Are We Still Fighting the "Axis of Evil" in Iran? (ft. David Frum)
episode
Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov
30 min
3 speakers
6 chapters
transcribed 5 months ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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I know Donald Trump means it as a bluff. He thinks that the Iranians will be scared. But they know as well as everybody else how hazardous it will be to use ground troops. Once ground troops are deployed, we're into a very protracted war that there's no way to imagine ending. And I don't think there's any appetite to invade and occupy Iran. They will have these limited operations that put the initiative in the Iranian hands. And the United States should not be fighting a total war against Iran in a world where Russia and China are more important problems.
I mean, I would like to talk axis of evil with you and talk about the lessons that we, and you especially, having been part of the Bush administration, you know, gleaned from that. Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Jessica Tarlow. And my guest today is David Frum from The Atlantic. He's the host of The David Frum Show podcast, as well as, are you contributing editor or senior editor? What's the right title for The Atlantic? Staff writer extraordinaire. Thank you for being here. It's great to see you again.
Thank you.
Is Trump bluffing about a ground invasion of Iran?
Lots of news. Everything's moving quickly, as usual, in Trump 2.0. And I want to start with the latest in Iran. The stock market had its worst day since the start of the war yesterday. President Trump wrote that he was extending the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until April 6th, though we have no reason to believe that they actually care about any of his deadlines. He is threatening to mount new attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure if they do not comply. We had a peace plan exchange. The U.S. sent a 15-point peace plan to the Iranians via Pakistan. Iran rejected, came back with their own requests that were non-starters for us. We have very few allies willing to help fight the Iranian attacks in the Strait with us.
So Secretary Rubio is on his way to a G7 meeting in France to try and make Trump's case again. increasingly, though, I feel like the major headline is, it looks like we are headed for a ground war. And that's where I want to begin with you, David. Is that your feeling as well?
Very much so. Just to help people who don't follow my work, which is most of humanity.
No.
I'm just going to put some cards on the table so people can situate me in this discussion. If we were having this discussion six weeks ago, I was opposed to using military action against Iran just generally. I don't think Iran is America's number one strategic problem. Russia and China are both more serious, so I would not have invested the resources to deal with the Iranian problem. That's just as a general matter. As a specific matter, no wars under Donald Trump. He's not a war leader. He's not president of the United States. He's at best president.
What lessons were learned from the 'axis of evil' speech?
He has no intention of being president of the United States. He's the best president of 40% of the country. He has no regard for the rest of it. He can't lead the country in war. He doesn't make good decisions. So generally, no. Specifically under Donald Trump, no. But now that we're... unfortunately, in this thing. I think it's important to try to make a success of it to achieve the best results possible and avoid the worst. So that's just so people know. So I'm against those who say, okay, we have to stop the war immediately because we're in it. We have to get the best result. But I was not in favor of it from the beginning. And that's a complicated point of view. It's my point of view. So where are we now?
Whenever people tell you something is not true of Donald Trump, it's true. So when the people around him are insisting Donald Trump never bluffs, it's important to understand Donald Trump always bluffs.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:23
2
Is Trump bluffing about a ground invasion of Iran?
1:23–2:56
3
What lessons were learned from the 'axis of evil' speech?
2:56–9:07
4
How does JD Vance's stance affect US-Iran relations?
9:07–13:48
5
What is the morality behind Trump's approach to Iran?
13:48–23:38
6
How could the war in Iran end positively?
23:38–30:13
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov
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