LTC Sargis Sangari on Voice of Truth with Shannon Scholten

LTC Sargis Sangari USA (Ret.) is a 20 plus year veteran of the United States Army Infantry and Special Operational Forces with multiple combat deployments to Iraq, a diplomatic assignment in Kuwait, and several other deployments to the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Central America.

LTC Sangari is the CEO of the Near East Center for Strategic Engagement (NEC-SE), which he founded on September 11, 2014, in commemoration of the Americans who were murdered in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and in recognition of the first responders who continue to suffer and die from health effects arising from the attacks.

NEC-SE is an academic and operational policy studies/research institution and think tank that provides political/military analyses and assessments of Middle Eastern affairs for a diverse international clientele representing both government and private interests.

Additionally, NEC-SE served as the military advisory group for the Assyrian Army in Iraq, which fought in Iraq and Syria against ISIL and ISIS from 2014-2017. In that capacity, NEC-SE worked in collaboration with Assyrian Army military and civilian leaders and private military contractors to provide tactical, operational, and strategic planning, direction, training, and support for conducting combat and civil affairs operations in tandem with its military mission.

The NEC-SE team has briefed the Office of Secretary of Defense; authored Operation Collective Action (Northern Iraq Clearing Operation); operationally supported CENTCOM and USASOC units; advised the Near East Affairs Iraq and Syria desk at the U.S. State Department; and briefed the National Security Council key staffers on strategic plans for the Near East Region, Southeast Asia, and provided strategic guidance papers and reports to our global partners to include Japan (Five Eyes) the Japanese’s Public Security Intelligence Agency, and Australia (Core-plus member nation of the National Military Bureaus).

NEC-SE has also supported Ravens Challenge ASEAN since 2017. NEC-SE supports the goals for Ravens Challenge to build and shape Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED), Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) and Counter-Terrorism Capacity Streams for local, national, and regional clients and to Provide Multi-National Dynamics EOD, CIED, CWMD, and Counter-Terrorism Training, collaboration, and information exchanges among military, police, academia, and private agencies and by bringing information from the Iraq and Syria battlefields to the participating commanders and technicians from Thailand and SE Asia at the Challenge. Sharing the knowledge and lessons learned from the impact of IED’s and other methods of communities in the Middle East has resonance and relevance and allows a more holistic approach to identifying and reduction of capability gaps in the broad spectrum of responses to terrorism and insurgencies that use asymmetric attacks against vulnerable populations.

In 2015 LTC Sangari also founded the United Assyrian Appeal, which is recognized by the IRS as a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) charitable organization, that provided aid to Christian families of soldiers who were battling ISIS and fighting to keep the root of Christianity alive in Iraq and Syria. One of the many International non-governmental organizations UAA teams up with is the ETANA Woman’s Organization. ETANA supports impoverished women and children in northern Iraq.

In 2018 Sargis was asked to join the Legion of Saint Michael Law Enforcement community and is currently the international representative for the first responders of the club’s main chapter. His support of the law enforcement community is integral to the ability of the NEC-SE to be a viable supporter of the first responders’ needs throughout the nation and represent it on the international levels. He is a liaison for the Saint Michael Law Enforcement Club to the international law forces.

In 2017-2018 LTC Sangari also ran as a Republican candidate for the 9th Congressional District of Illinois. He was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald. The tribune stated: “…Sangari’s military background, including combat deployments, strengthens his breadth of expertise.” The Daily Herald wrote: “…we endorse Sangari because of the depth of his understanding of global affairs. While he might be more conservative than we’d normally endorse, his idealistic commitment to move beyond party politics to solve problems in a structural way are strongly appealing.”