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Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NPR Thursday that there are only a "few weeks" left to revive the Iran nuclear deal and warned the US would explore "other options" if the talks that are ongoing in Vienna fail. "Were very, very short on time. The runway is very short," Blinken said. He claimed Iran is getting close to being able to produce "enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon," although there is no evidence Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb, something CIA Director William Burns admitted last month. Blinken said a revival of the JCPOA is the "best result for Americas security" but warned the US is coordinating with allies on "other options" if the talks fail. "We are looking at other steps, other options, again, closely coordinated with concerned countries," he said. Back in November, Blinken wouldnt rule out possible military action as an "option" if the JCPOA talks fail. The US has also been coordinating very closely with Israel, and Israeli officials are pushing the US to abandon the negotiations and ramp up the pressure on Iran through tighter sanctions and a potential attack. |
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The CIA has been overseeing a secret training program for Ukrainian special operations forces and intelligence operatives since 2015, Yahoo News reported on Thursday, citing five former intelligence and national security officials. One former CIA official said the US is "training an insurgency" in Ukraine and that the program teaches the Ukrainians how "to kill Russians," although other officials downplayed the training and said it was not meant for offensive purposes. The training has been held at an undisclosed base in the southern United States. It was started by the Obama administration, was expanded by President Trump, and further expanded by President Biden. The program includes training in firearms, camouflage techniques, land navigation, and other areas, former officials told Yahoo. |
America's founding generation believed that an informed citizenry was vital to the survival of the Republic. Writing to theologian and philosopher Richard Price on January 8, 1789, Thomas Jefferson observed with satisfaction how his countrymen had come to largely embrace the new constitutional form of government just recently adopted. "A sense of this necessity, and a submission to it," Jefferson told Price, "is to me a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights." But what if that same government takes deliberate, calculated steps to try to ensure that the public is not well informed about the government's own actions, especially those carried out under a legal cloak of secrecy? |
| There has been much hype in recent years over headaches and other symptoms US diplomats and spies have experienced while deployed overseas. This phenomenon has been nicknamed the "Havana Syndrome" since the first reports of the symptoms came from diplomats in Cuba. The assumption is that the mysterious illness is the work of a hostile foreign power, such as China or Russia, using microwave weapons. But NBC News reported Wednesday that the CIA has ruled out the possibility that the majority of Havana Syndrome cases were "the result of a sustained global campaign by a hostile power." The report reads: "The idea that widespread brain injury symptoms have been caused by Russia or another foreign power targeting Americans around the world, either to harm them or to collect intelligence, has been deemed unfounded, the sources said." |
Saudi Arabias state media reported "precise airstrikes against legitimate military targets" in Yemen today. This included an attack on a youth soccer field in al-Hodeidah, while a game was going on.
Details are still emerging as to the aftermath, though there were reportedly a number of casualties, including deaths. Photos showed several children among the casualties.
Despite the Saudis' constant talk of legitimate military targets, and Hodeidah being militarized, this was just a soccer game with no official dimension at all, and there is no sign anyone was there except for a number of civilians. |
Washington spent two decades at war in Afghanistan. Americas troops are home, but US policy continues to punish the Afghan people. Millions could starve this winter. The Biden administration should make peace with the Taliban. Washington should restore diplomatic relations, negotiate a working relationship with the new regime, and allow Kabul access to what is the Afghan peoples money. |
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