KT McFarland in the Media

KT McFarland has a new YouTube channel which is an archive of all her media interviews. To visit the channel, go to YouTube.com/ktmcfarland.

You can also sign up for the RSS feed to automatically receive these interviews as they happen.

FOX News 9/28/09 on Iran's surprise missile test and nuclear site
http://www.youtube.com/ktmcfarland#play/all/0/EsSqjETlXDI

KT on FOX News 9/26/09 on McChrystal Report and Afghan War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OySeEHHzgfc

KT on FOX News 9/26/09 on Iran's hidden nuclear site
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2d2EqijAiw

KT's two part interview on Julie Menin's TV show, Give and Take
Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug5NVusyBSI
Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkHjmkdGJj8&feature=related

Kathleen Troia “K.T.” McFarland served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan Administrations. She traveled to Afghanistan in May and observed firsthand the shortcomings of our Afghan war policy.

Joining the Nuclear Club

By John LeBoutillier

Iran has been accelerating their secret program to build operational nuclear weapons for one reason - and one reason alone: once a country has nukes, no one messes with that country ever again! No one preemptively attacks and invades you - as the USA did to Iraq in 2003.

Iran saw what the Bush-led invasion did to their next-door neighbor, Iraq - the dreaded term for dictators: regime change - and they wanted no part of the same possibility aimed their way. Thus they immediately went pedal-to-the-metal - in secret, or so they thought - to build nuclear weapons.

Possessing nuclear bombs deters aggression against you - and it allows you to intimidate your neighbors, i.e. Arab states with which Iran has never had particularly good relations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought the radical mullahs to power in Tehran. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has had frosty relations with the arrogant - and rich - leaders of Iran. And the Saudi government recently told Israel in secret that they would allow Israel to fly over Saudi air space on their way to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. [more...]

Rep. Bartlett: EMP Attack Would Wipe Out U.S. Military

By Ronald Kessler

The nation's military is largely unprotected in the event an enemy launches a nuclear bomb that would fry microchips and the power grid with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) says Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.

Since the early 1990s, "Essentially all our new weapon systems have been built with a waiver for EMP hardening," says Bartlett, a scientist and inventor who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services' Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces.

"If an enemy used an EMP enhanced weapon - and Russian generals told our EMP commission that they had developed weapons which emit 200 kilovolts per meter weapon - I've been assured by experts in the area that everything would be down," says Bartlett, who has been the leading member of Congress fighting to recognize EMP as a threat.

In fact, "One of the first things [an enemy] would do is an EMP laydown to deny you the use of all your equipment which is not EMP hardened, which is essentially all our equipment," Bartlett says. "They don't harden against EMP any more." [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT's interview with Bill Hemmer of FOX News 9/21/09 on Obama UN meetings in light of missile shield cancellation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvxrvRmf-Nw

DEFCON 3 by KT this week is on Obama's decision to cancel the missile shield:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=9904726&referralPlaylistId=3a79636bff5a7d6d749cc0a2eef87b4a546cf613

KT has two front page pieces this week on FOXNews.com's opinion page, FOX FORUM:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/18/kt-mcfarland-missile-defense-obama-poland-russia/
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/09/21/kt-mcfarland-afghanistan-obama-troops/

Obama Tosses an Ally Overboard --and We Get Zip, 9/18/09

President Obama not only threw an ally overboard, he got snookered by the Russians, and just moved us closer a world where the mad mullahs have the bomb.Remember Polish jokes? They're politically incorrect these days, so no one makes them. No one, that is, except President Obama. By cancelling the promised missile shield, he in effect cut Poland loose and threw her to the Russians...70 years to the day after of their brutal invasion of the country. Nice timing.

The missile shield was designed to protect Eastern Europe from the growing Iranian missile threat, which threatens to soon go nuclear. It would have put American military personnel in Russia's backyard, in countries that were until recently part of the Russian empire, and which Russia yearns to control again.

The very thought of this drove the Russians nuts. They would have paid dearly to get it dropped. If Obama was willing to renege on a promise and toss an ally overboard, he should have at least gotten something for it-- like getting Russia to cooperate with us to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.

What could Obama have traded? He could have gotten the Russians to delay or halt delivery of the state-of-the-art air defense system they've promised Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu went to Moscow recently to plead with them to delay delivery. Once Iran gets the S-300 system, an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites would be nearly impossible.

Obama could have gotten Russia join with us in a gasoline embargo on Iran. Iran imports 40% of its gasoline-- an embargo would force them to the negotiating table, quickly, and leave them ready to make a deal. But an embargo would be toothless if the Russians block it at the U.N., or cheats on it once it's been passed.

Obama could have gotten Russia to stop helping Iran enrich uranium. Without Russian assistance, it will be more difficult and take longer for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

If President Obama had gotten one or more of these concessions, cancelling the missile shield might have made sense, especially if we retained the right to have a ship-based system. But he has apparently cancelled it without extracting anything from Russia, hoping instead that his goodwill gesture would allow us to 'reset' the U.S.-Russian relationship. The administration said there was no "quid pro quo." The Russian Foreign Minister said sanctions against Iran would be a "serious mistake."

President Obama not only threw an ally overboard, he got snookered by the Russians, and just moved us closer a world where the Mad Mullahs have the bomb. If he hasn't learned his World War II history about Poland and the Soviet Union, he may want to read up on what happened to Neville Chamberlain when he tried to curry favor with Hitler.

Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland served in national security posts in the Nixon, Ford and Reagan Administrations. She is a Senior Advisor to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and the author of DEFCON-3 by KT, a FOX News.com video blog.

Will Obama 'Do a Rumsfeld' In Afghanistan? 9/21/09
What's our end game in Afghanistan? Will the president opt for a "slow bleed" in the region and ignore the need to increase troop levels?

EMP Attack Would Send America into a Dark Age

By Ronald Kessler

In a matter of seconds, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack or a geomagnetic storm would set America back to the 14th century, Gale Nordling, president of a company that protects against such a catastrophe, says.

An EMP attack occurs when a nuclear bomb explodes in the atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast fries all electronics in line of sight. EMP was first detected after the detonation of the Starfish Prime nuclear test on July 9, 1962. While the explosion occurred near Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean and was not designed to be an EMP blast, it blew out street lamps, television sets, and telephone communications in Hawaii nearly 1,000 miles away.

A single nuclear bomb exploded over the Midwest would generate an electromagnetic pulse that would destroy the chips that are at the heart of every electronic device. While military and intelligence networks may be shielded against EMP, the rest of the country's technological infrastructure is not.

"If a nuclear device designed to emit EMP were exploded 250 to 300 miles up over the middle of the country, it would disable the electronics in the entire United States," says Nordling, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Emprimus. "That would disable the entire electric grid. It would disable communications, it would disable fuel manufacturing and production, it would disable hospitals and medicines, it would disable 911 call centers."

Everything else would be shut down, Nordling says.

Unlike protection against a nuclear blast, shielding to protect against EMP is a relative bargain. For example, the 300 transformers that are critical to the power grid could be protected for $200 million to $400 million.

As noted in the Newsmax story EMP Attack Could Wipe Out U.S., neither Republicans nor Democrats have been willing to spend that small sum. In fact, the U.S. government is doing "nothing" to protect the power grid or the rest of the infrastructure from an EMP strike, confirms Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, a former staff member of the EMP commission who heads EMPACT America, which seeks to call attention to the largely unrecognized threat. But given the reasonable cost, Nordling says, companies could be held liable for not protecting against EMP and solar storms. [more...]

Ronald Kessler is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen nonfiction books, including The Terrorist Watch, Inside the White House, The CIA at War, and The Bureau. A former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporter, Kessler has won sixteen journalism awards.

Get Ready for an Even More Radical Iranian Regime

By Ryan Mauro

Disturbing signs point to increasing boldness in Iran's confrontation with the West.

The conflict with Iran is entering a new, more dangerous phase. Video of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad holding a meeting with high-level officials on June 13 in Qom has leaked out, giving us insight into how he sees the near future. "A new revolution has begun,” he says, as the Islamic Revolution finds its “true destiny” and enters a more difficult period. He speaks with genuine optimism and enthusiasm, and says it will not be limited to Iran. The tape clearly shows that Ahmadinejad believes that something has just changed that makes this moment in history special and directly related to Iran’s role in Allah’s plans. The tape also brings bad news for Iran’s students. Ahmadinejad calls for an expansion of “Islamic culture” in the universities, attributing domestic unrest to a lack of training of the younger generation. Students should expect a complete rewriting of the curriculum to “Islamize” the education, and even stricter puritan-like enforcement of Sharia law and indoctrination. From the sound of it, a second Iranian cultural revolution is on the way. [more... ]

Honor the Victims of 9/11 with Action

By Ryan Mauro

On 9/11, the outrage and fear we felt was matched with an equally intense determination to do something. Some signed up for the military, others performed acts of charity, and others contributed to the sense of unity and patriotism we all enjoyed basking in but have since long lost. Yet we still haven't been given such instructions. We were just told to go shopping, an essential act to get the economy going again after the attacks, but one that left us feeling unfulfilled and unrecognized as the valuable assets in the War on Terror that we are. As we passed the eighth anniversary of 9/11, let's go beyond remembering the emotion of that horrible day. Let's take action. The first action to take is to watch The Third Jihad, which is, in my opinion, the best documentary produced about the jihadist threat. It is not just a wake-up call meant to frighten us, but is filled with facts covering the many different angles of the radical Islamic threat facing us. [more...]

Obama’s CIA Actions Belie 9/11 Words

By Ron Kessler

On Sept. 11, President Barack Obama said all the right words to commemorate the tragedy that took place eight years earlier. Yet, as when Obama claimed his budget moves America “from an era of borrow and spend” to one of “save and invest,” his actions belied his words. Obama has turned the CIA into a personal punching bag, dealing one blow after another to the agency, which is our first line of defense against another attack. After releasing Justice Department memos detailing the CIA’s enhanced interrogation tactics, Obama spoke to CIA employees. As if speaking to a kindergarten class, Obama said, “Don’t be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we’ve made some mistakes. That’s how we learn.” What mistakes did CIA officers make? Their “mistake” was to patriotically do what their government told them to do and subject three terrorists to waterboarding. While Obama has referred to waterboarding as a “brutal” tactic, it inflicts no pain. If it were brutal, we would not subject our own special forces to waterboarding during training. [more...]

French Launch Somalia Raid

By Ryan Mauro

The BBC is reporting that French troops have launched a raid into Somalia, attacking Islamist guerrillas. Apparently, French forces attacked the rebels in southern Somalia. The French government supports the small democratic government of Somalia, but has not officially sent troops to the country. The French deny any involvement in the raid, but with a base in Djibouti and local anti-piracy forces right off the coast, it certainly looks likely. At least two of the Islamists died in the raid, with no word of French casualties. This shows that perhaps Europe is getting more serious regarding the collapsing situation in Somalia. They may be recognizing that such failed states could become the next Afghanistan. [more...]

Iranian Government Pressures Opposition

By Ryan Mauro

The Associated Press is reporting here that the government of President Ahmadinejad is putting additional pressure on those protesting his election. World Threats has reported on some of the atrocities committed by the Ahmadinejad government in its quest to stifle opposition to the rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to information received by World Threats from inside Iran, protests continue unabated. Students taking exams last Sunday that had been postponed from June chanted anti-government slogans. Quoting from our sources, “Hossein Hasemian, a member of the reactionary Parliament, said, 'according to the information we have, some members of the RGC (Revolutionary Guards Corps) have resigned in protest against the RGC’s interference in the political issues of the country.’” Defections from the IRGC, depending on who has defected and how many have defected, might be significant. [more...]