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>> Walker Wildmon: welcome to The Core here on American Family Radio. I'm Walker Wildmon. Glad to have you with us here on the program at the core, American Family Radio. If you would like 24, 7 access to this program and all new episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast where we upload the show each day in the form of a podcast. And you can subscribe to it, have it queued up in your library each and every day with brand new episodes released each afternoon during the week. Just type in at the Core in your podcast library. And once you find the show page, click the subscribe or the follow button and the, latest episode will be right there at your fingertips. And you can listen, you can rewind, go back, fast forward and, do as much browsing on the content as you would like. So just subscribe to the podcast if you would like at the core, find the show page, click the subscribe or the follow button in your podcast library. Well, our Activate Summit is coming up in July. Activate Summit is coming up in July. We're going to have a great lineup of speakers and we would love for you to join us. That's our Activate Summit 2026, July 16th through the 18th. And some of our speakers, just to name a few, Dr. Jessica Peck will be there. Pastor Jeff Schrieve, Katy Faust, Laura Petherbridge, our own Bert Harper, Pastor Bert Harper, just to name a few. They'll all be there at Our Activate Summit 2026, 7-16-18. We would love to have you there. Another event in the fall is our trip to the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum. October of this year, we're going to be at the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum. The specific dates there are the 29th and 30th of October. We would also love for you to join us at that event. This will be, this will be, I believe, our fourth annual AFA at the Ark and the Creation Museum. So we'd love to have you join us there. That's in the Cincinnati Ohio area with a trip over to Kentucky, which is where the Ark Encounter is located. Both of those events are at afa.net forward/events afa.net forward/events. You can register, find out more information, pricing, itinerary, schedule, speakers, all of that [email protected] events our scripture for the week, John chapter 19 is where we are this week.
Key scripture as we head into Easter is John 19:30
Very fitting passage, verse 30. So when Jesus had received the wine, he said, it is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. This is a key passage, key scripture as we head into Easter, that Jesus Christ was murdered, was crucified, was buried and was resurrected and now is seated at the right hand of the Father. That is a historical, spiritual and biblical fact that we have to deal with and that we have to understand. The only person that could take the place of our sin, that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah. He took our place, died, a brutal death so that he could be the propitiation for our sins. That is the essence of the gospel. That is the essence of why Jesus, the Son of God came. And that is what we will be focused on as Christians, as we head into our Easter holiday in America. And anyone who dares to suggest that America is not a Christian country, is not a Christian nation, folks. what other nations, other than some smaller ones, celebrate the death, burial and resurrection as a federal holiday? So in America we celebrate the death, burial and resurrection for Easter. and obviously during Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Messiah. this is amazing. It's amazing. So obviously God's providence is throughout our nation's history. but, the people that have built this country, very much, ah, are Christian and have put our spiritual, importance and spiritual priorities all throughout our nation's history. And that's evident even today in 2026 by the very holidays that we celebrate as a country. That's John 19:30.
There are mixed signals coming out of the White House on Iran conflict
Well, let's talk a little bit about what's going on with our foreign policy. And the reason this is kind of at the forefront of the news cycle and has been for a month now, is because the long term ramifications, of what this has on our country and the fact that America has a track record over the last 30 years of significant foreign entanglements that have cost our country trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives. And we've got a really bad track record over the last 30 years of foreign entanglements that just eat away at American lives and American resources. And so it's a very important topic that we ought to discuss so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past. This is about not repeating the mistakes of the past. And as I talked earlier in the week, the primary objectives that we were told on the Iran conflict were objectives that could be attained in relatively short order. We're talking weeks. And were easy to, clear to understand. Clear to understand, according to Secretary Rubio. Abolish the ballistic missile capabilities, abolish the drone capabilities, and then abolish the navy for Iran. Those are three objectives, according to the Secretary of State and others, that are achievable and measurable. And then when you start getting beyond that, such as changing out leadership in Iran or nation building or regime change, those are things that are very difficult to measure. And so we're surpassing week four of this conflict. And it depends on what news source you read, there's mixed signals all over the place. Just over this past weekend, we've got President Trump saying there's a five day ceasefire, a five day cease fire, he said. And then within an hour, Israel is dropping more bombs on Israeli energy infrastructure. President Trump said five day ceasefire from, from US Bombing Iranian infrastructure. Within an hour of that post, Israel is bombing Iranian infrastructure. There's reports of talks with Iran. Iran wants to come to the negotiating table. And then five minutes later there's talks about how the US is about to enter its most aggressive stage of bombing Iran. And every time we get a new leader of Iran in air quotes, then Israel assassinates them. And so this just, at least on the surface, seems like a very chaotic situation. And I know it's hard to think about the Israeli and US Military as a chaotic operation. I don't necessarily think from a military standpoint this is chaotic. I think it's very measured, I think it's very strategic. I think the military is doing what they've been ordered to do. But as far as the military objectives and the foreign policy objectives and the negotiating, it just doesn't seem as though those two things are in sync. Now, some of this very well could be the media just muddying the waters. Obviously they're known for that. But the messaging out of the White House, let me just put it this way, is all over the Map. Just late last week, on Friday alone, President Trump went from we're negotiating with Iran to, to, we're just getting started over there to this, this campaign is coming to an end to, you know, we could possibly send ground troops over there all within 24 hours. so I don't know what's going on. I'm not sure anybody other than the White House actually knows what's going on here. But the latest reports are, plans for boots on the ground in Iran. We've got, according to open source intelligence, we've got marine assets on the way, supposed to be in theater within the next 24 hours. we've got the 82nd Airborne deployed. and there's all kind of reports. Most of it's actually already been confirmed. We already have nearly 50,000 troops in the region. That's according to the Secretary of War. And I'm just looking at this thinking, all right, where does this end? Where does this end? Because one option that's being floated, and once again, who knows what's going to happen and what of this is true? I'm just telling you what's being reported according to the media. one of the options is to seize some of these islands, including Carg island, which is responsible for 90% of the oil exports out of Iran, supposedly. The thinking is if we seize the island, then we lock up Iran's oil exports and we force them into a deal, regardless of whether that's a good idea or not. Here's what I'm not sure we've planned for, and that is if they don't want to deal, because, everybody knows in life there are some people that just don't want to get along with you. And it doesn't matter what you do. You can, you can put a gun to their head, you can, you know, steal their car, you can, you know, whatever you want to threaten them with. There are just some people that just don't want to get along with you. And I think applying that kind of simple daily life scenario to this foreign policy military dispute in Iran is probably the easiest way to explain this. What if there is no scenario in which Iran, quote, comes to the table? What then? And I think this is what our leaders have to think through and have a plan for is, what if there is no deal? What if Iran never capitulates? What do we do then? There has to be a plan on the table for that scenario, because, Iran's been doing this stuff for 50 years. Iran has been a bad actor for a long time. Israel has assassinated hundreds of their leaders. We've bombed them with 15,000 bombs in a four week period. And there's, there's no sign of letting up. Secretary, he said, we're just going to keep going. I don't know at what point you run out of targets, but, this just seems, once again, I could be wrong. President Trump could make a move in the next few weeks and I'm here talking about how brilliant it was. Maybe so he has a pretty good track record of wise decision making on matters like this. but, but I just, we need to be continually talking about this and the media needs to continually press the White House for answers on these tough questions. because we can't just assume. Well, because it's Trump, they're just going to figure it out. It'll all end for the good, for the better. no, that's, that's not, that's, that's unwise. The last thing America needs are with all of the issues in front of us as a country, domestically and otherwise, the last thing we need is thousands of US Military members being offloaded to the shores of Iran for who knows what. What are we going to do? We're just going to hang out there, set up bases, do forever warfare on the ground with hundreds of thousands of Iranian military members? I just think the President needs to be prepared for a scenario where Iran never, ever capitulates.
>> : The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app at the core podcast are available at afr.net now back to at the Core on American Family Radio.
America Reads the Bible is taking place next month in Washington D.C
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the Core here on American Family Radio. Well, there's an event coming up that everyone needs to know about and some people have already been talking about it. It's been making its rounds in the media and news coverage. And this is America Reads the Bible that's taking place next month in, Washington D.C. our nation's capital, as part of the, 250th anniversary of our country. this is an excellent event that we're excited to talk to Bunni Pounds about. Bunni Pounds is founder and president of Christians Engage. She's been spearheading, leading this effort from all angles to read through the entire Bible during a one week period in Washington D.C. in April of this year. Bunni welcome to the program.
>> Bunni Pounds: Oh, it's great to be with you, Walker. And thank you guys at American Family association for partnering with us for this great and national moment we're about to have.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely. We're going to be broadcasting this, parts of it here on American Family Radio. Bunni tell us, give us a little background. Of course you and I have talked about this. I'm familiar with how this idea was birthed. But for our listeners, tell us how this America reads the Bible came to fruition.
>> Bunni Pounds: Yeah, I was in the Museum of the Bible two years ago with a whole bunch of our young people we had brought to Washington D.C. i just finished a draft of my new book, Stepping up to Lead Rebuilding a nation in the Footsteps of Nehemiah. And I've been consumed with the story of Nehemiah for 15 years as a former congressional staffer and someone that's in politics and government for a career for years and years that we need leaders that will rebuild our nation. And it hits me as I'm watching Ezra at the Museum of the Bible stand up with a scroll and he starts reading to the Israelites Genesis 1 and says, Let there be light. It hits me. We need an Ezra moment in this nation. You know, at American Family association, I voter guide, you know, Christians, Engage Family Policy alliance, who's our parent ministry? We're all trying to do the same thing, which is engage Christians in discipleship and biblical worldview and get them to be good stewards of our country. but it hit me, man. This is the problem with the modern American church. We don't know who we are because we're not reading our Bibles. We are spending all our time, binge watching Netflix and Amazon prime. Right? And we needed a moment to remind us that the Bible truly has the answer for our individual lives, our families and our churches and our communities. And so I had this thought, Walker, wouldn't it be awesome if our national leaders from all spheres of influence, all demographics and denominations would hire them, humble themselves in front of the American people and say we need the Bible every day just to make it as high performing leaders. And we're calling you back to daily Bible reading and discipleship for the well being of our country and to raise up the next generation of leaders for our country to Steward our nation. Well, and what if we did that in the backdrop of the 250th birthday of America? So that's kind of where it was birthed. and we can go into the details, but April 18, 25, almost 500 readers are going to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It's going to be epic.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. April 18th, 25th, 2026. So coming up just in a few weeks in Washington dc. Bunni this is going to be exciting. The reading through the Bible is self explanatory. Right. You don't have to go into a long synopsis on what we are going to do there. although it is very exciting, I'm going to be there, taking part in it along with hundreds of others.
The opening ceremony and then the one week of reading the Bible
But tell us about the. We've got the opening ceremony and then we have the one week obviously of reading the Bible every day. Break down those two events. The opening ceremony and then the one week of reading the Bible and what people can do as far as coming to one or both.
>> Bunni Pounds: Yeah. So the opening celebration happens April 18th. This is a 90 minute show, that you guys are graciously offered to put on radio. It'll be live streamed through great American pure flicks to the nation. So anybody will be able to get that in front of their paywall. but this is a program moment of our national leaders. Patricia Heaton is going to be there from Everybody Loves Raymond, Candice Cameron Bure, from Full House. D.J. tanner is my national spokesperson. Right. Cameron and B.J. arnett from the Forge movies. David Barton giving us a seven minute, kind of history lesson. Tony Perkins, Pastor Allen Jackson, a cabinet secretary, members of Congress, all these leaders from different spheres of influence are going to be there doing three to four minute testimonies of the power of the Bible in their life and then calling the American people back to daily Bible reading. And then we're going to have Leland sing, Phil King sing, I mean it's just going to be epic. We're going to have amazing messages and call the nation, back to the Bible. so that's like our messaging night. And we encourage every church, every family room to host this live stream. And then we go into 9:00am to 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Walker, 84 hours, about 50 minutes of Bible reading an hour. And then we have 16 national worship leaders flying in on their own dime, taking their own time to create what we're calling Selah, moments of prayer and worship at the end of each hour. So we can schedule out 7 full days, 12 hours a day, 84 hours of reading the whole counsel of God. It's going to be a powerful thing and people can live stream it in their communities, their businesses, their family rooms, their churches. It's going to be amazing.
>> Walker Wildmon: Amen. Praise God. Anytime you can read the Word of God out loud. this is, there's power in that and it's, and it's so simple. You don't have to, you know, come up with your own sermon, read the scripture out loud. The word of God will not return void. I just love the simplicity of this. But yet the power, that is going to come from reading the Word of God, Holy, inspired, infallible Word of God out loud in our nation's capital for multiple days in a row, for 12 hours a day. Bunni tell our listeners, what they can do if they want to maybe watch it online, maybe attend in person. tell our folks where they can go to find out all that information.
>> Bunni Pounds: Yes, register for the live stream at America Reads the Bible dot com. we have tickets for three hours at a time of, sitting in the Bible reading. It's going to be an interactive experience with art and all of this as the Bible is being read live in the theater. We're hosting our own art gallery of Mindy Otten's amazing 66 paintings of the Bible showing up in all books of the Messiah, showing up in all books of the Bible. You, you can come to the Museum of the Bible for the full day. the Dead Sea Scrolls are there. You know, there's all these different amazing exhibits that you can experience while you're at the museum. But bring your kids, bring your grandkids, come to the opening celebration. Come to, you know, one of the days of the Bible reading on multiple days. If you're, we got, I love these prayer and worship people. They're buying multiple tickets for multiple days. Let God, touch your life and, and for you to see that he speaks through every portion of Scripture. it's going to be an amazing time and use this live stream to touch your community and share the gospel with people.
>> Walker Wildmon: Amen. AmericanAreadersTheBible.com AmericanAreadsTheBible.com Bunni thank you for the vision, thank you for the work. This has been a true labor, that you've been doing over the last year or so, putting in hours and hours getting this all together. So God bless you. Thank you for putting this together and we're excited about it.
>> Bunni Pounds: oh, thank you so much. And we appreciate you guys so much being a partner with us and contributing and helping us at all levels. Amazing. Thank you, Walker.
>> Walker Wildmon: Thanks, Bunni God bless.
American Family Radio will broadcast Bible readings live in 2026
All right, there you have it. AmeriCareads the Bible.com you can attend online or in person in our Nation's capital, Washington, D.C. april 18th through the 25th. Just coming up in about, let's say three weeks, 2026. April 18th through the 25rd. You can attend online or in person. AmericanAreadersTheBible.com we're going to be reading the word of God live in person and online in our nation's capital, ah, for ah, seven days, in a row with an opening ceremony and then 9am to 9pm reading of the scripture the week of 18th through the 25th. I'm going to be there on Friday of that week reading the scripture with a couple other AFA leaders here, going up to Washington, D.C. so very exciting time. We're going to, ah, live stream some of this on. We're going to live stream specifically the opening ceremony here on American Family Radio. So be on the lookout for that. We'll run some spots ahead of time just to give you a heads up here on American Family Radio.
Walker: Iran situation has potential to be productive for U.S
Well, back into our news of the week. We're going to have Chris Woodward in with us in a few minutes as we do each Friday. But, I wanted to play a few clips just to jump back into this Iran situation, which has the, possibility of ending in a way that is successful, that is, productive for our country. if we were able to achieve the objectives that President Trump laid out early on. once again, I'm not down and out on this operation. I think if this is done right and concluded in the right way, this has the capacity to be very successful for the country. It has the capacity to create long term stability in the region. There's a lot of positives that could come out of what's going on in Iran. But at the same time we just can't, you know, just kind of sit back and assume that, you know, because President Trump's in the White House, that everything's just going to work out and we don't need to ask any questions or raise any concerns. I think there has to almost be this continuous discussion amongst the American populace as to what the best path forward is and what achieves objectives that are beneficial to the American people and to America as a country. On the long call.
Pres. Trump: US And Israel have a very close relationship
Well, on this note, I, wanted to play this. This is going to be Clip one. President Trump obviously The US And Israel have a very close relationship. One of our, really, honestly, our chief ally specifically, in the Middle east region in that area, Israel is our top ally in that region. And without Israel, much of what we've done in Iran wouldn't be possible. and our alliance with Iran, it's worked out very beneficial for both countries. So all in all, the alliance between the US And Israel is positive, it's strong, it's good. and I'm not even, I'm not even talking about the spiritual side of this. I'm just talking purely from a military and foreign policy, angle. Their relationship with Israel has been very positive. but one thing that I want to bring up just for us to think through, and I'm 100%, just so you know, I'm not going Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens on you, okay, where we create crazy conspiracies about the Jews and blame them for everything. That's not the direction I'm going here. But what I do want to point out is that the objectives of Israel with Iran and the objectives of the United States are not necessarily the same, at least based on public statements from Bibi Netanyahu and President Trump on that front. There has been some military operations where we're not on the same page with Israel. One of the examples is the one I just gave earlier in the program where President Trump wasn't aware that Israel planned to strike one of the Iranian gas fields. So let's listen to this Fox News clip about how President Trump was caught off guard by an Israeli strike on the Iranian gas fields.
>> Trey Yingst: CLIP 1 well, good morning, Lawrence. Good morning, guys. Iran followed through on its threats to launch massive attacks on energy facilities across the cross the Persian Gulf on its neighbors. And European gas prices are up 30%. this all comes after Israel launched that massive attack, as we just heard from Trey, on the largest gas field in the world off the coast of Qatar that is shared by Qatar and Iran. President Trump reacting to the news, taking to true social, saying, quote, the United States knew nothing about this particular attack and the country of Qatar was in no, no way, shape or form involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen. No more attacks will be made by Israel pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar.
When it comes to regime change, Israel and the US aren't on same page
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, well, there you have it. That's a Fox News report about how President Trump was caught off guard by Israel's, strikes on one of the gas fields, one of the major gas fields in Iran. The reason I bring this up is because there's clearly, obviously, a desire on the behalf of Israel, specifically Netanyahu, to be very aggressive on this Iranian situation. I mean, Israel has not relented at all. They've just been hammering Iran, killing hundreds of their leaders. And President Trump, obviously, and the US Military has been mainly targeting military assets, not necessarily leaders of Iran. That's been left up to Israel for the most part. But nonetheless, the stated objectives of Israel, specifically the Prime Minister, and the stated objectives of the United States, primarily President Trump, do not necessarily sync up now. They do some. So it's not like we're in two different worlds here. obviously, you know, decapitating the ballistic missile threat, the drone threat, the Navy. Those are common objectives that both Israel and the US Agree to. But when it comes to regime change, it appears as though Israel and the US Aren't necessarily on the same page. All right, Bibi Netanyahu has said on multiple occasions that he wants the Iranian people to, quote, rise up. To rise up and take over their country. Now, to his defense, President Trump has stated things in that ballpark. He has stated things like that in the past. But more recently, specifically, as this has developed, it's become clear when you listen to Secretary Rubio, when you listen to President Trump, it has become clear in recent weeks that this idea of regime change is getting further and further off. And to their defense in their primary initial three objectives, regime change didn't make the list. And so the reason I bring this up is because at some point, I believe in order for this to end in a way that is mutually beneficial for the US And Israel, they're going to have to get on the same page. You cannot have Netanyahu and Israel saying, we've got to have regime change. We're not. A matter of fact, we're not stopping this until there is regime change and the people of Iran rise up, whatever on earth that looks like. But then. And then over here, you got President Trump saying, we're at the negotiating table with Iran and we're trying to end this. To me, you can't have those two things going on simultaneously and expect this to end in a way that is beneficial. And so, just from my vantage point, if I'm the White House, I'm telling Israel to back off. Not militarily at this point. Obviously, we still need their assistance in the region. I'm just saying, from a messaging standpoint and from a PR standpoint, and from a negotiating standpoint, Israel needs to back off, Netanyahu needs to back off, Secretary Rubio and President Trump need to run lead on this. Obviously we have Israel's interests at heart, but we cannot continue having these conflicting statements and expect the negotiations to succeed.
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>> : At the Core podcast are [email protected] now back to at the Core on American Family Radio.
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the program. Well, as we record this program for our Friday edition, we have Chris Woodward in with us. Hey Chris welcome back to the program.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you very much. Good to see you.
>> Walker Wildmon: Well Chris this Iran, situation is just fascinating on multiple fronts. It's obviously historic. has the potential, to work out very well for the United States if, if it goes, if it goes well, if it, if it ends well, if it, if it is beneficial for our country. I think, I think there's a lot of ways in which this ends that benefits America. Obviously. it has the potential to create long term. When I say long term, I'm talking about decades long stability in the region. a region which I know people may say, well, things were stable before this. Well in that area of the world they really weren't. M Iran has caused the people a lot of trouble. They've through Their proxies killed over a thousand US Service members. they're constantly fomenting instability. the threat on the Strait of Hormuz is always present. so Iran has been a problem, they've been a problem in the region for a long time. So this notion that everything was just perfect right before this in Iran and the surrounding area is just not true. so this has the potential to bring long term stability in the region. Have you seen Kevin o' Leary's assessment on this about the Strait?
>> Chris Woodward: He's had a, he's had a few different ones. Which one are you talking about?
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, I should have brought it in. But basically, Kevin o' Leary is pretty bullish on this situation economically. He thinks that once we get the Strait of Hormuz reopened, which it will reopen at some point, hopefully soon. he thinks once international militaries, or rather various national militaries, allies of the U.S. secure the Strait of Hormuz and reopen it, once that is done, the west and the US Will have a permanent power control over the Strait. So long term trade through the Strait will be no problem at all. It will be secure, ships will have no problem traversing it. So the long term benefits here, are there. Kevin o' Leary is pretty optimistic on that. He thinks over the next 90 days everything will be back to normal as far as trade flow, if that's the case, that's phenomenal. but I think what's making people anxious, Chris is that we are on week four, and the news cycle does move fast, but we're still neck deep in this Iran situation.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. And I think too, when it comes, I would agree that it's going to calm down. a lot of the reason why people are upset is because they're glued to their television. And the person on the television screen, I'm guilty. It's making them freak out about this. It does. You know, Trump himself has said several times, things will come down, they will come down very quickly. And really there's a lot of, evidence to show that once you basically open a spigot, a lot of things are going to happen. So I do expect gas, prices to come down, quickly. Should they get that reopened. And I think, or when they get that reopened, I think too, this could be a way that you could work with the new leader or leaders, whoever it is, because you can say, hey, we're down here, we're keeping this thing secure. You work with us, we'll trade with you. We won't do as much tariffs, all these kinds of things that politicians do, including President Donald Trump. So this could be something that will be very, beneficial. It does need to, be more clear, though. It's been kind of a mess, really the last few days. It was clear that we went after them to get rid of it to keep them from getting a nuclear weapon. And then in recent days, we've heard some different things.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: So it does need to be communicated better to the public if we're going to have to sit through this for another week to 90 days.
>> Walker Wildmon: Right. And to President Trump's defense, some of this is speculation. Right. Some of the media reports are speculation or quote, unnamed sources. President Trump is not the best at consistent messaging. Maybe that works to his favor. Right. The art of the deal. he is all over the place from a messaging standpoint sometimes. Does he do that on purpose? Does he, you know, is he just that uncontrolled from a messaging standpoint? I don't know. he's clearly good at working out deals and being a leader. but this, Chris here's one scenario I want to get your thoughts on. And this isn't economics, but it is military strategy and a what if scenario. obviously any scenario in which we have control over Iranian oil is a big deal, a big benefit to our country. we also, and by the way, the side effect of this is we are boxing in China and I haven't even talked about that in recent weeks. That's a big deal. but one thing I've been thinking about, Chris
Walker: Could we go in and get Iranian uranium
All right, we've got reports of the 82nd Airborne being deployed. We've got reports. I've got a clip here, as a matter of fact. Let's play it, about, troops being deployed. This is a former CIA officer, that is talking about different special operators being deployed to the Iranian area. Let's listen to clip 2.
>> Former CIA Officer: Similarly, and if you, you know, there's some very good open source intelligence sites that we've seen a flow of the Special Operations commands, kind of lead elements, Army's Delta force Seal Team 6, the Task Force Force 160, that's the US Special Operations Aviation, 75th Ranger Regiment. They also have, been, been going to the Middle east on C17s, multiple flights over the last 48 hours. So we're seeing the deployment of what are ground forces. and so I think that's something that, you know, one should take note of in particular because in the past When Trump has done this, whether it's the Venezuela operation with Maduro or this initial kickoff, in Iran, you know, when he moved military assets, he actually uses them. And in particular we also have to, we have to, have to remember that the Marine Expeditionary Unit, the one coming from the Pacific, that will be on station, by Friday in the area too. So that's another contingent of Marines. So there are forces, there are ground forces flowing to the region. I think that's really significant.
>> Walker Wildmon: So the reason I play this, Chris is because here's the scenario that I think would be an absolute mic drop moment on behalf of President Trump and the U.S. m. If we go in and get the uranium. Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: That would be huge.
>> Walker Wildmon: Have you thought about that?
>> Chris Woodward: I could see him, you know, I got it.
>> Walker Wildmon: Have you thought about that?
>> Chris Woodward: I have not, but I'm thinking about it now.
>> Walker Wildmon: Sounds crazy. It sounds far fetched, seems impossible. But if we can get Maduro, why can't we just get the uranium, assuming we know where it is. But at this juncture, Chris Mossad knows where everyone is and everything is.
>> Chris Woodward: And they've known for a long time.
>> Walker Wildmon: They're calling IRGC commanders on their cell phones, like telling them, hey, you know, you got 24 hours to help us or you're not going to be here.
>> Chris Woodward: Hey, this is David.
>> Walker Wildmon: So how's it going? this, the CIA and the Mossad know everything. All right. This is just, we know where the uranium is. could we be sending over these several thousand, not tens of thousands, but we're sending over a couple thousand troops. Could we be prepping to just go in? Because what's going to stop us, right, Maybe other than some ground forces go in and just get the uranium. It sounds simple, but just bring it out.
>> Chris Woodward: I think you're onto something because, obviously it's a very like a specific op that they have planned, whatever it is, whatever they're doing. Because Iran is a huge country. It's like the size of Alaska. Okay. And so basically they're sending like what would, what would amount to some, a dozen people going to the size of Alaska going, you take it over. They're not doing that.
>> Walker Wildmon: Not going to be a large scale operation, whatever it is.
>> Chris Woodward: So it's probably going to be like the Carg island thing like some people believe. Or it could be something that nobody would expect, like getting Maduro. Yeah, well, that's true. Or getting the getting their uranium. I could, man, I could see Trump come peacocking out there on stage. I got the uranium.
>> Walker Wildmon: We've got it.
>> Chris Woodward: Big, beautiful uranium. Yeah, I can see that.
>> Walker Wildmon: I better be there, though.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: Better be there.
>> Chris Woodward: Well, listen, I think we learned enough from the slam dunk stuff 20 some odd years ago to know that you better really know what you're looking for.
>> Walker Wildmon: That's right.
>> Chris Woodward: And that it's there.
>> Walker Wildmon: I agree.
>> Chris Woodward: But, if Israel is our ally and they're partnering with us on this and they clearly have the intel.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: and they've shown that they know what they're talking about and people happen to.
>> Walker Wildmon: I agree.
>> Chris Woodward: I would say there is something there.
>> Walker Wildmon: There. Yeah. There's uranium there somewhere. There has to be. I think. Unless I don't. I think Israeli intelligence and the CIA would know if Iran was bluffing and there was never uranium.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. I think the reason why. Well, number one, probably about the time that you left, and you went on. Yeah. Trey Yings did a hit on. I had to work the morning shift that week and Trey Yings did a hit from Tel Aviv and somebody asked him like, hey, if we're hearing every morning from you and other people that we've wiped out all these leaders, why is it that they're still doing this? And Trey talked about how Iran had a plan, for some, you know, what happens if Israel and the US were to attack us. So basically what you're seeing is the lemmings just continually running up to the keyboard and hitting enter every time and it's shooting the stuff that they, had planned to do something in the event of a what if moment.
>> Walker Wildmon: That's correct.
>> Chris Woodward: And that's why it looks like they are prepared. They were prepared, obviously. They.
>> Walker Wildmon: Sure.
>> Chris Woodward: They put stuff in locations where they could reach it.
>> Walker Wildmon: And we were too.
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Walker Wildmon: Sometimes I know it seems like we're not prepared. Like this notion that we didn't expect the straight out our moves to be closed. Are you kidding me?
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Walker Wildmon: We've war gamed this for 30 years.
>> Chris Woodward: And I think too, this should show to the people. I'm not out there saying we need to spend our entire GDP on national defense. Right. But it clearly shows why you need the bigger stick.
Chris: I don't think anything that we're doing with Iran is set back economically
>> Walker Wildmon: You have to. Yeah, you have to. You have to be able to beat anybody militarily in the world.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: You have to if you want to be the leader of the world. Chris I do, I do think, I will say, despite my skepticism about how on earth this Iran situation is going to end and if President Trump comes out in the, in the east wing, which actually is under construction but if he comes out to the podium and says we have the uranium and if, and, and, and we're done in Iran, but if Iran brings uranium back from somewhere else, then we'll come back in. Yeah, if he does that, I will. I will probably, like, do multiple shows on how brilliant he is and how wrong I was.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: because. And this, this is all folks within the realm of possibility. But Chris economically to the economics of this, all of this, for the most part, is temporary. The straight of Hormuz and the negative side effects of that are temporary.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: The energy disruptions are temporary. long term, I think the Trump economy will do well. And when I say long term, I'm talking about six to 12 months from now. I don't think anything that we're doing with Iran is going to set us back economically beyond six to 12 months.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. And you know, it's. It stands to reason. He really does want to wrap this up by, I don't know, end of. End of April.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: you know, he's supposed to have
>> Walker Wildmon: talks with China in May, and I read a report. He doesn't go to China with this still going on.
>> Chris Woodward: No, I don't think so. Especially when China needing some of the oil that goes through the strait.
>> Walker Wildmon: And he's letting the oil go.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: Through for now.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. You know, I think really, I just don't see it lasting for a long time.
>> Walker Wildmon: Iran is actually exporting more oil now than they were before the war.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Walker Wildmon: A million and a half barrels a day. And 80% of that goes to China.
>> Chris Woodward: Right. And then, of course, Japan gets like 90% of its stuff. which is why Trump said to Japan, like, hey, you should be there helping us protect it.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. and we haven't. We haven't pulled all out, all stops.
>> Chris Woodward: No.
>> Walker Wildmon: The problem I have with going after the island, and once again, you and I are just table talking this. The. Obviously, the people in the military are way smarter than. Wait, no way more. But if you take over the island, Chris the problem I have with that is, like, what are your options here? Because if you want to take over Kharg island, which exports 90% of Iranian oil to like, have a. Have like a big stick and say, like, you better do what we say. M. Well, number one, so what if they don't do what you say and they keep digging in their hills because they're fanatics, then what are you going to cut the oil off from going to China? and Trump's going to China in six weeks. So I Just don't know, like, if you take over the island, what your, like, mic drop moment is where Iran goes. Okay, okay, okay. unless it's just purely a control thing, like maybe we, maybe we get a million barrels a week out of the, out of the island. I don't know what that looks like.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I don't either. you would think at this point the people would have organized some sort of revolt and maybe tried to, you know, or at least the military people would have seen the writing on the wall and overthrown whoever is running Iran.
>> Walker Wildmon: Right.
>> Chris Woodward: but those people don't have weapons. they would get shot quickly if they were to show up at the, I don't know, whatever the Capitol building is there.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: so I think they're in dire straits too. you actually, I think you need to be careful and really, wrap this up as best as you can and as cleanly as you can, because those people are going to have to suffer through massive reconstruction.
>> Walker Wildmon: This, this is the problem, Chris I have with striking energy infrastructure. And I understand this is a war, it's dirty, it's not perfect. and you have to create leverage points. I understand all that. and if I was in the room with all the information that Hegseth has, who knows? I'd probably be on board with it too. But just, just from the outside looking in, Chris with, with the war experience that Americans have over the last 30 years, when you go in saying we need to take out their ballistic missile capabilities, take out their drone capabilities, take out their Navy, probably 90% of Americans would, would go, yep, M. I'm good with that. But you start bombing their power plants, that, that, that power millions of Iranian homes, I just don't know how that works out for the better.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Walker Wildmon: Because then you start creating sentiment that that makes the Iranians that are either on the fence or like kind of secretly cheering on America. M. Then you start making them go, well, is this, what's, what's going on here?
>> Chris Woodward: Right? And meanwhile, you mean you risk making your base mad because somebody is going to see a low hanging fruit of a story and go, oh, Trump's going to redo their energy infrastructure, but he's not going to do anything about our price problems.
>> Walker Wildmon: Right. We got to rebuild Iran now. Yeah. So I think there's just a lot of decisions to be made and we should be praying that the Lord would give President Trump wisdom, to do the right thing, whatever that is, in the future on this situation. Chris fascinating stuff. Busy news. Cycles folks can check out afn.net, afn.net Chris thanks for coming on. Thank you. All right, folks, plenty of news to talk about. Thanks for joining us. Great conversation with Chris and others. See you next week.
>> : The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
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