WW3? French Hospitals Told To Prepare For A "Major Military Engagement" Within Six Months WW3? French Hospitals Told To Prepare For A "Major Military Engagement" Within Six Months https://modernity.news/2025/09/06/ww3-french-hospitals-told-to-prepare-for-a-major-military-engagement-within-six-months/ French hospitals have been advised to prepare for a large scale war by next year, in a government letter that was leaked to the media. image There are reports that the French Ministry of Health has informed hospitals to prepare for a “major [military] engagement” by March of 2026. The letter allegedly states that between 10,000 to 50,000 people are to be expected in hospitals. NEW: French hospitals told to prepare for war by next year, according to a leaked government letter. According to The Independent, the French Ministry of Health told hospitals to prepare for a “major [military] engagement” by March of 2026. The letter allegedly warned that… — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) The leaked letter also reportedly explains that mass casualties are to be expected not just from its own forces, but wounded soldiers from across Europe, and that France would be acting as a ‘rear base’. It outlines how French hospitals would need to prepare for up to 50 THOUSAND beds allocated to wounded civilians and military personnel EVERY MONTH. The Ministry of Health also noted that it is considering the creation of medical centers near ports and airports. “In the current international context, it is necessary to anticipate the modalities of health support in situations of high-intensity conflict,” the Ministry of Health letter reportedly notes. The report adds that Health Minister Catherine Vautrin has not denied the authenticity of letter, claiming that it is “part of preparation.” “It’s part of preparation, like strategic stockpiles, like epidemics,” Vautrin stated. She added, “Hospitals are constantly preparing for epidemics and patient intake. The fact that the country is preparing for crises and assessing the consequences of what is happening [in the world] is completely normal.” “I wasn’t in office at the time of Covid-19, remember, there were no words harsh enough to describe the country’s lack of preparedness,” she further stated. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about this. Earlier this year, the French government sent a ‘survival manual’ to every household in France warning them of an ‘imminent threat to the country’. Meanwhile, Germany’s military chief says NATO will be on alert as Russia prepares for Zapad 2025, a massive joint drill with Belarus which has been described as a dress rehearsal for a real invasion. NATO chief Mark Rutte has warned that the world is “on the brink of WW3”, claiming a dual assault from China on Taiwan and Russia on NATO territory could spark a global conflict. Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via  . Sun, 09/07/2025 - 08:10
Mapping The Passport Power Of Major Nations In 2025 Mapping The Passport Power Of Major Nations In 2025 In 2025, Singapore retains its title as the country with the world’s most powerful passport, with visa-free access to 193 destinations. image In the data table below, the full list of major countries and the number of visa-free access their passport provides: image Singapore’s passport power reflects the country’s strong international relations and economic stability. Japan and South Korea follow closely with access to 190 destinations each, continuing Asia’s dominance in passport strength. Passport Power of European and English-Speaking Countries European countries like France, Germany, Italy, and Spain all rank highly with access to 189 destinations. European countries all generally have  , with Switzerland the lowest among the major European nations at 187 visa-free destinations. In terms of native English-speaking countries, the UK (186), Australia (185), and Canada (184) outpace the U.S., which now grants visa-free access to 182 destinations. The Weaker Passports Among Major Countries Among larger  , Brazil and Argentina have moderately high access (170 destinations), while Russia and Türkiye fall further behind at 114. Notably, China (83), India (58), and Vietnam (50) sit near the bottom of the list, reflecting limited travel freedom despite their large populations and growing global roles. If you enjoyed today’s post, check out the   on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist. Sun, 09/07/2025 - 07:35
US War Department To Shift Focus From China To 'Threats' In Latin America US War Department To Shift Focus From China To 'Threats' In Latin America US War Department officials are proposing to shift the US military posture away from a focus on China, instead prioritizing alleged threats in Latin America and the Caribbean, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/05/pentagon-national-defense-strategy-china-homeland-western-hemisphere-00546310  reported on 6 Saturday. A draft of the newest National Defense Strategy places "domestic and regional missions above countering adversaries such as Beijing and Moscow," Politico revealed, citing three people briefed on early versions of the report. image The news comes one day after Trump   an executive order for the Department of Defense to be renamed the “War Department” to better reflect its mission. Politico notes that the move, if implemented, would anger politicians in both the Republican and Democratic parties who have long been hostile to China and called for aggressive policies to counter its rise. "This is going to be a major shift for the US and its allies on multiple continents," said one person briefed on the draft document. "The old, trusted US promises are being questioned." The document was prepared by Elbridge Colby, the War Department's policy chief. Politico reports that the shift away from China and toward the Western Hemisphere appears to be already underway.   The War Department deployed thousands of National Guard troops to support police in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and has established a militarized zone across the southern border with Mexico that allows troops to detain civilians. The policy shift may also result in the US withdrawing some troops from Europe and cutting military assistance programs for fellow NATO members. "NATO allies increasingly expect some of the roughly 80,000 U.S. troops in Europe to leave over the next several years," Politico added. The proposed policy shift comes amid escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela. This week, Trump   the US military to shoot down Venezuelan warplanes if commanders judge them a threat to US naval and air forces in the Caribbean. "If they do put us in a dangerous position, we'll shoot them down," Trump told reporters Friday. Pentagon’s Elbridge Colby begins push to cut US military aid to Eastern European and Baltic countries that border Russia in move that has raised eyebrows among National Security officials in chilling message to Europe and Ukraine: sources tell Fox. — Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) Washington sent eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 warplanes to the region, claiming that Venezuela is responsible for a flood of drugs entering the US. "Billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela. The prisons of Venezuela have been opened up to our country," Trump claimed. In contrast, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says Trump is seeking to overthrow his government and that his armed forces would move to a stage of "armed struggle" if Venezuela were attacked. The US has carried out multiple coup attempts in Venezuela in recent decades, while imposing sweeping sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector and financial system. *  *  *  Astaxanthin is our top-selling supplement. It's an extremely potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Read about it  . Up to 20% off if you get 3 bottles & subscribe. . Thank you for your support.  Sat, 09/06/2025 - 23:20
Number Of US Abortions Rises Post-Dobbs Number Of US Abortions Rises Post-Dobbs https://societyfp.org/research/wecount/  since the overturning of precedent Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court around three years ago to the point where they actually caused overall U.S. abortion number to increase.  said that the rise of virtual-only appointments actually increased access to abortions for women in rural areas independent of the legal status of abortion in their state. For several past decades, U.S. abortion numbers had been falling as experts said that, among other reasons, restrictions put on abortions in the pre-internet age were working. Abortion numbers actually started to rise again before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, at around the turn of the current decade. You will find more infographics at While providers needed time to gear up and abortion numbers initially sunk following the Supreme Court decision in June 2022, appointments by clinics that do not offer in-person meetings of doctors and patients and instead sent an abortion pill via the mail began to become more common at around the one-year mark after states had been freed to pass their own abortion laws. In December of 2024, the Society of Family Planning estimated that almost 26,000 such appointments took place, up from only 8,500 three years prior. Virtual-only appointments can take place in states where abortion is legal. Also included in the count are virtual abortions provided via shield laws to states where abortions have been banned. Shield laws state that abortion providers can offer procedures to patients who traveled to their state from a state where abortion is illegal or via telehealth to a state where abortions are banned. They exist, for example, in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York state and Washington state. Meanwhile, virtual appointments by brick-and-mortar abortion providers also rose, but only to around 1,500 per month. However, these appointments were not tracked separately previously and are included with regular in-person appointments for the purpose of this chart. They represent a much smaller part of virtual appointments.  have currently banned abortions, the biggest being Texas, Tennessee and Indiana. Four more states, among them Florida and Georgia, restrict abortions to six weeks of gestational age or four weeks after a pregnancy occurred/two weeks after a missed period. Strict bans are currently being blocked by courts in five additional states. Sat, 09/06/2025 - 22:45
AI Isn't Free. The First Costs Are On Your Bill, And More Are Coming... AI Isn't Free. The First Costs Are On Your Bill, And More Are Coming... “The United States is in a race to achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence. Whoever has the largest AI ecosystem will set global AI standards and reap broad economic and military benefits.” 📄.pdf That’s the U.S. government’s own language. An arms race. image Artificial intelligence is no longer framed as a research project or an economic opportunity. It is being cast as a struggle for survival and global power, a modern Manhattan Project. Yet just last week, on Aug. 26, the Congressional Research Service released a Frequently Asked Questions 📄.pdf designed to help lawmakers get on the same page about the basics: what a data center is, how many exist, and how much electricity data centers consume. If even government institutions are still in the process of aligning their understanding, it’s clear that citizens will need to move quickly to understand what is happening and to understand what it means for their daily lives. The memo laid out in plain language what many assumed lawmakers already understood. A data center is a specialized building that houses thousands of servers. There are about seven thousand worldwide, with the largest concentration in the United States, especially in Northern Virginia and Texas. In 2022, American data centers consumed about 176 terawatt-hours of electricity—roughly 4 percent of all U.S. demand, more than many entire states. Projections suggest an additional 35 to 108 gigawatts of demand by 2030. The midpoint estimate, 50 gigawatts, is enough to power every home in California.  The very fact that such a memo was necessary highlights a structural reality: the pace of technological build out is outstripping the pace of legislative comprehension. If institutions themselves are still catching up, it underscores how important it is for citizens to get informed now, before the costs mount even higher. While Congress is being briefed on “Data Centers 101,” the executive branch has been preparing all year for the AI race that is already underway: On January 20, 2025, the White House declared a . On April 8, an order was issued to , with the Department of Energy (DOE) tasked to model how AI demand would reshape the grid. Four months later, on July 2, DOE’s 📄.pdf warned bluntly: “Retirements plus load growth increase risk of outages by 100x. Status quo is unsustainable.” Just weeks later, on July 23, a  , framing AI as the next great geopolitical race. Energy Secretary Chris Wright put it plainly: “We are taking a bold step to accelerate the next Manhattan Project—ensuring U.S. AI and energy leadership.” So on one side of our government, institutions are receiving crash courses on the fundamentals. On the other, the executive branch is already issuing a call to arms. For many Americans, the gap between government priorities and local realities shows up in one place: the monthly electric bill. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/27/electricity-rates-ohio-data-centers-ai/ are now showing how in Columbus, Ohio, households on standard utility plans saw increases of about 20 dollars a month (roughly $240 a year) linked directly to AI data centers. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio this summer, bills jumped by ten to 27 dollars a month. In Oregon last year, utilities warned regulators that consumers needed protection from rate hikes caused by data centers.  And in the Mid-Atlantic, regulators cited data centers as one of the main reasons for projected 20 percent increases in household electricity costs by 2025.  The complaints about rising bills suggest something deeper. Citizens are starting to connect the dots before Washington fully has. If households can feel the costs already, then citizens cannot wait for official briefings, they must demand clarity and prepare themselves. Part of the confusion comes from the nature of artificial intelligence itself. To most people, AI feels intangible. It lives in the “cloud.” You type a question, get an answer, and never see the machinery behind it. No one sends you a receipt for the power you used to get your answer.  But AI is not weightless. It runs on football-field-sized data centers, packed with servers that must run day and night. These machines use staggering amounts of electricity and water to stay cool. A Google search consumes about 0.3 watt-hours of electricity. An AI chatbot query can use up to ten times more—around three watt-hours. Training a single large AI model consumes as much electricity as hundreds of U.S. homes use in a year. Despite the technological advancements, computing power is not getting more efficient in terms of power usage. It is becoming ever more energy-hungry. For example, latest chips draw more kilowatts per server than previous generations to help data centers keep up with demand. And tracking AI power usage data has become more difficult. After ChatGPT launched in November 2022, companies became more competitive and stopped publishing detailed energy-use reports, leaving analysts to rely on estimations. In the end, citizens are footing the bill for systems whose true power demands are growing while publicly available data on its power usage is growing ever more opaque. At the same time, there is no consensus among the experts on what AI means for humanity. Geoffrey Hinton, who is often called the “godfather of AI,” won a Nobel Prize for his contribution to AI development, but left Google in 2023 to warn the public about the existential threat AI poses to humanity. Others in the field insist the opposite: that AI will cure diseases, solve climate change, and usher in an age of prosperity. The gap between these views is not narrow. It is a chasm. When leaders call AI the “new Manhattan Project,” they reveal both ambition and blind spots. The original Manhattan Project was vast and secretive, but its end product was narrow: nuclear weapons. Its impact was geopolitical and terrifying, but its scope was limited to defense.  AI is different. It is already reshaping daily life: jobs, media, education, commerce, and even household energy bills. In 2025 alone, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft will spend over $350 billion on AI data centers. This amount is nearly double the inflation-adjusted cost of the Apollo program. These projects will require as much power as tens of millions of homes. And unlike nuclear weapons, which governments tightly controlled, AI is being rolled out by private corporations with minimal transparency. This is not simply another Manhattan Project. It is bigger, broader, and more disruptive. The silent stage for this race is the U.S. electric grid, and American citizens are now forced to share their access to it. The 📄.pdf itself admits that “the U.S. electric grid is one of the largest and most complex machines on Earth.” It is also a machine under strain. The United States has three major grids: Eastern, Western, and Texas. Within those supergrids, electricity is managed by regional operators like PJM in the Mid-Atlantic, MISO in the Midwest, CAISO in California, and ERCOT in Texas. Today, the average household experiences one or two short outages a year, mostly from storms. But the Department of Energy now warns of a hundred-fold increase in blackout risk by 2030 if data center growth continues and plants keep closing on schedule. Calling the U.S. grid “one of the largest and most complex machines on Earth” is not an exaggeration. But a machine that complex is also fragile. When you push it beyond its limits, for example, by adding the equivalent of every California household’s electricity demand in just a few years, the consequences will not be abstract. They will be rolling blackouts, instability, and higher costs in the places where citizens live. The options given by the Department of Energy are stark: We can continue on the current path and expect regular blackouts. We can keep coal and nuclear plants online longer than planned, accepting the political and environmental trade-offs. We can build new supply along with transmission lines at a pace far faster than anything the U.S. has achieved in decades. Or we can slow down data center expansion, requiring companies to build only where abundant power is available. None are easy. But without action, the “status quo” means a future of rolling blackouts. This brings us to the deeper question: Why has Congress only just now been briefed on the basics? The answer is less about individual lawmakers and more about how institutions work. Legislative bodies are designed to deliberate slowly, to build consensus, and to check the pace of change. That design clashes directly with the speed of today’s AI build out, which is driven by corporate competition and framed by the executive branch as an arms race. The lag is systemic, not personal. But while the government catches up, citizens cannot afford to wait. The bills are already arriving, the outages are already looming, and the decisions shaping our energy future are being made now. What’s certain is that AI is not intangible. It is not free. It is not frictionless. It is built on massive physical infrastructure that consumes enormous amounts of electricity and water today, and experts cannot accurately predict its future costs because the technology is changing too fast. It is reshaping society in real time, as citizens are already paying more each month, facing higher risks of blackouts, and living in a society being reshaped faster than any in living memory.  Just as families once endured rationing and shortages for the Manhattan Project, today’s citizens are being asked to bear the unseen costs of an AI race they never chose. And as with the Manhattan Project, the greatest sacrifices will not be made in Washington boardrooms but in American households. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge. Sat, 09/06/2025 - 22:10
America's Jr Partners, Canada & Australia, Flex With Warships In Taiwan Strait America's Jr Partners, Canada & Australia, Flex With Warships In Taiwan Strait  Two warships from Canada and Australia sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, and were closely monitored by the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to an announcement by Chinese state media. State-run Global Times identified that the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec and the Australian guided-missile destroyer Brisbane were the vessels that made the provocative transit. image "On September 6, the Canadian frigate 'Quebec' and the Australian destroyer 'Brisbane' transited the Taiwan Strait, causing trouble and provoking," a statement from the the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said. "The People's Liberation Army (PLA) maintained full surveillance and monitoring throughout the transit, with the situation fully under control," it https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/ville-de-quebec-brisbane-warships/2025/09/06/id/1225360/  further, at a moment the Australian and Canadian militaries withheld any initial comment. Typically it is the US military which leads these kind of semi-routine "freedom of navigation" passages, even as the last several years have seen the Chinese military step up war games and patrols around Taiwan and in the contested strait. But increasingly these junior partners of the US have sought to step up and flex their muscles. But one wonders why Canada, with a comparably weak military (to China's) would be impelled to sail half a world away through waters which Beijing sees as its domain. The Chinese PLA military has additionally stated of this latest Taiwan Strait transit, "The actions of the Canadians and Australians send the wrong signals and increase security risks." Beijing condemned the move as "causing trouble". Additionally, "(Chinese) troops remain on high alert at all times, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability," it added. Back in February, when US warships transited the strait for the first time after Trump starting his second term in office, the PLA had warned, "Troops in the theater are on high alert at all times and are resolute in defending national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability." Sat, 09/06/2025 - 21:35
Professor 'Kidnapped' By ICE Indicted For Assaulting Federal Officers Professor 'Kidnapped' By ICE Indicted For Assaulting Federal Officers The California State University professor whom the California Faculty Association claimed was “kidnapped” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has officially been indicted by a grand jury for assaulting federal officers. image In July, the CFA   ICE tossed CSU Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello into an unmarked vehicle “without identifying themselves” or giving a reason for the arrest. The night before the incident, Caravello had   the City of Camarillo Council that he was “patrolling the city streets following armed masked thugs trying to kidnap my [undocumented] neighbors.” Caravello, who teaches math and philosophy and researches epistemology, rationality, and “transcendental arguments,” became involved with a protest against an ICE raid of the Glass House Farms marijuana facility. Despite complaints by the CFA and the university that Caravello was “peacefully” demonstrating, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli   the professor was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at officers. , after agents deployed tear gas to disperse a crowd that had begun throwing rocks at their vehicles, Caravello “ran up to one of the canisters and tried to kick it.” He missed, however, and then ran after it and hurled it at the agents. During his arrest, prosecutors said Caravello “continuously kicked his legs and refused to give agents his arms.” This past Wednesday, Caravello officially was indicted under  , (allegedly) “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees.” He was released on $15,000 bond and faces up to 20 years in prison. In a statement, CSU Channel Islands said: “We are aware of the recent indictment involving Jonathan Caravello. As this matter is currently before the courts, we will not be commenting on the details of the case. We respect the legal process and believe it is important to allow it to proceed without speculation. Our focus remains on our ongoing work and commitments to our students.” It added that Caravello “is still employed and currently teaching at our campus.” Sat, 09/06/2025 - 19:50
India Doubles Down On Russian Oil Purchases, As Trump Declares Both Are 'Lost' To 'Deepest, Darkest China' India Doubles Down On Russian Oil Purchases, As Trump Declares Both Are 'Lost' To 'Deepest, Darkest China' President Trump on Friday said India and Russia seem to have been "lost" to China following Modi and Putin having met with President Xi Jinping this week, amid the leaders hailing the forging ahead of a new multi-polar order which seeks to thwart a purely Washington-centric global system. "Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!" Trump wrote in a social media, with an accompanying a photo of the three leaders together at Xi's summit in China. image This has been followed on Friday with India confirming that it will double down on Russian oil purchases, in defiance of US tariffs and threats. "Where do we buy our oil from, especially since it’s a very expensive commodity, we pay a very high price for it and it’s the highest import, so we’ll have to decide what suits us best," Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interview. She then emphasized somewhat defiantly, "We will definitely buy it." On the same day, this development reported in Reuters will only serve to exacerbate https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indian-oil-skips-us-crude-buys-nigerian-mideast-oil-via-tender-say-sources-2025-09-05/ :  Top Indian refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), opens new tab skipped the purchase of U.S. oil in its latest tender and instead bought 2 million barrels of West African and a million barrels of Middle Eastern grade, trade sources said on Friday. The state refiner also bought one million barrels each of Nigerian oil grades Agbami and Usan from French oil major TotalEnergy, and another million barrels of Abu Dhabi's Das crude from Shell, the people said. Nigerian oil has been bought on free-on-board basis and Das has been purchsed on a delivered basis for arrival at Indian ports in late October-early November. In its previous tender https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-boosts-us-oil-purchases-competitive-prices-narrows-trade-deficit-2025-08-29/ , IOC bought 5 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate. This comes amid Trump's escalating trade war with New Delhi, but he now seems resigned to simply admit India has been "lost" to China and Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this week hailed that India, among the largest economies on the planet, has not given in to US demands to stop purchasing its oil and other products. A combined population of almost 3 billion... image "Such tariffs have already been introduced, for example, against India - our particularly privileged strategic partner, a major consumer of Russian goods, in particular, hydrocarbon raw materials," the top Russian diplomat . "We appreciate the fact that New Delhi did not bend under pressure and remains committed to the principles of free trade," Lavrov stated.  Fri, 09/05/2025 - 22:10
Top Secret Seal Team Mission Into North Korea Ended With Massacre Of Civilians & Zero Intel Gained Top Secret Seal Team Mission Into North Korea Ended With Massacre Of Civilians & Zero Intel Gained On Friday The New York Times revealed what may go down in history as the single most ignominious fiasco of US special operations in years, or possibly even decades - a positively wild story which is going to cast a further spotlight on Trump and current and former intelligence officials and elite military commanders. In early 2019 at a moment President Trump during his first term publicly engaged in high-profile diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, which included chummy summits at the DMZ border and the exchange of letters, a highly secretive operation by the US Navy's SEAL Team 6 ended with a group of North Korean civilian fishermen massacred under mysterious circumstances. Trump as Commander-in-Chief had ordered a high-risk mission, utilizing low-tech methods to avoid detection, to insert the Seal team on the North Korean coast where they would install a surveillance device capable of intercepting Kim Jong Un’s most sensitive communications. It would be hidden from Congress and the public, and even government officials based on need-to-know access. It's one of those past covert ops which was never intended to see the light of public knowledge. image The Times report describes the mission's purpose as likely to give the White House a huge leg up as Trump tried to engage Kim on the nuclear front, to achieve hoped-for historic denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. "The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump," it says. But the report notes that the hidden surveillance objective may have had a broader purpose. "The mission had the potential to provide the United States with a stream of valuable intelligence," continues. "But it meant putting American commandos on North Korean soil — a move that, if detected, not only could sink negotiations but also could lead to a hostage crisis or an escalating conflict with a nuclear-armed foe." Essentially this would be a small-scale invasion and breach of one of the most militarized and paranoid countries in the region and on earth. It should be noted that it is covert operations like these which give autocrats like Kim Jong Un (or previously: Saddam, Gaddafi, Assad, as well as the Iranians) valid reasons to be paranoid concerning Western spies and elite operatives. The report details that under the cover of night, the Seal team landed on a North Korean shoreline after they swam through freezing waters with untraceable equipment, operating completely blind and with no typical drone, spy plane or overhead surveillance or real-time mapping. Even their weapons and bullets were selected so as to be 'untraceable'.  Apparently there was precedent for this, something also long kept secret: "In 2005, SEALs used a mini-sub to go ashore in North Korea and leave unnoticed, according to people familiar with the mission," NY Times discloses. "The 2005 operation, carried out during the presidency of George W. Bush, has never before been reported publicly." Every aspect to the 2019 infiltration was ultra high-risk, NYT : The plan called for the Navy to sneak a nuclear-powered submarine, nearly two football fields long, into the waters off North Korea and then deploy a small team of SEALs in two mini-subs, each about the size of a killer whale, that would motor silently to the shore. The mini-subs were wet subs, which meant the SEALs would ride immersed in 40-degree ocean water for about two hours to reach the shore, using scuba gear and heated suits to survive. Eight Seals would swim to the target and plant the device, but the mission began to dramatically unravel from nearly the moment they surfaced in the dark of night. image Given the lack of real-time intelligence and communications black-out, intelligence analysts had studied and monitored the intended landing spot for months prior via satellite, to ensure no North Korean soldiers or bystanders could detect the operation. But it turns out there was a fishing boat very near the : Every few yards, the SEALs peeked above the black water to scan their surroundings. Everything seemed clear. That might have been a second mistake. Bobbing in the darkness was a small boat. On board was a crew of North Koreans who were easy to miss because the sensors in the SEALs’ night-vision goggles were designed in part to detect heat, and the wet suits the Koreans wore were chilled by the cold seawater. The SEALs reached shore thinking they were alone, and started to remove their diving gear. The target was only a few hundred yards away. By that moment, one group of Seals had made it to the shore, while another had stayed with the underwater small subs. Thinking that the fishing boat had likely detected the subs, which may have been exposed due to wake-movement or bubbles at the surface, and possibly underwater lights - a Seal commander at the shore opened fire on the boat. "As the shore team watched the North Korean in the water, the senior enlisted SEAL at the shore chose a course of action," NY Times details. "He wordlessly centered his rifle and fired. The other SEALs instinctively did the same." Upon inspection of the shot-up boat, all the crew were dead. They had just been unarmed civilians diving for shellfish. But to conceal their presence, the Seals punctured the lungs of the corpses so the bodies would sink to the bottom of the ocean floor. From that point, "The SEALs swam back to the mini-subs and sent a distress signal." The report adds: "Believing the SEALs were in imminent danger of capture, the big nuclear submarine maneuvered into shallow water close to the shore, taking a significant risk to pick them up. It then sped toward the open ocean." The fact that this highly classified incident is being leaked to the press now is significant in its own right... This is insane. Trump secretly deployed SEAL Team 6 into North Korea to plant a listening device but the mission collapsed when a fishing boat approached. SEAL Team 6 killed every civilian, sank the bodies by piercing their lungs, and escaped. Congress wasn’t told about it. — CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) The Seal team made it back unharmed, and US officials told the NY Times that a flurry of intense North Korean military activity was later observed by satellites at that same shoreline. Pyongyang never made accusations or statements publicly acknowledging there was a deadly incident, and the US gained no intelligence from it - as the listening device was never planted - and there was apparently never accountability.  The whole episode suggests there may be many more such 'secret failures' involving special forces in recent history. Special operations tend to only be made public, and celebrated, when they are a success; however, such missions which end in futility and innocent civilians dying get covered up, often with mission overseers getting promoted. Pyongyang is certainly paying close attention to the Friday Times report. Fri, 09/05/2025 - 20:30
White House Would Greenlight West Bank Annexation By Israel, Officials Claim White House Would Greenlight West Bank Annexation By Israel, Officials Claim Axios' global affairs correspondent Barak Ravid has cited Israeli officials who say that the White House is ready to greenlight a Netanyahu-ordered seizure of West Bank Palestinian territory. "Rubio has signaled to Israeli officials in private meetings that he does not oppose Israel's West Bank annexations and that the Trump administration will not stand in the way," writes Ravid. image If accurate, or if this scenario comes to fruition it would be a definitive death knell for any future state of Palestine or for a two-state solution, the latter which happens to still be Washington de facto policy, and stretching back historically across several administrations.  Despite occasional protestations from Trump over the ratcheting hunger crisis, or high civilian death toll, the US administration has really done nothing of significant pressure or with teeth to thwart the overwhelmingly destructive Gaza offensive by Israel's military.  The White House has also said nothing, even in terms of caution, concerning to new Netanyahu-ordered offensive which will see ground forces try to take over Gaza City. President Trump only put the following message out Wednesday on Truth Social: “Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!” Essentially he's standing by Netanyahu, who has stated time and again that the war will carry on until it ends with the complete eradication of Hamas, and to ensure it can never return to rule the Strip again. If there is Israeli annexation of the West Bank, which has long been recognized by the UN and even the US as 'occupied' Palestinian territories, the unraveling of the Abraham Accords would surely follow. The Palestinian Authority (PA) is in charge of the Gaza Strip, and is actually a political rival to Hamas. The UAE, for example, has already declared that this would be a 'red line' concerning its recently restored relations (in 2020) with Israel. image But here's how https://www.axios.com/2025/09/03/israel-annex-west-bank-uae-trump-abraham-accords frames the situation: "Israel is considering annexing large portions of the West Bank later this month in response to the recognition of a Palestinian state by several western countries. President Trump is likely the only foreign player who could stop it." Indeed this is the case, but he's as yet unwilling to use the key leverage over Israel that the US possesses, and has had for a long, long time: money and weapons. Israel's military is propped up by US military hardware and ordinance, and this relationship is not going away anytime soon - especially not under Trump's watch - who long enjoyed massive contributions from the likes of the Adelson family and AIPAC. Thu, 09/04/2025 - 05:45