SEAL Team SIX Captain Ed Gallrein on the Panama Canal and Israel/Gaza Situations

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh, it's a great time with ed Goal Ryan, the
US Navy captain, highly combat decorated career Navy Seal officer,
Army ranger and just part of a Seal Team six.
I mean, the list goes on and on, ed and
we really appreciate all that you've done for your country
and all that you're doing as a great Kentucky And

(00:20):
we'll talk about that in just a little bit with
ed Gy Ryan, because he's a terrific farmer as well. Interesting,
Ed that you were the very last Navy Seal Unit
commanding officer based in the Panama Central Panama Canal Central
excuse me, Panama Canal zone. That had to be pretty interesting.
And as I understand that you were with the extensive

(00:43):
counter drug and guerrilla operations, tell us a little bit
about that time period and now what we've seen since
we gave up the canal and President Trump wants to
come back and have more power over this.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, Tony, thanks for that introduction. Good morning to the
listeners here. And it was an honor and a privilege
to lead those seals in great Americans all over Central
and South America. And so I don't want you to
think like six or sixteen people. We were a large,
complex unit that had a variety of capabilities to support
our nation's national security and foreign policy, which was done
through a number of ways that again went in partnership

(01:20):
with our nation partners down there. But I'll give you
a little background for a setting so folks might not
understand just the history there. But remember the canal was
completed in nineteen fourteen under President Theodore TO Roosevelt, and
the treaty gave us not only control of the canal,
but essentially a US territory with the land that surrounded
the canal called the Canal Zone. Well, we turned it

(01:40):
over in December of nineteen ninety nine when Jimmy Carter,
President Carter at the time, negotiated a treaty with the
Panamanians and gave it back to them. But until then
it was essentially a territory where US military and other
agencies had fored bases, logistic hubs, naval and air facilities
in the canal zone, and we used those for stage
forces and I'm going to use this word capabilities all

(02:02):
sorts of resources for rapid mobilization, interventions, protection of not
only the canal but its allies, and interest in the
region to maintain security, instability, and underpin peace and prosperity
and support of foreign policy. So it was important not
only for the shipping going through the canal zone, for
a larger reason that comes into play with respect to

(02:22):
what President Trump appears to be trying to do now
with China down there. It allowed us continuous presidence down there,
so we had influence for counter drugger operations, counter guerrilla operations.
We were staged in the case of contingencies, so many
times we were respond and it might be classified and
you might not even know that we were able to
prevent a larger problem down there. So it was really

(02:44):
important to us. Now, I want you to think rescue operations,
humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, all sorts of activities. I was
the final commanding officer down there, and we were literally
on the canal zone at Rodman Naval Station there, and
so I'll hit pause, are Tony and we want to
shift to some more strategic importance of that area down there. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Indeed, Secretary of State Rubio paid his first overseas trip
there recently at the canal and there's been a little
tet of tet as to what he got done there
or not. Rubio says that the treaty obligation to protect
the canal if it comes under attack requires that the

(03:26):
US should not have to pay the fees. The Navy
would not have to pay the fees for the zone.
I think that he thought there was a deal, but
apparently there's not one. Right now, Can you share some
of what you know about that area?

Speaker 2 (03:38):
And well, I would say you this, We probably don't
know everything that went on behind closed doors. So well,
let's factor that piece in right there. But on the
strategic level, the canal zone reduces the transcend distance between
the east and west coast of the US by eight
thousand nautical miles roughly, you know, almost two weeks depending
on the ship. That translates into lower fuel costs and

(03:59):
shipping cart And also for global commerce, which the US
supports with its freedom of navigation operations, because global commerce
underpins peace and prosperity, which is a key element of
US foreign policy. So don't think gunboat diplomacy. Think that
those gunboats are out there. So there's freedom of navigation.

(04:21):
So nations can have free trade because that's where the
preponderance of trade occurs is over the waterways. So let's
also not forget that the canal zone is re vital
to rapidly move US warships and nuclear powered submarines around
the globe in a timely manner, as would be the
case in the event of China taking action against Taiwan,

(04:41):
as we would surge forces. As such, it's a strategic
choke point. Tony is also a home of the Darien Gap.
That's the land bridge between North America and South America,
which smugglers have translated for centuries. Moving contraband, including drugs, guns,
and of course human trafficking and illegal immigration is vital
of overcoming those challenges. We're gonna need Panama's cooperation. So

(05:04):
it is very likely that the conversations were far beyond
just the canal, and it remains to be seen what
you know, what the impact is, But already there's some
positive science.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, what was the impact of President Carter turning it
over to Panama.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Or we lost we lost that that presence down there.
We'll just let me hit a high level. Here's where
we're at now. Decades later, just a few months ago,
at the G twenty meeting, the US President was not
given the red carpet treatment. Welcome. I want you to
hold that thought. The Chinese leader was. Additionally, when they

(05:42):
took the group of the G twenty leader's picture, the
US President was not in the center. He wasn't even
the first row. He was on the back flank. That
is what you call him. The diplomatic intelligence world messaging
that our influence has waned. If you were to look
at the map from over about twenty five years ago

(06:02):
to now, China has moved into South America and has
not replaced this it e've eradicated our influence down there
in many ways. All right, that has been directly a
result of part of our influence lost by not being
in pan and all foward based and involved with our partners.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
All right, real quickly, you think we get a panel
deal done here. I think we do.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
I think behind the scenes we absolutely do. Remember things
are not always what they see. Mercifully, everything doesn't hit
the news. I tell you.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
That it's okay, okay by me. I always love stuff
would hit the news and just get things done. That's
why we want you know, all right, Ed Moore, coming up,
we're going to talk about Gaza and your thoughts about
what the president wants to do there here in just
a bit on news radio, Aporty whas all right, US

(06:53):
Navy Captain ed Goal Ryan joining us this morning, and
Ed you served on seven Sealed Team Units, one of
the most elite, storied units in the US military, and
we do thank you for your service. Also, I failed
to mention this, but it looks like you were on
the operation to capture President Noriega with Operation just Cause.

(07:15):
I'm sorry I failed to mention that, because that's that's amazing.
You parachuted right there into the enemy fire. So we've discovered.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, Tony, that was Operation just Cause. And just to
remind folks, he was under indictment for a number of
crimes that he was involved in, and that's a whole
session in and of itself. And what triggered that operation,
just to remind folks, was his forces had killed one
US military officer at a checkpoint. They had taken another
military officer and his wife hostage and we're torturing them,

(07:48):
and there are some other nefarious activities going on when
we went in, and my first target was his beach
house at the Battle of Riohato. And I want to
pay tribute to the great Americans we lost on that operation.
And yes, you were thirteenth man out the left door
of the first aircraft over the drop zone.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
All right, well, amazing stuff, and that's why, of course
you have so many of these decorations, as you should.
Let's talk about your thoughts about what is going on
with Gaza. More hostages released Saturday, hundreds of prisoners were
exchanged for them. What are your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Well, let let's look at the scoreboard real quick, and
then I'll go to the macro of how this might
turn out, especially with President Trump and that now you
mentioned in that they're intending on rebuilding Gaza, so let
me work up to that, so he said. On Saturday,
the sixth exchange of hostages and prisoners was completed, where
Israel's released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners exchanged again for three

(08:43):
Israeli captives. This exchange is part of the ongoing ceasefire,
and it remains to be seen how to ultimately work out.
But you can see the messaging. It does not appear
harmas is defeated now, does it. You can see their
bravado right there in broad daylight, as they're selling those
and using that for their messaging. So at a high level,

(09:04):
it reports our twenty four hostages were traded over the
past six releases for about eight hundred prisoners. Estimates there's
about seventy three more held and thirty five of those
are thought to be deceased. Now we should remember here
in the US that ten US citizens have been released
and five remain held hostage, with the five remaining ones

(09:24):
thought to have many of them thought to be deceased
as well. And we can't forget that on that attack
of seven October and twenty twenty three, more than forty
Americans were killed. I think the number forty six. Now
where to go? Now? How to win the peace? Now
that this has been going on for decades, because as
we've talked to a number of times, Tony, this was

(09:45):
never about AMAS defeating Israel. It was about, just like
the tet offensive, defeating their legitimacy on the world stage,
and fundraising and recruiting. Despite which appears to be their
tactical defeat, they apparently have raised funds and volunteers that
exceeds their holdings prior to the seven October twenty twenty

(10:07):
three attacks. They thrive using the rubble of Gaza to
build sympathy and support and foement anger and hate against
Israel in the US. So how to win the peace
in the strategic fight, Well, the sure way to lose
it is continue to you know, street to street fight
with Hamas just what they want through the rubble and
the bombed out visuals that risk, you know, rivaling that

(10:29):
that change the will of the US to support the
war in Vietnam. No one of our era, Tony will
forget the pictures after the napalm bombing of that village
and there you have it on the front of Life magazine,
you know, and that changed the souls of the American
public with respect to support that, Tony, do you recall that?

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Oh yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Now the rebuild Gaza hasn't been said by Trump and Yaw,
who is not without successful president. In fact, it might
be political military genius that underpends an opportunity for dramatic
pivot in the Mid East and further checkmate I ran,
because that continues to be the real issue. Just a reminder,
we did not win the peace in World War II

(11:09):
by the last battle in Europe are dropping the bombs
in Japan. We won the peace by the Marshall Plan,
which rebuilt Europe after World War Two, and it brought
long term peace and prosperity, and it changed the sentiment
of the folks there and has facilitated what has largely
been peace up until more recently with the actions by

(11:32):
Russia and under pins NATO. It's regarded as one of
the biggest successes in the history of foreign policy around
the world. And General Arthur did something similar in Japan
that set the stage for its recovery where it became
an economic powerhouse just a few decades later. So we
have to remember those and use the title of the
book thinking in time that there's some genius and some

(11:54):
possibility here tony, especially if it can be set up
in a manner where the Arabs and others for it
because they don't want the Palestinians. They want the Palestinians
have someplace to go and to rebuild. That would be
again a strategic political military genius.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
That's always been the rub right that none of the
arounding the surrounding areas want the Palestinians to be in
their backyard or whatever the case may be. So what
are your thoughts about that, in particular with Egypt and Lebanon.
And you know we're learning today that not in Yahoo
said the only thing he sees that will work is
Trump's plan.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Right you are. I don't know what the other alternatives
would be unless you just wanted to sustain, you know,
keep doing what we're doing, which is not fixing the problem.
So I would say that what we're going to see
now is some chess being played recognizing the secretary state
and when initially Japan, which is that's key and strategic,
and we we put a bow on that in the
first part of the show this morning, Tony. It is

(12:52):
important as for the whole number of reasons, as we
articulated now, he's shifting over to the Mid East, so
we've got to reset the table over there. Would include
getting the Arabs to buy in on the long term
peace and prosperity, and we'll start with Gaza there. Otherwise
Iran will just continue to leverage that and it will
continue to be a threat.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
And I wish we had a little bit more time,
but we'll be talking about this for a while because
I think you know, there's a lot of structuring and
restructuring in all the different pieces that are coming about
do you want to congratulate you? I understand that the
US Secretary of Agriculture came to your farm, the Brook
Rollins was there in Shelbyville. Is that right?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Well, let's thank the people of Kentucky to celebrate you
think about that the Secretary of Agriculture, Brook Rawlins, from
Texas met with Kentucky farmers at Galleran Market on Saturday morning.
That's a feather in the hat of this commonwealth. Let's
celebrate that. It was an honor to host a fellow
family farmer where she comes from in Texas, and the
Gallerands here, as you know, have been family farmers and
we got our sixth generation on the farm now we've

(13:55):
been here for well over a century. And she pledged
to support agriculture and family farms. Can I share a
few facts about farms in Kentucky.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Well, I would love to do that, but I've got
I'm real late for the break and I got to
get the news. But give me a couple, Give me
a couple.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, Well, let's just give it. Food security is national
security and farmland is critical infrastructure, and we just need
folks to have a better understanding of that. We want
to work with you on that we can have smart
growth and development and everybody will benefit from it. Remember,
Kentucky's a leading beef can cattle producing state east of
the Mississippi. There's over seventy thousand family farms or farms

(14:31):
in Kentucky. Most of those are family farms, and where
there's a lot of veterans as well out there. Ten
thousand of those farms are veterans like the gal Ryns Tony.
And there's over eight billion dollars worth of farm probably
like produced in the Commonwealth.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
A lot to celebrate, all right, So next time we
come together, we got to put the farmer ed camp
on and.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
Go out here in just a few minutes.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
All right, Yeah, I know you are your man's man,
that's for sure. Hey, Ed, appreciate your time. Thanks Ed
Gal Ryan listeners. All right, Captain Neil gal Ran joining
us here this morning I conteckt and this morning news
got a break