Join Jim and Greg as they welcome House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul’s vow to get answers on the Biden administration’s debacle in Afghanistan. McCaul says the administration has been stonewalling on providing documents on how U.S. intelligence was so wrong on the advance of the Taliban, the deadly attack on U.S. service members outside the Kabul airport, and much more. They also shudder as a new report shows the U.S. is dangerously deficient in producing new weapons to replace the many munitions we’re sending over to Ukraine. In other words, if the U.S. got involved in sustained military action, we could run out of key weapons in less than a week. Finally, they shake their heads as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s solution to the wave of street vendor robberies is to tell them not to conduct business in cash.
missiles
Time for Trump to Call Kim’s Bluff
Listen to “Time for Trump to Call Kim’s Bluff” on Spreaker.
Evidence is growing that North Korea is refusing to wind down its ballistic missile program and even appears to be adding sites while failing to report them.
As part of the framework agreed to between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong -Un in June, North Korea was supposed to pursue the dismantling of its nuclear program and its ballistic missiles.
Earlier evidence showed North Korea not following through on the commitment and now the Center for Strategic and International Studies says North Korea is operating mobile missile bases close to the South Korean border.
North Korea expert Gordon Chang, author of “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World,” says the revelations are not all that new but the involvement of the mobile missiles is very disturbing.
“It’s the mobile missiles that can hide before launching that we’re really concerned about,” said Chang.
“We’d have maybe only an hour’s notice, and that should be sufficient time to find and destroy a mobile missile that is about to be launched, but in a wartime situation we may not be able to do that,” added Chang.
Chang says Trump should have already re-imposed sanctions against North Korea and slapped others on China and Russia for flouting sanctions to help North Korea continue its nuclear and missile programs.
Chang worries Trump is too personally invested in the narrative that he was able to solve the North Korean threat, but he believes the evidence will soon be overwhelming. He sees Trump’s about-face on China on trade as an encouraging precedent.
“I think he could very well do the same thing to Kim Jong-Un, especially if he feels that he’s been embarrassed and humiliated by the North Korean leader.
“At this point, I think we can say there’s an ’emperor has no clothes” moment. So President Trump does need to pivot to a much more severe, harsh policy,” said Chang.
Listen to the full podcast to hear Chang’s explanation of how China has helped North Korea cheat on its missile program and how the world is likely to react if Trump does bring back sanctions.
Sinema Defeats McSally, Kim’s Big Con, Liberals Harass NR Writer
Listen to “Sinema Defeats McSally, Kim’s Big Con, Liberals Harass NR Writer” on Spreaker.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America lament the loss of another GOP Senate seat as Democrat Kyrsten Sinema is declared the winner of the Arizona Senate race. They’re also not surprised as North Korea is found maintaining and even enhancing its ballistic missile program with numerous undeclared sites. They also react to National Review writer Kat Timpf being harassed at a New York City bar and being forced to leave because some people found out she worked for Fox News. And Jim pays tribute to the late Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee.
Kavanaugh Catch-22, Clueless Ocasio-Cortez, Kim Cons U.S.
Listen to “Kavanaugh Catch-22, Clueless Ocasio-Cortez, Kim Cons U.S.” on Spreaker.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos tackle the latest accusations of Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh, leaving Republicans with the unpleasant choice of ditching a Supreme Court nominee over an eleventh hour allegation missing many specifics or confirming a nominee who many Americans now believe to be a sex offender just one month before the midterms. They also get a kick out Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez flailing and failing to explain how she would pay for $40 trillion in new government programs over ten years. And they sigh as evidence mounts that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un hasn’t stopped his nuclear or missile programs but just isn’t boasting about it anymore.
North Korea: Glimmers of Hope, Deal Too Vague, Trump Legitimizes Kim
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America devote all three martinis to the Trump-Kim summit. They are happy that President Trump did not promise to revoke any of the North Korean sanctions and that Kim reportedly made concessions on his missile program. They also rip the deal over Trump agreeing to end joint military exercises with South Korea, while only getting a vague promise from Kim to move towards denuclearization. They also berate Trump for lavishing public praise towards Kim, calling it a great honor to meet with him and suggesting Kim loves his people.
‘Israel Will Never Accept Iranian Bases on the Border’
Israeli Defense Forces responded to an Iranian missile attack in northern Israel with an immediate barrage against Iran’s command and control infrastructure inside Syria, and a retired Israeli general says he hopes Iran got the message that its meddling near the border will not be tolerated.
Iran fired 20 missiles into Israel. Reports suggest the Iron Dome missile defense system worked well and that no Israeli citizens were injured. On the contrary, reports also suggest Israeli airstrikes did considerable damage to Iranian assets.
“I hope after the lessons they have been taught last night…they will change their attitudes,” said retired Israeli Brigadier Gen. Elihu Ben-Onn. “Israel will never accept any Iranian bases on the border between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights. There is no way Israel will accept that from them.”
He says it’s bad enough that Iran already bankrolls and supplies terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas with threaten Israel on a daily basis from Lebanon and Gaza respectively.
Ben-Onn is also not surprised that Israel is being criticized more harshly for the extent of its response than Iran is for initiating the hostilities.
“Unfortunately, whenever we are winning, we are to apologize for that. I don’t know why.
“Those people are a little bit ignorant and don’t understand what it means to live in the Middle East, what kind of enemies we have, what kind of struggles we are facing every day for our security. We are talking about our lives. This is not a movie. This is not cinema. This is not Hollywood,” said Ben-Onn.
“We don’t like the idea that they don’t understand the situation, but we know that we are the good guys and they are the bad guys,” added Ben-Onn.
Ben-Onn is encouraged that Iranian leadership got the message from the Israeli counter-strike.
“Just a couple of minutes ago, I heard that the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, said he didn’t want to open a new front in the Middle East. That was kind of soft language by the Iranians saying, ‘OK, maybe we tried but we learned our lesson and we’re going to stop this policy,'” said Ben-Onn.
Israel and Iran have never been directly at war. In fact, Ben-Onn says before the Islamic Revolution, the two countries had a productive relationship.
“Before 1979, when (Ayatollah) Khomeini came to power, Israel and Iran had a daily flight from Tel Aviv to Tehran. Many Israeli businesses worked in Iran and built the infrastructure in many fields: agriculture, construction, and they had many good times between the two countries.
“We never had a fight or any conflict. The only conflict is that the Iranians are supporting the enemies on the borders of Israel. The moment they are getting closer to the border and using missiles, this is something the Israeli government will never accept,” said Ben-Onn.
Dems Trip Over Taxes, Hawaii’s Missile Test Mess, Manning Runs for Senate
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get a big kick out of Democrats insisting there are no real real benefits for the middle class in the recent tax bill – even as company after company publicly announces higher wages, new jobs, and bonuses. They also shake their heads as emergency official in Hawaii create a major mess by trying to run a missile alert drill and send out an actual missile alert instead. And they sigh as convicted military leaker and felon Bradley Manning, who now identifies as a woman named Chelsea, runs for the U.S. Senate in Maryland.
Tax Cut Momentum, Kim’s Ominous Missile, NBC Fires Lauer
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are very cautiously optimistic about tax reform getting done after the Senate Budget Committee approved the Senate bill and several of the likely holdouts now seem ready to pass it. They’re also concerned following the latest North Korean missile test, which seems to indicate the communist regime could hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-armed ICBM. And they react to NBC firing longtime “Today” host Matt Lauer over sexually inappropriate actions.
Guam Stays Calm, Kim’s Dangerous Dance, Pointless Poll & Ridiculous Response
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo for pointing out that nuclear threats from North Korea are no big news for the tiny island, and that Americans there should go about their business as they would on any other day. However, Jim and Greg still have some reservations about the idea of North Korea firing missiles designed to land just 20 miles off Guam’s shores. And they throw up their hands in reaction to a new survey showing that more than half of Republicans would support postponing the 2020 elections if President Trump wanted to assure that only eligible voters took part. They are exasperated both at the response and for pollsters asking a worthless hypothetical question in the first place.
Trump’s ‘Unfortunate Decision’ on Iran
President Trump made an “unfortunate mistake” by re-certifying the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday and he was pushed into a decision he didn’t want to make through the power of an entrenched government bureaucracy, according to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.
On Monday, after almost an hour of animated debate with his national security team, President Trump reluctantly declared that Iran is complying with the terms with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, hammered out by the Obama admnistration, Iran, and five other nations.
“It was an unfortunate decision for the administration to issue this certification,” said Bolton. “I think the president was blindsided by the bureaucracy.”
Bolton, who served in the State Department during the first term of the George W. Bush administration, says the foreign policy bureaucracy is a powerful force in Washington.
“It was the bureaucracy on autopilot from the Obama administration. If you don’t tell them to change direction, they just keep doing what they were doing before,” said Bolton.
But it’s not just Obama holdovers pushing the status quo. Reports confirm that Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford all pleaded with Trump to re-certify the agreement.
Bolton says the bureaucracy has a way of winning over new cabinet members to embrace existing policy.
“The bureaucracies have a way of capturing the appointees. Some of those (Trump officials) are still in the bureaucracy or never really left it. It’s an art form. People who know Washington, particularly who have watched the State Department seduce political appointees, especially Republicans and they make reasonable-sounding arguments that are simply justifications for continuing the prior policy,” said Bolton.
The Iran deal has now been re-certified twice in the first six months of the Trump administration. Each time, the official recognition of Iranian compliance has been accompanied by a Trump administration denunciation of Iran’s human rights record and sponsoring of terrorism.
Bolton says the disconnect is jarring.
“It’s a committee camel that came out and it reflects the confusion that happens when you don’t give the president options and when you don’t allow time for a full debate. Those mistakes will not be made again,” said Bolton, who firmly believes Trump will not certify the agreement again.
Those who applauded the decision to re-certify say abrogating the deal would create a great deal of chaos, particularly with our allies who were part of the negotiations with Iran.
Bolton doesn’t think that should be a deterrent from doing the right thing.
“If the allies are going to be upset by something, what you do is a vigorous diplomatic campaign to explain why we think the deal was a mistake, indeed why they made the same mistake we did, and why we’ve got to correct it before it’s too late,” said Bolton.
“The consequences of a bad deal are a regime of religious fanatics in Iran getting nuclear weapons,” said Bolton.
Bolton says the problems with the JCPOA are legion, starting with the painfully unclear language that he says Iran can manipulate and insist it is meeting its obligations.
“Many provisions of the deal are so badly worded, they’re so ambiguous, that a reasonable person could say, ‘The Iranians came right up to the line of their interpretation of the deal and they didn’t cross it so it’s hard to say it’s really a violation.’ That’s the argument,” said Bolton.
“That argument fails for several reasons. First off, the fact that the agreement is badly worded is one more reason to junk it. It shows just how poorly our negotiators, including Secretary of State John Kerry, did. It shows the leeway that it affords Iran. And it shows the way forward. They’re going to press the ambiguities right to the outer limit,” said Bolton.
And he expects Iran to eventually blow right past those limits.
“If they can hide what they’re doing, they’re going to press beyond the outer limits and make it impossible to enforce the deal strictly. That’s part of the problem. The deal is so bad that trying to enforce it strictly is like trying to nail jello to the wall,” said Bolton, while also nothing the deal offers no inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and has no binding provisions concerning ballistic missile development.
Bolton says the bottom line is that nothing has changed as a result of this agreement.
“Iran has never abandoned its policy to get deliverable nuclear weapons. It’s exploiting this deal. It’s made temporary, easily-reversible concessions. It’s cooperating with North Korea, which is getting ever closer to its own deliverable nuclear weapons capability,” said Bolton.
“We’re living in a delusion if we think this deal is slowing Iran down,” he added.
So what is the right U.S. posture? Bolton says the U.S. bring back economic sanctions immediately and be prepared to do whatever needs to be done to prevent Iran from being able to deploy nukes.
“To be realistic, if we don’t want Iran to have deliverable nuclear weapons, if that’s really what we believe, we and Israel have to look at a military option,” said Bolton.