Tag: perpetual war

Has Netanyahu Undermined the US?

Netanyahu, I believe, is a sick individual. In 2024, in his Knesset speech, Netanyahu said: “I’ve been warning about Iran for 30 years.”  It was reported on March 3rd, during a visit to a site struck by an Iranian missile, Netanyahu stated: “We read in this week’s Torah portion, ‘Remember what Amalek did to you.’ We remember—and we act.”

In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, God gives King Saul a specific, direct order to carry out this command. The prophet Samuel relays the message: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. ‘”

The harshness of the command in 1 Samuel has disturbed Jewish scholars for centuries, leading to various interpretations that move beyond a literal call for genocide. If Netanyahu believes that genocide is the command of God, that is NOT in the self-interest of the United States. He knows you cannot accomplish regime change from the air. This is the very first time when we are in a partnership with another country who is really calling the shots here where the interests of Netanyahu are by no means the same national interest of the United States.

This Iran War is Netanyahu’s war, not America’s. He is consumed with hatred and he will NEVER stop because he sees only total annihalation of Persia. This has been an ancient feud that goes back thousands of years. We should NOT be involved because Netanyahu will NEVER accept peace so this war will NEVER see a resolution while it is draining the resources of the USA leaving the country vulnerable on a grand scale. The US can be defeated conventionally because of Netanyahu.

Let me make this very clear. The US has bombed the hell out of Iran to the point that the stockpile of conventional weapons has been seriously depleted. I warned from the outset, if I was on the other side of the table, I would use this war to drain the US as we have used Ukraine to weaken Russia. There is no way to win this war. Iran cannot be bombed into oblivion. Sources familiar with internal data state that the US has fired a vast number of its most advanced long-range missiles. Reports suggest that almost ALL of the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and the newer PrSM have been used during the campaign. These are costly, land-based missiles valued at well over $1 million each.

It would take boots on the ground to secure the Strait of Hormuz meaning you must occupy 50 miles inland on each side of the Strait permanently. Anyone who is NOT biased can see Netanyahu has dragged us into his endless war trying to fulfill 1 Samuel 15:2-3.

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Zelensky Threatens To Make Russian Airspace Unsafe For Civilian Aviation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a warning to airlines, their insurers, and airport operators around the world Monday — saying Ukraine’s drone campaign over Russian territory has made it too dangerous for commercial flights to enter Russian airspace.

The statement was notable for its candor. Zelensky insisted Ukraine was not threatening civilian aircraft — but then made clear that Ukraine’s drone operations would intensify to a point where civilian planes simply have no safe place in Russian skies.

“Drones in Russian skies will be such that this must be taken into account. There are no more safe moments in Russian skies. Civilian aviation has no place among drones.”— Volodymyr Zelensky

Zelensky added that Russian airspace “will de facto be closed — the war Russia started is closing its skies.” The framing offers political cover, but the operational reality is plain: Ukraine is deliberately escalating drone operations over Russian territory in ways that endanger commercial aircraft, and Zelensky is telling the world to plan around it.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry announced it will brief international aviation bodies including ICAO, pressing for a formal airspace closure designation. The move affects dozens of airlines — primarily from Asia and the Middle East — that have continued routing flights over Russia to save fuel costs. Zelensky is now putting them on notice: fly over Russia at your own risk.

The warning came the same day Ukraine launched what Russian officials described as a 516-drone assault across multiple Russian regions. Some of those drones crossed into Estonian airspace — NATO territory — prompting a scramble of alliance fighter jets. Ukraine also struck Ust-Luga, Russia’s largest Baltic Sea oil export terminal.

Whether framed as a warning or a threat, the effect is the same. Zelensky is deliberately creating conditions in which civilian aviation cannot safely operate over Russian territory — and using that as a weapon of economic and diplomatic pressure. The airlines, insurers, and regulators who ignore that signal do so at their own risk.

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Iran Targets Marine Barracks In Jordan, Sends Drones On Bahrain & Kuwait, After Trump’s New Strikes

Iran Targets Marine Barracks in Jordan, Drones Sent on Bahrain, Kuwait

Iranian state media is saying that the military retaliation is ongoing, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force announcing that it launched a heavy ballistic missile attack targeting the US Marine barracks at Camp Titin, located near the Gulf of Aqaba in Jordan – which is at a significant distance, in the country’s far southwest corner. State media sources further detail:

According to the IRGC, the strike destroyed multiple military installations and attack helicopters, inflicting heavy casualties on U.S. forces. The operation was executed as the second wave of retaliatory actions under the code name “Ya Rasul Allah.”

And more via state WANA News Agency: “The IRGC stated that the action was carried out in retaliation for a U.S. strike on a residential home during a wedding ceremony in Sirik, which resulted in nearly 50 civilians killed or injured, including children.” Iranian claims of US casualties will as usual be hard to verify, but CENTCOM has said no casualties have resulted, per news wires:

US officials says no US casualties from Iranian attack on facilities in Jordan so far

In the wake of the US CENTCOM campaign, which may still be ongoing, Iran’s Hormozgan grid is under blackout. Further damage is likely to be assessed and publicized in the coming hours. Bahrain, Kuwait also targeted:

  • Iran’s army launched drone attacks on the US base in Bahrain, according to Fars News Agency
  • Kuwait Army says air defenses are confronting attacks by hostile drones
  • Jordan intercepts 10 ballistic missiles from Iran, three fell in remote areas: army

Initial unconfirmed footage now widely circulating of alleged IRGC attack on Jordan base…

Iranian Retaliation on regional Bases Begins

Iran is already hitting back, according to some early reports of what looks to be their latest retaliation, despite President Trump having earlier warned the Islamic Republic will be hit harder if it responds.

“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!” he stated earlier.

The White House indicated it is focused on taking out IRGC targets. But this has triggered the expected reaction:

  • Fars: Some Arab sources report that an explosion was heard in Jordan; several explosions were heard from American bases in Jordan
  • IRGC says US attacks will tighten the lock on the Strait of Hormuz
  • Explosion heard in Erbil, Iraq, reports Fars

The last tit-for-tat instances also saw US bases in Jordan targeted.

One Atlantic Council analyst points out the obvious – today’s action is yet another indication that the administration still does not understand how the Iranian government and leadership thinks (unless the intent is actual runaway escalation). Danny Citrinowicz writes:

Threatening Tehran with even more devastating strikes if it retaliates is unlikely to prevent an Iranian response. In fact, it may do the opposite. From Tehran’s perspective, failing to respond to a direct U.S. attack would undermine the very deterrence equation Iran has spent months trying to establish. The Iranian leadership believes it must demonstrate that American military action carries a price. That means Iran is likely to retaliate and it may even conclude that a broader or more painful response is necessary precisely to rebuild deterrence against future U.S. attacks.

This is the fundamental problem with Washington’s approach: it assumes that sufficiently strong threats will convince Iran to back down. But Tehran may draw exactly the opposite conclusion, meaning that backing down under threat would invite additional American strikes. Threats will not solve this problem. If Washington wants to prevent another cycle of retaliation and counter-retaliation, it needs a political strategy for ending the confrontation. Otherwise, each side will continue using force to restore deterrence after the previous round — creating an escalation cycle that becomes increasingly difficult to control.

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Chinese Student Charged With Lying To Border Agents Over Alleged Airport Photo Assignments From Beijing

A Chinese national studying at a Canadian university has been charged with lying to American officials to conceal that he took photographs at a Chicago airport cargo facility at the direction of a suspected Chinese official, according to a federal complaint filed in Detroit on Aug. 26.

Zeng Weiheng, born in 2004, is charged with making false statements in a matter under federal jurisdiction. An undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, Zeng was issued a B1/B2 visitor visa in October 2022 and has entered the United States 24 times since then, according to an affidavit filed with the complaint by an FBI agent.

He was arrested on Aug. 26.

Authorities stopped Zeng for an initial screening on Aug. 23 at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Detroit, after linking his vehicle to a security incident at a FedEx cargo facility at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on April 21.

That day, FedEx employees saw an Asian male spending roughly 20 minutes at the facility. Surveillance footage showed the man climbing onto a construction forklift to take photographs and attempting to open a parked delivery truck and shipping trailer before driving off in a minivan bearing an Ontario license plate.

Zeng underwent three interviews with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials during secondary screening, during which his account of his April trip changed. according to court documents.

In his first interview, Zeng claimed that he had visited tourist sites during his April trip, and the photos of planes in his phone were “pictures of model aircraft being tracked for a flight radar website,” authorities said. When pressed in a second interview, Zeng allegedly admitted going to the FedEx facility to take photos of planes and revealed that he had also trespassed at a FedEx facility at Toronto Pierson Airport in 2025.

By the third interview, Zeng revealed that a contact in China had “assigned him specific planes and their tail numbers to photograph” and he was paid $20 to $30 per photograph, the court documents allege.

In his subsequent interview with the FBI, Zeng admitted that the aircraft photography was a cover story devised by his handler, and the “true task was to obtain interior photographs of the FedEx facility,” according to the affidavit.

His Chinese contact “was primarily interested in information on transportation and logistics in the United States” and “asked for information of flight freight logistics, bus routes, and trains routes and schedules,” the affidavit said.

Zeng also told the FBI that he suspected his Chinese contact was a Chinese regime official working for one of China’s security departments, in part because the contact had provided him with “videos of scenes that only security officials would have access to.”

For his communication with the Chinese contact, Zeng said he was mailed SIM cards from China’s state-run China Telecom, which allowed him to “by-pass Canadian cellular network and connect directly with the Chinese provider network” to send text messages, according to the affidavit.

Zeng was instructed to use the SIM cards only in a Huawei-made phone, swapping in a new card every few months and destroying the old one. He was also told never to bring the phone with him on trips to the United States.

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India’s Modi Presses Putin to Wrap Up Ukraine Invasion: ‘Move Away from Endless War’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to “move away from endless war” and find a resolution to his ongoing invasion of Ukraine during a meeting on Monday.

The two — along with the heads of state of several other neighboring countries, most prominently China and Iran — are in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to attend a high-level summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The China-led, Central Asia-based SCO is a loosely affiliated security and common interests group, sometimes described as an attempted counterweight to NATO but lacking the strict membership requirements and mutual defense responsibilities of that group. Modi, Putin, and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping are all expected to meet Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to discuss that country’s war with the United States during the span of the SCO summit, but appear to have prioritized meeting with each other.

Both Indian and Russian media emphasized that Modi used his time with Putin to discourage him from continuing the Ukraine invasion. The comments were notably more pointed than past remarks by the Hindu nationalist leader, who has rejected attempts to sanction or otherwise economically isolate Russia in response to it belligerence and remains a key Russian oil partner.

“Every day spent in war sets humanity back, whereas every step taken towards peace fills humanity with new hope and enthusiasm. We must move away from endless war towards an end to the war. This is essential for the well-being of humanity,” Modi told Putin, according to India’s Economic Times.

“We have consistently discussed the issue of Ukraine. When we met previously, you briefed me in detail on all aspects of the matter. As you know, India supports all efforts towards peace and will continue to do so,” his comments continued.

Modi separately published an image on social media of his meeting with Putin in which he only vaguely suggested conversation linked to Ukraine and emphasized the bilateral relationship with India.

“Discussed the full range of the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. It is gladdening to see significant progress across various sectors in recent years,” he wrote. “Focus areas for the India-Russia friendship remain energy, innovation, space, fertilisers and people-to-people linkages.”

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Trump Mulling New ‘Limited’ Strike Package, After Iranian Attack On Jordan Base

New reporting from Axios: “President Trump and his senior aides have been considering waging limited strikes in the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iran from reconstituting its radar and missile capabilities to attack ships, according to three U.S. officials.”

This suggests that once again when US ‘bad options’ tighten related to Iran and the Hormuz crisis, there is still this (bad) idea among decision-makers that the Pentagon can just ‘bomb its way out’ of a crisis that’s of Washington’s own making. Such an assumption has already been tried and tested several times before, amid what is now six months into the war.

“The plan, which was developed over the past week by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and supported by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, had not been approved by Trump ahead of this weekend’s exchange of fire with Iran,” Axios continues. “But he could greenlight it after the new escalation.”

And still this reported new potential escalation is being presented by Axios as if it’s somehow the US fully in the driver’s seat, when in reality this continues to be a “bombing campaign in search of a strategy”. More from Axios:

  • One U.S. official said the idea behind the plan is to reduce the risk of Iranian attacks on oil tankers, U.S. Navy ships and Air Force aircraft — to “mow the lawn,” as this person put it.
  • A White House said: “The President retains all options at his disposal. The Iranians want to make a deal, but they are always a day late and a dollar short.”

This comes as some top generals have taken the ultra-rare action of leaking their views of this to the press. “Several U.S. military leaders have advised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonging large-scale operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening their ability to confront threats elsewhere, including the U.S. homeland, according to people familiar with a recent assessment prepared for the Pentagon chief,” wrote the Washington Post on Sunday.

More latest from Trump (via Newsquawk):

US President Trump says Iran strikes will be limited; Strait of Hormuz is in extremely good shape; A lot of oil coming out of Hormuz; Ships came through Hormuz last night with Navy assist.

The Iranians meanwhile appear to be ready for the possibility of renewed dialogue, but they also certainly don’t appear to be “begging” – as Trump has maintained. “The US must return to its commitments and abide by the terms of the memorandum; only then can we exit this situation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Telegram Monday.

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EU Commandos Board 6th Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker After Putin Threatened Reverse Action

Another Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker has been boarded by European forces – and this time the provocative action took place in Mediterranean waters. In a Monday post on X, Kaja Kallas announced the action by troops under the EU’s Operation Irini. They boarded the MV Sun tanker for “flag verification,” following suspicions that the vessel was in violation of international law.

“Illegal oil sales from shadow fleet ships are a critical lifeline for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and we’ll continue to cut them off,” Kallas wrote of what marks the sixth shadow fleet ship to be boarded in recent months. Most of these have happened in northern European waters, with Mediterranean incidents being more rare.

It was specifically the Italian Defense Ministry that carried out the EU action, with Italian navy’s Thaon di Revel ship conducting the boarding which occurred to the west of the island of Pantelleria as the targeted vessel was progressing from the port of Cotonou in Benin to Istanbul.

Russian President Vladimir Putin just a little over two weeks ago threatened to do the same in reverse, after the past year saw several examples of EU intercept action, sometimes involving French or Swedish commandos descending onto a tanker’s deck from helicopters and arresting crew members. The seized vessels are then typically taken to nearby European ports.

The latest European Union sanctions package passed last month stipulates that EU members can sell the oil or any seized cargo obtained from these ‘shadow fleet’ vessels.

Putin has reiterated Kremlin outrage at this scheme, condemning it as “piracy and banditry”. This also after Sweden has lately declared its intent to hand seized Russian grain over to Ukraine.

“We will be forced to respond in kind,” Putin said in mid-August. Russian forces will act “wherever we ourselves deem necessary and appropriate — anywhere,” he added.

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Let’s End Military Integration, Support for US Foreign Policy

The world is better off for Carney walking away from the Trump trade negotiations. But we must demand far more from Ottawa in terms of distancing the country from Washington’s economic and military bullying.

Mark Carney was right to walk away from economic negotiations with the Trump administration. The US’ ever-growing list of demands, including controlling Canada’s ability to sign accords with other countries, reflects Washington’s bid to dominate in service of massive corporate interests. In other words, Trump is employing a sort of ‘Donroe Doctrine’ light towards Canada.

If Carney would have given Trump an easy win it would have further emboldened the bully. The successful kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, for instance, clearly boosted Trump’s confidence to launch war on Iran.

So, the world — and Canada — benefits from Ottawa refusing to completely cower to Trump. To the extent a country can resist US pressure, it should.

Even if his words exaggerate Ottawa’s resistance, Canadians should celebrate US trade representative Jamieson Greer comparing Canada to China. A year ago, Beijing responded in kind to US economic pressure, effectively winning a trade war with Washington.

Now China is refusing to buckle to Trump’s recently declared “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY” policy towards Iran. On Monday US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced, “an economic onslaught against Iran.” At the press conference announcing, “Operation Economic Outcast” Bessent also slammed Canada and the prime minister for walking away from the economic negotiations.

While the treasury secretary targets Iran and Canada at the same press conference, Ottawa continues to support US economic attacks against that country. A week ago, Canada introduced a new round of sanctions on Iran. As part of its pushback against Trump, Ottawa should declare its opposition to the US’ illegal economic war on Iran. Ottawa should begin rescinding its many sanctions on that country.

Canada should also follow China in defying Washington’s devastating oil and economic blockade on Cuba. The Chinese have given large numbers of solar panels, as well as foodstuff, to the Caribbean nation in response to Trump ratcheting up its economic strangulation of that country.

Ottawa has done the opposite. Dovetailing with Trump’s bid to squeeze the island, Ottawa introduced a travel advisory that led to flights being cancelled and dissuaded travel to the tourist-dependent economy. The loss of Canadian tourists has cost Cuba tens of millions, probably a hundred million dollars. Ottawa has even refused to defend Canadian corporate interests ensnared by the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ in Cuba and has sanctioned vessels associated with Russia considered defying Trump’s patently illegal oil embargo.

The most obvious break from Washington Ottawa must pursue is to lessen its integration with the US war machine. In a sign of the military’s ongoing deference towards a military led by an annexationist president, Canadian Captain Daniel Hrichishen just began the International Junior Officer Leadership Development Course (IJOLD) at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. According to its site, IJOLD gives foreign soldiers “exposure to the host nation’s military culture, history, decision-making, and learning methods, fostering a multicultural exchange that enhances professional military education and better prepares them for future joint operations.”

Hrichishen is among dozens of Canadian soldiers participating in similar exchanges, which should be immediately paused. Ottawa also needs to pause military overflights, training missions and some of its hundreds of military accords with the US military.

There’s no better time for leftists and internationalists to press to lessen Canadian support for the US empire. If we can’t weaken the bonds of empire while an annexationist president wages economic and political attacks against Canada when will be able to?

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Pete Hegseth: Militarism’s Ideologue

Reality doesn’t always line up with our wishes. For Pete Hegseth, this lesson has been learned the hard way. Six months into his war with Iran, top military officials are warning the Secretary of Defense that prolonged fighting would be “unsustainable,” according to new reporting from The Washington Post.

These officials are echoing sentiments that have been repeated for months within the administration. Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had advised the White House before the conflict that a large-scale military confrontation with Iran posed serious risks, particularly because of the U.S.’ depleted munitions stockpiles and a lack of support from regional partners.

Rather than heed these warnings, Washington foreign policy elites chose to proceed with a reckless disregard for the facts, guided by an ideological drive to reshape the world in our image – or, perhaps more accurately, Israel’s. Pete Hegseth is one such ideologue, as demonstrated by his rhetorical record throughout the conflict.

The administration’s entire approach to this war has been stylistically Hegsethian. The tirades against the press, the administration’s unceasing – and undue – confidence, and the rigorous enforcement of a strict narrative are all hallmarks of Pete Hegseth’s brutish approach, rather than the calculated strategy one may expect to see from Marco Rubio or JD Vance.

Hegseth’s style plays to the instincts of an older generation of Republican voters, one which believes that to even question the military is to commit a grave offense. Older cohorts of conservatives – which tend to be the Republican Party’s most consistent base –  are fervently supportive of the war.

As soon as the first bombs were dropped, the narrative was enforced. The case for war was not an intellectually rigorous one, but this is a common feature of government propaganda. It primarily exists not to convince the American public to support a policy, but to emotionally manipulate them. To this end, the war’s initiators must act with a level of bravado and confidence capable of convincing the average person that “this person knows what he’s doing.” It doesn’t mean he does, however. This distortion has been perfectly embodied by the rocky past six months at Hegseth’s Pentagon.

Hegseth has built a reputation for his aggressive style. During press conferences in the Iran war’s early stage, he made a habit out of using emotionally charged language to evoke an “us vs. them” mentality within Americans. On March 2, Hegseth called this war “our retribution,” saying “the regime who chanted ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’ was gifted death from America, and death from Israel.” In a press conference a few days later, Hegseth seemed to fetishize violence, describing the U.S. operation as “death and destruction from the sky, all day long.”

In a display of his grotesque lust for power, Hegseth also said “we are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”

There has been a severe shortage of seriousness from this administration in its messaging on this conflict. In a 60 Minutes appearance just days after the war was launched, Hegseth shrugged off concerns about the risks of this engagement, saying “nobody’s putting us in danger.” He followed this dismissive statement with an even more unsettling one, threatening that “the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re going to live.”

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How To Cover Up A Genocide — Israel Destroys 10 Million Tons of Evidence

Could you imagine living in a time when erasing 10 million tons of evidence of genocide is barely even newsworthy? Somehow we’re now in such a repulsive era.

There have been a select few articles detailing Israel’s efforts to clear literally millions of tons of evidence of its genocidal acts. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor recently reported on the carting away of 100 trucks per day of debris, pieces of destroyed lives, and human remains. Obviously, no small undertaking.

“This is occurring without any official record of the quantities removed or independent oversight, and before international and local investigative committees have had the chance to survey, examine, and document the sites.”

As Al Jazeera also reported this month,

“[The Euro-Med report] estimates that there are approximately 68 million tonnes of rubble across the Gaza Strip, much of it the result of Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on the enclave.”

This means that Israel has already removed/destroyed 15% of the evidence of its genocidal actions. Very exciting. Only 85% left to go.

Plus, they’ve already stolen 60 to 70% of Gaza. So there’s only 30 to 40% left to steal. Also very thrilling.

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