Regime Squeeze

Iran is erupting again — and this time, the protests are openly anti-regime. Strikes are spreading, nationalist slogans are surging, and the Islamic Republic’s margin for control is shrinking. Guest host Behnam Ben Taleblu is joined by Janatan Sayeh and Navid Mohebbi to discuss what’s driving the unrest and what (dwindling) options the regime still has.

On Christmas Day, the United States launched airstrikes against Islamic State targets in northwest Nigeria, framed as a response to jihadist violence and the persecution of Christians. But did Washington hit the right enemy? In the right place? For the right reasons? Bill and Caleb analyze the known knowns of the strike, including who was targeted and who wasn’t — and why the operation may have been more about optics than outcomes.Editorial note: The 1997 film known as "Home Alone 3" is not a legitimate addition to the Home Alone franchise, making a riff on the title fair game.

After two American soldiers are killed in Syria, Washington responds (not with hard questions). Same war. Same mistake. Same tragic — and avoidable — consequences. In a solo rant, Bill Roggio dismantles the official story behind Operation Hawkeye, exposes the jihadist reality of Syria’s “security forces,” and ponders why the U.S. is (again) covering for al Qaeda–linked entities and calling it counterterrorism.

According to the Taliban's self-assessment (what could go wrong), Afghanistan is "stable" — but according to reality, it's not. Terrorist groups still operate openly, al-Qaeda remains embedded, and the same extremists are now being trusted to “fight” other extremists.Bill Roggio and Edmund Fitton-Brown break down why outsourcing counterterrorism to jihadists is a fatal mistake — and why the so-called "peace of the Taliban" comes at an unbearable price: the erasure of half the country’s population and the return of Afghanistan as a global terror hub.

Bill is joined by Caleb Weiss to dissect the recently-viral claim that Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden (the one President Trump had previously announced was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation several years ago), is alive and secretly leading al-Qaeda from Afghanistan.

In a seismic policy shift after decades of Western indifference, the Trump administration has moved to designate key chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.Bill is joined by FDD’s Edmund Fitton-Brown, who explains why this first round of designations is just the opening salvo — and how pulling this initial thread could eventually unravel the Brotherhood’s sprawling global network from Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon to Turkey, Qatar, and beyond.

A precision strike in southern Beirut wiped out Haitham al-Tabataba’i, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, longtime military leader, and architect of its elite Radwan force. He was also the man overseeing Hezbollah’s post-ceasefire rearmament. Bill is joined by FDD’s David Daoud and Joe Truzman to unpack who Tabataba’i was, why the Israelis chose to strike now and what it means for Hezbollah’s failed regeneration, Beirut politics, and Israel’s next moves. 

Ceasefire on paper. Chaos on the ground. Trump’s 20-point plan promises “peace” in Gaza — but Hamas is already violating the ceasefire, gaming hostage returns, killing rivals, and rearming in tunnels.Bill is joined by his FDD colleagues Samuel Ben-Ur and Aaron Goren to discuss why disarming Hamas is a fantasy, why an international force risks becoming UNIFIL 2.0, and why Israel may be forced to finish the war.

Washington is rolling out the red carpet for Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, now “President Shara.” Bill Roggio and Edmund Fitton-Brown ask the hard question: why is a former al-Qaeda leader who oversaw massacres and foreign-terror networks suddenly treated like Syria’s George Washington? They unpack the risks, the Taliban déjà vu, and what this means for Israel, minorities, and the next phase of the long war.

Bill and David Daoud examine how Israel’s near-daily strikes on Hezbollah barely register in the West while even minor flare-ups in Gaza seemingly become a global crisis. They unpack why Lebanon’s decades of incompetence paved the way for Hezbollah entrenchment and failed statehood — and Western exhaustion, which may help explain why the “belligerent occupation” narrative remains strong in Gaza.