Tag: perpetual war

Is Trump Following in LBJ’s Footsteps?

On 12 May 2026, I was on “Judging Freedom” talking with the Judge about the growing realization in the American body politic that not only is the Iran war lost, but the defeat will have disastrous consequences for the US and countries all over the world. Of course, the Judge and virtually all of his regular guests have been saying that for a long time, but many refused to believe that the war was a lost cause. That is no longer the case, as the essay in The Atlantic by the prominent neoconservative Robert Kagan illustrates.

It seems to me, as I noted to the Judge, that the war appears to be having serious negative effects on President Trump. He often looks worn down and sometimes even disoriented. And his comments — especially his Truth Social posts — sound like the ravings of a desperate man, not someone who is in control of the events around him. He surely knows he has no war-winning strategy in Iran and that his presidency is likely to be badly damaged, if not ruined, by this war, which he foolishly started against the advice of his principal advisors.

As I remarked to the Judge, it reminds me of what happened to President Johnson during the Vietnam war. He was sworn in on 20 January 1965 (sixty years to the day before Trump was sworn in for his second term) after winning a landslide victory in the presidential election on 3 November 1964. Johnson was on top of the political world, but then in March 1965, he sent the first US combat troops into South Vietnam and launched the famous “Rolling Thunder” bombing campaign against North Vietnam. In effect, he started a losing war that destroyed his presidency and made his life a living nightmare. It looks like President Trump is heading into a similar situation.

Keep reading

When Killing Becomes Commonplace

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished
unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”
— Voltaire (1694-1778)

Last week, when the Pentagon resumed its attacks on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, the media barely noticed. The U.S. military has now destroyed 56 vessels and killed 190 persons. The killings began in September 2025 and have continued to this month.

The attacks caused a stir a few months ago when one of the strikes disabled the boat at which the attack was aimed but failed to kill all the passengers. When a follow-up strike was ordered, it succeeded where the initial strike had failed. The admiral who ordered the murder of the survivors told members of Congress in secret that he believed he was following orders. The secretary of defense denied that he ordered the survivors to be killed.

Killing survivors is expressly prohibited by federal law as well as by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. And, of course, ordering the killing of innocents is always unlawful.

So, the Pentagon made two changes. It produced more lethal strikes so as not to be burdened with the problem of survivors, and it either stopped killing survivors or stopped revealing that it killed them.

Everyone who professionally monitors the government expects that it will not be truthful when the truth is unpleasant or reveals criminal behavior. This expectation is realistic, considering history and Supreme Court rulings that permit the government to lie.

The Navy rescued two survivors whom it failed to kill. Under the law, rescuing is to be done by the Coast Guard. But that law was written when the Coast Guard was in the Department of Defense. Today, it is in the Department of Homeland Security, which is largely mistrusted by the DoD.

So, rather than share information about its attempted murders with a department of the government over which it has no control, rather than having a team ready and nearby to rescue survivors, the Pentagon assigned the Navy to arrive long afterward and rescue two fishermen.

But the Navy didn’t know what to do with them, so its legal team asked Department of Justice lawyers for guidance. They asked the DoD what evidence of crimes it had on these fishermen, whereupon the DoD was unable to provide an answer that would rise to the level of probable cause — the legal standard for charging and detaining anyone.

Probable cause is a level of evidence such that a neutral person would conclude that it is more likely than not that the detained persons committed a stated crime. At that point, the DoJ told the DoD to return these would-be victims to their home countries.

In 56 attacks, and one follow-up attack, only three persons survived. Two of them have hired American lawyers and have served notice of their intention to sue the federal government for its attempted murder of them.

The government initially claimed that these killings were of known drug dealers and this was part of a law enforcement operation. Yet, under federal law, the military is prohibited from engaging in law enforcement.

Keep reading

Awkward moment an aging Mitch McConnell needs help from staff during hearing with Pete Hegseth

Mitch McConnell appeared confused when a staffer interrupted him because he tried to end a Senate hearing with Pete Hegseth before it was set to conclude.

The former Majority Leader, 84, was part of a hearing of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Defense that had been questioning the defense secretary regarding the War in Iran. 

As McConnell was given the floor again after questioning by Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, he tried to end the hearing with Hegseth, much to his colleagues’ confusion.

‘Here’s where we are, the vote is about over, the secretary has to get with the President on the China trip, I’m gonna’ ask Senator Murkowski to wrap up and thank you all for being here.’

Before finishing, he was interrupted by a younger, male staffer who could be heard whispering into his ear. 

‘Baldwin, Shaheen, and Kennedy still have questions,’ the staffer said.

He was referring to Wisconsin Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin, New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican John Kennedy. 

The staffer can then be heard clarifying that the hearing should ‘wrap up after’ those questions. 

Keep reading

O.J. Simpson top defense expert trained thousands of Chinese state security agents in U.S.

A forensic expert who testified in numerous high-profile American murder trials spent decades training China’s police alongside U.S. law enforcement officials at his federally-funded institutions in Connecticut, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Dr. Henry C. Lee, who was born in China and became famous testifying as an expert defense witness in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial, served as Connecticut State Police commissioner and investigated dozens of notorious cases including the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart and the murders of JonBenét Ramsey, Chandra Levy and Laci Peterson.

At least a decade before joining O.J.’s “dream team,” Lee also began sharing his expertise with “China’s FBI,” the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and its local subordinate, the Public Security Bureau (PSB), with which he held numerous positions until his death at the age of 87 in March 2026, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

Lee likewise held multiple positions in arms of a Chinese influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which arranged for Lee to be interviewed in 2019 about his work training Chinese state security personnel in both China and the U.S. at the University of New Haven (UNH), where he had served as a professor for over 50 years, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

“Over the past 50 years, at least 1,000 teams and more than 10,000 [Chinese police] have received specialized professional training here in Connecticut at UNH,” Lee said, according to a DCNF translation of that 2019 interview. “I feel their academic drive, spirit of tireless research, and love for the cause, party and nation.”

“The allegations of UNH training students from the MPS must be thoroughly investigated and all American universities must do more to protect taxpayer-funded research from our adversaries,” Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told the DCNF.

Keep reading

Israeli soldiers jailed for desecrating Virgin Mary statue

Two Israeli soldiers were sentenced to several weeks in military prison for desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

Last week, a photo surfaced showing a service member hugging the statue in the predominantly Christian village of Debel, near the Israeli border, and placing a cigarette in the statue’s mouth. The image sparked outrage on social media and prompted an official investigation.

On Monday, IDF spokeswoman Ariella Mazor said the soldier posing with the statue and the soldier filming him were sentenced to 21 and 14 days behind bars, respectively.

“The IDF views the incident with great severity and respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” Mazor wrote on X.

Keep reading

US war in Iran has cost $36.9 billion so far: Pentagon

The US’ war in Iran has cost US$29 billion (S$36.9 billion) so far, a senior Pentagon official said on May 12, an increase of US$4 billion from an estimate provided in late April.

With just six months before the mid-term elections, in which US President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House majority, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the war to cost-of-living issues.

On April 29, the Pentagon said the war at that point had cost US$25 billion.

Mr Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the comptroller, told lawmakers on May 12 that the new cost included updated repair and replacement of equipment and operational costs.

“The joint staff team and the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate,” he said.

He was speaking alongside Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.

It is unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the US$29 billion figure. A source told Reuters in March that the Trump administration estimated that the first six days of the war had cost at least US$11.3 billion. REUTERS

Keep reading

Inside the sprawling secret spy network that propelled Chinese agent Eileen Wang on US soil

Two convicted Chinese spies helped Arcadia’s former mayor become a successful SoCal politician — who secretly took orders from Beijing.

Yaoning “Mike” Sun and John Chen helped Eileen Wang win office and secretly reported back to their masters in the People’s Republic of China, according to court documents.

Sun took orders from Chen as he served as the campaign manager and business partner of Wang in her successful 2022 run for Arcadia City Council.

When Wang won her seat, Chen told Sun to send a report to their PRC masters calling Wang a “new political star.”

Wang would “go against Taiwanese independence” and “report to China,” Chen reported to his PRC spymaster.

The Chinese official responded: “That’s great!”

Chen told Sun to make a list of politicians that Wang was friendly with, adding: “the more the better, the higher position the better.”

He also bragged to Beijing about they could turn local U.S. politicians against Taiwanese independence, according to the documents.

Keep reading

Israel has tried to drag US into war on Iran for decades, says former Qatari PM

A former Qatari prime minister has said that the war on Iran is part of decades-long Israeli efforts to violently reshape the region, and that a unified “Gulf Nato” must be urgently established. 

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also the former Qatari foreign minister, made the comments in a wide-ranging interview on Al Jazeera’s Al Muqabala programme. 

“We are witnessing a major restructuring of the region,” Sheikh Hamad said.

He said that hardline Israelis, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had been trying to get the US to go to war with Iran over its nuclear programme since the 1990s under President Bill Clinton’s administration. 

The veteran diplomat said that previous US governments had been hesitant for a full scale war, including Donald Trump’s first administration. 

Keep reading

Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense system estimated to cost $1.2 trillion over 20 years: CBO

President Donald Trump’s proposed missile defense system dubbed the “Golden Dome” is estimated to cost $1.2 trillion over two decades, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. 

The nonpartisan office described the analysis as one that provides “one illustrative approach rather than an estimate of a specific administration proposal,” according to the Associated Press. 

Trump had ordered the system in an executive order during his first week of his second presidency, In a series of posts on X, the Department of War described it as a “layered, integrated shield” that will defend the U.S. against ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, advanced cruise missiles and next-generation aerial attacks.

“From a NORAD and NORTHCOM perspective, the requirement is clear. To defend North America and win tomorrow’s fight, we must maintain our war-fighting advantages and operate beyond stove-piped systems operating at human speed. Golden Dome is forging the integrated, automated battle management network needed to see every threat, make decisions in milliseconds, and keep America safe,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Piper, deputy director of operations at NORAD.

The CBO report notes that its estimate lacks many details from the Department of War about what and how many systems would be deployed. This makes it impossible to estimate the long-term cost of the Golden Dome system, the report explains. 

Keep reading

Greenland Leader Admits US Military Presence on Island Is Part of Negotiations ‌With Washington

PM Nielsen faces the US interest on his island head-on.                                                               

Danish caretaker Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has lost the chance of negotiating a new coalition, after she led her Social Democrat party to the worst election result in its history.

Her ally, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, is now left to negotiate with the United States on the thorny issue of the designs by President Donald J. Trump over the Arctic island that is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

Today (12), Nielsen said that increasing the US military presence in the Arctic territory is part of ongoing secret negotiations ‌with Washington.

Reuters reported:

“From the beginning, one of the issues has been that ​they don’t think we do enough in terms of national security and surveillance in our region, so security and more ​military presence in Greenland is part of the discussions,” Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told reporters in Copenhagen.

Seeking to calm tensions, Greenland, Denmark and the US earlier this year agreed to hold high-level diplomatic negotiations to resolve the crisis, ​although the outcome of those ongoing talks has yet to be presented.”

Keep reading