Tag: perpetual war

Top Trump Officials Intensify Push for Regime Change in Venezuela

Senior Trump administration officials have intensified their push to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power and are discussing steps to escalate the military pressure, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The report said the effort is being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as President Trump’s national security advisor. Other top officials on board for regime change in Venezuela include CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Stephen Miller, Trump’s chief domestic policy advisor.

The report cited Venezuelan opposition figures who say their movement has been planning what to do if Maduro is ousted, and that Rubio had met with five opposition figures who fled to the US back in May. During the first Trump administration, the US backed a failed coup attempt against Maduro led by opposition figure Juan Guaido.

Other Trump officials, most notably special envoy Ric Grennel, are pushing for diplomacy with Venezuela, and Maduro has sent a letter to Trump seeking talks, although it was dismissed by the White House.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil pointed to the fact that his country continues to accept twice-weekly deportation flights from the US as a sign that Caracas is serious about diplomacy. He also said that a war would lead to “excessive migration” and economic collapse that would “destabilize the entire region.”

Officials told the Times that the administration is considering launching direct strikes inside Venezuela against alleged drug cartels, something that’s been reported by several other media outlets.

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Israeli Knesset Advances Bill To Execute Palestinian Prisoners Who Killed Jews

In yet another development which will certainly complicate current Trump administration efforts to find peace in Gaza, the National Security Committee in the Israeli Knesset is advancing a bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinian prisoners detained for killing Israelis.

Killings which are deemed motivated by “racism or hostility to the public” or aimed at harming the “State of Israel” or seeking to thwart the “revival of the Jewish people” would be a capital offensive, according to the legislation. Interestingly, the wording highlights Jewish citizens of Israel are the priority – and not for example Christian, Muslim, or Druze citizens.

It has unleashed immediate controversy both within and outside of Israel. For starters, some Israeli officials as well as families of Oct.7 victims fear that this puts the remaining hostages in Gaza at immediate risk. Notably, the bill does not apply the opposite direction – that is, it would not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s coordinator for negotiations on the captives, Gal Hirsch, has gone on record as vehemently opposing the bill.

“It’s not for nothing that we are asking not to hold this discussion. I completely disagree with your assessment of the situation, Minister [Itamar] Ben Gvir,” he said in a communication protesting the initiative. “Especially when we are engaged in a combined military and diplomatic effort to bring back the hostages, this discussion does not help us.”

An initial Sunday Knesset committee vote was 4-1 in favor, while more of rounds of votes needed for the bill to become law, according to protocol. 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been leading the charge, resisting calls to postpone the vote due to the precariousness of the hostage situation. 

One Palestinian rights group had this to say:

The Israeli bill was denounced by the Palestinian Commission for Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society as an “unprecedented savagery,” warning that it would entrench what they described as “systematic crimes” against detainees through legislation.

Increasingly, there have been shootings and terroristic attacks by Palestinians in places like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, related to ongoing events in Gaza and the West Bank.

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Mystery Drone Incursions in NATO Airspace Spark Europe-Wide Concerns Over “Hybrid Warfare” Threats

On September 22, air traffic at Copenhagen Airport came to a standstill when as many as three unidentified drones appeared in its airspace, forcing controllers to shut down Scandinavia’s busiest hub and divert dozens of flights. 

What could have initially been seen as an isolated disruption soon emerged as the opening salvo in a surge of recent alleged drone incursions across NATO territory—an escalating security crisis exposing serious gaps in European drone defenses and compelling the alliance to recalibrate its strategy. 

In the past week, multiple NATO member states have reported mysterious overflights of military installations, airports, and critical infrastructure, prompting governments to scramble their defenses, question the perpetrators’ motives, and warn that a new, low-level form of hybrid warfare may be unfolding over Europe. 

From northern Germany to France’s interior, the pattern has become unmistakable: drones of unknown origin operating with impunity in NATO airspace. 

“The number, size, flight patterns, [and] time over the airport. All this together indicates that it is a capable actor,” Police Inspector Jens Jespersen said after the Copenhagen sightings. “Which capable actor, I do not know.”

Following repeated incursions, including near Copenhagen, Oslo, Aalborg, and Billund airports, the Danish government announced a nationwide ban on all civilian drone flights from September 29 through October 3. 

The measure coincides with Copenhagen’s preparations to host a summit of European Union leaders on strengthening Europe’s common defense and continued support for Ukraine. 

“Denmark will host EU leaders in the coming week, where we will have extra focus on security,” Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen said in a statement. “Therefore, from Monday to Friday, we will close the Danish airspace to all civilian drone flights.”

“In this way, we remove the risk that enemy drones can be confused with legal drones and vice versa,” Danielsen said. 

However,  Denmark isn’t alone in feeling exposed to this recent unidentified drone threat. In Germany’s northernmost state, Schleswig-Holstein, authorities reported multiple drone sightings on the night of September 26. 

“Of course, we in Schleswig-Holstein are also investigating every suspicion of espionage and sabotage in this case and remain very vigilant in this area,” Schleswig-Holstein’s interior minister, Sabine Suetterlin-Waack, told Reuters. 

That same day, French authorities reported unauthorized drone activity over the Mourmelon-le-Grand military base. French media reported the incident prompted heightened security at the installation, which houses the 501st Tank Regiment and has previously served as a training ground for Ukrainian troops.

Throughout the week of September 22, unidentified drone incursions were similarly reported flying near critical infrastructure in Sweden, Finland, and Lithuania. 

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‘PREPARE FOR WAR’: Pete Hegseth announces new mission, high standards for US Armed Forces

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke to military leaders at Quantico on Tuesday morning, letting them know just what the change from Department of Defense to Department of War really means. The new mission of the War Department, he said, is “preparing for war.”

“Fighting, preparing for war and preparing to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit, not because we want war—no one here wants war—but it’s because we love peace,” Hegseth said. This mission is alongside his intense effort to eliminate “wokeness” from the military, which is an element in the Armed Forces that the administration believes puts service men and women at risk.

He announced 10 new directives, including that the “highest male standard” will be in place for all of those in the Armed Forces. A combat field test will also come into place, “that must be executable in any environment at any time and with combat equipment.” 

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What is a sleeper cell, and why are US officials on high alert?

As tensions escalate between the United States and Iran, the threat of sleeper cells has “never been higher,” according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, although no specific or credible threats have yet emerged.

In a memo obtained by NewsNation, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said, “Thousands of Iranian nationals have been documented entering the United States illegally and countless more were likely in the known and unknown got-a-ways.”

While there is no current actionable intelligence, Scott emphasized the need for vigilance: “Though we have not received any specific credible threats … the threat of sleeper cells or sympathizers acting on their own, or at the behest of Iran has never been higher.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” to be phased in over 24 hours.

Trump said on Truth Social that the ceasefire would bring an “Official END” to war, a major change in the hostilities that follows a U.S. strike over the weekend on three Iranian nuclear sites.

What are sleeper cells, and how do they operate?

Sleeper cells are spies or terrorists who operate in rival countries and remain inactive until they are essentially ordered to act.

NewsNation national security contributor Tracy Walder explained that while the concept of Iranian sleeper cells in the U.S. is not new, there may have been a recent influx of agents.Timeline: How US conducted bombings on Iranian nuclear sites 

“They have sleeper cells here. Quite frankly, they have for decades. … They are just waiting for the right moment,” Walder said.

A recent Homeland Security threat assessment confirms that Iran remains a primary state sponsor of terrorism and continues efforts to target both current and former U.S. officials. That assessment echoes similar warnings issued by the Biden administration in 2024.

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Israel is the main source of instability in the Middle East

Is conflict in the Middle East at an inflection point? It might seem so, given how international outrage over Israel’s lethal conduct in the Gaza Strip has become increasingly intense and widespread in recent weeks.

Several major Western countries that previously had declined to join most other members of the United Nations in formally recognizing a Palestinian state used the opening of the current session of the General Assembly as the occasion to take that step. Popular demonstrations in the West in support of the Palestinians have been as large and conspicuous as ever, and recent polls show a sharp decline in the American public’s support for Israel.

Such responses are the least that can be expected in the face of new lows in barbarous Israeli actions against the residents of the Gaza Strip. An Israeli military assault on Gaza City has added to the rubble to which most of the city had already been reduced. The assault has given remaining inhabitants the choice of suffering and perhaps dying in place or fleeing once again to someplace else in the Strip with still no assurance of safety. The armed attacks and imposed starvation have seen the death toll of Gazans increase to what is now probably several times the officially reported figure of about 65,000.

The international responses, including diplomatic recognition of Palestine by Western governments, fall short of eliciting a constructive Israeli response. The recognition of a Palestinian state has been the target of criticism from some Palestinians who rightly point out that it does nothing to alleviate the immediate misery on the ground. Diplomatic moves and street demonstrations do not speak the only language that Israel appears to understand, which is one of force and compulsion.

The Israeli response to the latest diplomatic moves has been one of defiance and threats to inflict still more depredations on the Palestinians. The Israeli national security minister, right-wing extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir, is pushing to make annexation of the West Bank the main Israeli response to Western recognition of Palestine.

Most Israelis, and not just their government or the extremists within it, see international pressure as just more evidence of bias against Israel and of the need for Israel to use force to protect itself, regardless of worldwide outrage. Survey research shows that most Israelis believe there are “no innocents” in Gaza and favor expulsion of residents from the Gaza Strip. An appeal to morality will not get a positive response from a government that has this population as its political base. Only the imposition on Israel of significant costs and consequences would lead it to change its policies.

Although we may not be at an inflection point regarding the Palestinian-Israeli tragedy, the thinking of Arab regimes in the region has reached an inflection point of sorts in recent weeks. The Israeli attack in early September on the territory of Qatar, in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Hamas leaders engaged in Gaza-related negotiations, shocked that thinking.

The attack in Qatar comes amid a fusillade of Israeli armed attacks against other regional states, including Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran, in addition to the carnage in Palestine. These and other regional states (such as Iraq and Egypt) have been the targets of Israeli attacks — both overt military and clandestine — for many years, but it is the near-simultaneity of some of the attacks over the past month that has added to the shock.

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West at war with Russia – Polish PM

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is also the West’s war, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said. The most important task for EU leaders is to make people aware of the threat that Russia supposedly poses, he told the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday.

Tusk has taken a particularly hardline stance on the conflict, in which Warsaw has been a key supporter of Kiev. Earlier this month, he complained that fellow Poles have developed “antipathy” towards Ukraine, which he blamed on Russia, while urging Polish politicians to “stem this tide.”

On Monday, he said, “the biggest and most important task for European leaders today is to make Western societies aware” that the Ukraine conflict is the most serious risk they face in the 21st century.

“This war is also our war,” Tusk stated, claiming that it is “of our fundamental interest,” as a defeat would affect all of Western civilization from Poland to the US. He called for “solidarity and unity” within the EU and NATO to counter this.

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Trump and Hegseth declare an end to ‘politically correct’ leadership in the U.S. military

U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared an end to “woke” culture in the military and targeted other policies of past administrations Tuesday before hundreds of top U.S. military officials who were abruptly summoned to Virginia from around the world.

Hegseth announced new directives for troops that include “gender-neutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness, while Trump bragged about U.S. nuclear capabilities and criticized the military leaders’ previous commander in chief, U.S. President Joe Biden.

“We must be so strong that no nation will dare challenge us, so powerful that no enemy will dare threaten us,” Trump said. ”And so capable that no adversary can even think about beating us.”

Hegseth had called military leaders to convene at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, near Washington, without publicly revealing the reason until this morning. Hegseth’s address largely focused on his own long-used talking points that painted a picture of a military that has been hamstrung by “woke” policies, and he said military leaders should “do the honorable thing and resign” if they don’t like his new approach.

Meetings between top military brass and civilian leaders are nothing new, but the gathering had fueled intense speculation about the summit’s purpose given the haste with which it was called and the mystery surrounding it.

Admirals and generals from conflict zones in the Middle East and elsewhere were summoned for a lecture on race and gender in the military, underscoring the extent to which the country’s culture wars have emerged as a front-and-center agenda item for Hegseth’s Pentagon, even at a time of broad national security concerns across the globe.

During his nearly hour-long speech, Hegseth said the U.S. military has promoted too many leaders for the wrong reasons based on race, gender quotas and “historic firsts.”

“The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don’t-hurt-anyone’s-feelings leadership ends right now at every level,” Hegseth said.

He said he is loosening disciplinary rules and weakening hazing protections, putting a heavy focus on removing many of the guardrails the military had put in place after numerous scandals and investigations.

Hegseth said he was ordering a review of “the department’s definitions of so-called toxic leadership, bullying and hazing to empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second guessing.”

He called for “changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable, earnest, or minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in perpetuity.”

“People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an entire career,” Hegseth said. “Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes.”

Bullying and toxic leadership has been the suspected and confirmed cause behind numerous military suicides over the past several years, including the very dramatic suicide of Brandon Caserta, a young sailor who was bullied into killing himself in 2018.

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Russia Says It’s ‘Analyzing’ the Possibility of the US Sending Tomahawk Missiles to Ukraine

The Kremlin said on Monday that it was “analyzing” the possibility of the US providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, a step that would mark a significant escalation of the proxy war.

The comments from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov came after US Vice President JD Vance said that President Trump was considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks, which have a range of over 1,000 miles, by selling them to European NATO countries.

“We have heard these statements. We are thoroughly analyzing them. Our military specialists are closely monitoring it,” Peskov said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

Peskov also downplayed the idea that Tomahawks would make a difference for Ukraine. “Even if it happens that the United States sends its Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, currently there is no cure-all that could be a game changer on the front lines for the Kiev regime. No magical weapons exist, and Tomahawk or other missiles simply won’t be a game changer,” he said.

With a range of over 1,000 miles, Tomahawks would put Moscow well in range of Ukrainian missile strikes, and Vance’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened attacks on Kremlin officials if the war in Ukraine continues. But it’s unclear how Ukraine would fire the missiles since they’re designed to be launched from advanced US warships.

The US has, in recent years, developed two land-based missile launchers that can fire Tomahawk missiles: the Typhon and the Long Range Fires (LRF) systems. These systems were previously prohibited by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which the US withdrew from in 2019.

The Typhon system has been deployed for military drills in Asia and in Europe, but the LRF has been abandoned by the US Marine Corps due to maneuverability issues. A report from Defense Express suggested that the retired LRF launchers could be refitted and sent to Ukraine for the Ukrainian military to use to fire Tomahawks.

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Frigate, Radars, Troops Rushed To Copenhagen To Defend Against Mystery Drones

European nations are beefing up security in Copenhagen amid an ongoing wave of reported drone sightings in the Baltics and Scandinavia. The movement of counter-drone systems, advanced radars, a German frigate, a French helicopter and troops is designed to protect this week’s European Union meetings in the Danish capital. 

The sightings, over military installations and civilian airports, have also prompted Denmark to close its airspace to civilian drones for a week starting today after the incursion forced it to shut down a half dozen airports last week. In Norway, authorities said flights had to be diverted on Sunday because of unknown drones over airports there.

While Denmark has called the drones part of a “hybrid attack,” officials there have stopped short of saying definitively who is responsible, Reuters noted. However, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has suggested it could be Moscow, calling Russia the primary “country that poses a threat to European security.” The Kremlin denies any involvement.

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