WEBVTT - It's A Good Start: Mike Lyons Talks to A&G

0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.800
<v Speaker 1>The US preparing to launch yet another round of air

0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.680
<v Speaker 1>strikes against Iranian back militia in the Middle East. They

0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.879
<v Speaker 1>followed dozens of strikes across Iraqan, Syria of Friday night

0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:11.360
<v Speaker 1>in a major response to that drone attack that killed

0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.560
<v Speaker 1>three American soldiers in Jordan, and with all going missile

0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:17.320
<v Speaker 1>and drone attacks from Iranian back hoofy rebels in Yemen,

0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.520
<v Speaker 1>the US and UK struck thirty six targets there late

0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:21.479
<v Speaker 1>Saturday as well.

0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.639
<v Speaker 2>US officials restate they're trying to degrade the capabilities of

0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:30.200
<v Speaker 2>Iranian back militias in this region without triggering a wider war. Crucially,

0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.040
<v Speaker 2>not one US strike into Iran itself.

0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:37.239
<v Speaker 3>So according to the White House, the strikes that we

0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.120
<v Speaker 3>talked about Friday morning and the strikes that happened over

0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:44.360
<v Speaker 3>the weekend aren't related really at all. One was a

0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.839
<v Speaker 3>retaliation for attack and our troops and kill on our soldiers.

0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.640
<v Speaker 4>The other one was for the Houthis attack and the ships.

0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.519
<v Speaker 3>But I gotta believe it's all died together in a Hey,

0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.080
<v Speaker 3>if you mess with us, We're going to hurt you bad.

0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.360
<v Speaker 4>Stop messing with us message, because whoever you are and

0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:01.160
<v Speaker 4>whatever you're cause By.

0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:02.720
<v Speaker 3>The way, Iran has put out a message in the

0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:05.720
<v Speaker 3>last twenty four hours, don't you dare touch that spyship,

0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:07.720
<v Speaker 3>which is kind of interesting given that the Wall Street

0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.120
<v Speaker 3>Journal editorial board and we've played some clips of a

0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:12.080
<v Speaker 3>variety of people saying the first thing we ought to do,

0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.560
<v Speaker 3>this was a week ago, is sink that damn ship

0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:15.959
<v Speaker 3>and put at the bottom of the ocean.

0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:17.400
<v Speaker 4>Wow.

0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.800
<v Speaker 5>Complicated situation, no matter how we try to simplify it.

0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.080
<v Speaker 5>To discuss all of the above, please welcome Mike Lions,

0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.880
<v Speaker 5>military analysts for CNN among other outlets.

0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:28.200
<v Speaker 4>Mike, it's always.

0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:31.640
<v Speaker 5>A pleasure of what's your take on the latest e.

0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:34.759
<v Speaker 6>Everyone, guys. I think it's a good start. The terms

0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:37.559
<v Speaker 6>to be re established will take some time. I think

0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.679
<v Speaker 6>that it's all about the consequences becoming so great that

0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:44.000
<v Speaker 6>the other side doesn't think that they can attack. We saw, though,

0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.600
<v Speaker 6>what no one's talking about is an attack that was

0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.560
<v Speaker 6>made from the Shia militia groups against a Syrian militia

0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:52.880
<v Speaker 6>group that we've been aligned with, So that could be

0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.160
<v Speaker 6>the next target for these individuals, so they could go

0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:58.920
<v Speaker 6>after There are some of these groups that we're working

0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.720
<v Speaker 6>with local groups in order defeat isis there inside of Syria,

0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:09.200
<v Speaker 6>and you could see the Iraqi SA moist groups starting

0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.519
<v Speaker 6>to attack them instead of attack Ranian forces, So we

0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.160
<v Speaker 6>might have to defend some of our allies there on

0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:15.640
<v Speaker 6>the ground inside of Tierra. So I thought that was

0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.919
<v Speaker 6>an interesting development that took place in the last twenty

0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.960
<v Speaker 6>four hours. But overall, I think there are two separate lanes. Now.

0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.280
<v Speaker 6>Clearly the Houthis were going after them proactively, which is

0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.280
<v Speaker 6>another thing that's great. We're getting them before they launched

0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.280
<v Speaker 6>their missiles or Ani see ship and she missiles us.

0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.200
<v Speaker 6>And then I thought what we did was good from

0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:34.600
<v Speaker 6>a capability perspective to take away the capability, and we're

0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:35.440
<v Speaker 6>going to continue to do it.

0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:38.120
<v Speaker 3>Well, is there anything you would like to see next

0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.600
<v Speaker 3>that you think would really send the message of don't

0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:42.720
<v Speaker 3>mess with us?

0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.280
<v Speaker 6>Well, I think that you know, the second that we

0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.600
<v Speaker 6>find one of those Shea militia leaders that's that went

0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:52.080
<v Speaker 6>into Iran, which is clearly a red line. We're not

0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.480
<v Speaker 6>going to attack anywhere inside Iran. Now you know the plague,

0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.960
<v Speaker 6>the sandboxes Syria and Iraq. The second that person crosses

0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:01.799
<v Speaker 6>and steps foot back in a rock, I'd like to

0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.880
<v Speaker 6>see a cruise missile with their name on. It's heading

0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:06.520
<v Speaker 6>right for them. I think, I think we have to

0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:10.240
<v Speaker 6>go after the leadership of these organizations, and whether that's

0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:12.880
<v Speaker 6>in six months like we did with Celemony, I think

0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.399
<v Speaker 6>that's that's a good solution as well. So that's that's

0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.680
<v Speaker 6>kind of the next step. We'll degrade some of this

0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.760
<v Speaker 6>capability that they have. So there's this land bridge logistically,

0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:22.640
<v Speaker 6>if you take, if you'll get a map, draw straight

0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.440
<v Speaker 6>line from Iran through a rack into Syria that gets

0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.799
<v Speaker 6>logistics and supplies along kind of road networks and supply

0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:33.000
<v Speaker 6>lines that there. So we've done a pretty good job

0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.600
<v Speaker 6>of destroying that. We went after it initially a few

0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:37.920
<v Speaker 6>months ago, but now you know, the kind of attack

0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:39.920
<v Speaker 6>that we made with you know, eighty five separate targets

0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:41.880
<v Speaker 6>is a super significant set back for them.

0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.120
<v Speaker 5>Mike, as a conservative talk show host, my job is

0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:49.120
<v Speaker 5>to just say Joe Biden's week and a bad leader,

0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:50.840
<v Speaker 5>and that's why we're doing this, that and the other.

0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.160
<v Speaker 4>But I have a feeling there's more going on than

0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:53.800
<v Speaker 4>just that.

0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:56.320
<v Speaker 5>And I read some analysis in the Wall Street journalier're

0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.760
<v Speaker 5>talking about how the new guy who is the CUDS

0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.680
<v Speaker 5>for leader, his name's Connie. He is the kind of

0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:08.520
<v Speaker 5>the guy who runs the Syria I'm sorry, the Shee

0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:12.360
<v Speaker 5>militias and the you know, their proxies, and that they

0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:13.640
<v Speaker 5>allege that he doesn't have as.

0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.120
<v Speaker 4>Much control of them as Sola Moni had.

0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.400
<v Speaker 5>So I just I find myself picturing Iran through back

0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.440
<v Speaker 5>channel diplomacy saying to the US, look, we're trying to

0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:24.960
<v Speaker 5>rain these maniacs in. We don't really have control. Hit

0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.679
<v Speaker 5>them not us. Is that possible, Yeah.

0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.480
<v Speaker 6>It might, There might be something to that the back

0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:33.039
<v Speaker 6>channel that is going on right now. We kind of

0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:35.400
<v Speaker 6>made the mistake by taking Saddamus saying that when we

0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.440
<v Speaker 6>did obviously and we saw the balance of power tip

0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.960
<v Speaker 6>and I think that the Iranians are concerned that they

0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:42.839
<v Speaker 6>want to stay in power. They have their own internal

0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:46.560
<v Speaker 6>struggles with their people inside running an authoritative government that

0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.160
<v Speaker 6>they do, so that wouldn't surprise me from a back

0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.560
<v Speaker 6>channel perspective. That's the message that they're sending is to

0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.400
<v Speaker 6>you know, go after these d militia groups because we

0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.039
<v Speaker 6>can't seem to get control of them. That's not to

0:04:57.080 --> 0:05:00.280
<v Speaker 6>say they still want, you know, Israel to win. They

0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:02.640
<v Speaker 6>don't want the United States to have a tremendous influence there,

0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.800
<v Speaker 6>but they don't want it to escalate from that perspective

0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:07.480
<v Speaker 6>because they know if they escalate them, they're going to

0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.360
<v Speaker 6>have internal problems gathering an army doing what they have

0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:13.279
<v Speaker 6>to do to fight an external enemy like the United States.

0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:14.680
<v Speaker 3>Well, how about the other side of it, since we

0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.880
<v Speaker 3>know that Iran at least an ideology is aligned with them,

0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.040
<v Speaker 3>and it's certainly arming them and funding them.

0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:22.880
<v Speaker 4>You hit Iran hard, and they.

0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:24.640
<v Speaker 3>Whether they have control of them or not, they work

0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:26.640
<v Speaker 3>really hard to try to rain them in because they

0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:28.599
<v Speaker 3>don't want damage done to them. And do you agree

0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.640
<v Speaker 3>would sinking that ship, as a lot of people have

0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.800
<v Speaker 3>argued that spy ship there in the in the Red Sea,

0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.320
<v Speaker 3>would sink in that be an attack on Iran in

0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:39.359
<v Speaker 3>your mind, I think it would.

0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.080
<v Speaker 6>If you put the shoe on the other foot, if

0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.479
<v Speaker 6>if somebody sank one of our ships, I think we

0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.200
<v Speaker 6>would excellent points as an active war. So I mean

0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.400
<v Speaker 6>not again always looking through the eye the lens of

0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.200
<v Speaker 6>what's going on. You know, the attacks that were made

0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.440
<v Speaker 6>for those those that were that were shot at the

0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.520
<v Speaker 6>eighty five targets, I'm sure they thought that the United

0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.159
<v Speaker 6>States is at war with them there as well. I

0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.120
<v Speaker 6>think that that ship has got to be an overt

0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:06.479
<v Speaker 6>threat to our security. What I don't like is, you

0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:08.560
<v Speaker 6>know the fact that our politicians are still not all

0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.320
<v Speaker 6>behind this. Everything still still the War Powers Act, and

0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.960
<v Speaker 6>everything is still an authorization U Samilitary force from from

0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:15.600
<v Speaker 6>nine to eleven.

0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.760
<v Speaker 4>Still unbelievable. I mean, that's just unbelievable, exactly.

0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:22.239
<v Speaker 6>And and and you know, it's it's a big deal

0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.560
<v Speaker 6>to launch the super Hornet off of aircraft carry and

0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.400
<v Speaker 6>go hit a target in a sovereign country, whether they

0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:30.440
<v Speaker 6>are our enemy or not, without you know, any not

0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:31.919
<v Speaker 6>the legal side of it, but just kind of them

0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:34.120
<v Speaker 6>all side, especially Yemen. Yemen is one of the poorest

0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.080
<v Speaker 6>countries in the world. Now they have capacity. Again, we

0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.400
<v Speaker 6>allowed this to happen. We you know, we we allowed

0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:41.600
<v Speaker 6>them build up to happen, We allowed the arms to go,

0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:44.160
<v Speaker 6>and we allowed all those and now we're the situation

0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:45.839
<v Speaker 6>where we have to take care of it and the

0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.359
<v Speaker 6>result is not going to be good for that country.

0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:48.360
<v Speaker 6>That country might never get.

0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:49.640
<v Speaker 4>Outs feet again, yeah man.

0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.680
<v Speaker 3>And then you know, if I get on this side

0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.919
<v Speaker 3>of the argument that you were just referring to, for

0:06:55.000 --> 0:07:00.360
<v Speaker 3>your average young many who is you know, too young

0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:02.680
<v Speaker 3>for to even remember nine to eleven or any of

0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:06.520
<v Speaker 3>that stuff. They just take the United States rerets of

0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.320
<v Speaker 3>their lives because missiles came into their country.

0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.240
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, and they've been at civil war now for the

0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:15.280
<v Speaker 6>past almost ten years, the Houthis versus the former sana

0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.960
<v Speaker 6>government that was there. The Saudis tried to defeat them,

0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.280
<v Speaker 6>weren't able to and that was another classic proxy war

0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.440
<v Speaker 6>with an our ally being Saudi Arabia Orn on the

0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.960
<v Speaker 6>side of the Houthis, and they harmed them very well

0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.000
<v Speaker 6>because they have again thousands of these anti ship missiles

0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.680
<v Speaker 6>that a couple of weeks ago, that missile got to

0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.080
<v Speaker 6>win the like seven seconds of one of those destroyers.

0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:34.320
<v Speaker 6>I mean, that's what they're trying to do. They win

0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:37.920
<v Speaker 6>the lottery if they get one missile through these defense systems.

0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.880
<v Speaker 6>And they still haven't done things like swarm drones. All

0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.000
<v Speaker 6>their drones are one white suicide drones. They all leave

0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.000
<v Speaker 6>and they have no return address. And so again if

0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:47.840
<v Speaker 6>they swarm them, if they do something and they hit

0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.040
<v Speaker 6>a US destroyer or a carrier or a cruiser or

0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.280
<v Speaker 6>something in the Red Sea, that's a complete lottery win

0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:53.680
<v Speaker 6>for them.

0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:58.240
<v Speaker 4>But then we would go nuts, wouldn't we. I mean,

0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:00.600
<v Speaker 4>that's a hell of a lot of nuts.

0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.000
<v Speaker 6>Yeah, But I'm talking on their side. So like anything,

0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.920
<v Speaker 6>we have this tremendous air power, naval, sea power, but

0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.680
<v Speaker 6>nothing changes until someone shows up on the ground. And

0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.400
<v Speaker 6>so you know, that's what the armies are for now.

0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:17.360
<v Speaker 6>I'm not advocating out on any level, but again, we

0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:20.360
<v Speaker 6>can bomb them into submission, but as we've seen, it

0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.480
<v Speaker 6>doesn't it's not going to change anything. So unless we're

0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.239
<v Speaker 6>willing to do something, so yeah, we would go nuts

0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.640
<v Speaker 6>for sure, and it would be a disaster, and it

0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.160
<v Speaker 6>would would. It's that's why we're playing with fire here,

0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:31.520
<v Speaker 6>and that's why I think I think that's where we're

0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:35.120
<v Speaker 6>going more proactive with regard to attacking these these sites.

0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:37.520
<v Speaker 6>We saw the Sentcom report that they took four of

0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:38.920
<v Speaker 6>them out before they even got off the ground. I

0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:39.960
<v Speaker 6>think that's what we're going to be doing.

0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.120
<v Speaker 5>You know, Mike, I'd love to see you side by

0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:46.640
<v Speaker 5>side on a panel within Economists to address the free

0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.959
<v Speaker 5>navigation of the seas and what it means. I was

0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.480
<v Speaker 5>reading another piece that was dealing with the fact that

0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:56.040
<v Speaker 5>piracy was like the number one issue asking voters in

0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.040
<v Speaker 5>seventeen ninety three, what's the year number one issue? It's

0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.920
<v Speaker 5>that piracy was huge, hence Jefferson and the Barbary pirates

0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:03.560
<v Speaker 5>and the rest of it. And we have had an

0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.400
<v Speaker 5>incredibly long period of the free navigation of the seas

0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.560
<v Speaker 5>for the purposes of commerce. It's lifted everybody on our

0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:13.960
<v Speaker 5>standard of living and it's been so peaceful so long.

0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.920
<v Speaker 5>People forget that that's an enormous deal economically.

0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:19.480
<v Speaker 6>You know, it is. I've talked to my son about it,

0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:21.840
<v Speaker 6>because he's been deployed to that part of the world,

0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.040
<v Speaker 6>you know, on a destroyer and they peel off and

0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.760
<v Speaker 6>they go and either help try to protect ships or

0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.199
<v Speaker 6>go after ships that have pirated others. It is, and

0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.600
<v Speaker 6>it gets back to gunboat diplomacy again, and we need

0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:37.560
<v Speaker 6>this is where we need allies. I think that's the

0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.000
<v Speaker 6>best part of the Houthy attack plan right now is

0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.760
<v Speaker 6>the Great Britain's on our side, and the European countries

0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.480
<v Speaker 6>and some of some of them that don't have navies,

0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.200
<v Speaker 6>but it's going to take larger navies, more ships in

0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.480
<v Speaker 6>order to make sure that that transports. And they're they've

0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.320
<v Speaker 6>shut down suic Canal that Egypt is hurting, not because

0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.840
<v Speaker 6>of that obviously, so again, the economics behind what's going

0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.439
<v Speaker 6>on hasn't impacted yet, but I think show.

0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.000
<v Speaker 5>Mike Lions, military analyst for CNN. Mike, we appreciate the

0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:04.640
<v Speaker 5>time very much.

0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.720
<v Speaker 6>Thanks, Thanks guys for me Armstrong and Getty