by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 13, 2026 | Iran, Iran War, Middle East
Grant Newsham is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Security Policy. He is also a Research Fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, focusing on Asia/Pacific defense, political, and economic matters. Newsham is a retired U.S. Marine Colonel and was the first US Marine Liaison Officer to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. He also served as reserve head of intelligence for Marine Forces Pacific and was the U.S. Marine Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on two occasions.
He joined ALL MARINE RADIO today to talk about:
- The IRGC’s “intelligence estimate” on October 6, 2023 — wrong on every account
- The Straits of Hormuz
- Why inflicting pain on Iran is important
- Is ‘regime change” possible?
And more!
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by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 11, 2026 | Iran, Iran War
“Once over lightly…” as they used to say in my barbershop. Here is what Mac, Tim Lynch & Will Costantini, all retired Marine Corps officers, are talking about today.
- A POLL QUESTION: Should the President of the United States ever say… “No boots on the ground…” or remove any option during a war?
- How do you define the term “boots on the ground” that has come to be a synonym for “nation-building”?
- A possible IRGC perspective: Given our history in that region… we’ve wrecked their stuff before… we’ve fought their proxies before… and we always begin with great fanfare… and they survive it… Then, their proxies begin to make us pay… and great victories devolve into not-so-great departures and questionable long-term results. THE IRGC KNOW THIS HISTORY… THEY KNOW AMERICA HAS A GLASS JAW. Thoughts?
- If regime change were to happen in Iran, how would it happen? What has to take place for that to occur?
- The use of cluster munitions over cities… interesting. I recall that when the United States used them during the Gulf War against Iraqi dismounted soldiers, the American media alleged that it was a “war crime”… hmmmmmmm. Now, Iran uses them against civilians, carried to cities on ballistic missiles, and nobody says a word. Thoughts?
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by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 8, 2026 | Iran, Iran War
As we consider how the war in Iran will be concluded, we hear a lot about the “ethnic groups of Iran,” but few people understand where these groups are located inside of Iran, or how large they are, or what their history with the Iranian Government is. Major Tim Lynch, USMC (ret), will solve that knowledge problem for us today.
We’ll also discuss the latest news from the war.
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The maps Tim refers to during the podcast are below.
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by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 5, 2026 | Beirut, Iran War, Middle East
Four retired Marine Infantry Officers — Colonel Will Costantini, Colonel Jeff Kenney & Major Tim Lynch, and the host Mike McNamara discuss their initial thoughts on:
- Overall, what they’ve seen
- Something that got each of their attention
- QUESTION: Can the United States refrain from “nation-building”?
- Thoughts on the payback aspect of this for the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut.
Always interesting.
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by Michael F. McNamara | Mar 5, 2026 | Asia, CENTCOM, China, Iran, Middle East
Grant Newsham joins Mac to discuss:
- His overall thoughts on what he’s seen after five days of operations.
- Is this war necessary and justifiable?
- Do you think the United States can restrain itself from the quagmire of “nation-building”?
- How does this affect the situation in the Pacific relative to China?
- If the war in Iran is concluded moderately in favor of the United States, thus leaving the US Navy with one great threat (China)… what does that do to the calculus of the Pacific and the Davidson Window?
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