Aletho News

ΑΛΗΘΩΣ

WEATHER CONTROL: WHAT’S REAL?

The HighWire with Del Bigtree | July 17, 2025

Geoengineering researcher Jim Lee joins guest host Jefferey Jaxen to unpack the real-world science behind weather modification. From cloud seeding to large-scale atmospheric interventions, Lee makes it clear: this is no longer science fiction. He also discusses his recent interview with controversial cloud seeding tech CEO Augustus Doricko, who addresses claims tying his company to the catastrophic Texas floods.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Science and Pseudo-Science, Video | Leave a comment

Study Claiming No Link Between Aluminum in Vaccines and Autism Riddled with Flaws, Critics Say

By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D. | The Defender  | July 17, 2025

Mainstream media widely promoted a new study by Danish researchers that found no link between aluminum in vaccines and 50 negative health outcomes, including autism, asthma and autoimmune disorders.

However, critics told The Defender the study used flawed methodology and “statistical tricks” that muddied the findings.

The authors published their report on July 15 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. On July 14, even before the study went live, mainstream and health industry media, including NBC News and STAT News, publicly announced the results.

Chris Exley, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading experts on the health effects of aluminum exposure, and Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Children’s Health Defense (CHD), said that in order to determine if aluminum exposure is linked to health conditions, the researchers should have compared children with no aluminum exposure to children with aluminum exposure.

But that’s not what the Danish scientists did. Instead, they compared children who received vaccines containing aluminum to children who received vaccines with slightly less aluminum.

Not only that, but there was only a one-milligram difference between the amount of aluminum in the vaccine doses received by the children in one of the groups compared to those in another group. Comparing children with similar aluminum levels rather than comparing children with low levels of aluminum to children with high levels of the metal further muddled the findings, Hooker said.

The researchers examined national vaccination records of about 1.2 million children born in Denmark between 1997 and 2018 and tracked the rates of 50 chronic health conditions.

Using statistical analyses, the authors concluded there was no link between aluminum content in vaccines and increased risk of developing autism, autoimmune diseases, asthma or allergic conditions, including food allergies and hay fever.

Anders Hviid, a professor and department head of epidemiology at the Statens Serum Institut and lead study author, told MedPage Today, the results “provide robust evidence supporting the safety of childhood vaccines.”

“This is evidence that parents, clinicians, and public health officials need to make the best choices for the health of our children,” Hviid said.

In a press release, Hviid called the results “reassuring” and said large studies like his are important in “an era marked by widespread misinformation about vaccines.”

According to Hviid, the aluminum in vaccines is in the form of aluminum salts, “which is not the same as elemental aluminum which is a metal.” He told NBC News, “It’s really important for parents to understand that we are not injecting metal into children.”

Hviid justified the choice not to include a control group of children with no aluminum exposure by saying there are “very few” children who are “completely unvaccinated.”

The study came out just weeks after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. considered asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisory committee to review vaccines containing aluminum ingredients, according to Reuters.

Aluminum-containing adjuvants are used in many vaccines to create a stronger immune response in the person receiving the shot, according to the CDC. Vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants include DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), HPV and pneumococcal.

Kennedy previously suggested that aluminum may be partially responsible for the rise in allergies among U.S. kids, according to The New York Times.

J.B. Handley, author of “How to End the Autism Epidemic,” said aluminum in vaccines may trigger autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders by activating the immune system in a way that alters the developing brain of a fetus or child.

This happens because the aluminum in vaccines travels easily to the brain. There, it can cause inflammation in vulnerable people by triggering the production of a key cytokine — interleukin 6 or IL-6 — a protein that affects the immune system. Elevated IL-6 has been linked to autism.

Is aluminum industry running scared?

The new Danish study affirms that aluminum is safe — a convenient narrative for the aluminum industry and one that has come under greater scrutiny since Kennedy became head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“I spent forty years of academic research on aluminium and I never really believed that I would see the day when the aluminium industry was running scared,” Exley wrote on Substack about the media response to the Danish study. “This is what is happening now.”

Exley said he suspects the aluminum industry influenced the Danish researchers. Hviid pushed back on the claim, telling The Defender he and his co-authors have no financial ties to the aluminum industry.

The study’s authors are employed by the Statens Serum Institut, which has a long history of developing vaccines, Hooker said. “The researchers are integrally involved in pushing vaccines and sweeping vaccine safety under the rug.”

Researchers excluded kids most likely to show early signs of aluminum-related injury

Failing to have a control group with no aluminum exposure was one of several criticisms leveled at the Danish study.

James Lyons-Weiler, Ph.D., wrote a lengthy Substack post detailing numerous methodological problems. He is president and CEO of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge, an advocacy group that supports accuracy and integrity in science.

Lyons-Weiler said the study’s authors adjusted for children having aluminum-related chronic illness before 24 months, which meant they removed the kids most likely to show early signs of aluminum-related injury.

He explained how this was a “statistical trick”:

“Imagine studying the association between smoking and lung disease, adjusting for having nicotine-stained fingers, carrying a lighter, or frequency of coughing in the 24 months before lung cancer diagnosis.

“What you are doing, in effect, is mathematically erasing the very signal you are supposed to be detecting.”

Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., CHD’s senior research scientist, noted that over 34,000 children were excluded from the study because they received more than three of any one of the aluminum-containing vaccines before their second birthday. The study described this as an “implausible number of childhood vaccines.”

“Was this a documentation error or a medical error?” Jablonowski asked. “The group had the opportunity to investigate the health of these children and chose not to.”

Recommendations for aluminum-containing vaccines are higher in the U.S. than in Denmark. Before a child turns 2 years old, the U.S. Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule calls for four doses of DTaP, four doses of pneumococcal, three or four doses of Hib, three doses of hepatitis B and one dose of hepatitis A. Other vaccines that don’t contain aluminum are also recommended.

Researchers stopped following kids’ diagnoses at age 5

Hooker cited another flaw in the study: the authors tracked chronic disease diagnoses in children only from ages 2-5. It’s possible some of the kids were older than age 5 when they were diagnosed with a health condition, but by then, researchers were no longer tracking them.

“This is much too young for developmental and autoimmune diagnoses and will cause everything to move to the null hypothesis,” he said.

For example, the number of autistic kids in the study was only about 1 in 500, “which we know is much too low,” Hooker said. Denmark’s autism rate is over four times that amount, according to data from World Population Review.

Additionally, the researchers did nothing to ensure that the kids in the study were exposed to the amounts of aluminum that the authors assumed, based on the kids’ vaccination records.

“There were no biomarkers, no aluminum levels measured in serum, hair or tissue,” Lyons-Weiler told The Defender.

Prior research links aluminum to neurotoxicity, asthma

The results of the new Danish study stand in contrast to the findings of other researchers on aluminum’s negative health impacts, according to Lyons-Weiler.

“The literature contains multiple lines of evidence implicating aluminum adjuvants in neurotoxicity, immune dysregulation and developmental injury,” he said. “The consistency of these findings — across model systems, exposure levels and endpoints — demands attention, not erasure.”

In 2023, a federally funded U.S. study found a 36% higher risk of persistent asthma in children who received three or more milligrams of vaccine-related aluminum than kids who got less than three, but the study’s authors were careful not to suggest a causal relationship.

Exley said he hopes Kennedy will commission independent research that will provide “unequivocal” evidence on aluminum’s role in infant mortality and ill health.

Lyons-Weiler added, “The public deserves studies that test hypotheses honestly, not ones built to produce desired headlines.”

Related articles in The Defender

This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Science and Pseudo-Science | | Leave a comment

13-year-old Palestinian boy was killed after being shot in the back and left to bleed

Defense for Children Palestine | July 19, 2025

Israeli forces killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy in Ya’bad village yesterday.

Amr Ali Ahmad Qabha, 13, was shot and killed around 6:30 p.m. on July 18 in the Palestinian village of Ya’bad, south of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine. Two military vehicles came from the Mevo Dotan settlement and military base, entered the village and took up positions in its northern area, where several soldiers exited their vehicles near the Patient’s Friends Society.

Amr was walking around a road near the Association, he unknowingly approached the group of Israeli soldiers stationed at the site. Due to the circular bend in the road, the soldiers did not initially see him, nor was he aware of their presence. As Amr turned back and attempted to take cover, the soldiers opened fire on him with live ammunition from a distance of 10 meters (33 feet) away, and he was struck with around seven bullets: three bullets in the back, one in the neck, one in the abdomen, one in the upper right thigh, and one in the groin.

“Systemic impunity creates an ultra permissive context where Israeli forces know no bounds and routinely shoot to kill Palestinian children in circumstances where there is no imminent threat to life,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Unlawful killings of Palestinian children have become the norm as Israeli forces become increasingly empowered to use intentional lethal force in situations that are not justified. In short, these are war crimes with no consequence.”

Amr fell to the ground as Israeli soldiers advanced toward him, preventing anyone from reaching him, including medical staff and ambulance teams. As news of Amr’s injury quickly spread in the village, his father rushed directly to the scene. Despite the soldiers’ shouting and warning shots, he managed to reach and embrace Amr.

According to the father, Amr was still alive at that time, using hand gestures to plead for medical help, as he was unable to speak. Israeli soldiers handcuffed the father behind his back, severely beaten and forced to sit beside his bleeding child.

The soldiers continued to detain both father and son, blocking ambulance access for approximately 40 minutes. Only after the soldiers were certain Amr had died, they allowed the ambulance to approach and transport him to the Ya’bad Government Emergency Center and then transferred to Jenin Government Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Israeli forces have killed 33 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank in 2025, according to documentation collected by DCIP.

207 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023, according to documentation collected by DCIP.

Israeli forces deliberately and systematically blocked paramedics and ambulances from reaching injured Palestinian children, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces order Palestinian paramedics and ambulance drivers to leave the scene at gunpoint, fire live ammunition toward individuals to offer aid, and block roads and detain ambulance crews. In some cases, Israeli forces surround a bleeding child, preventing any medical care.

These acts of cruelty leave Palestinian children, injured by Israeli live fire, bleeding out on the ground, alone and in pain, with the intent to ensure death.

By preventing medical aid and ambulances to reach an injured child, Israel violates Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as enshrined within it is every child’s inherent right to life. State parties to this treaty, such as Israel, must ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of a child. The decisive act of preventing medical assistance to reach a child shot with live ammunition seems to indicate an intent to ensure to the maximum extent possible the death of that child.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

Dozens arrested in London as protests against Palestine Action ban sweep UK

A protester is arrested at a rally in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square, central London, on July 19, 2025. (AFP)
Press TV – July 19, 2025

British police have arrested more than 50 people in central London during protests against the ban of the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action.

Similar demonstrations were held across the United Kingdom in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, and Truro on Saturday

In London, protesters gathered in Parliament Square carrying white placards that read: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

The Metropolitan Police said in a post on X: “55 people were arrested in Parliament Square for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group.”

Several protesters were led away in handcuffs, while others were physically carried off by officers.

Eight people were arrested near Truro Cathedral, police said. Another 16 arrests were also reported in Manchester.

Palestine Action, which targets UK-based Israeli arms factories and their supply chains through direct action—such as splashing red paint and destroying equipment— was officially proscribed on July 5 under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The designation makes it a criminal offence to support or be a member of the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The Met had threatened that it would take action against any public displays of support for proscribed organizations, including chanting, clothing, and placards.

Over the past two weekends, police said they have detained 70 people at demonstrations in Parliament Square alone.

Defend Our Juries, which is coordinating the demonstrations, said a total of 120 people had so far been arrested across the UK.

Saturday’s protests come ahead of a key High Court hearing on Monday, where Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, is seeking to challenge the ban.

Palestine Action says direct action is “necessary in the face of Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity of genocide, apartheid and occupation, and to end British facilitation of those crimes.”

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Solidarity and Activism | , , | Leave a comment

Iran never pursued war, regional insecurity: Pezeshkian

Al Mayadeen | July 19, 2025

Iran does not pursue conflict or instability and has consistently contributed to promoting peace and security in the region, said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday.

During a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Pezeshkian affirmed that Iran, in line with its fundamental principles, has consistently backed initiatives aimed at promoting peace and security.

“Throughout history, Iran has never sought war and insecurity and has always played an important and effective role in establishing peace and stability in the region,” Pezeshkian stated, adding that despite ongoing talks and negotiations, the Israeli entity launched an attack in violation of international norms and laws, after which the US, acting in complete coordination with the regime, carried out airstrikes on Iran’s lawful nuclear facilities.

Pezeshkian further condemned the hypocritical stance of certain nations regarding the Israeli entity’s acts of warmongering, violence, and unprovoked aggression.

“What is happening to the oppressed and defenseless people of Gaza today such as the killing of women and children and genocide and the cutting access to water, food and medicine, is not compatible with any of the international legal, moral, and humanitarian standards,” he said.

The Iranian president went on to characterize the longstanding ties between Iran and Armenia as historically rooted, amicable, and mutually beneficial, while reaffirming Tehran’s commitment to fostering positive engagement with all regional neighbors based on the principle of respecting territorial sovereignty. He stressed the importance of enhancing bilateral cooperation and dialogue between the two nations.

Pashinyan, likewise, highlighted Armenia’s strong desire to deepen ties with Iran, expressing eagerness for the Iranian president’s upcoming visit to Yerevan as an opportunity to hold discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation and exploring new avenues for enhanced partnership between the two nations.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Militarism, Progressive Hypocrite | , | Leave a comment

Just Six US House Members Vote Against Sending Israel Another Half Billion Dollars in Military Aid

By Adam Dick | Ron Paul Institute | July 18, 2025

Special interests are continually finagling to gain more support from the United States government that oversees a vast trove of money and power. A vote just after midnight Friday morning in the US House of Representatives suggests that the government of Israel is at the top of the heap of special interests when it comes to being able to extract benefits from the US with very widespread support from American legislators.

The vote was on an amendment Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) offered to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act (HR 4016) that was being considered on the House floor. Greene’s amendment would have removed the bill’s providing of 500 million dollars in military aid to the Israel government.

As Greene explained in her House floor speech introducing the amendment, this money would be doled out by the 37 trillion dollars in debt US government to the government of “nuclear armed Israel” that provides universal health care and college education subsides to Israelis while receiving US handouts. Further explained Greene, the half billion dollars in the bill is not a one-off payment. Rather, Greene explained that “the US already provides Israel with 3.8 billion annually in foreign aid” and provided an additional 8.7 billion dollars via just one other bill last year. Further, noted Greene, the US has spent enormous sums recently on taking military actions of its own in support of Israel. She provided as an example the US having spent over 800 million dollars shooting off “15 to 20 percent of our Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missiles stockpiles” in aid of Israel in the “twelve-day war” against Iran earlier this year.

Gather a random group of 435 Americans — the same number as there are voting members in the House — to vote on this matter, and Greene’s amendment would be sure not to lose in a landslide. But, the US House of Representatives, despite on occasion being referred to as the people’s house, has a membership whose views in regard to the US giving more and more to the Israel government are far askew from public opinion.

Just 1.4 percent of House members voted for Greene’s amendment. Here is the list of the six House members who voted in opposition to providing another half billion dollars in military aid to what is looking like the most successful special interest in America:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)
Rep. Al Green (D-TX)
Rep. Summer Lee (D -PA)
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI)

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Corruption, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Moldovan Authorities Effectively Legalize Opportunity to Falsify Elections – Victory Bloc

Sputnik – 19.07.2025

CHISINAU – Moldova’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has effectively legalized the opportunity for election fraud via postal voting, a member of the opposition Victory (Pobeda) bloc, Vadim Fotescu, said on Friday.

During last year’s presidential election, Moldovan citizens living in the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland were for the first time allowed to vote by mail. On Thursday, the parliament approved the expansion of this list to include Japan, Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand.

“PAS has legalized the possibility of election fraud through postal voting, seriously discrediting Moldovan citizens’ right to a fair electoral choice. This ‘innovation’ was presented as a way to ensure voting rights for citizens abroad, but in reality, it is only being used in countries where PAS expects to gain extra votes,” Fotescu told a briefing.

Moldovans residing in Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, where hundreds of thousands of Moldovan citizens live, do not have access to postal voting, the lawmaker said, arguing that these voters are largely opposed to PAS.

Parliamentary elections in Moldova are scheduled for September 28.

Recently, the Moldovan authorities have used repressive measures against people who oppose the official course of Chisinau. Opposition lawmakers have been detained at the airport for visiting Russia, and criminal cases are piling up against critics. The ruling party is also pushing to ban protests around elections and expand the powers of Moldova’s security services to supposedly tackle “electoral corruption.”

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties | | Leave a comment

We reject ‘Israeli protection’: Druze spiritual leader

Press TV – July 18, 2025

The spiritual leader of the Druze ethnic minority in Lebanon says the community rejects the Israeli regime’s request to supposedly “protect” the minority.

Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna made the remarks at a gathering of Druze officials in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.

He was referring to the regime’s repeated deadly and destructive violations of the Syrian territory, which it has undertaken under the supposed pretext of “protecting” the Druze, who also form a minority in Syria.

The request on the part of Tel Aviv “is harmful to our history and identity,” al-Muna added.

Observers rated the remarks as a warning to the regime against its trying to associate itself with the minority in order to advance its expansionist regional goals.

‘Don’t provide Israel with an excuse’

The spiritual leader, meanwhile, addressed the recent clashes in southern Syria between members of the Druze community and Bedouin tribes that had so far claimed the lives of hundreds of people.

He cautioned that the sectarian clashes “give an excuse for Israeli intervention and for blowing up the situation in the region.”

The regime has intensified its assaults on Syria since last year, claiming it seeks to prevent an outpouring of violence from the Arab country into the occupied territories.

On Wednesday, the escalation took a significantly more violent turn, when the regime hit various parts of Syria, including the capital Damascus, with intense airstrikes.

The attacks came amid the deadly fighting between the Druze and the Bedouins, fueling fears that the Israeli involvement under the pretext of supporting the Druze was aimed at intensifying the confrontations and further destabilizing Syria.

Amid the situation, al-Muna called for all parties to rather resort to national dialogue to address the issues among different communities in Syria.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Joumblatt addressed the same gathering, calling for formation of an investigative committee to probe violations against both Druze and Bedouins in the Arab country.

A day earlier, he had also warned in remarks to France’s RFI radio station that “Israel is using the Druze to tear Syria apart.”

He said “Israel’s intent to divide the country” was visible from the clashes that had erupted between the dual communities in Syria.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Illegal Occupation | , , , | Leave a comment

Moldovan Election Commission Denies Opposition Pobeda Bloc Registration for Elections

Sputnik – 19.07.2025

CHISINAU – The Moldovan Central Election Commission has denied the opposition Pobeda (Victory) bloc registration for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28, the commission said on Saturday.

“After detailed examination of the submitted materials, the commission has come to a conclusion that the registration of this electoral entity is impossible,” chair of the commission’s meeting, Angelica Karaman, said.

The decision was supported by the majority of the meeting participants. The commission explained this step by breaches in documentation procedures and non-compliance with the requirements of the election legislation.

Meanwhile, the Pobeda bloc representative Vasily Bolya has called the decision politically motivated, adding that it will be appealed in court.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties | | Leave a comment

Trump’s ultimatum to Russia is bluster and bluff to hide proxy war defeat

Strategic Culture Foundation | July 18, 2025

What’s behind Trump’s angry ultimatum to Russia this week? The short answer: failure and frustration. Donald Trump promised American voters that he would end the Ukraine war in 24 hours upon his election in November 2024. Six months into his presidency, Trump has failed to deliver on his boastful promises.

This week, Trump flipped his pacemaker image by pledging billions of dollars worth of new American weaponry to Ukraine. He also issued a warning to Russia to call a ceasefire within 50 days or else face severe secondary tariffs on its oil and gas exports. The tariffs, quoted at 100 percent, will be applied to nations purchasing Russian exports, primarily Brazil, China, and India. The latter move indicates that the U.S.-led proxy war in Ukraine against Russia is really part of a bigger geopolitical confrontation to maintain American global hegemony.

In any case, Moscow dismissed Trump’s ultimatum. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow would not comply with pressure and that Russia would not back down from its strategic goals in Ukraine to counter NATO’s historic aggression.

It is clear that Trump and his administration have failed to understand Russia’s strategic position and the root causes of the conflict.

Trump’s supposed diplomacy is seen to operate on a superficial basis more akin to showbiz, with no substance. He wants a peace deal with Russia to show off his vaunted skills as a business negotiator and to grab the limelight, headlines, and adulation.

Resolving a conflict like Ukraine requires deep historical understanding and genuine commitment to due diligence. Moscow has repeatedly stated the need to address the root causes of the conflict: the expansion of NATO on its borders, the CIA-sponsored coup in Kiev in 2014, and the nature of the NATO-weaponized Neo-Nazi regime over the past decade.

Trump and his administration have failed to appreciate Russia’s viewpoint. Thus, expecting a peace deal based on nothing but rhetoric and vacuous claims about “ending the killing” is futile. It won’t happen.

This failure, based on unrealistic expectations, has led Trump to adopt an increasingly bitter attitude towards Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. Ironically, Trump has accused Putin of duplicity and procrastination when, in reality, it is Trump who has shown no serious commitment to resolving the conflict.

Now, with chagrin and bruised ego, Trump has reacted with frustration over what are his own failings by issuing ultimatums to Russia. Trump’s 50-day deadline for a Russian response to his demands has a similarity to the 60-day deadline he threatened Iran with, after which he carried out a massive bombing attack on that country. Trump’s aggression towards Iran has turned out to be a fiasco and failure. Threatening Russia is even more useless.

This proclivity for threatening other nations has the hallmark of a Mafiosa megalomaniac. It is also causing Trump to lose support among his voter base, who believed he was going to end “endless wars.” It’s shambolic. Biden’s war is becoming Trump’s war because, at the end of the day, it is the U.S. imperial deep state that rules.

Trump’s mercurial switch from professing peace in Ukraine to ramping up the promise of weapons shows that his previous aspirations were always hollow and contingent on other interests.

It seems that the 47th American president did not want peace after all. What was driving his apparent desire to end the conflict in Ukraine – what he deprecated as “Biden’s war” – was simply to cut American financial costs.

What has appealed to Trump is that the proposed new supplies of American weapons to Ukraine will be paid for by Europe. Money and profit are all that matter to him. It is significant that when Trump announced the new arms racket scheme, he was sitting beside NATO chief Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. Rutte has a knack for wheedling, previously referring to Trump as “daddy” and this week absurdly praising the U.S. as the world’s policeman for securing peace. It seems that the NATO and transatlantic ruling establishment have found a way to manipulate Trump. Tell him that the Europeans will henceforth directly subsidize the U.S. military-industrial complex.

The trouble for Trump and the NATO establishment is that it is all an unworkable bluff. For a start, the U.S. arsenal of Patriot missiles and other munitions has been depleted and destroyed by Russia over the past three years in Ukraine. There are no “wonder weapons” that can alter the battlefield dominance of Russia.

Secondly, the European economies are broke and can hardly sustain the proposed purchase of U.S. weapons for Ukraine, even if such supplies were feasible, which they are not. At least four European states, including France, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Hungary, have said they will not engage in any scheme of buying American weapons for Ukraine.

Thirdly, Trump’s threat of secondary sanctions against Brazil, China, India, and others for doing business with Russia is a blatant assault on the BRICS and Global South that will only garner international contempt. Trump’s bullying is neither viable nor credible. His earlier trade war against China has already failed and shown that the United States is an impotent giant whose power is a thing of the past. Trump had to climb down from his hobby horse towards China.

So, threatening to hit China and others with 100 percent tariffs for doing business with Russia is like a former prizefighter shaking a feeble fist while sitting in a wheelchair. He is liable to incur more self-harm.

Lastly, Russia is decisively winning the NATO-led proxy war in Ukraine. The Kiev regime’s air defenses are non-existent at this stage. Therefore, Russia can and will press its strategic terms to end the conflict because it is the military victor.

Trump’s ultimatum to Russia is nothing but bluster and bluff. He once mocked Ukraine’s puppet president Zelensky, that he had no cards to play. Trump, for all his bravado, has only a couple of deuces himself.

In 50 days, Trump will have a serious amount of egg on his face when Russia’s defeat of the NATO proxy war becomes more evident.

July 19, 2025 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , , | Leave a comment