WEBVTT - The Enemy Knows We're Mentally Disarmed: Mike Lyons Talks to A&G 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.960 A run back to Hooty rebels and Yemen launching two 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.200 more attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, just 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.040 as the US announced a naval task force to counter 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:13.040 the threat, the US joining nine countries to escort vessels 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:17.239 passing through the crucial trade route after major companies, including 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:21.800 oil giant BP paused operations, but the Hooi's vowing further 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:26.239 attacks in retaliation for Israel's war in Gaza bottom miners. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:28.319 These attacks have to stop. If they need to stop, 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:29.240 they're unacceptable. 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:32.120 The United States, our allies, and our partners will do 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:33.960 what we have to do to counter these threats and 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:37.800 to protect these ships. That's Kirby, they're the spokesman, and 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:39.920 I like him. He seems like a good dude. But 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:45.560 the rhetoric of these attacks have to stop. They're unacceptable. Well, 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.600 there have been over one hundred now. We're not doing 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:54.600 much to deter them, so you can't say they're unacceptable. 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.480 We seem to be accepting it. I mean, by definition, 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:03.840 we seem to be accepted relentless attacks on our troops 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.760 and our machinery by Iran and their proxies. And I 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.440 don't know how else you look at that welcome to 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:12.440 the Armstrong and Getty Show. We want to check in 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.880 with Mike Lyons, who we love talking to about anything 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:18.880 military wise. Maybe you see him on CNN, maybe you 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:23.520 follow him on Twitter at mag Mike Lyons on Twitter. 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:25.240 In fact, they got a tweet that I want to 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:27.880 read to him from yesterday and have him explain more. Mike, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:29.600 Welcome to the Armstrong and Getty Show again. 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:32.080 Hey guy, it's good to be backcause always. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.760 Let's start with the over one hundred times that Iran 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:39.440 or people at the behest of Iran have attacked or 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.119 attempted to attack us. I mean, have we pushed back 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:42.920 enough in your eyes? 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.240 No, I don't think so. I think we keep trying 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.919 to give this visual deterrence. You know, two carrier groups 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.480 in the Mediterranean and the Carnie in the Red Sea. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.800 But we're dealing with an enemy that doesn't care about 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.200 that because they know that we're psychologically disarmed. They know 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.080 that we will respond in a manner that will likely 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.240 cause great damage and destruction. And then the enemy knows 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:07.160 that the rest of the world then will turn against us. 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:11.720 And so we don't really, you know, have the gumption 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.200 anymore to stake a high moral ground about. Look, you're 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.040 not going to attack us. We're going to protect our 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.720 soldiers and our sailors and the like, and we're going 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:21.440 to not care about what the rest of the world thinks. 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:23.160 It's the same problem Israel's having right now. You know, 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.919 the rest of the world is really concerned what Israel's doing. Well, 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:29.120 Israel's trying to fight for his existence right now. So 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:30.639 that's you know, kind of the same example. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.280 I hear the dogs of war in the background where 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:33.560 you are. 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:35.760 Yeah, yeah, I couldn't even get them outther I got 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:36.320 them out. 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:37.600 No big deal. 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:44.560 So the rhetoric of this must stop. This is unacceptable. 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.360 I feel like if you don't push back really, really hard, 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.000 you're saying it is acceptable. 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:50.680 And is there any reason to think it's not going 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:51.320 to continue? 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:56.720 You know, it's so the Secretary of Defense did the 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.840 right thing. Put together a coalition of other nations and 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.960 of others that are that are going to look to respond. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:05.840 But we've got to go after the source, not just 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:08.520 you know, on the ground. It's going to mean destroying 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:10.960 a lot of equipment on the ground. We have to 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.560 go after what Iran is doing. Is Iran you know, 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.760 completely supports the Houthis. I mean, you know, but for 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:19.919 Iran that the Houthis don't don't exist. They and and 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:22.240 and we've allowed the problem just to get worse and 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.600 worse over the course of the years. And that's that's 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.639 like everything in the world right now. The can gets 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:28.880 kicked down the road until we finally have to take 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:31.760 care of it. So let's hope that this will possibly 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.040 take care of it, and we will eventually respond if 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.400 they you know, let's say they think an oil tanker 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.440 or something and create an environmental disaster. There's there's so 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.520 many things, so many really bad possibilities there. I don't 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.400 think they'll get to our ships because of our defense 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:49.640 platforms that we have there, but there's a lot of 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.480 tragedy that can still take place there. And then of 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:53.160 course the money that's being lost. You see, a lot 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:54.600 of the ships are being derived or ready to the 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.120 to the south and in Africa in that regard, and 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.000 then all the Egyptians, the Gyptans have to be made. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:01.960 They're losing about my my son tells me it's a 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.040 million dollars to take a ship down and back into 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.720 the sost Canal. So they're losing all that money's taking 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.839 place there. So let's hope the rest of the world 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:10.800 recognizes that this is a problem and gets on board 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:11.320 with there as well. 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:12.960 Yeah, I keep using the example. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.440 The Wall Street Journal had a story several weeks ago 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:20.080 now about how an attack drone got lodged in the 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.159 ceiling of a building and the bomb didn't go off. 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.120 If it had, it would have killed a whole bunch 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.440 of US servicemen. So that was just lock that. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.200 You know, that that didn't happen, So I feel like 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:32.560 you got to respond as if it did. 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.080 But you know, we're not well. 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:37.360 And the kind of attacks that the drones can make 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:39.839 on the ships, they could be swarm attacks. We just 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.880 haven't seen that yet. But that's really would be a 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.719 tremendous escalation because if you fire, you know, we saw 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.919 that ship the other day, the Carney was fired. Some 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:50.760 of my fourteen or fifteen drone shot them out of 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.520 the sky. If you sent a hundred or a thousand 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.479 at the Carney, that would be a problem for that 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:57.680 ship and one of them would get through, and then 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.200 what do we have? And so you know that's well, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.520 for whatever reason, we're just on this luck factor of saying, oh, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:04.520 you know, right, it hasn't been bad. No one's dead yet, 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:06.160 so that we're just going to continue to go. And 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:07.680 it just just doesn't make sense. 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.480 To the war between Israel and Hamas I'm looking at 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.680 this tweet of yours from yesterday, I'll just read it. 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:15.880 I was thinking, the US and Israel, we're talking past 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:18.360 each other about what the US wanted Israel to do. 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.839 From the news conference today, the administration is not putting 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:23.120 a timeline on the operation. 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.400 Israel will fight this on their terms, explain. 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:30.480 Yeah, So I had thought that the United States from 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.200 what they had said, Jake Sullivan and you know, they 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:34.200 were telling this, well, it's kind of wrap this up here, 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.000 acting like it's you know, some kind of protests formation 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:40.880 in Portland or something. And and but but after this 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.640 last press conference, after the last meeting, the secondary Defense 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:46.640 said there's no timetable for Israel. They're going to do 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.479 this whatever they want to do it. So that to 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:50.000 me was good enough to say, well, this is now 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:52.200 going to go on for months. It's not going to 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.400 get wrapped up. We're not going to you know, both 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:57.120 of these audiences are talking to their domestic audiences, right 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:58.680 or both of these people are talking to their domestic 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.679 audiences where you know, we're trying to Obviously, the political 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.520 factor of the Democrats right now, for whatever reason, is 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.799 they have to show some kind of support for Hamas. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.440 Don't don't ask me why, but that seems to be 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.520 what they're trying to do. And so in Israel's case, 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:13.839 there are some inside of Israel too that that that 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.800 are that want, you know, the civilians that not be 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.120 as terrorized. I don't know what the term is, because it's, 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.000 you know, they're at war again for their own survival. 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.840 But once they said that to me, I was good, Okay, 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:25.640 here we go. So this is that they're not going 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.320 to be concerned here that in the next month nothing's 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.440 going to change. Israel is not stopping. They're also fighting 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.040 a two front war. They're fighting a war in the 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:37.680 north where they're clearing Hamas military formations that wage war 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:42.159 against Israel to that to that area they're indirect fire 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:43.680 weapons and the like, and then the one in the 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.640 south and the south Gaza Kany units for example, that's 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.520 where the headquarters are, that's where a lot of the 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:50.160 leadership were, that's where a lot of them escaped to 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:52.920 when we had that seas fire before, and that's kind 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:54.719 of a different operation. But the bottom line to me 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:56.520 is Israel's not stopping and they're not going to change 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.000 your tactics. They have to make this a conventional war. 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:00.840 They have to bring Hama up to the level of 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.520 a conventional fight and get them to surrender. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:06.040 I wonder how much we're saying different things to them 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.599 behind closed doors or in phone calls than we are 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:12.880 in public. And that makes me wonder also just kind 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.680 of as in a side, like you're a West Point 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:17.320 guy and you've studied all this military strategy and history 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.760 and stuff like that, how much do you how much 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.840 at West Point do they get into the politics at all? 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.120 Or do they because obviously that plays a role in 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.680 a war. You might have to do one thing and 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:33.200 say another to keep you know, your domestic audience happy. 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:34.880 How much do y'all think about that? 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.000 There's no question that at West Point that's the force 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:41.640 that's taught to cadets as they progress in their careers 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:43.840 and get to that certain place. But I mean west 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:46.200 Point trains you kind of the younger officers. It's really 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:48.600 the ones that have been you know, the general officers 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.679 that are there and politics has made a much bigger 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.000 impact on the military. Unfortunately. I often think about if 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.360 you brought back to generals from World War Two and 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.120 you told them how we were fighting war today, they 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.040 would just like shake their and say, you guys are nuts, 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.240 because we'd have this thing over here in six weeks. 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:05.040 We would take the biggest weapons we have and we 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.160 would destroy everything we possibly could. We wouldn't care about 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:09.800 the things you guys seem to care about, and we 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.760 would get this thing done. And that is the harsh 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.320 reality of history, is how they would look at it. 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:19.160 And instead, you know, we're trying to tell Israel to 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.320 you know, you have the president United States saying that 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:25.000 Israel's indiscriminately bombing civilians and that's just irresponsible, right, That's 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:26.880 why I was talking about, you know, talking past each other. 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.400 I mean, that's irresponsible for the president to say that. 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:34.080 So no question that and the accelerant of social media 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:35.800 and the audience and all those things get through it. 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.760 So again from a military perspective, that the Idea app 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.360 is trying to use its military as a tool foreign 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.240 policy to get the Palestinian leadership to heal and get 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:47.840 them to surrender and they're going to do whatever they 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:48.720 can in that regard. 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:50.320 Yeah, we've been talking about. 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:55.520 I mean, you take any country, state, village anywhere in 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.760 the world throughout history, if you got attacked the way 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:00.800 Israel got attacked, where they came in and they headed 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.720 your babies and raped your grandma's you would if you 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:08.439 could lay waste to that entity right all throughout history, 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.280 anywhere in the world. And so now what where are we? 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.240 It's it's an interesting thing to watch. 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:18.040 And in the Arab world is not helping the Palestinians, 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.720 I mean Egyptian says we've talked about before, and anytime 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.480 they open up a barrier, that barriers between them and 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:26.880 Gaza to let humanitarian id and they can't close it 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.640 fast enough, all right, so they're not letting any refugees 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.720 in the rest of the nations really don't care about it. 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.840 They want to you know, brand to the United Nations, 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:36.160 and they want to make a big deal about it. 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:40.160 But this is you know, Israel's not going to settle 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.079 for two state solution right now. They're not going to 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.120 settle for any of that previous ideas about what's going 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:47.599 on here. And I don't think they care about what 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.000 the United States says. You're right behind closed doors. They're 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:52.800 kind of rolling their eyes at us basically telling them 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.320 how to fight terrorism, because we really have a great 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:56.920 record from the past twenty years in a rock in 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.719 Afghanistan frankly in terms of trying to you know, get 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:00.400 that to work there. 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.680 So interesting. 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:04.839 Well, I'm sure we'll be talking about this with you 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:06.839 in the next year, and this is the last time 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:10.200 we'll be talking to you this year. In twenty three. 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.320 Where is the war in Ukraine currently? Where do you 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:14.640 think it's headed for twenty four? 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.319 Yeah, that's a stalemate right now, with both sides still 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.760 not able to take their strategic objectives and align them 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:25.120 with their operational capabilities. And I don't and if the 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:29.920 United States decides not to support Ukraine, then eventually it 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:32.600 could be in years at this point, but eventually they 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:38.040 will lose. I think that you know, Russia is building 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.240 more capacity every day, learning doing things that are moving 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.240 in the direction that they're doing better. So you know, 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:46.160 we've got to get off the dime here, get the 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:48.200 rest of the world to recognize that. And then if 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.280 you ship the world as tinderbox, because I think you 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.800 have what's going on in the Pacific still is something 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.640 that could explode in twenty twenty four, given US leadership, 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:00.280 where it's going to be, how it's going to change 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:03.120 next year for US. So I think we're in for 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:05.600 a lot of things to go on at twenty twenty four, 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:07.680 both in the Middle East, in Europe, and then of 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:09.960 course in the Pacific. It's going to be a really 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:10.640 challenging year. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.200 Wow, that's a heck of a thing for you to 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.400 end on what we I was going to say, look 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:18.439 forward to talking to you. Unfortunately, when we're talking to you, 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.400 it's oftentimes a bad or challenging situation. But we will 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:23.920 talk to you in twenty four. Helpe, you have a 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:25.840 great Christmas in the holiday season. 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:30.199 Thanks Mary, Christmas everybody soon. Thanks for having me Armstrong 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:30.840 and Getty.