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The rise of US 'digital-military-industrial complex'

Huang Panyue
Xinhuanet
Mon, 20 Oct 2025 23:09 UTC
pentagon
© AgenciesPentagon building in Arlington, Virginia • April 6, 2025
On Oct 13, Anduril Industries, an American defense technology company, unveiled its "Eagle Eye" headset at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting as part of the Army's Soldier Borne Mission Command program. The system — offered in four variants — integrates multiple augmented-reality devices designed to provide timely, accurate battlefield information, enhance soldiers' situational cognition, and improve both offensive and defensive decision-making. This unveiling highlights the growing trend of digital technology firms entering the US defense market, with Anduril emerging as one of the most typical representatives of this shift.
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Arrow Up

Destined for harmony?

Ricardo Nuno Costa
New Eastern Outlook
Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
Trump Xi
© Nicolas Asfouri/AFPUS President Donald Trump • Chinese President Xi Jinping • G20 Summit
The global balance of power has shifted, and I believe this trend is irreversible. The parties were optimistic and collaborative, which makes a big difference from the previous US administration.

Last week left us with an image that would have been unthinkable just a decade ago: a US president traveling to Asia to meet with his Chinese counterpart in a geopolitical relationship marked for decades by interdependence, but in which the US now appears to be the weak link.

Trump took advantage of the APEC and ASEAN summits, where the US signed a series of agreements with countries in the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia regions, to then meet with Xi Jinping in South Korea. At the heart of this meeting was the tariff war that he himself declared so vehemently at the beginning of the year, when he threatened half the world and shook the entire global trade architecture, of which the US itself is the head.

There was no final press conference, and neither side commented on the content of the 1:40 minute meeting. Both simply congratulated each other on the encouraging results they had achieved.
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Hiliter

India and Israel sign defense deal


RT
Wed, 05 Nov 2025 10:40 UTC
Jaishankar / Sa’ar
© Twitter/XIndia's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar with Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar • New Delhi, India
The two countries' militaries have agreed to promote co-development and co-production of weapons.

India and Israel have signed a defense cooperation agreement that aims to deepen ties between the two nations, New Delhi's Defense Ministry has announced.

The agreement was signed in Tel Aviv on Tuesday during a joint working group on defense cooperation, co-chaired by Indian Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and the director general of the Israeli Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. (Res) Amir Baram.

The ministry noted that the agreement would enable the "sharing of advanced technology and would promote co-development and co-production."
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Better Earth

NATO strengthens military presence in northern Europe

Jun Yu
China Military Online
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:24 UTC
Finnish Min of Defense
© Finnish Ministry of DefenseFinnish Minister of Defense, Antti Häkkänen • Opening ceremony NATO's Multi-Corps Land Component Command • Mikkeli, Finland
NATO recently established the Multi-Corps Land Component Command Northwest (MCLCC-N) in Mikkeli, Finland, and deployed a Forward Land Forces brigade primarily led by the Swedish Armed Forces in Finland. These actions signify NATO's ongoing efforts to strengthen its military presence in the Arctic region, with Northern Europe gradually shifting from a traditional neutral zone to a frontline of bloc confrontation.

The newly established MCLCC-N is co-located with the Finnish Army Command in Mikkeli, with a Finnish military officer serving as the commanding officer. Norwegian and Swedish officers serve as deputies, and the UK has sent operational staff to assist in its operations.

The command operates around the clock and is under the command of NATO's Joint Forces Command, based in Norfolk, the US. During peacetime, it is responsible for planning tasks and organizing joint exercises in the Nordic region. In wartime, it will coordinate the ground forces of Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and other countries, and, if necessary, can request NATO tactical-level support, such as requesting the deployment of F-35A fighter jet squadrons stationed in Denmark or Norway to provide air support.

Comment: Done deal:
Last Friday, the new NATO Multi-Corps Land Component Command in the alliance's northwest region (MCLCC-NW) was inaugurated with flag hoisting and speeches.

"This is a historic day for Finland, NATO, and Mikkeli," stated the Finnish Minister of Defense, Antti Häkkänen, during the opening ceremony.
"We set out to seek the establishment of a NATO command in Finland in autumn 2023 to maximise Finland's security. Our objectives were approved at the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defense in June 2024. Now, a year later, we are already launching the command. Having the Multi-Corps Land Component Command North in Finland is a demonstration of our expertise and a show of trust in Finland. The MCLCC-NW will strengthen NATO's defense in the High North and increase security in Finland."
It became operational on September 1st and now holds 10 staff members from various allied countries, including Finland. The aim is for the staff to increase to about 50 people in peacetime.

Under normal conditions, the MCLCC-NW will be responsible for allied exercises and other peacetime activities. In a state of emergency, the it will plan, command and control land operations and defense in the High North.

Häkkänen said:
"We have an important task ahead of us. As a response to the dangerous state of the international security situation we are now renewing and strengthening NATO with unprecedented strength. The MCLCC-NW is tasked with bolstering NATO's defense in the High North so that we will be able to guarantee the security of our region for years to come."
Finland has also received support from the allied defense ministers for the establishment of a NATO Forward Land Force (FLF) in the High North.

The FLF be located in Rovaniemi and Sodankylä, Northern Finland, and will be led by Sweden with contributions from France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. The specific design of this force is still at the planning stage.


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Star of David

Israel is trying to divide Gaza in half along the 'Yellow Line.' What is it, and is it here to stay?

Qassam Muaddi
Mondoweiss
Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
yellow marker
© Ahmed Ibrahim/APA ImagesYellow concrete block placed by Israeli army in Gaza demarcates the 'yellow line' • November 2, 2025
The "Yellow Line" splitting Gaza in two is meant to be temporary according to Trump's "peace" plan. However, the fact that those terms were intentionally left vague suggests that the partition of Gaza was the real goal all along.

Today, there are essentially two Gazas. One is ruled by Hamas as the de facto governing body in the Strip, and makes up about 47% of the territory. The remaining 53% is under the total military control of the Israeli army.

Separating these two zones is an invisible border that's being called "the Yellow Line," splitting Gaza roughly in half down the middle. Even though Israel has been placing yellow cement blocks all across Gaza to demarcate the line, it's supposed to be temporary. But what makes it very real is the number of people who are being killed near it.
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Camera

Best of the Web: DNI Tulsi Gabbard sought FBI files on Kirk assassination to assess involvement by "foreign power or another entity"

Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Haberman & Devlin Barrett
New York Times
Sat, 25 Oct 2025 23:35 UTC
An inquiry by Joe Kent, who leads the National Counterterrorism Center, is said to have alarmed Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director.
Joe Kent NAtional Counterterrorism Center
© Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/APJoe Kent, former head of the National Counterterrorism Center
The head of the National Counterterrorism Center examined F.B.I. files in the last several weeks to investigate whether the man charged with assassinating Charlie Kirk had support from someone else, a foreign power or another entity, according to multiple people with knowledge of the matter.

The inquiry by Joe Kent, the director of the counterterrorism center, alarmed Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I. Mr. Patel and other senior officials believed Mr. Kent was overstepping, treading on F.B.I. responsibilities and potentially interfering with the investigation and the prosecution of the suspect, Tyler Robinson.

But supporters of Mr. Kent say he was doing his job, running down leads and making sure no foreign or domestic groups were linked to Mr. Kirk's death.

Comment: In other words, Tulsi Gabbard, through Joe Kent, is trying to do what she can to prise open the tightly guarded vaults of the deep state fortress: the cult of 'the intel community'.

At least we now know that she knows that Kirk was whacked by pros. Does Trump though? Does he even care about what they did to Kirk?

What a damning indictment of American democracy that the Director of National Intelligence and one of her subordinates must resort to clandestine efforts to gain access to US government information by reaching out to "lower-level officials" in the hope that they can sneak them in a backdoor for the chance to quickly read up on the FBI's investigation into the most high-profile political assassination in that country in decades.

As for Kash Patel, what a gormless ghoul he has turned out to be.

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Star of David

Vance snubs Netanyahu, visits Holy Sepulchre and skips Wailing Wall

Joaquin Flores
Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
JD Vance dinner Neti
© Public DomainUS VP JD Vance at dinner gathering with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
The unquestioning alliance with Likud-era Zionism no longer commands the same moral or political authority it once did. A generation of Americans, weary of endless wars and global entanglements justified in the name of "shared values," now demands a relationship guided by realism and reciprocity, not ritualized obeisance.
On October 28th, Israel's Netanyahu breached the ceasefire, accusing Hamas of not fulfilling its peace agreement obligations on the return of hostages. This is the sort of strange accusation from the Israeli PM that we have grown accustomed to. It is also frustrating; Palestinians have had some difficulty retrieving bodies of Israeli POW's under the ruble of buildings that the IDF, under the same Netanyahu's orders, had themselves destroyed. There was no real Hamas action that Netanyahu was responding to, an apparently arbitrary decision that could have been made sooner. And here is where we can look, for it was only a few days before that U.S. Vice President JD Vance had been in Israel on a noteworthy visit that was marked by U.S.-Israel tensions. Netanyahu, for his part, would have been strategically better off had he breached the ceasefire while Vance was in-country, as this would have lent it the veneer of U.S. support. What then can we take make of the nature of Vance's visit and the things that did and did not happen, both when he was there, and shortly after he departed?

Comment: Symbolic, maybe, but the weapons, cash, and resources are still flowing. To all other appearances, Israel's hold over the USA has never been stronger.

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Gavel

Trump's tariff power grab

Connor O'Keeffe
mises.org
Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
US Supreme Court
© UnknownUS Supreme Court
Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in the landmark case of Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which will determine whether President Trump can use an emergency declaration to unilaterally impose tariffs on foreign goods that Americans buy, as he did earlier this year.

Although the Constitution is pretty clear that only Congress has the power to tax, the Trump administration cited a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify the suite of tariffs it rolled out on April 2 — what Trump called "Liberation Day."

According to the president and his lawyers, the fact that the country has a trade deficit — that American consumers spend more on goods and services from foreign producers than American businesses make from sales to foreign consumers — is a national emergency.

Trump considered attending the hearing himself over the weekend. He eventually decided against it, but stressed to his followers on Truth Social that he views this case as "one of the most important in the history of the country."
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Stop

IAEA chief condemns Trump's nuclear test plan


RT
Wed, 05 Nov 2025 11:10 UTC
Rafael Mariano Grossi
© John Lamparski/Getty ImagesDirector General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi
The US president's decision undermines international security, Rafael Grossi has said.

US President Donald Trump's decision to resume nuclear weapon testing is indicative of a deepening global crisis and weakens the international system of security and peace, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has said.

Speaking to France's LCI TV channel on Tuesday, Grossi described Trump's announcement as a "manifestation of profound unease, tension, and increasing fragmentation," adding that it undermines both global peace and the non-proliferation regime.

Last week, Trump ordered the US Department of War to begin preparations for nuclear testing, claiming that the US is "the only country that doesn't test" and accusing Russia and China of conducting "secret" nuclear explosions. Both Moscow and Beijing have refuted the allegations.

Grossi questioned the veracity of Trump's claims, emphasizing that any nuclear detonations by other nations would be detected by the international monitoring system established under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The IAEA chief noted that the organization responsible for overseeing compliance "can immediately record such phenomena."
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Microphone

Comey expected to work for 'President-elect Clinton,' knew top aide was talking to media: emails

John Solomon, Jerry Dunleavy
Just the News
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 05:13 UTC
Hillary Clinton Comey
© Youtube/El Siglo/KJNHillary Clinton • James Comey
Emails referenced in a bombshell court filing by acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in which the government rejected Comey's argument that he was being maliciously prosecuted for providing false statements and obstructing Congress about actions he took as FBI director.

Federal prosecutors revealed Monday they have unearthed a trove of personal emails showing then-FBI Director James Comey openly talked in the days before the 2016 election that he expected to be working soon for President-elect Hillary Clinton and was being kept apprised by a top FBI aide on efforts to anonymously provide information to the news media.

"Well done my friend. Who knew this would. E [sic] so uh fun," Comey wrote in an early November 2016 email after then-FBI special government employee (SGE) Dan Richman briefed the FBI director on Richman's efforts to provide information and guidance to The New York Times on an article involving Clinton's email scandal.
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