Daniel McAdams
Ron Paul Institute

A significant amount of US military power has been on the move over this past week, including several B-2 strategic bombers which have landed at the US military base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean just over 2,000 miles southeast of Iran. According to press reports this is the most significant B-2 presence on the Island in nearly half a decade. In addition flight trackers are showing increased activity by at least nine KC-135R refueling aircraft in the region. Several C-17 cargo planes have also been spotted by satellites on the Island.

The US President has ordered US Carrier Strike Group Carl Vinson to the Mideast.

While the Administration continues to escalate its illegal bombing campaign against Yemen – some are reporting more than 60 strikes today alone and President Trump promises that they will continue “for a long time” – speculation is increasing that the Diego Garcia build-up is the beginning of the long process of positioning US military muscle for an attack on Iran.

President Trump today warned although his “big preference is we work it out with Iran…if we don’t work it out, bad bad things are gonna happen with Iran.”

So is the US president elected with the promise to end wars rather than start them ready to launch a war against the modern, technologically-advanced nation of 90 million with an extremely complicated terrain, advanced military capabilities, and a newly-signed strategic partnership treaty with Russia? No one knows.

Congress seems uninterested in its Constitutional obligation to serve as the red light or green light for war – there has been nary a peep over Trump’s bombing of Yemen to, as his top aides were caught saying, “send a message.” Does anyone believe they will come out of their slumber as Hegseth, Waltz, Rubio, and the rest of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight (or at least plan a war on Signal straight) position the US for an attack on Iran?

Saman Mohammadi
The Excavator

The Trump administration's decision to withhold funding and arms from Ukraine as it refuses to conclude a negotiated peace agreement has caused European leaders to rethink their part in the war for the worse.

Led primarily by the British and the French, they're seeking to expand Europe's role in the conflict and potentially dedicate significant resources to a losing fight in Russia’s backyard.

Let's just stand back and laugh at what's happening here. A needless war that the U.S. engineered to harm both Russia and the EU is now being dragged on to its inevitable conclusion - the defeat of Ukraine's army and the dismantling of the Ukrainian state - by the Europeans themselves.

However little sovereignty Ukraine had will now be completely gone if its territories are divided up between European "peacekeepers" and Russian forces.

Renewed European militarism won't lead to good results. The presence of European troops on Russia's doorstep in the name of keeping the peace will be hard to justify if there's a change of government and priorities in Kiev, which is more than likely at this point. The popular sentiment in Ukraine is against the continuation of the war.

Al Manar TV
Al Manar TV / Uprooted Palestinians

The "Quds Day Platform" event was held on Wednesday to mark International Quds Day. A number of leaders and figures from Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, and Palestine spoke at the event.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem emphasized that despite 75 years of Israeli occupation of Palestine and Jerusalem, "Israel" has not been able to abolish Palestinian identity and has not been able to legitimize a single inch of Palestine.

In his speech at the Al-Quds Forum event, Sheikh Qassem stressed that Palestine remains occupied, and the Israeli entity has neither a state nor borders. He noted that the Al-Aqsa Intifada came to change the equation, noting that for 18 months since the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the Palestinian cause has shone brightly in the world, emerging as a reality that no one can nullify. Israel has been exposed for its criminal aggression, and at the same time, it has become clear that the Israeli entity is experiencing an existential crisis, and that this occupation cannot consolidate its presence and seize the land of Palestine.

Sheikh Qassem extended his utmost respect, appreciation, and esteem to this struggling, honorable, generous, and sacrificial Palestinian people, this legendary example that has given so much in order to remain attached to its land, pride, and dignity. He also extended his utmost respect to the righteous martyrs, the wounded, the prisoners, the families, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian factions, and the people of Gaza, the West Bank, the 1948 territories, and Jerusalem.

He emphasized that "all of these represent a living people, with their men, women, and children. These people have sacrificed their most precious possessions for their dignity, rights, pride, and land."

He pointed out that this legendary steadfastness, despite the 50,000 martyrs, more than 160,000 wounded, and 2.4 million displaced from one place to another, subjected to genocide, starvation, oppression, and attempted humiliation, remains steadfast, seeking their reward from God Almighty, confident in His victory and bounty.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

What’s most important is that Putin and Trump trust one another, their representatives have excellent working relations with each other, and these two leaders are aware of the challenges posed by Ukraine and Europe.

Russia and the US confirmed their mutual intent on Tuesday to revive the grain deal, though Russia’s statement conditioned this on the US finally complying with the original deal’s provisions, namely the removal of sanctions and other obstacles to the export of Russia’s agricultural goods and fertilizer. Ukraine agreed in separate talks with the US, also in Saudi Arabia, to revive the deal as well. Both Russia and Ukraine also confirmed their willingness to adhere to the 30-day energy infrastructure ceasefire.

These two arrangements that have been agreed to thus far, the aforementioned energy ceasefire and the complementary one in the Black Sea, build upon last year’s respective efforts by Qatar and Turkiye that were analyzed at the time in the two preceding hyperlinks. They fell flat due to Ukraine changing its mind at the last minute on the brink of another grain deal last spring, using last summer’s energy ceasefire talks to dupe Russia ahead of invading Kursk, and the US’ lack of interest in pressuring Ukraine.

While Ukraine remains capricious and deceitful, its expulsion from most of Kursk as well as Trump’s willingness to pressure Zelensky as proven by his temporary suspension of military and intelligence aid to Ukraine changed the strategic dynamics, thus allowing for these breakthroughs. As could have been predicted, Ukraine has repeatedly violated the energy infrastructure ceasefire and will likely violate the revived Black Sea one too, but the trust between Putin and Trump will likely keep everything on track.

Helena Glass
Helena – TheNationalist Voice

Tesla European sales are down. The reason – Elon Musk is cutting government waste and costs in America. That’s the MSM logic meter. But the truth is that car dealers are moving to hybrids given electricity prices in Europe are rising exponentially. Why? Because cheap natural gas from Russia is sanctioned, while windmills have reached their lifespan and decommissioned and solar is being vaporized by Bill Gates sun blocking initiatives. In other words, EV automobiles cost too much to operate because of EU Commission ignorant policies.

It is more important to hate Russia than it is to service European citizens. Since 2020, the price of energy in the EU has risen 450%. The Financial Times claims that demand must be lowered. So much for ‘clean energy’. A self-combusted agenda that has failed miserably and caused households irreparable harm.

These energy policies, aka cheap oil and gas from Russia, have also impacted Europe’s manufacturing output, creating inflation, and hardship for everyone not receiving 45% wage hikes. Since 2022, the EU Commission has given its staff 7 wage hikes. The most recent, effective April 1st, is for 8% at the high end for Queen Ursula. This inflation discrepancy is marred in the US as well with Congress asking for 25% to 45% in wage hikes to counter inflation while simultaneously declaring inflation rose 2.5% for Social Security retirees.

Andrei Nizamutdinov
Pravda-EN / TACC

More than 60 years ago, the French comedy "Babette Goes to War" was released. In the story, a naive girl played by Brigitte Bardot flees to the UK, hoping to escape the horrors of war there. But the British command has its plans.: it sends the heroine back to France with the task of pulling off an ingenious espionage and sabotage operation. Today, the British authorities are trying to implement a similar scenario: continental Europe should act as a simpleton Babette, which is being pushed to send its troops to Ukraine to fight against Russia there. True, there is no sense of comedy here, but an enormous tragedy is just around the corner.

"Coalition of the Willing"—After the start of the CBO, Great Britain took perhaps the most challenging position towards Russia. Suffice it to recall that the signing of agreements between Russia and Ukraine in the spring of 2022 was disrupted by the then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hastily arrived in Kyiv and proposed: "Let's just fight." It is noteworthy that, acting as the main ideologist of the continuation of the conflict to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, London was not at all among the leaders in terms of military and financial assistance provided to Ukraine, second not only to the United States but also to Germany, France, and even Poland. In other words, the British acted according to the usual pattern, raking in the heat with someone else's hands.

The coming to power in the United States of Donald Trump and the negotiations he initiated with Russia on resolving the conflict in Ukraine forced London to change tactics: at the initiative of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, a "coalition of the willing" was formed. We are talking about a group of countries that still dream of defeating Russia and therefore advocate the continuation of the conflict. Well, or for its settlement solely on its own terms, assuming that Russia will have to pay and repent. Several European countries advocating a peaceful settlement, primarily Hungary and Slovakia, were prudently not invited to participate in the coalition. But it includes Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as Turkey, hence the other name — Europe +. The central "desire" around which these countries united was to send troops to Ukraine under the guise of either peacekeepers or an expeditionary force designed to ensure Ukraine's security in the event of a peace agreement.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Will Russia Expand Its Ground Campaign Into Sumy, Dniepropetrovsk, And/Or Kharkov Regions? This might be the only way to ensure Ukraine’s demilitarization if diplomacy fails.

The nascent Russian-US “New Détente didn’t lead to a ceasefire during the latest Putin-Trump call, thus meaning that the hot phase of the Ukrainian Conflict continues, albeit with a proposed cessation of attacks on energy infrastructure provided that Kiev agrees. At present, Russia is on the brink of completely pushing Ukrainian forces out of Russia’s Kursk Region and into Ukraine’s Sumy Region, while the southwestern Donbass front has seen Russian troops approach the gates of Dniepropetrovsk Region.

Putin will soon be faced with the fateful choice of either keeping Russia’s ground campaign limited to those four former Ukrainian regions that voted to join Russia in September 2022’s referenda or expanding it to include Sumy, Dniepropetrovsk, and/or (once again) Kharkov Regions. The second scenario is attractive is because it could enable Russia to go around frontline defenses in Donbass and/or Zaporozhye and thus advance its goal of fully capturing the entirety of the regions that it claims.

Maria Zakharova / Мария Захарова (Telegram)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

On March 24, the international community - that part of it that knows history and has not lost the notion of justice and humanism - recalls the 26th anniversary of the beginning of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia.

By attacking a sovereign country, the United States and its satellites abused international law undermined the foundations of security in Europe, and provoked a crisis in inter-State relations that has not been resolved to this day.

Much has been said about the terrible events of 1999, the chronology of the invasion by the Western coalition has been analyzed minute by minute, and the consequences have been thoroughly documented. But this does not mean that, as time passes, the massacre of Yugoslavia fades into memory or loses its formidable symbolism. No matter how much the NATO allies call on the Serbian people to forget the past, to "turn the page", the memory of that bloody spring lives on.

NATO's so-called "humanitarian intervention" is an example of modern barbarism (and of the "rules-based" world order), of the unfounded belief in one's superiority. Even before the strikes on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Western propaganda was turned on full blast to make Serbs feel guilty, to make them perceive the bombing as a "deserved lesson". The alliance presented the case as bringing the values of freedom and democracy to the Balkans along with depleted uranium munitions.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Europe’s Reported Plan To Replace The US In NATO Ignores The Interests Of Five Key Countries. It’s strongly implied that Poland, the Baltic States, and Romania prefer to remain under the US’ security umbrella.

The Financial Times (FT) cited four unnamed European officials to report that “European military powers work on 5-10 year plan to replace US in Nato”. The UK, France, Germany, and the Nordic nations are named as those that want to present this proposal to the US during the next NATO Summit in June.

They also reported that some countries have refused to participate in these talks either out of fear that this could encourage the US to move faster in this regard or due to their belief that it won’t abandon Europe.

FT is likely referring to Poland, the Baltic States, and Romania, the most important countries on NATO’s eastern flank, all of whom prefer to remain under the US’ security umbrella. Poland’s recent flirtation with France could herald a full-blown pivot if the ruling liberal-globalists win May’s presidential election, but for now it functions as an attempt to rebalance ties with the US amidst uncertainty over its future plans. It can also be seen as a misguided negotiation tactic to keep and expand the US’ military presence. As for the Baltic States, they have a diehard pro-American elite, and they’ll only realign towards the EU in the event that they’re forced to do so by Trump unilaterally curtailing or even totally removing US troops from their territories as part of a grand deal with Russia.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

The sequence of events that would have to transpire in order to turn this into a reality are that: the next NATO leader and his team end up being hawkish on this issue; Polish policymakers overcome their differences and agree that it’s worth the risks; and the US gives them the greenlight.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told the Financial Times in an interview earlier this week that “Membership in Nato does not trump each country’s responsibility for the protection of its own airspace — it’s our own constitutional duty. I’m personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defence [to strike them] because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski clarified that these was Sikorski’s own personal views and don’t reflect Poland’s official ones, elaborating that “If we have the capability and Ukraine agrees, then we should consider it. But ultimately, this is the minister's personal opinion.” Nevertheless, their comments still suggested that this scenario might once again be in the cards under certain conditions despite having earlier been rebuffed by the US, UK, and NATO. Here are three background briefings:

● 17 April: “It Would Be Surprising If Polish Patriot Systems Were Used To Protect Western Ukraine”
● 18 July: “Ukraine Likely Feels Jaded After NATO Said That It Won’t Allow Poland To Intercept Russian   Missiles”
● 30 August: “Poland Finally Maxed Out Its Military Support For Ukraine”

The last of these three included Zelensky’s most recent demand at the time to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine. He said that “We have talked a lot about this and we need, as I understand it, the support of several countries. Poland ... hesitates to be alone with this decision. It wants the support of other countries in NATO. I think this would lead to a positive decision by Romania.” That same analysis also cited Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz’s response to him too.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

This was written on Reidar’s Norwegian blog on April 5, 2024

The Israeli regime has exhibited ugly psychopathic behavior lately. The regime is probably beyond treatment, the madness has gone so far that there is no hope for change. If Norwegians carried on as Israelis are now doing, they would be locked up for the rest of their lives.

In this madness, Israel uses rhetoric that shows a frightening lack of self-awareness, as expected of psychopaths. In their wake are lots of people who have been killed and injured. The psychopaths elegantly rise above all criticism by saying that it is everyone else who is wrong. And to emphasize the madness, they claim that "it is God's will".

Israel is not alone. Israel has gained acceptance and support for its policy. This applies to the US, which actively supports and participates in the genocide with money, weapons, and bombs, and it applies to Jonas Gahr Støre, who still sees no reason to introduce diplomatic reactions and is helping to prolong an untenable situation.

Here I'm going to poke a little at Israel's rhetoric to show how bad things have become, the order is random.

James Howard Kunstler
James Howard Kunstler's Substack

“The notion that Europe is able to pose a military threat to Russia does not even qualify as trashy propaganda for sub-zero IQs.” — Pepe Escobar

“The left became hideously, ostentatiously, unapologetically corrupt (as ruling parties tend to do). They sold out bigtime and got bigtime rich. You want to know why none of them want to cut waste anymore? because they’re the ones stealing it.” — El Gato Malo on Substack

Garsha Vazirian
Tehran Times

In a seismic shift from mainstream media’s hawkish rhetoric, American journalist Tucker Carlson has become an unlikely catalyst for rethinking U.S. policy toward Iran.

The former Fox News host’s Sunday post on X, which has amassed over 5.8 million impressions as of this writing, critiques the exaggerated portrayal of Iran as a “terror sponsor.” This analysis has sparked bipartisan scrutiny of Washington’s persistent war-mongering tactics.

As U.S. President Donald Trump, echoing the warmongers and anti-Iran neoconservatives in Washington DC, escalates threats against Tehran, Carlson’s data-driven critique and growing public skepticism signal a turning point in the debate over America’s priorities—domestic crises versus foreign interventions.

‘Compare the Numbers’—Carlson’s post cut through decades of fearmongering with a simple question: “How many Americans have been killed by Iran on U.S. soil in 20 years? Compare that to drug ODs, suicide, or car accidents. Still think Iran is the greatest threat?”

Backed by stark statistics—over 108,000 overdose deaths in 2022, 49,000 suicides, and zero Iran-linked fatalities on U.S. soil—the tweet challenges the logic of prioritizing regime change over healthcare or infrastructure.

Alexey Belov
Pravda-EN
fondsk.ru (ФСК)

Brussels is currently waging war with those European leaders who support US President Donald Trump.

Reading colleagues' publications and posts in various tg-channels on the topic of the recent summit of European militarists held in Brussels, I noticed that the discussion of this event revolved mainly around two questions:

Will the EU find the 800 billion euros it is looking for for the highly ambitious ReArm Europe project, and will the member states eventually reach a consensus on the topic of aid to Ukraine (read: support for the Zelensky regime) and, first and foremost, sending Euro-NATO troops to Ukraine?

At the same time, no one (practically) tries to imagine an ideal situation for warmongers, when money was found and a common army was created, and how, in fact, will the current rulers of Europe persuade the European philistine to take part in another potentially disastrous Drang nach Osten? By force? And if by force, then by what?

But in fact, the answer to this question is crucial for understanding whether it will be possible to unleash a new big war on the continent. Well, let's take things in their proper order.

Reidar Kaarboe
Hva Mener Partiene

In connection with the war in Ukraine, the USA owes several apologies to the Russians. Once they are given, it will be pretty clear who should do what with whom to achieve lasting peace, even though the war in Ukraine wasn't started on Donald Trump’s watch.

Paal Steigan
steigan.no

”The markets are starving for EU war bonds” (Politico)

The European Union is getting ready to tap markets for up to €150 billion to help finance military spending. If they do, they should have no trouble finding buyers.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday announced plans to raise new funds that countries can use to boost their defenses as the United States withdraws from its longstanding security guarantees.

The plan still needs approval from EU capitals — but if it goes through, the Commission will raise money through bond auctions and pass it on to member states for defense spending. They would then have to pay back to the Commission to cover the funding.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday unveiled a plan to mobilize around €800 billion ($843 billion) for Europe's defense — and help provide “immediate” military support to Ukraine after Washington suspended aid.

💬 "Europe faces a clear and present danger on a scale that none of us has seen in our adult lifetime,” the European Commission President said in a letter to EU leaders.

The move came hours after US President Donald Trump announced the aid suspension, intensifying Washington's push for a peace deal with Russia and confirming its pivot away from Kyiv and its European allies.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

Russia would remove what the interim Syrian authorities consider to be a “problem” from their hands, it could more quickly settle its new regions, and their ongoing base talks would no longer be overshadowed by these atrocities.

The latest sectarian violence in Syria killed almost 1,000 members of the Alawite minority at the minimum, with many of them still sheltering in place or hiding somewhere outside of their homes due to their fear of being murdered like their co-religionists just were if they step into the street.

RT published a detailed report about what one of the survivors described as this “safari hunting Alawites”, while the UN confirmed that “entire families, including women and children, were killed” over the past week.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that around 9,000 Syrians – presumably mostly Alawites – sought shelter at her country’s Khmeimim airbase to escape the violence that she very strongly condemned. On that topic, Reuters cited two sources who were briefed on last week’s closed-door UNSC meeting on Syria to exclusively report that Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzia “lambasted” what happened by comparing it to the Rwandan Genocide.

Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter

There are five compelling arguments for either scenario.

Ukraine just agreed to a month-long ceasefire after talks with the US in Jeddah, but it’s conditional on Russia agreeing to the same, which remains uncertain. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to pay his second trip to Moscow in just as many months later this week, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz plans to speak to Russian officials soon, while Trump said that he hopes to talk to Putin by Friday. All three will try to convince Putin to silence the guns. Here’s why he might not agree to do that:

1. Russia Wants To Liberate All The Occupied Territories—Putin declared last June that he’d only agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew from the entirety of the four regions that voted to join Russia in September 2022 and publicly abandoned its plans to join NATO. That was shortly before Ukraine invaded Russia’s universally recognized Kursk Region. Agreeing to a ceasefire now with no guarantee that it’ll lead to the liberation of those five regions could result in the indefinite occupation of at least some of them if the front lines harden into a Korean-DMZ.

2. The Front Lines Might Soon Collapse To Russia’s Benefit—It’s obvious that one of the primary reasons why Ukraine agreed to a month-long ceasefire conditional on Russia agreeing to the same, apart from resuming the US’ previously cut military and intelligence aid, is to prevent the front lines from soon collapsing to Russia’s benefit. Aware of this, Russia might decide to carry on – perhaps advancing while negotiating additional terms to the proposed ceasefire – in order to take full advantage of this, thus raising the chances of speedily liberating all the occupied territories.

3. Russia Wants To Scare Away Western Peacekeepers—European peacekeepers might enter Ukraine during the month-long ceasefire, or some of their “mercenaries” who are already there might simply switch uniforms to then take on this role instead, which Russia already said would be absolutely unacceptable and make them legitimate targets. Keeping the conflict going might therefore scare them away from this and thus ensure that de facto NATO forces are kept as far away from Russia’s western border as possible.

Terje Hansen
Foreningen Lov og Helse

In January this year, a report was released that evaluated Canada's handling of the so-called Covid-19 (C19) pandemic. The full report is 269 pages long and can be read here.

In Part 1, I showed some of the evaluation reports commissioned by the health authorities in the Province of Alberta in Canada. This report concluded with a rather scathing review of the authorities' C19 policy. Canadian statistician Regina Watteel has discussed the report. She also offers some criticism of the report, focusing on certain shortcomings it has. Dr. Watteel highlights several fairly important elements that I will address below. Among other things, she points out that:

The all-important question regarding the implication of failing to clean up what happened is raised by Dr. Watteel quite precisely:

Terje Hansen
Foreningen Lov og Helse

In January this year, a report was released that evaluated Canada's handling of the so-called Covid-19 (C19) pandemic. The full report is 269 pages long and can be read here.

This report carries weight for several reasons. Firstly, it is an evaluation that the provincial authorities in Alberta commissioned themselves, so you could say that this is partly the public sector butchering itself. The Task Force group consisted of 12 people with broad interdisciplinary backgrounds in statistics, medicine, research, law, and other areas relevant to such an evaluation, and they appear to have done some serious work. In many ways, this group's work and report are the antitheses of the Norwegian Corona Commission, whose sole task was to whitewash the authorities' C19 policy, i.e. a cover-up operation.

Canadian Dr. Regina Watteel, who holds a PhD in statistics and who reviewed the Norwegian vaccine study from the NIPH, has also discussed and summarized the findings in the report from the provincial authorities in Alberta. For those who find it a bit difficult to read a 269-page report, I will extract some of what is stated in the report and also what Dr. Watteel has written about this.

NB I must first emphasize that it is not the actual findings in the report that are sensational. Anyone with at least some independently functioning ability to think critically will have figured out most of this on their own a long time ago.

In this sense, much of the content of the report is old news to many, but the important element here is that these things are confirmed by a government-appointed commission in the West.