Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with Trump rejecting Iran's peace offer as totally unacceptable in caps,

with Prime Minister Netanyahu telling 60 minutes that if negotiations fail, quote,

we will re-engage them militarily, adding Iran's governments, quote, days are numbered, but it could take a lot of

days. Joining us is Mark Fitzpatrick, a fellow for strategy, technology, technology, and arms control,

and former executive director of the Washington-based America's Office of the International

Institute for Strategic Studies, as well as former head of the Institute's work on nonproliferation.

He served as a US Foreign Service Officer, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation at the State Department,

and his books include spies, bombs and beyond, and the Iranian nuclear crisis, avoiding worst-case outcomes.

Then with Uber-Neokan, Robert Kagan, writing in the Atlantic that,

quote, Washington can't reverse or control the consequences of losing this war,

but then recommending that the US, quote, engage in a full-scale ground grounded naval war to remove the current Iranian regime, then occupy Iran.

We will speak with Jacob Harbrun, the editor at the national interest, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlanta Council's Eurasia Center, and a columnist for The Spectator.

His books include They Knew They Were Right, The Rise of the Neocons, and America Last,

the right century-long romance with foreign dictators.

He's also editor-at-large of the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune,

and he has an article at The Spectator, Trump, is clinging to a mirage in the Middle East.

Then finally, we'll speak with Andrew Coburn, the Washington editor of Harper's magazine,

and the author of many books on national security, including spoils of war,

Kill Chain and Rumsfelds, his rise, fall, and catastrophic legacy.

He has written four, among others, the Los Angeles Times,

...