Tag: perpetual war

4 ways Team Trump reminded us of Bush-Cheney in 2025

Earlier this month, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie mocked the idea of a potential U.S. regime change war with Venezuela, ostensibly over drug trafficking.

“Do we truly believe that Nicholas Maduro will be replaced by a modern-day George Washington? How did that work out? In Cuba, Libya, Iraq, or Syria?”

“Previous presidents told us to go to war over WMDs, weapons of mass destruction, that did not exist,” he added, taking a direct dig at President George W. Bush. Now it’s the same playbook, except we’re told that drugs are the WMDs.”

In 2016 Trump ran for president as the anti-Bush, slamming the Iraq War justifications on the Republican primary debate stage. “Obviously, the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake, all right? They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none, and they knew there were none,” Trump said then.

Now Team Trump talks about fentanyl being a WMD and teases war. Massie had a point in comparing Trump to Bush and Dick Cheney in more ways than one.

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Palestine was the deadliest place to be a journalist in 2025: Media union

Palestine was the deadliest place to work as a journalist in 2025, with the Middle East as a whole the most dangerous region for media professionals, according to a global journalist union.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the region accounted for 74 deaths last year – more than half of the 128 journalists and media workers killed – in a new report released on Wednesday.

The Middle East was followed by Africa with 18 deaths, Asia Pacific (15), the Americas (11) and Europe (10), according to the report. The vast majority of those killed were men, but the list included 10 women.

“128 journalists killed in a single year is not just a statistic; it is a global crisis. These deaths are a brutal reminder that journalists are being targeted with impunity, simply for doing their job,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said.

Palestinian journalists were the biggest cohort of victims: 56 Palestinian media professionals were killed in 2025. Yemen followed, with 13 deaths, Ukraine, with eight, and Sudan, with six, according to the IFJ.

The Paris-based media union cited Israel’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif as the most “emblematic” of the 56 journalists murdered in Palestine last year covering Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Al-Sharif, 28, was killed on August 10 alongside several colleagues when Israeli forces struck a media tent outside Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.

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Pentagon Awards $328.5 Million Lockheed Martin Contract to Boost Taiwan’s Air Force

The Pentagon on Dec. 31 announced that Lockheed Martin had been awarded a contract to sell military equipment to Taiwan, as the island remains on high alert amid repeated military drills by Beijing.

In a news release, the Pentagon said it was issuing the $328.5 million ceiling contract to “meet the urgent operational need of the Taiwan Air Force.”

“This contract provides for the procurement and delivery of fifty-five Infrared Search and Track Legion Enhanced Sensor pods, processors, pod containers, and processor containers,” the Pentagon stated.

Foreign military sales worth $157.3 million are obligated at the time of the award. The work, which will be conducted in Orlando, Florida, is expected to be completed by June 30, 2031, the Pentagon stated.

The United States transitioned from officially recognizing Taiwan to maintaining formal diplomatic ties with China after adopting the U.S.-P.R.C. Joint Communique in 1979, essentially recognizing the People’s Republic of China—the Chinese communist regime—as the “sole legal government of China,” according to the State Department.

Even though the United States has upheld unofficial ties with Taiwan since 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act of that same year requires the Pentagon to supply Taiwan with “defensive capability” as a means of allowing the island to defend itself.

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Ukraine Strikes Bar in Kherson Killing 24 – Including a Child – And Wounding 50, as Russians Send US ‘Decrypted Drone Data’ Proving Massive Attack Against Putin’s Residence

Zelensky has gone too far.

Now that the peace process was really about to bear fruits, the Kiev regime – allegedly with the help of British Intelligence – has started a campaign of provocations intended to make Russians retaliate in a way that can be used against them in the court of public opinion.

After the massive – and unacceptable – Ukrainian drone attack on Vladimir Putin’s residence, now the Kiev regime struck a New Year’s Eve celebration in a civilian bar in Kherson region, killing 25 people, including a child, and injuring 50 others.

To being with, Russia wants to demonstrate for all to see, especially for US President Donald J. Trump, that the attack on Putin’s residence was real and targeted a command-and-control center for the nuclear weapons.

This has become important, since reports are out saying the CIA doubts the attack ever took place, and even Trump shared a NYP article that throws doubt into it.

So, Russia announced it will give the US ‘decrypted data from a Ukrainian drone’ that flew towards Putin’s residence but was shot down.

Sputnik reported:

“Russian intelligence services retrieved a flight mission file from one of the Ukrainian drones that attacked Putin’s residence

The decryption revealed that the final target of the attack was specifically the object of this residence in the Novgorod region”

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Russia Hands US Evidence That It Says Confirms Ukraine Targeted Putin’s Residence in Drone Attack

A senior Russian military official on Thursday handed over to a US official what he said was evidence that Ukrainian drones targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region.

Ukraine has denied the allegations that it was trying to target Putin’s home, and US officials speaking to US media outlets said the CIA assessed that Ukraine was targeting a military facility in the same region that wasn’t close by. But Russian officials insist they have the evidence that Ukraine was attempting to hit the Russian president’s residence.

A video posted by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday shows Igor Kostykov, the chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff, meeting with the US defense attache based in Moscow and handing over what he said was a “navigation unit” from one of the drones downed in the Novgorod region.

“The decryption of the content of the memory of the navigation controller of the drones carried out by specialists of Russia’s special services confirms without question that the target of the attack was the complex of buildings of the Russian president’s residence in the Novgorod region,” Kostykov said.

President Trump was informed about the alleged attack by Putin the day it happened, and initially appeared to believe Russia’s account, saying that he “wasn’t happy about it.” But he later shared a New York Post article on Truth Social that cast doubt on the Russian claim and said Moscow “is the one standing in the way of peace.”

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Spook Story: Ex-US amb. to Venezuela monetizes coup-plotting alongside former CIA officials

Former US ambassador to Venezuela James “Jimmy” Story has gone from de facto manager of the putschist, Washington-backed opposition in Venezuela to one of the most prominent voices promoting the Trump-Rubio regime change policy inside legacy media.

On December 7, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria featured his calls for toppling Venezuela’s government during a panel with convicted Iran-Contra felon Elliot Abrams, while the New York Times provided Story with space to argue that “Washington should approach dismantling the Maduro regime as we would any criminal enterprise.” Story’s appearance on Piers Morgan did not work out quite as well because Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal was present to dismantle his neocolonial propaganda.

While he pushes a US war on Venezuela in the media, Story is also monetizing his coup-plotting experience by soliciting clients for a series of consulting firms, where he works alongside top former CIA officials who orchestrated destabilization operations inside Venezuela.

The first of these firms is Dinámica Americas, where Story serves as a senior advisor helping “companies, philanthropies, non-profits, and multilateral and other organizations successfully navigate evolving conditions in the Americas.” Among his colleagues at Dinámica is Juan Cruz, the former CIA director for Latin America, whom The Grayzone exposed for his role in managing opposition assets in the lead-up to the failed Operation Gideon mercenary invasion.

At Frontier Advisors, a risk management firm he co-founded, Story works alongside Zodiac Gold CEO David Kol, whose company exploits the mineral wealth of Liberia, which suffers from rampant smuggling and deforestation due to foreign domination of its gold mining zones. Story’s fellow managing partner at Frontier, former Lt. Gen. Dave Bellon also runs a private equity firm, Global Frontier Capital, that “create[s] carbon credits to sell to investors and polluters in need of offsets” in South Asia and South America. These are precisely the kind of figures yearning to feast on the carcass of the Venezuelan state in a fantasy post-Maduro scenario.

Finally, Story is listed as “strategic partner” at Tower Strategy LLC, a lobbying firm founded by the ex-CIA station chief for Venezuela, Enrique “Rick” de la Torre. As journalist Jack Poulson explains in the article we’ve republished from his All Source Intelligence, de la Torre previously worked at a lobbying firm founded by one of the closest confederates of Secretary of State Marco Rubio – the lead architect of Trump’s regime change strategy in Venezuela.

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No Theft of Russian Sovereign Assets: Belgium & Orbán Stop the EU’s Legal Madness

While Brussels was preparing yet another moralistic coup against reality, Belgium pulled the emergency brake.

Against the will of Berlin, against the ideological intoxication of the European Commission, and against the growing temptation to trample international law in the name of “virtue,” the European Union has abandoned the outright seizure of Russian sovereign assets. Instead, it has opted for a €90 billion “joint loan” for Ukraine—a loan in name only, a gift in substance.

This is not a technical adjustment.
It is a political defeat for Germany, a strategic victory for Belgium, and a rare moment of lucidity in a Union drifting toward legal nihilism.

The German Plan Collapses

For months, Berlin pushed a dangerous idea: confiscate Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe and rebrand the theft as “reparations.” The logic was crude, emotional, and legally suicidal. No court ruling. No peace treaty. No settlement. Just brute force dressed up as righteousness.

Germany wanted to force this plan through—on the back of others.

Why? Because Belgium holds the bomb.

The bulk of Russian assets are immobilized at Euroclear in Brussels. Which means that if Russia—or any future claimant—wins in court, Belgium alone would face catastrophic financial liability.

Belgium’s Moment of Truth

Prime Minister Bart De Wever asked a simple, devastating question:

If you want us to confiscate these assets, will you guarantee Belgium against all legal and financial consequences—without limit?

Silence.

The so-called “partners” demanded unlimited risk from Belgium, while refusing any unlimited guarantee in return.

That was the end of the fantasy.

No sovereign state—especially a small one—can accept infinite liability to satisfy Berlin’s moral exhibitionism. At that moment, the German plan collapsed.

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US To Fund $8.6 Billion Boeing Contract for Israeli F-15 Fighter Jets

The US Department of War announced on Monday that Boeing has been awarded a contract worth up to $8.6 billion to sell Israel new F-15 fighter jets as part of a deal funded by US military aid.

The Israeli Defense Ministry announced the initial deal in November 2024 and said it would be funded by US aid that was included in a massive foreign assistance bill President Biden signed into law earlier that year. At the time, the F-15 deal was valued at $5.2 billion and included 25 new F-15s.

The updated contract with Boeing has a ceiling of up to $8.6 billion since it includes an option to purchase an additional 25 F-15s. The Pentagon said in its announcement that the work on the fighter jets will be “performed at St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be complete by December 31, 2035.”

The US has continued to provide Israel with massive amounts of weapons despite its genocidal campaign in Gaza, which, according to several studies, has likely killed more than 100,000 Palestinians, including tens of thousands of women and children. US military aid and direct military intervention have also supported Israel’s wars in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran, and the occupation of the West Bank.

According to Brown University’s Costs of War Project, in the two years following the October 7 attack, the US government spent at least $21.7 billion on military aid to Israel and another $9.65 billion to $12.07 billion on US military operations in the region in support of Israel.

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Smotrich hails ‘full US support’ for illegal settler expansion in occupied West Bank

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister and staunch backer of the illegal settler movement, said on 30 December that Washington has given Tel Aviv “full support” to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank in violation of international law.

“The US administration is giving us full support to expand settlements in the West Bank in order to undermine the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich said. 

The statement coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US and came after a meeting between Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.

“We have had a discussion, big discussion for a long time on the West Bank. And I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100 percent, but we’ll come to a conclusion on the West Bank,” Trump said after the meeting.

When asked by reporters what the disagreement was about, Trump said, “I don’t want to do that, it will be announced at an appropriate time.”

Netanyahu “will do the right thing,” the US president went on to say. 

Since coming to power in late 2022, Netanyahu’s government has been rapidly advancing Israel’s longstanding goal of annexing the West Bank, which was occupied illegally during the 1967 war. 

New illegal settlements are being established at an accelerated rate, and the Knesset has approved a bill calling to impose Israeli “sovereignty” over the territory. 

Trump recently claimed that he would “not allow” Israel to annex the occupied West Bank.

“Trump and his top advisors asked Netanyahu to change Israel’s policies in the occupied West Bank during their meeting on Monday,” informed sources told Axios on 30 December.

“The White House thinks a violent escalation in the West Bank would undermine efforts to implement the Gaza peace agreement and prevent the expansion of the Abraham Accords before the end of Trump’s term,” the sources went on to say, adding that the US president’s team asked the Israelis to “calm things down.”

“The president and his team raised settler violence against Palestinian civilians, the financial instability of the Palestinian Authority, and Israeli settlements expansion. Netanyahu spoke very strongly against settler violence and said he is going to take more action,” the sources said.

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Russia Accuses Ukraine of Targeting Putin’s House, Threatening Fragile Peace Talks

The fog of war is thick in Eastern Europe, where Russia has accused Ukraine of sending a swarm of kamikaze drones to strike one of President Vladimir Putin’s houses. The Russians say they thwarted the attack.

So far, it’s been difficult to verify whether the Russians are telling the truth. But whatever it is, any slight chance there may have been at a peace agreement seems to have further diminished.

The “Attack”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov decried the alleged attack. On Monday, he said, “The Kiev regime has fully switched to state terrorism policies, and Moscow will review its negotiating position accordingly.” He emphasized that although the Kremlin won’t completely abandon negotiations, “Russia’s negotiating position will be revised.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the attack never happened. He says Russia is making it up to serve as an excuse for torpedoing the working peace negotiations and to keep charging ahead into Ukraine. “Russia must stop inventing ways to wage war and start thinking about how to restore security,” he said in a social media post.

President Donald Trump answered questions on Monday about the supposed attack. “I don’t like it. It’s not good,” he said, adding that he heard about it from Putin himself and conceding that it might not be true. He then said that he made the right decision in refusing to give the Ukrainians long-range Tomahawk missiles. “It’s a delicate period of time,” he noted, adding:

It’s one thing to be offensive, because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that. … I was very angry about it.

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