https://www.sott.net/category/16-Puppet-Masters Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2026 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:56:52 +0000 https://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net https://www.sott.net https://www.sott.net/article/506788-Like-Midas-our-rulers-want-to-monetise-everything-they-touch-and-kill-it War and profit are intimately tied together. The billionaires cannot secure their profits without war, or the threat of it - whether against workers at home or against other nations abroad. I am old enough to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the wave of excitement it unleashed. With the Soviet Union consigned to the history books, the world was going to become a better, safer place. Liberals crowed that the West's superior, democratic values had won out. Intellectuals like Francis Fukuyama wrote about the "end of history": the triumph of free-market capitalism and a resolution of ideological struggle. Nearly half a century on, the celebratory mood of that time looks not just misplaced but positively deluded. The end of the Cold War brought not a peace dividend. Rather, it unleashed a surfeit of greed and hubris. With the fear of mutually assured destruction behind it, the United States unveiled a new doctrine: "full-spectrum global dominance", militarily and economically.... https://www.sott.net/article/506788-Like-Midas-our-rulers-want-to-monetise-everything-they-touch-and-kill-it Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:53:42 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506787-The-real-story-behind-nuclear-Iran-and-the-Islamabad-Accord MOSCOW and ST. PETERSBURG - On Monday, June 1st, on Power Shift, a new independent geopolitical platform, Zulfiqar Ali, Larry Johnson and myself revealed what for all practical purposes is an uber-bombshell piece of information: if long dark clouds keep coming down, Tehran is ready to pivot from nuclear ambiguity to actually detonating a nuclear device on Iranian soil. Less than a week later, the Power Shift page was censored on YouTube - with no explanation and no appeal. Yet what we revealed had already been detailed in several podcasts and interviews throughout last week, as in here and here (with myself and Larry); here; and at the St. Petersburg forum, here. I published a detailed background preceding the release of the information, written just before Iran's negotiating team suspended the exchange of all (italics mine) texts and messages with the US via mediator Pakistan. When it comes to the redaction of perhaps the final draft of an endlessly debated Memorandum of... https://www.sott.net/article/506787-The-real-story-behind-nuclear-Iran-and-the-Islamabad-Accord Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:31:39 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506786-UK-Government-Plots-Digital-ID-Lockdown-On-EVERY-PHONE-In-Lockstep-With-Big-Tech The Labour government in Britain is accelerating its assault on digital privacy under the well-worn banner of child protection. Fresh plans leaked to the press reveal ministers intend to compel Apple, Google and other tech firms to restrict smartphones so thoroughly that a digital ID will be needed to use them with unfettered access. The mechanism comes in the form of expanded age verification that effectively demands digital identification for device setup and use. What is sold as safeguarding the young is shaping up as a backdoor mandate for every adult in Britain to submit ID just to operate a phone or go online. This development lands alongside Google's confirmation that it will soon bring digital IDs to Android devices in the UK via Google Wallet. Users will record a short video selfie and scan a government-issued ID to add a digital version of their passport or other documents. https://www.sott.net/article/506786-UK-Government-Plots-Digital-ID-Lockdown-On-EVERY-PHONE-In-Lockstep-With-Big-Tech Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:57:02 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506785-Massie-takes-to-House-floor-to-call-for-the-truth-about-Israels-1967-attack-on-the-USS-Liberty Massie's speech gives a voice to the servicemen whose country has forgotten them in the name of fighting for Israel instead of America. For generations, the attack on the USS Liberty by the Israel Defense Forces ("IDF") has served as a catalyst that shifted the paradigm of how the American public views the United States' relationship with its supposed "greatest ally." For the current generation of Americans, Kentucky representative Thomas Massie has been the catalyst that has opened their eyes to the reality of the lengths that Israel will go to in order to shape the governance of the U.S. toward pursuing the Jewish state's interests instead of those of the American people. Massie's defeat against Ed Gallrein in the Republican primary for the 4th Congressional District of Kentucky, like the attack on the USS Liberty, is a distillation of how Israel has subverted the American democratic process, virtually transforming the U.S. into its vassal state. The parallels between the attack... https://www.sott.net/article/506785-Massie-takes-to-House-floor-to-call-for-the-truth-about-Israels-1967-attack-on-the-USS-Liberty Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:58:28 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506782-Armenias-election-results-pose-challenge-for-Russia Moscow should adjust its policies in response to the victory of Western-backed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the analyst says. Moscow must re-evaluate its policies toward longtime ally Armenia after the party of Western-backed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan won Sunday's election, Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, has told RT. According to the official tally, the ruling Civil Contract party received 49.81% of the vote - enough to form a government but not enough to carry out Pashinyan's proposed constitutional reforms without support from opposition MPs. The election was widely seen as a referendum on whether the small, landlocked post-Soviet nation in the South Caucasus should move closer to the EU at the expense of its historically close ties to Russia. Opposition parties have accused Pashinyan of "usurping" power through what they described as pressure on election officials and the prosecution of political opponents. "The turbulent campaign featured... https://www.sott.net/article/506782-Armenias-election-results-pose-challenge-for-Russia Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:43:38 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506777-Burn-for-us-The-real-message-of-US-EU-nuclear-sharing Washington has made Brussels another offer the Europeans are too slavish to refuse - even if it paints a giant target on their backs. There's an old treaty that, if you have signed up to it, says that you can't spread nuclear weapons. So, if you don't have any nukes and you sign the treaty, you can't get any. Simple as that. You'd think. But leave it to the West, with all its 'values' and 'rules-based order' to, you know, not really break the rules. Just bend them a little. Bend them so much, in fact, that just breaking them would be more honest and less embarrassing. The agreement we are talking about is, of course, the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), according to the International Atomic Energy Agency "the centerpiece" - no less - of much that is good, beautiful, and eminently reasonable. Namely "global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of nuclear... https://www.sott.net/article/506777-Burn-for-us-The-real-message-of-US-EU-nuclear-sharing Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:25:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506776-War-on-Iran-Why-Egypt-cannot-afford-to-take-sides Egypt faces the acute risk of alienating its traditional allies by failing to meet their military and strategic expectations in the current confrontation By pivoting towards a mediating role, Cairo can present itself as a sincere ally of Gulf Cooperation Council states, without directly entering a conflict it can ill afford. Since the outbreak of regional war in February, through to the initial collapse of Pakistan-led negotiations between the US and Iran this month, Egypt has behaved differently than Gulf states might have expected. While the Egyptian foreign ministry swiftly condemned Iranian attacks against Gulf states and Jordan on the first day of the war, signalling an official alignment with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this was followed by a diplomatic pivot towards neutrality - one synchronised with Turkey and Pakistan. While some analysts viewed this as a progressive step in Egyptian foreign policy, others labelled it a dramatic and adventurous shift. https://www.sott.net/article/506776-War-on-Iran-Why-Egypt-cannot-afford-to-take-sides Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:05:31 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506775-Why-Donald-Trump-has-been-unable-to-end-the-Gulf-War-for-four-months The US and Israeli aggression against Iran, which began on February 28, has undermined confidence in the American administration, especially given that Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to renounce new wars of aggression. It has shaken international affairs, led to a serious energy crisis, seriously complicated the economic life of many countries in the Global South, primarily in Asia, and caused serious problems for all countries in the region. In the American press and in media outlets in the Global South, most commentary suggests that the American Gulf War was a clear failure, "making the region more dangerous and diplomacy more detached from reality." In the United States itself, it has caused significant divisions, resulting in political forces within American society. Washington's actions were condemned not only by the Democratic Party, which opposes the president, but also by some Trump supporters in the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement. The US military campaign... https://www.sott.net/article/506775-Why-Donald-Trump-has-been-unable-to-end-the-Gulf-War-for-four-months Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:59:08 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506771-Israel-pauses-Iran-strikes-at-Trumps-request-to-stop-shooting-but-warns-it-will-continue-with-full-intensity-Lebanon-operations Israel Pauses Iran Strikes At Trump's Request Israel's N12 News is reporting that Israel is halting strike on Iran at President Trump's request. There are widespread initial reports that Israeli forces are indeed pausing the attacks, which persisted overnight through Monday morning, and included attack on a major petrochemical complex. However, the latest Israeli messaging has included a warning on the Lebanon front, per Bloomberg: Senior Israeli official says Israel is stopping strikes in Iran at Donald Trump's request, but confirms operations in southern Lebanon will continue at full intensity in the coming days. The official also warns that Dahieh in Beirut could be targeted if attacks on Israeli settlements and civilians continue. There are also emerging reports (via CBS) that Trump did not order any US defensive efforts to protect Israel from the latest Iranian ballistic missile attacks - which were the first against Israel since the early April ceasefire. Meanwhile, in a... https://www.sott.net/article/506771-Israel-pauses-Iran-strikes-at-Trumps-request-to-stop-shooting-but-warns-it-will-continue-with-full-intensity-Lebanon-operations Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:13:34 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506770-Visual-data-reveals-the-extent-of-systematic-Israeli-white-phosphorus-attacks-on-south-Lebanon Lebanon's Ministry of Environment has formally accused the Israeli military of committing 'an act of ecocide,' resulting in an estimated $25 billion in damages A report by The New York Times (NYT) published on 6 June gathers thorough documentation that the Israeli military has repeatedly deployed white phosphorus over populated areas in southern Lebanon during its ongoing war and invasion of the country. Visual evidence collected by NYT, including verified social media footage and news coverage, shows distinctive smoke trails and airbursts over cities like Nabatieh and Tyre, as well as smaller towns like Qlayaa, Khiam, and Yohmor, with incidents documented as recently as May 2026. https://www.sott.net/article/506770-Visual-data-reveals-the-extent-of-systematic-Israeli-white-phosphorus-attacks-on-south-Lebanon Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:18:41 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506762-Report-says-Pentagon-has-warned-the-White-House-that-Israeli-spying-has-reached-critical-level Israel is reportedly seeking intelligence to find out whether President Trump and his advisors will resume full-scale war against Iran The Pentagon is increasingly concerned about Israeli intelligence's efforts to spy on top US officials and has raised the counterintelligence threat level for its closest foreign ally to the highest level, NBC News reported on 5 June. Citing current and former officials, the US outlet revealed that the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently issued a new counterintelligence threat assessment amid differences between Washington and Tel Aviv over how to proceed with the war of aggression against Iran. The DIA reportedly posted an internal message raising the espionage threat level regarding Israel to "critical." It also identified a series of specific incidents that heightened US concerns, one of the officials said. https://www.sott.net/article/506762-Report-says-Pentagon-has-warned-the-White-House-that-Israeli-spying-has-reached-critical-level Sun, 07 Jun 2026 23:09:22 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506761-Feds-launch-investigation-into-Californias-elections Days after California's primary election, the votes are still being counted, and the winners are still unknown, and no one, save for California officials, seems happy about it. "The fact that California elections often can't be resolved for weeks is kind of insane and not common in other electoral systems around the world," Political data analyst Nate Silver wrote on X on Tuesday. "Like honestly 'it's going to take us several weeks to tell you who won the election' is failed state sh-t and should be much more stigmatized. The fact that it's tolerated is bad too a textbook example of learned helplessness." And President Donald Trump is now demanding answers. https://www.sott.net/article/506761-Feds-launch-investigation-into-Californias-elections Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:52:00 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506760-FBI-fires-analysts-who-drafted-controversial-anti-Catholic-memo As Headline USA exclusively revealed in April 2024, the FBI's troubling memo was crafted by analysts involved in an investigation into a schizophrenic man who began attending a traditional Catholic church in early 2022... Several FBI analysts who drafted a 2023 memo that cited Southern Poverty Law Center information to justify targeting "radical-traditionalist Catholics" as potential violent domestic extremists were fired Friday, according to their lawyer, the latest wave of terminations under the leadership of its director Kash Patel. The fired employees included four intelligence analysts and a supervisory analyst. The FBI declined to comment. The January 2023 intelligence product produced by analysts in the FBI's Richmond, Virginia, field office emerged as a political flashpoint after it was issued, with Republicans in Congress repeatedly citing it as part of their broader contention that the FBI during the Biden administration was targeting conservatives. https://www.sott.net/article/506760-FBI-fires-analysts-who-drafted-controversial-anti-Catholic-memo Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:30:22 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506758-NewsReal-Does-Ukraine-Have-a-Death-Wish-And-Does-Iran-Have-a-Nuke Ukraine's drone waves continue hitting Russia, last week targeting St Petersburg right as its annual 'Russian Davos' forum opened, Azerbaijani grain ships in the Sea of Azov, and the nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye. The Ukrainian puppet regime, egged on as ever by the Western Consortium that runs it, is feeling invincible, but its days are surely numbered. Meanwhile the American side of the 'US-rael partnership' is showing rare signs of unease over their pact, with anonymous Pentagon sources complaining about the 'critical' extent of Israeli espionage inside the US. Trump has been noticeably subdued in recent weeks regarding threats to 'obliterate' Iran, so it's worth considering rumors originating in Tehran that its leadership is preparing to demonstrate a 'new-found' nuclear weapons capability. In the meantime, Iran is poised to send new waves of missiles to defend the Lebanese people from Israeli assault... Running Time: 01:43:16 Download: MP3 — 142 MB https://www.sott.net/article/506758-NewsReal-Does-Ukraine-Have-a-Death-Wish-And-Does-Iran-Have-a-Nuke Sun, 07 Jun 2026 20:39:24 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506757-NATO-cover-up-of-catastrophic-nuclear-threat-to-Europe-gives-the-heinous-game-away The West's "victim" regime is trying to blow up Europe with a nuclear catastrophe using EU and NATO funding and weapons. The biggest civilian nuclear power station in Europe was hit for the first time in a direct air strike - and the Western "news" media gave zero reporting on the incident, even though the damage could have had catastrophic consequences for the whole of Europe. Since Russian forces took over the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in March 2022, the huge facility has come under repeated drone and missile attack from the NATO-backed Ukrainian regime. The latest strike on May 30, however, explosively penetrated one of the turbine halls in the central part of the plant, not the periphery as in previous attacks. There were no injuries nor radiation fallout, according to Russia's state-owned atomic energy company, Rosatom. https://www.sott.net/article/506757-NATO-cover-up-of-catastrophic-nuclear-threat-to-Europe-gives-the-heinous-game-away Sun, 07 Jun 2026 20:05:14 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506756-Putin-responds-to-Zelenskys-meeting-proposal The Russian president has given his take on an "open letter," in which the Ukrainian leader reiterated Kiev's demands while calling for one-on-one talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he sees "no sense" in meeting with Vladimir Zelensky, responding to an open letter from the Ukrainian leader. The "author of the letter" has done everything to make such talks impossible, Putin stated at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), adding that even his latest call for talks included "elements of insolence." On Thursday, Zelensky published what was described as an "open letter" on his website, where he called on the Russian president to negotiate an end to the Ukraine conflict during a personal meeting. In the letter he described the conflict as Putin's "personal choice" that would allegedly bring "negative consequences" for Russia. https://www.sott.net/article/506756-Putin-responds-to-Zelenskys-meeting-proposal Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:52:38 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506755-Large-scale-drone-attack-hits-St-Petersburg The raid came after Vladimir Zelensky suggested that Ukrainian drones could 'pay a visit' to the International Economic Forum. St. Petersburg has come under a major Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional authorities, on the closing day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). More than 140 drones were downed in the early hours of Saturday morning, Leningrad Region Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on social media. No casualties or major infrastructure damage were immediately reported. An air alert was declared overnight and residents were warned to stay indoors. Operations at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport were suspended, with dozens of flights delayed and aircraft diverted to other airports. The strike follows another major drone raid on the region on June 3, the opening day of the forum, which attracted participants from more than 130 countries this year. https://www.sott.net/article/506755-Large-scale-drone-attack-hits-St-Petersburg Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:52:01 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506754-Trumps-failed-attempts-to-Reindustrialize-America-A-one-trillion-military-budget-to-supercharge-Americas-AI-run-drone-wars One of Donald Trump's most persistent promises since entering politics has been to revive the American economy. He always understood that the United States doesn't have much left of its once-massive real (i.e., production) economy and that it has been mostly replaced by what President Vladimir Putin aptly called the economy of imaginary entities. Trump's initial idea seems to have been the return of civilian manufacturing back to the US, but as soon as he took power, it became clear that this cannot be done. American workers are paid far more than those in countries to which the US outsourced most of its production economy. Relocating manufacturing back to America would be exorbitantly expensive and would inevitably bankrupt the US, as products made in the country would be completely noncompetitive on the global market. Namely, even if the quality were far superior to that produced in other countries, the price tag would make it unviable for mass production. In other words, such... https://www.sott.net/article/506754-Trumps-failed-attempts-to-Reindustrialize-America-A-one-trillion-military-budget-to-supercharge-Americas-AI-run-drone-wars Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:51:22 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506753-Ireland-bars-two-extremist-Israeli-ministers-from-entering-country Ireland has taken a firm and principled stand by barring the two extremist Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, from entering the country over their direct role in the ongoing genocidal war against Gaza and their aggressive, racist policies toward the Palestinian people. Speaking to reporters in Montenegro on Friday, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Michael Martin sharply condemned the ministers' actions and statements, declaring that they "amount to a desire to see the elimination of Palestinians from Palestine." Martin confirmed that Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has instructed officials to prevent any entry by Ben-Gvir, the so-called national security minister, and Smotrich, the finance minister. The Irish leader further urged the European Union to impose broader measures against the two hawkish figures. Martin said: "In my view, their behavior justifies sanctions at the EU level as well, and that's something we will raise. Whether we can secure sufficient... https://www.sott.net/article/506753-Ireland-bars-two-extremist-Israeli-ministers-from-entering-country Sun, 07 Jun 2026 18:49:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506751-Quick-Take-whats-up-with-CBDCs Have you seen a mainstream headline about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) so far this year? Probably not. What used to be a regular on the front page has been curiously absent. What stories there are have been tucked away, and the tone is decidedly changed: Is a digital euro necessary for monetary sovereignty? Rethinking the CBDC debate That's from Santander, riffing off a report from the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), "Central bank digital currency and monetary sovereignty", which concludes [emphasis added]: the case for CBDC as a prerequisite for monetary sovereignty is weaker than often claimed. History suggests that sovereignty ultimately rests on legal authority and public balance sheets, not on universal access to public money. Confusing money with payments risks misdiagnosing the problem and misallocating policy effort. For Europe, the digital euro may play a useful symbolic role, but the effective defence of monetary sovereignty will continue to depend... https://www.sott.net/article/506751-Quick-Take-whats-up-with-CBDCs Sun, 07 Jun 2026 17:33:15 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506739-Erin-go-bragh-Hardline-Israeli-ministers-Ben-Gvir-and-Smotrich-barred-from-travel-to-Ireland 'Their behaviour justifies sanctions at EU level as well,' Taoiseach Micheál Martin says Irish officials have been instructed to block any attempts by hardline Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to travel to the State, a symbolic but significant sanction of the Israeli government. Confirming the effective travel ban on Friday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said a direction had been given to prohibit the Israeli politicians from entering the country. "Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, [it] is my understanding, has instructed his officials to prohibit any travel into Ireland [for] both minister Ben-Gvir and minister Smotrich," Martin told reporters in Tivat, Montenegro, where he was attending a meeting bringing together EU leaders and their counterparts from the western Balkans. https://www.sott.net/article/506739-Erin-go-bragh-Hardline-Israeli-ministers-Ben-Gvir-and-Smotrich-barred-from-travel-to-Ireland Sat, 06 Jun 2026 23:20:57 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506736-Paris-riots-boost-National-Rallys-Jordan-Bardella-Reaches-record-high-approval-ratings A Bardella-Mélenchon election matchup is being described as a "nightmare scenario" for the EU by the Politico outlet With French national elections approaching in 2027, the mass riots seen in Paris following the PSG victory in the Champions League are leading to an even sharper electoral shift towards the right-leaning National Rally's Jordan Bardella. Verian's June barometer, published by Le Figaro Magazine, places Jordan Bardella at the top of political figures, with 47 percent of those questioned wanting to see him occupy an important place in public life. This rating, up six points in one month, reveals a record result for the National Rally. Marine Le Pen comes in second position and is also progressing. Several other personalities located on the right are also rising in the ranking, including Marion Maréchal, Éric Ciotti and Robert Ménard. https://www.sott.net/article/506736-Paris-riots-boost-National-Rallys-Jordan-Bardella-Reaches-record-high-approval-ratings Sat, 06 Jun 2026 21:40:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506735-New-footage-reveals-Ford-carrier-fire-damage-far-more-severe-than-Pentagon-acknowledged Newly surfaced footage obtained by CNN indicates that a severe fire aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford - the world's largest aircraft carrier - inflicted far more extensive damage than the Trump administration initially admitted to the public. Early in the conflict it was forced to depart Mideast regional waters and retreat West in the Mediterranean, before undergoing extensive repairs at port in Croatia. Pundits were skeptical of official explanations, which suggested an accidental fire was sparked in the laundry room aboard the giant vessel. The major blaze erupted in March at a moment Iran claimed to have directly hit US naval vessels, but crisis was consistently downplayed by Pentagon officials at the time. https://www.sott.net/article/506735-New-footage-reveals-Ford-carrier-fire-damage-far-more-severe-than-Pentagon-acknowledged Sat, 06 Jun 2026 21:24:05 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506734-Trumps-Sedition-Act-for-Israel At all times and places it has been difficult to speak freely. Even the founding fathers had their Sedition Act of 1798 that criminalized statements against the US government. Shortly afterward President Thomas Jefferson got most of it repealed. President Abraham Lincoln during his 1861-1865 invasion of the Confederate States of America had a de facto sedition act. Lincoln used executive orders, military directives, martial law, and the suspension of habeas corpus to shut down free speech. At one time Lincoln had 300 Northern newspaper editors in prison. In 1918, Congress passed a new Sedition Act that applied when the US government was at war. The law prohibited speech and opinion that put the US government and its war effort in a bad light. The bad light was that US President Woodrow Wilson promised Germany no territorial loss and no reparations in exchange for an armistice, and betrayed the promise. The result was the Treaty of Versailles that as British economist John Maynard... https://www.sott.net/article/506734-Trumps-Sedition-Act-for-Israel Sat, 06 Jun 2026 20:12:21 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506733-Game-of-Drones-The-flag-on-Beaufort-the-truth-at-Rambam If you watched "Game of Thrones," you know the pattern by heart. Every season, someone captures a castle, claims a throne, or raises a banner over an ancient wall and declares victory. Yet the story is never decided by who occupies the fortress. The castle changes hands. The banners change. The kingdom keeps bleeding. The men obsessed with holding stone are usually the last to realize the battle has moved elsewhere. Southern Lebanon, 31 May 2026. The "lord" is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The castle is Beaufort, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress on a cliff above the Litani River, seized by the occupation army's Golani Brigade and crowned with an Israeli flag for the first time since 2000. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed the invaders would hold it "as part of the security zone in Lebanon," and Netanyahu declared the occupation had returned stronger than ever. The same brigade took the same rock in 1982, buried its own men doing it, held it for 18 years, and... https://www.sott.net/article/506733-Game-of-Drones-The-flag-on-Beaufort-the-truth-at-Rambam Sat, 06 Jun 2026 20:11:45 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506732-Globalist-CEOs-sound-alarm-over-Swiss-population-cap-vote Summary: Increasing Number of Globalist CEOs Concerned About Swiss Population Vote Nestle CEO Warns Against Swiss Population Cap Vote UBS CEO Warns Swiss Population Cap Is An 'Extreme' Measure Switzerland's "Ten Million" Vote Nears Nestle CEO Warns Against Swiss Population Cap Globalist CEOs who ignored more than a decade of Europe's mass migration invasion from the third world because it was good for business may soon face headwinds from Swiss voters: a June 14 referendum that would cap the country's permanent resident population below 10 million through 2050. Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil is the latest to warn Swiss citizens that a vote to cap the population at 10 million would not be good for business. "Switzerland has established and created the conditions that enable a global company like us to thrive," Navratil said at the Swiss Economic Forum in Interlaken on Friday, who was quoted by Bloomberg. "It is important that these conditions and advantages in Switzerland remain in... https://www.sott.net/article/506732-Globalist-CEOs-sound-alarm-over-Swiss-population-cap-vote Sat, 06 Jun 2026 20:10:35 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506722-Peter-Thiel-tries-to-take-control-of-the-Brazilian-judiciary The recent escape of the technocratic billionaire Peter Thiel — best known for his company Palantir, involved in the capture of U.S. security and intelligence services — to Argentina has drawn attention to his possible interests in South America. Javier Milei's role in implementing the Andinia Plan (promoting Jewish colonization of Patagonia for the purpose of creating a new Zionist state) has already become notorious, and there is speculation about whether Thiel might play some part in it. Others suggest that Thiel may simply be leaving the U.S. to avoid potential future accountability in a post-Trump American government. Now, regardless of Thiel's real interests in Argentina, that does not appear to be the main target of the billionaire's operations in South America. It recently came to public attention that former Supreme Court Justice Luis Roberto Barroso and TV host Luciano Huck — both radical Zionists and representatives of the liberal-progressive establishment — are part of... https://www.sott.net/article/506722-Peter-Thiel-tries-to-take-control-of-the-Brazilian-judiciary Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:47:47 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506719-Israel-is-training-its-soldiers-in-propaganda-tactics-to-manipulate-public-opinion-at-home-and-abroad The Israel lobby in the US is turning toward AI to influence the public's views of Israel amid its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza The Israeli military is training soldiers and other defense officials to conduct psychological operations designed to "influence public consciousness" in Israel and abroad, the Hottest Place in Hell reported on 4 June. The Israeli investigative outlet published its report based on an internal Defense Ministry tender published last July. The tender revealed that the ministry hired academics to teach English and Hebrew-language courses on propaganda to Israeli defense personnel, as well as to unspecified "foreign partners." The courses teach participants "how to use data to discreetly shape the attitudes and actions of target audiences, intelligence gathering for such operations, and influencer training," the Hottest Place in Hell wrote. https://www.sott.net/article/506719-Israel-is-training-its-soldiers-in-propaganda-tactics-to-manipulate-public-opinion-at-home-and-abroad Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:24:42 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506716-The-French-never-wanted-mass-immigration French leaders have been claiming immigration must be stopped for decades, yet migration numbers have never been higher French leaders know how to manipulate their voters, but the voters are also apparently easily manipulated. Every leader from French President Emmanuel Macron to François Mitterrand in the 1980s has decried immigration numbers and promised a crackdown, all while allowing immigration numbers to continuously climb year after year. Here are just some relevant quotes: Emmanuel Macron said in 2023: "There is an immigration problem in France." In 2016, then French President François Hollande said, "There are too many arrivals, immigration that shouldn't be there." In 2023, then leader Nicolas Sarkozy said: "There are too many immigrants in France." https://www.sott.net/article/506716-The-French-never-wanted-mass-immigration Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:37:20 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506715-Lebanons-southern-front-turns-Israels-buffer-zone-into-a-trap Tel Aviv's push to widen its security belt in south Lebanon is colliding with Hezbollah's attrition doctrine, exposing the limits of Israeli firepower under Washington's political ceiling. The Lebanese front has entered a sharper phase of escalation, raising questions over what lies behind the renewed Israeli push, what each political actor seeks to gain, and what the battlefield in south Lebanon now reveals. The military track cannot be separated from US-Iran negotiations. Lebanon has become a pressure card for both sides, though each approaches it from a different angle. US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want to separate the Iranian and Lebanese arenas, while Tehran insists on keeping them linked, given Hezbollah's role as a regional and ideological extension of Iranian power. The Israeli electoral dimension is equally present. Netanyahu is trying to absorb domestic pressure and preserve his political future, especially as Israeli society... https://www.sott.net/article/506715-Lebanons-southern-front-turns-Israels-buffer-zone-into-a-trap Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:07:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506714-Yemens-role-in-Irans-Transregional-Doctrine Yemen's full-scale entry into the conflict could lead to the formation of a multi-layered and extensive front, which could increase pressure on the US and Israel, deprive the enemy of the initiative, and turn the conflict into a war of attrition. Ansar Allah as a Strategic Asset of Iran: Transnational Doctrine and Regional Security Ansar Allah, with the power to impose costs on trans-regional actors, "the ability to make decisions and carry out operations at a strategic level" without logistical dependence on external powers, and "strategic alignment" with Iran, is a strategic asset. Recently, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran officially announced in a statement that if the enemy wants to start a war again, it will make the war trans-regional. An implicit reference by Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, by raising questions about the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Iran's pressure tools focused a kind of attention to this doctrine. Ali... https://www.sott.net/article/506714-Yemens-role-in-Irans-Transregional-Doctrine Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:06:09 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506713-Trump-signs-executive-order-to-facilitate-firing-federal-employees President Donald Trump on Wednesday formally advanced a long-sought effort to make it easier to remove senior federal employees involved in policymaking, arguing the change will help ensure government agencies are responsive to elected leadership and the American people. Trump signed an executive order implementing Schedule Policy/Career, or Schedule P/C, a new employment classification that places certain career federal workers into positions that can be hired and removed in a manner similar to political appointees. The policy is a revival of the first Trump administration's Schedule F initiative and is expected to affect roughly 8,000 federal employees. According to the White House, the move is designed to address longstanding difficulties in removing federal workers accused of poor performance or misconduct. The executive order states that employees placed into the new category would be "exempted from the adverse action procedures that make removals for poor performance or... https://www.sott.net/article/506713-Trump-signs-executive-order-to-facilitate-firing-federal-employees Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:05:25 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506712-Rubio-Most-of-the-world-assesses-that-Israel-has-nuclear-weapons US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday was asked whether Israel has nuclear weapons and acknowledged that "most of the world assesses that they do," but also reaffirmed the US policy of not acknowledging the existence of Israel's nuclear stockpile and secret weapons program. Rubio made the comments when being questioned by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), who recently led a letter to the State Department asking for answers about Israel's nuclear weapons program. Rubio's State Department responded by referring the group of Democratic lawmakers to the government of Israel. "I have to say, Mr. Secretary, that's a very bizarre response," Castro told Rubio at a congressional hearing. Castro then asked Rubio if he could tell the American people whether or not Israel has nukes. https://www.sott.net/article/506712-Rubio-Most-of-the-world-assesses-that-Israel-has-nuclear-weapons Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:04:26 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506710-Lebanon-on-fire-Why-Israel-derailed-US-Iran-diplomacy Netanyahu's new offensive has undermined talks, strained European patience and raised the risk of another long occupation. The situation in Lebanon has pushed Iran out of the negotiating process with the US and has once again shown that Middle Eastern diplomacy today depends less on formal negotiations than on what is happening on the ground. Tehran has suspended its indirect exchange of messages with Washington through intermediaries against the backdrop of Israel's expanding operation against Lebanon and Hezbollah. This decision was a reaction to a broader crisis in which the Lebanese front has become intertwined with US-Iranian negotiations, Israel's security calculations, Lebanon's domestic politics, Hezbollah's position, Tehran's regional strategy, and the Trump administration's attempt to impose at least a temporary formula for de-escalation. https://www.sott.net/article/506710-Lebanon-on-fire-Why-Israel-derailed-US-Iran-diplomacy Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:18:13 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506706-Cant-make-this-up-Israelis-complain-US-military-has-turned-Ben-Gurion-Airport-into-its-own-base In a deep irony, Israelis are increasingly complaining the United States military has effectively taken over Israel's international travel hub. Media reports this week are going so far as to call Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport a "US military base" - as the prominent local newspaper Haaretz does: The US refueling aircraft and other military assets, which have been stationed at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport for months, are causing congestion and may result in flight cancellations, Israeli officials and media reports have said, calling the facility a "US military base." The report complains that "U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft have been stationed at Ben Gurion International Airport for three months, occupying parking spots, taking up takeoff and landing slots and worsening congestion at Israel's main international gateway since the war with Iran erupted in late February, officials say." https://www.sott.net/article/506706-Cant-make-this-up-Israelis-complain-US-military-has-turned-Ben-Gurion-Airport-into-its-own-base Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:41:28 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506704-If-only-there-was-a-German-word-for-Berlins-UN-humiliation The UN assembly has turned its back on Germany, for the first time in the country's modern history. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has blamed Berlin's failure to secure a seat at the UN Security Council on his country's superior moral positions. If only there were a German word for that... Germany failed to win a temporary seat on the UN Security Council for the first time in history on Wednesday, losing out to Portugal and Austria in the 'Western Europe and Others' group. Germany easily won all six contests that it entered since 1977, usually with the support of its European and NATO allies. Having won every round it has entered since the mid-twentieth century, this time around, Germany could only manage to secure 104 votes, while Portugal won 134 and Austria - a non-NATO member - took 131. Despite Berlin's long-held insistence that it deserves a permanent seat on the UNSC, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was forced to listen as the results were read out by none... https://www.sott.net/article/506704-If-only-there-was-a-German-word-for-Berlins-UN-humiliation Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:58:31 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506703-Israels-African-powerplay-thwarted-US-reaffirms-Somali-sovereignty-in-blow-to-Somaliland-independence State Department report 'effectively closes the door on any lingering hopes of US recognition for Somaliland', which is recognised by Israel Somaliland military armed vehicles take part in a parade during the self-declared Independence Day, with celebrations commemorating their 1991 breakaway from Somalia, on 18 May 2026 (Reuters) By Oscar Rickett Published date: 2 June 2026 17:18 BST | Last update: 2 days 5 hours ago The US has reaffirmed "the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Somalia, in a move seen as a blow to Somaliland, the breakaway region recently recognised by Israel and close to the United Arab Emirates. In a report to Congress on "Potential Areas for Improved United States Engagement with Somaliland", the US State Department stated that Somaliland was included in the Federal Republic of Somalia. https://www.sott.net/article/506703-Israels-African-powerplay-thwarted-US-reaffirms-Somali-sovereignty-in-blow-to-Somaliland-independence Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:33:53 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506701-Ukraine-is-causing-more-regime-change-in-the-EU-than-in-Russia Kiev's stray drones are rattling Baltic and Nordic allies, but they prefer to blame the usual suspect. Unelected European Commission President 'Queen' Ursula von der Leyen was in Lithuania a few days ago to come up with a plan to tackle Ukrainian drones that risk regime changing European allies. The strategy? Blame Russia - the political equivalent of a universal remote to change the channel from one's own incompetence. Not only does Russia get to be held responsible for its own stray drones, but also for Kiev's. So why Lithuania? Well, its president, Gitanas Nauseda, has been making proclamations about how his country won't be used for military ops or have its sovereignty violated by drones or anything else. Okay, but what if it's just the doing of a Ukrainian with shaky stick control - like a teenager with one hand on the gamepad and the other buried in a bag of Doritos? Except that it's setting off national emergencies. That's cool, right? https://www.sott.net/article/506701-Ukraine-is-causing-more-regime-change-in-the-EU-than-in-Russia Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:11:11 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506696-Lunatic-Zelensky-orders-massive-drone-attack-as-Putins-Davos-forum-opens-with-Candace-Owens-Trump-official-in-attendance Ukraine's President Zelensky has freshly stated that he's ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in order to end the war, but he also warned that the alternative is for Ukraine to increase its retaliatory strikes on Russia, The head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, Kyrylo Budanov, stated this week: "Zelensky has instructed officials to try to end this war as quickly as possible, preferably before winter." But the ground war reality as well the escalating tit-for-tat air campaigns, tell a different story of a brutal and largely stalemated conflict which is likely to just grind on for the foreseeable future. The last 24 hour period has seen a significant drone wave rain down on Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg. https://www.sott.net/article/506696-Lunatic-Zelensky-orders-massive-drone-attack-as-Putins-Davos-forum-opens-with-Candace-Owens-Trump-official-in-attendance Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:48:06 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506695-Report-says-John-Bolton-to-plead-guilty-in-documents-case-pay-2M-fine John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors and is expected to plead guilty to one count of illegal retention of sensitive national security documents, according to CNN, citing three sources familiar with the matter. Under the agreement, Bolton will pay a fine of more than $2 million. A single count of illegal retention carries a possible sentence of up to 60 months in prison. A court hearing is currently scheduled for June 26. Bolton was originally charged in Maryland with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. The charges centered on diary-like entries from his time in the Trump White House that were allegedly kept at his residence. https://www.sott.net/article/506695-Report-says-John-Bolton-to-plead-guilty-in-documents-case-pay-2M-fine Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:26:36 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506687-Moderna-is-building-a-modified-mRNA-vaccine-for-Ebola-Bundibugyo-CEPI-just-gave-them-60-million-to-accelerate-development Predictably, Moderna has secured up to $60 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to accelerate development of an Ebola "vaccine" amid an ongoing outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 282 confirmed cases, 42 deaths, and around 1,100 suspected cases, plus nine confirmed cases (one fatal) in Uganda.[1,2] In case you didn't know, CEPI is the brainchild of the WEF (conceived in 2015; launched in 2017) and co-founded (and co-funded with US$460 million) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust. This seems a little odd to me considering that Ebola is highly containable and Bundibugyo has a lower CFR than Zaire. The PHEIC Ebola outbreak making it to the "news" CEPI plans to advance their modified mRNA candidate to trials within months, while also funding other candidates (Oxford/Serum Institute and IAVI), though development remains unpredictable amid a challenging "security environment", including... https://www.sott.net/article/506687-Moderna-is-building-a-modified-mRNA-vaccine-for-Ebola-Bundibugyo-CEPI-just-gave-them-60-million-to-accelerate-development Wed, 03 Jun 2026 22:02:13 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506684-The-Israelization-of-the-United-States-military-is-proceeding-Where-and-how-will-it-all-end-Ask-Donald-Trump Few Americans know the history of how Israel's "wag the dog" relationship with the United States developed. Israel's 1967 successful war against its neighbors demonstrated to military planners in Washington how a qualitative edge in weapons could enable a small country to resist much larger and seemingly more powerful adversaries. Israel was largely supplied with French weapons at the time that reportedly out-performed the Russian equipment in the hands of Syria and Egypt. As a consequence, in 1968, with strong support from a heavily lobbied Congress, Zionist-influenced US President Lyndon B Johnson approved the hitherto blocked sale of F-4 Phantom fighters to Israel, establishing the precedent for continuing US support of Israel's Qualitative Military Edge, generally referred to by the acronym QME, over its Arab and Christian neighbors. Five years later, in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the United States and Israel came to an understanding whereby they tacitly adopted... https://www.sott.net/article/506684-The-Israelization-of-the-United-States-military-is-proceeding-Where-and-how-will-it-all-end-Ask-Donald-Trump Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:14:22 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506683-Self-engineered-decay-Why-Israels-political-collapse-cannot-be-separated-from-its-war-crimes For those unfamiliar with the intricate machinery of Israeli politics, the unanimous 110-0 vote to dissolve the Knesset on May 20 appears to be an earth-shattering event. On the surface, it looks as if the days of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition of far-right extremists are numbered. The reality, however, is far more complex. Israel's current political implosion is fundamentally tied to its failure to escape the ghosts of October 7. When the country's military defenses collapsed on that day, Israel was transformed from a state with a formidable reputation as an invincible regional superpower into one trapped with a struggling army, structurally incapable of decisively winning a single war. Since the launch of the devastating genocide in Gaza, neither the Israeli government nor the military establishment has been able to answer two fundamental questions: One, how did the world's self-proclaimed "invincible army" collapse in a matter of hours, leaving the entire... https://www.sott.net/article/506683-Self-engineered-decay-Why-Israels-political-collapse-cannot-be-separated-from-its-war-crimes Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:13:54 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506682-Towards-the-disintegration-of-Germany As the United Kingdom and Ukraine push Germany to prepare for war against Russia, we are witnessing the collapse of a reunified Germany. The country is deeply divided into two distinct peoples. Its identity is now in question. The dissolution of the Federal Republic of Germany is now inevitable. Meanwhile, the peace agreement between Washington and Moscow will lead to the annexation of parts of Ukraine and Transnistria by Russia. And the European Union's abandonment of its values ​​will bring about its demise. Even if we are unaware of it, the defeat of the Zelensky administration in Ukraine is likely to trigger the collapse of Moldova, Germany, and the European Union. This is the working hypothesis of Russia, China, and the United States. However, we are completely unprepared for this, and our political leaders and media have not, for the moment, even considered the possibility. https://www.sott.net/article/506682-Towards-the-disintegration-of-Germany Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:13:17 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506681-Trump-names-Tulsi-Gabbards-replacement-as-intel-chief Bill Pulte, a close ally of the president with no national security experience, will take over as DNI. US President Donald Trump has tapped housing finance chief Bill Pulte to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the wake of Tulsi Gabbard's resignation. Trump announced Pulte's appointment in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, describing Pulte as someone with "deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America." As acting DNI, Pulte will coordinate the work of the US federal government's 18 intelligence agencies, and will be responsible for producing Trump's daily intelligence briefing. Pulte, however, has no national security experience, having sat on the board of his family's residential construction firm before being appointed by Trump to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year. Pulte will continue to work in these roles while serving as acting DNI, Trump stated. https://www.sott.net/article/506681-Trump-names-Tulsi-Gabbards-replacement-as-intel-chief Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:12:47 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506676-AAG-Dhillon-wants-judge-who-allegedly-attended-a-Fani-Willis-event-off-Georgia-election-integrity-case The judge, whom Dhillon identified as U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross, allegedly committed judicial misconduct when she attended an event that honored Fulton Count District Attorney Fani Willis. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon filed a memorandum Friday calling for a federal judge to recuse herself from an election integrity case in Georgia after allegedly attending an event that allegedly honored Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Dhillon, in the memorandum, says the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Council, the primary governing and administrative body for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, operating out of Atlanta, found an unnamed judge "committed judicial misconduct by attending a "partisan and political event." https://www.sott.net/article/506676-AAG-Dhillon-wants-judge-who-allegedly-attended-a-Fani-Willis-event-off-Georgia-election-integrity-case Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:18:51 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506675-London-bans-Israel-critics-Hassan-Piker-Cenk-Uyghur-from-entering-UK Piker took to social media to slam the UK for banning him and revoking his visa 'at the behest of Israel' Pro-Palestine streamer and commentator Hassan Piker was banned from visiting the UK by the British Home Office, ahead of his planned meeting with former Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn. Piker was also due to meet with Green Party leader Zack Polanski. "The UK has revoked my visa as well. All at the behest of Israel. The west is betraying 'liberal values' for a genocidal fascist foreign government. Soon we will all become Israel," Piker said on X on 1 June. https://www.sott.net/article/506675-London-bans-Israel-critics-Hassan-Piker-Cenk-Uyghur-from-entering-UK Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:00:59 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506674-The-Mossad-Delusion-Why-Israel-still-thinks-Iran-will-fall Nations with collective memory do not collapse simply because their enemies misunderstand them. One of the most revealing aspects of intelligence agencies is that they often tell you more about themselves than they intend to. Not through leaks, defections, or declassified documents, but through moments of self-congratulation. Moments when they believe they are demonstrating strength and sophistication, yet end up exposing the assumptions, fantasies, and misconceptions that drive their strategy. That was my reaction when I came across an article in Israel Hayom about a secret Mossad branch dedicated to influence operations against Iran. And I want to begin with a necessary qualification, because the article itself was published in Israel Hayom, a deeply pro-Israeli outlet. Therefore, everything inside it has to be read carefully, not as neutral journalism, but as a window into how the Israeli security establishment wants to present itself, its successes, its failures, and its... https://www.sott.net/article/506674-The-Mossad-Delusion-Why-Israel-still-thinks-Iran-will-fall Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:25:44 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506672-Israels-secret-bases-in-Iraq-A-new-phase-of-shadow-warfare-in-the-Middle-East The revelation that Israel established secret military bases inside Iraq during the recent war against Iran is far more than another episode in the region's long history of covert operations. It signals a deeper transformation in Middle Eastern geopolitics: the normalization of clandestine cross-border military infrastructures, the erosion of Iraqi sovereignty, and the increasingly blurred line between intelligence operations and open regional warfare. French television stated that "the United States was, of course, aware" of the operation and that Israel had established two covert positions in the Iraqi desert to prepare for the war against Iran. One base was reportedly located near Najaf, south of Baghdad, and another farther north in Al Anbar Governorate, possibly near Qaem, close to the Syrian border. According to reports first published by The Wall Street Journal and later confirmed in part by the Associated Press, the installations housed Israeli special forces and functioned... https://www.sott.net/article/506672-Israels-secret-bases-in-Iraq-A-new-phase-of-shadow-warfare-in-the-Middle-East Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:41:04 +0000 https://www.sott.net/article/506671-War-With-a-Capital-W Media Theater, Proxy Conflict, and the Death of Continuity. As the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags deeper into proxy-war reality, Western media institutions increasingly appear less interested in describing events than emotionally framing them. What emerges is not simply journalism, but narrative choreography shaped by elite institutional ecosystems, synchronized moral language, and a civilization trapped inside permanent escalation psychology. The Proxy War Nobody Wants to Name For years now, politicians and media institutions on all sides have carefully avoided one blunt word to describe what is happening on the steppes of Russia: war. Instead, the public has been fed a carefully softened vocabulary of "conflict," "security architecture," "rules-based response," and "strategic escalation management." Yet after hundreds of billions spent, infrastructure sabotage, drone strikes deep inside sovereign territory, NATO intelligence involvement, sanctions warfare, industrial mobilization,... https://www.sott.net/article/506671-War-With-a-Capital-W Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:40:22 +0000