In this episode, Peter Bergen talks about how the White House failed to have a strategic plan for the attack on Iran, and why it s time to focus on domestic politics, not Iran's nuclear program. He also talks about the economic consequences of the strike on Iran's Strait of Hormuz Strait, and what Iran can do to retaliate.
00:00:49.960And you see that I think most of all in the White House's lack of any plan for Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, something that everyone that's worked in the national security community can tell you has always been their number one kind of point of leverage.
00:01:07.160That's their ace and that's the ace card that they have.
00:01:09.520And so now what you see is a president who clearly gets that this is a political problem for him.
00:01:16.100You can see a couple of days ago he started trying to talk about how we, you know, we're getting close to ending the war,
00:01:21.140although then an hour later he'll come out and say, but we still have weeks to go.
00:05:29.800They certainly are going to want the relaxation of sanctions.
00:05:32.980So by continuing to act against energy to make it impossible for tankers to go through the straits, this gives them an awful lot of leverage.
00:05:40.300My own sense is no matter what the president says, we are moving towards some kind of a negotiation with Iran.
00:09:47.860It's an excursion that will keep us out of a war.
00:09:52.920And the war is going to be, I mean, for them it's a war.
00:09:56.380For us, it's turned out to be easier than we thought.
00:10:01.980Publicly, President Xi Jinping's government is striking a more diplomatic tone, calling for restraint.
00:10:08.380China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, says this is a war that should never have happened and a war that benefits no one.
00:10:16.280China has long been Iran's economic lifeline.
00:10:19.840Beijing buying most of their oil exports despite years of U.S.-led sanctions.
00:10:24.600And now U.S. officials say they're watching signs Beijing could soon provide more crucial financial support to Tehran.
00:10:32.860The war is shaking global energy markets, oil prices surging to four-year highs, attacks threatening shipping routes in the Middle East.
00:10:42.480For China, the world's biggest energy importer, that's a serious risk.
00:10:47.660But strategically, Beijing may also see opportunity as the two superpowers compete on the world stage,
00:10:57.220with the CIA putting out these official recruitment videos, brazenly and openly luring Chinese officials to spy for the U.S.
00:11:07.180Analysts say a prolonged war could pull American attention and military resources back to the Middle East
00:11:14.140and away from Asia, allowing China to flex its military muscle around Taiwan in the South China
00:11:21.000Sea and disputed islands near Japan without U.S. interference. We have crossed the Rubicon here,
00:11:28.020Anderson. We're in a very difficult situation. I believe it's important to carry out what is left
00:11:34.860of the military campaign. I can't put a time frame on that. I'm sure within CENTCOM they have a sense
00:11:39.400And they're probably briefing the president. But if if we cut this short and Iran has reconsolidated its hardline elements within the system, which they appear to have done, although we don't know exactly.
00:11:50.160And they can still reconstitute because they have enough of the capability on the missiles and the drones and maybe even the nuclear.
00:11:57.080We could be in an even worse position. And a final point.
00:12:00.120You know, Iran has had a strategic policy for decades, Anderson, to spread the revolution through terrorism, through proxies and to deter any blowback inside their own borders.
00:12:09.400And they've done that through what they see as deterrence.
00:12:11.840They used to have very good air defense systems.
00:12:13.900Hezbollah, very strong, used to be very strong on Israel's border with hundreds of thousands of missiles and rockets and missiles, drones.
00:12:22.240So there was a deterrence against an attack.
00:12:24.260It's one reason no president has ever actually done this.
00:12:27.240If you've taken out those deterrent elements, but they have now restored their deterrence because they control the vital artery of the world
00:12:35.400And now demonstrated they can use it and it really bites. You might actually come out of this where Iran might be weaker, but they have deterrence against any future attacks.
00:12:45.400So I'm looking at this strategically. It's a really precarious moment, Anderson. And I think the president's mixed messaging is not helping.
00:12:52.720uh it is a thursday 12 march in the year of our lord 2026 we're going to get to the bottom of
00:13:00.720all this break it all down for you so you can see every element of it and come to your own
00:13:05.760conclusion which is most important right now we need maga and we need the particularly the
00:13:10.220maga grassroots uh folks that would be this audience to really think this situation through
00:13:16.780uh you're in the war room we're going to start with jim rickens we have jim up in a moment we
00:13:20.840got eric bowling here eric bowling called shot yesterday about the release of the um the first
00:13:27.780off the iea petroleum reserve which i think they said there's going to be 400 million
00:13:31.960barrels released also the um the the strategic petroleum reserve anyway we'll talk about oil
00:13:38.960the straits the gulf we will compare and contrast what you just heard jim rickard's one of the best
00:13:44.320geopolitical strategists and capital market strategists we'll start with we're absolutely
00:13:48.880packed this morning uh you're here in the war room take your phone out and text bannon b-a-n-n-o-n
00:13:55.660at 9-8-9-8-9-8 get the ultimate guide for investing in gold and precious metals in the
00:14:01.700age of trump check it out today the uh it's no obligation it's totally free uh and you get uh
00:14:10.020and you get to get to philip patrick and philip patrick will be on the show this evening
00:16:30.300Philip Patrick tonight, Jim Rickards this morning.
00:16:32.800so you can't get two better thinkers about this um i'm gonna play newt gingrich and bring jim on
00:16:39.400we got to hear this um newt again because when you lose newt um of course newt's a regime change
00:16:47.680guy guardian newspaper has a story this morning very well sourced from israeli intelligence and
00:16:56.860israeli political class about how they admit they were not ready for and they're and they
00:17:04.120wanted regime change uh they basically said it was a hope and a prayer do some bombing and people
00:17:08.780are going to rise up that's why netanyahu uh went public yesterday with you have to rise up
00:17:14.060and overthrow overthrow the atollah the mullahs the revolutionary guard that's not happening
00:17:20.160and that's because of their many reasons but the bombing on saturday night the fire bombing of
00:17:25.880tehran made this a persian nationalist situation so now we're in it so everybody's talking about
00:17:32.600hey why did we get in this yes there'll be plenty of time later for that but we're in it now
00:17:36.920we're in it and we need victory now we got to define victory be very precise about it but
00:17:44.020this is this is as dark as it possibly gets let's play newt gingrich no one bring jim
00:17:50.500Richardson? Look, there are three huge challenges that this administration has tackled.
00:17:59.020The first is that, and they should have frankly moved on this on day one,
00:18:04.040they have to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. I don't care what it costs, if they can't keep it
00:18:09.540open, this war will in fact be an American defeat before very long, because the entire world,
00:18:16.500including the American people, will react to the price of oil if the strait stays closed right
00:18:21.800long. So I lived through this with Reagan, as you did in the late 80s. Keeping the strait open
00:18:27.000is the number one job because it buys you time for the other two other jobs. The second job is
00:18:33.520we're going to discover that the Revolutionary Guard is tougher than we thought it was,
00:18:38.580better connected, and have at least 200,000 people who are true believers, and they have no future.
00:18:46.000I mean, right. Trump can say unconditional surrender. These folks know if they lose power, they have no future.
00:18:54.040And the third challenge is how do you arouse and organize the street, the eighty five million or so people in Iran who do not want the current regime, but they're unarmed, they're unorganized.
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00:29:48.840okay bowling who had a called shot yesterday as uh he has been on this situation or as the
00:29:59.420traitors mentality uh beau french also running uh to head the railroad commission in um in texas
00:30:06.480which is about the oil and gas industry not about the railroad industry uh and uh on deck and jim
00:30:12.300records is with it uh jim records uh continue on unconditional surrender abraham lincoln had his
00:30:17.140instrument to destroy the confederacy in the army of northern virginia that was ulysses s grant
00:30:22.980who understood that it had to be unconditional surrender or the confederacy would have fought
00:30:27.920on forever uh same with nazi germany and uh and and imperial japan you got to tell them there's
00:30:34.360no way out of here president trump put that message out a week ago continue on sir well
00:30:40.680trump put that message out again the word is very powerful you took my grant and fdr
00:30:44.720then four days later he says it's an excursion um you know and technically it might be expeditionary
00:30:51.000force well excursion you know in 1916 uh general blackjack pershing one of only two six-star
00:30:56.740generals in US history, invaded Mexico to chase Pancho Villa. And then he came back. That's an
00:31:02.860excursion. But my question for the president is, which is it? Is it unconditional surrender or is
00:31:07.480it an excursion? I can debate both of those. Maybe you can even defend both of those. But my point is
00:31:12.700they're projecting confusion. I mean, you don't say those two things within three days of each
00:31:17.300other and expect people to think that you have a coherent strategy, which they don't. So this is
00:31:23.300the problem. Now, in terms of the other thing that Americans don't understand, the White House
00:31:27.960does not understand, and I don't know why they don't understand it, this is a radical theocracy.
00:31:34.100They don't understand the religious aspect of this. Samuel Huntington laid it out in 1991 in
00:31:39.140The Clash of Civilizations. He said, take a map of the world, put a transparency over it, and draw
00:31:43.680the line where blood is being shed, every battle in the world. Take another transparency and draw
00:31:48.560a line where the religious divides are. Overlay one on the other. They're the same. Whether it's
00:31:54.860Shiite, Sunni, Christian, Islam, etc. Now, the Muslim, these particular Shiite Muslims,
00:32:03.840they welcome death. They welcome it. They consider it the divine will of Allah. They're
00:32:08.600going straight to paradise. There's even a thesis, which I don't have any strong evidence,
00:32:12.860but it's interesting that they gather, the Aitohan, the head of the Revolutionary Guard,
00:32:17.940current defense minister, they gathered intentionally knowing they were going to be
00:32:21.080hunted down and killed so they could all die at once and be martyrs. That's a mentality that is
00:32:26.100so distant from what people in the United States and the White House think. They don't understand
00:32:30.820what they're up against. So going down the list, regime change, failure. We've had a leadership
00:32:38.000change, but we haven't had regime change. Now we've got the mini Ayatollah, Moshtaba is the son
00:32:46.280of ayatollah khomeini uh he's clearly a puppet he's going to do what the iranian revolutionary
00:32:50.760guard corps tell him he's not a distinguished scholar you know he's got some mid-level you know
00:32:56.940uh the uh you know religious credentials but nothing nothing personal he's just going to do
00:33:02.360he's going to do what he's told he's a puppet the guard corps running the country um so there's no
00:33:07.740uprising the guard because they're not they're they're they're not they're not into they're not
00:33:13.200into they're not into hereditary so but it shows continuity but what are they into because now
00:33:19.600we were all for hey you get over there get your stuff done get your punch list or your or what
00:33:24.980the navy and the and the air force are doing with the uh with your degradation and then get an offer
00:33:30.400let's get the hell out of here however the shift to go against the gulf uh allies which trust me
00:33:37.520they ain't allies okay uh we pretend they're allies um because they're all bailing out and
00:33:43.500going after the Straits of Hormuz although as you know it's it doesn't really affect right now the
00:33:50.940the the supply of oil it disrupts it and the speculators get in there the we've allowed the
00:33:56.580Iranians to change the nature of this conflict correct and that's why Newt Gingrich when you
00:34:02.360lose new gingrich when you lose new gingrich they've changed the nature of the conflict and
00:34:07.640so now the gulf and keeping the gulf open becomes paramount doesn't it that's exactly right there
00:34:13.680are two uh theoretically there are two kinds of escalation and you know president eisenhower i
00:34:19.780rank him maybe top five presidents and he's brilliant he he once said when you can't solve
00:34:25.100a problem enlarge the problem make the problem bigger and then you might see the solution now
00:34:30.740in terms of escalation, vertical escalation, if you want to call it that, is my weapons are bigger
00:34:35.940than your weapons. You send a bomb, I send a bigger bomb, and we keep going up. That is the
00:34:40.260dynamic that was in play between the Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War. What the Iranians
00:34:45.460done is not vertical escalation. They can't do that. They can't match this weapon for weapon.
00:34:49.780This is horizontal escalation. They spread out the problem, they enlarge the problem,
00:34:54.500as Eisenhower would put it. Yes, and now they're blowing up oil tankers, not in the Straits of
00:34:59.620from Uzbut in Iraq. They're bombing Dubai. I know people who were moving a lot of wealth from
00:35:06.100Singapore to Dubai in recent months. They're like, hey, Singapore's a little too close to China.
00:35:10.960Dubai looked pretty safe. Not anymore. I've been there many times. There are places that are
00:35:16.520burning. They disabled to a great extent. People don't know the Fifth Fleet, the United States
00:35:22.140Navy Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. They've disabled those port facilities. Those vessels
00:35:27.200might have to go to diego garcia which is four days each way um and so they and they but they've
00:35:32.540been doing this with drones they still have some ballistic missiles um they they don't yeah they've
00:35:38.080been substantially degraded and we have air air supremacy but they've widened the war very
00:35:44.680inexpensively by the way as you know these drones are about ten thousand dollars a piece so um yeah
00:35:49.620they're driving a wedge between the gulf states but here's here okay here's the question though
00:35:53.840for those of us for those of for those of us that were adamantly opposed to regime change
00:35:59.880right regime change is newt saying it the reality or because of their ability to have a vote in this
00:36:09.360they've now forced the issue around the gulf in the straits of her moves that you almost have to
00:36:16.220have a regime change i'm not saying i support that but i'm saying just strategically otherwise
00:36:21.720they're going to continue on and iran's going to say hey for all the great american effort for all
00:36:26.020the great american military for all the israelis bombing us we control the gulf saudi arabia doesn't
00:36:31.100control it a big tough talking mbz doesn't control it we the americans don't control it we control it
00:36:37.560your thoughts sir well i think that's exactly right and by the way we've been talking we talked
00:36:42.660about the military aspects of this where our performance has been great but it was we're
00:36:47.260losing. And then we talk the strategic aspect of it, which is a muddle. The White House just has
00:36:52.200not had a clear message from day one, and they still don't. We haven't talked about the economy.
00:36:57.980I mean, obviously, everyone understands the importance of, well, you're going to drive
00:37:01.020the entire global economy into a global recession at best, and maybe a market panic. And such as
00:37:08.980well, we've been talking about it all, but natural gas. Qatar has declared force majeure. It's a
00:37:13.960technical legal term, but it says, all those contracts we signed, they're negated. You can't
00:37:18.660sue me, no damages, no contractual lawsuits. I'm just not performing because a greater force,
00:37:24.660force majeure, has come into play. Well, this is like 40% of the world's natural gas. The US has
00:37:30.140a lot. Australia has some, but not enough to make up the difference. Europe is going to have to buy
00:37:36.460natural gas from Russia. Think about that. The last four years, Russia's horrible, they're evil.
00:37:41.480Oh no, we're giving India, we're giving Russia, and Russia's playing both sides, they're giving targeting information to the Iranians and telling us how they're buddies and they're going to play in India.
00:37:53.240Let me let me it. The military performance, the valor of our arms, the courage of our troops, the tenacity of our war making capabilities in Korea and in Vietnam and the global war on terror in Iraq, the march up country in Iraq and Afghanistan.
00:38:14.900originally with those volunteers unparalleled can't be questioned because you see the results
00:38:22.600of what these folks did in korea and vietnam in the global war on terror and guess what we lost
00:38:28.480in korea we lost in vietnam and we've lost the global war on terror you've got mandami sitting
00:38:34.500on rugs having what the iftar dinner or whatever it is sitting on rugs with the portrait of
00:38:39.640Washington in front of you? You seen that in New York City? You got that? We're going to Brandon
00:38:46.200Hall on here from Texas on the state education board. You see what they're doing to change the
00:38:50.540history books in Texas? Understand what I've been saying about it ain't in Tehran where your problem
00:38:56.780is. They're coming here and they're winning here. They control New York City and today in a middle
00:39:03.320of budget crisis, the director of the budget can't talk because he's fasting for Ramadan.
00:39:07.680suck on that right korea and vietnam and the global war terror we're here we're here where
00:39:15.820we are today yes we've got a military and this training and the kids the young men and women
00:39:20.860that do it are the best that we got like they were the best in vietnam and like they were the
00:39:26.400best in korea and look since world war ii we haven't had definitive victories go ahead sir
00:39:32.340We lost the war in Vietnam, but we never lost a battle.
00:39:36.520We never lost a single battle in Vietnam, but we lost the war.
00:39:40.980And something like that is playing out in Iran today or in the Persian Gulf.
00:39:45.020Look at what the Marine Corps did in Hawaii after the Tet Offensive.
00:39:48.040I mean, that was door to door, street to street.
00:39:50.260That was urban fighting, and they prevailed.
00:44:59.260For those of you old enough to remember back to the early 70s,
00:45:03.380the the uh arab oil crisis remember the lines of cars around the corner and one of the things that
00:45:09.460brought down um one of the many things that that brought down carter's presidency but also
00:45:14.500with nixon there was there was this big issue all of a sudden with the middle east which we'd never
00:45:20.040really paid that much attention to uh all of a sudden became it had an impact in everybody's
00:45:26.680life where that cartel that kind of met in geneva of these arab nations the oil producing nations
00:45:32.060based their based their uh based their cartel nature around a relatively obscure institution
00:45:40.080in the great state of texas and that would be the railroad commission uh it is not about the
00:45:44.440railroads is about the control of oil and gas both frenchers running for that and say the head of
00:45:49.000it's a publicly elective office bo you're in the middle of this why is the railroad commission
00:45:53.720important why should people pay attention and most importantly today when we talk about what's
00:45:59.120happening in the Straits of Hormuz and we're to Karg Island. We're going to send the 82nd
00:46:02.680Airborne in to seize their assets. We're taking incoming from drones. Why is the position you're
00:46:07.820running for one of the most important positions in the United States of America, sir?
00:46:15.600Thanks for having me on. You're absolutely right. Texas produces almost half of the oil and gas for
00:46:21.020the United States. And as President Trump rightly recognizes, energy is national security. And so
00:46:26.980Given the focus here in Texas, given President Trump's focus on Venezuela, his focus on Iran, his recent announcement two days ago of the new first in 50 years refinery that they're building in South Texas, I think this just shows that he recognizes how important it is.
00:46:44.800And so I'm running for this position because, you know, I'm running against an incumbent who performed the worst ever for an incumbent in an election, which is why we're in a runoff.
00:46:54.480And because he's straddled the industry with, or excuse me, saddled the industry with new regulations, environmental regulations, increased cost on operators, which is just the wrong direction.
00:47:07.380You know, we need energy dominance here in Texas and in the United States.
00:47:10.500And so, look, I think that when you talk about energy, when you talk about what's happening in the world, you know, there's lots of criticisms to be, you know, thrown around about how things are prosecuted, you know, militarily around the world.
00:47:24.280But I think at the end of the day, what we have to do is, and I think this is really important, I never judge President Trump on what he says.
00:47:30.620I always look at what he does. And so we'll see how this ends up in Iran. But control of the first
00:47:37.900largest oil reserves in the world in Venezuela, the third largest oil reserves in the world in
00:47:43.020Iran, clearly this is an important issue. When just a little military action over there
00:47:48.820around the Straits of Hormuz spikes oil prices, I think consumers recognize how important the
00:47:54.440free flow of oil around the world really is. And so given how much we produce here in Texas,
00:48:00.620We need to be producing more here in Texas.
00:48:26.580The first thing is we're going to roll back the new Biden-era EPA-type environmental regulations that they saddled the industry with just this last July.
00:48:36.800So we really haven't even felt the effects of those yet, which means we can reduce the break-even point for operators, which is good for consumers.
00:48:45.900The other thing we have to do is they've had this, like, bizarre obsession with DEI.
00:48:50.060We're going to roll back all of the DEI contracts they've been awarding.
00:48:54.080We're just going to eliminate that totally.
00:48:55.320So those are the two big things I would say. And then just as a statewide elected official, you know, I view that we need to have elected officials who fight for the values of America, right? And so just having that platform, doing what I've been doing for the last couple of years, just being a fierce advocate, America first warrior for the values that make America great.
00:49:16.200Bo, where can people find out more about you and your campaign? Where do they go?
00:49:19.660yeah steve the best place is at my website beaufrench.com or on x i'm their prolific
00:49:25.780poster on x beau french tx comes in a little hot folks go follow beau french uh one of the most
00:49:34.780important positions elected positions in this country uh thank you beau appreciate you
00:49:40.120thank you steve a real warrior right there so yesterday 24 hours ago you did called shots
00:49:48.900on on the petroleum reserves and you also had some you've had some ideas you put you put forward
00:49:53.980to the white house so 24 hours later bowling as we rolled you out of the rack are we are you feeling
00:50:02.000better directionally of where this is going hopefully to the sunlit uplands or is eric
00:50:08.300bowling not feeling better sir no feeling i'm feeling like we're headed into some badlands
00:50:14.000couple of things so steve we talked yesterday about don't release sprs certainly not in
00:50:18.840America. Ours is for emergency use only. We don't have an emergency supply problem in America.
00:50:25.360And then you texted me last night. Trump just said he's going to release it. And I said,
00:50:29.500this is a terrible idea. And sure enough, overnight oil traded, the Brent crude oil
00:50:34.260traded $100 a barrel. We traded around $95 a barrel in West Texas Intermediate.
00:50:39.740I would like to tell you, it won't work. Releasing SPR oil never works. It's a temporary.
00:50:45.780And I think traders realize that if this is all we got, oh, so what happens just now with some breaking news right now, per Reuters, Trump announces that he's going to suspend the Jones Act, suspend the Jones Act, 100-year-old act law that will, when he suspends it, allow foreign tankers to help supply our ports.
00:51:08.260Like right now, you have to have U.S. built and manned tankers that pull into U.S. ports.