June 23, 2025 • 34 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So Michael vari Show is on the air last night.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
On the President's orders, US Central Command, under the command
of General Eric Gorilla, executed Operation Midnight Hammer.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
A short time ago.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
The US military carried out massive precision strikes on the
three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime, Bordeaux, Natanz
and Esfahan. Our objective was the destruction of irans nuclear
inrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed
(00:46):
by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Tonight, I can report to the.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
World that the strikes were a spectacular military success.
Speaker 6 (01:05):
The order we received from our commander in chief was focused,
it was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the
Iranian nuclear program. But it's worth noting the operation did
not target Iranian troops.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So the Iranian.
Speaker 6 (01:35):
Thanks President Trump's bold and visionary leadership and his commitment
to peace through strength, Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.
Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to
Iran's nuclear program, and none could until President.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
When this president speaks, the.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
World should listen, and the US military we can back
it up. Taran is certainly calculating the reality that planes
flew from the middle of America and Missouri overnight completely
undetected over three of their most highly sensitive sites, and
we were able to.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Destroy nuclear capabilities.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
And our boys in those bombers are on their way
home right now. We believe that'll have a clear psychological
impact on how they view the future, and we certainly
hope they take the path of negotiated peace. But I
could not be more proud form did.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
This mission demonstrates 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 the United
States military.
Speaker 7 (03:27):
There is quite a split of opinion as to whether
or not the United States should have dropped bombs on
fordho and Espahan and the three sites where they were sent.
And I will argue, and I genuinely believe that these
(03:53):
splits of opinion, that the asking of questions, that the
defiance and disagreement is a very vital part of a
properly functioning democratic republic. The moment we simply in lockstep
(04:17):
get excited about war especially when it would appear we
are winning is not in America's best interest. There should
be questions asked. There should be people saying, what will
be the consequences of eating so much cake on Monday?
Will we be sick to our stomachs on Tuesday? To
(04:39):
what will we expose ourselves? What enemies may rise up
against us as a result of the bombs we drop?
What future terrorist are we inspiring by such things? These
are responsible questions. This is a complex, very complex matter,
(05:02):
particularly in a country like our own. It's a reminder
why our borders must be secure, because there is no
doubt in anybody's mind in either party at this point
that there are Iranis and those who've been paid by
the Iranis that are in the United States who were
already positioned, prepared, planned for simply need to execute terror attacks.
(05:29):
Could have been at the seventh game of the NBA Finals.
It could be at a horse race, It could be
at an airport, It could be most anywhere. This is
why you secure your border. This is why you know
who is being allowed into your country the way every
(05:50):
other country in the world does. Many imprison you if
you come into the country illegally. When you talk about
America's vital national interest, you don't simply wake up one
day after you've dropped three bombs and start preparing to
defend your nation stateside, something we've not had to do
(06:14):
to the extent that people in Japan or Germany or
France or Great Britain have had to do. It's a
different matter altogether. But the world has shown up on
America shores, some of them to study, some of them
with a tourist visa, some of them as investors, and
(06:36):
some of them with the worst of intentions but appearing
to be one of those earlier groups, some of them
claiming to be refugees, when in fact they're under the
direction of a very very dangerous moms. We all lived
through nine to eleven, we all lived through the World
trades and aer bombing before that. We've seen what these
(06:58):
folks can do, what they're capable of, and that grows
by the day. So whatever your position with regard to
what happened this weekend, and of course you run and
their effort this afternoon is striking at the US base
in cutter we don't really know yet, and I could
(07:23):
not be more adamant that we are not a breaking
news show. Breaking news requires a trust of primary news
sources that I simply do not have. And I'm not
going to repeat something that I don't have a relative
certitude that it is accurate, because I want you to
(07:44):
know that when I make a statement, it's not because
I want to be the first to say it. I
very rarely do exclusive stories. I think we have to
be mindful. There are various perspectives, and there are people
that we cannot and should not trust, like the people
who told us that the Pfizer vaccine was a vaccine,
or that you wouldn't get the virus if you took it.
(08:06):
There are equally very bad people in the Bolton crowd,
in the Lindsey Graham crowd who have worgasms over efforts
like this, but it's not their sons who end up dead. Well,
we have a lot to get to today. Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
The Michael Verie Show continues to use a quint programming note.
Speaker 7 (08:31):
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro with Middle East Forum has been
our guests in the past to talk about matters related
to particularly the Middle East and war in Iran and
the balance of power in that region and military preparedness,
and we often do our interviews, not often, sometimes do
(08:53):
our interviews for this program.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
In the middle of the day.
Speaker 7 (08:59):
The reason for that is folks want to be at
home with their family eating dinner. They don't want to
be with us as a guest. So many times we
would do interviews before the show and record them so
that the timing works out for the evening show. This
is a rare case where after doing that interview, some
(09:22):
circumstances changed, but we made the decision that they did
not change materially to such an extent that they changed
the importance of that conversation. As you know, Iran is
claiming strikes on Americans and Cutter that occurred late this afternoon.
(09:48):
We don't know the full extent to which that is true.
We don't trust the Irani government, and we don't have
a good assessment.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Those things take some period of time.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
As I said, we believe that the the importance of
that interview is materially the same, and we will air
that interview coming up in the next segment. I'm not
going to attempt to replicate or duplicate or repeat what
has been stated, mostly with regard to the strikes on Iran.
(10:23):
You can see wall to wall coverage on most any network,
and a picture is in fact worth a thousand words.
What I try to do is add something to the
conversation that you're not already getting if you're glued to
the television and watching what's happening, And that's perspective. I
(10:44):
will start by saying that I am more skeptical than
most as to whether we should strike Iran or should
have done so. But if we are going to strike,
we all have a hand in making sure that is
a success.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And number one, that our men.
Speaker 7 (11:04):
Are protected, that they're equipped, that they're given realistic orders
and an opportunity to succeed, something we saw in Iraq
and especially Afghanistan, they were not given. We all watched
the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan under Joe Biden, and we
(11:26):
never want to see that happen again.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Nothing dishonors our men.
Speaker 7 (11:31):
And women in uniform like putting them in a situation
to be killed without a reasonable opportunity to defend themselves
and to succeed. That effort was a rousing success, and
I think most everyone who has reviewed that would come
to that conclusion. You've probably heard President Trump's remark. It
(11:56):
was a well televised statement, but I thought heg Seth
had something interesting to say, and I think it is
unfair that the Left has gone after Pete Hegseth saying
that he did not have enough years wearing the brass
in order to be the Secretary of Defense, especially considering
the clown who preceded him in that job, who was
(12:17):
there because he was black, not because he was competent.
I think Pete Hegseth has the respect of the men
and women who wear the uniform more than any Secretary
of Defense in a very long time. And I can't
think of anyone before him who had more because he
comes from their ranks. This arrogant, elitist idea, the separation
(12:40):
of the brass and the men and women who serve.
I think when you talk about inspiring the troops, you
see what's known as a players coach. You see a
guy who comes out of the NFL and he's the
NBA or Major League Baseball, and they were a player
and then they start coaching.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
It's a different dynamic.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
Not to say that's the only way you can be
a leader, but that tends to inspire a great deal
of respect, A great deal of respect.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Actually, let me switch that.
Speaker 7 (13:09):
Let's go to Raisin Kin, the Air Force General's Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
This was his.
Speaker 7 (13:18):
Announcement of the execution Operation Midnight Hammer.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Eight h one or month.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Last night, on the President's orders, US Central Command, under
the command of General Eric Krilla, 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
(13:46):
want to thank every service member, planner, operator that made.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
This mission possible.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
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
(14:14):
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.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
Administration is well positioned to handle this very complex, tedious,
troubling issue. And I want to go to Clip five
h six or moan. This is Vice President jd Vance,
who's a very good spokesman on this issue. He's on
Meet the Press, He's talking to Kristen Welker, and he
(14:48):
addresses the reality the elephant.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
In the room.
Speaker 7 (14:51):
Americans are exhausted by twenty five years of forever wars.
This is not something that Trumpet administration wanted to do.
The Trump administration does not get wargasms. Like Lindsey Graham,
Donald Trump did not get elected so that he could
do these sorts of things he felt he had to,
And I think addressing this in this manner.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I think this was important.
Speaker 8 (15:16):
I certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after twenty
five years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I understand the concern.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
But the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents,
and now we have a president who actually knows how
to accomplish America's national security objectives. So this is not
going to be some long drawn out thing we've got in.
We've done the job of setting their nuclear program back.
We're going to now work to permanently dismantle that nuclear program.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Over the coming years.
Speaker 8 (15:45):
And that is what the President has set out to
do simple principle, Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. That
has animated American policy over the past one hundred and
thirty days. It's going to continue to be a driving
force of our policy in the Middle East for the
next three.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
And a half years.
Speaker 7 (16:00):
Compair of the Bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan that cost American lives,
to the precision with which this action occurred over the
last few days, and you see how much elections really
do matter. And our men and women in serving in
uniform deserve the best.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Michael Berry, The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
Eric Navarro has been a guest of ours with the
Middle East Forum in the past on military matters, particularly
related to Iran. We conducted an interview with him earlier today.
Immediately afterwards, Iran hit the US base in cutter So
some of what he says he does not have the
virtue of knowing that just yet.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I will get to that later in the show.
Speaker 7 (16:49):
We welcome back to the program Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro,
the director of Military and Strategic Programs with the Middle Eastern,
with the Middle East, Should I say, Lieutenant Colonel Navarro,
let me ask you first an open ended question. Did
you support what happened with regard to the effort in Iran?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And if so, why, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Back to Michael, and absolutely I supported it. Published as
soon as Israel launched its strikes last week we started publishing,
and he said.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
I am.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I publicly have advocated for going further than just the
strikes and for pushing forward regime change.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
And we can get into why.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
But as far as the strikes, absolutely a ramposed a
clear threat, both obviously to Israel, but also to US
personnel and US interests both in the region and around
the world. I thought what President Trump did was magnificent.
The execution was brilliant, strategic surprise. But also what I
(17:57):
think is he has demonstrated he's applied the lessons that
we learned from the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, which is
to marry strategic coherence with tactical excellence. A right, so
no mission creep, no nation building, no boots on the ground,
identifying a fear threat, stating clearly for the world what
(18:17):
the objective is for the operation, and then executing it ruthlessly.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
Let me get ahead of myself and ask the question
if in fact there is regime change. What does that
look like, what's the next regime look like?
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Well, that obviously is up in the air, and there's
a lot of uncertainty there. I will say, you know,
at the Middle East form, we have extensive contexts with
organizations or groups of people in Iran that oppose the
Mullahs and the theocracy.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
And if you're looking.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
On social media, you're seeing a lot of videos of
Iranians basically watching on the sidelines to see what happens,
watching the bomb strike, seeing how the regime will respond.
There's reports of the regime cracking down on his own people.
If you notice, a lot of the regimes focuses on
keeping its own people in check, even as it's getting
(19:12):
attacked by outside enemies. They shut off their own internet.
They there are stories of them arresting their own people
and putting them in jail, in do or executing them,
because that's what all these dictatorships do. They only worry
about their own survival.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Right the iatola in hiding.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
The leadership is getting decimated one by one by the Israelis,
and they're in a survival mode and they're trying They're
focused on keeping the oppression on their own people, rather
than how they're going to respond to the threats from
outside besides throw, you know, launching the missiles at Israel,
which is all it seems they seemingly have.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
So when I say.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Regime chain, they want to be clear, I'm not talking
about kinetic regime change, especially involving US kinetic force, talking
about setting the conditions for the Iranian people to rise
up and take their country back. And you're seeing that
even now, I believe last night or this morning, President
Trump mentioned regime change again.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
He just mentioned it.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
In words, right, But that is a nonkinetic strategic fire
right launched against the regime. He's trying to empower and
show support for the people on the ground that want
to get rid of the Mullusk.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
Again, it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Involve US attacking and launching an invasion or anything like that,
but just that support is meaningful on the ground. I mean,
you're in conjunction with that. The Israelis are actually continuing
to strike at the leadership of the regime, but also
now they're moving to I think there was a strike
on the famous of political prisoners, the prison holding all
(20:52):
the political prisoners, which is something that my colleague Michael
Rubin recommended in Middle East Forum, because the whole point
is to generate set the conditions for the opposition to
gain more and more power. Right so, free those political hostages,
get them involved and help them rise up, and then
you're going to see in the coming days more there's
a tax on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, focusing on
(21:16):
that that's different than the regular army. The IRGC is
the ones that the Moullas used.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
To keep their people down. If we can take them.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Out and empower the regular army and the regular people,
now you start seeing the opportunity there to get to
regime change with it not being imposed by the West,
right from it coming from within a force.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
That will be chayout it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Of course nobody knows the outcome, but I believe that
this is a strategic opportunity to reset the entire region
and really the world. We can get into the larger
strategic implications with great power competition as well.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
My wife grew up in India, an Indian national, and
her mother was a doctor in India and her mother's
best friend and her mother were scheduled to go to
Iran to practice medicine for several years, which was very
common at the time. Iran was bringing in foreign doctors,
particularly from India, and they would train local doctors there
and it was a very high paying job. In much
(22:17):
the same way that my father's generation plant workers and
construction workers would go to Venezuela to build to construct
oil oil assets. Iran was a very different Iran there
in much the same way that Lebanon was a very
different Lebanon back in those days. And it was considered
a great job at high pay and a wonderful place
(22:38):
to live. And everybody has seen the footage of women
who didn't have to be covered up. It was a
very very different Iran. But we all know that in
nineteen seventy nine with the revolution, you had a massive
brain drain that has continued for forty six years hence,
and you had a lot of folks that were more
secular Shia who didn't want diatola. They didn't want a theocracy,
(23:02):
They wanted a free, open country that was that was
a commercial power, artistic, cuisine, language. You know that this
is this is a country of great culture. Are there
enough Irani's present today to create an infrastructure for a country.
That is post Komani, that is post theocracy.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
I believe. So.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Of course, the devil's in the details if and when
that happens. But from what I can tell and the
reporting that we get from the grounds, the vast majority
of people are against the regime. They just the reason
that they're not rising up yet is uh.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
There's a couple of reasons.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
One, the regime has all the guns, which by the way,
has implications that show the need for a Second Amendment
right at home here, when when the government has a
monopoly on force, it's very difficult to break that monopoly.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
So that's one reason.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
The other reason is they've been burned many times in
the past as far as rising up and not getting
the support from the West, the most obvious one is
in two thousand and nine where they were rising up
and President Obama did not give.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Even just the public support to them. Right.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
This is similar in a way. It's linked to what
we've done, what we did interact when the Shiites rose
up against Adam Lusine and then we backed off and
allowed sad On Lusin.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
To put down those uprisings.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Well, then when we went finally went and deposed Saddam
did we get all the support we expected? No, because
they had been burned multiple times. So what we have
to do here is change that dynamic and show that
we actually support them. And then there's other ways too.
I mean there's covert ways to support them, there's informational ways.
We need to leverage all different instruments of power. There's
(24:48):
economic as soon as the regime can be toppled and
there's some sort of stability there, you can see a
complete rebalancing of the region.
Speaker 7 (24:59):
You know, a colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro of the
Middle East Forum more comment.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
He just shows me what it's like to be, you know,
a real man.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
I have never met.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Someone so wonderful. I call him Richard markle Berry.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
Eric Navarro has been a guest of ours with The
Middle East Forum in the past on military matters, particularly
related to Iran. We conducted an interview with him earlier today.
Immediately afterwards, Iran hit US the US base in cutter
So some of what he says he does not have
the virtue of knowing.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
That just yet. I will get to that later in
the show.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
We're talking to Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro of the Middle
East Forum and I want to talk for a moment
about what Iran looks like going forward, and I had
to cut you off, and you were talking about the
Irani people and that we believe, and there are signs.
(26:02):
You see it on Twitter, which has to be shut down.
You see it in ways large and small, that the
Irani people want a change.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
Now.
Speaker 7 (26:10):
I don't know what that change looks like. I would
like to see a stable Iran in the region. But
most Americans, I think, believe that a lot of mistakes
were made in Iraq and we left a gap for
Iran to interfere in Iraq and destabilize Iraq. Talk for
a moment, not to the folks who supported the Iraq
(26:33):
invasion on whatever basis they did. But there is a
large group of people, whether it's Marjorie Taylor Green or
Tucker Carlson or Candice Owens or Thomas Massey, whoever that
may be. We can simply say those people are kooks,
or we disagree with them, or they're nuts or whatever,
Ran Paul, but they're not as aggressive about intervention in
foreign countries and certainly not regime change. How would you
(26:54):
compare and contrast Iraq and Iran to how we move
forward if in fact, you agree that a lot of
mistakes were made in post Hussein Iraq.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yeah, so Iraq, I think the key mistakes where the
strategic objectives were not clearly outlined or they shifted right.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
At one point it was w M D. Then it
was we have.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
To depose Sodom and saying then it was we have
to read we have to rebuild the nation after we
have said I'm saying is gone, right, So that creates
strategic confusion. Also, uh, then when you get into nation building,
then we're trying to build them up in our own
image and that's just simply not going to work anywhere,
(27:38):
forget the Middle East, just anywhere. We can't just simply
impose our own Western values on a different area of
the of the world. And so what I think is
that this Iran test case is an exact example of
the application.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
Of those lessons.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
One Iran was oh the other the other thing about
Iraq was people said, well that I'm the same, wasn't
a direct threat or wasn't involved with nine to eleven, right, So,
but here Iran was absolutely a direct threat to US
interests in the region and to US personnel. They were
responsible for the death of at least a thousand US
servicemen interrect. I was there and we had to warn
(28:18):
people because we had the Iranian backed militias and didn't
know how to create what they call explosive form penetrators,
these deadly IEDs that were able to punch through our
armored under the belly of the Humbies and other vehicles.
So they had American blood on their hands. Not to mention,
they fall out deaths in America and directly threaten US
(28:40):
and our main ally in the region Israel. Right, So
there you have a clear threat. And then the other
thing is we are not looking to nation builds. We
are not looking to put boots on the ground. At
most it would be striped. Even what Israel is doing
stripes right, there's no intent to occupy the country and
(29:00):
impose our Jeffersonian democracy on the country. So it's an
exact opposite of what we tried to do in our interact.
I believe it's worth it for that reason. Also, don't
forget the greater strategic game being played here. We are
in the middle of great power competition with Russia and China.
(29:20):
They are watching us. You're seeing what's going on in
the wake of these strikes. Russia and China don't know
how to react. All they're doing is condemning it in language,
but they're not stepping in. In fact, nobody is stepping
in to help our in that should telling you something.
They are a Kariah nation. And so this strike was
completely justified and strategically effective. Deterrens has now been re
(29:45):
established by the United States by President Trump that has
maximum value across the globe. Right, we go back to
the previous administration when Biden catastrophically what do you call,
came out of or left Afghanistan for really no strategic
reason except she just wanted to say it was twenty years,
(30:06):
I'm ending it on the anniversary of nine to eleven.
But there was no reason to leave, and it was
left in chaos. President couldn't watch that happen, thought America
was weak, and thought now is the time to get
involved and take what I want in Ukraine. Right, these countries,
these adversaries around the world are watching every move and
reacting based on any sign of weakness or any sign
(30:29):
of strength. Right now, President Trump is displaying strength, and
that's why they're on their back.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Foot.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
It's interesting because I've read a number of different position
pieces similar to what you've said, is that you know,
China and Russia are watching, and they're looking at the technology,
and they're looking at the force, and they're looking at
the precision strike ability. I mean, those B twos were
in the air almost forty hours refueling I believe five
times in air. What a bunkering operation. I mean, it's
(30:57):
just just amazing that this could curb. Even my wife,
who's not terribly interested in war or how it's conducted,
found the in air refueling alone and the ability to
go undetected into Iran, which brings me a question, brings
me to the next question. It would appear that this
is a multi phase effort and that Israel did a
(31:20):
lot of the dirty work to clear the table, to
get personnel and arsenal out of the way so that
the B two s could do their job. How important
to this overall effort was that.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
Critical?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
So whenever there's a bombing mission, there's an entire strike package,
there's a sequence of events that had to happen so
that you can get the bombers to the destination safely
and allow them to prosecute the targets. So there are
oftentimes where there's a whole strip group. A lot of
times it's just us only, right, we have the electronic
warfare aircraft to jam you know, sam's any service air missiles,
(32:02):
there's the strike aircraft, the fighter aircraft that escort them.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Well, it looks like.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Not only were US aircraft involved, but the Israelis were.
So this is this is what in President Trump's statement
after the strike, right, he talked about how he was
working hand in glove with Prime Minister Danyahu and the Israelis.
That's exactly what's happening. Is they're using a combined arms
format where Israeli targets certain targets and locations and facilities
(32:32):
and capabilities, and then the US came in and delivered
the massive ordinance penetrator.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
That only we have and only we can drop. Right.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
That's brilliance, practical brilliance at a level that demonstrates to
the world you don't want to mess with us.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
That's the message.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Okay, it's a combination of our capabilities and our will.
When we have when we match those two things, nobody
can touch us. In past conflict, we didn't have the will.
We always had the capabilities, we just never show the
right resolve at the right moment, at least for the
last twenty some od years. You can even go back
(33:10):
to Vietnam as well. Right, so we had the self
defeatism that prevents us from applying the resolve needed at
these strategic moments. And President Trump has reversed that in
one fell suit.
Speaker 7 (33:22):
And that's what we will discuss coming up our guest,
Lieutenant Colonel Navarrow of the Middle East Forum. The question
I will begin for you to ponder in between is
why now President Trump served a full four years, Iran
was saber rattling. During those four years. You had the
Biden administration that seemed to be handing in cash instead
(33:44):
of destabilizing them. You had eight years of Barack Obama,
you had eight years of George W.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Bush.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
Why.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Now that's the question we're again with.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Either asked me or take me to Texas because haven't
ready to get out.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Of this state. I think mich will Barry rout.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Michael Berry Show
It's that time, time, time, time, luck and load.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
So Michael vari Show is on the air last night.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
On the President's orders, US Central Command, under the command
of General Eric Gorilla, executed Operation Midnight Hammer.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
A short time ago.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
The US military carried out massive precision strikes on the
three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime, Bordeaux, Natanz
and Esfahan. Our objective was the destruction of irans nuclear
inrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed
(00:46):
by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.
Speaker 5 (00:49):
Tonight, I can report to the.
Speaker 4 (00:50):
World that the strikes were a spectacular military success.
Speaker 6 (01:05):
The order we received from our commander in chief was focused,
it was powerful, and it was clear we devastated the
Iranian nuclear program. But it's worth noting the operation did
not target Iranian troops.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So the Iranian.
Speaker 6 (01:35):
Thanks President Trump's bold and visionary leadership and his commitment
to peace through strength, Iran's nuclear ambitions have been obliterated.
Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to
Iran's nuclear program, and none could until President.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
When this president speaks, the.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
World should listen, and the US military we can back
it up. Taran is certainly calculating the reality that planes
flew from the middle of America and Missouri overnight completely
undetected over three of their most highly sensitive sites, and
we were able to.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Destroy nuclear capabilities.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
And our boys in those bombers are on their way
home right now. We believe that'll have a clear psychological
impact on how they view the future, and we certainly
hope they take the path of negotiated peace. But I
could not be more proud form did.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
This mission demonstrates 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 the United
States military.
Speaker 7 (03:27):
There is quite a split of opinion as to whether
or not the United States should have dropped bombs on
fordho and Espahan and the three sites where they were sent.
And I will argue, and I genuinely believe that these
(03:53):
splits of opinion, that the asking of questions, that the
defiance and disagreement is a very vital part of a
properly functioning democratic republic. The moment we simply in lockstep
(04:17):
get excited about war especially when it would appear we
are winning is not in America's best interest. There should
be questions asked. There should be people saying, what will
be the consequences of eating so much cake on Monday?
Will we be sick to our stomachs on Tuesday? To
(04:39):
what will we expose ourselves? What enemies may rise up
against us as a result of the bombs we drop?
What future terrorist are we inspiring by such things? These
are responsible questions. This is a complex, very complex matter,
(05:02):
particularly in a country like our own. It's a reminder
why our borders must be secure, because there is no
doubt in anybody's mind in either party at this point
that there are Iranis and those who've been paid by
the Iranis that are in the United States who were
already positioned, prepared, planned for simply need to execute terror attacks.
(05:29):
Could have been at the seventh game of the NBA Finals.
It could be at a horse race, It could be
at an airport, It could be most anywhere. This is
why you secure your border. This is why you know
who is being allowed into your country the way every
(05:50):
other country in the world does. Many imprison you if
you come into the country illegally. When you talk about
America's vital national interest, you don't simply wake up one
day after you've dropped three bombs and start preparing to
defend your nation stateside, something we've not had to do
(06:14):
to the extent that people in Japan or Germany or
France or Great Britain have had to do. It's a
different matter altogether. But the world has shown up on
America shores, some of them to study, some of them
with a tourist visa, some of them as investors, and
(06:36):
some of them with the worst of intentions but appearing
to be one of those earlier groups, some of them
claiming to be refugees, when in fact they're under the
direction of a very very dangerous moms. We all lived
through nine to eleven, we all lived through the World
trades and aer bombing before that. We've seen what these
(06:58):
folks can do, what they're capable of, and that grows
by the day. So whatever your position with regard to
what happened this weekend, and of course you run and
their effort this afternoon is striking at the US base
in cutter we don't really know yet, and I could
(07:23):
not be more adamant that we are not a breaking
news show. Breaking news requires a trust of primary news
sources that I simply do not have. And I'm not
going to repeat something that I don't have a relative
certitude that it is accurate, because I want you to
(07:44):
know that when I make a statement, it's not because
I want to be the first to say it. I
very rarely do exclusive stories. I think we have to
be mindful. There are various perspectives, and there are people
that we cannot and should not trust, like the people
who told us that the Pfizer vaccine was a vaccine,
or that you wouldn't get the virus if you took it.
(08:06):
There are equally very bad people in the Bolton crowd,
in the Lindsey Graham crowd who have worgasms over efforts
like this, but it's not their sons who end up dead. Well,
we have a lot to get to today. Stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
The Michael Verie Show continues to use a quint programming note.
Speaker 7 (08:31):
Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro with Middle East Forum has been
our guests in the past to talk about matters related
to particularly the Middle East and war in Iran and
the balance of power in that region and military preparedness,
and we often do our interviews, not often, sometimes do
(08:53):
our interviews for this program.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
In the middle of the day.
Speaker 7 (08:59):
The reason for that is folks want to be at
home with their family eating dinner. They don't want to
be with us as a guest. So many times we
would do interviews before the show and record them so
that the timing works out for the evening show. This
is a rare case where after doing that interview, some
(09:22):
circumstances changed, but we made the decision that they did
not change materially to such an extent that they changed
the importance of that conversation. As you know, Iran is
claiming strikes on Americans and Cutter that occurred late this afternoon.
(09:48):
We don't know the full extent to which that is true.
We don't trust the Irani government, and we don't have
a good assessment.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Those things take some period of time.
Speaker 7 (09:57):
As I said, we believe that the the importance of
that interview is materially the same, and we will air
that interview coming up in the next segment. I'm not
going to attempt to replicate or duplicate or repeat what
has been stated, mostly with regard to the strikes on Iran.
(10:23):
You can see wall to wall coverage on most any network,
and a picture is in fact worth a thousand words.
What I try to do is add something to the
conversation that you're not already getting if you're glued to
the television and watching what's happening, And that's perspective. I
(10:44):
will start by saying that I am more skeptical than
most as to whether we should strike Iran or should
have done so. But if we are going to strike,
we all have a hand in making sure that is
a success.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
And number one, that our men.
Speaker 7 (11:04):
Are protected, that they're equipped, that they're given realistic orders
and an opportunity to succeed, something we saw in Iraq
and especially Afghanistan, they were not given. We all watched
the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan under Joe Biden, and we
(11:26):
never want to see that happen again.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Nothing dishonors our men.
Speaker 7 (11:31):
And women in uniform like putting them in a situation
to be killed without a reasonable opportunity to defend themselves
and to succeed. That effort was a rousing success, and
I think most everyone who has reviewed that would come
to that conclusion. You've probably heard President Trump's remark. It
(11:56):
was a well televised statement, but I thought heg Seth
had something interesting to say, and I think it is
unfair that the Left has gone after Pete Hegseth saying
that he did not have enough years wearing the brass
in order to be the Secretary of Defense, especially considering
the clown who preceded him in that job, who was
(12:17):
there because he was black, not because he was competent.
I think Pete Hegseth has the respect of the men
and women who wear the uniform more than any Secretary
of Defense in a very long time. And I can't
think of anyone before him who had more because he
comes from their ranks. This arrogant, elitist idea, the separation
(12:40):
of the brass and the men and women who serve.
I think when you talk about inspiring the troops, you
see what's known as a players coach. You see a
guy who comes out of the NFL and he's the
NBA or Major League Baseball, and they were a player
and then they start coaching.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
It's a different dynamic.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
Not to say that's the only way you can be
a leader, but that tends to inspire a great deal
of respect, A great deal of respect.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Actually, let me switch that.
Speaker 7 (13:09):
Let's go to Raisin Kin, the Air Force General's Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
This was his.
Speaker 7 (13:18):
Announcement of the execution Operation Midnight Hammer.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Eight h one or month.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Last night, on the President's orders, US Central Command, under
the command of General Eric Krilla, 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
(13:46):
want to thank every service member, planner, operator that made.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
This mission possible.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
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
(14:14):
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.
Speaker 7 (14:26):
Administration is well positioned to handle this very complex, tedious,
troubling issue. And I want to go to Clip five
h six or moan. This is Vice President jd Vance,
who's a very good spokesman on this issue. He's on
Meet the Press, He's talking to Kristen Welker, and he
(14:48):
addresses the reality the elephant.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
In the room.
Speaker 7 (14:51):
Americans are exhausted by twenty five years of forever wars.
This is not something that Trumpet administration wanted to do.
The Trump administration does not get wargasms. Like Lindsey Graham,
Donald Trump did not get elected so that he could
do these sorts of things he felt he had to,
And I think addressing this in this manner.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I think this was important.
Speaker 8 (15:16):
I certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after twenty
five years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I understand the concern.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
But the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents,
and now we have a president who actually knows how
to accomplish America's national security objectives. So this is not
going to be some long drawn out thing we've got in.
We've done the job of setting their nuclear program back.
We're going to now work to permanently dismantle that nuclear program.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Over the coming years.
Speaker 8 (15:45):
And that is what the President has set out to
do simple principle, Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. That
has animated American policy over the past one hundred and
thirty days. It's going to continue to be a driving
force of our policy in the Middle East for the
next three.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
And a half years.
Speaker 7 (16:00):
Compair of the Bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan that cost American lives,
to the precision with which this action occurred over the
last few days, and you see how much elections really
do matter. And our men and women in serving in
uniform deserve the best.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Michael Berry, The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
Eric Navarro has been a guest of ours with the
Middle East Forum in the past on military matters, particularly
related to Iran. We conducted an interview with him earlier today.
Immediately afterwards, Iran hit the US base in cutter So
some of what he says he does not have the
virtue of knowing that just yet.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I will get to that later in the show.
Speaker 7 (16:49):
We welcome back to the program Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro,
the director of Military and Strategic Programs with the Middle Eastern,
with the Middle East, Should I say, Lieutenant Colonel Navarro,
let me ask you first an open ended question. Did
you support what happened with regard to the effort in Iran?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
And if so, why, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Back to Michael, and absolutely I supported it. Published as
soon as Israel launched its strikes last week we started publishing,
and he said.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
I am.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I publicly have advocated for going further than just the
strikes and for pushing forward regime change.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
And we can get into why.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
But as far as the strikes, absolutely a ramposed a
clear threat, both obviously to Israel, but also to US
personnel and US interests both in the region and around
the world. I thought what President Trump did was magnificent.
The execution was brilliant, strategic surprise. But also what I
(17:57):
think is he has demonstrated he's applied the lessons that
we learned from the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, which is
to marry strategic coherence with tactical excellence. A right, so
no mission creep, no nation building, no boots on the ground,
identifying a fear threat, stating clearly for the world what
(18:17):
the objective is for the operation, and then executing it ruthlessly.
Speaker 7 (18:22):
Let me get ahead of myself and ask the question
if in fact there is regime change. What does that
look like, what's the next regime look like?
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Well, that obviously is up in the air, and there's
a lot of uncertainty there. I will say, you know,
at the Middle East form, we have extensive contexts with
organizations or groups of people in Iran that oppose the
Mullahs and the theocracy.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
And if you're looking.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
On social media, you're seeing a lot of videos of
Iranians basically watching on the sidelines to see what happens,
watching the bomb strike, seeing how the regime will respond.
There's reports of the regime cracking down on his own people.
If you notice, a lot of the regimes focuses on
keeping its own people in check, even as it's getting
(19:12):
attacked by outside enemies. They shut off their own internet.
They there are stories of them arresting their own people
and putting them in jail, in do or executing them,
because that's what all these dictatorships do. They only worry
about their own survival.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Right the iatola in hiding.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
The leadership is getting decimated one by one by the Israelis,
and they're in a survival mode and they're trying They're
focused on keeping the oppression on their own people, rather
than how they're going to respond to the threats from
outside besides throw, you know, launching the missiles at Israel,
which is all it seems they seemingly have.
Speaker 5 (19:50):
So when I say.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Regime chain, they want to be clear, I'm not talking
about kinetic regime change, especially involving US kinetic force, talking
about setting the conditions for the Iranian people to rise
up and take their country back. And you're seeing that
even now, I believe last night or this morning, President
Trump mentioned regime change again.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
He just mentioned it.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
In words, right, But that is a nonkinetic strategic fire
right launched against the regime. He's trying to empower and
show support for the people on the ground that want
to get rid of the Mullusk.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
Again, it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Involve US attacking and launching an invasion or anything like that,
but just that support is meaningful on the ground. I mean,
you're in conjunction with that. The Israelis are actually continuing
to strike at the leadership of the regime, but also
now they're moving to I think there was a strike
on the famous of political prisoners, the prison holding all
(20:52):
the political prisoners, which is something that my colleague Michael
Rubin recommended in Middle East Forum, because the whole point
is to generate set the conditions for the opposition to
gain more and more power. Right so, free those political hostages,
get them involved and help them rise up, and then
you're going to see in the coming days more there's
a tax on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, focusing on
(21:16):
that that's different than the regular army. The IRGC is
the ones that the Moullas used.
Speaker 5 (21:22):
To keep their people down. If we can take them.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Out and empower the regular army and the regular people,
now you start seeing the opportunity there to get to
regime change with it not being imposed by the West,
right from it coming from within a force.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
That will be chayout it.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Of course nobody knows the outcome, but I believe that
this is a strategic opportunity to reset the entire region
and really the world. We can get into the larger
strategic implications with great power competition as well.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
My wife grew up in India, an Indian national, and
her mother was a doctor in India and her mother's
best friend and her mother were scheduled to go to
Iran to practice medicine for several years, which was very
common at the time. Iran was bringing in foreign doctors,
particularly from India, and they would train local doctors there
and it was a very high paying job. In much
(22:17):
the same way that my father's generation plant workers and
construction workers would go to Venezuela to build to construct
oil oil assets. Iran was a very different Iran there
in much the same way that Lebanon was a very
different Lebanon back in those days. And it was considered
a great job at high pay and a wonderful place
(22:38):
to live. And everybody has seen the footage of women
who didn't have to be covered up. It was a
very very different Iran. But we all know that in
nineteen seventy nine with the revolution, you had a massive
brain drain that has continued for forty six years hence,
and you had a lot of folks that were more
secular Shia who didn't want diatola. They didn't want a theocracy,
(23:02):
They wanted a free, open country that was that was
a commercial power, artistic, cuisine, language. You know that this
is this is a country of great culture. Are there
enough Irani's present today to create an infrastructure for a country.
That is post Komani, that is post theocracy.
Speaker 5 (23:27):
I believe. So.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Of course, the devil's in the details if and when
that happens. But from what I can tell and the
reporting that we get from the grounds, the vast majority
of people are against the regime. They just the reason
that they're not rising up yet is uh.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
There's a couple of reasons.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
One, the regime has all the guns, which by the way,
has implications that show the need for a Second Amendment
right at home here, when when the government has a
monopoly on force, it's very difficult to break that monopoly.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
So that's one reason.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
The other reason is they've been burned many times in
the past as far as rising up and not getting
the support from the West, the most obvious one is
in two thousand and nine where they were rising up
and President Obama did not give.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Even just the public support to them. Right.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
This is similar in a way. It's linked to what
we've done, what we did interact when the Shiites rose
up against Adam Lusine and then we backed off and
allowed sad On Lusin.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
To put down those uprisings.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Well, then when we went finally went and deposed Saddam
did we get all the support we expected? No, because
they had been burned multiple times. So what we have
to do here is change that dynamic and show that
we actually support them. And then there's other ways too.
I mean there's covert ways to support them, there's informational ways.
We need to leverage all different instruments of power. There's
(24:48):
economic as soon as the regime can be toppled and
there's some sort of stability there, you can see a
complete rebalancing of the region.
Speaker 7 (24:59):
You know, a colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro of the
Middle East Forum more comment.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
He just shows me what it's like to be, you know,
a real man.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
I have never met.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Someone so wonderful. I call him Richard markle Berry.
Speaker 7 (25:18):
Eric Navarro has been a guest of ours with The
Middle East Forum in the past on military matters, particularly
related to Iran. We conducted an interview with him earlier today.
Immediately afterwards, Iran hit US the US base in cutter
So some of what he says he does not have
the virtue of knowing.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
That just yet. I will get to that later in
the show.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
We're talking to Lieutenant Colonel Eric Navarro of the Middle
East Forum and I want to talk for a moment
about what Iran looks like going forward, and I had
to cut you off, and you were talking about the
Irani people and that we believe, and there are signs.
(26:02):
You see it on Twitter, which has to be shut down.
You see it in ways large and small, that the
Irani people want a change.
Speaker 5 (26:10):
Now.
Speaker 7 (26:10):
I don't know what that change looks like. I would
like to see a stable Iran in the region. But
most Americans, I think, believe that a lot of mistakes
were made in Iraq and we left a gap for
Iran to interfere in Iraq and destabilize Iraq. Talk for
a moment, not to the folks who supported the Iraq
(26:33):
invasion on whatever basis they did. But there is a
large group of people, whether it's Marjorie Taylor Green or
Tucker Carlson or Candice Owens or Thomas Massey, whoever that
may be. We can simply say those people are kooks,
or we disagree with them, or they're nuts or whatever,
Ran Paul, but they're not as aggressive about intervention in
foreign countries and certainly not regime change. How would you
(26:54):
compare and contrast Iraq and Iran to how we move
forward if in fact, you agree that a lot of
mistakes were made in post Hussein Iraq.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yeah, so Iraq, I think the key mistakes where the
strategic objectives were not clearly outlined or they shifted right.
Speaker 5 (27:14):
At one point it was w M D. Then it
was we have.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
To depose Sodom and saying then it was we have
to read we have to rebuild the nation after we
have said I'm saying is gone, right, So that creates
strategic confusion. Also, uh, then when you get into nation building,
then we're trying to build them up in our own
image and that's just simply not going to work anywhere,
(27:38):
forget the Middle East, just anywhere. We can't just simply
impose our own Western values on a different area of
the of the world. And so what I think is
that this Iran test case is an exact example of
the application.
Speaker 5 (27:54):
Of those lessons.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
One Iran was oh the other the other thing about
Iraq was people said, well that I'm the same, wasn't
a direct threat or wasn't involved with nine to eleven, right, So,
but here Iran was absolutely a direct threat to US
interests in the region and to US personnel. They were
responsible for the death of at least a thousand US
servicemen interrect. I was there and we had to warn
(28:18):
people because we had the Iranian backed militias and didn't
know how to create what they call explosive form penetrators,
these deadly IEDs that were able to punch through our
armored under the belly of the Humbies and other vehicles.
So they had American blood on their hands. Not to mention,
they fall out deaths in America and directly threaten US
(28:40):
and our main ally in the region Israel. Right, So
there you have a clear threat. And then the other
thing is we are not looking to nation builds. We
are not looking to put boots on the ground. At
most it would be striped. Even what Israel is doing
stripes right, there's no intent to occupy the country and
(29:00):
impose our Jeffersonian democracy on the country. So it's an
exact opposite of what we tried to do in our interact.
I believe it's worth it for that reason. Also, don't
forget the greater strategic game being played here. We are
in the middle of great power competition with Russia and China.
(29:20):
They are watching us. You're seeing what's going on in
the wake of these strikes. Russia and China don't know
how to react. All they're doing is condemning it in language,
but they're not stepping in. In fact, nobody is stepping
in to help our in that should telling you something.
They are a Kariah nation. And so this strike was
completely justified and strategically effective. Deterrens has now been re
(29:45):
established by the United States by President Trump that has
maximum value across the globe. Right, we go back to
the previous administration when Biden catastrophically what do you call,
came out of or left Afghanistan for really no strategic
reason except she just wanted to say it was twenty years,
(30:06):
I'm ending it on the anniversary of nine to eleven.
But there was no reason to leave, and it was
left in chaos. President couldn't watch that happen, thought America
was weak, and thought now is the time to get
involved and take what I want in Ukraine. Right, these countries,
these adversaries around the world are watching every move and
reacting based on any sign of weakness or any sign
(30:29):
of strength. Right now, President Trump is displaying strength, and
that's why they're on their back.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Foot.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
It's interesting because I've read a number of different position
pieces similar to what you've said, is that you know,
China and Russia are watching, and they're looking at the technology,
and they're looking at the force, and they're looking at
the precision strike ability. I mean, those B twos were
in the air almost forty hours refueling I believe five
times in air. What a bunkering operation. I mean, it's
(30:57):
just just amazing that this could curb. Even my wife,
who's not terribly interested in war or how it's conducted,
found the in air refueling alone and the ability to
go undetected into Iran, which brings me a question, brings
me to the next question. It would appear that this
is a multi phase effort and that Israel did a
(31:20):
lot of the dirty work to clear the table, to
get personnel and arsenal out of the way so that
the B two s could do their job. How important
to this overall effort was that.
Speaker 5 (31:35):
Critical?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
So whenever there's a bombing mission, there's an entire strike package,
there's a sequence of events that had to happen so
that you can get the bombers to the destination safely
and allow them to prosecute the targets. So there are
oftentimes where there's a whole strip group. A lot of
times it's just us only, right, we have the electronic
warfare aircraft to jam you know, sam's any service air missiles,
(32:02):
there's the strike aircraft, the fighter aircraft that escort them.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
Well, it looks like.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Not only were US aircraft involved, but the Israelis were.
So this is this is what in President Trump's statement
after the strike, right, he talked about how he was
working hand in glove with Prime Minister Danyahu and the Israelis.
That's exactly what's happening. Is they're using a combined arms
format where Israeli targets certain targets and locations and facilities
(32:32):
and capabilities, and then the US came in and delivered
the massive ordinance penetrator.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
That only we have and only we can drop. Right.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
That's brilliance, practical brilliance at a level that demonstrates to
the world you don't want to mess with us.
Speaker 5 (32:48):
That's the message.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Okay, it's a combination of our capabilities and our will.
When we have when we match those two things, nobody
can touch us. In past conflict, we didn't have the will.
We always had the capabilities, we just never show the
right resolve at the right moment, at least for the
last twenty some od years. You can even go back
(33:10):
to Vietnam as well. Right, so we had the self
defeatism that prevents us from applying the resolve needed at
these strategic moments. And President Trump has reversed that in
one fell suit.
Speaker 7 (33:22):
And that's what we will discuss coming up our guest,
Lieutenant Colonel Navarrow of the Middle East Forum. The question
I will begin for you to ponder in between is
why now President Trump served a full four years, Iran
was saber rattling. During those four years. You had the
Biden administration that seemed to be handing in cash instead
(33:44):
of destabilizing them. You had eight years of Barack Obama,
you had eight years of George W.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Bush.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
Why.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Now that's the question we're again with.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Either asked me or take me to Texas because haven't
ready to get out.
Speaker 5 (33:57):
Of this state. I think mich will Barry rout.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
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