April 13, 2026 • 19 mins
Former Pentagon official and combat pilot Amber Smith breaks down the U.S. air campaign against Iran, the rescue missions that followed, and why a lasting ceasefire and nuclear agreement may be difficult to achieve.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're listening to the Buck Sexton Show podcast, make sure
you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
How has the air war against Iran gone so far?
And what is going to happen next? We're joined by
our friend Amber Smith. She is a former senior Pentagon
official as well as a former Kiowa.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Which is a helicopter of for all of you out there.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Kiowa combat pilot in Afghanistan and wrote a great book
about her time there overseason Combat Amber, Great to see
you in a while.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
How you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm doing well, Grace to be on with you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So tell me how you feel like this whole thing,
the air campaign, has it exceeded? I mean you have
some particular from the rotary wing helicopter perspective, but you
know you also worked in the Pentagon.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
What we're capable of?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
This seemed to be if someone had told me that
we could destroy the Iranian Navy most of its surface
to air missile capability, basically its entire air force, and
do so with I mean less than no casualties in
the air and only casualties really elsewhere from people being
hit on bases. I would have said that seems a
(01:25):
little bit extreme, that's what's happened.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, I would say that what we have seen since
it kicked off is the might of the United States
military on display. The Air Force, the Navy, the Marines,
we've seen the Army since with these rescue missions, but
primarily it's been you know, the aerial branches of the military,
(01:49):
and it's been fantastic. They have shines when they need
when they were called to do so, and they've just
done a phenomenal job getting us up to the point
of where we're at. And then what we saw with
the rescue missions with the Army helicopters and some of
the Air Force helicopters as well, the H sixties, the
(02:12):
CSAR aircraft. I mean, those guys are just so unbelievably
amazing at their jobs, and we you know, it's very
rare that you get to sort of witness and we
live in a day and age where videos come out
about everything, so we kind of got to see some
behind the scenes look at some of that, and I'm
just so incredibly proud of our military and in awe
(02:35):
of those rescue missions across the branches of the military,
like the joint operations there. That they were able to
pull off what they did in the shortest amount of time,
I think is one of the most incredible rescue missions
in our history.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It was pretty remarkable that we got the first guy
out after that shootdown. We got the pilot out, but
then the weapons officer, right the second person from the
cockpit of the F fifteen, We got them after a
period of time. Do you get I mean, I assume
it's pretty similar right wing, so helicopter attack helicopter, attack
(03:14):
plane or fighter plane. You got to get the was
this seer school stuff, right, and like how to evade,
how to stay out of the enemy's grass so you
can get rescued.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah. So every pilot that is going to go, you know,
sort of behind enemy lines or being flying in hostile
territory or in combat zones is going to have this training.
And it's exactly for what we saw happen to this fifteen.
If you get shot down, if you're behind enemy lines,
it teaches you how to survive. It's also known as
(03:48):
survival school, and it basically covers all of your bases.
It is extremely mentally, physically emotional grueling in terms of
the training that they put you through, but it really
teaches you to push you back any sort of limitations
that you may think that you have, and it keeps
you going mentally knowing that the US military is doing
(04:11):
absolutely everything in their power, moving heaven and earth to
ensure that they find you, and they won't stop until
you do that. That's also a very important component of
all of these operations is the pilots on the ground
understanding that they need to complete, they need to enact
the training that they were given in order to survive
(04:35):
and given time for the US military to get you.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I mean, this did very much Remimi. Do you remember
the movie with randomly Owen Wilson, But it's actually a
pretty good movie Behind Enemy Lines about the about a
guy I think you got shot down in Kosovo, right, Uh, yes,
one of those one of those countries.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
There was a shootdown and then they based a movie
off of it.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Uh Scott O'Grady if I'm saying his name correct.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
So that sounds right.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yes, he was shot down behind enemy lines, hence the
name of the movie, and he uh evaded the enemy
for six days and that's why a lot of people
were very concerned that you know, the pilot still hadn't
been rescued after you know, like a full day and
a half, and people were starting to get nervous about that.
(05:23):
And it's like he's doing his job right now. The
military is doing their job. They don't want There's only
one group of people that that crew member wants to
find him, and that's the US military. And so the
fact that you know it hadn't happened yet and like
there's still time, like there's still plenty of time for
(05:43):
the military to get him.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
What was your back when you were flying in Afghanistan?
What was your personal defense weapon? Was it like an
h K M P five or what'd you carry? Did
you carry one? Did you where you're supposed to? Oh?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yeah, in our aircraft at least you had like you
were required to carry them. So I always carried an
M nine pistol, and then the pilots usually were the ones.
I had those, And then I also carried an M four.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Rifle, so we had you had you are straight up
M four with you, okay, because I feel like sometimes
the pilots have like the MP seven or they have
these like submachine guns just because they're smaller and for portability.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
But so you just went straight M four you're ready
to rock.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah. We actually we were able to shoot them from
our helicopter as well, so just because of our very
unique mission that we had in terms of flying low
level through the ground forces and uh yeah, so we
always had them mounted on our dash. So you had
two IM fours and two M nine's per cockpit while
(06:46):
you were out on missions.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, yeah, that makes that makes a lot of sense.
Now I'm going to ask you kind of what you
think about where we are just sort of putting your
Pentagon Geopolitical assessment tad on here in a second. But
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(07:56):
ninety eight. So how do you think we're doing with
this ceasefire situation? You know, I mean I was kind
of I was getting you on the more tactical side
as a combat pilot yourself a moment ago.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Now take a look at this.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Let's put a few stars on your shoulder, and you
tell me how you think this is going well.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I think history has proven that the Iranian regime cannot
be trusted. I think that Iran bases its survival on
maintaining its threats to the world, just as we've seen
the control over the Straight of Hormoz, what they with
their nuclear program. They don't want to get rid of
(08:33):
their nuclear program. They need it for their survival to
still maintain their status as a threat as a player
in the region. They do not want to give that up.
I think we are going to see them being fine
with kicking the can down the road and sort of
pushing this deal to take a break and to you know,
(08:57):
rebuild whatever they have left of their military and regather
their pretty much decimated command and control structure and they're
disorganized military operations, so they're definitely going to be using
this time to sort of restructure and in case they
(09:18):
feel that they need to move forward militarily. Again, I
don't in terms of the United States side, you know,
if you're serious about a negotiation, you're not always going
to get one hundred percent of what you want. And
I do think President Trump has been very clear about
(09:39):
saying that Iran can never be allowed to get a
nuclear weapon, and I just think on the flip side,
Iran is never going to one hundred percent stop pursuing it.
They're going to always want to maintain enough uranium that
(09:59):
they can stay a threat in the region for their
own survival. And so maybe maybe in the deal. They
may come up with something that looks good on paper,
but in reality, I don't see Iran actually disarming any
of their nuclear ambitions.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, this is the problem that, as I see it,
that we run into over and over, and that is
the Trump administration has said that regime change is not
the goal. And I can buy that. Fine, I think
that that was like considered a bonus if they could
get that. But fine, if they didn't go in just
for regime change, I can accept that. But they're saying
(10:36):
that in Iran that can never go nuclear, and now
we're back to negotiating with them over this. I don't
see a world in which we're able to punish that
concession out of them, and this doesn't I feel like
I get a lot of people that want success here,
and I certainly want success here, but they feel like
that's being a doubting, doubting Thomas at the phrase, that's
(10:59):
like not giving Trump the faith that he deserves on
this issue. But I feel like from the Iranian perspective,
they were able to create.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
A lot of.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
A lot of problems with the straight of Horn moves,
and they know it's more of a political and economic
problem than a military one, But that matters too here
in America. Those things matter here in America. And I
don't see a world in which they're able to actually
punish them to the point where they're going to say
because remember, it's not just agreeing, right. Trump's not an idiot.
He knows that for them to agree would mean it
(11:30):
means removing the enrich uranium, which.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I think they absolutely will not do.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
It means giving free reign to inspections over a period
of time for US and for some international body maybe
to go and inspect what they absolutely will not, Like,
they're not going to agree to things that we can
hold them to account on that would actually end their
nuclear program. So this is I think that we're hoping
that they've been punished so much that they're going to
concede on that. But Amber, I don't see it. And
(11:56):
I'm somebody who from the beginning was like, regime change
not happening.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
It's just not happening.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
And mosties are talking about opening a second front with
the Kurds. I'm like, oh, I remember this in Iraq,
Like this, the Curds are not about to take over
Iran for us, this is crazy talk.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, I think that I completely agree with you. I
do not think that what has happened so far is
going to bring them to the table the way that
we want them to. I think that they I mean,
you've seen the difference between the fifteen point plan and
the ten point plan and the stark differences between those,
(12:33):
and it's I mean, we'll have to see in the
coming days in terms of what they're able to negotiate
it down to. But I do not what it comes
down to is I ran the regime's survival and they
know that they don't stand a chance. I mean, look
at who their neighbor is with Israel. They are not
(12:55):
going to give up what they view as their strength
as being, you know, to top of the food chain
in the Middle East. And so I don't think that
I think they'll talk about it, But I mean, I
don't know. I think reality wise, I don't think Iran
is going to come to the table with what we
(13:19):
need to agree to some sort of a deal.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I think everyone needs to be prepared for this too.
But you said this early on, and we haven't coordinated
on this beforehand. But I've been saying in two weeks
and I maybe there is a polymarket bet on this
because I think I think it would be a.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Pretty sound bet.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
In two weeks, when the deadline is up, what we'll
be told is we've made a lot of progress.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
The negotiations will continue.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
And the second you hear that, when you're dealing with
Iran and this regime, that's where they want to be.
They want to be in the Okay, let's keep talking
and talking, and they're going to do whatever they want
in the background that they can get away with that
they're capable of doing. They're going to do whatever they want,
and we're going to talk, talk, talk, and they know
that for then us, for Trump to turn around and
start bombing the hell out of them again and doing
(14:06):
all this stuff, there's going to have to be some
you know, igniting point of of disagreement or some incident,
and so they'll just avoid giving us that. So I'm
worried that this turns into a game and and that
that's where this is going to head for them.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, and I think that we've seen this before. This
is not something new. We've been dealing with Iran and
how they operate for decades now. We've seen different administrations
try to come to different deals. Uh. And the reality
is is that, like you mentioned, the sort of kick
the can down the road strategy to keep talks going
(14:43):
while behind the scenes they're enriching uranium, they're you know,
building their military, They're building their drone fleets, they are
fortifying their infrastructure. So in future operations where if we
do need to attack, you know, they their their infrastructure
and their military infrastructure is what I'm talking about, is
(15:03):
that much more hardened and harder for our own military
in terms of us trying to take some of those targets.
So I mean, it would be nice if they come
to the table. I just think, you know, looking back
on history, I think they are playing the game that
they always play. They wanted a break from the airstrikes
(15:24):
and that is what they're getting right now.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
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Speaker 3 (15:32):
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now that I've got you. You got two kids, You
(16:15):
got two kids. You have a dog, right, I have
a bulldog. You have an English bulldog. Okay, questions for
you now, Questions for you now, because I feel like
I might as well get all the knowledge from.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
You that I can. My wife is not a bulldog person.
I am.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I love the bulldogs, huge fan of the bulldogs. Does
the bulldogs snore loudly enough that it keeps you up?
And is that something that we need to take into consideration.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I was just gonna ask you if you like to sleep.
You already have a very young baby, so I'm assuming
that you're not that much sleep. Bulldogs are so loud,
there's such loud snores.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Yes, it sounds like there's like a man.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Freight trains.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, it's oh gosh, what's your bulldogs?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
And what's your bulldog's name?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So, believe it or not, my dog his name is Kayowa,
named after the helicopter I flew in the Army Kyle.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
That's cool. I mean, that's that's legit. I love.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah. She's getting old though, so I will say for
bulldog owners, they have a short lifespan compared to other dogs,
so they really enter their sort of like like window
at around eight years old. So I feel like, you know,
my parents, I grew up with labs and they can
make it to like fifteen plus, but no English bulldogs don't.
(17:38):
And mine's already eight and a half. So but she's
healthy as can be, so we love her. She's such
a great family dog. But if you're concerned about your sleep,
the snoring is real.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
That's a real thing. Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Okay, And then for any of the parents out there
who are relatively new parents like me, this is really
just self serving. But what is your favorite What is
the thing that you would tell someone with a young kid,
you know, a young child who's about to enter the
toddler years, what is like the lesson learned, you know,
the after action report from the front lines of parenthood battlefield.
(18:15):
What do we need to know about toddlers or what's
the advice about about a toddlers that you would give
to anybody listening who's in that situation.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So I will say something that I've learned over my
years is just kids want to do everything you're doing.
Take them with you. I think a lot of times
in our culture everyone's like, oh, keep your kids at home,
Like get some help if you need to go out
and do things. Like I have started traveling with my
children significantly, even when I'm by myself or if I
(18:46):
have to do something professionally, and I think it has
broadened my children's horizons at such a young age, and
they've learned so much and just socially interacting with kids
of all ages and adults, and I think it really
helps with them being well rounded. And they absolutely love
it because they get to be with you, and they
(19:07):
get to learn new things and see new things. And
so my advice is bring them with you, let them
learn from life.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I like that we can end on that one. That's
a good one for everybody. Ambersmith, great to see you
thank you for your service and thanks for joining.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Thanks Buck
You're listening to the Buck Sexton Show podcast, make sure
you subscribe to the podcast on the iHeartRadio app or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
How has the air war against Iran gone so far?
And what is going to happen next? We're joined by
our friend Amber Smith. She is a former senior Pentagon
official as well as a former Kiowa.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Which is a helicopter of for all of you out there.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Kiowa combat pilot in Afghanistan and wrote a great book
about her time there overseason Combat Amber, Great to see
you in a while.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
How you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm doing well, Grace to be on with you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So tell me how you feel like this whole thing,
the air campaign, has it exceeded? I mean you have
some particular from the rotary wing helicopter perspective, but you
know you also worked in the Pentagon.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
What we're capable of?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
This seemed to be if someone had told me that
we could destroy the Iranian Navy most of its surface
to air missile capability, basically its entire air force, and
do so with I mean less than no casualties in
the air and only casualties really elsewhere from people being
hit on bases. I would have said that seems a
(01:25):
little bit extreme, that's what's happened.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Yeah, I would say that what we have seen since
it kicked off is the might of the United States
military on display. The Air Force, the Navy, the Marines,
we've seen the Army since with these rescue missions, but
primarily it's been you know, the aerial branches of the military,
(01:49):
and it's been fantastic. They have shines when they need
when they were called to do so, and they've just
done a phenomenal job getting us up to the point
of where we're at. And then what we saw with
the rescue missions with the Army helicopters and some of
the Air Force helicopters as well, the H sixties, the
(02:12):
CSAR aircraft. I mean, those guys are just so unbelievably
amazing at their jobs, and we you know, it's very
rare that you get to sort of witness and we
live in a day and age where videos come out
about everything, so we kind of got to see some
behind the scenes look at some of that, and I'm
just so incredibly proud of our military and in awe
(02:35):
of those rescue missions across the branches of the military,
like the joint operations there. That they were able to
pull off what they did in the shortest amount of time,
I think is one of the most incredible rescue missions
in our history.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
It was pretty remarkable that we got the first guy
out after that shootdown. We got the pilot out, but
then the weapons officer, right the second person from the
cockpit of the F fifteen, We got them after a
period of time. Do you get I mean, I assume
it's pretty similar right wing, so helicopter attack helicopter, attack
(03:14):
plane or fighter plane. You got to get the was
this seer school stuff, right, and like how to evade,
how to stay out of the enemy's grass so you
can get rescued.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yeah. So every pilot that is going to go, you know,
sort of behind enemy lines or being flying in hostile
territory or in combat zones is going to have this training.
And it's exactly for what we saw happen to this fifteen.
If you get shot down, if you're behind enemy lines,
it teaches you how to survive. It's also known as
(03:48):
survival school, and it basically covers all of your bases.
It is extremely mentally, physically emotional grueling in terms of
the training that they put you through, but it really
teaches you to push you back any sort of limitations
that you may think that you have, and it keeps
you going mentally knowing that the US military is doing
(04:11):
absolutely everything in their power, moving heaven and earth to
ensure that they find you, and they won't stop until
you do that. That's also a very important component of
all of these operations is the pilots on the ground
understanding that they need to complete, they need to enact
the training that they were given in order to survive
(04:35):
and given time for the US military to get you.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I mean, this did very much Remimi. Do you remember
the movie with randomly Owen Wilson, But it's actually a
pretty good movie Behind Enemy Lines about the about a
guy I think you got shot down in Kosovo, right, Uh, yes,
one of those one of those countries.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
There was a shootdown and then they based a movie
off of it.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Uh Scott O'Grady if I'm saying his name correct.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
So that sounds right.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Yes, he was shot down behind enemy lines, hence the
name of the movie, and he uh evaded the enemy
for six days and that's why a lot of people
were very concerned that you know, the pilot still hadn't
been rescued after you know, like a full day and
a half, and people were starting to get nervous about that.
(05:23):
And it's like he's doing his job right now. The
military is doing their job. They don't want There's only
one group of people that that crew member wants to
find him, and that's the US military. And so the
fact that you know it hadn't happened yet and like
there's still time, like there's still plenty of time for
(05:43):
the military to get him.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
What was your back when you were flying in Afghanistan?
What was your personal defense weapon? Was it like an
h K M P five or what'd you carry? Did
you carry one? Did you where you're supposed to? Oh?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yeah, in our aircraft at least you had like you
were required to carry them. So I always carried an
M nine pistol, and then the pilots usually were the ones.
I had those, And then I also carried an M four.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Rifle, so we had you had you are straight up
M four with you, okay, because I feel like sometimes
the pilots have like the MP seven or they have
these like submachine guns just because they're smaller and for portability.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
But so you just went straight M four you're ready
to rock.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah. We actually we were able to shoot them from
our helicopter as well, so just because of our very
unique mission that we had in terms of flying low
level through the ground forces and uh yeah, so we
always had them mounted on our dash. So you had
two IM fours and two M nine's per cockpit while
(06:46):
you were out on missions.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, yeah, that makes that makes a lot of sense.
Now I'm going to ask you kind of what you
think about where we are just sort of putting your
Pentagon Geopolitical assessment tad on here in a second. But
first up, Birch Gold. When there's uncertainty out there, my friends,
our sponsor here, Birch Gold wants you to know that
gold makes sense over the long term. Just look at
gold over the last twenty years up seven hundred percent
(07:11):
and central banks around the world still buy gold. Plenty
of reason to believe. The long term thesis of gold
is that it's gonna go up. It's going to continue
to grow in value. Birch Gold Group wants you to
join their Learn and Earn Precious Metals event great opportunity
to really understand macroeconomics. That affect your savings and how
gold and precious metals can play apart. This free online
(07:33):
event rewards you for learning the basics of investing. Sign
up to get free silver on your next purchase. If
you qualify, you can get even larger incentives as you go.
The more you learn, the more you can earn. Act
right now because the special runs through April thirtieth. Text
my name buck to ninety eight ninety eight ninety eight.
Join Birch Gold Learn and Earn Precious Metals event by
April thirtieth Text buck buck to ninety eight ninety eight
(07:56):
ninety eight. So how do you think we're doing with
this ceasefire situation? You know, I mean I was kind
of I was getting you on the more tactical side
as a combat pilot yourself a moment ago.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Now take a look at this.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Let's put a few stars on your shoulder, and you
tell me how you think this is going well.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
I think history has proven that the Iranian regime cannot
be trusted. I think that Iran bases its survival on
maintaining its threats to the world, just as we've seen
the control over the Straight of Hormoz, what they with
their nuclear program. They don't want to get rid of
(08:33):
their nuclear program. They need it for their survival to
still maintain their status as a threat as a player
in the region. They do not want to give that up.
I think we are going to see them being fine
with kicking the can down the road and sort of
pushing this deal to take a break and to you know,
(08:57):
rebuild whatever they have left of their military and regather
their pretty much decimated command and control structure and they're
disorganized military operations, so they're definitely going to be using
this time to sort of restructure and in case they
(09:18):
feel that they need to move forward militarily. Again, I
don't in terms of the United States side, you know,
if you're serious about a negotiation, you're not always going
to get one hundred percent of what you want. And
I do think President Trump has been very clear about
(09:39):
saying that Iran can never be allowed to get a
nuclear weapon, and I just think on the flip side,
Iran is never going to one hundred percent stop pursuing it.
They're going to always want to maintain enough uranium that
(09:59):
they can stay a threat in the region for their
own survival. And so maybe maybe in the deal. They
may come up with something that looks good on paper,
but in reality, I don't see Iran actually disarming any
of their nuclear ambitions.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, this is the problem that, as I see it,
that we run into over and over, and that is
the Trump administration has said that regime change is not
the goal. And I can buy that. Fine, I think
that that was like considered a bonus if they could
get that. But fine, if they didn't go in just
for regime change, I can accept that. But they're saying
(10:36):
that in Iran that can never go nuclear, and now
we're back to negotiating with them over this. I don't
see a world in which we're able to punish that
concession out of them, and this doesn't I feel like
I get a lot of people that want success here,
and I certainly want success here, but they feel like
that's being a doubting, doubting Thomas at the phrase, that's
(10:59):
like not giving Trump the faith that he deserves on
this issue. But I feel like from the Iranian perspective,
they were able to create.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
A lot of.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
A lot of problems with the straight of Horn moves,
and they know it's more of a political and economic
problem than a military one, But that matters too here
in America. Those things matter here in America. And I
don't see a world in which they're able to actually
punish them to the point where they're going to say
because remember, it's not just agreeing, right. Trump's not an idiot.
He knows that for them to agree would mean it
(11:30):
means removing the enrich uranium, which.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
I think they absolutely will not do.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
It means giving free reign to inspections over a period
of time for US and for some international body maybe
to go and inspect what they absolutely will not, Like,
they're not going to agree to things that we can
hold them to account on that would actually end their
nuclear program. So this is I think that we're hoping
that they've been punished so much that they're going to
concede on that. But Amber, I don't see it. And
(11:56):
I'm somebody who from the beginning was like, regime change
not happening.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
It's just not happening.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
And mosties are talking about opening a second front with
the Kurds. I'm like, oh, I remember this in Iraq,
Like this, the Curds are not about to take over
Iran for us, this is crazy talk.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, I think that I completely agree with you. I
do not think that what has happened so far is
going to bring them to the table the way that
we want them to. I think that they I mean,
you've seen the difference between the fifteen point plan and
the ten point plan and the stark differences between those,
(12:33):
and it's I mean, we'll have to see in the
coming days in terms of what they're able to negotiate
it down to. But I do not what it comes
down to is I ran the regime's survival and they
know that they don't stand a chance. I mean, look
at who their neighbor is with Israel. They are not
(12:55):
going to give up what they view as their strength
as being, you know, to top of the food chain
in the Middle East. And so I don't think that
I think they'll talk about it, But I mean, I
don't know. I think reality wise, I don't think Iran
is going to come to the table with what we
(13:19):
need to agree to some sort of a deal.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
I think everyone needs to be prepared for this too.
But you said this early on, and we haven't coordinated
on this beforehand. But I've been saying in two weeks
and I maybe there is a polymarket bet on this
because I think I think it would be a.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Pretty sound bet.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
In two weeks, when the deadline is up, what we'll
be told is we've made a lot of progress.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
The negotiations will continue.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
And the second you hear that, when you're dealing with
Iran and this regime, that's where they want to be.
They want to be in the Okay, let's keep talking
and talking, and they're going to do whatever they want
in the background that they can get away with that
they're capable of doing. They're going to do whatever they want,
and we're going to talk, talk, talk, and they know
that for then us, for Trump to turn around and
start bombing the hell out of them again and doing
(14:06):
all this stuff, there's going to have to be some
you know, igniting point of of disagreement or some incident,
and so they'll just avoid giving us that. So I'm
worried that this turns into a game and and that
that's where this is going to head for them.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, and I think that we've seen this before. This
is not something new. We've been dealing with Iran and
how they operate for decades now. We've seen different administrations
try to come to different deals. Uh. And the reality
is is that, like you mentioned, the sort of kick
the can down the road strategy to keep talks going
(14:43):
while behind the scenes they're enriching uranium, they're you know,
building their military, They're building their drone fleets, they are
fortifying their infrastructure. So in future operations where if we
do need to attack, you know, they their their infrastructure
and their military infrastructure is what I'm talking about, is
(15:03):
that much more hardened and harder for our own military
in terms of us trying to take some of those targets.
So I mean, it would be nice if they come
to the table. I just think, you know, looking back
on history, I think they are playing the game that
they always play. They wanted a break from the airstrikes
(15:24):
and that is what they're getting right now.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
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Speaker 3 (15:32):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
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(15:55):
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that I trust, Puretalk your talk dot com slash buck. Now, Amber,
now that I've got you. You got two kids, You
(16:15):
got two kids. You have a dog, right, I have
a bulldog. You have an English bulldog. Okay, questions for
you now, Questions for you now, because I feel like
I might as well get all the knowledge from.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
You that I can. My wife is not a bulldog person.
I am.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I love the bulldogs, huge fan of the bulldogs. Does
the bulldogs snore loudly enough that it keeps you up?
And is that something that we need to take into consideration.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
I was just gonna ask you if you like to sleep.
You already have a very young baby, so I'm assuming
that you're not that much sleep. Bulldogs are so loud,
there's such loud snores.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Yes, it sounds like there's like a man.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Freight trains.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, it's oh gosh, what's your bulldogs?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
And what's your bulldog's name?
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So, believe it or not, my dog his name is Kayowa,
named after the helicopter I flew in the Army Kyle.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
That's cool. I mean, that's that's legit. I love.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yeah. She's getting old though, so I will say for
bulldog owners, they have a short lifespan compared to other dogs,
so they really enter their sort of like like window
at around eight years old. So I feel like, you know,
my parents, I grew up with labs and they can
make it to like fifteen plus, but no English bulldogs don't.
(17:38):
And mine's already eight and a half. So but she's
healthy as can be, so we love her. She's such
a great family dog. But if you're concerned about your sleep,
the snoring is real.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
That's a real thing. Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Okay, And then for any of the parents out there
who are relatively new parents like me, this is really
just self serving. But what is your favorite What is
the thing that you would tell someone with a young kid,
you know, a young child who's about to enter the
toddler years, what is like the lesson learned, you know,
the after action report from the front lines of parenthood battlefield.
(18:15):
What do we need to know about toddlers or what's
the advice about about a toddlers that you would give
to anybody listening who's in that situation.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
So I will say something that I've learned over my
years is just kids want to do everything you're doing.
Take them with you. I think a lot of times
in our culture everyone's like, oh, keep your kids at home,
Like get some help if you need to go out
and do things. Like I have started traveling with my
children significantly, even when I'm by myself or if I
(18:46):
have to do something professionally, and I think it has
broadened my children's horizons at such a young age, and
they've learned so much and just socially interacting with kids
of all ages and adults, and I think it really
helps with them being well rounded. And they absolutely love
it because they get to be with you, and they
(19:07):
get to learn new things and see new things. And
so my advice is bring them with you, let them
learn from life.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
I like that we can end on that one. That's
a good one for everybody. Ambersmith, great to see you
thank you for your service and thanks for joining.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Thanks Buck
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