Karen Kwiatkowski - Israel Attacks Iran, Where Did Trump’s America 1st Go | Ep 450, June 28, 2025 [EP450]

Posted on Saturday, Jun 28, 2025 | Category: Iran, USA, Geopolitics | Series: cog, video

Groong Links:

Guest:

Karen Kwiatkowski

Topics:

The 12-Day War
Where did Trump’s American 1st Go?

Episode 450 | Recorded: June 26, 2025

Show Notes

🎙️ Summary

In this episode, retired Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski joins Groong to break down the so-called “12-Day War” between Israel and Iran—triggered by Israeli assassinations and escalated by Trump’s sudden military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Kwiatkowski critiques Israel’s lawless war conduct, the silence of Congress, and Trump’s attempt to fold the war into his “America First” agenda. She argues that Iran, paradoxically, emerged stronger on the world stage, while Israel’s internal cohesion and credibility have been damaged. The conversation also touches on the collapse of the U.S. peace movement, the manipulation of American foreign policy by Israeli interests, and the erosion of trust between Trump and his populist base.

Main Topics Addressed

The “12-Day War” between Israel and Iran: timeline, tactics, and the fragile ceasefire.
Trump’s redefinition of “America First” to justify war participation.
Israel’s broader strategic objectives and impact on its internal politics.
Fallout for Iran’s nuclear program and implications for multipolar diplomacy.
Erosion of U.S. anti-war movements and constitutional norms.

Key Questions Discussed

Will the ceasefire between Israel and Iran hold—and why was Trump so confident it would?
Who really won this war—and how did the Global South react?
Did Trump’s bombing campaign actually eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat, or was it mostly symbolic?
Is regime change in Iran still a real objective for Israel and the U.S.?
Has Trump lost trust with his own base, or will the MAGA movement absorb this pivot to war?
Why has the U.S. peace movement gone silent—and what does this say about American democracy?

Referenced Articles & Sources

Wrap-up

Links and Resources

That’s our Week in Review, we hope you found it helpful. We invite your feedback and your suggestions, you can find us on most social media and podcast platforms.

Thanks to Laura Osborn for the music on our podcasts.

Guests

Ltc. Karen U. Kwiatkowski

Ltc. (ret.) Karen U. Kwiatkowski is a retired U.S. Air Force officer whose assignments included duties as a Pentagon desk officer and various roles for the National Security Agency.

After retiring, she become a noted critic of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Kwiatkowski is known for her insider essays denouncing a corrupting political influence on military intelligence, especially leading up to the 2003 Iraq. In 2012, she challenged incumbent Bob Goodlatt in the Republican primary for Virginia’s 6th district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While in the Air Force, she wrote two books, Africa: African Crisis Response Initiative: Past Present and Future (2000) and Expeditionary Air Operations in Africa: Challenges and Solutions (2001). She contributed to Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas (2008) and Why Liberty: Personal Journeys Toward Peace and Freedom (2010). She has been featured in several documentaries, including Why We Fight (2005). She has written for LewRockwell.com since 2003 and her work has appeared in Salon and The American Conservative. She has an MA in Government from Harvard, an MS in Science Management from the University of Alaska, and a PhD in World Politics from The Catholic University of America; her thesis was titled Angola, A Case Study of the Implementation of the Reagan Doctrine. She is a founding member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

Hosts

Hovik Manucharyan

Hovik Manucharyan is an information security engineer who moved from Seattle to Armenia in 2022. He co-founded the ANN/Groong podcast in 2020 and has been a contributor to Groong News since the late 1990s.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by Hovik Manucharyan on the ANN/Groong podcast are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of his employer or any other organization.

Asbed Bedrossian

Asbed is founder of the Armenian News Network Groong and co-founder of the ANN/Groong podcast.