A Military Perspective...
On a widening war in the Middle East.
This ‘Night Owls’ episode features retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Fenzel . Gen. Fenzel most recently served as the United States Security Coordinator of the Israel-Palestinian Authority (2021-2026). Prior to that, he was the vice director for strategy, plans, and policy of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to that, he was the senior military advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation in the United States Department of State. During the attacks on 11 September 2001, Fenzel, as a major, was on a White House Fellowship serving under Richard Clarke. He was tasked to join Vice President Dick Cheney in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center and liaise with Clarke.
Gen. Fenzel served in the first Gulf War, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. He retired from the military in January, after 36 years of honorable and courageous service. He now resides in Connecticut with his wife and four children.
The idea of this episode was to talk with someone who lived the tensions of the Middle East for much of his military career and get his (or her) perspective on what’s now happening in the region. We were lucky to find Gen. Fenzel and luckier still that he agreed to talk with us at some length. Click on the forward arrow to listen in.
(‘Night Owls’, with Joe Klein and yours truly. Episode #76. Interview with Lt. Gen Michael Fenzel. Recorded Thursday, 9 April 2026. Produced by Dale Eisinger.)
You can listen to this episode (and prior episodes) on all of the major podcast platforms.
This was a very informative interview! Thank you General for your service and knowledge.
Very informed guest and good questions. His answers confirmed as someone with actual knowledge important parts of Iran/Israel reporting from people whose knowledge was secondhand. Thank you.