MEF Chief Strategist Jim Hanson spoke with Fox Business today about the possibility that the United States would fully withdraw all troops from Syria. They also discussed the armada President Trump said he is sending toward Iran and the prospects for reconstruction under the new Peace Board for Gaza.
Transcript:
FOX: Now this, the administration is reportedly considering a complete military withdrawal from Syria. Army Special Forces veteran Jim Hanson joins us.
Why are we doing this, and what are the implications of doing it?
HANSON: Well, Stuart, President Trump announced that he was going to end our entangling foreign alliances and forever wars as part of his campaign plan, and he’s been doing it ever since.
What Syria means in this is we have counted on the Syrian government to act in a responsible way and take care of the minorities. And he was promised this.
His first overseas trip went to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates and Qatar. And they promised him that they would take care of this al-Jolani guy who is now al-Sharrah. And he told them, what I want is I want to do some. oil, I want to do business deals, I want to do some military deals, and I want you guys to help me with Israel and Gaza and Iran.
And they said, sure, just help us by legitimizing the leader of Syria. And President Trump did. He took pictures with him in Saudi Arabia and loosened the sanctions on him to let Syria recover. In return, Al-Sharah’s government has slaughtered the Druze, has slaughtered the Alawites, and is now in the process of rolling over the Kurds.
Now, we don’t want to be in the middle of that, but the people who promised us they’d take care of it, the Gulf states and Turkey, who’s actually involved in this, need to do their part and make up for the promises that they made to President Trump.
FOX: Okay. Uh, Trump says, We have an armada-- that’s his word-- headed towards Iran. Sounds a lot like the military buildup that preceded the capture of Maduro in Venezuela. Do you expect any action in Iran and any kind of military action against Iran at all?
HANSON: Iran should expect some kind of military action if they don’t stop slaughtering their own people. And, you know, the Islamic Republic and the Ayatollahs and the IRGC don’t continue to oppress them.
I think this is the same way he did with Maduro. He rolled up force. He showed that he was going to be serious about this to give them an opportunity to avoid that kinetic strike that can be coming.
I think he would much prefer them to step down a, you know, staged transition where there’s not a lot of chaos in the country. That is much preferable to, you know, the regime being toppled and everybody fighting for control.
But if for some reason they decide to be dead-enders, no one should doubt for a second that bombs will fly and President Trump will enforce his will.
FOX: Do you think he would attack the Iranian leadership? Not Khamenei, necessarily, but the Revolutionary Guard’s commander? I mean, he could put a missile in his bedroom, couldn’t he?
HANSON: We’ve shown that, and the Israelis showed they can knock out all the air defenses, and we can, either one of us, get in there undetected. If I was an IRGC leader, I would not be sleeping well. I would be finding all the cash I’ve stolen and looking for a Dacha somewhere on the Black Sea.
FOX: Here’s another story. This is intriguing. President Trump has plans to reconstruct a new Gaza. We’re told that this would include skyscrapers, transportation hubs, energy, digital infrastructure. I mean, this sounds like pie-in-the-sky dreaming, but my question is, who pays?
HANSON: I think the deals he’s made is to have the investments largely come from the Gulf Arab states because it’s their neighborhood. You know, part of his entire grand strategy is to take the people who have skin in the game who live there and let them have enough security to work towards prosperity.
So it’s not going to be Gaz-a-Lago in the Middle East. It’s going to be the people who have the citizens living there and the opportunity to trade in a secure, prosperous environment. And the United States will just be a part of that and then lead the effort.
FOX: Okay. All right, Jim, all good stuff today. Thanks very much for joining us. You have a great weekend, too. See you later.
