Tag: perpetual war

US-Israel Military Merger Delayed: Here’s Why and How You Can Stop It

The U.S.-Israel military merger has not become law – yet.

Not because Congress rejected it, but because the House unexpectedly voted down the procedural rule governing debate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

That vote delayed consideration of the bill, but it did not remove the military merger from it. When the House returns, Congress will almost certainly have another opportunity to consider the legislation.

The American people now have another opportunity to stop it.

What Happened?

The Massie-Khanna Amendment, which would have removed the military merger from the bill, was not made in order by the House Rules Committee, which serves as the traffic cop on legislation, deciding which bills and which amendments move forward.

In this case, the Rules Committee played dirty cop and the fix was in to make sure the House would not be able to vote on the military merger because the amendment was simply not placed in the rule. In fact, the amendment was not taken up by the committee and did not even receive a vote.

It was ignored.

Welcome to civics class, Washington, D.C. style, on how a bill isn’t made.

How Congress Was Prevented from Voting

Every piece of legislation has its own specific rule, which determines, among other matters, how much time will be permitted for debate, what amendments are made in order, whether legislation can be further amended from the House floor, and whether a point of order can be raised to challenge the bill.

The Rules Committee makes up the rules for each bill as it goes along.

And it does.

Since Republicans control the House, they determine the committee’s membership. The Rules Committee consists of nine Republicans and four Democrats.

This particular rule governed consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027, legislation that would increase annual Pentagon spending by an astonishing 67 percent to $1.5 trillion. The rule, approved by the committee on a partisan vote at the request of the President, also combined the NDAA with the so-called SAVE Act, restricting voter registration.

Before Members can vote on the underlying legislation, they must first vote separately on the rule. The rule establishes the terms of debate and determines which amendments may be considered.

If the rule goes down, the bill goes down with it.

Why Was the NDAA Vote Delayed?

Here is what happened.

Because of a dispute over the SAVE Act, the House voted down the rule. The NDAA never came before the House for debate or final passage. A disappointed Speaker adjourned the House until July 13.

As a consequence, the NDAA has not passed and the U.S.-Israel military merger it authorizes has not become law.

Yet.

The Fight Continues

When the House returns, the Rules Committee must meet again and draft a new rule. Based on what just happened in committee, there is every reason to believe the new rule will once again prevent any amendment from being offered to remove the military merger.

The Rules Committee should instead make in order the Massie-Khanna Amendment and other amendments that would remove the U.S.-Israel military merger and other deeply controversial provisions from the NDAA. Members of Congress should not be forced into an all-or-nothing vote on legislation of this magnitude without the opportunity to debate and vote on amendments on their merits.

Congress should not be asked to vote on final passage of the NDAA without first having the opportunity to consider amendments that remove the military merger and other controversial provisions.

If the Rules Committee refuses to allow those amendments, the merger provision will remain in the bill.

What we can do

Every Member of Congress should hear one simple message:

Urge House leadership and the Rules Committee to make in order the Massie-Khanna Amendment and other amendments that would remove the U.S.-Israel military merger and other objectionable provisions from the NDAA.

If the Rules Committee refuses, vote against the rule.

If the rule passes, vote against the NDAA until the military merger is removed from the bill.

This is the only way to stop this patently unconstitutional merger, which undermines American sovereignty and opens the door for Israel to drag the United States into more wars to advance its expansionist and murderous impulses.

This Fourth of July, celebrate Independence Day by defending the very principles upon which this nation was founded.

TAKE ACTION

The House is expected to take up the NDAA when it returns on July 13. The time to act is now, before a new rule is written and the bill returns to the House floor.

Let us truly celebrate our independence by staying independent. Please help spread the word by forwarding this article to your family, friends, and colleagues.

Find your Members of Congress:

House: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Senate: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative or Senators.

Ask them to:

  • Support making in order the Massie-Khanna Amendment and other amendments to remove Section 219 from the NDAA.
  • Vote against the rule if those amendments are blocked.
  • If the rule passes, vote against the NDAA until Section 219 is removed.

Optional telephone script

My name is ______ and I am a constituent. I am calling to urge Representative ______ to insist that the House Rules Committee make in order the Massie-Khanna Amendment so the House can debate and vote on removing Section 219 from the NDAA.

If the Rules Committee refuses to allow that amendment, I urge the Representative to vote against the rule. If Section 219 remains in the bill, I urge the Representative to vote against final passage of the NDAA.

Congress should defend American sovereignty, uphold the Constitution, and reject any measure that integrates the executive and military functions of the United States with those of a foreign government.

Thank you.

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Let’s Leave the Strait of Hormuz Alone

President Trump was reportedly “shocked” to see many thousands of Iranians in the street mourning at the funeral of the country’s late leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over the weekend. Khamenei was assassinated by the United States at the beginning of the February US surprise attack on Iran.

The US attack on Iran was sold to Trump by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and US neocons as an easy “cake walk” that would lead the Iranian government to fall and be replaced with a US-friendly regime.

“I thought they hated him,” Trump said of the murdered religious leader of Iran.

Not only did the Iranian people not rise up to replace their leadership with one friendly to Washington, but the society seems to have become even more cohesive and patriotic. This should surprise no one, as when similar tragedies occurred in the United States – assassinations, 9/11, etc – we also as a society came closer together.

In Soccer when you kick the ball into your own goal, it is referred to as an “own-goal.” That is what President Trump achieved with his attack on Iran on February 28th. In fact, it was not just one “own-goal,” but a series of them. The blunder will likely go down in American history as one of the worst foreign policy moves in our history.

The Iranians did not rise up and declare support for the US. American military bases throughout the region are so severely damaged by Iranian retaliation that most cannot be brought back online. Scores of US military equipment has been destroyed or damaged at a cost of tens of billions of dollars. Countries in the region are rethinking their decision to essentially become protectorates of the United States now that it is demonstrated that they cannot be protected by the United States. American military power suddenly looks less powerful.

But perhaps the most destructive “own-goal” of the US attack is the Iranian decision to establish control over the Strait of Hormuz. Even in the US/Israeli attacks of last June, the Strait was kept open by Iran. It is a vital trade route and in everyone’s best interest to keep open for business.

The February attack and Iran’s strong regional response led the country to embrace what some have called a de facto nuclear weapon: control of the Strait. Explaining why he signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran last month, President Trump mentioned the damage being done to the US economy by the closure of the Strait and the possibility that matters may even get worse without the agreement. The US economy desperately needed the Strait to be open.

Now, however, progress toward peace with Iran continues to be thwarted by the stubborn insistence on the US side that the Strait of Hormuz must not be controlled by Iran and that a fee system for passage through the Strait cannot be instituted by Iran and Oman. Several skirmishes have already taken place in the area, threatening to take the US back to war.

It is in the best interest of the United States to abandon claims on Hormuz – which is thousands of miles away – and live with the consequences of Trump’s mistake. Another war cannot win what two previous wars have lost. Let Iran control the Strait and let international trade and commerce be re-established. Let’s leave the Strait alone!

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Monsters Playing Victims: Danny Danon’s Twisted War on the Truth

Whether Israelis will ever comprehend the irreparable damage inflicted upon their country’s reputation by their UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, is a moot point. The damage Israel has done to itself through its barbaric practices in occupied Palestine is simply impossible to overcome.

Danon, however, utilizes a peculiar approach to defending Israel within international institutions: he relies on bullying, intimidation, and an overt attempt to silence anyone who dares to challenge the official Israeli narrative – particularly women leaders. Yet, what makes his behavior most outrageous is his deployment of these abrasive tactics to suppress an issue that demands the utmost sensitivity: the systemic use of sexual violence and human rights abuses against Palestinians.

The confrontation took place during a UN General Assembly session convened to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Senior UN officials were presenting harrowing findings documenting sexual violence against Palestinian detainees.

True to form, Danon refused to engage with the substance of the reports. For Israeli diplomacy, the enemy is never merely the armed adversary; it is the judge, the independent human rights observer, and the UN investigator whose sole mandate is to document violations of international law.

The immediate target of Danon’s wrath was Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Instead of reflecting on the grim findings, Danon demanded Patten’s resignation. He accused her and the broader international community of harboring an “obsession” with targeting Israel.

When Vanessa Frazier, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, attempted to intervene on a point of order per established protocol, Danon unleashed a vitriolic verbal assault. Refusing to yield, he shouted over her, ordering her to “be quiet” and drowning out the chamber with his outbursts. “Shame on you. You are part of this obsession,” Danon bellowed.

While such unruly behavior should have resulted in Danon’s immediate removal from the chamber, the diplomatic asymmetry of the UN prevailed. It was Frazier who found herself trying to de-escalate, politely clarifying that her procedural request was “not personal.” Danon shot back with typical defiance: “You will not be allowed to bully us.”

Herein lies the supreme irony of Israel’s diplomatic relationship with the UN and international law. Israel stands as one of the most egregious, serial violators of international law in modern history – a decades-long pattern of behavior left unpunished by Western vetoes, which ultimately emboldened it to carry out an ongoing genocide in Gaza. Yet, Israeli officials persistently claim the mantle of the ultimate victim, alleging they are the targets of antisemitism, unfair bias, and now, “bullying” by the very institutions they defy.

But the mountain of evidence cannot be shouted away. According to an extensive report issued by Patten’s office, there are verified patterns of systemic abuse, sexual degradation, and psychological torture weaponized against Palestinian men, women, and children in Israeli detention camps like Sde Teiman.

The weight of this evidence reached such an undeniable threshold that the UN Secretary-General’s office formally added Israel to the global ‘List of Shame’ – the blacklist of states committing grave violations against children in armed conflict.

None of this exposure is enough to convince Danon or the broader Israeli political establishment that Israel does not possess a sovereign right to violate international law. In their view, merely pointing out these crimes constitutes an act of aggression.

This systemic denial extends to every facet of the conflict. A comprehensive UN investigation recently concluded that Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza as a core component of its military campaign. The numbers are staggering: Between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025, an estimated 20,179 Palestinian children were killed – about 30 percent of all Palestinian deaths.

“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” stated commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar, noting that Israeli authorities have systematically continued to commit the crime of genocide.

While these findings provide another layer of ironclad legal proof regarding genocidal intent, the true significance of the report lies in its exposure of the rationale behind targeting youth. Typically, the disproportionate slaughter of children and women is dismissed by Western apologists as “collateral damage”. The UN inquiry shattered this defense, offering a far more consequential conclusion: the targeting of Gaza’s children is part of a calculated strategy to destroy the biological continuity and future existence of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

As Muralidhar bluntly summarized: “By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist.”

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The United States at 250: An Ode or Goad?

The 250th anniversary of American independence is fundamentally incompatible with a foreign policy defined by overwhelming civilian casualties and global devastation.  As the United States commemorates its semiquincentennial with celebratory pageantry, this milestone forces a reckoning.  How can a nation built on the promise of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” justify its role in upending and extinguishing millions of lives across the Middle East?

The Cost of War Project conducted by Brown University Watson Institute, documents that post-9-11 military interventions – ranging from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to Syria, Yemen and Iran (Palestine not included) have killed millions and displaced at least 38 million more.  Beyond these figures are fragmented lives and demolished communities.

Every day the human toll compounds. Behind every geopolitical maneuver and barbaric U.S.-Israeli bombing campaigns are shattered childhoods, obliterated infrastructure, and ancient Gaza reduced to endless piles of concrete ruins.

Families have been torn apart.  Incomprehensible numbers of orphans and homeless refugees are left to survive in unlivable conditions.  The fundamental pillars of existence – homes, hospitals, grocery stores, schools, libraries, banks, parks, playgrounds – have been pulverized.

The U.S and Israeli military machines do not operate in a vacuum.  American taxpayers have funded their weapons of mass destruction for decades. This reality makes celebrating American independence feel hollow and deeply hypocritical.  How can a nation observe a quarter millennium of its own sovereignty while arming and systematically depriving sovereignty and human rights to people across the Middle East?

Since its founding, the United States has fought 36 major wars and conducted 469 military interventions; only five were formally declared by Congress as the Constitution requires.  The country has been at war for 229 of its 250 years, at a cost of $11.7 trillion.

True patriotism requires moral accountability.  Solemnizing America’s 250th birthday while turning a blind eye to genocide and daily massacres in Gaza and the occupied West Bank creates a contradiction that history will never forget.

To honor the highest ideals of a republic – freedom, self-determination and fundamental human rights – the United States must finally confront the legacy of its destructive foreign policy.  And until the United States places human dignity above perpetual militarism and alliances with rapacious regimes, the semiquicentennial will remain a testament to abandoned principles and ideals rather than an observance of realized liberty.

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UN Fires Whopping 70 Gaza Staffers in Wake of Israeli Claims Aid Workers Were Terrorists, as Tel Aviv Provides Evidence of Claims

While refusing to acknowledge that it is riddled with loyalists to Hamas, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has fired 70 workers in Gaza.

The agency, which has seen funding dry up in the aftermath of documented concerns from Israel, insisted its workers were untainted, according to The Times of Israel.

A statement announcing the cuts said “the dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them.”

The cuts “were taken further to an assessment of the safety and security of UNRWA operations in Gaza,” the statement said.

The agency insisted that despite past Israeli claims, complete with evidence of UNRWA workers joining Hamas in terrorist activity, the claims from Israel remain unproven.

“UNRWA has repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza, but has received no response to date,” the statement claimed.

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ENDGAME: Russian Forces Conquer Ukrainian Bastion of Konstantinovka – Final Battle for Donbas Begins, With the Push for the Kramatorsk-Slaviansk Fortress Belt 

So, it begins.

Whatever else may be happening in the Ukraine war, the Russians won a major victory yesterday (3) and are about to deliver the final blow to the Donbas.

The Donbas, comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, is the cradle of the war in Ukraine, a region torn by war since 2014.

As the Kiev-controlled part of Donetsk shrinks under constant Russian onslaught, the conquest of the gateway city of Konstantinovka paves the way for the endgame.

Moscow now focuses its attention on the Kramatorsk-Slaviansk Agglomeration, a heavily fortified area where Ukrainians have been preparing for this very day for the last 12 years.

According to the Russian MoD, the offensive is already moving beyond Konstantinovka’s borders, advancing towards Alekseevo-Druzhkovka and beyond, heading straight towards Kramatorsk.

Reuters reported:

“Russia’s military told Russian President Vladimir Putin on ​Friday that its forces had taken control of Konstantinovka in eastern Ukraine, a key locality whose capture Moscow has ‌long sought in its advance through the Donetsk region.

Putin, shown in videos visiting a command post and receiving a report from top commanders, praised the city’s capture as an important strategic achievement.”

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Houthis Say Forces ‘Repelled’ Saudi Warplanes From Threatening Iranian Civilian Airliner

Yemen’s Houthis announced Friday that they had “repelled” an attempt by Saudi warplanes to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing at Sanaa airport.

Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that Saudi warplanes violating Yemeni airspace were targeted with several air-defense missiles, forcing them to withdraw.

Saree stressed that the Iranian civilian aircraft was carrying more than 200 Yemeni citizens who had been stranded in Iran, including many who were sick or wounded.

“We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country. Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea,” Saree said in a video statement.

The YAF spokesman further stressed that “our hand is on the trigger” to implement any directives issued by Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi “within the framework of breaking the Saudi-American siege on our people and expelling the occupiers.”

Saree also praised Iran’s role in “breaking the siege” on Yemen by operating flights to transport patients and stranded people and to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Yemen.

After landing in Sanaa, the Iranian plane safely returned to Tehran carrying an official delegation of the Republic of Yemen to participate in the funeral of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has imposed a blockade on Yemen’s land, sea, and air ports, severely restricting vital commercial and humanitarian imports, including fuel and food.

The blockade triggered what the UN called one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally, leading millions towards famine and drastically damaging healthcare and water systems.

The Saudi siege on Yemen was partially lifted following April 2023 negotiations with the Ansarallah resistance movement, which leads the YAF and is closely allied with Iran.

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China-Linked Socialist NGO Derailed $23.6 Billion In Data Center Buildouts: Report

Our note on Thursday titled “World’s Largest Data Center Project On Verge Of Collapse After Blackstone Unexpectedly Pulls Out” detailed Blackstone dialing back its presence from Northern Virginia’s data-center alley, raising questions about whether the AI infrastructure buildout, colliding with local resistance movements, has begun to hit hard limits.

Just days after agreeing to sell stakes in three Virginia data centers to Digital Realty Trust for $3.5 billion, Blackstone’s QTS Realty Trust is reportedly abandoning plans for its portion of the massive Prince William Digital Gateway project. The 2,100-acre campus was expected to include as many as 37 data-center buildings and require city-scale power supplies.

“For community organizers and residents that spent the last five years opposing the Digital Gateway, QTS’s pullout will now validate a playbook that involved pressure campaigns on local politicians and legal attacks. It will also unleash even more powerful blowback nationwide against these unwanted developments,” we noted.

That brings us to the composition of the local resistance. Multiple reports suggest data center opposition is not entirely organic.

In fact, one familiar player appears to be involved, a name our readers know well, and the U.S. government certainly recognizes because a China-based billionaire funds the socialist NGO network.

Y Combinator founder Garry Tan, also founder of Garry’s List, a civic engagement organization, cited the Bitcoin Policy Institute’s recent report on how a “coordinated foreign influence campaign against American AI — running through CCP state media, a Shanghai-based Marxist’s nonprofit network, and foreign billionaire dark money that has funneled $2B+ into US advocacy infrastructure.”

Garry’s List noted, “AI doomerism isn’t as organic as it looks.“

That China-based Marxist’s nonprofit network spreading across the US is supported by Neville Roy Singham, who has reportedly funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into left-wing nonprofits, media operations, and activist networks that seek to sow chaos and spread communism inside the US.

Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York, authorized by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, was authorized to examine whether Singham, NGOs he funded, or their leaders committed wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, or other financial crimes.

Given that federal investigators are circling the socialists in the Singham NGO network, Garry’s List noted that Singham’s Party for Socialism and Liberation has “run 21 campaigns across 14 states that delayed, scaled back, or blocked $23.6 billion in AI infrastructure investment.”

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US Believed Israel Tried To Assassinate Iran’s Top Negotiators As Ghalibaf’s Plane Made Emergency Landing

The New York Times has issued a new report citing unnamed US officials who believe that Israel came close to assassinating Iran’s top negotiators Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

According to the report, a concrete Israeli threat against Ghalibaf and the FM emerged while they were traveling back to Iran from Islamabad following talks with US Vice President JD Vance on April 12.

Prior to that point, during active fighting, Israel had worked its way through killing much of Iran’s senior leadership starting with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but questions lingered over whether the country’s top negotiators – who have come to represent Tehran on the global stage – could be deemed legitimate targets.

Even as Washington and regional brokers stepped in to try and halt the prospect of runaway conflict, wherein the US would find itself in yet another ‘forever war’ and quagmire, Israel still floated the potential for more assassinations targeting top Islamic Republic leadership. 

The NYT, citing officials, sets up the mid-April near-miss incident as follows:

In April, Mr. Ghalibaf was set to travel to Islamabad to meet with Vice President JD Vance. But Iranian security officials were concerned that Israel would use the opportunity to assassinate Mr. Ghalibaf or Mr. Araghchi to derail the talks, the officials said.

Iranians sought guarantees from the United States, through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries, that Israel would not carry out any covert operations targeting the Iranian delegation, the officials said.

Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian airplanes carrying a delegation of more than 70 Iranians from the border of Iran to Islamabad and back again when the session was over.

But on the way back to Tehran, an Israeli security threat emerged.

From there, Iranian security forces reportedly notified Ghalibaf’s plane of intelligence indicating that Israel planned to attack the aircraft – and the delegation took the warning seriously enough to divert from the original flight path and make an emergency landing in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.

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Ukrainians Now Using Nets To Snare Men In Forced Conscription

The Ukrainian mobilization effort has been documented as cruel and without due process, without any legal protection at all as men are dragged into non-official private armies and sent to the front. Now nets are being used to snare men on the street without as much hassle.

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