Tag: perpetual war

Jared Kushner unveils $112 billion plan to turn Gaza into tourist resort after genocide

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner unveiled a massive real estate plan aimed at transforming the devastated Gaza Strip into a tourist hub and beach resort on the Mediterranean Sea during a presentation at the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

Undeterred by sharp resistance from the majority of the world after President Donald Trump’s initial announcement of the plan last February, Kushner proposed the reconstruction of the strip could be completed within three years if Hamas fully disarms.

Speaking at the signing ceremony for Trump’s “Board of Peace,” Kushner, the son-in-law of the U.S. president, shared a set of slides illustrating his group’s vision for the Gaza Strip after 58 years of illegal Israeli military occupation, oppression and most recently, genocide against the Palestinian people there.

It also reflects a vision of the strip under the hypothetical conditions of a demilitarized Hamas, which has repeatedly refused to disarm arguing that it would leave them defenseless against continued aggressions from the Israeli army. Since the October 10 “ceasefire” agreement, credible reports indicate Israel has violated its terms over 1,000 times, killing more than 460 Palestinians and injuring around 1,200.

Kushner’s power point included computer-generated images of high-rise buildings along the coast with rows of residential structures elsewhere in the strip.

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Trump and Hegseth Won’t Rule Out Sending Troops to Iran for a Mission They Won’t Define

President Trump said in an interview with The New York Post on Monday that he won’t rule out sending troops into Iran as the war the US and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic on Saturday morning continues to rage.

“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump told the paper. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth held a press briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, where he also refused to rule out sending troops into Iran and went on a tangent about how the US military doesn’t need to brief the American people on its plans.

When asked if there were currently US “boots on the ground” in Iran, Hegseth said, “No, but we’re not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do. I think it’s one of those fallacies for a long time that this department or presidents or others should tell the American people this — and our and our enemies, by the way — here’s exactly what we’ll do.”

Hegseth also contradicted Trump’s earlier remarks by saying it was not a “regime change war,” but he added that the “regime sure did change,” though the Iranian government remains intact despite the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which hasn’t slowed the Iranian military’s response.

While insisting the US wouldn’t get into an open-ended conflict or “quagmire” in Iran, Hegseth did not directly answer when asked what the administration’s “exit strategy ” is, as neither he nor Trump has clearly defined the goal. “As far as time frame, I would never hang a time frame from our perspective. The commander-in-chief sets the tempo and terms of this fight,” he said.

Trump previously estimated that the war could last four to five weeks, but said on Monday that the US has the capability to go “far longer” than that.

Caine said during the briefing with Hegseth that the US was deploying more troops and fighter jets into the region. “This work is just beginning and will continue,” he said.

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Megyn Kelly Under Fire After Claiming US Service Members ‘Died for Iran or Israel’ — “This Feels Very Much to Me Like it is Clearly Israel’s War”

Megyn Kelly is facing fierce backlash after suggesting that American service members killed in the escalating conflict with Iran “died for Iran or for Israel,” rather than for the United States.

During a recent episode of her show, Kelly questioned the purpose of U.S. involvement, arguing that the war effort appears to be driven by foreign interests rather than American national security.

Megyn Kelly:
Look, there are massive divisions over what we’ve done here, and people are going to change their minds over the coming days and weeks, one way or the other. But my own feeling is that no one should have to die for a foreign country. I don’t think those four service members died for the United States. I think they died for Iran or for Israel.

I understand how this helps Iran perfectly well. I get it. I mean, I hope long term we’ll see. But they seem rather jubilant. Eighty percent of the country does not support the Ayatollah. He was a terrible, terrible man. No one’s crying that he’s dead — no normal person.

But our government’s job is not to look out for Iran or for Israel. It’s to look out for us. This feels very much, to me, like it is clearly Israel’s war. Mark Levin wanted it. It’s his war. Ben Shapiro, Lindsey Graham, Miriam Adelson — that’s obvious. They’re the ones who’ve been pushing us into it.

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‘Cuba’s Next,’ Says Lindsey Graham as Illegal Trump-Israel War on Iran Kills Hundreds

As American and Israeli bombs kill hundreds of Iranians – reportedly including at least 180 students and others at a girl’s school in Minab – Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday that President Donald Trump is “on a roll” and that Cuba is the next nation in the US regime change crosshairs.

In an interview on Fox News, Graham (R-SC) said prematurely that “Trump finished the job” that former President Ronald Reagan “failed to do,” namely, destroy Iran’s Islamist government after the overthrow of a brutal US-backed monarchy in 1979. “I am a big admirer of Ronald Reagan but I’m here to tell you that Donald Trump, in my opinion, is the gold standard for Republicans, maybe any president, when it comes to foreign policy.”

“Maduro – everybody talked about him, well, Donald Trump’s got him in jail,” Graham said of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was abducted along with his wife two months by invading US forces.

“Cuba’s next. They’re gonna fall,” Graham said of the revolutionary government in Havana that’s outlasted a dozen American presidents, despite decades of US-led assassination attempts, sabotage, and subversion. “This communist dictatorship in Cuba, their days are numbered.”

The remarks by Graham – who previously berated Trump as a “jackass,” “nut job,” and “loser” unfit to be commander-in-chief – come amid reporting that Trump is feeling buoyed by what he views as successful attacks on Iran and Venezuela.

“The president is feeling like, ‘I’m on a roll,’ like, ‘This is working,’” one unnamed Trump administration official told the Atlantic‘s Vivian Salama over the weekend.

This, from a president who said he deplored regime change and vowed “no new wars” while running for reelection.

A day before launching the US-Israeli war of choice against Iran, Trump floated what he described as a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, prompting vehement condemnation from Havana. Cuba is already suffering under decades of US sanctions that have devastated the socialist nation’s economy and the well-being of its people.

In January, Trump issued an executive order baselessly declaring that Cuba poses “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security and tightening the blockade to further starve the island of fuel.

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US Death Toll From Iran Operation Rises to 6 Troops

Six U.S. service members have been killed in action in the U.S. war with Iran, as of March 2.

The Pentagon announced that the remains of two military members have been recovered.

“U.S. forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region,” said U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in a statement on X.

“Major combat operations continue. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification.”

So far, 18 U.S. service members have been seriously wounded, a CENTCOM spokesperson said.

The U.S.–Israeli military strikes on Iran have destroyed 11 ships belonging to the Iranian regime, according to the Pentagon.

“Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO,” CENTCOM said in a March 2 statement on X.

The military went on to say that the Iranian regime had used those ships to harass and attack international ships moving through the Gulf of Oman for years.

“Those days are over,” CENTCOM said. “Freedom of maritime navigation has underpinned American and global economic prosperity for more than 80 years. U.S. forces will continue to defend it.”

The conflict is far from over, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said in a same-day interview that more attacks on Iran are ahead.

“I’m not going to give away the details of our tactical efforts, but the hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military,” Rubio told reporters before briefing senior members of Congress on the conflict.

“The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now.”

The secretary of state said there are currently no diplomatic talks with Iran, although “we always have people that reach out from inside of governments.”

“You don’t know if they’re authorized to reach out or not. They’re suffering a tremendous amount of damage,” he said.

As of the afternoon, Rubio told reporters that the Trump administration’s objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile infrastructure, including its missile manufacturing and launch capabilities, but that these objectives can be achieved without American boots on the ground in Iran.

“Right now, we’re not postured for ground forces, but obviously, the president has those options,” Rubio said. “He’s never going to rule out anything.”

President Donald Trump told The New York Post that he hasn’t ruled out sending service members to Iran if necessary. 

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Should People Be Free To Deal With the Department of War?

In a February 27 post titled “You Should Have Moral Qualms about Anthropic’s Claims,” Hoover Institution senior fellow and foreign policy scholar Amy Zegart challenged the ethics of a company named Anthropic. What I found refreshing is that a defense contractor’s CEO had a strong enough belief in his ethics that he was willing to forego a lucrative contract. According to Zegart, I should have moral qualms about that. I don’t and I’ll say why.

Anthropic had told the Department of War that it did not want its products used for either autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans. According to Zegart, the Pentagon stated that it did not contemplate such uses. But that wasn’t enough for Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, who stated that he could not “in good conscience” accept the War Department’s assurances. Here’s Brendan Bordelon in a February 26 news item in Politico:

[Secretary of War] Hegseth met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday to deliver a warning — give the military unfettered access to its Claude AI model by Friday evening or else have the government label it a “risk” to the supply chain. The designation, typically reserved for foreign firms with ties to U.S. adversaries, could ban companies that work with the government from partnering with Anthropic.

Hegseth threatened Anthropic with designating it as a risk to the supply chain. With that label, Anthropic could be forbidden, as noted above, from working with companies that work with the government. Hegseth also, though, threatened to invoke the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to work with the Defense Department. A risk to the supply chain and, at the same, a firm that Hegseth wants to use? Hmmm. Bordelon quotes Dean Ball, whom he identifies as a former AI advisor in the Trump administration, noting the obvious contradiction. Said Ball, “You’re telling everyone else who supplies to the DOD you cannot use Anthropic’s models, while also saying that the DOD must use Anthropic’s models.”

Zegart cites the Politico article but doesn’t mention this contradiction. Instead, she goes after Anthropic and CEO Amodei. She writes:

There is a serious ethical question about whether one company, elected by nobody, with its own normative agenda as well as substantial global investors and customers, should be dictating the conditions of the most essential government role: protecting the lives of Americans.

But she misstates the issue. Anthropic isn’t trying to dictate the conditions of this essential government role. Anthropic is simply stating what its own limits are. If the Pentagon can find another supplier, it is free to do so and, indeed, has already done so. OpenAI has stepped up to take Anthropic’s place.

Moreover, why does Zegart think it’s important that Anthropic is elected by nobody? Does Zegart really think that companies that contemplate working with the Department of War should be elected by somebody.

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US Media Mostly Care for Iranians When They Can Be Used to Justify Bombing

The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, propelling the entire region into a predictable cataclysm of unprecedented proportions.

This puts paid to the alleged “peacemaking” project of US President Donald Trump, who was supposed to be keeping the country out of international wars rather than actively seeking to expedite the end of the world.

The attacks put an abrupt end to the negotiations underway between the US and Iran—to the delight of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has always viewed as anathema anything remotely resembling diplomacy or the pursuit of peace.

‘Trigger Iran to retaliate’

Three days before the joint strikes, a Politico exclusive (2/25/26) reported that “senior advisers” to Trump “would prefer Israel strike Iran before the United States launches an assault on the country.” As per the report, administration officials were “privately arguing that an Israeli attack would trigger Iran to retaliate, helping muster support from American voters for a US strike.”

So much for subsequent US/Israeli attempts to cast the assault as “preemptive” in nature. Indeed, there is nothing at all “preemptive” about forcing Iran to retaliate; this is instead what you would call a deliberate provocation.

Unfortunately for the “senior advisers,” Trump and Netanyahu ultimately opted to pull the trigger simultaneously, thus depriving the US administration of its fabricated casus belli.

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US Embassy in Saudi Arabia hit in suspected Iranian drone attack: reports

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh was damaged in a suspected Iranian drone attack Monday night.

The embassy was hit by two drones, “resulting in a limited fire and minor material damage to the building,” a spokesperson for the Saudi defense ministry wrote on X.

A loud blast was heard, and a small fire was seen at the embassy,  Reuters reported. 

“The U.S. Mission to Saudi Arabia has issued a shelter in place notification for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran and are limiting non-essential travel to any military installations in the region,” a “security alert” posted by the Riyadh embassy on X read.

“We recommend American citizens in the Kingdom to shelter in place immediately.”

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Deadly Texas bar shooting ‘potentially act of terrorism’, FBI says

Two people were killed and over a dozen injured in a shooting outside a beer garden in Austin, Texas, in an incident the FBI says may be related to terrorism.

Austin police identified the suspect as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. He was a naturalised American citizen born in Senegal, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News and other US media.

After responding to calls of an active shooter at around 02:00 local time (08:00 GMT) on Sunday near Buford’s bar in the southern US state’s capital, police said they shot and killed the suspect, bringing the death toll to three.

Police have not offered a motive for the shooter. Of the survivors, 14 were taken to hospital, three in a critical condition.

Two sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News that the gunman was wearing a sweatshirt with the words “Property of Allah”.

CBS was also told by an official with knowledge of the investigation that officers who searched the gunman’s home found an Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders. The attack came on the weekend that the US and its ally Israel launched multiple strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Top Hezbollah Political Chief Muhammad Ra’ad Assassinated in Beirut — Major Blow to Iran’s Terror Proxy Network in Lebanon

Top Hezbollah political leader Muhammad Ra’ad, head of the group’s parliamentary faction and one of Iran’s most prominent proxies in Lebanese politics, has reportedly been assassinated in Beirut.

According to the Israeli war room, Ra’ad, who led the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc in Lebanon’s Parliament since 2000 and was a key figure rejecting disarmament and advocating for Hezbollah’s armed domination, was killed in precision strikes early Monday.

According to MTV Lebanon (Murr Television), a leading independent Lebanese television station:

“Event”: Assassination of MP Muhammad Raad in an Israeli airstrike

According to Al-Hadath, a Saudi Arabian state-owned, Arabic-language satellite news channel:

Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath sources reported on Monday morning that the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, was killed in the Israeli raids. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported an initial toll of 31 dead and 149 wounded from the Israeli raids on Lebanon.

This comes as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun asserted that launching rockets at Israel harms efforts to spare Lebanon from regional conflict, while our correspondents reported the closure of all schools and educational institutions in Lebanon by a decision of the Ministry of Education.

Aoun stated in a statement that “the launching of missiles from Lebanese territory at dawn today targets all the efforts and endeavors made by the Lebanese state to keep Lebanon away from the dangerous military confrontations taking place in the region.”

Hezbollah had previously claimed responsibility for missile and drone attacks on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

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