Attention to the Unseen

CNN’s Jim Sciutto reports: In late 2022, the US began “preparing rigorously” for Russia potentially striking Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, in what would have been the first nuclear attack in war since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly eighty years before, two senior administration officials told CNN. The Biden administration was specifically concerned Russia might use a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon, the officials said. I first reported US officials were worried about Russia using…

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The New Arab reports: US Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) has unveiled two new pieces of legislation aimed at restricting security clearances and demonstration rights for pro-Palestinian government workers and contractors, following the self-immolation of US airman Aaron Bushnell outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. on February 25th. The announcement was made on Thursday in a statement posted to Cotton’s website, in which he suggested the actions of Bushnell and others who rallied in his memory as sympathetic with ‘terrorists’…

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David Ignatius writes: The Biden administration, worried about a new humanitarian catastrophe, appears to be considering ways to prevent Israel from using U.S. weapons if it attacks the densely populated area around the city of Rafah. President Biden and senior advisers haven’t made any decision about imposing “conditionality” on U.S. weapons. But the very fact that officials seem to be debating this extreme step shows the administration’s growing concern about the crisis in Gaza — and its sharp disagreement with…

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RFE/RL reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed Sweden’s entry into the NATO military alliance, largely viewed as a reaction to Russia’s invasion of his country in 2022, saying the Scandinavian country was a “strong ally and a country that can be trusted.” Zelenskiy, who seeks eventual NATO membership for Ukraine, added that “there will be a day when Sweden will be able to congratulate Ukraine on joining the alliance as well. Together, we are always stronger.” Sweden joined NATO in…

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The Washington Post reports: The United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing. The triple-digit figure, which has not been previously reported, is the latest indication of Washington’s extensive involvement in the polarizing five-month conflict even as top…

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Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Greg Weaver write: The U.S. has long framed the invasion of Ukraine as a strategic failure for Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared it as such in June 2023, saying: “Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been a strategic failure, greatly diminishing Russia’s power, its interests, and its influence for years to come.” And yet, in the last two months, a growing number of Western officials have warned of a military threat from Russia against…

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Rolling Stone reports: Donald Trump is hoping to win big on Super Tuesday, and he kicked off the primary’s most vote-rich day with one of his favorite traditions from his time as president: calling in to Fox News to deliver an unhinged rant. The former president called Fox & Friends on Tuesday morning, where he celebrated Monday’s Supreme Court decision barring states from removing him from the ballot, doubled down on his claims that migrants are “poisoning our country,” and…

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Reuters reports: Benny Gantz, the Israeli war cabinet member visiting Washington this week, tells a story of how his mother, a Holocaust survivor, once had an operation in Germany performed by a Palestinian doctor from Gaza. The story encapsulates the hope for reconciliation that motivates optimists in the Middle East but which has been cruelly tested by the war with Gaza that erupted on Oct. 7, the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Gantz, 64, who leads a centrist party that…

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Politico reports: Two decades after joining the European Union and NATO, Eastern European countries fear they’ll once again be passed as the top jobs of both institutions are reshuffled later this year. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s likely appointment as the new head of NATO this summer may have received the endorsement of Washington, London, Paris and Berlin. Among many of the alliance’s newer members, however, in particular those bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the welcome was far less warm….

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