The Fall of Assad, Incredible Insight from Two Montanans

How did Assad fall? What does the fall of the Assad regime in Syria mean for the US? Who appears to be in power now? We got some incredible insight from two great Montanans: retired Major General Paul Vallely of Bigfork and The University of Montana's Dr. Mehrdad Kia.

Here's where the two agree with my more layman's perspective: the terrorist regime in Tehran, Iran made the disastrous decision to take part in the attack on Israel, and our friends in Israel made them and their proxies pay. As a result, Iran was getting their butts kicked and got too distracted with other problems to help out their puppet Assad in Syria. Same thing for Russia. Russia was too distracted with the war in Ukraine to take care of their buddy in Damascus.

Dr. Mehrdad Kia is Professor of History and Director of the University of Montana's Central and Southwest Asian Studies Center. His research and teaching focus on the history of the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and Islamic Civilization.

Major General Paul E. Vallely retired in 1991 from the US Army as Deputy Commanding General, US Army, Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned in the Army in 1961 serving a distinguishing career of 32 years in the Army.

General Vallely has been on the ground in Syria with the very rebels he now credits with taking power in Syria. I spoke with General Valley over a decade ago after he was first on the ground in Syria. He says he has been in near daily contact with the rebels he says are now in power. He is very optimistic about the new leadership and their ability to maintain power. Check out that full conversation below.

Meanwhile, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) was on Fox & Friends Monday morning and said this: "I think we have to be clear eyed. You know, Ronald Reagan used to say about Soviet Russia, 'trust but verify.' I think in this situation, we need to distrust and verify anyone who might come to power in Syria."

Full audio of our chat with both General Vallely and Dr. Kia can be found in the podcasts below (also available on Spotify):

Click here for the 9a hour with Dr. Kia via Spotify.