#military-in-politics

#military-in-politics

The economics are hard to ignore. Shooting down a drone with AeroVironment's LOCUST laser system costs less than $10, using just two to five seconds of laser energy. Compare that to the interceptor missiles currently used against Iranian drone swarms, which cost orders of magnitude more and are in short supply across allied arsenals.

The conversation reveals that the ongoing conflict raises critical questions about the motivations behind US foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel's role in shaping military strategies.

Hegseth's actions reflect a broader agenda to reshape the military's leadership, prioritizing loyalty to his political beliefs over military experience and competence.

Our war fighters are leveraging a variety of advanced AI tools. These systems help us sift through vast amounts of data in seconds so our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter decisions faster than the enemy can react. Humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot, but advanced AI tools can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes even days into seconds.

Four days into this situation in the skies over Tehran, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said, 'We're not at war right now.' This was, rather, a 'very specific, clear mission-an operation.' Operation does seem to be the preferred word in government talking points, even as it encompasses assassinating an ayatollah, torpedoing an Iranian naval ship, blowing up fuel depots and a desalination plant, and losing the lives of (so far) eight American service members along the way.

With hardly any outside aid, the first signs of economic liberalization appeared, the dollar was decriminalized, and some small private businesses emerged. While the government loosened its grip, it began to thoroughly study other cases of authoritarian regimes that had transitioned toward a certain degree of openness—economic rather than political—thinking about how to survive without ever relinquishing power.

In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive department. Madison, the primary author of the Constitution, emphasized that vesting war powers in Congress rather than the President represented a crucial safeguard against concentrated executive authority and the potential for individual flaws in judgment affecting national security decisions.

Anthony Glees, Emeritus Professor at the University of Buckingham, called the US and Israeli decision to attack Iran a 'war of choice' and the first red flag which previously led to the last two world wars. He claimed that the conflict in the Middle East did not start out of necessity or self-defense, but as a deliberate decision by two leaders focused on gaining power and keeping it.

Axios could not confirm the precise role that Claude played in the operation to capture Maduro. The military has used Claude in the past to analyze satellite imagery or intelligence. The sources said Claude was used during the active operation, not just in preparations for it. No Americans were killed in the raid. Cuba and Venezuela both said dozens of their soldiers and security personnel were killed.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued notices to airlines, urging them to exercise caution over Mexico and other Central American countries, as well as Ecuador and Colombia, due to military activities. On Friday, the FAA released a series of advisories that come amid an ongoing US military buildup in the Latin America region, including US military attacks on Venezuela, and US President Donald Trump's warning to Cuba and threats of strikes against drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia,

The 1980s bring revolutionary wars, CIA-backed conflict and the violent birth of a new democratic era. Episode 2: Wars begins with Nicaragua's Sandinista revolution, which promised egalitarian transformation through literacy crusades. But civil war erupted as United States President Ronald Reagan's administration covertly backed the Contra rebels, plunging the nation into turmoil and suffering. Panama transitioned from Omar Torrijos's diplomatic triumphs over the Panama Canal to Manuel Noriega's sinister collaboration with both the CIA and drug cartels.

Over the weekend, it emerged that authorities in China have opened investigations into two senior figures at the top of the People's Liberation Army for "serious disciplinary violations" a phrase commonly used in Chinese official communications to refer to corruption. Those affected include top general Zhang Youxia, who is one of President Xi Jinping's closest allies in the military and one of the two deputy chairmen of the powerful Central Military Commission. Another senior general, Liu Zhenli, is also being investigated.

Among the rebels who, on December 8, entered Damascus and put an end to almost 14 years of conflict and the Assad family regime one of the cruellest and longest-lasting in the Middle East was one who spoke Spanish with a slight Caribbean accent. Dr. Bachar Alkaderi, a graduate of the University of Medical Sciences of Havana, specializing in general and thoracic surgery, became, through the twists of fate and history, a revolutionary commander.

On January 3, Panama woke up with the strange sensation of looking in a mirror. During the early hours of the morning while the world tried to process the details about the capture of Nicolas Maduro, as a result of a U.S. military operation the country that is home to the Panama Canal once again delved into a wound that, 36 years later, remains open: the 1989 U.S. invasion.