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Category: War

Vance doubts Pentagon’s depiction of war in Iran. Germany’s chancellor says U.S. is being ‘humiliated’

Vance doubts Pentagon’s depiction of war in Iran. Germany’s chancellor says U.S. is being ‘humiliated’

The Atlantic reports: In closed-door meetings, J. D. Vance has repeatedly questioned the Defense Department’s depiction of the war in Iran and whether the Pentagon has understated what appears to be the drastic depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles. Two senior administration officials told us that the vice president has queried the accuracy of the information the Pentagon has provided about the war. He has also expressed his concerns about the availability of certain missile systems in discussions with President Trump,…

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So you want to negotiate with Iran …

So you want to negotiate with Iran …

Nahal Toosi writes: President Donald Trump recently dismissed claims he’s anxious to end the Iran war, insisting on Truth Social that he’s “possibly the least pressured person ever to be in this position” and has “all the time in the World.” If only. Trump and his aides could use some more time to think through what they want to accomplish in discussions with Tehran’s Islamist regime. The administration’s preparations for launching the war were … not great, and its negotiating…

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The U.S. started the war against Iran. The rest of the world is suffering the consequences

The U.S. started the war against Iran. The rest of the world is suffering the consequences

The New York Times reports: The fallout from two months of war in Iran is shuttering textile mills in India and Bangladesh, grounding airplanes in Ireland, Poland and Germany, and prompting energy rationing in Vietnam, South Korea and Thailand. The only country, it seems, that has been relatively spared from the economic chaos is the one that started the war: the United States. While warning signs of a recession are flashing across countries in Asia and Europe, the United States…

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We will all be paying for the Iran war for a very long time

We will all be paying for the Iran war for a very long time

Haider Ali Hussein Mullick writes: America’s spending on the war in Iran will far outlast active combat. The U.S. government has already made contracts and other commitments to repair damaged bases, field counter-drone platforms, feed and shelter thousands of troops and replenish munitions. Even if President Trump signs a deal ending the war tomorrow, we will harden bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, by reinforcing aircraft shelters, building blast walls around fuel and…

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Mood in Russia turns bleak as war in Ukraine drags on and economy suffers

Mood in Russia turns bleak as war in Ukraine drags on and economy suffers

The Washington Post reports: President Vladimir Putin is facing rising discontent across Russian society as the war against Ukraine drags on, the economy flounders and public dissatisfaction mounts over government restrictions on internet access. Russia’s biggest state-owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, on Friday recorded that Putin’s approval rating fell to 65.6 percent, its lowest level since before the beginning of the war and a drop of 12.2 percentage points since the start of the year. Gauging genuine…

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Ukraine has picked up the torch that America dropped

Ukraine has picked up the torch that America dropped

David French writes: A remarkable thing has happened on the world’s battlefields. Ukraine — a nation that was supposed to dissolve within days of a Russian invasion — has fought Russia to a stalemate, revolutionizing land warfare in the process. It has become an indispensable security partner in the western alliance, including in the war against Iran. Now, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is taking the next step, one that would have been unthinkable even as recently as 2024. By word…

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The billion-barrel Hormuz oil shock is about to crash demand

The billion-barrel Hormuz oil shock is about to crash demand

Bloomberg reports: The Strait of Hormuz oil shock has yet to crash demand as the rich world borrows from its stocks and pays up to secure supply. Traders are now sounding the alarm that a harsh adjustment is coming. The longer the vital oil channel doesn’t reopen, traders say, the more consumption is going to have to recalibrate lower to align with supply that’s dropped at least 10%. And for that to happen, people will have buy less, either through…

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Iran caused significantly more damage to U.S. military bases than publicly acknowledged

Iran caused significantly more damage to U.S. military bases than publicly acknowledged

Defence Security Asia reports: The emerging picture of Iranian retaliation against American military bases across the Gulf suggests that the real military cost of Operation Epic Fury may be significantly higher than Washington has publicly acknowledged, with infrastructure damage, aircraft losses, and operational disruption now measured in billions of dollars. Multiple U.S. officials, congressional aides, and individuals familiar with classified damage assessments indicate that Iranian strikes hit dozens of targets across at least seven countries in the Middle East, challenging…

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The generals who are now running Iran

The generals who are now running Iran

The New York Times reports: When Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as the supreme leader, he exerted absolute power over all decisions about war, peace and negotiations with the United States. His son and successor does not play the same role. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son, is an elusive figure who has not been seen and whose voice has not been heard since he was appointed in March. Instead, a battle-hardened collective of commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps…

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Lockheed Martin CEO tells investors war-driven boost in defense spending presents ‘golden opportunity’

Lockheed Martin CEO tells investors war-driven boost in defense spending presents ‘golden opportunity’

The Street reports: There’s a phrase that doesn’t come up often in defense contractor earnings calls: “golden opportunity.” It’s the kind of language that gets people’s attention. Lockheed Martin (LMT) CEO Jim Taiclet used it anyway. Speaking to investors on the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call Thursday, April 23, Taiclet did not attempt to be subtle about what the current political environment means for the world’s largest defense contractor. With the Iran war driving Pentagon spending, a Trump administration that…

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‘The damage is done’: Global oil crisis has changed fossil fuel industry for ever, IEA chief says

‘The damage is done’: Global oil crisis has changed fossil fuel industry for ever, IEA chief says

The Guardian reports: The oil crisis triggered by the Iran war has changed the fossil fuel industry for ever, turning countries away from fossil fuels to secure energy supplies, the world’s leading energy economist said. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), also said that, despite pressure, the UK should forgo much of its potential North Sea expansion. Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Birol said a key effect of the US-Israel war on Iran was that…

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Iran deploys more mines in the Strait of Hormuz, sources say

Iran deploys more mines in the Strait of Hormuz, sources say

Axios reports: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy laid more mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the issue. Why it matters: The military standoff in the world’s most important oil chokepoint is escalating, with Iran laying mines and attacking commercial ships on one side and the U.S. tightening its naval blockade on the other. After being briefed on the new developments, President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy on Truth Social on Thursday to “shoot and…

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World’s top producer of condoms raises prices by up to 30% as Iran war rattles supply chains

World’s top producer of condoms raises prices by up to 30% as Iran war rattles supply chains

The New York Times reports: The world’s largest condom maker is raising prices of its products by up to 30 percent, warning that shortages of raw materials and chemicals because of the Iran war could disrupt production. The Malaysian condom company, Karex, which produces about five billion condoms a year, blamed a surge in raw material prices, global shipping disruptions and higher freight costs for the price increases. The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to…

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Graham Platner went to hell and back. He has a simple message for Democrats

Graham Platner went to hell and back. He has a simple message for Democrats

Ben Rhodes writes: Americans have a dysfunctional relationship with 21st-century wars. Most of us do not fight in them, see the carnage or live with their physical and psychological ruins. Yet we cannot heal our own nation unless we reckon with their monstrous futility. For Graham Platner, that reckoning began when he was a 20-year-old infantryman in Iraq. His company was constructing a patrol base near Falluja. To build it, they hired locals who often brought their kids to the…

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Betrayed: Trump is said to be in talks to send Afghans who aided U.S. forces to Congo

Betrayed: Trump is said to be in talks to send Afghans who aided U.S. forces to Congo

The New York Times reports: After halting a U.S. resettlement program for Afghans who helped the American war effort, President Trump is in talks to send as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid worker briefed on the plan said Tuesday. The group includes interpreters for the U.S. military, former members of the Afghan Special Operations forces and family members of American service members. More than 400 children are among them. The Afghans have…

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Downing Street says Falklands sovereignty rests with UK after report of Pentagon ‘review’

Downing Street says Falklands sovereignty rests with UK after report of Pentagon ‘review’

BBC News reports: Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands “rests with the UK”, Downing Street has said, following a report the US could review its position on Britain’s claim to the territory. An internal Pentagon email reported by Reuters suggested the US was considering options to punish Nato allies it believed failed to support its war on Iran. The options discussed also included seeking Spain’s suspension from Nato over its opposition to the war. BBC News has not been able to…

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