Michael Rubin, Roger Noriega, Mario Loyola, Jim Hanson

Has Iran reverted back to its cocky tricks due to the failure of the Obama administration’s policies in the Middle East? Resident Scholar at AEI, Michael Rubin joins Frank today at Secure Freedom Radio to examine the failed assassination attempt of the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir and the role that Iranian forces had in the plot. Reports are stating that the unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the Quds Force, whose mission it is to export Iranian ideology is at the forefront of many of these terrorist attacks. Rubin states that this is not the first time that an Iranian hit team has come to the United States to carry out a killing. In 1980, Iran sent a squad to Bethesda, MD and successfully killed an Iranian dissident. Unfortunately, US diplomats have continued to dismiss Iranian rhetoric and ignorantly believed that such attacks are just rouge operations. Instead of upholding such ignorance, the United States should have a frank discussion about an Iran regime change and seriously evaluate whether the current regime has US interests in mind.

Is Iran contracting with the drug cartels in Mexico to kill people in the United States? Weekly commentator at Secure Freedom Radio and Visiting Fellow at AEI, Roger Noriega offers his insight on this topic, among other Latin American issues. What is of paramount concern to Noriega is that there is an expanding network of Hezbollah activities in Venezuela that have been linked to Iranian sponsorship. This network continues to grow throughout Central and South America. As the realistic possibility of Hugo Chavez’s death looms over the nation, sources within the country believe that tension will continue to increase. Chavez’s cronies are trying to hold onto power any way they can. This includes arming themselves with weapons in preparation for a civil war that might break out after the death of Chavez. Additionally, they have partnered with Russian, Chinese, and Iranian arms organizations to supply continued arms to the leadership. A majority of these arms have ended up in the hands of narcotraffickers in South America. The US Department of State seems completely oblivious to these actions.

Mario Loyola of the Texas Policy Institute reflects on his lecture at the semi-weekly Center for Security Policy’s Capitol Hill luncheon in which he discussed the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East and beyond. Over the past half century, there has been a turn towards extremists and Islamists like those in the Muslim Brotherhood who have no interest in modernization. These groups turn to the past and see progressive democratic governance, such as that practiced in the United States as the enemy of Islam. They have divided the world into part of the world conquered by Muslims and the part of the world that has yet to be conquered by Muslims. This division into Muslim and non-Muslim territories can be seen in the events unfolding in Egypt. Egypt is looking for legitimacy for its new government in the streets and mosques.

Concluding today’s show is resident expert on military affairs and the “boots on the ground” perspective, Jim Hanson comments on his involvement at the US Army’s Annual Convention. At this conference, Hanson and his company presented a new product that allow smartphones to be used in military operations abroad. The features of these phones include an application that would allow a solider to conduct fingerprint and retinal investigations on the field. This would help our solider combatants more successfully identify who are a friends and foes.