Troops on Kharg Island Could Be Bloody. Republicans Say No to Iran.

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Really important to understand. It's not just about whether or not they take something like

cargyle. It's about whether or not they can be protected once they're there. We might be able to

take land space in the region, but protecting our troops there, especially light infantry troops,

from missile attack and especially from cheap drones will be very, very difficult.

Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to episode 476. I am your host Paul Reikamp. It is

Thursday, March 26 and I am coming to you from New York City, USA and the weather here today is

amazing. Finally, 70 and sunny. I feel like we've finally made it through one of the toughest

winners we can remember and spring is finally here. And today's artist and artist I share every day

a new artist with my kids. Today's artist is Tina Turner, the great powerful amazing iconic

inspiring Tina Turner. Why? Because I did a Peloton bike ride this morning and Tina Turner

came on and it gave me a boost to energy. And I think that's what we need to power through what is

a wild week and into the news ahead. Of course, Tina Turner, what's love got to do with it. I heard

a proud Mary redo that was amazing. The best that are be good to me, but we need that kind of

energy. And I want to spread that kind of energy because energy is contagious. And it is also

officially now opening day of Major League Baseball. Now my Yankees kicked it off last night

with a great seven to nothing win against the Giants. And they're off to a great start. They're

undefeated and like every team right now in America, they are in first place. So congratulations to

all of you on opening day of baseball. I hope it brings you hope and inspiration. And I hope

this show does the same. And like the Yankee picture, Max Fried, I'm going to bring you some

fastballs. I'm going to bring you some great pitching. And I'm going to bring you the five

eyes that I bring you in every single show, independence, integrity, information, inspiration,

and impact to take you through this Thursday in a really important couple of news items. Just

me today, a quick fastball of an episode to take you into the week and to help you stay vigilant.

All right, folks, coming up tomorrow, we're going to have a fantastic conversation with the great

Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphy's. He is an amazing artist. He is an amazing leader. He's an amazing

patriot. He is pushing back and has been for years. And I had an extended conversation coming up

with Ken Casey tomorrow. So hit subscribe, mark your calendars and get ready. It should be out

early tomorrow because he will remind us, music will remind us, baseball will remind us, joy

is a form of resistance. Trump and his forever war are out of control. We still have music.

We still have opening day and we still have March madness. Thankfully, he hasn't ruined them yet.

But enjoy him, when and how you can America, especially today and especially this week,

they'll help you stay vigilant before we go into our top topic.

All right, batting lead off until further notice is, of course, the Iran war, which continues to

swirl with controversy and mixed information and reporting out of the region. And here's some

really important reporting that I want to focus you on that I think should be front and center.

As more troops from the 82nd airborne and the Marine Corps head into the region, we are now

getting confirmation that a ground effort could be very, very bloody. This should be no

surprise to anybody who understands the dynamics here. But Natasha Bertrand at CNN, along with

her colleagues, a reporting that Iran has been laying traps in moving additional military personnel

on air defenses to Karg Island in recent weeks in preparation for a possible U.S. operation to

take control of the island. That's according to multiple people familiar with the intelligence

reporting on the issue. Gulf allies are warning that the U.S. could suffer significant casualties

if the U.S. moves forward with an operation there. If you don't know, Karg Island is roughly the

third the size of Manhattan. So the U.S. would have to have a pretty sizable landing force to take

the island if it moved ahead with this thing. It is located at northern end of the Persian Gulf,

away from the start of her moves, but near critical Iranian oil facilities. So they're laying down

all kinds of traps and mines. Our friend Admiral James Trviti who was on the show Monday, if you

didn't hear that, go back and check it out. It's quoted in the CNN piece. He says, I am very worried

about this. Iranians are clever and ruthless. They will do everything they can to inflict maximum

casualties on U.S. forces both on ships at sea and especially once ground troops are anywhere

in the territory, in the sovereign territory. Yep, that's what our troops are going into and really

important to understand. It's not just about whether or not they take something like Karg Island.

It's about whether or not they can be protected once they're there. We might be able to take

land space in the region, but protecting our troops there, especially light infantry troops,

from missile attack and especially from cheap drones will be very, very difficult. Go back and

check out that episode with Admiral Trviti's for more. My episode with General Mark Hurtling and

way way back a few weeks ago, Nolan Peterson and I went into the threat of drones which should

remain front and center. And when you're hearing all this information, lean on military sources

that have been there, I will try to help you through it and I will help you. Stay vigilant.

All right, surprisingly, folks are pushing back. Maybe not surprisingly, but the reality is

politicians from both sides are pushing back because the war in Iran is overwhelmingly unpopular.

And that includes pretty radical right-wing congresswoman Nancy Mace who posted this on X.

I just walked out of an armed house arm services briefing on Iran. Let me repeat,

I will not support troops on the ground in Iran even more so after this briefing.

Then she said more recently yesterday, the justification is presented to the American

public for the war in Iran where not the same military objectives we were briefed on today

in the House Armed Services Committee. This gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues,

the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people. She's right about that.

And in the upside down world of 2026, I find myself agreeing with Nancy Mace,

Marjorie Taylor Greene and others because this war is crazy unpopular and so is the way they're

doing it. I will remind you of the adage I think is so important right now. First, commit the

country. Then commit the troops. Every time a president gets it backward, America gets into big,

big trouble. And it's backwards again now on Iran. Trump doesn't even have most Republicans

behind boots on the ground, but he continues to push forward. Meanwhile, in the region,

troops are in danger. Our troops are in very, very serious danger. Don't let them spin that.

And it's now forced basically every U.S. troop in the region to work remotely.

Iran has damaged several American military bases. They bomb bases across the Middle East,

forcing American troops to relocate to hotels and office bases throughout the region.

Haleen Cooper and Eric Schmidt at the Washington, sorry, at the New York Times,

have this reporting. They're essentially fighting the war remotely now. The exception of

fighter pilots and crews maintaining war planes and conducting strikes. But the Islamic

Republican Guard Corps has urged people to report the locations as it hunts for our troops.

It is significant. As Hegseth says, they've struck 7,000 targets across Iran and its military

infrastructure, saying today, this week will be the largest strike package yet. But

the 13 military bases that the U.S. has in the area are all but uninhabitable.

With the ones in Kuwait, next door to Iran suffering the most significant damage.

Six U.S. service members were killed there, missiles, and drones continue to be a threat.

In Qatar, Iran hit the oed air base, the regional air command headquarters of U.S. Central

command, damaging an early warning system in Bahrain, a one-way Iranian attack drones struck

communications equipment at the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. They got hit in Saudi Arabia,

and it is a big and serious threat. And this will be the ongoing threat, even if they stop bombing.

The missiles and the drones and the other proxy attacks may and likely will continue.

So we all, and especially our troops in the region, that should be in your thoughts and prayers,

need to stay vigilant.

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All right, we need to especially stay vigilant because,

meanwhile, the White House and this crew are just fumbling constantly.

Last night, you may not have seen this unless you're on X and you're kind of under the hood.

Maybe you did. But the White House, last night, late last night,

published something very weird from their ex account, the official White House account.

It was a quick video, only about five seconds that said, sound on, on the bottom,

and someone saying, it's launching soon, right? That's all they said.

Speculation went rampant around the world. It was a female individual, potentially press secretary

Carolyn Levitt, who can be heard saying, is it it's launching soon, right?

Problematic? Yes. And then the video within a few hours was deleted.

No explanation. We don't know what happened, but it seems like maybe they're accidentally posting

shit on Twitter, which is troubling because these are the same people that have our nukes.

Never forget they have sloppy, they are incompetent, and they have not just our bombers and our

military. They have our nukes. And it's another reason our enemies are celebrating.

Our enemies are also celebrating HECSET, who continues to be a flaming hot mess.

Almost every press conference becomes more radical, more propaganda light.

And it looks like people in the Pentagon are fed up with him too. We talked about how

he's only got about 9% of the civilian workforce in the Pentagon that finds him inspiring.

That means most folks see through his charade. But now, staffers have reportedly given the self-proclaimed

secretary of war, a brutal new moniker that leans on his insatiable appetite for war.

The Daily Peace is now recording that they're calling him dumb McNamara.

Dumb McNamara, a reference to, of course, Secretary of Defense McNamara, who ran the Vietnam War

during its worst times later, had to kind of come to Jesus' moment in a famous documentary,

where he kind of admitted he screwed some things up. I don't think HECSET will ever have a

McNamara moment, but he has a McNamara moniker. They're calling him dumb McNamara.

Vietnam was run by McNamara, Iran is being run by HECSET. And this one might stick. I mean,

I've been trying to get acting Secretary of Culture War to stick, which I think is very ab.

But this one might stick, especially, if Trump ends up firing him and using him. We'll see.

Stay, stay focused on that. Now, as this moves on, at least some in Congress are trying

to put some checks in place. I give them credit for that. In case you missed it, there was a 53 to 47

vote on Tuesday. As the Senate defeated the Democrats last attempt to block President Trump

from continuing the war against Iran without congressional authorization, stars and stripes,

is reporting this among others. But at least they're trying. They're failing and they're continuing

to get run over. And I think if they want to get ahead of the game, they need to do a War Powers

Act vote now on Cuba and potentially Colombia and other countries he has said he wants to hit.

But for now, at least they're trying. If you don't know how your folks are voting,

just Google, Roll Call, War Powers Act, and you can see how your senators voted.

Again, Federman has an example. The biggest chicken hawk and a total failure,

especially if you're a Democrat, has voted with the Republicans to not hold a President accountable

in a time of war. Because they believe that he should just be able to do whatever he wants,

including sending more than a woman to die. So Congress is still kind of getting run over like

squirrels on a train track. Some of them are trying some of them, but they're not focused on

protecting our Constitution or our elections. This is below the radar, but it shouldn't be.

Trump has now said out loud what Bannon has said out loud and what I have tried to bring

your attention to, that he wants to keep U.S. troops in U.S. cities forever. Check this out.

I'm doing it. It's like training. It's actually training. I never want to take him out of DC. I mean,

maybe somebody later on will do it, but I never want to take. You know, people, they look,

they say, we feel so good. We feel so safe. So as I've long referenced on this show,

this has always been the plan, and it's unconstitutional and been ruled illegal by the courts,

but he doesn't care. He doesn't care. He wants troops in every U.S. city,

and that now could go even further into places like New York City and Chicago. Check this clip out.

Finished, but that young lady would be alive today.

And she'd be alive for another reason because we would have the National Guard in Chicago

and in New York and in other places. See, never normalize that he wants to put American troops

in American cities, never accepted. And remember, the most important story in the world is still

that Donald Trump can do anything he wants, but the most powerful military the world has ever

seen, and nothing is stopping him, including at home. And he wants to go further. He wants New

York. He wants Chicago. He wants more. He's telegraphing his punches, and he's trying to normalize it,

all of it, but don't let him. Because he wants to use the military to control and expand

this country's power, his power over it, and to potentially meddle in the elections this fall.

We talked yesterday about how Steve Bannon has said that ICE at the airports is a warm-up

for ICE at your election group. They are really good at checking IDs, Steve Bannon said.

That'll give them lots of practice before they check IDs at the elections.

You want a stichable election turnout, especially from minority groups and from people who don't

like ICE, send them to the election polls. It could be part of his plan to disrupt and undermine

our elections. So it's an area, especially. I'm going to stay focused on you. Please stay vigilant.

Now, only if we used our military where we really needed them,

like supporting Ukraine and supporting Putin. Because in Ukraine, it is day 1494 of Russia's

full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And Reuters has an exclusive story that you need to know about.

The U.S. has made its offer of security guarantees needed for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional,

on Kiev, seating all of the country's eastern region of Donbass to Russia.

President Zelensky has told this to Reuters. So it's like asking America to just give up Alaska,

just give up Texas. We wouldn't do it, and we wouldn't appease our enemies, and Ukraine shouldn't

either. It's another example of how Trump continues to side with Putin instead of Ukraine.

But we can speak out and let him know. Let Zelensky know. Let the world know that, especially when it

comes to Ukraine, Donald Trump does not speak for most Americans. If you're not angry about this,

you're not paying attention. And you can support our work at American veterans for Ukraine as well.

Help us speak out, especially if you're a veteran that supports Ukraine and check out our many

episodes with folks who work in and around Ukraine to stand with freedom. It's an important line

in the sand that we should not cross as Americans and as lovers of democracy. And even if our

president won't do it, we should. So stay vigilant. All right, in politics, there's always a lot going

on. We talked about the vote. Republicans continue to be gone. Democrats continue to get rolled.

Independence are few and far between, but independence are the people's champion. We're not just

moving the needle. We are the needle. I will continue to bring you independent candidates who

are declaring their independence and declaring their candidacy. Our goal, of course, is 100

this year in the fall. And we will be announcing our endorsements from independent veterans

America coming soon. In the meantime, you may notice that a lot of people in Washington are making

money on the war. Of course, war profiteers and defense contractors, but also, apparently,

insiders at the White House, who are trading on what's going to happen in the polymark.

And at least one member of Congress, Representative Seth Motten, a Democrat from Massachusetts,

who's a Marine, and been on this show, is doing something about it. He's instituting an office-wide

policy prohibiting his staff from participating in prediction market platforms, like polymarket

and calcium to trade or hold positions on political legislative regulatory or geopolitical outcomes.

Billy House was reporting this on X. Effective today, the band applies to all staff employed by

Congress and Motten, including district staff, legislative staff, any other personnel under his

authority. It's a good move. And I hope Congressman Motten will join us on the show soon to talk more

about that. And he continues to be an important voice pushing back on Iran, he's a Marine,

he knows the cost of war. But this should be the rule for everyone in Congress or in everyone

in a government job of any kind. And now there are two members of Congress who have introduced a bill

that would ban lawmakers and officials in the executive branch, as well as their kids

and spouses, from trading on prediction markets to political events. Politico first reported this.

This is about platforms like polymarket and calcium after suspicious bets have been placed

on policy-related stuff. The bill is called the preventing real-time exploitation

and deceptive insider congressional trading act, the predict act. That's a big one. It will be

responded by Representative Nikki Budzinski, a Democrat from Illinois, and Representative Adrian Smith,

a Republican from Nebraska. This is good. We need it. I invite both of them to come on this show.

It's another way we can push back, hold our leaders accountable, fight back in corruption,

and make sure that war isn't making people profits. It should be about people, not profits. Stay

vigilant. All right, a couple final notes. Let's talk culture. After some back and forth,

there's now news that Bill Mar will receive the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center

after the White House initially denied the reports. He's going to get the prestigious Mark Twain

Prize for American humor. Just Jay's after the Washington, the White House denied it.

The annual award will be presented at the Kennedy Center on June 28th, right before the whole

thing closes down for a two-year renovation. Bill Mar said, thank you to the Mark Twain people.

I just had the award explain to me, and apparently it's like an Emmy, except I win,

he quipped in a statement. I'd like to say it's indeed humbling to get anything named for a man

who's been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain. Mark Twain also famously said,

I love my country always and my government when it deserves it. But Bill Mar will be in the news,

and I will be on with Bill Mar. I'm going on real time with Bill Mar on April 10th. I'm going out

to LA for that, so Mark your calendar. It should be a good one. I've been on a few times before,

and looking forward to mixing it up. Let's move over to sports to close and give you some hope and

some inspiration. The NCAA tournament is back in session tonight for games. Number 11 Texas

against number two Purdue. I'm picking Purdue. They've been amazing. Number four Arkansas against

Arizona. I'm picking Arizona. Great to see Arkansas back, but Arizona is maybe the one seed that

not enough folks are focused on. Number nine against number nine Iowa against number four Nebraska.

I'm taking Iowa. I'm taking Iowa and the upset Nebraska has been amazing, but I'm taking Iowa.

And then Houston number two against Illinois. Number three, I'm taking Houston. I think they are

a very good two seed, and they will impress. Of course, we got St. John's tomorrow against Duke.

Look for that. And my baseball picks. Baseball is now underway. Happy opening day. I'm going to

throw out my World Series picks for you now. No big reach here. I think the Dodgers are going to

go back for the National League. Of course, this is if they can stay healthy. But Otani Yamamoto,

that whole crew is just rocking. It's almost unfair. And my Yankees, I think we'll meet them again

in the World Series. I think if the Yankees are healthy, they get back here at Cole. They've got Max

Fried, Aaron Judge does it again. Jazz Chisholm should have a big year Ben Rice. Watch my friend Ben

Rice who's been getting better every year and now holding it down at first base. A big shout out

to the Yankees. I think they're going back to the World Series. And this time, I think the Yankees do

it. I think our pitching staff is good enough. I think we got the backs and I think we can take down

the Dodgers. So that's my prediction. I know it's only March. It's opening day. But I wish your

teams all the best of luck. Our HBCUs have a legacy that's straight up Golden.

And McDonald's is proud to help keep it that way. Since 2021, the Golden Arches has connected

with the Third Good Marshall College Fund to provide $1 million in scholarships for students

headed to our HBCUs. That kind of cash helps keep bright minds on the yard, dreams within reach,

and the future Golden. Learn more about McDonald's Black and Positively Golden Scholarships at

mcdblackscholars.com. And all of us are best of luck in defending our democracy as we go into

this spring season of true March Madness, which is definitely a time to stay vigilant.

All right. Finally, guys, a couple of notes that you need to know about. The No Kings protests

are happening all across America this weekend. I've been critical of them because I just think

the No Kings thing is kind of hard to understand. But the movement is growing. People are coming out.

They're unifying. I think this could be a big one. It's happening on Saturday all across America.

I think they should call them the No Trump rallies and no Trump protests. I think that would be

better for people to understand where unifying so many people are against ice and against Trump

and against the war. But ultimately, most people now are against Trump. But I'm going to be out there.

If you're going to be out there, hit me up and let me know. I'll be at the protest here in New York.

It's the first one I've officially gone to, but I'm going to go there and try to push back against

forever wars and just be a part of it and soak it up and maybe post some content. I'm also going

to talk tomorrow to Ken Casey of the Drop Kick Murphains. He will be holding it down at the No Kings

protests in Boston. So if you want to check out the Drop Kick Murphies, go to Boston for that protest

and come back here tomorrow for my extended conversation with the great Ken Casey.

This guy's a true patriot. He loves vets. He loves firefighters. He loves democracy and he does not

hold back. All right, I'm not holding back either. Yesterday you saw me on news nation.

For my weekly Wednesday hit, today I will be on MS now. For my weekly hit, I mentioned Bill Mar.

Mark your calendar April 10th. The Stephen Colbert interview continues to get around. Thank you

to all of you who are joining us now because of that. Check out yesterday's episode with Scott

McFarland. Welcome to all the mightest people that are now here. General Mark Hurtling from

earlier in the week, Admiral James Javiti's. And of course, Mick Foley over the weekend.

Coming up, we got a lot more national security, political and cultural experts that they're going

to join us here on the show as the show continues to surge. We got Henry Rollins coming back. We got

Rob Connick coming back. We got Jeffrey Wright coming back. We'll have Sebastian Younger back

and a lot of other folks that you've heard before and some big new ones. So stay tuned. Be sure to

follow us on every social media platform and follow us on YouTube. Hit subscribe. I really need

your help expanding YouTube and watch the show there. If you got an older person who's not really

into listening to podcasts, they can pull it up on YouTube and watch it in their home. So check

it out and share the love and share the independence because we're daily now and you can subscribe

on all platforms and go to independentamericans.us where you can get some merch and you can

soon get our merch up on our YouTube page. America's divided but less and less by the day. We're

trying to change that here at independentamericans. We are adding light to contrast the heat and bring

it to you fast and fierce. If you're among the 45% of Americans who are independent, which is

growing by the day or Democrats, Republicans that are pissed off and want an alternative,

especially from the corporate and traditional media, this is your place. Check us out because our

independent movement is hope for the future. You don't know. It is about country over party,

people over politics, light over heat, challenging the status quo and feeling a new movement all

across our society and our movement is growing and it is the hope that is the oxygen of our democracy.

The hope you feel on baseball opening day this week, the hope you feel around March Manus,

the hope you feel around spring. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it far and wide and

invite others to declare their independence, support independent media, especially in a time of

war. And stay vigilant, my friends, because eternal vigilance is the price of freedom,

knowing that alone in your vigilance, we're all vigilant and we're all in this together.

I'm your host Paul Reiko. Thank you for tuning into independentamericans. I will see you tomorrow

with Ken Casey for a big one. Come back for that. Happy opening day, America. Again, and stay

vigilant. Stay vigilant, America. Play ball!

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I get it independent, he's an attitude. And I land in the sea of rhetoric and after

I go, he tells me the left and right are dreams for fools without a clue. And when you wait,

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