WEBVTT - Israel Will Go Into Rafah: Mike Lyons Talks to A&G

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<v Speaker 1>I know that you have paused with your president shipments

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<v Speaker 1>of two thousand pound US bombs to Israel due to

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<v Speaker 1>concern that they could be used in any offensive on Rafa.

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<v Speaker 1>Have those bombs, those powerful two thousand pound bombs been

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<v Speaker 1>used to kill civilians in Gaza?

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<v Speaker 2>Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of

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<v Speaker 2>those bombs and other ways in which they go after

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<v Speaker 2>population centers. And I made it clear that if they

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<v Speaker 2>go into Rafa, they haven't gone on Rafa yet. If

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<v Speaker 2>they go into Rafa, I'm not supplying the weapons that

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<v Speaker 2>have been used historically to deal with Raffa, to deal

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<v Speaker 2>with the cities, to deal with that problem.

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<v Speaker 3>So if.

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<v Speaker 4>An ally that you said on Tuesday that we are

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<v Speaker 4>rock solid standing behind, if their military judgment is we

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<v Speaker 4>need these weapons to win our war, we're going to

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<v Speaker 4>say no, no, we don't think so, so we're not

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<v Speaker 4>going to let you do that.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, and I despise is the way he phrased at

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<v Speaker 5>the way they go into population centers, right, yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 5>there could get into population centers because that's where Hamas

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<v Speaker 5>is Well again, every bit of the wording in that interview.

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<v Speaker 5>If you didn't like, if you flew in from outer

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<v Speaker 5>space and didn't know the story. You'd think Israel was

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<v Speaker 5>the bad guy in this story because nothing bad was

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<v Speaker 5>said about Hamas at all or no, there are no

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<v Speaker 5>red lines for Hamas apparently, but I wanted to know.

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<v Speaker 5>I was just wondering the reality of these weapons. Does

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<v Speaker 5>Israel need them to go into Raford? Can they go

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<v Speaker 5>into Rafa without them? What else we got to ask

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<v Speaker 5>an expert?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, so let's.

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<v Speaker 5>Discuss that question the situation in a broader context as

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<v Speaker 5>well with Mike Leon's military analyst. Mike, of course, served

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<v Speaker 5>the United States military in a variety of capacities throughout

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<v Speaker 5>the world through his career.

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<v Speaker 3>Mike, it's always a pleasure.

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<v Speaker 6>How are you tank money, guys, Great to be back

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<v Speaker 6>with you.

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<v Speaker 5>How significant is this holding back of the heavy bombs.

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<v Speaker 6>It's not from a if you're fighting a city war,

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<v Speaker 6>fighting this urban conflict that the Israelis are going to

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<v Speaker 6>like to do.

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<v Speaker 7>They're not stopping.

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<v Speaker 6>I mean, this is their only way to defeat Himas

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<v Speaker 6>is to defeat the military, get their leadership to surrender that.

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<v Speaker 6>This is the this is how wars are won. What

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<v Speaker 6>Joe Biden is doing is pure politics. It's almost signaling

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<v Speaker 6>to political forces in our country. And to hear a

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<v Speaker 6>president make the kind of comments he's made about not

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<v Speaker 6>killing another thirty thousand civilians or so, it's just nonsense.

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<v Speaker 6>I mean, the policy is incoherent, it's asides a moral

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<v Speaker 6>from a military perspective. But the Israelis are faced with

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<v Speaker 6>a situation that their survival is at stake.

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<v Speaker 7>So I think they're.

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<v Speaker 6>Going to recalculate they might hold back a few more weeks,

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<v Speaker 6>let's say, but when the time comes, they will likely

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<v Speaker 6>go into Rafa. No one's dropping two thousand pound bombs

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<v Speaker 6>on city centers there and killing civilians wantly. The Israelis

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<v Speaker 6>never not doing that, but they're not stopped until they

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<v Speaker 6>can completely eradicate the military threat. And there's still battalions

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<v Speaker 6>sitting inside that city that they're hiding because that's that's

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<v Speaker 6>the last fashion of the place where they can escape to.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't want to make this a Biden bashing conversation necessarily,

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<v Speaker 4>but you're you're the you know, military historian, and you

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<v Speaker 4>participated in some of these things. So one thing Joe

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<v Speaker 4>Biden said yesterday is he'd warned bb Net and Yahoo

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<v Speaker 4>don't do what we've done. We went after Bin Lauden

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<v Speaker 4>and then we went into Afghanistan with all these troops

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<v Speaker 4>and we went into a rock with all these troops

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<v Speaker 4>and and don't do the same thing. And we were

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<v Speaker 4>trying to figure out what is the parallel between that

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<v Speaker 4>and going into Rafin getting Homas out.

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<v Speaker 6>So it's totally different. I just wonder who's putting these

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<v Speaker 6>thoughts and words in Joe Biden's mouth as he spouts

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<v Speaker 6>them out like that and yesterday, I mean and things

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<v Speaker 6>he says, because it's not the same analogy. We went

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<v Speaker 6>after Asamo bin Laden for the attack that was made

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<v Speaker 6>on nine to eleven, and.

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<v Speaker 7>It took us almost ten eleven years, the.

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<v Speaker 6>Same amount of time it took the land of Man

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<v Speaker 6>on the moon. It took the to capture, kill and

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<v Speaker 6>capture him. But the Colon Powell rule once you you know,

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<v Speaker 6>kind of you break it, you buy it. You know,

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<v Speaker 6>we tried to stand up a government Afghanistan. Then we

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<v Speaker 6>got distracted. We got distracted inside of a rock that

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<v Speaker 6>was a kind of a separate mission. So you look

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<v Speaker 6>back and in the United States definitely committed mistakes in

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<v Speaker 6>those wars there, but it's not.

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<v Speaker 7>The same thing.

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<v Speaker 6>Israel is fighting for its existence, it's fighting an enemy

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<v Speaker 6>on three fronts. This is not the same thing as that.

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<v Speaker 6>Right now, Hamas is just hoping that the United States

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<v Speaker 6>will continue to treat Israel the way they're treating them,

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<v Speaker 6>and because they're going to survive. They're going to survive

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<v Speaker 6>another day. They get a ceasefire, they got a six

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<v Speaker 6>weeks cease fire. They're going to do something to try

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<v Speaker 6>to survive, and that's that's their goal here. And if

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<v Speaker 6>they do, then Israel doesn't win this war. And politically,

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<v Speaker 6>the Israeli leaders now look bad and Israel now continues

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<v Speaker 6>to spiral downward.

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<v Speaker 5>Wow, it was my speculation that the Biden administration is

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<v Speaker 5>just desperate to get the accord going with the Saudis

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<v Speaker 5>and the Emeran and that they're essentially saying, Israel, look,

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<v Speaker 5>what's in our best interests is for y'all to calm

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<v Speaker 5>down for a little while.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you think that's more or less accurate?

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<v Speaker 6>No, for sure, this is this is a political quid

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<v Speaker 6>pro quo. Right did we have the last president get

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<v Speaker 6>pieced over this? I mean, trying to do me a favor,

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<v Speaker 6>stay out of Rapa while I come the political forces

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<v Speaker 6>on my side here with regard to the situation here,

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<v Speaker 6>I'm not seeing the difference here that you want to

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<v Speaker 6>see a good analogy. There's a good analogy there, But

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<v Speaker 6>the bottom line is there's no legitimacy within the Biden

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<v Speaker 6>administration to do that, to create that diplomatic kind of environment.

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<v Speaker 6>They're not not Anthony Blincoln. Not when you whip saws

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<v Speaker 6>back and forth between support for Israel and support for Hermas.

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<v Speaker 7>Not when we don't. We don't have the.

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<v Speaker 6>Same level of credit credibility with regard to what actually

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<v Speaker 6>we're going to do when who we're going to support.

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<v Speaker 6>And the political forces unfortunately against Joe Biden right now,

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<v Speaker 6>are such that they're threatened US national security.

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<v Speaker 7>Look at that.

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<v Speaker 6>If anybody doesn't think this is a challenge or a

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<v Speaker 6>problem inside our country with these pro Palestinian protests, you're

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<v Speaker 6>not paying attention way worse than white supremacist I mean,

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<v Speaker 6>where's the FBI, where's everybody you know concerned about this?

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<v Speaker 6>These college campuses are these places where these things are happening.

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<v Speaker 6>The Democrats are going to have this problem in the

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<v Speaker 6>summertime at their convention, and they're trying to do everything

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<v Speaker 6>they can to keep that from happening. But there's there's

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<v Speaker 6>this clear cross blurring up the line between national security,

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<v Speaker 6>what's investments of the United States, and what's going on

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<v Speaker 6>politically right now, and right now the Democrats and Joe

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<v Speaker 6>Biden particular, whatever's putting the word in his mouth, are

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<v Speaker 6>choosing the political side of this.

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<v Speaker 4>Since you said BB is going to go in no

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<v Speaker 4>matter what, maybe in a couple of weeks, but it's

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<v Speaker 4>still going to happen.

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<v Speaker 3>What is that going to look like?

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<v Speaker 4>How likely is it that they're able to wipe out

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<v Speaker 4>those last couple of battalions, you know, get the Osama

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<v Speaker 4>bin laden of Homas and be able to feel like

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<v Speaker 4>they won.

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<v Speaker 6>Well, I think they're going to have to capture the

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<v Speaker 6>leader Sinwar. They're going to have to do show extensive

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<v Speaker 6>amount of kill and capture of the leadership there. And

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<v Speaker 6>that's that's one thing that they've tried to work on.

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<v Speaker 6>Continue to destroy the tunnels. I'd say this kind of

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<v Speaker 6>court on the kind of offensive operation where the city

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<v Speaker 6>is totally surrounded, they'll let they'll probably start to limit

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<v Speaker 6>humanitarian supplies that go in. There'll be somewhat of a

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<v Speaker 6>feeds there. Hamas won't be able to hold off there

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<v Speaker 6>for long, and we're waiting for the tipping point for

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<v Speaker 6>gods and citizens to recognize that Hamas is not acting

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<v Speaker 6>in their best interests. But Israel is going to win

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<v Speaker 6>this war conventionally, kind of the good old fashioned way.

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<v Speaker 6>They're going to find somebody that says we surrender and

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<v Speaker 6>the war's going to stop it. Then they're not stopping

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<v Speaker 6>just because the United States is telling them to stop.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, and on that topic, you have an enemy that

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<v Speaker 5>began the fighting has vowed unequivocally to continue it until

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<v Speaker 5>you're wiped off the face of the earth. And the

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<v Speaker 5>Biden administrations of session with what's escalatory is really frustrating.

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<v Speaker 5>And it's not like you know, as as a guy

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<v Speaker 5>far too old and sore of back to go fight,

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<v Speaker 5>I don't want to be talk show warmonger guy. It's

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<v Speaker 5>a cliche, but you know there's some people who are

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<v Speaker 5>guilty of it. But at the same time, if you

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<v Speaker 5>intend to win a conflict, and there's plainly a conflict

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<v Speaker 5>in front of us, you're gonna have to escalate.

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<v Speaker 3>That's what winning is.

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<v Speaker 6>Yeah, And we take we've made assumptions about things that

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<v Speaker 6>are just aren't true because we say they are for example,

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<v Speaker 6>you know you can't use force to change the ideology.

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<v Speaker 6>History show that, yes, you can use force to change ideology.

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<v Speaker 6>If you escalate that force, I think you're going to

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<v Speaker 6>see at the end of this Israel taking.

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<v Speaker 7>Much more control over gods.

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<v Speaker 6>They're going to have to This two state solution is

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<v Speaker 6>now off the table from their perspective. I know that

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<v Speaker 6>our our administration still thinks that's some kind of possibility.

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<v Speaker 7>But the challenge is.

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<v Speaker 6>Until the United States puts pressure on tar and other

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<v Speaker 6>governments that are housing these Hamas leaders, you know, they

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<v Speaker 6>continue to control and operate this territory from outside Goslam.

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<v Speaker 6>So that's that's part of the problem. And if if

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<v Speaker 6>we can't, if we we should be putting pressure on

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<v Speaker 6>Hamas and the leaders of these other countries in order

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<v Speaker 6>to get our hostages back number.

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<v Speaker 7>One, and then then having them not.

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<v Speaker 6>To have the influence inside of the city, then then

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<v Speaker 6>maybe you'll see that Israel would would acquiesce and have

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<v Speaker 6>new leadership for the thousand people, for the Palestinian people there.

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<v Speaker 6>But until that happens, you're not you're not seeing any change.

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<v Speaker 6>Israel is going to continue to just raise the earth

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<v Speaker 6>down there.

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<v Speaker 3>Military analyst Mike Lyons, Mike, thanks so much. Really interesting.

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<v Speaker 3>We appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 7>Thanks guys, thanks for having me