Tag: perpetual war

Whitewashing the Gaza Gas Exploration

In 2019, UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) reported that the occupied territories lie above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas wealth in Area C of the occupied West Bank and off the Gaza Strip. However, as UNCTAD warned, the Israeli occupation has prevented Palestinians from developing their energy fields.

The missed opportunities added up.

Palestinians’ ransacked energy wealth

Based on the 2010 US Geological survey, the discoveries of oil and natural gas in the Levant Basin amounted to 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil. In 2023 US dollars, the value of these resources translated to $557 billion and $87 billion, respectively. At the eve of October 7, that was about $644 billion in total.

By 2018, 18 years had passed since the drilling of Marine 1 and Marine 2 offshore Gaza. As the Palestinian Authority had not been able to exploit these fields, the accumulated losses were already in billions of dollars. Even in the West, the Israeli stance was seen as needlessly harsh.

In February 2021, amid the covid-19 fog of the pandemic years, talks on a gas pipeline that would deliver reliable energy to the impoverished Gaza seemed to move ahead. The plan would see natural gas from the deepwater Leviathan field operated by Chevron in the eastern Mediterranean flow through an existing pipeline into Israel, and from there into Gaza through a proposed new extension. The Israeli side of the planned pipeline would be funded by Qatar and the section in Gaza paid for by the European Union.

After a painful seven-year pause, the pipeline project was expected to provide “a steady energy source to Gaza, ending rolling blackouts that have helped cripple the economy of the blockaded Palestinian enclave.” Control over these energy resources was a central element in Yasser Arafat’s state-building agenda. As Michael Barron, an energy consultant who has written on Gaza’s energy concurs, “Israeli exploitation of Palestinian resources was and remains a central part of the conflict.”

But the Netanyahu cabinets’ intransigence is working against Israel’s long-term interest in peace and stability. In particular, the recognition of the Palestinian state, especially by countries like the UK and Italy with large energy firms registered in their jurisdiction (BG and ENI, respectively), could clarify the legal ambiguity. It could ensure the Palestinian Authority with a secure source of income that is no longer reliant on Israel.

But that has never been acceptable to the Netanyahu cabinets. 

Illegal offshore tenders amid huge onshore destruction

In December 2022, Israeli Ministry of Energy launched the Fourth Offshore Bid Round offering new exploration licenses. A year later, it awarded licenses to several Israeli and international companies: Eni (Italy), Dana Petroleum (UK, a subsidiary of a South Korean company), and Ratio Petroleum (Israel). The problem is that these tenders violated international law, however.

Nonetheless, just a few months later in June 2023, following years of stalled talks, Israel approved the development of the Gaza Marine field, while Egypt’s state-owned EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company) was to lead extraction efforts in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. Nonetheless, Israel stipulated that Hamas must not benefit financially.

Ironically, PM Netanyahu had for years ensured, as part of his Gaza strategy, that Hamas can receive multi-million-dollar shipments, via intermediation. The double-faced ploy used Hamas to disrupt the Palestinian Authority (PA), to keep Gaza weak and ultimately to reap the gas benefits to Israel.

As a net effect, active gas exploration or production could not commence due to the ongoing tensions in and around the Strip, which undermined investment and infrastructure development. The resulting stalemate status quo harmed Egypt’s mediation and interest in fostering regional energy stability.

As Israel initiated its ground assault in Gaza a week after October 7, 2023, Energy Minister Israel Katz pledged on X that “all the civilian population in Aza [Gaza’s Hebraized name] is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.”

But Netanyahu’s veteran Likud ally had another, equally destructive role. It was Katz’s Ministry that awarded the exploration licenses to the companies on October 29, 2023, violating international law – just two days after the lethal fury of the full-scale invasion in Gaza of the Israeli military. If it wasn’t pre-planned, it was certainly most convenient.

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Congress Members Fuming, Left Unsatisfied By Classified Pentagon Briefing On Drug Boat Strikes

US War Department officials don’t know the identities of the 61 people who have been extra-judicially executed in US military strikes on boats in the waters near Venezuela and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Politico reported on Thursday, citing House Democrats who attended a classified briefing on the campaign.

“[The department officials] said that they do not need to positively identify individuals on these vessels to do the strikes, they just need to prove a connection to smuggling,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA). “When we tried to get more information, we did not get satisfactory answers.”

While the Trump administration has cited overdose deaths in the US related to fentanyl to justify the bombing campaign, lawmakers were told in the briefing that the boats that have been targeted were allegedly smuggling cocaine, though the Pentagon has not provided evidence to back up its claims about what the vessels were carrying.

“They argued that cocaine is a facilitating drug of fentanyl, but that was not a satisfactory answer for most of us,” Jacobs said.

The briefing on Thursday came after the Pentagon shut out Democrats from another briefing it held with Republicans a day earlier, which left Democratic senators fuming. Democrats who attended Thursday’s briefing said Pentagon lawyers were pulled from the meeting at the last minute.

“Am I leaving satisfied? Absolutely not. And the last word that I gave to the admiral was, ‘I hope you recognize the constitutional peril that you are in and the peril you are putting our troops in,’” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) told reporters after the briefing, according to CNN.

Jacobs said that, based on what she was told, even if Congress authorized the bombing campaign, it would still be illegal. “[T]here’s nothing that we heard in there that changes my assessment that this is completely illegal, that it is unlawful and even if Congress authorized it, it would still be illegal because there are extrajudicial killings where we have no evidence,” she said.

Criticism of the US bombing campaign has also come from Republicans, most prominently from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). “No one said their name, no one said what evidence, no one said whether they’re armed, and we’ve had no evidence presented,” Paul said this week of the people who have been targeted. “They summarily execute people without presenting evidence to the public… so it’s wrong.”

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The New Monroe Doctrine: Cuban Aid, Brazilian Bloodbath, and an Update on Venezuela

If you’ve been sniffing around the MSM today (or social media), you’ve probably seen headlines implying we’re poised for military action inside Venezuela to take out Nicolás Maduro and his regime. That’s because outlets like the Miami Herald are reporting that “the Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment” and “will seek to destroy military installations used by the drug-trafficking organization the U.S. says is headed by Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and run by top members of his regime.”

The Herald also reports that an anonymous source said, “Maduro is about to find himself trapped and might soon discover that he cannot flee the country even if he decided to. What’s worse for him, there is now more than one general willing to capture and hand him over, fully aware that one thing is to talk about death, and another to see it coming.” 

Some call it “advanced planning,” while others report that this action could take place within days or even hours. Some still seem to think that this means a full-on invasion. Even old Bernie Sanders is on X fussing about Trump “declaring war.”  

Let’s calm down and take a deep breath here. First of all, as I’m literally typing this, Donald Trump is on Air Force Once talking to reporters, and he denied that he’s made a decision about any type of military action on Venezuelan soil. The White House has also told us that when/if it happens, they will let us know. It won’t be some reporter with a “source close to the situation.” 

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Haaretz Report: Lynch Mobs, Arson, and Slaughtered Animals Mark Unprecedented Israeli Settler Violence Across the West Bank

A new investigative report from Haaretz exposes a shocking escalation of settler and military-backed violence across the occupied West Bank — a campaign marked by organized lynch mobs, arson attacks, and the slaughtering of Palestinian livestock, described by local witnesses as “terror under the guise of security.”

The report, titled “Lynch Mobs, Arson, Slaughtered Animals: The West Bank Faces Unprecedented Israeli Violence,” catalogs a wave of brutality unleashed by armed settler militias over the past months, often operating with protection or open collaboration from Israeli soldiers. The evidence paints a grim picture of systemic state-sanctioned aggression and near-total impunity for the perpetrators.

A Campaign of Terror Across the Hills

According to eyewitnesses cited by Haaretz, coordinated settler groups have attacked dozens of Palestinian villages, burning homes, destroying crops, and setting herds ablaze. Livestock — a lifeline for many rural families — has been massacred in acts of intimidation designed to drive Palestinians from their land.

Residents recounted scenes of coordinated terror. “They came after midnight with rifles and masks,” one witness said. “They torched the fields, shot the sheep, and beat anyone who tried to stop them.”

The report highlights that these raids have intensified in scope and brutality since early summer. With Israeli military forces stationed mere kilometers away, settlement militias have acted freely — sometimes escorted by soldiers, according to the testimonies.

Human Rights Monitors Sound Alarm

Israeli rights groups, including Yesh Din and B’Tselem, confirmed that violent settler incursions have dramatically risen since the Gaza war’s escalation. In recent weeks, entire Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills and northern Jordan Valley were reportedly forced to flee following repeated armed assaults.

Yesh Din’s monitoring team described the situation as “a campaign of terror being carried out under state protection.” Footage and testimonies published through Haaretz indicate Israeli forces not only failed to intervene but, in several cases, actively shielded settlers from consequences.

“The army now behaves as a protective arm of the settlers,” one source told Haaretz. “Every complaint filed by a farmer or herder ends up buried — or worse, punished.”

Independent footage shared by journalist Jasper Nathaniel on X reinforces those accounts. His video, filmed near one of the recently attacked villages, shows soldiers standing by as masked settlers torch fields and chase fleeing residents — evidence, he wrote, of “open collaboration between military units and armed settlers.”

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Trump Sounds Alarm on Christian Genocide in Nigeria — Pledges to Take Action Against Islamist Atrocities

President Donald Trump is sounding the alarm on Christian persecution in Nigeria.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump spoke out about the threats faced by Nigerian Christians at the hands of Islamist militias.

He wrote:

Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter.

I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it. When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done!

I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.

The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!

This warning was underlined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“The ongoing slaughter of thousands of Christians in Nigeria by radical Islamists and Fulani ethnic militias is both tragic and unacceptable,” he wrote.

”As President Trump said, the United States stands ready, willing, and able to act.”

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Pentagon says Ukraine can have Tomahawk missiles: Report

The Pentagon has given approval to the White House to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, potentially fulfilling President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desire for more weapons in his country’s war with Russia if President Trump provides the final green light, CNN reported Friday.

The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for confirmation. The Defense Department’s (DOD) approval is reportedly based on an assessment that providing Tomahawks would not negatively impact U.S. stockpiles.

After the Joint Staff gave the White House another assessment earlier this month informing Trump that European allies determined the U.S. had little reason to not send the missiles, it came as a surprise when the president pushed against giving Zelensky the missiles, two European officials told CNN.

“It’s not easy for us to give … you’re talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons,” Trump said before meeting with Zelensky at the White House on Oct. 17.

Trump had told Zelensky that he would not provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, at least not yet, CNN reported.

The following week, Zelensky emphasized his discussion with Trump about the missiles as “a major investment in diplomacy — we forced Russia to reveal that Tomahawks are precisely the card they take seriously.”

Zelensky has argued that not being given the Tomahawk missiles deflated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interest in diplomacy with Ukraine.

“The front line can spark diplomacy. Instead, Russia continues to do everything to weasel out of diplomacy, and as soon as the issue of long-range capabilities for us — for Ukraine — became less immediate, Russia’s interest in diplomacy faded almost automatically,” Zelensky said during a daily video address earlier this month. “This signals that this very issue — the issue of our deep strike capabilities — may hold the indispensable key to peace.” 

The missiles are built to travel at high, subsonic speeds and low heights to better dodge radars, providing Ukraine with a lot more capability and range to target Russian military outposts and energy facilities deep inside the country, military experts previously told The Hill. 

Russia has warned the U.S. against sending the missiles to Ukraine, arguing it would represent a major escalation. The Kremlin is currently using self-produced missiles in addition to missiles from North Korea and drones from Iran.

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4 creepy ghost stories from the Vietnam War

In Spring 1993, a Vietnamese farmer was on his way to work his rice paddy when he passed his wife and children in the road. The wife sat on a rock and greeted him “scornfully,” as his children cowered behind their mother. The meeting shocked the farmer, as his wife and his three children were killed when their village was attacked in 1968, and his house was burned to the ground.

Ghost stories like these are told across Vietnam, where rural communities attach great significance to spiritual encounters. In this case, the man understood his wife’s grave had been disturbed in the village’s recent developments, and he immediately set out to give them a proper reburial.

But there are many, many more ghost stories throughout the country, some relevant to the American War fought there. Many of those persist to this day.

Saigon’s Haunted Apartments

The building at 727 Tran Hung Dao in Ho Chi Minh City—once known as Saigon—was a building that housed American service members for much of the Vietnam War. But its construction was plagued by accidents from the get-go, some of which killed the workers building it. Many blamed it on the number of floors the building had, 13, which was considered unlucky.

To assuage their fears and complete the building, the architect decided to call in a shaman to rectify the building’s feng shui-like issues. It’s said the shaman brought the dead bodies of four virgins from the local hospital and buried them at the four corners of the building, which would protect it from evil spirits.

To this day, residents report hearing screams of horror in the middle of the night, the sound of a military parade on the march through the building, and the apparition of a spectral American GI walking, holding hands with his Vietnamese girlfriend.

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100,000 Fighting-Age Ukrainian Men Have Fled the Country in Two Months After Easing of Rules for Departure of 18–22-Year-Olds

Young men are running for their lives.

As the winter approaches in Ukraine – with the terrifying prospect of blackouts and power outages disrupting heating in homes – a huge number of young men are watching the tragedy unfold from safe places, far away from the war.

With the catastrophic number of dead and seriously injured, the ever-growing ‘army’ of deserters and the ghost citizens hiding in their houses from mobilization, the lack of troops has become the main problem affecting the Ukrainian war effort – even more than the lack of weapons, ammo, planes, drones and missiles.

To make things even worse, almost 100,000 fighting-age Ukrainian men have left the country in the past two months, after the Kiev regime eased departure rules for citizens between 18 and 22 years old.

The Telegraph reported:

“Poland’s border guard said 99,000 Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 22 had crossed the frontier – the primary route out of the country – since regulations to ensure that Kyiv had enough soldiers were relaxed at the end of August. In comparison, the entire British Army has around 70,000 personnel.”

Since the beginning of the war, martial law blocked Ukrainian men aged from 18 to 60 from leaving the country.

But, in the fourth year of fighting, Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky signed a new rule that permits Ukrainian men to travel abroad before they reach 23.

“The move was part of a shift in conscription policy, which lowered the age at which men were obliged to fight from 27 to 25 because of mounting concerns over manpower shortages on the front lines.

By granting young Ukrainians more freedoms to leave, it was hoped more would return and volunteer to fight at a later date.”

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Rand Paul: It’s Odd We’re Not Charging Survivors from Boat Strikes for Drug Crimes

On Wednesday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) stated that when there are survivors of the strikes on what the Trump administration alleges are drug boats, “we don’t try them for drug crimes or we don’t even keep them. We’ve been sending them back.” And “We have no evidence of who they are, other than an accusation that they are drug dealers.”

Paul said, “It’s interesting that, as the boats have been exploded, and as we’ve used this deadly force, when there are survivors, we don’t try them for drug crimes or we don’t even keep them. We’ve been sending them back. So, we repatriated, last week, somebody to Colombia and somebody to Ecuador. So, you would think that, when there are survivors, that they would be tried for a drug crime.”

He continued, “You would think we would be hearing evidence that they’re collecting drugs that are floating around in the water afterwards. You would think we’d hear evidence that the people were armed. So, we don’t know their names. We have no evidence of who they are, other than an accusation that they are drug dealers. But we also, in our country, haven’t typically just killed people because we accuse them of being a drug dealer.”

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