsthand as the opinion editor,

0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.960
<v Speaker 6>and it's really interesting to see.

0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:58.160
<v Speaker 5>What an impact it's made already.

0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:02.360
<v Speaker 6>Really just providing an alternative voice to the generally left

0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:06.760
<v Speaker 6>of center publications that dominate local media in California. We

0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:10.760
<v Speaker 6>are now providing something of a corrective to that, I think,

0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.000
<v Speaker 6>and I feel that people are very happy with it.

0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:14.280
<v Speaker 3>It's been very warmly received.

0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.880
<v Speaker 2>Well well, every blessing for success. California Post dot com

0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.040
<v Speaker 2>and follow Joel on the exit at Joel Pollock p

0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:22.280
<v Speaker 2>o LLAK. Great to talk to you, Joel, Thank you

0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.200
<v Speaker 2>very much. You know it occurs to me with Joel

0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.160
<v Speaker 2>doing a lot of things that are California centric but

0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.680
<v Speaker 2>also have a lot to do with the entire country.

0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.720
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to tie California to the entire world. I

0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:34.200
<v Speaker 2>just want to ask you something. This could be a

0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.280
<v Speaker 2>useful question. Can you imagine a troubling moment like this

0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.640
<v Speaker 2>around the world and Gavin Newsom is President of the

0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.600
<v Speaker 2>United States? Or how about another Californian Kamala Harris? Thank

0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:47.880
<v Speaker 2>God Trump one, Thank God Trump one, Thank God Trump won.

0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:51.280
<v Speaker 2>Mark Davison for you, Salem News Channel, Salem Radio Network,

0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:59.080
<v Speaker 2>be ride Back. It is the Wednesday edition of a

0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.720
<v Speaker 2>u US show, Mark us filling in here from Thriving

0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:05.280
<v Speaker 2>DFW and we are a wash in topics and it's funny.

0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:09.359
<v Speaker 2>Operation epicy Fury is like one subject with twelve different

0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:11.720
<v Speaker 2>subsets of things we can talk about and people we

0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:13.560
<v Speaker 2>can talk to. What a pleasure it is to go

0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.960
<v Speaker 2>to the Reagan Institute. Roger Zachheim is its director, Roger,

0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:18.840
<v Speaker 2>Pleasure to me, Jehi, Mark Davison for.

0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.399
<v Speaker 3>You, Good day to Mark, Thanks for having me.

0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:22.000
<v Speaker 5>Great to meet too.

0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.359
<v Speaker 2>My absolute pleasure. With a place that bears of Ronald Reagan,

0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.359
<v Speaker 2>it is probably a good idea to sort of revisit

0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.399
<v Speaker 2>a Reaganesque worldview. And I know a lot of people

0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.040
<v Speaker 2>over plenty of beers or plenty of coffee talk about

0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:39.080
<v Speaker 2>the ven diagram overlap of Reagan world versus Trump World.

0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:41.879
<v Speaker 2>But I am brought to one Reagan quote, and that

0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.840
<v Speaker 2>is that the world was never made more dangerous because

0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.439
<v Speaker 2>America was too strong. Strength plus virtue is what I

0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.879
<v Speaker 2>think we see here. I saw you on Fox New

0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.359
<v Speaker 2>Sunday this past week making a few points about that.

0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:55.919
<v Speaker 2>So what do you want people to know today?

0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:02.399
<v Speaker 10>Well, peace through strength is fundamentally built upon the notion

0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.400
<v Speaker 10>that you need to have a real peace, that simply

0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:09.520
<v Speaker 10>taking peace at any cost ultimately undermines our interests. And

0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.200
<v Speaker 10>from a Reagan standpoint, it means that you're going to

0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.240
<v Speaker 10>compromise American freedom. And I think that is the framework

0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:19.240
<v Speaker 10>in which President Reagan approached foreign policy. He wanted America

0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.840
<v Speaker 10>to be strong, as you said, so no enemy, no adversary,

0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:26.400
<v Speaker 10>would ever challenge the United States. And I think when

0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:30.040
<v Speaker 10>it comes to Iran, that has been missing for decades.

0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:31.880
<v Speaker 11>In President Reagan's.

0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.879
<v Speaker 10>Time, he was dealing with sort of the emergence of

0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:36.600
<v Speaker 10>the threat pose by iron.

0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:37.480
<v Speaker 3>Of course, he came to.

0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:42.479
<v Speaker 10>Office shortly after the revolution took place. We had our

0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.280
<v Speaker 10>hostages held for four hundred and forty four days, were

0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.159
<v Speaker 10>released on President Reagan's inauguration day. The first evidence of

0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:52.159
<v Speaker 10>Hesbolottok place in Lebanon, of course, with the attacks on

0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.560
<v Speaker 10>the marine barracks, the bombing there as well as our embassies.

0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.720
<v Speaker 10>So we saw that emerge some forty plus years ago.

0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:03.480
<v Speaker 10>And the reality is no president since has ever really

0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:06.280
<v Speaker 10>confronted Iran until President Trump.

0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:07.760
<v Speaker 3>And now I think.

0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:09.960
<v Speaker 10>We have an opportunity to see a true piece play

0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.520
<v Speaker 10>out in the Middleast because we're taking on the driver

0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:14.919
<v Speaker 10>of the instability in that region.

0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:20.040
<v Speaker 2>You may be in a particularly valuable position to answer

0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:21.800
<v Speaker 2>the following question that I get a lot and I

0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:23.480
<v Speaker 2>have my answer, But I think yours will be better.

0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.240
<v Speaker 2>And that is Hey, Mark, people will say so, I'll say, hey, Roger,

0:19:27.640 --> 0:19:31.440
<v Speaker 2>how can this President Donald Trump, who said no more

0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.280
<v Speaker 2>wars of regime change. I don't like war, and here

0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.480
<v Speaker 2>he is starting a war to some Well, I think

0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:40.280
<v Speaker 2>I just gave you the answer. He ain't starting one,

0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:42.600
<v Speaker 2>he's finishing one. But we are at war and that

0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:46.200
<v Speaker 2>seems too many to be a disconnect. Help people out

0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:47.639
<v Speaker 2>with that if you could, please.

0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:52.320
<v Speaker 10>Well, I think what you heard for decade plus after

0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:56.199
<v Speaker 10>Iraq and Afghanistan, the wars in rock Afghanistan, Republican and

0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.720
<v Speaker 10>Democratic presidents have said we don't want forever wars or

0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.639
<v Speaker 10>endless wars. It would be a mistake, I think, though,

0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.560
<v Speaker 10>to say that is what President Trump is doing here.

0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:07.560
<v Speaker 10>And as you alluded to, Iran has been at war

0:20:07.600 --> 0:20:10.880
<v Speaker 10>of the United States for forty seven years. What we're

0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:13.960
<v Speaker 10>doing now is finally getting into the fight and trying

0:20:14.000 --> 0:20:15.280
<v Speaker 10>to bring it to an end. So this is not

0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:17.560
<v Speaker 10>an endless war. This is a war that I think

0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:20.400
<v Speaker 10>President Trump is trying to end. That is one other

0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.840
<v Speaker 10>point here as well, which Iraq and Afghanistan, and particularly

0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.440
<v Speaker 10>the politics around Iraq and Afghanistan in the years after

0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.800
<v Speaker 10>the end of combat operations in those countries has essentially

0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.119
<v Speaker 10>created what I think of as Iraq syndrome. In other words,

0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.680
<v Speaker 10>we've been told that we have this false binary choice

0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:43.240
<v Speaker 10>between doing nothing or doing something that involves one hundred

0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:46.080
<v Speaker 10>thousand boots on the ground for decades long war.

0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.200
<v Speaker 11>In other words, there was really no choice.

0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.639
<v Speaker 10>It was trying to use Iraq to paralyze our foreign policy.

0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:54.960
<v Speaker 10>What President Trump has done, really since January of twenty

0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.400
<v Speaker 10>twenty five, since he came into office, has blown up

0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.639
<v Speaker 10>that Iraq syndrome. Demis to the American people that we

0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:05.240
<v Speaker 10>could affect events in the world. We could engage our

0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.920
<v Speaker 10>military to drive outcomes that benefit America's prosperity and American

0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.879
<v Speaker 10>peace by engaging our military, and it doesn't have to result

0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:16.320
<v Speaker 10>in a long Iraq or Afghanistan type operation. We might

0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:18.080
<v Speaker 10>not expected that to come from President Trump when he

0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.240
<v Speaker 10>ran for office, certainly the first time or even this

0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:21.200
<v Speaker 10>go around.

0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.920
<v Speaker 11>But that's the impact and a broader standpoint.

0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.439
<v Speaker 10>Of what he's doing in ran right now with the

0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:29.600
<v Speaker 10>Operation up at Fury and the Midnight Hammer operation absolutely

0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:32.600
<v Speaker 10>resolve in Venezuela as well. Americans are learning to win

0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:35.439
<v Speaker 10>with the military again, and then understand our military can

0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:36.880
<v Speaker 10>do great things.

0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:39.520
<v Speaker 11>Without sort of being bogged down in an endless conflict.

0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:44.760
<v Speaker 2>That is superbly put because somewhere between isolationism and quagmire,

0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:49.639
<v Speaker 2>somewhere between the inertia and forever war, is a quick strike,

0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:53.840
<v Speaker 2>a brief operation that is so successful and so concise

0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:56.480
<v Speaker 2>and so effective in its brevity that it hits a

0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.640
<v Speaker 2>reset button for the entire region that is of benefit

0:21:59.680 --> 0:22:02.399
<v Speaker 2>to the region, of benefit to the world, and of

0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.440
<v Speaker 2>benefit to America. Why is this so hard?

0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:11.359
<v Speaker 11>Well, I think our elected leaders have told us this

0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:14.560
<v Speaker 11>for a decade plus that that's the choice, and so

0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.200
<v Speaker 11>the American people have come to think of any time

0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:20.159
<v Speaker 11>we engage in military operation, it's going to have to

0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:21.639
<v Speaker 11>be this endless conflict.

0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:23.200
<v Speaker 3>And there's another level to this as well.

0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:25.800
<v Speaker 10>You know, you look at our amazing military personnel, the

0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:28.199
<v Speaker 10>operations that they're carrying out right now as we speak,

0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:30.960
<v Speaker 10>what took place in June to twenty twenty five with

0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.080
<v Speaker 10>Midnight Hammer or the Operation Absolute Resolve of Venezuela. What

0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.840
<v Speaker 10>our military is able to do is best in class.

0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:41.959
<v Speaker 10>There isn't a close second in the world. That's what

0:22:42.040 --> 0:22:44.760
<v Speaker 10>people in uniform want to be known for that. They

0:22:44.760 --> 0:22:48.119
<v Speaker 10>are the best military the world has ever seen. They

0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:49.919
<v Speaker 10>don't want to be people that have simply sort of

0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:54.280
<v Speaker 10>applauded and looked as victims because they got wounded in combat.

0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:58.320
<v Speaker 10>Of course, our society should be sympathetic, should be supportive,

0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:02.960
<v Speaker 10>should support whatever ofver therapy and needs the military has.

0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:04.680
<v Speaker 5>But the military is not fragile.

0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:08.240
<v Speaker 10>These are the strongest, most capable fighting men and women

0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:10.359
<v Speaker 10>in the world's ever seen. That's what they want the

0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:12.840
<v Speaker 10>sit intury in this country to know them for. And frankly,

0:23:12.880 --> 0:23:15.000
<v Speaker 10>that's what the world is seeing right now as we

0:23:15.080 --> 0:23:16.760
<v Speaker 10>talk during this operation.

0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:19.480
<v Speaker 2>Roger Zachheim, thank you so much and thanks for being

0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:20.840
<v Speaker 2>with us, and thanks for everything you do at the

0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:24.639
<v Speaker 2>Reagan Institute, at Reagan Institute on X and at Roger

0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:28.080
<v Speaker 2>Zachheim zakhg. I am there on X. So just check

0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:31.000
<v Speaker 2>all those good people on keeping the name, the concept,

0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:33.520
<v Speaker 2>the beliefs of Reagan alive. If you want to start

0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:38.600
<v Speaker 2>a conversation, what would Reagan think of Trump? If Reagan's

0:23:38.640 --> 0:23:41.399
<v Speaker 2>walking around today? And I can't pretend to know a

0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:44.400
<v Speaker 2>detailed answer of that, but I'm old enough to remember

0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:48.160
<v Speaker 2>Reagan with clarity and still coherent enough to understand what's

0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:52.359
<v Speaker 2>going on with Trump. Are there stylistic differences, to be sure,

0:23:52.600 --> 0:23:55.119
<v Speaker 2>but as far as the goal overlap, I think I've

0:23:55.200 --> 0:23:57.920
<v Speaker 2>used ven diagram like three times just in his first hour,

0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:02.000
<v Speaker 2>the ven diagram of overlap between Reaganism and trump Ism,

0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:06.800
<v Speaker 2>peace through strength, making sure that our foreign policy is

0:24:06.840 --> 0:24:11.040
<v Speaker 2>something that involves American interests first. And that doesn't mean

0:24:11.160 --> 0:24:15.760
<v Speaker 2>America only. It means domestically and internationally doing things that

0:24:15.920 --> 0:24:18.560
<v Speaker 2>benefit the what we now have roughly three hundred and

0:24:18.560 --> 0:24:22.040
<v Speaker 2>fifty million Americans. Right, we are underway, and glad you

0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:23.960
<v Speaker 2>are here on the u U Show. Mark Davis filling

0:24:24.040 --> 0:24:27.280
<v Speaker 2>in from DFW here on Salem News Channel, Salem Radio Network,

0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:29.800
<v Speaker 2>and we will be right back. It is the u

0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:32.480
<v Speaker 2>UH Show. It is the second hour on this Wednesday,

0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:36.600
<v Speaker 2>the fourth day of March. Glad you are here keeping

0:24:36.640 --> 0:24:39.560
<v Speaker 2>track of a number of things in a number of places.

0:24:39.800 --> 0:24:42.280
<v Speaker 2>Obviously we have things to cover, continue to cover, and

0:24:42.280 --> 0:24:45.000
<v Speaker 2>we're going to with regard to the warfront and what's

0:24:45.040 --> 0:24:48.440
<v Speaker 2>going on on the Home front and the Middle Eastern Front.

0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:51.520
<v Speaker 2>But also just before, in the two hours before we're done,

0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:54.520
<v Speaker 2>President Trump has been hosting an energy round table and

0:24:54.520 --> 0:24:56.240
<v Speaker 2>we played a little clip of him talking about the

0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:59.359
<v Speaker 2>latest from Iran. And obviously we're very Iran heavy, very

0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:03.080
<v Speaker 2>heavy on the the portions of news that are coming

0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:06.120
<v Speaker 2>from that. But we may here on the day after

0:25:06.640 --> 0:25:08.320
<v Speaker 2>what I gave you a little bit of a lesson

0:25:08.320 --> 0:25:10.600
<v Speaker 2>about here in my state of Texas, about the corn

0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:13.919
<v Speaker 2>versus Paxton race, Trump may be about to endorse Cornan

0:25:14.560 --> 0:25:17.960
<v Speaker 2>and that will be uplifting to the corn fan base,

0:25:18.359 --> 0:25:21.679
<v Speaker 2>It will be dispiriting to the Paxton fan base. It

0:25:21.760 --> 0:25:24.439
<v Speaker 2>will be alienating to I want to say, the majority

0:25:24.440 --> 0:25:27.000
<v Speaker 2>of Trump voters in Texas. And he either I don't

0:25:27.000 --> 0:25:29.600
<v Speaker 2>want to say he doesn't care about that. Everybody cares

0:25:29.600 --> 0:25:32.560
<v Speaker 2>about everything. But there are no solutions in life. There

0:25:32.560 --> 0:25:34.960
<v Speaker 2>are trade offs. And if Trump is willing to do this,

0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:37.800
<v Speaker 2>he obviously believes that Cornyn will be every bit the

0:25:37.840 --> 0:25:40.600
<v Speaker 2>loyal soldier that he has been so far in Trump

0:25:40.680 --> 0:25:43.120
<v Speaker 2>two point zero. And we'll see how that works out.

0:25:43.160 --> 0:25:44.800
<v Speaker 2>But we're seeing how a lot of things work out.

0:25:44.880 --> 0:25:47.000
<v Speaker 2>Let's see how things are working out over at the

0:25:47.040 --> 0:25:50.840
<v Speaker 2>Strauss Center of the Strouss Center for International Security and Law.

0:25:51.040 --> 0:25:53.879
<v Speaker 2>Simone Ledeen is there, Simone Mark Davison for you, welcome.

0:25:53.920 --> 0:25:54.960
<v Speaker 2>It's so nice to talk to you.

0:25:55.080 --> 0:25:55.240
<v Speaker 8>Hi.

0:25:57.000 --> 0:25:57.200
<v Speaker 3>Hi.

0:25:57.600 --> 0:25:59.920
<v Speaker 12>Thanks, it's great to talk to you as well.

0:26:00.040 --> 0:26:02.280
<v Speaker 2>I've been taking a look at various things that you've

0:26:02.280 --> 0:26:04.640
<v Speaker 2>been tweeting and the things that you've been putting up there,

0:26:04.640 --> 0:26:08.879
<v Speaker 2>and a Newsmax appearance on various things. I like to

0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:12.240
<v Speaker 2>ask a very quite literally, as we're bombing people thirty

0:26:12.280 --> 0:26:15.680
<v Speaker 2>thousand foot level question of your assessment of these opening

0:26:15.760 --> 0:26:19.440
<v Speaker 2>days of Operation Epic Fury through the lens of your

0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:22.600
<v Speaker 2>daily pursuit of stories that are of interest to you.

0:26:24.280 --> 0:26:28.280
<v Speaker 13>Sure well. I had the privilege of serving in the

0:26:28.280 --> 0:26:32.080
<v Speaker 13>first Trump administration as the deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense,

0:26:32.760 --> 0:26:35.760
<v Speaker 13>so I have a sort of a particular.

0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:40.320
<v Speaker 12>Lens through which I'm looking at all this. I find this.

0:26:41.760 --> 0:26:46.880
<v Speaker 13>I find these opening days of this campaign to be remarkable,

0:26:47.040 --> 0:26:52.760
<v Speaker 13>remarkably successful. I'm so impressed by our military and our

0:26:52.800 --> 0:26:57.679
<v Speaker 13>partnership with the Israeli military and what they're accomplishing. I

0:26:57.720 --> 0:27:03.639
<v Speaker 13>think I was listening before the show to the press

0:27:03.680 --> 0:27:07.800
<v Speaker 13>conference that Secretary Heigseth and General Kane gave earlier today

0:27:08.200 --> 0:27:12.840
<v Speaker 13>talking about the particulars of this military campaign and how

0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:16.320
<v Speaker 13>really they've been focused these last few days on taking

0:27:16.359 --> 0:27:19.399
<v Speaker 13>out the immediate threat of the ballistic.

0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:21.480
<v Speaker 12>Missiles and also these one way drones.

0:27:21.520 --> 0:27:26.679
<v Speaker 13>Which both of which have the attacks have reduced significantly.

0:27:26.920 --> 0:27:31.080
<v Speaker 13>I think they gave percentages that were everything above fifty percent.

0:27:31.720 --> 0:27:35.440
<v Speaker 13>Everything's been reduced over fifty percent, which is fantastic. That's

0:27:35.480 --> 0:27:40.440
<v Speaker 13>what's been killing people across the region. So now, given

0:27:40.480 --> 0:27:46.119
<v Speaker 13>they've mostly removed that threat, and certainly the air and

0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:51.320
<v Speaker 13>missile defense on the Iranian side has been taken out

0:27:51.400 --> 0:27:56.760
<v Speaker 13>to a very large degree, they're expanding their operation. They're

0:27:56.760 --> 0:28:00.959
<v Speaker 13>expanding their campaign to now include not just stand off munitions,

0:28:01.320 --> 0:28:04.199
<v Speaker 13>but munitions that they can drop from overhead.

0:28:04.400 --> 0:28:05.159
<v Speaker 12>They don't have to be.

0:28:05.200 --> 0:28:09.879
<v Speaker 13>A long distance away, and that will really be helpful

0:28:10.040 --> 0:28:17.720
<v Speaker 13>in increasing the you know how precise these munitions can be.

0:28:17.800 --> 0:28:22.200
<v Speaker 13>These are very precise munitions. Now the standoff ones are

0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:25.880
<v Speaker 13>a little less sometimes, so that also reduces the risk

0:28:25.920 --> 0:28:31.640
<v Speaker 13>of civilian casualties, which is incredibly important in this type

0:28:31.640 --> 0:28:34.919
<v Speaker 13>of a campaign where our government wants to encourage and

0:28:34.960 --> 0:28:38.440
<v Speaker 13>they have said publicly they're encouraging the Iranian people to

0:28:38.560 --> 0:28:41.280
<v Speaker 13>eventually rise up against the regime.

0:28:41.960 --> 0:28:45.000
<v Speaker 2>That would be the best scenario, and the likelihood of

0:28:45.000 --> 0:28:47.400
<v Speaker 2>that a week or two ago is probably close to zero.

0:28:47.480 --> 0:28:51.200
<v Speaker 2>The likelihood of it now is exponentially greater. What do

0:28:51.240 --> 0:28:55.400
<v Speaker 2>you think, especially with Pentagon service in your background, what

0:28:55.520 --> 0:28:59.120
<v Speaker 2>kind of flexibility might the President and Secretary Hegseth need

0:28:59.600 --> 0:29:03.840
<v Speaker 2>on the four or five week time frame they put out.

0:29:03.880 --> 0:29:05.840
<v Speaker 2>As soon as I heard that, I started to take

0:29:05.880 --> 0:29:08.640
<v Speaker 2>calls on my own show from people saying, is that

0:29:08.680 --> 0:29:11.400
<v Speaker 2>a commitment that we're totally done in four or five weeks?

0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:15.080
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely not, That's not the way war goes. Give us

0:29:15.120 --> 0:29:18.040
<v Speaker 2>some of your thoughts about that. It's the oldest quote

0:29:18.040 --> 0:29:20.720
<v Speaker 2>in the world that no battle plan ever survives the

0:29:20.760 --> 0:29:24.480
<v Speaker 2>actual battlefield. So your thoughts about I'm not asking you

0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:26.800
<v Speaker 2>how long it might go, but just your thoughts about

0:29:26.800 --> 0:29:29.040
<v Speaker 2>when people make estimates on how long it might go.

0:29:31.480 --> 0:29:37.920
<v Speaker 13>Sure, I am absolutely not a I don't like to

0:29:37.960 --> 0:29:41.600
<v Speaker 13>predict those things. Sorry, sorry to you in the audience.

0:29:42.960 --> 0:29:47.320
<v Speaker 13>I think that they are hoping for four to five weeks,

0:29:47.440 --> 0:29:49.680
<v Speaker 13>and that is what the plan is. But as you say,

0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:53.920
<v Speaker 13>plans change. I have heard a number of folks I'm

0:29:53.920 --> 0:29:58.040
<v Speaker 13>sure you have two saying it's going faster than we thought.

0:29:58.520 --> 0:30:01.280
<v Speaker 13>I think that was Secretary Ruby who said that yesterday.

0:30:02.000 --> 0:30:07.360
<v Speaker 13>That's great if true, that's that's fantastic. There's also you know,

0:30:07.440 --> 0:30:11.040
<v Speaker 13>there's also something called military deception, which plays a role

0:30:11.160 --> 0:30:15.240
<v Speaker 13>in war and and we're seeing that as well. There

0:30:15.400 --> 0:30:20.000
<v Speaker 13>was a video shared on social media yesterday of I

0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:23.040
<v Speaker 13>don't know if it was US or the Israelis bombed

0:30:23.040 --> 0:30:25.640
<v Speaker 13>what we thought was a helicopter, but it was actually

0:30:26.040 --> 0:30:30.200
<v Speaker 13>the shadow of a helicopter painted into the ground. These

0:30:30.200 --> 0:30:34.040
<v Speaker 13>are things that militaries do. Uh, that's pretty common actually.

0:30:34.760 --> 0:30:37.240
<v Speaker 12>Uh, So they'll they'll be more of that.

0:30:37.880 --> 0:30:41.960
<v Speaker 13>Assessments that are made from the United States and from Israel,

0:30:42.080 --> 0:30:45.480
<v Speaker 13>from from you know, outside of Iran will change once

0:30:45.800 --> 0:30:49.160
<v Speaker 13>once we get closer and we're able to see what

0:30:49.200 --> 0:30:51.400
<v Speaker 13>we were right about, what we were not right about.

0:30:52.280 --> 0:30:57.200
<v Speaker 12>And the enemy also is not destroyed right now. They're shifting.

0:30:57.520 --> 0:31:00.640
<v Speaker 12>They're clever and uh and we're seeing.

0:31:00.360 --> 0:31:05.800
<v Speaker 13>Them protect different sites, protect move certain things and certain

0:31:05.840 --> 0:31:07.360
<v Speaker 13>people to other locations.

0:31:08.000 --> 0:31:08.320
<v Speaker 3>Uh.

0:31:08.360 --> 0:31:10.680
<v Speaker 12>And we'll see how that how that plays out.

0:31:10.720 --> 0:31:13.920
<v Speaker 13>I've seen reporting I haven't seen it validated yet, but

0:31:14.000 --> 0:31:17.600
<v Speaker 13>I've seen reporting that the some regime elements have been

0:31:17.640 --> 0:31:23.360
<v Speaker 13>moving to schools and to hospitals. That's we saw Hamas

0:31:23.440 --> 0:31:26.200
<v Speaker 13>doing that during the guys of war with Israel.

0:31:26.840 --> 0:31:27.240
<v Speaker 6>Uh.

0:31:27.280 --> 0:31:30.960
<v Speaker 13>And this is something that you know, the Iranian regime

0:31:31.080 --> 0:31:32.160
<v Speaker 13>is a terrorist regime.

0:31:32.200 --> 0:31:33.240
<v Speaker 12>I don't need to tell you.

0:31:33.920 --> 0:31:36.960
<v Speaker 13>So the terrorists are are This is one of the

0:31:37.000 --> 0:31:40.000
<v Speaker 13>things that they do. They want to drive draw fire

0:31:40.160 --> 0:31:44.680
<v Speaker 13>to civilian location so then they can turn around and say, oh,

0:31:44.720 --> 0:31:46.160
<v Speaker 13>look at the evil Americans.

0:31:46.520 --> 0:31:48.560
<v Speaker 12>You know, bomb to school, bomb to hospital.

0:31:49.160 --> 0:31:49.680
<v Speaker 3>Uh.

0:31:50.320 --> 0:31:52.920
<v Speaker 13>You know, it just happened to be their new headquarters

0:31:52.960 --> 0:31:54.840
<v Speaker 13>for their military operations.

0:31:54.880 --> 0:31:56.880
<v Speaker 12>But let's leave that part out of the announcement.

0:31:57.400 --> 0:32:01.560
<v Speaker 13>So that's that's something that unfortunately, uh is I'm sure

0:32:01.560 --> 0:32:03.120
<v Speaker 13>that our leaders have planned for that.

0:32:03.960 --> 0:32:06.200
<v Speaker 12>Uh, just like I'm sure that our leaders have planned

0:32:06.240 --> 0:32:07.000
<v Speaker 12>for the day after.

0:32:07.200 --> 0:32:09.160
<v Speaker 13>I know a lot of a lot of us are

0:32:09.160 --> 0:32:14.240
<v Speaker 13>concerned about what happens, you know after we're asking people.

0:32:13.960 --> 0:32:15.880
<v Speaker 5>To rise up the history.

0:32:16.240 --> 0:32:19.280
<v Speaker 13>You know, our history with that has has been checkered

0:32:19.320 --> 0:32:22.280
<v Speaker 13>at best. I I served, uh, I served in Iraq.

0:32:22.360 --> 0:32:24.920
<v Speaker 13>My both of my brothers are were served in the

0:32:24.960 --> 0:32:28.680
<v Speaker 13>Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan. So I uh, I

0:32:28.760 --> 0:32:31.160
<v Speaker 13>have a particular Uh.

0:32:31.560 --> 0:32:33.360
<v Speaker 12>I think we all, I think a lot of us do.

0:32:33.520 --> 0:32:36.719
<v Speaker 13>We're concerned about what comes next and what what do

0:32:36.760 --> 0:32:39.800
<v Speaker 13>we have in mind? I believe there's a plan, and

0:32:40.520 --> 0:32:44.760
<v Speaker 13>I also think that I know that the population of Iran,

0:32:45.320 --> 0:32:48.720
<v Speaker 13>they have tried to rise up many, many, many times

0:32:48.800 --> 0:32:52.040
<v Speaker 13>over the years. There have been many, uh there have

0:32:52.080 --> 0:32:57.280
<v Speaker 13>been many demonstrations of different kinds. But there's been the

0:32:57.880 --> 0:33:01.120
<v Speaker 13>Women Life Freedom, There's been the Green Movie. There's been

0:33:02.200 --> 0:33:07.120
<v Speaker 13>this new round of protests where tens of thousands of

0:33:07.120 --> 0:33:09.360
<v Speaker 13>Iranians have been killed in the process.

0:33:09.440 --> 0:33:12.560
<v Speaker 12>So the desire is there, but they.

0:33:12.480 --> 0:33:16.560
<v Speaker 13>Have it's been impossible for them to overcome the uses.

0:33:16.960 --> 0:33:19.920
<v Speaker 2>And with the iron absolutely here, here might be their

0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:23.080
<v Speaker 2>first real chance. Simone Ledein at the Strauss Center, wonderful

0:33:23.120 --> 0:33:24.800
<v Speaker 2>time spent with you man. Thank you so much for

0:33:24.840 --> 0:33:27.800
<v Speaker 2>your wisdom and your insights. Mark Davis, looking for your

0:33:27.880 --> 0:33:29.680
<v Speaker 2>wisdom and insights. One one hundred and five to two

0:33:29.680 --> 0:33:31.840
<v Speaker 2>oh one two three four. We'll wedge you between some

0:33:31.880 --> 0:33:34.160
<v Speaker 2>of these guests that we are enjoying today. On this Wednesday,

0:33:34.200 --> 0:33:36.560
<v Speaker 2>March fourth, you Uit Shoe will continue on the Salem

0:33:36.640 --> 0:33:51.320
<v Speaker 2>Radio Network and Salem News Channel. It is Wednesday, it

0:33:51.400 --> 0:33:55.000
<v Speaker 2>is the fourth of March twenty twenty six, and if

0:33:55.000 --> 0:33:57.560
<v Speaker 2>the video gods are smiling, we're going to go straight

0:33:57.600 --> 0:34:01.160
<v Speaker 2>to Tel Aviv, where it is about twenty after eleven.

0:34:01.200 --> 0:34:03.440
<v Speaker 2>If I'm doing my time zones right for a visit

0:34:03.520 --> 0:34:06.880
<v Speaker 2>with a gentleman who we value, you is value? Do

0:34:07.000 --> 0:34:09.000
<v Speaker 2>I have valued talking to him when I'm guest hosting,

0:34:09.239 --> 0:34:12.759
<v Speaker 2>listening to him when I'm driving around Ambassador doctor Michael Oran. Well,

0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:14.920
<v Speaker 2>they'll give me the heads up here on that. But

0:34:15.400 --> 0:34:18.719
<v Speaker 2>I was watching ambassador or an interviewed I think it

0:34:18.760 --> 0:34:21.040
<v Speaker 2>was on Fox News over the weekend or something, when

0:34:21.080 --> 0:34:24.600
<v Speaker 2>the missiles were just beginning to fly, and he had

0:34:24.600 --> 0:34:27.560
<v Speaker 2>his phone with him, just as I have mine here

0:34:27.600 --> 0:34:31.279
<v Speaker 2>with me, and I know, and then his phone goes off,

0:34:31.280 --> 0:34:33.160
<v Speaker 2>and that's hey, it might be time to head to

0:34:33.200 --> 0:34:37.359
<v Speaker 2>a bomb shelter. I have had the great gift of

0:34:37.600 --> 0:34:40.200
<v Speaker 2>going to Israel one time, and it's made me want

0:34:40.200 --> 0:34:42.399
<v Speaker 2>to go back twenty times, and I will indeed get

0:34:42.400 --> 0:34:45.440
<v Speaker 2>around to it. It was in two thousand and three.

0:34:45.520 --> 0:34:48.400
<v Speaker 2>It was a time of particular tension. The Jewish Community

0:34:48.400 --> 0:34:51.719
<v Speaker 2>Relations Council here in Dallas helped me go over there

0:34:51.760 --> 0:34:56.239
<v Speaker 2>and do a week of shows from Jerusalem. And I mean,

0:34:56.239 --> 0:34:59.000
<v Speaker 2>I was a supporter of Israel before I went obvious

0:34:59.000 --> 0:35:01.600
<v Speaker 2>supporter of Israel after I came back. Going to Israel

0:35:01.640 --> 0:35:04.520
<v Speaker 2>didn't make me a supporter of Israel. It may be

0:35:04.560 --> 0:35:08.080
<v Speaker 2>a smarter supporter of Israel. It gave me. It gave

0:35:08.120 --> 0:35:10.880
<v Speaker 2>me experiences that we would all do well to understand,

0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:13.560
<v Speaker 2>because we in America don't want to live under a

0:35:13.560 --> 0:35:16.000
<v Speaker 2>threat of our phones going off, that maybe there's an

0:35:16.040 --> 0:35:19.040
<v Speaker 2>Iranian missile heading toward us in Texas, heading toward us

0:35:19.239 --> 0:35:21.680
<v Speaker 2>in New York. Ambassador Michael Lauren is here, Doctor ra

0:35:21.719 --> 0:35:23.560
<v Speaker 2>and Mark Davison for you. So nice to have you.

0:35:23.600 --> 0:35:26.359
<v Speaker 14>How you doing, sir, Good to be with you, Mark,

0:35:26.520 --> 0:35:28.000
<v Speaker 14>Good to be that we're up and run here.

0:35:28.840 --> 0:35:30.600
<v Speaker 3>Not many missiles tonight, only a few.

0:35:31.480 --> 0:35:33.759
<v Speaker 2>Recounting having watched you in a previous interview a couple

0:35:33.800 --> 0:35:36.120
<v Speaker 2>of days ago where your phone literally did go off

0:35:36.120 --> 0:35:38.440
<v Speaker 2>you like, you know, it's like, hey, we have to

0:35:38.600 --> 0:35:40.680
<v Speaker 2>put on the helmets and hit the bomb shelter. That

0:35:40.880 --> 0:35:44.520
<v Speaker 2>is the reality of having Iran as a neighbor. I

0:35:44.560 --> 0:35:47.240
<v Speaker 2>know it's a tense few days, but can you feel

0:35:47.280 --> 0:35:50.800
<v Speaker 2>that we're on a continuum where you and everyone in Israel,

0:35:50.880 --> 0:35:53.840
<v Speaker 2>and in fact everyone in the Middle East will indeed

0:35:53.920 --> 0:35:55.560
<v Speaker 2>be safer within weeks.

0:35:57.360 --> 0:35:59.560
<v Speaker 14>Well, I say you, I'm going to quote an imminent

0:35:59.600 --> 0:36:03.600
<v Speaker 14>source for my cab driver. It's really cab drivers are

0:36:03.680 --> 0:36:06.239
<v Speaker 14>very our unique brand. By the way, we all listen

0:36:06.320 --> 0:36:08.400
<v Speaker 14>to them, we all quote them, and it's simply is this.

0:36:08.480 --> 0:36:10.560
<v Speaker 14>He said, we're not living during historical times. We're living

0:36:10.640 --> 0:36:14.560
<v Speaker 14>during biblical times. And I think it's true. What we're

0:36:14.560 --> 0:36:17.880
<v Speaker 14>living through is something that nobody ever imagined. Not only

0:36:18.000 --> 0:36:20.759
<v Speaker 14>is the Iranan regime, you know, sort of on its

0:36:20.800 --> 0:36:23.839
<v Speaker 14>hind legs here, and the missiles have gone down about

0:36:23.840 --> 0:36:25.480
<v Speaker 14>two weeks ago, two days ago, we were going to

0:36:25.560 --> 0:36:28.200
<v Speaker 14>the bomb shelter about thirty times a day. Now it's

0:36:28.280 --> 0:36:29.920
<v Speaker 14>only about five to seven.

0:36:29.719 --> 0:36:32.200
<v Speaker 3>Times a day. But that's just the beginning of it.

0:36:32.200 --> 0:36:37.160
<v Speaker 14>It's the fact that Arab countries, beginning with Katar this evening,

0:36:37.280 --> 0:36:40.160
<v Speaker 14>to be followed by other Arab acaders, are joining in

0:36:40.200 --> 0:36:44.360
<v Speaker 14>the fight on Israel's side against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

0:36:45.239 --> 0:36:48.359
<v Speaker 14>And who would have imagined such a thing? Who would

0:36:48.360 --> 0:36:52.160
<v Speaker 14>have imagined that? The United States tonight and israel I

0:36:52.239 --> 0:36:55.400
<v Speaker 14>just listened to Secretary of War Hegseth talking about his

0:36:55.440 --> 0:36:59.239
<v Speaker 14>alliance with Israel. How were the ideal allies, the strongest allies.

0:36:58.960 --> 0:37:00.200
<v Speaker 3>That America has in the world, world.

0:37:00.760 --> 0:37:04.120
<v Speaker 14>These are biblical times, and we've just celebrated a Jewish

0:37:04.120 --> 0:37:08.320
<v Speaker 14>holiday forum where we remember going up against a Persian

0:37:08.760 --> 0:37:11.960
<v Speaker 14>evil ruler who tried to kill us and we won.

0:37:12.480 --> 0:37:14.879
<v Speaker 14>So this is quite a remarkable period for the state

0:37:14.920 --> 0:37:15.320
<v Speaker 14>of Israel.

0:37:15.719 --> 0:37:18.680
<v Speaker 2>I can only imagine. And you're the perfect person to

0:37:18.680 --> 0:37:21.680
<v Speaker 2>help us navigate something where some people still need a

0:37:21.719 --> 0:37:24.960
<v Speaker 2>little bit of help in understanding how allies work and

0:37:25.000 --> 0:37:28.320
<v Speaker 2>how they often speak with the same voice and sometimes

0:37:28.400 --> 0:37:31.200
<v Speaker 2>the same heart beats within a shared chest. And here's

0:37:31.200 --> 0:37:34.000
<v Speaker 2>what I mean. It's what Marco Rubio had to work

0:37:34.040 --> 0:37:36.040
<v Speaker 2>his way through there in the last forty eight hours,

0:37:36.160 --> 0:37:40.440
<v Speaker 2>the notion of who went first, whose idea was it first?

0:37:40.920 --> 0:37:43.080
<v Speaker 2>Did Israel come up with the idea that it's go

0:37:43.280 --> 0:37:45.560
<v Speaker 2>time to take out the Iranian regime? And did that

0:37:45.600 --> 0:37:48.360
<v Speaker 2>mean that America was just kind of riding shotgun and

0:37:48.440 --> 0:37:51.960
<v Speaker 2>letting Israel lead us around by the nose? Marco Rubio

0:37:52.160 --> 0:37:55.480
<v Speaker 2>exploded that myth. But I'd like your take on that

0:37:55.600 --> 0:37:57.600
<v Speaker 2>myth and why you think it was pervasive.

0:37:59.360 --> 0:38:01.840
<v Speaker 3>I think that the question is moot to you.

0:38:01.880 --> 0:38:04.600
<v Speaker 14>The frankly, you know, who got who into the war

0:38:04.719 --> 0:38:06.360
<v Speaker 14>first is actually irrelevant.

0:38:07.040 --> 0:38:08.880
<v Speaker 3>The important point is that the Prime.

0:38:08.760 --> 0:38:11.120
<v Speaker 14>Minister and this now went to the President last February

0:38:11.120 --> 0:38:15.720
<v Speaker 14>and said, listen, Iran has completely rebuilt, it rebuilt its

0:38:15.800 --> 0:38:18.600
<v Speaker 14>ballistic missics program. Each one of these missiles takes down

0:38:18.640 --> 0:38:21.480
<v Speaker 14>not an apartment building, but an entire neighborhood. Iran is

0:38:21.480 --> 0:38:23.680
<v Speaker 14>trying to get thirty thousand of these rockets. They get

0:38:23.680 --> 0:38:25.440
<v Speaker 14>thirty thousands of rockets, Israel will not be able to

0:38:25.480 --> 0:38:27.759
<v Speaker 14>stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon. It will not

0:38:27.760 --> 0:38:30.960
<v Speaker 14>be able to stop Iran from supporting terror that is

0:38:31.000 --> 0:38:34.000
<v Speaker 14>trying to destroy us on our borders.

0:38:34.600 --> 0:38:36.160
<v Speaker 3>We have to interdict.

0:38:36.239 --> 0:38:39.840
<v Speaker 14>We have to preempt this ballistic missile threat before it

0:38:39.840 --> 0:38:40.560
<v Speaker 14>gets out of hand.

0:38:40.560 --> 0:38:41.359
<v Speaker 3>It'll be too late.

0:38:41.920 --> 0:38:44.160
<v Speaker 14>And the President said to the Prime Minister, Okay, I

0:38:44.200 --> 0:38:45.680
<v Speaker 14>understand that you've got a green light from me.

0:38:46.440 --> 0:38:49.040
<v Speaker 3>So Israel, at some point, what's going to act.

0:38:49.560 --> 0:38:51.640
<v Speaker 14>And you can guarantee that when Israel did act, the

0:38:51.640 --> 0:38:54.440
<v Speaker 14>Iranians would take with extract vengeance not against just the

0:38:54.480 --> 0:38:56.520
<v Speaker 14>State of Israel, but also against the United States. So

0:38:56.520 --> 0:38:59.319
<v Speaker 14>it's kind of a mood point. Who went first. I'm

0:38:59.360 --> 0:39:01.880
<v Speaker 14>willing to believe what the President said that he was

0:39:01.920 --> 0:39:05.480
<v Speaker 14>the one who acted first. Israel followed at the end

0:39:05.480 --> 0:39:07.680
<v Speaker 14>of the day, it doesn't matter. We are allies where

0:39:07.719 --> 0:39:09.720
<v Speaker 14>allies in the fullest sense of the world, and allies

0:39:09.760 --> 0:39:12.399
<v Speaker 14>stand up for one another. And when President Trump saw

0:39:12.400 --> 0:39:16.080
<v Speaker 14>that his ally was facing a potentially existential threat from Iran,

0:39:16.360 --> 0:39:17.360
<v Speaker 14>he gave us full backing.

0:39:18.400 --> 0:39:21.040
<v Speaker 2>Next thing, that's kind of a from the diplomatic lexicon.

0:39:21.520 --> 0:39:24.680
<v Speaker 2>How can an operation be very very much about regime

0:39:24.880 --> 0:39:29.080
<v Speaker 2>change and not be a dreaded regime change war that

0:39:29.200 --> 0:39:30.600
<v Speaker 2>is such a bugaboo these days.

0:39:32.200 --> 0:39:34.960
<v Speaker 14>Well, it seems to me that in my father's generation

0:39:35.200 --> 0:39:38.239
<v Speaker 14>Americans fought a very successful regime change war, in fact,

0:39:38.239 --> 0:39:41.120
<v Speaker 14>to regime change war, once against Nazi Germany, once against

0:39:41.280 --> 0:39:42.120
<v Speaker 14>Imperial Japan.

0:39:42.760 --> 0:39:45.160
<v Speaker 3>So you know, regime I've got a bad name.

0:39:45.000 --> 0:39:47.200
<v Speaker 14>I guess because of Iraq, But doesn't mean it.

0:39:47.120 --> 0:39:48.080
<v Speaker 3>Hasn't worked all the time.

0:39:48.120 --> 0:39:50.040
<v Speaker 14>It seems in the Civil War there was also maybe

0:39:50.080 --> 0:39:51.919
<v Speaker 14>I shouldn't say this in Texas, but there was also

0:39:51.920 --> 0:39:54.759
<v Speaker 14>a regime change in the Civil War too, It wasn't there, Mark, Yes,

0:39:55.239 --> 0:40:02.480
<v Speaker 14>So in Texas I tread lightly and that, you know,

0:40:03.320 --> 0:40:05.040
<v Speaker 14>it's kind of bad. That doesn't mean the regime change

0:40:05.040 --> 0:40:06.680
<v Speaker 14>is going to happen here. Because the regime change here

0:40:06.680 --> 0:40:08.440
<v Speaker 14>because there are no boots on the ground, least not

0:40:08.440 --> 0:40:10.759
<v Speaker 14>a massive amount of boots. It has to come from

0:40:10.800 --> 0:40:13.200
<v Speaker 14>the Iranian people themselves, and I think that the White

0:40:13.239 --> 0:40:16.200
<v Speaker 14>House and Israel leadership are are in agreement on that.

0:40:16.520 --> 0:40:20.239
<v Speaker 14>And we cannot, you know, forge the Iranian the RUnni

0:40:20.280 --> 0:40:23.440
<v Speaker 14>people's destiny for themselves, but we can facilitate their ability

0:40:23.480 --> 0:40:25.960
<v Speaker 14>to forge it for themselves, which is what we're happening

0:40:26.000 --> 0:40:29.040
<v Speaker 14>here now. Barring that, there are very concrete goals in

0:40:29.080 --> 0:40:31.600
<v Speaker 14>this war. That is, to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons,

0:40:31.600 --> 0:40:34.640
<v Speaker 14>to prevent Iran from getting a ballistic missile capacity that

0:40:34.760 --> 0:40:37.480
<v Speaker 14>will threaten US and other neighbors, and to stop and

0:40:37.520 --> 0:40:40.760
<v Speaker 14>running and support for terror. Those are three very solid

0:40:40.800 --> 0:40:44.200
<v Speaker 14>goals that make perfect, perfect sense, fully justified, and I

0:40:44.239 --> 0:40:48.160
<v Speaker 14>can't imagine any logical person anywhere saying that these that

0:40:48.520 --> 0:40:50.760
<v Speaker 14>the United Stations and Israel are not justified and seeking

0:40:50.800 --> 0:40:51.360
<v Speaker 14>those goals.

0:40:51.719 --> 0:40:53.640
<v Speaker 2>I hope it is the most peaceful of knights in

0:40:53.680 --> 0:40:56.000
<v Speaker 2>Tel Aviv, with many more to follow, Doctor Michael laur

0:40:56.040 --> 0:40:57.879
<v Speaker 2>And I'm joy to talk to you, Thank you, sir,

0:40:57.880 --> 0:41:00.440
<v Speaker 2>and thank you for being with us on exit. Doctor

0:41:00.480 --> 0:41:04.120
<v Speaker 2>Michael orn O, r E and former Israeli ambassador to

0:41:04.360 --> 0:41:08.000
<v Speaker 2>the United States. So that was a great explanation because

0:41:08.200 --> 0:41:10.200
<v Speaker 2>and by the way, I have a lot of latitude

0:41:10.360 --> 0:41:12.080
<v Speaker 2>that I give to a lot of people calls to

0:41:12.120 --> 0:41:14.480
<v Speaker 2>the show that I host here on six sixty Am

0:41:14.520 --> 0:41:16.719
<v Speaker 2>The Answer in Dallas Fort Worth, whenever I'm hanging out

0:41:16.760 --> 0:41:20.239
<v Speaker 2>here along the Salem Radio Network and Salem News Channel platforms,

0:41:20.280 --> 0:41:22.520
<v Speaker 2>taking calls from people just sort of on the fly,

0:41:23.160 --> 0:41:26.040
<v Speaker 2>and if anybody wonders about something or if they're just

0:41:26.080 --> 0:41:28.640
<v Speaker 2>getting because this is not everybody has the opportunity to

0:41:28.680 --> 0:41:31.080
<v Speaker 2>dive in and do deep dives into every angle of

0:41:31.080 --> 0:41:33.239
<v Speaker 2>the news and listen to forty seven interviews every day.

0:41:33.560 --> 0:41:37.160
<v Speaker 2>And if somebody did get sort of hog tied around

0:41:37.160 --> 0:41:39.960
<v Speaker 2>this notion of you know, was it preemptive? Was there

0:41:40.000 --> 0:41:42.880
<v Speaker 2>something that was about to happen? Did the thing I

0:41:42.880 --> 0:41:45.040
<v Speaker 2>want to leave you with in this segment. There did

0:41:45.080 --> 0:41:47.760
<v Speaker 2>not need to be a finger hovering above the button

0:41:47.840 --> 0:41:50.800
<v Speaker 2>or an Iranian mullow with a finger poised above the

0:41:50.840 --> 0:41:54.320
<v Speaker 2>button to justify this operation. This was an operation whose

0:41:54.400 --> 0:41:58.080
<v Speaker 2>time had come. Here's a break whose time has come.

0:41:58.080 --> 0:41:59.680
<v Speaker 2>And then the more of your thoughts and more a

0:41:59.719 --> 0:42:02.080
<v Speaker 2>guest and more things to talk about when we come back.

0:42:02.120 --> 0:42:06.160
<v Speaker 2>Mark Davison for you, Mark Davison for Hugh HEWITTT On

0:42:06.200 --> 0:42:08.600
<v Speaker 2>this Wednesday, the fourth day of March. You is back tomorrow.

0:42:08.640 --> 0:42:10.719
<v Speaker 2>What a pleasure it is today, especially with just the

0:42:10.880 --> 0:42:13.040
<v Speaker 2>litany of wonderful people that we get to talk to.

0:42:13.360 --> 0:42:16.400
<v Speaker 2>Let's head over to n our own National Review Online

0:42:16.520 --> 0:42:20.320
<v Speaker 2>editor Philip Klein is here. Phil. Welcome sir, How you doing.

0:42:22.320 --> 0:42:23.080
<v Speaker 5>Doing okay?

0:42:23.120 --> 0:42:23.480
<v Speaker 3>How are you?

0:42:23.680 --> 0:42:24.640
<v Speaker 5>Thanks for having me.

0:42:24.480 --> 0:42:27.040
<v Speaker 2>Man Tazzy is a joy to have you. So anytime

0:42:27.320 --> 0:42:29.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm in for you or even on my own show

0:42:29.560 --> 0:42:31.359
<v Speaker 2>and I'm about to talk to somebody, I always figure

0:42:31.400 --> 0:42:33.680
<v Speaker 2>it's kind of a stream of consciousness to see the

0:42:33.800 --> 0:42:37.040
<v Speaker 2>kinds of things that they have been posting. So do

0:42:37.160 --> 0:42:38.839
<v Speaker 2>me a favor, peel back to curtain, if you will,

0:42:38.880 --> 0:42:41.680
<v Speaker 2>because you've been paying a lot of attention to what

0:42:41.800 --> 0:42:46.520
<v Speaker 2>people have been saying about Steve Whitcoff, the negotiations that

0:42:46.560 --> 0:42:49.120
<v Speaker 2>he's been a vital part of, and just sort of

0:42:49.120 --> 0:42:52.720
<v Speaker 2>the moving parts of how all of this has come about.

0:42:52.760 --> 0:42:54.319
<v Speaker 2>And then we'll just sort of go in a flow

0:42:54.400 --> 0:42:55.040
<v Speaker 2>chart from there.

0:42:57.360 --> 0:43:01.520
<v Speaker 15>Yeah, I mean, it's pretty a remarkable because Steve Whitkoff

0:43:01.560 --> 0:43:05.480
<v Speaker 15>throughout this process. Throughout Trump's presidency has been seen as

0:43:05.480 --> 0:43:08.040
<v Speaker 15>the kind of soft liner, the person who's.

0:43:08.360 --> 0:43:11.040
<v Speaker 5>Always been sent out there to cut the deal.

0:43:12.600 --> 0:43:15.200
<v Speaker 15>So it was kind of surprising for him to say

0:43:15.320 --> 0:43:21.560
<v Speaker 15>that when he sat down for him and Jared Kushner

0:43:21.760 --> 0:43:25.880
<v Speaker 15>sat down for their meeting with the Iranians, that was

0:43:26.040 --> 0:43:32.720
<v Speaker 15>right before Trump made the final decision to authorize the attack.

0:43:33.160 --> 0:43:39.399
<v Speaker 15>That in that meeting, the Iranian negotiators apparently came in

0:43:39.440 --> 0:43:43.040
<v Speaker 15>and said that they had enough in Richmond to give

0:43:43.320 --> 0:43:46.640
<v Speaker 15>to make eleven bombs, and that they didn't want to

0:43:46.680 --> 0:43:49.720
<v Speaker 15>give up in Richmond, and that was that's their starting point,

0:43:51.200 --> 0:43:56.000
<v Speaker 15>and that when wit Gooff relayed that to President Trump,

0:43:56.920 --> 0:43:59.560
<v Speaker 15>he was sort of done with the talking at that point.

0:44:00.920 --> 0:44:04.360
<v Speaker 5>Now, as we I mean, it's possible.

0:44:03.880 --> 0:44:09.359
<v Speaker 15>That that was just Iran trying to boast because as

0:44:09.400 --> 0:44:12.359
<v Speaker 15>we know, they were hit hard.

0:44:12.200 --> 0:44:14.840
<v Speaker 5>Last June in an.

0:44:14.680 --> 0:44:19.040
<v Speaker 15>Israeli operation that America joined at the tail end to

0:44:19.200 --> 0:44:24.400
<v Speaker 15>deliver a huge strike to its fort Ouse.

0:44:24.360 --> 0:44:26.520
<v Speaker 5>Facility, which is the sort.

0:44:26.320 --> 0:44:32.040
<v Speaker 15>Of heavily fortified bunker facility in the mountain region of Iran.

0:44:32.800 --> 0:44:38.960
<v Speaker 5>And so you Trump had said it was obliterated. So

0:44:39.360 --> 0:44:41.040
<v Speaker 5>it's quite possible.

0:44:40.560 --> 0:44:44.640
<v Speaker 15>That both things are true that it was deeply devastated,

0:44:44.840 --> 0:44:49.040
<v Speaker 15>but that Iran was at least boasting that they had

0:44:49.080 --> 0:44:53.160
<v Speaker 15>all of this material. Maybe it was material that they

0:44:53.280 --> 0:44:59.839
<v Speaker 15>had hid somewhere that was previously enriched, or perhaps they

0:44:59.840 --> 0:45:04.160
<v Speaker 15>were just lying to just sort of act you defiant,

0:45:04.800 --> 0:45:10.160
<v Speaker 15>But either way, it sort of clearly demonstrated to Trump

0:45:10.280 --> 0:45:13.759
<v Speaker 15>that there was no cutting a deal with them, that

0:45:13.920 --> 0:45:18.320
<v Speaker 15>no deal would be a deal that would be something

0:45:18.400 --> 0:45:20.359
<v Speaker 15>that Trump was prepared to live with.

0:45:21.560 --> 0:45:24.080
<v Speaker 2>That is touching on that takes me exactly where I

0:45:24.080 --> 0:45:26.439
<v Speaker 2>wanted to go, because so many people have said, hey,

0:45:26.840 --> 0:45:29.520
<v Speaker 2>you crazy conservatives. All of a sudden, you people who

0:45:29.600 --> 0:45:31.680
<v Speaker 2>voted for Trump because you didn't want any new wars,

0:45:31.840 --> 0:45:33.600
<v Speaker 2>Now all of a sudden you're talking about, Hey, this

0:45:33.680 --> 0:45:36.520
<v Speaker 2>has been terrible for forty seven years. Why didn't you

0:45:36.560 --> 0:45:38.400
<v Speaker 2>call for it five years ago? Why didn't you call

0:45:38.480 --> 0:45:40.759
<v Speaker 2>for it ten years ago? First of all, some people did,

0:45:41.000 --> 0:45:44.520
<v Speaker 2>but I think the reason is nobody dreamed it was possible.

0:45:44.520 --> 0:45:47.800
<v Speaker 2>Trump is redefining what is on the table, what's within

0:45:47.840 --> 0:45:50.560
<v Speaker 2>the overtin window. One might say, we now have a

0:45:50.600 --> 0:45:53.480
<v Speaker 2>president willing to take this kind of bold action. We

0:45:53.560 --> 0:45:56.440
<v Speaker 2>pray that it works out well. I think every American

0:45:56.440 --> 0:45:58.759
<v Speaker 2>should hope that it works out well. But what is

0:45:58.800 --> 0:46:01.520
<v Speaker 2>your thought about my brief riff there on the notion

0:46:01.640 --> 0:46:04.560
<v Speaker 2>of people who have suddenly been brought to an appreciation

0:46:05.160 --> 0:46:06.240
<v Speaker 2>for interventionism.

0:46:07.960 --> 0:46:10.719
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, I mean, look, I think that a lot of

0:46:10.840 --> 0:46:15.320
<v Speaker 5>stuff that Trump said a lot of different.

0:46:14.920 --> 0:46:17.600
<v Speaker 15>Things, and I think we backed up sort of to

0:46:17.719 --> 0:46:22.839
<v Speaker 15>where conservatives were laid Obama era after.

0:46:25.840 --> 0:46:28.000
<v Speaker 5>Conservatives had seen what had happened.

0:46:27.719 --> 0:46:31.040
<v Speaker 15>During the Bush era and what had happened to the

0:46:31.200 --> 0:46:32.000
<v Speaker 15>Obama era.

0:46:32.600 --> 0:46:35.680
<v Speaker 5>And Trump clearly didn't like either approach.

0:46:35.760 --> 0:46:40.120
<v Speaker 15>He didn't like the sort of vast wars where there

0:46:40.160 --> 0:46:43.440
<v Speaker 15>was we were stuck there for decades, it cost trillions

0:46:43.480 --> 0:46:47.600
<v Speaker 15>of dollars, and we tried to do democracy promotion and

0:46:47.760 --> 0:46:48.520
<v Speaker 15>nation building.

0:46:48.680 --> 0:46:52.120
<v Speaker 5>He was clearly not on board with that. But clearly he.

0:46:52.200 --> 0:46:57.600
<v Speaker 15>Thought that Obama was let America be stepped on all

0:46:57.680 --> 0:47:02.040
<v Speaker 15>the time, and so a lot and so he clearly

0:47:02.160 --> 0:47:07.239
<v Speaker 15>was talking about, you know, bombing the blank out of Isis,

0:47:07.680 --> 0:47:10.080
<v Speaker 15>he was talking about water boring terrorists.

0:47:11.600 --> 0:47:13.160
<v Speaker 5>He was no sort of.

0:47:13.280 --> 0:47:18.640
<v Speaker 15>Buchananite on foreign policy, and I think people took some

0:47:18.719 --> 0:47:22.320
<v Speaker 15>of his criticism of Iraq war and sort of dumb

0:47:22.560 --> 0:47:27.239
<v Speaker 15>endless forever wars and assumed that he agreed with the

0:47:27.320 --> 0:47:31.560
<v Speaker 15>sort of non interventionist for Strainer's isolationists.

0:47:31.560 --> 0:47:33.879
<v Speaker 5>Buchananies, whatever term you want to give them.

0:47:33.920 --> 0:47:38.080
<v Speaker 15>But people thought that he was on the same page

0:47:38.120 --> 0:47:41.000
<v Speaker 15>as they were. But Trump, I mean, you could go

0:47:41.120 --> 0:47:44.240
<v Speaker 15>back to even before he was a candidate for anything,

0:47:44.360 --> 0:47:47.480
<v Speaker 15>talking about how Iran couldn't be allowed to get a

0:47:47.560 --> 0:47:49.000
<v Speaker 15>nuclear weapon.

0:47:49.160 --> 0:47:50.880
<v Speaker 5>He was very critical.

0:47:51.040 --> 0:47:55.120
<v Speaker 15>Of Obama's negotiations with Iran and the deal that was

0:47:55.120 --> 0:47:59.080
<v Speaker 15>cut with Iran. He said many occasions, Iran could never

0:47:59.120 --> 0:48:03.080
<v Speaker 15>get a nuclear weapon, and what happened clearly, I think

0:48:03.239 --> 0:48:06.640
<v Speaker 15>Mark Arubio the other day did a good job of

0:48:06.680 --> 0:48:11.560
<v Speaker 15>sort of suctinctly explaining what the issue was here that

0:48:11.640 --> 0:48:16.000
<v Speaker 15>prompted the action. It's not necessarily that right now they

0:48:16.040 --> 0:48:21.440
<v Speaker 15>were weeks away from a nuclear weapon, but the issue

0:48:21.480 --> 0:48:26.160
<v Speaker 15>was that they were building up their ballistic missile.

0:48:26.440 --> 0:48:27.600
<v Speaker 5>And drone program.

0:48:28.239 --> 0:48:32.200
<v Speaker 15>And he, according to what Mark Arrubio said, they were

0:48:32.239 --> 0:48:37.239
<v Speaker 15>building one hundred ballistic missiles a month, whereas we could

0:48:37.280 --> 0:48:41.440
<v Speaker 15>only produce six or seven missile interceptors a month. And

0:48:41.480 --> 0:48:44.799
<v Speaker 15>so what their plan was was to build up a

0:48:44.960 --> 0:48:50.359
<v Speaker 15>vast arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones.

0:48:50.239 --> 0:48:52.560
<v Speaker 5>That they could use as a shield.

0:48:52.200 --> 0:48:56.840
<v Speaker 15>To effectively grant them immunity to go back to build

0:48:56.960 --> 0:49:01.319
<v Speaker 15>rebuilding their nuclear program. If they had a large enough

0:49:01.440 --> 0:49:07.960
<v Speaker 15>stock of doing of ballistic missiles, then the costs of

0:49:08.160 --> 0:49:11.120
<v Speaker 15>striking them would be much higher.

0:49:11.680 --> 0:49:17.239
<v Speaker 2>And you know, one could almost ask why, we could

0:49:17.280 --> 0:49:20.439
<v Speaker 2>ask how long are we supposed to wait? Precisely Philip Prime,

0:49:20.640 --> 0:49:23.760
<v Speaker 2>news at a National Review Online editor at NRO, author

0:49:23.800 --> 0:49:25.919
<v Speaker 2>of Fear of Your Future. Thanks so much, Phil Klein

0:49:26.000 --> 0:49:28.719
<v Speaker 2>there at NRO. Appreciate you, and we're going to come

0:49:28.760 --> 0:49:30.800
<v Speaker 2>back talk a little bit some breaking news. The Senate

0:49:30.840 --> 0:49:34.319
<v Speaker 2>has failed to pass a war powers resolution. Details next.

0:49:34.320 --> 0:49:36.839
<v Speaker 2>Mark Davison for u UIT, Salem News Channel, Salem Radio

0:49:36.840 --> 0:49:41.279
<v Speaker 2>Network and our number three, our final hour together on

0:49:41.320 --> 0:49:44.239
<v Speaker 2>the Wednesday h Hewitt Show, and what a broadcast it

0:49:44.320 --> 0:49:47.759
<v Speaker 2>has been. Mark Davison for you, who is back tomorrow?

0:49:48.040 --> 0:49:50.480
<v Speaker 2>I Junior here in the building or the Salem News

0:49:50.520 --> 0:49:53.080
<v Speaker 2>Channel and the Salem Radio Network have their headquarters, and

0:49:53.120 --> 0:49:55.600
<v Speaker 2>where my happy little morning show happens each morning on

0:49:55.719 --> 0:49:58.879
<v Speaker 2>six sixty am, the answer and where I always enjoy

0:49:58.960 --> 0:50:01.840
<v Speaker 2>finishing up and going about my business and listening to

0:50:01.920 --> 0:50:04.319
<v Speaker 2>Hugh Hewitt in the afternoons and showing up to do

0:50:04.360 --> 0:50:06.719
<v Speaker 2>the show whenever the bat signal hits the sky and

0:50:06.760 --> 0:50:08.400
<v Speaker 2>they want me to come in. It's always a pleasure

0:50:08.640 --> 0:50:11.120
<v Speaker 2>to be here to talk to you, to riff on

0:50:11.200 --> 0:50:14.280
<v Speaker 2>a few things that are making news. The War Powers

0:50:14.560 --> 0:50:17.960
<v Speaker 2>resolution in the Senate has apparently failed. Will there be

0:50:18.040 --> 0:50:20.240
<v Speaker 2>one in the house. Let's talk about all these things

0:50:20.440 --> 0:50:22.520
<v Speaker 2>through this hour with a number of great guests. Michael

0:50:22.520 --> 0:50:24.920
<v Speaker 2>dorn Is, the Senior Fellow and Director of the Center

0:50:25.000 --> 0:50:27.480
<v Speaker 2>for Peace and Security in the Middle East. Mike, pleasure

0:50:27.520 --> 0:50:27.799
<v Speaker 2>to have you.

0:50:27.800 --> 0:50:31.560
<v Speaker 7>How you doing, sir, Oh great, great to be here.

0:50:31.640 --> 0:50:32.000
<v Speaker 7>Thank you.

0:50:32.360 --> 0:50:34.680
<v Speaker 2>It's a real pleasure. Listen. I always ask, with all

0:50:34.719 --> 0:50:37.160
<v Speaker 2>the great interviews we've done, I kind of like to

0:50:37.200 --> 0:50:39.440
<v Speaker 2>open at the wide end of the funnel and ask

0:50:39.520 --> 0:50:42.200
<v Speaker 2>if there's anything that jumps out at you from these

0:50:42.280 --> 0:50:45.399
<v Speaker 2>opening days of Operation Epic Fury, that is the most

0:50:45.440 --> 0:50:47.600
<v Speaker 2>important what is Is there anything that the public is

0:50:47.640 --> 0:50:49.959
<v Speaker 2>not getting? Is there something you'd like to see get

0:50:50.000 --> 0:50:53.520
<v Speaker 2>more attention? How's it all working out for you? Well?

0:50:54.160 --> 0:50:57.200
<v Speaker 16>I think the public is getting the main story, which

0:50:57.239 --> 0:51:00.359
<v Speaker 16>is just that this has been a phenomenally success full

0:51:01.200 --> 0:51:07.880
<v Speaker 16>military operation at a level of unprecedented cooperation between Israel

0:51:07.920 --> 0:51:08.600
<v Speaker 16>and the United States.

0:51:08.640 --> 0:51:10.960
<v Speaker 7>We've never seen this before. They're operating together.

0:51:10.719 --> 0:51:14.439
<v Speaker 16>Like one military and the two of us together are

0:51:14.520 --> 0:51:15.520
<v Speaker 16>a lot stronger.

0:51:15.640 --> 0:51:19.680
<v Speaker 7>So basically, so far, it's a good news story. I

0:51:19.719 --> 0:51:20.680
<v Speaker 7>am a little.

0:51:21.960 --> 0:51:24.840
<v Speaker 16>Part of my job as a Middle East analyst and

0:51:25.080 --> 0:51:28.200
<v Speaker 16>these situations is to remind everybody when things are going

0:51:28.239 --> 0:51:32.080
<v Speaker 16>really well militarily that the real the hardest challenge in

0:51:32.520 --> 0:51:38.080
<v Speaker 16>these situations is to translate military victory into lasting political change.

0:51:38.200 --> 0:51:39.920
<v Speaker 7>We have some challenges there.

0:51:39.760 --> 0:51:43.040
<v Speaker 16>But that's not meant in any way to criticize what's happening.

0:51:43.080 --> 0:51:45.640
<v Speaker 16>I think it's a phenomenally successful operation.

0:51:46.520 --> 0:51:48.520
<v Speaker 2>It is after midnight in the Middle East, and you

0:51:48.600 --> 0:51:51.680
<v Speaker 2>noticed on your own Twitter feed Door animated, which is fantastic.

0:51:51.760 --> 0:51:54.040
<v Speaker 2>Love that title. Tonight, you say twice in one hour

0:51:54.480 --> 0:51:58.520
<v Speaker 2>Israel attacked has Bola targets in Beirut. What do you

0:51:58.600 --> 0:52:02.839
<v Speaker 2>make of the the geographic breadth of some of the

0:52:02.880 --> 0:52:03.720
<v Speaker 2>Israeli operation.

0:52:05.360 --> 0:52:10.120
<v Speaker 16>Well, this is a war not just against the Iranians,

0:52:10.160 --> 0:52:14.520
<v Speaker 16>but their entire network, which of course includes his Bela Hamas,

0:52:14.640 --> 0:52:19.520
<v Speaker 16>the Houthis militias in militias in Iraq.

0:52:19.719 --> 0:52:21.480
<v Speaker 7>I'm sorry, I just got a call coming through. I

0:52:21.480 --> 0:52:23.000
<v Speaker 7>don't know if you heard that, Uh.

0:52:24.680 --> 0:52:28.160
<v Speaker 16>And the Israelis have been frustrated, as I was just

0:52:28.200 --> 0:52:31.759
<v Speaker 16>saying about their inability or the difficulty they've been having

0:52:31.800 --> 0:52:36.400
<v Speaker 16>translating their military success in Lebanon into a lasting political change.

0:52:36.560 --> 0:52:38.120
<v Speaker 7>His Billah is trying to come back.

0:52:38.520 --> 0:52:41.759
<v Speaker 16>It wants to grow its capabilities again with the help

0:52:41.760 --> 0:52:45.320
<v Speaker 16>of the Iranians, and they're using this opportunity.

0:52:44.800 --> 0:52:49.280
<v Speaker 7>To try to put his Billah back in his box.

0:52:50.280 --> 0:52:53.960
<v Speaker 2>Is there a Muslim nation that is to be spared

0:52:54.440 --> 0:52:58.360
<v Speaker 2>from this odd conniption fit that Iron is throwing. Earlier

0:52:58.400 --> 0:53:02.920
<v Speaker 2>about about seven or eight hours ago, apparently over Turkish airspace,

0:53:03.320 --> 0:53:07.480
<v Speaker 2>an Iranian missile was like headed for istanbuler Ankorra or

0:53:07.520 --> 0:53:09.880
<v Speaker 2>something like that, and the Turks of worn the Iranians

0:53:09.880 --> 0:53:13.520
<v Speaker 2>that they will respond to such attacks. Help help me

0:53:13.600 --> 0:53:16.440
<v Speaker 2>understand the universe in which it makes sense for Iran

0:53:16.800 --> 0:53:19.760
<v Speaker 2>to drive just about everybody into our camp.

0:53:21.280 --> 0:53:24.200
<v Speaker 16>Well, there there is a method to this madness, although

0:53:24.200 --> 0:53:28.200
<v Speaker 16>I have to say that that one surprised me. But

0:53:28.320 --> 0:53:30.279
<v Speaker 16>there is a method here, and that one of the

0:53:30.480 --> 0:53:36.319
<v Speaker 16>one element of the regionalization strategy of the Iranians is

0:53:36.440 --> 0:53:38.960
<v Speaker 16>just to force the United States to burn in its

0:53:38.960 --> 0:53:43.000
<v Speaker 16>allies to burn through interceptors. There's a global you know,

0:53:43.239 --> 0:53:47.120
<v Speaker 16>there's a finite number of interceptors, and that the Iranians

0:53:47.160 --> 0:53:51.080
<v Speaker 16>have more missiles than we have interceptors to uh to

0:53:51.160 --> 0:53:53.759
<v Speaker 16>take them down. And as part of their strategy of

0:53:53.800 --> 0:53:56.399
<v Speaker 16>waiting out the Americans, they want to put pressure on them.

0:53:56.640 --> 0:54:00.319
<v Speaker 16>They want they want our stockpiles to run to run short,

0:54:00.600 --> 0:54:05.400
<v Speaker 16>and so they're doing this to a certain degree on purpose.

0:54:05.680 --> 0:54:09.520
<v Speaker 16>They also want to bring maximum diplomatic and political pressure

0:54:09.520 --> 0:54:13.560
<v Speaker 16>to bear on Donald Trump. The calculation is that the

0:54:13.600 --> 0:54:17.040
<v Speaker 16>Turks don't want to be drawn into this, and they

0:54:18.080 --> 0:54:20.520
<v Speaker 16>will be angered by what the Iranians are doing in

0:54:20.560 --> 0:54:23.080
<v Speaker 16>the short term, but in the long run they they'll

0:54:23.120 --> 0:54:25.400
<v Speaker 16>put pressure on Donald Trump to bring this to an

0:54:25.520 --> 0:54:26.840
<v Speaker 16>end sooner rather than later.

0:54:27.440 --> 0:54:29.800
<v Speaker 2>Let's talk a little bit about pressure of another type.

0:54:29.880 --> 0:54:32.560
<v Speaker 2>I can only imagine, and I've not been in the

0:54:32.600 --> 0:54:35.799
<v Speaker 2>habit of trying to sort of channel the Chinese or

0:54:35.840 --> 0:54:38.560
<v Speaker 2>figure out to be a whisperer for them. I mean,

0:54:38.600 --> 0:54:42.120
<v Speaker 2>I understand the basic logic of the CCP and a

0:54:42.120 --> 0:54:46.080
<v Speaker 2>communist regime and their global positioning. But if you'd have

0:54:46.080 --> 0:54:48.280
<v Speaker 2>told me six months ago we're going to do something

0:54:48.360 --> 0:54:51.040
<v Speaker 2>really aggressive about Iran. I would have expected a lot

0:54:51.040 --> 0:54:57.320
<v Speaker 2>of Russian pushback, an enormous amount of Chinese pushback. How

0:54:57.360 --> 0:54:59.960
<v Speaker 2>do you explain the fact that it's almost the Chinese

0:55:00.120 --> 0:55:05.040
<v Speaker 2>seem very nearly compliant, apparently willing to offer to sort

0:55:05.040 --> 0:55:08.640
<v Speaker 2>of negotiate a lowering of the temperature. What is going

0:55:08.719 --> 0:55:09.760
<v Speaker 2>on in China.

0:55:11.360 --> 0:55:14.680
<v Speaker 16>Well, the Chinese have always stayed one step removed from

0:55:14.719 --> 0:55:18.200
<v Speaker 16>these conflicts in the Middle East. They benefit from them greatly,

0:55:18.239 --> 0:55:20.640
<v Speaker 16>and they benefit from building up the Iranians.

0:55:20.920 --> 0:55:23.920
<v Speaker 7>They have a vested interest here in the regime.

0:55:24.480 --> 0:55:31.200
<v Speaker 16>They are very very significant supporters of Iran's ballistic missile program.

0:55:31.600 --> 0:55:36.080
<v Speaker 16>They provide targeting data to the Houthis. For example, there

0:55:36.120 --> 0:55:39.760
<v Speaker 16>are only two entities in the world that have anti

0:55:39.760 --> 0:55:43.640
<v Speaker 16>ship ballistic missiles. That is a weapon that is designed

0:55:43.640 --> 0:55:46.160
<v Speaker 16>for one thing and one thing only, and that is

0:55:46.200 --> 0:55:49.759
<v Speaker 16>to attack American aircraft carriers when they are maneuvering in

0:55:49.880 --> 0:55:54.360
<v Speaker 16>confined waterways. And those two entities are the Chinese and

0:55:54.400 --> 0:55:57.320
<v Speaker 16>the Houthis. And so they're following all of the Houthi

0:55:57.400 --> 0:55:59.040
<v Speaker 16>activities very closely.

0:55:59.120 --> 0:56:02.319
<v Speaker 7>They're supporting them through the Iranians with.

0:56:04.760 --> 0:56:08.840
<v Speaker 16>Component parts for the missiles and and some of the

0:56:08.880 --> 0:56:12.640
<v Speaker 16>chemicals needed to build solid fuel, propellant.

0:56:12.200 --> 0:56:14.120
<v Speaker 8>And so on.

0:56:14.200 --> 0:56:16.960
<v Speaker 16>So the Chinese are there in the background. They're also

0:56:17.080 --> 0:56:20.680
<v Speaker 16>buying Iranian oil at a steep discount. They benefit from

0:56:20.680 --> 0:56:23.680
<v Speaker 16>that greatly, but they are always reluctant to get.

0:56:23.640 --> 0:56:25.280
<v Speaker 7>Directly involved in these conflicts.

0:56:25.320 --> 0:56:27.520
<v Speaker 16>So what they want to see right now is they

0:56:27.600 --> 0:56:30.359
<v Speaker 16>just want to see the conflict come to an end

0:56:30.800 --> 0:56:34.200
<v Speaker 16>and the regimes survive so that they can again rebuild

0:56:34.239 --> 0:56:37.040
<v Speaker 16>their missile program in a way that will benefit the Chinese,

0:56:37.360 --> 0:56:37.640
<v Speaker 16>and that.

0:56:37.680 --> 0:56:39.560
<v Speaker 7>They will sell their oil to the Chinese.

0:56:39.920 --> 0:56:41.880
<v Speaker 2>Last thing, I'm glad to get it to fit this

0:56:41.960 --> 0:56:44.919
<v Speaker 2>in in a world filled with people who very understandably say,

0:56:44.960 --> 0:56:46.640
<v Speaker 2>I have no idea how this is going to work out.

0:56:46.880 --> 0:56:48.839
<v Speaker 2>I have no crystal ball, and let the game come

0:56:48.880 --> 0:56:51.640
<v Speaker 2>to me. I have no idea. Not twenty four hours ago,

0:56:51.920 --> 0:56:54.680
<v Speaker 2>you wrote a piece called Trump's Endgame, in which you

0:56:54.760 --> 0:56:57.759
<v Speaker 2>take a look at your tea leaves and give it

0:56:57.840 --> 0:56:59.520
<v Speaker 2>and share a little bit about how you think this

0:56:59.600 --> 0:57:01.799
<v Speaker 2>all played out. So please share with the class.

0:57:03.239 --> 0:57:07.480
<v Speaker 16>I think that Donald Trump, in let's say about a week,

0:57:08.560 --> 0:57:10.920
<v Speaker 16>maybe a few days less, maybe a few days more,

0:57:11.280 --> 0:57:13.600
<v Speaker 16>I think he will declare victory, and he will begin

0:57:13.680 --> 0:57:18.440
<v Speaker 16>negotiating with the regime about ballistic missiles and the nuclear

0:57:18.480 --> 0:57:21.600
<v Speaker 16>program and support for proxies. And I think he will

0:57:21.640 --> 0:57:25.080
<v Speaker 16>move away from support for revolution in Iran. He doesn't

0:57:25.120 --> 0:57:28.440
<v Speaker 16>want a huge revolution, could turn into civil war. It

0:57:28.520 --> 0:57:30.760
<v Speaker 16>could then turn into a problem that can't be managed

0:57:30.840 --> 0:57:37.320
<v Speaker 16>for many years. He's going to run over the Iranians

0:57:37.360 --> 0:57:39.280
<v Speaker 16>with a herd of elephants and then prop him up

0:57:39.280 --> 0:57:40.520
<v Speaker 16>a little bit and try to see if he can

0:57:40.520 --> 0:57:43.040
<v Speaker 16>cut a deal with him. We can argue about whether

0:57:43.080 --> 0:57:45.240
<v Speaker 16>that's the wisest way to go about it or unwise,

0:57:45.280 --> 0:57:46.520
<v Speaker 16>but that's what I think he's going to do.

0:57:46.880 --> 0:57:48.919
<v Speaker 2>Well. There are no solutions, there are only trade offs,

0:57:48.960 --> 0:57:51.760
<v Speaker 2>and that may be less satisfying to the gut than

0:57:51.880 --> 0:57:54.600
<v Speaker 2>hanging in there and then watching American flags and Iranian

0:57:54.640 --> 0:57:57.160
<v Speaker 2>flags as they build statues to Donald Trump. We may

0:57:57.200 --> 0:57:59.480
<v Speaker 2>get to that point, but what you've described I think

0:57:59.520 --> 0:58:03.560
<v Speaker 2>may accentuate the positives and eliminate the negatives. As the

0:58:03.600 --> 0:58:05.840
<v Speaker 2>old song lyric goes, Mike Doran, thank you so much,

0:58:05.880 --> 0:58:08.120
<v Speaker 2>thanks for all you do. Pleasure to spend time with

0:58:08.160 --> 0:58:11.640
<v Speaker 2>you today. Thank you, sir, thank you. We are in

0:58:12.040 --> 0:58:14.640
<v Speaker 2>what we call the home stretch, the final half hour

0:58:14.680 --> 0:58:17.040
<v Speaker 2>of the Wednesday Hu Hewitt Show, Mark Davis in for You,

0:58:17.160 --> 0:58:20.360
<v Speaker 2>who returns tomorrow. Gee, what will he talk about? We've

0:58:20.400 --> 0:58:23.600
<v Speaker 2>just settled everything happening. That's the way it goes around here.

0:58:23.880 --> 0:58:26.400
<v Speaker 2>Every day is a fresh gift of stuff for all

0:58:26.400 --> 0:58:28.920
<v Speaker 2>the hosts to talk about. Hugh will return tomorrow. It's

0:58:28.960 --> 0:58:31.560
<v Speaker 2>been a joy being here with you, Mark Davis in

0:58:31.680 --> 0:58:33.920
<v Speaker 2>for You again on the Salem News Channel and the

0:58:34.000 --> 0:58:36.000
<v Speaker 2>Salem Radio Network. Following me in the world of X

0:58:36.080 --> 0:58:39.080
<v Speaker 2>at Mark Davis, Mark Davis, And it's funny. I don't

0:58:39.080 --> 0:58:40.880
<v Speaker 2>know if I'm like always here on Wednesday, but it

0:58:40.880 --> 0:58:44.080
<v Speaker 2>seems like talk about a great development. Seems like I'm

0:58:44.080 --> 0:58:46.120
<v Speaker 2>talking to Sarah Bedford all the time, and it's a

0:58:46.120 --> 0:58:48.560
<v Speaker 2>real pleasure to do so. She's the investigations editor for

0:58:48.640 --> 0:58:51.640
<v Speaker 2>DC Examiner. Hello, Hello again, Sarah. Nice to be in

0:58:51.680 --> 0:58:52.720
<v Speaker 2>to talk to you. How you doing.

0:58:54.200 --> 0:58:55.400
<v Speaker 9>Hello, Thanks for having me.

0:58:55.920 --> 0:58:59.640
<v Speaker 2>So this is actually quite the palette cleanser. We have

0:58:59.680 --> 0:59:03.880
<v Speaker 2>been so steeped in Iran. I've thrown everybody some thoughts

0:59:03.960 --> 0:59:07.960
<v Speaker 2>about Cornyn and Paxton and the Senate primary in my state.

0:59:08.280 --> 0:59:09.960
<v Speaker 2>I want to go into some of what you've been

0:59:10.040 --> 0:59:12.040
<v Speaker 2>paying some attention to and the kind of things that

0:59:12.080 --> 0:59:14.760
<v Speaker 2>tend to be your cup of tea. Help me with

0:59:14.840 --> 0:59:17.520
<v Speaker 2>something that was a story, seemed like a big story

0:59:17.560 --> 0:59:20.600
<v Speaker 2>a couple of a few days ago, and then I

0:59:20.600 --> 0:59:23.000
<v Speaker 2>don't know if it vanished or whatever. The notion of

0:59:23.040 --> 0:59:29.200
<v Speaker 2>the Biden FBI secretly obtaining Susie Wiles's phone records other

0:59:29.320 --> 0:59:34.080
<v Speaker 2>people's phone records. Did that happen and what should come of.

0:59:34.000 --> 0:59:40.120
<v Speaker 9>That that did happen? We learned from the House Judiciary Committee,

0:59:40.120 --> 0:59:43.720
<v Speaker 9>who obtained documents from the Justice Department that under Biden,

0:59:44.000 --> 0:59:48.600
<v Speaker 9>FBI was being even more aggressive in surveilling conservatives and

0:59:48.640 --> 0:59:52.800
<v Speaker 9>people associated with Donald Trump's twenty twenty four campaign. Then

0:59:52.840 --> 0:59:53.640
<v Speaker 9>we even knew.

0:59:53.840 --> 0:59:54.840
<v Speaker 5>And I think one.

0:59:54.760 --> 0:59:57.040
<v Speaker 9>Of the reasons why stuff like this doesn't break through

0:59:57.160 --> 0:59:59.520
<v Speaker 9>is because people have sort of largely accepted that the

0:59:59.560 --> 1:00:03.320
<v Speaker 9>FBI was aggressively going after Donald Trump, but because he

1:00:03.440 --> 1:00:07.200
<v Speaker 9>won re election, people are, I guess, sort of willing

1:00:07.240 --> 1:00:09.200
<v Speaker 9>to write that off. But it's a pretty serious thing

1:00:09.520 --> 1:00:12.840
<v Speaker 9>that the FBI was able to go after the now

1:00:13.000 --> 1:00:16.200
<v Speaker 9>FBI Director Cash Mattel and the now White House Chief

1:00:16.240 --> 1:00:19.960
<v Speaker 9>of Staff Susie Wiles during the heat of a presidential campaign,

1:00:20.280 --> 1:00:23.360
<v Speaker 9>and particularly in the case of Susie Wiles, who was

1:00:23.400 --> 1:00:27.920
<v Speaker 9>not part of Donald Trump's first administration, it's not really

1:00:28.080 --> 1:00:32.160
<v Speaker 9>clear why the Biden DOJ would have needed to see

1:00:32.200 --> 1:00:35.960
<v Speaker 9>who she was calling and texting on her cell phone

1:00:36.000 --> 1:00:39.400
<v Speaker 9>while she was running Trump's campaign. There were even reports

1:00:39.440 --> 1:00:42.520
<v Speaker 9>that the FBI listened in on one of the phone

1:00:42.520 --> 1:00:45.200
<v Speaker 9>calls that she had with her lawyers and claims the

1:00:45.240 --> 1:00:48.280
<v Speaker 9>lawyer had given them consent, the lawyers denying that. So, yeah,

1:00:48.800 --> 1:00:52.640
<v Speaker 9>it's really surprising that that hasn't broken through more. I

1:00:52.640 --> 1:00:54.640
<v Speaker 9>guess it shouldn't be surprising in this day and age,

1:00:54.680 --> 1:00:57.520
<v Speaker 9>but a shocking thing that happened under the Biden DOJ.

1:00:57.680 --> 1:01:00.440
<v Speaker 2>EXE. Where is the bar set for surprise? I mean,

1:01:00.560 --> 1:01:03.120
<v Speaker 2>we're at war. You'll have to alert me when something

1:01:03.160 --> 1:01:05.360
<v Speaker 2>else happens. I don't know. I just all right, then,

1:01:05.400 --> 1:01:08.040
<v Speaker 2>let's give this a try. You've been paying some attention

1:01:08.360 --> 1:01:12.040
<v Speaker 2>to some House hearings, one in which the Governor of Minnesota,

1:01:12.040 --> 1:01:14.960
<v Speaker 2>Tim Walls, didn't seem to remember when he first learned

1:01:15.160 --> 1:01:18.360
<v Speaker 2>about the entire Feeding our Future fraud. And there was

1:01:18.400 --> 1:01:21.720
<v Speaker 2>a pretty interesting exchange when the Attorney General of Minnesota,

1:01:21.760 --> 1:01:25.040
<v Speaker 2>Keith Ellison was asked to explain his past comment that

1:01:25.120 --> 1:01:27.880
<v Speaker 2>fraud I believe the quote is not a serious thing.

1:01:28.200 --> 1:01:31.880
<v Speaker 2>How is that working for the Minnesotans.

1:01:33.520 --> 1:01:34.800
<v Speaker 12>Well, it's not really working.

1:01:34.880 --> 1:01:37.920
<v Speaker 9>I mean, it was sort of remarkable that Tim Walls,

1:01:37.960 --> 1:01:41.000
<v Speaker 9>who has had months to prepare for this hearing. Obviously,

1:01:41.440 --> 1:01:44.560
<v Speaker 9>fraud started becoming a scandal in Minnesota years ago, and

1:01:44.640 --> 1:01:47.640
<v Speaker 9>in the past few months, not just a Minnesota scandal,

1:01:47.680 --> 1:01:52.160
<v Speaker 9>but a national one, and Mark Walls came in unprepared

1:01:52.160 --> 1:01:56.080
<v Speaker 9>to answer questions about how much federal money his state

1:01:56.160 --> 1:02:01.720
<v Speaker 9>was allocating towards autism services, towards some of these nutrition programs,

1:02:01.840 --> 1:02:05.080
<v Speaker 9>and the other social service programs that have been targeted

1:02:05.120 --> 1:02:10.760
<v Speaker 9>by fraudsters, particularly in Minnesota, which had some pretty lax oversight,

1:02:10.880 --> 1:02:13.680
<v Speaker 9>to put it charitably, of these types of programs. Walls

1:02:13.720 --> 1:02:17.080
<v Speaker 9>didn't have any of those numbers. Wals didn't really have

1:02:17.240 --> 1:02:19.280
<v Speaker 9>answers to any of those tough questions, like when he

1:02:19.360 --> 1:02:23.200
<v Speaker 9>learned about the largest pandemic era fraud scandal in the

1:02:23.360 --> 1:02:26.240
<v Speaker 9>entire country, which unfolded on his watch.

1:02:26.400 --> 1:02:27.920
<v Speaker 12>There were some combative.

1:02:27.520 --> 1:02:30.280
<v Speaker 9>Political bonent moments, but it's pretty clear that Walls and

1:02:30.320 --> 1:02:33.840
<v Speaker 9>Ellison still don't really have answers for how so much

1:02:33.960 --> 1:02:38.360
<v Speaker 9>money was able to be stolen during their administration.

1:02:39.280 --> 1:02:41.840
<v Speaker 2>So, noticing a theme that could be put to some

1:02:42.000 --> 1:02:46.200
<v Speaker 2>use both politically and practically, President Trump announced the establishment

1:02:46.320 --> 1:02:47.720
<v Speaker 2>I believe. I don't know if this is on the

1:02:47.720 --> 1:02:53.200
<v Speaker 2>business cards the Office of the Fraud Czar. Do we

1:02:53.280 --> 1:02:56.280
<v Speaker 2>have enough fraud to occupy there their long in their

1:02:56.320 --> 1:02:59.000
<v Speaker 2>long and busy days, and how might that even work?

1:03:00.680 --> 1:03:02.840
<v Speaker 9>Yes, there's plenty of fraud. I mean, the dirty little

1:03:02.920 --> 1:03:06.200
<v Speaker 9>secret is that this type of fraud is not limited

1:03:06.200 --> 1:03:10.040
<v Speaker 9>to Minnesota, and it's not even limited just to Blues states.

1:03:10.280 --> 1:03:13.680
<v Speaker 9>There's just not a ton of oversight over a lot

1:03:13.720 --> 1:03:16.840
<v Speaker 9>of these programs, like programs under Medicaid for example, or

1:03:16.920 --> 1:03:21.320
<v Speaker 9>other social services programs, will mostly rely on people attesting

1:03:21.360 --> 1:03:22.480
<v Speaker 9>to their own details.

1:03:22.480 --> 1:03:23.920
<v Speaker 12>So there's plenty of fraud to go around.

1:03:24.320 --> 1:03:26.479
<v Speaker 2>Makes sense, Well, listen, and plenty of stories to go around,

1:03:26.560 --> 1:03:30.360
<v Speaker 2>keeping you busy. Sarah Bedford, investigations editor for the DC Examitor,

1:03:30.400 --> 1:03:32.440
<v Speaker 2>Thank you. It's always a pleasure to talk to you, Sarah,

1:03:32.480 --> 1:03:35.040
<v Speaker 2>And if history is a prolog I will again soon

1:03:35.080 --> 1:03:37.160
<v Speaker 2>at some point here on the Hugh Hewitt Show, Mark

1:03:37.200 --> 1:03:40.160
<v Speaker 2>Davis filling in Salem News Channel, Salem Radio Network. We

1:03:40.240 --> 1:03:40.960
<v Speaker 2>will continue.

1:03:41.000 --> 1:03:43.480
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<v Speaker 2>Precious minutes remain. We might have an opportunity to pop

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<v Speaker 2>final segment or here in our final quarter hour. But

1:06:17.480 --> 1:06:20.640
<v Speaker 2>there is one more person making the list of wonderful

1:06:20.640 --> 1:06:23.000
<v Speaker 2>folks that we've had the opportunity to talk to. Vice

1:06:23.080 --> 1:06:26.840
<v Speaker 2>Chair of Public Interest Declassification, Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson Institute,

1:06:26.960 --> 1:06:30.520
<v Speaker 2>Ezra Cohen, is here fresh off a plane or something.

1:06:30.560 --> 1:06:33.000
<v Speaker 2>This was like down to the second, Ezra, welcome, It's

1:06:33.000 --> 1:06:35.160
<v Speaker 2>so nice to have you, Mark Davison for you, welcome,

1:06:36.600 --> 1:06:40.080
<v Speaker 2>good evening. Mark. So I've asked everybody the same very

1:06:40.080 --> 1:06:43.520
<v Speaker 2>thirty thousand foot question from your perspective, paying attention to

1:06:43.560 --> 1:06:45.600
<v Speaker 2>what you pay attention to, with a priority list of

1:06:45.640 --> 1:06:47.920
<v Speaker 2>things that are important to you. How's this first week

1:06:47.960 --> 1:06:49.960
<v Speaker 2>of epic fury working out for you? How is the

1:06:49.960 --> 1:06:53.040
<v Speaker 2>world different? And how's it playing over here in the USA?

1:06:54.760 --> 1:06:57.120
<v Speaker 18>Well, we were five days into this and we already

1:06:57.160 --> 1:07:03.600
<v Speaker 18>have complete airs priority in Iran. But also, I mean,

1:07:03.680 --> 1:07:06.960
<v Speaker 18>you know, I'll tell you other countries that perhaps were

1:07:07.000 --> 1:07:10.480
<v Speaker 18>thinking of taking action that was against the US interest

1:07:10.600 --> 1:07:14.760
<v Speaker 18>or definitely taking note here, and especially as the US

1:07:14.840 --> 1:07:20.040
<v Speaker 18>just absolutely routes the Chinese military technology and hardware.

1:07:19.600 --> 1:07:21.120
<v Speaker 8>That the Iranians were equipped with.

1:07:21.720 --> 1:07:24.040
<v Speaker 18>I think it's sending a very very strong message to

1:07:24.120 --> 1:07:26.000
<v Speaker 18>a lot of other countries around the world.

1:07:26.640 --> 1:07:29.120
<v Speaker 2>There's something really timely about you being here right now,

1:07:29.160 --> 1:07:31.240
<v Speaker 2>because I've been this is my second talk show of

1:07:31.280 --> 1:07:32.840
<v Speaker 2>the day. I've talked to a lot of people, I've

1:07:32.840 --> 1:07:34.720
<v Speaker 2>thought about a lot of things. I'm really in the

1:07:34.760 --> 1:07:36.880
<v Speaker 2>mood to tie sort of a bow around things just

1:07:36.960 --> 1:07:40.120
<v Speaker 2>for this calendar day. So help me out with this one.

1:07:40.400 --> 1:07:41.200
<v Speaker 6>In a world.

1:07:41.000 --> 1:07:44.640
<v Speaker 2>Where there are some people who seem isolationist, who didn't

1:07:44.640 --> 1:07:46.640
<v Speaker 2>really want to do anything, and there are other people

1:07:46.640 --> 1:07:49.560
<v Speaker 2>who are deeply concerned about a forever war, a quagmires

1:07:49.640 --> 1:07:52.400
<v Speaker 2>being you know, boots on the ground for years. Isn't

1:07:52.400 --> 1:07:54.920
<v Speaker 2>there a third way? Isn't there a way to navigate

1:07:54.960 --> 1:07:58.720
<v Speaker 2>a wonderful in between space where we take a limited engagement,

1:07:59.080 --> 1:08:02.640
<v Speaker 2>a limited action that is so decisive and so successful

1:08:02.920 --> 1:08:05.680
<v Speaker 2>that he hits a reset button and things are recognizably

1:08:05.760 --> 1:08:07.080
<v Speaker 2>better within months.

1:08:08.720 --> 1:08:12.160
<v Speaker 18>Well, this is President Trump's doctrine, right, I mean, everybody

1:08:12.200 --> 1:08:15.280
<v Speaker 18>and all of these you know, commentators online wanted to

1:08:15.280 --> 1:08:17.240
<v Speaker 18>put him in one bucket or another. I mean, either

1:08:17.280 --> 1:08:20.800
<v Speaker 18>he's an interventionalist or you know, he's an isolationist. The

1:08:20.800 --> 1:08:23.360
<v Speaker 18>bottom line is the President Trump wants America to win,

1:08:23.600 --> 1:08:26.320
<v Speaker 18>and he's only going to pick objectives that allow America

1:08:26.360 --> 1:08:28.360
<v Speaker 18>to win. And we've seen this really from the beginning

1:08:28.479 --> 1:08:32.160
<v Speaker 18>of his administration, whether you know most recently the Maduro raid,

1:08:32.600 --> 1:08:37.320
<v Speaker 18>but the strike on the nuclear facilities last summer. All

1:08:37.400 --> 1:08:41.000
<v Speaker 18>of these are discreete, well defined actions that based on

1:08:41.160 --> 1:08:43.479
<v Speaker 18>you know, the military best military advice he's getting from

1:08:43.520 --> 1:08:46.559
<v Speaker 18>Chairman Kine and Secretary of Hegseth, and he knows that

1:08:46.600 --> 1:08:48.960
<v Speaker 18>these are things that the US is able to achieve

1:08:49.200 --> 1:08:51.800
<v Speaker 18>and able to win. And you know, that's what he's

1:08:51.800 --> 1:08:55.080
<v Speaker 18>focused on. So look, I think you're exactly right. He's not,

1:08:55.439 --> 1:08:57.880
<v Speaker 18>you know, shooting for the moon or doing something unrealistic.

1:08:57.920 --> 1:09:01.760
<v Speaker 18>He's just picking discrete, real lifes, stick objectives, and that's

1:09:01.800 --> 1:09:04.320
<v Speaker 18>been his winning strategy and he's clearly sticking with it here.

1:09:04.840 --> 1:09:08.960
<v Speaker 2>I've had one crystal ball that yielded a scenario where

1:09:09.280 --> 1:09:12.040
<v Speaker 2>as soon as maybe a week or two, President Trump

1:09:12.560 --> 1:09:15.080
<v Speaker 2>sort of pivots. He doesn't pull out or say okay,

1:09:15.080 --> 1:09:19.120
<v Speaker 2>that's enough, but goes looking for maybe some element, some

1:09:19.600 --> 1:09:22.559
<v Speaker 2>you know how transactional he could be. Yeah, and I

1:09:22.600 --> 1:09:26.160
<v Speaker 2>know the Delsea Rodriguez of Tehran is a tricky Venezuelan

1:09:26.280 --> 1:09:28.519
<v Speaker 2>comparison because I don't think there is one, but just

1:09:28.560 --> 1:09:30.840
<v Speaker 2>some way to get to a phase that says, I'm

1:09:30.920 --> 1:09:34.559
<v Speaker 2>looking for ways to manage the next chapter and not

1:09:34.680 --> 1:09:35.840
<v Speaker 2>have it happen in a year.

1:09:38.280 --> 1:09:41.400
<v Speaker 18>Well, look, and this is actually this started at the

1:09:41.479 --> 1:09:44.160
<v Speaker 18>end of President Trump's first term. If you go back

1:09:44.200 --> 1:09:46.479
<v Speaker 18>and look there there were a lot of critics saying, oh,

1:09:46.600 --> 1:09:48.760
<v Speaker 18>President Trump's trying to start a war at the end

1:09:48.760 --> 1:09:50.920
<v Speaker 18>of his first term. Actually, he was just trying to

1:09:51.040 --> 1:09:54.080
<v Speaker 18>leave options for the next administration to make sure that

1:09:54.120 --> 1:09:58.240
<v Speaker 18>this Iranian problem would not persist for many more generations

1:09:58.240 --> 1:10:00.840
<v Speaker 18>to come. And I I think that's what he's trying

1:10:00.880 --> 1:10:03.080
<v Speaker 18>to do here. He is trying to make sure that

1:10:03.400 --> 1:10:05.400
<v Speaker 18>not only are we just going in and having this

1:10:05.479 --> 1:10:07.920
<v Speaker 18>military victory, but he's going to he wants to leave

1:10:07.960 --> 1:10:11.639
<v Speaker 18>a lasting situation in Iran that's going to be stable again.

1:10:11.920 --> 1:10:14.280
<v Speaker 8>You know, we may not like you know who's there.

1:10:14.560 --> 1:10:16.920
<v Speaker 18>She might not be perfect in Venezuela, but the bottom

1:10:16.920 --> 1:10:19.479
<v Speaker 18>line is that it's much more stable and much more

1:10:19.479 --> 1:10:22.160
<v Speaker 18>in the US interests than it was six months ago.

1:10:22.320 --> 1:10:24.040
<v Speaker 8>And I think he's looking for the same type of.

1:10:23.960 --> 1:10:26.679
<v Speaker 18>Thing in Iran. Now we're clearly not there yet. There's

1:10:26.720 --> 1:10:28.320
<v Speaker 18>a lot more work that needs to be done that

1:10:28.439 --> 1:10:31.400
<v Speaker 18>you know, as Secretary Hegseeth and Chairman Kane have said,

1:10:31.720 --> 1:10:35.519
<v Speaker 18>this is a way more complex operation, certainly just in

1:10:35.600 --> 1:10:37.800
<v Speaker 18>terms of the capability that the Iranians had.

1:10:37.880 --> 1:10:39.160
<v Speaker 8>So it's going to take some time.

1:10:39.560 --> 1:10:42.599
<v Speaker 18>But the President isn't looking to create you know, another

1:10:42.960 --> 1:10:45.920
<v Speaker 18>Afghanistan or Libya, right. He wants to leave a very

1:10:46.080 --> 1:10:50.160
<v Speaker 18>very stable, lasting situation where the US can actually have

1:10:50.439 --> 1:10:53.400
<v Speaker 18>you know, positive relations with with the government that's left

1:10:53.439 --> 1:10:54.080
<v Speaker 18>in place there.

1:10:54.600 --> 1:10:57.559
<v Speaker 2>As ra Colan on Twitter on exs Ezra A Cohen

1:10:57.600 --> 1:10:59.040
<v Speaker 2>and in going and paying a visit over there, I

1:10:59.040 --> 1:11:01.880
<v Speaker 2>found a little chunk that you posted of your conversation

1:11:01.960 --> 1:11:05.080
<v Speaker 2>I think just yesterday with the BBC. Do you get

1:11:05.080 --> 1:11:07.400
<v Speaker 2>a feeling of not that the BBC represents all of

1:11:07.479 --> 1:11:09.599
<v Speaker 2>Europe or even all of the UK. How did that

1:11:09.720 --> 1:11:12.960
<v Speaker 2>conversation go of the people who just really don't like

1:11:13.040 --> 1:11:15.280
<v Speaker 2>Trump in this country, around Europe and the UN and

1:11:15.320 --> 1:11:17.680
<v Speaker 2>blah blah, blah blah blah. What kind of tone do

1:11:17.760 --> 1:11:20.160
<v Speaker 2>they come at you with as you showed them a

1:11:20.200 --> 1:11:22.000
<v Speaker 2>little bit of the logic that you're sharing with us.

1:11:23.520 --> 1:11:26.000
<v Speaker 18>Well, you know, the BRIT's like to be provocative. You

1:11:26.080 --> 1:11:28.400
<v Speaker 18>just have to remain very calm when you're dealing with them,

1:11:28.439 --> 1:11:30.880
<v Speaker 18>and I think they don't expect that from most Americans,

1:11:30.920 --> 1:11:35.280
<v Speaker 18>but you just remain calm. Look, the Europeans and especially

1:11:35.320 --> 1:11:38.479
<v Speaker 18>the Brits realized that they made a massive error.

1:11:39.080 --> 1:11:40.639
<v Speaker 8>They thought that they were going to you know.

1:11:40.800 --> 1:11:44.880
<v Speaker 18>Cast out and really call into question President Trump's the

1:11:44.920 --> 1:11:49.040
<v Speaker 18>operation that President Trump is leading right now. They immediately

1:11:49.040 --> 1:11:54.840
<v Speaker 18>regretted it, mainly because within you know, less than a day,

1:11:55.200 --> 1:12:00.439
<v Speaker 18>the Iranians started striking British bases in the mediterran Granian

1:12:00.800 --> 1:12:04.080
<v Speaker 18>they and the Brits because they stayed out of it stupidly,

1:12:04.520 --> 1:12:08.240
<v Speaker 18>they had no forces pre deployed there, they had nowhere

1:12:08.280 --> 1:12:10.719
<v Speaker 18>to protect their bases. And you know, had they allowed

1:12:11.080 --> 1:12:14.960
<v Speaker 18>the US to preposition and strike from Diego Garcia rather

1:12:15.000 --> 1:12:18.120
<v Speaker 18>than having to fly all of these aircraft on these

1:12:18.400 --> 1:12:20.960
<v Speaker 18>very long sorties from the United States, we may have

1:12:20.960 --> 1:12:23.719
<v Speaker 18>been able to stop more of those one way attack

1:12:23.840 --> 1:12:26.720
<v Speaker 18>drones and missiles that ended up hitting British bases, so

1:12:26.760 --> 1:12:28.080
<v Speaker 18>they really hurt themselves.

1:12:28.280 --> 1:12:29.719
<v Speaker 8>I think they realized that now.

1:12:30.479 --> 1:12:33.479
<v Speaker 18>At the same time, they're also getting the Brits especially,

1:12:34.120 --> 1:12:37.839
<v Speaker 18>are getting pulled by mac cron into his sphere of influence.

1:12:38.479 --> 1:12:40.320
<v Speaker 18>It's not working well for them at all.

1:12:41.080 --> 1:12:44.479
<v Speaker 2>You just yesterday on the same day, retweeted a wonderful

1:12:44.520 --> 1:12:48.520
<v Speaker 2>somebody who floated a famous Churchill quote, never be separated

1:12:48.800 --> 1:12:51.320
<v Speaker 2>from the Americans. Well, we are glad to be joined

1:12:51.320 --> 1:12:54.240
<v Speaker 2>at pahip with you and everybody the Hudson Institute. Thank you,

1:12:54.439 --> 1:12:57.679
<v Speaker 2>very very much. It is Ezra Cohen pleasure spending time

1:12:57.720 --> 1:13:01.200
<v Speaker 2>with you, sir, and our time together is about done.

1:13:01.240 --> 1:13:03.280
<v Speaker 2>So I tell you what, as we wrap up this segment,

1:13:03.640 --> 1:13:05.760
<v Speaker 2>and we've got about three four minutes to spend on

1:13:05.800 --> 1:13:08.919
<v Speaker 2>the other side, today's program has been just a glorious

1:13:08.920 --> 1:13:11.600
<v Speaker 2>opportunity to talk to so many smart people, and to

1:13:11.640 --> 1:13:13.280
<v Speaker 2>talk to a good number of people who are smart

1:13:13.280 --> 1:13:16.000
<v Speaker 2>out there in the listening audience. I hope to rise

1:13:16.040 --> 1:13:18.000
<v Speaker 2>to that level of smartness and share a couple of

1:13:18.040 --> 1:13:20.360
<v Speaker 2>things too, as I say, tie a little bow or

1:13:20.400 --> 1:13:23.000
<v Speaker 2>on this amazing day in history. But aren't they all