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National surveillance officials to approaching President Donald Trump are considering&nbsp, decapitating Iran’s nuclear program&nbsp, in a bombing plan. They wouldn’t have been thinking this way if Israel hadn’t been extremely effective in destroying Iran’s weather defenses. The F-35 was the show’s sun. Involvement in the Trump camp&nbsp, to remove the F-35 with robots, with Elon Musk one of the strongest tones, only took a figure blow owing to Israel.

Israel destroyed Iran’s heat threats including the Russian supplied S-300 MPU-2, an advanced type of the S-300. It was paired with scanners including the Russian Rezonans-NE which, it was claimed, could discover Jewish cunning aircraft and weapons. The S-300 fighter weapons can travel between Mach 6 and Mach 8 at a speed of 6 mph. Iran acquired four S-300 techniques, suddenly delivered in 2016. Additionally, Iran had a number of other air defense systems that, er, appeared to have been liquidated.

The F-35 is America’s cunning military fighter. It is currently being developed as part of a system that will eventually cost the US taxpayer trillions of dollars. Major Trump officials, including Elon Musk, want to stop F-35 creation and remove the cunning warrior with drones because of the high price tag and many birth issues, many of which were centered on software code issues.

The US has been using stealth drones for a while, but they are man-in-the-loop robots that need regular communication to achieve their targets. The use of radio contacts creates options for any attack as he can intercept the radio transmissions, locate the” secrecy” drone through calibration, and, as the Iranians proved, even grab power of the cunning helicopter and get it.

That’s what happened on December 5, 2011, when the Iranians online captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel cunning aircraft over Kashmar. The Iranians were aware of Sentinel drones being used to monitor Iran’s nuclear program and knew how to capture them. They were able to develop a controller and take control of the drone so they could ( presumably with Russian assistance ) watch the communications. The Egyptian pilot performed reasonably well, but the drone’s underside was damaged, his getting was difficult, and a wing was broken. Even so, Iran’s magnificent revolution gave them access to a top-secret platform with capabilities that were unmatched by anything the Russians, or even the Chinese, had at the moment.

The RQ-170 aircraft programme remains very classified, but other than the B-21 Raider, it is the only cunning aircraft in the US products. Although the B-21 is a proper bomber, it is thought to be able to operate as a bright drone without a crew. The B-21 program is hugely expensive, with the price of each platform closing in on$ 1 billion per copy.

Israel has a huge supply of robots —surveillance, command and control and assault forms. But Israel’s Air Force ( IAF ) relies on manned aircraft for its operations. Israel’s version of the F-35 is called Adir ( Mighty One ). It is a modified version of the F-35 that includes internally developed electronic measures and does not include Lockheed’s transportation tracking system ( because that would imply its aircraft may be tracked, a major flaw in the F-35 software ). With an accuracy greater than 3 meters ( 9.8 feet ), the Adir also supports Israeli weapons, including air-to-air weapons like Python and standoff weapons like the Popeye Turbo.

A big aircraft over a drone should not be forgotten because of the weapon’s weight, including wise weapons, and the ability to change to substitute targets. Drones have a much wider range of capabilities, and those that can launch smaller, unguided weapons, such as the Hellfire missile, don’t have the punch that a large platform does. The current trend is to construct drones that can soar alongside fighter jets or even aircraft. It’s still to be seen if these more recent friend drones actually increase air power capabilities. Examples include the Russian Okhotnik-B S-70 and the US XQ-58A Valkyrie. The Valkyrie is likely priced at about$ 25 million per copy, which is roughly a third of the F-35’s cost, despite not knowing the costs ( including R&amp, D) for the Russian drone. These models lack any empirical data, and most fight operations are theoretical.

Potential robots will increasingly struck targets using artificial intelligence and unnatural tracking, reducing, if not eliminating, television communications while also relying on GPS satellites for course correction. One drawback of this approach is that a significant delay occurs between a successful strike and reporting on the success of the attack, as drone protection requires operation in silent mode. Probably additional drones or satellites with the ability to survey targets will be required to evaluate the results.

Israel attacked Iranian targets using non-stealth fighter aircraft such as the F-15 and F-16 and the F-35 whose main function was to take out Iran’s air defenses. Along the same lines, Israel also crippled Syria and Iraq’s early warning radars from Iran. A map of Iran’s targets that the IAF raid produced by the Institute for the Study of War can be found below.

We are actually not well-versed in the logistics of Israel’s attack on Iran. No doubt that information is highly classified. However it is obvious that Israel’s attack, even taking into account the significant restrictions imposed by the Biden administration, was a great success.

Israel also succeeded in destroying Syria’s air defenses, once more reportedly using its F-35s. The first time the F-35 has been used against Russian-produced air defenses has been demonstrated by the value of the aircraft’s stealth feature in Syria and Iran.

There is a valuable lesson for potential adversaries, including Russia. Up until recently, the Russians lacked stealth technology. Russia’s Su-57 fighter bomber has recently&nbsp, been upgraded&nbsp, to enhance its stealth characteristics ( meaning reducing its radar signature ). The Russians also are developing a more advanced stealth fighter, the Su-75 Checkmate. Russia is also developing the Tu-PAK-DA, an unmanned aircraft ( the US already has the B-2 and is soon deploying the B-21 Raider ), and other stealth bombers ( it is anticipated to go into production in 2027 ).

Russians have also made a push to develop tools that can identify enemy stealth aircraft. The concept of dramatically reducing X-band radar signatures is the foundation of low-observable technology. Worldwide, X-band radars are the most popular type of air defense radars. Alternative radars, such as&nbsp, L Band&nbsp, or&nbsp, VHF, can detect stealth aircraft but they are range limited and not accurate enough for most countermeasures. ( The Russians have built L Band radars&nbsp, into the wings of the Su-57&nbsp, and other aircraft including the Su-27, to give them an ability to detect US stealth fighters. )

People in the United States who want to end the F-35 program must consider whether or not production should be stopped on the F-35, a platform that confronted Russian air defenses and an expansionist Iran, and impart a lesson to both of them.

Stephen Bryen is a correspondent for Asia Times and previously held the positions of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s staff and deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. &nbsp, This article was first published&nbsp, on his&nbsp, Substack newsletter&nbsp, Weapons and Strategy and is republished with permission.

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Some of Donald Trump’s case appointments and pronouncements have grave implications for China, and they have been dominating the news media. The Chinese have noticed.

In response to Trump’s attempts to force China out of the US business, they are signaling some of the way they did act. You may also suggest they’re reacting pre-emptively.

Trump has chosen China hawks for his ambassador to China ( David Perdue ), national security adviser ( Mike Walz ), and secretary of state ( Marco Rubio ). He has repeatedly made the pledge to impose levies of 60 % on Chinese goods. The other day, he threatened the nine people of the BRICS union, which include China, with 100 % taxes if they attempt to replace the US dollar as the world’s supply money.

The BRICS states aren’t really threatening to do that – any time soon, at least. China would have to release its controls on the flow of capital for the Foreign yuan, which is the obvious prospect, to enjoy the reserve-currency part. It doesn’t want to accomplish that.

However, BRICS is a significant component of China’s response to the possibility of serious restrictions on its ability to enter the US marketplace. The concept is growth, meaning that both imports and exports are dependent on various trading partners. As US producers may readily imagine, Brazil– the B in BRICS – is near the top of China’s party cards.

The additional response China is signaling is retribution. It took China less than 24 hours to respond when the Biden administration placed fresh restrictions on exports of crucial nutrients to China that China generally supplies in early December.

Growth, though, may show a particularly significant part of the strategy. China is already the world’s largest trading partner of more than 100 countries. More business with nations with somewhat large economies is what it needs to make up for the decline in the US market. Several of the BRICS countries fall under that umbrella.

The union people are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia are all submitting applications for membership, and potential others will pursue.

China may win large with India. It has the nation’s largest people and, by one estimate, the second largest gross domestic product. But India and China are competitors.

Many of the international buyers who are leaving China are being drawn to India. The two places have a long-running borders debate. Although they’ve made progress just in de-escalating conflicts, their political connection has been described as “frosty”.

Brazil has a population over 200 million and the world’s eighth largest business, bigger perhaps than Russia’s. Since 2009, China has been its biggest trading partner. Brazil is one of the few nations, according to the Economist, with a business deficit with China.

During Trump’s first phrase, the Economist calculates, Brazil’s imports to China almost doubled. As China responded to Trump’s taxes by shifting more of its ag-product buys from the US to Brazil, company exports played a key position.

In Trump’s subsequent expression, that switch might become even more perceptive. According to a study from the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association, extreme fresh US tariffs on Chinese goods would cost American soybean farmers$ 8 billion in lost value and$ 5 billion in corn farmers.

China hopes to increase its exports to Brazil. Electric vehicles manufacturers there are already selling electric cars, and two of them, BYD and Great Wall, intend to start energy car companies in Brazil in the following month. Without a doubt, those factories did buy a lot of components from China. SpaceSail, a Taiwanese opponent to Elon Musk’s Starlink in satellite communications, recently signed an agreement to do business in Brazil.

China and Brazil are drawing closer socially, also. China just raised the position of its ties to Brazil. Brazil’s left-wing leader, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, joins Chinese President Xi Jinping in supporting the BRICS ‘ dreams for what one expert perfectly calls” a planet buy independent of US hegemony”.

China and Brazil tried investing in their own currencies last year instead of cash. Although the transaction’s price was small, others may follow. If they do, they’ll determine whether Trump is serious about imposing 100 % tariffs on nations that reject the money.

Brazil isn’t the whole truth for China, to be sure. However, it may help some in making up for US business opportunities that were lost.

British farmers and ranchers must expect that in the US, a marketplace of comparable size will make up for what they might drop in China in the years to come.

Urban Lehner, a former long-time Asia editor and writer for the Wall Street Journal, is now editor professor of DTN/The Progressive Farmer. &nbsp, This&nbsp, content, &nbsp, initially published on December 12 by the latter news business and then republished by Asia Times with authority, is © Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved. &nbsp, &nbsp, Follow&nbsp, Urban Lehner&nbsp, on X @urbanize.

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Drones have been portrayed as the end of the Russian-Ukrainian War, but new advances in laser weapon technology demonstrated by a new UK laser weapon test may maintain tanks on the frontlines of future battles.

Defense News studies that British Army soldiers tested a cutting-edge light tool mounted on a Wolfhound armored personnel carrier this month. Difficulty robots were effectively destroyed by the weapons at Radnor Range in Wales.

The 16th Regiment Royal Artillery, which is a specialist in weather protection, was involved in the tests, according to Defense News, which were part of the UK Ministry of Defense’s Land Laser Directed Energy Weapon Demonstrator system.

This initiative is cited in the report because it addresses the growing risk of unmanned aerial systems, especially in the Russo-Ukrainian War, where robots are frequently used.

The statement quotes Stephen Waller, directed-energy arms team leader in the commission’s Defense Equipment &amp, Support business, emphasizing the need for cost-effective options to protect forces. It notes that the light tool, developed in collaboration with Raytheon UK under a GBP16.8 million ( US$ 21 million ) deal, offers a virtually limitless weapons source, making it a potentially more affordable choice than traditional measures.

The laser tool has almost unlimited ammunition, making it a potentially more affordable option than conventional countermeasures.

Defense News notes that the ministry is currently evaluating additional development requirements as a result of the effective trials, which represent a significant step in the direction of operational deployment. According to the report, similar attempts by the US and France highlight a global trend toward developed laser-based protection systems to combat the growing drone threat.

The Russo-Ukrainian War has established little, inconsequential drones as an efficient mainstream anti-armor tool. The fight has sparked the development of improvised countermeasures, which have rekindled debates about the value of tanks in contemporary war.

One such protection that was hastily improvised in the early days of the war is” Cope cages.” In a review from April 2024, Julien Potin mentions deal cages, improvised metallic grilles mounted atop container turrets, as a well-known but contentious addition to modern warfare.

Potin notes that they originate from the need to counter top-attack threats, aiming to pre-detonate warheads from anti-tank guided missiles ( ATGM ), rocket-propelled grenades ( RPG) and drone-dropped explosives– but their effectiveness is hotly debated.

He says proponents argue that cope cages offer low-cost, easily installed protection, especially against drone-dropped improvised explosive devices ( IEDs ), noting that their ongoing use by Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli forces, alongside production-line versions displayed at military expos, are indications of growing institutional acceptance.

But, he points out that critics claim that cope cages are inadequate against sophisticated ATGMs like the Javelin. He adds that the taller tanks make them more obvious to the army makes because of their increased level. They even impede team activity and leave, while restricting access to top-mounted arms. &nbsp,

So-called “turtle tank” force the cope cage concept more. A structure like this one covers the best, sides, and back of the tank.

Oliver Parken mentions that the turtle ship’s additional gear considerably blocks the captain’s vision and the main car’s passage in a May 2024 post for the War Zone.

Parken information that the turtle ship’s gear properly counters rocket-propelled grenades and gentle anti-armor weapons yet leaves gaps prone to precision-guided munitions. Although the frog ship’s heavy weapons offers a lot of security, its sluggish speed makes it a top target for drones, and its less maneuverability and situational awareness pose significant functional challenges.

Both sides have begun equipping their tanks with vehicle-mounted jammers as skilled operators can accurately action drones into the gaps of cope cages and turtle pond improvised gear.

Tom Porter makes the claim in a February 2024 Business Insider article that while Russian jamming capabilities are better than those of Ukraine, they are not distributed equally across the front lines. Unprotected vehicles, according to Porter, can be a weak link.

Among other solutions on offer, fiber-optic drones are immune to jamming and radiolocation, with their control signals sent via a cable akin to wire-guided ATGMs. However, the length of their fiber-optic control cables restricts their range, which may pose a risk to their operators. Control cables can also get tangled or damaged.

In a 2023 article for Military Review, Curtis Buzzard and other authors make reference to the renewed debates over the relevance of the tank in contemporary warfare, arguing that tank supporters claim that they can use essential firepower, mobility, and survivability to form combined arms teams, enabling breakthrough operations, and projecting national power, as seen in the Invasion of Iraq and the 1967 Six-Day War.

However, Buzzard and others point out that critics highlight tanks ‘ vulnerabilities to ATGMs, drones and loitering munitions, as demonstrated by heavy Russian tank losses in Ukraine. Additionally, they criticize tanks for their logistical demands and for their large electromagnetic signatures, which make them detectable.

While critics may call the tank obsolete, Buzzard and others argue that tanks remain crucial but must evolve through integration, concealment, and enhanced mobility to meet future threats.

Advancements in laser weapon technology may soon make them a viable drone defense for armored fighting vehicles, even though improvised solutions like cope cages, turtle tanks, and vehicle-mounted jammers have varying degrees of effectiveness against rapidly evolving drone warfare capabilities.

In an October 2024 article for the Wall Street Journal ( WSJ), Alistair MacDonald cautions that, despite their promise, laser weapons face significant limitations, including high energy requirements, limited range and susceptibility to adverse weather conditions.

According to MacDonald, these limitations prevent lasers from performing well in dynamic combat situations because they struggle to maintain focus and power over long ranges and during atmospheric disturbances.

Additionally, he claims that the bulkiness of the required cooling and power supplies makes it harder for them to be deployed on mobile devices.

However, MacDonald says technological advancements have made vehicle-mounted counter-drone lasers more feasible. He mentions that fiber lasers increase efficiency and compactness by combining light from several strands into a single, potent beam.

He claims that the incorporation of high-energy lasers onto vehicles like the US Army’s Stryker armored fighting vehicle has also been made possible by the development of smaller, stronger power generators and cooling systems.

According to MacDonald, these improvements provide a cost-effective and essentially limitless ammunition supply and allow for quick, precise targeting of drones. He mentions that the successful trials of these systems demonstrate that they have the potential to improve combat capabilities, making a significant advancement in counter-drone technology.

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The Palestinian Arab Army’s fast fall in response to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s advance, which the UN Security Council has labeled a terrorist organization, has attracted international attention from their ranks.

The Tamils from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region rank first and foremost among those foreigners. They previously fought China as East Turkestan Islamic Movement members, but they later changed their names to Turkistan Islamic Party.

Regardless of what brand they go by, the organization has been active in Idlib since 2017 when information about its provinces in that region of Syria started to surface. The group has a history of working with criminal organizations like Al Qaeda to aid in the eviction of a Uyghur express from China. The UN Security Council designated it as a criminal organization for this reason. In later 2020, the United States removed its unique title for being dormant, blatantly indicating that the organization had fallen into hibernation, but it is now known that this was untrue.

A movie released by members of the organization urging violent jihad against China recently emerged from Syria. Under the heading” China has cause to be terrified of rebel-run Syria,” Yang Xiaotong wrote a thorough Asia Times article on the subject. The Turkistan Islamic Party is recruiting people from Central Asia, and it could restore itself in Afghanistan by attacking the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, two of the most crucial factors.

The hall is considered to be the Belt and Road Initiative’s lineup project, and for years it’s been the target of attacks by the Balochistan Liberation Army, which Pakistan, China and even the US have designated as a criminal business. Since the Afghan Taliban reclaimed Afghanistan and provided refuge to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, the BLA has increased its problems.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the Balochistan Liberation Army are now viewed as casual friends. Both parties want to obliterate Muslim soil: the TTP wants to establish a radical Islamist dictatorship, while the BLA wants to cut out an independent Balochistan.

Some people also believe that the Afghan Taliban would demand the cession of Pakistan’s Pashtun-majority Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ( previously known as the Northwest Frontier Province ) as retribution for their contributions to the TTP’s rise to power because the Afghan Taliban do not recognize the Durand Line.

Because the Afghan Taliban have good relations with China, they might not be interested in having the Turkistan Islamic Party there. The problem, though, is that the Afghan Taliban don’t have total power over their territory– while is proven by the continued presence of ISIS-K cells it. Additionally, they recently hosted the Turkistan Islamic Party in accordance with the tenet of offering shelter to all like-minded Muslim organizations with the condition that they don’t endanger others.

Thus, it’s possible that the Afghan Taliban and the Turkistan Islamic Party can form again in Afghanistan. From that, it may launch an attack on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, just as the half Afghan-based Balochistan Liberation Army has been doing.

It is possible that the Turkistan Islamic Party may strategically desire to beat China’s sweet spot in order to increase the organization’s profile, while the Balochistan Liberation Army attacks the corridor for ultra-nationalist reasons, asserting that the megaproject is exploiting the local Baloch by privying them of the riches derived from the region’s natural resource wealth.

For unscrupulous motivation may also have some application in Central Asia, aside from attacking Pakistani-based Belt and Road tasks. From that, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham even has sourced some of its international fighters– especially Uzbeks, who are the country’s most popular people.

The Turkistan Islamist Party was recruit recruits from Uyghur communities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, whether they carry out attacks on Belt and Road projects in Pakistan, border crossings in Xinjiang, education in Afghanistan or Syria, or both.

These plausible scenarios raise questions about Turkiye’s indirect sponsorship of the party as a result of Ankara’s covert acceptance of the Turkistan Islamists ‘ alliance with the Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( commonly abbreviated HTS), the group that recently conquered Syria.

Although Turkiye considers itself to be the leader of the Organization of Turkish States, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, its citizens, particularly Uzbeks, have now received HTS education and gained related field expertise in Syria under HTS control. When Turkiye allowed some of its citizens to become potential terrorist threats without raising a finger to stop them, it will be difficult for the country to demonstrate itself as a trustworthy partner for those countries.

The role of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency is another thing to keep in mind. GUR was implicated in HTS’s offensive in Syria, according to The Washington Post. So it isn’t surprising that Kyiv backs HTS because it had previously supported Tuareg militants in Mali against the allegedly Wagner-backed Rapid Support Forces in Sudan. Nevertheless, the contemporary GUR is also a CIA project, as the Washington Post reported in late 2023. &nbsp,

Thus, it is possible that the CIA will use GUR as a blatantly unfeigned proxy to control or at least encourage the Turkistan Islamist Party’s expansion in the geostrategic Central Asian region between Russia and China. Even if Turkiye opposes it, it might happen. By demilitarizing and demobilizing its armed formations, Ankara could preemptively defuse that scenario by using its influence over HTS to oust the Turkistan Islamist Party inside Syria. Uyghurs who are deported to China may also be deported.

Of course, that would require tremendous political will, which Turkiye might not have at present. Recep Tayyip Erodgan, president, has previously defended himself as a champion of the Uyghurs ‘ political cause, but he has since toned down such rhetoric out of pragmatism to strengthen ties with China. Thus, he might face accusations of betrayal from his domestic base, as well as from those who support his Islamist-driven foreign policy abroad.

If he doesn’t take decisive action right away, even if only to the extent that he won’t allow other Uyghurs, Central Asians, or Chechens to train there via Turkiye for training with that organization or HTS, he might find himself with a serious issue on his hands that could harm his foreign policy. After all, those people traveled to Syria with the covert support of his country for training and battlefield experience, so Erdogan is ultimately held responsible for any attacks they might carry out in the future.

Pakistan is one of Turkiye’s close partners. Therefore, it will be incredibly scandalous if Syrian-based Uyghurs eventually travel to Afghanistan to engage in a hybrid war against China and Pakistan, which is also thought to be Pakistan’s economic development’s foundation.

The question is whether the Turkistan Islamists do it on their own or in concert with the CIA-sponsored GUR, since Turkiye will still be held accountable for a portion of it. Russia, China, the Central Asian republics, and Pakistan are therefore watching very closely to see what Erdogan will do.

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In the first decades of 2017, two American traveled to Syria where they met individually with that country’s despot, Bashar Al-Assad.

One of them was Tulsi Gabbard, therefore a Hawaii Democratic congressman, then President-elect Trump’s find to be director of national intelligence. &nbsp, Another American, arriving in Damascus less than two weeks later, &nbsp, was me.

It’s fair to say our discussions with Assad, and the information we after relayed to the world about what was taking area inside his land, &nbsp, couldn’t have been more diverse.

Gabbard flew covertly to Syria in the middle of January that year, becoming the first member of Congress to do so since 2011, when Syrian forces massacred peaceful protesters and imprisoned thousands of others at the top of the Egyptian Spring. The fight between anti-Assad troops and the Arab military escalated into something unprecedented, and it even got worse in 2015 when Russia’s Vladimir Putin dispatched unique causes and aircraft to battle “rebel” neighborhoods in cities like Aleppo. &nbsp,

However, Gabbard was unimpressed by Assad’s repeated use of chemical arms against his own citizens or the indiscriminate Russian attack. Her journey — privately&nbsp, funded&nbsp, by a Cleveland-based Muslim United group friendly to Assad — turned into a propaganda coup for the Arab program. Gambard and Assad met twice, but nothing was revealed about what they truly said to one another.

These classes with the tyrant were, to say the least, questionable. ” To say I’m disgusted would be an understatement”, said Republican senator Adam Kinzinger on the House floor. ” By meeting with the large criminal of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Tulsi Gabbard has legitimized his tyranny and, in turn, legitimized his murder against the Arab people”.

Gabbard, for her part, defended&nbsp, herself, &nbsp, writing in a blog&nbsp, post&nbsp, ( and in a later CNN&nbsp, interview&nbsp, ) that she would be ready to meet with anyone “if there’s a chance it can help bring about an end to this war”. She later&nbsp, said&nbsp, Assad is” certainly the army of the United States” .&nbsp,

However, what she said about him and how she addressed the world about the Palestinian issue itself was what really added to Assad during this journey. &nbsp, She adopted wholesale the Syrian ( and Russian ) government&nbsp, line that the main forces resisting Assad were not the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups&nbsp, pledged&nbsp, to creating a&nbsp, democratic free Syria but Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists — supported by the United States government, no less. ( It should be noted that the US military was attempting to target and destroy the ISIS caliphate in Iraq at the time. ) &nbsp,

” There is no difference between’ moderate’ rebels and al-Qaeda ( al-Nusra ) or ISIS—they are all the same”, Gabbard wrote in her blog post.

Even more impressive, she later released a three minute YouTube&nbsp, video&nbsp, about her journey, showing bombed-out structures as well as babies in hospitals&nbsp, and maimed citizens with amputated limbs, portraying them all as victims of the Arab “terrorist” rebels. &nbsp, ( Fact check: According to the UK based Arab Network for Human Rights, as of 2022, &nbsp, 228, 893&nbsp, residents had been killed in the government’s civil war — with more than 90 percent of these deaths caused by the Syrian government or its Russian allies. )

&nbsp, On her legislative website, she posted&nbsp, photos&nbsp, from the trip, including one of her meeting with Palestinian religious leaders, each of whom, she wrote, called for” an end to international support of terrorists who are trying to rid Syria of its liberal, pluralistic, completely society”. ( Fact check: Freedom House, which does annual rankings of the state of freedom in every country in the world, ranked Assad’s Syria close to the bottom of its list, below North Korea, China&nbsp, and Iran, &nbsp, calling it “one of the world’s most oppressive regimes” which “harshly&nbsp, suppresses freedom of speech and assembly” with “enforced disappearances, military trials and torture … rampant in government-controlled areas”. )

All of this was nothing new for Gabbard. In 2015, Mouaz Moustafa, a Washington-based anti-regime activist serving as the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Forces, traveled with Gabbard and other House members to the Syrian-Turkish border with a congressional delegation two years prior to her meeting with Assad. They had a conversation with displaced civilians there who described how constant Syrian and Russian bombings had driven them from their homes. Much to Moustafa’s astonishment, Gabbard was openly skeptical. How do you know whether Assad or the Russians carried out the bombings? she asked them. ” How do you know it wasn’t ISIS”?

Moustafa could barely stop&nbsp, himself from blurting out the blindingly obvious: ISIS doesn’t have an Air Force! &nbsp, He&nbsp, came away clear-eyed about Gabbard’s world view. ” She’s like the perfect product of RT propaganda”, he said. &nbsp,

Confronting Assad&nbsp,

I arrived in Damascus in early February, not long after Gabbard had left in late January. The Lebanese American brother of the Cleveland-based organization that paid for Gabbard’s trip, which I was working for at the time, only paid the brother as a fixer in my situation. If he was expecting another sympathetic report on Assad and his regime, however, he was soon to be sorely disappointed. &nbsp,

The trip was tense and at times nerve-wracking. The Damascus airport was shut down because Syria was a war zone. A Yahoo News cameraman and I had to travel by armed caravan through the Bekaa Valley to the Syrian border from Beirut to Beirut. Our fixer — with clear approvals from up high — had arranged for the Syrian military to provide us with safe passage, avoiding “rebel” areas, &nbsp, as we made our&nbsp, way to the capital. I stayed there before arriving at a five-star Intercontinental hotel constructed in the days before Assad’s regime became a global pariah. &nbsp,

But on the morning of my scheduled interview, I was torn. My reporting on the so-called Caesar photos, which were tens of thousands of brutal photos taken inside Assad’s torture chambers, showed rows of naked, bruised, burned, and emaciated bodies, shocking images that immediately drew comparisons to those from Nazi concentration camps. &nbsp, ( Indeed, they would later go on display in a special exhibit at the&nbsp, Holocaust Museum. ) A regime photographer, codenamed Caesar, who had taken the photos had defected and smuggled them out of the country in thumb drives concealed in his shoes because he was so sickened by what he was given the task of documenting: the torture and murder of Assad’s prisoners. The late Senator John McCain claimed he looked at the photos every day and kept them on his desk as a reminder of the regime’s atrocities.

I contacted Moustafa before I left on my trip and requested copies of some of the Caesar photos to bring with me. I had watched past interviews of Assad and knew that, whenever confronted with questions about the grotesque excesses of his regime, he invariably responded:” Oh, do you have the evidence? Can you show me the evidence”? I wanted to have the evidence to show him if I was going to ask him about the Caesar photos. &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

And then, I hesitated. What if the bodyguards of Assad’s regime attacked me when I arrived and discovered the photos? My only purpose for attending the interview would be blown up. I was genuinely uncertain whether it was worth the risk — until I logged onto the internet in the hotel’s business center and saw the lead&nbsp, story&nbsp, in that day’s New York Times.

&nbsp,” Amnesty Report Accuses Syria of Executing Thousands Since War Began”, read the headline. Up to 13, 000 people were executed in mass hangings at Assad’s infamous Saydnaya military prison, according to a new report from the Amnesty International organization. Further, the report further details how the detainees at Saydnaya were subjected to severe and repeated beatings, most of whom were imprisoned for organizing anti-government demonstrations, were later found guilty while blindfolded in sham military trials that sometimes lasted just a few minutes.

In short, Assad’s brutality was very much international news on the day of my interview. I was now determined to advance the narrative. I could be the first journalist to confront him with the Caesar photos in addition to posing questions to him about the Amnesty International report. &nbsp,

Vest pocket weapon

I hopped into my fixer’s car on the way to Assad’s presidential office, &nbsp, and hurried caution to the wind by putting my copies of the photos in the inside pocket of my jacket as well as another document I figured would be useful. &nbsp,

It was all strange, of course. I’m relieved to find that I passed through security without any issues because the Syrian security personnel never looked through the pocket of my jacket. &nbsp, Assad, tall, awkward and somewhat herky-jerky in his&nbsp, movements — odd, I thought for a London-trained&nbsp, ophthalmologist — greeted me as I walked in, &nbsp, asking if we could&nbsp, have an informal chat before the interview began. He wanted to talk about the state of the American media, relating in the course of our somewhat stilted conversation how he liked to watch conservative BillO’Reilly’s Fox News show and, no doubt for balance, the leftwing&nbsp,” Young Turks” YouTube show.

After that, we moved to a nearby office where Syrian TV cameras would record the interview and give us a copy of the tape, repeatedly assuring us that no editorial content would be removed. This was done in exchange for the assurance that no editorial content would be removed. I started the&nbsp, session&nbsp, slowly and respectfully, asking Assad whether he had had any communications with the new Trump administration in Washington ( no, he hadn’t ) and whether he saw a path to an improvement in US-Syria relations under the new president. ( Sure, he said, as long as the US works with his government, the Russians and the Iranians to fight the “terrorists” threatening his country. ) &nbsp, &nbsp,

And when it came to the Syrian civil war, he offered his standard talking points, the same ones that&nbsp, had just been repeated to the world by Tulsi Gabbard, using virtually the identical language. &nbsp,

Who backed the rebels and referred to them as “moderate rebels” as they transitioned from Syria to ISIS and Al-Nusra? he said. ” We didn’t. So it’s not our responsibility…. Your country supported them”. ( Fact check: the US not only didn’t support Al-Nusra, it had designated it as a terrorist group. In the complexity of the war, however, some US aid to opposition groups indirectly benefited Al-Nusra. ) &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

About&nbsp, halfway in, I started to press him about his human rights record. Things&nbsp, started to get testy. I brought up the Amnesty International Report which described the military prison at Saydnaya as a “human slaughterhouse” .&nbsp, &nbsp,

” What do you know about what’s going on in that prison”? I asked. &nbsp,

He dismissed the question as irrelevant. Why question him about human rights when the United States has” this close, very close relation” with Saudi Arabia? &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp,

” I’m not interviewing the King of Saudi Arabia right now”, I responded. ” I’m interviewing you. I’m asking you about reports of human rights abuses in your prison, in your country”.

” Yeah, of course. You own the question. I own the answers. So that’s my answer”, Assad, replied with a nervous laugh.

” The United States is in no position to talk about human rights”, he said. ” Since the Vietnam War til this moment, they killed millions of civilians. You don’t talk about the 1.5 million]killed ] in Iraq without any assignment by the]UN] Security Council” authorizing the invasion of that country, he added. &nbsp, As for Amnesty International, “it’s always biased and politicized” .&nbsp,

I made it clear that the report was based on interviews with former prisoners, doctors, and, as a bonus, three former Syrian judges, who claimed the Syrian government’s minister of defense or Army chief of staff had both been “deputized acting on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad.”

” It means nothing”, he replied.

“Nothing?” 

” No. When you need to make a report, you need evidence, concrete evidence”. Then he suggested that Amnesty had compensated the witnesses who spoke to him for their testimony. &nbsp,” You can forge anything these days”.

Photo finish

It was now time to move on to the Caesar photos, questions he was likely not expecting. I informed him that a Syrian woman had just filed a lawsuit in Spain against nine senior Syrian government and intelligence officials who claimed her brother had vanished from one of his prisons, and that she was using Caesar photos to support her claims of abuse. &nbsp,

” Have you seen the photos? I asked him. &nbsp,

” No, I didn’t. Do you have a photo?”

” I do have the photos.”

” Can you show it to me?”

” Yes, I’d be happy to,” I replied, reaching into my inside jacket pocket and handing them to him”. Here.”

And just as I did, the cameras went off, the lights went out, and the room became completely dim. &nbsp,

It was a surreal moment. Without saying a word, I was sitting face to face with Assad in the dark, hardly giving a second to the tortured victims. His press release quickly announced that a fuse had blown and that they were putting things right. Given the timing, I was, to say the least, skeptical. I assumed nervous aides were deliberating whether to allow the interview to continue in a back room of a presidential suite. &nbsp,

But after a few minutes, they decided they&nbsp, would — likely concluding, &nbsp, quite correctly, that if they cut off the interview at that moment it would be the principal focus of my story. The interview was resumed as the lights turned on. ( You can watch the entire exchange&nbsp, here &nbsp, with the interregnum in darkness cut out in the edit room by Syrian TV producers. )

” Have you verified” the photos? Assad demanded”. You can’t mention a picture like that without checking who those are, where, and everything else. ” The photos were no doubt doctored, he argued. &nbsp,

I made it clear that the US State Department had sent 242 of the photos to the FBI Crime Lab for analysis. &nbsp, I then whipped out the other document I had taken with me in my jacket: &nbsp, the FBI report on the Caesar photos. I read it to him”. No artifacts or inconsistent patterns that would suggest they have been manipulated are present in the depicted bodies and scenes. As a result of the above observations, all of these 242 images appear to depict real people and events.”

” Who said that?”” The FBI. Have you seen the report? ” I handed it to him.

” Whether, if the FBI says something, it’s not some — something it’s not evidence for anyone, especially for us … It’s just propaganda. It’s just fake news.”

And with that, Assad gave me my&nbsp, lead. The now-US president was using a phrase titled “fake news” that had been coined on the 2016 campaign trail. It was a brand-new, lethal American export that authoritarians around the world were looking for to disprove and mock inconvenient truths for. &nbsp, &nbsp,

And Assad, no doubt emboldened by the PR boost he had just gotten from his new friend, the congresswoman from Hawaii, was happy to join the chorus.

The well-known author and investigative journalist Michael Isikoff has worked for Newsweek, NBC News, and Yahoo News. This article was first published in the Substack newsletter SpyTalk on November 21, 2024. It is republished with permission.

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Australia’s submarine ideas are slipping due to aging Collins-class warships and AUKUS risks, forcing difficult decisions on its future underground warfare skills.

This month, Naval News&nbsp, reported&nbsp, that the American government has designated the Collins class regular underwater sustainment program as a “product of concern”, following a Defense Australia&nbsp, recommendation&nbsp, to strengthen supervisory oversight of this important capability.

According to Naval News, this statement highlights the difficulties that these boats face in extending beyond their original design’s lifetime. The Albanese government is reportedly committed to investing AUD 4 to 5 billion ( US$ 2.56-3.2 billion ) over the next ten years to ensure that the Collins school is in place until its planned withdrawal in 2030.

The Australian Shipbuilding Company has a fresh AUD$ 2.2 billion sustainment agreement, which was signed in June 2024, according to the report. This agreement replaces the one under the previous coalition government that included an Hey 120 million efficiency dividend.

The Collins school has experienced significant problems, including unprecedented levels of erosion, which necessitated complete remediation measures, according to Naval News. It states that the title of “product of problem” aims to address these issues through better oversight and a upcoming summit in early 2025.

According to the report, this initiative is a part of a wider effort to ensure that no capability gaps exist until the transition to typically military, nuclear-powered submarines is finished.

Underscoring the weight of the issue, American Broadcasting Corporation News&nbsp, reported&nbsp, in November 2024 that the Royal Australian Navy is grappling with a major operational problem. According to the review, the navy now has just one of its six Collins-class ships that is fully operational.

This condition is brought on by immediate repairs and scheduled upgrades that the aging ship, which has experienced exceptional ship erosion, are required, according to ABC News. The report says two ships are stationed at Adelaide’s Osborne factory, where employee cuts are causing difficulties in their extensive repair, known as full-cycle landing.

Additionally, the report mentions three ships are at Western Australia’s Garden Island marine center, with at least one awaiting documentation to return to support.

Despite these difficulties, ABC News maintains that Defense Australia can match the government’s operational presence goals, even though certain submarines ‘ specific locations and accessibility are unknown for security reasons.

Australia may hope to re-establish its underwater warfare capabilities by purchasing nuclear attack submarines ( SSNs ) under the AUKUS framework, but that prospect has an uncertain future.

Asia Times&nbsp, mentioned&nbsp, this month that Australia’s nuclear submarine ambitions under the AUKUS security pact face significant challenges due to a weak US production base, uncertainties from a second Trump administration and reluctance to share nuclear technology.

A recent US Congressional Research Service ( CRS ) &nbsp, report&nbsp, suggests that US SSNs could perform Australian and US missions in the region in lieu of Canberra’s acquiring nuclear attack submarines ( SSNs ) under AUKUS. Similar arrangements already exist between the US and its NATO allies. The report provides alternative strategies for reinvesting funds used for SSNs into other military assets, including forward rotations of US and UK SSNs to Australia. The report warns that if Australia’s SSN plans reach a cost-accounting death spiral, it could reduce funding for other military capabilities, impacting deterrence against China.

Critics claim that Australia should leverage its distance from China to avoid projecting military power into China’s near-mainland and that the AUKUS SSN project lacks a clear strategic rationale.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House raises concerns about the future of AUKUS, with potential demands for increased Australian contributions. Further, Australia’s reluctance to cooperate on nuclear power complicates its SSN ambitions.

Australia might have to reconsider acquiring SSNs from an alternative source given Australia’s looming underwater warfare capability gap and the uncertain future of AUKUS.

In an&nbsp, article&nbsp, for the Strategist this month, Peter Briggs argues that Australia should prepare to acquire at least 12 French Suffren-class SSNs, as the current AUKUS plan for eight SSNs faces increasing risks.

According to Briggs, the AUKUS plan, which includes three US-built and five British-built SSNs, is unlikely to meet deadlines due to production delays and design challenges. He claims that the Australian government, which will be elected next year, should choose the French design to ensure deliveries by 2038 by 2026.

He mentions that the Suffren class, already in service with the French Navy, offers a more feasible solution with its 5, 300-ton displacement, 70-day endurance, and 60-person crew. He claims that this ship’s design is best suited for anti-submarine warfare and can accommodate missiles and special forces.

Briggs says the AUKUS SSN plan’s mixed designs and oversized UK submarines, driven by reactor dimensions, are unsuitable for Australia’s needs and pose significant crew and cost challenges. He adds that the AUKUS plan is further complicated by US and UK submarine production issues, making the French Suffren class a more affordable and practical choice.

He claims that this change would allow Australia to continue to offer SSN training to its allies in the US and the UK and establish a joint construction program with France to meet its maritime security requirements.

However, acquiring 12 French-built Suffren-class SSNs would require a radical shift in Australia’s defense posture, away from the AUKUS arrangement and toward dependence on French defense infrastructure.

The Suffren class is a capable SSN, but the political and strategic risk associated with reneging on the AUKUS framework and the need to invest in nuclear infrastructure over the long term makes it so.

There are ongoing debates about whether the AUKUS framework was the best way to restore Australia’s underwater warfare capabilities in light of Australia’s aging Collins submarines and the uncertain future of its AUKUS SSN plans.

In a June 2024&nbsp, debate&nbsp, published by the United States Studies Center, Richard Dunley argues that the plan is optimal given limited alternatives. He emphasizes the acquisition of Virginia-class SSNs from the US as a” stopgap” solution that accelerates Australia’s nuclear submarine capability. He also makes a point of mentioning the benefits of supporting a joint industrial base by co-developing the UK’s SSN.

Elizabeth Buchanan, in contrast, points out that the AUKUS SSN is too expensive and ambitious and advocates for a more practical approach that uses US and UK submarines using Australia’s “pit-stop power.” This arrangement, she argues, better aligns with Australia’s strategic and resource constraints.

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