Defense Drumbeat

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, appeared on FOX America's Newsroom to discuss ongoing protests in Iran, intelligence assessments, and the importance of engaging with the world to U.S. National Security. You can watch the full interview here.

Iranian Regime Reaction To Protests: "Iran, like any other authoritarian regime, cares more than anything else about staying in power."

America's Role in the World: "There are some people... who genuinely believe that if you just leave everybody alone, everybody will leave us alone. Well, history has proven that that's not the case."

Intelligence Assessments and the Soleimani Strike: "Sometimes it is really hard to talk about intelligence that is very sensitive, and intelligence upon which lives continue to depend.... National security professionals... people like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of the CIA, who have gotten all of the intelligence characterized it as being strong, specific, and without question."