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00:08Welcome to a special edition of the Myers Report.
00:12It is Wednesday, March 25th, 2026.
00:17Let's start with a point of history.
00:19This is not, the Iran war is not Donald Trump's war.
00:23Rather, President Trump is ending a war that started 47 years ago,
00:29which no other U.S. president finalized.
00:32Worse yet, President Barack Obama gave Iran $1.7 billion in cash,
00:38which they used to hurt us.
00:40All the while, for the past 47 years,
00:43Iran has been spewing out terrorism worldwide
00:46and killing hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans
00:49while developing itself into a nuclear-powered nation
00:54of irrational jihadists demanding death to America.
00:59This is not a new problem.
01:01Now, for tonight, President Trump has announced
01:04that there are positive talks with Iran
01:07that have produced a five-year pause in U.S. attacks on Iran.
01:12Well, maybe that's happening, maybe not.
01:15Hopefully, they'll be positive,
01:17which Iran, not surprisingly, is denying and calling a sigh out.
01:22The president also said that Iran is giving the U.S. a great gift.
01:28Below what's going on, we will discuss from what our analysis is
01:33of what that gift is and why.
01:35In the meantime, yesterday morning,
01:38we did a fast briefing on the deployment of elements
01:42of the 82nd Airborne Division,
01:44almost a full day ahead of the U.S. mainstream media.
01:49Here are more details.
01:50A few days ago, six C-5 Galaxy cargo plane flights
01:55delivered MH-47G Chinook helicopters,
02:00MH-60M Blackhawks,
02:04to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment,
02:10which is located at Fort Bragg,
02:12which also houses the 82nd Airborne Division.
02:14These assets support special forces,
02:18including the Delta Force,
02:20for potential ground operations around Isfahan, Iran,
02:25that could recover Iran's stockpile
02:28of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium.
02:31The gift about which Trump spoke,
02:34we believe, will be Karg Island,
02:37a nine-square-mile island with facilities handling 90%
02:41of Iran's oil and gas exports
02:44and has about 9,000 permanent residents.
02:47Giving the U.S. military,
02:49at least military, stewardship of the island
02:52not only protects the critical infrastructure
02:55for Iran and the rest of the world,
02:58for that matter,
02:59it also is a defendable point
03:01to temporarily store Iran's enriched nuclear material,
03:06which will be recovered from Isfahan,
03:10presumably by American troops.
03:12The deployed U.S. troops and the equipment
03:15are set up to handle these dual missions.
03:18The units have a capacity
03:20to move in and out of Iran quickly
03:22and get the critical assets under control.
03:25This is especially true
03:27if we have any modicum of cooperation from Iran.
03:31As important as the oil facilities are,
03:35strategically getting control
03:36of Iran's weapons-grade uranium
03:41is even more important
03:43and an absolute must for any peace deal.
03:47All of this is made more possible
03:49because of Operation Epic Fury.
03:52Now in its fourth week,
03:53the U.S. has almost total control
03:55over the air in and around Iran.
03:58With us tonight, or today,
04:01depending upon where you're tuning in from,
04:03we have Rob Brunsort.
04:05He is a veteran combat officer.
04:08He's a military contractor.
04:11He deals with expeditionary operations management.
04:14He's a retired captain
04:15and a specialist in psyops,
04:18asymmetrical warfare, and counterinsurgency.
04:20He's been deployed to the Middle East,
04:22the Far East, Africa.
04:24He is a partner in a company
04:26which protects ships from pirates.
04:28And currently, he's doing work in the Philippines
04:31to shore up their defenses
04:33from Chinese incursions
04:34and other grief that they want to give us.
04:37We also have with us
04:39Lieutenant Colonel Retired James Womack.
04:42Jim is a West Point graduate.
04:44He has a bachelor of science degree
04:47and a master's in engineering.
04:51He's a master of military arts and science
04:54from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
04:58He's a 20-year veteran
05:00who served as a cavalry officer
05:02and combat leader in Operation Desert Storm.
05:08Paul McGonigal served the U.S. State Department
05:11as a diplomat in the Nixon, Ford, Carter,
05:15and Reagan administrations.
05:16With President Reagan,
05:17Paul was the director of monetary affairs
05:19for the Department of State.
05:21He was the U.S. government representative
05:24to the Paris Club,
05:26the forum which foreign country debt
05:29to the U.S. and other governments
05:31was restructured.
05:32Okay, starting off with Rob Brownsword.
05:36Rob, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and others
05:38are reporting that the bombing is continuing.
05:41Does this mean anything to the extent,
05:44to the context of reports of troop movements
05:48and anything else that's been discussed?
05:51Well, I think we're going to continue
05:54to bomb all of the Iranian,
06:00all the IRGC targets that we need to
06:02to destroy or suppress their ability
06:07to launch missiles and rockets and drones
06:10that ships out at sea
06:12and neighboring cities throughout the GCC.
06:15Just because we may be talking with them
06:17doesn't mean we're going to stop shooting at them
06:19because that would take off the pressure.
06:23So I think the units that are being intentionally advertised
06:27as moving,
06:29the 82nd,
06:31that's being disclosed for a reason,
06:33I think,
06:34to further put pressure on the Iranian regime.
06:39and there's at least two mews out at sea.
06:44I'm not a Marine,
06:45so I always get those numbers mixed up,
06:48but I think it's the 26th and the 32nd mew,
06:51something like that,
06:52or the 31st,
06:54I found it here,
06:54and the 22nd.
06:56those are deliberately being put on the news
06:59for a reason.
07:01So I think this is all part of informational warfare.
07:06I think in conventional,
07:08I thought you would hide those movements
07:10because you don't want them to be targeted,
07:11but I think since we have air supremacy,
07:15and I don't know if sea supremacy is a term,
07:18but I don't think we're fearing
07:21having to mask those troop movements.
07:24So we're using,
07:25we're deliberately using the reputation of those units
07:28to apply pressure to the IRGC.
07:31So do you think Iran's taking us,
07:34taking this troop movement seriously?
07:36Yes.
07:38Once you have air supremacy
07:40and you're flying in uncontested airspace,
07:45dropping one or more brigade combat teams
07:49of the 82nd is relatively lower threat,
07:53and you can put those,
07:55those paratroopers just about anywhere in Iran.
07:59Okay.
08:00What we have here,
08:02this is the Strait of Hormuz,
08:04which is about 32 miles at its narrowest point,
08:07and this is Karg Island up to the northwest,
08:13about 440 or so miles east,
08:16I mean north.
08:18So Rob,
08:18what are the capabilities of the units
08:21that have been deployed?
08:24Well,
08:24I've served a number of infantry divisions,
08:26but I've never served in the 82nd,
08:28but I have been at Fort Bragg
08:30and I had to take some classes.
08:33So I do know that they got nine infantry battalions,
08:36but in total across three brigade combat teams.
08:42How much the 82nd Airborne Division is being deployed,
08:44we don't know yet.
08:46We know there's at least one BCT going,
08:49but it seems like more,
08:51since you just read off a whole bunch of C-5s carrying Chinooks and Blackhawks.
08:56That would indicate that that's their combat aviation brigade.
09:00So there's probably more than one BCT.
09:03I don't know.
09:05But Zion's defense,
09:06are these the people that can go in and grab uranium?
09:10Well,
09:13I don't know.
09:15What I would do,
09:17I would imagine,
09:18I was never a general,
09:19never will be,
09:20but I think I would use the 82nd to secure terrain
09:24and I might use other organizations to go in
09:28and secure that terrain
09:30or secure that material.
09:33Defense Threat Reduction Agency would be a good unit to start with
09:39because that's their full-time job.
09:41And then there's a number of other tier one units.
09:46These units could get in,
09:48do some damage,
09:49and also work to protect selected assets.
09:53Am I getting that right?
09:54Sure.
09:56Yeah.
09:56Depending on whatever the mission is decided.
10:02I don't know if it's all about causing mass destruction right now
10:05and then going in in a very messy way after the fact,
10:08trying to locate the scattered material,
10:10or if this is a targeted plan for a targeted strike
10:14where we want to secure as much as we can.
10:18How are we going to do that?
10:19I don't know.
10:21Jim Womack,
10:22you're an experienced,
10:23you've been,
10:23you have a background in war planning.
10:25What's your take on what you think is happening
10:28under these circumstances?
10:29Okay.
10:30So,
10:30so first off,
10:32the announced,
10:33the official announcement about the deployment,
10:35from Fort Bragg is,
10:37is really bifurcated because,
10:40and it's easy to confuse the two,
10:42the five or six C-5 galaxies that were deployed,
10:46or that were,
10:47that were used for,
10:51for airlifting forces into the Middle East were,
10:54were special operations forces.
10:56They were not the 82nd airborne.
10:59The equipment,
11:00you can just tell by the equipment loads that that's SOF.
11:02These are,
11:04what does SOF mean?
11:05Special operations forces that they're,
11:07they're,
11:07they also come from Fort Bragg,
11:09but they're separate and distinct from the 82nd airborne and the 18th airborne
11:11corps.
11:12These are strategic national assets that are used frequently.
11:15And have been in throughout the,
11:17the,
11:18you know,
11:18Middle Eastern conflicts over the years,
11:20they do specialized missions.
11:22And there's virtually nothing that these SOF forces can't perform with the proper amount
11:29of training.
11:30They're the ones that snatched Maduro from Venezuela,
11:32if you'll recall.
11:34Very specialized missions,
11:36highly trained and,
11:38and people that are,
11:39that are,
11:40that do not require a lot of service support.
11:44These special forces organizations operate in small units and they get in and they get out.
11:50And so that's the sort of unit that has a lot of flexibility for use,
11:54either in,
11:57in the,
11:57in the terror,
11:58in the territory of Iran or on Karg Island or wherever they're there early.
12:03They're typically in and out to do specialized missions and then back in training.
12:08So that's,
12:09what's been deployed now at green ramp,
12:11which is the,
12:12which is the rapid deployment force at Fort Bragg.
12:15You have the first brigade combat team of the.
12:18Hold a second,
12:19Jim,
12:19can you please explain what green ramp is?
12:22I think most of us are clueless.
12:24Sure.
12:25There's a,
12:25there's an airfield at,
12:27at Fort adjacent to Fort Bragg that's been used for strategic deployments for many years.
12:33And there's a,
12:33there's an area of that airfield,
12:35which is a staging area that's referred to as green ramp,
12:39which for,
12:40for decades has been the location that,
12:44that 24,
12:45seven,
12:45three 65,
12:46we have at least one battalion that's on what they call green ramp status,
12:50which is ready to deploy on,
12:52on minutes notice.
12:54That are,
12:55that are,
12:55when you say minutes,
12:57when you say minutes,
12:59define minutes.
13:00Well,
13:00I mean,
13:02half an hour,
13:03an hour defense were to order a deployment.
13:06They could leave within minutes,
13:08literally within minutes,
13:09they could be on loading planes and,
13:10and being deployed.
13:12They are packed and ready to go.
13:14They're,
13:15they're there,
13:15they're recalled and they're on,
13:17they're on what they call green ramp status.
13:19And it's always a battalion that's ready to go.
13:21There's,
13:21there's,
13:22there's a brigade combat team that backs up that battalion,
13:24which within a few days could also be deployed from,
13:27from that same staging area.
13:29And then shortly after that,
13:31within a week or so,
13:32they could,
13:32they would start the time phase force deployment list to move the rest of
13:35the division.
13:36So,
13:37so what you're really talking about here and what we know are that special
13:41operations forces have been deployed into the middle East for a,
13:45for unspecified missions and that the 82nd airborne has been alerted
13:49officially to be prepared to move a roughly a thousand soldiers,
13:53which,
13:54which would be a reinforced battalion,
13:57which is what would be on green ramp at this point,
13:59one battalion plus the division headquarters for command and control.
14:02So I think it's major general tech Meyer.
14:05is the division commander.
14:07He's been ordered to the middle East to,
14:09and he's there essentially to provide command and control a two-star general
14:14that can operate a multinational force or a,
14:17or a,
14:18you know,
14:18you know,
14:20forces from different services to coordinate the command and control on the
14:25ground and what kinds of missions he's being given only,
14:28you know,
14:29they're,
14:29they're highly classified at this point.
14:32So what we,
14:33what we know are that there's also two,
14:36two forces of Marines or two boatloads of Marines that are headed that way.
14:41Now,
14:41and they're a little bit slower and getting there because they don't deploy by
14:43air.
14:44They deploy by sea.
14:44And so there is a Marine expeditionary unit somewhere between 2,200 and 4,400
14:50soldiers,
14:52which is again like a reinforced battalion.
14:54Plus they also have service support arms with them.
14:57They've,
14:58they've been deployed by sea and they're making their way now to the,
15:03to the area in the Straits of Hormuz,
15:06we think.
15:06So,
15:07so,
15:08so this is,
15:08they're a little slower in getting there.
15:10The 82nd would be able to be deployed by air on,
15:13on call.
15:14And I think a lot of this will be determined.
15:15A lot of what happens going forward will be determined based on the
15:18negotiations that are ongoing with,
15:20with Marco Rubio with the secretary of state with,
15:23with Trump's direct coordination with the speaker of the Iranian parliament and
15:30others.
15:30So,
15:31I mean,
15:31a lot of will be determined,
15:32you know,
15:33hour by hour,
15:34day by day going forward about what will happen.
15:36Our president is,
15:38is renowned for,
15:39for having a very short lead requirement in order to make a decision about,
15:44about committing soldiers to combat for one reason or another.
15:48And,
15:49and I don't,
15:49but I will say one thing,
15:50and this is one thing I'm pretty confident about.
15:53There are lots of options for the president,
15:55but the one option I don't think he would pursue under any circumstances,
16:00is to put the 82nd airborne on the ground in Iran.
16:05I don't think he will do that.
16:06Now he might on Karg Island,
16:08he might in Oman or UAE to have them pre-staged and ready in the event that
16:14there's a scale up of activity on the ground.
16:16But I think politically at this juncture,
16:19I think it'd be very unwise and very unnecessary to put the 82nd airborne,
16:26which is a very vulnerable force once it's on the ground,
16:29to put them on the ground within artillery range of any potential,
16:34potential unit,
16:36particularly with the,
16:37with the unknowns and the,
16:39and the chaos and the,
16:40and the,
16:41and the fog of war in Iran at this point,
16:44I don't think it would be wise at all to put the 82nd airborne on the ground.
16:48Special operations forces are used to operating in,
16:50in mixed environments.
16:53And,
16:54and there's certainly the possibility he would use the special operations forces to
16:59secure some of that fissionable material.
17:02They can be trained to do that.
17:04And then they could,
17:04they could,
17:05they could vacate that,
17:06that material pretty quickly with the use of their helicopters.
17:10There's about a ton,
17:11about a half a ton of that fissionable material.
17:13That's,
17:13it's highly enriched.
17:15There's another 10 tons of that material that probably needs to be secured at some point.
17:19That's a,
17:20that's lesser enriched down around 20 to 60%.
17:22But I would think that the,
17:25what we're looking at at this point is probably special operations missions being executed or being on,
17:31on at the ready to execute on a moment's notice,
17:3482nd airborne getting ready to deploy somewhere in the area,
17:38in the region,
17:39but not necessarily within the,
17:41the physical territory of Iran.
17:44And then,
17:45and Karg Island,
17:46which is really the big,
17:46the big question mark.
17:47What,
17:48what's going to happen with Karg Island?
17:49Because it isn't.
17:50Can I,
17:50can I point something out?
17:52Jim,
17:52you came up with the analysis of the gift of the possibility of being Karg Island.
17:59And by the way,
18:00we agree with you.
18:01So if you're right,
18:02we will bask in the glow to get in the glow together.
18:05If however,
18:06you are wrong,
18:07we will be there to share the mutt,
18:10all the crow to be eaten,
18:11but go ahead.
18:12Well,
18:13well,
18:13the president's not very good at keeping secrets.
18:16He likes to,
18:17to,
18:18to,
18:18to taunt the media with his,
18:21with his,
18:21his hints and his riddles.
18:24But he did say two things about the gift or the big present that he received in the last 24
18:29hours.
18:30One of the,
18:30one of the things he said was it had to do with oil and gas.
18:33And the second thing he said,
18:34it had to do with the Straits of Hormuz.
18:37So I think,
18:38you know,
18:38the only thing that's a common denominator between those two would be Karg Island and Karg Island.
18:44As you said so eloquently at the outset of this call,
18:47Karg Island is where about 80 to 90% of all the,
18:50all the oil and gas processing is done.
18:53It's,
18:54it's set up to have tankers put to port and,
18:57and load and,
18:58and move all resources through the Straits of Hormuz and,
19:04and into the Persian Gulf.
19:05So,
19:06I mean,
19:07obviously,
19:08Karg Island is under our aerial control at this point.
19:12Anyway,
19:13Karg Island is,
19:14if it's inhabited,
19:15it's lightly inhabited at best.
19:18It's,
19:18it's not heavily defensible,
19:21but it's 20 miles off,
19:22offshore from Iran.
19:24So there's,
19:24and it's outside of artillery range.
19:26So it wouldn't be outside of ballistic missile range,
19:29but there's a limited amount of ballistic missiles and they can provide an aerial cover to intercept drones and ballistic
19:36missiles that would be fired on Karg Island.
19:38So I think that is a possibility for the present,
19:43the present that the president talked about,
19:45that that's where the 82nd or maybe even special operations forces might be going to help control and influence,
19:53you know,
19:54the,
19:54the,
19:54the,
19:55or to make sure that there's,
19:56there's free flowing oil in approaching the Straits of Hormuz and that,
20:02and that it's,
20:03it's a good place to posture forces from.
20:07I think there are also defensible bunkers on that,
20:10on that Island that you could actually protect soldiers.
20:13I don't think we get any closer than Karg Island with,
20:16with,
20:16with U.S.
20:18soldiers on the ground.
20:19Okay.
20:20I'm going to put a question to both you and to Rob.
20:23Rob,
20:25and that any move,
20:26any plans or any things that we execute right now is,
20:32this isn't stuff that's done spontaneously.
20:34we do have,
20:36how far in advance do we plan for this stuff?
20:39Well,
20:40I think there have been planners that have had scenarios for this thing going on 20,
20:4730 years.
20:48They get upgraded as geopolitical conditions change and the weapons and tactics change.
20:53But I think there've been thousands of people and basement level three,
20:57various buildings,
20:59uh,
21:00mulling over this for a long time.
21:01I don't think any of this just come.
21:04I don't think any of this is the whim of the president to the morning.
21:10Jim,
21:11how,
21:11how often,
21:12how,
21:13how much do you think that the troops involved were also training for this mission?
21:20They're not just doing it spur of the moment.
21:21Like we,
21:22we went through.
21:24Well,
21:25first off,
21:26the,
21:26the,
21:26the mission of the 82nd airborne is to close with and destroy enemy.
21:29They're,
21:30they're,
21:30they're to be killers.
21:31Uh,
21:31they don't do a lot of specialized missions.
21:33There are some other things they can do and may have trained to do,
21:35uh,
21:36with respect to Iran.
21:37But my,
21:37my guess is not that highly specialized.
21:40I would say that,
21:41you know,
21:41they're,
21:41they're,
21:42they're good at seizing an airfield and denial of service.
21:44They,
21:44they can,
21:45they can shut down road networks.
21:47Uh,
21:48but they're also very vulnerable.
21:51Uh,
21:51you know,
21:51they're good for about 72 hours or so,
21:53uh,
21:54you know,
21:54without,
21:55without heavy,
21:55heavy resupply.
21:56Cause you know,
21:57they,
21:57they basically have to survive with what they carry on their backs.
22:00And there's not a service support element.
22:03That normally goes in with a,
22:04with a,
22:05um,
22:06a,
22:06um,
22:06a battalion like that.
22:07So my guess,
22:08unless they ramp up a full brigade combat team with a service support battalion,
22:13you're looking at,
22:14you're looking at limited operations for 82nd.
22:16Now the SOF will go in and do these snatching grad missions.
22:20We'll do,
22:21um,
22:22you know,
22:22seizure of,
22:24um,
22:24you know,
22:24they could seize fishable materials if they have,
22:27you know,
22:27intelligence on the ground.
22:28Uh,
22:29they,
22:29they're armed with all sorts of intelligence,
22:32uh,
22:33what we refer to as all source intelligence.
22:35So human,
22:36E-Lint,
22:37all that stuff will have,
22:38they'll have access to,
22:39they'll have great aerial surveillance of everything they're doing.
22:41So those kinds of missions will certainly be,
22:43um,
22:44possible with SOF.
22:46And I think what you're going to see with the 82nd,
22:48if they're,
22:49if they're actually deployed and if they're actually going to do work in the theater,
22:52it's going to be really aimed at,
22:54at,
22:54at,
22:55you know,
22:55the defensive posture and protecting,
22:57um,
22:58you know,
22:59you know,
22:59a point target or a point area,
23:01um,
23:03uh,
23:03you know,
23:03a point on the ground that has,
23:05um,
23:06materials that need to be safeguarded.
23:08Paul and Rob,
23:10do you think that Jim's analysis is logical?
23:15Some people,
23:16you know,
23:16there are people that are.
23:18I,
23:18I do.
23:18I think it's logical.
23:20I,
23:20um,
23:21uh,
23:22I,
23:22I did have a question on,
23:23and I,
23:24to which I not even close to having the answer.
23:28And that's about the fissionable material.
23:31Um,
23:33as my understanding is that a fair amount of this is,
23:35is buried under tons of rubble,
23:37uh,
23:38based on what happened a few months ago.
23:42So,
23:43and plus I would,
23:44stuff that didn't get buried has been redeployed in various places around the country.
23:48I'm sure that somebody has tracked that,
23:50but it doesn't sound to me like the situation on the ground is subject to,
23:57to a reasonably clean snatching grab.
24:01That could be completely wrong.
24:02And it's a question.
24:04I,
24:04I completely agree,
24:05Paul.
24:06I think that's it.
24:07I mean,
24:08the,
24:09there's such poor communications between and among the Iranian officials at this point.
24:14Uh,
24:14there's a,
24:15there was widely scattered,
24:16uh,
24:17deposits of this fissionable material.
24:19They think it's around the Isfahan,
24:20but I don't,
24:20you know,
24:21no one,
24:21I mean,
24:22the intelligence community probably has a pretty good feel for where the stuff is and how much in each,
24:25each location.
24:26You know,
24:27these things are in canisters.
24:28They're,
24:28they're gaseous,
24:29uh,
24:30materials.
24:31I mean,
24:31I think it's about a thousand pounds worth of,
24:33of,
24:33of material,
24:35but it's,
24:35but it's been gasified.
24:36You know,
24:37it's,
24:37it's created when they,
24:38when they highly enrich it,
24:39it becomes a gas.
24:40And I,
24:41and there you're talking about dozens and dozens and dozens of containers,
24:44uh,
24:45not something you can just man pack out of a place.
24:48you're not loading it onto the back of a truck,
24:50you know,
24:51or shoveling it.
24:52I mean,
24:52you,
24:52you literally have to protect it and safeguard it.
24:55So,
24:56and where it is and how much of it is,
24:58is recoverable is may not be known.
25:00Uh,
25:01so they could all be anticipatory type work where they're deploying organizations over
25:06there that are ready to go snatch the material when it becomes available.
25:10Uh,
25:11because I think,
25:12do we have,
25:13do we have a choice?
25:15Well,
25:15no,
25:16no,
25:16I,
25:17I think it's highly,
25:18highly risky to,
25:20uh,
25:20to destroy the command and control and the,
25:22and the,
25:23and the military operations,
25:25Iranian forces,
25:26and just leave fissionable material,
25:29highly enriched material,
25:30um,
25:31to the winds.
25:32You know,
25:32I mean,
25:32no one's going to just let that stuff go.
25:34So that,
25:35that was the,
25:35the cause of that was the,
25:37the,
25:37the,
25:38the reason we went in in the first place was because of their,
25:40of that.
25:41And so,
25:41and I'm sure that's a,
25:42it's a,
25:43it's a prize that the,
25:44that the president wants to recover and they're not going to trust the IAEA to go
25:48get it,
25:49uh,
25:50because they trust them in the past.
25:52So I wonder,
25:53and I don't know,
25:54of course,
25:55but I wonder if there's a linkage between Cog Island and the fissionable material in
25:58the sense that if we could get a hold of Cog Island,
26:01we could use that as leverage to solicit Iranian cooperation to get the other crap.
26:08It seems to me as well.
26:10But I,
26:10I think you're going back to what Gary said at the outset,
26:13Paul,
26:13I think that the president has been offered Cog Island.
26:18I think I could be wrong,
26:20but I think based on what he said,
26:22it looks like that this,
26:23this individual,
26:24um,
26:25the speaker of the Iranian parliament,
26:27which is,
26:28which is,
26:28uh,
26:28uh,
26:29this guy,
26:30Kalibov,
26:30uh,
26:31I think he's probably made the offer to Trump that he wants to give him,
26:35he wants to give him Cog Island control of it.
26:37Well,
26:38I think Kalibov is the,
26:39uh,
26:40is the Delcy Rodriguez of Iran.
26:42Yeah,
26:42that's right.
26:43That's right.
26:43The previous candidate for that role was Ali Larajani,
26:47who the Israelis dusted a couple of weeks ago.
26:49He would have been okay too,
26:52but,
26:52um,
26:53Kalibov is probably the son of Larajani in that sense.
26:57Right.
26:58Oh,
26:59how that he's got the credibility.
27:00He's a hard ass dude.
27:01Yeah.
27:02Yes.
27:02With a lot of blood on his hands.
27:04Right.
27:05Oh,
27:05that's right.
27:05And he's very,
27:06a very big critic of the U S but when,
27:08if he wants to survive.
27:10Yeah,
27:10he's,
27:11but he has,
27:11they,
27:12they claim,
27:12I read that he's got a pragmatic streak.
27:15And so,
27:16you know,
27:16Rodriguez was deeply embedded with the bad guys and still is in Venezuela.
27:22Uh,
27:22in neither of these,
27:24uh,
27:25situation,
27:25this is,
27:26and so if,
27:27if it were a Galibov,
27:28then we have no regime change,
27:30at least in the short run,
27:32uh,
27:33but we get some,
27:34if we had no regime change,
27:36could we achieve,
27:38uh,
27:39behavioral change?
27:40Yes,
27:40probably.
27:42Well,
27:43I could live,
27:44I personally,
27:44I could live with,
27:46uh,
27:47no regime change if there are behavior change.
27:50Well,
27:50that's what we have in Venezuela,
27:52no regime change and behavior change.
27:53Well,
27:54the same,
27:54the same problem,
27:55you know,
27:56in different and obviously in different,
27:57different hemispheres,
27:58but the same problem exists in both Venezuela and in,
28:01in Iran.
28:02And that is that you have this longstanding buildup of nefarious forces that have permeated the government and,
28:11and most of society.
28:12So,
28:13you know,
28:13even though the Persian culture is still there in Iran,
28:18you still have the domination by these jihadists and these,
28:21these,
28:21uh,
28:22militant,
28:23uh,
28:23Muslims,
28:25Islamists.
28:25The other difference between those two countries is that Iran can do a lot more damage on the way down
28:30than Venezuela ever could.
28:32And,
28:33and I,
28:33there's also,
28:34there's also another difference,
28:35guys.
28:36Uh,
28:37uh,
28:37Iran is not an Arab country.
28:40Well,
28:40the,
28:41the people that live there are,
28:42um,
28:44basically Aryans and more related to the,
28:46there is,
28:47but it is an Islamic country,
28:48but the society,
28:49society has become accustomed over 40 years of,
28:52of Islamist,
28:53uh,
28:54culture and behavior.
28:55And,
28:55and you don't,
28:56you don't root that out with a regime change.
28:59I mean,
28:59that,
28:59it takes a decade to,
29:02to reform and,
29:03uh,
29:04and it's not going to happen overnight,
29:05just like it won't in Venezuela,
29:07uh,
29:07with a different situation in Venezuela,
29:09but same sort of thing with,
29:10with decades of,
29:11of corruption or decades of,
29:13of tyranny.
29:14Uh,
29:15it takes a while for the culture to adjust and for,
29:18and for the people to exercise their freedom.
29:20Uh,
29:20I would say,
29:22you know,
29:23what we're hoping to do is to,
29:24is to,
29:25is to neutralize the military capabilities of Iran to the point that Israel can live in peace without,
29:33uh,
29:33the third,
29:34you know,
29:34without the state sponsor of terrorism in Iran,
29:38uh,
29:38arming the,
29:39the,
29:40the,
29:40the,
29:40uh,
29:40Hezbollah and Hamas and,
29:42uh,
29:43and,
29:43and constantly being faced with attacks all the time.
29:46And I think it gives a lot more peace and comfort to the narrow,
29:49the,
29:49uh,
29:49the,
29:50the neighboring Arab countries as well.
29:52I mean,
29:53think about it,
29:54Kuwait and,
29:56um,
29:56and,
29:57and Oman,
29:58uh,
29:58Qatar,
29:59all of these countries that Jordan and,
30:01uh,
30:02Lebanon even are all are,
30:03are war weary and they all want,
30:05you know,
30:05some peace and,
30:06and,
30:07and rebuilding.
30:08And,
30:08and right now Iran is a threat to every one of them.
30:11You know,
30:12when we think of Iran and nuclear threats,
30:15too many people think in terms of ICBMs,
30:18missiles,
30:18when the fact is you could pack a warhead into something not much bigger than a briefcase
30:24and smuggle it into another country,
30:27including the United States,
30:29either baggage,
30:31part of a,
30:32uh,
30:32cargo container and blow the damn thing up.
30:35You don't need a nuclear missile to have a nuclear strike around the world.
30:42And this is not tolerable.
30:47Now there was the,
30:48there is the question that has come up as to whether Iran was a,
30:54an imminent threat to the U S me.
30:58I don't think it matters.
31:00Uh,
31:00I would,
31:01Paul and I were discussing this earlier.
31:03It's much akin to if someone is sitting across the table from you and says,
31:08and they have the parts of a gun,
31:10they have a gun broken apart and they're assembling it.
31:13And all while they're assembling it,
31:15they're saying,
31:15when I get this done,
31:16I'm going to load the gun and I'm going to shoot you and kill you.
31:20Well,
31:21how far do you wait until you step in and say,
31:24no,
31:24I'm not going to let you do that.
31:27Some people,
31:28let me offer this.
31:30we,
31:31you know,
31:31the intelligence community has,
31:33uh,
31:34released,
31:35you know,
31:35sketchy information about the fact that there were a couple of,
31:38of,
31:39uh,
31:40you know,
31:41fifth column individuals in the country that came in under the Biden administration that were there.
31:46and that they had,
31:47they had,
31:47uh,
31:49you know,
31:49designs on killing our president.
31:51You know,
31:51I mean,
31:52there,
31:52there was already a risk to the presidency,
31:54uh,
31:55in the U S so,
31:57you know,
31:57that's,
31:57that's a risk that's independent of the,
31:59of the nuclear capability,
32:00uh,
32:01the fishable material.
32:02It's,
32:02it's been determined that they had,
32:04uh,
32:05you know,
32:05between,
32:06you know,
32:06five and enough fishable material that within a week or two,
32:09they could,
32:09they could have a five to seven.
32:12Look,
32:12look at the,
32:13uh,
32:13the massive cleanup effort we had to do in the Soviet Union,
32:17uh,
32:17uh,
32:18to get a grip on all this stuff.
32:20Um,
32:22after the Soviet Union came on good.
32:24Yeah.
32:25Paul,
32:25you were involved with the settle setting up of banking systems and such in the Eastern,
32:31in Eastern Europe when the Soviet Union fell.
32:34How much confusion did they have over everything at that time?
32:38Pretty much total.
32:41So,
32:42I mean,
32:43as I understand,
32:43they,
32:44they had problems getting pencils and paper.
32:46well,
32:47and in,
32:48in,
32:48in the Eastern,
32:48in the Eastern block itself,
32:50the,
32:50um,
32:51the,
32:51the so-called Comic-Con,
32:53um,
32:54was one of the most economically dysfunctional entities in the universe.
33:00Well,
33:01if they were,
33:01they used to say things,
33:02you know,
33:02the hungry Hungarians are relatively successful in the way they used to put it.
33:06Well,
33:06at least the Hungarians have bananas,
33:08you know,
33:10one of the greatest shortages,
33:12which is interesting,
33:13was that of toilet paper.
33:15And so senior officials secretaries used to keep rolls of toilet paper in their drawer for a reserve stockpile.
33:23And,
33:24um,
33:24I was in,
33:24I was in Budapest with a colleague.
33:26I'll make this short.
33:27And he,
33:28he,
33:28we're going to meet with the governor of the central bank,
33:30Feketev at the time.
33:31He's got to,
33:32he's got to go to the bathroom.
33:33So he goes down the hall and he's gone for a second.
33:36He's in,
33:36and I hear him screaming up the hall.
33:37He says,
33:37McGonagall,
33:39McGonagall,
33:39go find me some toilet paper.
33:41And,
33:42and so I knew the deal.
33:43And so I went to this guy,
33:45the chairman of the central banks,
33:47the governor of the central bank secretary,
33:48and I asked him to give me a roll of toilet paper.
33:50I had to draw,
33:51which she did.
33:52And I brought it down the hall to my colleague.
33:55I understand it was so bad.
33:56It had wood chips in it.
33:58It was unbelievable.
34:00But to me,
34:00that is,
34:01but not getting off the topic of toilet paper.
34:04If they couldn't handle the supply of toilet paper or couldn't control that,
34:09how could,
34:09could they have any real control over the disposition and tracking all their
34:14nuclear weapons?
34:16Right.
34:16Well,
34:17that's the Soviet union itself.
34:19The Eastern bloc didn't have any.
34:21The Soviet union wasn't going to let the polls,
34:24the polls and the checks and everybody have nuclear weapons.
34:27So,
34:28okay.
34:28So we're with the point is there's a lot of nuclear material that Iran has.
34:35That's going to be difficult to track at best.
34:38Would Iran be as well organized as Eastern Europe when the Soviet union fell?
34:44Well,
34:45I said when the Soviet union fell,
34:46it was completely disorganized.
34:49Okay.
34:50And,
34:50and it was the,
34:51it was,
34:52it was actually the Americans.
34:53It was us that organized the,
34:55the,
34:56the,
34:57the,
34:57the,
34:58the finding and collection of the nuclear materials.
35:00And then,
35:01as you know,
35:01when they did a separate deal with the Ukrainians to get them to give up this.
35:08Okay.
35:08Which some Russians reneged on immediately almost.
35:11Right.
35:12So,
35:13so guys,
35:13let me ask you something.
35:15Are the goals,
35:16first off,
35:17are the goals that I think the goals that we've stated that we have is first off to corral the
35:22nuclear material and take it away from Iran and get,
35:28if not regime change,
35:30at least a change in regime behavior.
35:32Are these objectives achievable?
35:36Rob,
35:37do you think so?
35:39Uh,
35:40they are achievable.
35:42It's not going to be easy.
35:44Yeah,
35:44they're achievable,
35:45but it runs,
35:46the chain of causation runs from regime,
35:48not regime change,
35:49but from a reasonable people sitting in Tehran to the fissionable material.
35:53Yeah.
35:54Because you're going to need,
35:55you're going to need some measure of Iranian cooperation to get that done.
36:00Yeah,
36:00this,
36:01this is going,
36:01this is going to be,
36:02I see it being like,
36:07like Yamashita's gold situation right now.
36:09Stuff could be missing in various different locations for years.
36:14DITRA and other organizations could be riding around country with special operations for months and months and months trying to
36:20locate it.
36:21It could be a shell game.
36:22It was here.
36:22Now it's there.
36:23I mean,
36:24Saddam was doing that with something.
36:26We don't know what he was moving or maybe he's just playing games with us.
36:31But,
36:31uh,
36:32it's,
36:32it's not going to be easy.
36:33And yeah,
36:33we're going to have to have a government that's not only cooperative,
36:35but actually has the reins to power.
36:41Jim,
36:41do you think these,
36:42these are objectives are achievable?
36:45Well,
36:45uh,
36:47you know,
36:47there was a 15 point peace plan that was offered by the president to the Iranians,
36:51which included things about relieving sanctions,
36:54canceling the,
36:55um,
36:56uh,
36:56nuclear program in Iran.
36:58I think they can get that concession.
37:00I think they can get limits on ballistic missiles.
37:02Uh,
37:02and I think we've destroyed the vast majority of their production facility there.
37:07And then reopening the Straits of Hormuz all were,
37:09were important parts.
37:10You know,
37:11they're going to want a verification of all these things.
37:14Those objectives,
37:15I think are all achievable.
37:16The one,
37:17the one,
37:18uh,
37:18sort of Damocles hanging over the necks of the United States and the president are the fact that he's on
37:25a timeline.
37:26And,
37:27and the Iranians are not stupid.
37:29They recognize the,
37:30the,
37:30the short duration nature of this operation.
37:33Trump has to get in and out in such time that,
37:36that gas prices can be restored at a lower level,
37:40that,
37:41uh,
37:41shipping can be restored in the Straits of Hormuz.
37:44And,
37:45uh,
37:45so the American economy,
37:47uh,
37:47will not be stumbling,
37:48uh,
37:49because as we get into the fall of this year,
37:52there's a major general election in the,
37:54in the country and the control of the house,
37:57uh,
37:58the representatives in North and in the U S is very much at risk.
38:03And the Iranians know this.
38:05So the time is on their side to wait out or to,
38:07or to,
38:08or to,
38:08to forestall any successes for Trump.
38:11And he's going to be on very impatient about getting these things done.
38:14So that's,
38:15that doesn't work to our advantage.
38:16We're not,
38:17we don't have the ability to be patient and to wait all of this stuff out.
38:20There is a huge implication on the,
38:22on the general election this fall.
38:24So,
38:24um,
38:25you know,
38:25that's,
38:25they know that and they'll be,
38:27they'll be watching and trying to forestall a lot of the,
38:30a lot of the,
38:30the negotiations that are going on to drag it out,
38:33uh,
38:34to get better,
38:34greater questions on their part.
38:36So I,
38:37I do think that,
38:38I think it's achievable to over time to get a,
38:41uh,
38:42you know,
38:42a neutral third party in there to be monitors on where some of this
38:45material may be buried.
38:46I think there's a,
38:47there's a chance that we're going to get,
38:49uh,
38:49a more,
38:50a more acceptable regime in,
38:53uh,
38:54Iran,
38:54but I think it's a decade away before,
38:56you know,
38:57Reza Pahlavi is back in there and,
38:59and running,
39:00uh,
39:00the country.
39:01I don't,
39:01I don't know that that's even possible.
39:03Maybe.
39:04You can't even share it's desirable,
39:05actually.
39:06Yeah.
39:06I mean,
39:08you know,
39:08the people of Iran really have to have to have a chance to speak and
39:11they got to recover first.
39:12And so that,
39:12that's a year thinking,
39:14uh,
39:14I think,
39:15uh,
39:16just restoring the flow of oil and,
39:18and helping Iran get back on its feet with a,
39:22uh,
39:22a reasonably monitored,
39:23uh,
39:24regime is probably the interim objective,
39:27um,
39:28that the U S has just so we can,
39:30we can make the international markets settle down.
39:32To wrap up,
39:34to do a closing question.
39:35Uh,
39:36I'll start off with Rob,
39:38uh,
39:39just be the same question for everybody.
39:41Are you optimistic or pessimistic that the objectives that we've discussed
39:47tonight can be done in a timely fashion?
39:52I'm optimistic that they can be done.
39:55Uh,
39:56the,
39:56the timely fashion or,
39:58uh,
39:59not,
40:00not as much.
40:02Uh,
40:03Paul McGonigal.
40:04I would just,
40:05I don't have to talk.
40:06I just repeat what Rob said.
40:08Jim Womack.
40:09I agree with Rob and Paul.
40:12I think,
40:12I think timing is everything here.
40:15Uh,
40:15and,
40:16and,
40:16and time is not on our side.
40:18Uh,
40:18it is.
40:19Well,
40:19obviously we've got to get it done quickly.
40:21Do you think the president can get it done?
40:24I,
40:25I'm,
40:25I'm pessimistic that things are going to get,
40:27uh,
40:27or that we're going to recover the fissionable material and have a,
40:30a stable regime in the near term.
40:32I'm pessimistic.
40:33I think we're going to have to,
40:34we're going to have to,
40:35um,
40:35make compromises.
40:37That's what I,
40:38that's my personal opinion.
40:39All right.
40:41Uh,
40:41we will revisit this in the coming weeks.
40:44I want to thank everybody.
40:45Uh,
40:46you guys made,
40:47it was very interesting.
40:48It was very enlightening.
40:49And this is information that we're not getting from the mainstream media.
40:53Uh,
40:53I don't know if they don't know or they don't care or whatever it is.
40:57Uh,
40:57with that,
40:58I want to say thank you.
41:00Uh,
41:01yes.
41:01May I ask a question of,
41:03Go ahead.
41:04Ask a question.
41:07This gets back to the short term opportunity of concluding everything in Iran.
41:13How do you
41:18completely eradicate
41:21the IRGC,
41:22both from a leadership and a personnel perspective?
41:27Because if we don't get that out of the way,
41:30that could go back to what happened in Iraq.
41:34Yeah.
41:36Well,
41:37also what part of what happened in Iraq was because we completely eliminated the Iraqi army.
41:42Yes,
41:42I agree.
41:43I think,
41:43I think,
41:44I think what,
41:44I think what you can do is,
41:47cause we have so much intelligence on every single individual,
41:52uh,
41:54that is,
41:54well,
41:55most of them are dead now,
41:57but the ones that are living,
41:59we still have a lot of information on.
42:01We,
42:01we know the ones that we can tolerate and those that have to go.
42:04Um,
42:04so I think you start there with leadership and then,
42:07uh,
42:08but I think it would be very unwise to release the common soldier from,
42:15uh,
42:16IRGC.
42:16I think Kud's force needs to go.
42:19They are the ideological,
42:22uh,
42:22jihadi special forces of the regime.
42:25And,
42:25and they have to go because they are going to become,
42:29uh,
42:30an Al Qaeda like organization.
42:32I would imagine,
42:33uh,
42:33after the government has gone and,
42:35and they will do everything that they can to forestall any type of peace.
42:39And,
42:40uh,
42:40they could become the Hezbollah of Iran.
42:43You know,
42:43that's impressive.
42:44Yeah.
42:44People may not remember this,
42:46but after world war two,
42:47the Germans had a dissident group called the werewolves,
42:50which were basically a guerrilla group that lasted for a while.
42:53Right.
42:54Yeah.
42:55Jim,
42:55what do you think?
42:56Yeah,
42:57I,
42:57I completely agree with Rob.
42:58I think,
42:59you know,
42:59there's,
42:59there's all kinds of,
43:00of,
43:01uh,
43:01loose ends in,
43:03uh,
43:03in Iran.
43:04And,
43:04and,
43:05you know,
43:05I trust that our government is,
43:07is good.
43:07You know,
43:08the intelligence community is very,
43:09very capable of identifying these people,
43:11but,
43:12you know,
43:12there's just,
43:13there's no tolerance in America today for putting boots on the ground.
43:17Long term.
43:18Right.
43:19Right.
43:20Well,
43:20I hope that the Israelis don't kill Galibuf.
43:23Well,
43:23yeah,
43:24that's a,
43:24that is a risk because,
43:25you know,
43:27they're,
43:27they're,
43:28they're not bashful about wanting to take out every Iranian leader that they can.
43:31And they're in their deep.
43:33Yeah.
43:34Yeah.
43:35What,
43:35what strikes me is that if we can leave the current regime in place,
43:42with some modifications,
43:44get a general behavioral modification and incentivize them that in order for them to behave,
43:51they got a choice,
43:52behave or die.
43:53Uh,
43:54most of these people I think would prefer to behave.
43:56Yeah.
43:57particularly knowing that the Iranian leadership for all their rhetoric,
44:01uh,
44:02have their children and their families living high on the hog,
44:06which is an interesting choice of terms.
44:08You know,
44:09and the,
44:09and the other thing is 80,
44:1285% of the Iranian people want that to happen.
44:18So the point is,
44:20if we leave the,
44:21the,
44:22some of these guys in place and that we give,
44:25we incentivize them to behave,
44:27we can use them to root out the really bad guys.
44:32Or either we or of our friends will selectively eliminate them.
44:36So we have a positive outcome.
44:38It would not surprise me to learn that the,
44:41um,
44:41the,
44:42the Americans have advised quote unquote,
44:44the Israelis to leave Galiboff alone.
44:49Well,
44:49let's,
44:50let's hope that you're right,
44:51which brings up one other question,
44:53uh,
44:54which I know some people are complaining about,
44:56and I think they got it all wrong.
44:57And that,
44:58that the U S is too well,
45:00the U S foreign policy is overly controlled by the Israelis.
45:05I think that's nonsense.
45:07Yeah.
45:07And I,
45:10why is it nonsense?
45:12Just do explain it.
45:13And I'll,
45:13I'll see if I agree with you.
45:15The Israelis,
45:16I mean,
45:16we are the,
45:16we're the big brother of Israel.
45:19Israel has been kept in check for many years by the U S.
45:22Uh,
45:23they're not dominating us in any way,
45:24shape or fashion.
45:25That is a,
45:25that's a,
45:26that's a wise tale that's being told by talking heads on social media around
45:30the country.
45:31But,
45:31but,
45:32uh,
45:32Netanyahu,
45:33I mean,
45:33if you,
45:34if we were to suffer the losses and the,
45:36and the,
45:37and the,
45:38the,
45:38uh,
45:38the chaos that they suffer on a weekly basis in Israel for all these
45:42decades,
45:43you know,
45:44struggling to survive and,
45:46and somebody removes the,
45:48uh,
45:49the,
45:49the constraints and restrictions on us to go out and,
45:53and,
45:53and,
45:53and strike back to,
45:55to neutralize that enemy,
45:57whether it's in Lebanon,
45:59whether it's in,
46:00um,
46:01whether it's,
46:01you know,
46:02it's,
46:02um,
46:03the Hezbollah in,
46:05um,
46:06in the Gaza,
46:06or whether it's,
46:07whether it's the Houthi rebels attacking from Yemen.
46:10I mean,
46:11you know,
46:11you get attacked from every side.
46:13If you're all of a sudden that,
46:14that threat is removed,
46:16you're going to go after them and try to try to destroy them once and for
46:19all.
46:19And you can't blame Israel for wanting to do that.
46:22Cause it's,
46:23it's,
46:23it's,
46:23you know,
46:23it's their,
46:24it's their survival.
46:25You cannot blame them for wanting to do that.
46:27You can wonder whether or not,
46:29however,
46:29it's possible.
46:30Yeah.
46:31Well,
46:31I mean,
46:31it's,
46:32I do think that Israel is,
46:34is going to act in Israel's interest.
46:36And I think that the president has,
46:38has got a very good working relationship with the leadership in Israel and,
46:43and all he's got to do.
46:45And Netanyahu said it today.
46:46He said that the president doesn't want us to do this or that.
46:49And therefore we're not.
46:51Right.
46:51And you believe that he listens to the president because I think he owes
46:56this ability to go in and neutralize.
46:58We're holding his coat.
47:00We're holding his coat every step of the way.
47:02And they know it.
47:02And he's not in a,
47:04in a broad spectrum of issues.
47:06We see pretty much eye to eye.
47:08There are tactical differences from time to time.
47:10And sometimes that means we have to give him a little kick in the ass.
47:14But overall,
47:16and we're in control of our destiny more or less.
47:20The idea that APEC or Israel can tell us what to do is,
47:29as I agree,
47:30is nonsense.
47:31Yeah.
47:31I might,
47:31I might point out,
47:33I might point out that Paul McGonigal is a political skeptic.
47:39Is that fair,
47:40Paul?
47:40Yeah.
47:41Yeah.
47:41I'm not a big fan of the current president,
47:43but actually not a big,
47:45Paul,
47:46Paul comes as close to being a never Trumper as anyone I've known.
47:51And Paul and I have known each other for about 40 some odd years.
47:56Yeah.
47:57But it's true.
47:58But I don't suffer from what they call TDS these days.
48:01Say again.
48:03That I don't suffer from what they're calling TDS these days.
48:07No,
48:07you do not.
48:08So I'll judge him on the basis of his policies and the effectiveness thereof.
48:13But do you believe in his policies?
48:15That's what I just said.
48:17And some of them I do.
48:18Some of them I don't.
48:19I think the tariff regime is a perfectly rotten idea.
48:22Let's not go down.
48:23We're not going down that rabbit hole today.
48:25We're not going down that rabbit hole.
48:27We'll be here till midnight.
48:28Your time.
48:29Please.
48:30Rob,
48:31do you have any final comment or observation?
48:34No,
48:35I don't.
48:36Fair enough.
48:37On that note,
48:38I would like to say thank you guys.
48:40This has been very interesting.
48:42We have learned things that the mainstream media either doesn't want us to know or is
48:46incapable of knowing or God only knows what drives those people.
48:51I can't figure it out.
48:53And with that,
48:53I want to say thank you.
48:54Good night.
48:55Be well.
48:56And God bless America.
48:58It's okay.
49:00We have an email.
49:01I'll see you next time.
49:01Good night.
49:04You know,
49:19good night.
49:20Goodbye.
49:20And on the path,
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