Antiwar News May 20
After Call With Putin, Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire Talks Will Begin ‘Immediately
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Putin said Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a 'memorandum on a potential future peace treaty'
Dave DeCamp
May 19, 2025
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Putin said Moscow was ready to work with Ukraine on a 'memorandum on a potential future peace treaty'
Dave DeCamp
May 19, 2025
Tass
President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday and said that the call went well and that Russia and Ukraine would “immediately” begin negotiations on a ceasefire.
“Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”
Putin told reporters after the call that Moscow was ready to “work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a potential future peace treaty.”
The Russian leader said the memorandum could outline “a number of positions, such as, for instance, settlement principles, the timeframe for signing a potential peace agreement, and so on, including a potential ceasefire for a certain period.”
Trump also said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and informed several European leaders of the plans for Russia and Ukraine to begin ceasefire negotiations. He noted that Pope Leo XIV has offered the Vatican as a potential venue for the talks.
The Trump-Putin call came just a few days after Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Istanbul. During the talks, the two sides agreed to a prisoner swap, but it didn’t appear that any progress was made toward a ceasefire.
Read on antiwar.
“Just completed my two hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.”
Putin told reporters after the call that Moscow was ready to “work with the Ukrainian side on a memorandum on a potential future peace treaty.”
The Russian leader said the memorandum could outline “a number of positions, such as, for instance, settlement principles, the timeframe for signing a potential peace agreement, and so on, including a potential ceasefire for a certain period.”
Trump also said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and informed several European leaders of the plans for Russia and Ukraine to begin ceasefire negotiations. He noted that Pope Leo XIV has offered the Vatican as a potential venue for the talks.
The Trump-Putin call came just a few days after Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Istanbul. During the talks, the two sides agreed to a prisoner swap, but it didn’t appear that any progress was made toward a ceasefire.
Read on antiwar.
Netanyahu Announces Israel Will Allow a ‘Basic’ Amount of Food To Enter Gaza
Gaza has been under a total Israeli blockade since March 2
Dave DeCamp
May 18, 2025
Gaza has been under a total Israeli blockade since March 2
Dave DeCamp
May 18, 2025
A Palestinian reacts as people gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel would allow a “basic” amount of food to enter Gaza after a more than 70-day total blockade on the Palestinian territory.
“On the recommendation of the IDF, and out of the operational need to enable the expansion of the intense fighting to defeat Hamas, Israel will introduce a basic amount of food to the population in order to ensure that a famine crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, according to Drop Site News.
Netanyahu said that a famine would “jeopardize” Israel’s new military campaign in Gaza, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” which was launched in recent days as the Israeli military has significantly stepped up strikes on Gaza and expanded ground operations, killing hundreds of Palestinians.
Read in antiwar.
“On the recommendation of the IDF, and out of the operational need to enable the expansion of the intense fighting to defeat Hamas, Israel will introduce a basic amount of food to the population in order to ensure that a famine crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, according to Drop Site News.
Netanyahu said that a famine would “jeopardize” Israel’s new military campaign in Gaza, dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” which was launched in recent days as the Israeli military has significantly stepped up strikes on Gaza and expanded ground operations, killing hundreds of Palestinians.
Read in antiwar.
White House Working on Plan to Send 1 Million Palestinians to Libya
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said Tel Aviv was in the process of expelling half of Gaza’s population
Kyle Anzalone
May 18, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said Tel Aviv was in the process of expelling half of Gaza’s population
Kyle Anzalone
May 18, 2025
Palestinians carry their belongings as they flee Gaza City on Friday.Bashar Taleb / AFP - Getty Images
The Donald Trump administration is attempting to bribe one of the warring parties in Libya to accept 1 million Palestinians that Israel is attempting to cleanse from Gaza. Libya became a failed state after the US-led regime change war against longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
According to NBC News, multiple US officials confirmed that the Trump administration was in negotiations with one of Libya’s competing governments. “In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago,” the report explains.
The NBC News report did not specify if the US was talking with the Tripoli-based government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, or the eastern government led by Khalifa Haftar. Libya has been in a state of civil war since the US-backed jihadist-linked rebels overthrew and murdered Gaddafi in 2011.
Fighting has erupted in the areas around Tripoli in recent weeks. Both Libyan governments are accused of serious human rights abuses, and the State Department directs Americans not to travel to the North African state “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”
Read in antiwar.
According to NBC News, multiple US officials confirmed that the Trump administration was in negotiations with one of Libya’s competing governments. “In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago,” the report explains.
The NBC News report did not specify if the US was talking with the Tripoli-based government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, or the eastern government led by Khalifa Haftar. Libya has been in a state of civil war since the US-backed jihadist-linked rebels overthrew and murdered Gaddafi in 2011.
Fighting has erupted in the areas around Tripoli in recent weeks. Both Libyan governments are accused of serious human rights abuses, and the State Department directs Americans not to travel to the North African state “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”
Read in antiwar.
Hamas Says Witkoff Personally Promised to Lift Gaza Blockade in Exchange for Edan Alexander
The U.S. immediately broke the deal, senior Hamas official Basem Naim tells Drop Site. “They threw it in the trash” and there has been “zero” progress on a Gaza ceasefire.
Jeremy Scahill
May 16, 2025
The U.S. immediately broke the deal, senior Hamas official Basem Naim tells Drop Site. “They threw it in the trash” and there has been “zero” progress on a Gaza ceasefire.
Jeremy Scahill
May 16, 2025
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff arrives at the Royal Palace in Doha on May 14, 2025. Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images.
A senior Hamas official told Drop Site that the group received a direct commitment from Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, that two days after the release of U.S. citizen and Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, the Trump administration would compel Israel to lift the Gaza blockade and allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory. Witkoff, according to the official, also promised that Trump would make a public call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for negotiations aimed at achieving a “permanent ceasefire.”
“It was a deal,” said Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau who has previously engaged in direct talks with U.S. officials. He said the pledge was made by “Witkoff, himself.” In an interview with Drop Site, Naim said the agreement was: “If we release [Alexander], Trump will speak out thanking Hamas for its gesture, obliging Israel on the second day to open the borders and allow aid to come into Gaza, and [Trump would] call for an immediate ceasefire and to go for negotiations to end the war.”
“He did nothing of this,” Naim added. “They didn't violate the deal. They threw it in the trash.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Read on Drop Site News.
“It was a deal,” said Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau who has previously engaged in direct talks with U.S. officials. He said the pledge was made by “Witkoff, himself.” In an interview with Drop Site, Naim said the agreement was: “If we release [Alexander], Trump will speak out thanking Hamas for its gesture, obliging Israel on the second day to open the borders and allow aid to come into Gaza, and [Trump would] call for an immediate ceasefire and to go for negotiations to end the war.”
“He did nothing of this,” Naim added. “They didn't violate the deal. They threw it in the trash.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Read on Drop Site News.
Trump Says US and Iran Are Close to a Nuclear Deal But Details Unclear
The president said the US wouldn't be 'making any nuclear dust in Iran'
Dave DeCamp
May 15, 2025
The president said the US wouldn't be 'making any nuclear dust in Iran'
Dave DeCamp
May 15, 2025
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr, Iran on November 10, 2019.
Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
President Trump said on Thursday that the US and Iran were close to reaching a nuclear deal, though the details of a potential agreement remain unclear.
The president said that the US wouldn’t be “making any nuclear dust in Iran,” referencing his previous threats that he would bomb Iran if an agreement weren’t reached. “I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this,” he said.
Trump told reporters, “You probably read today the story about Iran. It’s sort of agreed to the terms.”
The president didn’t specify what story he was referring to, but NBC News published an interview on Wednesday with Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In the interview, Shamkhani said Iran was ready to commit to never making a nuclear weapon, reduce uranium enrichment levels, get rid of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and allow international inspectors to verify the process in exchange for sanctions relief.
Shamkhani’s comments reflect what has been Iran’s position all along and mirror the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. Trump posted a link to the interview on his Truth Social account, suggesting he may be open to such a deal.
Read on antiwar.
70% of Americans Support a Nuclear Deal with Iran
Americans believe the best road to peace in the Middle East is for no state to possess nuclear weapons.
Kyle Anzalone
May 13, 2025
Americans believe the best road to peace in the Middle East is for no state to possess nuclear weapons.
Kyle Anzalone
May 13, 2025
A new poll finds a large majority of Americans across the political spectrum support reaching a deal with Iran that allows Tehran to maintain a peaceful nuclear program.
According to the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll, 69% of Americans favor reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans and over three-quarters of Democrats said they want a “negotiated agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program to peaceful ends, with stringent monitoring.”
Under a quarter of Republicans, and just five percent of Democrats, support using the military to take out Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll, 69% of Americans favor reaching a nuclear deal with Iran.
Nearly two-thirds of Republicans and over three-quarters of Democrats said they want a “negotiated agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program to peaceful ends, with stringent monitoring.”
Under a quarter of Republicans, and just five percent of Democrats, support using the military to take out Iran’s nuclear program.
Ensuring that Tehran did not decide to break out and build a nuclear weapon was the purpose of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal negotiated by President Barack Obama. During his first term, Donald Trump withdrew from that agreement, arguing that it did not place enough limits on Iran’s missile program and its support for political and military movements in the Middle East.
While American politicians often hype the threat presented by Iran’s nuclear program, the US intelligence community has repeatedly stated that Tehran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran’s program is within the limits of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is similar to that of Japan, Germany, and Brazil.
Read in antiwar.
While American politicians often hype the threat presented by Iran’s nuclear program, the US intelligence community has repeatedly stated that Tehran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran’s program is within the limits of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is similar to that of Japan, Germany, and Brazil.
Read in antiwar.
Trump Says He’s ‘Thinking’ About Joining Ukraine-Russia Talks in Turkey
It's unclear at this point if Putin and Zelensky will attend the talks
Dave DeCamp
May 12, 2025
It's unclear at this point if Putin and Zelensky will attend the talks
Dave DeCamp
May 12, 2025
© Getty Images / Anna Moneymaker
President Trump said on Monday that he was considering joining talks between Russia and Ukraine that are expected to be held in Istanbul this Thursday.
“I think you may have a good result at the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine. I believe the two leaders are going to be there,” the president told reporters.
“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday, I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin first proposed the talks on Sunday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially responded by saying the negotiations were conditional on a ceasefire.
Zelensky appeared to back down on his position, saying on Monday that he was “ready” to travel to Turkey, though he still mentioned the idea of a ceasefire. “I am ready to come to Turkey. Unfortunately, the world still has not received a clear response from Russia to the numerous proposals for a ceasefire,” Zelensky said on X.
Read on antiwar.
“I think you may have a good result at the Thursday meeting in Turkey between Russia and Ukraine. I believe the two leaders are going to be there,” the president told reporters.
“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I’m going to be on Thursday, I’ve got so many meetings, but I was thinking about actually flying over there,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin first proposed the talks on Sunday, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially responded by saying the negotiations were conditional on a ceasefire.
Zelensky appeared to back down on his position, saying on Monday that he was “ready” to travel to Turkey, though he still mentioned the idea of a ceasefire. “I am ready to come to Turkey. Unfortunately, the world still has not received a clear response from Russia to the numerous proposals for a ceasefire,” Zelensky said on X.
Read on antiwar.
Putin Proposes Direct Talks With Ukraine, Zelensky Says Ceasefire Must Happen First
Trump called on Ukraine to accept Putin's offer
Dave DeCamp
May 11, 2025
Trump called on Ukraine to accept Putin's offer
Dave DeCamp
May 11, 2025
© Sputnik / Gavriil Grigorov
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed starting direct peace talks with Ukraine without preconditions in Turkey this Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially responded by saying there must be a ceasefire before talks could be held. He later said that he was willing to meet with Putin in Istanbul this Thursday, but made clear it would still be conditional on a ceasefire.
“We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings,” Zelesnky wrote on X. “And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday.
Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses.”
In his announcement proposing the talks, Putin said that Ukraine had rejected previous Russian ceasefire offers, including the three-day truce he declared for Russian Victory Day, which ended at midnight on May 11. Throughout the three days, both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
“I will repeat: we have proposed steps towards a ceasefire on many occasions. We have never refused to engage in dialogue with the Ukrainian side,” Putin said.
Read on antiwar.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially responded by saying there must be a ceasefire before talks could be held. He later said that he was willing to meet with Putin in Istanbul this Thursday, but made clear it would still be conditional on a ceasefire.
“We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings,” Zelesnky wrote on X. “And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday.
Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses.”
In his announcement proposing the talks, Putin said that Ukraine had rejected previous Russian ceasefire offers, including the three-day truce he declared for Russian Victory Day, which ended at midnight on May 11. Throughout the three days, both sides accused the other of violating the ceasefire.
“I will repeat: we have proposed steps towards a ceasefire on many occasions. We have never refused to engage in dialogue with the Ukrainian side,” Putin said.
Read on antiwar.
What is 'Gideon's Chariots', Israel's latest plan for Gaza?
Israel is planning to occupy the whole of the strip, transfer the population to a small area in the south and provide Palestinians with just enough aid to prevent starvation
Israel is planning to occupy the whole of the strip, transfer the population to a small area in the south and provide Palestinians with just enough aid to prevent starvation
This handout picture released by the Israeli army on 30 August 2024 shows Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip (Israeli army/AFP)
The Israeli army is planning to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, displace the entire population to a small area of land in the south and provide Palestinians with only enough food so they don't starve to death, as part of an expanded military operation ominously called "Gideon's Chariots".
Israel's security cabinet unanimously approved the plan late on 4 May, hours after the country's military said it was strengthening its capacity to operate in the besieged Palestinian territory by mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists.
The plan, aspects of which are already being implemented, will fully commence if a deal isn't reached on the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas by the end of US President Donald Trump's visit to the region next week, Israeli media have reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes, confirmed the plan in a social media video following the cabinet meeting.
"[Gaza's] population will be moved," Netanyahu said in a video message posted on X, adding that Israeli soldiers won't go into Gaza, launch raids and then retreat.
"One thing will be clear: there will be no in-and-out. We'll call up reserves to come, hold territory - we're not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward.
"That's not the plan. The intention is the opposite of that."Netanyahu has repeatedly referred to his plan as the "final stage" of the war, despite mounting criticism from aid and rights groups that famine is stalking the entire population.
Since resuming its offensive on 18 March after reneging on a ceasefire deal, Israel has refused to allow any aid into the besieged enclave.
Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have defended the tactic as well as the wanton destruction, claiming military pressure is the only way to secure the release of the 59 captives still being held in Gaza.
Read in Middle Eye East.
Israel's security cabinet unanimously approved the plan late on 4 May, hours after the country's military said it was strengthening its capacity to operate in the besieged Palestinian territory by mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists.
The plan, aspects of which are already being implemented, will fully commence if a deal isn't reached on the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas by the end of US President Donald Trump's visit to the region next week, Israeli media have reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes, confirmed the plan in a social media video following the cabinet meeting.
"[Gaza's] population will be moved," Netanyahu said in a video message posted on X, adding that Israeli soldiers won't go into Gaza, launch raids and then retreat.
"One thing will be clear: there will be no in-and-out. We'll call up reserves to come, hold territory - we're not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward.
"That's not the plan. The intention is the opposite of that."Netanyahu has repeatedly referred to his plan as the "final stage" of the war, despite mounting criticism from aid and rights groups that famine is stalking the entire population.
Since resuming its offensive on 18 March after reneging on a ceasefire deal, Israel has refused to allow any aid into the besieged enclave.
Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, have defended the tactic as well as the wanton destruction, claiming military pressure is the only way to secure the release of the 59 captives still being held in Gaza.
Read in Middle Eye East.
Israeli Airstrikes Decimate the Last Restaurant in Gaza City in Nightmarish Bloodbath
Journalist Rasha Abou Jalal recounts horrific scenes from a massacre at a beloved restaurant and a bustling market—destroyed by a triple Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
Rasha Abou jalal
May 7, 2025
Journalist Rasha Abou Jalal recounts horrific scenes from a massacre at a beloved restaurant and a bustling market—destroyed by a triple Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.
Rasha Abou jalal
May 7, 2025
The aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Thai Restaurant in Gaza City. May 7, 2025. (Photo by Rasha Abou Jalal)
GAZA CITY—On Wednesday afternoon, two Israeli airstrikes slammed into Thai Restaurant—the last restaurant still open in Gaza City—turning a once bustling gathering place into a panorama of death. A third, near simultaneous, airstrike hit a nearby crowded market on al-Wahda street, sending body parts everywhere.
At least thirty-three Palestinians were killed and nearly ninety wounded in the three airstrikes, according to the health ministry, though the actual death toll is likely higher. Many of the dead and wounded were customers enjoying a hot drink in the restaurant, or people in the market trying to find food during a full-spectrum siege that has suffocated Gaza for over two months.
In these days of bloodshed, Wednesday was a particularly bloody day. Earlier this week, Israel vowed to escalate its already savage assault. At least ninety-two people were killed across Gaza today, most of them women and children, Ismail Al-Thawabteh, the Director-General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, told Drop Site.
At least thirty-three Palestinians were killed and nearly ninety wounded in the three airstrikes, according to the health ministry, though the actual death toll is likely higher. Many of the dead and wounded were customers enjoying a hot drink in the restaurant, or people in the market trying to find food during a full-spectrum siege that has suffocated Gaza for over two months.
In these days of bloodshed, Wednesday was a particularly bloody day. Earlier this week, Israel vowed to escalate its already savage assault. At least ninety-two people were killed across Gaza today, most of them women and children, Ismail Al-Thawabteh, the Director-General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, told Drop Site.
The scene inside the restaurant in the aftermath of the attack was nightmarish. Customers lay on the ground drenched in their own blood. Pieces of pizza were scattered across the tables and floor. In my shock, I, at first, thought the red stains on the floor were ketchup, but it was all blood. There was blood everywhere.
Before the war, this restaurant was once a Gaza City landmark—bustling with patrons and offering Thai dishes, shawarma, and grilled chicken. Destroyed during Israel’s carpet bombing campaign, the restaurant was rebuilt during the brief ceasefire that went into effect in January, offering Palestinians here a glimmer of hope and a return to some semblance of normalcy.
Read in Drop Site News.
Before the war, this restaurant was once a Gaza City landmark—bustling with patrons and offering Thai dishes, shawarma, and grilled chicken. Destroyed during Israel’s carpet bombing campaign, the restaurant was rebuilt during the brief ceasefire that went into effect in January, offering Palestinians here a glimmer of hope and a return to some semblance of normalcy.
Read in Drop Site News.
World Central Kitchen Halts Aid Operations in Gaza Due To Israeli Blockade
Israel has not allowed any goods to enter Gaza for more than 60 days
Dave DeCamp
May 7, 2025
Israel has not allowed any goods to enter Gaza for more than 60 days
Dave DeCamp
May 7, 2025
After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza.
Since Israel closed border crossings in early March, WCK has been unable to replenish the stocks of food that we use to feed hundreds of thousands of Gazans daily. In recent weeks, our teams stretched every remaining ingredient and fuel source using creativity and determination. We turned to alternative fuels like wood pallets and olive husk pellets and pivoted away from rice recipes that require more fuel in favor of stews with bread. By constantly adapting over the past weeks, we were cooking 133,000 meals daily at our two remaining WCK Field Kitchens and baking 80,000 loaves of bread each day.
Read in World Central Kitchen.
Read in World Central Kitchen.
India Fires Missiles Into Pakistan and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir
Pakistan is vowing to respond and claimed it downed Indian fighter jets
Dave DeCamp
May 6, 2025
Pakistan is vowing to respond and claimed it downed Indian fighter jets
Dave DeCamp
May 6, 2025
Screenshot of news footage of the attack in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir
India has fired missiles into Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, marking a major escalation between the two nuclear-armed powers.
The attack came amid tensions over the April 22 terrorist attack near the Pahalgam area of Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. All but one of the victims were Indian tourists.
India blamed the massacre on a group called The Resistance Front (TRF) and accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, which Islamabad has strongly denied.
Early Wednesday morning, New Delhi time, India announced that its forces had struck nine locations in Pakistan and the Pakistan side of the disputed Kashmir region. Islamabad confirmed attacks on five locations: two in Pakistan’s Punjab province and three in Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Complete article on antiwar.
The attack came amid tensions over the April 22 terrorist attack near the Pahalgam area of Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people. All but one of the victims were Indian tourists.
India blamed the massacre on a group called The Resistance Front (TRF) and accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, which Islamabad has strongly denied.
Early Wednesday morning, New Delhi time, India announced that its forces had struck nine locations in Pakistan and the Pakistan side of the disputed Kashmir region. Islamabad confirmed attacks on five locations: two in Pakistan’s Punjab province and three in Kashmir, including Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Complete article on antiwar.
News update: Trump announces cessation of aggression against Yemen
Washington waves the white flag
Bruce Gagnon
May 7, 2025
Washington waves the white flag
Bruce Gagnon
May 7, 2025
Has Trump raised the white flag? Or it is just more lies and distortion from 'war central' in Washington? (Don't forget Wall Street & Madison Avenue's role)
By YPA
By YPA
SANAA, May 6 – In a striking and surprising turn, US President Donald Trump announced the cessation of US military operations against Yemen, claiming that “the Houthis informed Washington of their intention to stop attacking American ships in the Red Sea.”
However, this statement appeared to be in stark contrast to the official position issued by Sana’a, which reiterated its commitment to continuing military support for Gaza, regardless of the cost, noting that the tripartite aggression (US-UK-Israel) will not deter Yemen from its national and religious duty towards the Palestinian cause.
Political and military withdrawal from the battle
A number of observers viewed Trump’s announcement as an indirect admission of the United States’ failure to break Sanaa’s will or neutralize it from the Gaza war, particularly after the escalation of Yemeni strikes against US aircraft carriers and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Observers believed that Washington “is seeking to avoid a costly confrontation with Yemen, having found itself within range of unconventional missiles and drones, which have disrupted its naval presence and weakened America’s deterrent capability.”
Read Bruce Gagnon on Substack.
However, this statement appeared to be in stark contrast to the official position issued by Sana’a, which reiterated its commitment to continuing military support for Gaza, regardless of the cost, noting that the tripartite aggression (US-UK-Israel) will not deter Yemen from its national and religious duty towards the Palestinian cause.
Political and military withdrawal from the battle
A number of observers viewed Trump’s announcement as an indirect admission of the United States’ failure to break Sanaa’s will or neutralize it from the Gaza war, particularly after the escalation of Yemeni strikes against US aircraft carriers and military vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Observers believed that Washington “is seeking to avoid a costly confrontation with Yemen, having found itself within range of unconventional missiles and drones, which have disrupted its naval presence and weakened America’s deterrent capability.”
Read Bruce Gagnon on Substack.
Israel Launches Major Airstrikes on Yemen After Missile Hit Ben Gurion Airport
The airstrikes were carried out in coordination with the US, which has launched daily attacks on Yemen since March 30
Dave DeCamp
May 5, 2025
The airstrikes were carried out in coordination with the US, which has launched daily attacks on Yemen since March 30
Dave DeCamp
May 5, 2025
Israel launched major airstrikes in Yemen on Monday that targeted the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and a concrete factory near a city in the same province, strikes that came a day after a Houthi missile struck Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
The Israeli military said that about 20 of its warplanes took part in the attack and dropped about 50 munitions on the port and the concrete factory. The strikes were launched in coordination with the US.
The Israeli military said that about 20 of its warplanes took part in the attack and dropped about 50 munitions on the port and the concrete factory. The strikes were launched in coordination with the US.
A screen grab of footage purportedly shows Israeli strikes on Yemen's Houthi-held Hodeida area on May 5, 2025. (X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
It’s unclear if US warplanes directly took part in the Israeli attack, but the US did launch other airstrikes in Yemen on Monday. According to Yemen’s SABA news agency, a total of 18 US airstrikes targeted the Yemeni capital of Sanaa and the Al Jawf province.
SABA also reported that at least 21 people were injured by the attack on the Bajil cement factory, which it described as a preliminary toll. The Israeli military took credit for bombing the factory, claiming it “serves as an important economic resource for the Houthi terror regime and is used for building tunnels and military infrastructure.”
Israel launched several rounds of airstrikes against Yemen last year, but this attack marks the first time the Israeli military bombed the country under the new Trump administration. Before the missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport, the Trump administration had asked Israel not to respond to the Houthis’ attacks and said that US forces would handle the retaliation.
Read on antiwar.
SABA also reported that at least 21 people were injured by the attack on the Bajil cement factory, which it described as a preliminary toll. The Israeli military took credit for bombing the factory, claiming it “serves as an important economic resource for the Houthi terror regime and is used for building tunnels and military infrastructure.”
Israel launched several rounds of airstrikes against Yemen last year, but this attack marks the first time the Israeli military bombed the country under the new Trump administration. Before the missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport, the Trump administration had asked Israel not to respond to the Houthis’ attacks and said that US forces would handle the retaliation.
Read on antiwar.
Republicans Unveil Bill To Bring 2025 Military Budget to Over $1 Trillion
The legislation would add $150 billion to the budget and includes $25 billion for President Trump's 'Iron Dome for America'
Dave DeCamp
April 29, 2025
The legislation would add $150 billion to the budget and includes $25 billion for President Trump's 'Iron Dome for America'
Dave DeCamp
April 29, 2025
House Republicans unveiled a bill this week that would bring the 2025 US military budget to over $1 trillion.
The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) totaled about $885 billion, and the new supplemental bill drafted by the House and Senate’s armed services committees would add $150 billion, bringing the 2025 military budget to a record-breaking $1.035 trillion.
The bill includes $25 billion for President Trump’s vision to create a new missile defense system for the United States, which he has called the “Iron Dome for America” or the “Golden Dome.” The project would be a boondoggle for US weapons makers and would likely kick off a new global arms race.
According to The Hill, the bill also includes $33.7 billion for shipbuilding, $20.4 billion for munitions, $13.5 billion for “innovation,” $12.9 billion for nuclear deterrence, $11.5 billion for military readiness, $11.1 billion for building up in the Pacific, $7.2 billion for aircraft, $5 billion for the border, $4.5 billion for the B-21 bomber, $2 billion for military intelligence, and $380 million for the Pentagon’s annual audit.
Read on antiwar.
The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) totaled about $885 billion, and the new supplemental bill drafted by the House and Senate’s armed services committees would add $150 billion, bringing the 2025 military budget to a record-breaking $1.035 trillion.
The bill includes $25 billion for President Trump’s vision to create a new missile defense system for the United States, which he has called the “Iron Dome for America” or the “Golden Dome.” The project would be a boondoggle for US weapons makers and would likely kick off a new global arms race.
According to The Hill, the bill also includes $33.7 billion for shipbuilding, $20.4 billion for munitions, $13.5 billion for “innovation,” $12.9 billion for nuclear deterrence, $11.5 billion for military readiness, $11.1 billion for building up in the Pacific, $7.2 billion for aircraft, $5 billion for the border, $4.5 billion for the B-21 bomber, $2 billion for military intelligence, and $380 million for the Pentagon’s annual audit.
Read on antiwar.
Report: Putin Maintains Demand for Full Control of Ukrainian Oblasts Claimed by Russia for Peace Deal
According to Bloomberg, Steve Witkoff tried to convince Putin to accept freezing the current battlelines
Dave DeCamp
April 29, 2025
According to Bloomberg, Steve Witkoff tried to convince Putin to accept freezing the current battlelines
Dave DeCamp
April 29, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to demand full control of four Ukrainian oblasts claimed by Russia as a condition for a potential peace deal, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The report said that President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, sought to convince Putin to drop the demand and agree to a ceasefire that froze the current battle lines, but the Russian leader declined and maintained his demand for complete control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
The Financial Times reported last week that Putin was willing to freeze the current battle lines for a peace deal, but the Kremlin quickly signaled that this wasn’t the case.
The report said that President Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, sought to convince Putin to drop the demand and agree to a ceasefire that froze the current battle lines, but the Russian leader declined and maintained his demand for complete control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
The Financial Times reported last week that Putin was willing to freeze the current battle lines for a peace deal, but the Kremlin quickly signaled that this wasn’t the case.
Ukraine has also appeared to reject the conditions of a US proposal for a potential peace deal. The Bloomberg report said that negotiations are now at an impasse as an agreement seems less and less likely.
When Russian and Ukrainian officials held peace talks in the early days of Russia’s invasion in 2022, Russia’s main demand was for Ukrainian neutrality. Those efforts were discouraged by the US, and later that year, Russia declared its annexation of the four Ukrainian oblasts and added the recognition of that territory as Russia to its demands to end the war.
Since Russia has the momentum on the battlefield, it’s unlikely that it would accept a peace deal with terms dictated by the US. If the negotiations fall apart, it remains unclear if the Trump administration would continue fueling the war by arming Ukraine. As time goes on, the terms of a settlement will likely get less favorable for Ukraine.
On Monday, Russia declared a three-day ceasefire starting on May 8, but Ukraine rejected the idea and proposed a 30-day truce. Russia has dismissed the Ukrainian counteroffer and is casting doubt on whether the three-day ceasefire will hold.
antiwar.com
When Russian and Ukrainian officials held peace talks in the early days of Russia’s invasion in 2022, Russia’s main demand was for Ukrainian neutrality. Those efforts were discouraged by the US, and later that year, Russia declared its annexation of the four Ukrainian oblasts and added the recognition of that territory as Russia to its demands to end the war.
Since Russia has the momentum on the battlefield, it’s unlikely that it would accept a peace deal with terms dictated by the US. If the negotiations fall apart, it remains unclear if the Trump administration would continue fueling the war by arming Ukraine. As time goes on, the terms of a settlement will likely get less favorable for Ukraine.
On Monday, Russia declared a three-day ceasefire starting on May 8, but Ukraine rejected the idea and proposed a 30-day truce. Russia has dismissed the Ukrainian counteroffer and is casting doubt on whether the three-day ceasefire will hold.
antiwar.com
UN: Gaza Is Facing Worst Humanitarian Situation Yet Due to Israeli Blockade
The Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid and all other goods entering Gaza has been imposed for 50 days
Dave DeCamp
April 22, 2025
The Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid and all other goods entering Gaza has been imposed for 50 days
Dave DeCamp
April 22, 2025
The UN’s humanitarian office, OCHA, warned on Tuesday that Gaza is facing its worst humanitarian situation yet, as a total Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid and all other goods has been imposed for more than 50 days.
“Right now is probably the worst humanitarian situation we have seen throughout the war in Gaza,” Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for OCHA, said at a press briefing in Geneva, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.
Also on Tuesday, the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, said Gaza had become a “land of desperation” and warned of spreading hunger.
“Right now is probably the worst humanitarian situation we have seen throughout the war in Gaza,” Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for OCHA, said at a press briefing in Geneva, according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.
Also on Tuesday, the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, said Gaza had become a “land of desperation” and warned of spreading hunger.
A Palestinian woman stands at a bakery that has stopped operating due to a lack of flour and fuel, in Gaza City, April 1, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
“Hunger is spreading & deepening, deliberate & manmade,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. “Two million people: a majority of women & children are undergoing collective punishment.”
Lazzarini said that aid trucks, including 3,000 from UNRWA, are ready to enter Gaza but are being blocked by Israel. “The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the ceasefire must resume,” he said.
The US has strongly backed Israel’s collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee released a video statement on Monday in response to calls for him to pressure Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and blamed Hamas for the Israeli blockade.
Last week, 12 major aid organizations issued a statement that said the “people of Gaza – particularly women and children – are paying the price” and that “famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza.”
Lazzarini said that aid trucks, including 3,000 from UNRWA, are ready to enter Gaza but are being blocked by Israel. “The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the ceasefire must resume,” he said.
The US has strongly backed Israel’s collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee released a video statement on Monday in response to calls for him to pressure Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and blamed Hamas for the Israeli blockade.
Last week, 12 major aid organizations issued a statement that said the “people of Gaza – particularly women and children – are paying the price” and that “famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza.”
Pope Francis Called for Peace in Gaza in His Final Public Address
The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Francis had died at 88
Dave DeCamp
April 21, 2025
The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Francis had died at 88
Dave DeCamp
April 21, 2025
The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Francis had died in the morning, a day after appearing publicly for Easter and delivering an address where he called for peace in Gaza and in other conflict zones.
Pope Francis, who died at 88, had been outspoken in his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and critical of Israel’s killing of civilians. He also kept in close contact with the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, by holding nightly phone calls with its priest and parishioners.
Pope Francis, who died at 88, had been outspoken in his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and critical of Israel’s killing of civilians. He also kept in close contact with the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, by holding nightly phone calls with its priest and parishioners.
A portrait of Pope Francis is displayed during a Mass at the Holy Family Church, after his death was announced by the Vatican, in Gaza City, April 21, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
“I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation,” Francis said in his Easter address, which was read by an archbishop due to his poor health. “I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages, and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!”
Palestinian Christians in Gaza told Reuters that they were “heartbroken” at the loss of Pope Francis. “We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient, and stay strong. We lost a man who fought every day in every direction to protect this small herd of his,” George Antone, head of the emergency committee of the Holy Family Church, told the news agency.
Read in antiwar.
Palestinian Christians in Gaza told Reuters that they were “heartbroken” at the loss of Pope Francis. “We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient, and stay strong. We lost a man who fought every day in every direction to protect this small herd of his,” George Antone, head of the emergency committee of the Holy Family Church, told the news agency.
Read in antiwar.
Israel Attacks Kill Over 100 Gazans in 72 Hours
The dead include 15 children who were killed by Israeli strikes on tents
Kyle Anzalone
April 20, 2025
Since Friday, Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed well over 100 Palestinians. The IDF continues to pound tents where displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 92 Palestinians were killed over the past two days. The ministry only records the deaths of Palestinians if the bodies are brought to hospitals and morgues. On Sunday, Gaza’s civil defense force reported an additional 25 deaths.
The dead include 15 children who were sheltering in tents near Khan Yonis when an Israeli strike killed them. Reporting on the strike, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum explained, “For the vast majority of civilians, nighttime is the time of horror and unrelenting pain. Nobody is safe in their homes, in the makeshift tents, in displacement camps.”
A separate attack on a civilian gathering killed five.
On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 92 Palestinians were killed over the past two days. The ministry only records the deaths of Palestinians if the bodies are brought to hospitals and morgues. On Sunday, Gaza’s civil defense force reported an additional 25 deaths.
The dead include 15 children who were sheltering in tents near Khan Yonis when an Israeli strike killed them. Reporting on the strike, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum explained, “For the vast majority of civilians, nighttime is the time of horror and unrelenting pain. Nobody is safe in their homes, in the makeshift tents, in displacement camps.”
A separate attack on a civilian gathering killed five.
Relatives of Palestinians, who lost their lives after Israeli attacks mourn over the dead bodies of them as the bodies Relatives of Palestinians, who lost their lives after Israeli attacks mourn over the dead bodies of them as the bodies taken by their relatives from the morgue of Al-Awda Hospital for funeral process in Nuseirat refugee camp in central of Gaza Strip, on April 20, 2025. Photo by Moiz Salhi IMAGO/APAimages via Reuters Connect.
In mid-March, Israel broke a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas by resuming major military operations in the Strip. Over 1,700 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since March 18. The death toll since October 7, 2023 is now over 51,000.
Some Israeli officials are saying the goal of the military operations in Gaza is the expulsion of the Palestinians. Last week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the military to “open the gates of hell” and expel the Palestinians from Gaza.
Read on antiwar.
Some Israeli officials are saying the goal of the military operations in Gaza is the expulsion of the Palestinians. Last week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the military to “open the gates of hell” and expel the Palestinians from Gaza.
Read on antiwar.
Global Network Video: Russia's Serious Warning to NATO
Since Bill Clinton's expansion of NATO the western alliance has been on steroids.
Bruce Gagnon
April 17, 2025
Since Bill Clinton's expansion of NATO the western alliance has been on steroids.
Bruce Gagnon
April 17, 2025
This month's Global Network video comes at a crucial time as negotiations between the Trump administration and Russia on Ukraine have slowed down to a crawl.
Russia repeatedly attempted diplomacy after the US orchestrated coup d'etat in Kiev, Ukraine in 2014. Twice Russia led negotiations for the Minsk 1 & 2 agreements that called for a ceasefire between Kiev and the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. The agreements left the Donbass under Ukraine's control but provided for local autonomy.
Soon after the 2014 coup the first thing that the newly selected government in Kiev did (by Victoria Nuland and the Obama administration) was to declare the speaking of Russian in Ukraine illegal. Russian ethnic citizens of Ukraine in the Donbass began to peacefully protest and soon were attacked by the Ukrainian army loaded with neo-Nazis who predominate in the western part of Ukraine, near the Polish border.
These Ukrainian troops were trained, armed and directed by US-NATO (as recently admitted by the New York Times) and sent east. The Donbass region is heavily loaded with coal miners who came out of the mines to defend their families and their lands.
A couple years ago the former leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine admitted they never intended to honor the Minsk Agreements but instead used them to buy more time to increase the size of the Ukrainian army for on-going war with Russia.
Due to climate change, and the melting Arctic ice, the western resource extraction corporations, and their government puppets, have intended to break Russia up into smaller nations in order to steal Russia's vast resource base.
Few know that European powers have attempted for over 500 years to break Russia into pieces - something tried by Napoleon in France and Hitler in Germany. Sweden tried about a dozen times to invade and topple the Russian government over many years.
Russia's position today is they don't want war. They became a capitalist country with a military budget in the range of $150 billion in 2024 in comparison to the US military budget of $1 trillion. There is no way Russia could invade all of Europe as NATO regularly proclaims.
Russia wants the west to honor the promise made to them at the time of the collapse of the former Soviet Union that NATO would not expand eastward toward their nation. Since the Bill Clinton program of NATO expansion the western military alliance has been on steroids.
Russia also demands a mutual security agreement for all of Europe and an end to the neo-Nazi backed regime in Kiev. Since the citizens of the Donbass have voted to rejoin Russia, Moscow says that Kiev and NATO must respect those choices.
So the western resource extraction corporations and the military industrial complex wish to keep the war going for obvious reasons.
Read Bruce Gagnon in Substack.
Russia repeatedly attempted diplomacy after the US orchestrated coup d'etat in Kiev, Ukraine in 2014. Twice Russia led negotiations for the Minsk 1 & 2 agreements that called for a ceasefire between Kiev and the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. The agreements left the Donbass under Ukraine's control but provided for local autonomy.
Soon after the 2014 coup the first thing that the newly selected government in Kiev did (by Victoria Nuland and the Obama administration) was to declare the speaking of Russian in Ukraine illegal. Russian ethnic citizens of Ukraine in the Donbass began to peacefully protest and soon were attacked by the Ukrainian army loaded with neo-Nazis who predominate in the western part of Ukraine, near the Polish border.
These Ukrainian troops were trained, armed and directed by US-NATO (as recently admitted by the New York Times) and sent east. The Donbass region is heavily loaded with coal miners who came out of the mines to defend their families and their lands.
A couple years ago the former leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine admitted they never intended to honor the Minsk Agreements but instead used them to buy more time to increase the size of the Ukrainian army for on-going war with Russia.
Due to climate change, and the melting Arctic ice, the western resource extraction corporations, and their government puppets, have intended to break Russia up into smaller nations in order to steal Russia's vast resource base.
Few know that European powers have attempted for over 500 years to break Russia into pieces - something tried by Napoleon in France and Hitler in Germany. Sweden tried about a dozen times to invade and topple the Russian government over many years.
Russia's position today is they don't want war. They became a capitalist country with a military budget in the range of $150 billion in 2024 in comparison to the US military budget of $1 trillion. There is no way Russia could invade all of Europe as NATO regularly proclaims.
Russia wants the west to honor the promise made to them at the time of the collapse of the former Soviet Union that NATO would not expand eastward toward their nation. Since the Bill Clinton program of NATO expansion the western military alliance has been on steroids.
Russia also demands a mutual security agreement for all of Europe and an end to the neo-Nazi backed regime in Kiev. Since the citizens of the Donbass have voted to rejoin Russia, Moscow says that Kiev and NATO must respect those choices.
So the western resource extraction corporations and the military industrial complex wish to keep the war going for obvious reasons.
Read Bruce Gagnon in Substack.
US Massacres Civilian Workers and Paramedics in Attack on Yemen Fuel Port
At least 38 people, including five paramedics, were killed by the US bombing of the Ras Isa port in Hodeidah
Dave DeCamp
April 18, 2025
At least 38 people, including five paramedics, were killed by the US bombing of the Ras Isa port in Hodeidah
Dave DeCamp
April 18, 2025
The Ras Isa fuel port on fire following US airstrikes (photo from social media via Al Mayadeen)
On Thursday night, the US bombed the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen’s Red Sea province of Hodeidah, targeting the facility with two attacks that killed dozens of civilian workers and paramedics.
According to Yemen’s Health Ministry, at least 74 people, including at least five paramedics, were killed, and 171 were wounded. The paramedics were hit by a second US attack on the facility that came after rescue workers had already arrived at the scene to help victims of the first strikes (watch graphic footage of the aftermath of the attack here).
While the US has shared virtually no details about its bombing campaign in Yemen since it began on March 15, US Central Command took credit for the attack on the fuel port, which has grave implications for millions of Yemeni civilians who are facing severe food shortages.
CENTCOM justified the strike on vital civilian infrastructure by saying the Houthis, who govern an area where about 80% of Yemenis live, “profit” off fuel that enters the port. CENTCOM did not claim it was targeting a military site.
Read on antiwar.
According to Yemen’s Health Ministry, at least 74 people, including at least five paramedics, were killed, and 171 were wounded. The paramedics were hit by a second US attack on the facility that came after rescue workers had already arrived at the scene to help victims of the first strikes (watch graphic footage of the aftermath of the attack here).
While the US has shared virtually no details about its bombing campaign in Yemen since it began on March 15, US Central Command took credit for the attack on the fuel port, which has grave implications for millions of Yemeni civilians who are facing severe food shortages.
CENTCOM justified the strike on vital civilian infrastructure by saying the Houthis, who govern an area where about 80% of Yemenis live, “profit” off fuel that enters the port. CENTCOM did not claim it was targeting a military site.
Read on antiwar.
Iran Warns US Against ‘Moving the Goalposts’ After Witkoff Statement on Enrichment
Witkoff suggested the US would seek a deal that would eliminate Iran's civilian nuclear program, a non-starter for Tehran
Dave DeCamp
April 16, 2025
Witkoff suggested the US would seek a deal that would eliminate Iran's civilian nuclear program, a non-starter for Tehran
Dave DeCamp
April 16, 2025
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has warned that making fundamental mistakes could disrupt the negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
US Special Envoy Steve Eitkoff on Tuesday said Iran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment program to reach a deal with Washington.
The remark contradicted an earlier stance by the United States concerning Iran’s enrichment of uranium at a low level to produce energy.
Read more on Press TV.
US Special Envoy Steve Eitkoff on Tuesday said Iran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment program to reach a deal with Washington.
The remark contradicted an earlier stance by the United States concerning Iran’s enrichment of uranium at a low level to produce energy.
Read more on Press TV.
US Considering Backing a Ground Offensive Against the Houthis in Yemen
According to The Wall Street Journal, the UAE discussed the potential plan with US officials in recent weeks
Dave DeCamp
April 15, 2025
According to The Wall Street Journal, the UAE discussed the potential plan with US officials in recent weeks
Dave DeCamp
April 15, 2025
Military situation in Yemen on April 15, 2025 (SouthFront.press)
The US is considering backing a ground offensive against the Houthis in Yemen, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The report said that plans to back anti-Houthi militias on the ground have been brought to the US by the UAE and that the US is open to the idea but hasn’t made a final decision yet.
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014 and currently govern an area where 80% of Yemenis live. The US supported a Saudi/UAE-led coalition against the Houthis from 2015 to 2022 in a brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis but failed to return former Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
In 2022, after reaching a ceasefire with the Houthis, the Saudis pushed Hadi aside and replaced him with a Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) that includes several different factions. The PLC’s leadership is based in Saudi Arabia, but it is considered Yemen’s “internationally recognized” government.
Read complete article on antiwar.
The report said that plans to back anti-Houthi militias on the ground have been brought to the US by the UAE and that the US is open to the idea but hasn’t made a final decision yet.
The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014 and currently govern an area where 80% of Yemenis live. The US supported a Saudi/UAE-led coalition against the Houthis from 2015 to 2022 in a brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis but failed to return former Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
In 2022, after reaching a ceasefire with the Houthis, the Saudis pushed Hadi aside and replaced him with a Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) that includes several different factions. The PLC’s leadership is based in Saudi Arabia, but it is considered Yemen’s “internationally recognized” government.
Read complete article on antiwar.
US approves major weapons shipment to Israel as IDF prepares for Gaza offensive, eyes Iran
Israel set to receive over 3,000 US munitions to boost Air Force readiness for a major Gaza operation, with attention also on Iran; additional 10,000 munitions, frozen under Biden, released after Trump returned to White House
Israel set to receive over 3,000 US munitions to boost Air Force readiness for a major Gaza operation, with attention also on Iran; additional 10,000 munitions, frozen under Biden, released after Trump returned to White House
Yoav Zitun
April 15, 2025
April 15, 2025
JDAMS military.com photo
The IDF is set to receive a major arms shipment from the United States in the coming weeks, including more than 3,000 munitions for the Israeli Air Force, as part of its preparations for continued operations in the Gaza Strip and a potential strike on Iran, Israeli officials said Monday.
The shipment, recently approved by the U.S. administration, is intended to boost the Air Force’s readiness for a large-scale campaign planned by the IDF Southern Command in the Gaza Strip. The delivery comes in addition to more than 10,000 aerial munitions expected to replenish Israeli stockpiles after 18 months of prolonged, multi-front fighting.
The shipment complements a previous deal for heavy munitions that Israel purchased from the U.S. last year. The Biden administration had initially frozen the transfer, but U.S. President Donald Trump reversed the freeze in recent weeks.
In February, the U.S. government confirmed the approval of a major arms deal with Israel valued at $7.41 billion, which includes guided munitions, bombs and related equipment. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress that the deal is intended to preserve Israel’s ability to defend itself.
The authorization followed a January notification from the Biden administration regarding an $8 billion arms package just before Trump reentered office. Under the agreement, Israel will use American military aid funds to purchase 3,000 Hellfire missiles valued at approximately $660 million and 2,166 AGM-114 Hellfire bombs, also valued at $660 million.
In February, the U.S. government confirmed the approval of a major arms deal with Israel valued at $7.41 billion, which includes guided munitions, bombs and related equipment. The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress that the deal is intended to preserve Israel’s ability to defend itself.
The authorization followed a January notification from the Biden administration regarding an $8 billion arms package just before Trump reentered office. Under the agreement, Israel will use American military aid funds to purchase 3,000 Hellfire missiles valued at approximately $660 million and 2,166 AGM-114 Hellfire bombs, also valued at $660 million.
Read complete article in Ynet News.
VFP Presents -"What I Want You to Know" Online Panel Discussion from March Screening
Russian strike on Sumy targeted Ukrainian and NATO officers – Lavrov
At least 60 senior military personnel were killed during the missile attack, according to Moscow
RT
April 14, 2025
At least 60 senior military personnel were killed during the missile attack, according to Moscow
RT
April 14, 2025
FILE PHOTO. © Pierre Crom / Getty Images
The Defense Ministry in Moscow has confirmed that Russian forces were behind the missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, saying that it targeted a gathering of the country’s commanding officers.
The attack has left more than 60 Ukrainian servicemen dead, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
It was carried out with the use of two Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles despite “active counteraction by the Ukrainian military’s electronic warfare means and foreign-made air defense systems,” the statement read.
The target of the attack was “a meeting of the command staff of the Seversk operational-tactical group” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was taking place in Sumy that day, the ministry said.
Read article on RT.
The attack has left more than 60 Ukrainian servicemen dead, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
It was carried out with the use of two Iskander-M short-range ballistic missiles despite “active counteraction by the Ukrainian military’s electronic warfare means and foreign-made air defense systems,” the statement read.
The target of the attack was “a meeting of the command staff of the Seversk operational-tactical group” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which was taking place in Sumy that day, the ministry said.
Read article on RT.
Houthi Official Says Yemen Will Cease Attacks on US Ships if US Stops Bombing
The official said that the Houthis would continue their attacks on Israel until there was a ceasefire in Gaza
Shuaib Almosawa
and
Jeremy Scahill
Apr 10, 2025
The official said that the Houthis would continue their attacks on Israel until there was a ceasefire in Gaza
Shuaib Almosawa
and
Jeremy Scahill
Apr 10, 2025
Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, center, during a march in solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian prisoners on August 3, 2024
A senior leader of Ansar Allah, commonly known as the Houthis, told Drop Site News that if the U.S. ends its campaign of air strikes against Yemen, Houthi forces will commit to halting all attacks on U.S. ships in the region. “We do not consider ourselves at war with the American people,” said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansar Allah’s political bureau and a longtime spokesperson for the Houthis. “If the U.S. stops targeting Yemen, we will cease our military operations against it.”
Since November 2023, in response to Israel’s war on Gaza, the Houthis have maintained a formidable naval blockade on the Red Sea, preventing commercial ships from traveling to Israel. The Houthis have also launched military attacks on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities throughout the course of the war, saying their naval and military operations would continue in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.
On March 15, President Donald Trump ordered a sustained bombing campaign against Yemen, ostensibly in the name of protecting international shipping lanes in the waters off the coast of Yemen—bombing the country almost every night. Dozens of civilians have been killed. “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at U.S. ships, and we will stop shooting at you,” Trump wrote in a post on TruthSocial on March 31. “Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come.”
Trump’s admonition was echoed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in an interview with Fox News: “The minute the Houthis say, 'We'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones,' this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting.”
Read on Drop Site News.
Since November 2023, in response to Israel’s war on Gaza, the Houthis have maintained a formidable naval blockade on the Red Sea, preventing commercial ships from traveling to Israel. The Houthis have also launched military attacks on Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities throughout the course of the war, saying their naval and military operations would continue in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.
On March 15, President Donald Trump ordered a sustained bombing campaign against Yemen, ostensibly in the name of protecting international shipping lanes in the waters off the coast of Yemen—bombing the country almost every night. Dozens of civilians have been killed. “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at U.S. ships, and we will stop shooting at you,” Trump wrote in a post on TruthSocial on March 31. “Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come.”
Trump’s admonition was echoed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in an interview with Fox News: “The minute the Houthis say, 'We'll stop shooting at your ships, we'll stop shooting at your drones,' this campaign will end. But until then, it will be unrelenting.”
Read on Drop Site News.
Poll: Majority of American Adults Have Unfavorable View of Israel
The number of Americans who have a negative opinion of Israel has grown significantly since 2022
Dave DeCamp
April 9, 2025
The number of Americans who have a negative opinion of Israel has grown significantly since 2022
Dave DeCamp
April 9, 2025
A new Pew survey has found that the majority of American adults — 53% — have an unfavorable view of Israel, a figure that has risen in recent years.
In March 2022, Pew conducted a similar poll that found 42% of US adults viewed Israel unfavorably. The rise in the negative view of Israel comes in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel’s unleashing of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which Americans have been able to follow closely on social media.
In March 2022, Pew conducted a similar poll that found 42% of US adults viewed Israel unfavorably. The rise in the negative view of Israel comes in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel’s unleashing of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which Americans have been able to follow closely on social media.
Both polls showed that Democrats are more likely to have a negative view of Israel than Republicans. In the new survey, Pew found that 69% of Democrats view Israel unfavorably, while only 37% of Republicans do.
However, a negative view of Israel is much more common among younger Republicans. The poll found that 50% of Republicans aged 18-49 have a negative view of Israel, while only 23% of Republicans over 50 view Israel unfavorably.
The poll also found that 52% of American adults have little or no confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ability to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” while only 32% have confidence in him.
The increase of an unfavorable view of Israel among Americans could mean Israel is in trouble when it comes to long-term support from the US, and Israel’s military is extremely reliant on US assistance. A senior Israeli Air Force official said last year that without US support, the Israeli military could only sustain operations in Gaza for a few months.
However, a negative view of Israel is much more common among younger Republicans. The poll found that 50% of Republicans aged 18-49 have a negative view of Israel, while only 23% of Republicans over 50 view Israel unfavorably.
The poll also found that 52% of American adults have little or no confidence in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ability to “do the right thing regarding world affairs,” while only 32% have confidence in him.
The increase of an unfavorable view of Israel among Americans could mean Israel is in trouble when it comes to long-term support from the US, and Israel’s military is extremely reliant on US assistance. A senior Israeli Air Force official said last year that without US support, the Israeli military could only sustain operations in Gaza for a few months.
Over 900 Israeli Air Force members call to end Gaza war to save captives
The initiative drew backlash from the military command, which warned active reservists they could face dismissal if they did not withdraw their signatures
Mera Aladam
April 10, 2025
The initiative drew backlash from the military command, which warned active reservists they could face dismissal if they did not withdraw their signatures
Mera Aladam
April 10, 2025
A military helicopter at the heliport of the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh) in Beer Yaakov, Israel, on 30 January 2025 (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP)
A letter signed by over 900 Israeli reserve and retired Air Force members, demanding the return of captives in Gaza at the cost of ending the war, has created tension within the military and drawn condemnation from the government.
The call for action, published as an advertisement across Israeli news outlets on Thursday, said that Israel's war on Gaza serves “political and personal interests” rather than national security.
“The continuation of the war does not advance any of the declared goals of the war and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF [Israeli army] soldiers and innocent civilians," the letter read.
“As has been proven in the past, only an agreement can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers."
According to several Israeli newspapers, 10 percent of the signatories are active reserve servicemen, with the majority being volunteers, while the rest are former or retired members.
Read article on Middle East Eye.
The call for action, published as an advertisement across Israeli news outlets on Thursday, said that Israel's war on Gaza serves “political and personal interests” rather than national security.
“The continuation of the war does not advance any of the declared goals of the war and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, of IDF [Israeli army] soldiers and innocent civilians," the letter read.
“As has been proven in the past, only an agreement can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers."
According to several Israeli newspapers, 10 percent of the signatories are active reserve servicemen, with the majority being volunteers, while the rest are former or retired members.
Read article on Middle East Eye.
US Deploys Second THAAD Missile System to Israel Amid Iran Tensions
The US also reportedly sent two patriot air defense batteries to Israel
Dave DeCamp
April 6, 2025
The US also reportedly sent two patriot air defense batteries to Israel
Dave DeCamp
April 6, 2025
The US has deployed a second Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel, multiple Israeli and Arab media reports said over the weekend.
Israeli security sources also said that the US deployed two Patriot air defense batteries to Israel. US officials previously told The Wall Street Journal that the US was sending Patriot systems to “defend US air bases and nearby allies” as part of its military buildup in the Middle East that’s aimed at Iran.
The US has also sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, deployed additional B-2 bombers to its base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and sent other additional air assets to the region.
Israeli security sources also said that the US deployed two Patriot air defense batteries to Israel. US officials previously told The Wall Street Journal that the US was sending Patriot systems to “defend US air bases and nearby allies” as part of its military buildup in the Middle East that’s aimed at Iran.
The US has also sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, deployed additional B-2 bombers to its base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and sent other additional air assets to the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former US Ambassador David Friedman visit a US THAAD that was temporarily deployed in Israel on March 6, 2019 (US Air Force photo)
The Biden administration sent a THAAD system to Israel and about 100 troops to operate it in October 2024, ahead of an Israeli attack on Iran. The first Trump administration temporarily deployed a THAAD to Israel for military exercises in 2019.
The THAAD system the Biden administration deployed to Israel remains, meaning two out of the seven THAAD batteries the US operates are based in the country.
The deployment of the second THAAD system and two Patriot batteries to Israel suggests hundreds more US troops could be headed to the country as well. The deployment is a strong show of support for Israel amid its genocidal war in Gaza, ramped-up military operations in the West Bank, continued occupation of southern Lebanon, and invasion of southern Syria.
The deployment comes amid reports that the US and Israel are planning to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities even though US intelligence agencies recently reaffirmed that Tehran is not building a nuclear weapon.
The THAAD system the Biden administration deployed to Israel remains, meaning two out of the seven THAAD batteries the US operates are based in the country.
The deployment of the second THAAD system and two Patriot batteries to Israel suggests hundreds more US troops could be headed to the country as well. The deployment is a strong show of support for Israel amid its genocidal war in Gaza, ramped-up military operations in the West Bank, continued occupation of southern Lebanon, and invasion of southern Syria.
The deployment comes amid reports that the US and Israel are planning to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities even though US intelligence agencies recently reaffirmed that Tehran is not building a nuclear weapon.
Trump Threatens Iran With ‘Bombing’ If Nuclear Deal Is Not Reached
The threat comes after US intelligence agencies reaffirmed that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon
Dave DeCamp
March 30, 2025
The threat comes after US intelligence agencies reaffirmed that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon
Dave DeCamp
March 30, 2025
US B-2 Spirit bomber (US Air Force photo)
President Trump on Sunday threatened to bomb Iran if a deal isn’t reached on the country’s civilian nuclear program.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview.
The president has made similar threats toward Iran, but Sunday’s marked the most explicit one yet, and it comes as the US is sending more bombers to the region and pounding Yemen with daily airstrikes. Trump also said the US could hit Iran with “secondary tariffs” if a deal isn’t reached.
Trump’s threat comes after US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment that there’s no evidence Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon or that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reversed his 2003 fatwah that banned the production of weapons of mass destruction.
Iran recently responded to a letter Trump sent to Khamenei proposing nuclear talks and giving Tehran a two-month deadline to reach a deal. A US official told Axios that the deployment of US B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia was “not disconnected” from that deadline.
Continue reading on antiwar.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview.
The president has made similar threats toward Iran, but Sunday’s marked the most explicit one yet, and it comes as the US is sending more bombers to the region and pounding Yemen with daily airstrikes. Trump also said the US could hit Iran with “secondary tariffs” if a deal isn’t reached.
Trump’s threat comes after US intelligence agencies said in their annual threat assessment that there’s no evidence Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon or that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reversed his 2003 fatwah that banned the production of weapons of mass destruction.
Iran recently responded to a letter Trump sent to Khamenei proposing nuclear talks and giving Tehran a two-month deadline to reach a deal. A US official told Axios that the deployment of US B-2 bombers to Diego Garcia was “not disconnected” from that deadline.
Continue reading on antiwar.
Columbia Complicit in Trump Arrest of Student Leader Mahmoud Khalil
Update
A federal judge in New York issued a ruling on Monday afternoon that the government cannot deport Mahmoud Khalil “unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
US District Judge Jesse M. Furman set a hearing for Wednesday, 12 March, on Khalil’s habeas corpus petition – a legal challenge to the lawfulness of his detention. Khalil remains in federal custody.
Original article
As of Monday morning, Mahmoud Khalil was being detained at a federal immigration facility in Louisiana.
The recent Columbia graduate was inside his university-owned apartment on Saturday night in New York City when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered and detained him, his attorney Amy Greer, told the Associated Press.
As he languishes in a cell far from his home and family, fellow students are denouncing Columbia’s silence and apparent complicity in his arrest.
On Sunday, the US Department of Homeland Security confirmed Khalil’s arrest, claiming it was for “activities aligned to Hamas.”
Khalil’s detention is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s crackdown on supporters of Palestinian rights under the pretext of fighting “anti-Semitism” and support for “terrorism.”
Well-known and respected on campus, Khalil led negotiations between university officials and students during last year’s campus encampment protesting the Israeli genocide in Palestine and amid the ongoing crackdown.
An Algerian citizen of Palestinian origin and a legal permanent resident of the United States, Khalil’s green card is supposed to afford him all the constitutional free speech protections enjoyed by US citizens.
Arbitrary arrest
According to Greer, the ICE agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant.
“Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa,” the Associated Press reported.
“Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the lawyer.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared an AP article about Khalil’s arrest on Twitter/X on Sunday, vowing that “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
A federal judge in New York issued a ruling on Monday afternoon that the government cannot deport Mahmoud Khalil “unless and until the Court orders otherwise.”
US District Judge Jesse M. Furman set a hearing for Wednesday, 12 March, on Khalil’s habeas corpus petition – a legal challenge to the lawfulness of his detention. Khalil remains in federal custody.
Original article
As of Monday morning, Mahmoud Khalil was being detained at a federal immigration facility in Louisiana.
The recent Columbia graduate was inside his university-owned apartment on Saturday night in New York City when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered and detained him, his attorney Amy Greer, told the Associated Press.
As he languishes in a cell far from his home and family, fellow students are denouncing Columbia’s silence and apparent complicity in his arrest.
On Sunday, the US Department of Homeland Security confirmed Khalil’s arrest, claiming it was for “activities aligned to Hamas.”
Khalil’s detention is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s crackdown on supporters of Palestinian rights under the pretext of fighting “anti-Semitism” and support for “terrorism.”
Well-known and respected on campus, Khalil led negotiations between university officials and students during last year’s campus encampment protesting the Israeli genocide in Palestine and amid the ongoing crackdown.
An Algerian citizen of Palestinian origin and a legal permanent resident of the United States, Khalil’s green card is supposed to afford him all the constitutional free speech protections enjoyed by US citizens.
Arbitrary arrest
According to Greer, the ICE agents also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, a US citizen who is eight months pregnant.
“Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa,” the Associated Press reported.
“Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that instead, according to the lawyer.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared an AP article about Khalil’s arrest on Twitter/X on Sunday, vowing that “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
Trump Says the US Can’t Cut Military Spending Now
The president has backed a House Republican budget plan that will increase military spending by $100 billion
Dave DeCamp
March 10, 2025
Dave DeCamp
March 10, 2025
Kremlin responds to Trump’s call for nuclear disarmament
Dialogue with the US is necessary, but the arsenals of America’s European allies cannot be ignored, Dmitry Peskov has said
March 7, 2025
March 7, 2025
FILE PHOTO. © Sputnik / Yekaterina Chesnokova
Moscow is ready to discuss arms control with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, after US President Donald Trump called for nuclear disarmament among world powers.
Peskov told journalists on Friday that strategic stability and nuclear disarmament are topics on Moscow’s agenda, stating that dialogue between Russia and the US on arms control “is necessary.” He added that these discussions would benefit not just the two nations, but international security in general.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said, “it would be great if we could all denuclearize.” He noted that the US and Russia currently possess the largest nuclear arsenals, while China could reach similar levels in four to five years.
However, Moscow believes that talks should include not only the US, Russia, and China, but European nuclear powers – France and the UK – as well. “It is impossible to just overlook European nuclear arsenals in this dialogue,” the Kremlin spokesman said, pointing to recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Peskov told journalists on Friday that strategic stability and nuclear disarmament are topics on Moscow’s agenda, stating that dialogue between Russia and the US on arms control “is necessary.” He added that these discussions would benefit not just the two nations, but international security in general.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said, “it would be great if we could all denuclearize.” He noted that the US and Russia currently possess the largest nuclear arsenals, while China could reach similar levels in four to five years.
However, Moscow believes that talks should include not only the US, Russia, and China, but European nuclear powers – France and the UK – as well. “It is impossible to just overlook European nuclear arsenals in this dialogue,” the Kremlin spokesman said, pointing to recent remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Continue reading on RT.
Less Than Half in U.S. Now Sympathetic Toward Israelis
Support for establishment of independent Palestinian state remains at majority level
Megan Brenan
March 6, 2025
Support for establishment of independent Palestinian state remains at majority level
Megan Brenan
March 6, 2025
Although Americans remain more likely to say their sympathies in the Middle East situation are with the Israelis rather than the Palestinians, the 46% expressing support for Israel is the lowest in 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking of this measure on its World Affairs survey. The previous 51% low point in this trend of Americans’ sympathy for Israelis was recorded both last year and in 2001.
At the same time, the 33% of U.S. adults who now say they sympathize with the Palestinians is up six percentage points from last year and the highest reading by two points.
At the same time, the 33% of U.S. adults who now say they sympathize with the Palestinians is up six percentage points from last year and the highest reading by two points.
The latest reading is from a Gallup poll conducted Feb. 3-16, during which the temporary ceasefire and hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas that started in mid-January continued. The poll began one day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit that included a joint press conference with President Donald Trump. During that press event on Feb. 4, Trump expressed his intent for the U.S. to own and redevelop the Gaza Strip.
Continue article on gallup.com.
Continue article on gallup.com.
The Trump administration has paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine on top of the suspension of military aid as part of an effort to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue peace talks with Russia.
The intelligence pause has had an immediate effect on Ukraine’s war effort since it has relied on US intelligence for tracking Russian troops, and it’s required for firing US-provided HIMARS rocket systems.
A US official told Axios that the pause on intelligence sharing was focused on information that Ukraine could use to launch attacks inside Russian territory, operations that have risked provoking a direct clash between the US and Russia.
Continue reading on antiwar.
The intelligence pause has had an immediate effect on Ukraine’s war effort since it has relied on US intelligence for tracking Russian troops, and it’s required for firing US-provided HIMARS rocket systems.
A US official told Axios that the pause on intelligence sharing was focused on information that Ukraine could use to launch attacks inside Russian territory, operations that have risked provoking a direct clash between the US and Russia.
Continue reading on antiwar.
The Geopolitics of Peace —
Jeffrey Sachs in the European Parliament
Jeffrey Sachs in the European Parliament
House Passes Budget Resolution That Will Increase Military Spending by $100 Billion
Rep. Massie was the only Republican to vote against the budget plan, which has been backed by President Trump
Rep. Massie was the only Republican to vote against the budget plan, which has been backed by President Trump
smarthernews.com
House Republicans on Tuesday passed a budget blueprint that would raise military spending by $100 billion, a plan backed by President Trump despite his suggestions that Pentagon spending could be cut.
The budget plan also extends $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, would add $3 trillion to the deficit, and raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. It passed along party lines in a vote of 217-215, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) being the only Republican to vote against it.
Explaining his opposition, Massie cited the increases in the deficit. “If the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better,” he wrote on X a day before the vote.
The budget plan also extends $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, would add $3 trillion to the deficit, and raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. It passed along party lines in a vote of 217-215, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) being the only Republican to vote against it.
Explaining his opposition, Massie cited the increases in the deficit. “If the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better,” he wrote on X a day before the vote.
The Senate recently passed its own budget resolution that would increase military spending by $150 billion, but it didn’t include the tax cuts. Trump has said he wants the budget plan and tax cuts to be put together in “one big beautiful bill,” backing the House’s version.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said the extra $100 billion in military spending could be used to secure the southern border, among other things.
“The $100 billion in defense spending this resolution unlocks will enable us to begin restoring American deterrence, prioritizing lethality and ensuring peace through strength,” Rogers said, according to Stars and Stripes.
When Republican Senators introduced their version of the budget plan, they said the increase in military spending could be used to fund President Trump’s idea for an “Iron Dome for America,” a missile defense project that will come with a huge price tag and likely start a new arms race.
Article from antiwar.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said the extra $100 billion in military spending could be used to secure the southern border, among other things.
“The $100 billion in defense spending this resolution unlocks will enable us to begin restoring American deterrence, prioritizing lethality and ensuring peace through strength,” Rogers said, according to Stars and Stripes.
When Republican Senators introduced their version of the budget plan, they said the increase in military spending could be used to fund President Trump’s idea for an “Iron Dome for America,” a missile defense project that will come with a huge price tag and likely start a new arms race.
Article from antiwar.
$571 Million in VA Spending on Suicide Prevention Isn’t Working, Vets Groups Say
Veteran advocates are asking for accountability on how the Department of Veterans Affairs uses its $571 million suicide prevention budget, and whether those efforts are working.
Patty Nieberg, Jeff Schogol
February 10, 2025
Patty Nieberg, Jeff Schogol
February 10, 2025
Marines at Twentynine Palms, California, Feb. 10, 2024. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Sean Potter.
Veteran advocates are calling on recently confirmed Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to investigate why the millions of dollars that the agency spends each year to prevent suicides has yet to significantly curtail the number of veterans who take their own lives.
The VA received an estimated $571 million for suicide prevention efforts in Fiscal Year 2024, which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, and it requested even more money for this fiscal year, according to the VA’s latest budget request.
In a press release, Grunt Style Foundation, a veteran advocacy group, pressed Collins to look at how the VA’s suicide prevention funds are being used.
“We’re looking at 156,000 of our brothers and sisters that have taken their lives over the last 20 years,” Tim Jensen, president of Grunt Style Foundation, told Task & Purpose “That is just frankly unacceptable.”
The foundation has partnered with Veterans of Foreign Wars on looking at different ways to prevent veteran suicide, such as promoting alternative treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health issues that veterans face, said VFW spokesman Robert Couture. Both organizations also seek to reduce the stigma that veterans face when they seek mental help.
“We want to be really intentional about that, and we want to be more action-oriented in this partnership,” Couture told Task & Purpose on Monday. “We have these very clear objectives that we’re looking to focus on. It’s really to develop joint campaigns to educate veterans, their families, and the public about the importance of mental health and available support services.”
The VFW is the largest and oldest combat veterans service organization. The group along with the VFW Auxiliary have more than 1.4 million members. Grunt Style Foundation launched in 2021 and focuses on mental health, food security, and military transition and sustainment issues for troops, veterans, and their families.
The Grunt Style Foundation is spearheading the call for the VA secretary to investigate veterans suicide prevention efforts, Couture said.
“It’s about, really: Hey, what is the VA doing with the money and are they doing what’s smart and what’s best for veterans and not just continuing to throw money at a problem,” Couture told Task & Purpose. “What’s the results? That’s what they’re taking the lead on.”
The VA received an estimated $571 million for suicide prevention efforts in Fiscal Year 2024, which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, and it requested even more money for this fiscal year, according to the VA’s latest budget request.
In a press release, Grunt Style Foundation, a veteran advocacy group, pressed Collins to look at how the VA’s suicide prevention funds are being used.
“We’re looking at 156,000 of our brothers and sisters that have taken their lives over the last 20 years,” Tim Jensen, president of Grunt Style Foundation, told Task & Purpose “That is just frankly unacceptable.”
The foundation has partnered with Veterans of Foreign Wars on looking at different ways to prevent veteran suicide, such as promoting alternative treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health issues that veterans face, said VFW spokesman Robert Couture. Both organizations also seek to reduce the stigma that veterans face when they seek mental help.
“We want to be really intentional about that, and we want to be more action-oriented in this partnership,” Couture told Task & Purpose on Monday. “We have these very clear objectives that we’re looking to focus on. It’s really to develop joint campaigns to educate veterans, their families, and the public about the importance of mental health and available support services.”
The VFW is the largest and oldest combat veterans service organization. The group along with the VFW Auxiliary have more than 1.4 million members. Grunt Style Foundation launched in 2021 and focuses on mental health, food security, and military transition and sustainment issues for troops, veterans, and their families.
The Grunt Style Foundation is spearheading the call for the VA secretary to investigate veterans suicide prevention efforts, Couture said.
“It’s about, really: Hey, what is the VA doing with the money and are they doing what’s smart and what’s best for veterans and not just continuing to throw money at a problem,” Couture told Task & Purpose. “What’s the results? That’s what they’re taking the lead on.”
Officials from the two organizations are scheduled to attend the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs annual hearing with Veteran Service Organizations at the end of February where they testify on issues impacting the veteran community.
Some of the topics that Grunt Style Foundation officials hope to address in front of Congress are issues that they have long advocated for, such as the overmedication of veterans by the VA and the lack of data around alternative therapies like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and veteran-centric community events like hiking for mental health treatment.
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for veterans younger than 45 in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the VA’s annual suicide prevention report, issued in December.
There was an average of 17.6 veteran suicide deaths per day in 2022, compared to 16.5 suicides per day in 2001, the report states. The highest was in 2018, when an average of 18.4 veterans died by suicide each day.
Some of the topics that Grunt Style Foundation officials hope to address in front of Congress are issues that they have long advocated for, such as the overmedication of veterans by the VA and the lack of data around alternative therapies like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and veteran-centric community events like hiking for mental health treatment.
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for veterans younger than 45 in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the VA’s annual suicide prevention report, issued in December.
There was an average of 17.6 veteran suicide deaths per day in 2022, compared to 16.5 suicides per day in 2001, the report states. The highest was in 2018, when an average of 18.4 veterans died by suicide each day.
Read more on Task & Purpose.
In an exclusive new documentary, Max Blumenthal rips the cover off the media deceptions and atrocity hoaxes Israel pushed after October 7 to create political space for its gruesome assault on the Gaza Strip. Blumenthal exposes the US mainstream media's role as a megaphone for the Israeli government, introducing new lies even after their initial ones were debunked.
Atrocity Inc raises serious questions about the official narrative of October 7, while revealing how Israel's army has consciously engaged in the same hideous atrocities which it falsely accused Palestinian militants of committing.
Directed & Edited by Sut Jhally
Written by Max Blumenthal and Sut Jhally
Atrocity Inc raises serious questions about the official narrative of October 7, while revealing how Israel's army has consciously engaged in the same hideous atrocities which it falsely accused Palestinian militants of committing.
Directed & Edited by Sut Jhally
Written by Max Blumenthal and Sut Jhally
VFP-111 Announces Conscientious Objector Project
"The best way to engage the interest of community members is to provide an action that they can take. Chapter 111's Conscientious Objection Project does that," says chapter president Aneesa Ahad. "It offers a direct path to fighting militarism through draft resistance and developing awareness of how the military is forced upon students in high school."
ICAN Report:
Surge in 2023 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending
The nine nuclear-armed countries spent more than $10 billion more on their nuclear arsenals last year than the year before, as ICAN shows in “Surge: 2023 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending”. Between them, they pumped $91.4 billion into the nuclear arms race, or $2,898 per second.
The biggest spender, also with the largest one-year increase, was the United States at $51.5 billion - $1,633 per second!, more than all other nuclear-armed countries combined.
Read complete report, with takeaways, here.
Read complete report, with takeaways, here.
Moving Back from the Brink
Pacific Northwest organizers join a global campaign to abolish all nukes and push for a city council resolution to start
Gene Marx
Apr 04, 2024
Pacific Northwest organizers join a global campaign to abolish all nukes and push for a city council resolution to start
Gene Marx
Apr 04, 2024
nuclear sun - kattomic energy
At 5:30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, a flash “brighter than a thousand suns” lit the Alamogordo desert in New Mexico. General Leslie Groves, the overseer of the Manhattan Project estimated the explosive force of Trinity, the first full scale test of the implosion-type atomic fission bomb, “in excess of the equivalent of 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT.”
Grove’s report continued to describe “a fireball brighter than several midday suns;” a stratospheric mushroom cloud over 41,000 feet; and an explosive force resulting in a crater 1,200 feet in diameter and shattering windows 125 miles away.
According to War Secretary Henry Stimson, President Truman was giddy, “tremendously pepped up,” confident and invigorated enough to call the annihilation of Hiroshima three weeks later to the sailors on the USS Augusta while returning from Potsdam “the greatest thing in history.”
Today, a mere lifetime and thousands of Trinities later, nine nuclear nations control the futures of billions of global inhabitants. The cataclysmic potential of more than 13,000 nuclear weapons in 2024, each with unimaginable destructive power, are but a single miscalculation, false flag attack or accident away from ravaging the planet.
Grove’s report continued to describe “a fireball brighter than several midday suns;” a stratospheric mushroom cloud over 41,000 feet; and an explosive force resulting in a crater 1,200 feet in diameter and shattering windows 125 miles away.
According to War Secretary Henry Stimson, President Truman was giddy, “tremendously pepped up,” confident and invigorated enough to call the annihilation of Hiroshima three weeks later to the sailors on the USS Augusta while returning from Potsdam “the greatest thing in history.”
Today, a mere lifetime and thousands of Trinities later, nine nuclear nations control the futures of billions of global inhabitants. The cataclysmic potential of more than 13,000 nuclear weapons in 2024, each with unimaginable destructive power, are but a single miscalculation, false flag attack or accident away from ravaging the planet.
Recently, longtime antinuclear activist, Dr. Helen Caldicott described the medical effects of a single 20-megaton bomb dropped on an American city, New York or maybe Boston:
Russian 20-megaton bomb would enter at 20 times the speed of sound exploding with the heat of the sun, digging a hole three-quarters of a mile wide and 88 feet deep, converting all buildings, people and earth shot up into the air as a mushroom cloud. Twenty miles from the epicenter, all humans would be killed or lethally injured, some converted to charcoal statues. Winds of 500 mph turn people into missiles traveling at 100 mph. A massive conflagration would follow covering 300 square miles and the fires would coalesce across the nation.
As cities burn across the world, a massive cloud of toxic black smoke will elevate into the stratosphere blocking out the sun for ten years inducing a short ice age nuclear winter when all humans and most plants and animals will perish.
greg wegwich pinterest.com
Closer to home, the Pacific Northwest is a major nuclear, strategically targeted region in any war, if only to include the 1,300 nuclear warheads at Kitsap Bangor Naval Base and submarine communications base, Naval Radio Station Jim Creek, near Oso, both within 73 and 58 miles, as eagles fly, from Bellingham, both listed as primary U.S. ground zeros for Russia’s crosshairs. Doing the cataclysmic math for a strike on Oso, the City of Subdued Excitement and most of Skagit County would be consumed in less than fifteen minutes in a mega-inferno, and finished off by shockwaves and Carl Sagan’s “witches brew of radioactive particles” raining down as fallout.
Those lucky enough to have survived will realize within minutes they are entirely on their own. No 911. No FEMA. Just struggling to self-survive.
While individual and cultural psychic-numbing provides most of the post-Cold War populace with a much-needed coping mechanism to keep from being overwhelmed. Many of the rest of us remember all too well nuclear annihilation threats from U.S. presidents and Soviet leaders, the inefficacies of civil defense exercises and the Cuban Missile crisis, and most refuse to check out, just yet.
Read complete article on Substack.
Those lucky enough to have survived will realize within minutes they are entirely on their own. No 911. No FEMA. Just struggling to self-survive.
While individual and cultural psychic-numbing provides most of the post-Cold War populace with a much-needed coping mechanism to keep from being overwhelmed. Many of the rest of us remember all too well nuclear annihilation threats from U.S. presidents and Soviet leaders, the inefficacies of civil defense exercises and the Cuban Missile crisis, and most refuse to check out, just yet.
Read complete article on Substack.
Update -
Bellingham City Council
unanimously passes resolution calling
for permanent cease-fire in Gaza
It took nine years and a do-over,
but perseverance and peaceful protest win out
Bellingham City Council
unanimously passes resolution calling
for permanent cease-fire in Gaza
It took nine years and a do-over,
but perseverance and peaceful protest win out
On Monday, Bellingham, Washington’s City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting an “Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Israel and Palestine,” crafted by Whatcom (County) Families for Justice, Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, and Veterans for Peace Chapter 111. Interestingly, Bellingham’s latest successful resolution effort is a do-over from Operation Protective Edge in 2014, when a similar Gaza resolution calling for an end to violence on both sides, failed for the simple lack of a second. The Israeli tactic of “mowing the grass” in the Gaza Strip nine years ago, resulting in more than 2,000 Palestinian deaths, including 500 children, was not enough to move the measure forward. Threats, intimidation and political expediency won out.
But that was then.
Almost a decade later, visibly affected Council Members passed the latest version of the resolution during its preliminary Committee of the Whole discussion. Following measured revisions to the original draft submitted by local activists, an impassioned Council recognized the urgency of the 2023 carnage in Gaza and voted unanimously to support its passage during that evening’s business meeting.
Read complete piece on Substack.
But that was then.
Almost a decade later, visibly affected Council Members passed the latest version of the resolution during its preliminary Committee of the Whole discussion. Following measured revisions to the original draft submitted by local activists, an impassioned Council recognized the urgency of the 2023 carnage in Gaza and voted unanimously to support its passage during that evening’s business meeting.
Read complete piece on Substack.
JFK's Commencement Address at American University, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963
President John F. Kennedy
June 10, 1963
President Anderson, members of the faculty, board of trustees, distinguished guests, my old colleague, Senator Bob Byrd, who has earned his degree through many years of attending night law school, while I am earning mine in the next 30 minutes, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is with great pride that I participate in this ceremony of the American University, sponsored by the Methodist Church, founded by Bishop John Fletcher Hurst, and first opened by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. This is a young and growing university, but it has already fulfilled Bishop Hurst's enlightened hope for the study of history and public affairs in a city devoted to the making of history and the conduct of the public's business. By sponsoring this institution of higher learning for all who wish to learn, whatever their color or their creed, the Methodists of this area and the Nation deserve the Nation's thanks, and I commend all those who are today graduating.
Professor Woodrow Wilson once said that every man sent out from a university should be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time, and I am confident that the men and women who carry the honor of graduating from this institution will continue to give from their lives, from their talents, a high measure of public service and public support.
"There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university," wrote John Masefield in his tribute to English universities--and his words are equally true today. He did not refer to spires and towers, to campus greens and ivied walls. He admired the splendid beauty of the university, he said, because it was "a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see."
I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived--yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.
What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
I speak of peace because of the new face of war. Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied air forces in the Second World War. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.
Today the expenditure of billions of dollars every year on weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure we never need to use them is essential to keeping the peace. But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles--which can only destroy and never create--is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.
I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war--and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.
Some say that it is useless to speak of world peace or world law or world disarmament--and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitude--as individuals and as a Nation--for our attitude is as essential as theirs. And every graduate of this school, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward--by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of peace, toward the Soviet Union, toward the course of the cold war and toward freedom and peace here at home.
First: Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable--that mankind is doomed--that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.
We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade--therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable--and we believe they can do it again.
I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.
Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace-- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions--on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace--no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process--a way of solving problems.
With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor--it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.
And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors.
So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it, and to move irresistibly toward it.
Second: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Soviet Union. It is discouraging to think that their leaders may actually believe what their propagandists write. It is discouraging to read a recent authoritative Soviet text on Military Strategy and find, on page after page, wholly baseless and incredible claims--such as the allegation that "American imperialist circles are preparing to unleash different types of wars . . . that there is a very real threat of a preventive war being unleashed by American imperialists against the Soviet Union . . . [and that] the political aims of the American imperialists are to enslave economically and politically the European and other capitalist countries . . . [and] to achieve world domination . . . by means of aggressive wars."
Truly, as it was written long ago: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Yet it is sad to read these Soviet statements--to realize the extent of the gulf between us. But it is also a warning--a warning to the American people not to fall into the same trap as the Soviets, not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side, not to see conflict as inevitable, accommodation as impossible, and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats.
No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements--in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage.
Among the many traits the peoples of our two countries have in common, none is stronger than our mutual abhorrence of war. Almost unique among the major world powers, we have never been at war with each other. And no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union suffered in the course of the Second World War. At least 20 million lost their lives. Countless millions of homes and farms were burned or sacked. A third of the nation's territory, including nearly two thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland--a loss equivalent to the devastation of this country east of Chicago.
Today, should total war ever break out again--no matter how--our two countries would become the primary targets. It is an ironic but accurate fact that the two strongest powers are the two in the most danger of devastation. All we have built, all we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first 24 hours. And even in the cold war, which brings burdens and dangers to so many nations, including this Nation's closest allies--our two countries bear the heaviest burdens. For we are both devoting massive sums of money to weapons that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty, and disease. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counterweapons.
In short, both the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours--and even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.
So, let us not be blind to our differences--but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
Third: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the cold war, remembering that we are not engaged in a debate, seeking to pile up debating points. We are not here distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment. We must deal with the world as it is, and not as it might have been had the history of the last 18 years been different.
We must, therefore, persevere in the search for peace in the hope that constructive changes within the Communist bloc might bring within reach solutions which now seem beyond us. We must conduct our affairs in such a way that it becomes in the Communists' interest to agree on a genuine peace. Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy--or of a collective death-wish for the world.
To secure these ends, America's weapons are nonprovocative, carefully controlled, designed to deter, and capable of selective use. Our military forces are committed to peace and disciplined in self- restraint. Our diplomats are instructed to avoid unnecessary irritants and purely rhetorical hostility.
For we can seek a relaxation of tension without relaxing our guard. And, for our part, we do not need to use threats to prove that we are resolute. We do not need to jam foreign broadcasts out of fear our faith will be eroded. We are unwilling to impose our system on any unwilling people--but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on earth.
Meanwhile, we seek to strengthen the United Nations, to help solve its financial problems, to make it a more effective instrument for peace, to develop it into a genuine world security system--a system capable of resolving disputes on the basis of law, of insuring the security of the large and the small, and of creating conditions under which arms can finally be abolished.
At the same time we seek to keep peace inside the non-Communist world, where many nations, all of them our friends, are divided over issues which weaken Western unity, which invite Communist intervention or which threaten to erupt into war. Our efforts in West New Guinea, in the Congo, in the Middle East, and in the Indian subcontinent, have been persistent and patient despite criticism from both sides. We have also tried to set an example for others--by seeking to adjust small but significant differences with our own closest neighbors in Mexico and in Canada.
Speaking of other nations, I wish to make one point clear. We are bound to many nations by alliances. Those alliances exist because our concern and theirs substantially overlap. Our commitment to defend Western Europe and West Berlin, for example, stands undiminished because of the identity of our vital interests. The United States will make no deal with the Soviet Union at the expense of other nations and other peoples, not merely because they are our partners, but also because their interests and ours converge.
Our interests converge, however, not only in defending the frontiers of freedom, but in pursuing the paths of peace. It is our hope-- and the purpose of allied policies--to convince the Soviet Union that she, too, should let each nation choose its own future, so long as that choice does not interfere with the choices of others. The Communist drive to impose their political and economic system on others is the primary cause of world tension today. For there can be no doubt that, if all nations could refrain from interfering in the self-determination of others, the peace would be much more assured.
This will require a new effort to achieve world law--a new context for world discussions. It will require increased understanding between the Soviets and ourselves. And increased understanding will require increased contact and communication. One step in this direction is the proposed arrangement for a direct line between Moscow and Washington, to avoid on each side the dangerous delays, misunderstandings, and misreadings of the other's actions which might occur at a time of crisis.
We have also been talking in Geneva about the other first-step measures of arms control designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and to reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament-- designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms.
The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this Government since the 1920's. It has been urgently sought by the past three administrations. And however dim the prospects may be today, we intend to continue this effort--to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are.
The one major area of these negotiations where the end is in sight, yet where a fresh start is badly needed, is in a treaty to outlaw nuclear tests. The conclusion of such a treaty, so near and yet so far, would check the spiraling arms race in one of its most dangerous areas. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. It would increase our security--it would decrease the prospects of war. Surely this goal is sufficiently important to require our steady pursuit, yielding neither to the temptation to give up the whole effort nor the temptation to give up our insistence on vital and responsible safeguards.
I am taking this opportunity, therefore, to announce two important decisions in this regard.
First: Chairman Khrushchev, Prime Minister Macmillan, and I have agreed that high-level discussions will shortly begin in Moscow looking toward early agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history--but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind.
Second: To make clear our good faith and solemn convictions on the matter, I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so. We will not be the first to resume. Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope it will help us achieve one. Nor would such a treaty be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it will help us achieve it.
Finally, my fellow Americans, let us examine our attitude toward peace and freedom here at home. The quality and spirit of our own society must justify and support our efforts abroad. We must show it in the dedication of our own lives--as many of you who are graduating today will have a unique opportunity to do, by serving without pay in the Peace Corps abroad or in the proposed National Service Corps here at home.
But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because the freedom is incomplete.
It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government--local, State, and National--to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land.
All this is not unrelated to world peace. "When a man's ways please the Lord," the Scriptures tell us, "he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights--the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation--the right to breathe air as nature provided it--the right of future generations to a healthy existence?
While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. But it can--if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers--offer far more security and far fewer risks than an unabated, uncontrolled, unpredictable arms race.
The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough--more than enough--of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on--not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.
Never Too Late to Shout About It
”In the next war the survivors will envy the dead.” If there was ever a time for antiwar dialogue, engagement, resistance, it’s right now.
Gene Marx
February 10, 2023
”In the next war the survivors will envy the dead.” If there was ever a time for antiwar dialogue, engagement, resistance, it’s right now.
Gene Marx
February 10, 2023
Vue du siège de Gibraltar et explosion des batteries flottantes commons.wikimedia
“All acts of healing and love – and the defiance of war is an affirmation of love – allow us to shout out to the vast powers of the universe that, however broken we are, we are not helpless. However we despair we are not without hope, however weak we may feel, we will always, always, always resist.”
Chris Hedges, War is the Greatest Evil
Chris Hedges, War is the Greatest Evil
Respectfully, I have been all in for hope for as long as I can remember, but never a devotee. During the chaotic 60s of my shamelessly irresponsible youth, hope was an emotional default. Despite the radicalization of my generation, historic levels of civil unrest, and friends ending up as human remains in US issue body bags, hope was just a coping mechanism to counter undercurrents of dread and the white noise of Lyndon Johnson’s falling dominoes. Most of my draft-age fodder peers could never begin to imagine an end to the killing, but Congressional opposition to the genocide in Southeast Asia caught on and LBJ was driven out of office. Democrats and Republicans alike – Pete McCloskey, Mike Mansfield, Charles Mathias and Mike Gravel and others – challenged the pro-war narrative. Eugene McCarthy primaried LBJ. Bobby Kennedy joined the fray. It turned out my hope was more than a thing with feathers.
In sharp contrast to today’s 118th Congress, lawmakers recognized a regrettable debacle when they saw one.
In sharp contrast to today’s 118th Congress, lawmakers recognized a regrettable debacle when they saw one.
Eugene McCarthy
Mike Gravel
Bobby Kennedy
That was a lifetime ago, when wars ended, for everyone but the survivors.
A half century later, after escaping in one piece, from my own war to end all wars, a flailing American empire is now poised on the brink of direct confrontations with the world’s largest nuclear superpowers. As if a viral pandemic and planetary climate collapse weren’t enough, NATO and the US National Security State are trying to kill us all, including the very last man in Ukraine in America’s latest proxy war. And if the new Ukrainian conscription policy - lowering the draft age to 16 –and reports of a 4-hour life expectancy for new untrained troops in the Donbass are true, that poor grunt bastard’s days are numbered.
But, in a brutally frank, nightmare scenario, so are ours.
But, in a brutally frank, nightmare scenario, so are ours.
With global alliances for the Ukraine conflict set in stone and diplomatic entreaties more unlikely or unthinkable, the possibility of a massive nuclear exchange becomes more thinkable with each new weapon shipped to Zelenskyy forces by the collective West. Still, 100 US tactical nukes in Europe, intractable war power rhetoric, cornered adversaries with nothing to lose and the unfettered hubris of US foreign policy neocons is a recipe for a maelstrom, but barely gets a mention anywhere, from anyone.
Russia - Total nuclear warheads as of 2022 - 6,257 (Reuters)
An exchange of tactical nuclear devices in Eastern Europe - by accident or design - would result in counterattacks from all sides. We have been warned since Trinity, but while American support for the conflict in Ukraine has flat-lined, the escalation ladder of US and NATO weapons continues to, well, escalate. Still, no one with or without agency is talking or, better yet, shouting about it. For uncensored, unbridled antiwar dialogue, alternative media is our last best hope – there’s that word again – against unrelenting war propaganda.
US - Total nuclear warheads as of 2022 - 5,550 (Reuters)
“This threat is largely ignored by politicians and the mainstream media,” writes nuclear activist Dr. Helen Caldicott, “who continue to practice psychic numbing as we stumble blindly toward our demise.” For many progressives self-censorship became a safe place. Whoever countered the pro-NATO narrative continue to be labeled alarmists or Kremlin agents at the mere mention of a diplomatic off ramp. (Read: Peace).
And JFK’s 1963 warning at American University couldn’t have been more prescient:
And JFK’s 1963 warning at American University couldn’t have been more prescient:
“Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy--or of a collective death-wish for the world.”
Incredibly, we would joke about nuclear annihilation in 1965, as we sang singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer’s satirical piece “So Long, Mom, I’m off to Drop the Bomb,” a much-needed musical respite from the psychotrauma of the Cuban Missile Crisis. When the laughter died, this rendition of a Cold War musical deflection had a short shelf life.
Dr. Helen Caldicott would later write:
“Knowing man’s propensity to fight, why in God’s name did the U.S. Government and Soviet Union authorize the brilliant scientists and weapons makers to construct thousands of nuclear weapons during and after the Cold War, culminating in more than 70,000 nuclear weapons during the '70s and '80s?"
No one should be breathing any easier today with over 13,000 warheads distributed among the nine nuclear armed states - United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. One targeting miscalculation or false flag provocation could result in a global crossette of destruction lasting an hour, give or take, eventually eradicating billions with the survivors envying the dead, as JFK would often quote Nikita Khrushchev.
Read complete article on Substack.
Dr. Helen Caldicott would later write:
“Knowing man’s propensity to fight, why in God’s name did the U.S. Government and Soviet Union authorize the brilliant scientists and weapons makers to construct thousands of nuclear weapons during and after the Cold War, culminating in more than 70,000 nuclear weapons during the '70s and '80s?"
No one should be breathing any easier today with over 13,000 warheads distributed among the nine nuclear armed states - United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. One targeting miscalculation or false flag provocation could result in a global crossette of destruction lasting an hour, give or take, eventually eradicating billions with the survivors envying the dead, as JFK would often quote Nikita Khrushchev.
Read complete article on Substack.
Wait a Minute, We Got in This Ukrainian Mess...How?
Feb 6, 2014, Victoria Nuland handing out food to insurgents in Maidan Square who overthrew the government two weeks later. US Ambassador to her left.
By Dianne Foster • Feb 20, 2022
I am writing with urgency to correct the mainstream media’s disinformation about Ukraine and supposed Russian aggression there. I clearly remember taking a group of peace activists including Occupy Bellingham, Veterans for Peace, and Whatcom Peace and Justice, into Representative Rick Larsen’s office after the February 2014 United States-backed coup in Ukraine. We helped overthrow the democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovich, and installed the neo-Nazi Svoboda and Right Sector parties into power. Yanukovich’s election in 2010 had been validated by the U.N. as fair and square.
The image of then U.S. Secretary of European Affairs Victoria Nuland, a Dick Cheney appointee promoted by Hillary Clinton, standing on the stage in Kiev’s Maiden Square, throwing cookies out to the mobs of neo-Nazi’s and encouraging them to riot, is imprinted in my memory. On the stage behind her stood John McCain and Joe Biden, she had requested Obama send them as “point men” in this putsch. Shots were fired, Yanukovich left in haste for Russia, and millionaire Petro Poroshenko was selected to lead the country. Even Henry Kissinger, the king of “regime change” operations, protested in a Washington Post editorial, that this was over-the-top and Ukraine deserved their own sovereignty. Notably, Nuland’s husband, Robert Kagan, was a leading neocon architect of the Iraq War.
It was no surprise, therefore, that Putin took back the historically Russian seaport of Crimea, the Black Sea gem that was bequeathed to Ukraine, for uncertain reasons, by Ukrainian-born former Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1954.
Then there’s the history of the Svoboda and Right Sector political parties during WW2 in Ukraine: it is horrific. They were notorious for heinous crimes such as carving up Jewish children. Even today they are carrying out anti-Semitic pogroms, primarily by the Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group that is now incorporated into the Ukraine National Guard. Although Congressman Ro Khanna attempted to insure that no American aid went to that organization, it has unfortunately been funded in an attempt to oppose Russian interests there.
The neo-Nazi-leaning Ukraine government has been bombing the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since the 2014 coup, prompting nationalist leaders in Russia to push Putin into some action to take back the entire country, though current CIA Director William Burns does not believe Putin will do it. During April of 2014, we Democrats in the 40th Legislative District passed a resolution condemning this coup, in accordance with the Whatcom Dems platform that states: “Our government should not engage in overt or covert efforts to destabilize other nations’ governments.”
As someone whose father was a POW in Nazi Germany, I have spent much of my academic and personal life researching and opposing fascist movements. Many people forget that it was Russia and the Russian people who suffered the most in World War II, and without Russian leadership we would have lost to Hitler. If they hadn’t won the war in Europe, I wouldn’t be here today.
It should also be noted that when President Mikhail Gorbachev voluntarily ended the Cold War in 1990 by lowering the Berlin Wall, the U.S. promised in return that the West would not bring former Soviet states into NATO, thereby guaranteeing a safety zone around Russia. How would we feel if Russia incorporated Mexico or Canada into their sphere of influence? By 1994, President Clinton reneged on that promise, as one country after another was admitted to NATO, whose purpose at that time was to perpetrate a new Cold War. For a brief period, Clinton proposed a “peace dividend” that would divert money from the military to social needs. It appeared the military-industrial complex was not too happy with that idea. Thus we have had “endless wars” and regime changes; one of the most tragic was in Afghanistan. I am, however, optimistic to see countries like Chile and Honduras reversing the trend and moving away from neoliberal imperial domination.
What is most disturbing about this narrative is that President Biden was there, in Ukraine: he participated in that coup, and is now blaming it on the Russians. We cannot have real diplomacy based on lies. I plan to call the White House and my congressional representatives and encourage them to tell the truth. They are provoking a potential nuclear war that would end history. I have attached the Veterans for Peace resolution that was passed nationally in March of 2014 by that organization; it provides accurate details.
See NWCitizen.com for related links.
Dianne Foster guest wrote this opinion article for NW Citizen about our involvement today with Ukraine. She has a B.A. political science/international relations from the U. of W., and is a former “PCO of the Year” with the Whatcom Democrats.
Veterans Release Nuclear Posture Review
The U.S.-based international organization Veterans For Peace has released its own assessment of the current global threat of nuclear war, ahead of the anticipated release of the Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review. The Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review warns that the danger of nuclear war is greater than ever and that nuclear disarmament must be vigorously pursued. Veterans For Peace plans to deliver their Nuclear Posture Review to the President and Vice President, to every member of Congress, and to the Pentagon.
With the first anniversary of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on January 22, the Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review calls on the U.S. government to sign the treaty and to work with other nuclear-armed states to eliminate all the world’s nuclear weapons. The TPNW, approved by a vote of 122-1 in the UN General Assembly in July of 2017, reflects the international consensus against the existence of such weapons.
Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review also calls for measures that would reduce the risk of nuclear war, such as implementing policies for No First Use and taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
As early as this month, President Biden is expected to issue a United States Nuclear Posture Review, prepared by the Department of Defense in a tradition started in 1994 during the Clinton Administration and continued during the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. Veterans For Peace anticipates that the Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review will continue to reflect the unrealistic goals of full spectrum dominance and justify the continuing expenditure of billions of dollars on nuclear weapons.
“Veterans have learned the hard way to be skeptical of our government’s military adventures, which have led us from one disastrous war to another,” said Ken Mayers, a retired Marine Corps major. “Nuclear weapons are a threat to the very existence of human civilization,” continued Mayers, “so the U.S. nuclear posture is too important to be left to the cold warriors at the Pentagon. Veterans For Peace has developed our own Nuclear Posture Review, one that is consistent with U.S. treaty obligations and reflects the research and work of many arms control experts.”
The 10-page document prepared by Veterans For Peace reviews the nuclear posture of all the nuclear-armed states – the U.S., Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. It makes a number of recommendations for how the U.S. could provide leadership to begin a process of worldwide disarmament.
“This is not rocket science,” said Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and former president of Veterans For Peace. “The experts make nuclear disarmament seem impossibly difficult. However, there is a growing international consensus against the existence of such weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly in July 2017 and went into effect on January 22, 2021. It IS possible and necessary to eliminate all nuclear weapons, as 122 nations of the world have agreed.”
LINK to the Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review
With the first anniversary of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on January 22, the Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review calls on the U.S. government to sign the treaty and to work with other nuclear-armed states to eliminate all the world’s nuclear weapons. The TPNW, approved by a vote of 122-1 in the UN General Assembly in July of 2017, reflects the international consensus against the existence of such weapons.
Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review also calls for measures that would reduce the risk of nuclear war, such as implementing policies for No First Use and taking nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert.
As early as this month, President Biden is expected to issue a United States Nuclear Posture Review, prepared by the Department of Defense in a tradition started in 1994 during the Clinton Administration and continued during the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. Veterans For Peace anticipates that the Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review will continue to reflect the unrealistic goals of full spectrum dominance and justify the continuing expenditure of billions of dollars on nuclear weapons.
“Veterans have learned the hard way to be skeptical of our government’s military adventures, which have led us from one disastrous war to another,” said Ken Mayers, a retired Marine Corps major. “Nuclear weapons are a threat to the very existence of human civilization,” continued Mayers, “so the U.S. nuclear posture is too important to be left to the cold warriors at the Pentagon. Veterans For Peace has developed our own Nuclear Posture Review, one that is consistent with U.S. treaty obligations and reflects the research and work of many arms control experts.”
The 10-page document prepared by Veterans For Peace reviews the nuclear posture of all the nuclear-armed states – the U.S., Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. It makes a number of recommendations for how the U.S. could provide leadership to begin a process of worldwide disarmament.
“This is not rocket science,” said Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and former president of Veterans For Peace. “The experts make nuclear disarmament seem impossibly difficult. However, there is a growing international consensus against the existence of such weapons. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved overwhelmingly by the UN General Assembly in July 2017 and went into effect on January 22, 2021. It IS possible and necessary to eliminate all nuclear weapons, as 122 nations of the world have agreed.”
LINK to the Veterans For Peace Nuclear Posture Review
National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund
On July 19, 2012, one year after the death of Rep. John Lewis, Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts became the new sponsor of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Bill, H.R. 4529. "To affirm the freedom of taxpayers who are conscientiously opposed to participation in war, to provide that the income, estate, or gift tax payments of such taxpayers be used for nonmilitary purposes, to create the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund to receive such payments, to improve revenue collection, and for other purposes."
This bill "directs the Department of Treasury to establish in the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund for the deposit of income, gift and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers: (1) who are designated conscientious objectors opposed to participation in war in any form based upon their sincerely held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act); and (2) who have certified their beliefs in writing."
"Amounts deposited in the Fund shall be allocated annually to any appropriation not for a military purpose. Treasury shall report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the total amount transferred into the Fund during the preceding fiscal year and the purposes for which such amount was allocated. The privacy of the individuals using the Fund shall be protected."
Please sign this petition to move your Congressional representatives to support this bill.
This bill "directs the Department of Treasury to establish in the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund for the deposit of income, gift and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers: (1) who are designated conscientious objectors opposed to participation in war in any form based upon their sincerely held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act); and (2) who have certified their beliefs in writing."
"Amounts deposited in the Fund shall be allocated annually to any appropriation not for a military purpose. Treasury shall report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the total amount transferred into the Fund during the preceding fiscal year and the purposes for which such amount was allocated. The privacy of the individuals using the Fund shall be protected."
Please sign this petition to move your Congressional representatives to support this bill.
April 21, 2021
Support the
Tropes
How media language encourages the left to support wars, coups and intervention
Alan MacLeod
Support the
Tropes
How media language encourages the left to support wars, coups and intervention
Alan MacLeod
In an earlier piece (FAIR.org, 3/3/21), we explored some country case study examples of how the press helps to manufacture consent for regime change and other US actions abroad among left-leaning audiences, a traditionally conflict-skeptical group.
Some level of buy-in, or at least a hesitancy to resist, among the United States’ more left-leaning half is necessary to ensure that US interventions are carried out with a minimum of domestic opposition. To this end, corporate media invoke the language of human rights and humanitarianism to convince those to the left of center to accept, if not support, US actions abroad—a treatment of sorts for the country’s 50-year-long Vietnam syndrome.
What follows are some of the common tropes used by establishment outlets to convince skeptical leftists that this time, things might be different, selling a progressive intervention everyone can get behind.
Think of the women!
The vast majority of the world was against the US attack on Afghanistan that followed the 9/11 attacks in 2001. However, the idea had overwhelming support from the US public, including from Democrats. In fact, when Gallup (Brookings, 1/9/20) asked about the occupation in 2019, there was slightly more support for maintaining troops there among Democrats than Republicans—38% vs. 34%—and slightly less support for withdrawing troops (21% vs. 23%).
Media coverage can partially explain this phenomenon, convincing some and at the least providing cover for those in power. This was not a war of aggression, they insisted. They were not simply there to capture Osama bin Laden (whom the Taliban actually offered to hand over); this was a fight to bring freedom to the oppressed women of the country. As First Lady Laura Bush said: We respect our mothers, our sisters and daughters. "Fighting brutality against women and children is not the expression of a specific culture; it is the acceptance of our common humanity—a commitment shared by people of goodwill on every continent…. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women."
Wars are not fought to liberate women (FAIR.org, 7/26/17), and bombing people is never a feminist activity (FAIR.org, 6/28/20). But the New York Times was among the chief architects in constructing the belief in a phantom feminist war. Within weeks of the invasion (12/2/01), it reported on the “joyful return” of women to college campuses, profiling one student who strode up the steps tentatively at first, her body covered from face to foot by blue cotton. As she neared the door, she flipped the cloth back over her head, revealing round cheeks, dark ringlets of hair and the searching brown eyes of a student.
The over-the-top symbolism was hard to miss: This was a country changed, and all thanks to the invasion.
Time magazine also played heavily on this angle. Six weeks after the invasion (11/26/01), it told readers that “the greatest pageant of mass liberation since the fight for suffrage” was occurring, as “female faces, shy and bright, emerged from the dark cellars,” casting off their veils and symbolically stomping on them. If the implication was not clear enough, it directly told readers “the sight of jubilation was a holiday gift, a reminder of reasons the war was worth fighting beyond those of basic self-defense.”
“How much better will their lives be now?” Time (12/3/01) asked. Not much better, as it turned out.
A few days later, Time‘s cover (12/3/01) featured a portrait of a blonde, light-skinned Afghan woman, with the words, “Lifting the Veil. The shocking story of how the Taliban brutalized the women of Afghanistan. How much better will their lives be now?”
This was representative of a much wider phenomenon. A study by Carol Stabile and Deepa Kumar published in Media, Culture & Society (9/1/05) found that, in 1999, there were 29 US newspaper articles and 37 broadcast TV reports about women’s rights in Afghanistan. Between 2000 and September 11, 2001, those figures were 15 and 33, respectively. However, in the 16 weeks between September 12 and January 1, 2002, Americans were inundated with stories on the subject, with 93 newspaper articles and 628 TV reports on the subject. Once the real objectives of the war were secure, those figures fell off a cliff.
Antiwar messages were largely absent from corporate news coverage. Indeed, as FAIR founder Jeff Cohen noted in his book Cable News Confidential, CNN executives instructed their staff to constantly counter any images of civilian casualties with pro-war messages, even if “it may start sounding rote.” This sort of coverage helped to push 75% of Democratic voters into supporting the ground war.
As reality set in, it became increasingly difficult to pretend women’s rights in Afghanistan were seriously improving. Women still face the same problems as they did before. As a female Afghan member of parliament told Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies (CounterSpin, 2/17/21), women in Afghanistan have three principal enemies:
"One is the Taliban. Two is this group of warlords, disguised as a government, that the US supports. And the third is the US occupation…. If you in the West could get the US occupation out, we’d only have two."
However, Time managed to find a way to tug on the heartstrings of left-leaning audiences to support continued occupation. Featuring a shocking image of an 18-year-old local woman who had her ear and nose cut off, a 2010 cover story (8/9/10) asked readers to wonder “what happens if we leave Afghanistan,” the clear implication being the US must stay to prevent further brutality—despite the fact that the woman’s mutilation occurred after eight years of US occupation (Extra!, 10/10).
Vox (3/4/21) asserted that the US occupation of Afghanistan has meant “better rights for women and children” without offering evidence that that is the case.
The trick is still being used to this day. In March, Vox (3/4/21) credulously reported that Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Mark Milley made an emotional plea to Biden that he must stay in Afghanistan, otherwise women’s rights “will go back to the Stone Age.” It’s so good to know the upper echelons of the military industrial complex are filled with such passionate feminists.
In reality, nearly 20 years of occupation has only led to a situation where zero percent of Afghans considered themselves to be “thriving” while 85% are “suffering,” according to a Gallup poll. Only one in three girls goes to school, let alone university.
And all of this ignores the fact that the US supported radical Islamist groups and their takeover of the country in the first place, a move that drastically reduced women’s rights. Pre-Taliban, half of university students were women, as were 40% of the country’s doctors, 70% of its teachers and 30% of its civil servants—reflecting the reforms of the Soviet-backed government that the US dedicated massive resources to destroying.
Today, in half of the country’s provinces, fewer than 20% of teachers are female (and in many, fewer than 10% are). Only 37% of adolescent girls can read (compared to 66% of boys). Meanwhile, being a female gynecologist is now considered “one of the most dangerous jobs in the world” (New Statesman, 9/24/14). So much for a new golden age.
The “think of the women” trope is far from unique to Afghanistan. In fact, 19th century British imperial propagandists used the plight of Hindu women in India and Muslim women in Egypt as a pretext to invade and conquer those countries. The tactic’s longevity is perhaps testament to its effectiveness.
Read complete article on FAIR.
Some level of buy-in, or at least a hesitancy to resist, among the United States’ more left-leaning half is necessary to ensure that US interventions are carried out with a minimum of domestic opposition. To this end, corporate media invoke the language of human rights and humanitarianism to convince those to the left of center to accept, if not support, US actions abroad—a treatment of sorts for the country’s 50-year-long Vietnam syndrome.
What follows are some of the common tropes used by establishment outlets to convince skeptical leftists that this time, things might be different, selling a progressive intervention everyone can get behind.
Think of the women!
The vast majority of the world was against the US attack on Afghanistan that followed the 9/11 attacks in 2001. However, the idea had overwhelming support from the US public, including from Democrats. In fact, when Gallup (Brookings, 1/9/20) asked about the occupation in 2019, there was slightly more support for maintaining troops there among Democrats than Republicans—38% vs. 34%—and slightly less support for withdrawing troops (21% vs. 23%).
Media coverage can partially explain this phenomenon, convincing some and at the least providing cover for those in power. This was not a war of aggression, they insisted. They were not simply there to capture Osama bin Laden (whom the Taliban actually offered to hand over); this was a fight to bring freedom to the oppressed women of the country. As First Lady Laura Bush said: We respect our mothers, our sisters and daughters. "Fighting brutality against women and children is not the expression of a specific culture; it is the acceptance of our common humanity—a commitment shared by people of goodwill on every continent…. The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women."
Wars are not fought to liberate women (FAIR.org, 7/26/17), and bombing people is never a feminist activity (FAIR.org, 6/28/20). But the New York Times was among the chief architects in constructing the belief in a phantom feminist war. Within weeks of the invasion (12/2/01), it reported on the “joyful return” of women to college campuses, profiling one student who strode up the steps tentatively at first, her body covered from face to foot by blue cotton. As she neared the door, she flipped the cloth back over her head, revealing round cheeks, dark ringlets of hair and the searching brown eyes of a student.
The over-the-top symbolism was hard to miss: This was a country changed, and all thanks to the invasion.
Time magazine also played heavily on this angle. Six weeks after the invasion (11/26/01), it told readers that “the greatest pageant of mass liberation since the fight for suffrage” was occurring, as “female faces, shy and bright, emerged from the dark cellars,” casting off their veils and symbolically stomping on them. If the implication was not clear enough, it directly told readers “the sight of jubilation was a holiday gift, a reminder of reasons the war was worth fighting beyond those of basic self-defense.”
“How much better will their lives be now?” Time (12/3/01) asked. Not much better, as it turned out.
A few days later, Time‘s cover (12/3/01) featured a portrait of a blonde, light-skinned Afghan woman, with the words, “Lifting the Veil. The shocking story of how the Taliban brutalized the women of Afghanistan. How much better will their lives be now?”
This was representative of a much wider phenomenon. A study by Carol Stabile and Deepa Kumar published in Media, Culture & Society (9/1/05) found that, in 1999, there were 29 US newspaper articles and 37 broadcast TV reports about women’s rights in Afghanistan. Between 2000 and September 11, 2001, those figures were 15 and 33, respectively. However, in the 16 weeks between September 12 and January 1, 2002, Americans were inundated with stories on the subject, with 93 newspaper articles and 628 TV reports on the subject. Once the real objectives of the war were secure, those figures fell off a cliff.
Antiwar messages were largely absent from corporate news coverage. Indeed, as FAIR founder Jeff Cohen noted in his book Cable News Confidential, CNN executives instructed their staff to constantly counter any images of civilian casualties with pro-war messages, even if “it may start sounding rote.” This sort of coverage helped to push 75% of Democratic voters into supporting the ground war.
As reality set in, it became increasingly difficult to pretend women’s rights in Afghanistan were seriously improving. Women still face the same problems as they did before. As a female Afghan member of parliament told Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies (CounterSpin, 2/17/21), women in Afghanistan have three principal enemies:
"One is the Taliban. Two is this group of warlords, disguised as a government, that the US supports. And the third is the US occupation…. If you in the West could get the US occupation out, we’d only have two."
However, Time managed to find a way to tug on the heartstrings of left-leaning audiences to support continued occupation. Featuring a shocking image of an 18-year-old local woman who had her ear and nose cut off, a 2010 cover story (8/9/10) asked readers to wonder “what happens if we leave Afghanistan,” the clear implication being the US must stay to prevent further brutality—despite the fact that the woman’s mutilation occurred after eight years of US occupation (Extra!, 10/10).
Vox (3/4/21) asserted that the US occupation of Afghanistan has meant “better rights for women and children” without offering evidence that that is the case.
The trick is still being used to this day. In March, Vox (3/4/21) credulously reported that Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Mark Milley made an emotional plea to Biden that he must stay in Afghanistan, otherwise women’s rights “will go back to the Stone Age.” It’s so good to know the upper echelons of the military industrial complex are filled with such passionate feminists.
In reality, nearly 20 years of occupation has only led to a situation where zero percent of Afghans considered themselves to be “thriving” while 85% are “suffering,” according to a Gallup poll. Only one in three girls goes to school, let alone university.
And all of this ignores the fact that the US supported radical Islamist groups and their takeover of the country in the first place, a move that drastically reduced women’s rights. Pre-Taliban, half of university students were women, as were 40% of the country’s doctors, 70% of its teachers and 30% of its civil servants—reflecting the reforms of the Soviet-backed government that the US dedicated massive resources to destroying.
Today, in half of the country’s provinces, fewer than 20% of teachers are female (and in many, fewer than 10% are). Only 37% of adolescent girls can read (compared to 66% of boys). Meanwhile, being a female gynecologist is now considered “one of the most dangerous jobs in the world” (New Statesman, 9/24/14). So much for a new golden age.
The “think of the women” trope is far from unique to Afghanistan. In fact, 19th century British imperial propagandists used the plight of Hindu women in India and Muslim women in Egypt as a pretext to invade and conquer those countries. The tactic’s longevity is perhaps testament to its effectiveness.
Read complete article on FAIR.
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