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Category: War

Pentagon quietly shut legally required program to prevent civilian deaths by military, watchdog finds

Pentagon quietly shut legally required program to prevent civilian deaths by military, watchdog finds

The Guardian reports: The Pentagon has quietly dismantled a program it is legally required to operate to prevent and respond to civilian deaths in US military operations, according to its internal watchdog. A report released by the department’s inspector general concluded the US military no longer has the people, tools or infrastructure needed to comply with two federal statutes requiring it to maintain a functioning civilian casualty policy, and operate a Civilian Protection Center of Excellence (CP CoE). Donald Trump’s…

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Rising diesel costs from Iran war strain U.S. school budgets

Rising diesel costs from Iran war strain U.S. school budgets

Reuters reports: Soaring diesel prices since the onset of the Iran war are draining already tight U.S. school district budgets, making it more expensive to bus students and run generators in a shock officials say they will not be ​able to afford for long. School districts from Yakima, Washington, to Waco, Texas, are tapping emergency funding reserves to keep buses running. In remote Alaska, officials are scrambling to secure enough ‌fuel to keep the lights on, according to Reuters interviews….

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Thucydides Trap: How two words from China’s president finally silenced Trump

Thucydides Trap: How two words from China’s president finally silenced Trump

David Gardner writes: Donald Trump will leave China a chastened man. If he didn’t know what Xi Jinping meant by raising the specter of the Thucydides Trap when he arrived in Beijing, you can be sure that he does now. Because it was a warning issued by a leader who is very much Trump’s equal in power and way more experienced at using it. Amid the pomp of Trump’s arrival on Thursday, Xi invoked a classical Greek reference suggesting that…

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As Trump meets Xi, Iran lets Chinese ships through Strait of Hormuz

As Trump meets Xi, Iran lets Chinese ships through Strait of Hormuz

The New York Times reports: Iran has allowed some Chinese vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following diplomatic overtures from China’s government, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported on Thursday. The reports coincided with a visit to Beijing by President Trump, who held talks with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, on Thursday that were expected to focus heavily on the crisis over the strategic waterway. Dueling Iranian and U.S. attempts to control traffic in the strait have rattled global energy…

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Saudi Arabia floats non-aggression pact with Iran and regional states, FT

Saudi Arabia floats non-aggression pact with Iran and regional states, FT

Middle East Eye reports: Saudi Arabia has floated a non-aggression pact between Iran and Middle Eastern states based on a 1970s agreement that eased tensions in Europe during the Cold War, The Financial Times reported on Thursday. The Saudi Arabian efforts have gained the support of European capitals and EU institutions, but it’s unclear if Israel and the US would support it. The UAE has taken a hawkish position on Iran and moved substantially closer to Israel since the US-Israeli…

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‘No idea it was coming’: Pentagon officials stunned by Hegseth decision on troops in Poland

‘No idea it was coming’: Pentagon officials stunned by Hegseth decision on troops in Poland

Politico reports: Pete Hegseth’s last-minute decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland caught Pentagon staff and European allies by surprise — the latest example of an abrupt personnel move from the Defense secretary that blindsided both sides of the Atlantic. It wasn’t clear exactly why Hegseth issued the order, according to three defense officials familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed anger and frustration with European allies for their failure to help with the…

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U.S. intelligence indicates Iran retains substantial missile capabilities

U.S. intelligence indicates Iran retains substantial missile capabilities

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration’s public portrayal of a shattered Iranian military is sharply at odds with what U.S. intelligence agencies are telling policymakers behind closed doors, according to classified assessments from early this month that show Iran has regained access to most of its missile sites, launchers and underground facilities. Most alarming to some senior officials is evidence that Iran has restored operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites it maintains along the Strait…

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China gains major edge on U.S. during Iran war, intelligence report finds

China gains major edge on U.S. during Iran war, intelligence report finds

The Washington Post reports: A confidential U.S. intelligence analysis details how China is exploiting the war in Iran to maximize its advantage over the United States across military, economic, diplomatic and other fields, said two U.S. officials who have read the report. The assessment, the officials said, was produced this week for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, and has raised alarm within the Pentagon about the geopolitical costs of Washington’s standoff with Tehran as…

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Ukrainian long-range drones are turning Russia’s size into a weakness

Ukrainian long-range drones are turning Russia’s size into a weakness

Peter Dickinson writes: For centuries, Russia’s colossal size has been widely regarded as the country’s greatest asset. From Charles XII of Sweden to Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, a long line of would-be conquerors have invaded Russia only for their armies to swallowed up by the vastness of the country. Ukraine is now attempting to turn this military logic on its head with a strategic bombing campaign that aims to exploit Russia’s immensity and transform it from a key strength…

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U.S. and Iran are locked in a stalemate that’s neither peace nor war

U.S. and Iran are locked in a stalemate that’s neither peace nor war

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. and Iran are locked in a diplomatic stalemate over issues that have bedeviled the two sides for years, as the conflict settles into a gray zone that is neither war nor peace. The cease-fire is entering its second month and, despite sporadic violence, has now lasted almost as long as the fighting which preceded it. There is little to indicate that either the U.S. or Iran is ready to compromise, but neither wants…

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Saudi Arabia launched covert attacks on Iran as regional war widened, sources say

Saudi Arabia launched covert attacks on Iran as regional war widened, sources say

Reuters reports: Saudi Arabia launched numerous, unpublicized strikes on Iran in retaliation for attacks carried out in the kingdom during the Middle East war, two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials said. The Saudi attacks, not previously reported, mark the first time that the ​kingdom is known to have directly carried out military action on Iranian soil and show it is becoming much bolder in defending itself against its main regional rival. The attacks, launched by…

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Putin can no longer hide the war’s consequences from the Russian public

Putin can no longer hide the war’s consequences from the Russian public

Anne Applebaum writes: Four years ago, President Vladimir Putin offered Moscow and its business elite a de facto deal: Support my war in Ukraine, and in exchange you won’t have to think about it. In the past week, that deal was broken. Not that Moscow was ever fully immune: As long ago as May 3, 2023, the first two Ukrainian drones to reach Moscow exploded over the Kremlin, doing no damage but revealing that the capital’s air defenses weren’t as…

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UAE has been secretly carrying out attacks on Iran

UAE has been secretly carrying out attacks on Iran

The Wall Street Journal reports: The United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran, people familiar with the matter said, casting the Gulf monarchy as an active combatant in a war in which it has been Iran’s biggest target. Its military is well-equipped with Western-made jet fighters and surveillance networks. And the attacks suggest the country is now more willing to use them to protect its economic power and growing influence across the Middle East. The strikes, which…

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U.S. intelligence-gathering flights are surging off Cuba

U.S. intelligence-gathering flights are surging off Cuba

CNN reports: US military intelligence-gathering flights are surging off the coast of Cuba, a CNN analysis of publicly available aviation data shows. Since February 4, the US Navy and Air Force have conducted at least 25 such flights using manned aircraft and drones, most of them near the country’s two biggest cities, Havana and Santiago de Cuba, and some coming within 40 miles of the coast, according to FlightRadar24. Most of the flights were by P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft,…

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The U.S. can’t reverse or control the consequences of losing the war against Iran

The U.S. can’t reverse or control the consequences of losing the war against Iran

Robert Kagan writes: It’s hard to think of a time when the United States suffered a total defeat in a conflict, a setback so decisive that the strategic loss could be neither repaired nor ignored. The calamitous losses suffered at Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, and throughout the Western Pacific in the first months of World War II were eventually reversed. The defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan were costly but did not do lasting damage to America’s overall position in the…

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