PragerU Live! Interview with Lisa Daftari (4/7/17)

e and hi everyone I'm Elicia Krauss here at the prer uhq with a very poignant and important and newsworthy Facebook live with you today with our special guest Lisa daftari she's a foreign affairs investigative journalist and you can follow her daily top 10 policy stories and they can be sent straight to your inbox if you go to her website foreign desnews.com Lisa thank you so much for being with us today course my pleasure so what do you think of President Obama I'm sorry president President Obama didn't do anything president Trump's cruise missile strike against the Syrian Airbase that the Pentagon and other US military officials are saying was responsible for carrying out the recent chemical attacks in Syria I think it was a very responsible uh responsive quick um decisive attack it was limited it was small in scope very targeted um and symbolic I think it it served the purpose that President Trump meant to serve which was to tell the Syrian regime along with the Russians and the Iranian regime who are proing Bashar Al Assad that it's one thing if they want to stay in power but these cruel acts against humanity against the people of Syria will not be tolerated and I think that's exactly what the the the strikes were um you have people on the left of course today criticizing these attacks and you know I think it's you you can criticize the way that Donald Trump reads but um you know it's from a nonpartisan point of view this was not getting involved in the different layers of the syan war this was to say that this act against human will not be tolerated and I think it was a plus one app point for Humanity and for Donald Trump for acting so quickly on this it has actually kind of been fascinating though I've seen mixed reviews from both the left and the right side of the aisle you have people like Senator Schumer who applauded this and then you have others on the right side saying well he should have come to Congress first so uh it tends to be something that isn't really divided down partisan lines which could potentially be a win in the future for president Trump right and what's funny is that internationally he has some great support on this and then inside the country we have this divide which obviously doesn't look good um you know if I had one wish politically it would be that we could live and think in a post-partisan way to say what would be the best for our national security what would be the best for us and to the liberals who are so pro-refugee and for the humanitarian cause who are out there at LAX and JFK when these refugees are not being led into the country here's my news for you I speak to syrians on a daily basis they don't want to come here they want to live safely and nicely in their own country they want to have safe zones they want they want they don't want to run the risk of being killed by chemical weapons and the truth is if we want to help them the true and most unique and genuine way of helping them would be to allow them to live in their own country safely and I think that's what this strike meant to say to Assad to say that you know I think we've been very wishy-washy here in the United States as to where we stand on the civil war in Syria meaning our priority anti Isis that's the first level and secondly the Obama Administration was arming the rebels because our initial position in Syria was to say Assad must go but that's that was a formulaic thing to say all dictators must go in the uh aftermath of the other Arab Springs that we had you have the Syrian Uprising and we said all right we'll we'll support the rebels who are anti-assad then you have Russia enter the game and you have a very complicated equation now you have this Trifecta of Assad Iran's regime Putin um so Iran Russia and and Syria wanting to keep Assad in in power and then you have a handful of Street rat Rebels who have American weapons and are fighting them uh and the elephant in the room which was never talked about during the Obama days is that we wanted to come to terms with uh some sort of ceasefire some sort of truce with Russia we had many times John Kerrey on the sidelines talk to his Russian counterpart to say let's strike a deal let's do something in Syria elephant in the room being that we're on opposite sides of the Civil War there uh and this this Union this community of of countries coming together to fight Isis is not enough of a reason to agree on what should happen for the future of Syria I was go ahead well so I guess the big question is then why did Assad do this I mean obviously under the Obama Administration he' crossed that red line before but why do this now do you think that he was testing president Trump to see what our response would be so it's it's funny because everyone says why now why did he do this now the answer to that is well first and foremost that it's not just now this has been going on it's business as usual for the Assad they will do anything we have the Iranian regime who has trained them a page from their playbook basically says don't worry about Isis don't worry about the United States and the Coalition your Achilles heel will be the people just like it was in Iran in 2009 we saw it was the people of Iran rising up that was the worst sore for the regime they have taught Assad and his uh cronies to do the same thing shut off the internet go after the people kill civilians take whatever it takes to whatever action it takes to stay in power now with regards to specifically chemical weapons obviously that's the end Al I mean you see the the effects of that when you're watching these videos and the children and the families and it's not the first time Assad's used these families as human Shields he's gone after them in the name of fighting Isis he's killed families and and innoc innocent people and the thing that the West has missed this entire time is Assad's main enemy are is the Syrian people these Rebels and not Isis and we've stood back and we've said well Assad's killing Isis so we'll we'll be okay with that or the Iranian regime is against Isis so we're okay with them we'll we'll help them out in Iraq and we'll that in support of Vladimir Putin is that well he's supporting Assad who's trying to kill Isis so therefore you know the enemy of my enemy is my friend so so speaking of how this situation pertains to to Russia's potential involvement here uh top military sources are saying that Russia did have a hand in the most recent and horrific chemical weapons attack this week does Trump strike kind of put Vladimir Putin on notice absolutely and I think that that what I call it is Trump has this slap on the wrist foreign policy which is absolutely the right way that you think look we're in a post Ally uh foreign policy world right now we're not looking at well are you my friend or are you my enemy in each situation because we can't do that along the the in the long run look at Saudi Arabia we agree with them a lot of things and a lot of things they should be put on notice look at Pakistan we give them uh the foreign aid but we don't have the leverage to say well where's the intel on all of this National Security work that we were supposed to do together or turkey enemy for enemy we don't know uh and I think it's very important that the United States and Trump's been F wonderful in in in changing this policy that that the United States is able to sit down with a country like China like Russia like Saudi Arabia and say look let's talk about interests where we overlap we can totally join forces and I would love to work with you but where we don't overlap I'm telling you that where we stand what was missing for the last eight years into the Obama policy and there's definitely uh as we saw I think with the coalitions that President Bush was able to make in Afghanistan and Iraq is there's short-term interests and there long-term interests I think sometimes abut the American people are like wait a second though what's really going to happen long term in the Middle East because it seems like such a volatile Place yeah absolutely I think it's it's everchanging um we're seeing a lot of Shifting of alliances I think you know a lot of times we've said with regards to the Middle East First Look at Israel because that's what's going to happen in the west as well and we saw with Israel whether it's with regards to certain types of bombs uh car you know Ram ings and knife attacks uh to take the place of those bombs that cannot be easily detected so you have this non-traditional type of warfare now uh and the other thing that we've seen coming out of Israel that now we're seeing Trump follow the same path is this reshing of alliances with moderate Arab states which is a wonderful wonderful thing we've said this for years that the Arab states the Gulf States and Egypt and Saudi Arabia they do not want Terror on their on their soil they will do whatever it takes not because they're so Noble and they understand what terrorism and are anti you know or islamophobic or whatever it is it's because their Rule and Reign is going to be at risk and Jeopardy if these elements are allow are seep into their society they know exactly the threat that these groups pose and this is where again it's an overlapping interest where the United States can work together with these countries we saw Trump meeting with CC the other day with Abdul King Abdullah uh the following day uh and I think this is a wonderful reshing and reorganizing of countries who have similar interests in the region so will this change anything on the ground in Syria do you think that these missile strikes do anything to actually change things and the way things look on the ground I think in the in the short one we're going to see much um not so much because I think it's turned into a territorial War whether it is with Isis trying to grab territory or with Assad or the rebels trying to to grab uh a territory I think this is going to just in the short run just be a little bit of a you know hysteria uh so to speak I think it's going to have we're going to have more refugees obviously because I think the civilians understand that it's not a place for them to live uh so in terms of strategy the first and foremost priority of the United States the UN whoever is is getting in involved on the ground on the humanitarian level should be to create these safe zones to at least get the people out of Harm's Way and then we can clear the Clutter and understand what's going on on the ground um Assad his his main thing right now is grabbing territory getting back territory that's the litmus test by which he and Russia and Iran have understood his victory or his gaining uh I think a question support back in the country I think the question that we've all often seen um from the American people and from politicians here as well is a confusion about like Rebels because the Assad regime says oh well the rebels are Isis and the United States you know their ambassador to the UN this morning was saying well the United States and Britain and France are supporting terrorists in our country because they are supporting the rebels and then but then you you know you have rebels in places like Kurdistan that are great but then you had rebels in places like Egypt that were not so great so are the rebels in this scenario good guys or bad guys both and that's that's difficulty and that's uh the reason and and correctly so that President Obama well when he waited too long was not able to get involved because it was almost impossible to work through who the good guys are and who the bad guys are and the truth is I recently um was on the Syrian borders um doing some reporting in the early fall and the truth of the matter is even the good ones are not trained or well organized these are the street rats who took upon themselves to to dedicate their lives to fighting uh the Assad regime I interviewed a guy who was a a general that what he called himself he said he had three 3,000 U men under his his control he had he was in the hospital um on the border and was shot by an Isis sniper and his main uh point of view that he wanted to to convey to the world was to say that Isis is not a problem that if the rebels were given the proper type of modern um Weaponry because he said a lot of the weapons were old and outdated and they weren't up to par with what Isis was fighting that they would be able to take out Isis in about three months uh and after that the bigger problem the bigger enemy is the Assad regime and that's where he said that the the the International Community and the media was not understanding the real threats that were on the ground there um he he was not educated three CH three wives rather um very much you know and this is one of the good guys meaning he was high high in the rank ranks of the rebels who are fighting Assad so do they stand a chance probably not but they also will not back down so until you have this Dynamic playing out on the ground over there um Isis is going to gain um because they have the time and they have the chaos by which to thrive and grow and and and just use the opportunity you have the Iranian regime growing and gaining you talk to Iranians in Iran and they are livid they are livid I mean Main Street Iran has been so badly affected by the sanctions from the International Community and the money that was given back has not made a real Dent uh in that economy and they know that their their government is pouring money into Syria and what proad regime when their owners are suffering back at home you have Russia same thing not no one's been able to tell Russia to not do this and that and not to cause the Havoc that they have in Ukraine not to you know support uh the Assad regime you have money into Terror organizations like Hezbollah like Hamas uh and that's coming from the Iranian regime and there's going to be no stop to that for as long as this this Civil War I mean we we here in the west we can look at it and say look Syria is a country that what what what do we truly want to see what would be the most optimal outcome uh with regards to us interests in Syria and the answer is not an easy one but the the on the outskirts of that decision um the the the the decision comes down to do we want Iranian money flowing around the region and and supporting Terror do we want Russia going you know on a field day and doing whatever they want when they were entrusted with Gathering Syria's chemical weapons and look look where they are now um and I think you know I think Trump understands that we can work with Russia but that doesn't mean that they can't get a a Stern warning about what has been done and what continues going down the line do you see that the US potentially deepening its involvement in the Middle East or do you think that this is something that President Trump like you said earlier just wanted to send a message and is now going to take a more diplomatic instead of military approach I think we're going to see deeper relationships not not not particularly to see you know deeper involvement in terms of action I think we had eight years of a president who was just wonderful at diplomatic words and now I think we're gonna have a president who's better with diplomatic action meaning aligning himself with the right countries who will represent and respect us interests in the region rather than just using words uh at the podium and you know being that paper tiger that has lost all respect around the world I think it's very important the way that President Trump is meeting with so many of these countries look at China for example I mean he ordered these these strikes while he's sitting down with the with the Chinese and what's fascinating about that is how badly Trump spoke about the Chinese during his campaign you know you'd think think we were going to go to war with China over all these these hostile words and positioning that Trump took but on the contrary on the contrary I think president Trump is able to bring the Chinese in and say look we agree on this this and this we think that North Korea should be curbed so do you we want to work together and have thriving uh economies you do we do great but you can't monopolize you can't you know manipulate currency you can't be doing what you're doing and if you want to play with us great but you got to play by the rules and I think it's a fascinating way to engage so many of these different countries again meeting with with China with Jordan with Egypt and you can go down the line I think a lot of world leaders are in line to come and meet with Trump and to reset the true reset will be to see a new and yeah if I may real quick though because you just said something interesting that I hadn't heard about how China wants to curb North Korea do you have any evidence of that with your foreign policy experience given how much they kind of assist North Korea in their economics economics and in their weapons and even sending North Korean escapees back right so the bottom line about China is that it's all about the money it's all about the money so with regards to helping them it's it's those are economic exchanges that's in keeping this relationship going the economic relationship going now do they want another power in the region calling the shots absolutely not absolutely not they want to be the hegemonic power in that region in the waters of that that region uh and they will do whatever it takes if they were if they were more concerned about being that dictator about being a rogue regime they would never come over to Washington and meet with President Trump um so I think that given that plus the fact that they have to have some sort of area of of overlap and agreement uh with the International Community and I think that North Korea is the one place where they can sit down with Trump and say yes we will help you with North Korea as long as you help us with the economy and allow us to have this free flow of cash uh we have guys who are riding bikes now they're riding Ferraris and we can't give them any bad news so I think that's the message with which the president wanted to go back to China and say to his people don't worry it's going to be H business as usual back at home U so final question I'd love to know your thoughts on how Nikki Haley has handled this situation specifically dealing with Syria uh from her ambassadorship at the UN oh she's been fantastic absolutely fantastic a breath of fresh air uh I think a very active and passionate voice in a place and you know speaking to four walls that have not heard this kind of passion coming um from any uh representative in many many years I think it's the the one time that the United States can truly be proud of the UN and what it stands for and I think our representative there is um really doing a fantastic job at not just defending the United States at defending the civilians in Syria and talking about it from a humanitarian stand Point um but also defending our our Ally Israel who's been just brutally brutally butchered uh in the in the un uh with the support of the BDS movement with support of these resolutions that call for Israel to curb its activity calling out Israel with regards to the way they treat women when you have countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran not only allowed into the UN but their representatives being elected to the the commission on women's rights I mean it's a joke and I think that the UN can do a lot of wonderful good around the world just that they haven't uh and I think it's time that we call them out on it and I think Nikki hilly has done a fantastic job at doing just that I've definitely become a fan I was a little skeptical at first her you know going from Governor to the international stage is a pretty big challenge but I think she's filled those shoes very well Lisa duari thank you so much for your time today we'll be sure to include a link to your website uh in in this link for this Facebook live everyone should be sure to also follow Lisa on Twitter and on Facebook Lisa thank you again for your time and have a wonderful weekend thank you you too e e yes e e e e e e e e