Gen Jack Keane: Bend them to OUR WILL!

All right, now, great pleasure, as always, we bring in General Jack Keane, Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst, my friend and mentor on these matters.General Keane, welcome back, sir.Are we, the bombing, I mean, I wonder, is this the last 25 % that CENTCOM never got to several months ago before the ceasefire?Is this what we're witnessing right now?And how far do you think this is gonna go, General Keane?

Well, that's a good point that you're bringing up here, Larry.After 39 days, we went to a ceasefire on April the 7th, 39 days of combat.And we had about 25 percent of assigned military targets left.And that the commanders of the IEDF and Central Command, our forces estimated that would take about two weeks to complete that.What we're dealing with here is a portion of that, but not it completely, because this is targeted on the Straits of Amuz.As we know, we had a memorandum of understanding that two presidents signed.

We removed our blockade, which was the only agreement in that document.to clear the Straits of Hormuz, make sure they were open, and we did that.And the Iranians violated the deal and began to attack shipping and continued to interfere with the straits.And it's really understandable from their perspective.They see this as a strategic asset.It gives them leverage.

Their nuclear enterprise, obviously, the pursuit of it has always given them leverage, but most of it is under a mountain of rubble.And this is what gives them leverage currently over the Gulf states, distribution of oil in the region, and they're unlikely to give it up.And that is why we're fighting the Battle of Hormuz right now.So many, some of these targets were in that target list, to be sure, but the target list goes way beyond the Straits of Hormuz.in terms of leadership IRGC organization national infrastructure be on the bridges we're talking about here.Carg Island distribution of oil itself and energy.

So that is a much more comprehensive target list.The mission that commanders have here is to complete this mission, open up the Straits of Hormuz, and isolate Iran as much as possible, and use this to bend them to our will.I doubt that's going to happen.I'm skeptical.We have complete evidence to prove that.You and I have said many times, the Iranians lie to us, they cheat, they tell us what we want to hear, and then they don't deliver.

And we also said, even if they sign a document, they likely will not comply.And now we have the evidence of that, quite stunning, within days of their president signing the document, they violated it.And that is what has brought us to this point.President Trump is not fooling around here.He's the only president in a 47 -year history that has taken consequential action against this regime.They violated a document that he signed as well.

And now they're paying the price for that.I don't believe negotiations will get us back to where we need to be.That's the president's decision.He can make those assessment based on how we're doing with the conditions and opening up the straight civil moves, which we have a little while ago before we complete it.

Well, I tell you, I look, I don't know.Surely I don't know.But I think.I think the president himself is crossing the Rubicon.I think he understands the things you just mentioned and the unreliability of anything to do with the IRGC.Pieces of paper mean nothing to them.

They're going to backtrack on every single promise.So I think the bombing is essential.I think he's looking hard at invading Karg Island.It's a Venezuela -like takeover of their oil and, you know, their whole economic capability.It can be done.We've had, you know, you yourself and other military experts have said it can be done.

We've got to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.I mean, I'll ask you, in effect, is we're looking at Project Freedom, point number one, Project Freedom, which was, what, 35 hours in Iraq, but now that's the goal, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.And number two, how about Pickaxe Mountain, for example, and any other evidence of nuclear operations by Iran?I mean, those are the two key points, the Strait and the nuclear options.Why not take them out in both counts?

Yeah, absolutely.I'm convinced we will.We're not going to leave them with anything that smacks of trying to recover operations.Pickax Mountain is a case in point.The concerns I have, Larry, going forward deal with a couple of things.One, the Gulf states put pressure on our president through the mediators of Pakistan and Qatari.

And by the way, Those two countries are absolutely compromised in how much they favor Iran and play both sides, the United States and Iran, despite the fact that we have good relationships with their leaders.Their history and their involvement in complicity here is indisputable facts.And they organized the Gulf states to put pressure on our president when he was getting close to going back to major combat operations.And, also, if you recall, you mentioned Project Freedom.We were in the 36th hour.The Saudis had called and said, no, you can't do that.

your air base.You can't use Saudi airspace.We don't think this is going to work either.Others felt the same.And we shut that operation down.Those regional powers are gathering again.

The mediators, Pakistan and Qatari, are gathering again to put the pursue the diplomatic approach, go to a ceasefire, and let's work a diplomatic solution, despite all the evidence we have to the contrary now, that whatever the Iranians are saying to the mediators, Qataris and Pakistanis, or maybe even directly to our negotiators, they're saying whatever they think we want to hear.And why are they saying it?Because they want one thing from us, and they got it on April the 7th.That is to stop the war, stop shooting at them.That's what they want.And they'll say whatever it takes, I think, to get that.

And they will want to hold on to the Straits of Hormuz because it's such a key strategic asset for them.I think they're willing to fight us over it.And they'll go to a cease -fire to stop us taking control of it.But eventually, they will not give up control of this.I think the pathway on that the president has selected is the correct one.Let's finish it.

Yes, I think that's the point.I mean, I think the president himself has crossed the Rubicon.I think he is so furious at Iran's breaking of all the promises, and now they're shooting at us, and we're taking more casualties.All of it is tragic.I think he's absolutely furious, and I think he's exercising these tough options.You know I think we'll go whether it's Project Freedom or not.

I think the goal is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz whatever it takes.And I wish you'd get Cargill on to.Let me ask you another thing.This other point that's been in the back of my head for days and daysand days and days.With Israel, our great ally, okay, instead of sniping at Israel, as some sources have been, but we'll cover that another time.

Israel and the United States should use their secret services and foment regime change.We should be arming and communicating and coordinating and doing what we can.It's what President Reagan did.He helped to arm people and give money to operations in Poland and throughout Eastern Europe.He worked with Margaret Thatcher as an intermediary and a helper.He worked with Pope John Paul II as an intermediary and a helper.

And his goal was to overthrow Soviet communism.As a young man, I worked in his budget office in the first term and watch this operation unfold with people like William Casey running the CIA.Why can't we, or maybe we are, do exactly that with Iran?We should provide funding and arming and supplying and coordinating and communicating with the dissidents in Iran, I'm sure we know who they are, and trying to help them out there and use the same tactics that Reagan used 40 some odd years ago.Why can't we do that, General Keene?

Well, I think we should be doing it if we're not.And what I've called for many times is I believe the president should be presented a combined plan developed by the Mossad and the CIA that does two essential things.

Yes.

One, it undermines the regime itself in terms of breaking that apart.breaking down trust in each other, you know, buying people's loyalty and disloyalty to the regime.There's all sorts of things that the CIA and Mossad know how to do here to strip away a regime that's under fire and is starting to question itself and sees an economic peril in front of them.The second thing is, and you're talking about it, is put together a comprehensive plan, both agencies, to help the Iranians resist.And certainly some of that would be armed resistance to groups that are willing to participate in that endeavor.We have successfully done it.

These agencies know what they're doing here.Our history here is pretty clear.President Reagan assigned those missions to the Central Intelligence Agency.He didn't want to fight the Soviet Union directly.He wanted to deter them.But he wanted to deter their expansion as well.

And that's why he helped the Mujahideen in Afghanistan defeat the Soviet helicopters.of Russian helicopters as well, and then go on into Nicaragua, Angola, and, as you mentioned, into Poland.He didn't provide lethal aid to the Poles, but he provided lots of assistance to certainly buck up their cause.And I can remember having a conversation with Lef Wałęsa, who was in charge of that movement inside of Poland.And years later, he is still describing in tears in front of me what it felt like to have Reagan's voice being amplified among his movement in terms of his support for what they were doing.It gave them the moral will and physical courage to go forward with that movement.

Yes, leadership and covert operations here together can be a very, very powerful tool in addition to what Secretary Besson is doing, in addition to the naval blockade, in addition to what What kinetic operations by IDF and the United States combined could do if we go back into major combat operations.You put it all together and you put this regime on a pathway to collapse and eventually replacement.

History requires it, General Keene.History requires it.Freedom requires it, as you know well.And I'm, you know, always happy to, always pleased to talk to you about it.But hopefully these ideas will be consummated in one way or another.I got to leave it there, sir.

General Jack Keene, as always, thank you ever so much for coming on.We appreciate it.