The Daily Signal - US Sends Military Resources to Middle East, Ukraine Troops 18 Miles Inside Russia, Trump Back on X | Aug. 12

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: The U.S. sends resources to the Middle East while officials in Israel anticipate a retaliatory strike from Iran. Ukrainian troops manage to advance 18 miles within Russian territory. Former President Donald Trump will sit down for an interview with Elon Musk Monday night.  Biden’s signature industrial and climate initiatives have hit some major roadblocks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. is sending resources to the Middle East ahead of Iran's anticipated strike on Israel. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, August 12th. Officials in Israel are anticipating retaliatory strikes or a strike from Iran in the coming days. And in preparation for this, the U.S. is sending more military equipment and personnel to the Middle East. The threat of an attack from Iran was triggered after a strike that killed a top. Hamas leader in Iran. And on Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that a guided missile submarine has been ordered to the Middle East. The Pentagon also ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Strike Group to accelerate its travel to the Middle East. So how big of a strike is Iran expected to

carry out on Israel? Here with us to discuss is national security expert and director of the Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, Robert Greenway. Rob, thanks for being back with us today. Oh, it's a pleasure. I wish it were on a more positive subject. I do, too. How big of a strike could this be that Iran carries out on Israel? Well, it could be fairly significant, and that's my expectation.

Iran, as you and the listeners will know, most recently directly attacked Israel on the 14th of April in response to a strike Israel took in Damascus against an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general officer. And that response included 320 projectiles, combination of missiles and drones, all of which or most of which were shot down, many of which didn't make it to their intended target. But a significant volley, compare that to the 16 missiles launched after the strike against Qasem Soleimani, only 12 of which made it to their intended target. So massive escalation between those two events. And our expectation is, at least mine, is that we'll see a larger volley from probably more than just Iran in this instance. and that's what they've forecast so far. What happens after that?

Let's say Iran does hold true to what they've said that they're going to do. They carry out a large strike. What is Israel's response? And what is the U.S. response? Well, in large measure, it always depends on the impact. So we're in a different ballgame if it hits a civilian center

or a sensitive military installation or any military installation and does significant damage and inflicts casualties, killed or won't it, God forbid. But the possibility is not only possible, I would say we're in probable territory. If I had to launch 320 projectiles someplace, I couldn't replicate it without killing somebody. It's an incredible achievement that was accomplished, but there's a bit of luck in there as well.

I don't know that we're going to have the same degree of luck, but, you know, it's just a matter of probabilities at this point. So if they inflict casualties, the response is going to be significant. There are any given day, about 200,000 Americans inside of Israel on just on a normal range. just say it's a little bit less than that under the circumstances, significant population, which is why 39 were killed on October the 7th, and many were and continued to be held hostage. So we always have an American population there, and that risk is very real. We also have a lot of troops deployed across the region. The U.S. has been attacked in Iraq and Syria and just the past week without responding,

and casualties are reflected at least in al-Assad, seven, to be specific. So we've already incurred casualties. I think if Israel receives casualties and significant damage, their response has to be significant more than they did in the April response. And the wide range of nuclear targets and economic and energy targets and military targets in Iran then all become potential targets for Israel and the United States in theory, although I suspect this administration would be reluctant to do so. How probable is a full-out war between Iran and Israel?

Well, in a lot of ways, we're almost there now, given what happened in Gaza, given what is happening on a regular basis now between Israel and Lebanon and what's happening in the Red Sea, all of which are connected. So I think the odds of a theater regional conflict between Iran and Israel directly certainly increases by the day. And the odds are, if not 50, 50, not far from it. I would say probably better than 50-50. Rob, thank you for your time today. We'll be obviously following this closely, but appreciate your analysis. My pleasure. Thank you. Ukrainian troops are still within Russian territory. It's been almost a week since Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia's curse region. The region borders Ukraine, and troops have managed to advance about 18 miles within the Russian territory. About 100,000 civilians have fled the region, according to the Associated Press.

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volonimir Zelenskyy announced for the first time that Ukrainian troops are operating in the Russian-controlled territory. The incursion into Russian territory is seen as an embarrassment to the Kremlin. Russian President Volonemir Putin reportedly said today that Ukraine has carried out the incursion into Russia in an attempt to gain more power in peacetalk negotiations. Putin said, now it is clear why the key. The Kiev regime rejected our proposals for a peace settlement plan. The enemy, with the help of its Western masters, is trying to improve its negotiating position in the future, according to Putin. Well, in June, Putin did propose a ceasefire plan if Ukraine started withdrawing all its troops from the four regions that Moscow has annexed and renounced plans to join NATO. Ukraine called this proposal from Putin absurd.

Obviously, didn't go anywhere. The incursion over the past six days is Ukraine's largest advance into Russian territory since the war first began. Russia is expected to launch an aggressive response to push the Ukrainian incursion back. Back in the U.S. on the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump is going to be sitting down tonight for an exclusive interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk. Tonight at 8 p.m., Musk will interview Trump live on Trump's X page. Trump has not posted on X since he was banned from the platform after January 6th. Well, Trump's account was unlocked after Musk bought the platform, but Trump stayed off until today. The former president posted a campaign ad on his X account late this morning.

Musk announced the interview yesterday. He said it would be unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so she said, should be highly entertaining, according to Musk. And he invited ex-users to leave a comment with a suggestion for a question during the interview. There are thousands of comments on that post, so the two men are going to have plenty to discuss, no doubt. And also today, the Democratic National Committee launched a major ad campaign. This is the first ad blitz to be launched since Governor Tim Walls was announced as Harris's running mate. The ad blitz includes 80 billboards, going up in metropolitan areas in key swing states, as in English and Spanish will be seen in

Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. On one side, a bright image of Harrison Walls is seen with the words fighting for you written over the picture. On the other side, a black and white photo of Trump and Vance set in front of a red background has the words out for themselves splashed over the picture. The Democratic National Convention begins next Monday. And as of today, Monday, we are 84 days out from the election. President Joe Biden's signature industrial and climate initiatives have hit some major roadblocks. According to a new report out from Financial Times, about 40% of the biggest U.S. manufacturing investments announced under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act

have either been delayed or put on pause. According to the financial Times of the projects worth more than $100 million, a total of $48 billion have been delayed for between two months and seven years or paused indefinitely. The Financial Times says it conducted more than 100 interviews with companies and state and local authorities to determine the status of projects in addition to reviewing corporate press releases and filings. Among the largest projects on hold are Annals's $1 billion solar panel factory in Oklahoma, LG Energy Solutions 2.3 billion dollar battery storage facility in Arizona and Albumel's $1.3 billion lithium refinery in South Carolina. One of the factors contributing to

manufacturing freezes is a slow in demand for electric vehicles, according to the Financial Times. You can dig into all of the details of this Financial Times report by checking out today's show notes where we have a link to the full report. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here for the Daily Signal's top news. If you have another chance, make sure you check out our morning show right here in this same podcast feed, where we bring you interviews with lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Tomorrow morning, I am sitting down with Nile Gardner, expert from the Heritage Foundation,

to discuss the current situation in the UK, both following the election and the rise to power of the Labor Party and recent violent protests and demonstrations. What spurred these on? And how is Elon Musk involved? Be sure to catch my conversation with Nile Gardner on the show tomorrow morning. Also make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on new shows from The Daily Signal.

And if you would, take a minute to leave us a five-star rating and review. Thanks again for being with us today. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning for my conversation about what's happening in the UK with Nile Gardner. The Daily Signal, podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Louis and Katrina Trinco. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, Mary Margaret O'Lohan, and Elizabeth Mitchell. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph

Von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.