Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Iran attacks, Hegseth testimony & US casualties

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Iran attacks, Hegseth testimony & US casualties · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The US military is carrying out its tenth night of
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: strikes on Iran, even after three US service members were
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: killed over the weekend. Karl Laden, Iran has been focusing
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: on counter attacks, its counter attacks on Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: at the beginning of the war. It is a much
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: wider breadth of countries they were targeting in the Gulf region.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Why the shift here, Yeah, that's a great question, phill.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: One of the reasons that they did this is because
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: there's a preponderance of American military forces in places like Kuwait, Jordan,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: and Bahrain. There are also some in the UAE, But
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  Speaker 2: there are some relationships that the Iranians have with the
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: UAE and with Cutter, which also has a major US
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: military base. In fact, the largest air force base that
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: overseas is in Cutter, and the Iranians have decided at
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: the moment not to attack those two areas because of
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: those relationships, in the fact that Cutter and the UAE
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: are also working on mediation with Iran, So that's one
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  Speaker 2: of the main reasons. But the countries of Kuwait, Bahrain
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: and Jordan, they are more open to the US being
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: a presence in their area for a long time, and
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the Uranians have basically said that these are areas that
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  Speaker 2: they want to strike because of that US presence.
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  Speaker 1: Very explicit it seems, and how they're targeting. At this point,
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  Speaker 1: another service number was killed in a quote controlled detonation.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Explain for people what that means.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: So when you're looking at, you know, where these people
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: were killed in Northern Iraq is the one that you're
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: actually speaking about here, So in this area in Kurdistan
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  Speaker 2: is where this happens. So when you're looking at a
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  Speaker 2: controlled detonation, what you're talking about is an effort to
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  Speaker 2: basically do what a bomb disposal crew would do. So
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  Speaker 2: an explosive ordinance technician was the one that was They
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: are trying to dismantle a bomb that was on probably
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: one of these Shahi drones, and that was the idea
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: was to take out the explosive device before it could
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  Speaker 2: harm other people. So he was basically he or she
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: was basically going in and trying to defuse the bomb.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: That's what the effort was in this particular case.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: And we're also learning the US is sending more fighter
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: jets to the Middle East. What does that build up
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: tell us about the strategy the shifting strategy, whatever things
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  Speaker 1: are at this point.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. So one of the types of fighter jets is
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  Speaker 2: really the workhorse of the US Air Force, the F sixteen,
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  Speaker 2: and it is basically used for things like air to
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  Speaker 2: air combat and also air and air to ground attacks.
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  Speaker 2: So this is an aircraft that can be used for
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  Speaker 2: those very specific missions, and then for the F thirty five,
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  Speaker 2: which is a very key mission air superiority and strike missions.
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  Speaker 2: So what they're going to be doing is they're going
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  Speaker 2: to be taking jets like this and actually moving them
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: forward in a way that would allow them to really
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  Speaker 2: strike at targets really throughout the region. And when you
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: look at the entire region here, they've got a plethora
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  Speaker 2: of targets that they can go after. So the targets
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  Speaker 2: said that we're looking at would include areas here in
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  Speaker 2: the south and in the west because of missile launch
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  Speaker 2: facilities there. And then we can't forget about Tehran because
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: that's really the center of everything. And then put potentially
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: they might actually strike at targets in the northeast because
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: that's the connection via rail to Russia and China.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Do you think from the northeast perspective, around's air defenses
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  Speaker 1: are demolished enough are taken care of, they still clearly
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: have capability that overflight I think would put US assets
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  Speaker 1: at a pretty significant risk.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: It does put them at risk. However, one of the
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  Speaker 2: key things to keep in mind is they have conducted
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: these overflights multiple times, and with assets here in the
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Arabian Sea and in the Persian Gulf and in places
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  Speaker 2: all around here. The overflight is actually not that complicated
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  Speaker 2: because they know where the air defense assets are, and
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  Speaker 2: they've taken out a lot of them, and they can
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  Speaker 2: hit here. They've already hit here once. They've taken out
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  Speaker 2: a railroad bridge right about there, and that very fact
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  Speaker 2: really shows what they're capable of. So yes, they can
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  Speaker 2: take out a lot more of what the Iranians have
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  Speaker 2: if that's part of the target list, and if it's
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  Speaker 2: part of the strategy.
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  Speaker 1: There's no questioning the effectiveness of the air camp. It's
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: kind of everything around that. It's stickn up in the area.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: The US Defense Secretary has been on Capitol Hill as
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: he trying to defend the war in Iran anaws for
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  Speaker 3: more money. Dan Keynes that the war had cost almost
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: thirty eight billion dollars and that is set to grow.
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  Speaker 4: The Democratic senators are raising the policy objections and the
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: concerns about how the war began, whether the president was
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: properly advised and so forth, and I think the secretary
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: in the General or just trying to preserve the privacy
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  Speaker 4: of their advice to the president and also trying to
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  Speaker 4: defend themselves from a war that's turned to being very
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  Speaker 4: very difficult.
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  Speaker 3: So as you look at it and the ability, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: there was first of all, this accusation that the number
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: of injured is not being of US forces being injured
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  Speaker 3: some seriously is not being reported either with the ACU
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: to see all the efficiency that it should be, which
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  Speaker 3: of course would be very distressing.
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  Speaker 4: Well, you know, one of the things that we have
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  Speaker 4: learned from watching the Ukrainians is they do not report
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  Speaker 4: their losses. So every day you may hear about missile
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  Speaker 4: strikes on Kiev, but you don't hear how many Ukrainian
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  Speaker 4: servicemen were killed. That's information that does have intelligence value
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  Speaker 4: to our adversary. And one of the things we learned
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  Speaker 4: in Vietnam and have learned since then, is that when
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: you are dealing with the public and they are understanding,
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: they focus on casualties rather than on other aspects that
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: are important in understanding the conflict. Now, these casualties are tragic,
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  Speaker 4: and certainly our commanders are doing all they can, I'm sure,
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  Speaker 4: to prevent them. But the truth is that war is
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  Speaker 4: a risk, and when you put men and women over there,
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  Speaker 4: there are like to be casualties. And that's just a fact.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: And and and so I understand why the Pentagon is
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: trying to withhold some of that information, and I hope
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  Speaker 4: our viewers do too.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: There would be I suppose a suggestion that that might
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: be valid, a valid point, provided General Clark eventually the
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  Speaker 3: full numbers to come out on our made public.
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  Speaker 4: Of course, they come out eventually, and that's important, uh
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  Speaker 4: And and leaders have to be held accountable for their performance.
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  Speaker 4: But I think in the day to day struggle here
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  Speaker 4: it's important that, for example, you don't want to tell
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  Speaker 4: the enemy exactly where a missile struck, what element it hit,
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  Speaker 4: the name of the person immediately, because they might use
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  Speaker 4: it for targeting. So I think there is reluctance to
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  Speaker 4: share some of this information. I fought in Vietnam, and
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  Speaker 4: and I know that we were very prompt and reporting
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: casualties and sometimes that overpowered the public appreciation of what
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: the soldiers themselves were trying to accomplish. So there's a
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: balance here. In a democracy, the people and representatives deserve truth,
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: but on the other hand, we have to have military
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  Speaker 4: operational secrecy to a point.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: This business of you know, the ammunition and the missiles
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  Speaker 3: and then the running down of the stocks. I guess
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  Speaker 3: to somebody I myself, who really has very little idea
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  Speaker 3: of how all this is done other than the fact
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  Speaker 3: that you use them and they have to be replenished.
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  Speaker 3: Are you concerned that the United States is deploying and
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  Speaker 3: using armaments at a rate not only that can't be replenished,
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  Speaker 3: but that is worryingly fast.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, I think we're all concerned about the rate of
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  Speaker 4: expenditure of critical munitions and especially defensive missiles like the
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: Patriot and the SAD, And efforts are being made to
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: accelerate the production, but they're slow. These are complex systems.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: On the one hand, you could say, well, they're made
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  Speaker 4: to be used, but on the other hand, we've got
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  Speaker 4: some big challenges faces. So yes, we're concerned. Now, I
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: will tell you that we've got a very large store
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  Speaker 4: of conventional bombs that can be equipped with guidance kits
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  Speaker 4: called joint direct attack munitions, and this is what's being
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  Speaker 4: used in a majority of the strikes currently I think
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  Speaker 4: underway in Iran.
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  Speaker 5: Your reaction to the deaths of these service members and
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  Speaker 5: the president's vow of retribution to make Iran pay.
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  Speaker 6: First of all, all of our hearts go out to
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  Speaker 6: the family's teammates, friends of the people we've lost. Every
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: loss is a tragedy. These are particularly so because we're
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  Speaker 6: in an unnecessary conflict and we don't seem to have
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  Speaker 6: a good way out of.
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  Speaker 2: It right now.
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  Speaker 6: As you heard, they're increasing the air assets going into
• 8:58
  Speaker 6: the theater. That suggests escalation. Donald Trump has put himself
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: in a box and there's no easy way for him
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  Speaker 6: to get out of it. He initiated this war thinking
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  Speaker 6: there'd be a very quick victory, and that's not what's happened.
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  Speaker 6: And what I think has been missing in his mind
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  Speaker 6: is the understanding of the Iranian regimes willingness to resist
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  Speaker 6: and their intent to achieve their own objectives. And that's
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  Speaker 6: what he's confronted with. He doesn't have control of the situation,
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  Speaker 6: and that's very very obvious right now.
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  Speaker 5: On the fact that the US is moving assets into
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  Speaker 5: the region. They're planning to send additional F sixteen F
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: thirty five fighter jets as well as aerial refueling tanks.
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  Speaker 5: What options does that open up for the.
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: Pentagon basically continued in additional air strikes. He's been you know,
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: the president's been threatening to attack infrastructure and so on,
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: and we've seen some of that already. Most of the attacks,
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: as we understand that have been against military targets. The
• 9:54
  Speaker 6: problem we have is that Iran has dispersed its assets,
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  Speaker 6: it's concealed them, it's hardened them, and cases and their
• 10:01
  Speaker 6: tactical assets. It's really hard to get at. You can't
• 10:04
  Speaker 6: keep continuous air presence everywhere over around all the time.
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  Speaker 6: Just can't be done. So their ability to attack assets
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  Speaker 6: in the Strait of hormus Is continues and has not
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: diminished meaningfully. And until that does, that does happen, they'll
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  Speaker 6: be able to control the straight We don't have a
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  Speaker 6: good answer to that. It's a very foreseeable problem that
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  Speaker 6: the President should have understood, should have been advice about
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  Speaker 6: before he started this war. We can escalate, we can
• 10:31
  Speaker 6: go after other targets as one of your earlier guests
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  Speaker 6: said that's a war crime, but that doesn't seem to
• 10:37
  Speaker 6: have constrained this president very much, and so he can
• 10:39
  Speaker 6: do that and inflict greater pain on Iran. I think
• 10:42
  Speaker 6: it's unknown how much they're willing to accept to make
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: their point that they want to control the strange of hormones.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, Tehran is striking civilian infrastructure conversely across the Gulf,
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  Speaker 5: including water treatment plant, civilian airports, as well as air
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  Speaker 5: capabilities in terms of detection. Do you think that driving
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: a wedge between these Gulf allies and the United States.
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  Speaker 6: I think that's the intent, is to extract a price
• 11:08
  Speaker 6: from other countries in the region and discourage them from
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: supporting the United States. There's also some indications that the
• 11:15
  Speaker 6: war will widen, that the Huthis will now be trying
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: to close the Red Sea basically to Saudi Arabia and
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: prevent their shipments out by that alternative route. That we
• 11:27
  Speaker 6: don't see a good outcome anywhere in sight at this point.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: I've been saying from day one on this that there
• 11:33
  Speaker 6: is a risk that Aron would overplay its hand. I
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: think that's what they're doing. They can't get much more
• 11:38
  Speaker 6: out of President Trump that he's already willing to concede
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: and they should recognize that and kind of deal with them.
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: But doesn't seem to be the path they're on, and
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: Trump is left with very few options but to escalate
• 11:49
  Speaker 6: and try to convince them that it's time to do
• 11:50
  Speaker 6: a deal. So that's where we are.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: So in your eyes, it's far more likely that we
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: get a serious escalation well before there's any kind of
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: resis zoomed cease fire or even a more lasting deal.
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: I can't put a percentage on that. It's impossible to predict.
• 12:08
  Speaker 6: The Iranians have their own way of looking at the situation.
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  Speaker 6: I can't really get inside their heads. It's not the
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: transactional approach that our president brings to the table. You know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: They've gone way beyond you know that, And so I
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: think the big surprise for him has been their willingness,
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: their resilience. They're willingness to accept punishment, and they're continuing
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: attempts to demonstrate that they can control the Straits and
• 12:31
  Speaker 6: then not give us the kind of limitations on their
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: nuclear program we'd like to have. The President, the other hand,
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: can't go to a situation which is such a clear
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: loss as a worse situation than when he had before
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: he started this war. So we're in a box. They're
• 12:45
  Speaker 6: both in a box. Hopefully the audience will come to
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: the point of view that they've accomplished what they can
• 12:50
  Speaker 6: and cut a deal. That's what we need to see happen.