Securing America with Frank Gaffney Podcast

Gal Luft, Avi Jorisch, Rep. Mike Turner, Andy McCarthy

Dr. Gal Luft, the Executive Director for The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, explains how Methanol is an important form of fuel for our transportation system and our economy. Gal explains how this form of fuel can increase our national security and boost our economy yet the president seems opposed to both.

SWIFT is the international banking telecommunication company that connects banks around the world. If money is to be transferred from one bank to another, SWIFT is in the middle to either approve or deny the transfer. Avi Jorisch explains how SWIFT has put 13 of Iran’s 30 banks on their blacklist, meaning those banks cannot send or receive money outside of Iran. This will seriously disrupt the Iranian business sector and strain their economy, but what about the other 17 banks? According to the SWIFT bylaws, they will not work with any bank that is engaged in illegal activity yet the United States has proven that all 30 of Iran’s banks are in some way connected to criminal activity. Why is SWIFT still working with those 17 other banks? What affect will this blacklist have on Iran’s nuclear program?

Who is to blame for the weakening of our national security? Congressman Mike Turner believes that decision rests solely on the shoulders of the Commander-in-Chief. The president is vehemently working to denuclearize the United States as well as cut our conventional forces which signals to our enemies that it is open season on America. The president has decided to play politics with America’s security, but this is a game that we will ultimately lose. Obama is putting trust in countries that have routinely showed themselves to be untrustworthy. His radical liberal ideology not only puts lives at risk, but the sovereignty of many of America’s allies.

Andy McCarthy explains the repercussions of President Obama’s slip when he was caught yesterday on a live microphone asking the Russian president for more “space” regarding missile defense. “This is my last election” Obama continued, “after my election, I have more flexibility”.  What else is the President Obama putting on hold until after the elections? Is there something else he’s willing to put aside that will risk the safety of our country? Is now getting re-elected more important that the security of the U.S.? what message does this send to the rest of the world, especially our allies?

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Joel Himelfarb, Andy McCarthy

Congresswoman and former Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann joins Frank on today’s show to talk about the Iranian threat in light of her recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She describes the important role of research development and technological advancement for the Israeli defense.

Joel Himelfarb of the Investigative Project on Terrorism gives his take on the “Arab Spring." In a May 19, 2011, President Obama appeared to liken the revolution in the Middle East to the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the American civil rights movement. Unfortunately, the reality on the ground is very different.  A close look at three Arab countries where veteran tyrants were push out during the past year—Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya—shows that liberal democracy advocates and religious minorities have been broken down, while Islamists have been substantially strengthened.

In 1970, a comic strip coined the phrase “we have met the enemy and he is us.” Andy McCarthy explains how this phrase couldn’t be truer or more meaningful than in today’s political environment. The Marines at Camp Leatherneck were ordered to disarm in anticipation of Defense Secretary Panetta’s visit; this could have had dire consequences. What is the rationale behind ordering American troops, in a war zone, to disarm especially when such a high-valued target like Secretary Panetta visits? Did we not think the Taliban would try to launch an attack?

Michael O'Hanlon, Mackenzie Eaglen, Rep. Ed Royce, Andy McCarthy

Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institute puts the fundamentals of Afghanistan in perspective in the light of the recent tragedy involving a massacre perpetrated by a U.S. soldier.  This latest event combined with the surging trend of Green on Blue attacks, that is Afghan military on NATO attacks, is devastating for moral and U.S. resolve.  Why should we stay the course?  Are these events telling of a broader story or blurring the important realities.

Do most Americans have a concrete picture of just how devastating the sequential rounds of defense cuts hurt the U.S. strategically? Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute makes the numbers come to life.  “A 15% cut in military pay; a 20% cut in weapons systems; and a 25 % cut in training and operations for the combatant commanders…”  These are but a hint of the costs to our readiness, strategic advantage in the world, and to the personnel who defend our country.

The Obama administration has been blind to the growing threat posed by Iran in the Western Hemisphere. The president has been so neglectful that Congress is now taking action in order to prevent an Iranian attack inside the United States. HR 3783 is designed to counter Iran’s presence in the Western Hemisphere by forcing the president to take defensive action to stop any Iranian aggression. Iranian intelligence has already conducted operations in Latin America and Ahmadinejad has been cozying up to some staunch anti-American governments within the region. The question that Rep. Ed Royce contends with is what will be needed to get this bill passed in the Senate. He is confident it will go through the House with ease, but the Democratic Senate could pose a problem. Turning to the Muslim Brotherhood, what is it their doctrine is similar to Hamas yet we do not classify the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization?

Afghan security is not going to prevent terrorists from trying to attack America. These are transnational, secretive organizations that do not need government support or one single location to call home. Obama is pleading with the Taliban to come to the negotiating table and he is even offering to release men from Gitmo that have been deemed to be a clear and present danger to the United States of America. Does he have any regard for US security? On the other hand, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta went before the Senate and claimed that Congress is irrelevant and that the president can use the military however he sees fit when it comes to Syria. Andy McCarthy explains how the Secretary of Defense feels the president does not need to consult the people’s representatives as long as he has international approval. Obama cares more about international permission, than permission from the American people. Who does he work for?

Yoram Ettinger, Mitch Silber, Peter Berkowitz, Andy McCarthy

In Today's show:

Segment 1

• Was U.S. President Barack Obama’s emphasis on the Israeli perspective in his address to AIPAC code for, “I don’t share your view but it’s quite understandable.”? Former Israeli ambassador, Yoram Ettinger measures the words of both Presidents, Obama and Netanyahu. He also asserts a challenging paradigm that the Palestinian and Israeli peace process is not the central issue in the Middle East as a driving force of policy or the true source of anti-American sentiment.

Segment 2

• Mitch Silber is the director of the NYPD's intelligence division's analytic and cyber units as well as the author of The Al Qaeda Factor: Plots Against the West.  He joined Frank today to discuss the recent thwarted suicide attack against the US capitol, the ideology behind the radicalization of those who choose to commit terrorist attacks, and the religious component of Al Qaeda type ideologies.

Segment 3

• Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover Institution believes Israel has the right to defend itself against the threat posed by Iran. Berkowitz claims, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is a rogue state,” and that Israel should be treated accordingly. Frank discusses the following issues with Berkowitz: Does Israel have the permission under the International law to attack Iran, under the current circumstances? Is Iran affected by M.A.D. policy calculations as the U.S. and Russia were during the Cold War? Would Iran implement a self defense strategy against Israel and the U.S. under the international law? Berkowitz explains in detail what the possibilities of the future relationship between Iran and Israel.

Segment 4

• Andy McCarthy, who successfully prosecuted one of the conspirators of the 1993 World Trade Center attack, gives his assessment of Eric Holder’s apologia for the administration’s assassination policy. If one sets the administrations past political rhetoric aside, it could be understood from Holder’s testimony before Congress that, in a practical sense, the administration has accepted the Bush doctrine of fighting terrorism according to the rules of war.

Claudia Rosette, Avi Jorisch, Kori Schake, Andy McCarthy

Freedom of the press is one of America’s most precious rights and not only the ability but also the responsibility to the press to report the truth to the American people, especially in connection to their elected officials. It seems President Obama, before he was president, had a special relationship with certain news outlets that helped to hide important information about the Mr. Obama from the American people. On a separate front, it seems North Korea is willing to suspend their nuclear program in hopes to elicit food aid from the United States and other nations. Which side is lucking out on this deal? Claudia Rosett provides her take on this development.

SWIFT, Society for Worldwide Interback Financial Telecommunications, is the “lubricant that the global financial system rests on.” SWIFT’s function is to allow banks to communicate with one another, allowing bank A to give permission to bank B to offer credit to an individual or company etc.… If one bank cannot communicate with other banks then that bank and its investors are not able to move money, and this segregation from the rest of the financial sector is what is currently happening to Iranian banks. Congress has pressured SWIFT to cut off Iranian banks from the rest of the global market, but only now are they actually starting to take action. SWIFT has claimed it will only cut off the Iranian banks that have been blacklisted by the EU. Financial expert Avi Jorisch explains the impact to Iran’s economy if these banks are cut off from the rest of the world.

“The Iranians have not yet decided to develop a nuclear program,” is exactly what came out of the mouth of DNI James Clapper as he testified before Congress last week. Iran’s behavior obviously contradicts that assessment and the IAEA even disagrees with that statement because they feel the enrichment facilities are being housed inside military bases thereby making this a military project, not civilian. Iran seems to be above the 20% threshold in their enrichment process and at 20%, uranium can be used in creating a nuclear weapon. If Iran is creating a nuclear program for civilian use, which DNI Clapper seems to believe, then why wont they open their facilities to IAEA inspectors? Kori Schake provides her analysis on this growing threat.

Andy McCarthy, former United States Assistant Attorney expresses his concerns over the possible release of the “Blind Sheikh” who was responsible for killing Americans and seeking to kill many more and was captured in 1993. According to Al-Arabiya President Obama has agreed to release the Blind Sheikh along with other 40 Egyptian prisoners. Should the administration negotiate with Islamists on such terms?

Gen. Tom McInerney, Diana West, Andy McCarthy

How important is air superiority? Since 1950, the enemy, from the air, has never attacked US forces. The F-15 has never been shot down in air-to-air combat and the F-22 is by far the most dominant plane in the skies. As a result of these defense cuts, the US will be left with around 100 combat capable planes over the next three years. The Obama Administration has decided to scrap the Global Hawk UAV system, which can stay on target for upwards of 32 hours, and instead wants to use the 50-year-old U-2, which can only stay on target for approximately 8 hours.  General Tom McInerney (USAF Ret.) gives his analysis on the future of America’s air prowess.

Diana West joins us today to give us her analysis on the FBI’s meeting with the Muslims Brotherhood in the United States. The FBI claims to have purged their files of hundreds of reports that negatively characterize the Islamist movement.  Is America one step closer to becoming a Sharia compliant nation?

Should the FBI be meeting with potentially anti-American organizations that fund terrorism? The Muslim Brotherhood has won, for now, in their effort to suppress free speech that portrays Sharia law as a radical Islamist doctrine that oppresses democracy.  What is achieved by allowing this to happen?

Riki Ellison, Roger Noriega, Eric Schmitt, Andy McCarthy

Riki Ellison explains the recent successful test of an Israeli missile that will help them to defend themselves against Iranian aggression. America needs to make sure there is enough money in the defense budget to ensure defensive and offensive missile capabilities as well as funding for Israel to increase their missile capabilities that are needed to defend their homeland. Are our current and future missile defense systems being adequately funded? Are we providing our greatest ally in the Middle East with the proper funding needed to defend its own territory?

Venezuela’s political opposition overcame years of division on Sunday as 3 million voters turned out in an impressive show of strength to choose a single candidate to take on President Hugo Chávez, in what is shaping up to be a bruising and potentially tight election campaign.

Roger Noriega provides us with his analysis of the Venezuelan primary elections. Even with a unified opposition behind Mr. Capriles, the opposition faces the steepest of uphill climbs running. He still enjoys strong support from important constituencies including the poor and employees of the government and state-owned companies who may feel that their jobs depend on Mr. Chávez remaining president.

Adm. William H. McRaven, who is in charge of Special Operations Command, is pushing for a larger role for his elite units. The plan would give him more autonomy to position his forces and their war-fighting equipment where intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed. It would also allow the Special Operations forces to expand their presence in regions where they have not operated in large numbers for the past decade, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Will the Pentagon grant the authority that Admiral McRaven is requesting? Eric Schmitt joins us today and provides his analysis as a senior writer on terrorism and national security for The New York Times.

Is the international police agency INTERPOL now enforcing Sharia blasphemy laws? Will this lead to countries such as Saudi Arabia using INTERPOL to round up critics of Islam from around the world? Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy gives his take on the arrest of Hamza Kashgari in Malaysia and his expedited extradition to Saudi Arabia. Mr. Kashgari’s crime was his “inappropriate” tweets about the Prophet that caused the Saudi government to issue an arrest warrant under their blasphemy law. Could Americans be subjected to these types of warrants even though America does not practice blasphemy laws?

Related Articles

Expanded Role for Elite Forces

As the United States turns increasingly to Special Operations forces to confront developing threats scattered around the world, the nation’s top Special Operations officer, a member of the Navy Seals who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, is seeking new authority to move his forces faster and outside of normal Pentagon deployment channels. Sharia's Police? Over the weekend, a drama with potentially horrific consequences for freedom-loving Americans played out half-a-world away. A Saudi newspaper columnist named Hamza Kashgariwas detained in Malaysia, reportedly on the basis of an alert by Interpol. “This arrest was part of anInterpol operation which the Malaysian policewere a part of,” Reuters quotes a Malaysian police spokesman as saying. The alert apparently was mounted in response to a “red notice” (or request for help apprehending an individual) issued by Saudi Arabia. Mr. Kashgari was then sent back to Saudi Arabia, where he faces almost certain death.

Paul Kengor, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Ed Godere, Andy McCarthy

What is the legacy of the late President Ronald Reagan? Paul Kengor explains how the life and policies of this great American leader has helped to shape 20^th century and even 21^st century America. This was a man who understood the threats that America faced and he knew what needed to be done to combat those threats. Ronald Regan was always ready to stand against the enemy in order to preserve freedom and democracy.

The president has expressed, on different occasions, his belief that the Constitution is a deficient document.  He has also indicated that a primary goal of his administration is to change the way things are done in the United States in order to balance the principles on which he believes the nation was founded.  Rep. Gohmert joins Frank today to share his opinion about Obama’s effort to change the Constitution and whether or not the president is trying to get the principles of the Founding Fathers back or trying to impose his own principles.

Vice President of Unmanned Systems for Qinetiq, Ed Godere, explains how the Dragon Runner family of unmanned systems is helping to improve survivability of our dismounted troops. This lightweight robot helps to detect IEDs as well as enemy positions which is allows troops to stay in a secure position while this robot enters houses or travels over roads that may hide IEDs.

What is Mitt Romney’s attitude towards Sharia? Does he understand this threat of is this just political rhetoric? Andy McCarthy provides his analysis pertaining to how Romney’s own religion might be affecting his stance towards the stealth jihad and his willingness to combat such a threat.

Tim Sumner, Rep. Todd Akin, Thomas Donnelly, Andy McCarthy

How can a government send its troops to fight an unconventional war against an unconventional enemy and then call them criminals for defending themselves? A Marine unit came under direct fire from al-Qaeda insurgents in the town of Haditha, Iraq and those insurgents were using a local house as their central command for this attack. The Marines were taking heavy casualties (7 KIA and 1 WIA) therefore they stormed the house and killed the insurgents, which is what they were trained to do, but unfortunately 3 civilians were killed in the process. Insurgents use civilians as human shields, which is a war crime itself, yet US troops are held accountable when those civilians become casualties of war. The Rules of Engagement are ambiguous at best when it comes to this situation so how can we question a split-second decision that is made in the heat of combat while your friends are being killed? US Army Sgt. Tim Sumner (Ret.) gives his take on the tragic outcome to this tragic event.

Congressman Todd Akin explains the separation of powers and the Constitutionally divided government of the United States, as well as how Obama is showing his willingness to ignore federal law and the Constitution. How can Congress stop this administration from hurting the US even more? Listen to the interview and found out how our military will be in bigger trouble if Obama gets his way.

The president is accelerating America’s retreat from the world stage and he is not passing the ball to another country, he is just dropping the ball and letting nations fend for themselves. The world has been a relatively peaceful place since America has taken the lead on global security and in order to maintain this level of peace America must stay in the lead. Our national debt will rise under the Obama Administration’s policies and we cannot attempt to offset these rising costs on the back of our national defense. The president wants to cut the DOD by over a trillion dollars, which in terms of defense is huge, but in terms of our overall deficit it is just a spit in the bucket. Tom Donnelly of AEI explains more in his interview with Frank.

Are young Americans ignorant to the threats their country faces? Ron Paul and people like him have a skewed idea of the threats that face America and therefore he cannot assume the role of Commander-in-Chief even if his domestic policies are sound. Liberals are making warfare political and therefore harder to win and that is the point of war. America will keep facing longer engagements and greater casualties because the Left tries to keep putting constraints on our brave men and women in uniform. Andy McCarthy gives a further analysis to this situation.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, Andy McCarthy, Jim Hanson

United States House of Representatives Louie Gohmert from Texas just came back from leading important discussions overseas in defense our interests in Afghanistan. He starts by explaining the situation in Afghanistan and the incredible work the United States military has done by defeating the Taliban, and how the Obama Administration seems to discount all the hard work of our troops by releasing high ranking Taliban leaders. Representative Gohmert clearly states what will happen if the US releases the Taliban leaders, and the danger it will bring, not only to the United States, but to Afghanistan as well. Will the president follow through with this horrific lack of judgment and release these dangerous terrorists?

Andy McCarthy explains the critical healthcare and foreign policy factor in the current GOP presidential race. Being a former federal prosecutor, McCarthy provides a legal perspective and a sanity check on the recent Marine video and war crimes. Is this truly a war crime or just an immoral act? Is this any worse than how our enemies treat our soldiers?

Jim Hanson shares his opinion about the recent Marine video showing Marines desecrating dead Taliban fighters and what this could mean for the U.S. cause and effort in the region. Hanson gives his analysis on the “Stop Online Privacy Act” and explores alternatives other legislation to provide content security. Could this legislation provide an effective and profitable business model? He concludes the interview with remarks on why men in uniform support Ron Paul’s candidacy over the other GOP presidential nominees.