Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Who who Look who the cat dragged back in today
getting and screaming. I'm sure none other than the dragon. Redbeard, Boy, Dragon,
you were really really missed by the listeners. Glad to
have you back. Hope that sight seeing and the rain
was good, and uh, we really appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I am slightly concerned how the numbers were around here
without me the ratings, because there were two or three
Michael Brown listeners on that trip.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
No one of the things seems so quiet. Yes last week,
let's go first to Fox News Jennifer Griffin and more.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
According to the President. The other thing I can point out, Brett,
is that this is an operation. In the last eighteen
years since I've been at the Pentagon, I've never seen.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
Such operational security.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
There was nobody speaking about this any of the preparations.
There was a complete lockdown, almost a blackout of information
for the last few days. I'm sitting here in the
Pentagon right now, I can tell you the hallways are
empty and all of the information is coming right now
out of the White House. That is a significant achievement
(01:18):
because there were no leaks about the timing. Now, sometimes
I think those who a lot of the flight trackers,
the open source intelligence flight trackers. That flight radar did
indicate some of the when the B twos took off
from white men, but again, nobody really expected that it
would take place this evening. If you looked at the
(01:40):
moon schedule, you might have had a clue because it
was a waning crescent and almost a new moon on
the twenty fifth, so it would have been very very
dark over Iran tonight, and you need that in order to.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Bomb.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
That's the ideal condition for something like a B two
that is, yes, itself stealth, but it still has to
be escorted in in case any Iran were to put
up any planes or there were any opportunities to fire
on those B twos, which are such valuable and very
very special planes. Only the US military has this kind
(02:16):
of weaponry and this capability. No other country in the
world could have carried off what occurred tonight at those
three uranium enrichment sites in Iran.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
Jen You're exactly right on the operational security here and
the fact that there were obviously some red herrings.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
And in a world where decisions.
Speaker 6 (02:39):
Are made and the world digests the decision even before
it's made because of social media, and everyone's watching everywhere.
This was a pretty amazing operation when you start thinking
that the President said within two weeks, we are two
days from within two weeks, and this happened with a
(03:00):
post on truth social and no other word. Really getting
out ahead of that is pretty stunning.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It's very it's extraordinarily stunning. Traditionally, operations like this you
inform the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader,
and then the chairman's of the Intel Committee, the Armed
Services Committee, and perhaps a couple of the oversight committees.
(03:30):
My understanding is they only informed the Speaker of the
House and the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, and I
think that's completely reasonable. Can you imagine now you're going
to hear in just a minute, raging Cajun Dan Kine,
the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, describe exactly
how this operation took place, Operation Midnight Hammer, in which
(03:53):
we now, according to Trump, but you know he's prone
to hyperbole, we obliterated the three nuke sites. Of course,
Drudge is running this morning with the headline that says,
satellite imagery underwrites Trump's claim attack obliterated nuke sites. Well,
(04:13):
nobody knows yet. Because nobody's been down into the tunnels,
nobody's been underground to see what's happened. So look, everybody
just chill out for a moment. But back to the
op sect, the operational security. I find it utterly fascinating
(04:34):
because if indeed, just I'll pose the question, I'm not
going to answer before we all pose the question to you,
if the President, or the Deaf sect, or the Secretary
of State or anybody else the VP Potus himself had
informed other than the Speaker and the Senate Majority leader.
(04:55):
And I'm not even sure when that may have been
done only after the operation started, or maybe after only
after the bombs had been dropped, I don't know. But
had it been done before, as is traditionally done Republican
or Democrat alike, I don't care. I mean, we controlled
both houses, so the chairman would have been obviously Republicans.
(05:17):
Would you have trusted them to keep their mouths shut?
Would you? I would not have trusted them in the least,
not in the least would have I trusted them. So
I think the fact that they were able to pull
this off the way they did is truly fascinating. Now
I want to get now to General Dan Raisin Kane,
(05:41):
who gives a detailed breakdown of Operation Midnight Hammer. More
than one hundred and twenty five US military aircraft are involved.
Large B two strike package left the continentally the United
States on midnight Friday. This is just in terms of execution,
(06:03):
in terms of logistics, in terms of hey, let's just
go kick the Dorian and let's you know, kind of
like you know, one of our taxpayer release shots. Let's
just blow them back out of the house, and then
let's turn around and go home. That's precisely what occurred.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
This orders.
Speaker 7 (06:23):
US Central Command, under the command of General Eric Carilla,
executed Operation Midnight Hammer, a deliberate and precise strike against
three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Listen closely to the language now he's reading prepared remarks,
but they have taken great pains. Every single word has
been carefully chosen not just for political domestic political consumption,
but for international consumption. Also.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
Last night, on the President's orders, US Central Command, under
the command of General Eric Gorilla, executed Operation Midnight Hammer,
a deliberate and precise strike against three Iranian nuclear facilities.
This was a complex and high risk mission carried out
with exceptional skill and disciplined by our joint force. I
(07:15):
want to thank every service member, planner, operator.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
That made this mission possible.
Speaker 7 (07:21):
Their actions reflect the highest standards of the United States
Armed Forces. This operation was designed to severely degrade Rand's
nuclear weapons infrastructure. It was planned and executed across multiple
domains and theaters with coordination that reflects our ability to
project power globally with speed and precision. At the time
(07:44):
and place of our nation's choosing, this was a highly
classified mission, with very few people in Washington knowing the
timing or nature of this plan. I'll refer you to
the graphic on the side as I walk you through
some of the operational details. At midnight Friday into Saturday morning,
a large B two strike package comprised of bombers launched
(08:06):
from the continental United States as part of the plan
to maintain tactical surprise. Part of the package proceeded to
the West and into the Pacific as a decoy, a
deception effort known only to an extremely small number of
planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.
(08:26):
The main strike package comprised of seven B two Spirit bombers,
each with two crew members proceeded quietly to the east
with minimal communications. Throughout the eighteen hour flight into the
target area, the aircraft completed multiple inflight refuelings. Once over land,
(08:47):
the B twos linked up with escort and support aircraft
in a complex, tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across
multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done
with minimal communications. This type of integration is exactly what
(09:07):
our joint force does better than anyone else.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
In the world.
Speaker 7 (09:12):
At approximately five pm Eastern Standard Time last night, and
just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a US
submarine in the Central Command Area of responsibility launched more
than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key
surface infrastructure targets at Esfahan. As the Operation Midnight Hammer
(09:34):
strike package entered Iranian airspace, the US employed several deception tactics,
including decoys as the fourth and fifth generation aircraft pushed
out in front of the strike package at high altitude
and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for
enemy fighters and surface to air missile threats. The strike
(09:58):
package was support by US Strategic Command, US Transportation Command,
US Cyber Command, US Space Command, US Space Force, and
US European Command. As the strike package approached for dou
and Natance, the US protection package employed high speed suppression
(10:22):
weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package, with
fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian
surface to air threats. We are currently unaware of any
shots fired at the US strike package on the way in.
At approximately six forty pm Eastern Standard time two ten
(10:47):
am a Ran time, the lead B two dropped two
GVU fifty seven massive ordnance penetrator weapons on the first
of several aim points at four doh As the President
stated last night, The remaining bombers then hit their targets
as well, with a total of fourteen mops dropped against
(11:09):
two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets
were struck between six forty pm.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
And seven h five pm Eastern time.
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Again, that's about two ten in the morning local time
in Iran, with the Tomahawk missiles being the last to
strike at Esfahan. To ensure we retain the element of
surprise throughout the operation. Following weapons release, the midnight Hammer
strike package exited Iranian airspace and the package began its
(11:43):
return home. We are unaware of any shots fired at
the package on the way out. Iran's fighters did not fly,
and it appears that Iran's surface to air missile systems
did not see us. Throughout the mission. We retained the
(12:05):
element of surprise. In total, US forces employed approximately seventy
five precision.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Guide of weapons during this operation.
Speaker 7 (12:13):
This included, as the President stated last night, fourteen thirty
thousand pounds GBU fifty seven massive ordnance penetrators, marking the
first ever operational use of this weapon. I know that
battle damage is of great interest. Final battle damage will
take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that
(12:35):
all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction. More
than one hundred and twenty five US aircraft participated in
this mission, including B two stealth bombers, multiple flights of
fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens and dozens of air
(12:55):
refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and a full array
of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds
of maintenance and operational professionals.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
As this secretary said.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
This was those largest B two operational strike in US
history and the second longest B two mission ever flown,
exceeded only.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
By those in the days following nine to eleven.
Speaker 7 (13:26):
Well prior to the strike, General Carilla elevated force protection
measures across the region, especially in a Rock, Syria and
the Gulf. Our forces remain on high alert and are
fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks,
which would be an incredibly poor choice.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
We will defend ourselves.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
The safety of our service members and civilians remains our
highest priority. This mission demonst rates the unmatched reach, coordination,
and capability of the United States Military. In just a
matter of weeks, this went from strategic planning to global execution.
This operation underscores the unmatched capabilities and global reach of
(14:17):
the United States Military. As the President clearly said last night,
no other in the no other military in the world,
could have done this. I joined the President and the
Secretary and being incredibly proud of the air crews, Naval forces,
cyber operators, planners and support teams and commanders who made
(14:38):
this mission possible. It is their skill, discipline, and teammate
teamwork that makes this operation possible. I am particularly proud
of our discipline related to operational security, something that was
of great concern to the President, the Secretary General, Carilla
and me, and we will continue to focus on this.
(15:02):
As we stand here this morning, many assets are still
airborne and we have hundreds deployed. I asked that we
keep our warfighters on their way home and our deployed
service member in our thoughts. Our joint Force remains ready
to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests
in the region.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Logistics, capabilities, operational security. It shows that when we want
to do something and we want to do it in
and out quickly, effectively, and try to minimize any opportunity
for retaliation which can still occur, but for any sort
(15:47):
of immediate retaliation to protect those that were in the skies,
and on the basis that we can do this despite
all of the other peripheral issues we'll talk of out today.
You know, Oh, my gosh, does the President have the
authority to do this? Oh, this is a violation of
the constitution. Oh my gosh, this is a violation of
(16:08):
the War Powers Act. Everybody take a deep breath, because
if you think that this is a violation of the
War Powers act then you maybe have slept through the past.
I don't know, twenty five years or so. I don't
think that it is, and I'll walk through and explain why.
(16:30):
But I think what you know, Trump's headed over to
the g twenty or not he headed to NATO. He's
headed to NATO. I think tomorrow and despite what Macron
or Starmer or anybody else may be saying publicly, privately,
they will be saying thank you, thank you now for
(16:52):
domestic political reasons, For their own personal political reasons, they
may say the exact opposite public Publicly, everybody is saying
thank you. This is the role that the most powerful
nation on earth must play, whether we like it or not.
This is what we need to do now. I don't
(17:13):
think it's over with. I don't know what. I've got speculation,
just as every other armchair expert has right now speculation
about what they think may be coming next. You know,
we watched after the we toppled Saddam Hussein. We watched
people you know, rejoicing in the street, only only to
what only to see one military junta replaced by another
(17:36):
military junta. So I would just caution and we don't
get too excited. But I would encourage us to just recognize,
irrespective of all of the other issues that surround this
one operation, at least revel in the operation, at least
revel in the ability of the United States, as he said,
(18:00):
to strike anywhere in the world at any time of
our choosing. And that's precisely what we did. And you
compare that to the past four years of appeasement. Holy cow,
at least with regard to the US military. It's back, baby,
(18:25):
It's back now. When we get back. Lots of issue
war powers. What's going to happen on the ground in
Iran next, what's going to happen domestically in terms of
the mid terms. Lots of things stuck about.
Speaker 8 (18:42):
I suppose the only issue with the bombing of the
nuclear facilities in Iran is our own Second Amendment right
to bear arms and the right to self defense, which
Iran may now be able to claim. On the other hand,
I get that the reason we don't want them to
(19:03):
have the nuke is because they have a high likelihood
of using it, sort of like a criminal with guns.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Yeah, I'm only laugh chuckling, because that's the point that
everybody misses. I saw some posts on x over the
weekend about well, you know, if we're going to do
this to the Iranians, then the Israelis need to you know,
come forward and be honest about what kind of nukes
they have, and they ought to agree to dismantle theirs too. Okay, well,
(19:35):
then so should the Russians, so should the North Koreans,
so should Beijing, so should Pakistan and India. Let's just
let's all seeing kumba, y'all now, and just you know,
everybody just will have you know, a complete you know,
instead of a non proliferation policy, you know where we
don't want anybody else to get them, we will just
(19:57):
do a complete We're gonna de nuke the entire world,
because well that's in a fairy tale, that's how things
would work. The difference, as you so succinctly point out,
is that the Iranians the number one sponsor of state
terror in the region, someone that has since nineteen seventy
(20:17):
nine been killing, you know, capturing and killing American civilians
and military personnel, and then all others, who wants to
destroy this country, who wants to destroy Israel, who quite
frankly wants to have control over all of the Middle East.
They were willing to use them. That's why they were
(20:40):
building them, and that's when we took it out. So
now their nuke program wants, you know, once buried beneath
the mountains, spinning behind all those centrifuges. Everybody talks about, Uh,
we don't know what the damn and final damage assessments,
the battle damage assessments, are still ongoing, but at least
the initial intelligence confirms that the strikes were And what
(21:04):
I've read and what a couple of people in DC
have told me, is that they were devastatingly effective. Not
a single weapon was missed, not a I mean not
a single weapon missed, and not a single plane was harmed.
Not a single warning reached Tehran in time, and even
if it had, the Israelis already had control of the airspace.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
You heard.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs point out that they
do not believe that one shot was fired or that
one plane took off. No drones, no missiles, nothing. Now
geopolitically this that that event is going to be parsed
for decades. But I wonder, my very first thought is
(21:55):
what message does Operation Midnight Hammer? Does it sin to Pyongyang,
to Beijing, to Moscow, and I think the answer is unambiguous.
Now I'll tell you what the answer is. We can
talk for days about what it means. The answer is unambiguous,
and that is that American deterrence is no longer just theoretical.
(22:19):
Our deterrence is operational now. The strike also underscores the restoration.
I think of competent, calculated, and a credible US military doctrine,
a well defined mission, limited in scope. I mean it
may be huge, but limited in scope and get in,
(22:42):
get out. You know, in this era of you think
about how many red lines did Obama? I mean, let's
go back to Wells, go back to Clinton. Have you
ever stopped and thought about why Pyongyang, why Kim Jong
in that dynasty, why they have nukes? Because Bill Clinton,
(23:06):
it was incapable of doing what Donald Trump did. You
can talk all you want, and you can continue to talk,
and you can even do like Trump's done here. You
can blow the S word out of them and say
do you want to come to the table now, because
we'll still talk to you. Bill Clinton had that opportunity,
and we would not have a North Korea with nukes.
(23:31):
So you can talk about red lines going all the
way back to Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush,
Barack Obama. Now Trump didn't do anything because nothing was
going on. Everybody was laying a little lame quiet. He
actually reached out to Kim Jong un and tried to
do something. Didn't accomplish anything, but he tried. And you
(23:52):
notice when he tried, he didn't draw any red lines
because he knew if he drew a red line, he
would have to follow up with it. But drawing a
red line and then following through on it underscores the
restoration of competent, calculated, incredible US military doctrine. And as
(24:13):
I said, in the era of televised red lines and
diplomatic vapors, it just disappears. In its place stands a
doctrine of decisive engagement, strategic clarity, and overwhelming power projection.
It's if the details of that operation, the operational security,
(24:40):
the logistics, everything don't give you goosebumps about how just
damn good we are, then you're not really paying attention.
You know, It's kind of worth remembering. This is not
the first time that the Trump doctrine has punctuated American
policy with actual action. Because we had the killing of
all the money in twenty twenty, which was likewise dismissed
(25:03):
by the critics. Yet what did it do. It scared
the of Jesus throughout the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the IRGC,
and it recalibrated perceptions of our weakness. Operation Midnight Hammers
cut from exactly the same cloth, but it was exponentially
larger in scale, larger and sophistication, and I think almost
(25:26):
as importantly it was larger in symbolism. And the other
thing that strikes me simply because having been involved in
things like you know, Bush making a secret trip to
tay not to Tehran, to Baghdad in the middle of
the Iraq War, and having been involved in some of
that planning, the deception was elegant, absolutely elegant. You know,
(25:52):
when Trump hinted that he would sign in two weeks,
in hindsight reads less like a delay and more like
just a simple misdirection. It lulled Tehran, it quieted Washington.
It gave time for the planners to position the assets,
finalize the routes, conduct the rehearsals. It wasn't procrastination, it
was preparation. And it worked and I you know, I
(26:15):
think I don't have this in my note if I'm
want to say one other things, because I've now seen
pictures of the National Security team sitting in a situation
room going through the plans, and you know, Trump being
given all the options if I take this option, while
the ramifications, if I take this option one of the ramifications,
(26:36):
and there's one picture that stuck out in my mind,
and that picture is the usual the usual gang is there,
but sitting to the I think it was appeared to
be to the President's left, probably about two or three
seats down, with Susie Wiles, chief staff. I don't think
(26:58):
we give her enough credit for keeping Trump. Now, don't
get me wrong, I'm not saying that Trump needs as
much as he needed before, because I think the assassination
attempt changed everything about the way he thinks about stuff,
including the appointment of someone like Susie Wiles to beat
the chief of staff to maintain order within that entire
(27:19):
West Wing organization. Now, as I said, an operation of
this magnitude does not occur in a vacuum. Diplomatic repercussions, Well,
that's going to occur, and our allies in the Gulf
will weigh their next moves very carefully, but that caution
(27:43):
is preferable to their passivity. What matters now is not
that some are uncomfortable, but that Iran no longer possesses
a functioning nuclear weapons program. And so the B two's
hung quietly across the pas it bound for Guam as
the Tomahawks return to their tubes as the Pentagon completes
(28:05):
its assessment. One truth remains absolutely inescapable. I think Operation
Midnight Hammer has changed the world now from that statement,
and I do believe it's changed the world. The discussions
that NATO will be entirely different than they would have
(28:27):
been a week or two ago. I think all discussions
with world leaders, enemies and allies alike will now be different.
They'll see him Trump striding into a meeting and they
won't say it, but they'll think to themselves, a guy's
(28:48):
got balls, Yeah, yep, and uh yeah. Now what does
it mean in terms of changing the world, Well, I
think that, But in terms of what happens next day two,
so to speak, I don't know. I do know that
(29:08):
this strike will be studied in the war colleges for generations,
and not just because it was successful. But I think
also because it reveals a lot about twenty first century warfare.
What's probably the most powerful tool in the arsenal, the
b twos, the mops, the bunker buster bombs, as they're
(29:33):
colloquially known. No, I think secrecy. Secrecy is power, and
precision is persuasion and deterrence when credible, When deterrence is
backed up by action, deterrence becomes peace. Trump promised us
peace through strength. And this weekend the world saw exactly
(29:56):
what he means by that, what he means by that.
Now day two, Yes, day two, and the I pulled
up one of the headlines on Drudge. Some lawmakers in
both parties question the legality of Trump's around strikes. Multiple
Democrats raised constitutional concerns about the strikes, even some Republicans do. Well,
(30:21):
we'll start diving into that in a minute.
Speaker 9 (30:24):
It's hard to listen to these Democrats talk about this
bombing of the bunker. They are ridiculously partisan. If Trump
creed cancer, they would talk about how economically bad it
is that people will be out of a job because
there's less cancer, and some hospitals will have to close down.
These people have gone so far out of their minds.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
It's a sobering moment that makes you pause and just realize,
oh wow, the work the rest of the world really
is much more backcrap crazy than when we thought it was,
and they truly are.
Speaker 9 (31:08):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Danny Denon, who is the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations,
gave a great speech at the United Nations that you know,
the Security Council has been meeting all weekend. Oh my gosh,
what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?
You know, one thing the United Nations could do that
(31:29):
would make them useful for the first first time in
probably their history would be, why don't you, uh as
as the world, demand free and fair, open elections in Iran?
And why don't you put together an election oversight, some
protocols and go see and organize free and fair elections
(31:52):
in Iran Once you do that. But no, the Israeli
ambassador has to lecture them, and it's scathing. Oh it's
very polite when just somebody's saying he's just quartering and
drawing them. Now's the time to guarantee that it never returned.
Who who Look who the cat dragged back in today
getting and screaming. I'm sure none other than the dragon. Redbeard, Boy, Dragon,
you were really really missed by the listeners. Glad to
have you back. Hope that sight seeing and the rain
was good, and uh, we really appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I am slightly concerned how the numbers were around here
without me the ratings, because there were two or three
Michael Brown listeners on that trip.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
No one of the things seems so quiet. Yes last week,
let's go first to Fox News Jennifer Griffin and more.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
According to the President. The other thing I can point out, Brett,
is that this is an operation. In the last eighteen
years since I've been at the Pentagon, I've never seen.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
Such operational security.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
There was nobody speaking about this any of the preparations.
There was a complete lockdown, almost a blackout of information
for the last few days. I'm sitting here in the
Pentagon right now, I can tell you the hallways are
empty and all of the information is coming right now
out of the White House. That is a significant achievement
(01:18):
because there were no leaks about the timing. Now, sometimes
I think those who a lot of the flight trackers,
the open source intelligence flight trackers. That flight radar did
indicate some of the when the B twos took off
from white men, but again, nobody really expected that it
would take place this evening. If you looked at the
(01:40):
moon schedule, you might have had a clue because it
was a waning crescent and almost a new moon on
the twenty fifth, so it would have been very very
dark over Iran tonight, and you need that in order to.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Bomb.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
That's the ideal condition for something like a B two
that is, yes, itself stealth, but it still has to
be escorted in in case any Iran were to put
up any planes or there were any opportunities to fire
on those B twos, which are such valuable and very
very special planes. Only the US military has this kind
(02:16):
of weaponry and this capability. No other country in the
world could have carried off what occurred tonight at those
three uranium enrichment sites in Iran.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
Jen You're exactly right on the operational security here and
the fact that there were obviously some red herrings.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
And in a world where decisions.
Speaker 6 (02:39):
Are made and the world digests the decision even before
it's made because of social media, and everyone's watching everywhere.
This was a pretty amazing operation when you start thinking
that the President said within two weeks, we are two
days from within two weeks, and this happened with a
(03:00):
post on truth social and no other word. Really getting
out ahead of that is pretty stunning.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
It's very it's extraordinarily stunning. Traditionally, operations like this you
inform the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader,
and then the chairman's of the Intel Committee, the Armed
Services Committee, and perhaps a couple of the oversight committees.
(03:30):
My understanding is they only informed the Speaker of the
House and the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, and I
think that's completely reasonable. Can you imagine now you're going
to hear in just a minute, raging Cajun Dan Kine,
the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, describe exactly
how this operation took place, Operation Midnight Hammer, in which
(03:53):
we now, according to Trump, but you know he's prone
to hyperbole, we obliterated the three nuke sites. Of course,
Drudge is running this morning with the headline that says,
satellite imagery underwrites Trump's claim attack obliterated nuke sites. Well,
(04:13):
nobody knows yet. Because nobody's been down into the tunnels,
nobody's been underground to see what's happened. So look, everybody
just chill out for a moment. But back to the
op sect, the operational security. I find it utterly fascinating
(04:34):
because if indeed, just I'll pose the question, I'm not
going to answer before we all pose the question to you,
if the President, or the Deaf sect, or the Secretary
of State or anybody else the VP Potus himself had
informed other than the Speaker and the Senate Majority leader.
(04:55):
And I'm not even sure when that may have been
done only after the operation started, or maybe after only
after the bombs had been dropped, I don't know. But
had it been done before, as is traditionally done Republican
or Democrat alike, I don't care. I mean, we controlled
both houses, so the chairman would have been obviously Republicans.
(05:17):
Would you have trusted them to keep their mouths shut?
Would you? I would not have trusted them in the least,
not in the least would have I trusted them. So
I think the fact that they were able to pull
this off the way they did is truly fascinating. Now
I want to get now to General Dan Raisin Kane,
(05:41):
who gives a detailed breakdown of Operation Midnight Hammer. More
than one hundred and twenty five US military aircraft are involved.
Large B two strike package left the continentally the United
States on midnight Friday. This is just in terms of execution,
(06:03):
in terms of logistics, in terms of hey, let's just
go kick the Dorian and let's you know, kind of
like you know, one of our taxpayer release shots. Let's
just blow them back out of the house, and then
let's turn around and go home. That's precisely what occurred.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
This orders.
Speaker 7 (06:23):
US Central Command, under the command of General Eric Carilla,
executed Operation Midnight Hammer, a deliberate and precise strike against
three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Listen closely to the language now he's reading prepared remarks,
but they have taken great pains. Every single word has
been carefully chosen not just for political domestic political consumption,
but for international consumption. Also.
Speaker 7 (06:54):
Last night, on the President's orders, US Central Command, under
the command of General Eric Gorilla, executed Operation Midnight Hammer,
a deliberate and precise strike against three Iranian nuclear facilities.
This was a complex and high risk mission carried out
with exceptional skill and disciplined by our joint force. I
(07:15):
want to thank every service member, planner, operator.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
That made this mission possible.
Speaker 7 (07:21):
Their actions reflect the highest standards of the United States
Armed Forces. This operation was designed to severely degrade Rand's
nuclear weapons infrastructure. It was planned and executed across multiple
domains and theaters with coordination that reflects our ability to
project power globally with speed and precision. At the time
(07:44):
and place of our nation's choosing, this was a highly
classified mission, with very few people in Washington knowing the
timing or nature of this plan. I'll refer you to
the graphic on the side as I walk you through
some of the operational details. At midnight Friday into Saturday morning,
a large B two strike package comprised of bombers launched
(08:06):
from the continental United States as part of the plan
to maintain tactical surprise. Part of the package proceeded to
the West and into the Pacific as a decoy, a
deception effort known only to an extremely small number of
planners and key leaders here in Washington and in Tampa.
(08:26):
The main strike package comprised of seven B two Spirit bombers,
each with two crew members proceeded quietly to the east
with minimal communications. Throughout the eighteen hour flight into the
target area, the aircraft completed multiple inflight refuelings. Once over land,
(08:47):
the B twos linked up with escort and support aircraft
in a complex, tightly timed maneuver requiring exact synchronization across
multiple platforms in a narrow piece of airspace, all done
with minimal communications. This type of integration is exactly what
(09:07):
our joint force does better than anyone else.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
In the world.
Speaker 7 (09:12):
At approximately five pm Eastern Standard Time last night, and
just prior to the strike package entering Iran, a US
submarine in the Central Command Area of responsibility launched more
than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key
surface infrastructure targets at Esfahan. As the Operation Midnight Hammer
(09:34):
strike package entered Iranian airspace, the US employed several deception tactics,
including decoys as the fourth and fifth generation aircraft pushed
out in front of the strike package at high altitude
and high speed, sweeping in front of the package for
enemy fighters and surface to air missile threats. The strike
(09:58):
package was support by US Strategic Command, US Transportation Command,
US Cyber Command, US Space Command, US Space Force, and
US European Command. As the strike package approached for dou
and Natance, the US protection package employed high speed suppression
(10:22):
weapons to ensure safe passage of the strike package, with
fighter assets employing preemptive suppressing fires against any potential Iranian
surface to air threats. We are currently unaware of any
shots fired at the US strike package on the way in.
At approximately six forty pm Eastern Standard time two ten
(10:47):
am a Ran time, the lead B two dropped two
GVU fifty seven massive ordnance penetrator weapons on the first
of several aim points at four doh As the President
stated last night, The remaining bombers then hit their targets
as well, with a total of fourteen mops dropped against
(11:09):
two nuclear target areas. All three Iranian nuclear infrastructure targets
were struck between six forty pm.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
And seven h five pm Eastern time.
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Again, that's about two ten in the morning local time
in Iran, with the Tomahawk missiles being the last to
strike at Esfahan. To ensure we retain the element of
surprise throughout the operation. Following weapons release, the midnight Hammer
strike package exited Iranian airspace and the package began its
(11:43):
return home. We are unaware of any shots fired at
the package on the way out. Iran's fighters did not fly,
and it appears that Iran's surface to air missile systems
did not see us. Throughout the mission. We retained the
(12:05):
element of surprise. In total, US forces employed approximately seventy
five precision.
Speaker 5 (12:11):
Guide of weapons during this operation.
Speaker 7 (12:13):
This included, as the President stated last night, fourteen thirty
thousand pounds GBU fifty seven massive ordnance penetrators, marking the
first ever operational use of this weapon. I know that
battle damage is of great interest. Final battle damage will
take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that
(12:35):
all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction. More
than one hundred and twenty five US aircraft participated in
this mission, including B two stealth bombers, multiple flights of
fourth and fifth generation fighters, dozens and dozens of air
(12:55):
refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine, and a full array
of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as hundreds
of maintenance and operational professionals.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
As this secretary said.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
This was those largest B two operational strike in US
history and the second longest B two mission ever flown,
exceeded only.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
By those in the days following nine to eleven.
Speaker 7 (13:26):
Well prior to the strike, General Carilla elevated force protection
measures across the region, especially in a Rock, Syria and
the Gulf. Our forces remain on high alert and are
fully postured to respond to any Iranian retaliation or proxy attacks,
which would be an incredibly poor choice.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
We will defend ourselves.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
The safety of our service members and civilians remains our
highest priority. This mission demonst rates the unmatched reach, coordination,
and capability of the United States Military. In just a
matter of weeks, this went from strategic planning to global execution.
This operation underscores the unmatched capabilities and global reach of
(14:17):
the United States Military. As the President clearly said last night,
no other in the no other military in the world,
could have done this. I joined the President and the
Secretary and being incredibly proud of the air crews, Naval forces,
cyber operators, planners and support teams and commanders who made
(14:38):
this mission possible. It is their skill, discipline, and teammate
teamwork that makes this operation possible. I am particularly proud
of our discipline related to operational security, something that was
of great concern to the President, the Secretary General, Carilla
and me, and we will continue to focus on this.
(15:02):
As we stand here this morning, many assets are still
airborne and we have hundreds deployed. I asked that we
keep our warfighters on their way home and our deployed
service member in our thoughts. Our joint Force remains ready
to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests
in the region.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Logistics, capabilities, operational security. It shows that when we want
to do something and we want to do it in
and out quickly, effectively, and try to minimize any opportunity
for retaliation which can still occur, but for any sort
(15:47):
of immediate retaliation to protect those that were in the skies,
and on the basis that we can do this despite
all of the other peripheral issues we'll talk of out today.
You know, Oh, my gosh, does the President have the
authority to do this? Oh, this is a violation of
the constitution. Oh my gosh, this is a violation of
(16:08):
the War Powers Act. Everybody take a deep breath, because
if you think that this is a violation of the
War Powers act then you maybe have slept through the past.
I don't know, twenty five years or so. I don't
think that it is, and I'll walk through and explain why.
(16:30):
But I think what you know, Trump's headed over to
the g twenty or not he headed to NATO. He's
headed to NATO. I think tomorrow and despite what Macron
or Starmer or anybody else may be saying publicly, privately,
they will be saying thank you, thank you now for
(16:52):
domestic political reasons, For their own personal political reasons, they
may say the exact opposite public Publicly, everybody is saying
thank you. This is the role that the most powerful
nation on earth must play, whether we like it or not.
This is what we need to do now. I don't
(17:13):
think it's over with. I don't know what. I've got speculation,
just as every other armchair expert has right now speculation
about what they think may be coming next. You know,
we watched after the we toppled Saddam Hussein. We watched
people you know, rejoicing in the street, only only to
what only to see one military junta replaced by another
(17:36):
military junta. So I would just caution and we don't
get too excited. But I would encourage us to just recognize,
irrespective of all of the other issues that surround this
one operation, at least revel in the operation, at least
revel in the ability of the United States, as he said,
(18:00):
to strike anywhere in the world at any time of
our choosing. And that's precisely what we did. And you
compare that to the past four years of appeasement. Holy cow,
at least with regard to the US military. It's back, baby,
(18:25):
It's back now. When we get back. Lots of issue
war powers. What's going to happen on the ground in
Iran next, what's going to happen domestically in terms of
the mid terms. Lots of things stuck about.
Speaker 8 (18:42):
I suppose the only issue with the bombing of the
nuclear facilities in Iran is our own Second Amendment right
to bear arms and the right to self defense, which
Iran may now be able to claim. On the other hand,
I get that the reason we don't want them to
(19:03):
have the nuke is because they have a high likelihood
of using it, sort of like a criminal with guns.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
Yeah, I'm only laugh chuckling, because that's the point that
everybody misses. I saw some posts on x over the
weekend about well, you know, if we're going to do
this to the Iranians, then the Israelis need to you know,
come forward and be honest about what kind of nukes
they have, and they ought to agree to dismantle theirs too. Okay, well,
(19:35):
then so should the Russians, so should the North Koreans,
so should Beijing, so should Pakistan and India. Let's just
let's all seeing kumba, y'all now, and just you know,
everybody just will have you know, a complete you know,
instead of a non proliferation policy, you know where we
don't want anybody else to get them, we will just
(19:57):
do a complete We're gonna de nuke the entire world,
because well that's in a fairy tale, that's how things
would work. The difference, as you so succinctly point out,
is that the Iranians the number one sponsor of state
terror in the region, someone that has since nineteen seventy
(20:17):
nine been killing, you know, capturing and killing American civilians
and military personnel, and then all others, who wants to
destroy this country, who wants to destroy Israel, who quite
frankly wants to have control over all of the Middle East.
They were willing to use them. That's why they were
(20:40):
building them, and that's when we took it out. So
now their nuke program wants, you know, once buried beneath
the mountains, spinning behind all those centrifuges. Everybody talks about, Uh,
we don't know what the damn and final damage assessments,
the battle damage assessments, are still ongoing, but at least
the initial intelligence confirms that the strikes were And what
(21:04):
I've read and what a couple of people in DC
have told me, is that they were devastatingly effective. Not
a single weapon was missed, not a I mean not
a single weapon missed, and not a single plane was harmed.
Not a single warning reached Tehran in time, and even
if it had, the Israelis already had control of the airspace.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
You heard.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs point out that they
do not believe that one shot was fired or that
one plane took off. No drones, no missiles, nothing. Now
geopolitically this that that event is going to be parsed
for decades. But I wonder, my very first thought is
(21:55):
what message does Operation Midnight Hammer? Does it sin to Pyongyang,
to Beijing, to Moscow, and I think the answer is unambiguous.
Now I'll tell you what the answer is. We can
talk for days about what it means. The answer is unambiguous,
and that is that American deterrence is no longer just theoretical.
(22:19):
Our deterrence is operational now. The strike also underscores the restoration.
I think of competent, calculated, and a credible US military doctrine,
a well defined mission, limited in scope. I mean it
may be huge, but limited in scope and get in,
(22:42):
get out. You know, in this era of you think
about how many red lines did Obama? I mean, let's
go back to Wells, go back to Clinton. Have you
ever stopped and thought about why Pyongyang, why Kim Jong
in that dynasty, why they have nukes? Because Bill Clinton,
(23:06):
it was incapable of doing what Donald Trump did. You
can talk all you want, and you can continue to talk,
and you can even do like Trump's done here. You
can blow the S word out of them and say
do you want to come to the table now, because
we'll still talk to you. Bill Clinton had that opportunity,
and we would not have a North Korea with nukes.
(23:31):
So you can talk about red lines going all the
way back to Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush,
Barack Obama. Now Trump didn't do anything because nothing was
going on. Everybody was laying a little lame quiet. He
actually reached out to Kim Jong un and tried to
do something. Didn't accomplish anything, but he tried. And you
(23:52):
notice when he tried, he didn't draw any red lines
because he knew if he drew a red line, he
would have to follow up with it. But drawing a
red line and then following through on it underscores the
restoration of competent, calculated, incredible US military doctrine. And as
(24:13):
I said, in the era of televised red lines and
diplomatic vapors, it just disappears. In its place stands a
doctrine of decisive engagement, strategic clarity, and overwhelming power projection.
It's if the details of that operation, the operational security,
(24:40):
the logistics, everything don't give you goosebumps about how just
damn good we are, then you're not really paying attention.
You know, It's kind of worth remembering. This is not
the first time that the Trump doctrine has punctuated American
policy with actual action. Because we had the killing of
all the money in twenty twenty, which was likewise dismissed
(25:03):
by the critics. Yet what did it do. It scared
the of Jesus throughout the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the IRGC,
and it recalibrated perceptions of our weakness. Operation Midnight Hammers
cut from exactly the same cloth, but it was exponentially
larger in scale, larger and sophistication, and I think almost
(25:26):
as importantly it was larger in symbolism. And the other
thing that strikes me simply because having been involved in
things like you know, Bush making a secret trip to
tay not to Tehran, to Baghdad in the middle of
the Iraq War, and having been involved in some of
that planning, the deception was elegant, absolutely elegant. You know,
(25:52):
when Trump hinted that he would sign in two weeks,
in hindsight reads less like a delay and more like
just a simple misdirection. It lulled Tehran, it quieted Washington.
It gave time for the planners to position the assets,
finalize the routes, conduct the rehearsals. It wasn't procrastination, it
was preparation. And it worked and I you know, I
(26:15):
think I don't have this in my note if I'm
want to say one other things, because I've now seen
pictures of the National Security team sitting in a situation
room going through the plans, and you know, Trump being
given all the options if I take this option, while
the ramifications, if I take this option one of the ramifications,
(26:36):
and there's one picture that stuck out in my mind,
and that picture is the usual the usual gang is there,
but sitting to the I think it was appeared to
be to the President's left, probably about two or three
seats down, with Susie Wiles, chief staff. I don't think
(26:58):
we give her enough credit for keeping Trump. Now, don't
get me wrong, I'm not saying that Trump needs as
much as he needed before, because I think the assassination
attempt changed everything about the way he thinks about stuff,
including the appointment of someone like Susie Wiles to beat
the chief of staff to maintain order within that entire
(27:19):
West Wing organization. Now, as I said, an operation of
this magnitude does not occur in a vacuum. Diplomatic repercussions, Well,
that's going to occur, and our allies in the Gulf
will weigh their next moves very carefully, but that caution
(27:43):
is preferable to their passivity. What matters now is not
that some are uncomfortable, but that Iran no longer possesses
a functioning nuclear weapons program. And so the B two's
hung quietly across the pas it bound for Guam as
the Tomahawks return to their tubes as the Pentagon completes
(28:05):
its assessment. One truth remains absolutely inescapable. I think Operation
Midnight Hammer has changed the world now from that statement,
and I do believe it's changed the world. The discussions
that NATO will be entirely different than they would have
(28:27):
been a week or two ago. I think all discussions
with world leaders, enemies and allies alike will now be different.
They'll see him Trump striding into a meeting and they
won't say it, but they'll think to themselves, a guy's
(28:48):
got balls, Yeah, yep, and uh yeah. Now what does
it mean in terms of changing the world, Well, I
think that, But in terms of what happens next day two,
so to speak, I don't know. I do know that
(29:08):
this strike will be studied in the war colleges for generations,
and not just because it was successful. But I think
also because it reveals a lot about twenty first century warfare.
What's probably the most powerful tool in the arsenal, the
b twos, the mops, the bunker buster bombs, as they're
(29:33):
colloquially known. No, I think secrecy. Secrecy is power, and
precision is persuasion and deterrence when credible, When deterrence is
backed up by action, deterrence becomes peace. Trump promised us
peace through strength. And this weekend the world saw exactly
(29:56):
what he means by that, what he means by that.
Now day two, Yes, day two, and the I pulled
up one of the headlines on Drudge. Some lawmakers in
both parties question the legality of Trump's around strikes. Multiple
Democrats raised constitutional concerns about the strikes, even some Republicans do. Well,
(30:21):
we'll start diving into that in a minute.
Speaker 9 (30:24):
It's hard to listen to these Democrats talk about this
bombing of the bunker. They are ridiculously partisan. If Trump
creed cancer, they would talk about how economically bad it
is that people will be out of a job because
there's less cancer, and some hospitals will have to close down.
These people have gone so far out of their minds.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
It's a sobering moment that makes you pause and just realize,
oh wow, the work the rest of the world really
is much more backcrap crazy than when we thought it was,
and they truly are.
Speaker 9 (31:08):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Danny Denon, who is the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations,
gave a great speech at the United Nations that you know,
the Security Council has been meeting all weekend. Oh my gosh,
what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?
You know, one thing the United Nations could do that
(31:29):
would make them useful for the first first time in
probably their history would be, why don't you, uh as
as the world, demand free and fair, open elections in Iran?
And why don't you put together an election oversight, some
protocols and go see and organize free and fair elections
(31:52):
in Iran Once you do that. But no, the Israeli
ambassador has to lecture them, and it's scathing. Oh it's
very polite when just somebody's saying he's just quartering and
drawing them. Now's the time to guarantee that it never returned.
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