Transcript

3.30.26 · Washington Post

0:00
Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
0:02
Washington Post for this Monday, March thirtieth, And as you know,
0:07
Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
0:09
are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
0:13
to read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton.
0:18
And usually, as you know, we start today's broadcast by
0:22
reading Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexington hair Leader.
0:27
But Paul didn't have one this week, so let's dive
0:30
right into the news. Our lead story from the International
0:34
News is Iran's missile infrastructure is severely strained after weeks
0:40
of strikes. Four of Iran's key ballistic missile manufacturing locations
0:47
and at least twenty nine ballistic missile launch sites have
0:51
been damaged in the first four weeks of the US
0:55
Israeli offensive, undermining Iran's central military strategy. According to a
1:01
Washington Post review and analysts experts, since the war began,
1:07
the US and Israel have conducted thousands of strikes across
1:11
a range of military targets. The Post's examination provides a
1:17
comprehensive accounting of the damage to ballistic missile sites, as
1:22
well as what it means for the future of the
1:24
overall program. Strikes have destroyed above ground launching facilities, temporarily
1:31
blocked access to military stored underground, and halted Iran's ability
1:37
to immediately build new missiles, according to satellite imagery and
1:42
Iranian military and defense experts who reviewed the findings. But
1:47
the experts caution that Iran's ballistic missile program has not
1:51
yet been destroyed. They're still shooting, and that's a key indicator,
1:57
said Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at
2:01
the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington based think tank,
2:07
referring to Iran's continued use of missiles. Some experts say
2:13
they doubted the missile program could ever be completely destroyed,
2:18
citing the regime's record of rebuilding after prior attacks and
2:22
access to foreign supply chains that can replenish destroyed manufacturing equipment.
2:29
Mobile missile launchers are also being used, and those numbers
2:35
are unknown. I don't see Iran making fundamental change to
2:40
their missile strategy if the regime survives. Nicole Gradjuski, a
2:46
non resident scholar at the Carnegie and down It, said
2:50
missiles are still going to be the ultimate deterrent attack
2:54
attacker against attackers, and the foundational military strategy. The Trump
3:00
administration has identified the destruction of Iran's missile program as
3:05
a central goal of the war. At a press briefing
3:09
on March nineteenth, Defense Secretary p Hegseyth said US attacks
3:15
destroyed the factories the production lines that feed their missile
3:19
and drone program. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu said
3:26
the same day that Iran's missile and drone arsenals have
3:30
been massively degraded, and that these attacks, compared to the
3:35
ones in June of last year, are destroying the factories
3:39
that produce the components to make these missiles. The US
3:44
and Israel have not publicly identified all the specific missile
3:48
sites they have hit. In his briefing, Hegseith said that
3:53
Iranian retaliatory missile strikes against its neighbors had decreased by
3:58
ninety percent the beginning of the war. On February twenty eighth,
4:03
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
4:07
has acknowledged that Iran still retains missile capabilities. Israel claimed
4:14
on March twenty first that for the first time, Iran
4:18
fired intermediate range ballistic missiles at the joint UK US
4:23
Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, almost two
4:29
thousand miles away. The manufacturing, development and testing of ballistic
4:36
missiles is sustained through a network of campuses overseen by
4:41
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, and Iran's Military
4:48
of Defense. According to Iranian military experts, four of the
4:52
most important sites which make fuel for the ballistic missiles,
4:56
the experts said, had suffered some severe damage and attacks
5:01
by the US and Israel that is greater than what
5:05
was inflicted during the twelve day straw war with Israel
5:08
last June and in October twenty twenty four, when Israel
5:13
attacked rad The sites Kodjir, Parchin, Hakimene and Chabhrud military
5:22
complexes housed the production of critical missile propellants and assemble
5:27
the weapons for use. If you don't have propulsion, those
5:33
missiles aren't going anywhere, Jim Lambson, senior research associate at
5:39
the James Martin Center for Non Proliferation Study, said. Four
5:44
experts who reviewed satellite imagery of the sites at the
5:48
Post's request said the damage as most likely halted Iran's
5:53
ability to brew short range and medium range ballistic missiles
5:58
until facilities can be REMUS built. Satellite imagery shows four
6:04
main areas in the Kojir missile complex just east of
6:07
Tehran were hit by the US or Israel strikes targeted
6:13
complex production systems that make solid and liquid fuel necessary
6:18
to power the ballistic missiles. According to Sam Layer, a
6:23
research associate at the James Martin Center for Non Proliferation Studies,
6:29
ballistic missiles are fired miles into the air before returning
6:33
to the ground at extremely high speeds. Those in the
6:37
Iranian Arsenal are fueled by either solid or liquid propellants.
6:42
According to experts, solid fuel is the most common, typically
6:47
used for shorter range munitions and more efficient during war.
6:52
Liquid propellants typically power the long range missiles, but have
6:57
more time consuming fuel loading processes, which make them more
7:01
vulnerable to attack. In total, at least eighty eight structures
7:06
were destroyed at Cojir, according to the satellite imagery taken
7:10
on March twenty fourth. The IRGC's Shahrud production complex in
7:17
northeast Iran houses the research, development and mass production of
7:23
solid fuel. It was heavily attacked by the US or Israel.
7:29
Satellite imagery shows leaving at least twenty eight damaged or
7:34
destroyed structures. At the Parchin Military Complex east of Tehran,
7:40
where solid propellant is made, twelve structures were hit. According
7:45
to the March twelfth imagery on the outskirts of the capitol,
7:49
nineteen structures were hit, and the Hekimyat Military Complex, including
7:54
facilities that make liquid propellant and launchers. The March fourteenth
7:58
imagery shows Sean O'Connor, an imagery analyst at the security
8:04
intelligence firm Janes, told the Post in an email that
8:09
if Iran is unable to rebuild its missile forces, it
8:13
will lose one of his most important defensive strategies in
8:17
the Middle East. At least twenty nine missile launch bases
8:22
have been hit by the airstrikes, according to the imagery,
8:25
severely undermining Iran's ability to fire ballistic missiles, experts told
8:30
the Post. Experts said the exact number of ballistic missile
8:36
launch sites in Iran is not known, but estimates there
8:40
to be about thirty. Most of these bases include underground
8:44
missile storage facilities that are accessed through tunnels cut into
8:49
mountain sides. According to experts, US and Israeli strikes have
8:54
hit many of these tunnel entrances, walking entrances to where
8:59
the missiles are kept. Satellite imagery shows these strikes will
9:04
significantly hamper Operation Layer SID, citing the destruction of base infrastructure.
9:11
He added now it takes longer to set up launchers,
9:15
which gives the US and Israel more time to identify
9:18
and destroy them. Bases in central and western Iraq are
9:24
Iran are mobilized for medium range strikes on Israel, while
9:28
those along the Persian Gulf have been used to fire
9:31
short range missiles at the Gulf States Lamps and SID.
9:36
The Corgu missile base along the Gulf has been struck
9:40
at least twice by Israel or the US, according to
9:43
the imagery, and at least fifteen facilities were flattened and
9:48
two tunnel entrances were hit. Imagery of the imam Ali
9:54
missile base in western Iran shows nine above ground structures
9:59
and at least two tunnel entrances were hit and peeing
10:03
access to the weapons underground. O'Connell of Jane's said, however,
10:10
any experts said this impact is likely temporary. It seems
10:15
hard to permanently knock out those bases, said Jeremy Binney,
10:20
another analystic chains. You can neutralize them in theory, but
10:27
Iran will just keep digging them out and repairing and next.
10:33
Trump says US to hold off for ten days on
10:37
hitting Iran energy sites. President Trump said Thursday that he
10:43
would delay attacks on Iran's for energy infrastructure by an
10:47
additional ten days, extending for a second time his deadline
10:52
for Iran to reopen the Street of Hormones, as he
10:55
cited progress in negotiations with Tehran are going very well,
11:01
Trump wrote in a post on social media. In the
11:04
same post, he said he was halting further strikes on
11:07
Iran's energy assets, and Trump issued a forty eight hour
11:11
ultimatum to Iran last weekend, saying he would obliterate the
11:15
country's power plants, beginning with the largest, if it did
11:19
not reopen the Strait of Horror Moves, the vital conduit
11:23
for global energy supplies that has been effectively shut by
11:27
the war. On Monday, Trump issued a new five day timeline,
11:32
saying negotiations to end the war had begun. US and
11:37
Israeli strike Centeran have killed members of the country's senior
11:40
leadership and destroyed military infrastructure, but it's unclear if the
11:46
attacks had made Tehran more willing to compromise and accept
11:50
the seize fire deal with the United States. Trump's pursuit
11:54
of a settlement to the war comes as the conflict
11:57
approaches the one month mark. Financial mark markets seem rattle.
12:02
Stock indexes fell for the fourth week as oil prices
12:06
again rose above the one hundred dollars a barrel price.
12:10
The S and P five hundred lost one point seven percent,
12:13
and the tech heavy Nasdaq fall fell two point four percent,
12:18
ending the day in technical correction. Territory off ten percent
12:23
from its recent highs Markets in Asia were down again
12:26
on Friday, reflecting continuing unease after Trump's latest announcement. In
12:33
a sign of the Trump administration's deep concern about spiking
12:37
oil prices, the Treasury Department last week lifted sanctions on
12:42
one hundred and forty million barrels of Iranian oil already
12:45
at sea. Statements from Iran about the negotiations have struck
12:50
a different tone from Trump's. I RAN's state run media
12:54
reported earlier Thursday that Tehran had rejected a fifteen points
13:00
cease fire proposal by the White House, but the Iranian
13:05
report did not suggest a total breakdown in negotiations, leaving
13:10
open the possibility that Washington could issue a follow up
13:14
proposal if Iran has previously offered its own terms surading
13:20
the conflict, including demands for the United States and Israel
13:26
to pay compensation for war damage, the success the cessation
13:32
of Israeli strikes against Lebanon, and the recognition of Iran's
13:36
sovereignty over the Strait of Horror Moons. Usnvoy Steve Whitcoff
13:42
confirmed transmission earlier this week of the administration's fifteen point
13:46
planned to Iran through Pakistan. During a televised cabinet meeting
13:51
on Thursday, Whitcoff said the proposed resulted in strong and
13:56
positive messaging and talks. We will see where things lead,
14:01
he said, And if we can convince Iran that this
14:05
is the inflection point with no good alternatives for them
14:09
more than more death and destruction, we have strong signs
14:15
that an agreement is a possibility, he said. Same cabinet meeting,
14:21
Trump referred to his commitment two days ago that Iran
14:24
had delivered a present to the US as a sign
14:27
of goodwill and said that Tehran had followed ten Pakistani
14:31
flagged oil tankers to transit the Straight of him Hormos.
14:36
When asked earlier in the day Thursday if it would
14:39
extend his five day deadline for Iran, the President said,
14:44
I'm the opposite of desperate. I don't care. We have
14:48
other targets we want to hit before we leave. A
14:52
month into the war, weakening Iran's hold on the Strait
14:55
of horm Moves has emerged as the top military objective
14:58
for the United States. Tehran's efforts to walk the strait,
15:03
through which roughly fifteen percent of the world's oil and
15:07
twenty percent of the liquefied natural gas pass, have caused
15:11
spikes in the price of fuel global and fuel global
15:15
anxiety over energy prices and supply chains. Israeli operations in
15:22
Iran continued to target senior leaders for assassination, Israeli Defense
15:28
Minister Israel Katz said Thursday. In Iran's top naval commander,
15:34
Alirezi Tansgiri, was killed in an overnight air strike, casting
15:40
it as an effort to support the United States's push
15:44
to reopen the Straight of Four Moves, Cats said the
15:47
commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy was targeted
15:51
along with other senior naval commanders for their roles in
15:55
using military force closed the Strait. Kats also accused Tanzigri
16:01
of mining and blocking the waterway. Tens Siri sixty two
16:07
was subjected to sanctions by the Units Treasury Department in
16:10
twenty nineteen in response to his threats to close the
16:14
Strait of Hormuz. Tangsiri sets the top of structure. It's
16:19
responsible for the sabotage of vessels in the international waters,
16:23
Treasury officials wrote at the time. In twenty twenty three,
16:28
the department again imposed sanctions against him for his chairmanship
16:33
of an Iranian arms company that produced drones used by
16:36
the IRGC. It had also overseeing the IRGC's testing of
16:42
drones and cruise missiles, the department said. On Wednesday, Uranian
16:48
Foreign Minister Abbas Aragichi questioned why Iron would allow the
16:53
enemy to pass through the street. We have permitted certain
16:59
countries that we consider friendly to pass through Willa, China, Russia, India,
17:07
Iraq and Pakistan to transit, he said. According to the
17:11
Iranian state news agency IRNA. Arichi confirmed Thursday that Tehran
17:20
and Washington were exchanging messages through intermediaries, but he did
17:26
not consider that a negotiation. According to IRNA, Pakistani foreign
17:31
minister he Shak Dhar said Islamabad was acting as an
17:36
intermediary for indirect talks. In this context, the United States
17:42
has shared fifteen points being deliberated upon by Iran, Dhar
17:47
said Thursday in a separate social media post. Earlier, Trump
17:52
last shouted NATO countries for refusing to join the US
17:56
and Israel's joint military offensive, his latest expression of frustration
18:02
after European leaders and other allies rebuffed his calls to
18:07
help secure the Strait. NATO allies have done absolutely nothing,
18:13
he said. European leaders are reluctant to join a war
18:17
they did not initiate on are still reeling from Trump's
18:21
efforts this year to wrest Greenland from Denmark's control. On Thursday,
18:27
the Washington Post reported that Pentagon officials are considering plans
18:31
to divert US weapons for Ukraine to the Middle East,
18:35
a further signal of the widening rift between Europe and Washington. Next,
18:42
ICE agents may remain at airports even after TSA agents
18:48
get paid. White House borders are tom Homan suggested Sunday
18:54
that ICE agents deployed to airports may remain there even
18:59
after TSA agent officers are paid this week. Speaking to
19:04
CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Holman said, we'll
19:09
see When host Jake Tapper asked whether Immigration and Customs
19:14
Enforcement agents will leave airports after TSA personnel are paid,
19:20
Holman said some of that decision will depend on whether
19:23
TSA agents come back to work. I'm working very closely
19:27
with the TSA administrator and the ICE director to decide
19:31
what airports need. Holman said that ICE agents are keeping
19:36
the security at the airport at a high level again
19:39
because of heightened threat that we're in right now. TSA agents,
19:44
Holman said, will get paid, hopefully by tomorrow or Tuesday,
19:49
after President Trump issued an order Friday to use pre
19:53
existing funds for the paychecks. Trump's move came after Congress
19:58
failed to strike I could deal in the shutdown of
20:02
much of the Department of Homeland Security. It's good news
20:06
because these TSA agents are struggling home, and said about
20:10
the paycheck Sunday, They're sitting there right now, working very
20:14
hard and not being paid by members of Congress who
20:18
are out on vacation getting paid. It's ridiculous. Airports around
20:25
the nation have recorded lengthy weight lines at TSA checkpoints,
20:30
and nearly five hundred TSA officers have quit during the shutdown.
20:36
On Friday, lines for security at Baltimore Washington International Airport
20:42
stretched outside and wrapped around the building's exterior. Waight times
20:48
have gotten so excessive that some travelers are hiring line setters.
20:55
The President's emergency paychecks for TSA officers wait times in
21:00
the coming days, but it does not solve the issue
21:04
of the ongoing day shutdown, which reached forty four days
21:09
on Sunday. On Friday night, the Republican led House rejected
21:15
measures the Senate passed early in the day to fund
21:17
most of DHS. The bypartisan Senate bill would have funded
21:21
TSA and the rest of DHS except for ICE and
21:28
parts of the Customs and Border Protection. The House bill
21:33
would have funded the entire department for eight weeks. Neither
21:37
bill includes reforms for ICE and CBP that the Democrats
21:43
have demanded. Wild House Republicans voted for their version of
21:49
the bill. Only three House Democrats voted for it. House
21:53
Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries said, House Democrats would have supported
21:58
the bill had House Speaker Mike Johnson let it reach
22:02
the floor. Both chambers left Washington this week for recess
22:08
without a solution. Democrats and Republicans on Sunday traded blame
22:15
for the stalemate. House Majority Leader Representative Steve Scalise, Republican
22:22
of Louisiana, speaking to ABC News this week, defended the
22:26
House's rejection of the bipartisan Senate proposal, arguing that Congress
22:32
should not block funding for ICE and parts of CBP.
22:38
This is no time to be defunding major operations at
22:43
the Department of Homeland Securities, scaliseid. Senator Chris van Holland,
22:49
Democrat of Maryland, however, told ABC News that Democrats would
22:54
continue to block ICE funding and that the White House
23:00
had not offered meaningful reforms after the killings of Renee
23:05
Good and Alex Pritty in Minneapolis by federal agents. We
23:10
want to fully fund TSA, Van Holland said, and we
23:13
could get rid of these lines at airports immediately, but
23:16
we also made clear that we're going to demand reforms
23:22
of a lawless ICE operation. Senator Andy Kim, Democrat of
23:28
New Jersey, speaking to CNN after Home and accused Trump
23:32
and House Republicans of standing in the way of funding DHS.
23:36
This shutdown should have ended Friday. Kim said, what the
23:40
Trump administration is clearly doing is going against the demands
23:44
from the American people. Trump's order to pay TSA workers
23:49
directs Homeland Security Secretary Mark Waynemullen in the Office of
23:54
Management and Budget work together to use funds that have
23:58
a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations to provide
24:02
TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that they are
24:07
owed until regular funding for TSA has been restored. When
24:13
asked by Tapper why Trump didn't release funds for TSA
24:17
officers earlier, Home Inside stepped the question. He said, I'm
24:20
a cop. I don't understand the whole appropriations language or
24:24
appropriation's law. Home And said, I'm just glad that President
24:27
Trump is able to pay the TSA agents and next,
24:32
US allows Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba, breaking Trump's
24:36
affected blockade. As a Russian tanker loaded with crude oil
24:41
near Cuba, President Trump said late Sunday he would not
24:45
enforce his effective blockade against fuels applies to the island
24:49
if a country wants to send some oil to Cuba
24:52
right now, I have no problem whether it's Russia or
24:54
if other countries want to do it. Trump cold reporters
24:57
a board Air Force one is a return to Washington
25:00
from his weekend at mar Lago. It's not going to
25:03
have an impact. Cuba's finished. Whether they whether or not
25:07
they get a boat of oil, it's not going to matter.
25:10
They have to survive too. The approach of the Russian
25:13
owned tanker Anatoly Kolodin over the weekend set up a
25:17
test of the Trump administration's will to block fuel for
25:20
Cuba and how far the Kremlin is willing to go
25:23
to help its longtime ally. Ninety miles from US territory,
25:28
the vessel departed March eighth from pre Morse, Russia, carrying
25:32
nearly seven hundred and thirty thousand barrels of crude oil,
25:35
according to tankertracker dot com, an independent oil tracking firm
25:40
that measures how high ASL is above sea level to
25:43
determine its load. Britain's Royal Navy tracked the ship and
25:47
its Russian naval escort through the English Channel, and then
25:51
the escort veered off and the vessel continued its journey
25:55
solo my late Sunny. It was about twenty miles off
25:59
the Cuba coast, according to ship tracking data. On Monday morning,
26:03
Dmitry Peskov, Russian government spokesman, told journalists that the ship
26:09
already arrived in Cuba. Tracking data from the maritime intelligence
26:13
firm Windward, however, showed the vessel it entered Cuban waters,
26:17
but what was not yet at the pier. On Sunday,
26:22
the global intelligence company Kepler said the ship was expected
26:26
to reach the Mantanzas oil storage facility early Thursday. Peskov
26:32
said the delivery of Crube was raised well in advance
26:36
with our American counterparts. This brutal blockade was jeoparding live
26:41
support systems and electricity generation and inhibiting the ability of
26:46
Cubans to provide medical services. Russia considers it its duty
26:52
not to stand idly by and to provide necessary assistance
26:57
to our Cuban friends. He said. Cargo is now expected
27:01
to be processed at one of Cuba's three refineries located
27:05
in Havana, Sinfuegos and Santiago. Once refined that amount could
27:11
help power the country's aging energy grid, no more than
27:15
a few weeks. According to Jorge Pignon, the researcher at
27:20
the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute, said he
27:25
expects Cuba's communist government to fall because of the US
27:28
economic strangulation rather than military action in a matter of weeks.
27:35
He said it will devote his attention to achieving that
27:38
goal as soon as he finishes the war in Iran.
27:41
Critics of the oil blockade and experts in international law
27:44
said the effective blockade is a violation of Cuban sovereignty
27:49
under international law and of international humanitarian law provisions that
27:55
prohibit such actions against civilians. Trump seemed to acknowledge the
28:00
deprivation Sunday, saying that the people need heat and cooling
28:04
and all the other things that you need. An executive
28:08
order issue January thirtieth, Trump declared Truba an unusual and
28:12
extraordinary threat to US national security and said he would
28:17
impose tariffs on all US imports from any country that
28:21
supplies the nation with oil. TROMP has already stopped oil
28:26
exports from Venezuela, long Cuba's main supplier, following the US
28:32
military capture of Venezuela and Strongman Nicolas Maduro in January.
28:38
The sanctions threat the lead Mexico and others from sending
28:42
planned deliveries. Amid shortages of diesel and gasoline. Cuba has
28:47
suffered island wide blackouts and the closures of schools and hospitals.
28:53
US embassy and Havana has also been affected. Employees have
28:56
gathered in group houses and are working remotely. Non essential
29:00
personnel could soon be sent home. The US Treasury Department,
29:05
looking to ease the surge and energy prices caused by
29:09
the war in Iran, temporary lifted sanctions this month on
29:12
countries that purchased Russian oil then already at sea, but
29:18
Treasury later reissued new guidance that specifically barred Cuba from
29:24
receiving Russian oil. Washington and Nevana had acknowledge they have
29:28
begun a process of bilateral negotiations, but there's little indication
29:33
talks have expanded beyond agenda setting, according to officials in
29:37
both countries. Our next story, the drone swarm in Louisiana,
29:44
is a warning about the future of war. Americans are
29:49
accustomed to feeling removed from the horrors of war. Troubling
29:54
incidents in Louisiana this month show how emerging drone technology
30:00
can dry up the moats. Over the course of a week,
30:04
multiple waves of sophisticated drones penetrated the airspace over Barksdale
30:10
Air Force Base near Shreveport, a critical hub of America's
30:15
nuclear bomber fleet and the headquarters of the Air Force
30:19
Global Strike Command. These drones were likely custom built, acquiring
30:25
advanced signal expertise far beyond any hobbyist. The disruptions apparently
30:31
succeeded in delaying bombers taking off the strike targets in Iran.
30:35
According to ABC News, vast oceans to the east and
30:40
west luss mostly friendly neighbors to the north and south
30:45
can make fighting feel distant to those who don't have
30:50
loved ones in uniform. That isolation has been punctured by
30:55
occasional sneak attacks, such as the December seventh, nineteen forty
30:59
one one and September eleventh, twenty oh one attacks, but
31:05
the ongoing revolution in military affairs means that no strategic
31:10
target in the homeland can be considered safe. Similar incursions
31:16
around a British airbase hosting US bombers reported in twenty
31:21
twenty four. Last year, the Russians experienced a devastating attack
31:28
on their fleet of strategic bombers by Ukrainian drones trucked
31:32
close to a base. While it's unclear it was behind
31:37
the Louisiana incursion, it's impossible to ignore that a new
31:42
era of drone warfare has begun and that the US
31:46
is not ready. During a NATO exercise in Estonia last year,
31:52
ten Ukrainian drone operators role playing as the enemy mock
31:57
destroyed seventeen armored v vehicles and disabled two Allied battalions
32:03
in a day. NATO forces couldn't even locate the operators.
32:10
These vulnerabilities are no longer theoretical. Iran originally supplied Russia
32:16
with its Shahed drone designs for use against Ukraine. Now
32:21
Russia is sending an upgraded version back with improved engines,
32:26
better navigation, and enhanced resistance to electronic jamming. Moscow was
32:33
also sharing satellite imagery and targeting data to help Ran
32:38
strike American bases and personnel. Several of the thirteen American
32:44
bases in the Middle East are reportedly all but an
32:47
inhabital after a Iranian drone in missile strikes damaged radar systems,
32:54
communication infrastructure, and troop housing, forcing US personnel to re
33:00
locate to hotels. The good news is that no military
33:04
in the world learns on the job faster than America's.
33:09
The Army's Center for Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth in
33:12
Kansas exists for exactly this purpose, pulling what works from
33:18
the battlefield pushing it back across the force. Institutions such
33:24
as these help the US military and rock adapt to
33:28
its battlefield shaped by roadside bombs. Fielding thousands of mine
33:33
resistant vehicles in under three years, Marksdale incident is a
33:39
wake up call. It's time to take grown defense far
33:44
more seriously. Staying a step ahead of America's enemies requires
33:49
constant experimation, experimentation, and innovation. Next, to win the AI
33:57
race cooperation Trump's conference as China bans top scientists from
34:04
leaving the US Court sides with Anthropic over the Pentagon.
34:11
The United States will be in a far stronger position
34:14
to win the artificial intelligence race if government works with,
34:19
rather than against the company's pioneering frontier technology. It's past
34:25
week showcased the strengths of carrots and the weakness of sticks.
34:30
On Wednesday, President Trump named thirteen of the country's smartest
34:34
executives to new Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,
34:39
including Nvidia's Jensen Hong Metas, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, and
34:47
Google co founder Sir j Brinn. That same day, First
34:52
Lady Milania Trump hosted an intervent at the White House
34:56
featuring an AI powered humanoid robot. If successfully scale, such
35:03
robots have the potential to teach personalized lessons to children
35:08
or otherwise falling behind. An army of these might help
35:13
bridge the achievement gap at low cost. They could become
35:17
a great American export. On Thursday, meanwhile, a federal judge
35:22
in San Francisco blocked the Pentagon's recent order labeling Anthropic
35:27
a national security risk. Nothing in the governing statute supports
35:33
the Orewellian notion that an American company may be branded
35:37
as a potential adversary and sabatur of the US for
35:42
expressing disagreement with the government, wrote District Court Judge Preta
35:48
f Lynn. Lynn correctly said the government has every right
35:52
not to do business with Entropic if it doesn't want to.
35:56
But Defense Secretary Pete Hegsith's order barring other defense contractors
36:02
from using its clawed models was obviously improper in retaliation. Meanwhile,
36:09
Anthropics Impressive products continue to help the military identified targets
36:15
in Iran. To its credit, the firm seems eager to
36:19
put the fight behind it. Our focus remains on working
36:24
productively with the government to ensure all Americans benefit from safe,
36:29
reliable AI and tropics. And a statement after the ruling,
36:33
which will likely be appealed, that is contractual dispute and
36:39
it's being resolved in court as a testament to the
36:43
value of America's rule of law. Striking contrast to what's
36:48
playing out simultaneously in China, where the communist regime has
36:55
indefinitely banned the CEO and chief scientists of the Singapore
36:59
based AI firm from leaving the country. Beijing is trying
37:05
to block Meta two billion dollar acquisition of their company
37:10
called Manus, a startup that makes AI agents. The exit
37:17
ban was imposed with no due process as part of
37:21
an effort by dictator Xi Jinping to titan control over
37:27
AI products being created by the Chinese nationals. Ultimately, such
37:33
an approach is not going to get the most creative
37:36
work out of businesses. During Trump's first term, many companies
37:42
boycotted and executives resigned from advisory groups like the one
37:46
the President just unveiled. They did so because of pressure
37:51
from activist staff. This did not serve the country. Companies
37:57
need to think of themselves as American citizens, and government
38:01
has a responsibility to be as helpful as possible. As
38:05
companies forge ahead at the cutting edge, success is not assured.
38:11
Senator Bernie Senders, independent from Mont, formally introduced legislation on
38:18
Wendy to impose a federal moratorium on new data centers,
38:24
an effort to bring AI to heal. Individual states are
38:29
passing a patchwork of laws that make compliance costly and
38:34
nearly impossible. Congress will need to step in to prempt
38:38
such legislation from hampering innovation. Free societies beat closed societies
38:46
by embracing freedom. They lose it trying to imitate repression.
38:53
Our next story. One year later, Trump has remade global
38:59
trade with mixed results. One year after President Trump stood
39:05
in the White House Rose Garden and announced the highest
39:09
US tariffs in nearly a century, number of factory jobs
39:13
is down and inflation is up. With the chronic trade deficit,
39:18
which the President that April afternoon declared a job killing
39:21
national emergency has declined for ten consecutive months. More than
39:27
twenty trading partners yielded to the president's tariff threats and
39:33
some cases after resisting four years, and agreed to open
39:38
their markets to US products. Some foreign leaders also promised
39:42
generous investments new factories that one day might employ the
39:47
President's blue collar supporters. This mixed picture emerged following an
39:53
uneven year of policy making. Trump's habit of threatening tariffs
39:57
over matters large and small, and his tendency to water
40:01
down or forget his most bellicose threats earned the dismissive
40:05
shorthand Taco for Trump always chickens out. In February, the
40:11
Supreme Court ruled most of the emergency tariffs un constitutional
40:17
and forced him to start over and refund more than
40:20
one hundred and fifty billion dollars. Whatever the flaws in
40:24
Trump's improvisational approach to governance, however, a US engagement with
40:30
the global economy has been profoundly reshaped. China no longer
40:36
ships nearly as many goods to the United States as
40:38
it did during the globalization's heyday, and the US government
40:42
is mobilizing to secure domestic supplies of the minerals required
40:46
for its twenty first century economy, rather than rely on foreigners,
40:52
most notably higher tariffs superiors set are set to endure
40:57
beyond the end of Trump's presidency. What has changed is
41:02
the idea of free trade is pretty much gone, said
41:05
Wilver Ross, who served as Trump's first Trade Commerce secretary.
41:11
He's changed global perceptions. That may be true. But while
41:18
some elements of Trump's trade critique have become conventional wisdom,
41:23
the shape of a new international system remains unclear. According
41:27
to trade experts, changes are likely in the twenty twenty
41:31
U S. Mexico Canada Agreement, which is up for review
41:35
this year and may not obtain needed congressional approval until
41:39
twenty twenty seven. Likewise, the U S commercial relationship with
41:44
China remains fluid, with Trump and Chinese President or dictator
41:50
Xi Jinping schedule to meet in Beijing in May. As
41:54
the US abandons its traditional support for multilateral trade agreements,
42:00
other nations are making their own plans on way. First,
42:04
a new trade deal between the European Union and Latin
42:08
America's Mercosur bloc will affect provisionally and take effect. The
42:14
EU has also concluded negotiations with India a trade pack
42:19
that could take effect next year. Sixteen small and mid
42:24
sized countries, including Singapore, Norway, Chile, and New Zealand, in
42:30
the fall launched investments and trade talks aimed at but
42:34
tressing the rules based system that the US now rejects.
42:38
Businesses remained cautious about the revolution in US trade pols
42:43
last year. Tariffs cut into profit margins from many companies,
42:48
including automakers General Motors and Ford, industrial giants Caterpillar and Raytheon,
42:54
and retailers such as Macy's and Williamsonoma. The tariff landscape
43:00
was uncertain and unpredictable in twenty twenty five. We expect
43:04
it will remain that way in twenty twenty six. Laura Albert,
43:08
chief executive of Williamssinoma, told investors this month, we will
43:13
stay flexible and continued to adjust quickly as the tariff
43:18
environment evolves. Trump has abandoned the gospel of trade liberalizations
43:24
that govern US policy for decades following the Second World
43:27
War and peaked on the eve of the twenty oh
43:31
eight financial crisis. Throughout that era, the US kept its
43:36
overall trade tariffs low and pursued global trade deals that
43:40
would eliminate such barriers in other nations. Trump began his
43:45
second term with a tariff blitz that coreshindoed on April
43:50
tecond which he built as Liberation Day. Americans would be
43:55
freed from unfair trading systems newburrier years to foreign products
44:02
at ten percent tax on all imports, coupled with higher
44:07
reciprocal tariffs on individual nations to protect US companies from
44:13
foreign competitors, the president said. The administration at first said
44:19
that new tariffs would be imposed after an exhaustive review
44:23
of nations specific trade practices, but critics quiftly discovered that
44:30
the new levees as high as fifty percent, actually had
44:33
resulted from a simplistic formula dividing a nation's trade deficit
44:38
with the US by its exports to the S and
44:41
then cutting that number in half. The president's targeted dozens
44:46
of countries, making little effort to distinguish between major and
44:50
insignificant trading partners, and also employed tariffs out of personal
44:55
irritation with foreign governments in Brazil, in Switzerland, rather than
45:02
to secure national interests. Trump undermine has owned ostensible goals.
45:08
The promises of more manufacturing. It's kind of hard to
45:12
imagine how one could more mess up the use of terrafts,
45:15
said Laurie Wallach, the director of Rethink Trade Initiatives at
45:20
the American Economic Liberties Project, who supports the President's goal
45:25
of boosting the metistic manufacturing. Trump's questionable tariff debut was
45:31
a harbager of things to come. The President gambled on
45:34
using an untested nineteen seventy seven economic emergency law to
45:39
impose his tariff plan, strategy that the Supreme Court ultimately rejected.
45:45
It's the first step toward re establishing his tariff wall.
45:49
The president imposed a universal ten percent tariff using section
45:54
one two two of a nineteen seventy four trade law.
45:59
Those levy will expire in the July. Trump's aides are
46:03
performing studies needed to erect the more permanent terarff regime
46:08
at that time using other well established legal authorities. The
46:13
President mainly used tariffs for two purposes, to raise government
46:18
revenue and as a negotiating cudgel. In the current fiscal year,
46:24
American importers have paid more than one hundred and forty
46:27
four billion dollars in tariffs, putting the government on track
46:32
to raise more than three hundred billion dollars on an
46:35
annual basis. That windfall alone is reason to expect future
46:41
presidents to preserve most of Trump's tariffs. Tariff threats also
46:47
helped persuade other governments to reach trade agreements with the
46:51
United States, but in subsequent months, the administration was repeatedly
46:57
forced to clarify its terror plan after leaders in Japan
47:01
and Vietnam disputed Whitehouse's accounts about what had been agreed.
47:08
In August, trading and Globe gold boleon was disrupted by
47:12
an erroneous US Customs and Border Protection ruling later reversed
47:18
that unexpectedly applied new higher tariffs to gold bars. If
47:24
implementation was sometimes sloppy, the hurried trade deals also produced
47:30
genuine achievements. Japan agreed to accept US auto safety standards
47:37
for imported American vehicles, the United Kingdom increased the amount
47:42
of US beef that could be sole each year, and
47:46
Malaysia said it would mirror US economic security provisions, including
47:52
export controls and sanctions, moved that analysts said was aimed
47:57
at China. When I look at Aril second last year,
48:01
a year later, my assessment is at least in round one,
48:06
the administration seems to have won. But I say round
48:10
one because successfully negotiating a deal is just a first step,
48:16
said Wendy Cutler, a former US trade negotiator and now
48:20
a senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute
48:24
in Washington. Indeed, Malaysia this month declared its trade deal
48:32
null and void following the Supreme Court's in validation of
48:36
Trump's emergency tariffs, which had persuaded Kuala Lumpur to make concessions.
48:43
Agreements negotiated with two other major US trading partners, India
48:47
and Vietnam, also remain unfinished, but most other deals apal
48:53
appear unaffected by the legal wrangling. The European Parliament last
48:58
week approved majors of the agreement the Block reached with
49:03
the US last year. I'm increasingly convinced that these alternative
49:09
agreements on reciprocal trade and the framework agreement between these
49:14
countries are going to be more durable and potentially even
49:18
survived well beyond this administration, said Everett Eisenstadt, a trade
49:25
attorney with Squire Patent Boggs who served in the first
49:29
Trump administration. Unveiling the emergency tariffs. One year ago, Trump
49:35
promised the jobs and factories will come roaring back into
49:40
our country. That hasn't happened yet, although administration officials insist
49:46
it is just a matter of time. Factory employment of
49:52
twelve point six million workers ninety three thousand fewer than
49:56
they did on Liberation Day. Manufacture the outport is up
50:01
about one percent over that period, but remains below the
50:05
levels under President Biden, according to Federal War Zone data.
50:10
Inflation is also tech tire, no, not nearly as much
50:14
as some pessimists. Exec expected prices rose over the past
50:19
year by three point one percent according to the Fed's
50:22
Preferred inflation gauge, up from two and a half percent
50:26
in April twenty twenty five. These things take time, said
50:33
Nick Kovella, spokesman for the Coalition for a Prosperous America,
50:38
which supports tariffs. It's unfair for people to say, oh,
50:42
we haven't had a huge increase in manufacturing since Trump's
50:46
been in office. Manufacturing activity rose in February for the
50:51
second straight month according to the Institute of Supply Management
50:57
Purchasing Manager Index, a standard measure, but new orders and
51:02
production metrics were down slightly from the previous month. According
51:05
to Susan Spence, head of the ISSM Survey Panel, members
51:11
of industry machinery have set a constant bright spot in
51:15
the manufacturing sector, reported strong orders for a fifth straight
51:20
month according to the FED data, and that some tariff
51:24
supporters site as evidence of a nascent rebound, but most
51:31
mainstream economists remain skeptical of the administration's game plan, noting
51:36
ISM respondents uniformly negative comments about the impact of tariffs
51:41
on raw material costs. The recent improvement in manufacturing sentiment
51:46
is tied to the boom in artificial intelligence. It appears
51:50
to be in spite of, rather than because of, tariffs,
51:55
Neil Shearing, chief economists with Capital Economics in London, via
52:01
an email. The past two months of good news from
52:04
US factories follows more than two years of contraction and
52:09
will be challenged by rising energy costs if the war
52:13
when Iran continues, said Greg Daco, chief economist with the
52:18
consultancy e Y Parthenon. Prospects for achieving the manufacturing boom
52:26
that the President promises are hampered by the outlook for
52:30
continued policy volatility, leaving businesses unsettled. They don't trust tariffs
52:37
in the same way, particularly because of the way Trump's
52:40
executed this. They're there one day and then they're not
52:44
the next, said Andrew gear Managing director at Capstone Policy
52:50
Analysts Firm. The investments in the US, well, it's hard
52:55
to say the tariffs alone are enough to move that.
53:01
And finally, the US seeds a keywar mission to Israel
53:06
killing top Iranians. The division of responsibility has left Israel
53:12
to hunt and kill Iranian leaders ruthlessly, using an intelligence
53:17
apparatus built up to assassinate with lethal proficiency. As the
53:24
US and Israeli military commanders met to map out war
53:29
with Iran, they deliberated on how to divide the responsibility
53:34
for an array of targets, including missile batteries, military bases,
53:39
and nuclear sites. It was clear from the outset, however,
53:44
that one grim mission would belonged to Israel, hunting and
53:49
killing Iran's leaders. Israel has pursued this assignment with ruthless efficiency,
53:57
killing Iran Supreme leader in the opening south the war,
54:01
and then more than two hundred and fifty other senior
54:05
Iranian officials since, according to account maintained by the Israeli military.
54:11
The latest blow came Thursday, that Israel said it had
54:15
killed the naval commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
54:21
The decapitation campaign relies on an assassination apparatus that Israel
54:27
spent decades built transformed over the past several years to
54:32
achieve new levels of lethal proficiency, according to senior Israeli
54:37
military and intelligence officials. The officials cited a proliferation of
54:43
sources and surveillance capability inside Iran regime insiders recruited to
54:51
spy for Israel, as well as cyber penetrations of thousands
54:55
of targets, including street cameras, payment platforms, and and internet
55:00
choke points that are on installed to impose communications blackouts
55:05
on its own citizens. These and other streams of data
55:10
are being scoured by what Israeli officials described as a
55:15
new classified artificial intelligence platform programmed to extract clues to
55:21
the leader's lives and its movements. Israel targeted killing tactics,
55:28
bombs planted months before being detonated, drones capable slipping into
55:34
apartment windows, and supersonic missiles fired from stealth fighter jets
55:40
have been honed by years of conflict in Gaza, Lebanon,
55:46
and Iran as quite the mission of targeting Iran's leaders
55:50
was assigned to Israel. A senior Israeli security official cited
55:55
its experience and expertiseing there was a need to target
56:01
and we could do it. Less clear, however, is whether
56:07
the ongoing decapitation campaign will enable Israel to achieve its
56:11
core war objectives eradicating the threat of Iran's missiles and
56:16
proxy forces, blocking its path to a nuclear option, and
56:21
weakening the regime to the point that it could be
56:25
top So far, these goals seem elusive. Those killed often
56:30
have been replaced by more militant subordinates, and street protests
56:34
have failed to materialize. Amid a continued US bombing fears
56:39
of a regime cracked down. Senior Israeli efficients described the
56:45
regime and Iran is battered, but resilience stable and feeling
56:50
triumphant atwithstanding a month of strikes by the two world's
56:54
most powerful militaries. Some experts worry that Israel's growing proficiency
56:59
at targeted killings, even when conducted with provision precision, is
57:04
creating a dynamic of dependency on assassinations and a tendency
57:09
to expand the boundaries of whom can be targeted. We
57:13
have taken it too far in terms of making it
57:15
into a strategy opposed to an occasional operational necessity, said
57:20
Area Levite, a nuclear policy an Israeli security expert at
57:25
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The division of labor
57:30
in the current conflicts create an impression that the United
57:33
States has relied on Israel to do the dirty jobs
57:36
in the war, leave By said, with the United States
57:39
seeming to adopt the stance of we can't kill them,
57:42
but we'd be more than happy if you do. But
57:46
nobody can explain it, said a senior Israeli security officer
57:50
with access to intelligence on Iron's leaders and their decisions.
57:54
Every human being on the planet would have seen the
57:59
Peri storm coming. And this concludes the reading of the
58:03
Washington Post for today, Monday, March thirtieth. Your reader has
58:07
been Rod Brotherton. Thank you for listening, and now please
58:10
stay tuned for continued programming right here on Radio I