Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Gulf allies press Trump to escalate Iran war - JNS Staff

 

​ by JNS Staff

Saudi- and Emirati-led Gulf bloc urges Trump to intensify the Iran campaign and consider a ground invasion, even as he eyes Arab cost-sharing for the conflict.

 

Trump MBS Saudi Arabia
Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia delivers remarks, alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, at a dinner held in his honor in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 18, 2025. Credit: Andrea Hanks/White House.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf allies are privately pressing U.S. President Donald Trump to keep prosecuting the war against Iran, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

They argue that a month of U.S.-led strikes has not weakened Tehran enough, according to U.S., Gulf and Israeli officials.

The officials told the news agency that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading calls to intensify military pressure—with the Emirates favoring a ground invasion—while Oman and Qatar push for a diplomatic end to the conflict.

Gulf leaders want any eventual deal to force major changes in Iran’s behavior, including curbing its nuclear and missile programs and stopping support for terrorist proxy groups, even as Tehran warns it could target neighbors’ critical infrastructure if the war escalates.

Meanwhile, Trump is weighing a push for Arab countries to help pay for the U.S.-Israeli war against the Iranian regime, the White House said on Monday. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Trump “would be quite interested” in calling on Gulf states to share the costs, recalling how Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates bankrolled much of the 1990-91 Gulf War.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that Jerusalem was in the process of “forming alliances with Arab countries that are talking about fighting alongside us.”

“In the past, I had secret conversations with Arab leaders. I told them that once Iran is able, it will conquer you and bring down your kingdoms. Back then, they didn’t really internalize this—today, they understand,” the premier told reporters on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. 


JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/news/world/gulf-allies-press-trump-to-escalate-iran-war

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Garland aware of Jack Smith’s efforts to pierce legal privileges in pursuing Trump, memo suggests - John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy

 

​ by John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy

Memo prepared for Garland warned targets of subpoenas and search warrants had ‘valid’ protections being pierced.

 

What did he know and when did he know it? That’s a question former Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland may soon face as the size and scope of Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s dragnet to criminally prosecute Donald Trump comes into fuller focus.

Evidence released in the past week by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley shows Smith’s team prepared a briefing memo in January 2023 – as the presidential race between then-President Joe Biden and Trump was heating up – which alerted Garland that prosecutors were obtaining the communications of as many as a dozen Trump private lawyers and allies and Congress. 

The memo made clear that those gatherings were being done despite legitimate claims the lawyers and members of Congress may have for attorney-client and Debate and Speech Clause privileges. 

The “AG BRIEFING” document by Smith’s office – dated Jan. 13, 2023 – provided Garland and his office with deep insights into the anti-Trump special counsel’s ongoing inquiry, and its future plans.

The documents were released this month by Grassley, an Iowa Republican, in coordination with Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts.

Garland’s intimate knowledge of Smith’s inquiry comes as little surprise. 

Recent evidence also shows that Garland, then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and then-FBI Director Christopher Wray signed off on the launch of the so-called "Arctic Frost" inquiry into Trump related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 

Garland also said he “personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant” for the FBI’s unprecedented raid of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022. The Biden White House was also directly linked to the classified documents investigation into Trump, despite its denials, records show.

Smith did not respond to a request for comment sent to him through lawyers who have represented him. (He resigned as special counsel in January 2025.) Garland did not respond to a request for comment sent to him through the Arnold & Porter law firm, where he went to work in 2025.

Smith takes aim at “valid” congressional privilege

The newly-released Smith team briefing document from early 2023 included information about “Tolls for Members of Congress” and said that “some members of Congress communicated with Trump and his surrogates in the lead up to and during the events of January 6.”

“It is unlikely that many of those members will cooperate with our investigation, and they likely have a valid Speech or Debate privilege immunizing them from compelled testimony,” the briefing document said. 

“In the coming week or so, we intend to issue subpoenas for the toll records of certain members of Congress for the period between the 2020 election and January 20 to investigate those communications — and to establish logical evidentiary inferences regarding Trump and his surrogates’ actions and intent.”

Toll records are detailed logs of telecommunications such as phone calls and text messages. 

The revelation last year that the FBI snooped on the phone records of Republican members of Congress during its January 6 investigation has brought greater scrutiny to Smith, Wray and others.

Smith and the FBI reportedly collected the private phone records of eight Republican senators and one GOP House member as part of his investigation into the riot.

An unearthed FBI record from 2023 indicated that investigators at the bureau had “conducted preliminary toll analysis on limited toll records” tied to phone calls related to GOP Sens. Johnson; Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina; Bill Hagerty, of Tennessee; Josh Hawley, of Missouri; Dan Sullivan, of Alaska; Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama; Cynthia Lummis, of Wyoming; Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee; and Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Mike Kelly. 

Smith team’s “Notable Meetings” included focus on piercing Trump’s executive privilege

Smith’s team said upcoming “Notable Meetings” included one with the Biden solicitor general about attempting to break through the former Trump White House’s executive privilege assertions, with the briefing memo saying the team was “committed to communication/consult with [the solicitor general] on the important precedent-setting issues we face in areas of executive privilege, Speech or Debate, and the scope and application of the relevant statutes we are considering charging.”

The newly-released briefing notes also said that potential “Litigation” included an “Omnibus Motion to Compel Executive Privilege.” Smith’s team said that, through the Biden DOJ’s Office of the Deputy Attorney General, it “will request that [Biden] White House agree not to assert – as they have done with the other witnesses.”

Smith’s team told Garland and his team that “notable meetings” also included one with Judge Beryl Howell, an appointee of President Barack Obama and the then-chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The discussion with Howell reportedly included discussing the “pace over the last month” while Smith’s team wrote that “she liked our approach of pursuing the executive privilege litigation in an omnibus fashion.”

The newly-released document also show that Smith’s team was set to meet with Judge James Boasberg, also an Obama appointee, in mid-March 2023.

The briefing for Garland and his office also discussed Smith’s team using the report written by the Democrat-led Jan. 6 congressional committee.

“Leadership team fully read and reviewed. Last weekend we went over it page by page and and [sic] incorporated into our investigative plan,” the briefing document said. “We have a methodical process for logging all information contained in the report ... .We will leverage this to avoid needless interviews and focus the interviews we perform on underdeveloped topics.”

The special counsel team also signaled in January 2023 that it might subpoena Fox News.

“We understand from witnesses that Trump spent the afternoon of January 6 in the White House dining room watching Fox– which would have placed him on notice of the violence at the Capitol,” the briefing memo said. “We also understand from publicly available information that Trump is a regular Fox News viewer. To investigate his knowledge and intent, we intend to obtain publicly broadcast Fox News coverage from January 6 and many of the days between the 2020 Election and January 6.”

The Smith team member wrote that “I will contact Fox and see if they will consent to a subpoena. If they will, I will authorize that subpoena.”

The briefing to the Biden attorney general’s office also said “FBI staffing” was “going well.”

Smith’s team wrote that there were “Face to Name Meetings with FBI HQ” coming up, with a meeting between the FBI deputy director and the FBI general counsel having happened earlier in January 2023, while a meeting with Wray as well as with Dave Sundberg, the then-assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, slated for later that month.

“Most importantly I also met with actual case teams – we did an all hands meeting with the entire investigative team,” the Smith team briefing document states, adding that “Overall: FBI has been very responsive.”

Smith’s anti-Trump quest was wide-ranging

The FBI raided Trump’s Florida resort home in August 2022 with the authorization of Garland. The Biden attorney general picked Smith in November 2022 to lead the twin criminal investigations into Trump related to the riot and classified documents in Trump's possession.

Garland’s appointment order for Smith in November 2022 said the special counsel was “authorized to conduct the ongoing investigation into whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.” Smith was “further authorized to conduct the ongoing investigation” related to the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.

“The Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters,” the Biden DOJ appointment memo said. “The Special Counsel is also authorized to refer to the appropriate United States Attorney discrete prosecutions that may arise from the Special Counsel’s investigation.”

Garland as attorney general in January 2022 declared “there is no higher priority for us at the Department of Justice” than going after those involved with January 6, calling the DOJ’s inquiry “one of the largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations in our history.”

Grassley wants answers on Smith’s meetings with Garland

Grassley in October 2025 had called upon Smith to provide details on all of the meetings that he and his Trump investigative team held with the Biden White House and with FBI and Justice Department leadership.

“While Special Counsel, did you or your staff ever meet, speak, or otherwise communicate with Attorney General Garland, Deputy Attorney General Monaco, Director Wray, and/or Deputy Director Abbate about your work? If yes, who, when, and what was the subject matter?” Grassley asked Smith in his letter. “While Special Counsel, did anyone at the White House, Attorney General Garland or Deputy Attorney General Monaco direct you to take any investigative or prosecutorial action? If so, who and what action(s)?”

Grassley also asked the former special counsel: “While Special Counsel, did Attorney General Garland or Deputy Attorney General Monaco approve your seeking and obtaining tolling records relating to Members of Congress? If not, who approved it?”

Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly alleged that Smith and the FBI were themselves engaging in election influence by trying to bring charges, hold trials and obtain convictions against Trump ahead of the 2024 election.

The FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation also targeted dozens of GOP officials and organizations, according to documents released by Grassley last year.

An FBI document from the Arctic Frost inquiry, dated January 2023, showed that the investigation’s “targets” included Donald J. Trump for President Inc., Turning Point USA, the Republican Attorneys General Association, the America First Policy Institute, the Save America PAC, the Conservative Partnership Institute, and many more.

Unearthed emails also show that the Biden White House Counsel’s Office coordinated with an anti-Trump FBI agent to hand over phones which had belonged to Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Garland played key role in launch of Arctic Frost

Members of the Biden White House and leaders at the Biden-era Justice Department and FBI were all involved in efforts linked to the launch of the Arctic Frost investigation, which targeted then-former President Trump and MAGA World over the events related to Jan. 6, 2021.

Grassley previously released a document from early April 2022 showing that Garland, Monaco and Wray all signed off on the launch of the sweeping inquiry into Trump. The memo – initialed by all three – was for the “Approval to Open a Certain Sensitive Investigative Matter [SIM] Investigation.”

“WFO [Washington Field Office] seeks to open this SIM full investigation based on evidence that presents specific and articulable facts that individuals, both known and unknown, engaged in a conspiracy to obstruct Congress’s certification of the Electoral College on January 6, 2020 [sic],” the launch document said.

The document approved by Garland, Monaco, and Wray contained an obvious error – apparently unnoticed by them and their staffs – given that the events in question were in early 2021, not early 2020.

Smith indicted Trump in August 2023 related to the then-former president’s alleged actions related to the 2020 election, with superseding charges in August 2024. Smith contended that Trump “pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.”

Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the January 6-related case against Trump in November 2024 after Trump’s reelection win, pointing to the Office of Legal Counsel’s position that a sitting president could not be prosecuted by his own DOJ.

Smith released his report on his January 6-related effort against Trump in January 2025, a couple of weeks before Trump’s second inauguration.

Trump issued pardons and commutations in January last year to the hundreds of defendants who had been charged by the DOJ for their involvement in the riot. 


John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/garland-aware-jack-smiths-efforts-pierce-legal-privileges-pursuing

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All critical, essential targets within Iran to be destroyed before Passover, IDF announces - Yonah Jeremy Bob

 

​ by Yonah Jeremy Bob

The IDF deemed "critical" targets as those that immediately threatened Israel, such as ballistic missile industry targets, as well as targets that were at the heart of the mission goals of the war.

 

An Israel Air Force fighter jet seen in central Israel amid the ongoing war between Israel-US and Iran, March 18, 2026.
An Israel Air Force fighter jet seen in central Israel amid the ongoing war between Israel-US and Iran, March 18, 2026.
(photo credit: NATI SHOHAT/FLASH90)

All of the IDF's critical and essential pre-war Iran targets will have been destroyed by Wednesday, the IDF said on Tuesday.

This 100% of the top two most important categories of pre-war targets is part of the IDF having destroyed around 60-70% of the total pre-war targets in the Islamic Republic.

"Critical" targets were those that immediately threatened Israel, such as ballistic missile industry targets, as well as targets that were at the heart of the mission goals of the war, such as the small remaining nuclear-related targets.

"Essential" targets were a level down and represented the wider Iranian military-industrial complex, which might not present an imminent threat to Israel during this conflict but was viewed by Iran as essential to maintaining its various military and weapons apparatuses at an effective level of operation. 

An example would be certain satellite launching and satellite attacking platforms and research which are crucial capabilities for firing long range weapons and for contending with Israel's strategic advantage in the satellite sphere.

A view of a residential building damaged by a strike in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026.
A view of a residential building damaged by a strike in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026. (credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via REUTERS/File Photo)

Majority of other pre-war targets present no imminent threat to Israel

The other 60-70% of total pre-war targets relate to aspects of the Iranian military which are part of their long-term non-strategic operations, but neither present an imminent threat to Israel, nor do they serve a specific essential purpose in the military industrial supply chain for the Islamic regime to field or produce specific long-term strategic weapons.

When pressed if the IDF could end the war at this point in terms of obtaining its war objectives against Iran's military, IDF sources did not reject the idea, but added that if the war continued, the IDF could field additional economic and operational targets which would further harm Iran's military and economic power and standing.

Despite all of the above, the IDF has not been able to completely stop Iranian ballistic missile fire and expects that the regime can maintain such missile fire at a level of 5-20 missiles for an extended period. 


Yonah Jeremy Bob

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-891756

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Lebanon’s internal strength tested as Iranian ambassador refuses to leave - Seth J. Frantzman

 

​ by Seth J. Frantzman

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, was expelled in mid-March for meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

 

Then-Iran’s ambassador-designate to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheibani Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Then-Iran’s ambassador-designate to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Sheibani Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/X/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)

 

Lebanon is facing a crisis as Iran’s ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, refuses to be expelled from the country.

The ambassador, who was appointed relatively recently and assumed his role in January, was expelled in mid-March for meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

However, Iran won’t take him back because Tehran appears to view Lebanon as a kind of colony. Iran says the ambassador will remain and continue his work, according to comments from Tehran this week.

Ostensibly, Sheibani will become an “illegal resident” in Lebanon. According to the Lebanese media outlet Nida al-Watan, the Lebanese foreign ministry is considering legal proceedings against Sheibani.

However, the Iranian ambassador has support, particularly from Hezbollah and the large Shi’ite Amal party. The Amal party is led by Nabih Berri, one of the longest-serving Lebanese politicians and the speaker of parliament.

A Hezbollah flag waves among a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike during a media tour in Baalbek, Lebanon, on March 23, 2026.
A Hezbollah flag waves among a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike during a media tour in Baalbek, Lebanon, on March 23, 2026. (credit: Jonathan Labusch / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Al-Watan report, “never before has an ‘undesirable’ ambassador been stripped of his dignity and personal integrity, let alone diplomatic decorum, to such a degree of blatant disregard as Mohammad Reza Sheibani and the Iranian Foreign Ministry have displayed by their insistence on forcibly and brazenly imposing his presence. With this rejection, Sheibani has forfeited his diplomatic status and become a refugee within the confines of the embassy.”

The report claims that the Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and others are discussing what to do next. Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi is also in touch with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Lebanon expects Raggi to soon respond to Iran’s decision not to recall its ambassador. “The source confirmed that diplomatic avenues with Tehran remain closed, noting that the Foreign Ministry is currently studying a range of legal procedures and options for dealing with the situation of the ‘expelled ambassador’ who refuses to comply with international norms.”

Internal crisis brewing in Lebanon

This will create an internal crisis in Lebanon. Lebanon is already facing a crisis as Israel continues to deepen operations in southern Lebanon.

Around one million people have had to flee the Israeli incursion. These people, many of them Shi’ites, will now end up in areas of Lebanon where Christians, Druze, and Sunnis live. Although some may move to existing Shi’ite areas, there is a chance for demographic change.

Groups like Amal, which want the ambassador to stay, are involved in facilitating the movement and aid to the displaced. It’s possible the number of displaced may reach 1.5 million. If the war continues, the pressure on Beirut will grow.

The Al-Watan report argues that pressure now falls on Berri to decide if he is more loyal to Iran or Lebanon. However, given that he has been involved in politics for some fifty years, he has navigated this issue before.

“In response to Iranian recklessness, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated that ‘violating the decisions of the Lebanese government is not heroism, but rather the height of contempt for international laws and the principles of interaction between states. In any case, we have spent the last four decades of our national life in this reality, and we will certainly do everything in our power to get out of it as quickly as possible."

Geagea is also a well-known figure in Lebanon, once upon a time a key leader of Christian fighters; he also spent time in prison after the Lebanese civil war. He has been warning of an escalation in the wake of the ambassador being expelled.

Lebanon’s president is expected to give a speech, possibly on March 31, about what comes next.

“In this context, Aoun emphasized that security forces are taking decisive steps to prevent any security breaches among the Lebanese, carrying out arrests and confiscating weapons,” the Al-Watan report says.

UNIFIL peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon

Meanwhile, there is a focus on Lebanon because several UNIFIL members have been killed and wounded. France and Italy have condemned the attacks on UNIFIL. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and French Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Catherine Vautrin held a telephone conversation focused on the ongoing crisis in the country, Anadolu reported.

The Lebanese media reports say that Israel is expanding its operations in areas of southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army command announced that an Israeli attack targeted a checkpoint in Amriyeh, on the Qulayleh-Tyre road.


Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-891760

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Comer says ‘biased’ Census miscalculated in 2020, costing Republicans multiple House seats - Misty Severi

 

​ by Misty Severi

Comer claimed that the basic count was biased against Republicans because the bureau estimated high in Democratic areas like major cities and underestimated in suburban areas that are more friendly to Republicans.

 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Monday his committee has received information showing the United States' Census Bureau in 2020 miscalculated the number of Americans in a way that cost Republicans multiple House seats. 

Comer claimed the basic count was biased against Republicans because the bureau made estimations instead of doing a physical count during the COVID-19 pandemic, and estimated high in Democratic areas like major cities and underestimated in suburban areas known to be more friendly to Republicans.

"The basic count was miscounted grossly in the last census, to the tune of costing the Republicans anywhere from four to five congressional seat," Comer said on the "Just The News, No Noise" TV show. "The fact that we lost [is] because the Census Bureau was biased. If you go back to when the census was taken, the last time it was during COVID, no one knocked on anybody's doors because of COVID. So they ended up estimating. 

"They overestimated Democrats in the Democratic areas, which are the urban, rundown communities across America, and they undercounted all the suburban areas, which are the Republicans [fastest] growing areas," he added.

Comer said California, New York and Rhode Island should have lost more House seats than they did and that Florida and Texas should have gained at least one new member of Congress because of an exodus during the pandemic.  

"This was a census that really messed up, and it erred on the side of Democrats and against Republicans, and I hope that that mistake is not made again," Comer said. "Now we've got a one-vote majority in the House of Representatives. If we had a five-vote majority, where we didn't have to worry that much about Thomas Massie, then we would have probably been able to have passed a lot more of President Trump's agenda."

Comer said he is committed to making sure the next census count is more accurate, so inaccurate reporting by the bureau is not done again. 

"You know, the whole issue of whether you count illegals or not, that's a whole other issue," he said. "What we're focused on, I'm focusing on is making sure we get an accurate count, because that will be a significant improvement ...  Just get an accurate count. We didn't have that the last time, and it was off by a lot."


Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. 

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/congress/comer-claims-us-census-bureau-counted-incorrectly-2020-costing-republicans

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Syria: Christians, Other Minorities Under Genocidal Attack During Leadership of Ahmed Al-Sharaa - Uzay Bulut

 

​ by Uzay Bulut

Following al-Sharaa's December 2024 seizure of power in Syria, persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, Druze and Alawites, has skyrocketed as the country undergoes a process of radical Islamization.

 

  • Christians in Syria are once again under attack by Islamic groups affiliated with the country's jihadist regime, headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

  • Following al-Sharaa's December 2024 seizure of power in Syria, persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, Druze and Alawites, has skyrocketed as the country undergoes a process of radical Islamization.

  • U.S. President Donald J. Trump should never have allowed HTS and al-Sharaa – who justifiably had a $10 million bounty placed on his head by the U.S. State Department – to use Syria to entrench Sunni Islam by jihad (holy war). Al-Sharaa should be replaced at once.

  • Jihad is not a local problem. If it is rewarded with an internationally recognized government in Syria, jihad will spread like wildfire across the globe.

Following President Ahmed al-Sharaa's December 2024 seizure of power in Syria, the jihadist regime's persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, Druze and Alawites, has skyrocketed as the country undergoes a process of radical Islamization. Pictured: Mar Elyas Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus on June 22, 2025, after an attack by jihadists who murdered 25 Christians and wounded nearly 70 there during Sunday mass. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

Christians in Syria are once again under attack by Islamic groups affiliated with the country's jihadist regime, headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani.

On March 22, the Ethnikos Association of Latakia-Antaradus (EALA) -- a Canada-based non-profit that advocates for the human rights of Syria's Alawite and Rum (Greek) communities -- issued a statement about the escalating attacks on Christians in Syria:

"Credible, firsthand reports indicate a serious and rapidly deteriorating security situation [is occurring] for Christians in Kfarbo (Hama Governorate), Mhardeh (Hama Governorate), Al-Suqaylabiyah (Hama Governorate), Wadi al-Nasara (Homs Governorate), and surrounding areas....

"[A]rmed groups affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Defense identified as 'Bedouins' have carried out acts of desecration, violent and armed assault, and attempted abductions of Christian women, while state authorities have failed to intervene and largely ignored the repeated citizens' complaints while allowing armed militants to operate with impunity.

"Key Incidents

"The Church of the Holy Martyrs, located at the northern entrance of Mhardeh, was seized by armed militants identified as 'General Security,' a branch of the Syrian Ministry of Defense and government forces. The church has been converted into a military site, and Christian religious symbols have been deliberately destroyed....

"The armed Bedouin groups, operating alongside or under the effective control of government-affiliated forces, have entered the Christian towns of Kfarbo, Mhardeh, [and] Al-Suqaylabiyah, where they are actively carrying out:
Armed robberies
Destruction of Christian cultural and religious symbols
Vandalism and desecration of cemeteries across all three towns

"Armed Bedouins are consistently harassing, threatening, and terrorizing Christian residents, including issuing explicit threats....

"Multiple attempted abductions of Christian girls have been reported. These attempts were only prevented by the intervention of local civilians. Perpetrators escalated the situation by drawing knives against those who intervened, with no response from government forces.

"Explicit death threats were issued against a Christian girl for not wearing the Islamic headscarf.

"An additional attempted kidnapping in Mhardeh was reported.

"A Christian family in Kharbeh was robbed at gunpoint inside their home. Armed perpetrators held the family at gunpoint while looting the house."

Following al-Sharaa's December 2024 seizure of power in Syria, persecution of religious minorities, including Christians, Druze and Alawites, has skyrocketed as the country undergoes a process of radical Islamization.

Videos of Muslim children marching in Damascus are widely posted on social media. The children are seen chanting jihadist slogans, including phrases meaning that "I will make myself ammunition." These chants are directed straight at Christians and Jews.

On February 12, a video was posted in which elementary school children marched at the Damascus Book Fair, chanting "Allahu Akbar" and "Gaza is our motto" — slogans widely associated with Hamas. The X account Greco-Levantines Worldwide commented that "a new generation is being shaped around militant narratives with potentially far-reaching consequences."

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the terror group led by al-Sharaa, has, since it overthrew the Assad regime in late 2024, increasingly subjected Alawite, Druze and Christian civilians to targeted killings, arbitrary arrests, abductions, sexual violence, destruction and seizure of property, forced displacement, and other atrocities. Digital media provide evidence demonstrating the genocidal intent of the regime and its affiliated forces.

On February 27, Ethnikos Association of Latakia-Antaradus published a comprehensive report documenting these atrocities:

"This report documents serious, widespread and sustained violations committed against Alawite and Christian civilian communities in coastal and western-central Syria between December 2024 to present.

"The evidence establishes that violence against these communities began immediately following the collapse of the state authority on 8 December 2024, intensified through repeated attacks, and culminated in large-scale massacres along the coast in March 2025 and the Mar Elias Church attack.

"Contrary to portrayals or reports that frame the coastal massacre as a sudden rupture or reaction to isolated developments, the findings demonstrate a clear and uninterrupted trajectory of escalation.

"These violations occurred across multiple locations, consistently targeting the same civilian communities and carried out by the same perpetrators, demonstrating a coherent and repeated or recurring pattern rather than isolated or opportunistic acts."

Many women and children, the report noted, were abducted from Christian, Alawite and Druze communities:

"The girls affected are members of minority communities and therefore face guaranteed risk once removed from their family and community protection, including exposure to sexual violence, forced disappearance, human-trafficking and killing.

"Despite the gravity of these cases, they have received little sustained attention and remain insufficiently documented. This report therefore prioritizes their documentation to ensure visibility, support urgent protective measures and facilitate accountability."

The report added that, since December 2024, Christians in Syria have been suffered escalating persecution. The first recorded incident involved the vandalization of a Greek church and its cemetery. The second was a murder: a married couple, Sam and his wife Helena, were killed in their home by HTS terrorists. The report notes:

"Subsequent cases reveal repeated attacks and a broader environment of anti-Christian racism that has become normalized. Christians have increasingly been targeted. The documented violations span multiple governorates and include armed attacks on churches, desecration of cemeteries and Christian symbols, harassment, arbitrary arrest, seizure of property and incitement.

"In Homs governorate, the town of Al-Qusayr has been repeatedly targeted, with attacks directed exclusively at Christian homes. Reports document grenades being launched at residences, gunfire directed at homes while occupants slept, and arson attacks setting Christian homes on fire. In addition, a series of arbitrary arrests resulted in the detention of Christian residents.

"In the Hama governorate, the town of Suqaylabiyah has been attacked more than a dozen times. These attacks included the destruction of Christian symbols, attempted suicide bombings, and the deployment of Islamist preachers to harass and force local Christians to convert. As a result of sustained and targeted hostility, the local church was forced to close permanently.

"These actions form part of a broader campaign of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. By systematically targeting Christian communities, perpetrators aim to compel the residents to flee. This strategy has proven to be effective in several locations, including the town of Maaloula. On 26 December 2024, Maaloula was reported to have been under attack for 15 consecutive days, during which a Christian family was killed by HTS militants.

"The following day, Greco-Levantines Worldwide and the World Council of Arameans issued an urgent appeal, reporting that the town's population had rapidly declined with fewer than 200 residents remaining as HTS militants had ordered Christian residents to be expelled. The organizations called for urgent international intervention and the deployment of neutral forces. Despite this urgent appeal, no measures were taken to assist. On 28 December, video footage documented buses departing Maaloula filled with displaced residents. In the recordings, individuals are heard mocking and celebrating the forced exodus of the town's Christian population."

The report emphasizes the "vulnerability faced by Christian communities that they too will suffer the same fate if they speak out. In Latakia and Tartous, the use of graffiti targeting Christians has become prevalent. Homes and shops belonging to Christians and Alawites are marked, while shops belonging to Muslims are left unharmed." It adds:

"In April, a video recorded and released by HTS documented three young Christians who had been physically assaulted and had their heads shaved. Two of the victims show clear signs of physical abuse, with visible blood on their faces. In the footage, the victims were ordered to face the camera and state, 'Tell everyone that you are a Christian, you pig.'

"In June 2025, a large-scale massacre against Christians was perpetrated at the Mar Elias (Saint Elias) Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. The attacker entered the church and began shooting, threw a grenade, and then detonated himself, killing 30 Christians and injuring 54. Meanwhile, other Christian villages awoke to graffiti in their areas threatening, 'Your turn is coming next.'"

Meanwhile, Syria's new regime has altered the school curricula to impose the Islamist ideology which explicitly demonizes religious minorities. Jews and Christians are referred to as "to those who are damned." Previously, "martyrdom" was described as a sacrifice for the homeland. Now it is defined as "martyrdom is dying for the sake of Allah." Similarly, governance by law and justice has been replaced with "governance by the Sharia of Allah." In addition, the entire science unit covering evolution and the origin of life has been removed.

The report notes:

"The distribution of anti-Christian leaflets has emerged as one of the methods for incitement. A leaflet distributed in the country stated: 'It has become clear to the Muslims that Christianity is a false religion. It is forbidden to allow the people of misguidance (Christians) to remain among the Muslims. Therefore, Christians must either become Muslim, pay jizya, or be expelled. There is no coexistence. Prepare yourselves.'

"These violations continue unabated. Arson attacks increasingly target the coastal regions where native Christian and Alawite communities reside. Humanitarian aid has been intentionally withheld where one resident testified: 'They pretend to give aid to Christians and Alawites, but it is a lie. Aid is distributed to Sunni Muslims only.' Kidnappings and ransom demands have become another method of persecution and extortion."

The report includes examples of incitement to genocide by Muslims affiliated with Sharaa's regime:

"A threatening letter detailing explicit incitement to religious violence was issued by a Sunni Muslim Islamist terror group, 'Ansar al Sunnah,' promising to genocide Christians. The message states: '[we will] Kill your men, widow your women, orphan your children.' It also permits the shedding of 'Christian blood' as it will 'purify the soul.'

"On 6 July 2025, a declaration to commit ethnic cleansing in Safita of Tartous was made. Leaflets threatening Christians were distributed to the residents stating, 'It has become clear to the Muslims that Christianity is a false religion. It is forbidden to allow the people of misguidance and corruption (Christians) to remain among the Muslims. Therefore, Christians must either become Muslims, pay jizya or be expelled. There is no peace or coexistence. Prepare yourselves.'

"A sermon delivered in a mosque on 11 March (shortly after the coastal massacre) stated: 'Take the knife and slaughter them, that is their medicine. That is the cure for them. Forget diplomacy, there is no such thing, and it means nothing to us. Solve it by killing them, rise in jihad for the islamic ummah.'

"In another audio broadcast, an HTS militant issued orders over radio, stating: 'To the mujahideen, do not let a single one of them from the Alawites alive. Slaughter all of those pigs. Even the good or honorable among them, slaughter them. Have mercy on none, the elderly, the children are all for slaughter. Every single one of them. These are all pigs, we don't want them. After you kill them, take them to the sea and throw them into the sea for the fish to feed.'

"On 12 January 2025, in a video footage an HTS member said, 'Latakia is 80% Sunni Muslim, not Alawite. We reject claims that it is Alawite. Latakia and the coast are Sunni Muslim. This is our land, and they will all be killed.'

"On 16 January 2025, a video footage shows an HTS militant mocking the coastal dialect and telling a group of Alawite children, 'if any of you ask for a secular state, we will kill you all.'

"On 6 March 2025, a video footage shows the speaker of a mosque announcing the 'call for jihad,' calling all the men in the mosque to participate in the killings. The crowd responds by celebrating and chanting, 'Allahu akbar!'

"On 7 March 2025, the Syrian regime took control of Sham TV and broadcasted coded sectarian incitement, saying: 'Throw them in the sea so the fish don't go hungry in the land of the Umayyads.'

"On 7 March 2025, a video footage taken by HTS shows a masked militant, mocking the bodies of six deceased civilians while singing, 'We've come to feed you death. The sword is the only way, and the coast we have conquered.'

The report also notes:

"No area in Syria can be credibly described as safe or designated for Christian protection. А limited exception exists in areas detached from Damascus and governed under local protection, such as the Druze majority governorate of Suwayda. The absence of HTS has corresponded with a reduced scale of documented violence."

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham clearly has genocidal intent towards religious minorities in Syria, who need their own defense forces and local autonomy. Western nations urgently need to provide direct aid.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump should never have allowed HTS and al-Sharaa – who justifiably had a $10 million bounty placed on his head by the U.S. State Department – to use Syria to entrench Sunni Islam by jihad (holy war). Al-Sharaa should be replaced at once.

Jihad is not a local problem. If it is rewarded with an internationally recognized government in Syria, jihad will spread like wildfire across the globe.


Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22398/syria-christians-minorities-genocidal-attack

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Federal officials claim Michigan synagogue attack was a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism - Misty Severi

 

​ by Misty Severi

Authorities said Ghazali's brothers were members of Hezbollah's rocket unit and were killed in an Israeli attack in Lebanon shortly before the crash. His niece and nephew also died in the Israeli strike.

 

Federal authorities declared Monday that an attack on a Michigan synagogue earlier this month is now considered an "act of terrorism" that was inspired by the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali has been accused of ramming his vehicle into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on March 12. Ghazali is a naturalized citizen born in Lebanon who came to the United States in 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen and lives in Dearborn Heights.

Ghazali was the only person killed in the attack, but one security guard was injured after Ghazali crashed his vehicle and 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation from a fire that erupted in the crash.

Authorities said Ghazali's brothers were members of Hezbollah's rocket unit and were killed in an Israeli attack in Lebanon shortly before the crash. His niece and nephew also died in the Israeli strike.

“Based on the evidence gathered to date. We assess this attack to be a Hezbollah inspired act of terrorism, purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan.” FBI Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan said in a news briefing.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Eastern Michigan Jerome Gorgon told CBS News that officials previously described the attack on the synagogue as a "targeted attack on the Jewish community," but the new distinction as an act of terrorism is important to accurately describe the attack and threat facing Jewish communities.

Officials said Ghazali allegedly recorded himself before the attack that described his "operation," which was specifically intended to "kill Jews and burn their world." 

Ghazali's phone was allegedly found at the scene, CBS News reported, and a search of the device found the suspect's browsing history contained "pro-Hezbollah news, shootout videos ... and news coverage of an Iranian fatwa for jihad against the U.S. military."


Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. 

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/federal-officials-claim-michigan-synagogue-attack-was-hezbollah

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The Two Wars for Iran: The War in a Historical Context - Victor Davis Hanson

 

​ by Victor Davis Hanson

Military victories are decided on the battlefield—but in modern America, they are too often lost in the politics that follow.

 

 

The rare quick and total victory over an enemy at little cost often ensures unquestioned political support in modern consensual societies.

In most cases, however, especially in the Western world, ongoing military success or failure is adjudicated through the lens of politics—in a way sometimes at odds with the reality of the battlefield.

Politicians answer to the people. The best do not drift with the prevailing winds. On the other hand, all must face elections, secure legislative support, and ultimately explain to voters the human and financial costs of a war and whether it was existential or optional—and, in the latter case, whether it was worth the costs.

By any purely military standard, in the current month-long war, Iran has been devastated by the combined air forces of the U.S. and Israel. Both nations achieved air supremacy early on. Iran has no air force or air defenses left. Its major warships are sunk. It has lost the ability to supply its terroristic appendages by air or sea. It has difficulty importing weapons from abroad. The Iranian military and the theocratic chain of command have been devastated. Iran’s population is restive, held in check only by the sheer level of murder carried out by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on a regular basis.

So far, the U.S. military has suffered 13 fatalities and perhaps 300 wounded. Every life is dear. But given the horrific costs of prior fighting in the Middle East, the military has, in amazing fashion, curbed American losses.

If the war lasts the predicted six to eight weeks, it will likely cost between $40 and $50 billion in direct expenditures, a substantial but not excessive amount as conflicts go.

There will follow a number of geostrategic ripples from even a surviving but disarmed and impoverished theocracy: radical cuts in arms and money to its terrorist proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis; China and Russia will have lost a client and its baleful influence in the Middle East. The diminution of Iran will instead likely empower the pro-Western Gulf monarchies and democratic Israel. For years to come, the threat of nuclear ballistic missiles hitting Europe or eventually the U.S. will be diminished.

In historical terms, the air campaign has so far been less costly than the 42-day first Gulf War of 1991, in which the U.S. had far more coalition partners and a less formidable enemy. In that war, 33 U.S. airmen were lost, along with some 54 aircraft, including helicopters. NATO’s 1,000-plane bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 lasted 78 days, with two downed fighter aircraft and no losses of U.S. airmen. In that operation, the U.S. had far more allied support and faced a far weaker target in Serbia.

So, by comparable historical standards, the U.S. has inflicted catastrophic damage on Iran while sustaining what might be termed “unexpectedly light” casualties, given the vast scope and difficulty of the theater of operations—while achieving the original aims of the war is within sight.

A Disaster—Really?

Why, then—aside from the reality that war in itself is horrific—is the 30-day one-sided conflict being termed a disaster, and the anti-war opposition becoming ever more virulent and emboldened in its claims of an American catastrophic defeat and an Iranian “victory”?

The following motives—not any disinterested examination of the actual military realities of the last month—are what explain the current declarations that the war is all but lost:

First, the antiwar faction calls the war a failure because the brutal theocracy is (for now) still in power—ironically, the Left protests about the severity of the war, while damning it for not being as severe as necessary.

True, removing the regime is the only certain way to end the larger, half-century-long conflict for good. A new government alone would ensure Iran never again attacks Americans and uses its oil and geography to fuel terror and endanger the world economy.

But neutering, not ending, the mullahs in Iran was always the primary objective. While at times Trump and others around him have talked of liberating the Iranian people and regime change, and while that would be naturally the optimum result of the war, it was never explicitly listed as a purpose of the preemptive bombing.

The administration from the beginning outlined its several war objectives: (1) the destruction of Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon; (2) demolishing its missile and drone forces and ability to manufacture both; (3) cutting off arms and aid to Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis; and (4) ending Iran’s 47-year-long killing of Americans and disruption of the strategically important Middle East.

That aim will be achieved when the war ensures that Iran launches no more missiles and drones, the Strait of Hormuz is free of Iranian interference, and its proxies cannot receive measurable Iranian help. Those objectives are certainly doable in the next three or four weeks, albeit with the risky possibility of using ground troops to take Kharg Island or to create a sanitary corridor on the Iranian side of the strait.

Upon cessation of hostilities, the regime’s entire trillion-dollar military infrastructure will be ruined, and its economy inert. An angry population will not want billions spent to restore missiles and monies for Arab proxies or even for a new nuclear program.

The Midterms

Trump, in a little more than seven months, is facing a midterm election, traditionally marked by the administration in power losing congressional seats if not majorities. His efforts to reverse historical trends, maintain control of the House and Senate, and complete his counterrevolution in large part hinge on a booming economy, not on fighting a war in the Middle East. And the two may appear to voters as antithetical.

Prior to the war, many economists had believed that Trump’s successful prewar efforts to reduce gas prices—coupled with new deregulation, interest rates likely to fall soon, multitrillion-dollar new foreign investment, and fairer and reciprocal trading—might, by summer, boost the economy and, by November, convince Americans they would be far better off under Trump’s agenda than with the left-wing alternative.

The now hard-left Democratic Party, of course, grasps this and so feels that massive resistance to the war, not a preferred agenda, might lose Trump the Congress. So attacking the war and declaring it a complete disaster will continue where the media-sensationalized Tesla vandalism, anti-DOGE and anti-ICE protests, and No Kings rallies left off—and hopefully succeed in further driving down the pre-midterm approvals of Trump and his congressional allies.

Remember, the Left has no consistent principles—other than a lust for power by any means necessary. The Obama/NATO 2011 seven-month bombing of Libya achieved nothing but chaos and death—and led to the Benghazi catastrophe. It entailed 26,000 bombing sorties.

Yet the constitutional lawyer Obama never asked Congress for any authorization for his months-long bombing war, and he didn’t do so either for his drone/targeted assassination war over the Pakistani–Afghan border. And the “watchdog” media kept mute.

The Biden Afghan debacle cost 13 lives, brought thousands of unaudited Afghan refugees into the U.S. (some of them criminals), abandoned loyal Afghans and U.S. contractors, and left billions of dollars of new sophisticated military equipment and arms in the hands of the terrorist Taliban. And again, the “democracy dies in darkness” media was largely silent or offered excuses for the worst military disaster since the flight from Vietnam.

Who Speaks for MAGA?

While the MAGA base supports Trump, a vocal and influential minority of podcasters, internet influencers, and pundits have become virulent critics of the war. They charge that Trump ran on ending “forever wars”—now we supposedly are in one. But, as president, Trump quickly learned that giving the impression he was an isolationist who ruled out force would only invite enemies’ aggression.

Thus, in his first term, Trump successfully took out terrorists and paramilitaries like Qasem Soleimani, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the Wagner Group, and bombed ISIS—but mostly with air power, for short durations, and without many casualties.

The second time around, Trump was true to form in 2025 by severely damaging the Iranian nuclear facilities in a “war” consisting of only 25 hours of bombing runs over Iran. The 2026 day-long operation to capture dictator Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela was pulled off without American fatalities, leading neither to widespread damage to Venezuela nor to costly nation-building.

Instead, the Maduro arrest offered a real chance that Venezuela’s new strongwoman might at least cease its communist aggression in the region, stop shipping drugs and illegal aliens to the American homeland, reenter the free world’s oil market, and end its status as a Russian and Chinese proxy and an American enemy.

So far, Trump has had no forever wars.

And as a Jacksonian, Trump may achieve in Iran a great deal of good for the world without the costs of past “forever wars.” In any case, a six- to eight-week conflict of the current sort certainly does not fall into the category of an Iraq or Afghanistan endless conflict—unless it involves a substantial loss of American soldiers, a larger and longer ground war, and a theater-wide or superpower-level massive escalation.

Messaging

Finally, the administration’s media portrayal of the war has so far been workmanlike but not inspired, which has hurt public support for its Iranian agenda.

Here are the problems with the media strategy:

Administration and military officials mostly cite the numbers and percentages of missiles and drones taken out, sorties finished, sites destroyed, and leaders eliminated to suggest to the public that the war is almost won. True, such undeniably lopsided figures suggest Iran’s assets are rapidly diminishing.

But while all these numbers are accurate, they do not tell the entire story. Note that the original existing inventories of Iranian weapons were largely unknown. So exactly how many drones, missiles, nuclear sites, tunnels, Republican Guard leaders, and so on did Iran possess before the bombing started?

A better strategy would be to simply qualify the good news with something like, “Our damage to Iran has been massive on all fronts, but Iran is a rich, powerful, and large country with years to have hidden missile silos and launchers. And so our ambitious goals to completely destroy its ability to wage war will mean that Iran may, for a while longer, inflict sporadic but real damage, as we continue to find and finish off what we think are its vestigial forces.”

In contrast, the public does not wish to hear that “93 percent of missiles are destroyed” only to then listen to sensational reports of ballistic missiles falling on U.S. bases, drones ramming into airports in the Gulf, or massive cluster bomb attacks on Israel. The same is true of accurate reports that the major warships of the Iranian navy have been sunk. But they additionally had hundreds of small PT-like boats that can launch drones and rockets and perhaps drop mines. A better narrative would explain that. “We had destroyed Iran’s conventional navy, and now we can turn to its once vast fleet of patrol boats that pose a menace to shipping in the Gulf.”

So it would be preferable to say that a cornered and trapped Iran has long sequestered caches of missiles, drones, and boats, and our challenging mission is to find and soon destroy all of them.

The administration needs to be candid about its prewar aims and how they relate to the buzzphrase, “regime change.” It could reiterate that at the outset it sought to denuclearize Iran, end its drone and missile capabilities, disrupt its theocratic and military command and control, strangle aid to its terrorist proxies, diminish Iran as a regional and anti-American threat, and hope that such aid to Iranian dissidents (“help is on the way”) might soon lead to their successful removal of the regime.

Then it can honestly say that regime change was not its original goal, but it always hoped that the radical diminishment of Iranian power and prestige might empower its sizable and growing domestic resistance, which the U.S. sought to help by diminishing the theocracy.

The administration needs to counter left-wing and far-right hysteria about the supposedly undue influence of Israel.

Israel and the U.S. have many shared agendas—not all, but many—and weakening Iran in this operation is certainly at the top of their shared list. We realize that because we are powerful and at a distance from Iran, while Israel is nearer and more vulnerable, it will, from time to time, have different views of and solutions to Iran’s existential threats and must operate for its own national self-interest, as we do for our own.

But when our national interests dovetail—no terrorist entity has killed more Americans in the last half-century than has Iran—then we are proud and lucky to partner with Israel, a democracy and free society with a formidable record of military competency and a larger air force than any of our NATO partners—including Turkey, France, the UK, and Germany.

Despite the frenzy, the military side of the operation has gone particularly well, often conducted in brilliant fashion. But the hysterical politics of the war have been dangerous to the degree that it now threatens the very mission itself.

Remember: all that can be clearly won through battle can be lost through politics—as post-Vietnam America should know all too well.  

 

Photo: A journalist walks past the wreckage of vehicles during the visit of a car service centre in eastern Tehran that was hit by a missile strike, on March 28, 2026. Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic republic's supreme leader and sparking a war that has since spread across the Middle East. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) / 


Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is an American military historian, columnist, a former classics professor, and scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004, and is the 2023 Giles O'Malley Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush, and the Bradley Prize in 2008. Hanson is also a farmer (growing almonds on a family farm in Selma, California) and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. He is the author of the just released New York Times best seller, The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation, published by Basic Books on May 7, 2024, as well as the recent  The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won, The Case for Trump, and The Dying Citizen.

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/03/31/the-two-wars-for-iran-the-war-in-a-historical-context/

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'Woke pseudoscience': NIH awards new funding to transgender mice experiments after DOGE cutoff - Greg Piper

 

​ by Greg Piper

Funding for UC San Diego study had been reinstated under court order last summer, but budget period ended and NIH was under no legal obligation to issue new award, anti-animal testing watchdog says. FOIA lawsuit filed.

 

Less than a year after the Department of Government Efficiency abruptly halted funding for transgender experiments on animals, intended to improve so-called gender-affirming care for humans, the National Institutes of Health chose to fund at least one again.

The University of California San Diego study of "androgen effects on the reproductive neuroendocrine axis" to fine-tune male hormones for women who identify as men, using mice that were "gonadectomized," injected with testosterone and decapitated, received another $584,117 for fiscal 2026, following the $646,301 it received for fiscal 2025.

Last summer, a federal court ordered NIH to resume funding hundreds of studies including UCSD's trans mice research, saying their termination had been "arbitrary and capricious," but the order applied only to the grants' current budget periods, according to the anti-animal testing White Coat Waste Project, which showed the Jan. 16 approval to Just the News.

NIH funding policy says it has no "legal obligation to provide funding beyond the ending date of the current budget period" and warns grantees that "projected levels of future support are contingent on satisfactory progress, the availability of funds, and the continued best interests of the Federal government."

That means NIH's legal obligation to the UCSD study ended Nov. 30 with its budget end date, said WCW Senior Vice President Justin Goodman.

NIH is also funding a parallel human study by UCSD researchers, last updated Jan. 15, to understand "the mechanism of menstrual disruption" for women who identify as men and receive "testosterone replacement therapy." Flooding female physiology with wrong-sex hormones is known to have severe side effects far beyond menstruation.

They are studying "blood reproductive hormone secretion" in these women before and during hormone therapy, and in female control subjects who do not identify as men.

Stop 'wasting money on this woke pseudoscience': Rep. Gosar

Goodman said the court-ordered resumption of funding for the UCSD trans mice study "seems to undermine" HHS's response to The Gateway Pundit, two months later, about four NIH grants for University of Florida research that floods male macaque monkeys with estrogen to model "feminizing hormone therapy" for men who identify as women.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blamed "an Anthony Fauci grant from 2020 that terminated in 2022" for that study, which wasn't published until August 2025, in the medical journal Cell Reports.

Dr. Fauci led the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, reportedly retiring as the richest federal employee in history by salary, benefits and pension.

HHS further claimed that "none of the funds from these grants are currently funding transgender animal experiments, and no other NIH grants still fund transgender animal experiments," but walked that back after Gateway Pundit noted the court order to resume funding. 

"We believe the one you asked about," the trans monkey research, was part of that order, HHS said, but did not mention the also-reinstated UCSD trans mice research. 

"They haven’t comment[ed] on the UCSD grant at all, and their statement from August indicated they were[n't] funding any more transgender animal tests (which doesn’t appear to be true)," Goodman wrote in an email.

"Tax dollars shouldn’t be funding the Biden Administration's sickening transgender animal tests," Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar said in a statement to Just the News via WCW. He cosponsored the TRANS MICE Act (HR 4512) to ban such research following WCW's investigations, though it hasn't moved since introduction last summer.

"That’s why I’ve been working with White Coat Waste to stop the NIH and other federal agencies from wasting money on this woke pseudoscience ever again," Gosar said.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to Just the News queries on whether it favors research into improving gender-affirming care, as illustrated by NIH approving new money for trans mice experiments after its legal obligation ended and for the human study, and whether HHS gave incorrect information to The Gateway Pundit last summer.

"After White Coat Waste exposed it, President Trump quickly put transgender animal tests on the chopping block – and cut them," Goodman said in a lengthy statement. The annual National Defense Authorization Act signed by Trump in December includes a ban on "painful research" on domestic dogs and cats.

"The NIH is openly defying President Trump and blowing up claims from RFK’s team that it had stopped funding transgender animal tests," Goodman said.

Freedom of Information Act records show that this "Biden-era experiment ... will subject nearly 10,000 mice to horrific abuse – drilling into their skulls, injecting toxins into their brains, and ultimately decapitating them," he wrote.

Pentagon stonewalling on records from joint Thai monkey research

WCW has been on a tear against the Trump administration in recent months as federal science agencies gain allies among other animal-rights groups.

It filed a FOIA lawsuit Thursday against the Department of Defense – avoiding the "War" name instituted by Secretary Pete Hegseth – for videos, photos and other documents on its "taxpayer-funded primate experiments in the U.S. and foreign countries."

"The legal name of the agency for the purposes of the lawsuit is still DOD" and it wasn't meant as a dig at Hegseth, a spokesperson told Just the News.

The Pentagon has given no response to three WCW FOIA requests five to nine months after acknowledging them, and it never responded to the other two, according to the suit. 

WCW is seeking records from the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, in Thailand; U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit South, in Peru; Fort Detrick medical research institutes for chemical defense and infectious diseases, and the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Md., the home of NIH.

The Thailand primate colony, operated with the Royal Thai Army, "has quietly operated with millions of American tax dollars and minimal public scrutiny for decades," according to WCW, which said its investigation uncovered 500 monkeys in captivity and 30-45 bred each year. 

"These monkeys are abused in experiments involving infectious diseases like malaria, Zika, dengue, typhus, shigella, and SHIV," WCW said. "They are surgically mutilated, intentionally infected with diseases, forced to ingest drugs, fed to disease-carrying mosquitoes, and subjected to sleep deprivation tests."

Citing a public grant database, WCW said DoD paid the disgraced animal breeder Envigo more than half a million dollars just last year to ship another 18 monkeys from the U.S. to Thailand, years after the Department of Agriculture cited Envigo for dozens of Animal Welfare Act violations. It was forced to shut down a Virginia breeding facility


Greg Piper

Source: https://justthenews.com/accountability/watchdogs/woke-pseudoscience-nih-awards-new-funding-transgender-mice-experiments

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