Neal Asbury opened the show by reflecting on the meeting between President Obama and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which have been at odds since Obama took office.  Obama’s address was entitled “Winning the future is what business must do to succeed.”  Asbury thought the speech should have been entitled “Winning the future starts with creating an environment that allows business to succeed.”

“The president didn’t even talk about job creation. Only 36,000 jobs were created last month.  That’s far short of what we need to see. But the Administration lowered the unemployment rate from 9.4 percent to 9 percent.  That just doesn’t equate.  I think they are so desperate they are cooking the books,” said Asbury.  “I just don’t see any new thinking. It’s more of the same.”
Asbury wants to see the end to an atmosphere of fear and anxiety.  He wants to see Obama say to the American public “I get it.  I will lift the barriers that stop job creation.”
Neal devoted the entire hour of his show to reflect the quick-changing events in Egypt. The show was taped prior to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s ultimate decision to cede power.

Neal was joined on the show by repeat guest and author Reza Kahlili (a pseudonym to protect the author’s identity) who penned A Time to Betray, a memoir that traces Kahlili’s path from a member of Iranian’s Revolutionary Guard to a CIA operative.

Kahlili is alarmed to see the U.S. making the same mistake it did in Iran when the people overthrew the Shah.   The U.S. is underestimating the influence that Iran is having in the Egyptian revolution.

“I see traces of the Iranian leadership promoting the revolution.  They are trying to have protestors collaborate with the Muslim Brotherhood.  Overthrowing the Egyptian government has been on Iran’s agenda since Day 1. They want to see radical Islamists transplant the policies of Egypt. You have to remember that the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Anwar Sadat,” said Kahlili.

Kahlili recounted that there is no doubt that the Egyptian people suffered under Mubarak’s regime and were oppressed.  But there has also been security and modernization.   But now, Khalili sees the Islamists stirring up the protest and pressing their agenda under the guise of freedom.  They are adept at linking freedom to religion.   In Iran, they did the same thing, but soon you saw people jailed, women oppressed and the army destroyed.

“It’s a mistake to dismiss the Muslim Brotherhood.  They are intent on promoting Jihadism and intolerance.  They want to recreate what happened in Iran in Egypt.  The policy of Iran is to export revolution, based on overthrowing U.S.-backed governments and destroying Israel,” predicts Kahlili.

He believes that a nightmare could be brewing in Egypt.  Hamas is looking to seize power.  Then the revolution will spread to destabilize Jordan.

Kahlili believes that the Egyptian army is the key to preventing the Islamists from seizing power.  The army has to stay entrenched, because they will not allow the radicals to take over.

“As we saw in Iran, once the people are incited they won’t be happy with anybody with ties with the past regime because they think they are puppets.  This is a mistake because it lets radicals hijack the movement,” said Kahlili.

The discussion turned to Iran’s nuclear program, where Kahlili thinks the U.S. has thrown in the towel.  While the U.S. has applied sanctions against Iran, Iran has ignored them. They will continue to pursue enrichment of their nuclear fuels.
Kahlili thinks the U.S. is confused about what path to take, so their response has been meek.  This only spurs on the radicals, according to Kahlili who see the U.S. as a weakened threat.

“The Iranian regime must be overthrown, but when the revolutionary movements started in Iran the U.S. did nothing to blunt the Revolutionary Guard.  The U.S. decided to ‘leave it to the people.’  But this was a huge mistake.  Overthrowing the Iranian regime would have stopped the nuclear program.  So instead, the U.S. decides to interfere in Egypt.  The U.S. missed a great opportunity in Iran,” concluded Kahlili.