nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Israel still eyeing a limited attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

AFR, Erin Banco, Apr 19, 2025 

New York | Israel has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months despite President Donald Trump telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US was, for now, unwilling to support such a move, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.

Israeli officials have vowed to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and Netanyahu has insisted that any negotiation with Iran must lead to the complete dismantling of its nuclear program.

US and Iranian negotiators are set for a second round of preliminary nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday.

Over the past months, Israel has proposed to the Trump administration a series of options to attack Iran’s facilities, including some with late spring and summer timelines, the sources said. The plans include a mix of airstrikes and commando operations that vary in severity and could set back Tehran’s ability to weaponise its nuclear program by just months or a year or more, the sources said.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump told Netanyahu in a White House meeting earlier this month that Washington wanted to prioritise diplomatic talks with Tehran and that he was unwilling to support a strike on the country’s nuclear facilities in the short term.

But Israeli officials now believe that their military could instead launch a limited strike on Iran that would require less US support. Such an attack would be significantly smaller than those Israel initially proposed.

It is unclear if or when Israel would move forward with such a strike, especially with talks on a nuclear deal getting started. Such a move would likely alienate Trump and could risk broader US support for Israel.

Parts of the plans were previously presented last year to the Biden administration, two former senior Biden administration officials told Reuters. Almost all required significant US support via direct military intervention or intelligence sharing. Israel has also requested that Washington help Israel defend itself should Iran retaliate.

In response to a request for comment, the US National Security Council referred Reuters to comments Trump made on Thursday, when he told reporters he has not waved Israel off an attack but that he was not “in a rush” to support military action against Tehran…………………………………………..

While the more limited military strike Israel is considering would require less direct assistance – particularly in the form of US bombers dropping bunker-busting munitions that can reach deeply buried facilities – Israel would still need a promise from Washington that it would help Israel defend itself if attacked by Tehran in the aftermath, the sources said.

Any attack would carry risks. Military and nuclear experts say that even with massive firepower, a strike would probably only temporarily set back a program the West says aims to eventually produce a nuclear bomb, although Iran denies it.

Israeli officials have told Washington in recent weeks that they do not believe US talks with Iran should move forward to the deal-making stage without a guarantee that Tehran will not have the ability to create a nuclear weapon.

“This can be done by agreement, but only if this agreement is Libyan style: They go in, blow up the installations, dismantle all of the equipment, under American supervision,” Netanyahu said following his talks with Trump. “The second possibility is … that they [Iran] drag out the talks and then there is the military option.”

From Israel’s perspective, this may be a good moment for a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been hammered by Israel since the Gaza war began, while the Houthi movement in Yemen has been targeted by US airstrikes. Israel also severely damaged Iran’s air defence systems in an exchange of fire in October 2024.

A top Israeli official, speaking with reporters earlier this month, recognised there was some urgency if the goal was to launch a strike before Iran rebuilds its air defences. But the senior official refused to state any timeline for possible Israeli action and said discussing this would be “pointless”. https://www.afr.com/world/middle-east/israel-still-eyeing-a-limited-attack-on-iran-s-nuclear-facilities-20250419-p5lswv

April 19, 2025 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Unprecedented number of B-2 bombers amassed for Iran strike

Ken Klippenstein, Apr 08, 2025

In the largest single deployment of stealth bombers in U.S. history, the Pentagon has sent six B-2 “Spirit” aircraft to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

The long-range bombers, which are uniquely suited to evade Iranian air defenses and can carry America’s most potent bunker busting weapons, flew in from Missouri last week in a little noticed operation.

The B-2s carry not just bombs, but a message for Iran: “do you see our sword?,” as one retired general told Newsmax this week.

President Donald Trump hasn’t been shy in threatening Iran, saying that if Tehran doesn’t close the door on a nuclear capability they will experience “bombing the likes of which they haven’t seen.” 

“Hell” will “rain down” on the country, Trump has also said. Just today, amidst the stock market meltdown Trump again reiterated his threat, saying that “doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious” — which to the president is undertaking a massive strike.

Blatant as the threat is, the U.S. government has not otherwise publicly acknowledged the bomber buildup. Though B-2 bombers were used to carry out strikes on underground Houthi facilities in Yemen (both under the Biden and Trump administration), the forward deployment of the bombers to the island of Diego Garcia was only reported when commercial satellite images of the airbase there revealed the six on the runway.

“To my knowledge, this is the largest B-2 deployment to a forward location,” Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists told me. Kristensen is the world’s leading tracker of nuclear comings and goings.

“All the bombers, they’re not in hangers, they’re underneath satellites where they can be photographed and seen; and the idea is, do you see our sword?” retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt, who served as Deputy U.S. Military Representative to NATO, said in an interview with Newsmax last week. Holt also said that the B-2 deployment “gives the president a military option that he can actually use these weapons against Iran if needed.”

This is a highly visible threat to Tehran, but at least one party isn’t supposed to notice: the American people. 

The Pentagon refuses to acknowledge that the deployment is even happening. Trump’s new Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell has only vaguely alluded to “other air assets” being deployed it has announced that two aircraft carriers will stay in the region, the result of a delay in sending one home after its current deployment.

According to Google Trends, searches for terms like “B-2” and “war with Iran” have only modestly increased, indicating that public curiosity has been suppressed despite Donald Trump’s many threats to attack his enemies.

Why B-2s?

The B-2 was first designed during the Cold War to penetrate deep into Russian territory for a nuclear attack. The aircraft’s stealth features (making it all but “invisible” to conventional radar) allow it to evade even the most sophisticated air defenses. Subsequent to its deployment, the bomber was modified so that it could take on unique conventional roles as well, especially in attacking underground facilities.

Though the U.S. has a variety of long-range fighters in the region — F-16s, F/A-18s, F-15Es, and F-35s — deployed on aircraft carriers and based in countries like Jordan and the UAE, the B-2s also allow the Trump administration to carry out unilateral strikes. That is, without the permission or involvement of any other Middle East countries. (Diego Garcia continues to be militarily controlled by the U.K.)……………………………………………………………………………………………https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/pentagon-prepares-for-trump-to-go?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=7677&post_id=160827397&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=191n6&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

April 19, 2025 Posted by | Iran, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Zelensky started the war then begged for missiles – Trump

Ed COMMENT. Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump again plays fast and loose with the truth. In fact Zelensky did not start Russia’s wholescale invasion of Ukraine. Putin did.

However, there’s more than a grain of truth in Trump’s claim. Zelensky deceived the Ukrainian public by pledging to support the autonomy of the Donbass regions, and end the Ukraine government’s 8 year war against them. Once elected, he reneged on this .

14 Apr, 2025 , https://www.rt.com/news/615756-zelensky-started-war-trump/

The Ukrainian leader has recently renewed his call for Washington to supply air defense systems

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky should never have started a war with Russia, US President Donald Trump has said.

In a press conference alongside El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump commented on Zelensky’s recent offer to finance $15 billion worth of Patriot air defense batteries with the aid of Kiev’s European backers.

“He’s always looking to purchase missiles,” the US presided noted.

“When you start a war, you got to know that you can win the war,” he said of Zelensky. “You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”

Trump added that he gave Kiev American-made Javelin man-portable anti-tank missiles during his first presidency.

In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Zelensky called on the US to supply Ukraine with more air defenses. Kiev is ready to buy or lease up to ten Patriot air defense systems, and some European backers have offered to help with the money, he claimed.

During the interview, the network suggested that Trump tried to cut Kiev out of peace talks with Russia, and that he lied in his statements about the conflict. Trump allegedly “rewrote history, saying, falsely, that Ukraine had started the war and calling… Zelensky ‘a dictator without elections’,” according to CBS.

The US president lashed out at the news network on Truth Social on Monday, calling the interview inaccurate and fraudulent.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Ukraine conflict would never have escalated had he been in the White House, rather than his predecessor Joe Biden.

According to the US president, the previous administration invested more than $300 billion into supporting Kiev. Trump has promised to “get back” the money, entering talks with Ukraine about jointly exploiting its mineral resources. He also suggested taking over Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

The Kremlin has hailed the Trump administration’s peace efforts, but cautioned that resolving long-standing issues will take time and “painstaking work.”

April 17, 2025 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK deeply involved in Ukraine conflict – The Times

12 Apr 25 https://www.rt.com/news/615649-uk-involvement-ukraine-conflict/

Kiev allegedly refers to Britain’s military chiefs as the “brains” of the “anti-Putin” coalition, according to the exposé
Britain’s military leadership has played a far more extensive and covert role in the Ukraine conflict than previously known, not only designing battle plans and supplying intelligence, but also authorizing secret troop deployments inside the country to provide weapons training and technical support, according to a report by The Times.

While London’s political and military backing for Kiev has been public since the 2014 Western-backed coup, the extent of its involvement after the escalation in February 2022 “remained largely hidden… until now,” the British newspaper wrote on Friday, citing unnamed Ukrainian and British military officers.

The Times claimed that British troops were sent into Ukraine in small numbers on several occasions throughout 2022 and 2023, operating discreetly to avoid provoking Russia. In particular, UK forces were deployed to fit Ukrainian aircraft with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles and train pilots and ground crews in their use.

“UK troops were secretly sent to fit Ukraine’s aircraft with the missiles and teach troops how to use them,” the publication wrote, noting that it “would not be the first time British troops had been deployed on the ground.”

The UK had been delivering thousands of NLAW anti-tank missiles to Kiev and sending instructors to train Ukrainian soldiers in their use since 2015. While British troops were pulled out of Ukraine shortly before the escalation in February 2022, the deteriorating battlefield situation and the urgent need for technical expertise saw small teams of UK personnel redeployed quietly alongside fresh supplies of missiles, the newspaper reported.

London also reportedly played a key role in helping Ukraine prepare its much-touted 2023 “counteroffensive” against Russia – and in mediating between Kiev and Washington when the operation failed to meet US expectations.

The newspaper claimed that “behind the scenes,” the Ukrainians referred to Britain’s military chiefs as the “brains” of what they called an “anti-Putin” coalition. Former UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace was even reportedly nicknamed “the man who saved Kiev” by military officials.

“The Americans went to Ukraine only on rare occasions because of concerns that they would be seen to be too involved in the war, unlike Britain’s military chiefs, who were given the freedom to go whenever necessary,” The Times wrote. “Sometimes their visits were so sensitive they went in civilian clothing.”

Moscow perceives the Ukraine conflict as a Western-led proxy war against Russia, in which Ukrainians serve as “cannon fodder.” It considers foreigners fighting for Kiev as “mercenaries” acting on behalf of Western governments. 

Senior Moscow officials have suggested that the more complex weapon systems provided to Kiev are highly likely operated by NATO staff.

The presence of current and former NATO troops has also been tacitly admitted, but never openly confirmed, by Western officials. For example, last year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed the involvement of British and French forces in preparing Ukrainian missile launches, as he explained why Berlin would not supply similar weapons to Kiev.

Earlier this month, a New York Times investigation found that the administration of former US President Joe Biden provided Ukraine with support that went far beyond arms shipments – extending to daily battlefield coordination, intelligence sharing, and joint strategy planning, which were described as indispensable to Kiev’s fight against Russia.

April 16, 2025 Posted by | UK, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel is About to Empty Gaza

April 13, 2025 By Chris Hedges ScheerPost, https://scheerpost.com/2025/04/13/israel-is-about-to-empty-gaza/

Israel is poised to carry out the largest campaign of ethnic cleansing since the end of World War II. Since March 2, it has blocked all food and humanitarian aid into Gaza and cut off electricity, so that the last water desalination plant no longer functions. The Israeli military has seized half of the territory — Gaza is 25 miles long and four to five miles wide — and placed two-thirds of Gaza under displacement orders, rendered “no-go zones,” including the border town of Rafah, which is encircled by Israeli troops.

On Friday Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that Israel will “intensify” the war against Hamas and use “all military and civilian pressure, including evacuation of the Gaza population south and implementing United States President [Donald] Trump’s voluntary migration plan for Gaza residents.”

Since Israel’s unilateral ending of the ceasefire on March 18 — which was never honored by Israel — Israel has been carrying out relentless bombing and shelling against civilians, killing over 1,400 Palestinians and wounding over 3,600, according to the Palestinian health ministry. An average of one hundred children are being killed daily according to the United Nations. Israel is, at the same time, inciting tensions with Egypt to lay what I suspect will be the groundwork for a mass expulsion of Palestinians into the Egyptian Sinai.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, echoing Katz, said Israel would not lift the total blockade until Hamas was “defeated” and the remaining 59 Israeli hostages were released.

“Not even a grain of wheat will enter Gaza,” he vowed.

But no one in Israel or Gaza expects Hamas, which has weathered the decimation of Gaza and sustained mass slaughter, to surrender or disappear.

The question no longer is will the Palestinians be deported from Gaza but when they will be pushed out and where they will go. The Israeli leadership is apparently torn between driving Palestinians over the border into Egypt or shipping them to countries in Africa. The U.S. and Israel have contacted three East African governments – Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland – to discuss the resettlement of ethnically cleansed Palestinians.

The consequences of wholesale ethnic cleansing will be catastrophic, jeopardizing the stability of the Arab regimes allied with Washington and setting off firestorms of protests within Arab countries. It will likely mean the severing of diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors Jordan and Egypt, already close to the breaking point, and push the region closer to war.

Diplomatic relations have fallen to their lowest point since the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1979. The Israeli embassies in Cairo and Amman are largely empty with Israeli staff withdrawn over security concerns following the Oct. 7 incursion into Israel by Hamas and other armed Palestinian factions. Egypt has refused to accept the credentials of Uri Rothman, who was appointed to be the Israeli ambassador last September. Egypt did not name a new ambassador to Israel when former ambassador, Khaled Azmi, was recalled last year.

Israeli officials are accusing Egypt of violating the Camp David accords by increasing its military presence and building new military installations in the Northern Sinai, charges Egypt says are fabricated. The peace treaty’s annex permits additional Egyptian military hardware in the Sinai.

Former Israeli chief of the general staff, Herzi Halevi, warned of what he calls Egypt’s “security threat.” Katz said that Israel would not allow Egypt to “violate the peace treaty” between the two countries signed in 1979.

Egyptian officials note that it is Israel that has violated the treaty by occupying the Philadelphi Corridor, also known as the Salahuddin Axis, which runs along the nine mile border between Gaza and Egypt and is supposed to be demilitarized.

“Every Israeli action along Gaza’s border with Egypt constitutes hostile behavior against Egypt’s national security,” Egyptian General Mohammed Rashad, a former military intelligence chief, told the Arabic language newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Egypt cannot sit idly by in the face of such threats and must prepare for all possible scenarios.”

Israeli officials are openly calling for the “voluntary transfer” of Palestinians to Egypt. Knesset member, Avigdor Lieberman, stated that “displacing most Palestinians from Gaza to the Egyptian Sinai is a practical and effective solution.” He contrasted the high population density — Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on the planet — with the vast “untapped lands” in the Egyptian Northern Sinai and noted that Palestinians share a common culture and language with Egypt, making any deportation “natural.” He also criticized Egypt because it allegedly “benefits economically from the current political situation,” as a mediator between Israel and Hamas and “reaps profits from smuggling operations through the tunnels and the Rafah crossing.”

The Israeli think tank Misgav Institute for National Security, staffed by former Israeli military and security officials, published a paper on Oct. 17, 2023, calling on the government to take advantage of the “unique and rare opportunity to evacuate the entire Gaza Strip,” and resettle Palestinians in Cairo with the assistance of the Egyptian government. A leaked document from the Israeli Intelligence Ministry proposed resettling Palestinians from Gaza to the Northern Sinai and constructing barriers and buffer zones to prevent their return.

Any expulsion would likely happen swiftly with Israeli forces, which are already mercilessly herding Palestinians into containment areas in Gaza, carrying out a sustained bombing campaign against the trapped Palestinians while creating porous evacuation portals along the border with Egypt. It would entail a potentially lethal standoff with the Egyptian military, instantly throwing the Egyptian regime of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who has described any ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in Gaza as a “red line,” into crisis. It would be a short step from there to a regional conflict.

Israel has seized territory in Syria and southern Lebanon, part of its vision of “Greater Israel,” which includes occupying land in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. It covets the maritime gas fields off Gaza’s coast and has floated plans for a new canal to bypass the Suez Canal, to connect Israel’s bankrupt Eilat Port on the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. These projects require emptying Gaza of Palestinians and populating it with Jewish colonists.

The anger on the Arab street — an anger I witnessed over the past few months during visits to Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Qatar — will explode in a justifiable fury if mass deportation takes place. These regimes, simply to hold on to power, will be forced to act. Terrorist attacks, whether by organized groups or lone wolves, will proliferate against Israeli and western targets, especially the United States.

The genocide is a recruitment dream for Islamic militants. Washington and Israel must, on some level, understand the cost of this savagery. But it appears as though they accept it, foolishly trying to obliterate those they have cast out of the community of nations, those they refer to as “human animals.”

What do Israel and Washington believe will happen when the Palestinians are expelled from a land they have lived in for centuries? How do they think a people who are desperate, deprived of hope, dignity and a way to make a living, who are being butchered by one of the most technologically advanced armies on the planet, will respond? Do they think creating a Danteesque hell for the Palestinians will blunt terrorism, curb suicide attacks and foster peace? Can they not grasp the rage rippling through the Middle East and how it will implant a hatred towards us that will endure for decades?


The genocide in Gaza is the greatest crime of this century. It will come back to haunt Israel. It will come back to haunt us. It will usher to our doorsteps the evil we have perpetrated on the Palestinians.

You reap what you sow. We have sown a minefield of hatred and violence.

April 14, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel | Leave a comment

Inside the New Mexico lab where the U.S. is moving into the most terrifying chapter of the nuclear arms race

By JAMES REINL, 13 Apr 25, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14597065/activity-new-mexico-lab-nuclear-arms-race.html

It weighs just 824lbs, but packs enough plutonium to vaporize a city center and kill and maim three million people in the blink of an eye.

Scarier still, production of America’s new B61-13 gravity bomb is seven months ahead of schedule, as scientists speed up work at their laboratory in the New Mexico desert.

The timeline was moved up due to the ‘critical challenge and urgent need’ for a new nuclear deterrent. It is 24 times more powerful than the atom bomb that levelled Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

symbol

00:33

02:24

Read More

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.692.0_en.html#fid=goog_1784664047
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.692.0_en.html#fid=goog_1784664048
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.692.0_en.html#fid=goog_1784664049

They speak of an ‘urgent need’ for the new super-nuke, as everywhere from Russia to China, North Korea and even Britain boost their stockpiles of warheads.

Nuclear arms watchers say that, while overall global inventories have fallen since the Cold War, the number of warheads deployed for combat readiness is on the rise once again.

For some, this new nuclear arms race is scarier than when America and the Soviet Union built enough nukes to wipe out mankind many times over in the years after World War II.

That’s down to the wide array of states that possess the weapons now — which includes India, Pakistan, and, reputedly, Israel — and as a multipolar balance of power emerges.

As the US Trump administration slights its allies in Europe and Asia, the club of nine nuclear powers looks set to expand, perhaps quickly, and grow even more unwieldy.

In recent months, officials from Germany to Poland, South Korea, Japan, and Saudi Arabia have broken the nuclear taboo and spoken about acquiring nukes, or related technology.

Meanwhile, Iran’s religious hardliners have been spinning their uranium centrifuges in secret for years.

Joseph Cirincione, a national security analyst who advised the State Department in the Obama administration, warns of a ‘nuclear nightmare’ of more European nations going fissile.

‘Should they proceed, the spread of nuclear weapons would not be limited to Europe or our allies,’ says Cirincione.

‘The nuclear reaction chain could quickly spread to Asia, where Japan, South Korea and Taiwan face similar worries about the reliability of their defense agreements with America.’

This is all happening as US President Donald Trump slaps tariffs on nuclear-armed China, and many other big economies, in a trade war that’s raised tensions and roiled stock markets.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico recently said they were kickstarting development of the B61-13, a nuclear ‘gravity bomb’ that was originally slated to go into production for the US Air Force in 2026.

Gravity bombs are literally what they sound like, a bomb dropped from a warplane that lets gravity do all the work.

It would be dropped by the stealth B-21 Raider, and have a yield of as much as 360 kilotons, or 360,000 tons of TNT.

It would create a blast radius of roughly 190,000 feet, the length of two Manhattans.

If dropped over a city like Beijing, the B61-13 would likely leave some 788,000 people dead and 2.2 million injured.

Anything within a half-mile radius of the detonation site would be vaporized by the ensuing fireball, and the blast would demolish buildings and kill nearly everyone else within a mile.


Read More

 Inside Trump’s bold plan to save America from a nuclear apocalypse… and what happens if it fails 

Those within a two-mile radius of the blast site would also suffer from high levels of radiation that would likely kill them within a month.

Another 15 percent of the survivors would likely perish from cancer years down the line.

Currently, the US has some 5,044 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, with Russia being the only country that has more.

Together, they possess about 88 percent of all the world’s nuclear weapons.

The Federation of American Scientists says the US and Russia are bringing down the total number of nuclear weapons globally by dismantling their old, retired warheads.

But the number of warheads in global military stockpiles is actually increasing, says the group of atomic researchers.

Five nuclear-armed states — China, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea — have all raised their nuclear stockpiles by more than 700 warheads these past 40 years.

Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2023, and subsequent Western military aid to Kiev, stoked fears of a nuclear escalation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in November lowered the threshold for Moscow’s use of its nuclear weapons.

Alarmed by this, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in January moved their ‘Doomsday Clock’ closer to midnight than ever before.

The metaphorical timepiece is now at just 89 seconds before midnight — the theoretical point of annihilation.

Fears of a nuclear war come as such groups as the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) say work on a treaty to permanently ban nuclear testing has stalled, and Russia and China are adding buildings at their nuclear sites.

In February, the US government announced plans to restart its nuclear testing programs in secret underground facilities.

Fears of a nuclear war come as such groups as the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) say work on a treaty to permanently ban nuclear testing has stalled, and Russia and China are adding buildings at their nuclear sites.

In February, the US government announced plans to restart its nuclear testing programs in secret underground facilities.

In any case, the rise of China, which has some 600 nuclear warheads and is building more, complicates any negotiation process, as the nuclear arms race has more than two main players.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warned that more countries would get nuclear weapons in the coming years.

He blamed the West for pushing the world towards the brink of World War Three by waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Trump has said the ‘power of nuclear weapons is crazy’ and supports a global effort to ‘denuclearize’ and has revived talks with Iran aimed at ending its bootleg nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet in Oman on Saturday, after Trump threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic if discussions failed.

Yet Cirincione and others say the Trump administration is inadvertently making a global nuclear arms race more likely.

That’s because it is frosty toward long-standing US allies in Europe and Asia, including through the so-called ‘nuclear umbrella’ — a promise of nuclear protection in return for allies not seeking atomic weapons themselves.

From Berlin to Tokyo, alarm bells are ringing that Washington, the anchor of the Western security apparatus across Europe and Asia, is no longer a reliable guarantor of the ultimate deterrence offered by nuclear arms.

The clearest statement of nuclear intent has come from Donald Tusk, Poland‘s prime minister, who last month said the ‘profound change in American geopolitics’ has nudged Warsaw to seek ‘opportunities related to nuclear weapons.’

‘This is a serious race: a race for security, not for war,’ Tusk told Polish lawmakers.

Likewise, Friedrich Merz, the man who is set to be Germany’s next chancellor, said in February that it was time for Berlin to explore a ‘nuclear sharing’ deal with Britain and France.

Senior figures in South Korea, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, have also made statements about acquiring nuclear arms or technology.

Likewise, Taiwan, Turkey and Egypt, have declared no interest in acquiring a deterrent, but could well change tack if they lived in a neighborhood of nuclear states.

For many defense analysts, there is perhaps the greatest threat of proliferation beyond the nine nuclear states since the end of the Cold War.

‘Whether he meant it or not, Trump has sent a message that the US nuclear umbrella might one day be folded,’ a Western security source said last month.

‘Once a South Korea or a Germany signals that they’re going for the bomb, it will be hard indeed to stop others following suit.’

April 14, 2025 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Russia holds all the cards.

Walt Zlotow, Apr 11, 2025. Published in Chicago Tribune

Tribune foreign affairs columnist Daniel DePetris (“Vladimir Putin obstructs President Donald Trump’s best-laid plans for Ukraine,” April 8) nibbles around the edges of reality concerning the Russia-Ukraine war. His current take on the war suggests that Russian President Vladimir Putin is sabotaging President Donald Trump’s best efforts to end the war quickly through negotiations in order to capture more Ukrainian territory.

But the reverse is true. The U.S., NATO and Ukraine are preventing the negotiations from achieving peace. Why? Because all of them refuse to accept the war will not end till they recognize and address Russia’s core interests: no NATO for Ukraine, neutrality for Ukraine going forward and an end to attacks on Russian-leaning Ukrainians in Donbas.

Putin is not feigning peace to stay on Trump’s good side merely to gobble up more Ukrainian territory. He’s simply not going to negotiate with adversaries who refuse to recognize Russia’s core interests. No peace agreement will occur in Trump’s first 100 days, nor even in his first 1,000 days, unless he accepts this reality of what it will take to end the war.

DePetris claims a frustrated Trump has but two options: ramping up the war with another multibillion-dollar weapons package to achieve victory or just walking away to saddle Europe with prosecuting it. Wrong. Trump has but one urgent task: Accept reality that Russia holds all the negotiating cards and will never cease hostilities till its core interests are addressed.

DePetris surely knows this. However, his career as a Defense Priorities fellow and a Tribune columnist is contingent upon never admitting or criticizing America’s role in provoking, if not starting, senseless wars and refusing to quickly, sensibly end them.

That is unfortunate for his readership. It is infinitely more unfortunate for the war-weary people of Ukraine.

April 14, 2025 Posted by | Russia, weapons and war | Leave a comment

How Israel hunts and executes Palestinian medics

The recent case of 15 uniformed first responders killed on their way to work is but the latest in a long, long line of similar crimes

Rt.com, 9 Apr, 2025  By Eva Bartlett, a Canadian independent journalist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years). 

The Israeli army has executed 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza, buried them and lied about them being “terrorists.” For those paying attention, this barbarism is not new, only the latest war crime committed by Israel in a litany of war crimes over the decades.

The combination of the medics being tied up, executed and buried in a mass grave was so horrific that even usually indifferent global media reported on it, albeit without the outrage that would have accompanied such reports were the perpetrator an enemy of the West. (Warning: disturbing video.)

On March 31, Jonathan Whittall, the Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) posted on X, “First responders should never be a target. Yet today @UNOCHA supported @PalestineRCS and Civil Defense to retrieve colleagues from a mass grave in #Rafah #Gaza that was marked with the emergency light from one of their crushed ambulances.”

His thread went on to detail how a week prior, on March 23, contact was lost with ten Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and six Civil Defense first responders, in five ambulances and one fire truck, who’d been dispatched to collect injured people, noting, “For days, OCHA coordinated to reach the site but our access was only granted 5 days later.”

When they finally accessed the site, they “recovered the buried bodies of 8 PRCS, 6 Civil Defense and 1 UN staff,” he wrote, noting, “They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened.”

According to the PRCS, a ninth EMT is missing and is believed to have been detained.

The UN, The Red Cross, and OCHA have all issued statements of outrage and condemnation of these murders. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said: “They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not. These rules of International Humanitarian Law could not be clearer – civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected.”

According to Chapagain, 30 PRCS volunteers and staff have been killed since October 2023 alone.

OCHA called the murders “a huge blow to us” and said, “these abhorrent acts require accountability.” According to the UN, “408 aid workers including more than 280 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza since the war began on 7 October 2023.”

Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, wrote, “They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers & justice.”

The Guardian cites PRCS’ Dr. Bashar Murad, who spoke to one of the paramedics in the convoy:

“He informed us that he was injured and requested assistance, and that another person was also injured. A few minutes later, during the call, we heard the sound of Israeli soldiers arriving at the location, speaking in Hebrew. ‘Gather them at the wall and bring some restraints to tie them.’ This indicated that a large number of the medical staff were still alive.”

The Israeli army media spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, predictably denied Israeli army wrong-doing and blamed Hamas, claiming the ambulances were “advancing suspiciously” toward Israeli forces. He declared the execution of the medics be an elimination of “a Hamas military operative, along with 8 other terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.”

Observers on X rebuffed Shoshani, including pointing out the Israeli army has been attacking ambulances for a very long time.

Gaza medics under Israeli attack since 2009

I can speak from personal experience. During the January 2009 Israeli war on Gaza, I was among a handful of international volunteers riding in PRCS ambulances, to document their work and the victims they rescued……………………………………………………………………………………….

The abduction and torture of Palestinian doctors is another aspect of Israel’s all-out attack on Gaza’s health system. It is part of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians themselves, depriving them of life-saving care, part of the decades-long policy of killing Palestinians by every means possible, including by preventing the entry of medical equipment and food, starving Palestinians who escaped bombs and sniping.

I will post the same rhetorical question I’ve posed ad nauseam: What would the international reaction be like if it were Russia point-blank assassinating uniformed, unarmed medics? It would be non-stop 24/7 howling in corporate media, victims faces and stories spoken of, demands for more sanctions…

But Israel does this again and again over the decades and all Palestinians get are muted words of concern and calls for investigation, allowing Israel to continue slaughtering medics and emergency workers unabated. No justice. https://www.rt.com/news/615480-palestine-israel-medics-hunt/

April 13, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities, Israel | Leave a comment

To Secure U.S. Energy Dominance, the Department of Defense Selects Eligible Companies for the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations Program


Defense Innovation Unit 10th April 2025 Mountain View, CA

– To ensure U.S. energy dominance, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), with the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force, launched the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program. First announced in summer 2024, the program will allow for the design and build of fixed on-site microreactor nuclear power systems on select military installations to support global operations across land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace. The Department of Defense team selected eight companies to be eligible to demonstrate the ability to deliver compliant, safe, secure, and reliable nuclear power.

The companies are now eligible to receive Other Transaction (OT) awards to provide commercially available dual use microreactor technology at various DOD installations. Selected companies for the ANPI program include:

  • Antares Nuclear, Inc
  • BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC
  • General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
  • Kairos Power, LLC
  • Oklo Inc.
  • Radiant Industries Incorporated
  • Westinghouse Government Services
  • X-Energy, LLC

“Projecting power abroad demands ensuring power at home and this program aims to deliver that, ensuring that our defense leaders can remain focused on lethality,” said Dr. Andrew Higier, Energy Portfolio Director at DIU. “Microreactors on installations are a critical first step in delivering energy dominance to the Force. Tapping into the commercial sector’s rapid advancements in this area is critical due to the significant private investment in this space over the last few years. The U.S. and the DoD must maintain the advantage and leverage the best of breed nuclear technology for our national security.”

The ANPI project directly supports Executive Order (E.O.) 14156 – Declaring a National Energy Emergency and E.O. 14154 – Unleashing American Energy

……………………………………… In addition to DIU, Army, Air Force, ANPI receives support from the Department of Energy; the NRC; Idaho National Laboratory with Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Argonne National Laboratory; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratory; and the Office of Nuclear Energy. https://www.diu.mil/latest/DOD-selects-eligible-companies-for-the-Advanced-Nuclear-Power-for-Installations-Program

April 13, 2025 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Walt Zlotow: Trump, Hegseth off by nearly 1 trillion on national security budget

Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL 11 Apr 25 https://theaimn.net/trump-hegseth-off-by-nearly-1-trillion-on-national-security-budget/

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is applauding Trump’s boast to push through America’s first trillion dollar defense budget.

“Thank you Mr. President! COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar [Defense Department] budget.” Hegseth was echoing boss Trump who chortled “Nobody’s seen anything like it. We have to build out military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something we have to build, and we have to be strong,”

Trump’s defense policy and these quotes epitomize America’s decline as a peaceful, caring nation. Spending that trillion on militarism and warfare worldwide while Trump’s oligarchs are slashing a trillion from the social safety net is putting America into a death spiral from which it may never recover.

But they should really be high-fiving a national security budget that will be approaching $2 trillion based on Trump’s defense agenda.

That’s because the current defense budget under the National Defense Authorization Act of $900 billion just funds the Pentagon. When factoring in the Department of Veterans Affairs, special operations, Homeland Security and the national security share of US debt interest, the total for Fiscal ‘25 national security approaches $1.8 trillion. Regarding special ops, Trump’s failed month long Yemen bombing to stop their resistance to US enabled Israeli genocide in Gaza has already passed a billion bucks.

Current wars US supports in Ukraine, Gaza, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and possible upcoming wars in Iran and China, don’t come cheap. Add in cost of over 750 bases in 80 countries hosting over 150,000 military personnel puts the approaching $2 trillion dollar cost in perspective.

Spending all that treasure on national offense (nope, not defense), becomes problematical when Trump is pushing thru trillion dollar tax cuts for his oligarch buddies.

What to do? Of Course, send in oligarch clown Musk to cut a trillion or more from everything that makes life livable for Joe Sixpack.

It is no surprise Trump plans to ravage the social safety net to spend $2 trillion on worldwide military adventurism while giving $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years mainly to those who don’t need them.

But do Trump and Hegseth have to brag about it?

April 12, 2025 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear missile ‘cover-up’ fears as secret pact allowing US to bring deadly weapons to UK revealed

US nuclear missiles could be delivered to the UK as the Mirror reveals Ministry of Defence chiefs signed off on a secret pact allowing American forces to bring deadly bombs to UK

Chris Hughes Defence and Security Editor and Ashley Cowburn Political Correspondent, 06 Apr 2025
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/nuclear-missile-cover-up-fears-34997771

British defence chiefs are at the centre of a ‘cover-up’ row over secretly exempting US troops from telling local authorities they are storing nuclear weapons. A declassified document proves former defence secretary Ben Wallace signed the ‘sensitive’ waiver which means local authorities are being left in the dark over the missiles.

The nuclear bust-up centres upon US air base RAF Lakenheath, home of F-35A Lightning II fighters, although the March 2021 waiver exempts all US bases in the UK. Not only are locals being kept in the dark over the possible nuclear missile storage but troops are also exempt from sticking to regulations applied to radiation risks. That means local authorities cannot draft disaster emergency plans.

The MoD was forced to declassify the Ben Wallace document down from ‘sensitive’ to prove to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that legally they do not have to tell locals. It clearly says it was signed for ‘national security’ and that they are exempt from Ionisation Regulations 2017 and Radiation Regulations 2019.

Although it is not known publicly if RAF Lakenheath has US nuclear weapons on site, the exemption means nobody outside security-cleared personnel will ever know. CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said: “The government’s exemption order smacks of a cover-up for a new generation of deadly US nuclear bombs that could be deployed in Britain.

“Nuclear weapons are the most destructive in the world. They put us all at risk every day. Yet the government is more concerned about its special relationship with the US than people’s safety.

“This declassified document shows that not only are US forces exempt from British nuclear safety laws at RAF Lakenheath, they are exempt at US bases right across Britain. This means that local authorities will never be told about any nuclear weapons present in their area. And will be under no legal obligation to produce emergency radiation plans.”

“The government doesn’t want people to know what’s going on. The government has to put a stop to these deadly nuclear risks. That means PM Keir Starmer should announce publicly that US nuclear weapons will not be stationed here.”

The exclusion of US troops from having to tell local authorities about the presence of nuclear weapons has infuriated politician critics in relation to blanket secrecy on nuclear weapons. Senior MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell stormed: “This is extremely concerning. “People need to know what risks their government is imposing on them. The ability to hold governments and the military to account is totally undermined by this level of secrecy. “

RAF Lakenheath first hit the nuclear spotlight again in 2022 when American plans to deploy nuclear weapons to the Suffolk airbase were revealed. It emerged again in department of defence documents showing plans to build accommodation for more US troops. The document stated the work was in preparation for the base’s “upcoming nuclear mission,” sparking controversy.

The US Office of the Under Secretary of Defence document sparked further fear as it stated the work was in preparation for the base’s potential ‘surety mission.’ The word ‘surety’ is understood to mean ‘nuclear weapons storage.’

But the UK Ministry of Defence said at the time it had a long-standing agreement within the department and its allies not to discuss nuclear weaponry. The following September a US government contracts award notice showed how £728,379.96 was to be spent on constructing guard facilities known as “hardened ballistic security shelters”.

Twenty-two blast resistant manoeuvrable cabins were being built with bulletproof metal flat sheets welded onto the frame to “to protect our high value assets”of RAF Lakenheath’s defence force, the 48th Security Forces Squadron (48 SFS). The specification for the windows included glass which could withstand an impact from a .30 calibre rifle.

In 2008 it was revealed nuclear bombs had been removed from RAF Lakenheath, which houses 4,000 service personnel and more than 1,500 British and US civilians. It is home to the US Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing, which operates both the F-15E Eagle and the F-35A Lighting II fighter aircraft.

As well as normal combat duties it is believed the newer F-35A has been flight tested to use the latest variant of the B61-12 thermonuclear bomb. Defence specialising Janes Magazine said the B61-12 was capable of an explosive power of up to 340 kilotons, twenty times the power of the Hiroshima bomb.

On Friday an MoD spokesman, asked about the exemption, replied in a statement: “The UK and NATO have a long-standing policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at any given location.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Youth Leading the Charge for a Nuclear-Free Future

Monday, March 3, 2025, United Nations Headquarters – Meetup with International Youth Advocating for a World Without Nuclear Weapons.

The 3rd Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) saw the participation of numerous young people from around the world who are passionate about creating a world without nuclear weapons.

Thanks to the initiative of SPARK youth, an opportunity for a meetup and exchange with young people from anti-nuclear peace organizations in the United States and Japan was made possible.

A total of 20 youth from various organizations, including SPARK, Peace Action New York State, Kakuwaka Hiroshima, Gensuikyo (Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs), and Gensuikin (Japan Congress Against A and H-Bombs), participated in the meeting. Jin-tae Shim, a first-generation atomic bomb victim from Korea, and Jung-Soon Han, a second-generation victim, were also present to support and encourage the youth.

………………………..Following the introductions, the group discussed a variety of topics, including their interest in peace issues, their countries’ nuclear policies, and what sparked their interest in nuclear disarmament. Many intriguing ideas were exchanged…………………….. https://abombtribunal.campaignus.me/34/?q=YToxOntzOjEyOiJrZXl3b3JkX3R5cGUiO3M6MzoiYWxsIjt9&bmode=view&idx=159477468&t=board

April 8, 2025 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

International pressure forces Israel to change account of Gaza medics’ killing.

by Daily Sabah with Agencies, ISTANBUL Apr 06, 2025

The Israeli military was forced to revise its initial account of last month’s deadly strike that killed 15 emergency workers near Rafah after incriminating video footage of the incident was released by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

It has released new details while acknowledging that investigations into the incident are still ongoing.

The 15 paramedics and emergency responders were shot dead on March 23 and buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent. Another man is still missing.

The military initially said soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their position “suspiciously” in the dark without lights or markings. It said they killed nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, who were traveling in Palestinian Red Crescent vehicles.

But video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the Palestinian Red Crescent showed emergency workers in their uniforms and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.

The only known survivor of the incident, Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic Munther Abed, also said he had seen soldiers opening fire on clearly marked emergency response vehicles.

An Israeli military official said late Saturday the investigators were examining the video and conclusions were expected to be presented to army commanders Sunday.

He claimed the initial report received from the field did not describe lights but that investigators were looking at “operational information” and were trying to understand if this was due to an error by the person making the initial report.

“What we understand currently is that the person who gives the initial account is mistaken. We’re trying to understand why.”

Israeli media briefed by the military reported that troops had identified at least six of the 15 dead as members of Palestinian resistance groups.

However, the official declined to provide any evidence or detail of how the identifications were made, saying he did not want to share classified information.

“According to our information, there were … there but this investigation is not over,” he told reporters at the briefing late Saturday………………………………………………………………………………………..

The U.N. confirmed last week that it had been informed of the location of the bodies but that access to the area was denied by Israel for several days.

It said the bodies had been buried alongside their crushed vehicles – clearly marked ambulances, a fire truck and a U.N. car.https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/intl-pressure-forces-israel-to-change-account-of-gaza-medics-killing

April 7, 2025 Posted by | Atrocities | Leave a comment

The future of Europe won’t be shaped by mushroom clouds – why nuclear weapons don’t provide security

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), April 2025

In these uncertain times, some argue that nuclear weapons are the answer to Europe’s security. But the future of Europe will not be written in the shadow of mushroom clouds, it will be shaped by those who believe in dialogue, diplomacy, and disarmament. Across the continent, people are pushing back against this dangerous illusion. From parliamentary action to media interventions, referendum campaigns, and grassroots organizing, we are proving that real security comes from diplomacy and disarmament, not nuclear weapons. Join us in building a safer, nuclear – weapons – free future. Find local partners near you: http://icanw.org/partners

April 6, 2025 Posted by | Resources -audiovicual, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Germany deploys troops to Russia’s doorstep for first time since the Nazis

2 Apr, 2025 https://www.rt.com/russia/615122-germany-activates-brigade-lithuania/

A 5,000-strong armored brigade in Lithuania is set to be combat-ready by 2027, according to army plans

The German military has begun its first permanent deployment of troops on foreign soil since World War II. The 45th Armored Brigade is being positioned in Lithuania, near Russian ally Belarus, as Berlin prepares for a potential conflict in the coming years.

On Tuesday, a ceremony was held outside Vilnius, with Brigadier General Christoph Huber assuming command of the newly established unit, as reported by the German Bundeswehr Association (DBwV) lobby group and state media.

We have a clear mission. We have to ensure the protection, freedom, and security of our Lithuanian allies here on NATO’s eastern flank,” the general said during the ceremony.

Military personnel who arrived in Lithuania last year to prepare for the deployment have been formally integrated into the brigade. Once fully staffed and combat-ready by 2027, the unit will comprise approximately 5,000 military and civilian personnel, equipped with around 2,000 heavy weapons, according to German Army plans.

Moscow views NATO as a hostile entity, describing its expansion in Europe as a direct threat to Russian national security. The bloc’s pledge to admit Ukraine as a member and its increasing involvement with the nation have been cited by Russian officials as key causes of Moscow’s conflict with Kiev. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a staunch advocate for troop deployment in Lithuania, has claimed that Russia could launch an attack on NATO by 2029 or 2030 – a claim that Moscow categorically rejects.

In 2023, Berlin and Vilnius signed a stationing agreement, initially designating the new German unit as the 42nd Brigade. Two of its battalions will consist exclusively of German soldiers, while the third will incorporate personnel from other NATO countries. Portions of the brigade will be stationed at the Rudninkai training ground in southeastern Lithuania, only 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Belarusian border, while additional units will be stationed near the village of Rukla between Vilnius and Kaunas.

Post-Nazi Germany previously restricted military deployments abroad to temporary assignments, such as contributing to NATO forces following the occupation of Afghanistan in 2001.

April 6, 2025 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »