Via AntiWar.com,

The US-led anti-ISIS coalition is building a new military base in Syria’s northern province of Raqqa, The New Arab reported, citing a source close to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The US backs the SDF and keeps about 900 troops (officially at least) in eastern Syria, allowing the US to control about one-third of Syria’s territory. The report said there are currently about 24 US-led military sites spread throughout eastern Syria.

While the US says it’s in Syria to fight ISIS, the presence is part of Washington’s economic war against Damascus, which includes crippling economic sanctions.

ISIS also holds no significant territory, and the Syrian government and its allies would continue to fight the remnants of the terror group if the US withdrew.

But the construction of a new base demonstrates the US plans to continue the occupation indefinitely. In March, the House voted down a resolution introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that would have ordered President Biden to withdraw from Syria. The legislation failed in a vote of 103-321, with 56 Democrats and 47 Republicans voting in favor of the bill.

The House also recently voted to maintain sanctions on Syria after an earthquake killed thousands of Syrians. Only two members of Congress voted against the legislation.

The US could come under pressure to withdraw from Syria and lift sanctions on the country as more and more regional countries are normalizing ties with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Matt Gaetz speaks his mind on Syria:

“900 Americans were sent to this hellscape with no definition of victory, with no clear objective, and purely existing as a vestige to the regime change, failed foreign policies of multiple former presidents.” pic.twitter.com/Jc7UAYcaPq

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 8, 2023

Saudi Arabia spearheaded an effort to bring Syria back into the Arab League despite US objection.

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Former conservative politician Nigel Farage has claimed that post-Brexit net immigration into the U.K. would have fallen below 50,000 a year if he had been in charge, and refused to rule out a return to frontline politics to take on what he described as a “dishonest, establishment, globalist” governing Conservative party that has failed Brexit voters.

The former Brexit Party and UKIP leader spoke to Sky News on Thursday, hours after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the latest immigration figures, which showed net migration had spiraled to 606,000 in the last calendar year — the highest figure ever recorded despite Britain leaving the European Union and supposedly “taking back control” of its borders.

He told interviewer Beth Rigby that the Conservative party had never been serious about implementing the socially conservative pledges its multiple leaders had made during successive general elections, and took aim at former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who instead of enacting a new immigration policy to reduce the numbers which Brexit voters had expected, had relaxed wage thresholds and work visa requirements and overseen the largest explosion of mass immigration into Britain ever recorded.

“If they put me in charge of it, I would have got it down to 50,000 a year, no question about it.”@Nigel_Farage insists that he would have met his 2016 pledge to cut net migration down in the UK.#Rigby https://t.co/PAiZ4D1jU3

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/qkgn5Pyfha

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 25, 2023

“A lot of this is down to a breach of trust between what has been promised at elections and what has been delivered,” Farage told viewers.

Asked whether he would advocate reducing net migration even if it meant labor shortages, Farage was unequivocal.

“If that meant there was a realistic chance of people finding somewhere to live, a school for their kids to go to that was local, and people getting access to the NHS, then yes, of course!

“Before 2004, when this really kicked off, cabbages were not rotting in the fields of Lincolnshire. Elderly people were not being left alone in old people’s homes,” the conservative broadcaster stated.

“We’ve now become addicted to cheap, unskilled, foreign imported labor,” Farage added, insisting it was high time this policy of mass immigration was reversed.

Put to him that high levels of immigration have led to economic growth, Farage remained defiant, telling Rigby: “I’ve been hearing this for a quarter of a century! If increasing the British population by 8 million people has added a few decimal points here and there to GDP, so blimmin’ what?

“There is something far more important than the size of our GDP. There is something called community, called quality of life in this country. These are things that nobody in Westminster even talks about,” he added.

The former Brexit Party and UKIP leader was continuously hassled by Rigby throughout the 15-minute interview, who appeared desperate for Farage to admit responsibility for the failure of Brexit, despite the fact he has never been in a position of power and had no authority to implement policies he advocated during the referendum campaign.

If they had put me in charge of (tackling migration), we’d have got to 50,000 a year, but they didn’t,” Farage replied stoically.

“There is nobody more disappointed than me at what this government has done. I would have loved to have been in a position of responsibility, but I wasn’t,” he added.

Farage accused the governing Conservative party of hating the Brexit result and doing all it can to water down its effect. “We’ve had years of hesitancy, and even when they seem to finally get the message, they didn’t get it. They have never, ever as a party, believed in this.

“I look at that 2019 Tory manifesto, the way it was put to the people, and frankly it was a big lie,” he added.

Analyzing the current political landscape in Britain, Farage claimed “the gap between Westminster and where people are is even bigger than it was 10 years ago” and warned that there will soon be “another insurgency in British politics.

“Whether it will be Reform, whether it will be me, whether we get a new Nick Griffin (former leader of the far-right British National Party). Maybe we get genuinely the far-right into British politics, (but) something has got to change.”

Asked by Rigby whether he will ever return to frontline politics, Farage remained coy.

“I don’t know. I haven’t ruled it out, I haven’t ruled it in. If I could see that by doing it there was a really clear achievable goal, then I might well. I haven’t worked that out yet. If we had an electoral system that was representative in some way, then it would be much easier.

“I think if I stood again, it would be a much more revolutionary agenda than just Brexit. It would be fundamental change to the voting system,” he added.

Farage was an eternal thorn in the side of the U.K. Conservative party throughout his career in frontline politics. As UKIP leader during the 2015 general election, his party managed to amass 3.9 million votes — 12.6 percent of the vote share — however, due to the first-past-the-post electoral system in Britain the party won just one parliamentary seat out of 650 available.

The threat of a genuine right-wing party and rising Euroskepticism, however, led Prime Minister David Cameron to promise a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, which ultimately led to the vote for Brexit.

After the vote, Farage went on to found the pop-up Brexit Party ahead of the final European parliamentary elections in Britain and stormed to victory as the largest U.K. party in Brussels.

He later retired from frontline politics and became a broadcaster for the newly launched GB News channel in 2021.

Authored by Newt Gingrich via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The conspiracy between a corrupt set of bureaucracies (including the Justice Department, the IRS, and the intelligence community) and an equally corrupt and enabling elite media is astonishing. The Durham Report is just one more confirmation of the devastating level of dishonesty and manipulation which have characterized the last few years.

Some analysts believe the open corruption can be traced back to Lois Lerner and the IRS scandal, in which she clearly stonewalled conservative organizations from getting tax status. When she was found to be in contempt of Congress, the Obama Justice Department spent two years ignoring the congressional contempt charge and then decided not to prosecute her.

As Congressman Jim Jordan said at the time, U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen was “us[ing] his power as a political weapon to undermine the rule of law.” Jordan went on “Mr. Machen … unilaterally decided to ignore the will of the House of Representatives. He and the Justice Department have given Lois Lerner cover for her failure to account for her actions at the IRS.”

The signal had been sent that protecting the left would itself be protected.

This lesson was reinforced in the cover up about the terrorist attack at Benghazi. The Obama administration was worried that the killing of an American ambassador—despite his consistent appeals to the State Department for more security—would hurt the president’s reelection campaign. So, the administration adopted a strategy of simply lying to the American people.

This began the week of the attack when the administration did everything it could to avoid responsibility for a terrorist killing of Ambassador Christopher Stevens. In fact, the Obama White House immediately sent former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice on five network shows to blame an American-made anti-Muslim video for causing the supposed unrest. It was exactly what Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick had warned against in her famous “Blame America First” description of liberals. We now know that the entire story was a falsehood, and no one in Benghazi was motivated by a film they had never seen.

When then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before Congress, she dismissed the whole question of responsibility for the failure to protect Stevens. She even failed to be honest about his murder famously saying: “With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided that they’d go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?”

The leftists in the national bureaucracies learned a big lesson from Lerner and Clinton. Whatever you need to do to defeat the right or protect the left is OK. You can get away with it. There is no responsibility for your actions if you are protecting the corrupt system.

That lesson was publicly driven home in late June 2016, when former President Bill Clinton walked uninvited onto the airplane of Attorney General Loretta Lynch at the Phoenix airport. The FBI was investigating the former president’s wife (and Democratic presidential candidate) for a variety of charges including deleting more than 33,000 government emails and having staff destroy computer hard drives with a hammer.

It is hard to imagine anything more inappropriate than a former president visiting an attorney general while his wife (and presidential candidate) was being actively investigated by the FBI.

As then-candidate Donald Trump described in a tweet “Take a look at what happened w/ Bill Clinton. The system is totally rigged. Does anybody really believe that meeting was just a coincidence?”

We now know from the Durham Report—and the reports from Chairman James Comer and the House Oversight Committee—that candidate and then-President Trump has been consistently smeared and defamed by corrupt elements of the Washington bureaucracy on a scale which makes Watergate look trivial.

At the same time, the corrupt system was working overtime to protect Joe Biden and his family. The stunning dual nature of the corruption makes the present moment so dangerous for the future of the rule of law—and the entire constitutional process which has protected American freedom for more than 200 years.

As deeply and persuasively corrupt as the bureaucracy has become, the other great decay since Watergate has been the corruption of the elite media.

The New York Post, Fox News, and a few others have attempted some sense of honest coverage. Smaller conservative publications, podcasts, and social media have called out the big media systems for being active allies of the corrupt bureaucracy. Still, when needed, the elite corporate media have eagerly smeared President Trump and enthusiastically lied to protect the Bidens.

There are no Bob Woodwards or Carl Bernsteins courageously working to uncover the truth and get it published. (Indeed, Woodward has reinvented himself into a chief Trump smear-monger.)

There are no courageous editors like Ben Bradley backing up the reporters.

There are no fearless publishers like Katharine Graham willing to risk lawsuits and withstand the anger of the government.

Today, there is only a corrupt media protecting a corrupt establishment. The challenge to the American people to get at the truth is far more difficult than it was when Richard Nixon was under attack.

The establishment rot threatens our survival as a free people, and it is increasingly difficult to uproot. Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins when we need them most?

Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times,

U.S. nuclear secrets are at risk from insider attacks, owing to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) lack of security, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Allison Bawden, a GAO director for nuclear security, said the insider risk is illustrated by the 1993 movie “Jurassic Park,” when a disgruntled computer programmer tries to steal from his employer to solve his personal financial troubles.

“Remember that fictional employee who stole dinosaur embryos from InGen?” wrote Bawden on Twitter on Thursday, while sharing a link to the office’s report and a photo of the fictional programmer.

“Insider threats aren’t just for dinosaur parks – they’re also a risk for federal agencies,” she added. “For example, what if insiders wanted to steal the nation’s nuclear weapons and information?

“To avoid being like InGen, DOE could better protect nuclear material & information by fully implementing its insider threat program. This includes training all employees & contractors to identify & report suspicious behavior & better monitoring networks for suspicious activity.”

Report

According to the report, the DOE established the insider threat program in 2014 but has not yet implemented “all required measures.”

“The DOE has not implemented seven required measures for its Insider Threat Program, even after independent reviewers made nearly 50 findings and recommendations to help DOE fully implement its program,” the report says.

The report warned that the DOE’s failure to fully implement all the measures could lead to “devastating consequences.”

“The theft of nuclear material and the compromise of information could have devastating consequences,” the report says.

“Threats can come from external adversaries or from ‘insiders,’ including employees or visitors with trusted access.”

“Such threats could have significant consequences for national security and could include unauthorized release of classified information; workplace violence; or improper access to sensitive nuclear weapons, material, and components,” the report adds.

The report pointed out that DOE’s employees, as as well those employed by the agency’s contractors, could be compromised and become insiders.

“As of 2022, DOE had over 13,000 federal employees, and its management and operating contractors and other contractors employed over 120,000 people, who, because of their authorized access to DOE facilities and networks, can be considered to be insiders,” the report says.

Incidents

There were about 250 unclassified insider threat-related security incidents in 2017, the most recent data from DOE, according to the report. The incidents included sending classified information over unclassified systems, leaving security areas unattended, and not properly protecting classified information.

“DOE considered about 100 of those incidents to be serious,” the report says.

The report pointed to a 2017 criminal case, when Grigory Trosman was sentenced to 18 months in prison for accepting at least $469,287 in bribes in exchange for official acts he performed while at the DOE.

“From approximately 2002 through March 2014, Trosman used his official position in various capacities to assist co-conspirators and various companies to obtain access to federal research funding and contract work in Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine,” the Department of Justice said in a press release.

A 2022 report by strategic intelligence firm Strider Technologies found that China has hired at least 162 researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) over the last 35 years. Many of these researchers went on to conduct military research for China, including deep-earth penetrating warheads, hypersonic missiles, and submarine programs.

At least one researcher hired by China previously held Top Secret security clearance at the DOE, according to the report.

In September 2020, a former LANL scientist was sentenced to probation and fined for lying about his participation in a Chinese state-sponsored recruitment program.

The report offered DOE seven recommendations for its insider threat program. In a written response included in the report, the DOE said it agreed with all the recommendations and provided plans to address them. 

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding an FBI briefing on the status of their January 6 Pipe Bomb Investigation following disclosures that the feds have enough information to identify a suspect.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) said the slow progression of the Bureau’s investigation into the pipe bombs “raises significant concerns about the FBI’s prioritization of that case in relation to other January 6 investigations.”

#NEWS: @Jim_Jordan, @RepAndyBiggsAZ, and @congbillposey Press FBI for Information on January 6 Pipe Bomb Investigation.

One former FBI assistant director observed, “[i]t just doesn’t add up . . . [t]here’s just too much to work with to not know who this guy is.” pic.twitter.com/ZVpwEkhS0r

— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 24, 2023

Former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin, a whistleblower who worked on the pipe bomb investigation, told the Washington Times that after planting the bombs, the suspect used a MetroRail SmarTrip card to travel through the Washington metro system to a stop in northern Virginia.

“The FBI used security footage in the Northern Virginia to identify the license plate of the car that the individual entered,” the congressmen wrote. “Still, the FBI has not identified the subject.”

The suspect was caught on surveillance video. He wore a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, a pair of Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow Nike logo, a backpack and gloves. He was recorded walking through Capitol Hill neighborhoods carrying what federal investigators said were two live pipe bombs.

However, Mr. Seraphin said technicians determined the pipe bombs were inoperable.

His story runs counter to the FBI’s official version that the devices could have detonated at any time. The bureau repeated that story in January while offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.

Seraphin also told Times reporter Kerry Picket that a separate individual bought the Metrorail SmarTrip card one year before the pipe bomber suspect used it on Jan. 5, 2021.

“The card had never been used before. It was bought a year prior by a retired chief master sergeant in the Air Force, and he was a security contractor. So he held a security clearance,”  Seraphin said.

Mr. Seraphin and his team surveilled the retired airman, who lived in a Northern Virginia townhouse, for a couple of days and learned about his background.

Although Mr. Seraphin, who also served in the Air Force, wanted to approach the Air Force veteran and talk to him, his bureau superiors forbade him to do so before his team was removed from the case.

“I don’t know what they [eventually] did on that case, but I know that it was BS and the bombs were BS, and it seems like they had a good lead, and they could have run it down. But as far as I know, they never did,” he told the Times. “He may still be occasionally surveilled. That’s how dumb it gets.”

The congressmen cited former FBI assistant director Christopher Swecker, who told Picket, “[i]t just doesn’t add up . . . [t]here’s just too much to work with to not know who this guy is.”

The committee requested an update on the case in a briefing no later that June 7, 2023.

Authored by Jeffrey Anderson via American Greatness,

Governor Ron DeSantis is standing up for everyday Americans, which helps explain why people of all races are moving to Florida in droves…

These days headlines read like parodies, which is certainly the case with the NAACP’s recent announcement that it has issued “a formal travel advisory for the state of Florida.” That’s right: The NAACP isn’t particularly worried about black people visiting North Korea, Iran, or inner-city neighborhoods in Chicago. It’s worried about them heading to Florida’s beaches or amusement parks. Why? Because Governor Ron DeSantis has led “unrelenting attacks on fundamental freedoms” such as the freedom to teach critical race theory and other divisive racial and transgender propaganda, in the state’s public schools at taxpayer expense.

In truth, Florida has led the nation in ensuring Americans’ freedoms, and black Americans have taken notice. During COVID, while 40 states issued mask mandates, DeSantis led the resistance against the public-health cabal and ensured Floridians could live their lives as freedom-loving citizens, rather than as masked subjects. As a result of this and other sensible and freedom-promoting policies, black Americans have not only traveled to Florida but have moved there in large numbers. 

Indeed, based on statistics from the Florida Department of Health, the number of black people who live in Florida rose 5.5 percent from 2018 (the year DeSantis was first elected as governor) to 2021 (the most recent figures available). That’s even more than the 4.5 percent increase in the state’s white population over that span. And it’s more than three times the 1.6 percent increase in the overall U.S. population across that three-year period. 

Since DeSantis was elected, roughly a quarter of a million black Americans have freely chosen to move to the Sunshine State.

The disconnect between the views of most black Americans and the views of the modern-day NAACP could hardly be more pronounced. 

The NAACP has chosen to ally itself with LGBT activists, decreeing that “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.”

This “hostility,” the NAACP reports, is evidenced by DeSantis’ opposition to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programs. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group, issued a parallel travel advisory, claiming that Florida is “hostile” to gay and trans people, while also objecting to Florida’s newly passed pro-life legislation, which protects developing children in the womb against the abortion lobby. 

Another LGBT group, Equality Florida, suggests Florida’s duly passed laws pose too much of a “risk” for gay travelers to brave the Sunshine State.

It writes, “Taken in their totality, Florida’s slate of laws and policies targeting basic freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state.”

Amazingly, the NAACP accuses DeSantis of trying to “appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority” in opposing critical-race theory (CRT) and DEI programs. In truth, CRT and DEI are pushed by aggressive, well-funded leftist activists who are themselves a dangerous, extremist minority. In opposing their efforts, DeSantis is standing up for everyday Americans. Indeed, he has been a model for doing so, which helps explain why people of all races are moving to Florida in droves.

Based on statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022, Florida led the nation in net domestic migration (which measures how many people moved to a given state from other states, minus the number who moved the other direction). Over that span, Florida added 563,000 residents in net domestic migration—more than the population of Miami. And it can’t just be the weather. Over that same span, California lost 802,000 residents in net domestic migration—nearly equal to the size of San Francisco. 

The NAACP also preposterously claims that DeSantis is trying to “erase [b]lack history.” Perhaps the NAACP should limit its travel advisory to Walt Disney World, where a beloved ride based on slave folktales—Splash Mountain—was just canceled in an example of just the sort of wokeness that DeSantis is committed to fighting.

The White House and GOP negotiators have reached an agreement in principle to raise the US debt ceiling, averting a default.

The deal raises the debt limit and keeps non-defense spending ‘near flat’ for two years, while cutting and capping various federal programs, the NY Times reports. After 2025, however, there will be no budget caps.

It was structured with the aim of enticing votes from both parties, though it would most likely draw the ire not only of conservative Republicans but also Democrats furious at being asked to vote for cuts they oppose with the threat of default looming.

If the progressives or the Freedom Caucus don’t blow it up, the plan has a chance of Congressional passage before June 5, the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned any deal must be finalized by in order to avoid hitting the “X-date”, when the Treasury can no longer meet its obligations.

“After weeks of negotiations, we have come to an agreement in principle,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, adding that there are “historic reductions in spending” and “consequential reforms.”

“There are no new taxes, no new government programs,” McCarthy continued, adding that they would be spending tonight writing the agreement.

McCarthy expects a vote on Wednesday.

In the House, Republicans hold a narrow majority – meaning unhappy right-wing lawmakers who have demanded significantly larger budget cuts in exchange for raising the ceiling may hold it hostage (lookin’ at you Gaetz).

Obligatory “What is this? A spending cut for ants!l” since nobody else did it pic.twitter.com/qXv88IHPDu

— ☠️ (@tradesly_io) May 28, 2023

That said, McCarthy can at least say he tried – inking in principle a compromise that would effectively freeze federal spending that had been slated to expand. McCarthy and Biden spoke by phone on Saturday to hammer out the final sticking points.

White House budget director Shalanda Young, senior adviser Steve Ricchetti, and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell crafted the deal with Representatives Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican, Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, and McCarthy’s chief of staff, Dan Meyer. –Bloomberg

Needless to say, Democrats are not happy.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the White House told Dems at the same time what is going on? https://t.co/JATPnn7YXY

— Jared Moskowitz 🟧 (@JaredEMoskowitz) May 28, 2023

As we noted yesterday, a deal needed to materialize – and fast, as the Treasury’s cash balance has dwindled dangerously low.

Putting this “deal” in context, the plan passed by the House GOP would reduce fiscal year ’24 spending by $130bn, or about 0.5% of GDP (setting aside the deficit saving from rescinding student debt forgiveness, which hasn’t been implemented yet and which may be struck down by the high court). At the other end, according to reports which indicate the White House may cap FY24 discretionary nondefense spending at FY23 levels would reduce spending by about 0.1% of GDP relative to a plausible baseline. So, the federal spending reduction for FY24 could range from 0.1% to 0.5% of GDP. The final “compromise” outcome – which may be announced as soon as Friday- will be a 0.2% spending cut.

*  *  *

Of course, this episode of can-kicking will be much like the next, and the next, until…

Authored by Connor Freeman via AntiWar.com,

The top US general reaffirmed that Kiev has long been asked not to use military equipment provided by Washington to conduct attacks against Russian territory, according to Reuters. This policy is necessary because such attacks could provoke a direct clash between NATO and Russia, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley emphasized while speaking with reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.

Milley’s comments came after a neo-Nazi group, which operates as part of Kiev’s armed forces and cooperates with Ukrainian military intelligence, carried out a cross-border raid in Russia. Denis Nikitin is the leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps, which is said to be made up of Russian citizens including some members of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion who fought, since 2014, for Kiev during the Donbas war. Nikitin said his men were using US equipment, such as two M1224 MaxxPro armored vehicles, also known as MRAPs, during the raid. Members of another militia, the Freedom of Russia Legion, also participated in the assault.

According to Russian officials, the terrorists launched mortar and artillery attacks against civilian infrastructure and residential areas in the Belgorod region on Monday. Ukraine’s military intelligence hints that they were behind the attack, while stopping short of officially taking credit. Though, some documents included in the Discord Leaks suggest that Ukrainian President Zelensky’s regime was planning similar operations, specifically using these Russian volunteers equipped with “various qualitative types of NATO weapons.”

According to the New York Times, US officials believe Kiev was behind Monday’s raid and the recent attempted drone strike on the Kremlin, which Moscow believes was an attempt to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin. The officials also believe Kiev is responsible for a series of assassinations and other covert attacks within Russia. Moreover, the deputy head of Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate admitted this week that they are actively attempting to assassinate Putin and other Russian officials.

Kiev’s position is that the Belgorod raid was carried out independently from Zelensky’s intelligence and military services. But the Freedom of Russia Legion’s special representative, Ilya Ponomarev, said the group received Kiev’s “green light” regarding the attack. Pictures and videos posted by the Russian military have confirmed Nikitin’s claims.

“It is no secret for us that more and more equipment is being delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday when asked by reporters about the militias’ U.S.-made hardware.

Contrarily, Milley refused to say Washington has drawn any firm conclusions yet. “I can’t say with definitive accuracy right this minute to you whether that – and I saw the same video – whether that’s U.S. supplied equipment or not, what was the nature of the attack, who did what to whom,” Milley insisted.

He continued, “…but I can say that we have asked the Ukrainians not to use U.S.-supplied equipment for direct attacks into Russia.” For its part, Reuters stated they were “able to confirm the location of damaged [U.S.-made military hardware such as Humvee military trucks] and surrounding details shown in the video, though could not verify the date it was filmed.”

Kiev has ostensibly pledged not to use long-range weapons provided by Washington to attack Russia, but leaked documents also show that Zelensky does not intend to keep his word. Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that “behind closed doors, Ukraine’s leader has proposed going in a more audacious direction – occupying Russian villages to gain leverage over Moscow, bombing a pipeline that transfers Russian oil to Hungary, a NATO member, and privately pining for long-range missiles to hit targets inside Russia’s borders, according to classified US intelligence documents detailing his internal communications with top aides and military leaders.”

However, the Joe Biden administration has now greenlit their European allies’ plans to transfer F-16s to Ukraine. Biden proclaims that he has received Zelensky’s “flat assurance” that the fighter jets will not be used to attack Russia.

Though, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told a reporter on Wednesday that he “wouldn’t care if they did,” reflecting the uber hawkishness that has become acceptable within the US Congress. Furnishing Zelensky’s regime with warplanes was long ruled out over fears that it would be perceived by Moscow as the alliance directly entering the war.

“We see that Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario. It involves colossal risks for themselves,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko admonished the alliance after the Western plans to send F-16s to Ukraine became public. When asked about the Russian official’s warning, Biden threatened “it is for them.”

#Ukranians bring American made 🇺🇦 armored car International MaxxPro in one of the villages of the #Belgorod region #Russian Federation thus involving the US deeper into direct conflict with #Russia. Do you think U can trust them not to fly F16 to Russian territory? They want #WW3 pic.twitter.com/qQJ9B1aVOL

— Arthur Morgan (@ArthurM40330824) May 22, 2023

Milley explained these restrictions are ostensibly implemented in hopes of avoiding a direct war with Russia. “Why is that? Because we don’t want – this is a Ukrainian war. It is not a war between the United States and Russia. It’s not a war between NATO and Russia,” Milley said.

The general’s claims fall flat given the fact that, so far, the US has pledged $113 billion backing Kiev in this proxy war. Washington’s Ukraine policy is explicitly designed to “weaken” Russia as Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin made clear last year.

The White House is shipping Bradley armored fighting vehicles, longer range rockets, Patriot missile systems, and M1 Abrams tanks to the battlefield. Concurrently, the CIA is reportedly conducting sabotage attacks on Russian infrastructure and the Pentagon has tacitly endorsed Kiev’s drone strikes hundreds of miles deep inside the Russian mainland. The UK has armed Zelensky’s regime with depleted uranium munitions, linked to cancer and birth defects, which are being fired at Russian troops by British tanks. Far exceeding the reach of any weapons system the US has pledged, London has equipped Kiev with Storm Shadow missiles with a range of more than 155 miles. The missiles can be fired by the MIG-29 warplanes NATO members Slovenia and Poland sent to Ukraine earlier this year.

Beyond the Washington-led bloc’s massive military aid, an assortment of NATO commandos, US troops, CIA, and Special Operations forces are on the ground in Ukraine as well.

Faltering California took another economic hit on Friday, as America’s largest personal lines insurer said it would immediately stop selling new home insurance policies in the state. California is the largest property and casualty insurance market in the country. 

State Farm attributed the decision to three factors: “historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation, rapidly growing catastrophe exposure, and a challenging reinsurance market.” Reinsurance is a method of transferring some of an insurer’s risk to other insurers.  

Existing policies will stay in effect — for now. There’s always the possibility that, if things keep deteriorating, State Farm could decide to “non-renew” current policy-holders. That’s what AIG did last year, sending thousands of high-end homeowners scrambling to find new coverage.  

The announcement’s timing — on a Friday afternoon heading into a long holiday weekend — seemed intended to minimize publicity. In statement, State Farm said it “will cease accepting new applications including all business and personal lines property and casualty insurance, effective May 27, 2023. This decision does not impact personal auto insurance.” The halt seems to include renters insurance, though the announcement wasn’t explicit on that count.

Huge blow for California home owners. State Farm was the only insurer I could find that would insure my home. https://t.co/e5FiMB4kSH

— Michael McQuaid (@michaelgmcquaid) May 27, 2023

Inflation has been taking a harsh toll on insurers, who are pressing regulators to approve rate hikes to compensate for rising claim costs. Earlier this month, for example, San Antonio-based USAA posted the first ever annual loss in its 100-year history — a $1.3 billion setback.  

In California, insurers have also been contending with high wildfire risks, and many have curtailed coverage in wildfire-prone regions, or clamped down on homes that lack certain fire-thwarting characteristics, which range from building materials to clearing space between the structure and surrounding trees. 

State Farm diplomatically acknowledged the California government’s efforts to make the state a viable place for property insurers to operate in, but implied their efforts to date have been insufficient:  

“We take seriously our responsibility to manage risk. We recognize the Governor’s administration, legislators, and the California Department of Insurance (CDI) for their wildfire loss mitigation efforts. We pledge to work constructively with the CDI and policymakers to help build market capacity in California. However, it’s necessary to take these actions now to improve the company’s financial strength.”

The property insurance situation in the Golden State is spiraling into crisis, and horror stories abound. For example, consider a San Diego County homeowners association (HOA) comprising 187 townhouses. The HOA had been been paying $54,000 for property insurance. After the policy was non-renewed, the HOA ended up with a new carrier charging a $293,000 premium — prompting an emergency assessment from each owner. 

California already has a notoriously high cost of living, ranking second only to Hawaii in the percentage of homeowners (29.7%) who spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing costs. The departure of the country’s largest home insurance provider won’t do anything to help the insurance component of those costs.  

There could be follow-on insurance-market effects from State Farm’s departure, as homeowners who would have been insured by State Farm are now forced to seek quotes from companies who are themselves increasingly reluctant to expand their exposure in the state. In a vicious circle effect, some could wind up following State Farm’s example.     

It all promises to put more pressure on California’s FAIR plan, a state-run scheme to provide coverage to those who can’t obtain protection from private insurers.