The Saudis Still Have Some Cleaning Up To Do

By Ryan Mauro

The Iraqi Prime Minister is slamming the Muslim world for their silence on the hate speech of the Mufti of Mecca, Sheikh Adil al-Kalbani, who said in May that Shiites are “infidels” and should not be represented in Saudi Arabia’s “senior scholarly committee” as he describes it, referring to the Grand Ulama Commission. This means Shiites are not Muslims in his eyes, and therefore, the killing of them is justified (of course, some Muslims argue that being an “infidel” does not qualify you for being murdered, but that’s another issue). The Saudis have repeatedly claimed that their top Muslim clerics are moderate and do not support extremism. But, as I say endlessly, being a moderate consists of more than condemning 9/11, Al-Qaeda, or even suicide bombings in general. The Saudis also claim that they are screening and cleansing their country of clerics spouting hatred - but here we have a cleric who has received international attention, and remains in power. [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT helped kick off the Nationwide TroopAThon program for Care Packages to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan effort Thursday with a link up between FOX News Strategy Room and the Reagan Library. If you want to donate to send care packages, go to TroopAThon.org Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Her video blog this week on DEFCON 3 by KT is about Iran & Regime Change from Within (6/23/09)

Memo to the Mullahs: 'It's Over, Boys' is KT's column on FOX Forum

KT Geraldo at Large 6/20/09 on Iranian elections

KT FOX News 6/21 on Iran

KT on FOX News 6/22 on North Korean Nukes

KT's YouTube Page - with the archive of all her media interviews

FOX News Blogs » FOX Forum » Kathleen Troia "K.T." McFarland 6/24/09

Update on North Korea

By Ryan Mauro

North Korea's involvement in supplying ballistic missile and WMD technology is done not solely to make common cause with adversaries of the West, but is critical to filling the wallets of the regime's leaders. North Korea is the closest thing to a mafia state we have today, with the government using the black market to sell illicit materials for fundraising and intelligence gathering. Given the importance of such shipments to the operation of North Korea's government, it is highly unlikely that the Stalinist regime will end them.

The insistence of shipping such materials, even after the Obama Administration decided to intercept them when possible, is also a key test of the Administration. Kim Jong-Il is a tough negotiator, and a wise businessman, and is testing the resolve of the United States. He knows the U.S. will not engage in a major military conflict with the DPRK, and so such shipments carry relatively little risk: A clash will allow him to rev up his hyper-nationalistic propaganda, win the attention of the West, and asset his power. At the same time, should the U.S. not board the ship, he will have confirmed his original suspicions that it is business as usual, and will reassure his customers that they need not look for other suppliers. The prestige from such a victory will fuel his already outrageous ego, filling him with the pride and glory every dictator craves.

I expect North Korea to continue its WMD shipments, regardless of how the U.S. decides to handle this latest vessel departure. Black market activity of all kind is in the blood of the North Korean regime, and so long as the regime exists in its present state, we can expect the cycle of confrontation followed by pleas for international aid packages to continue. [more...]

KT McFarland Speaks on The Nuclear Threat

KT McFarland held a captive audience last night on Long Island at the Temple Hillel. Her address was on the Nuclear Threat and the proliferation of weapons in countries around the world. She charmed and enlightened her audience by speaking clearly and succinctly on a subject that, for most of us, is veiled in secrecy. We all learned so much from listening to KT's own experiences traveling the world, her meeting with Golda Meier, and working with President Reagan and Henry Kissinger. The Q&A was particularly lively as the audience was a mixture of both Democrats and Republicans. KT is a regular Fox News Channel contributor and served in the National Security Council. She received a Ph.D from MIT with a concentration in nuclear weapons, China and the Soviet Union.

Iran’s Green Revolution Could Change the World

By Ryan Mauro

Should the Green Revolution succeed in toppling the regime, it will be the greatest event since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It will prove to be a more decisive event than even the invasion of Iraq and will rival the attacks of September 11, 2001, in influencing the course of history. The stakes could not be higher. The regime could fall, resulting in the greatest victory in the war on terror to date, or the regime will survive, leaving behind tens of thousands of bloodied bodies, a discouraged population unlikely to take such risks again and bitter at the lack of support from the United States, potentially losing the West one of its best allies. The regime will emerge stronger than before, far more emboldened, and far more vicious and radical - a development that could prove fatal to efforts to prevent a regional war from erupting. [more...]

KT McFarland in the Media

KT McFarland will be on Fox News Channel News Sunday 6/21 at 11.45 am and Monday 6/22 at noon to discuss North Korea's missile tests and nuclear weapons.

KT will address the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy organization on Tuesday, June 23 at 6.30 pm the Princeton Club in New York. She will also be at Temple Hillel in Woodmere, Long Island on Wed. evening, June 24 to discuss U.S. Policy Toward Iran and Israel.

KT's television appearances last week were on:

6/18 and 6/19 on Fox News Channel discussing North Korea's nuclear program:
http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=011008&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=6094984&referralPlaylistId=playlist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WghNKsOZwdU

KT's two columns for Fox Forum (Fox News's online editorial page) are here.

FOX News Blogs » FOX Forum » KT McFarlandObama Must Send Iran a Message - Reagan Showed Us How to Do It

Iran: Answered Prayers?

By John LeBoutillier

Iran may crumble. The government that was carried in by the mob thirty years ago may get carried out by that mob's children. This electrifying story can go in any direction - and already the past five days have seen things which indicate the closed, Mullah-run society is teetering on implosion:

1) Their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has reversed himself - in public - twice - on recounting the votes;

2) He is floundering over what to do as the streets erupt in violence and protest;

3) The government clampdown on foreign journalists, text messaging, cell calls, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter shows that Tehran is indeed worried about losing control of their people;

4) The people are increasingly unsatisfied by the government’s response - and thus the protests are spreading, not decreasing. [more...]