Trump Must Abandon His Dangerous Plan to Sell F-35s to Turkey - Con Coughlin

 

by Con Coughlin

According to the report published by Israel's i24News, Kurdish militias were preparing to launch an attack on Iran with the aim of instigating a nationwide rebellion against the ayatollahs' tyrannical rule when the US halted the operation due to pressure from Erdogan.

 

• Trump's willingness to even consider lifting the F-35 ban is being seen in the context of his charm offensive to forge closer ties with Erdogan, an initiative the American leader has undertaken despite the Turkish leader's well-documented support for radical Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

• Erdogan also seems to have initiated a charm offensive, most likely with at least a partial view to prying loose those F-35s.

• According to the report published by Israel's i24News, Kurdish militias were preparing to launch an attack on Iran with the aim of instigating a nationwide rebellion against the ayatollahs' tyrannical rule when the US halted the operation due to pressure from Erdogan.

• Apart from Erdogan's long-held support for the Islamist ideology espoused by the expansionist Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, the Turkish leader has also been accused of actively thwarting the Trump administration's attempts to disarm Hamas terrorists in Gaza as part of its peace initiative in the enclave.

• Efforts to pressure Hamas's terrorist leadership into fulfilling its disarmament obligations have, though, been stymied by the interventions of Turkey and Qatar, the Gulf state that also supports a variety of Islamist groups, which have actively used their influence to delay the disarmament process.

• Turkey's obstructive approach to the disarmament issue in Gaza follows a series of public statements in which Erdogan has explicitly stated that he regards Israel as a potential enemy, and that the two countries could soon find themselves involved in a direct military confrontation. With Turkey desperately jockeying to replace Iran as the region's dominant power, such a prospect cannot be dismissed lightly.

US President Donald Trump's willingness to even consider lifting the F-35 ban is being seen in the context of his charm offensive to forge closer ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an initiative the American leader has undertaken despite the Turkish leader's well-documented support for radical Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Pictured: Trump speaks with Erdogan during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Emrah Gurel/Pool/Getty Images)

US President Donald Trump must abandon his plans to sell Turkey highly sophisticated F-35 stealth fighters because of the deeply duplicitous conduct Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan displayed during efforts to end hostilities between the US and Iran.

Trump's willingness to even consider lifting the F-35 ban is being seen in the context of his charm offensive to forge closer ties with Erdogan, an initiative the American leader has undertaken despite the Turkish leader's well-documented support for radical Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

Trump's courtship of Erdogan, moreover, is continuing despite concerns being raised about Turkey's duplicitous involvement in peace talks to end the Iran war. While, in public, Ankara has said its main objective is to end hostilities in the Gulf, it has also been working quietly behind the scenes to provide support for the beleaguered ayatollahs.

The latest evidence highlighting Erdogan's continued support for the Iranian regime is contained in reports that Turkey actively thwarted a joint military operation backed by the US and Israel to launch a Kurdish-led incursion of Iran in the early stages of the war aimed at overthrowing the Islamic regime.

According to the report published by Israel's i24News, Kurdish militias were preparing to launch an attack on Iran with the aim of instigating a nationwide rebellion against the ayatollahs' tyrannical rule when the US halted the operation due to pressure from Erdogan.

Erdogan's openly Islamist agenda certainly also makes a compelling argument for Trump to give serious consideration to reversing his decision to lift the ban preventing Ankara's acquisition of F-35 warplanes.

Apart from Erdogan's long-held support for the Islamist ideology espoused by the expansionist Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, the Turkish leader has also been accused of actively thwarting the Trump administration's attempts to disarm Hamas terrorists in Gaza as part of its peace initiative in the enclave.

The requirement for Hamas to fully surrender all of its weapons was a key demand of Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan.

Efforts to pressure Hamas's terrorist leadership into fulfilling its disarmament obligations have, though, been stymied by the interventions of Turkey and Qatar, the Gulf state that also supports a variety of Islamist groups, which have actively used their influence to delay the disarmament process.

Turkey's obstructive approach to the disarmament issue in Gaza follows a series of public statements in which Erdogan has explicitly stated that he regards Israel as a potential enemy, and that the two countries could soon find themselves involved in a direct military confrontation. With Turkey desperately jockeying to replace Iran as the region's dominant power, such a prospect cannot be dismissed lightly.

Erdogan also seems to have initiated a charm offensive, most likely with at least a partial view to prying loose those F-35s.

Despite Erdogan's professed Islamist sympathies and his deepening antagonism towards Israel, Trump has nevertheless expressed his intention to sell the F-35s to Ankara after meeting with Erdogan at the start of the recent NATO summit in Ankara.

Trump previously blocked Turkey's participation in the F-35 programme during his first term in the White House, following Ankara's decision to purchase Russia's S-400 air defence system.

Erdogan is arguing that he has not yet unpacked the S-400s, which were built for one reason: to target and defeat the F-35s. Presumably he will unpack them after the F-35s have been safely delivered.

The move prompted fears within the Pentagon that allowing Turkey access to the top-secret F-35 programme would enable the Russians, who have close ties with Ankara, to gain access to the warplane's stealth technology, thereby compromising its ability to evade Russian anti-aircraft systems.

Despite these well-documented objections to Turkey's participation in the F-35 programme, with Ankara said to be lobbying to purchase up to 100 of the stealth fighters, Trump now appears minded to ease the ban he imposed during his first term and allow the sale of the aircraft to Turkey to proceed.

When asked at the NATO summit about lifting the ban on Turkey buying the warplanes, Trump replied, "That's a decision we're going to make... it's a great plane, the best plane by far, and it's certainly something we will consider."

Trump's change of heart on the F-35 issue has already prompted widespread criticism from numerous quarters. Greece, which historically remains at odds with Turkey on a number of regional issues, such as Turkey's continued occupation of northern Cyprus, has indicated its dismay at the decision.

Trump's move should also attract strong opposition from Israel, the other country most immediately threatened by a frequently bellicose Turkey (as here, here, here and here). Israel has already successfully integrated the F-35 into its air force, with the stealth warplane playing a pivotal role in the recent military campaigns against Iran.

The Israel Air Force has been so impressed with the F-35's performance that the Israeli government recently announced its intention to purchase a further 50 of the planes, a move deemed to be vital to maintaining Israel's all-important air superiority in the Middle East.

Any move by the US to sell F-35s to Ankara could compromise Israel's air supremacy by providing the Turks with the ability to analyse the top-secret technology that gives the Israel Air Force a decisive advantage in air combat.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already voiced his opposition to the proposed deal, warning in an interview with CNN that the sale of America's most advanced fighter aircraft "doesn't make Turkey a friendly state to the United States." In part of an escalating dispute with Erdogan, Netanyahu described Ankara as "a regime that's infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the United States."

Trump's proposal to sell F-35s to Turkey should provoke fierce opposition in the US Congress, which one hopes will be unwilling to lift the ban imposed on Turkey because of its close ties with Russia and Iran, as well as its ongoing, if temporarily subdued, hostility to Israel and Greece, and expanding its hold on occupied Cyprus.

The first public move against a possible policy change on the F-35 issues has come from US Representative Dina Titus (D-NV), who has gathered the signatures of 18 members on a letter to the leadership of the House of Representatives.

The lawmakers are calling for guarantees that current US law will be upheld and that Congress will be ready to intervene if the administration attempts to move ahead with Turkey's return to the programme.

With opposition mounting on all sides to the proposed deal, Trump would be well-advised to take heed of his critics and abandon his plan to provide the world's most sophisticated warplanes to Turkey's openly pro-Islamist, charming but ruthless leader — who thinks nothing of decimating his country's military, disabling any political opposition, and imprisoning, torturing and deporting journalists, persecuting Christians, Kurds, Alevis and other perceived dissidents.

Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22714/trump-turkey-f35

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IDF intercepts missile fragments after Iran attacks southern Jordan - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

No air-raid sirens were activated.

 

The Jordanian city of Aqaba as seen from the Israeli city of Eilat, Feb. 10, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.

The Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that its air defenses aided in intercepting ballistic missile fragments after Iran attacked the Jordanian city of Aqaba.

“The IDF aided in the interception of debris,” a military spokesperson confirmed to JNS. No air-raid sirens were activated in Israel.

Flights to and from Ramon Airport near the southern resort city of Eilat were briefly suspended during the interceptions, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported. A Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport reportedly turned back amid the attack.

Video posted on social media, apparently taken from Eilat, appears to show rocket interceptors launched over the city. The IDF has reported it launched interceptors at missile fragments following launches detected from Iran and alarms sounding in Jordan. pic.twitter.com/VGwCHny5hS

— Jerusalem News Syndicate (@JNS_org) July 19, 2026

In an earlier statement, the IDF had warned that the projectiles’ impacts could spill over into Israeli territory. It said air-raid sirens might sound in southern Israel as a precautionary measure.

“If a siren is sounded, the public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice,” the IDF stated.

The military said there was no immediate change to Home Front Command guidelines, adding that the public would be updated if instructions changed following a situational assessment.

The IDF statement came shortly after the U.S. embassy in Amman urged Americans to avoid the port of Aqaba and the nearby airport, saying Jordanian authorities evacuated both facilities because of a “specific and credible threat.”

“We strongly advise all Americans to refrain traveling to either the airport or seaport,” the embassy said in a security alert.

Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad Momani told the state-run Petra News Agency that “the relevant Jordanian authorities have not recorded any potential threats during the past several hours.

“Aqaba airport and the seaport are operating normally,” he added.

The U.S. warning followed Iranian missile and drone attacks on military facilities in Jordan on Friday that killed two U.S. service members. A third service member remains missing.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/news/israel-news/idf-sirens-may-sound-in-southern-israel-due-to-iranian-attack-on-jordan

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Sinwar document details plans for ‘10,000-strong’ terror invasion force - Yaakov Lappin

 

by Yaakov Lappin

Meir Amit Center deputy director told JNS a separate Sinwar document explicitly instructed terrorists to document atrocities against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

 

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza’s tunnels. Credit: IDF.

 

Documents obtained by the IDF during ground operations in the Gaza Strip continue to shed light on the thinking of Oct. 7, 2023, massacre mastermind and former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

On July 13, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center released newly captured documents detailing Sinwar’s plans for Hamas terror squads to seize 25 junctions, more than 220 Israeli villages, towns, cities and military facilities using a force of some 10,000 operatives. The document instructed terrorists to “expel the settlers,” particularly women and children, kidnap men between the ages of 17 and 50, and included Sinwar’s assessment that Israel could respond by using “a nuclear bomb” against Gaza.

The documents build on additional Hamas materials published by the center in March 2025, which showed that Hamas viewed the Oct. 7 assault as the opening phase of a multi-dimensional war aimed at dismantling the State of Israel.

Documenting atrocities

Dr. Hayim Iserovich, deputy director and head of research at the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center and co-author of the latest report, told JNS in recent days:

“The interesting thing is that in another captured document that Sinwar wrote on the same day, and which we published in October 2025, he speaks explicitly about documenting atrocities against civilians and soldiers inside Israel.”

The filming of the massacres was intended “both to instill terror in Israelis with the goal of amplifying the impact of the attack, and to awaken the other arenas,” Iserovich said.

“We do not know which of the documents was written first, and we also do not know if Sinwar shared the directives he formulated with other senior Hamas officials or if he composed this as his own collection of ideas,” Iserovich said.

“However, the very appearance of the directive to document atrocities in the parallel document, even if it does not appear in the new document, indicates that the idea already existed at the base of the plan, at least in the feverish mind of the architect of the massacre,” he added.

According to the report, the captured documents reveal close attention to logistical and tactical details, from infiltration routes across the border fence to procedures for taking hostages back into Gaza.

The plan relied on a prolonged deception campaign designed to lull Israeli political and military leaders into a false sense of security while Hamas steadily expanded its military capabilities underground.

Once complete surprise had been achieved, the goal was to overwhelm the IDF’s defensive lines before reinforcements could arrive, allowing Nukhba terrorists to penetrate deep into Israeli civilian communities, according to the documents.

Propaganda strategy

“The issue of the battle over the cognitive arena in the Palestinian arena is stressed in the captured document, with an instruction to present the attack as a ‘human’ event designed to apply the ‘right of return’ narrative of the Palestinians, under the banner of ‘returning to our homes,’” the report stated.

According to IDF assessments, the first wave of the Hamas assault, which began at 6:29 a.m. on Oct. 7, included 1,175 terrorists. A second wave added 600 terrorists, while a third wave included 1,325 additional Hamas terrorists and 580 operatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups.

The report said 27 terrorist cells spearheaded the initial breach of the border barrier, creating 114 breach points and using 59 infiltration routes into Israel.

“Unlike the instructions to expel the women and children and kidnap men aged 17 to 50, the terrorists implemented the instructions in the first document through acts of massacre that were documented in real time, and the kidnapping of 251 soldiers and civilians, including small children, women, and the elderly,” the report concluded.

Yaakov Lappin is an Israel-based military affairs correspondent and analyst. He is the in-house analyst at the Miryam Institute; a research associate at the Alma Research and Education Center; and a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is a frequent guest commentator on international television news networks, including Sky News and i24 News. Lappin is the author of Virtual Caliphate: Exposing the Islamist State on the Internet. Follow him at: www.patreon.com/yaakovlappin.

Source: https://www.jns.org/analysis/captured-sinwar-document-outlines-plans-for-10-000-strong-terror-invasion-force

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Iran FM admits suspected Israeli intelligence leak inside regime likely still exists - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted the intelligence breach that enabled Israel to strike Iran's top leadership 'likely still exists,' highlighting Tehran's continued fears of an internal leak.

 

Abbas Araghchi                                                   REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

An extraordinary admission by Iran's foreign minister has shed new light not only on the depth of Israel's intelligence penetration, but also on the lingering shock that continues to grip the leadership of the Islamic Republic. More than a year after Tehran suffered a devastating blow at the opening of the conflict, Iran's greatest fear no longer appears to be another Israeli strike-it is the possibility that someone deep within the regime is still passing highly sensitive information to Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged in a Persian-language interview that the intelligence breach that enabled Israel to reach the highest levels of the Iranian leadership "likely still exists." The remarkable statement suggests that, even today, Tehran has little confidence that its internal security apparatus has succeeded in sealing the leak that exposed its most closely guarded secrets.

According to Araghchi, on the morning of February 28 he told President Masoud Pezeshkian that "the atmosphere was one of war." At 9:00 a.m., he met with Ali Asghar Mir Hejazi, a senior aide to then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Shortly afterward, Israel launched a devastating strike that hit the very heart of Iran's decision-making establishment.

The opening barrage killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and eliminated 40 additional senior commanders. By Iran's own account, the attack struck the country's political and military leadership while several of its top decision-making bodies were meeting simultaneously.

Araghchi said Khamenei was in his office at the time, while the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations was holding its weekly session and the Supreme Defense Council was also convening. "Holding parallel meetings was not unusual in those days," he said, before making what may have been his most revealing admission: "The enemy's knowledge of these meetings was the result of an information breach that likely still exists."

The statement underscores what has been widely viewed as one of Israel's most significant intelligence achievements in its confrontation with Iran. Beyond the elimination of senior officials, Araghchi's remarks indicate that Israel had access to exceptionally sensitive information regarding the regime's schedule, the whereabouts of its top leadership, and the timing of critical meetings. For Tehran, the implications extend far beyond the damage already inflicted-they point to an enduring inability to determine whether its security institutions have truly regained control.

More than a year after the events, the Iranian regime still appears to be struggling to repair the fractures exposed that day. Persistent concerns over an unresolved intelligence breach, combined with extraordinary security measures surrounding the country's leadership, paint the picture of a regime operating under a cloud of deep mistrust and uncertainty.

The extent of that anxiety was further illustrated by Araghchi's revelation that he has yet to meet Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in person. "Only a handful of people have met with him," he said, highlighting the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the new leadership and its continuing fear of another intelligence penetration.

Taken together, the foreign minister's comments amount to far more than a retrospective account of a past operation. They portray an Iranian regime still grappling with the consequences of one of the most devastating security failures in its history, while the shadow of Israeli intelligence continues to loom over the highest levels of power in Tehran, raising questions about the regime's ability to protect even its most senior officials. 

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430414

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Memos reveal FBI faced roadblocks to prosecute possible 2020 Michigan voter registration fraud - Steven Richards

 

by Steven Richards

The FBI collected witness interviews alleging voter registration fraud in Michigan in 2020. Newly-disclosed documents show

 

Contained in the trove of election-related documents President Donald Trump released to the public on Thursday are the FBI’s investigative files and communications about a possible voter registration fraud scheme in Muskegon, Mich., that ended without prosecution. 

In 2020, the Muskegon Police Department and Michigan State Police identified a possible voter registration fraud scheme centered on a firm called GBI Strategies.

It prompted an investigation after which the materials were turned over to the FBI, according to the dozens of pages of police reports from the Michigan agencies reviewed by Just the News in 2023. 

"Pay, play, and cheat"

The declassified files show, for the first time, how the FBI conducted its investigation into the allegations and provide new details about what became of the probe. 

“The documents state that some canvassers admitted to FBI agents that they signed voter registration forms in other people's names, submitted fraudulent registration for people who did not exist, and received gift cards tied to their number of applications that they produced,” President Trump said on Thursday. “In other words, it was pay, play, and cheat.” The president said he is asking the FBI Director to reopen the probe to ensure that the matter is fully investigated and accused the Biden Justice Department of slow walking the probe. 

The Muskegon Police Department began investigating GBI Strategies after the Muskegon City Clerk’s Office reported suspected voter registration fraud, according to a police report dated Oct. 16, 2020, which Just the News obtained from a FOIA request in 2023. The Muskegon Police Department, alongside the Michigan State Police, found that some of the registration forms included biographical information that did not match to real people or addresses that did not exist. 

Michigan’s Attorney General eventually referred the probe to the FBI because of its national jurisdiction, Just the News reported. 

But, what the FBI did with the information remained a mystery. In September 2023, the FBI denied a Freedom of Information Act request from Just the News seeking its investigative files into the suspected fraud, citing an exemption in that law regarding ongoing investigations. 

The now-public documents show that the FBI team in Detroit conducted several interviews with canvassers who registered people to vote as part of the campaign organized by GBI Strategies. Many told investigators directly that they were told to fill out false information or that they believed it was likely that others were doing so, according to the FBI-302 memos made public by the White House. 

FBI-302s are forms used by the bureau to summarize interviews taken during an investigation.

One canvasser alleged that the local company leadership directed employees to fill in fake information in order to complete more applications.   

“[Name redacted] told all of the employees that if they couldn't get enough applications, they should just fill them in,” according to one FBI-302 of a canvasser. “One of the employees asked what this person meant […] whichever [person] it was picked up a blank application and filled it out with made-up information and said, ‘this is what I mean.” 

Canvasers told to make up names or use anyone else’s name

Further, the employee alleged the leadership said “to put any number she could think of for the social security number, but not to use her own social security number or date of birth” and that “she could make up names or use anyone else’s name.” 

“[Redacted] would return to the office at the end of her shift and fill in enough blank sheets with made-up people so that she reached her daily quota,” the FBI-302 said. The individual told investigators that she estimated she submitted “100 fake voter registrations” to the group. 

You can read the documents below: 

Muskegon FBI probe.pdf

Another canvasser who worked for the company for about a week in 2020 said he “never collected any names,” but would “just sit in his car the whole shift and would put down a name of a friend or relative in order to have something to turn in with his clipboard.” 

Another employee disputed the allegation that canvassers were directed to fill in false information, but noted, “Most of the employees submitted voter registrations with false information because it was "easy money.” “She never submitted any applications with fake signatures. She only heard about people submitting falsified forms,” the FBI agents added. 

Several other employees told investigators they were either directed to put false information on registration forms or at least believed that other employees were doing so, according to the memos. 

Initially, when the FBI was made aware of the allegations, the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section (PIN) only approved a more narrow probe into the special debit cards the registration company was using to pay employees, rather than the allegations of voter registration fraud uncovered by Michigan authorities. 

“PIN does not concur at this time, barring further predication, with a specific investigation focused purely on the voter registration fraud that has been investigated by State law enforcement officials,” an official from the DOJ’s Criminal Division (CRM) wrote to the FBI agents in March 2021. 

Biden's DOJ decided to not push investigation

By November 2021, a CRM official noted that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Michigan and the FBI office decided not to seek “further investigative or prosecutive action at this time,” according to one email. 

However, as the FBI office began to wrap up the probe pursuant to that decision, one agent sent a detailed email in June 2022 to the Justice Department raising concerns that the voter registration fraud allegations had not received a “full field investigation.” 

“I am one of the agents assigned to the [redacted] investigation out of FBI Detroit. We are preparing to close the investigation. Before we do so, I was hoping to discuss with you the limited scope that PIN approved into the investigation of the fraudulent voter registration applications,” an FBI agent wrote. “After reviewing ‘Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses’ (December 2017), put out by the DOJ's Public Integrity Section, it appears as though this type of fraud would result in a full field investigation.”

The agent argued that the alleged actions by several canvassers matched the regulations for a full investigation into possible voter fraud, including suspicion of submitting false information and  false information in, and payments for, registered voting.

“I understand that proving this was done ‘willfully’ would still be difficult, but I wanted to raise my concerns before closing the case and was hoping to better understand the reasoning behind not approving a full investigation,” the agent concluded. 

According to a timeline of the investigation, the Public Integrity Section agreed that agents at the Detroit office could review the voter registration applications and “run database checks.” 

91 of 107 registrations examined proved to be fake

In one analysis of 107 voter registration forms, investigators conducted a database search to identify applications with “potentially fraudulent” information. The search revealed that 91 of the 107 individuals were not found in the database. Among the 16 remaining individuals confirmed to be existing people, only four had signatures that matched the voter registration applications. 

A few months earlier, agents had conducted a check on 20 “randomly selected” applications from the batch of those identified as potentially fraudulent by Michigan authorities. Investigators found that seven “contain completely fabricated information,” four contained real names but mismatched biographical information, one “is for someone who does not appear to have ever lived in Muskegon,” and another had a middle name that did not match. The other seven applications all appeared legitimate. 

After the initial checks, the Public Integrity Section authorized a full investigation into the allegations, after which the Detroit FBI office began the canvasser interviews that stretched into 2023.

The investigation timeline provided in the batch of declassified documents shows that the FBI investigators struggled to get “Lab results” and “handwriting analysis” results in a timely fashion. The U.S. Attorney’s Office told investigators that it “could not make a final determination until testing was complete.” 

The final tests were ultimately sent to the Assistant U.S. Attorney by May 2024. Later that summer, the Justice Department determined that no charges would be filed in the case, the timeline shows. 

In October 2024, the timeline shows the U.S. attorney was “reconsidering prosecution.” His office called the FBI Detroit office and asked for copies of the FD-302s from the probe, but no further decisions were made. 

President Trump believes the slow progress of the case is evidence that the Biden-era Justice Department delayed the prosecution. “The Biden Department of Justice slow-walked the investigation and killed it,” he said in his speech.   

Steven Richards

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/declassified-docs-give-inside-look-fbis-probe-alleged-michigan-voter

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Trump calls on GOP to add Iran to Russia sanctions bill - Nicholas Ballasy

 

by Nicholas Ballasy

"That’s what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen. IMPORTANT!!!" Trump wrote.

 

President Trump on Sunday called on Republicans to add Iran to the current Russian sanctions bill that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham was working on before his death.

"Republicans should add Iran to the Russian Sanctions Bill. That’s what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen. IMPORTANT!!!" he wrote on social media. 

The sanctions bill was revised recently to ease some of the provisions on tariffs related to China and India as a way to win broader support, Reuters reported.  

Nicholas Ballasy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/trump-calls-gop-add-iran-russia-sanctions-bill

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Iran: Cashing Chips Won in War - Amir Taheri

 

by Amir Taheri

After almost half a century, it must now be clear to all that the Khomeinist regime is incapable of reforming itself unless it is for the worse.

 

• Faced with such a foe... the worst thing to do is wound him but let him live.

• After almost half a century, it must now be clear to all that the Khomeinist regime is incapable of reforming itself unless it is for the worse.

• The negotiating process that, in the absence of grown-ups, that is to say professional diplomats from the US, produced the shambolic "memorandum of mis-understanding" is at a dead end. Those in Tehran who might want a deal don't have the power to do so. And those who have the power don't want a deal.

• The good news is that for the first time in almost half a century, the idea of regime change is gaining traction inside Iran, even within the regime's core support base.

• The "Iran problem" is a multifaceted challenge that cannot be met solely by bombing. It requires political spadework with elements within the regime and its peripheries that fear the loss of their wealth or even lives.

After almost half a century, it must now be clear to all that the Khomeinist regime is incapable of reforming itself unless it is for the worse. Pictured: Members of the Iranian security forces stand under a billboard of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on April 9, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

After more than a year of war, albeit with on-and-off fighting spells, it is perhaps time for US President Donald Trump to take stock of what has happened so far as a guide to what he might do next.

But before he does that, he needs to ponder the key question: is this a war of choice or of necessity?

Wars of choice seldom produce the results desired by those who start them. One example was the US war in Vietnam, later expanded to Cambodia and Laos. Another was the 1956 British-led war against Egypt. The Soviet involvement in Afghanistan was another example of wars of choice, as was President Bill Clinton's decision to intervene in Somalia.

Currently the most glaring example is the war that Russian President Vladimir Putin started against Ukraine. In wars of choice, even if you emerge as victor, which is seldom the case, the reward you get is often less than the price you paid in blood and treasure.

Wars of choice are children of jingoistic minds. The disastrous Crimean War began in 1853 with the chant: "We don't want war - but by jingo if we do. We've the men, the ships and the money too!"

In contrast, a war of necessity happens because the status quo you find yourself confronted with has become intolerable on a medium- to long-term basis or because you have been attacked and you have no choice but to respond. In 1939, despite its comparative weakness in men and materiel, Britain couldn't have thrown in the towel without at least testing the first rounds of combat.

Back to the current war: judged by six different administrations in Washington, the status quo that existed between the unsavory Khomeinist regime in Tehran and the United States had not morphed into a clear and present danger to either side.

Based on that judgment, the US administrations tried a number of schemes to prevent the Islamic Republic from becoming a clear and present danger in the future. They imagined that down the line, Tehran's rulers, besotted by a deadly ideology, would develop intercontinental ballistic missiles, fit them with nuclear warheads, and threaten to hit New York.

But even if that assumption were right, you already have North Korea, which has the missiles and the nuclear warheads. The difference is that Kim Jong Un threatens to hit San Francisco.

Seen from the US and many other countries, especially in the region, the Islamic Republic is a deadly threat. Iran is a large country, rich in natural and human resources, that if mobilized for doing mischief, could do a great deal of harm. From that angle, it is not just a competitor, rival, or mere adversary. Nor is it just another classical enemy or foe. It has shown it will massacre its own citizens by the thousands and deprive them of daily bread to finance the killing of Syrians and Lebanese, among many other nations.

Faced with such a foe, or hostis humani generis as the old Latin phrase says, the worst thing to do is wound him but let him live. With such a foe, you either kill him or transform him into a friend. Successive US administrations never managed to decide which of the two options to seriously pursue. President George W. Bush spoke of "goodwill breeding goodwill" only to see more Americans being seized as hostages by the Khomeinists.

Clinton's shibboleth was "containment" plus cuddling the mullahs. He was rewarded by attacks on US embassies and bases in the region. Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden bought into Tehran's narrative and forged the disastrous JCPOA "nuclear deal" based on a non-existent fatwa by Ali Khamenei. This gave that expert in Madison Street-style self-promotion, General Qassem Soleimani, the ability to build an empire that at one point controlled four Arab capitals.

After almost half a century, it must now be clear to all that the Khomeinist regime is incapable of reforming itself unless it is for the worse. The current war has shown that short of a full military invasion of Iran, there is little chance of the truncated leadership in Tehran to substantially change its behavior.

Right now, almost all options seem unattractive. Bombing the same targets in Iran again and again achieves little even in military terms. Even taking control of the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz by the US won't restore normal navigation.

The "nuclear threat" from Iran is more remote than ever. Almost the whole nuclear industry has been shut for at least the past six months. The "targeted killing" of Iran's top 23 nuclear scientists has produced a gap that could take years to bridge.

The negotiating process that, in the absence of grown-ups, that is to say professional diplomats from the US, produced the shambolic "memorandum of mis-understanding" is at a dead end. Those in Tehran who might want a deal don't have the power to do so. And those who have the power don't want a deal.

The good news is that for the first time in almost half a century, the idea of regime change is gaining traction inside Iran, even within the regime's core support base. For obvious reasons, the war halted that traction but didn't end it. If Trump cannot change the regime in Tehran, it doesn't mean that Iranians can't either.

Despite the brouhahas prompted by Trumpophobia, the Islamic Republic has been defeated in this war and knows it. And defeat in war is often a prelude to regime change.

The regime is clearly indicating its fear that a halt to bombing by the US while "maximum pressure" measures continue could encourage its many opponents inside Iran, including sections of the Khomeinist constituency, to restart the revolts that shook it last winter.

The "Iran problem" is a multifaceted challenge that cannot be met solely by bombing. It requires political spadework with elements within the regime and its peripheries that fear the loss of their wealth or even lives.

Contact is also needed with opposition forces inside Iran and diplomatic efforts to persuade regional and European nations to sing from the same hymn sheet on Iran. The ultimate aim would be to translate military victory into a political one. There are times when war is the continuation of politics by other means. But there are also times that politics is the means of cashing the chips won in war. That strategy, however, requires patience and persistence, not yawing from one tweet to another.

Gatestone Institute would like to thank the author for his kind permission to reprint this article in slightly different form from Asharq Al-Awsat.

 

Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications, published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987. He graciously serves as Chairman of Gatestone Europe.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22713/iran-cashing-chips-won-in-war

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Title IX’s Failed Experiment: Why Accommodating Sex Differences Beats Engineered Parity - Scott Yenor

 

by Scott Yenor

America’s experiment with Title IX social engineering has failed.

 

 

In 2024, an Algerian biological male defeated a Chinese woman for Olympic women’s boxing gold. The spectacle shocked the world and renewed calls to protect single-sex women’s sports. Yet defending such boundaries in the U.S. under today’s civil rights regime is harder than it should be. Decades of Title IX enforcement have turned a seemingly modest anti-discrimination law into a powerful engine of feminist social engineering.

Title IX, passed in 1972, was intended to prohibit sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. Early regulations were flexible, as I show in a newly released report. Schools had to “accommodate the interests and abilities” of both sexes. A wide range of activities—club sports, intramurals, exercise classes—could count toward compliance. Female participation grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s, largely through voluntary cultural shifts coupled with modest federal pressure.

That changed in the 1990s. Regulations narrowed the definition of athletic opportunity to varsity competition only. A subsequent court case, Cohen v. Brown University, led to an inflexible demand placed on schools.

To comply with Title IX, schools had to demonstrate proportional parity between the percentage of female athletes and the percentage of female undergraduate enrollment. Federal courts and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights enforced this standard aggressively and consistently. Schools that failed to strive for proportional parity risked lawsuits.

Such lawsuits are still ongoing. Concordia-Irvine has a sex ratio among undergraduates at the national average—59 percent female. Women are only 51 percent of the athletes, however. Concordia has two sports—beach volleyball and stunt/cheer—that have no male equivalents.

When a budget crunch hit in 2025, Concordia announced that swimming and tennis for both men and women would be discontinued. Female athletes filed a class-action lawsuit against Concordia in August 2025, claiming that cutting women’s programs without first securing proportional parity violated Title IX. The federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against cutting the women’s tennis and swimming teams (but not against cutting the men’s sports). The female athletes have the current law on their side.

The result of Title IX regulations has been two systemic distortions. First, Title IX has imposed a male-normed, high-intensity competitive model on women’s sports. Only varsity competition counts. Cheerleading, dance, yoga, hiking clubs, and recreational activities—offerings more aligned with many women’s preferences—do not. This approach sidelines broader, participation-oriented models of women’s athletics.

Second, the drive for numerical parity has come at the expense of men’s non-revenue sports. Hundreds of men’s wrestling, gymnastics, swimming, and tennis programs have been cut or capped. Schools added niche women’s sports (rowing, equestrian, beach volleyball) primarily to pad rosters and meet proportionality targets. Men’s soccer and baseball grew far more slowly than women’s soccer and softball.

These distortions wrongly assume that differences in competitiveness and interest between the sexes are merely stereotypes to be engineered away. Men and women differ in their spontaneous interest in rough, competitive, team-based sports. Boys outnumber girls by large margins in basketball clubs and recreational leagues. Cross-cultural data confirm that men participate far more in physical competition across societies. These patterns are partly natural and only partly cultural.

A better approach is possible. True equality under Title IX does not require identical outcomes or the erasure of sex differences. It requires opportunity rooted in human nature. Proportionality mandates should be eliminated. Institutions should focus on genuine accommodation rather than engineered parity. Schools should be allowed to support different pathways for those who want them, including recreational, fitness, and lower-intensity options that match average female (and some male) preferences.

Such reforms would expand real female participation, protect men’s programs, and promote healthier lifelong habits of physical activity. America’s experiment with Title IX social engineering has failed. It is time to accommodate reality instead of trying to remake it.

This content was originally published at The Daily Signal. 

Scott Yenor is a professor of political science at Boise State University. He was the visiting fellow in American Political Thought in the Simon Center for Principles and Politics at The Heritage Foundation (2015-2016).

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2026/07/18/title-ixs-failed-experiment-why-accommodating-sex-differences-beats-engineered-parity/

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"Kangaroo court" | PMO fires back at Mamdani's arrest threats - Israel National News

 

by Israel National News

The Prime Minister's office accused NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani of threatening to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu out of self-interest rather than commitment to international law.

 

Zohran Mamdani                                                      ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

 

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted today in response to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

"The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis. Its bogus arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu was issued by a disgraced former ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, a few days before allegations of sexual misconduct against him became public. It was a clear attempt by Khan to divert public attention and seek protection from scrutiny."

"Under Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership, Israel has taken unprecedented wartime measures to minimize harm to civilians while confronting Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that uses Palestinians as human shields and deliberately targets innocent Israeli civilians," the office clarified.

"Instead of backing Khan's criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York. Like Karim Khan, Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East," the tweet concluded.

The remarks come in response to a NYT interview where Mamdani declared, "I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court."

Israel National News

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430412

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New York ranked last among states for legal protections of religious liberty - Chris Wade

 

by Chris Wade

Arkansas is ranked No. 1 in the new in this year's annual index by the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy at First Liberty Institute.

 

(The Center Square) -

New York is ranked last among U.S. states in legal protections of religious liberty, according to a new report that criticized the state's support for abortion and a lack of safeguards for religious groups.

The index, produced annually by the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy at First Liberty Institute, ranks each state based on 20 broad legal safeguards encompassing 50 specific statutory protections.

The report's authors evaluated each state's laws to determine if they protect the "free exercise of religion" in areas such as education, employment, health care, parental rights, licensing, and conscience protections.

New York was ranked 50th in the center's 2026 Religious Liberty in the States report released this week, dropping from 45th place just one year ago.

Among the issues that contributed to the state's low grading was the lack of a contraception refusal law, or protections shielding healthcare workers who object to abortion on religious groups from legal action if they choose not to participate in the procedure.

Other factors that restrict religious liberty in New York are a lack of religious accommodations for students and teachers, protections for faith-based adoption and foster care agencies and religious liberty protections for licensed professionals, according to the report's authors.

The Empire State also got low marks for not approving the state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Act, commonly known as a RFRA.

In 1993, Congress enacted the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Boerne v. Flores five years later ruled that the federal law could not be applied to state and local governments.

States have been encouraged to adopt their own versions to restore those protections under state law, and at least 30 have enacted their own religious freedom statutes, according to the group. New York is not among them.

In this year's report, Arkansas claimed the No. 1 ranking this year with an overall score of 89%, becoming the highest-ranked state in the fifth edition of the report. In the Northeast region, Vermont placed 49th, while New Hampshire was ranked 30th among states. Maine was ranked 43rd.

Only two states – Arkansas and Tennessee – were ranked “excellent” by the group, which cited state level approval of more than 80% of the legal protections included in the federal law. 

Chris Wade

Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/report-ranks-new-york-last-nation-religious-liberty

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