James Edwards Interviews Padraig Martin and David Zsutty on Iran

What follows is a joint interview conducted by talk radio host James Edwards with Padraig Martin and David Zsutty, who offer two different interpretations of the current military action in Venezuela in this special Q&A.

Padraig Martin holds two master’s degrees and is a retired government contractor who worked in 78 different countries. David Zsutty, an attorney and Executive Director of the Homeland Institute, served six years in the United States Air Force, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant.

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James Edwards: What work did your job as a government contractor entail, and how do you believe that experience makes you uniquely qualified to offer an expert opinion on the recent military action in Venezuela?

Padraig Martin: My very first responsibility as an employee of the United States government was the Western Hemisphere desk – with a focus on the Tri-Border Area (Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay). Venezuela and Colombia were critical components of the lawlessness of that region. The work I did in the region led me toward the discovery of unique improvised explosive devices (IEDs) created by former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) selling services to members of the Marxist Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). That unique device (triggered by advanced radar speed guns used to catch speeders) found their way to the Palestinian Refugee Camp in Jenin, West Bank. This level of intricate, international cooperation for asymmetric warfare training led to the creation of a report that I delivered to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and the US Army War College in early 2003. This led to my transition to terrorist and insurgent supply chain operations led regionally – creating my ultimate career of watching and tracking Iranian-backed non-state armed groups. The amount of cooperation between Iran and Venezuela in the early days of the now-deceased Hugo Chavez government played such an important role in my early days that the two were almost inseparable in any conversation on American security. As a side note, in late 2004, I defeated a 300-person-plus wargame as the leader of Iran, in part by using covert assets in Venezuela. By 2010, I was fully engrossed in operations related to GWoT as a contractor, but Iran was a critical source of supply for Hazara militants in Western Afghanistan. Venezuela was still a partnered actor at that time.

Edwards: Let’s begin to examine the reasons given to justify this most recent regime change. Are you buying or selling that this was done due to drug smuggling?

Martin: There are a number of reasons floating around regarding the attack on Venezuela and the abduction of Nicolas Maduro and his wife. I am not a fan of Maduro, but I am also not a Venezuelan. Their country, their problems. I would much sooner support a military invasion of Minnesota to send home the Somalians than an invasion of a Latin American country. But let’s look at the reasons “why” we went into Venezuela.

I am not buying the drug smuggling story at all. Whereas I am sure Maduro was tacitly supporting drug operations into the United States, the overall production and supply chain capacity of Venezuela to infiltrate American borders was nominal, at best. Mexico is by far the most significant threat for illicit drug manufacturing and logistics. Venezuela has some bad actors, including Maduro, who have no love for the United States, but I do not believe that nominal drug smuggling operations – better managed by the Mexican cartels – was the impetus for an invasion of Venezuela.

Edwards: I have seen baffling claims from Alex Jones and other MAGA adjacent media that Venezuela helped rig the 2020 election against Donald Trump. Do you believe this is plausible?

Martin: One of the chief claims by MAGA is that Venezuela was the host of data centers for voting machines. This was a loose claim made by individuals like Sydney Powell in 2020 (she was unable to prove it and ultimately admitted in court that she had heard it from someone else). The evidence for this is simply not there for one key reason – Dominion’s British owners and Smartmatic’s Israeli and Jewish-American owners both withdrew from Venezuela in 2018. Both companies announced in 2018 that they would move their North American data centers to Justin Trudeau’s Canada. At issue was Venezuela’s lack of infrastructure. They simply could not support the power required to run a data center of that size, let alone two of them. This entire story is a MAGA conspiracy. If you want to attack a country for meddling in the stolen 2020 election, Canada is the more likely culprit.

Edwards: Based upon your previous work for the government and informed knowledge of how the present system works, what do you believe is the biggest driving force behind Trump’s decision to forcibly depose Maduro?

Martin: Israel is the most likely reason for this regime change. This would remain consistent with my previous work on insurgent supply chains. Israel faces an additional energy challenge to support its AI-driven data needs. At present, Israel has no assured energy source. The Middle East region is still not fully on board for cooperation with Israel. Israel cannot get its AI future without the oil Venezuela can provide.

One report stated that the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) movement, which includes over 550 retired IDF colonels and generals, as well as former senior officials from the Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, NSC, and the diplomatic corps, said, “The US operation in Venezuela is a warning to the regime in Iran.” This statement came out within minutes of the attack, indicating that they were well aware of the operation as it was ongoing.

Maria Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, may become the new leader of Venezuela. Her political party, Vente Venezuela, established a formal cooperation with Netanyahu’s Likud Party in Israel back in 2020. She has promised to move the Venezuelan Embassy to Jerusalem when she becomes president, reestablish Venezuela-to-Israel oil transfers, and she would invite Israeli military joint operations in the country. Machado is a well-known supporter of LGBT rights, promising to introduce gay marriage and “modernize Venezuela’s banking” (i.e., usury). Maduro banned both gay marriage and interest-based lending. If it is not her, whoever it is will almost certainly be similarly amenable.

The fact that Netanyahu visited the White House two days before the removal of Maduro, and while Iran is undergoing destabilizing protests, seems intricately linked. Maduro apparently offered a number of concessions to President Trump, including the reestablishment of normalized oil relations in exchange for peace. That was turned down. It does not appear that Trump had any interest in a peaceful relationship with Maduro’s Venezuela. Israel will finally get a steady supply of oil from a new strategic partner.

Edwards: In your opinion, is there a way that legitimate American interests can be served, even if Israel had a heavy hand in orchestrating this campaign?

Martin: I really do not see it. Regime change has never worked out for the American people. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has already said she will expand permanent resident status to Venezuelan migrants who left during the Chavez/Maduro regime (something the administration is now walking back). The vast majority of the Venezuelan ruling class are still Chavez/Maduro acolytes. The US would need to remove entire bastions of bureaucratic and military officials. That requires a lot of money and ultimately boots on the ground – i.e., nation building. Destabilizing a country never works in our favor. I see no benefit beyond potentially denying China a foothold in the Americas, which they already have in the Panama Canal and American business.

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Edwards: Do you believe your background as a former Staff Sergeant in the United States Air Force enables you to see the recent activity in Latin America from a different vantage point?

David Zsutty: Yes, in fact, I was an Airborne Linguist, and my language was Spanish. I want to give anything sensitive a wide berth, but it became readily apparent to me that Central Command, which deals with the Middle East, was lavishly supported, Europe and East Asia were of secondary importance, and the Western Hemisphere was a neglected child. As I came to learn, that’s because Israel controls our foreign policy through a combination of bribery, blackmail, and brainwashing. I would like to see a return to the Monroe Doctrine, which would be the exact opposite. The Western Hemisphere should be our top priority, and the Middle East and Africa an afterthought, if even that.

Edwards: During a recent radio appearance, you argued that White interests in America can be advanced as a result of this, once the dust settles. Please present your case.

Zsutty: Venezuela is about the oil, and I appreciate how Trump is being honest about this. It’s not about vapid abstractions like democracy or human rights. It has never been. Seizing that oil will help White Americans economically. It will also deter China from invading Taiwan, which, unlike a quick and easy regime change close to home, is a war that I am strongly opposed to us being dragged into. America can use Venezuelan oil to undercut oil prices, thereby bringing Russia to the bargaining table on Ukraine. Russian hysteria on social media suggests this is very likely.

People are already memeing which liberal world leaders they would like to see Delta Force arrest next. This includes Ursula von der Leyen and Keir Starmer. Eventually, I would like to topple anti-White regimes like Australia, Belgium, and the UK. That’s not likely to happen soon. But in the meantime, we should withdraw from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement. And place everyone involved with anarcho-tyranny and the Great Replacement, from law clerks and cops to heads of state, on a sanctions list and charged with conspiracy to commit genocide. A few were already given a travel ban, but that’s not enough. They should be debanked, deplatformed, their assets seized, and deemed prohibited persons. Leftists revel in their status and are completely unaccustomed to pushback. Thus, even a little bit of pressure will go a long way.

Trump has made it clear that he’s not stopping with Venezuela. He’s signaled that Cuba, Mexico, and especially Colombia are in his sights. While I’d prefer he would liberate White countries next, this is still a win. Colombia is poisoning our country with narcotics more than Venezuela. And a war or special military operation against Mexico would present an opportunity to transform domestic enemies into foreign enemies, like what the Left tried to do with the Russian collusion hoax. I would prefer that Trump simply ignore rogue judges. But maybe striking Mexico can serve as a step towards suspending habeas corpus.

In pursuing Israeli interests, we have long been stuck in the cycle of “bomb the third world, import the third world.” Returning to the Monroe Doctrine might be a way to break that cycle and facilitate remigration. For example, while I admired Bashar al-Assad, when he was deposed in Syria there was a wave of remigration. There has been some confusion about how Venezuela will be handled. Kristi Noem confirmed that TPS (temporary protected status) is ending for Venezuelans, but they can still apply for refugee status or asylum. As of today, it’s unclear whether those applications will generally be granted or denied. But we can pressure the administration to send them back.

Trump is very aggressive on foreign policy but timid on domestic policy. Part of that is pandering to Jews. Another part is that he is continuing the liberal tactic of trying to enact abroad what he would like to do at home. It’s easier for Trump to act abroad because he is less hindered by the woke judiciary, Congress, institutional entropy, insubordination, and elections. Trump consistently picks easy fights while avoiding big ones. Sometimes, winning easy fights is a good way to build strength for hard ones. But with Trump, its clearly become cowardice and procrastination. Many have noticed the disparity, especially in regard to remigration and cracking down on Leftist violence. But we can use this to our advantage by highlighting the disparity. We can and should demand the same will to power for domestic enemies. That means ramping up deportations, and finally arresting, ignoring, and or defunding woke judges.

Edwards: In the spirit of fairness, it should be mentioned that Maduro was most assuredly not someone who had the interests of Whites in his mind and had even decried so-called “white supremacy” on several occasions. He was no Francisco Franco. However, Israel is celebrating his removal and will almost certainly see installed as president someone who is friendlier to the Zionist state. You also addressed this matter. Please square it for us.

Zsutty: First, much of Latin America has a multiracial underclass that is prone to revolution. Speaking bluntly, they are unable to generate wealth despite their proximity to natural resources. They see the Whiter elites and middle-class as having simply stolen their wealth. But when they come to power, all they ever do is make everyone poorer because they are shockingly stupid and corrupt. Maduro and the Chavistas are textbook examples of a colored peasant rebellion hijacking a country and running it into the ground.

Second, it’s true that Hezbollah received funding from Venezuela. But for decades, we couldn’t have a functional country and pursue our interests because of the holocaust. I’m not going to fall into the inverse of that and not pursue White interests because it might make a Jew happy via a collateral effect. That is sloppy, reactive, and contrarian thinking. For example, Israel and the murderously anti-White South African regime despise each other. And Hungary staunchly opposes the Great Replacement despite being friends with Israel. I can’t help but wonder if certain shock jocks would side with the ANC regime against the Boers because of Israel.

Edwards: Gentlemen, I thank you both for your time and your expertise.

This article was originally published by American Free Press – America’s last real newspaper! Click here to subscribe today or call 1-888-699-NEWS.

When not interviewing newsmakers, James Edwards has often found himself in the spotlight as a commentator, including many national television appearances. Over the past 20 years, his radio work has been featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. Media Matters has listed Edwards as a “right-wing media fixture” responsible for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton personally named him as an “extremist” who would shape our country.