Tag: perpetual war

When Palestinians Die in Israeli Captivity, US Media Almost Never Take Note

The different treatment accorded to the plights of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners by US corporate media illustrates a persistent double standard that treats some people as more human than others.

Take 20-year-old Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Saeed Tazaz’a, who died in Israel’s Megiddo Prison after nearly three months of illegal detention, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs (CDA), an agency of the Palestinian Authority (8/3/25).

Tazaz’a, who was from Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, was imprisoned on May 6 of this year without a charge or a trial. He was held under Israel’s policy of “administrative detention,” which locks up Palestinians indefinitely “on the grounds that he or she plans to break the law in the future,” according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. Tazaz’a did not suffer from prior health problems before his arrest, according to his family (WAFA, 8/7/25).

There are currently some 3,613 Palestinians under administrative detention in Israeli prisons, according to the July 2025 CDA report, and more than 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli custody (not including those held in military camps) in total. Even Israel’s own military intelligence only identifies a quarter of its detainees from Gaza as “fighters,” while human rights groups and Israeli soldiers have reported even fewer—roughly 15%—as Hamas members (Guardian, 9/4/25).

The CDA reports that Tazaz’a was the 76th identified Palestinian to die in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023. 

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Trump to preside over Hegseth’s rare council of generals as Commander-in-Chief reveals purpose of gathering

President Donald Trump will fully embrace his role as Commander-in-Chief of America’s armed forces later this week.

Trump told NBC News Sunday that he will be present at a meeting of the nation’s top military leaders organized by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, which will take place this Tuesday in Quantico,Virginia.

Speaking with NBC News over the phone, Trump shared the following about the forthcoming meeting:

‘It’s really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things. It’s just a good message,’ Trump noted.

‘We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing,’ the Commander-in-Chief added.

News of the meeting being called by Hegseth last week raised some alarm, as attendees were initially not told of the reason why they were being summoned to Washington, DC, from their respective posts across the globe.

Daily Mail reported Friday that Hegseth’s order to pull leaders into a meeting was kinglike.

‘He is playing mind games and wants to let them know who is boss. There is nothing big going on. They will just go over future strategies, posturing and policies. After the meeting, you might even report on some firings that will happen,’ a defense official told the Daily Mail.

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Vance Says Trump Is Considering Supplying Ukraine With Tomahawk Missiles

Vice President JD Vance said in an interview that aired Sunday that President Trump was considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, a step that would mark a significant escalation of the proxy war, as the missiles have a range of over 1,000 miles.

“You asked this question about Tomahawks. It’s something the president is going to make the final determination on. What the president is going to do is what’s in the best interest for the United States of America … I know that we’re having conversations this very minute about that issue,” Vance said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

It’s unclear how Ukraine would use the Tomahawk missiles if they were supplied, as they are designed to be fired by US Navy warships and submarines. Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, previously said that Ukraine lacks the naval infrastructure to use sea-launched Tomahawks.

The US could potentially provide Ukraine with its new ground-based Typhon missile launcher, which can fire Tomahawks and was developed after the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. The INF prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.

Vance didn’t address the risk of escalation that comes with providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Moscow has previously made clear that US-backed missile strikes on its territory risk nuclear escalation, as it changed its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons after the Biden administration gave the green light for Ukraine to fire US-provided ATACMS missiles into Russia.

When asked about his previous opposition to the US arming Ukraine, the vice president pointed to the fact that the US is now having European countries fund the weapons shipments. However, last month, the administration announced a deal that will arm Ukraine with Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) air-launched missiles, which can hit targets up to 280 miles away, that will be partially funded by US military aid.

Tomahawks would put Moscow in range of Ukrainian missile strikes, and Vance’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened that Kremlin officials could become targets if the war continues. “They have to know where the bomb shelters are,” Zelensky said in an interview with Axios. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

In the same interview, Zelensky said that he had the explicit backing of President Trump to hit Russian energy infrastructure and arms factories and warned that if the US provided additional long-range capabilities, “we will use it.”

Russia, which hasn’t targeted Ukrainian leadership, has dismissed Zelensky’s threat. “Zelensky is trying to demonstrate to the Europeans, who now act as the breadwinners, that he is such a brave soldier,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Meanwhile, the state of affairs at the front indicates the opposite. With every passing day, the situation for Ukraine is inexorably deteriorating.”

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How Europe Lost Its Credibility in Gaza

Recently, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that US support for “everything that the Israeli government is doing” limits the EU’s leverage to change the situation on the ground in the Gaza Strip.

Subsequently, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, proposed sanctions to Israeli ministers and partial suspension of Israel trade deal. On Wednesday, the EU Commission’s review discovered – after 21 months of mass atrocities in Gaza and violent pogroms in the West Bank – that actions taken by the Israeli government in the Palestinian-occupied territories represent a ‘breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights and democratic principles,’ which permits the EU to suspend the agreement unilaterally.

Last weekend, these sentiments were reinforced with the recognition of the state of Palestine by U.S. allies – the UK, Canada and Australia – and others to follow soon.

Observers of Brussels declared that the EU had become tough on genocide. In reality, it was a last-minute effort by the two EU leaders to fuse rising outrage against EU’s Gaza policies and charges they were complicit in Israel’s atrocities.

How Kallas emboldened Israel in Gaza

Addressing the annual EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) conference in Brussels, Kajas said that US backing of Israel undermines EU leverage to stop the “Gaza war.” Yet, the United States has supported Israel for more than half a century.

US backing of Ukraine and Israel, division on Gaza

“We are struggling because 27 member states have different positions,” on the issue, Kallas explained. “Europe can only use full force when it acts together.” In this way, accessorial complicity is first deflected to Washington and then attributed to the absence of European unity, which Kallas has long called for, to confront Russia. In other words, the EU Gaza apology was a thinly-veiled effort for a plea to unity Kallas hoped to turn against Russia in Ukraine.

When asked about “double-standard” accusations towards the bloc on its Gaza policy, Kallas said it is not true that the EU is inactive on Gaza. Yet, previously she had opposed intervention in Gaza. In mid-July, Kallas and the foreign ministers of the EU member states chose not to take any action against Israel over alleged war crimes in the Gaza war and settler violence in the West Bank.

The then-proposed sanctions against Israel would have included suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, suspending visa-free travel, and blocking imports from Israeli settlements. This decision emboldened the Netanyahu cabinet, which saw the EU’s decision not to impose sanctions on Israel as a diplomatic victory. It also led UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to conclude that EU officials like Kallas were complicit in Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The EU is Israel’s biggest trading partner, accounting for a third of Israel’s total trade in goods with the world in 2024, whereas Israel is only the EU’s 31st largest trading partner. Consequently, the EU could easily have sanctioned Israeli trade right after the first genocidal atrocities in late 2023, yet it chose not to. Why?

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Trump Reportedly Denies Ukraine Tomahawk Cruise Missiles That Could Reach Moscow

Zelensky wants US-made long-range missiles that could escalate conflict into WW3.

In the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US President Donald J. Trump had dozens of bilateral meetings, including the almost obligatory face-to-face with the Kiev regime leader, Volodymyr Zelensky.

In his statements to the press and in subsequent social media posts, Trump appeared to cheer for Ukraine and incentivize it to regain lost territory, while at the same time reinforcing the understanding that European powers will have to carry the burden of this war.

But there was one item of military hardware that the US president reportedly refused to include in the packages that the EU can buy to send to Zelensky: Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Axios reported:

“Zelensky told ‘The Axios Show’ on Wednesday that he’d asked Trump for an additional weapons system that could force Russian President Vladimir Putin to enter peace talks — perhaps without Ukraine even having to use it.

[…] Zelensky did not name that weapons system during his interview with Axios’ Barak Ravid, but he said that if Russia knew Ukraine had it, the pressure to talk would greatly increase.”

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US Military Reportedly Preparing for Strikes on Drug Labs Inside Venezuela

Payback may be about to find narco-traffickers in their own turf.

The US is reported to be preparing for military strikes on drug labs inside Venezuela, and the planned actions may also include drone attacks on major drug traffickers.

The strikes within the Bolivarian socialist state could potentially begin in a matter of weeks.

BREAKING: The Trump administration is now drawing up options to launch drone strikes INSIDE VENEZUELA against the cartels, per NBC.

The strikes could occur within weeks against cartel members, leadership and drug labs.

President Trump has NOT yet approved anything.

These… pic.twitter.com/kbGY2SRlmP

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 26, 2025

NBC News reported:

“Those sources are two U.S. officials familiar with the planning and two other sources familiar with the discussions. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly.”

Three alleged drug boats from Venezuela reportedly carrying narco-traffickers and drugs have already been destroyed in the last weeks.

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MSM Says It Knows What Hegseth’s Mystery Meeting Of Hundreds Of Generals Is All About

The Washington Post and CNN say they know what Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s big summoning of hundreds of military generals and admirals is all about. The meeting is set for Tuesday at Quantico Marine Base near Washington D.C. 

No official explanation has yet to be given for why some 800 top commanders are being gathered – some traveling from bases across the globe. Speculation has abounded, including whether it could relate to going to war with Russia, or some other dire and alarming change in force posture. Major media outlets in the US are now claiming it will merely be a big talk by Hegseth in maintaining “warrior ethos” and things like professional standards. It’s also being reported as one big “rally the troops” meeting.

Apparently this somewhat unprecedented gathering is due to his “mounting impatience that the Pentagon hasn’t readily adopted the Trump administration’s directives on military culture, according to officials briefed on the plan.”

The speech will aim to get everyone on the same page in terms of Trump’s desire to tighten up discipline and professional standards across military ranks. So far, President Trump has only said when asked about the somewhat unprecedented meeting by reporters, “It’s great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with a now-called secretary of war.”

The Washington Post states:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered hundreds of generals to travel from around the world to hear him make a short speech on military standards and the “warrior ethos,” multiple people familiar with the event told The Washington Post.

Commenting on the swift pushback, it continues:

Some Pentagon officials questioned the wisdom of launching a relatively large gathering on short notice to hear Hegseth speak for a matter of minutes, and bristled at the idea that long-serving military leaders — a segment of whom spent years in combat earlier in their careers — needed instruction on how to fight.

“They don’t need a talk from Secretary Hegseth on the warrior ethos,” a defense official said.

A high profile retired general has spoken up on social media, and Hegseth bat it down…

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Kremlin Responds To Zelensky Comment Hinting At Assassination Of Top Leadership

Russia on Friday blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his “irresponsible” threats after the day prior he said that leaders in Moscow should check for bomb shelters near the Kremlin if the country does not stop its war in Ukraine.

Zelensky had told Axios that Russian officials “have to know where their bomb shelters are,” adding: “If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

He did caveat the threat by saying he won’t target civilians as “we are not terrorists” but then underscored, “They have to know that we in Ukraine, each day, we will answer. If they attack us, we will answer them.”

Zelensky also stressed that if Ukraine receives long-range weaponry from the United States, then “we will use it.” This is an especially dangerous scenario as it is flirting with WW3, given Moscow has long issued a red line related to such long-range weapons attacking Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader could be upping these threats not only out of desperation, but after earlier this month Russia struck Ukrainian government buildings in the capital for the first time of the war, and it was not far from Zelensky’s own office.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the threats as follows: “Zelensky is clearly continuing his desperate efforts. That’s why he’s issuing threats left and right, which is quite irresponsible,” according to the AFP.

Former Russian president and current top national security official Dmitry Medvedev also responded, by saying:

“The freak should understand something else: Russia can use weapons that no bomb shelter will save you from. And the Americans should remember this too.”

This appeared to be another veiled nuclear threat, and hint at runaway escalation if American long-range weapons are used to attack government buildings in Moscow.

There was at least one notable time earlier in the conflict that Ukraine sent small drones against the Kremlin complex in Moscow, damaging a dome and putting the capital on high alert.

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US Plan Would Tap Tony Blair As Postwar Gaza Leader

In one of the most absurd and comical headlines of the year, The Wall Street Journal on Friday says it knows who will be tapped to oversee Gaza once the Israel-Hamas war is over: former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

That’s according to a controversial White House plan now being proposed to Arab and Israeli leaders. The 72-year old is being presented as a peace-maker, despite his record of being George W. Bush’s biggest allied supporter in the disastrous, blood-soaked invasion of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussein. 

“As Britain’s prime minister, Tony Blair helped negotiate a landmark peace agreement to end three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland,” WSJ writes, apparently without intending irony. “Now, President Trump might want him for an even more difficult job: Helping Gaza get back on its feet once the conflict ends.”

The plan calls for a Gaza International Transition Authority (GITA) – which sounds a bit like the Bush-era’s Coalition Provisional Coalition (CPA) which oversaw nation-building in Iraq. And so it seems Blair will be the Paul Bremer for the Gaza Strip, according to the plan.

The idea is that this would be a UN-overseen initiative. “The United Nations-backed body would control the enclave for at least several years, staffed in part by Palestinian technocrats and supported by an Arab-led international peacekeeping force, until it could hand over full control to the Palestinians, officials say,” WSJ continues.

However, US admin officials have said Blair is but one of several officials under consideration for heading up the GITA mission. The plan would have to gain the cooperation and backing of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and presumably whatever Palestinian officials remain in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

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Zelensky is ‘losing his mind’ – EU state’s foreign minister

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has issued a sharp rebuke of Vladimir Zelensky, claiming that Kiev has become obsessed with Budapest and is imagining threats that do not exist.

Zelensky alleged on Friday that Hungarian drones had violated western Ukrainian airspace, suggesting they “may have been conducting reconnaissance on the industrial potential of Ukraine’s border areas.”

“President Zelensky is losing his mind to his anti-Hungarian obsession,” Szijjarto wrote on X in response, adding that “he is now starting to see things that aren’t there.”

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga fired back, stating that “no amount of your attacks on our President will change what we – and everyone – see.”

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