Jim's Journey to Ukraine and Syria: Why He Went, Ukrainian Resolve, and Syrian Hope
3 Martini Lunch
Radio America
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2025
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
First, Jim explains what led to his third trip to Ukraine, how he got closer to the front lines than ever before, and how his travel companions persuaded him to add Syria to his itinerary. He also describes some of the tense moments he experienced in both countries, more than on his previous visits to Ukraine.
Next, Jim recounts his time in Ukraine, detailing how locals reacted to major headlines from the Trump administration while he was there. He describes what he saw near—but not at—the front lines, including elderly Russian women wounded by their own country’s bombing yet receiving care in Ukraine. He also introduces us to “Twitch,” an American who overcame his own reluctance to follow God’s call and is now making a profound impact by helping injured Ukrainians.
Finally, Jim takes us to Syria, where he witnessed life just months after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in December and after many years of a brutal civil war. He explains the cautious optimism in parts of the country, including among Christian and Jewish minorities. And Jim offers us a verbal glimpse of Idlib, which he calls “jihad metropolis.”
Join us for all this and more from Jim’s on-the-ground reporting in Ukraine and Syria.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the three martini lunch. |
| 0:04.9 | Grab a stool next to Greg Carumbus of Radio America and Jim Garrity of National Review. |
| 0:10.6 | Three martini's coming up. |
| 0:13.5 | So glad you're with us for this very special edition of the three martini lunch. |
| 0:18.4 | As you know, Jim Garrity was away for a little more than two weeks, |
| 0:22.6 | went back to Ukraine. This was his third trip to Ukraine. And then while he was over there, |
| 0:28.4 | he and his team ended up in Syria for a number of days. And so we're going to get into |
| 0:34.3 | all of that and also what it was like to be in Ukraine with so many |
| 0:39.3 | major breaking stories about Ukraine happening while they were there. And we'll also get into |
| 0:44.1 | some just crazy moments, which are inevitable in a trip like this, especially over a span of that |
| 0:49.7 | length. And so, Jim, as I mentioned, you'd already been to Ukraine twice. And so you decided to go back. |
| 0:56.3 | So what in the world were you thinking in terms of a third trip to Ukraine? |
| 1:00.5 | And then how in the heck did you get over to Syria by the time this whole thing was over? |
| 1:04.4 | Yeah. |
| 1:04.6 | Well, listeners, if you're sensing a bit of genuine disbelief in Greg's voice, part of it is that I did not tell him or really almost |
| 1:11.6 | anybody else stateside that I was going to the Syria part of the trip. A little bit of that was |
| 1:16.3 | operational security. No one can ambush you if they don't know where you're going to be. Also, |
| 1:20.3 | by the way, Greg, I want to thank you for referring to my team. Like I'm the leader. I have my own dangerous click or A team, and we all have our rogues with our abilities. |
| 1:29.4 | What does Jim do? |
| 1:30.1 | He writes a lot. |
| 1:31.1 | He doesn't have any linguistic skills, doesn't know the ground, doesn't know his way |
| 1:35.6 | around. |
... |
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