for more on the situation with iran i'm joined tonight by bradley bowman he is senior director of the center for military and political power at the foundation for defense of democracies he's also a former national security advisor in the u.s. senate bradley it's good to have you back on the show let me ask you about the hope that it's that was stirred up this week at the u.n. general assembly there were people who were hoping that tensions between iran and the u.s. could begin to be dialed down a bit it didn't happen did it. no it did and i and others were watching the remarks of the iranian leader closely and they continued denials which is patently clear and that is that iran conducted attack against society. energy facility which by most people's definitions would constitute an act of war they continued to deny it they said that they would try to prevent others from exporting oil they have sabotage ships they have launched they in their proxies have. put. explosives in the direction of u.s. embassies and other things and this is the latest a significant escalation and the u.s. in my view has shown significant restraint in prudence and in responding so. it's encour

short while ago joining us now from washington is ben and ben tell the blue of the foundation for defense of democracy in washington d c a think tank that recommends hardline iran policy yes sir welcome to the show what did you make of president rouhani statements. thanks for having me and great to be with you i think rowhani was a bit out of his comfort zone here rouhani and zarif iran's foreign minister usually prefer to win that major diplomatic international arenas they prefer to keep america divided from the international community here they had to strike a tone much like he runs for president ahmadinejad the tone was intransigent it cast america as a bully it cast europe as weak and they cast iran's regional neighbors as dependent and it's just one of the measures of success if you will of this max pressure campaign of this u.s. attempt to press iran to come to the table because it's negotiating very publicly with lots of evolving talking points and it's negotiating with its actions in the region and with respect to the nuclear deal what you describe is a success of this this u.s. administration

weak response will simply invite more of the same all right bradley bowman with the foundation for defense of democracies joining us tonight from washington d.c. probably appreciate your time and your clear words and insights tonight thank you thank you for they are jenny i'm grateful thanks. i will post a part of them on this general structural change in hong kong which means free election if hong kong false it would easily become the springboard for the totally tearing regime of china to push its rules and properties overseas its allies and its economic economic powers to come from all of this to there come this value so as i speak hong kong is standing at a critical juncture for this they have never been higher i dare for earch the us congress to stand by hong kong and most of all to pass to hong kong human rights and democracy act this is not a plea for this so-called foreign interference this is a plea for democracy this is a plea for to freedom to choose i hope historians will celebrate the united states congress for having stood on the side of hong kong this the start of human rights and democracy

and iran i'm joined tonight by bradley bowman senior director of the foundation for defense of democracies he's been a national security adviser in the u.s. senate and he served in the u.s. army tonight bradley joins me from washington belize good to have you on the show maybe you could let me know what you think about what we heard today from saudi arabia did the that saudi colonel did he deliver a compelling case today or did he just simply fall in line with the u.s. i think it's important to view this attack for what it was not was a direct unprovoked attack on global energy markets i think now's the time for and for gathering facts and analyzing options you know wars are easy to start hard and conflict military conflict is a start and the one thing is certain if there is not a strong proportional and measured response i think we'll get more of the same well you say this was an unprovoked attack but can't we argue and i know that some members of the u.s. congress today have argued this that if iran is responsible then iran has been provoked by the us withdrawing from the nuclear agreeme

acting army secretary ryan mccarthy spoke at the foundation for defense of democracies about the army's moderation and readiness efforts. this is about an hour. >>> well, welcome to the foundation for defense of democracies, a special welcome to viewers online and those watching on c-span today. i'm cliff may, i'm the founder and president of fdd, and i'm pleased to welcome you to the event, ruthless prioritization, the arm's realization of the national defense strategy. we're honored to host acting secretary the arm ryan d. mccarthy. thank you for coming together. as secretary jasper and millihighlighted earlier this year, the area confronts a global security environment that is increasingly competitive and volatile. we see great adversaries working overtime to erode america's military power in order to threaten our interests and those who are our allies. in the light of these challenges and to support the national defense strategy, the army has achieved tremendous progress on modernization and reform over the last couple of years. but the threats remain significant and the budgets rem

foundation for defense of democracy. you know the most hawkish on you wrong and they're also the most hawkish on afghanistan and there is indeed a strong correlation between those who insist on staying in afghanistan and those who have been in favor of withdrawing from the run nuclear if you know. the policy of maximum pressure of so i do think that. being sold we among insiders tell you the wrong sort of continuing mean strategy ok and it's our last 30 seconds to you is the worst problem afghanistan experiencing right now is the lack of democracy is that your number one concern. no. in life that's a big concern that's a that's a that's a big concern and we're just beginning our own person to survive that's the big thing we want right now ok well i hope after 18 years somebody has learned something and i actually hope somebody would be punished and held responsible for this absolute catastrophe and particularly for the afghan people we have to remember that that's all the time we have gentlemen many thanks to my guest in

according to the foundation for defense of democracy, 60% of afghanistan is either right now either controlled or contested by the taliban. the only thing that is keeping that number from growing is the u.s. presence there in support of afghan troops. as soon as we pull out, i think it's a logical conclusion that the taliban is going to be able to push forward and perhaps take over the entire country. one issue that is getting too little attention, in my opinion, is the 50% of the population of afghanistan that happen to be women. they are the ones that are going to pay the price most dearly, all for the taliban being able to come back to power. >> because if they do come back, they're probably going to reimpose their version of governance which was very oppressive for women before 2001. thank you both for breaking it down for us at this hour. >>> up next, after more than a month off, congress is back in session with a long to-do list at the top of the democrats' agenda tightening gun restrictions something that shows voters on both sides of the aisle overwhelmingly support. you're watching ms

clifford may heads up the foundation for defense of democracy and is here in a fox business exclusive. the u.s. says it's iran, the saudis say it's not the houthi militia in yemen who pulled this off. what is your early investigation telling you? >> what we know is the islamic republic of iran was behind this. whether they used the houthis in yemen who, again, are proxies for iran, guided, funded, instructed by the islamic republic in particular by the quds force which is the expeditionary force of the iranian islamic revolutionary guard corps. whether it was them or whether it was others, doesn't matter. it was still iran. i think that it probably was not the houthis. they are claiming it because it's convenient and it gives the islamic republic of iran sort of plausible deniabilitdeniability. everything we know, the evidence we have suggests the rockets and we are talking about cruise missiles as well as drones were fired from the north, which means they came either from iranian territory or more likely from southern iraq, where there are various shia militias also instructed and fu

mark is ceo of foundation for defense of democracy. also a trump administration advisor on iran. . three of the candidates are getting support from secretary of state mike pompeo. he's got top hostage negotiator robert o'brien. brian hook, ricky wadell,en assistant to the joint chiefs of staff. though the president says he will make the final decision. how much will secretary pompeo's opinion weigh in? >> i think it will matter a lot. he's one of the president's closest national security advisors and is instrumental in the policies and challenges the president will face the next year and a half or longer. arthel: another name floated, richard grenell. we be good for the position. he the ambassador to germany in the belly of the beast, doing great work on iran and u.s.-nato relations. and he's someone the president admires greatly. he's got a great personality. he's been out in the media. ing they * how hawkish. arthel: how hawkish or doveish do you next the next national security advisor to be. >> he doesn't want to get into additional wars so he will use national power and he wil

the ceo of foundation for the defense of democracy.been sanctioned, but it also appears you've received a lot of support from the highest kind of echelons of the administration including secretary of state pompeo, is that right? >> that's correct. the iranian regime has gone after my organization and gone after me, a guy e who runs a think tank, so i think that underscores the kind of distress the regime is feeling -- gillian: wait, sorry, just to double on that for a second, the idea being if they're so sort of insecure at the moment that they're lashing out against american think tanks that produce policy papers -- >> that's exactly right. gillian: -- they've got to be pretty upset, right? >> that's exactly right. they're under immense economic pressure and feeling the weight of u.s. power. we've received support from is secretary pompeo, from ambassador bolton, former ambassador of theup, nikki haley, including mr. obama administration officials who supported the deal, who are engaged in talks with iran, came out and blasted the reg

of the national security council. thomas is a senior fellow at the foundation for the defense of democracy.or the counterterrorism division he's issued the related counterterrorism. i'd like to welcome and i would now allow the witnesses to testify for five minutes each. while the specifics of the special representativ representr afghanistan reconciliation remain unknown, it is a parent element for the serious concern about the failure and suffocation. president trump has called a halt to the discussions with the telegram to the opportunity exists since the administration will take it to seek a deal that will lead to a political agreement ending the conflict and the gold which the president said two years ago. the deal on the withdrawal of performances is one not grounded in the contest of an actual peace agreement with the collapse of afghanistan as a chaos of president extremist taliban emirate and the growth of the islamist terrorist threat to the western security and values. the american afghan peoples in the international part is in afghanistan deserve better. onconce i'd negotiating a

thomas jocelyn is a senior fellow at the foundation of defense of democracies and senior editor of fdd's long war journal. he has worked as a trainer forthe fbi's counterterrorism division and worked on counterterrorism. i'd like to welcome you all. your prepared testimony will become part of the record. i'll allow the witnesses to testify for five minutes each to summarize their testimony. let's start with ambassador cunningham. >> thank you, sir. appreciate the opportunity to be here today. while the specifics of the deal negotiated by u.s. special representative for afghanistan reconciliation kahlil zad remain known, there's serious concern about its failure and application. now that president trump has called a halt to the discussions with the taliban, the opportunity exists if the administration will take it to course correct and seek a better deal that will lead to a political agreement ending the conflict. the goal which president trump correctly set two years ago. a flawed deal on withdrawal of u.s. forces, one not grounded in the context of an actual peace agreement risks the collapse of afghanistan into chaos, the return of t