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Iran

Nash: Trump Put Gun to Iran’s Head

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President Trump authorized military strikes against Iran but cancelled the attack just minutes before the missiles would have launched, a move that retired U.S. Navy Capt. Chuck Nash says sent an unmistakable message to the mullahs in Iran.

“I think this was putting a gun to their head, cocking the hammer, and then pulling it off and uncocking it and saying next time I may pull the trigger,” said Nash, who is a longtime expert on the Iranian regime.

Trump says he called off the attack after learning approximately 150 people in Iran were likely to die, a toll he considers disproportionate to shooting down an unmanned U.S. drone.

Nash believes there will be no kinetic response to the drone attack but Trump is leaving no ambiguity as to what will happen if Iran’s provocations result in any loss of life.

“If anything else happens, it’s all on the ayatollahs.  It is now.  But clearly, for the world, [Trump] pulled back.  He got the message across.  If they do anything else, Trump has free rein,” warned Nash.

He says Iran is left with a tough dilemma.

“If they do anything that causes the loss of life, this president will literally explode on them.  If that happens, they are facing the end of their regime.  So they have to weigh in the balance of trying to hold on to the regime over severe public discontent over the economy and the way the country’s being governed – and balance that against losing the regime catastrophically,” said Nash.

Nash says Iran was hoping to prompt Trump to overreact or not react at all in order to distract its people from their domestic disaster.  U.S.-led sanctions and Iranian government corruption have Iran in major economic trouble.

“Here’s what’s going on inside Iran: there are demonstrations against the regime weekly.  They don’t get any press.  They’ve got crushing unemployment,” said Nash, who also detailed the soaring Iranian inflation.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Nash explain more of Iran’s domestic woes, why Europe has no choice but to side with the U.S. now, what we may have learned about Iranian defenses by starting to launch an attack, and how he was once poised to carry out airstrikes as a naval aviator before getting orders to stand down just before takeoff.

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Trump Calls Off Iran Attack, Dem Infighting Heats Up, Cuba in Dire Straits

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Rob Long of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss President Trump’s last-minute decision to hold off on striking Iran. They also cover the intensifying Democratic presidential campaign, as Joe Biden and Cory Booker scuffle over race and Bernie Sanders explains why he’s now neck-and-neck with Elizabeth Warren in the polls. And they talk about the desperate poverty facing many Cubans as socialism fails yet again.

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Doxing Dems in Trouble, Iran Shoots Down U.S. Drone, Roy Moore Returns

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Rob Long of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleasantly surprised to see actual consequences for former Democratic staffer Jackson Cosko over his doxing of Republican senators during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. In addition, Cosko’s alleged collaborator is now facing charges as well. They also react to Iran shooting down a U.S. drone and the escalating tensions between the two countries. And they discuss Roy Moore’s expected announcement that he is once again running for the U.S. Senate in Alabama.

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Hong Kong Protests Succeed, SCOTUS & Cake Bakers, Iranian Uranium, Trump Fires Pollsters

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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss Hong Kong hitting pause on an extradition agreement with the Chinese government following massive protests. They also examine the Supreme Court’s approach to Christian vendors vs. the LGBT agenda. They consider what comes next after Iran’s decision to exceed the low-grade uranium limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal. And they also discuss the Trump campaign’s decision to fire its pollsters after unfavorable leaks of bad numbers.

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Young Dems Turn on Biden, Tankers Attacked in Gulf, Acosta’s Ego Trip

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss Beto O’Rourke and other Democratic presidential candidates attacking Joe Biden for his age and ties to the Obama administration. They also discuss the attack on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf as tensions escalate.  And they get a good laugh as CNN’s Jim Acosta and Don Lemon offer a comical defense of their organization’s coverage of the Trump administration.

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U.S. Stopped Iran in Nick of Time

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The U.S. likely stopped an Iranian attack on American personnel or other interests with little time to spare by announcing an aircraft carrier and bomber group are headed to the Middle East, and retired U.S. Navy Captain Chuck Nash says the statement released by the Trump administration tells us a lot even if we have no deals about the thwarted plot.

National Security Adviser John Bolton announced the move Sunday due to “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”  He further stated the deployment decision is designed “to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.”

“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” continued Bolton.

Nash calls Bolton’s language about troubling and escalatory indications and warnings is”pretty unambiguous.”

“That is language that means we have verifiable evidence.  Verifiable evidence could be signals intelligence backed by movements on the ground, where you see not just a plan being discussed where it could be a fake but you actually see forces or people moving into positions that would follow along to where it’s just chatter,” said Nash.

Nash also translated into more plain language.

“I think what he is laying out to the Iranian regime is, ‘We gotcha.  OK?  We gotcha.  We know what’s going on.’  That will get them to back down because their plan is obviously blown,” said Nash.

“Whatever it was, we found out about it and now they know that we know and if they go through with it, not only is the plan likely to fail but they’re likely to reap severe repercussions,” he added.

Nash also elaborated on what the USS Abraham Lincoln and the bomber group would do once in position, assuming Iran doesn’t lash out.  He says Navy and Air Force leaders have constantly updated plans to counter any Iranian attempts to close the Straits of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and eventually the Indian Ocean.

“They could try to close it with surface-to-surface missiles and mines or their submarines or surface units and small boat swarms,” said Nash.

He also says the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which swears allegiance to Supreme Ayatollah Ali Khameini rather than the nation of Iran, is most likely to cause any mischief in the Persian Gulf.

Listen to the full podcast to hear more of Nash’s analysis on message Bolton is sending Iran, why Iran is looking to attack us, and how Iran is likely reacting to its plot being exposed.

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Iran Threat Rises, Dems Can’t Accept Losing, Bill de Blasio 2020?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America react to the U.S. shifting military resources  to the Middle East to address an apparent threat against American forces by Iran.  They’re also getting tired of Democrats refusing to accept the results of elections they obviously didn’t win, as Sen. Kamala Harris tells the NAACP that voter suppression is the only reason Democrats didn’t win governors’ races in Georgia and Florida and Joe Biden suggests states are bringing back Jim Crow laws to suppress the minority vote.  And Jim walks through multiple reasons why virtually no one wants New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to run for president in 2020.

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‘The Whole Situation Changes:’ Iranian Resistance Cheers Terrorist Designation

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The U.S. designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization Monday, and a leading Iranian resistance group says this action will starve the Iranian regime of funds and lead to a more peaceful region.

“From the moment it was founded, the IRGC’s mandate was to defend and export the regime’s mission by whatever means possible.  The IRGC institutionalized terrorism shortly after its inception, directing horrific attacks against the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. embassy annex in 1984,” said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has pleaded with the U.S. to make this designation for years and says this decision could be a real game-changer.

“The Iranian regime has benefited from its terrorism, from its hostage-taking.  It has used terrorism as a tool to leverage, to gain concessions from western countries over the past four decades,” said Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI’s Washington office.

“Today, with this (foreign terrorist organization) designation, the whole situation changes.  It puts the Iranian regime in the defensive position.  It demoralizes the revolutionary guard and their proxies and the groups that they are supporting and sponsoring in the region.

“It actually helps dry up the resources for the militia groups that are funded by the revolutionary guard,” said Jafarzadeh.

The Iranian government is furious at the IRGC being labeled a foreign terrorist organization.  More than 250 members of the Iranian parliament signed a letter vowing to “answer any action taken against this force with reciprocal action.”

But Jafarzadeh says not to worry about the howls of protest.

“Honestly, the mullahs only understand the language of force.  They back down when confronted with firmness,” he said.

Listen to the full podcast to learn how this terrorist designation will clamp down on American and European investment in Iran and why Jafarzadeh says that will lead to a more peaceful Middle East.

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Pompeo Punishes Iran, Nielsen Leaves DHS, Can Alabama Vote for An Auburn Guy?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud the Trump Administration for finally designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a “foreign terrorist organization” after the group has for years sponsored and participated in terrorism throughout the Middle East. They also worry that the revolving door of cabinet officials in the Trump administration is causing too much instability as Kirstjen Nielsen resigns as secretary of the Department Homeland Security. And they wonder if former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville has a chance to overcome one of the nation’s fiercest college football rivalries and win the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate race in Alabama.

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