The National Security Hour

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – This is no longer just a war; it is war and diplomacy happening simultaneously. U.S. and Israeli forces continue sustained strike operations… Iran continues to threaten global shipping lanes and regional targets… And yet—through intermediaries—both sides are actively communicating. But make no mistake, these are not...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – Iran approached this conflict with a clear understanding of its strengths and limitations. Its strategy demonstrates discipline and patience. Instead of seeking quick battlefield dominance, Iran employs cumulative pressure. Each exchange raises costs for its enemies. Each escalation requires more resource commitments. Over time, this pressure builds...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – The process is highly regulated by federal policies, such as those of the UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), to ensure safety and equity. A radically different lack of standards operates in China that illegally harvests human organs by preying on victims who are marginalized by their faith, and others who are perceived as...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – The Iranians claim they have chased multiple U.S. aircraft carriers from their waters or waters nearby. The United States continues to say that the war is going well and will soon be wrapping up. None of this comes close to being conclusive, although the films-from-the-fronts that are available seem to show that Israel is at long last taking it...

The National Security Hour with LTC Sargis Sangari – Like the British, the Crusaders, the Romans, the Hellenic, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Assyrians, the Parthians, the Mongols, the Armies of Mohammad, and countless more, the Americans are fighting the Persians for control of the Pivot Area. But what Mackinder did not factor in was the effect that a deeply interconnected global trade dependence upon...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – The Strait of Hormuz—where nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil flows—is now under threat. Shipping has slowed, tensions are rising, and the consequences could hit every American household through energy prices, supply chains, and inflation. This is no longer just a regional conflict—it’s a global economic pressure point...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – Former oil official Gary Vogler recounts how energy interests shaped the Iraq War and suggests similar forces influence tensions with Iran. His account highlights Israel’s energy vulnerabilities, pipeline politics, and the strategic role of oil, revealing how conflicts in the Middle East revolve around resource security rather than public justifications...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – America drifts between spectacle and sabotage as leaders chase headlines over principle. Weak staffing, media outrage, and eroding trust threaten institutions. Restoring accountability, voter integrity, and serious leadership becomes essential to defend democracy and renew a nation built on competence, transparency, and enduring patriotic responsibility...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – We are sliding toward a war the United States did not need and cannot afford. A small circle of hawks sold a narrative that Iran posed an imminent existential threat. That claim never stood up to basic scrutiny. Key policymakers ignored dissenting intelligence. They bought a timeline set by outside actors and then wondered why events raced...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – The growing homeland risk environment — where adversaries exploit chaos across multiple domains: cyber attacks, infrastructure disruption, ideological incitement, and opportunistic violence. Not every incident is directly tied to Iran, but the threat environment has clearly intensified and demands vigilance...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – Iran, like so many asymmetric adversaries before it, never intended to fight America straight up. Its real strategy is to endure, decentralize, and retaliate indirectly—through drones, missile salvos, proxy capabilities, and above all by threatening global energy flows through chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz and...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – America is again involved in what surely looks like another ride down the highway of failed interventionist wars, this one again being waged on Israel’s behalf against Iran or one of its many enemies. The depth of the clear and cynical lock that Israel and rich Jewish-Americans have on U.S. policy in the Middle East can be seen in the...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – What does “America at war” actually mean — not just on the battlefield, but for Americans at home? Iran’s strategy has long relied on missiles, drones, proxy militias, cyber operations, and attacks on global shipping routes. Even after suffering significant military losses, Tehran still retains the capability to strike through asymmetric warfare...

The National Security Hour with LTC Sargis Sangari – Drones change the math of conflict. A weapon worth tens of thousands can force defenses that cost far more. Criminal cartels and state actors exploit that gap. Countermeasures are emerging, from directed energy to electronic measures. Those tools must be fielded at scale and priced for use, not hoarded as luxury tech. There is no simple path to...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – America and the West are facing a sustained information warfare campaign designed to demoralize populations, divide societies, and destabilize governments without ever firing a shot. From classrooms and corporate training programs… to media, social media algorithms, and entertainment, narratives are seeded, amplified, and repeated until...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – My fear is that this war ends not with order restored, but with America strategically diminished. U.S. bases may become untenable. Arab partners may decide that hosting American power is simply too dangerous. And Washington, after spending blood and treasure yet again, may discover that its position in the Middle East has weakened rather than...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – This is a moment to choose what kind of country we will be. We must harden our commitment to steady, well-funded programs. We should partner where trust is real and protect what is uniquely ours. We must rebuild industrial capacity and nurture children who want to solve hard problems. Spaceflight is costly and risky. That is why it teaches...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – Indeed, the close relationship between American leaders and Israel contributes nothing to American security. That relationship does nothing but undermine U.S. security at every turn, from Israel publicly paying all but one member of the U.S. Congress to do its bidding, thereby controlling it, to conducting espionage against the American military...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – Just last week, we discussed the high probability of a massive joint American and Israeli air, naval, and cyber strike on Iran’s military infrastructure. Then it happened. That’s not prediction theater — that’s pattern recognition. But here’s the reality: Iran is not the final exam. The real test facing the US is the CCP...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – Iran knows something else, too: they don’t have to “win.” They just have to outlast us. They can wait, harass, bleed, and spike energy prices until American politics does the rest. And yes, squeezing Gulf infrastructure or shipping lanes isn’t just military leverage —it’s electoral leverage. You don’t have to topple Trump. You just have to make his...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – Do the media and the public really understand the nature of the threat? Timing? Coordination with Israel? Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have provided air defense, airspace, and logistical support. Other allies, including Australia, have supported the strikes. As Americans became aware of a coordinated launch of targeted air strikes...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – There probably is not a lot of time before U.S. leaders have to decide if they will conduct a land war in Iran. The U.S. military has already expended a significant amount of ordnance from stockpiles that were described as “inadequate for a long war” before the first shot was fired. But it now appears that the Iranians are ready for a long war...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – What would a post-theocracy Iran look like — reformist state, military junta, or hardened IRGC stronghold? And while America shifts naval and air power toward the Middle East… What are China’s trigger lines for military aggression? Does extended U.S. engagement in Iran create a strategic opportunity for Beijing in the Pacific?

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – The danger is not simply that the United States could stumble into war with Iran or be drawn deeper into Mexico’s security crisis. The greater risk is that these events signal a broader erosion of strategic clarity. Without clear priorities, reliable alliances, and adaptable military doctrine, even the world’s most powerful nation can find itself...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – What does this mean for Americans unable to leave? Some are stuck in airports, many are fearful, and some need medicine and are desperate for a timeline/hope to exit the country. We discuss the massive influence of the cartels, whose reach extends to almost every state in the U.S. Where does it go from here, and how will the...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – Isn’t it odd that on what seems to be the eve of a U.S. attack on Iran, violent demonstrations and protests have again started inside Iran to serve as another casus belli? This development certainly is occurring thanks to Israeli intelligence operations. Iranians and all Middle Easterners also have heard the U.S. Ambassador in Israel claim that all of...

The National Security Hour with LTC Sargis Sangari – A stadium is not a charity. It is private capital and local jobs. If policy chases headline projects for political reasons while choking everyday taxpayers, that signals weakness. Federal funding can be pulled when states fail basic compliance. That can cost billions in transit, childcare, and infrastructure. Credit agencies warn that thin margins and...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – While Russia wages war in Europe and China expands its industrial and military dominance, Western leaders are locked in a battle over borders, identity, energy policy, and escalation strategy. How decades of offshoring America’s manufacturing base have hollowed out our defense industrial strength. Why mass migration is no longer just a...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – Here’s the uncomfortable truth: secrecy is built into power. Intelligence agencies need it. Diplomacy depends on it. Negotiations require it. The challenge isn’t eliminating secrets — it’s preventing them from becoming private chains on public decision-makers. Because once leaders are ruled by what they’re afraid might come out, they’re no longer serving the...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – A classic film meets modern politics as the filibuster takes center stage in today’s congressional battles. From 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' to current debates over majority rule, media influence, and youth activism, this discussion examines power, persuasion, and constitutional principles shaping America’s future at home and abroad...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – Author Ian Trottier argues that former CIA Director John Brennan sits at the center of sweeping intelligence corruption spanning the Obama and Biden years. Drawing on research and declassified material, *High Stakes Treason* alleges ties to 9/11, Russian collusion, and deep state financial misconduct that threaten the republic...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – Unmanned aerial systems now provide persistent surveillance, precision strikes, and loitering munitions that are cheap, lethal, and disposable. During the Biden years, Houthi rebels repeatedly launched low-cost drones at U.S. Navy ships, forcing America to respond with multi-million-dollar missiles—a losing economic and strategic equation...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – Trump went full Truth Social: “locked and loaded,” red lines, moral theatrics. Then the regime allegedly crossed the line with a brutal crackdown, and suddenly the White House is trapped by its own swagger. When you publicly promise to “do something,” you don’t get to be surprised when you’re asked what, exactly, you plan to...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – There has always been a concern and outcry of voter fraud in the past. What is different and potentially more dangerous this time, and how to prevent it? On this edition of the National Security Hour, host Blanquita Cullum is joined David Shestokas a former Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney and he is currently on the Chicago Board of Elections...

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – While the issue has yet to play itself out, Mr. Helegesen said he thought there was room for a compromise based on the fact that Greenland is strategically vital to NATO’s defense planning, and that the United States already has more-or-less unlimited sway in deciding how to ensure its defense arrangements in Greenland, especially...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – For years, Americans were told that climate change—not China, not Russia, not Iran—was the greatest existential threat to U.S. national security. Under the Biden administration, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin declared climate change an existential crisis, redirecting the Pentagon’s focus toward 91 environmental research...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – China isn’t wobbling the way Western chatter claims. In my conversation with veteran factory operator in China, Dan Collins, the signal came through loud and clear: there’s no coup in modern China, and this latest “purge panic” is more likely about power discipline (corruption, war planning, or both) than palace intrigue...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – Are dangerous foreign players stepping in to create more volatility inside and outside of Iran? Who are the main players? China? Russia? Domestically, are foreign entities, countries, or individuals propping up and supporting demonstrations in the US? Where does it lead—to what end? Who is sitting at the table of this series of organized chaos?

The National Security Hour with Col. Mike and Dr. Mike – Calls grow for decisive action as unrest spreads across American cities, with claims of an organized insurrection undermining law, sovereignty, and constitutional order. The focus centers on political leadership, foreign influence, immigration, and national security, urging immediate enforcement of existing laws to preserve the republic...

The National Security Hour with LTC Sargis Sangari – We are living through a revival of great power competition that plays out in places most Americans never imagined. We must put American interests first, strengthen defenses across the hemisphere and the Arctic, and stand with those who risk everything for freedom. That is how we protect the republic our founders entrusted to us...

The National Security Hour with Major Fred Galvin – The political influence operations aimed at conservatives in the United States are not organic. They are global. Steven Kuhn explains how ideological narratives that historically did not resonate in America—terms like “fascist,” “Nazi,” “authoritarian,” and “no kings”—were developed, normalized, and weaponized in Europe, then deliberately...

The National Security Hour with Brandon Weichert – There is a better alternative: stop outsourcing U.S. policy to proxy forces with extremist roots; stop laundering their reputations to fit Beltway talking points; stop treating local allies as disposable; and stop building Iran strategy on the most volatile accelerant in the region. If the last twenty years taught anything, it’s that chaos is easy to unleash and...

The National Security Hour with Blanquita Cullum – According to Andi Buerger J.D., survivor, founder, and Chairman of Voices Against Trafficking, “At a time when real-life heroes or role models can be scarce, ordinary people are making a difference in human rights, not for glory but for good.” Andi, a survivor, shares insights on how to recognize and help victims...