Understanding the Drone War w/ AFSOC Pilot/Drone Expert Nolan Peterson. Khamenei is Dead. Calls for Impeachment. Graham: Cuba is Next. Hegseth vs Ivy League. 

The war is on. The U.S. and Israel are continuing major strikes against Iran in what the Pentagon is calling Operation Epic Fury—killing the Ayatollah and triggering a cascade of drone attacks, friendly fire incidents, and four American service members killed in action (so far), while Trump threatens boots on the ground and Congress was home for the weekend and never even bothered to vote on it all. This is not working, America. 

In this episode of Independent Americans, Paul Rieckhoff explains and makes sense of the choas–and is joined by returning champion Nolan Peterson—Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, former Air Force Special Operations pilot combat vet, war reporter, Pentagon defense consultant, and co-founder of American Veterans for Ukraine—to explain what is really happening in the skies over Iran, the drone war already reshaping modern combat from Kyiv to Tehran to Tel Aviv, and what could be coming to our own shores from an aviation and drone expert who has spent over a decade living in Kyiv through full-scale war.

Paul and Nolan unpack the three ways drones are transforming warfare: tactical battlefield dominance; unconventional strategic operations like Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web (which you need to know about), and the reimagining of strategic air power via cheap, mass-produced drones. They confront the nightmare scenario generated by the Iran war of an adversary using that same technology to strike the American homeland and examine what it means that the Pentagon just kicked AI company Anthropic out for refusing to put AI into the kill chain—right before launching a new war. This is the show for people who refuse to zone out, digging into the failures of Congress, the human cost borne by military families, and Nolan’s emotional reflections on welcoming home the next generation of veterans; Episode 453 is raw, urgent, and essential listening. 

Skip the corporate and partisan media. They can’t be trusted. Especially in times like this. Hook into Independent Americans, declare your independence and stay vigilant. 

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-See Nolan’s Bio and follow him on X. 

-To help the families of our fallen servicemembers in this time of unimaginable pain and loss, support the heroic work of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS): https://www.taps.org 

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

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