Welcome to the commentary magazine podcast today is Thursday January 9th.

2020 I am John Puthor. It's the editor of commentary magazine the 70 out-year-old

monthly of intellectual analysis political, providence, cultural criticism from

a conservative perspective as ever we invite you to join us at commentary

magazine.com are still newly redesigned website where we give you a few free

reads and ask you to subscribe 1995 for a digital subscription and 29.95 for an

all-access subscription including our beautiful monthly magazine in your

mailbox 11 times a year with me a Greenwald senior editor high-aid. Hi John.

Noah Rothman associate or high-noah. Hi John and in Washington senior writer

Christine Rosen. Hi John. Alright so Trump, Ron, Trump spoke the

Iranians fired some missiles that didn't hurt anybody and apparently gave us a

heads-up beforehand so that they wouldn't hurt anybody thus apparently making

live the theoretical case that Noah made and I made and others made that that

what was needed here was a strong message from the United States in the form of

the killing of Qasim Suleiman that would reestablish a deterrent effect on

Iran's increasingly provocative and aggressive behavior over the last six to

eight months in in the region. Trump said as much I here's what I was struck by in

his speech yesterday which is that having people who were both who are

skeptical of him skeptical of the strike skeptical of aggressive foreign

policy moves had talked themselves into the idea that we were on the verge of

war and now they say you know well Trump stepped back from the precipice of the

war that he was starting. Oh even better that Iran had given him an off-ramp and

...