Tag: perpetual war

Senate Republicans On Iran War Ending: Sooner The Better

The ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran, which began February 28th with strikes aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missile capabilities, navy, and other strategic assets, has prompted a range of reactions from Republican senators. While most GOP lawmakers initially supported President Trump’s actions – evidenced by the Senate’s largely party-line vote on March 4th to block a bipartisan war powers resolution that would have curtailed or required congressional approval for the conflict – several prominent voices have emphasized the need for a swift conclusion rather than a prolonged engagement.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), a key Trump ally, became one of the most vocal advocates for an early exit during his appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime on Tuesday. Hawley urged the president to “declare victory” and withdraw U.S. forces, arguing that core objectives have already been met.

Watters: Do you think the President is going to look for an off-ramp or keep going?

Hawley: I think he [Trump] has achieved his objectives the way that he’s laid them out… What is there, really, that’s left to do that we haven’t already done?

…

We have totally destroyed, forever, their nuclear program. We have destroyed their ballistic missiles. We have destroyed their navy. This has been a total success… I think we ought to say to our heroes, ‘Thank you for a job well done.’ This has been absolutely amazing. It’s been amazing. It’s been historic. And now it’s time to declare victory.

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UN Security Council Passes Iran War Resolution, Yet With No Mention Of US Or Israel

Many independent pundits have long complained of the emptiness of the United Nations as some kind of ‘moral authority’ – given it often claims to be just this. The vacuous nature of UN statements connected to war is on display once again as the Security Council (UNSC) issued a formal condemnation of the Iran war on Wednesday, but without mentioning either the United States or Israel at all.

For this reason, Iran quickly slammed the vote, also as Russia and China abstained. The passed resolution demands an end to Iranian attacks across the Gulf, and notably made zero reference to US or Israeli strikes on Iran.

It was tabled Bahrain and backed by 135 countries, and calls for “the immediate cessation of all attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.”

It further condemns actions or threats by Iran “aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

The measure passed 13-0, and a second draft resolution was proposed by Moscow, which called on all sides to cease hostilities, however it failed to pass.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz stated: “Iran’s strategy of sowing chaos, of trying to hold their neighbours hostage, trying to shake the resolve of the region, has clearly backfired, as shown by this vote today.”

China’s UN envoy Fu Cong said the text “does not fully reflect the root cause and overall picture of the conflict in a balanced manner.”

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, without warning, and while Iran was engaged in several rounds of nuclear talks with Trump envoys. 

Like the June war, the assault appears to have caught Tehran completely by surprise, and Iranians have condemned the unprovoked nature of the assault. 

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Does the 47-Year War with Iran Make Allowance for 2001 and 2002?

I’ve been reading many people on many sites claiming that we have been at war with Iran for 47 years. I found that odd because I thought I distinctly remembered good relations between the Iran and U.S. governments after 9/11. So I asked ChatGPT, “What did the Iranian government do in 2001 to help the U.S. government after the 9/11 attacks?”

I got a long answer that fit what I had vaguely remembered. Here it is:

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Iranian government actually provided several forms of practical assistance to the United States and the emerging Afghan government in the campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. This cooperation was limited and short-lived, but it was real and fairly significant in late 2001.

1. Intelligence sharing and operational cooperation

Iran quietly cooperated with the United States during the early phase of the war in Afghanistan.

  • Iranian officials met with U.S. diplomats in Geneva in late 2001 to coordinate efforts against the Taliban.
  • Iran helped identify Taliban targets and provided intelligence that assisted U.S. bombing campaigns.
  • Iranian Revolutionary Guard elements working with anti-Taliban forces helped organize operations against Taliban positions.

Iran had strong reasons for this: the Taliban were a bitter enemy of Iran, especially after Taliban forces killed Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan in 1998.

2. Support for the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance

Before and after 9/11, Iran backed the Northern Alliance, the main Afghan force fighting the Taliban.

  • Iran supplied the alliance with money, weapons, and training.
  • When the U.S. began military operations in October 2001, the Northern Alliance served as the main ground force against the Taliban.
  • Iranian networks helped facilitate cooperation between Northern Alliance commanders and U.S. forces.

This assistance indirectly strengthened the U.S.-led campaign because Northern Alliance offensives, combined with U.S. airpower, rapidly toppled the Taliban government.

3. Direct assistance in the fall of Herat

Iranian special-operations forces (the Quds Force) reportedly worked with anti-Taliban fighters in western Afghanistan.

  • They helped organize an uprising in the city of Herat in November 2001, which helped drive out Taliban forces before U.S. troops arrived.

4. Diplomatic help creating the new Afghan government

Iran also played a constructive role in the Bonn Conference (December 2001), which created the interim Afghan government after the Taliban collapsed.

  • Iranian diplomats pressured Afghan factions they influenced to accept compromises.
  • They helped secure support for Hamid Karzai as the head of the new Afghan interim government.

Several U.S. officials later said Iran’s role was instrumental in reaching the final agreement.

5. Safety assurances and humanitarian cooperation

Through back channels (mainly via Switzerland):

  • Iran signaled it would help U.S. personnel who accidentally crossed into Iranian territory during operations near the Afghan border.
  • It also cooperated on refugee and humanitarian issues involving Afghanistan.

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Pro-War Republican Senator Apologizes For Iran Girls’ School Massacre After Trump Blames Tehran

A Republican senator apologized this week for what US military investigators have reportedly determined was an American missile strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran that killed around 175 people—mostly children—amid continued sidestepping by President Donald Trump, who has blamed Tehran for the massacre.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.)—who supports the US-Israeli war on Iran—first apologized for the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab during a Monday interview with NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur. “It was terrible,” Kennedy said. “We made a mistake… I’m just so sorry it happened.”

Kennedy repeated his apology Tuesday on CNN, telling political correspondent Kasie Hunt: “The investigation may prove me wrong. I hope so. The kids are still dead, but I think it was a horrible, horrible mistake. I wish it hadn’t happened. I’m sorry it happened.”

Reuters first reported last week that US military investigators believe American forces carried out the school strike, a preliminary conclusion that came on the heels of a New York Times analysis that found the US was “most likely to have carried out the strike” due to its near-simultaneous bombing of a nearby Iranian naval base.

This week, Iranian officials displayed fragments from what is believed to be the Tomahawk missile used in the school bombing. The remnants were marked with the names of two US arms companies, a Pentagon contract number, and the words “Made in USA”.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the ongoing military probe has determined that the US launched the Tomahawk strike, which paramedics and victims’ relatives said was a so-called “double-tap,” in which the attacker bombs a target and then follows up with a second strike meant to kill survivors and first responders. Investigators attribute the strike to a “targeting error,” according to the Times.

This, as Trump—who warned as his illegal war started that “bombs will be dropping everywhere”—continued sidestepping blame for the attack. On Saturday, Trump said aboard Air Force One that “based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran.“

Two days later, the president falsely claimed that Iran has “some” Tomahawk missiles and may have used one of them to bomb the school. Iran has no Tomahawks—which are highly restricted and sold only to a handful of close allies—and the US does not sell weapons to the Iranian government, with the notable exception of the Iran-Contra Affair, when the Reagan administration secretly sold arms to Tehran in order to fund anti-communist Contra terrorists in Nicaragua.

Other senior Trump administration officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz have declined to back the president’s claims and have instead deferred to the ongoing military investigation. Kennedy told NBC News and CNN that the school bombing was unintentional.

“Other countries do that sort of thing intentionally, like Russia,” he told Kapur. “We would never do that intentionally.”

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New Government of the Netherlands Is a Poster Boy for Europe’s Thirst for War

Warfare seems to be top of mind not only for the Trump administration, but also for the new government of the Netherlands. The coalition agreement of the Jetten I cabinet, installed in late February, presents an unprecedented push towards militarism that includes a doubling of the defense budget, a tax on freedom, royals in fullcamo gear and clear steps towards the reintroduction of forced conscription.

Cabinet Jetten I
“Aan de slag,” which roughly translates to “Let’s get to work,” is the title of the coalition agreement of the new Jetten I government, comprised of the progressive liberals of D66, led by Prime Minister Rob Jetten, the conservative liberals of VVD and the Christian Democrats, CDA. As a rare minority government – the second in the country’s history – it has only 66 out of 150 mandates in Parliament and a mere 22 out of 75 in the Senate and will therefore be completely reliant on opposition support for its various proposals. Nonetheless, it did not shy away from presenting far-reaching objectives in nearly all policy areas, first and foremost defense.

Never mind that “getting to work” might be a bit late for a cabinet comprised of three parties of which at least one or more were part of every single cabinet since 1971 (not counting various predecessors of current parties, which would bring the count back to 1918). Indeed, although D66 is currently the largest party in Parliament with 26 mandates, it was the VVD under current NATO Secretary General, then Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, that led the Netherlands from 2010 until 2024, when he left to take on his current role at NATO.

Hawks lead the way
The echo of Mark Rutte is clearly heard through the new cabinet’s choice of Minister of Defense: none other than his own successor, VVD party leader Dilan Yeşilgöz, now holds the post. Other remarkable choices include the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, CDA-member Tom Berendsen, who was previously an MP in the European Parliament and, with a background in industrial policy, ran his own election campaign (in the 2024 European elections) mainly on stressing the importance of the European defense industry in relation to the war in Ukraine. Moreover, he is known for his hawkish stance on China. This pair is completed by the new Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, D66-member Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, who will have to navigate promoting Dutch trade whilst being on both Russian and Chinese sanctions lists simultaneously. Notably, in 2022, Sjoerdsma was also the initiator of an adopted parliamentary motion to increase the Netherlands’ defense spending to NATO’s then 2% of GDP standard (a goal that the country had thus far failed to meet), underlining his forward leaning position in terms of defense.

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Western Leaders Pivot To Blaming “Putin’s Hidden Hand” As Iran War Not Going To Plan

Western intelligence officials believe Russia’s role in supporting Iran amid the US-Israeli military campaign is deepening, alongside potential expanding involvement by China.

Bloomberg, citing officials, writes in a fresh Thursday report: “Moscow is currently providing Iran with various forms of intelligence, including satellite imagery and drone targeting tactics, in an effort to help Iran hit back at US forces in the region, according to people familiar with US and Western intelligence.”

Within the first week of Trump’s Operation Epic Fury it was widely alleged that Russia was giving Iran targeting information concerning US bases and assets in the region. 

While there’s nothing in the way of smoking gun proof, all are in agreement that American bases have been hit hard, with US installations as far away as Jordan having suffered severe missile impact damage.

Western political leaders are now seizing on these allegations, to do more ‘Putin is a global menace’ hype. As a case in point:

“No one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics and potentially some of their capabilities as well,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said at a military briefing in London on Thursday.

“Patterns of Iranian attack have the hallmarks of the way Russia is attacking Ukraine,” he said, adding that was to be expected “knowing how closely that alliance of aggression has been growing over the last few years.”

And they are also quickly saying the same of the ‘China menace’ – according to more from Bloomberg:

Following an intelligence briefing on Iran earlier this week, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said Russia seems to be aiding Tehran “actively and intensively, with intelligence and perhaps with other means” and added that “China may also be assisting Iran.”

Trump’s Iran gambit is certainly not going to plan, and may drag Washington into another (predictable) Middle East quagmire. 

These flurry of recent reports accusing Russia and China of rushing to to aid the Islamic Republic’s military machine seem motivated at least in part by a Washington political class who is completely unwilling to admit their own mistakes and stupidity. 

So now, each misstep and disastrous US action in the Persian Gulf region can be chalked up to “but Putin did this” or “Xi did that…” 

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‘Of Course’: IDF Drops Case Against Soldiers Accused of Raping Palestinian Prisoner

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday dismissed the indictments of five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian prisoner at the notorious Sde Teiman prison in July 2024 – an attack that sparked worldwide outrage.

The IDF spokesperson’s office said the decision to drop the indictments of five reserve members of Force 100 – a special unit of the military police responsible for guarding and controlling high-risk detainees – “was made following an examination of all the considerations, evidence, and relevant circumstances.”

“Among the factors taken into account were the complexity of the evidentiary basis in the case and the implications of the release of the security detainee to the Gaza Strip, which created significant consequences for the evidentiary aspect of the case,” the office added. “These developments created exceptional circumstances that affect the ability to continue the criminal proceedings while preserving the right of the defendants to a fair trial.”

The dismissal of the indictments, according to The Jerusalem Post, does not mean the soldiers have been exonerated.

The five soldiers were caught on video assaulting a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman on July 5, 2024. Although they used riot shields in a bid to conceal the nearly 15-minute attack, medical reports cited in the case show the victim suffered serious rectal injuries requiring surgery, a ruptured bowel, punctured lung, and fractured ribs. An Israeli medical staffer said that the victim arrived at the hospital in critical condition.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza – welcomed the dismissal of the indictments, which he said had “damaged Israel’s reputation in the world in an unprecedented manner.”

Israeli President Israel Katz raised eyebrows by asserting that “the role of the IDF’s legal system is to protect and safeguard IDF soldiers who engage heroically in war against cruel monsters, and not the rights of the terrorists of Hamas.”

Netanyahu and Katz both called the prosecution of the Sde Teiman reservists a “blood libel.”

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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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British tourist, 60, ‘who filmed Iranian missiles’ in Dubai is facing two years in prison after being charged with cybercrime offence

A British tourist arrested after allegedly filming missiles hitting Dubai is facing two years in prison after being charged with a cybercrime. 

The 60-year-old Londoner, who was detained on Monday night, is said to have deleted the video immediately when asked. He insists he did not mean to break the law.

However, he has been charged alongside 20 others over videos and social media posts relating to recent Iranian missile strikes on the UAE, according to campaign group Detained in Dubai. 

The official allegation relates to ‘broadcasting, publishing, republishing or circulating rumours or provocative propaganda that could disturb public security’. The offence carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. 

Dubai’s government heavily polices social media and responded to the outbreak of war by threatening jail against anyone sharing information that ‘results in inciting panic among people’.

Videos of drone and missile strikes were regularly shared on social media in the early days of the conflict, but these have largely disappeared and been replaced by a deluge of posts praising Dubai’s government. 

Once a tax-free haven attracting influencers from across the globe and thousands of Brits seeking warm weather and crime free streets, Dubai’s carefully crafted image has been shattered and some residents believe it is ‘finished’. 

The emirate, home to around 240,000 British expats including Rio and Kate Ferdinand, Luisa Zissman and Petra Ecclestone, has been targeted by constant Iranian missile and drone attacks as the regime strikes US allies in the Middle East. 

Dubai was hit by a fresh wave of drone attacks today, with a fire breaking out at a hotel in Creek Harbour in the early hours of the morning. Around noon, a building on the Sheikh Zayed Road was hit followed by a further incident in the Al Bada district. 

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Harris for Peace? Neocons Exist on BOTH Sides

The Democrats are taking to the media to declare that war could have been prevented has Kamala Harris won the election. That narrative is convenient politically, but it ignores what the politicians themselves actually said. The desire for confrontation with Iran has existed on both sides of the political spectrum for decades. The problem is not simply one president or one party. The problem is the bipartisan foreign policy establishment that has long treated Iran as the central strategic enemy in the Middle East. The neocons exist on both sides.

During the 2024 campaign, Kamala Harris herself made the position very clear. When asked which country she considered the United States’ greatest adversary, she replied that the answer was “Iran.” That statement alone shows how deeply the Iran war narrative had already taken hold in Washington. Once a country is publicly framed as the primary adversary, the policy direction becomes predictable. Sanctions escalate, proxy conflicts expand, and eventually military confrontation becomes increasingly likely.

Yet now many of the same politicians who previously described Iran as America’s top enemy are suddenly condemning the war. Harris has recently criticized the Trump administration’s actions toward Iran, arguing against the escalation of the conflict. The shift in tone is typical Washington politics. When out of power, politicians oppose the war. When in power, the same establishment often supports it. “Let me be clear,” Harris wrote in a statement shared on the social platform X. “I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.”

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