[IsraelTimes] Prince Faisal bin Farhan says Tehran’s targeting of Riyadh as Arab foreign ministers were meeting ‘is the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy’.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/21/2026 2026-03-21 04:50 ||
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#1
STFU and do it then.
Posted by: chris ||
03/21/2026 7:10 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The Soodies don't actually intent to fight themselves BREAKING: Saudi Arabia has reportedly asked Pakistan to repay a USD 6.3 billion loan after Pakistan failed to honor the bilateral defense pact, under which an attack on one is considered an attack on both. Saudi officials are reportedly unable to reach Pakistan’s PM & army chief.
#3
Saudi officials are reportedly unable to reach Pakistan’s PM & army chief.
"We tried calling and paging, but they are not picking up."
Getting the Pakis to bomb Iran would be an great plot twist. The naive model of the Middle East is Arabs vs Juice, but that ignores the Sunni vs Shia conflict baked into Islam. Infidels must be converted, taxed, or killed. Believing in the wrong version of the Profit makes you an infidel. As a strategy, that works for relatively small desert tribes, but falls down in a globalized world.
[JustTheNews] The new cartel boss Juan Carlos Valencia González possession of dual citizenship presents challenges for U.S. intelligence surveillance, which led the Mexican government to his predecessor.
A California-born U.S. citizen whose mother is a Mexican national and is reportedly part of a drug and money laundering cartel herself, has now taken the helm of Mexico’s most dangerous cartel as the Supreme Court is set to consider a Trump administration challenge to the very citizenship tradition that granted him that birthright.
Multiple reports indicate that the 41-year-old Juan Carlos Valencia González, a dual U.S. and Mexican citizen, took charge of the notorious "Jalisco New Generation" cartel (CJNG) in the aftermath of a Mexican special forces raid that took out the cartel’s former boss, El Mencho, last month.
The raid was the most direct action Mexican authorities have taken against the cartels in coordination with the United States, which, under President Donald Trump, ramped up pressure on the drug trafficking organizations after naming them designated foreign terrorist organizations.
U.S. INTELLIGENCE HELPED LOCATE PAST CARTEL KINGPIN IN MEXICO
As a result, the American administration has increased surveillance of the cartels and, at times, has threatened to take direct military action if Mexico didn’t step up. It was reportedly U.S. intelligence that provided Mexico with the location of El Mencho, precipitating the successful operation.
CJNG was shepherded to prominence by that former leader, Ruben Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho,” and grew into Mexico’s most powerful and well-equipped cartel. Based in Mexico’s coastal Jalisco state, the cartel’s network operates a global drug trafficking empire spanning from China to North Africa and has for years smuggled drugs into the United States.
But now, with El Mencho dead, and his biological son in an American prison for life, the cartel has turned to Valencia González, his stepson, to assume leadership of the sprawling enterprise. Valencia González’s American citizenship is likely to complicate the U.S. government’s efforts to gather intelligence but could also stand in the way of any future military strikes against him as head of CJNG.
"EXPLOITING U.S. BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP" AUTHOR SAYS
The ascension of a U.S. citizen to head of the designated terrorist organization also comes at the same time that the Supreme Court is considering a Trump administration challenge to U.S. birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment, which, under the current interpretation, grants citizenship to most children born in the country–just like Valencia González.
“This is another example of adversaries exploiting the U.S. birthright citizenship for their benefit, to the detriment of America,” investigative journalist and author Peter Schweizer told Just the News. Last month, Schweizer’s new book, The Invisible Coup, outlined the ways in which China in particular exploits the standard by encouraging birth tourism.
Schweizer pointed to the similar example of infamous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán of the Sinaloa cartel. El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel, traveled to Los Angeles to give birth in the United States in 2011. Though she was already a U.S. citizen, giving birth in the country would ensure that she wouldn’t have to apply for citizenship for her children later, which would require her to provide their father’s name.
“A US citizen who has a baby in another country must apply for citizenship for the child through the consulate, which would have been complicated by being married to the most famous criminal in North America,” Schweizer wrote in his book. “It was easier [for her], as a US citizen, to travel freely to the United States, give birth here, and leave the father’s name blank on the birth certificate.”
Mark Morgan, the former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the ascension of a birthright American citizen to the head of a Mexican cartel lens Creedence to the Trump administration's effort to end the concept.
"It's something we don't talk enough about ... just simply because you're born here does not mean that you fully assimilated, and does not mean your allegiance is to this country," he said. "So it's a righteous issue for the Trump administration to push back on."
SCOTUS TO HEAR ARGUMENTS IN TRUMP V. BARBARA
The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a challenge to the Trump administration’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. The court will hear oral arguments in the case, Trump v. Barbara, on April 1.
The president issued an executive order intended to prevent babies born in the United States from automatically receiving U.S. citizenship if their parents are in the country illegally or only temporarily. However, the order was challenged and never went into effect.
The challengers argue that the order contradicts the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship clause, which provides that “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The Trump administration argues that the amendment’s framers only intended for the clause, which was added to the Constitution in 1868, to grant citizenship to former slaves and their children.
How Valencia González came to U.S. citizenship: a family's tale
Valencia González was born in Santa Ana, California to Rosalinda González Valencia, reportedly a drug kingpin in her own right and known as La Jefa, Spanish for “the boss” for her association with the “Cuinis” gang which later allied with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Though details of La Jefa’s early life are murky, she was born in Mexico in the 1960s where her family grew avocados in a plantation field. Later, she and several of her 18 siblings eventually moved to the United States, possibly illegally. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to inquiries about La Jefa’s immigration status.
It was there that she gave birth to Valencia González, whose father was Armando Valencia Cornelio, head of the Milenio Cartel, for whom several of her siblings worked. Valencia Cornelio was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2003 but the public record is vague on his fate. He was designated by the United States under the Kingpin Act as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker in 2004.
At some point, La Jefa and Valencia Cornelio separated, and she returned to Mexico. She married El Mencho in 1996, uniting her clan with the growing CJNG and putting Valencia González into the cartel’s line of succession.
Emerging as a globe-spanning drug trafficking empire
CJNG rose to power in Jalisco following a dispute with El Chapo’s Sinaloa cartel. The U.S. Department of State has described CJNG as a “transnational organization with a presence in nearly every part of Mexico” that traffics fentanyl, engages in extortion, smuggles migrants, steals oil and minerals, and trades in weaponry.
Since building its globe-spanning drug trafficking empire, the group has also increasingly employed military grade weaponry like drones, improvised explosive devices, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, posing a novel problem for Mexican authorities and the United States, Just the News previously reported.
Recent battles between CJNG and rival cartel cells have terrorized villages, some within just a few hundred miles of the U.S. border. The use of drones in particular has made them more dangerous, which they use to drop explosives on their enemies, both Mexican police and rivals.
[AmuseOnX] Iran Mined Bitcoin in Secret for Years, and the US Just Blew Up the Operation
Imagine a vault that no Treasury designation can freeze, no correspondent bank can flag, and no SWIFT exclusion can touch. Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... built one. It did not look like a vault. It looked like a power plant humming in the desert, or a server room quietly generating heat in the basement of a Revolutionary Guards installation. For years, the Islamic Theocratic Republic converted domestically trapped, heavily subsidized energy into Bitcoin, pocketing the proceeds in a currency that sanctions cannot confiscate. The scale, the discipline, and the sheer ingenuity of the arrangement deserve serious analytical attention, because what happened when US and Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s began dismantling it in late February 2026 sent a price signal that the markets are still digesting.
The logic of Iran’s position was almost elegant in its simplicity. Iran sits on roughly 17% of the world’s proven natural gas reserves, and it exports almost none of it through normal channels. Sanctions have severed the pipelines to market. The domestic economy absorbs what it can, but there is a persistent structural surplus: energy too cheap, too trapped, and too abundant to price efficiently. That surplus becomes, under ordinary conditions, a dead loss. Iran discovered a use for it. If you cannot sell energy at world prices, you can sell the computation that energy makes possible, and computation applied to the Bitcoin network produces a commodity that trades globally, pseudonymously, and without a counterparty who can be pressured by Washington.
The mechanism has been openly acknowledged at the policy level since at least 2019, when Iran formally legalized cryptocurrency mining and began licensing operations. Licensed miners were required to register, pay a special tariff, and, crucially, sell mined Bitcoin directly to Iran’s central bank, which could then use it to pay for imports that no dollar-denominated system would touch. The arrangement was practically an admission: this is how we route around you. Estimates from Elliptic, cited in major wire reporting, placed Iran’s share of global Bitcoin mining at roughly 4.5% in 2021, with annual mining revenues approaching $1B at then-current prices and network conditions. That figure, extrapolated to the post-halving environment of 2024-2026 with higher Bitcoin prices and a more competitive network, suggests cumulative mining revenues over the full operational arc, from roughly 2019 through early 2026, potentially in the range of $3B to $5B in mined value, though honest accounting requires acknowledging the wide uncertainty bands around any such estimate.
That range matters. At the low end, we are talking about a program of modest strategic significance, useful for paying for sanctioned goods but unlikely to reshape global crypto markets. At the high end, we are describing something approaching a sovereign wealth accumulation strategy implemented through an adversarial energy arbitrage. The case for the high end rests on several factors that official estimates have structurally undercounted. First, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s mining-location methodology, which forms the backbone of most published country-share figures, is IP-pool based and highly vulnerable to VPN obfuscation, a technique Iranian operators used systematically. Second, the 2022 collapse in Iran’s measured hashrate share to roughly 0.2%, per some dataset updates, almost certainly reflects a measurement artifact, not actual operational shutdown. Miners who go dark to official datasets do not stop mining. They route traffic through offshore proxies and continue producing blocks. Third, and most important, the licensed-miner framework likely captured only a fraction of the actual operation. Iran’s unlicensed mining sector, which power-sector engineers described as enormous, with devices drawing from unmetered residential and commercial lines, was never visible to the central bank’s accounting, and certainly not to Western analytics firms.
Here is where the IRGC enters the picture, and the story becomes considerably more consequential. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is not merely a military organization. It is a vertically integrated economic conglomerate with controlling interests across construction, logistics, telecommunications, and energy. It operates facilities with privileged access to the national grid, facilities that are explicitly exempted from the rationing and curtailment measures that periodically devastate civilian power users. An IRGC base with a dedicated substation, surplus diesel backup, and a fiber connection to the internet is, for purposes of this analysis, a nearly ideal Bitcoin mining facility. It has cheap power, reliable uptime, physical security, and operational opacity. Chainalysis estimated that IRGC-linked wallets accounted for roughly 50% of Iran’s total crypto ecosystem activity in Q4 2025, a figure the firm itself described as a lower bound. That dominance over the flow side of Iranian crypto is consistent with, though not equivalent to, dominance over the production side.
What did that production actually yield? Working from the post-halving block subsidy of approximately 450 BTC per day across the entire network, an Iranian share in the 3% to 7% range, which is conservative relative to the ceiling suggested by pre-obfuscation estimates, implies daily production of roughly 13 to 32 BTC. At Bitcoin prices in the $60,000 to $75,000 range, that is approximately $800K to $2.4M per day in new supply entering the market from Iranian-linked sources alone. Over months, that is a persistent, unacknowledged flow of sell pressure. The market, priced at the margin, absorbs this supply without attribution. No filing discloses it. No exchange reports it. It simply appears as latent overhead in the order book, a structural drag that keeps Bitcoin from fully repricing during otherwise bullish windows.
The case that this drag was meaningful rests on a well-understood principle in commodity markets: the marginal cost of the lowest-cost producer sets a floor, and persistent low-cost supply keeps spot prices anchored closer to that floor than they would otherwise be. If Iran’s effective all-in production cost, inclusive of electricity at near-zero effective rates for privileged IRGC installations, was in the $1,000 to $3,000 per BTC range, then Iranian-linked operators could profitably sell into almost any market. They were, in effect, permanent sellers at prices where most global miners were barely breaking even or operating at a loss. That is not a negligible dynamic. It is the kind of structural overhang that derivatives traders price as a known negative gamma, a persistent force that disciplines rallies and compresses volatility.
Then, on February 28, 2026, US and Israeli forces launched the strike campaign that has since been characterized as one of the most comprehensive targeting packages executed against Iranian military and energy infrastructure in the modern era. The strikes hit IRGC headquarters complexes. They hit oil depots in Tehran, the Kuhak facility, Aghdasiyeh storage, the Shahran refinery, and Fardis storage in Alborz province, over the March 7-8 window alone. They degraded fuel supply chains and introduced the kind of grid instability that forces emergency load-shedding across industrial users. Satellite imagery confirmed structural damage at high-value state sites. The cumulative effect on Iran’s energy infrastructure was not incidental. It was the point.
For Bitcoin mining, the implications are direct. An operation that depends on privileged grid access loses its most critical input when that grid is under emergency management. Diesel backup can extend uptime for hours, but not indefinitely, and not when the fuel depots themselves are on fire. Connectivity, the other critical input, degrades when the telecommunications infrastructure serving affected areas is under kinetic and electronic pressure. The rational response for any operator who understands what is happening, and IRGC commanders are not naive about targeting logic, is to shut rigs down, reduce observable electromagnetic and thermal signatures, and wait. Mining equipment does not announce its presence on the network in real time. It simply disappears from the hashrate tally.
The network hashrate data from this period is consistent with exactly this scenario. The 7-day average hashrate peaked near 1,083 EH/s on March 1, 2026, just after the strikes began, then fell to roughly 954 EH/s by March 16, a drawdown of nearly 12%. A competing explanation, also cited in mining-market analysis, attributes part of this to recovery and subsequent normalization following a US snowstorm-driven disruption. That explanation is plausible for the very early period. It does not explain the sustained drawdown through mid-March, which tracks the intensification of the strike campaign and its deepening impact on Iranian energy infrastructure. The two causes are not mutually exclusive. A weather event reduces US hashrate; Iranian operators simultaneously go dark. Both subtract from the global total.
The price response is where the argument becomes its most provocative and, arguably, its most defensible. Bitcoin moved from roughly $71,000 to the vicinity of $74,000 in the March 2026 window corresponding to the peak kinetic activity. Multiple mechanisms are cited in contemporaneous market analysis: spot ETF inflows, options gamma dynamics near the $75,000 strike, long-term holder dormancy, and macro risk repricing around war headlines. All of these are real. None of them is inconsistent with the additional contribution of Iranian sell-pressure removal. Markets price the sum of forces, not individual components, and there is no clean way to disaggregate the counterfactual in real time.
But consider the geometry of the argument. If Iran was producing 20 to 30 BTC per day and routing it through exchange or OTC channels into global liquidity, and that flow suddenly stops, the immediate effect on global market depth is modest on any given day. The larger effect is structural and forward-looking. Sophisticated market participants know, or can infer, that a source of persistent selling has been disrupted. The cessation of that flow does not require daily demonstration to move prices. It moves prices when it is anticipated, when traders update their priors about the medium-term supply environment, and when options dealers begin adjusting hedges in response to a shift in the net gamma profile of the market. The $75,000 options concentration identified by Glassnode’s analysis is precisely the kind of level that amplifies moves once persistent sell pressure is removed, because dealers who were short gamma at that strike suddenly find themselves with less to hedge against.
The deeper point is not that Iranian IRGC mining single-handedly suppressed Bitcoin prices, a claim that would require more direct attribution than the public record currently provides, but that it was one of several structural forces that collectively anchored the market below levels it would otherwise have tested. The sanctions-proof nature of the operation was simultaneously its greatest strategic strength and the feature that made it invisible to conventional market analysis. A mining firm registered in the US files disclosures. An IRGC facility in Tehran does not. The asymmetry of visibility creates an asymmetry of analytical attention, and that asymmetry allowed the suppression mechanism to function for years without being priced in by Western market participants.
[AyPee] France says it’s taking “appropriate measures” after a naval officer’s use of the Strava exercise app inadvertently enabled journalists to geolocate the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle that is in the Mediterranean to help protect French and allied assets and interests during the Iran war.
The IDF, among others, has run into similar problems in recent years. A reminder that OpSec is found in the small things as well as not leaving critical maps on trains in a drunken stupor.
The carrier’s deployment this month was not a secret and its commander has even briefed journalists by video link from aboard the nuclear-powered 42,000-ton vessel.
Still, the French newspaper Le Monde caused a stir by using Strava to locate a naval officer who it said used the performance app during a morning jog on March 13, enabling reporters to then find the Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean using a satellite image taken that same day.
The newspaper said Thursday that it believes the officer was either jogging on the carrier or one of its escort ships.
French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said the Strava usage reported by Le Monde “does not comply with the current guidelines. Appropriate measures are being taken by the command.”
“In the course of their duties, sailors are regularly made aware of the security risks associated with connected devices, notably the use of social media in their private lives and the potential for geolocation through digital applications,” Vernet told The Associated Press on Friday.
“To prevent any disclosure of information relating to a vessel, different levels of restrictions on the use of connected devices are applied within the French navy. These levels of restriction are determined by the command, depending on the level of threat,” he said.
French Rear Adm. Thibault Haudos de Possesse, commander of the aircraft carrier group, had briefed reporters in a video call from the Charles de Gaulle on the same day as the naval officer’s morning jog.
The commander said that multiple warships, including French and allied-nation frigates, were escorting the carrier, carrying 20 Rafale fighter jets, two Hawkeye surveillance planes and three helicopters.
Le Monde said that divulging the carrier strike-group’s location almost in real time on a public digital platform is dangerous as the Iran war rages. A drone attack on March 12 targeted a Kurdish military base in the Erbil region, killing French soldier Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion and wounding six others.
French President Emmanuel Macron this week announced the name of France’s next nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which will be bigger than the Charles de Gaulle. The 10 billion-euro ($11.5 billion) France Libre (“Free France”), which is expected to enter service in 2038, will have a capacity for 30 Rafale fighter jets and 2,000 sailors.
The new vessel will have a displacement of about 80,000 tons and a length of 310 meters (1,017 feet), compared to 42,000 tons and 261 meters (856 feet) for the Charles de Gaulle.
[MSN-IsraelTimes] Protesters heckled and booed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday during a visit to Australia's largest mosque for Eid al-Fitr prayers, voicing anger over his stance on Israel.
Video showed protesters interrupting proceedings about 15 minutes after Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke joined worshippers at Lakemba Mosque in western Sydney to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Albanese has repeatedly criticized Israel dishonestly, reciting Hamas agitprop, but it’s not enough for these allah akbar types
A security guard was seen tackling one heckler to the ground before escorting him away.
The mosque event was “incredibly positive,” Albanese said later, despite the incident.
“If you got a couple of people heckling in a crowd of 30,000, that should be put in that perspective,” he told reporters, adding that the community had dealt with a couple of hecklers.
He added that some frustration stemmed from the government’s designation this month of Islamist organization Hizbut Tahrir ...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate... as a prohibited hate group on the basis of new laws prompted by a deadly terror attack targeting a Jewish communal event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14.
“I thank them for the very warm reception that occurred. Yes, there were a couple of people who were heckling, some people don’t like the fact that we have outlawed extremist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir, and that brought a response from a couple of people.” he said, according to The Guardian.
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s long-term goal is to establish a Caliphate ruled under Islamic law. Britain and multiple other countries have declared it to be antisemitic organization that promotes terrorism.
Holy shit, Islamist extremists tried to lynch the Australian Prime Minister this morning at Lakemba Mosque. pic.twitter.com/ubmhsyFYlj
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Holidaymakers travelling to Egypt over the coming weeks may face changes to their plans after the government introduced a temporary curfew to reduce energy use.
This week, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that all shops, cafes, restaurants and shopping malls will be required to close at 9pm from 28 March, for a period of one month.
On Thursdays and Fridays, the closing time will be extended to 10pm. According to reports from locals on social media, pharmacies and supermarkets will continue to open as usual.
It is not yet clear whether hotels and resorts in popular destinations such as Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Luxor will be fully affected.
However, most hotels have backup generators, so rooms, AC, water and essential services will continue as usual.
Nevertheless, tourists are being advised to plan meals, shopping and outings accordingly.
The measures come as Egypt faces rising energy costs linked to regional conflict, including the US-Israeli war in Iran, which has disrupted gas supplies and pushed up prices.
Egypt, which relies heavily on natural gas to power its electricity plants, is now facing a supply deficit.
According to Madbouly, Egypt's natural gas import bill has surged astronomically in just one month, increasing from $560 million (£420 million) to $1.65 billion (£1.25 billion).
'We are facing a truly exceptional global crisis, and its repercussions will be severe for the entire world,' he warned at a press conference on Wednesday.
As well as enforcing earlier closures, Madbouly is also considering implementing remote work one or two days a week for government employees, excluding those in healthcare, factory work, and production sectors.
These measures will remain in place for one month before they undergo a review.
Roadside digital billboards will not be operating during this period, and government district offices in the New Administrative Capital will also close at 6pm.
Ongoing efforts will focus on cutting back public lighting while postponing national infrastructure projects that rely on high consumption of diesel fuel.
Madbouly said: 'All of these [measures] have one goal: to reduce the consumption bill, because the alternative would be to resort again to further price increases.'
He further cautioned that rising prices could damage Egypt's economy, as reported by the Egypt Independent.
Daily Mail has contacted the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for comment.
It comes as Brits have been warned they must brace for energy rationing as the Middle East crisis continues.
Former No10 energy expert Nick Butler said the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran meant there would be a global 'shortage' of oil within weeks.
Prof Butler, who was an adviser to Gordon Brown and worked for BP for nearly three decades, insisted ministers must be ready to protect the 'crucial sectors' of the economy.
Pump prices have already been soaring, while there is alarm that the energy price cap could rise dramatically when it changes again in July.
Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if the crisis was already going to have an effect, Prof Butler said: 'We've now had more than a week of almost no tankers coming out of Hormuz, that will continue this week on everything that you've reported this morning...'
'And there will be a real shortage, a physical shortage of supply in a few weeks' time. How long that goes on we don't know but I think the government here, and other governments, must now be preparing for a significant shortfall of supply over the next two months.'
I was speaking with a friend last night who has long been planning a trip to Australia in a few weeks. She has recently had to revamp plans twice because Australia expects to run out of petroleum products (gasoline and perhaps airplane fuel as well) within a month or so unless the Iran war is resolved, again allowing passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s always ugly when the can can no longer be kicked further down the road.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/21/2026 00:00 ||
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[1826 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Australia expects to run out of petroleum products (gasoline and perhaps airplane fuel as well) within a month
[Daily Wire] Over a month into the Democrat-led Department of Homeland Security shutdown, the largest independent pilots union in the United States is calling for Congress to end the shutdown and pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers.
"Congress must act immediately to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and ensure TSA officers are paid," Allied Pilots Association President First Officer Nick Silva said in a statement first obtained by The Daily Wire. "These dedicated professionals show up every day to protect the traveling public and maintain the safety of our National Airspace System."
"Forcing them to work without pay is unsustainable and puts both efficiency and security at risk," he added. "Supporting TSA is essential to keeping our aviation system safe, reliable, and moving.
"Forcing them to work without pay is unsustainable and puts both efficiency and security at risk," he added. "Supporting TSA is essential to keeping our aviation system safe, reliable, and moving."
That statement comes after Airlines for America President and CEO Chris Sununu similarly called for an end to the shutdown on March 9, saying: "More than 2.7 million people cleared through TSA yesterday, but too many had to wait in extraordinarily long—and painfully slow—lines at checkpoints. It’s unacceptable to have wait times of 2 or 3 hours. And it’s unacceptable that TSA officers will have $0 in their paychecks this week."
#1
One terrorist attack could bring air travel to a complete standstill. Coordinated attacks would be absolutely devastating. It would appear democrats want this to happen in order to destroy President Trump.
#2
If we come away with 1 thought from this.
Remember that the Democrats are welling to let another 911 happen to further their Anti-MAGA agenda. May GOD forbid their sucess.
#7
Check if not actually checkmate:
(from random Brave search - no link provided)
Senate Passes Bill to End Special Airport Treatment for Congress
The U.S. Senate has passed the End Special Treatment for Congress at Airports Act of 2026, a bill introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), which would eliminate preferential airport security screening for members of Congress. The bill passed unanimously on March 20, 2026, requiring all Members of Congress to undergo the same TSA screening procedures as the general public and prohibiting the use of federal funds for expedited or preferential access at airport checkpoints.
This legislation comes amid a partial federal government shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has led to staffing shortages at TSA checkpoints, longer wait times, and reduced services. Senator Cornyn criticized the existing practice of allowing lawmakers to bypass lines, calling it an unfair perk that undermines public trust. He emphasized that "nobody should be above the rules" and that Congress should experience the same travel challenges as everyday Americans.
While the Senate has passed the bill, it still requires approval by the House of Representatives and signature by the President to become law. The bill does not prohibit Members of Congress from participating in publicly available programs like TSA PreCheck or other trusted traveler programs, but it ensures they cannot receive special treatment based on their official status.
#8
Given the Democrats openly and frequently stated pro-terrorist group supporting comments. Would it be safe for Real and Loyal Americans to share a line with them?
Make them use EV's to drive to DC. It would take the west coast far left at least 10 days with the stops to recharge.
Alan Dershowitz — Professor Emeritus of Harvard Law, one of the most distinguished legal minds in America, and a man who has had personal conversations with both… pic.twitter.com/WASZpt0vdF
Alan Dershowitz — Professor Emeritus of Harvard Law, one of the most distinguished legal minds in America, and a man who has had personal conversations with both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu — went on the record Wednesday and said what needs to be said.
Joe Kent's resignation letter claimed Israel manipulated the United States into the Iraq War. Dershowitz was in the room. He knows what actually happened.
Read that again. The foundational claim of the entire "Israel got us into Iraq" conspiracy theory — the one Tucker Carlson has been platforming, the one Joe Kent put in his resignation letter, the one that has been bouncing around the anti-war right for twenty years — is contradicted by an eyewitness who was in the room. Israel opposed the Iraq War. Israel warned America it was the wrong target. Israel said go after Iran instead.
Kent lied. Categorically.
On the claim that Netanyahu manipulated Trump into the Iran war, Dershowitz was equally direct: 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 100% 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘢𝘩𝘶. He called it 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴.
Dershowitz also named what the Kent-Carlson narrative actually is — stripped of its foreign policy framing. 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗿. 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀. His words: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 1935 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘪 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘸.
This is not a call to silence criticism of Israel. Dershowitz himself acknowledges the tension — he doesn't want to give oxygen to antisemitism, but he also cannot let it go unchecked. That's a legitimate debate. What is not a legitimate debate is whether Joe Kent told the truth in his resignation letter. He didn't. A witness who was in the room just said so on national television.
President Trump called Kent weak on security and said he didn't know him well. Dershowitz put it more bluntly: 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.
#1
But as Super Hose insightfully pointed out yesterday, “ What I see with Kent is the result of the government and media lying to us consistently and pervasively for such a long period that we can’t dig out the root of the dandelion of lies. Kent is a good guy gone wrong based on watching him for a while. Government is a hall of mirrors. I’m not surprised that it divides some from reality.”
#3
Is he? He defended O.J. Simpson, too, among many other interesting clients. The watchword of that portion of the legal profession used to be that everyone deserves a strong defense, regardless whether he is innocent or guilty.
#4
Attorneys get to pick and choose which cases they take. Dershowitz deliberately inflamed racial tensions and got his client off by threatening more riots if he was convicted.
This isn't exactly arguing in favor of him.
#1
Doesn't this show that the mullahs weren't serious with that "Death to America" screeds? If they meant it, why would they send their loved ones to study and teach here?
/s
Posted by: Penguin of the Best Desert ||
03/21/2026 7:23 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I strongly suspect the competent part of the FBI is keeping a close eye on all of them.
[IsraelTimes] Facility will take ‘few days’ to restore after Thursday Iran strike; Haifa’s deputy mayor urges government to close refineries as soon as possible: ‘Playing Russian roulette with residents’ lives’.
[IsraelTimes] Offer calls for Hamas to hand over rockets, launchers along with map of tunnels within 90 days; Israel long opposed gradual framework, but didn’t push back when it came time to present
The disarmament proposal presented to Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... by Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ceasefire mediators this week in Cairo envisions all gangs in the Strip gradually handing over their weapons over the coming months, two Arab diplomats familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Friday.
The proposal requires Hamas to — within 90 days — hand over its heavy weaponry, such as missiles and rocket launchers, in addition to maps of its tunnel network.
A buy-back program would also offer jobs and funds to gang members who agree to hand over their personal weapons, though, that process is expected to take longer than the initial three-month timeline given for heavy weaponry, the first Arab diplomat said.
While Hamas negotiators have expressed willingness in talks with Arab mediators to hand over the terror group’s heavy weapons, they have insisted on maintaining lighter weapons, arguing that they are necessary for self-defense, the Arab diplomat added.
Details of the disarmament proposal were first published by the National Public Radio, The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... and Haaretz.
The proposal envisions the weapons being handed over to the yet-to-be-formed Paleostinian police. The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which is supposed to replace Hamas in governing Gaza, began recruitment for the new police force last month.
Paleostinians who previously served as Hamas civil servants have been allowed to apply to the new police force, but they will have to undergo Israeli vetting in order to be approved, the first Arab diplomat said, adding that those who Israel says were involved in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught may not be granted immunity.
The weapon handover will take place geographically, beginning with southern Gaza, and will see the Paleostinian police and the International Stabilization Force phase out the IDF in areas from which weapons have been cleared, the Arab diplomat said.
The second Arab diplomat expressed skepticism that Israel would ultimately agree to further withdrawals of its troops from Gaza.
The proposal also envisions Israel lifting curbs on humanitarian aid and reconstruction equipment for Gaza as the handover of weapons progresses.
The gradual disarmament framework goes against what Israeli officials had long said was their stance, demanding that the weapons handover be conducted all at once.
However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... mediating countries — the United States, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... and Egypt — were convinced that the Israeli demand was unrealistic, the Arab diplomat said.
Israel was aware of the proposal presented to Hamas in Cairo this week and did not object to it, believing that it would ultimately be rejected by Hamas anyway, the second Arab diplomat said.
The Gaza mediators are hoping Hamas responds to the proposal this week, and the Arab diplomat speculated that the terror group would come back with a counteroffer, which will further drag out the process.
The disarmament proposal was presented to Hamas in Cairo meetings headed by the Board of Peace’s High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, along with US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s senior adviser Aryeh Lightstone, the Arab diplomats said.
Mladenov, the former UN diplomat charged with implementing US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... ’s plan for a postwar Gaza, said on Thursday that the ceasefire’s mediating countries all agreed on a "framework" that "can unlock reconstruction, breathe life into communities, and bring closer to unity and a negotiated resolution of the Paleostinian question. It is now on the table."
He said, however, that executing on the framework "requires one clear choice: full decommissioning by Hamas and every gang, with no exceptions and no carve-outs."
Mladenov’s announcement came as Hamas’s security forces stepped up their control of the territory in recent weeks.
The October 2025 ceasefire deal mostly ended two years of fighting triggered by Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, and the first phase secured the release of all remaining hostages taken by the terror group, in exchange for Israel’s release of thousands of Paleostinian security prisoners and detainees.
Gazooks who spoke with The Times of Israel in recent days testified to the terror regime’s increased presence in the Strip in recent weeks, enforcing price controls, managing the distribution of goods arriving from outside the Strip, and seeming to intimidate some residents who’d previously spoken to international media by name, but now insist upon anonymity.
[IsraelTimes] Treasury secretary says easing of sanctions will allow Iranian oil loaded onto tankers before March 20 to be delivered until April 19, expanding supply to world
The US Treasury on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels, in Washington’s latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war.
The authorization allows for the delivery and sale of Iranian crude oil and other petroleum products loaded onto ships before March 20, and will last through April 19, the Treasury said in a statement.
The move by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said Thursday was under consideration, follows a similar lifting of sanctions on Russian oil at sea.
Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas normally flows, and the numerous attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, have sent crude oil prices soaring.
Bessent described the move in a statement on Friday as a narrowly tailored, short-term authorization that follows US President Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... ’s intention to "maximize the flow of energy to the world" and ensure market stability.
"At present, sanctioned Iranian oil is being hoarded by China on the cheap," Bessent said in a statement.
"By temporarily unlocking this existing supply for the world, the United States will quickly bring approximately 140 million barrels of oil to global markets, expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran."
Tehran, however, said Friday it had no surplus crude oil to offer to international markets.
"Currently, Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... basically has no surplus crude oil left on the water or for supply in other international markets, and the US treasury secretary’s statement is solely aimed at giving hope to buyers," Iranian oil ministry front man Saman Ghoddoosi wrote on X.
The Treasury’s authorization on Friday does not apply to deliveries of oil to Cuba, North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... , or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
This was the third time the US has temporarily waived sanctions in about two weeks. The US had previously eased sanctions on Russian oil and on Friday issued a general license allowing the sale of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 20 to April 19, according to the license posted to the Treasury Department’s website.
Oil markets ended higher Friday, although they remained below the $120-per-barrel threshold, which has been approached multiple times since the conflict began three weeks ago.
A barrel of North Sea Brent crude gained 3.26 percent to $112.19. Its US counterpart, the traditionally cheaper West Texas Intermediate (WTI), rose 2.27 percent to $98.32.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Shamil Kerashev
This may or may not be meaningful, it seems to me — Bibi and The Donald have playacted before to protect a military surprise. They have also strongly disagreed on things, but I’ve decided to assume they’ve got something interesting in the works — it’s easier on my heart.
[REGNUM] The situation in the Middle East has proven a serious test for Western fuel markets. But the worst may yet come—even if the Americans want to avoid it.
One of the main events of the week in the Middle East conflict zone was the massive fire at Qatar's liquefied natural gas plant. It is located in the coastal industrial center of Ras Laffan, where several Iranian missiles allegedly landed.
According to regional media, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may have used, among other things, the latest medium-range ballistic missile, the Hajj Qasem, with a maneuverable warhead. The intention was likely to deliberately cause significant damage. And indeed, this damage was recorded.
Judging by photos and videos, one of the plant's units burned almost to the ground. Qatar Energy's press service made it clear that even completely extinguishing the fire does not guarantee a resumption of operations anytime soon.
Asian exchanges were the first to react, with the news from Qatar immediately leading to a significant rise in gas prices. Then, April futures in the European Union jumped. This is understandable, as the industrial cluster in Ras Laffan is the undisputed global leader in LNG production and export volumes. Up to 20% of LNG shipments pass through the local port.
Doha strongly condemned Tehran's actions. Saudi Arabia also condemned them, noting the less powerful, but still quite sensitive, strikes on its fuel and energy infrastructure.
At the same time, the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself calls the measures taken necessary: "Due to the enemy's aggression against Iran's energy infrastructure, we have entered a new phase of the war. This is pushing us to target energy facilities linked to the United States and American shareholders."
What exactly did the Iranian Armed Forces respond to? This was obviously the recent attack on the oil-rich region of Tabriz, and—especially—the bombing of the largest gas field, South Pars, on the afternoon of March 18, and the shelling of petrochemical infrastructure in the neighboring city of Esalouyeh.
It's worth clarifying: in each of the three cases, the Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attacks. The US response, however, remains a key political intrigue.
On the one hand, Donald Trump categorically denies that Washington was aware of Tel Aviv's plans. "Israel, enraged by events in the Middle East, launched an attack on a major facility known as South Pars. We knew nothing about this attack, and Qatar had no idea it was coming," the US President wrote on his social media account, Truth Social.
And he adds: supposedly, South Pars suffered "minor damage." Which, in Trump's view, didn't warrant such a harsh Iranian response—and, he says, won't in the future, because " Benjamin Netanyahu was asked not to do that again."
On the other hand, a report in Axios, citing certain "American officials," has already generated considerable buzz. According to these officials, the Washington elite, quite the contrary, received advance information from the IDF about preparations for the aforementioned strikes and gave the go-ahead—in order to send a signal to Tehran about the potential consequences of blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
What scope for speculation! Could there be an autonomous group of "hawks" operating in the White House, giving Israel free rein without the president's approval? Or perhaps the president has deliberately distanced himself from Israel's actions to maintain his public role as a relatively "neutral" arbiter? Or has Netanyahu's team suddenly stopped paying attention to Washington, and are the media leaks simply an American attempt to feign control?
However, whichever version is true, the risks for Washington are clear. Further escalation around Middle Eastern energy will inevitably lead—and is already leading—to higher fuel prices in the US itself.
Worse still, according to the American Automobile Association, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has reached $3.80. This, incidentally, is the highest price since the fall of 2023, when Joe Biden occupied the Oval Office.
Trump, as a reminder, ran for a second term promising to make America not only "great again" but also "rich again." "I refilled the oil reserves that weren't being replenished. I did it at the right price, when it was at an all-time low. Under Biden, prices are higher than anyone could have imagined," he said at a rally in 2022.
Clearly, blaming all the problems on the incompetent Democratic Party officials will no longer work. Meanwhile, the average voter, who voted not least for the pleasing numbers on gas station signs, is unlikely to be appeased for long by loud foreign policy slogans.
Thus, the Republicans will face a serious test in the upcoming congressional elections. And one factor in their political survival could perhaps be the speedy resumption of safe tanker navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
But how can the blockade be lifted? Even the press loyal to the current administration calls the scenario of a landing on Kharg Island—the de facto start of a ground operation—downright toxic: Trump has criticized the "endless wars" of his predecessors for too long and too loudly to allow the boot of an American soldier to once again set foot on foreign, distant soil.
Therefore, it seems that right now Washington would rather rely on increasing remote pressure. And, consequently, it is considering escalating strikes on Iran's own energy facilities as part of its strategy—either by itself or by the Israelis, who could carry out the attacks independently—or supposedly independently.
"We have two options: either destroy Iranian infrastructure and cause serious damage to the economy, or use it as negotiating leverage," former head of US Central Command General Frank McKenzie said in an interview with CBS.
At the same time, the fire in Qatar's Ras Laffan clearly demonstrated that Tehran is capable of striking back very hard and very painfully.
Ras Tanura, a strategically important oil terminal through which vast volumes of fuel are shipped to markets in Europe, Asia, and, once again, the United States, is often mentioned as a potential target for the Guardian Corps.
Incidentally, alarm bells have already been ringing. On March 2, Saudi Aramco's Ras Tannuri refinery, which processes 550,000 barrels of oil daily, was attacked by unidentified suicide drones, shutting down operations for a considerable period.
Iranian authorities attributed the incident to an Israeli provocation. However, there is no doubt: if the IRGC had so desired, it could have easily dispatched a swarm of Shahed missiles and more powerful weapons from its extensive arsenal.
Furthermore, military analysts estimate that at least two Kuwaiti oil fields, three Iraqi oil fields directly linked to ExxonMobil, and one in the UAE are within the Iranian strike zone. The UAE's fuel hub, the port of Fujairah, with a throughput capacity of approximately two million barrels per day, has been repeatedly hit by UAVs.
This means that as the exchange of blows continues, the question will inevitably arise: whose nerves are stronger and who is ready to raise the stakes to extremely dangerous levels?
Not to mention that on March 17, one of the American-Israeli attacks reportedly destroyed a structure at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in the southwest of the Islamic Republic.
According to Alexey Likhachev, head of the Rosatom state corporation, the strike did not affect the operating power unit. However, the precedent is still frightening, as in the event of a serious accident, "none of the parties to the conflict will be able to avoid exposure to radiation."
Bibi’s international advisor answers all that in a half hour video — watch at the link:
[IsraelTimes] In a special wartime episode, PM Netanyahu’s international adviser explains why the US and Israel decided to launch another campaign against Tehran, and what they aim to achieve
Almost three weeks of the US-Israeli war on Iran have gone by. There are undoubtedly important achievements. This week, Israel assassinated Ali Larijani, perhaps the most important leader left in the Islamic Republic. It also took out leaders of the brutal Basij force, and there is no question that Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones at its enemies has been severely degraded.
Top officials in Gulf states are speaking out more openly about Iranian attacks, with a senior UAE adviser saying that the strikes will push the Gulf closer to Israel.
Despite the impressive — even unprecedented tactical achievements — key questions remain. How does this war end? How will Israel “create the conditions” for Iran’s people to topple the regime, and will we be back at war again in the coming years if they don’t?
Caroline Glick, a veteran journalist who has served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s international affairs adviser during both Iran wars, lays out why Israel is fighting against Iran less than a year after Netanyahu declared that the 12-day war last June achieved a historic victory.
She says that Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are aligned on the goals of the campaign, and that reports of discord do not reflect reality.
Glick makes clear that it is up to the Iranian people to achieve their freedom, but Israel is doing what it can to pave the way from the air.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/21/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1823 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Trump needs to learn when to stop lecturing foreign leaders. Israel is doing what is necessary and doesn't need anyone's permission.
#2
Donald and Bibi playing good cop/bad cop. Don't be frightened. Both Israel and America have their own interests, but that does not mean those interests do not overlap to a great degree. Western Civilization *is* Western Civilization, after all.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[RIA] The Pentagon has prepared detailed plans for the possible deployment of ground troops to Iran to provide the Trump administration with a full range of military scenarios amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East, CBS News reports, citing informed sources.
"Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for the deployment of U.S. ground troops to Iran... Senior military leaders have submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for this scenario as President Trump weighs next steps in the conflict with Iran," the channel writes.
Trump is currently considering deploying ground troops to the region, but the conditions under which he might order a ground operation against Iran remain unclear, the channel notes.
The operational planning involves the US Army Global Response Force and Marine Expeditionary Units, the publication states.
Answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump denied plans to deploy ground troops to Iran, but stressed that even if he made such a decision, he would not disclose it publicly.
On February 28, the United States and Israel began striking targets in Iran, including Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran is carrying out retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on US military facilities in the Middle East.
Washington and Tel Aviv explained the start of the military operation as a preemptive strike and alleged threats from Tehran over its nuclear program. However, they are now no longer hiding their desire to see a change of power in Iran.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/21/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1801 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
I can see the US occupying Kharg Island or some of the small islands near the Hormuz Strait. One or two MEU's do not have enough warm bodies for a mainland invasion of Iran.
That would require the US Army and I've not heard anything about the Army preparing for such a large deployment. Best guess at LEAST 2-3 divisions would be needed and a call up of specialized MOS's from the Reserves or National Guard that the active army doesn't have enough of.
#3
A politically centrist friend, a former country club Republicans now unable to find a home in either party, is furious that what she believes to be an unnecessary war will require a massive military invasion of Iran a la Iraq 2003 in order to impose stability and good governance on the country.
She became thoughtful at the idea that we can leave that to the Iranian people, who are already busily killing off the Basij militiamen, once we and Israel weaken them at home and achieve the objective of destroying Iran’s ability to project power beyond its borders, whether by nuclear bombs, missiles, or terror groups in the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas (there linked to the narco gangs).
So we’ll see. Much depends on not letting this thing drag out, and I think we can count on Bibi and The Donald to make that happen.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
