Tag: Middle East

Soul-Selling is Lucrative

The Jerusalem Post exposes the latest paid Israeli US propaganda campaign:

Newly filed records with the Department of Justice show that Israel’s government has quietly launched a two-track influence operation in the United States, blending big-budget political advertising with grassroots-style influencer campaigns.

The filings reveal that a firm called Bridges Partners LLC has been hired to manage an influencer network under a project code-named the “Esther Project.” It is unclear if there is any link to Project Esther, a plan to combat antisemitism published by the Heritage Foundation, an American right-wing think tank.

In its disclosure, required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Bridges said its work was intended to “assist with promoting cultural interchange between the United States and Israel” and specified that the engagement runs through a German division of the global PR firm Havas.

Attached documents show that the firm, owned by Israeli consultants Uri Steinberg and Yair Levi, was formed in June 2025 in Delaware and soon after received nearly $200,000 to recruit and coordinate US-based social media influencers.

The contracts allow for up to $900,000 in payments over several months and include a detailed pricing schedule: $60,000 in upfront payments to cover influencer recruitment and concept development, another $140,000 in development-phase payments as five or six influencers began posting, and monthly allocations of up to $250,000 earmarked for influencer fees, production, and agency costs. A final $50,000 was budgeted for wrap-up and post-campaign reporting.

This is just the petty stuff going to a small group of Jewish influencers of whom you’ve almost certainly never heard and to whom no one outside of Israel pays any attention:

Among those photographed at the meeting were Lizzy Savetsky, a fashion and lifestyle personality who has rebranded as a prominent voice for Israel; Ari Acker, who runs a popular news explainer account; and Zach Sage Fox, known for his pro-Israel video content. Other participants included Miriam Ezagui, a nurse who posts Jewish lifestyle content; and Joyce Chabb.

No wonder Nickles Fuentes sold out. If these nobodies are worth $7,000 per social media post, imagine what a Big Bear shill-stream would go for, if only he was willing to sell his soul to Satan.

UPDATE: Invoices sent to Havas Media Group Germany, which is managing the campaign, show $900,000 in funding from June through November 2025 for a group of 14 to 18 influencers. The filings estimate 75 to 90 posts in that period – equivalent to between $6,143 and $7,372 per post, according to Responsible Statecraft. The documents do not disclose which influencers are involved.

This would appear to raise questions about whether the campaign is legal given the various laws concerning foreign agents engaging in political activity. There is certainly more substance here than there ever was for so-called “Russiagate”.

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The Weirdness Escalates

Donald Trump and Tony Blair are going to govern Gaza. Which presumably is a new use of the word “govern” with which I have hitherto been unfamiliar.

Donald Trump dramatically announced that he would rule Gaza with Sir Tony Blair if Hamas accept his 20-point peace plan.

The US President declared at a press conference at The White House it was a ‘big day, a beautiful day’ and ‘potentially one of the greatest days ever in civilisation’.

Mr Trump quashed rumours that the former British PM would oversee control of the territory – revealing it would instead be him.

He said a ‘board of peace’ would be ‘headed by a gentleman known as President Donald J Trump of the United States’.

He insisted this was ‘not at my request’ but said it’s ‘what I want’ as ‘it’s so important that I’m willing to do it’.

He said the board would have leaders from other countries, including Sir Tony, who he described as ‘a very good man’.

The plan, which the MAGA leader has circulated to Arab leaders, was released after Mr Trump met the Israeli PM in Washington.

The two leaders arrived at the press conference late, after discussing the terms of the deal, which has yet to be finalized with Netanyahu, Arab leaders, and Hamas.

‘Let’s call it eternal peace in the Middle East,’ Trump said triumphantly. ‘This is far more than anybody expected, but the level of support that I have had from the nations in the Middle East and neighbors of Israel has been incredible.’

Nothing would surprise me at this point. Aliens, the Second Coming, Q taking down Clown World, the EU surrendering to Yemen, I mean, at some point you have to simply sit back and acknowledge that it’s not even possible to make any sense of world events.

Clown World is certainly the most apt apellation, but doesn’t even begin to do the full extent of it justice.

FULL RELEASE BY WHITE HOUSE:

1. Gaza will be a deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbors.

2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza, who have suffered more than enough.

3. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release. During this time, all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen until conditions are met for the complete staged withdrawal.

4. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.

5. Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.

6. Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.

7. Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip. At a minimum, aid quantities will be consistent with what was included in the January 19, 2025, agreement regarding humanitarian aid, including rehabilitation of infrastructure (water, electricity, sewage), rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries, and entry of necessary equipment to remove rubble and open roads.

8. Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent, in addition to other international institutions not associated in any manner with either party. Opening the Rafah crossing in both directions will be subject to the same mechanism implemented under the January 19, 2025 agreement.

9. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.

10. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.

11. A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.

12. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return. We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.

13. Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use through an agreed process of decommissioning, and supported by an internationally funded buy back and reintegration program all verified by the independent monitors. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.

14. A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.

15. The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza. The ISF will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt who have extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term internal security solution. The ISF will work with Israel and Egypt to help secure border areas, along with newly trained Palestinian police forces. It is critical to prevent munitions from entering Gaza and to facilitate the rapid and secure flow of goods to rebuild and revitalize Gaza. A deconfliction mechanism will be agreed upon by the parties.

16. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization that will be agreed upon between the IDF, ISF, the guarantors, and the Unites States, with the objective of a secure Gaza that no longer poses a threat to Israel, Egypt, or its citizens. Practically, the IDF will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.

17. In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.

18. An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.

19. While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.

20. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.

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The Eighth Front

The Netanyahu regime has reportedly opened yet another front, this time on the American Internet, according to both Max Blumenthal and Alistair Crooke. The latter recently appeared on Judge Napolitano’s show:

The eighth front is inside the United States, and it is the front that is against—if you like—the podcasters and the influencers that are on the internet. This is because they have already largely bought the mainstream media and have been controlling that from the Obama administration on. We all see that now, the details of how much they were controlling things through COVID and everything else.

Now, the eighth front is really the war that I think Max Blumenthal has been outlining very clearly: the war against people like Charlie Kirk and against others who are questioning why it is “Israel first” and not “America first.” They are asking, “What is this takeover of America by Israel and these big Jewish oligarch billionaires who seem to wield huge influence?” These are the same people who have just bought TikTok because they don’t like it; its algorithm doesn’t seem to give enough support to Israel, so they’re going to change the algorithm to make sure it changes its position.

So that’s the front. The front is to maintain control and to have influence over the young Americans, be they Republican or Democrats. But the young Americans—you would know this much more than me as an outsider—are drifting away very noticeably from supporting Israel, as is the rest of the world. And this is an existential threat because if Israel loses America, it’s an existential threat to its future.

Is the Israeli government actually concerned about the effect of alternative media, such as the one you and I are on at this very moment?

Very concerned about it. Very concerned because these young people, these young MAGA people, the sort of Nick Fuentes and people like this, Charlie Kirk—I mean, they are still quite young, but quite clearly they’re going to move into positions of power increasingly in the United States. And if they’ve lost the young, they are going to lose America. Not today, not tomorrow, but this is the eighth front. This is the big war that Israel and Netanyahu believe they cannot lose.

They must keep control over the internet media system, as well as the mainstream system. So they’re splashing out, buying up as much as they can, which I think Max Blumenthal has outlined quite extensively.

However, based upon a) the selection of influencers and b) the inept rhetoric, I very much doubt this eighth front is going to enjoy very much success.

MEET NETANYAHU’S PRO-ISRAEL INFLUENCERS

Debra Lea, Lizzy Savetsky, Emily Austin, Shay Szabo, The Latino Zionist, Hannah Faulkner.

These are 7 identified influencers who met with Netanyahu to plan for their Israeli propaganda campaign as part of Israel’s 8th Front War. Netanyahu instructed them to:

– Target TikTok & X

– Christians who criticize Israel are Woke Reich

“Woke Reich.” Oh my. Boomer confirmed! I haven’t seen a rhetorical misstep that bad since “Gamers are Dead” launched GamerGate. Also, needs more umlauts. Völk Reich would be more like it.

Now, anyone can buy all the influencers they like, but what they’ll soon find is that the influence wielded on their behalf is essentially nonexistent because a sponsored influencer is primarily useful for exposure, not for directing opinions. No one is going to change their minds about anything because Nickles Fuentes or The Latino Zionist tell them to do so.

Especially if Col. Macgregor is correct and Israel is about to launch Round 2 with Iran on its own without significant assistance from the US military.

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Palestine Existed Before Israel

Larry Johnson addresses the oft-heard lie that Palestine is some sort of modern mythical creation by antisemites, as certain parties would have everyone believe.

I am writing this to inform some friends who believe, wrongly, that there is no such thing as Palestinians and that the people being genocided by the Zionists are nothing more than interlopers.

Prior to 1947, the territory now occupied by Israel and the Gaza Strip was commonly called Palestine. This designation was used during various historical periods, including the Ottoman rule and the British Mandate period (1920–1948). The British Mandate for Palestine was established after World War I and lasted until 1948, during which the region was officially administered under that name. The term Palestine historically referred to the geographic area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and was used in various forms dating back to ancient times, including Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods.

The earliest recorded historical reference to Palestine dates back to around 1150 BCE in ancient Egyptian inscriptions during the reign of Ramesses III. The name Peleset (transliterated as P-r-s-t) was used to describe a group of people, likely the Philistines, who lived along the southern coast of the region.
The first clear use of the term Palestine to refer to the broader region was by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BCE. In his work The Histories, he described a district of Syria, called Palaistínē, which included the area between Phoenicia and Egypt, incorporating the Judean mountains and the Jordan Rift Valley.

Thus, while the name’s roots trace back to ancient Egyptian references to coastal peoples, the geographical concept of Palestine as a region appears clearly in Greek literature from the 5th century BCE.

I addressed this ahistorical propaganda myself six years ago, with a direct citation from the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica.

PALESTINE, a geographical name of rather loose application. Etymological strictness would require it to denote exclusively the narrow strip of coast-land once occupied by the Philistines, from whose name it is derived. It is, however, conventionally used as a name for the territory which, in the Old Testament, is claimed as the inheritance of the pre-exilic Hebrews; thus it may be said generally to denote the southern third of the province of Syria. Except in the west, where the country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the limit of this territory cannot be laid down on the map as a definite line. The modern subdivisions under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire are in no sense conterminous with those of antiquity, and hence do not afford a boundary by which Palestine can be separated exactly from the rest of Syria in the north, or from the Sinaitic and Arabian deserts in the south and east; nor are the records of ancient boundaries sufficiently full and definite to make possible the complete demarcation of the country. Even the convention above referred to is inexact: it includes the Philistine territory, claimed but never settled by the Hebrews, and excludes the outlying parts of the large area claimed in Num. xxxiv. as the Hebrew possession (from the “River of Egypt” to Hamath).

This is why the preservation of old books and historical knowledge is necessary, because it so readily disproves the modern lies that are broadcast by those attempting to provide a psychological cloak for their deeds and misdeeds.

The irony is that the Turkish and Italian governments have historical claims on Jerusalem that are probably better than the claims of the European Zionists. Even if one grants the asserted connection between modern Jews and the historical kingdom of Judah, the Kingdom of Judah did not include the land upon which Tel Aviv was built, much less the important port of Haifa.

The Old Testament even makes it clear that Palestine, also known as Philistia, preceded the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, as many of the battles of King Saul, and subsequently King David, were part of a war of Hebrew independence waged against the five Philistine kingdoms of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

Now, obviously Israel holds its current land under the right of conquest, which is a legitimate and recognized right. I certainly don’t expect the USA to return my Indian tribe’s historical lands to me any time soon; it’s much more likely they will eventually return to the control of the descendants of the Spaniards who first conquered them. Demonstrating the falsehood of ahistorical propaganda is not tantamount to denying the legitimacy of current borders or recognizing that there are often multiple historical claims to the same land.

These historical matters are always more complex than the media is capable of rationally and realistically discussing even if it were objective, which it obviously isn’t. Regardless, it is always best to be aware of the truth, even when there is little chance that the mainstream discourse bears any relationship to it.

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Bringing People Together

Say what you will about Netanyahu and Trump, but they both have a gift for bringing diverse people with differing interests together:

An Arab-Islamic emergency summit convened today in Doha to discuss Israel’s attempted assassination of the Hamas negotiators, who were in Doha at the request of the United States when they were attacked. The meeting produced some very startling optics, starting with former ISIS terrorist leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani — who is now repackaged as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, with a nice beard trim and a $1,000 suit to boot — meeting with Iranian officials, including President Pezeshkian. Two years ago Julani’s forces were attacking and killing Iranian soldiers, and vice-versa. We also saw Jordan’s King Abdullah in attendance and interacting with folks he normally would shun… And Iran’s President Pezeshkian had a cordial meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince. This was akin to a conference of lions, lambs and jackals meeting to discuss how to stop poachers.

Although the summit did not produce a consensus to break all ties with Israel, the mere fact that such a diverse group, that in normal times are at odds with one another, assembled to engage in a diplomatic discussion about how to stop Israel’s attacks is noteworthy and also signals a dramatic decline in the ability of the US to influence events in the region.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a huge amateur mistake today by visiting Israel as this summit was underway. Following the summit, Israel reportedly has launched a massive attack on Gaza City. The participants at this summit will likely interpret this as Donald Trump giving Israel permission to expand its campaign of genocide. It will reinforce the view of the members of the Arab-Islamic that Trump is weak and totally under the control of Bibi Netanyahu. Regardless of his intent, Rubio will be viewed as the guy who delivered Trump’s message to launch the offensive in Gaza City.

The crows would appear to be gathering in anticipation of battlefields to come.

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Mailvox: Tactical Dominance isn’t Victory

An American military analyst shared his professional opinion about the challenge facing the Israeli military, as the Netanyahu regime appears to be writing checks the IDF knows it can’t cash:

Israel’s professional military is what has generated its tactical dominance — operationally and strategically, its position is deteriorating faster than almost anyone predicted, evidently excluding me, and the General who was in charge of training the IDF’s generals.

The IDF’s general officer corps is currently openly fretting about a potential war with both Egypt and Turkiye — they didn’t consider either scenario even a remote possibility 2 years ago, with the only people who frequently pointed out the possibility of war with Egypt being old Shin Bet Egypt hands that’ve scrupulously documented the Egyptian military’s build-up.

To be clear, the IDF’s generals concluded that they’d functionally lost the Gaza war like 4 months after it started. They’re not stupid. A major contributing factor to this strategic miscarriage is the IDF’s conscription policy, which has cultivated a general sentiment of martial invincibility that really is not grounded in material reality. That’s enabled the Israeli government’s designated wingnuts to push through flamboyantly strategically self-defeating regional policies because their support base has a “we can take them” attitude rooted in their temporary service, despite Israel not having fought anyone even approaching peer status in 50 years.

I shouldn’t even have to expound upon the IDF’s conscripts’ bad battlefield performance, and their high casualty rates when they actually see combat. The professional Israeli Army has borne the brunt of the actual fighting, and even they’ve been experiencing manpower shortages for over a year now — largely from casualties absorbed.

Now, I don’t put much stock in American military analysts anymore, much less European military analysts, since most of them have been so observably wrong with regards to both the Ukrainian and the Taiwan situation. But, in the case, the analyst correctly predicted the same thing that students of Martin van Creveld also knew, which is that a Gaza operation would most likely cause the serious deterioration of both the IDF’s military capabilities as well as its strategic position in the region.

Goliath can’t find David for an extended period of time without degrading its morale, its morals, and its military capabilities. It’s the same reason police make terrible combat soldiers. Becoming accustomed to outnumbering and outgunning the opponent by a significant margin is not conducive to developing the skills, mindset, and practices required to defeat a genuine peer; there is a reason why the oddsmakers favor college football teams who test themselves with formidable opponents early in the season over those who schedule cupcakes.

Imagine if Notre Dame played nothing but high school teams all season, then went up against Ohio State. That’s pretty much what the IDF has done for the last 50 years. Although its special operations have been wildly successful with the support of the USA in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, none of these geostrategic accomplishments – and the unseating of the Assad regime in Syria was particularly impressive – actually have anything to do with genuine military combat. And I see no signs that the IDF has begun to start even trying to apply the lessons of the new generation of infantry warfare developed in Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine.

This may explain why the Netanyahu regime recently backed down from its intentions to announce the annexation of the West Bank. The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from Greater Israel is obviously its goal, but saner heads in Israel understand that openly pursuing that objective will likely trigger a war it is unlikely to win.

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Perhaps the 8th Try’s the Charm

The IDF was just forced to retreat from a supposedly nonexistent battalion:

There is an ironic article in Haaretz today — ironic because of breaking news as I write this at 10 pm eastern time — with the title, Inside Gaza City’s Zeitoun, IDF Insists Its Seventh Incursion Will Finally Defeat Hamas. Here are a few salient points from the article:

Throughout the Gaza war, the IDF said the Zeitoun battalion was defeated, but now admits it may have spoken too soon. The mission: erase the neighborhood above and below ground. ‘I assume we’ll meet again,’ said a commander, ‘maybe for the eighth time in Zeitoun.’. . .

But what could the Israel Defense Forces achieve this time that it didn’t manage to achieve the previous six times, in which the 36th, 99th, 252nd, 126th and 98th divisions fought here? Indeed, it seems every unit serving in Gaza over the past two years has taken part in “defeating” Hamas’ Zeitoun Battalion. . . .

Throughout the war, senior defense and government officials have told journalists that the Zeitoun Battalion had been defeated and had ceased to function as a military unit. But now, they say they could have been too quick to make that assertion. Currently, the army says, the battalion is in combat-ready and has around 400 fighters, but it is displaying “exaggerated self-confidence” about the upcoming fight with the IDF.

Well, guess what? According to the Middle East Spectator, the IOF today (Friday) received an ass-whipping at the hands of the Zeitoun Battalion:

The IDF is withdrawing from Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, after the rescue forces were ambushed by Hamas fighters, leading to 1 death and 11 wounded.

BREAKING: No contact has been made with the four missing Israeli soldiers in Ayn Al-Zaytoun in the Gaza Strip — there is now increasing speculation that all of them may have been captured by Hamas.

Hebrew media now reporting that the IDF search and rescue has ‘given up’ on the 4 missing soldiers, and the Israeli government is preparing a major press release.

Martin van Creveld wept.

The Israeli government and the IDF have been completely ignoring the strategic advice of their greatest military historian. It should not come as a surprise that their results have not only turned pretty much the entire world that isn’t owned by AIPAC against them, but have also failed to pacify the Palestinian resistance.

It’s also obviously counterproductive to slaughter tens of thousands of civilians using the nominal excuse of “rescuing the hostages” in a manner that literally creates more hostages. And I wonder how longer it will be before at least one other military comes to the defense of the Palestinians and starts doing to Israel what the IDF has been doing to Gaza.

It’s perfectly understandable that Netanyahu wants to establish as much of Greater Israel as he can before the neocons lose all power in the USA and the US military loses its ability to project force into the Middle East. The Syrian operation was brilliant in this regard, the attacks on Lebanon rather less so. But staging the October 7th green flag and then using it to justify the genocide of the Gazacaust is the sort of thing that will not only live on in historical infamy, but isn’t likely to work.

UPDATE: Turkey’s recent action may be a harbinger of Israel’s increasing isolation. Or it may just be a sign of the inevitable hostilities growing now that the two countries essentially share a border inside what used to be Syria.

Türkiye has severed all commercial and economic ties with Israel, as well as closing its airspace to some Israeli flights, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has announced. The two countries have been at odds for months over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, with Türkiye accusing the country of committing genocide.

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Who Won the Fake War?

If the USA has to pay Iran just for the privilege of resuming diplomacy, doesn’t that indicate Iran won the first round of the Israel-Iran War?

As reported on July 31, 2025, Iran has set unprecedented preconditions for merely resuming talks with the United States: “US compensation for damage to Iranian facilities; US recognition of Iran’s sovereign right to enrich uranium.”

This isn’t negotiating—this is demanding tribute just to sit at the table.

The brilliance lies in the reversal of traditional diplomatic dynamics. Usually, concessions come during negotiations, not before them. But Iran has learned that American promises made during talks evaporate like morning dew. So why not demand concrete commitments upfront? If America balks at preliminary guarantees, it proves they were never serious about keeping their word anyway.

This approach reflects the strategic calculations I outlined in “The ministry of Silly Wars”: Iran doesn’t need these negotiations as desperately as America thinks. With China purchasing 90% of their oil and Russia providing military technology, Iran has options. The question isn’t whether Iran will negotiate—it’s whether America is willing to pay the entry fee.

The demand for compensation particularly stings American pride. It forces acknowledgment that the June 2025 strikes were aggression, not self-defense. It monetizes the damage, creating a paper trail that can’t be denied in future “misunderstandings.” Most importantly, it establishes the principle: actions have costs, and those costs must be paid before expecting diplomatic rewards.

Recognition of enrichment rights strikes even deeper. For decades, America has treated Iran’s nuclear program as inherently illegitimate, despite NPT rights. Now Iran demands this recognition as a precondition—not a negotiating point, not a concession to be earned, but a basic acknowledgment required just to begin talking. It’s diplomatic jujitsu at its finest.

It’s pretty clear that Israel is negligible militarily if Iran is forcing the USA to pay tribute before even coming to the table. It will certainly be remarkable if the period of American global hegemony fades without there even being an attempt at a Sicilian Expedition. Perhaps the last Clown Worlders in Washington are a little more rational and inclined toward self-preservation than their rhetoric would have us believe.

Although we still can’t rule out one last cavalry charge against the tanks in either the Red Sea or the South China Sea.

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France Recognizes Palestine

Clown World’s diplomatic wall is cracking. My guess is that the Israeli plans to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians and move them to Europe proved to be one final bridge too far.

The only way to resolve the Middle East conflict is through the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. His statement followed French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France will formally recognize Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September.

”Russia has always adhered to a two-state solution as the basis for resolving the Palestinian issue,” Peskov told reporters. Moscow’s recognition dates to 1988, when the Soviet Union endorsed the Palestinian declaration of independence.

According to Peskov, peace “can only be achieved by adhering to UN Security Council resolutions,” which have declared Israeli occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal and called for a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Macron’s decision, announced on social media, aims to advance a “just and lasting peace.” France would become the first major Western power to recognize Palestine, joining over 140 countries that already do.

Another point of observation: whenever you see rhetoric appealing to specific events, that’s a pretty good indication that the events were staged or otherwise exaggerated. The idea that Palestine, a nation that existed long before the first Zionists ever appeared in the region, doesn’t merit recognition “because of October 7th” isn’t just obviously ridiculous, it’s not even good rhetoric.

But it does tend to confirm the immediate suspicions at the time that it was a green flag, at the very least. Although why Hamas would keep trying to hold onto any hostages is completely beyond me, given that it’s the sole remaining Israeli excuse for its actions in Gaza. Unless, of course, Hamas actually thinks it’s winning, which I suppose is possible.

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Someone is All Talk

The question is, is it Iran or is it Israel?

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: “Iran is preparing for a large-scale preemptive strike against Israel. We have no choice but to strike Iran again.”

Iran: “Iran has officially stated that if Israel carries out an attack or any terrorist action this time, it will be considered an official declaration of war. This time Iran will not accept any truce and will show no mercy — the strike will be delivered in such a way that nothing but ruins will remain of Israel.

Given that both sides are given to nonsensical rhetoric, it’s hard to take either side very seriously. But on the balance of things, and given the obvious imbalance of size and military power, one tends to suspect that it’s Israel. Iran has no need to prepare for a large scale preemptive strike since it was already exhausting Israel’s air defenses before the ceasefire, therefore it is likely that Gallant’s claim is false and intended to justify another preemptive strike by Israel.

Although given the complete failure of the first one, one wonders what they think they’re going to accomplish this time around.

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