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Did Biden just escalate the Gaza War?

Did Biden just escalate the Gaza War?

The chances for Americans to get dragged into the conflict just got greater

Analysis | Video Section

On Thursday night, President Joe Biden — acting without congressional approval — ordered airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, an escalation in the regional spillover from Israel’s war in Gaza that now directly involves US military personnel.

Biden chose to escalate the conflict and bomb Yemen in response to Houthi fighters' Red Sea attacks. His unconditional support and steady flow of weapons to Israel appears to be increasing the likelihood of a regional war. Instead of using the U.S.’s considerable leverage over Israel to push for a ceasefire, Biden is enabling a brutal war that has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, and ties his administration to Israel’s decisions as it inches toward an all out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Biden should be honest with Americans: the longer Israel's siege of Gaza persists, the greater the chances of a regional conflagration that will put American lives in danger.


Analysis | Video Section
Why the intel community needs Tulsi (but is too blind to know it)
Top photo credit: Tulsi Gabbard in Congress, July 2018 (LindamozukuCreative Commons)

Why the intel community needs Tulsi (but is too blind to know it)

Washington Politics

As it weighs the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard for the position of Director of National Intelligence, the United States Senate faces a fundamental choice: Should it reject those like Gabbard who challenge conventional wisdom, or should it recognize that sensibly questioning orthodox views is essential to avoid the kinds of intelligence and foreign policy failures we have experienced in such places as Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Ukraine?

The New York Times’ recent attack on Gabbard’s religious beliefs suggests that the foreign policy establishment is much more concerned about protecting its power than about the dangers of majoritarian intolerance that prompted the Bill of Rights. But disrespect for minority views and constitutional freedoms is exactly what most plagues our Intelligence Community (IC).

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Top image credit: U.S. President Donald Trump makes a special address remotely during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman

If Trump wants to 'denuclearize' then let's help him

QiOSK

Throughout his time in public life, Donald Trump has been nothing if not unpredictable. His public statements can be all over the map, and predicting which of them will be followed up with decisive action has been a losing proposition.

This time it may be different. In his first days in office he has released a torrent of executive orders designed to advance his stated agenda, from mass deportations to cleansing government programs of anything involving even a whiff of the so-called “woke agenda.”

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F-35
Top image credit: Brian G. Rhodes / Shutterstock.com

F-35 crashes same day Lockheed CEO touts its success

Military Industrial Complex

The CEO of the world’s largest weapons company, Lockheed Martin, and the manufacturer of the U.S. military’s most expensive weapon system, the F-35 stealth fighter jet, told investors on Tuesday that Israel’s attack on Iran’s air defenses last October helped to "demonstrate [the F-35’s] value here, through the Israel experience.”

Taiclet’s boasts to investors about the program were quickly tempered by real world events the same day when video circulated of an out of control Air Force F-35 tumbling to a fiery crash in Alaska, after its pilot ejected. An “inflight malfunction” led to the crash, said Col. Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fight Wing, at a news conference. Townsend promised “a thorough investigation in hopes to minimize the chances of such occurrences from happening again.”

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Trump transition

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