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The Intercept
As Israel Conflict Spreads to 16 Nations, Biden Administration Says There’s No War
The regional war in the Middle East now involves at least 16 different countries and includes the first strikes from Iranian territory on Israel, but the United States continues to insist that there is no broader war, hiding the extent of American military involvement. And yet in response to Iran’s drone and missile attacks Saturday, the U.S. flew aircraft and launched air defense missiles from at least eight countries, while Iran and its proxies fired weapons from Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.
U.S. Military Isn’t That Concerned About War With Iran
Units on alert, naval ships repositioning, bombers postured to fly, Marines ready to storm the beaches. These are all of the routines of a crisis that signals U.S. military readiness for war. But there’s another routine that often eludes Washington’s acknowledgment: the military’s own deployment schedule when it comes to units venturing out there into the real world. The schedule is sacrosanct. So while some might think the potential for war with Iran — right now — is high and the U.S. military is on high alert, the reality is that it’s business as usual.
Solidarity Forever: Building Movements Amid Today’s Crises
“None of us benefit from a burning planet,” says activist and documentarian Astra Taylor on this week’s Deconstructed. Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix join Ryan Grim to discuss their new book, “Solidarity: The Past, Present, And Future of a World-Changing Idea.” Delving into the philosophical depths of solidarity, they trace its origins back to ancient Rome and explore its relevance in today’s interconnected world.
There’s a Bigger Driver of Veteran Radicalization Than Donald Trump
Negative experiences during military service are the main drivers of extremist beliefs amongst veterans, a new study from the RAND Corporation concludes. While the Pentagon-funded think tank report cites former President Donald Trump and January 6 as radicalization catalysts, one or more negative experiences in the military was the most consistent attribute for those expressing right- or left-wing extremist views, the study found in a survey of 21 veterans.
Biden Administration Fears Iran Might Target U.S. Forces Over Israel Strike
The White House is worried that Iran might strike a U.S. target as part of a potential retaliation for Israel’s April 1 attack on its embassy in Damascus, Syria, according to notes from a meeting involving National Security Council officials earlier this week. Tehran has vowed that “Israel will be punished” for the Syria strike and the killing of Quds Force commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
Microsoft Pitched OpenAI’s DALL-E as Battlefield Tool for U.S. Military
Microsoft last year proposed using OpenAI’s mega-popular image generation tool, DALL-E, to help the Department of Defense build software to execute military operations, according to internal presentation materials reviewed by The Intercept. The revelation comes just months after OpenAI silently ended its prohibition against military work. The Microsoft presentation...
Amid Gaza War, College Campuses Become Free Speech “Testing Ground”
The conflict in Gaza has galvanized a new generation of young anti-war activists, in the same way that opposition to the Vietnam War and apartheid South Africa did in decades past. A backlash is now building in the United States, led by right-wing activist and pro-Israel groups aimed at eliminating any public dissent over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Terror Hunters Trade Hamas for ISIS-K, Perhaps With Some Relief
In light of the deadly ISIS-K attack on the Crocus City Hall in Russia last month, the homeland security complex is newly focusing on a high-profile Islamic State attack inside the United States, according to new government reports and statements. For seven months, Hamas has been the primary focus of federal counterterror operations, with the FBI anticipating a terrorist strike intended to highlight America’s military support for Israel.
Feds Search Basketball Arena for Domestic Nuclear Terrorists in Their Own March Madness
As the NCAA finishes up March Madness, another type of madness is unfolding, as the U.S. military retools its weapons of mass destruction response apparatus to focus not on attacks by familiar foreign terror groups like Al Qaeda or ISIS, but by American citizens. Late last month, for the first...
Forget a Ban — Why Are Journalists Using TikTok in the First Place?
As far as I know, there are no laws against eating broken glass. You’re free to doomscroll through your cabinets, smash your favorite water cup, then scarf down the shards. A ban on eating broken glass would be overwhelmingly irrelevant, since most people just don’t do it, and for good reason. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same about another dangerous habit: TikTok.
Israeli Real Estate Firm Used Genocidal Rhetoric — Then Politico’s Parent Company Put Them in a Trade Fair
Yad2, the largest classifieds site in Israel and a subsidiary of German publishing giant Axel Springer, is hosting a real estate fair in Tel Aviv this weekend. The proceedings, which got underway Friday, were slated to showcase Israeli real estate firms, including both those that list properties within Israel’s internationally recognized borders and those that offer listings for Jewish-only settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Google Won’t Say Anything About Israel Using Its Photo Software to Create Gaza “Hit List”
The Israeli military has reportedly implemented a facial recognition dragnet across the Gaza Strip, scanning ordinary Palestinians as they move throughout the ravaged territory, attempting to flee the ongoing bombardment and seeking sustenance for their families. The program relies on two different facial recognition tools, according to the New York...
No to Biden, No to Trump: Insights From Swing-State Voters
A recent Gallup poll found that 29 percent of respondents said neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden are fit for the job. To unpack how voters are feeling about the two candidates, this week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim is joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio, a returning guest, messaging expert, and host of the podcast “Words to Win By.” Together they dig into what she’s been hearing from voters in swing states disillusioned by both parties and the whole electoral process.
The Vicious Things Republicans Have Said About Palestinians Since October 7
Michigan Republican Rep. Tim Walberg recently declared at a town hall that the U.S. “shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid,” in Gaza. Instead, he posed, “it should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.”. After the shocking statement went viral, his office...
A MAGA Troll’s Memes Were Blatant Disinfomation. But Were They a Crime?
On November 1, 2016, a week before the U.S. presidential election, self-professed MAGA troll and shitposter Douglass Mackey tweeted a meme that urged Hillary Clinton supporters to vote via text message instead of casting an actual ballot. “Avoid the line. Vote from home,” read the meme’s text, which was superimposed...
Pro-Lifers Are Up Against a Real-Life Crisis
When the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that fertilized embryos were “extrauterine children,” it did more than imperil the future of in vitro fertilization in Alabama and, potentially, the U.S. The ruling, on the claimed “wrongful death” of frozen embryos in an accident at a fertility clinic, heightened the...
NYC Jails Flagrantly Deny Young People’s Legal Right to Education
Last June, New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke to graduates at Rikers Island who received their high-school-equivalence diplomas while serving in jail. “When you get your diplomas today,” Adams told the graduates, “I want you to stand up, lean back, be firm and strong and say, ‘I got this. When does the hard part start? I’m finished with the hard part. Now I’m moving forward to my destiny on what I want to accomplish.’”
The Other Players Who Helped (Almost) Make the World’s Biggest Backdoor Hack
On March 29, Microsoft software developer Andres Freund was trying to optimize the performance of his computer when he noticed that one program was using an unexpected amount of processing power. Freund dove in to troubleshoot and “got suspicious.”. Eventually, Freund found the source of the problem, which he...
Rio Tinto’s Madagascar Mine Promised Prosperity. It Tainted a Community.
Bloated and distorted carcasses shimmered on the surface of Lake Ambavarano in southeastern Madagascar. Forty-year-old fisherman Olivier Randimbisoa lost count as they floated by. “I know what it’s like to see a dead fish that’s been speared,” he said. “I’d never seen anything like this.”
New Report Reveals Dirty Secret of Army Psychological Operations
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him,” Sun Tzu wrote in the 4th century, one of those warfare aphorisms that the modern-day U.S. Army has adopted as part of its psychological operations career group. “Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant,” the Army says in a recruiting video released last year. But it is the Army that is pretending to be strong. A devastating new Defense Department inspector general report finds that its own psyops ranks are critically short at a time when Washington is obsessed with stoking influence against America’s many adversaries.
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