Tag: nuclear weapons

US Arms Control Official Refuses To Comment When Asked If Israel Has Nuclear Weapons

A senior US arms control official on Wednesday refused to comment when asked during a congressional hearing if Israel has nuclear weapons, maintaining the US government’s ambiguity over Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal.

“I can’t comment on that specific question. I’d have to refer you to the Israelis on that,” Thomas DiNanno, the US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) when asked about Israel’s nuclear capabilities.

Castro asked why DiNanno wouldn’t answer whether or not Israel has nuclear weapons, but DiNanno continued to say he wouldn’t comment. “I don’t understand why this issue is so taboo when it’s a basic question, and we’re in a war alongside Israel against Iran. We’re dealing with the potential for nuclear fallout, and you won’t answer this basic question,” Castro said.

Every US presidential administration since President Nixon has maintained an understanding with Israel under which the US and Israel do not acknowledge Israel’s nuclear weapons program, and the US doesn’t pressure Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The ambiguity has allowed the US presidents to provide military assistance without worrying about the 1976 Symington Amendment, a foreign assistance law that prohibits aid to countries that traffic in or receive nuclear enrichment equipment or technology outside of international safeguards.

Israel’s nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to be somewhere between 70 and 400 nuclear warheads, is almost always missing from the conversation in US media coverage and political discussions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, which has never been used to develop weapons. Unlike Israel, Iran is a signatory of the NPT, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader killed by an Israeli strike on February 28, had maintained a Fatwa banning the development of nuclear weapons.

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Drone Swarms Breach Key Nuclear Bomber Base

Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, a key installation housing the U.S. Air Force’s strategic B-52 bomber fleet, reported multiple unauthorized drone incursions into its restricted airspace between March 9 and March 15, 2026.

According to an internal military briefing document reviewed by ABC News, the incursions involved waves of 12 to 15 drones operating over sensitive areas of the installation, including the flight line. [1]

The first incident on March 9 triggered a shelter-in-place order and a full security alert at the base. A Barksdale AFB spokesman confirmed the detection of ‘multiple unauthorized drones’ but declined to comment on the specifics of the leaked report. The incursions forced the base to close its runway to incoming and outgoing aircraft, a measure highlighting the operational disruption and perceived threat level. [2] [1]

Details of the Incursions and Military Response

The confidential report stated that Security Forces personnel observed multiple waves of drones over several days, with the activity ceasing on March 13 and 14 before resuming. The drones were described as ‘custom-built’ and demonstrated a level of operational sophistication that indicated deliberate reconnaissance or testing of base defenses. According to the report, the aircraft dispersed across sensitive locations after reaching multiple points on the installation. [3]

The military’s response included activating standard counter-drone protocols. U.S. military bases typically employ radio-frequency (RF) and electronic warfare (EW) jamming systems designed to sever the control link between a drone and its operator or scramble its GPS navigation, forcing it to land or crash. However, in this instance, these standard countermeasures reportedly failed to disrupt the drone swarms. [4]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is involved in the ongoing investigation alongside military and other federal law enforcement agencies, according to official statements. The base spokesman emphasized that flying a drone over a military installation is a federal criminal offense. [2]

Technical Characteristics and Security Implications

Officials familiar with the briefing indicated the drones used specialized control signals not typical of commercially available models, making them resistant to standard jamming technology. The operators demonstrated advanced knowledge of radio signal technology, allowing the drones to maintain operational control despite electronic countermeasures. This technical profile suggests a significant escalation in the capabilities of aerial threats facing domestic military installations. [3]

The event underscores a growing vulnerability in national air defense. Analysts note that modern, low-cost drone swarms can potentially overwhelm expensive, legacy defense systems. A recent article on NaturalNews.com highlighted that ‘NATO’s $400,000 missiles failed to stop Russia’s $11,000 drones, exposing a critical air defense weakness,’ a dynamic that may be mirrored in domestic base defense. [5] The incident at Barksdale follows a pattern of similar mysterious drone activity over sensitive sites, including a 2024 event where an ‘unknown fleet of drones’ entered restricted airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 consecutive days. [6]

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Possible X account of missing general William McCasland claimed fellow general was murdered over nuclear material

Online sleuths think they have uncovered missing retired Air Force general William Neil McCasland’s anonymous social media account — which claimed another general was murdered for his dealings with nuclear material.

McCasland, 68, went missing from his Albuquerque, NM, home on Feb. 27 — which is the same day that the person behind a conspicuously credentialed X account centered on spacecraft and advanced science made their last post.

The account @tmbspaceships claims to be run by a “retired 38-year active duty” United States Air Force with a PhD in engineering — listing the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), the Air Education Training Command (AETC), and Air Force Material Command (AETC) as places they’ve worked.

Both the AFIT and AFMC are located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which McCasland ran from 2011 to 2013. He attended the Air War College during his 34-year career, which is a subordinate to the AETC. McCasland attained a PhD in Astronautical Engineering from MIT in 1988.

The account shockingly claimed just months before McCasland’s disappearance that Maj. Gen. John Rossi, who allegedly committed suicide in 2016, was actually murdered because of refusal to hand over nuclear material to private contractors.

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Breaking the Nuclear Taboo

President Trump has been on quite a roll. Since just the beginning of the year, he has kidnapped the Venezuela president, threatened to invade Greenland and Colombia, and has in just the last week dragged the U.S. – and seemingly much of the Middle East – into a new war by joining with Israel to attack Iran, something that even the biggest hawks among recent U.S. presidents have managed to avoid. That’s on top of bombing seven countries in 2025.

The 2024 campaign promises of a peace president who will end the forever wars have evaporated, only to be replaced by unrestrained use of military force and a seeming disdain for diplomacy. As the U.S. comedy show Saturday Night Live put it, Trump, along with his UN-replacing Board of Peace, got “bored of peace.”

Breaking international law seems to be a feature, and not a bug, of Trump’s actions, consistent with his admission that he is expressly not guided by international law, norms, traditions, or common decency, but by “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Trump’s power-drunk top advisors are just as out of control. Secretary of War Pete “kill them all” Hegseth stated that his goal is to “unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy” and to “untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country.” At the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State “little Marco” Rubio bemoaned the end of the era of colonialism and called for returning to “the West’s age of dominance.” Deputy chief of staff Stephen “Genghis” Miller declared, “We live in a world… that is governed by force, that is governed by power.”

In addition to hegemonic actions in the conventional military realm, Trump has been escalating when it comes to nuclear weapons. He rejected President Putin’s invitation to extend the New START treaty for another year, making possible an unconstrained nuclear arms race alongside an ongoing modernization race. He has also announced that the U.S. will resume nuclear testing. Even without the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and tensions with China, these actions and threats would be destabilizing and dangerous.

Trump is the mean and out-of-control bully on the global playground. Except that this bully has the sole authority to launch thousands of nuclear warheads.

It would be the ultimate expression of Trump’s unbounded power for him to break the one remaining international taboo – which, despite far too many close calls, has persisted for more than 80 years – detonating a nuclear weapon. There are many indications that, despite the U.S. and Israel’s ability to bomb Iran at will, this war may not be going well for them. But that need not be the pretext for using a nuclear weapon. In Trump’s mind, the more unprovoked, outrageous, and unnecessary something is, the better. Given his fragile ego and rapidly deteriorating mental powers – going off on bizarre rants about poisonous snakes in Peru or the White House drapes – the more unhinged he is, the more he thinks it demonstrates his dominance.

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Finland To Allow Import and Storage of Nuclear Weapons in Its Territory Bordering Russia

Helsinki has joined the nuclear-mania.

The world is getting more dangerous by the day, and especially in Europe, where a race for rearmament is in full display. More and more countries are starting to think about nuclear weapons in a way that would seem impossible just a few years ago.

From France vowing to increase its presently limited number of nuclear warheads and extend its protection to other EU nations, to Poland floating the idea of developing its own nuclear arsenal, Europeans have ‘learned to stop worrying and love the bomb’, to paraphrase Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Dr. Strangelove’.

Today (5), the Finnish government announced it will ‘ease its ban’ on nuclear weapons.

This will allow the country to import, transport, and store nukes on Finnish territory.

Politico reported:

“[Defense Minister Antti] Häkkänen told a press conference that the country’s legislative ban on nukes, dating back to 1980, was no longer relevant in the current geopolitical context. ‘The legislation does not meet the needs that Finland has as a NATO member’, Häkkänen said, according to regional media.”

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Poland Will Seek Its Own Nuclear Weapons, Prime Minister Tusk Says

Poland’s government has signaled that it intends to take a far more assertive role in shaping Europe’s nuclear future. Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday declared that Warsaw will not remain “passive” when it comes to nuclear security in a military context, suggesting that Poland will eventually seek its own nuclear weapons.

Speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting in Warsaw, Tusk confirmed that Poland is engaged in discussions with France and several European partners regarding what he described as an “advanced nuclear deterrent system.” The issue, he said, will soon be formally reviewed by the Polish government.

“Poland will not want to be passive when it comes to nuclear security in a military context,” Tusk stated. “We will cooperate with our allies, including France, which has made this specific proposal, and as our own autonomous capabilities increase, we will also strive to prepare Poland in the future for the most autonomous actions possible in this matter.”

The remarks follow French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that Paris intends to strengthen its nuclear deterrence posture and extend structured cooperation to select European states. Poland is among the countries that have expressed interest in participating in exploratory talks.

Under the French concept, cooperation could involve hosting components of France’s strategic air forces, joint military exercises, and visible demonstrations of nuclear capabilities beyond French territory. However, Macron made clear that ultimate authority over the use of French nuclear weapons would remain exclusively with the French president.

That limitation has not deterred Warsaw from engaging in discussions. Tusk said Poland is consulting not only bilaterally with Paris but also with other invited participants in the emerging framework.

“In March, the Nuclear Energy Summit will take place in Paris,” Tusk noted. “There, I will also have the opportunity to discuss this not only with President Macron, but also with our other European partners.”

The broader backdrop is Europe’s growing concern about the reliability of existing security structures. French officials have argued that the global arms control architecture is weakening and that Europe must adapt to a more unstable security environment.

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NATO nations plotting to smuggle nuke into Ukraine – Russian intel

France and the UK are plotting to secretly arm Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday.

According to the agency, British and French officials are considering the “covert transfer of relevant European-made components, equipment, and technologies to Ukraine,” and are laying the groundwork for an information campaign that would misrepresent the nuclear capacity as domestically developed.

The SVR claimed that another option under consideration is to provide Ukraine with a French TN 75 warhead, used in the nation’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles. It added that Ukraine could also be encouraged to build a ‘dirty bomb’ – a conventional explosive device laden with radioactive materials designed to cause prolonged contamination of a territory.

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If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Don’t Join ‘Em

2026 marks yet another year Americans find themselves watching Washington and its media surrogates prepare the country for war in the Middle East. Speaking on Iran, President Donald Trump said that “either we reach a deal, or we’ll have to do something very tough.” He has deployed what he called a “massive armada” to the region and insisted that Iran has only a month to capitulate or face a “very difficult time.” His demands no longer focus solely on the nuclear program; Trump now insists on ending all uranium enrichment, severing Tehran’s ties to regional militias, and placing strict limits on Iran’s ballistic‑missile stockpile. He said a fair agreement would mean “no nuclear weapons, no missiles.” Such conditions, issued by a nation with an arsenal of its own, amount to complete disarmament and have led observers to conclude that the administration is setting Iran up to fail so it can justify another round of attacks. Last June he authorized the bombing of three Iranian nuclear facilities, yet he now argues that more force will be needed if Tehran refuses to accept total capitulation.

Hard‑line commentators have joined the chorus. Conservative media host Mark Levin spoke gleefully about the United States organizing a major attack on Iran and that “this regime must be destroyed,” even issuing a direct threat to Iran’s supreme leader. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted similar maximalist rhetoric. Netanyahu has signaled he favors the use of force to topple Iran’s government or at least cripple its missile defenses and that he and his advisors believe Washington should exploit Iran’s recent unrest to end the Islamic Republic’s 47‑year rule. At a February conference he demanded that all enriched uranium be removed from Iran and that any deal include dismantlement of enrichment infrastructure and resolution of the “ballistic‑missile issue” – conditions that would leave Iran defenseless. Tehran has said its ballistic‑missile program is a “firmly established” part of its deterrence and not open for negotiation, but Trump echoed Netanyahu’s stance, saying a fair deal means “no nuclear weapons, no missiles.” These extreme and shifting demands appear less about arms control than about engineering an impasse that can be used to rationalize war.

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Kansas Engineer Gets 29 Months for $1.2M Kickback Scheme on Nuclear Weapons Projects

A Kansas man was sentenced to 29 months in prison for conspiring to steer fraudulently and award subcontracts by a major engineering firm for work on nuclear weapons manufacturing projects for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Kansas City National Security Campus (KCNSC).

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Michael Clinesmith, 70, of Overland Park, Kansas, solicited and received kickbacks and bribes from Richard Mueller, 65, of St. Charles, Missouri, in exchange for steering subcontracts from Clinesmith’s employer to Mueller’s company, known as subcontractor one.

 Clinesmith, a long-tenured employee of a major engineering firm working at the KCNSC, was responsible for designing and procuring gages specifically manufactured to measure components of nuclear weapons.

“For more than a decade, the defendant exchanged his integrity and his employer’s trust for kickbacks from a dishonest contractor,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “To satisfy his greed, he corruptly steered contracts that were essential to ensuring the integrity of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Yesterday’s sentence reaffirms the Criminal Division’s commitment to rooting out fraud and corruption related to the procurement and manufacture of critically important products and services for the federal government and, ultimately, for United States taxpayers and to holding those accountable who commit these acts.”

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Western spies say Iran not making nukes – NYT

Western intelligence agencies see no indication that Iran is enriching uranium for “bomb-grade material,” the New York Times has reported, citing sources. While activity has been detected at nuclear sites, including those damaged by last year’s strikes, no high-level enrichment is underway, the report claims.

Last summer, the US and Israel carried out coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, justifying the campaign as preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons – an ambition Iran denies. The attacks targeted the Fordow and Natanz enrichment plants and the Isfahan research center.

In its report published on Thursday, the NYT claimed uranium buried at the struck sites – material closest to weapons-grade levels – remains in place. Work at the sites appears limited to excavation aimed at creating more secure facilities. No new nuclear sites have been detected, though limited activity has been observed at two incomplete sites near Natanz and Isfahan, according to the paper.

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