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Jewish State Senator Jeremy Moss Faces Backlash over Hot Mic Comments

José Niño Unfiltered | August 19, 2026

The political landscape for Democrats in Michigan has shifted beneath their feet as the party grapples with a rapidly growing anti-Zionist wing. Amid this tension, Jewish Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, who recently secured the Democratic primary for the 11th Congressional District, found his career suddenly stalled by a leaked audio recording. In the audio clip which spread like wildfire across digital platforms in July 2026, Moss appeared to admit that his primary motivation as a legislator is to serve a foreign power. According to the recording, Moss stated, “The entire purpose of my career is to make sure America continues to support Israel, I don’t think it’s wrong for Israel to use America as a pawn, America is not our homeland, we have been victims of antisemitism here.” These words, which suggest a priority for Israel over his own constituents, ignited a firestorm of controversy and provided a flashpoint for voters increasingly tired of the influence exerted by foreign interests in American governance.

Jeremy Allen Moss, born in Detroit on June 23, 1986, has been a lifelong resident of Southfield, Michigan, and currently serves as state senator for the 7th District. A graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a second major in political science, Moss was elected to the Southfield City Council in November 2011 at age 25, becoming the youngest person ever elected to that body. He is notable for being both the first homosexual person elected to the Michigan Senate and its current President Pro Tempore. His career in the state legislature began in 2014 when he won election to the Michigan House of Representatives for the 35th district, where he served as Democratic Caucus Whip before moving to the state Senate in 2019. As he prepares to move into the U.S. House of Representatives following his August 2026 primary victory in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, he remains a key figure in suburban Detroit’s Democratic machine, representing an area with a high concentration of Jewish voters.

His legislative record is marked by a focus on progressive social issues, including sponsoring the expansion of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to extend additional privileges to LGBT individuals. However, his tenure in the state Senate has been equally defined by his vocal defense of Israel and his aggressive posture against those who question the nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He has consistently served as an institutional voice for the Jewish community, frequently speaking out on behalf of what he calls “the liberal Israel-supporting community” and serving as the legislative spearhead of the Black and Jewish Unity Caucus—the legislative arm of a coalition between the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (JCRC/AJC) and the Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit. He has simultaneously worked within civic groups including the Martin Luther King Task Force, on which he serves as an advisory board member, and the Greater Southfield/Farmington chapter of the NAACP.

Moss has long occupied the front lines of the internal Democratic conflict over the Middle East. During the November 2023 dispute regarding Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” Moss was among the most vocal critics. “This is not how Jews view the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’” he wrote on X. “Hamas uses it as a rallying cry. And they don’t simply want to displace Jews in Israel. They want Jews dead.”

Later, during the campus protests of spring 2024, he asserted on the Senate floor that “’Zionist’ is now being weaponized as a slur.” He further attempted to codify these views into law during 2025 by co-sponsoring antisemitism legislation that incorporates the IHRA definition of antisemitism. For Moss, the protection of the state of Israel and the maintenance of its perceived security are inseparable from his domestic agenda.

The intensity of these battles reached a fever pitch on March 12, 2026, when Ayman Mohamed Ghazali, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born American citizen, drove a Ford F-150 through the front doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township and opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle before being killed by security guards. The FBI called it a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” Moss immediately went public with his response, telling CNN: “We stand on guard all the time for somebody to penetrate a house of worship or a school or another Jewish institution with an act of terror. And so we’re a community that’s kind of used to learning and praying in a fortress. It’s no way to live, but it’s the reality.” By July 2026, Moss championed a $23 million state appropriation for security measures at Jewish institutions across Michigan. “The sad reality is that this is an ongoing need,” he said.

However, his campaign for Congress took a jarring turn with the appearance of the hot mic audio in July 2026. While primary opponents Aisha Farooqi and Don Ufford publicized it to highlight Moss’s alleged ties to AIPAC-linked donors and foreign lobbies, Moss dismissed it as “manipulated and unsourced.” Despite the controversy, Moss emerged victorious in the primary, signaling that his established donor network and institutional support from the organized Jewish community remain potent forces even as the party’s base drifts from his position.

The skepticism toward Moss’s stance exists within a party where rank-and-file members are rapidly shedding support for Israel. This domestic dissatisfaction is mirrored by overwhelming opposition to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. A Gallup poll conducted July 7-21, 2025 found that only 12 percent of Democrats approved of U.S. military action against Iran, while a Quinnipiac poll conducted March 6-8, 2026, days after Operation Epic Fury began, found that 89 percent of Democrats opposed the current U.S. military action against Iran, with only 7 percent in support.

Congressional votes have similarly reflected this anti-war consensus: 92 percent of Democrats polled said Trump should have sought congressional approval before striking Iran, and the vast majority of House Democrats supported War Powers resolutions to rein in the administration’s authority to continue the conflict. The party is effectively moving toward a stance of restraint, leaving figures like Moss, who remain committed to serving the Zionist endeavor, increasingly isolated from the prevailing ideological currents of their own coalition.

The divide between the American public and its political class is widening, and Moss represents the tail end of an era that is rapidly coming to a close. As support for Israel erodes across the American political spectrum, the institutional power wielded by figures like Moss faces an existential test. History is a cyclical beast, and once again, the Jewish community finds itself acting as an isolated minority in a nation that no longer shares its political priorities.

August 19, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on Jewish State Senator Jeremy Moss Faces Backlash over Hot Mic Comments

War on Iran pushes US debt toward $40 trillion as borrowing costs surge

Press TV – August 19, 2026

The US national debt is on track to surpass $40 trillion this week, months earlier than previously projected, as the US-Israeli war on Iran, renewed inflation fears and rising government borrowing push long-term bond yields higher across major economies.

The Treasury reported on Monday that US government debt stood at $39.9 trillion, putting it within reach of the milestone. Six months ago, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had projected that federal borrowing would reach $39.4 trillion during the current fiscal year.

The faster accumulation of debt comes at a perilous moment for US finances. Investors are demanding higher returns to hold long-term government bonds amid concerns over inflation, geopolitical tensions, government debt levels and spending on artificial intelligence.

The yield on 30-year US Treasury bonds climbed to 5.33% on Tuesday, its highest level since June 2007. Long-term borrowing costs also rose in Britain, where yields reached 5.85%, as well as in Germany and Japan.

A key driver has been the surge in oil prices linked to the US-Israeli war on Iran and disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route for global oil supplies.

Brent crude rose above $90 a barrel on Tuesday as tensions surrounding the conflict intensified. Prolonged high oil prices could reignite inflation by increasing transportation and production costs, potentially forcing central banks to keep interest rates higher for longer or raise them again.

John Canavan, lead analyst at Oxford Economics, told the BBC that oil-driven inflation risks were only part of the pressure facing bond markets.

High government debt, uncertainty over the vast amounts being invested in AI and questions about when those investments will generate returns are also contributing to higher borrowing costs, he said.

The US debt outlook is worsening as federal revenue falls and spending rises. The Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs reduced projected federal revenue by an estimated $250 billion, while the Treasury has also increased borrowing to build its cash reserves.

The federal deficit was already expected to approach $2 trillion this year. Annual interest payments on the debt are projected to exceed $1 trillion, roughly equivalent to the Pentagon’s budget.

Military spending linked to the war on Iran could add further pressure to federal finances in the coming months, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The growing debt burden could also bring the next US debt-ceiling confrontation forward. Congress set the borrowing limit at $41.1 trillion last year, but preliminary projections by the Bipartisan Policy Center suggest Washington could reach that threshold between late winter and midsummer 2027.

The broader pressure is not confined to the United States. Economists at Capital Economics said the sharpest increases in long-term borrowing costs were occurring in the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan, where fiscal conditions were considered particularly challenging.

They said the moves did not amount to a bond-market crisis, but investors had rational reasons to demand higher returns given greater geopolitical and inflation uncertainty, questions over US monetary policy and concerns about the sustainability of government finances.

For consumers, higher government bond yields can eventually translate into more expensive mortgages, car loans and other forms of credit, while companies may face higher financing costs and pass those increases on to customers.

Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners, said rising yields were troubling investors because they signaled a more expensive borrowing environment, particularly as uncertainty remained over when the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in AI infrastructure would generate returns.

The mounting debt comes after decades of borrowing under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Trump pledged during his first presidential campaign to eliminate the debt within eight years, but it has instead doubled since he first took office.

Washington has repeatedly raised or suspended the debt limit when it has been reached, often after contentious political battles. Such confrontations have rattled financial markets and contributed to downgrades of U.S. government debt by major credit-rating agencies.

August 19, 2026 Posted by | Economics, Militarism, Wars for Israel | | Comments Off on War on Iran pushes US debt toward $40 trillion as borrowing costs surge

Senior Iranian MP warns France over ‘constant betrayals’ after Tehran expels diplomats

Press TV – August 19, 2026

Senior Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi has condemned France’s “constant betrayals” against the Islamic Republic, warning that Paris’s continued anti-Iranian measures will only further complicate its ties with Tehran.

“The Iranian people will never forget France’s constant betrayals over issues such as contaminated blood, INSTEX and snapback,” Azizi, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, wrote on X on Wednesday.

“Continuing this course and anti-Iranian actions will only make conditions more difficult for it,” he added.

Azizi’s reference to the INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) and snapback comes against the backdrop of longstanding disagreements between Iran and the E3 — France, Germany and the UK- over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.

The three countries shut down the INSTEX mechanism in 2023. Established in 2019, the INSTEX was designed to facilitate trade between European companies and Iran, bypassing the US sanctions.

The E3 also moved to trigger the UN Security Council’s “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last year, despite Tehran’s commitment to diplomacy and transparency regarding its nuclear program.

Azizi’s remarks came after Iran’s Foreign Ministry declared two French diplomats working at the French Embassy in Tehran persona non grata over activities that violated international law and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said the two French officials had engaged in activities contrary to international law, particularly provisions of the Vienna Convention.

The ministry said that, despite several weeks having passed since the misconduct was uncovered, France had taken no steps to address the diplomats’ actions or provide assurances against similar incidents, prompting Tehran to bar the two from entering the country.

The move follows a diplomatic dispute between Tehran and Paris that escalated in July, when the diplomats were briefly detained in Tehran after Iranian forces discovered them at a secret meeting site while carrying out a judicial order to arrest two suspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference.

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence said the two diplomats had “extensive records of violations and conduct contrary to domestic laws and diplomatic obligations.”

Azizi also referred to the issue of HIV-contaminated blood products supplied by France in the 1980s, another longstanding grievance in Tehran’s relations with Paris.

In 1985, French pharmaceutical company Institut Mérieux supplied blood-clotting products contaminated with HIV to several countries, including Iran. The products were administered to hemophilia and thalassemia patients, many of whom contracted the virus and later died.

Iran recorded its first HIV infections among patients who had received the contaminated French blood products.

August 19, 2026 Posted by | Economics, Wars for Israel | , | Comments Off on Senior Iranian MP warns France over ‘constant betrayals’ after Tehran expels diplomats

Israel bombs Syrian military base as US praises Damascus’s ‘de-escalatory’ policy toward Tel Aviv

The Cradle | August 18, 2026

Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Syria on 18 August, despite no threat being posed to it by the extremist-led authorities in Damascus, which fought against Tel Aviv’s adversaries for years.

The new Israeli strikes hit the Abu al-Duhur Military Base in the countryside of the northern city of Idlib on Tuesday.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the attack.

It described Israel’s strikes as “an unjustified act of aggression and a dangerous escalation threatening regional security and stability.”

“Continued Israeli attacks since 8 December 2024, while Syria exercises restraint and works to consolidate stability and avoid escalation, reveal attempts by the Israeli occupation to undermine those efforts and push the region toward further tension and instability,” the ministry added, according to Syrian state media.

Washington also expressed “concern,” with US envoy to Syria and former Epstein associate Tom Barrack condemning “the unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”

Barrack also praised Damascus and its forces for posing no threat to Israel, as Damascus itself has repeatedly confirmed.

He posted on X that the government of self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa “has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel.”

According to Syrian media, eight Israeli airstrikes hit the base.

“Israeli occupation aircraft early this morning targeted the runway of the Abu Duhur military airport … with eight strikes,” sources told state television.

The attack comes not long after Damascus’s forces were said to have been given access to Washington’s “final” base in Syria, after a several-month process of US withdrawal from the country following years of occupation.

It remains unclear to what extent Washington has withdrawn. Iran recently announced operations targeting what it said were US forces and assets in Syria.

The US for years trained extremist forces at its Al-Tanf Base in Syria. It also armed and financed several other factions in Syria throughout the war, including the Noureddine al-Zinki movement, responsible for the beheading of a 12-year-old boy as well as other war crimes.

Many of these Al-Qaeda- and ISIS-linked groups, including the Noureddine al-Zinki movement, are now brigades in the new Syrian army established after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

This army has killed thousands of Alawites, Druze, and Kurdish civilians since the formation of the new Syrian state – but have not targeted Israeli troops which illegally occupied the country after Assad’s departure.

Damascus has openly declared that it holds no hostility toward Israel and is not looking for confrontation with it. Despite this, Israel continues to attack the country and expand its occupation of Syrian territory.

Since Assad left Syria, Israeli occupation forces have practically encircled Damascus.

Major Syrian military capabilities belonging to the former army were destroyed by Israeli attacks in the first days after Sharaa’s government took power.

Sharaa, the new president, was formerly an Al-Qaeda chief who served as deputy to late ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The Syrian president is directly responsible for brutal suicide bombings against civilians and holy sites in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on Israel bombs Syrian military base as US praises Damascus’s ‘de-escalatory’ policy toward Tel Aviv

Iraqi Kata’ib Hezbollah sets conditions to place weapons under state control

Press TV – August 18, 2026

The Iraqi Kata’ib Hezbollah resistance group has set conditions for any understanding with the Baghdad government to place all its weapons under state control, including a full withdrawal of US military forces from the country.

The group’s security chief, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, announced in a statement on Monday that the first condition to integrate into the state’s armed forces is for US forces to completely withdraw from Iraqi soil and airspace, offer cast-iron guarantees that they would not come back, and ensure that Iraqi political and economic apparatuses will make decisions free from American sway.

The second condition, he added, is the withdrawal of Turkish forces from areas in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, while the third one is the dissolution of the Peshmerga, which serves as the official armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Assaf went on to criticize Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, saying that Iraqi anti-terror resistance groups had waited “more than a hundred days” for him to address the internal, regional, and international pressures over the issue of restricting weapons to the state, as a September 30 deadline approaches.

He asserted that Zaidi is disregarding advice from allied political factions, and is instead taking heed of demands being made by certain parties and the US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Presidential Envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack.

The remarks came on the same day that Iraq’s four top state authorities renewed calls for the implementation of the Iraqi government’s plan to disarm the armed groups and bring weapons under state control.

In a statement following a Monday meeting in Baghdad between President Nizar Amedi, the prime minister, Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi and President of the Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zaidan, the officials stressed the importance of strengthening and developing the capabilities of Iraq’s armed forces “across all spectra” and protecting the country and its citizens.

Successive administrations in Iraq have vowed to bolster state power and to bring all weaponry under the jurisdiction of recognized institutions.

On June 3, Sabah al-Numan, the spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, declared the establishment of a committee aimed at restricting weapons to state control, affirming that the committee had commenced its operations.

While several Iraqi resistance groups, such as Saraya al-Salam, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and Kata’ib al-Imam Ali, have agreed to integrate into the state’s armed forces, Kata’ib Hezbollah has pledged to retain “resistance weapons” and further develop its arsenal.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Illegal Occupation, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on Iraqi Kata’ib Hezbollah sets conditions to place weapons under state control

Burning America’s Cards One by One: What is Iran’s Strategy?

By Robert Inlakesh – The Palestine Chronicle – August 16, 2026

While the US Trump administration insists that the very much closed Strait of Hormuz is in fact open and grapples with domestic pushback against his war losses, Iran has been busy pursuing a military strategy that is placing a chokehold on their opposition.

Although the ongoing regional war has been experiencing a lull in direct confrontations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US-Israeli alliance, a series of other fronts have become the focus of Tehran’s recent efforts.

Contrary to what you would be led to believe by the corporate media, Iran’s ballistic missile and drone fire has not ceased. Instead, officials belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have made it clear that there is no ceasefire in effect and that their operations are therefore being carried out in a coordinated fashion.

One of the fronts Iran has chosen to keep open is northern Iraq, where it has consistently launched short-range ballistic missiles and drone waves, targeting headquarters, hideouts, bases and weapons depots belonging to Kurdish-Iranian opposition factions backed by the United States. Powerful blasts are being reported on a near-daily basis in Suleimaniyeh and Erbil, with footage often confirming direct impacts on strategic targets.

US President Donald Trump has been vocal since the first weeks of the war on Iran, which began on February 28 of this year, that he was expecting action from his Kurdish allies that he armed during the riots in Iran a month prior. Leaked reports in the American press suggested that a plan was being drawn up that would see the use of these Kurdish militant groups to invade the Iranian mainland, triggering a process that would – in their minds – lead to the disintegration of the Islamic Republic.

A Kurdish breakaway State project was one major card that the US and Israel – which was revealed to have established bases in Iraqi Kurdistan – were hoping to play against Tehran. The IRGC and Iranian Regular Army have not let that go, choosing to launch persistent strikes and even deploy special forces units to carry out operations on the ground against these groups.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Yemeni allies have mobilized their forces and are committing major offensive operations against their Saudi-backed opposition. They have also imposed an unprecedented equation on Saudi Arabia, where they are now implementing a counter-blockade that places a further chokehold on global oil supplies, while striking Saudi oil facilities in retaliation to violations of Yemeni airspace alone.

The threats of Iraqi factions to intervene in Syria, if the leadership in Damascus follows Trump’s orders to attack Lebanon, combined with reports that Iran will launch strikes on targets belonging to the Syrian regime, also appear to be an effort to prevent this step from taking place.

In the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC Navy continues to take out tankers with drones and missiles if they choose to attempt to break the blockade with US coordination. When this occurs, US Central Command refrains from even making regular comments, a far cry from its previous threats to bomb Iranian civilian infrastructure in retaliation for every tanker struck.

As this has all been happening, the US is scrambling to replace its USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier, after reports emerge that chaos is erupting on board. The vessel has been deployed for over 9 months and is now facing a food shortage that has impacted around 5,000 sailors. The situation is so bad that some reports even indicated that the first fights broke out on the ship, deaths have occurred, and that some service members either attempted or were considering suicide.

Recent reports also indicate that Iran has destroyed at least 45 US MQ-9 Reaper Drones, costing roughly $1.3 billion in total; this is on top of the US military expending most of its long-range precision missiles and depleting 80% of its THAAD interceptor stockpile.

The Israelis are currently refusing to budge when it comes to Lebanon, Gaza and Syria, while escalating their attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, fronts that could all escalate very quickly and drain more resources.

Iran has demonstrated that it is far from depleting its weapons stockpiles and even Israeli intelligence estimates assess that it has rapidly recovered from the 40-day war period. What has become clear is that the US President has to make a choice sooner or later: either he signs what will effectively be a surrender agreement and pushes back against the Israel Lobby, or he decides to try an all-out war one last time.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Wars for Israel | , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Burning America’s Cards One by One: What is Iran’s Strategy?

Iran warns shipping companies against supporting US military operations: Report

Press TV – August 18, 2026

Iran is closely monitoring the commercial and maritime network supporting US military offensives against the Islamic Republic, with the companies and service providers knowingly involved standing to face various consequences, a report says.

Iran’s Nournews agency carried the report on Monday, citing a military official with knowledge of the matter.

The official said Iran’s Armed Forces were collecting and verifying information on commercial companies, privately owned vessels, and maritime service providers involved in supplying US forces in the region.

The source cited US documents concerning the Military Sealift Command’s use of commercial vessels to transport fuel, ammunition, equipment, food, and other supplies. According to the official, such activities cannot be treated solely as commercial because the logistics chain contributes significantly to the United States military operational capacity.

Iran, the official said, will assess entities according to their actual role rather than their nationality or a vessel’s flag or registration.

“Any company, vessel owner, operator, ship manager, maritime services firm or commercial intermediary” knowingly involved in transporting essential supplies for US military operations against Iran could be identified as a logistical supporter and subjected to “appropriate sanctions as well as economic, legal, and retaliatory countermeasures.”

The official warned that third-country registration, commercial intermediaries, or private-sector designations would not necessarily shield entities from scrutiny. Companies and maritime service providers, the source noted, cannot knowingly participate in military logistics during wartime, while claiming to be merely commercial actors.

Iran has examined the involvement of companies, including Maersk, Schuyler Line Navigation, Crowley Government Services, Overseas Shipholding Group, Seabulk Tankers, and Patriot Contract Services, in connection with contracts, missions or logistical capabilities. It has also collected information on vessels, including SLNC Corsica, SLNC Goodwill, SL Hawaii, SLNC Severn, Liberty Power, TORM Timothy, Overseas Mykonos, Stena Polaris, SLNC Pax, Stena Impeccable, Stena Imperative, TORM Thor, TORM Thunder, and Maersk Peary.

However, the official stressed that being named does not imply equal responsibility. The extent and nature of each entity’s involvement will be determined after Iran completes its documented investigations and cross-checking.

According to the source, the investigation is ongoing and is not limited to the companies and vessels already identified. Any additional entity found to have links to the logistical support of US military operations against Iran will be added to the case file.

The official concluded that “war does not come at a cost only on the battlefield,” warning that those who knowingly provide commercial and logistical infrastructure for military operations against the Islamic Republic should not expect their involvement to remain hidden.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel | , | Comments Off on Iran warns shipping companies against supporting US military operations: Report

Pentagon weighs leaving Persian Gulf after Iran ‘exposed vulnerabilities’: Report

The Cradle | August 18, 2026

The Pentagon is reassessing its military footprint in Persian Gulf countries after months of losses inflicted by Iran, the Washington Post reported on 18 August.

Two people familiar with the ongoing analysis told The Post that one of the central questions before the Pentagon is whether to pull troops back from the Persian Gulf, where the largest US bases overseas have absorbed much of the Iranian retaliatory strikes.

The scale of damage suffered by those installations has compelled Washington to rethink where its forces should be located.

The Gulf holds the biggest and most entrenched US bases in the region, with Bahrain hosting the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, while Kuwait and other states house Army and Air Force assets.

Six US soldiers were killed in a March strike on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait, and more than 200 US facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the war began in February.

Washington has also lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones, accounting for a quarter of the entire fleet, at a replacement cost of up to $2.25 billion, and has burned through more than 1,000 advanced air-defense interceptors, draining nearly its entire stockpile of Patriot and THAAD missiles.

The Pentagon has already indicated it may not rebuild the damaged bases as they stood, and is instead weighing a shift of troops westward.

Michael Ratney, a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, named Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast as possible destinations, though he acknowledged the added distance was no perfect fix, as Iranian missiles have already reached all three throughout the US war on Iran.

A regional intelligence source told Press TV that the Pentagon has concluded that no military plan currently exists that would guarantee open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz or secure energy stability in the Persian Gulf, an admission that acknowledges Iran’s advantage in the waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil.

CNN reported in early August that the US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) intelligence branch had emailed military analysts asking for “creative and unconventional” ideas for pressuring Iran, after commanders concluded that continued US strikes were failing to achieve Washington’s goals.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on Pentagon weighs leaving Persian Gulf after Iran ‘exposed vulnerabilities’: Report

Iran war marks end of US Middle East order: Foreign Affairs

Al Mayadeen | August 18, 2026

A decades-old regional system built around US military supremacy, support for “Israel”, and the containment of Iran has reached a breaking point following Washington and Tel Aviv’s war on Tehran, political scientist Marc Lynch argued in Foreign Affairs.

In an extensive analysis titled “The End of the American Middle East”, Lynch said the war has exposed fundamental weaknesses in the security architecture Washington constructed after the 1991 Gulf War, particularly its ability to protect allies, impose military outcomes, and guarantee access to strategic waterways.

“The American Middle East is finished,” Lynch wrote, arguing that the regional order prevailing since 1991 has become “one of the many casualties of the US-Israeli war with Iran”.

According to Lynch, Washington spent more than three decades attempting to build a regional bloc centered on protecting “Israel” while containing Iran, Iraq, and later Tehran’s regional allies. President Donald Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, he argued, was not a break with that strategy but its culmination.

Trump’s administration sought to eliminate the Iranian challenge through overwhelming military force, but the campaign failed to remove the government in Tehran or prevent Iran from retaliating throughout the region.

“The American and Israeli failure to dislodge the regime in Tehran has proved the bankruptcy of decades of sanctions and violence,” Lynch wrote.

Gulf security bargain shaken

At the center of Lynch’s argument is the erosion of confidence among Washington’s Gulf partners.

The US military presence in the region has long been justified by Washington’s ability to deter attacks, defend allied governments, secure energy infrastructure, and ensure navigation through strategic waterways, particularly the Strait of Hormuz.

The war with Iran put those guarantees under unprecedented pressure.

Gulf governments opposed the war and were angered that Washington and “Israel” launched military operations while Oman was mediating negotiations with Tehran, Lynch noted. Those states then found themselves exposed to Iranian retaliation despite having little influence over the decision to begin the confrontation.

US missile defenses intercepted part of Iran’s retaliation, but enough strikes penetrated defensive systems to cause significant damage and disrupt Gulf states’ sense of security.

Iran also demonstrated that it could severely restrict maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, threatening a key artery for global energy exports and the economies of Washington’s Gulf allies.

Lynch argued that the experience raised a fundamental question for regional governments: whether hosting US military infrastructure continues to provide security or increasingly exposes them to wars initiated by Washington.

“What the Gulf took away from all this was that American security guarantees, the heart of the regional bargain, were no longer reliable,” he wrote.

Gaza and Iran deliver ‘death blow’

Lynch identified two developments as particularly damaging to Washington’s position: US support for the Israeli war on Gaza and the subsequent war against Iran.

The devastation of Gaza, he argued, eliminated much of the remaining credibility Washington claimed among Arab populations, while the Iran conflict challenged assumptions about overwhelming US military superiority.

“The dual crisis of Israel’s destruction of Gaza and the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran may seem like just another episode in this cycle,” Lynch wrote. “But in truth, these events together have dealt a death blow to the American Middle East.”

Washington’s attempts to build closer cooperation between Arab governments and “Israel” were already under strain because of Gaza, particularly as successive US administrations pursued normalization without resolving the Palestinian issue.

Lynch argued that US policymakers misjudged the continued importance of Palestine to Arab public opinion and underestimated opposition to normalization. At the same time, unconditional US support enabled “Israel” to act with increasing military freedom across the region, including in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran.

According to Lynch, Washington is consequently confronting a contradiction of its own making: a regional order partly designed to guarantee Israeli security has helped produce an increasingly interventionist “Israel” that US governments struggle to restrain.

Iran adapted to decades of pressure

The strategy of isolating Tehran also produced unintended consequences, according to the analysis.

Cut off from Western military technology and subjected to sanctions, Iran invested heavily in comparatively inexpensive drones, ballistic missiles, and asymmetric warfare capabilities capable of imposing substantial costs on technologically superior adversaries.

Tehran also developed relationships with armed movements across the region, allowing it to expand its influence in environments destabilized by US, Israeli, and regional wars.

Although Iran suffered major damage during the latest fighting, Lynch argued that its leadership survived and demonstrated that the country could withstand direct military confrontation with the United States and “Israel”. It also proved capable of striking US partners and challenging Washington’s ability to guarantee uninterrupted passage through Hormuz.

The outcome, Lynch suggested, weakened decades of arguments that a large-scale attack could decisively eliminate the Iranian threat.

Washington’s ‘Suez moment’

Lynch compared the Iran war to the 1956 Suez Crisis, when Britain, France, and “Israel” attacked Egypt in an unsuccessful effort to regain control over the Suez Canal and weaken Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Although Britain and France maintained significant regional influence for years afterward, Suez came to symbolize the irreversible decline of their imperial dominance. The same process could now be underway for Washington, Lynch argued. “The full effects of the US disaster in Iran will similarly take time to materialize”, he wrote.

American forces, military bases, arms sales, and alliances are unlikely to disappear immediately. Gulf governments could even seek additional US weapons or security guarantees in response to growing uncertainty. But Lynch warned that such developments should not be interpreted as a restoration of the previous system.

Instead, regional states are likely to exercise greater independence, pursuing arrangements with Iran while expanding political and economic relations with China and Russia when doing so serves their interests.

Gulf states could seek accommodation with Tehran

Rather than maintaining the anti-Iran coalition envisioned by Washington, Lynch expects regional alignments to become more fluid.

Gulf states seeking to avoid becoming targets in another confrontation could negotiate bilateral understandings with Tehran rather than depend exclusively on US protection.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could also increasingly compete for regional influence, further complicating Washington’s attempts to maintain a unified bloc.

Before the latest war, Lynch noted, Riyadh had already begun strengthening relations with Egypt, Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkey, while Abu Dhabi maintained close ties with “Israel”. Those rival alignments could become increasingly important as US primacy weakens.

The emerging Middle East, in Lynch’s assessment, would therefore be less centered around a single external hegemon and more defined by shifting coalitions, regional competition, and countries pursuing multiple partnerships simultaneously.

Lynch urges shift from domination to diplomacy

The decline of the old order does not necessarily mean the United States will disappear from the region, Lynch argued, but Washington would have to abandon the assumption that regional stability depends on American domination. He called for a policy based on diplomacy and collective defense rather than regime change, military intervention, and permanent containment.

That would include reducing dependence on large Gulf military bases, concentrating on missile defense and intelligence cooperation, securing freedom of navigation, and eventually incorporating Iran into a broader regional security framework. “The United States must pursue stability in the Middle East through diplomacy and collective defense, not militarized containment”, Lynch wrote.

He also called for Washington to place greater pressure on “Israel” over the occupied Palestinian territories and its military interventions in Lebanon and Syria, while reconsidering unconditional support for authoritarian allies throughout the region.

Ultimately, Lynch argued, the Iran war did not itself create the crisis facing US regional leadership. Rather, it revealed the consequences of weaknesses that had accumulated over decades. “Washington struggles to conceive of a Middle East it does not dominate,” he concluded.

The question now, according to Lynch, is whether US policymakers accept that transformation and seek a different relationship with the region or continue attempting to preserve a system whose foundations have already eroded.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular, Wars for Israel | , , , , , | Comments Off on Iran war marks end of US Middle East order: Foreign Affairs

DoD Missile Shopping Spree Designed to Spread Superprofits, ‘Not Win Wars’: Karen Kwiatkowski

Sputnik – 18.08.2026

The MIC intends to “milk” “older and sometimes antiquated systems for as much profit as possible before a real paradigm shift towards actual 21st century defense strategy evolves – and will fight this evolution as long as they can,” former DoD analyst and Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.

That was her response to the US military’s massive new $84.5B shopping spree for Patriot, THAAD and Tomahawk missiles.

“The MIC is in reaction mode, as is the Trump administration, trying to rapidly deal with an unexpected loss to Iran which has wiped out CENTCOM’s basing infrastructure, alongside an unexpected massive shortfall of [munition] consumables for scalable, combat and defense operations.”

“Slow by design” in fielding “weapons of any kind,” especially munitions which are “much less profitable” than contracts for the nuclear triad and carrier power projection, the munitions sector has become “kind of an economic backwater,” hence the sluggish production and limited scalability.

The new seven-year contracts for Patriots and THAADs are designed “to capture revenue, not win wars,” Kwiatkowski argues, as the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have shown that “these defense systems have proven overly expensive and incapable of defending against mass launches of cheap drones, or modern hypersonic missiles.”

Kwiatkowski predicts that the Pentagon and MIC will continue to spend money the US doesn’t have on “20th century tech, with the minor exception of off-the-shelf and modified drones and the AI to operate them,” until a “reckoning” forces a “complete paradigm change,” associated “with a new national defense strategy and abandonment of imperial aspirations.”

Unfortunately, the “dramatic” loss in Iran won’t be enough for that to happen, she believes. “It is a wake-up call. But our political system and military lobbies, as well as the Israel lobby which sees the US as a vassal industrial state for its own defense, are not oriented for strategy shifts or even modification.”

For now, the reality is that the MIC controls strategies and encourages “imperial war for short-term profit, and expensive never-ending contracts.”

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Corruption, Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , | Comments Off on DoD Missile Shopping Spree Designed to Spread Superprofits, ‘Not Win Wars’: Karen Kwiatkowski

Europe’s Looming Winter Preparations Just Got 1.5X Costlier

Sputnik – 18.08.2026

European gas prices during preparations for the heating season in 2026 were 52% higher than the average over the past three years, Sputnik found on Tuesday after analyzing trading data.

Calculations show that from April 1 to August 14, the average settlement price of gas futures based on the TTF index, Europe’s largest hub located in the Netherlands, amounted to $585.3 per thousand cubic meters. This is 41.2% higher than during the same period last year and 52% higher than the average for 2023-2025.
However, in 2022, amid the gas crisis, prices averaged $1,373.7 per thousand cubic meters.

The conflict in the Middle East led to a significant increase in gas prices in Europe. Average exchange prices in March ultimately rose by almost 60% compared with February, exceeding $600 per thousand cubic meters. Prices have remained volatile throughout these months. In July, settlement prices jumped by almost 20% month-on-month, averaging $637.5 per thousand cubic meters.

To prepare for the heating season, Europe is injecting gas into underground storage facilities (UGS). According to the European Commission, UGS facilities play a key role in ensuring the reliability of gas supplies in Europe, allowing the region to cover up to one-third of its needs during winter. However, storage facilities are currently only slightly above 60% full, their lowest level on record.

Against the backdrop of the crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and concerns about disruptions to fuel supplies, the EU decided to lower the required level of gas storage in member states by the beginning of the winter season from 90% to 80%, European Commission representative Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told Sputnik in June. However, Russia’s Gazprom had previously forecast that UGS levels would be below 75% by October 1 if injections continued at the current pace.

August 18, 2026 Posted by | Economics, Russophobia, Wars for Israel | | Comments Off on Europe’s Looming Winter Preparations Just Got 1.5X Costlier

‘Do what Israel tells you’: US troops revolt over Iran war decision

Al Mayadeen | August 17, 2026

The Executive Vice President and co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Dr. Trita Parsi, said messages reportedly written by US servicemen on an aircraft flap in the Gulf reflect growing discontent among troops deployed to the region, including frustration over the indefinite nature of their assignments.

Parsi, who said the image had been sent to him from the field, shared photographs showing messages written in the dust on an aircraft flap. The messages included: “Be a good guy and do what Israel tells you to,” “Operation Epstein Fury,” and “Peace deal #64 incoming… ALL THIS FOR THE HOLY LAND.”

Parsi said he had no basis for comparing the sentiments expressed in the messages with those of US service members in previous wars, but suggested they could represent either new attitudes or a greater willingness to express such views openly.

He also cited what he said was a comment from a serviceman about the morale of troops involved in the operation.

“What people in the media don’t understand when they compare past conflicts to this one, is this operation has no morale behind it. That makes a world of difference to service members deployed to undesirable locations indefinitely,” as one serviceman told Parsi.

Furthermore, he highlighted the serviceman’s reference to a lack of morale and indefinite deployments, arguing that these conditions could shape how troops view the war.

“My own conclusion: When a war has no morale behind it, winning means that you simply end it. There is no other “winning” in such an unjust war,” Parsi concluded.

The developments come amid growing scrutiny of poor conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and calls from lawmakers for answers from the War Department.

August 17, 2026 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , | Comments Off on ‘Do what Israel tells you’: US troops revolt over Iran war decision

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