America Is Leaving Iraq. Was It Worth It? | A Navy SEAL Who Was There

Mike Drop

The episode examines the significant geopolitical shifts following the United States' decision to close its last major military base in Iraq

Key takeaways

• The U.S. is officially ending its 'forever war' in Iraq by closing its final major military base.
• A pilot on FlyDubai Flight 1073 attempted to hijack the aircraft by stabbing a fellow pilot.

Main topics

• U.S. withdrawal from Iraq
• FlyDubai hijacking attempt

Notable quotes

Was it worth it?

Conclusion

The episode serves as a somber critique of the long-term consequences

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Want more Mic Drop? Join us on Patreon for early ad-free episodes, exclusive content, behind-the-scenes access, and more. Support the show and become part of the Mic Drop community today at patreon.com slash mic drop. When hunting isn't about hunting at all, Team Dog features comprehensive and customizable meal plans with dry and raw food options to meet your dog's unique nutritional needs, including digestive sensitivities, allergies, or selective eating. Did you know combining 75 % dry food with 25 % raw food delivers robust, nutrient-dense meals for your dog? Be your dog's hero with Team Dog. For Speaker 1 (0:50) many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began, turning dreams into direction. Speaker 1 (1:07) Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. So, where will your journey take you? Etihad, beyond borders. Speaker 2 (1:19) Mic Drop Newsroom, where the front page gets a second opinion. Well, good morning everyone, and happy October. It's the start of... from my perspective, the three best months of the year. I don't know how you guys feel about it, but October through the first of the year is just that, I don't know, special time that kind of brings it all together, I guess. But on to the headlines. So the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal today. are basically the exact same, which I don't know if that's good news or bad news. Maybe it's not either. It's just surprising to me. The two main top stories are... On the Wall Street Journal side, stabbing terrifying nosedive brings chaos to Flight 1073. It's the Air Dubai flight that was hijacked by a pilot, which is pretty alarming. It's kind of a new level of alarming, which we'll get into on the bottom. It's the U.S. military exit leaves Iraq in peril. New York Times. The top story is the U.S. pullout leaves Iraq to seize its own future, and then on the other side, passengers and crews save plane to Israel after attack. So same two main stories on both these papers. I do find it funny. The New York Times does have a weather section. By Speaker 1 (2:57) section, Speaker 2 (2:58) I mean it's Speaker 1 (3:00) this tiny little blurb here at the top. Speaker 2 (3:04) But it says rain may be heavy at times today from northern Missouri to northern Illinois. Heavy thunderstorms are expected across east Texas. Shout out east Texas. It's about to get sloppy in here. It's dry in the west. Dry in the west. Isn't it always dry in the west? Is that even weather? Do weathermen start their career in a place like Arizona to get their feet wet or not? Or do they take it like a twilight tour where they don't have to actually do anything except it's going to be hot and dry today? Speaker 2 (3:38) Why is that where my mind goes? Yeah, I don't know. I'm going to focus on the Wall Street Journal because there's some other headlines that I want to talk about. But again, both the stories are essentially the same. We get into the stabbing, terrifying nosedive that brings chaos to Flight 1073. Now this is, again, an alarming kind of, I guess, update or new way of terrifying the people. You know, if you have to worry about a pilot stabbing the other pilot and hijacking the plane, how do you prevent that? As a passenger, it's amazing that, and they show a picture of one of the guys, or the guy, helped subdue a pilot-turned-attacker in the cockpit of Fly Dubai Jet. Man, that's, you know, 9-11 was... Speaker 2 (4:41) obviously a turning point in air travel in ways that none of us could have probably even imagined on September 10th, you know, and it's been well over 20 years of completely changing the way we fly. You know, in this case with a pilot being the attacker slash hijacker, how do you... How do you prevent that? As a passenger, as more details are coming out, it's fascinating that they were even able to get to that pilot and subdue him and keep the plane from being crashed into something or just crashed, period. Speaker 2 (5:26) The times that we live in, I guess, are just difficult to figure out. Curious. Obviously, this is a fly Dubai or an international flight that isn't something that is probably as likely here in the United States, but it still certainly makes you pause. There just seems to always be a magnet of attraction for airlines. and terrorism. I mean, it's been going