We have been working on this probably ever since they imposed their will. Began executing that war plan. And what does that mean? That means taking down anti-ship missiles at distance, long-range ballistic missiles at distance. The Shahid drones can go almost a thousand miles, so we're going deep into Iran that can access the straits of Amuz, and then we're working close in to deal with what close in.
Mine layers, small boats that could be suicide boats to interfere with shipping. They could fire drones from that small boat as well, or fire other kinds of short-range missiles at a boat. All of that. is being exercised. That is General Jack Keene breaking down exactly what's going on.
So he's in touch with the Israelis, he's in touch with the U.S. Uh the US uh Um military team. And the strategists And he's got 60 years of knowledge dating back to Vietnam. Andy Markov joins us now, retired Marine Special Forces officer, now runs SMAC Technologies. Andy, welcome.
Brian, thanks for having me. Hey, first off. I mean, we have two objectives that just remain undone. I guess getting the uranium and opening up the strait. Am I crazy to think that if we're going to do it, doing it at the same time, might be to our advantage.
I mean, I think there's always an advantage to shocking the system simultaneously. And I think we need to get this conflict resolved. I think that it makes sense.
So, if I was to give you the assignment with the straight, I know about unmanned vehicles, I know about the fast boats, we know about the mines. If those are the obstacles, how do you handle it? I mean, I think that we have the Ability to collect information about where these things are. We've obviously been successful at decimating the vast majority of Iran's conventional military. And I think it's really more of the same, but just finishing the job, especially looking at those anti-ship cruise missiles that could threaten the strait to get it open.
And I think we have some of the technology implemented today. But I think you had a conversation with Jamie Diamond where we talked about, we've got the innovation, but we maybe don't have the execution. I think Jamie's right in that the tools exist today to make decisions faster and to be able to work as a coalition, but we haven't fully implemented them. And I think that's a lot of the focus needs to be on how do we actually make better decisions quicker and faster and in a more optimal way across both the U.S. forces and with our coalition partners and allies.
I mean, you're talking about the mass production of these great weapons, whether it's interceptors, whether it's drone technology or anti-drone technology for an affordable price, right? You have the innovation, but you have the manufacturing. I think that the manufacturing is really important. I know Jamie talked about that, and he's right. I mean, we absolutely need more weapons, more munitions, and we need to be able to make them faster.
But I think that's going to take some time. I think that there's something that we can do sooner, which is make more optimal decisions with the things that we do have. It's a concept we would call decision dominance. But how do you take all this information, fuse it, analyze it, and make optimal decisions right now with the limited resources that we have? And the technology exists today to do that.
Aren't we already seeing that with the the use of AI in our targeting? I think we're starting to see it, but I think we're really just kind of like, you know, paper deep in what we could do. And we started to see AI get implemented, like to make these types of decisions. But I think there's There's a lot more we could do. I think AI needs to be adopted more broadly, but not just within our forces.
We need to be able to do it with our coalition partners and allies. I mean, today there's not a good machine-to-machine solution with our partners and allies. And we can't do this alone. We need to be able to work in multiple theaters. With our partners, and we need to be able to have machine-to-machine solutions to use each other's resources effectively.
And I think that's really important, and that's one of the areas I think. AI could help a lot. I mean, another is understanding the trade-offs between moving assets from one theater to this theater and what the implication is. Across security, across the world, it's really hard to make those trade-off decisions and understand those implications today. And I think that's another area that AI can really help.
So, in other words, you saw our assets off the coast of Venezuela for months. And now it's in the Persian Gulf, and we've got to take those marine ships. We're in Japan.
So, do you think we're doing a good job understanding while we put our assets in those different areas, what is vulnerable? I think we don't have an ability to make that like calculus. I mean, doing that, you know, detailed time space plan on what is the implication if I move this group from here to here, not just over the next two weeks, but six months, two years, 10 years. There's not an easy way to do that calculus today. And I think that's one of the real promises with AI is to help us get back to campaigning.
I mean, we like campaigning, you know, being able to weigh the trade-offs of tactical decisions in one theater versus another theater. And make informed trade-offs is critical. And that is a really, really difficult thing to do.
So and you're saying too That gets our partners involved with the innovation prospects.
So I guess the UK has got their military strategists and France has their mirrors. Instead of judging them, just fold them in. And if they're not going to do their part, make it public. But they can't keep up with us in many ways. But maybe we'll use some of those creative thinkers and bring them in so they understand their role in this whole thing.
Absolutely. I think we need to bring them in. I think, you know, we've, you know, I've certainly served with our NATO partners and allies when I was in Iraq. I've served with them in Afghanistan. I mean, we've worked closely over the years on the global war on terror.
I think, like, with what's going on in the world today, we need to continue that. But it's not just working together, it's how do we integrate technology so we can make decisions faster together, make optimal decisions together. And I think that's that technology integration is really important.
So, how do you judge our campaign so far from the people that you know and from what you've seen? How's it going? I mean, I think that our military has done a tremendous job of decimating Iran's conventional forces. I mean, I think we are. you know again the best in the world at like at doing that and i think we've proven it again i think you know there's still some cleanup to be done i and you know i know we've we've all talked about the straight over moves i mean obviously there's still a threat there but i and will it return immediately in the next couple weeks to where it was before the conflict started like probably not but can we get it to a manageable level with some focused strikes i i do think that we're capable of doing that I'm Ram Reddy and I'm running for governor because it's time for something different.
I believe the political system is corrupted by dark money, special interests, and inside deals. If I do not deliver, I will not run again. Paid for by Ready for Governor.
So knowing that, Andy, and the role politics plays for the first time, I know when things got dicey in Iraq, there was a real divide, even among Republicans. Man, I don't think this surge will work. I think we lost in Iraq. Remember, Andy, I remember. Uh the leader, the majority leader in uh Harry Reid, the majority leader at the time in the Senate, he said everybody knows that the war is lost.
Now you guys are actually fighting the war, but you're hearing politics.
So the campaign by almost every military strategist I talk to is talking very positively about the campaign. But this is what people are saying on T V. About it, and tell me if it wears on the war fighter and their family. Cut seven. I mean, he really sounded and looked quite old, quite low energy, quite exhausted, and not particularly focused.
Again, which is not that surprising. And to me, that underscores and is like this sharpie underline for his two biggest political problems with the war. He makes clear in those statements that he makes tonight that this is a war of his choosing. We didn't have to be there. We just went to help.
Help who? Why? There was a bit of an inherent contradiction in saying that the objectives are very nearly complete. It's almost over. But.
We're going to attack Iran into the Stone Age over the next few weeks. Trump is on course to get a thank you card from the Ayatollahs this year. This speech was a disaster.
So how does that affect the families and fighters? I mean, I you know, I I do think that the uh For the most part, I mean, we, when, you know, when I was deploying, like, a lot of us try to just stay out of like listening to the media and kind of just focus on like the mission. And that's, and that's really. I think, you know, most of the families are focused on thinking about their loved ones, supporting their loved ones that are deployed. You know, the people that are deployed are focused on the mission.
And honestly, when I was deployed, I don't know that I ever even watched the news because I was so busy just thinking about what we were doing. I mean, I think to echo kind of the point that Jamie Diamond made, I mean, Iran's been a problem for 47 years for us. This is not like a new thing. They undermined us in every theater that we fought in, that I fought in, like in all, you know, like whether it was in Iraq or Afghanistan. This is not a new, they're not a new problem that like happened overnight.
And so I think, you know, a lot of. I can't speak for all of the people that are deployed today. I can speak for myself. They've always been. You know, in that region, problem number one.
And we're in a volunteer force, Andy. And anyone who said, I'm going to join up for the military and didn't think that Iran possibly could pop up as a place of confrontation. really was divorced from what was going on in the world. And you probably don't hear about that, but like, you know, those of us as we're deployed, we're living under that we've lived under that threat on deployment in both theaters. And so I think like it's just been It's been something that we've dealt with for a long time.
Right. All right, so we'll see what happens. How long do you expect this to last? I mean, I think that with focused strikes, on focused effort to finish off, I think, the real conventional threat to the Strait. I mean, I think that we could see a significant drop in risk, as the President said, in a few weeks.
As far as like stability in the region, I mean, that's a much longer problem. And I won't pretend to guess how long that takes. But I do think the conventional threat, I think, can be dealt with as it relates to the straight. Again, not going to be exactly as low risk maybe as it was before the conflict kicked off, but I think at a manageable level soon. And talking to guys like you, I know how much respect you have for the Australians and the UK.
I very rarely hear people say they're not great to fight with. But I do think there's something about the Israelis who have equal motivation. They're not there to help America, they're there to work with us. And we really have. For the most part, the same objective.
We just want to, I think both countries just want to live in peace, want to compete economically, not militarily.
So, I think there's something about the quality of the fighter that Americans are fighting with. I think when everyone comes back and tells this story, it's going to be kind of pretty unique. I mean, I agree. I mean, and I've I've been fortunate to fight alongside a lot of our NATO partners and allies. It was a true privilege of my career.
I never had the opportunity to fight beside the Israelis, but I mean, I do think that they're a truly unique and and and great um and great partner. And I mean, you know, it's it's a I mean, Iran is you know, you know, to a degree personal for me and for the people that I deployed with, but like not to the degree that it is, you know, for Israel. And so I think that like they, you know, we're very aligned in a way that, you know, I think is Is great. They've wounded thousands and killed at least 600 during the Iraq War. You could argue that the insurgency would have not nearly been as potent had Iran.
Not fomented the unrest like they did. Andy Markov, thanks so much. Thanks for having me, Brian. You got it.
