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U.S. Missile Defenses Heavily Depleted in Shielding Israel: Report

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The U.S. drew down a significant portion of its advanced anti-missile system to bolster Israel’s defense against Iranian aerial attacks during a 12-day conflict in which Israel and the U.S. struck nuclear facilities and Iran retaliated with missile launches, according to defense news outlets and independent analysts. . .

Israel has long relied on the Lockheed Martin developed Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, known as the THAAD battery, for shielding against ballistic missiles from Iran or its proxy groups such as the Yemeni Houthis.

The U.S. military operates seven THAAD batteries. An eighth, getting integrated into the Missile Defense Agency, is capable of tracking hypersonic missiles. The THAAD deployment to Israel is part of a broader challenge where supporting allies in conflict zones means using resources that could affect military readiness and future deployment.

During the recent Israel-Iran conflict, the United States used an estimated 15 to 20 percent of its global THAAD missile interceptor stockpile, incurring unprecedented costs exceeding $800 million, according to the Bulgarian Military News and Military Watch Magazine outlets. (Read more from “U.S. Missile Defenses Heavily Depleted in Shielding Israel: Report” HERE)

Iranian Supreme Leader Emerges From Hiding To Declare Victory Over Israel

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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced the Islamic Republic won the twelve-day war between Iran and Israel in his first public comments since the cease-fire Thursday.

Khamenei released the pre-recorded statement after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire Monday, signaling that Iran considers the war concluded by declaring victory.

He remained in hiding during the war, according to the Associated Press. He was sheltered in a “secret location,” the outlet reported.

“I extend my congratulations to the great Iranian nation for its victory over the Zionist entity,” Khamenei said, as translated by the Hindustan Times. “Despite all the claims and hype, the Zionist entity was almost crushed and collapsed in the face of the Islamic Republic strikes.”

Khamenei continued by thanking God, whom he claimed aided Iran’s forces “as they penetrated the advanced multi-layered Zionist defenses and raised many of their civilian and military sites to the ground.” (Read more from “Iranian Supreme Leader Emerges From Hiding To Declare Victory Over Israel” HERE)

Experts Gauge Success of ‘Bunker Buster’ Bombs Dropped by U.S. on Iran Nuclear Sites

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While President Donald Trump has asserted that the military’s weekend strike against Iran “completely and totally obliterated” its nuclear weapon-making capabilities, there are still questions about whether the ground-penetrating “bunker buster” bombs used to attack Iran’s key enrichment sites were enough to stop the rogue country from developing a nuclear bomb.

A report released last week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) explains that the special “bunker buster” bombs the U.S. used in Iran over the weekend that everyone is talking about, known as GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, or MOPs, might not be able to fully destroy the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow. Fordow, which Trump said was “gone” now following the strike, is considered central to Iran’s nuclear weapon-making capabilities.

Meanwhile, a satellite imagery expert relayed to Reuters that confirmation of below-ground destruction could not be determined via pictures alone, because the facility’s hundreds of centrifuges are too deeply buried in order to make an accurate determination.

“I actually have a little bit of a rosier view on things,” Andrea Stricker, Deputy Director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, told Fox News Digital. “I think that because of the massive damage and the shock wave that would have been sent by 12 Massive Ordnance Penetrators at the Fordow site, that it likely would render its centrifuges damaged or inoperable.”

Stricker noted that centrifuges are “very delicate” and the kind of shock wave coming from the MOPs would at least put them “out of commission.” She also said if any centrifuges did survive the blasts, it would be likely that they would be inaccessible by Iranian authorities for several months. (Read more from “Experts Gauge Success of ‘Bunker Buster’ Bombs Dropped by U.S. on Iran Nuclear Sites” HERE)

Whatever Happens Next, Iran Doesn’t Need To Be Made Safe For Democracy

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Now that President Donald Trump has decided to bring the United State into the Iran-Israel war by striking Tehran’s major nuclear facilities, our goal should be to ensure Iran remains a non-nuclear power that’s unable to threaten the United States or its allies anywhere in the world.

What that goal doesn’t require, however, is a regime-change war with the aim of toppling the ayatollahs and imposing democracy in Iran. The American interest is not served by toppling regimes and nation-building — especially not in the Middle East. Whatever the wisdom of striking Iran’s nuclear facilities at this particular time, on the heels of Israeli strikes on Iran, President Trump’s aim now should be to limit escalation and avoid plunging the U.S. into a years-long quagmire in Iran.

Unfortunately, many people in Washington were hoping that Trump would strike Iran precisely because it might make room for the kind of escalation that would lead to a regime-change war. We still don’t know what Iran’s response will be to these strikes, and it might well lead to unavoidable escalation on our part. But that escalation should serve the purpose of rendering Iran harmless — not free, or democratic, or even stable. The internal politics of Iran are of no concern to us.

One hopes the president understands that, even as he acts to ensure that Iran cannot acquire nuclear weapons or carry out a major retaliatory attack on the U.S. Initially, there was reason to think he did understand. “Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror,” Trump said Saturday night from the White House.

But on Sunday, Trump posted a disturbing comment about how it’s not politically correct to use the term “regime change,” “but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!” (Read more from “Whatever Happens Next, Iran Doesn’t Need To Be Made Safe For Democracy” HERE)

Trump Announces Ceasefire in Iran-Israel ’12 Day War’

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President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire,” after 12 days of ongoing war between the two countries.

“CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final mission!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL,” Trump added.

Trump continued to offer his congratulations to Israel and Iran for having agreed to a ceasefire “on the assumption that everything works as it should.”

(Read more from “Trump Announces Ceasefire in Iran-Israel ’12 Day War’” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Homeland Security Warns of Possible Terrorist Attacks in U.S. Following Strike on Iran

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The Department of Homeland Security issued a terrorism alert on Sunday — warning of possible Iranian attacks against the US following the American airstrikes against Tehran’s nuclear program.

DHS warned officials to be on the lookout for Iranian-led attacks over the next three months by terror cells inspired to retaliate following Saturday night’s strike.

“The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland,” DHS said in a statement. (Read more from “Homeland Security Warns of Possible Terrorist Attacks in U.S. Following Strike on Iran” HERE)

Trump ‘Disturbed’ by Israeli P.M. Netanyahu’s Gift of Golden Pager, Tribute to Exploding Ones Used to Kill Hezbollah Fighters

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By U Politics. During the first meeting of President Donald Trump’s second term, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gifted the president a gold-plated pager and the vice president a silver-plated one.

This came just a few months following Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah, nicknamed “Operation Grim Beeper,” where Israel sold handheld pagers and walkie-talkies containing explosives to Hezbollah operatives. They detonated in two coordinated attacks in Syria and Lebanon in September 2024.

Trump told reporters that the gifts were “disturbing” following the attacks in the Middle East, according to the New York Times.

Following this meeting and “disturbing” gift, the U.S.’s Israel policy took a large shift. Trump is now considering joining Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The president met with national security advisors to discuss what actions the U.S. should take next. . .

Trump considered for months whether to contain Netanyahu, telling an ally he was trying to drag the U.S. into another war in the Middle East, a thing he promised wouldn’t happen in his campaign. He does believe that Iranians were playing him during diplomatic negotiations. (Read more from “Trump ‘Disturbed’ by Israeli P.M. Netanyahu’s Gift of Golden Pager, Tribute to Exploding Ones Used to Kill Hezbollah Fighters” HERE)

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Mocked Mercilessly After Bizarre Social Media Posts Resurface

By New York Post. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is being mocked mercilessly over a slew of bizarre social media posts that resurfaced as the Israel-Iran war broke out — including his musings about treating a woman right and even being “naughty&playful” as a school kid.

The odd posts date back at least a decade and are in stark contrast to the anti-Israel and war rhetoric that now fills the social media feed of the 86-year-old leader and most senior cleric in the extremist Islamic Republic.

In one from 2013, Khamenei recalled his awkward school days.

“I went 2school w/a cloak since1st days;it was uncomfortable 2wear it in front f other kids, but I tried 2make up 4it by being naughty&playful,” he wrote.

Social media users were quick to fire back, with one X user replying: “U have nothing 2 B ashamed of. You’re just as naughty and playful as ever.”

“Born to be playboi carti, forced to be ayatollah,” another chimed in. (Read more from “Iran’s Supreme Leader Mocked Mercilessly After Bizarre Social Media Posts Resurface” HERE)

Do Pentagon Pizza Orders Really Predict War? We Investigated

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The Pentagon has been busy. With conflict escalating in the Middle East between Israel and Iran, many federal workers are pulling odd hours to monitor the situation on the other side of the world. And since AI hasn’t taken over every job just yet, those workers need to be fed.

Enter: the Pentagon Pizza Index.

Initially used by the Soviets as a Cold War-era tool for open-source intelligence, according to Euro News, the theory was that an increase in food deliveries to federal buildings might be an indicator of potential crises.

The theory was later popularized by Frank Meeks, a Domino’s franchise owner in the Washington, D.C., area, who told the Los Angeles Times he delivered a record number of pizzas to the CIA on Aug. 1, 1990—the night before Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Now, an anonymous X account, @PenPizzaReport, has taken up the mantle of monitoring the activity of pizza places neighboring the Pentagon, as reported live on Google Maps.

Although @PenPizzaReport provides valuable information by capturing the data and sharing it publicly, what it doesn’t do is compare its findings to the timeline of global events to determine whether the increase in pizza orders is one of correlation or causation. So that’s what the Daily Caller did. (Read more from “Do Pentagon Pizza Orders Really Predict War? We Investigated” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Did Israel Just Try to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader?

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Israeli forces have reportedly bombed the area where Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is believed to be hiding.

It is unclear whether the Israeli Air Force was actually targeting Khamenei in the attack. Baku.ws reported that “the Israeli Air Force is bombing a district of the Iranian capital where, according to sources, the bunker of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is located.”

Israeli forces have also reportedly struck Iran’s Ministry of Defense.

Video footage circulating on social media shows Israeli bombs decimating areas of Lavizan, where Khamenei’s bunker is believed to be located.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a thinly veiled threat to Khamenei in a post on Truth Social, saying the White House knows where he is hiding. “He is an easy target,” Trump wrote. “But is safe there—We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.” (Read more from “Did Israel Just Try to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader?” HERE)

Discredited Neocon Talking Points From the Iraq War Are Back, Lazily Re-Purposed for Iran

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Remember all the infamous one-liners from the Global War on Terror? In the years after 9/11, when the neocon establishment in Washington was pushing ahead with its disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they were everywhere.

It’s a slam dunk case! We have to fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here. We’ll be greeted as liberators. Islam is a religion of peace. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. God has planted in every heart the desire to live in freedom.

Those last two are direct quotes from President George W. Bush, the man most responsible — whether through extreme naiveté or extreme duplicity — for propagating these ridiculous slogans and using them to justify decades-long wars that ended in ignominy for the United States. You’d think that after Iraq and Afghanistan this kind of rhetoric would be totally discredited. But you’d be wrong.

Over the past few days, almost since the moment Israel began bombing Iran, we’ve seen the reappearance of almost all the old GWOT rhetoric. Then as now, the purpose is to justify a U.S. military adventure abroad and gaslight the American people into supporting regime change in Iran.

For those of us who were in high school and college during and immediately after 9/11, who saw the propaganda play out in real time, it’s an amazing thing to witness what’s happening now. (Read more from “Discredited Neocon Talking Points From the Iraq War Are Back, Lazily Re-Purposed for Iran” HERE)