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Charlie Kirk
Hey, everybody. Charlie Kirk here live from the Bitcoin.com studio Israel decapitates Iran. We go through the facts and then we present it from a pro American standpoint as well, with a cautionary tale. Make sure you guys are subscribed to our podcast and text these episodes to your friends. They're doing very, very well. So make sure you guys check it out. And email us, as always, freedomarliekirk.com and subscribe to the Charlie Kirk show podcast page. That is the Charlie Kirk show podcast page. And email us freedomarliekirk.com do you stand with Israel? We want to hear. Email us freedomarliekirk.com Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.
Josh Hammer
Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
Charlie Kirk
I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
Unknown
I want to thank Charlie. He's an incredible guy. His spirit, his love of this country. He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point usa.
Charlie Kirk
We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country. That's why we are here. Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of the Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble gold investments@noblegoldinvestments.com that is noblegoldinvestments.com it's where I buy all of my gold. Go to noblegoldinvestments.com we saw this happening in real time yesterday. The news heard around the world. We were live streaming last night. And it's important in times like this, in situations that involve war and kinetic conflict, to report the facts and to stay calm, collected with a lot of precision. Not to get too excited, not to get involved in hyperbole or measure. Be very measured in your reporting. In fact, I believe you, the audience. That's why you keep on tuning in. Right now, we are the number one conservative podcast in Apple news because we did a late night stream all about the Israeli strikes on Iran. And you can count that this program will have a pro civilization, pro American view on all these things. And we're gonna tell it like it is. We're gonna report all the facts of exactly what has happened. So what occurred? Well, so Israel hit over 100 targets against Iran. And as I am talking right now, it's continuing. The bombing campaign is continuing Here is what is so remarkable is that Israel was involved in a little bit of a deception campaign, totally legitimate. There's nothing wrong with deceiving your enemy. Israel said, oh, Netanyahu is going to go to a wedding and we're going to try to. Try to slow walk. We might go to D.C. and have some talks and some diplomacy. And amazingly, Iran let its guard down. Israel was able to infiltrate the inner circle of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. They were able to infiltrate the top levels of the irgc. And we're going to learn a lot more of what happened in the days and weeks of exactly what has happened. But this was not merely just a bombing attack against Iran's nuclear facilities. It was a decapitation strike against the entire Iranian military. They took out Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of the Iranian Chief of Staff, General Staff, the head of their military. That is like the equivalent of taking out JD Vance and Susie Wiles. They took out Hossein Salami, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. They also hit the following targets. The capital in Tehran, Netnats, where Iran enriches uranium. Tabriz, where explosions have been reported near a nuclear research center and two military bases, Kermasha. I'm butchering these pronunciations, but whatever. West of Tehran, where an underground facility storing ballistic missiles was hit near the Iraqi border, plus other major cities like Isfahan and Arak. Arak, A R, A K, Not. Well, not Iraq. Yet the country. Iran's air defenses appeared to have been totally compromised, offering no resistance at all to Israeli airstrikes. And to the knowledge that we have right now, and again, this could change at any moment, it looks as if not a single Israeli aircraft has been shot down. Again, it's the fog of war. So we do not know yet, but we don't have any reports of any Israeli aircraft that has yet been taken down. Israel was apparently able to execute some stunning infiltrations, such as smuggling explosives directly into Iran in advance of the strike. Regardless of your opinion of Israel, even if you hate Israel to your core, you have to have remarkable respect for Mossad and their military for what they were able to pull off here. Understand that Iran knew this was coming. And without getting into too many details, we knew this was coming. In fact, I was talking to Blake and Andrew and I'm like, guys, unless my sources are totally wrong, in about two hours, Iran is about to get lit up like a Christmas tree. So I knew it was coming. A lot of other reporters I was talking to knew it was coming. And Iran still was infiltrated because it seems as if that Israel was able to infiltrate at such the highest levels of the Iranian government. They used the looming attack as a way to gather all of these senior Iranian officials together to then strike them. Remember, we moved out all diplomatic and non essential staff. This was somewhat of a deception surprise attack. But this was the longest wind up. Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes. And it does beg the question, is Iran a paper tiger? And we'll explore that later, which is, wait, I understand that the intel shows that they were close to a nuclear weapon, but there's a little bit of a contradiction here of if they really don't have any air defense systems and they're this foolish and kind of a third world country, it really makes you wonder like how sophisticated of a threat this actually is. However it's happening and Israel is a sovereign country and they made, and you have to just say this, they made an incredibly ballsy move with a lot of chutzpah. Took a lot of chutzpah for them to do this. And we're gonna find out in the next couple days and weeks and months the ramifications of that, especially from a pro American standpoint, which I want to get into. But they also killed some of the nuclear scientists. That's 564, by the way. If you want to just have entertainment, watch this show of me trying to pronounce these ridiculous Persian names. Farahdoon Abbasi. I think I got that one. Mohammad Mehdi Torajanani, the physicist and president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran. The Israeli operation was not just airstrikes. The Israeli Mossad intelligence service has operatives on the ground conducting covert sabotage operations on missile and air defense sites. And it's ongoing. Israel right now has complete command over the air of Iran. No one really could have anticipated that. No one could have predicted it. And this is why no planes have been shot down. And Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli government, they're basically having an all you can eat buffet in Iran. They've had these targets basically in their tickler file for quite some time. They've had these targets like, hey, here they are all over Iran for quite some time. And they're like, why are we gonna stop now? We're just gonna keep on going. This is a dream for Israel in the sense where they for quite some time would love to have been able just to fly over Iranian airspace with no opposition whatsoever. 562 which I think is a very important picture. Yes, some residential buildings were struck, but that's some pretty remarkable precision. This visual is something. And on podcasting you just have to take pause and be like, that's as good and as sophisticated of a military that I think you'll ever see. So here you have, for those that you can't see it on podcasting, a high rise residential building in Tehran and where the neighbors above and the neighbors below, literally, they are able to, either through a drone or through a fighter jet, have a precision missile, go to, what is that, like the eighth floor, but not the ninth floor, not the seventh floor. And they decided not to take down the entire building. And I do think that is a necessary picture where the stereotype and the prejudice against Israel is that, oh, they take down residential buildings just for fun and to go after civilians. I think that picture is a very important picture that I hope is included in the national narrative, an international narrative, that Israel actually decided not to take down that entire residential building because that would have been a narrative collapse alongside an apartment collapse. Because if they would have taken down the entire building, first of all, innocent people would have unnecessarily died. And I'm sure some people did. I mean, you can't. Maybe the missile would have continued into another apartment building. However, it looks as if the apartments above and below are largely still intact. We don't know all the details associated to it, but Israel very well could have collapsed the entire building and they could have said, hey, you know, these are command and control centers. What's the big deal? That's another picture that shows that the apartments kind of above and below are kind of untouched. And part of this also is that Israel's strategy here is they know that many of the everyday rank and file Persians hate the Iranian regime. They hate the Iranian regime and they don't want to try to turn the Iranian people against Israel unnecessarily. They're trying to fight a war of liberation, a very risky war. And I want to just make sure that's very clear. In this fog of war, it's easy to get caught up in the overemphasis on the military action. I do want we're going to talk about this from an American standpoint. From where does the base stand on this? Israel has a right to do what they want to do. There's a risk, reward calculus. Private student loan debt in America totals over $300 billion. Yrefi does not care what your credit score is. And you can finally take control of your student loan situational plan that works for your monthly budget. 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Right now, Iran is getting blown up. And currently America has faced zero blowback or any consequences. And Israel's operation against Iran has been far more successful as of right now than anyone could have dreamed. No one could have dreamed that they're taking out the entire core of the Iranian military, not to mention bombing after bombing of nuclear reactors and airports and military sites. And in some ways, for many people in this audience, and also for those of us that want to see civilization succeed, this is very satisfying to watch. But we must also caution you and the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war show us that it might not necessarily continue that way. The first weeks of the Afghan and the Iraq war looked incredibly easy. Remember shock and awe? Shock and awe looked like, wow, there is no situation that we can't handle. Iraq will bend to our will. And for those of us that are America first but also are very sympathetic to Israel, this has always been our cautionary tale, which is that war is far more complicated. Military strikes are usually much murkier and complicated than it might seem on tv. Our generation especially, and the base of the Republican Party, we have never seen a triumphant, declarative military victory. And I hope everybody in the audience understands that. Everybody in MAGA that says, you know, keep the strikes going, and I totally get it, I see it from that perspective, but also understand that the base of MAGA has never seen a Declarative victory. And I can tell you right now, our MAGA base does not want a war at all whatsoever. They do not want US involvement. They do not want the United States to be engaged in this. And let's just go 569. This is a picture of the Iraq Shock and awe bombing. You might remember it felt as if we were going to steamroll Iraq and this would be like a two month operation similar to the Persian Gulf war back in 1991. But the middle east has a tendency to draw you in. It is the land of sand and death, as President Trump would say. The last major war that America clearly and definitively won is the Gulf War. And even that led to the second Iraq war. Before that it was World War II. And mate, the Korean War, you could argue had some real good upside with the creation of South Korea. Wars are not profitable endeavors. And even from a pro Israel standpoint, Israel does not benefit from long conflicts or long wars. The shorter the conflict, the better it has always been for Israel. That's why they prefer deceptive, immediate and violent action. We as conservatives must be very morally clear as to what side we are on. But we must resist the siren song of displacing dictators in lands we do not understand and we have no business running. And I just want to have a cautionary tale because it can feel very good and seem very good and it objectively can be good. When I see a picture of that apartment building, I kind of just have awe. And I'm like, man, I struggle to like install my tv. I need someone to help me set up the WI fi. Like, Mikey, get in here, set up the WI fi. I mean, what they do in the tech room is like the most impressive thing. They got guests and they got Zoom and they got different televisions and they got audio stuff. And look at this. They're sending missiles to the eighth floor, but not the ninth floor or the seventh floor. I mean, I marvel at that and you should too. However, Iran does have a conventional military. They are a proud and they are a big country. Persia was once a great power. They have a memory, a very serious memory of being respected. And. And this was a humiliation. This was an absolute humiliation of the Iranian regime in mullahs. And it is continuing. Iran could say that they're gonna just go march 900,000 troops into Iraq. The Iranian play is the worst possible case scenario is Iran says, okay, you humiliated us, you killed all of our leaders. We're gonna go make this a regional mess and try to get as many people involved as possible. They're gonna go after Americans, they're gonna go after Saudis, they're gonna go after everybody imaginable just to create a big mess and to try to draw the world into it. Because understand the Iranian people are widely respected and not necessarily are always in sync with leadership. But if and when the people of Iran feel like Persia is being defaced and humiliated and disrespected, we don't know where that is gonna go. And that's my first final reason why I am always skeptical of military intervention. And when a lot of the sometimes warmongering wing gets too excited, you don't know actually you need to have a lot of humility. You do not know how things are going to work out. It is impossible. You could try to predict it, you could pray, you can hope. But when you start saying things will guarantee happen, like in Libya, oh, overthrowing the regime will be easy and then everything after was a disaster. Some humility is necessary in these moments. Gentlemen, let's get real for a second. Are you frustrated with today's woke dating apps? The apps, the games, the endless swiping. It's a waste of time. Finding a woman who shares your values, faith, family and patriotism feels nearly impossible. But it doesn't have to be. Selective Search, America's leading matchmaking firm, is changing the game. They connect strong, successful men like you, men who love God, love America and want a family with incredible women who share your values. These are intelligent, faith driven women who put family first and still believe in traditional values. Imagine that if you're a single conservative man in the late 30s to early 50s in Southern California. Listen up. 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The Iranian people are the opportunity, not the enemy here. But I can say concretely, here's where I stand and where the MAGA base stands. We do not want US boots on the ground. We do not want American kinetic involvement. This is Israel's war. This is Israel's self determination in play. And with that we welcome Josh Hammer from Newsweek. Great man and very clear thinker, host of the Josh Hammer show and author of Israel and Civilization. So Josh, I mean I have to ask the kind of elephant in the room, how many paces, how many steps are you from a bomb shelter? God forbid you have to go there.
Josh Hammer
Yeah, I'm laughing, but I probably shouldn't be laughing. Charlie, you know, we Woke up at 3am Local time here. The whole country had sirens nationally and you know, we have our six month old baby here. It's actually our first time flying with our babies. So it's no joke. So we immediately went down to the bomb shelter in the house where, where we were staying. We soon learned within minutes that these sirens were not due to incoming rocket fire. Instead, the IDF home command did sirens nationwide to essentially alert the people that, you know, major stuff was going down inside Iran. There was a potential of imminent retaliation there that I think was what the IDF was most concerned about. What they were concerned about imminent, immediate retaliation. There's now been over 12 hours, actually far more than that since that. And I think that the threat level has decreased. But to your very first question, Charlie, there's a bomb shelter probably 30 or 40 steps over there. So God forbid I can make a dashboard and I think I'll be okay.
Charlie Kirk
Well, yeah, and I hope everyone in the audience understands that that's now become normal life in Israel. So you are outside right now and which is great, praise God, you can see the. But I just. So I have so many questions here and I'm just gonna kinda go to stuff I can get from you that I can't get from the cable networks. What is the vibe? You're there with your kid, you are there with, you know, so many people you care about. What is the morale like on the ground? Do the Israelis support this?
Josh Hammer
Well, this whole trip and Charlie, like you, I've been to Israel a number of times. This whole trip thus far has been not exactly what we signed up for. So my wife and I were getting dinner the other night in the Tel Aviv area on the ocean. There was a massive siren. We ran to a bomb shelter. It turns out that there was A Houthi ballistic missile incoming from Yemen. That was just two or three nights ago. And now this is the mission of all missions, what Israel is calling Operation Rising lion, the operation inside Iran. Charlie, I'm here in the broader Tel Aviv area. As you can see in the background here, the sun is slowly starting to set. The Jewish Sabbath Shabbat is coming in. So I guess we're spending the Sabbath here. We were planning to be in Jerusalem, but we didn't want to get in the call car and drive an hour and a half, God forbid, getting stuck in traffic with a lot of missiles. Again, we have a six month old, so we're being smart state parents here, there. So we're locking down. Now what I can tell you is that the locals here, the roads are empty. The roads are basically like a ghost town. The supermarkets, it's like a hurricane. I've gone through hurricanes living in Florida, back home I've lived in Houston, Texas, Miami, Florida during hurricanes. Anyone who has been to a supermarket during a hurricane knows that the, that the shelves are just totally, you can't get any food items. There is a line around the door, curling around the supermarket. Same thing here. It feels like a hurricane like condition right now. Again, I guess we're going to see what actual hurricane in the form of an Iranian retaliation actually comes here. But the thing about the Israeli people, Charlie, and holding aside the Arab Israelis is a little more complicated. But the thing about Jewish Israelis, which are still the vast majority of the Israeli people, there is full consensus as to the Iranian issue. There are a number of very, very divisive issues here in Israel. Bibi Netanyahu, the two state solution versus one state solution with the Palestinian Arabs, the issue of the Haredi ultra Orthodox draft into the idf. There are a lot of very contentious issues here in the Israeli domestic political spectrum. But there's one very important point I think for your audience to know is that the Iran issue is not a contentious issue. I remember Speaking back in 2016, during the 2016 presidential cycle, I spoke with a far left member, a Jewish member of the Knesset, their legislature here, Charlie, dude was so far left, he was an actual Bernie Sanders supporter, I kid you not. And even this guy, even this guy who was a total peacenik on the Palestinians, a total liberal on all domestic issues, you name it there even. He was very sober and hawkish minded on Iran because there was an understanding here that Iran actually genuinely is the existential issue. And that if the IDF's mantra that never again means never again, if it means Anything whatsoever, then Iran has to be dealt with at some point. It turns out that they dealt with it, or at least started to deal with it while it happened to be visiting the country here.
Charlie Kirk
I'm now going to refer to you as our Israeli war correspondent. We're going to have you on as much as you'll have us. I have so many questions here, Josh, just a more technical one while I have it on top of my head. I'm guessing that this will be a Shabbat that is largely not honored by the military in the best possible way. Right? I mean, it's not like the whole country is just going to go to sleep while Iran could launch a bunch of missiles. Am I correct in that regard?
Josh Hammer
Look, everyone has to do what they can here. So, you know, not to get too deep in the weeds of Jewish law, but there is a well known Jewish principle known as pachuach nefesh, which basically means that there's an overwhelming imperative to save a human life at all costs. And, and when human life has to be saved at the expense of desecrating the Jewish Sabbath or any other of the violation of Jewish law, it has to be done there. So for example, Charlie, back home in Florida, where I pray, I pray to a local synagogue near the beach, there's a guy who has a walkie talkie there because he's actually an emergency driver for Hatzala, the emergency services there. So he's allowed to do that for reasons of khuach nepesh. So similarly here in Israel, when there is an active threat of the world's leading state sponsor of jihad potentially launching God knows what kind of missiles, drones or whatever we'll have here over the next 48, 72 hours? Who the heck knows? Yes, I think people are going to interpret and take it into their own hands.
Charlie Kirk
It's just so I want to, I have so many questions, but I hope people understand that even in the midst of all the terror, still the Shabbat will be honored and the kadush will be said. It's just pretty amazing how I'm turning.
Josh Hammer
Off my phone, Charlie.
Charlie Kirk
Well, it's just, it's remarkable. So Josh, let me ask you. So now let's get more to like the technical side. Are you surprised? What is your reaction, I should say to the fact that Iran has not really responded yet, that we're coming on almost a 24 hour marker and there have not been missiles that are cascading down on Israel. Why is that? And is it because that Israel is just having a feeding frenzy in the interior of Iran right now.
Josh Hammer
So it's such a real time, minute by minute situation that's a little hard to keep up with everything. I did hear maybe about 30, 45 minutes ago that there were rocket sirens in northern Israel. I assume that is from Hezbollah in Lebanon, or at least the remnants of Hezbollah in Lebanon, because Hezbollah has been dealt such a crippling blow over the past year or so by, by Israel. But Iran, Charlie, and this is why Israel apparently felt that this was the time to actually launch this operation that was literally decades in the making, was that they had done such, such an amazing job of crippling Iran's various proxies, Hezbollah in particular in Lebanon, with their massive 100, 000/podcast precision guided missile arsenal. That was always the Iranian regime's kind of sort of Damocles hanging over the Israeli people here. It's right on the Israel north there. And Israel knew that if they were to ever launch a serious operation against Iran, then Hezbollah would just rain down lots and lots of missiles on Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or all the population corridors there. But Hezbollah has not been literally eliminated. But I mean, you know, 80, 90%. I mean, they are on really, really, really weak knees right there now. So the path was really, really clear. And then inside of Iran itself, you look at just the sheer number of the top ranking IRGC Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the general staffers that apparently have been killed over the past 12 to 18 hours there. I mean, Charlie, I think we're literally talking about a situation where the actual physical men who would literally call the shots are perhaps no longer with us. It's a pretty astounding thing to say there, but I think that's the reality inside Iran right now.
Charlie Kirk
And so let me ask you the. So then it looks as if Israel is continuing a bombing campaign against Iran. I mean, how else can Iran respond if their missile capacity is largely disabled?
Josh Hammer
Well, look, they have the potential to try to launch extraterritorial assassinations. Charlie, I'll be honest with you. In a weird way, I actually almost feel safer here in Israel than if I were back home in the United States. I live in Florida, so Florida is kind of the exception to the rule. Florida is an incredibly safe place to be Jewish. It's an incredibly safe place, frankly, to be anyone. But I do think in a time like this, about more exposed Jewish communities, Israeli expatriate communities in blue jurisdictions. I think a lot about New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, places like that at, at this time there, because those are the places where the local government is not necessarily going to be up to speed at protecting vulnerable soft targets. Synagogues, kosher restaurants, things like that. At this time here, living here or not, I don't live here, but being here in Israel at this time here and having the, the IDF protect us, I feel pretty good for the most part there. But they do have the capacity. Iran, Iran has a lot of sleeper cells. They have a lot of sleeper cells, a lot of lone wolf agents, a lot of people all throughout the West, a lot of these crazy radicals, the Mahmoud Khalil on the university campuses, a lot of folks who are pledging and vowing to take up, not necessarily full on jihad in an ISIS style caliphate here in the Middle east, but just engaging in lone wolf style attacks very similar to what the Marxists did in slaughtering, brutally assassinating this two Israeli diplomats in Washington two weeks ago. So that's the kind of soft lone wolf target that I'm actually most scared of. At a time like this. I'm less scared about whatever is coming from Iran in kind of a paradoxical way, even though I'm right here, kind of in the crosshairs of fire.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah, I mean I literally put up on Twitter, I'll read it to the audience, which is keep your head on a swivel. Biden. Let millions of people into America. Iran might activate some sleeper cells against Americans, stay armed. And I mean, that goes for all people. Right. Is the Iranian sleeper cells into the interior of the United States? Can Israel win this without United States troops?
Josh Hammer
So it totally depends how you define when, Charlie. It seems to me that Israel is not, at least at this moment, seeking to decapitate the head of the snake. Again, we'll see. It's a very, very fast time situation there. It seems to me like if they were going to take their shot at the Ayatollah at Khamenei, it probably would have happened in the wee hours of the morning. Again, what do I know? I'm just kind of playing a speculation game here. But the goal of this operation, so far as I understand it, is simply to neutralize the nuclear threat. And if that is the goal, if that is the goal, then I think that Israel has already shown that is fully capable of doing that. Just to take one example, I mean, they had a large, large number of Iran's nuclear facilities. Just to take one example, Natanz, which is maybe the most infamous of all of the Iranian uranium enrichment facilities. Natanz has been kind of front and center of all these. Can Israel strike Iran Debates for the past 15, 20 years. Now, these debates have gone back a long time. Israel has, as by all accounts, according to the iaea, the UN International nuclear watchdog, they call it Natanz, has been completely obliterated. There is no more Natanz nuclear facility. I mean, that is an astonishing, astonishing thing right there. So again, if. If the goal of the Israeli operation Rising Line, I think is a name that, that the IDF is giving it, if the goal is to neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat, then I think they are fully capable of doing this on their own. There's not going to be a ground invasion or anything like that there. It's not going to happen. I mean, the logistics that are just impossible to even contemplate. I don't know. I don't even know what that looks like. I mean, the tanks start rolling over Iraq. I mean, I mean, it's. It's not going to happen. So the goal of this is to tactical aerial strikes to, to neutralize a harrowing threat of the world's number one state sponsor of jihad. These fanatical Islamists who genuinely believe in 72 versions in heaven, all that there the goal is, is to decapitate their capacity to launch a nuclear strike on Israel, Europe, anywhere else if they were to ever acquire, God forbid, intercontinental ballistic missile technology. And so far they've been very successful, and I think, God willing, that they will continue to be very successful.
Charlie Kirk
Hey, everybody, Charlie Kirk here. Brand new year. Brand new opportunities to change the world for the better. It's easier than you might think. You can save babies by providing ultrasounds with preborn. Together with the Sanctity of Human Life Month, we're gonna save 35,000 babies to show the world that not only do we believe life is precious, but we're gonna do something about it. Your gift of preborn will give a girl the truth about what's happening in her body so that she can make the right choice. What better way to start this new year than to join us in to save babies? And $28 a month will save a baby a month all year long. A $15,000 gift will provide a complete ultrasound machine that will save thousands of babies for years and years to come and will also save moms from a lifetime of pain and regret. I am a donor to this organization, and you should be too. Start this new year by being a hero for life. Call 833-850-2229 or click on the preborn banner at charliekirk.com that is charliekirk.com and click on the pre born banner. I'm a donor. You should be too. Charliekirk.com Preborn Banner Josh, I want to put this up here. We did this on X last night. I asked our audience, 323,000 people voted, should the US get involved in Israel's war against Iran? 88% said no. I can't imagine you're surprised by that though, Josh. So as someone who's in Israel and cares about Israel but is also an American, walk me through your reaction to that and how you think this plays out politically.
Josh Hammer
Yeah, Charlie, I don't think the US really has to get involved. I have never once actually in my entire commentary career called for the US to directly get involved in military or kinetic action against Iran because frankly, it's not my stance. I thought that the first Trump era maximum pressures economic campaign was very successful there. And then beyond economic pressure and placing crippling sanctions on the oil and natural gas exports to the Chinese Communist Party. Above all, there's I've always thought that Israel could take the military end of the bargain and do what needs to be done. All that essentially is needed from the United States is to cast the various vetoes at the UN National Security Council and things like that there. But Charlie, I would suggest that another way to view it actually is this way. Iran obviously is an existential threat to Israel. It is a major threat to other countries, but it is a larger threat to Israel. And I think it would be sloppy analysis to try to needlessly conflate the degree of the threat to Israel to others. There is a threat to the United States, but not the exact same threat. Having said that, it is a threat, Iran definitely does have American blood on its hands for 46 years, going back to the hostage crisis that launched the regime and ended the Jimmy Carter presidency, going Back to the 241 US Marines slaughtered at the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, from Hezbollah, the top Iranian proxy, the five to 600American soldiers killed by Qassem Soleimani supplied IEDs on the roadside of Al Anbar and Fallujah during the Petraeus counterinsurgency during the Bush and on and on and on we go there. So I think another way of viewing this is as follows, which is that Israel is acting as a good ally, should act in securing not just its own national interest, it happens to be an existential interest in this case there, but also then ultimately conducing to the enhanced and greater safety and security of the United States, of our European allies, and so forth. And so forth. The United States, Charlie, today and for the foreseeable future is a safer and more secure place because of what Israel is doing inside of Iran. This is a very, very key point there. Again, this was needed for Israel. Israel is acting as any sovereign nation state would do in its own national interest here. But the key thing, and I, and I make this point at great length in my book Israel and Civilization. But the key thing here is that when it comes to the Middle east, and this is kind of what you would, what you expect of an ally from a nationalist realist foreign policy paradigm, the key thing is that Israel's national interest in this region is overwhelmingly Venn diagram overlapped with the American region. The degrees may actually vary, for sure. I will happily and readily concede that there. But again, America is a safer and more secure place today from Israel simply doing this. In fact, America, in many ways is benefiting, frankly, on the cheap because we're not actually sending in any kind of troops. And no one is calling for that, by the way. No one. Seriously. Literally. I haven't found a single person who's actually calling for that there. So as long as it remains on the cheap, I think America looks quite good, actually.
Charlie Kirk
Josh, please stay safe. I know that you are in a calamitous situation right now, and we'll be praying for you and praying for your family and praying for the peace in Jerusalem. Thank you so much.
Josh Hammer
God bless you, Charlie. Thank you.
Charlie Kirk
Thank you. I wanna just go a little bit deeper into the politics here. And we talked about the cautionary tale. These military operations are almost oversimplified in the media and they kind of have an immediate crescendo and then some complication as one proceeds. I could tell you, though, that young maga, especially, the more online you get, the more skepticism there is about America getting involved in this, in the quagmire, in the nonstop flow of military intervention in the Middle East. And the base will diverge from some orthodox opinions on Israel that you might hear on cable news or in the mainstream media, where the base might have diplomatic and sentimental support driven towards Israel, which of course, I've demonstrated over a very long period of time. Which the question is, though, how much money, how much funding are we getting involved and to what extent does that lead towards? Because I could tell you right now, a primary concern from the MAGA base. It is a phrase I hear all the time, Charlie, this is just to get the war contractors wealthier. Charlie, this is just to get people that are in the permanent war machine more money. They want more war and not peace. I hear this all the time from people, from those of you in the base. And with that, I want to hear from you right now. I want to be flooded with emails. Freedomarliekirk.com should we send more aid to Israel? Should we send military support? Should we not send any support at all? Email me freedomarliekirk.com that is freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening everybody. Email us as always. Always. Freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless.
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Summary of "Iran Is Israel’s War, Not America's" – The Charlie Kirk Show
Release Date: June 13, 2025
Introduction
In this episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk delves into the recent and significant military actions taken by Israel against Iran. Emphasizing a pro-American and pro-Israel perspective, Kirk discusses the strategic implications of Israel's operations, their impact on global politics, and the stance of the conservative movement in the United States regarding this conflict.
Israel’s Decisive Strike Against Iran
Charlie Kirk opens the discussion by outlining the scale and precision of Israel's military campaign against Iran. He states:
“Israel hit over 100 targets against Iran. And as I am talking right now, it's continuing.” [05:15]
Kirk highlights the comprehensive nature of the strike, which targeted not only Iran's nuclear facilities but also decapitated its military leadership, including key figures like Mohammad Bagheri and Hossein Salami. He commends the effectiveness of Israel's intelligence and military prowess, noting:
“Even if you hate Israel to your core, you have to have remarkable respect for Mossad and their military for what they were able to pull off here.” [08:50]
The operation, referred to as "Operation Rising Lion," showcased Israel's capability to infiltrate and disable Iran's inner military circles without suffering any reported losses:
“Iran's air defenses appeared to have been totally compromised, offering no resistance at all to Israeli airstrikes.” [10:30]
Impact on Iran and Regional Stability
Kirk discusses the immediate consequences of Israel's actions, emphasizing the potential for significant retaliation from Iran. He warns of the unpredictable nature of war, drawing parallels to past conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan:
“The Iraq war showed us that it might not necessarily continue that way. War is far more complicated.” [15:45]
He raises concerns about Iran's capacity to respond despite the current setbacks, suggesting that Iran might resort to unconventional warfare or regional destabilization:
“Iran could say that they're gonna just go march 900,000 troops into Iraq. They're gonna go after Americans, they're gonna go after Saudis, they're gonna go after everybody imaginable.” [18:20]
Conservative Movement’s Perspective
Shifting focus, Kirk examines how the conservative base in America perceives the conflict. Highlighting skepticism towards U.S. military involvement, he reflects on the general reluctance within the MAGA community to engage in another Middle Eastern war:
“Our MAGA base does not want a war at all whatsoever. They do not want US involvement. They do not want the United States to be engaged in this.” [22:10]
He contrasts this with the traditional pro-Israel sentiments, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that supports Israel's right to defend itself without dragging the U.S. into direct conflict:
“Israel is acting as any sovereign nation state would do in its own national interest here.” [30:27]
Interview with Josh Hammer: On the Ground in Israel
Charlie Kirk brings in Josh Hammer, a host from Newsweek and author of Israel and Civilization, for a live interview from Israel. Hammer shares his firsthand experiences amidst the ongoing conflict, providing valuable insights into the ground reality.
Living Conditions and Public Morale
Hammer describes the tense atmosphere in Israel, comparing the situation to a "hurricane-like condition" with empty streets and crowded supermarkets:
“It feels like a hurricane like condition right now.” [20:11]
Despite the chaos, he notes a unified public sentiment against the Iranian regime:
“The Iran issue is not a contentious issue here. There's full consensus as to the Iranian issue.” [23:07]
Iran’s Potential Responses
When questioned about Iran's lack of immediate retaliation, Hammer explains that Iran’s capacity to strike back has been significantly weakened:
“Iran has a lot of sleeper cells... a lot of lone wolf agents.” [28:07]
He expresses confidence in Israel's ability to neutralize the nuclear threat without necessitating U.S. military intervention:
“The goal of this operation is to neutralize the nuclear threat, and so far they've been very successful.” [29:50]
Political Implications and Future Outlook
Kirk reflects on the broader political ramifications of Israel's actions. He cautions against oversimplifying military interventions, emphasizing the complexities and long-term consequences:
“War is far more complicated. Military strikes are usually much murkier and complicated than it might seem on TV.” [16:30]
He urges the conservative movement to maintain a clear moral stance, supporting Israel while avoiding entanglement in prolonged conflicts:
“We must resist the siren song of displacing dictators in lands we do not understand.” [25:00]
Kirk also addresses concerns within his audience regarding the motivations behind U.S. involvement, particularly fears of benefiting war contractors:
“The base might have diplomatic and sentimental support driven towards Israel... their primary concern is this is just to get people that are in the permanent war machine more money.” [34:00]
Conclusion
In closing, Charlie Kirk reinforces the importance of supporting Israel's right to defend itself while advocating for prudence in U.S. foreign policy. He calls on listeners to engage in the conversation and share their views, emphasizing a collective approach to navigating the complexities of international conflicts.
“This is Israel's war. This is Israel's self-determination in play.” [35:50]
Kirk signs off by encouraging listeners to email their opinions and remain engaged with the show's ongoing discussions.
Notable Quotes
Final Thoughts
This episode provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran from a conservative and pro-Israel perspective. Through detailed analysis and a live interview with a correspondent in Israel, Charlie Kirk offers listeners a nuanced understanding of the geopolitical dynamics at play and the implications for both Israel and the United States.