Let's bring in former Trump national security aide John Elliott.
John, good morning to you.
Success could mean different things when it comes to something
like this.
But do you think that this strike was the right
thing for Israel to do?
And would you characterize it as successful?
Absolutely. Carly, good morning. It was absolutely
successful from Israel's standpoint because number one,
they had to respond and so they did so because
politically they just couldn't,
could not allow Iran to have a direct threat on
their even though that it was unsuccessful,
a direct threat on their soil.
So they had to respond.
But what they did is this was a,
this was a a message that they sent of will
and capability.
They they have the will to strike Iran when they
need to and they have the capability to do so.
And that's why this is just very well crafted with
what they did is they they attacked deep into Iran
and they attacked
a city that has the biggest nuclear facility,
Natanz, that's right next to it.
So what they were saying is they were saying look,
what we need you to notice is that we have
the will and we have the capability to attack you
at any time.
So don't cross any line
ever again in terms of striking us on our territory.
So John, to that point,
does that mean this is the end that both Israel
and Iran have gotten that off ramp that they've wanted
or John,
is this just the beginning?
No, Todd, what I what I think is that this
is something where now there's a status quo on both
sides that neither side wants to cross.
So Iran demonstrated that it is willing once again.
There's a will and capabilities message from their standpoint that
they have the will to attack Israel directly,
which is something that has never happened before.
And 2nd is that they have the capability to do
so.
And on the other side,
once again,
Israel sent a very strong signal because that's deep into
Iran,
right in the middle of the country and right next
to its most important strategic facility,
which is the Natanz nuclear facility.
And so right now, look,
it's it's like on a schoolyard where you have two
bullies that they each show that they have strength and
that they have the will and that now neither side
wants to go beyond that because it'll result in something
that neither side wants to see happen.
Yeah. Let's talk about President Biden for a moment,
because it was big news,
His initial reaction action when he had that phone call
with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Saturday attempt at
strikes,
the 300 strikes that Iran tried to launch in Israel's
direction.
And the president's response was don't retaliate,
take the win that this didn't,
you know that you were able to defend yourself against
those strikes.
Israel didn't heed that advice.
So what does that say about our president,
our relationship with Israel, and his foreign policy reaction?
Well, number one, Carly, he should never have telegraphed whatever
he's saying to Bibi privately.
And so that's a big mistake for President Biden to
actually say that out loud about,
hey, we're going to tell them not to retaliate.
But #2 is that Bibi said very publicly and probably
as a rebuke to what Biden said publicly or what
he allowed to
be leaked publicly. Is that Bebe said negative?
You know, we are going to make our own decision
on retaliation.
And Bebe was in a spot where he had to
retaliate because he had to once again demonstrate that will
and that capability not just to Iran,
but also to his populace,
to the Israelis. So they know that they have somebody
who's very strong,
who has their back and is not going to allow
an attack like what happened on Saturday.
John Elliott, amazing insight. We appreciate it as always,
Sir. Thank you so much.