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Subject: [Salon] Donald Trump Has Fulfilled My Dream: For Israel to Pay for
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*https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-06-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/don=
ald-trump-has-fulfilled-my-dream-for-israel-to-pay-for-its-actions/0000019e=
-e636-dc8a-afbe-f77740420000
<https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-06-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/don=
ald-trump-has-fulfilled-my-dream-for-israel-to-pay-for-its-actions/0000019e=
-e636-dc8a-afbe-f77740420000>*

*Donald Trump Has Fulfilled My Dream: For Israel to Pay for Its Actions*
*Gideon Levy =E2=80=A2 June 21 2026 IDT*
[image: This screengrab from video footage shows U.S. President Donald
Trump next to France's President Emmanuel Macron during the signing of a
deal with Iran, inside Chateau de Versailles, southwest of Paris on
Wednesday.]
*This screengrab from video footage shows U.S. President Donald Trump next
to France's President Emmanuel Macron during the signing of a deal with
Iran, inside Chateau de Versailles, southwest of Paris on Wednesday.Credit:
AFP*

*Sometimes dreams do come true. For years, other dinosaurs and I dreamed
about international pressure and sanctions as the last way out of the mess.
I knew that Israelis would never wake up one morning and say, let's put an
end to all this =E2=80=93 to the occupation, to apartheid, to controlling a=
nother
people =E2=80=93 because it's ugly. *

*I knew it simply wouldn't happen. I thought that what worked wonders
against the first apartheid regime, the one in South Africa =E2=80=93 sanct=
ions,
ostracism and international boycotts that led to its downfall =E2=80=93 wou=
ld also
work well against the second apartheid regime, the one practiced in
Israel. *

*I also knew that the key to any change in the international community's
attitude to Israel lay in Washington. Without it, there could be no
effective international pressure on Israel. I thought about an enlightened
and courageous American president, such as Barack Obama, who would put an
end to the corrupting and distorted relations between his country and
Israel. *

*I dreamed about the moment in which Israelis would be forced to recognize
that it was impossible to continue this way, with unbelievable arrogance
toward the United States and with blatant disregard of the entire world,
without paying a price. *
*That moment is now dawning. Not a liberal president, but rather the most
benighted of all American presidents is preaching morality to Israel as if
he were Ren=C3=A9 Cassin, the French Jewish jurist who co-authored the Univ=
ersal
Declaration of Human Rights. *

*The vice president, who is more conservative than the
commander-in-chief, is issuing unprecedented warnings. Their points are
self-evident, their logic sound: There's no need to flatten a whole
building because a Hezbollah militant might be inside; it's not smart to
assail the U.S. president, Israel's last friend in the world; Syria would
do a better job in Lebanon than Israel; two-thirds of the arms and
ammunition protecting Israel are made in and paid for by the U.S.: the
voice of reason from Washington. *
[image: A man sits atop a hill near destroyed and heavily-damaged buildings
at the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip,
Friday.]
*A man sits atop a hill near destroyed and heavily-damaged buildings at the
Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip,
Friday. Credit: AFP/EYAD BABA*

*It's reasonable to assume that these harsh words will not remain in the
realm of rhetoric; they will be followed by actions. An administration that
is so focused on itself and its honor will not wipe the spittle from its
face and say it's raining. *

*Along with the sense of bitterness, justified or not, over Israel having
pushed the superpower into a failed war, a new dawn will rise on relations
between the two countries =E2=80=93 a cold, cloudy morning. Nor will the U.=
S.
elections change things. There will no longer be a "friend of Israel" in
the White House, someone who thinks Israel must be given everything,
unconditionally. *

*It's impossible to rejoice over this. On the one hand, this is the last
chance for a correction. On the other hand, it is a severe blow to Israel
and Israelis. The greatest danger to the state, greater than any Iranian
threat, is taking shape before our astonished eyes. *

*When Washington gives the signal, Europe will join in eagerly as well.
They are only waiting for the sign. It's hard to imagine how Israel can
manage without the world. The world will loathe it, as it did other pariah
states. This is frightening and it will be painful. But this is our last
hope.*

*Therefore, one must be grateful to President Donald Trump for exchanging
the hollow pointless words uttered by all his liberal predecessors and for
turning to a revolutionary change of policy. *

*No more insane aid with no conditions, but a condition attached to every
dollar and every missile. Behave or pay the price. You can no longer do as
you please: assassinate, abuse, violate national sovereignty and
international law with impunity. In such an atmosphere, Israel will no
longer be able to continue to thumb its nose at the international
community, for which there is no more unifying issue than opposition to the
occupation. *

*Whether it wants to or not, Israel will have to take this into
consideration. The first cracks have already appeared, and how: a deal made
with Iran while entirely disregarding Israel,which for years disregarded
the United States and the entire world. *

*This is only the beginning: A world that was horrified by what Israel did
in the Gaza Strip will want a reckoning. A genocidal state can no longer be
the darling of the Western world. A state whose citizens carry out pogroms
daily, with the cooperation of its military, will not be a part of the
family of nations. The dream is starting to come true. It will be a
nightmare.*

--0000000000001b61940654c0be14
Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr"><b style=3D"background-color:transparent"><fo=
nt color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><a href=3D"https://www.haaretz=
.com/opinion/2026-06-21/ty-article-opinion/.premium/donald-trump-has-fulfil=
led-my-dream-for-israel-to-pay-for-its-actions/0000019e-e636-dc8a-afbe-f777=
40420000" target=3D"_blank">https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-06-21/ty-a=
rticle-opinion/.premium/donald-trump-has-fulfilled-my-dream-for-israel-to-p=
ay-for-its-actions/0000019e-e636-dc8a-afbe-f77740420000</a></font></b></div=
><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div><b><font color=3D"=
#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><br></font></b></div><div><h1 style=3D"lin=
e-height:1.2141em;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;max-width:100%"><font =
color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><i>Donald Trump Has Fu=
lfilled My Dream: For Israel to Pay for Its Actions</i></font></h1><div sty=
le=3D"margin-bottom:1.45em;max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=
=3D"georgia, serif"><a rel=3D"author" style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%;di=
splay:inline">Gideon Levy</a>=C2=A0=E2=80=A2 June 21 2026 IDT</font></b></d=
iv><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><img title=3D"This screengrab from video footage shows =
U.S. President Donald Trump next to France&#39;s President Emmanuel Macron =
during the signing of a deal with Iran, inside Chateau de Versailles, south=
west of Paris on Wednesday. Credit: AFP" alt=3D"This screengrab from video =
footage shows U.S. President Donald Trump next to France&#39;s President Em=
manuel Macron during the signing of a deal with Iran, inside Chateau de Ver=
sailles, southwest of Paris on Wednesday." width=3D"412" height=3D"239" src=
=3D"https://img.haarets.co.il/bs/0000019e-e7be-d698-adbf-e7be8da30000/37/b4=
/3f08bf2042b080699bec2c9454c5/421964.jpg?precrop=3D2400,1395,x0,y10&amp;wid=
th=3D420&amp;height=3D244&amp;cmsprod" style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 0.5em auto=
;display:block"></div></div><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, ser=
if"><span style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-top:0.25em;margin-bottom:0.25em">T=
his screengrab from video footage shows U.S. President Donald Trump next to=
 France&#39;s President Emmanuel Macron during the signing of a deal with I=
ran, inside Chateau de Versailles, southwest of Paris on Wednesday.</span><=
span style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-top:0.25em;margin-bottom:0.25em">Credit=
: AFP</span></font></b></div><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><p style=3D"max-=
width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Sometimes dr=
eams do come true. For years, other dinosaurs and I dreamed about internati=
onal pressure and sanctions as the last way out of the mess. I knew that Is=
raelis would never wake up one morning and say, let&#39;s put an end to all=
 this =E2=80=93 to the occupation, to apartheid, to controlling another peo=
ple =E2=80=93 because it&#39;s ugly.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p st=
yle=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">I=
 knew it simply wouldn&#39;t happen. I thought that what worked wonders aga=
inst the first apartheid regime, the one in South Africa =E2=80=93 sanction=
s, ostracism and international boycotts that led to its downfall =E2=80=93 =
would also work well against the second apartheid regime, the one practiced=
 in Israel.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b=
><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">I also knew that the key t=
o any change in the international community&#39;s attitude to Israel lay in=
 Washington. Without it, there could be no effective international pressure=
 on Israel. I thought about an enlightened and courageous American presiden=
t, such as Barack Obama, who would put an end to the corrupting and distort=
ed relations between his country and Israel.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b><=
/p><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><p style=3D"max-width:100=
%;margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.4em"></p><h5 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max=
-width:100%"><b style=3D"font-size:small;background-color:transparent"><fon=
t color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">I dreamed about the moment in w=
hich Israelis would be forced to recognize that it was impossible to contin=
ue this way, with unbelievable arrogance toward the United States and with =
blatant disregard of the entire world, without paying a price.=C2=A0</font>=
</b></h5></div></div></div></div><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><h3 style=3D"max-width:100%"><b style=3D"font-size:smal=
l;background-color:transparent"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, se=
rif">That moment is now dawning. Not a liberal president, but rather the mo=
st benighted of all American presidents is preaching morality to Israel as =
if he were Ren=C3=A9 Cassin, the French Jewish jurist who co-authored the U=
niversal Declaration of Human Rights.=C2=A0</font></b></h3></div></div><p s=
tyle=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">=
The vice president, who is more conservative than the commander-in-chief,<s=
pan>=C2=A0</span><a style=3D"max-width:100%">is issuing unprecedented warni=
ngs</a>. Their points are self-evident, their logic sound: There&#39;s no n=
eed to flatten a whole building because a Hezbollah militant might be insid=
e; it&#39;s not smart to assail the U.S. president, Israel&#39;s last frien=
d in the world; Syria would do a better job in Lebanon than Israel; two-thi=
rds of the arms and ammunition protecting Israel are<span>=C2=A0</span><a s=
tyle=3D"max-width:100%">made in and paid for by the U.S.</a>: the voice of =
reason from Washington.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><div style=3D"max-=
width:100%"><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><img title=3D"A man sits atop a h=
ill near destroyed and heavily-damaged buildings at the Nuseirat camp for P=
alestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip, Friday. Credit: AFP/EYAD BAB=
A" alt=3D"A man sits atop a hill near destroyed and heavily-damaged buildin=
gs at the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip,=
 Friday." width=3D"412" height=3D"275" src=3D"https://img.haarets.co.il/bs/=
0000019e-e654-d2b1-a5bf-fe7708ed0000/11/66/5e1646164b77b596a089a338c3ac/446=
689-2.jpg?&amp;width=3D420&amp;height=3D280&amp;cmsprod" style=3D"margin:0.=
5em 0px 0.5em auto;display:block"></div></div><b><font color=3D"#000000" fa=
ce=3D"georgia, serif"><span style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-top:0.25em;margi=
n-bottom:0.25em">A man sits atop a hill near destroyed and heavily-damaged =
buildings at the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza=
 Strip, Friday.</span><span>=C2=A0</span><span style=3D"max-width:100%;marg=
in-top:0.25em;margin-bottom:0.25em">Credit: AFP/EYAD BABA</span></font></b>=
<p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, ser=
if">It&#39;s reasonable to assume that these harsh words will not remain in=
 the realm of rhetoric; they will be followed by actions. An administration=
 that is so focused on itself and its honor will not wipe the spittle from =
its face and say it&#39;s raining.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p styl=
e=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Alo=
ng with the sense of bitterness, justified or not, over Israel having pushe=
d the superpower into a failed war,<span>=C2=A0</span><a style=3D"max-width=
:100%">a new dawn will rise on relations between the two countries</a><span=
>=C2=A0</span>=E2=80=93 a cold, cloudy morning. Nor will the U.S. elections=
 change things. There will no longer be a &quot;friend of Israel&quot; in t=
he White House, someone who thinks Israel must be given everything, uncondi=
tionally.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><=
font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">It&#39;s impossible to rejoi=
ce over this. On the one hand, this is the last chance for a correction. On=
 the other hand, it is a severe blow to Israel and Israelis. The greatest d=
anger to the state, greater than any Iranian threat, is taking shape before=
 our astonished eyes.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-widt=
h:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">When Washington =
gives the signal, Europe will join in eagerly as well. They are only waitin=
g for the sign. It&#39;s hard to imagine how Israel can manage without the =
world. The world will loathe it, as it did other pariah states. This is fri=
ghtening and it will be painful. But this is our last hope.</font></b></p><=
p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, seri=
f">Therefore, one must be grateful to President Donald Trump for exchanging=
 the hollow pointless words uttered by all his liberal predecessors and for=
 turning to a revolutionary change of policy.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b>=
</p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia,=
 serif">No more insane aid with no conditions, but a condition attached to =
every dollar and every missile. Behave or pay the price. You can no longer =
do as you please: assassinate, abuse, violate national sovereignty and inte=
rnational law with impunity. In such an atmosphere, Israel will no longer b=
e able to continue to thumb its nose at the international community, for wh=
ich there is no more unifying issue than opposition to the occupation.<span=
>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"=
#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Whether it wants to or not, Israel will ha=
ve to take this into consideration. The first cracks have already appeared,=
 and how:<span>=C2=A0</span><a style=3D"max-width:100%">a deal made with Ir=
an while entirely disregarding Israel,</a>which for years disregarded the U=
nited States and the entire world.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p styl=
e=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Thi=
s is only the beginning: A world that was horrified by what Israel did in t=
he Gaza Strip will want a reckoning. A genocidal state can no longer be the=
 darling of the Western world. A state whose citizens carry out pogroms dai=
ly, with the cooperation of its military, will not be a part of the family =
of nations. The dream is starting to come true. It will be a nightmare.</fo=
nt></b></p><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><h3 style=3D"max-width:100%"><br><=
/h3></div></div></div></div>
</div>
</div>
</div></div>

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John J. Mearsheimer <https://substack.com/@mearsheimer>
Jun 20
<https://substack.com/@mearsheimer>

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On 19 June 2026, I was on =E2=80=9CJudging Freedom=E2=80=9D talking with th=
e Judge about
the central issue of the day =E2=80=94 the Memorandum of Understanding that=
 Iran
and the United States worked out to put an end to the war between them.

There is no question that Iran won the war and forced the US to concede to
almost every one of its demands. The reason is simple: if the war
continued, the international economy was destined to go off the precipice
in the next couple months. Iran=E2=80=99s control of the Strait of Hormuz g=
ave it a
stranglehold on the world economy. President Trump explicitly said we were
looking at an =E2=80=9Ceconomic catastrophe=E2=80=9D and that he did not wa=
nt to be
remembered as the second coming of Herbert Hoover, who will be forever
identified with the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Israeli leaders and the Israel lobby were outraged that Trump ended the war
on terms so markedly favorable to Iran. Of course, they had no alternative
strategy for rescuing the situation and they seem oblivious to the grave
damage that would be done to the international economy if the status quo
remained in place or especially if the bombing started up again.
Unsurprisingly, Trump and Vice President Vance made it clear to the
Israelis and their supporters in the US that the war had to end and that
they could not stand in the way of that outcome. Once again, we see
manifest evidence that Israel, which was principally responsible for
convincing Trump to launch this disastrous war and now wants to prevent a
settlement, is an albatross around America=E2=80=99s neck.
<https://substack.com/redirect/41c40a08-cd36-461e-a60c-70be7d287823?j=3DeyJ=
1IjoiM2FydnAifQ.CjSQnuBczHCy1BFS9fzFEtIoBnIxDO9eO0lGKOKHBh0>

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2tvdXQmbmV4dD1odHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRm1lYXJzaGVpbWVyLnN1YnN0YWNrLmNvbSUyRnAlMkZ0=
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" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td align=3D"center"><a hr=
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/tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr height=3D"16"><td he=
ight=3D"16" style=3D"font-size:0px;line-height:0">=C2=A0</td></tr></tbody><=
/table></div></div><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"padding:32px 0px 0px;line-hei=
ght:26px"><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"text-align:initial;line-height:26px;wi=
dth:550px;word-break:break-word;margin-bottom:16px"><p style=3D"margin:0px =
0px 20px;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px">On 19 June 2026, I was on =
=E2=80=9CJudging Freedom=E2=80=9D talking with the Judge about the central =
issue of the day =E2=80=94 the Memorandum of Understanding that Iran and th=
e United States worked out to put an end to the war between them.</p><p sty=
le=3D"margin:0px 0px 20px;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px">There is no=
 question that Iran won the war and forced the US to concede to almost ever=
y one of its demands. The reason is simple: if the war continued, the inter=
national economy was destined to go off the precipice in the next couple mo=
nths. Iran=E2=80=99s control of the Strait of Hormuz gave it a stranglehold=
 on the world economy. President Trump explicitly said we were looking at a=
n =E2=80=9Ceconomic catastrophe=E2=80=9D and that he did not want to be rem=
embered as the second coming of Herbert Hoover, who will be forever identif=
ied with the Great Depression of the 1930s.</p><p style=3D"margin:0px 0px 2=
0px;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px">Israeli leaders and the Israel lo=
bby were outraged that Trump ended the war on terms so markedly favorable t=
o Iran. Of course, they had no alternative strategy for rescuing the situat=
ion and they seem oblivious to the grave damage that would be done to the i=
nternational economy if the status quo remained in place or especially if t=
he bombing started up again. Unsurprisingly, Trump and Vice President Vance=
 made it clear to the Israelis and their supporters in the US that the war =
had to end and that they could not stand in the way of that outcome. Once a=
gain, we see manifest evidence that Israel, which was principally responsib=
le for convincing Trump to launch this disastrous war and now wants to prev=
ent a settlement, is an albatross around America=E2=80=99s neck.</p><a href=
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*https://www.palestinechronicle.com/october-7-was-only-the-prelude-ex-mossa=
d-chief-warns-israel-is-heading-toward-disaster/
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/october-7-was-only-the-prelude-ex-mossa=
d-chief-warns-israel-is-heading-toward-disaster/>*

*=E2=80=98October 7 Was Only the Prelude=E2=80=99: Ex-Mossad Chief Warns Is=
rael Is Heading
Toward Disaster*
*June 21, 2026 <https://www.palestinechronicle.com/2026/06/>   *
*Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo. (Photo: Video grab)*

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff  *

A former Mossad chief has delivered a stark assessment of Israel=E2=80=99s =
future,
warning that the country=E2=80=99s most serious dangers may be gathering cl=
oser to
home than many Israelis realize.

*Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo has issued one of the starkest warnings
yet from a senior figure within Israel=E2=80=99s security establishment, ar=
guing
that the greatest threat facing Israel is no longer Iran, Hezbollah or
Hamas, but the country=E2=80=99s deepening internal crisis and its unresolv=
ed
occupation of Palestinian land.*

*In a wide-ranging interview with Israel=E2=80=99s Channel 12, Pardo said t=
he
October 7 events may prove to be only a =E2=80=9Cprelude=E2=80=9D to a far =
more dangerous
scenario in the occupied West Bank, while also criticizing Israel=E2=80=99s=
 recent
war against Iran and warning of a possible internal confrontation within
Israeli society itself.*
=E2=80=98We Achieved Nothing=E2=80=99

*Pardo, who spent decades involved in Israel=E2=80=99s covert campaign agai=
nst Iran
and later headed the Mossad, argued that Israel emerged from the recent
confrontation with Tehran having failed to achieve its objectives.*

*=E2=80=9CWe came out of this campaign very badly because we achieved nothi=
ng,=E2=80=9D he
said.*

*According to Pardo, the military operations carried out against Iran
earlier this year may ultimately strengthen rather than weaken Tehran=E2=80=
=99s
nuclear ambitions.*

*=E2=80=9CMy feeling is that we made such a wrong move that its result coul=
d be an
aggressive nuclear arms race in the Middle East,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=
=9CI would not be
surprised if Iran now tries to run as fast as possible to obtain nuclear
weapons.=E2=80=9D*

*He warned that Iranian leaders are likely asking themselves a dangerous
question after the attacks.*

*=E2=80=9CIf we had nuclear weapons, would anyone have dared do to us what =
the
Israelis and Americans did?=E2=80=9D Pardo said. =E2=80=9CThe answer is tha=
t they would not
have dared.=E2=80=9D*

*He argued that this conclusion could create a far greater threat than the
one Israel claimed it was trying to prevent.*
Criticism of Israel=E2=80=99s Strategy

*Pardo also criticized what he described as the public exposure of
intelligence operations and covert capabilities.*

*=E2=80=9CAny discussion of these operations is a mistake and a serious fai=
lure,=E2=80=9D
he said. =E2=80=9CIt allows the other side to complete the puzzle and block=
 future
operations.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CThe use of exposing capabilities in order to excite the public in=
 real
time, as has happened in recent years, is, in my view, a disaster.=E2=80=9D=
*

*The former intelligence chief further questioned the Israeli-American
campaign=E2=80=99s targeting doctrine, arguing that attempts to eliminate p=
olitical
leadership represented a dangerous departure from previous military
practice.*

*=E2=80=9CWhen you decide to take such a dramatic step, you have to think a=
bout
what happens if you fail,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CIf you fail, you enter=
 an event far
more serious than the place you were in before.=E2=80=9D*

Netanyahu and the Surveillance Request

*One of the most striking revelations in the interview concerned Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.*

*Pardo disclosed that during his tenure as Mossad chief he learned that
Netanyahu had asked then-Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen to monitor the phones
of both the Mossad director and then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.*

*=E2=80=9CI discovered it a few days after the request was submitted,=E2=80=
=9D Pardo said.*

*=E2=80=9CIt was a sad event and completely lacking in logic.=E2=80=9D*

*He said the request undermined the relationship between Israel=E2=80=99s p=
olitical
and security institutions.*

*=E2=80=9CThe role of the Mossad chief is to serve the state, not anyone el=
se.=E2=80=9D*

=E2=80=98You Are Clerks, We Are the Elected Officials=E2=80=99

*Pardo described what he sees as a long-term deterioration in relations
between Israel=E2=80=99s political leadership and its security establishmen=
t.*

*According to him, discussions between professional and political officials
were once conducted =E2=80=9Cat eye level,=E2=80=9D but that changed over t=
he past decade.*

*=E2=80=9CA spirit began blowing that said: =E2=80=98You are the clerks, we=
 are the elected
officials,'=E2=80=9D he recalled.*

*Today, he argued, the attitude has become institutionalized.*

*=E2=80=9CThey tell the attorney general, the Mossad chief and the chief of=
 staff:
=E2=80=98You are a clerk. Go do what you are told.'=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CIt has entered our political DNA.=E2=80=9D*

Warning of Internal Conflict

*A section in Pardo=E2=80=99s interview focused on Israel=E2=80=99s interna=
l divisions.*

*He said his primary concern is no longer external enemies but growing
fractures within Israeli society.*

*=E2=80=9CI told them then that my fear is not Iran, not Hezbollah and not =
Hamas,=E2=80=9D
he said.*

*=E2=80=9CThe real threat is the internal rift that has been created within=
 the
people of Israel.=E2=80=9D*

*Pardo warned that the possibility of internal violence can no longer be
dismissed.*

*=E2=80=9CCan the State of Israel reach a civil war today?=E2=80=9D he aske=
d. =E2=80=9CThe answer
is yes.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CSomething I never imagined.=E2=80=9D*

*He specifically pointed to the possibility that a future Israeli
government could attempt to dismantle settlement outposts in the occupied
West Bank.*

*=E2=80=9CIf the legitimate government of Israel decides to evacuate the ou=
tposts
and farms in Judea and Samaria, I am not sure how it will end.=E2=80=9D*

*Asked whether he was referring to armed confrontations, he replied: =E2=80=
=9CReal
use of force.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CThe country has changed. Not for the better.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CAnd responsibility for that change always lies with leadership.=
=E2=80=9D*

=E2=80=98October 7 Was Only the Prelude=E2=80=99

*Pardo=E2=80=99s strongest warning concerned the occupied West Bank.*

*In his view, the absence of internationally recognized borders and the
continued expansion of settlements are creating conditions for a future
crisis that could surpass October 7.*

*=E2=80=9CThe State of Israel is the only country in the world without a bo=
rder to
its territory,=E2=80=9D he said.*

*=E2=80=9COn the day there is no border to territory, there is no border to
anything else.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CWe are deteriorating, and this government is leading us toward a =
disaster
of which October 7 was only the prelude.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CWhat awaits us in Judea and Samaria is much worse.=E2=80=9D*

*Pardo argued that a major escalation in the West Bank would be
fundamentally different from the events of October 7 because it would occur
along a vast geographical area stretching next to Israel=E2=80=99s largest
population centers.*

*=E2=80=9COctober 7 was against the Gaza envelope, a thin belt of communiti=
es,=E2=80=9D he
said.*

*=E2=80=9CThe West Bank envelope runs from Afula through the center of the =
country,
from Netanya and Hadera to Tel Aviv and Kfar Saba.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CAn event of this kind would look completely different.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CThis is a different population, a different rear front, a differe=
nt line
of contact.=E2=80=9D*

*=E2=80=9CIt is heading there.=E2=80=9D*

Call for Defining Borders

*Pardo concluded by arguing that Israel=E2=80=99s unresolved territorial am=
bitions
lie at the heart of the crisis.*

*=E2=80=9CIsrael needs to define its borders through a referendum,=E2=80=9D=
 he said.*

*=E2=80=9CWhoever lives inside the territory receives full rights.=E2=80=9D=
*

*=E2=80=9CWhoever is outside the border=E2=80=94the army will hold the key =
until someone
emerges on the other side who is prepared to live in peace.=E2=80=9D*

*He also called on Israeli leaders to adopt what he termed a =E2=80=9CVisio=
n 2048=E2=80=9D
and confront the Palestinian issue directly rather than continuing to
manage it through military force.*

*=E2=80=9CThe Middle East wants cooperation with us,=E2=80=9D Pardo said.*

*=E2=80=9CBut we insist on not solving our number one problem =E2=80=A6 It =
is time for us
to begin defining borders, and from there grow forward.=E2=80=9D*

*(Israeli Media, QNN, PC)*

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr"><b style=3D"background-color:transparent"><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif"><a href=3D"https://www.palestinechronicle.com/oc=
tober-7-was-only-the-prelude-ex-mossad-chief-warns-israel-is-heading-toward=
-disaster/" target=3D"_blank">https://www.palestinechronicle.com/october-7-=
was-only-the-prelude-ex-mossad-chief-warns-israel-is-heading-toward-disaste=
r/</a></font></b></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div><b><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif"><br></font></b></div><div><h1 style=3D"line-height:1.21=
41em;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"=
><font face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><i>=E2=80=98October 7 Was Only th=
e Prelude=E2=80=99: Ex-Mossad Chief Warns Israel Is Heading Toward Disaster=
</i></font></h1><div style=3D"margin-bottom:1.45em;max-width:100%;color:rgb=
(27,27,27)"><div style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%;display:inline"><b><fon=
t face=3D"georgia, serif"><span style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%"><span s=
tyle=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%"></span><a href=3D"https://www.palestinec=
hronicle.com/2026/06/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;margin:0px;color:rgb(2=
7,27,27);max-width:100%;display:inline" target=3D"_blank">June 21, 2026</a>=
</span><span>=C2=A0 =C2=A0</span></font></b></div></div><img src=3D"https:/=
/www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Pardo_Mossad_VIDEO.p=
ng" alt=3D"" title=3D"Pardo_Mossad_VIDEO" style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 0.5em a=
uto;display:block" width=3D"412" height=3D"276"><font face=3D"georgia, seri=
f"><b>Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo. (Photo: Video grab)</b></font><p sty=
le=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=
<span style=3D"max-width:100%">By<span>=C2=A0</span><a title=3D"Display all=
 articles for Palestine Chronicle Staff" style=3D"color:rgb(65,110,210);max=
-width:100%">Palestine Chronicle Staff</a></span><span>=C2=A0</span>=C2=A0<=
/font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);line-height:1.38e=
m;font-style:italic;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em"><h3 style=3D"max-widt=
h:100%"><font size=3D"2" face=3D"georgia, serif">A former Mossad chief has =
delivered a stark assessment of Israel=E2=80=99s future, warning that the c=
ountry=E2=80=99s most serious dangers may be gathering closer to home than =
many Israelis realize.</font></h3></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;c=
olor:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Former Mossad chief Ta=
mir Pardo has issued one of the starkest warnings yet from a senior figure =
within Israel=E2=80=99s security establishment, arguing that the greatest t=
hreat facing Israel is no longer Iran, Hezbollah or Hamas, but the country=
=E2=80=99s deepening internal crisis and its unresolved occupation of Pales=
tinian land.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)">=
<b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">In a wide-ranging interview with Israel=E2=
=80=99s Channel 12, Pardo said the October 7 events may prove to be only a =
=E2=80=9Cprelude=E2=80=9D to a far more dangerous scenario in the occupied =
West Bank, while also criticizing Israel=E2=80=99s recent war against Iran =
and warning of a possible internal confrontation within Israeli society its=
elf.</font></b></p><h4 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,=
27,27)"><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=98We Achieved Nothing=E2=80=99=
</font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo, who spent decades involved in Israel=E2=80=99s c=
overt campaign against Iran and later headed the Mossad, argued that Israel=
 emerged from the recent confrontation with Tehran having failed to achieve=
 its objectives.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,2=
7)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CWe came out of this campaign =
very badly because we achieved nothing,=E2=80=9D he said.</font></b></p><p =
style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, seri=
f">According to Pardo, the military operations carried out against Iran ear=
lier this year may ultimately strengthen rather than weaken Tehran=E2=80=99=
s nuclear ambitions.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,=
27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CMy feeling is that we mad=
e such a wrong move that its result could be an aggressive nuclear arms rac=
e in the Middle East,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CI would not be surprised i=
f Iran now tries to run as fast as possible to obtain nuclear weapons.=E2=
=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif">He warned that Iranian leaders are likely asking=
 themselves a dangerous question after the attacks.</font></b></p><blockquo=
te style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding=
-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:=
rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100=
%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CIf we had nuclear weapons, wou=
ld anyone have dared do to us what the Israelis and Americans did?=E2=80=9D=
 Pardo said. =E2=80=9CThe answer is that they would not have dared.=E2=80=
=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,2=
7)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">He argued that this conclusion could c=
reate a far greater threat than the one Israel claimed it was trying to pre=
vent.</font></b></p><h4 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27=
,27,27)"><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Criticism of Israel=E2=80=99s Strate=
gy</font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo also criticized what he described as the public e=
xposure of intelligence operations and covert capabilities.</font></b></p><=
p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, se=
rif">=E2=80=9CAny discussion of these operations is a mistake and a serious=
 failure,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CIt allows the other side to complete t=
he puzzle and block future operations.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><blockquote s=
tyle=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-lef=
t:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba=
(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><=
b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe use of exposing capabilities i=
n order to excite the public in real time, as has happened in recent years,=
 is, in my view, a disaster.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=
=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Th=
e former intelligence chief further questioned the Israeli-American campaig=
n=E2=80=99s targeting doctrine, arguing that attempts to eliminate politica=
l leadership represented a dangerous departure from previous military pract=
ice.</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:=
2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-st=
yle:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:itali=
c"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CWh=
en you decide to take such a dramatic step, you have to think about what ha=
ppens if you fail,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CIf you fail, you enter an eve=
nt far more serious than the place you were in before.=E2=80=9D</font></b><=
/p></blockquote><h4 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,=
27)"><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Netanyahu and the Surveillance Request</=
font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"=
georgia, serif">One of the most striking revelations in the interview conce=
rned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width=
:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo disclosed=
 that during his tenure as Mossad chief he learned that Netanyahu had asked=
 then-Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen to monitor the phones of both the Mossad d=
irector and then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-=
width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CI=
 discovered it a few days after the request was submitted,=E2=80=9D Pardo s=
aid.</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:=
2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-st=
yle:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:itali=
c"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CIt=
 was a sad event and completely lacking in logic.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></=
blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D=
"georgia, serif">He said the request undermined the relationship between Is=
rael=E2=80=99s political and security institutions.</font></b></p><blockquo=
te style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding=
-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:=
rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100=
%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe role of the Mossad chief i=
s to serve the state, not anyone else.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote>=
<h4 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=98You Are Clerks, We Are the Elected Officials=
=E2=80=99</font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo described what he sees as a long-term dete=
rioration in relations between Israel=E2=80=99s political leadership and it=
s security establishment.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rg=
b(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">According to him, discussions=
 between professional and political officials were once conducted =E2=80=9C=
at eye level,=E2=80=9D but that changed over the past decade.</font></b></p=
><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, =
serif">=E2=80=9CA spirit began blowing that said: =E2=80=98You are the cler=
ks, we are the elected officials,&#39;=E2=80=9D he recalled.</font></b></p>=
<p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, s=
erif">Today, he argued, the attitude has become institutionalized.</font></=
b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-ri=
ght:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;bor=
der-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThey tell the=
 attorney general, the Mossad chief and the chief of staff: =E2=80=98You ar=
e a clerk. Go do what you are told.&#39;=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D=
"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CIt has entered o=
ur political DNA.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><h4 style=3D"margin:1=
em 0px;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Wa=
rning of Internal Conflict</font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(=
27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">A section in Pardo=E2=80=99s in=
terview focused on Israel=E2=80=99s internal divisions.</font></b></p><p st=
yle=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif"=
>He said his primary concern is no longer external enemies but growing frac=
tures within Israeli society.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;colo=
r:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CI told them then=
 that my fear is not Iran, not Hezbollah and not Hamas,=E2=80=9D he said.</=
font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;ma=
rgin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:so=
lid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p =
style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe real=
 threat is the internal rift that has been created within the people of Isr=
ael.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:r=
gb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo warned that the possib=
ility of internal violence can no longer be dismissed.</font></b></p><p sty=
le=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=
=E2=80=9CCan the State of Israel reach a civil war today?=E2=80=9D he asked=
. =E2=80=9CThe answer is yes.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"c=
olor:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;bo=
rder-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.=
1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font f=
ace=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CSomething I never imagined.=E2=80=9D</font>=
</b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif">He specifically pointed to the possibility that =
a future Israeli government could attempt to dismantle settlement outposts =
in the occupied West Bank.</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,=
0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-wi=
dth:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width=
:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georg=
ia, serif">=E2=80=9CIf the legitimate government of Israel decides to evacu=
ate the outposts and farms in Judea and Samaria, I am not sure how it will =
end.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:r=
gb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Asked whether he was referri=
ng to armed confrontations, he replied: =E2=80=9CReal use of force.=E2=80=
=9D</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2=
px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-sty=
le:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic=
"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe=
 country has changed. Not for the better.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CAnd responsib=
ility for that change always lies with leadership.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><=
/blockquote><h4 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"=
><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=98October 7 Was Only the Prelude=E2=
=80=99</font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font =
face=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo=E2=80=99s strongest warning concerned the occ=
upied West Bank.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,2=
7)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">In his view, the absence of internatio=
nally recognized borders and the continued expansion of settlements are cre=
ating conditions for a future crisis that could surpass October 7.</font></=
b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"geor=
gia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe State of Israel is the only country in the world w=
ithout a border to its territory,=E2=80=9D he said.</font></b></p><blockquo=
te style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding=
-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:=
rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100=
%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9COn the day there is no border =
to territory, there is no border to anything else.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><=
p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CWe are=
 deteriorating, and this government is leading us toward a disaster of whic=
h October 7 was only the prelude.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-wi=
dth:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CWhat awaits us in Judea=
 and Samaria is much worse.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D=
"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo=
 argued that a major escalation in the West Bank would be fundamentally dif=
ferent from the events of October 7 because it would occur along a vast geo=
graphical area stretching next to Israel=E2=80=99s largest population cente=
rs.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font =
face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9COctober 7 was against the Gaza envelope, a=
 thin belt of communities,=E2=80=9D he said.</font></b></p><blockquote styl=
e=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:1=
6px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,=
0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><=
font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe West Bank envelope runs from Aful=
a through the center of the country, from Netanya and Hadera to Tel Aviv an=
d Kfar Saba.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font fa=
ce=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CAn event of this kind would look completely =
different.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThis is a different population, a different re=
ar front, a different line of contact.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"m=
ax-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CIt is heading ther=
e.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><h4 style=3D"margin:1em 0px;max-widt=
h:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Call for Defining=
 Borders</font></h4><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fon=
t face=3D"georgia, serif">Pardo concluded by arguing that Israel=E2=80=99s =
unresolved territorial ambitions lie at the heart of the crisis.</font></b>=
</p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgi=
a, serif">=E2=80=9CIsrael needs to define its borders through a referendum,=
=E2=80=9D he said.</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65=
);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:3px;=
border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;fo=
nt-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, seri=
f">=E2=80=9CWhoever lives inside the territory receives full rights.=E2=80=
=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,2=
7)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CWhoever is outside the border=
=E2=80=94the army will hold the key until someone emerges on the other side=
 who is prepared to live in peace.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-w=
idth:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">He also cal=
led on Israeli leaders to adopt what he termed a =E2=80=9CVision 2048=E2=80=
=9D and confront the Palestinian issue directly rather than continuing to m=
anage it through military force.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;c=
olor:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThe Middle Ea=
st wants cooperation with us,=E2=80=9D Pardo said.</font></b></p><blockquot=
e style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-=
left:16px;border-left-width:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:r=
gba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%=
"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CBut we insist on not solving ou=
r number one problem =E2=80=A6 It is time for us to begin defining borders,=
 and from there grow forward.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=
=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><em style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif">(Israeli Media, QNN, PC)</font></b></em></p></di=
v></div>
</div>
</div></div>

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Subject: [Salon] =?utf-8?q?Medico=3A_Israel=E2=80=99s_white_phosphorus_an?=
 =?utf-8?q?d_glyphosate_point_back_to_Germany=E2=80=99s_Bayer_group?=
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*https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260620-medico-israels-white-phosphorus=
-and-glyphosate-point-back-to-germanys-bayer-group/
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260620-medico-israels-white-phosphorus=
-and-glyphosate-point-back-to-germanys-bayer-group/>*

*6/20/26*

*Medico: Israel=E2=80=99s white phosphorus and glyphosate point back to Ger=
many=E2=80=99s
Bayer group*
[image: A view of the Israeli shelling, where Israel allegedly used white
phosphorus bombs on areas along the Lebanese border in Lebanon on December
20, 2023 [Wassim Samih Seifeddine - Anadolu Agency]]


*Human rights organisation Medico International and the German network
=E2=80=9CCoordination gegen Bayer-Gefahren=E2=80=9C (Coordination against B=
ayer Dangers,
CBG) have reported that the glyphosate and white phosphorus used by the
Israeli occupation forces in Lebanon which were presumably of German
origin.*

*At the beginning of February this year, reports emerged in the
international media alleging that the Israeli army had deployed the
environmental toxin glyphosate in southern Lebanon and in occupied Syria.*

*According to Lebanon=E2=80=99s Ministry of Agriculture, glyphosate concent=
rations
in some samples taken in the region exceeded =E2=80=9Cnormal levels by arou=
nd 20 to
30 times=E2=80=9D. Lebanon=E2=80=99s president Joseph Aoun described the si=
tuation as
=E2=80=9Cenvironmental and health crimes=E2=80=9D.*

*The incident is of particular relevance to Germany, as the US-based
glyphosate manufacturer Monsanto was acquired in 2018 by the German
chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer, one of the world=E2=80=99s largest
chemical corporations. As a result, not only did Germany=E2=80=99s mainstre=
am media
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20251211-studies-confirm-german-media-di=
sseminate-pro-israel-propaganda/>
take
up the issue =E2=80=93 despite their otherwise consistent reluctance to rep=
ort on
Israeli war crimes =E2=80=93 but the matter also reached the agenda of the =
German
Bundestag.*

*However, there has been little in the way of public outrage. After a few
critical remarks, the issue quickly faded from public debate, and it is
unlikely that a wider German audience is aware that Israel is not
only carrying out a genocide in Gaza using German-supplied weapons
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260117-genocide-research-institute-lev=
els-accusations-against-germany/>,
attacking Iran and Lebanon with German arms, enforcing the blockade of Gaza
with German naval vessels
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/08/14/how-much-truth-is-there-in-germanys=
-decision-not-to-supply-weapons-to-israel/>,
and raiding Gaza Solidarity flotillas with the same equipment, but is also
reportedly using chemical agents produced with German industrial
involvement.*

*That may now be changing. Last Thursday, the human rights organisation
Medico International published a report titled =E2=80=9CCartographies of
Destruction: Israel=E2=80=99s War Against Lebanon=E2=80=9D
<https://www.medico.de/fileadmin/user_upload/media/report_public_works_stud=
io_web.pdf>,
produced in cooperation with its Lebanese partner organisation =E2=80=9CPub=
lic
Works=E2=80=9D. Alongside numerous alleged war crimes, the report also docu=
ments
the repeated use of white phosphorus by Israel in Lebanon. According to the
report, this substance also originates from Monsanto. Jan Pehrke of the CBG
stated: =E2=80=9CThere is strong evidence that phosphorus used in the Middl=
e East
war comes from Bayer=E2=80=99s glyphosate production facility in Soda Sprin=
gs in
the United States.=E2=80=9D*

*While it has long been known that Israel has repeatedly used white
phosphorus in its wars on Gaza and Lebanon, the alleged use of glyphosate
is a relatively new claim. However, Riad Othman, Middle East officer at
Medico International, noted that the carcinogenic herbicide was already
=E2=80=9Ctested=E2=80=9D by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip in 2014.=
*

*During its shareholders=E2=80=99 meeting in April 2026, the Bayer executiv=
e board
denied directly supplying glyphosate to the Israeli or US military.
However, it did not issue a corresponding denial regarding white
phosphorus. Meanwhile, earlier this year, US President Donald Trump
designated elemental phosphorus =E2=80=93 used in the production of both wh=
ite
phosphorus and glyphosate =E2=80=93 as critical to US =E2=80=9Cnational sec=
urity=E2=80=9D.*

*This decision came roughly two weeks after reports of glyphosate use in
Lebanon and Syria surfaced, and shortly before the US-Israeli strike on
Iran, during which white phosphorus was also reportedly used.*

*The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.*

--000000000000669cf40654c41366
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr"><b style=3D"background-color:transparent"><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif"><a href=3D"https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/202=
60620-medico-israels-white-phosphorus-and-glyphosate-point-back-to-germanys=
-bayer-group/" target=3D"_blank">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260620=
-medico-israels-white-phosphorus-and-glyphosate-point-back-to-germanys-baye=
r-group/</a></font></b></div><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr"><b style=
=3D"background-color:transparent"><br></b></div><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"g=
mail_attr"><b style=3D"background-color:transparent">6/20/26</b></div><div =
dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><br></fo=
nt></b></div><div><h1 style=3D"line-height:1.2141em;margin-top:0px;margin-b=
ottom:0.5em;max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><font face=3D"georgia, seri=
f" size=3D"4"><i>Medico: Israel=E2=80=99s white phosphorus and glyphosate p=
oint back to Germany=E2=80=99s Bayer group</i></font></h1><div style=3D"max=
-width:100%;margin-bottom:1.15em;line-height:1.5em;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.65)">=
<img src=3D"https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/=
2023/12/AA-20231220-33233748-33233741-ISRAELI_SHELLING_ALONG_THE_LEBANESE_B=
ORDER.jpg?fit=3D920%2C613&amp;ssl=3D1" alt=3D"A view of the Israeli shellin=
g, where Israel allegedly used white phosphorus bombs on areas along the Le=
banese border in Lebanon on December 20, 2023 [Wassim Samih Seifeddine - An=
adolu Agency]" style=3D"margin:auto 0px auto auto;display:block;clear:both"=
 width=3D"412" height=3D"275"></div><div style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(=
27,27,27)"><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><div style=3D"max-width:100%"><p s=
tyle=3D"max-width:100%"><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><br></font></p></div>=
</div></div><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">Human rights organisation Medico International and the =
German network =E2=80=9CCoordination gegen Bayer-Gefahren=E2=80=9C (Coordin=
ation against Bayer Dangers, CBG) have reported that the glyphosate and whi=
te phosphorus used by the Israeli occupation forces in Lebanon which were p=
resumably of German origin.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:=
rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">At the beginning of Februar=
y this year, reports emerged in the international media alleging that the I=
sraeli army had deployed the environmental toxin glyphosate in southern Leb=
anon and in occupied Syria.</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0=
,0,0,0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-w=
idth:3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-widt=
h:100%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"geor=
gia, serif">According to Lebanon=E2=80=99s Ministry of Agriculture, glyphos=
ate concentrations in some samples taken in the region exceeded =E2=80=9Cno=
rmal levels by around 20 to 30 times=E2=80=9D. Lebanon=E2=80=99s president =
Joseph Aoun described the situation as =E2=80=9Cenvironmental and health cr=
imes=E2=80=9D.</font></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:=
rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">The incident is of particul=
ar relevance to Germany, as the US-based glyphosate manufacturer Monsanto w=
as acquired in 2018 by the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer, =
one of the world=E2=80=99s largest chemical corporations. As a result, not =
only did<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/202=
51211-studies-confirm-german-media-disseminate-pro-israel-propaganda/" styl=
e=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" target=3D"_=
blank">Germany=E2=80=99s mainstream media</a><span>=C2=A0</span>take up the=
 issue =E2=80=93 despite their otherwise consistent reluctance to report on=
 Israeli war crimes =E2=80=93 but the matter also reached the agenda of the=
 German Bundestag.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27=
,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">However, there has been little in th=
e way of public outrage. After a few critical remarks, the issue quickly fa=
ded from public debate, and it is unlikely that a wider German audience is =
aware that Israel is not only<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.midd=
leeastmonitor.com/20260117-genocide-research-institute-levels-accusations-a=
gainst-germany/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-wi=
dth:100%" target=3D"_blank">carrying out a genocide in Gaza using German-su=
pplied weapons</a>, attacking Iran and Lebanon with German arms,<span>=C2=
=A0</span><a href=3D"https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/08/14/how-much-truth-=
is-there-in-germanys-decision-not-to-supply-weapons-to-israel/" style=3D"te=
xt-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">=
enforcing the blockade of Gaza with German naval vessels</a>, and raiding G=
aza Solidarity flotillas with the same equipment, but is also reportedly us=
ing chemical agents produced with German industrial involvement.</font></b>=
</p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgi=
a, serif">That may now be changing. Last Thursday, the human rights organis=
ation Medico International published a<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https:/=
/www.medico.de/fileadmin/user_upload/media/report_public_works_studio_web.p=
df" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" tar=
get=3D"_blank">report titled =E2=80=9CCartographies of Destruction: Israel=
=E2=80=99s War Against Lebanon=E2=80=9D</a>, produced in cooperation with i=
ts Lebanese partner organisation =E2=80=9CPublic Works=E2=80=9D. Alongside =
numerous alleged war crimes, the report also documents the repeated use of =
white phosphorus by Israel in Lebanon. According to the report, this substa=
nce also originates from Monsanto. Jan Pehrke of the CBG stated: =E2=80=9CT=
here is strong evidence that phosphorus used in the Middle East war comes f=
rom Bayer=E2=80=99s glyphosate production facility in Soda Springs in the U=
nited States.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><blockquote style=3D"color:rgba(0,0,0,=
0.65);margin-left:2px;margin-right:6px;padding-left:16px;border-left-width:=
3px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);max-width:100=
%;font-style:italic"><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font face=3D"georgia, =
serif">While it has long been known that Israel has repeatedly used white p=
hosphorus in its wars on Gaza and Lebanon, the alleged use of glyphosate is=
 a relatively new claim. However, Riad Othman, Middle East officer at Medic=
o International, noted that the carcinogenic herbicide was already =E2=80=
=9Ctested=E2=80=9D by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip in 2014.</font=
></b></p></blockquote><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><f=
ont face=3D"georgia, serif">During its shareholders=E2=80=99 meeting in Apr=
il 2026, the Bayer executive board denied directly supplying glyphosate to =
the Israeli or US military. However, it did not issue a corresponding denia=
l regarding white phosphorus. Meanwhile, earlier this year, US President Do=
nald Trump designated elemental phosphorus =E2=80=93 used in the production=
 of both white phosphorus and glyphosate =E2=80=93 as critical to US =E2=80=
=9Cnational security=E2=80=9D.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;col=
or:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">This decision came rough=
ly two weeks after reports of glyphosate use in Lebanon and Syria surfaced,=
 and shortly before the US-Israeli strike on Iran, during which white phosp=
horus was also reportedly used.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;co=
lor:rgb(27,27,27);font-style:italic"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">The v=
iews expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily =
reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.</font></b></p></div></=
div>
</div>
</div></div>

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Subject: [Salon] US-Iran Deal leaves Lebanon in Limbo, Israel as Spoiler
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*https://www.juancole.com/2026/06/leaves-lebanon-spoiler.html
<https://www.juancole.com/2026/06/leaves-lebanon-spoiler.html>*

*US-Iran Deal leaves Lebanon in Limbo, Israel as Spoiler*

*The Conversation
<https://www.juancole.com/author/the-conversation> 06/21/2026*

*By Mireille Rebeiz
<https://theconversation.com/profiles/mireille-rebeiz-1503505>, Dickinson
College <https://theconversation.com/institutions/dickinson-college-3288>*

*(The Conversation) =E2=80=93 The United States and Iran inked a long-await=
ed
provisional <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr8z4z2er9o> ceasefire deal
on June 17, 2026. After months of uncertainty, the people of the Gulf
region can, potentially, breathe a sigh of relief, and global markets look
set to be boosted by the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. *

*What about those who have endured the war=E2=80=99s spillover in Lebanon? =
After
all, the memorandum of understanding signed is not just a peace agreement
between the U.S. and Iran alone. Rather, on Tehran=E2=80=99s insistence
<https://abc7ny.com/post/iran-says-deal-end-war-us-requires-israel-withdraw=
-lebanon/19308174/>,
the deal is intended to provide a cessation of hostilities on all fronts =
=E2=80=93
including in Lebanon <https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39yvvy273ko>. *

*President Donald Trump is framing the deal
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-iran-deal-says-loud-clear-=
that-tehran-wont-have-nuclear-weapon-2026-06-16/>
as
a win for the U.S. and the closing of the latest chapter in Washington=E2=
=80=99s
Middle East entanglement. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
whose country was reportedly shut out of the diplomatic process
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-has-refused-share-iran-deal-text-isr=
ael-report>,
may have other plans that would challenge Trump=E2=80=99s authority in the =
region.*

*After news of the emerging deal broke on June 14, Netanyahu almost
immediately announced that Israel will occupy Lebanon =E2=80=9Cindefinitely
<https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260615-isreal-to-stay-indefinite=
ly-in-lands-seized-in-lebanon-syria-and-gaza-says-defence-minister>.=E2=80=
=9D
Israel then followed up with a fresh wave of airstrikes that killed four
people in Lebanon
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/16/israeli-strikes-kill-four-in-sout=
hern-lebanon-amid-ceasefire-talks>.*

*A clearly displeased Trump publicly criticized those actions
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D-x1Ca1yOUQU> and even suggested that Syr=
ia
could go in and dismantle Hezbollah
<https://theconversation.com/does-hezbollah-represent-lebanon-and-what-impa=
ct-will-the-death-of-longtime-leader-hassan-nasrallah-have-240062>,
the Tehran-backed Lebanese group that has for nearly five decades fought
Israel in southern Lebanon. *

*With Israel continuing to bomb Lebanon and remove Lebanese citizens from
their lands
<https://www.amnesty.org.au/lebanon-israel-radically-expands-use-of-unlawfu=
l-mass-evacuation-orders-and-commits-war-crime-of-unlawful-transfer/>
=E2=80=93
in defiance of Washington=E2=80=99s wishes =E2=80=93 the fate of the U.S.-I=
ran deal in
Lebanon remains obscure. *

*As a scholar of Middle East studies
<https://theconversation.com/profiles/mireille-rebeiz-1503505>, I fear the
agreement leaves more questions about the delicate situation in Lebanon
than it solves. Moreover, any split in Israel-U.S. policy aims over Lebanon
may have grave implications for Trump=E2=80=99s de-escalation attempts with=
 Iran
and also hamper hopes for a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel days
before representatives of both countries plan to meet
<https://time.com/article/2026/06/04/hezbollah-rejects-israel-lebanon-cease=
fire-agreement-strikes/>
in
Washington.*
A defiant Israel

*History shows that any U.S. failure to rein in Israeli military action
north of its border can have disastrous consequences.*

*A similar scenario happened back in 1982 after Israel launched =E2=80=9COp=
eration
Peace for Galilee
<https://theconversation.com/israel-has-invaded-lebanon-six-times-in-the-pa=
st-50-years-a-timeline-of-events-240157>,=E2=80=9D
invading Lebanon and imposing a brutal siege on Beirut that killed over
17,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians and fighters
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/09/03/war-casualties-=
put-at-48000-in-lebanon/cf593941-6067-4239-a453-71bdcaf9eba0/>.
*

*In an angry phone call in August 1982, U.S President Ronald Reagan asked
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to stop the heavy bombardments of
Beirut. =E2=80=9CMenachem, this is a holocaust,=E2=80=9D Reagan recalled sa=
ying
<https://www.reaganfoundation.org/ronald-reagan/white-house-diaries/diary-e=
ntry-08121982>.*

*But Israel ignored the U.S. demands for a ceasefire. As a result, Reagan
sent a an international peacekeeping force into Lebanon
<https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations=
/middle-east/lebanon.html>.
Composed of French, Italian and American troops, this multinational force
in Lebanon was tasked to act as a buffer zone between feuding parties and
provide port security to Palestinian fighters leaving Lebanon. *

*Not only did Israel ignore Reagan=E2=80=99s attempts at de-escalation, it =
also
defied the multinational force, harassed its troops and endangered their
lives, according to U.S. military leaders
<https://www.wrmea.org/1983-april-4/letter-from-marine-commandant-barrow-to=
-defense-secretary-weinberger.html>.*

*Ironically, when Israel invaded Beirut in 1982 and threatened the American
troops, it did so using weapons supplied by Washington
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/07/20/president-halts=
-shipment-of-cluster-shells-to-israel/aeba41dc-ba63-4b2b-8b6f-91f33f6649f9/=
>
as
part of the two countries=E2=80=99 long-standing defense arrangement.*
History repeats itself

*A similar scenario is unfolding today. *

*Just like Reagan and Begin=E2=80=99s clash in 1982, Trump and Netanyahu ar=
e
engaged in what looks like a deadlock. In a recent phone call about
Lebanon, Trump was reportedly overheard yelling at Netanyahu, =E2=80=9CYou=
=E2=80=99re
f=E2=80=93king crazy. You=E2=80=99d be in prison if not for me
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-said-to-yell-at-netanyahu-youre-fking-=
crazy-youd-be-in-prison-if-not-for-me/>,=E2=80=9D
while pressing the Israeli government to scale back its operation in
Lebanon.*

*Today, as in 1982, Israel continues to benefit from U.S. support and arms
sales
<https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/01/31/us-approves-major-new-arms-=
sales-israel-worth-667-billion-and-saudi-arabia-worth-9-billion.html>.
Congress has even moved to integrate U.S. and Israeli militaries
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/30/us-congress-advances-american-isr=
aeli-military-integration-plan>.*

*Also, just like 1982, the American president is considering sending
foreign troops
<https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/16/world/trump-syria-lebanon-hezbollah-analysi=
s-intl>
into
Lebanon.*

*But despite the American military and political support, Israel continues
to brush aside
<https://thehill.com/policy/international/5915570-israel-defies-trump-iran-=
strike/>
any
U.S policy that aims to place limits on its regional power, effectively
showing a glaring limitation of U.S. dominance over the region.*
Lebanon as an afterthought

*When the U.S. and Iran initially agreed to a two-week ceasefire
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/8/us-iran-ceasefire-deal-what-are-th=
e-terms-and-whats-next>
in
April 2026, there was confusion over whether Lebanon was included in that
deal. While Iran asserted Lebanon=E2=80=99s inclusion, Israel denied it and
continued to bomb the country
<https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/9/israeli_escalation_in_lebanon>.*

*Lebanon became part of the equation because of Hezbollah=E2=80=99s actions=
 after
the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February 2026. Similar to how the
Tehran-backed group vowed solidarity with Hamas
<https://theconversation.com/hezbollah-degraded-weakened-but-not-yet-disarm=
ed-destabilizes-lebanon-once-again-277327>
after
Israel bombed Gaza in response to Palestinian militants=E2=80=99 attack on =
Israeli
soil on Oct.7, 2023 <https://www.britannica.com/event/October-7-attack>,
Hezbollah struck Israel when Iran was hit.*

*It reignited the simmering Hezbollah-Israeli war. Today, Israel occupies
south Lebanon and is threatening to annex it
<https://theconversation.com/israeli-threats-to-occupy-or-annex-south-leban=
on-dust-off-a-decades-old-playbook-279704>.*

*The U.S.-released text of the latest Iran peace plan
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/17/trump-us-iran-war-mou-deal>
explicitly
includes
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/4/lebanons-latest-truce-what-is-diff=
erent-from-the-april-agreement>
Lebanon. *

*While that will introduce serious points of friction with Israeli designs
on the country
<https://theconversation.com/israeli-threats-to-occupy-or-annex-south-leban=
on-dust-off-a-decades-old-playbook-279704>,
the people in Lebanon, too, will have many questions and concerns.*

*I believe the deal will be seen as a welcome step but also a potential
blow to Lebanon=E2=80=99s sovereignty. While the text aims to protect Leban=
on=E2=80=99s
=E2=80=9Cterritorial integrity,=E2=80=9D it does not reference Israel=E2=80=
=99s actual withdrawal
from these lands, and it is unclear whether this issue will be discussed in
future negotiations between Israel and Lebanon or between the U.S and
Iran. *

*Furthermore, the new deal ignores Lebanon=E2=80=99s efforts to free itself=
 from
Iran=E2=80=99s influence in the country through its Hezbollah ally. *

*In an unprecedented move in May, Lebanon filed a formal complaint against
Iran at the United Nations Security Council
<https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2026/05/13/lebanon-files-un=
-complaint-against-iran-over-interference-hezbollahisrael-war>,
directly accusing Tehran of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations
<https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pd=
f>
for
interfering in its sovereign decisions and dragging the country into war.*

*In spite of Hezbollah=E2=80=99s open threats against the Lebanese governme=
nt
<https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5254573-hezbollah-escalates-its-rhet=
oric-threatens-lebanese-govt>,
Lebanese representatives held the first of several planned direct
negotiations with Israeli counterparts in Washington
<https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/05/14/lebanon-and-isr=
ael-meet-in-washington-for-tough-negotiations-under-growing-pressure_675344=
7_4.html>.
*
*Lebanon, Syria and a rocky path forward*

*Indeed, the new U.S.-Iran deal can be interpreted as a step back for the
strength of an already weak Lebanese state. Indirectly, the deal cements
Iran=E2=80=99s control on the country=E2=80=99s politics and, by extension,=
 Hezbollah. *

*Furthermore, and just like in 1982, the U.S. is proposing a foreign force
to enter Lebanon and help end the violence. In fact, Trump has now twice
mentioned the possibility of Syria playing a role in Lebanon
<https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/us-should-not-encourag=
e-syria-enter-lebanon>
to
enter and execute =E2=80=9Ca surgical attack on Hezbollah.=E2=80=9D*

*It is unclear whether the U.S. president is using these comments just as a
way to pressure Israel over Lebanon or whether there is an actual plan that
includes a Syrian role in the country=E2=80=99s future. But just the mentio=
n of
Syrian intervention evokes that country=E2=80=99s longtime occupation
<https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/syria-sends-thousands-t=
roops-lebanon-border-sources-say-2026-03-03/>
of
Lebanon. *

*In fact, at the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1991, Syria established
what amounted to absolute political, military and economic hegemony over
Lebanon <https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2-03.htm>, during
which thousands of Lebanese disappeared
<https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/19/world/middleeast/lebanon-syrian-occupat=
ion-detainees.html>.
*

*The assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005 and
the Cedar Revolution that followed
<https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/lebanese-campaign-democracy-inde=
pendence-intifada-or-cedar-revolution-2005>
forced
the Syrian troops out of Lebanon. *

*Photo by AHMAD BADER
<https://unsplash.com/@palo1987?utm_source=3Dunsplash&utm_medium=3Dreferral=
&utm_content=3DcreditCopyText>
on Unsplash
<https://unsplash.com/photos/a-flag-flying-on-top-of-a-stone-structure-zQ0U=
2FKdv1A?utm_source=3Dunsplash&utm_medium=3Dreferral&utm_content=3DcreditCop=
yText>*

*The fact that the new leadership in Syria is Sunni adds another
complication due to Lebanon=E2=80=99s delicate sect-based balance of power
<https://www.cjpme.org/fs_026>. If Damascus interferes in Lebanon,
sectarian violence could follow, as the Syrian military presence would
likely be interpreted as direct opposition to Hezbollah=E2=80=99s Shiite fi=
ghters. *

*This is particularly true since Ahmed al-Sharaa=E2=80=99s government was a=
ccused
of violence against religious minorities in Syria, including the Alawites
<https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165649> =E2=80=93 a religious sect c=
lose to
Shia Islam =E2=80=93 and the Druze
<https://theconversation.com/the-druze-are-a-tightly-knit-community-and-the=
-violence-in-syria-is-triggering-fears-in-lebanon-261931>.
*

*Whether Syria plays a decisive role in Lebanon going forward, there is
little doubt that the future of the U.S.-Iran deal depends on both Iran and
Israel=E2=80=99s actions. So far, Israel seems uninterested in following Tr=
ump=E2=80=99s
leadership in the region and is gearing up to play a spoiler role. *

*For now, and absent new breakthroughs, Lebanon, with its sovereignty
almost entirely eroded, seems destined to remain at the mercy of its larger
neighbors in Iran, Israel and Syria =E2=80=93 and the erratic involvement o=
f the
U.S. abroad.*[image: The Conversation]

*Mireille Rebeiz
<https://theconversation.com/profiles/mireille-rebeiz-1503505>, Director of
Dickinson Program in New Zealand & Associate Professor of Politics at the
University of Otago, Dickinson College
<https://theconversation.com/institutions/dickinson-college-3288>*

*This article is republished from The Conversation
<https://theconversation.com/> under a Creative Commons license. Read
the original article
<https://theconversation.com/us-iran-deal-leaves-the-future-of-lebanon-unce=
rtain-and-subject-to-israel-playing-the-spoiler-285340>.*

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, =
serif"><a href=3D"https://www.juancole.com/2026/06/leaves-lebanon-spoiler.h=
tml" target=3D"_blank">https://www.juancole.com/2026/06/leaves-lebanon-spoi=
ler.html</a><br></font></b></div><div><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"ge=
orgia, serif"><br></font></b></div><div><h1 style=3D"line-height:1.2141em;m=
argin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;max-width:100%"><font color=3D"#000000" f=
ace=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4"><i>US-Iran Deal leaves Lebanon in Limbo, =
Israel as Spoiler</i></font></h1><div style=3D"margin-bottom:1.45em;max-wid=
th:100%"><p style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%;display:inline"><b><font col=
or=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><span style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:=
100%;clear:both;display:inline"><a href=3D"https://www.juancole.com/author/=
the-conversation" rel=3D"author" style=3D"text-decoration:none;margin:0px;m=
ax-width:100%;display:inline" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"margin:0px;m=
ax-width:100%">The Conversation</span></a></span><span>=C2=A0</span><span s=
tyle=3D"margin:0.07em 0.45em 0px;padding:0px;max-width:100%;display:inline"=
></span>06/21/2026</font></b></p></div><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font=
 color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">By<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"=
https://theconversation.com/profiles/mireille-rebeiz-1503505" style=3D"text=
-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Mireille Rebeiz</a>,<spa=
n>=C2=A0</span><em style=3D"max-width:100%"><a href=3D"https://theconversat=
ion.com/institutions/dickinson-college-3288" style=3D"text-decoration:none;=
max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Dickinson College</a></em></font></b></p>=
<p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, ser=
if">(The Conversation) =E2=80=93 The United States and Iran<span>=C2=A0</sp=
an><a href=3D"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crr8z4z2er9o" style=3D"text=
-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">inked a long-awaited pro=
visional</a><span>=C2=A0</span>ceasefire deal on June 17, 2026. After month=
s of uncertainty, the people of the Gulf region can, potentially, breathe a=
 sigh of relief, and global markets look set to be boosted by the reopening=
 of the Strait of Hormuz.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-=
width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">What about t=
hose who have endured the war=E2=80=99s spillover in Lebanon? After all, th=
e memorandum of understanding signed is not just a peace agreement between =
the U.S. and Iran alone. Rather, on<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://ab=
c7ny.com/post/iran-says-deal-end-war-us-requires-israel-withdraw-lebanon/19=
308174/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Te=
hran=E2=80=99s insistence</a>, the deal is intended to<span>=C2=A0</span><a=
 href=3D"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39yvvy273ko" style=3D"text-deco=
ration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">provide a cessation of hostil=
ities on all fronts =E2=80=93 including in Lebanon</a>.<span>=C2=A0</span><=
/font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=
=3D"georgia, serif">President Donald Trump is<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"=
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-iran-deal-says-loud-clear-t=
hat-tehran-wont-have-nuclear-weapon-2026-06-16/" style=3D"text-decoration:n=
one;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">framing the deal</a><span>=C2=A0</spa=
n>as a win for the U.S. and the closing of the latest chapter in Washington=
=E2=80=99s Middle East entanglement. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne=
tanyahu, whose country was<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.middlee=
asteye.net/news/us-has-refused-share-iran-deal-text-israel-report" style=3D=
"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">reportedly shut out=
 of the diplomatic process</a>, may have other plans that would challenge T=
rump=E2=80=99s authority in the region.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width=
:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">After news of the=
 emerging deal broke on June 14, Netanyahu almost immediately announced tha=
t<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/2026=
0615-isreal-to-stay-indefinitely-in-lands-seized-in-lebanon-syria-and-gaza-=
says-defence-minister" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=
=3D"_blank">Israel will occupy Lebanon =E2=80=9Cindefinitely</a>.=E2=80=9D =
Israel then followed up with a<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.alj=
azeera.com/news/2026/6/16/israeli-strikes-kill-four-in-southern-lebanon-ami=
d-ceasefire-talks" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"=
_blank">fresh wave of airstrikes that killed four people in Lebanon</a>.</f=
ont></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"=
georgia, serif">A clearly displeased Trump publicly<span>=C2=A0</span><a hr=
ef=3D"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D-x1Ca1yOUQU" style=3D"text-decorati=
on:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">criticized those actions</a><span=
>=C2=A0</span>and even suggested that Syria could go in and dismantle<span>=
=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/does-hezbollah-represen=
t-lebanon-and-what-impact-will-the-death-of-longtime-leader-hassan-nasralla=
h-have-240062" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_bla=
nk">Hezbollah</a>, the Tehran-backed Lebanese group that has for nearly fiv=
e decades fought Israel in southern Lebanon.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b><=
/p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, =
serif">With Israel continuing to bomb Lebanon and<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=
=3D"https://www.amnesty.org.au/lebanon-israel-radically-expands-use-of-unla=
wful-mass-evacuation-orders-and-commits-war-crime-of-unlawful-transfer/" st=
yle=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">remove Lebane=
se citizens from their lands</a><span>=C2=A0</span>=E2=80=93 in defiance of=
 Washington=E2=80=99s wishes =E2=80=93 the fate of the U.S.-Iran deal in Le=
banon remains obscure.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-wid=
th:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">As a<span>=C2=
=A0</span><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/profiles/mireille-rebeiz-1=
503505" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">sch=
olar of Middle East studies</a>, I fear the agreement leaves more questions=
 about the delicate situation in Lebanon than it solves. Moreover, any spli=
t in Israel-U.S. policy aims over Lebanon may have grave implications for T=
rump=E2=80=99s de-escalation attempts with Iran and also hamper hopes for a=
 peace deal between Lebanon and Israel days before<span>=C2=A0</span><a hre=
f=3D"https://time.com/article/2026/06/04/hezbollah-rejects-israel-lebanon-c=
easefire-agreement-strikes/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" =
target=3D"_blank">representatives of both countries plan to meet</a><span>=
=C2=A0</span>in Washington.</font></b></p><h2 style=3D"max-width:100%"><fon=
t size=3D"2" color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">A defiant Israel</fo=
nt></h2><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"geor=
gia, serif">History shows that any U.S. failure to rein in Israeli military=
 action north of its border can have disastrous consequences.</font></b></p=
><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, se=
rif">A similar scenario happened back in 1982 after Israel launched =E2=80=
=9C<a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/israel-has-invaded-lebanon-six-ti=
mes-in-the-past-50-years-a-timeline-of-events-240157" style=3D"text-decorat=
ion:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Operation Peace for Galilee</a>,=
=E2=80=9D invading Lebanon and imposing a brutal siege on Beirut that<span>=
=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/198=
2/09/03/war-casualties-put-at-48000-in-lebanon/cf593941-6067-4239-a453-71bd=
caf9eba0/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">=
killed over 17,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians and fighters</a>.<spa=
n>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D=
"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">In an angry phone call in August 1982, U.=
S President Ronald Reagan asked Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to st=
op the heavy bombardments of Beirut. =E2=80=9CMenachem, this is a holocaust=
,=E2=80=9D<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.reaganfoundation.org/ro=
nald-reagan/white-house-diaries/diary-entry-08121982" style=3D"text-decorat=
ion:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Reagan recalled saying</a>.</fon=
t></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"ge=
orgia, serif">But Israel ignored the U.S. demands for a ceasefire. As a res=
ult, Reagan sent a<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.history.navy.mi=
l/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/middle-east/lebanon.html" s=
tyle=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">an internati=
onal peacekeeping force into Lebanon</a>. Composed of French, Italian and A=
merican troops, this multinational force in Lebanon was tasked to act as a =
buffer zone between feuding parties and provide port security to Palestinia=
n fighters leaving Lebanon.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"ma=
x-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Not only d=
id Israel ignore Reagan=E2=80=99s attempts at de-escalation, it also defied=
 the multinational force, harassed its troops and endangered their lives,<s=
pan>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.wrmea.org/1983-april-4/letter-from-=
marine-commandant-barrow-to-defense-secretary-weinberger.html" style=3D"tex=
t-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">according to U.S. milit=
ary leaders</a>.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=
=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Ironically, when Israel invaded Beirut=
 in 1982 and threatened the American troops, it did so using<span>=C2=A0</s=
pan><a href=3D"https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/07/20/p=
resident-halts-shipment-of-cluster-shells-to-israel/aeba41dc-ba63-4b2b-8b6f=
-91f33f6649f9/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_bl=
ank">weapons supplied by Washington</a><span>=C2=A0</span>as part of the tw=
o countries=E2=80=99 long-standing defense arrangement.</font></b></p><h2 s=
tyle=3D"max-width:100%"><font size=3D"2" color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia,=
 serif">History repeats itself</font></h2><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><f=
ont color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">A similar scenario is unfoldi=
ng today.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><=
font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Just like Reagan and Begin=
=E2=80=99s clash in 1982, Trump and Netanyahu are engaged in what looks lik=
e a deadlock. In a recent phone call about Lebanon, Trump was reportedly ov=
erheard yelling at Netanyahu, =E2=80=9C<a href=3D"https://www.timesofisrael=
.com/trump-said-to-yell-at-netanyahu-youre-fking-crazy-youd-be-in-prison-if=
-not-for-me/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blan=
k">You=E2=80=99re f=E2=80=93king crazy. You=E2=80=99d be in prison if not f=
or me</a>,=E2=80=9D while pressing the Israeli government to scale back its=
 operation in Lebanon.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font c=
olor=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Today, as in 1982, Israel continue=
s to benefit from<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.military.com/dai=
ly-news/2026/01/31/us-approves-major-new-arms-sales-israel-worth-667-billio=
n-and-saudi-arabia-worth-9-billion.html" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-=
width:100%" target=3D"_blank">U.S. support and arms sales</a>. Congress has=
 even moved to<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/=
2026/5/30/us-congress-advances-american-israeli-military-integration-plan" =
style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">integrate U=
.S. and Israeli militaries</a>.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><=
b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Also, just like 1982, the=
 American president is considering<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www=
.cnn.com/2026/06/16/world/trump-syria-lebanon-hezbollah-analysis-intl" styl=
e=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">sending foreign=
 troops</a><span>=C2=A0</span>into Lebanon.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-w=
idth:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">But despite t=
he American military and political support, Israel<span>=C2=A0</span><a hre=
f=3D"https://thehill.com/policy/international/5915570-israel-defies-trump-i=
ran-strike/" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank=
">continues to brush aside</a><span>=C2=A0</span>any U.S policy that aims t=
o place limits on its regional power, effectively showing a glaring limitat=
ion of U.S. dominance over the region.</font></b></p><h2 style=3D"max-width=
:100%"><font size=3D"2" color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Lebanon a=
s an afterthought</font></h2><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"=
#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">When<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://=
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/8/us-iran-ceasefire-deal-what-are-the-terms-a=
nd-whats-next" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_bla=
nk">the U.S. and Iran initially agreed to a two-week ceasefire</a><span>=C2=
=A0</span>in April 2026, there was confusion over whether Lebanon was inclu=
ded in that deal. While Iran asserted Lebanon=E2=80=99s inclusion,<span>=C2=
=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/9/israeli_escalati=
on_in_lebanon" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_bla=
nk">Israel denied it and continued to bomb the country</a>.</font></b></p><=
p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, seri=
f">Lebanon became part of the equation because of Hezbollah=E2=80=99s actio=
ns after the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February 2026. Similar to =
how the Tehran-backed group<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://theconvers=
ation.com/hezbollah-degraded-weakened-but-not-yet-disarmed-destabilizes-leb=
anon-once-again-277327" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" targe=
t=3D"_blank">vowed solidarity with Hamas</a><span>=C2=A0</span>after Israel=
 bombed Gaza in response to Palestinian militants=E2=80=99<span>=C2=A0</spa=
n><a href=3D"https://www.britannica.com/event/October-7-attack" style=3D"te=
xt-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">attack on Israeli soil=
 on Oct.7, 2023</a>, Hezbollah struck Israel when Iran was hit.</font></b><=
/p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, =
serif">It reignited the simmering Hezbollah-Israeli war. Today,<span>=C2=A0=
</span><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/israeli-threats-to-occupy-or-=
annex-south-lebanon-dust-off-a-decades-old-playbook-279704" style=3D"text-d=
ecoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Israel occupies south Leba=
non and is threatening to annex it</a>.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width=
:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">The U.S.-released=
<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/17=
/trump-us-iran-war-mou-deal" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" =
target=3D"_blank">text of the latest Iran peace plan</a><span>=C2=A0</span>=
<a href=3D"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/6/4/lebanons-latest-truce-wh=
at-is-different-from-the-april-agreement" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max=
-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">explicitly includes</a><span>=C2=A0</span>Le=
banon.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><fon=
t color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">While that will introduce serio=
us points of friction with Israeli<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://the=
conversation.com/israeli-threats-to-occupy-or-annex-south-lebanon-dust-off-=
a-decades-old-playbook-279704" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%=
" target=3D"_blank">designs on the country</a>, the people in Lebanon, too,=
 will have many questions and concerns.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width=
:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">I believe the dea=
l will be seen as a welcome step but also a potential blow to Lebanon=E2=80=
=99s sovereignty. While the text aims to protect Lebanon=E2=80=99s =E2=80=
=9Cterritorial integrity,=E2=80=9D it does not reference Israel=E2=80=99s a=
ctual withdrawal from these lands, and it is unclear whether this issue wil=
l be discussed in future negotiations between Israel and Lebanon or between=
 the U.S and Iran.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:1=
00%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Furthermore, the ne=
w deal ignores Lebanon=E2=80=99s efforts to free itself from Iran=E2=80=99s=
 influence in the country through its Hezbollah ally.<span>=C2=A0</span></f=
ont></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"=
georgia, serif">In an unprecedented move in May, Lebanon filed a formal<spa=
n>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/20=
26/05/13/lebanon-files-un-complaint-against-iran-over-interference-hezbolla=
hisrael-war" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank=
">complaint against Iran at the United Nations Security Council</a>, direct=
ly accusing Tehran of violating the<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://le=
gal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf" style=3D=
"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Vienna Convention o=
n Diplomatic Relations</a><span>=C2=A0</span>for interfering in its soverei=
gn decisions and dragging the country into war.</font></b></p><p style=3D"m=
ax-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">In spite =
of<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/52545=
73-hezbollah-escalates-its-rhetoric-threatens-lebanese-govt" style=3D"text-=
decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Hezbollah=E2=80=99s open =
threats against the Lebanese government</a>, Lebanese representatives held =
the first of<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.lemonde.fr/en/interna=
tional/article/2026/05/14/lebanon-and-israel-meet-in-washington-for-tough-n=
egotiations-under-growing-pressure_6753447_4.html" style=3D"text-decoration=
:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">several planned direct negotiations=
 with Israeli counterparts in Washington</a>.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b>=
</p><h2 style=3D"max-width:100%"><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, s=
erif" size=3D"4"><i>Lebanon, Syria and a rocky path forward</i></font></h2>=
<p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, ser=
if">Indeed, the new U.S.-Iran deal can be interpreted as a step back for th=
e strength of an already weak Lebanese state. Indirectly, the deal cements =
Iran=E2=80=99s control on the country=E2=80=99s politics and, by extension,=
 Hezbollah.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b=
><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Furthermore, and just like=
 in 1982, the U.S. is proposing a foreign force to enter Lebanon and help e=
nd the violence. In fact,<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.washingt=
oninstitute.org/policy-analysis/us-should-not-encourage-syria-enter-lebanon=
" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Trump has=
 now twice mentioned the possibility of Syria playing a role in Lebanon</a>=
<span>=C2=A0</span>to enter and execute =E2=80=9Ca surgical attack on Hezbo=
llah.=E2=80=9D</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"=
#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">It is unclear whether the U.S. president i=
s using these comments just as a way to pressure Israel over Lebanon or whe=
ther there is an actual plan that includes a Syrian role in the country=E2=
=80=99s future. But just the mention of Syrian intervention<span>=C2=A0</sp=
an><a href=3D"https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/syria-send=
s-thousands-troops-lebanon-border-sources-say-2026-03-03/" style=3D"text-de=
coration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">evokes that country=E2=80=
=99s longtime occupation</a><span>=C2=A0</span>of Lebanon.<span>=C2=A0</spa=
n></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" fac=
e=3D"georgia, serif">In fact, at the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1991,=
 Syria established what amounted to<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://ww=
w.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/MEW2-03.htm" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-=
width:100%" target=3D"_blank">absolute political, military and economic heg=
emony over Lebanon</a>, during which<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://w=
ww.nytimes.com/2025/07/19/world/middleeast/lebanon-syrian-occupation-detain=
ees.html" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">t=
housands of Lebanese disappeared</a>.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p s=
tyle=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">=
The assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005 and the<s=
pan>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/leban=
ese-campaign-democracy-independence-intifada-or-cedar-revolution-2005" styl=
e=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Cedar Revolutio=
n that followed</a><span>=C2=A0</span>forced the Syrian troops out of Leban=
on.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><img src=
=3D"https://media.juancole.com/images/2026/06/ahmad-bader-zQ0U2FKdv1A-unspl=
ash.jpg" alt=3D"" width=3D"412" height=3D"387" style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 0.=
5em auto;display:block"><i style=3D"max-width:100%"><small style=3D"max-wid=
th:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Photo by<span>=
=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://unsplash.com/@palo1987?utm_source=3Dunsplas=
h&amp;utm_medium=3Dreferral&amp;utm_content=3DcreditCopyText" style=3D"text=
-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">AHMAD BADER</a><span>=C2=
=A0</span>on<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://unsplash.com/photos/a-fla=
g-flying-on-top-of-a-stone-structure-zQ0U2FKdv1A?utm_source=3Dunsplash&amp;=
utm_medium=3Dreferral&amp;utm_content=3DcreditCopyText" style=3D"text-decor=
ation:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Unsplash</a></font></b></small=
></i></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"geo=
rgia, serif">The fact that the new leadership in Syria is Sunni adds anothe=
r complication due to<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.cjpme.org/fs=
_026" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Leban=
on=E2=80=99s delicate sect-based balance of power</a>. If Damascus interfer=
es in Lebanon, sectarian violence could follow, as the Syrian military pres=
ence would likely be interpreted as direct opposition to Hezbollah=E2=80=99=
s Shiite fighters.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:1=
00%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">This is particularl=
y true since Ahmed al-Sharaa=E2=80=99s government was accused of<span>=C2=
=A0</span><a href=3D"https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165649" style=3D=
"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">violence against re=
ligious minorities in Syria, including the Alawites</a><span>=C2=A0</span>=
=E2=80=93 a religious sect close to Shia Islam =E2=80=93 and<span>=C2=A0</s=
pan><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/the-druze-are-a-tightly-knit-com=
munity-and-the-violence-in-syria-is-triggering-fears-in-lebanon-261931" sty=
le=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">the Druze</a>.=
<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font colo=
r=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">Whether Syria plays a decisive role i=
n Lebanon going forward, there is little doubt that the future of the U.S.-=
Iran deal depends on both Iran and Israel=E2=80=99s actions. So far, Israel=
 seems uninterested in following Trump=E2=80=99s leadership in the region a=
nd is gearing up to play a spoiler role.<span>=C2=A0</span></font></b></p><=
p style=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, seri=
f">For now, and absent new breakthroughs, Lebanon, with its sovereignty alm=
ost entirely eroded, seems destined to remain at the mercy of its larger ne=
ighbors in Iran, Israel and Syria =E2=80=93 and the erratic involvement of =
the U.S. abroad.</font></b><img src=3D"https://counter.theconversation.com/=
content/285340/count.gif?distributor=3Drepublish-lightbox-basic" alt=3D"The=
 Conversation" width=3D"1" height=3D"1" style=3D"max-width:100%;margin:0.5e=
m auto;display:block;height:auto"></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span sty=
le=3D"max-width:100%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif"><a=
 href=3D"https://theconversation.com/profiles/mireille-rebeiz-1503505" styl=
e=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">Mireille Rebeiz=
</a>, Director of Dickinson Program in New Zealand &amp; Associate Professo=
r of Politics at the University of Otago,<span>=C2=A0</span><em style=3D"ma=
x-width:100%"><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/institutions/dickinson=
-college-3288" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_bla=
nk">Dickinson College</a></em></font></b></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:1=
00%"><b><font color=3D"#000000" face=3D"georgia, serif">This article is rep=
ublished from<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/" st=
yle=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">The Conversat=
ion</a><span>=C2=A0</span>under a Creative Commons license. Read the<span>=
=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://theconversation.com/us-iran-deal-leaves-the=
-future-of-lebanon-uncertain-and-subject-to-israel-playing-the-spoiler-2853=
40" style=3D"text-decoration:none;max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">origina=
l article</a>.</font></b></p></div></div>
</div>
</div></div>

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Global Zeitgeist
The Hegemon We Made:Iran=E2=80=99s Rise and America=E2=80=99s Reckoning
<https://substack.com/@leonhadar>
Leon Hadar <https://substack.com/@leonhadar>
Jun 21, 2026

There is a particular irony =E2=80=94 the kind that history savors =E2=80=
=94 in the fact
that the United States set out in February 2026 to destroy Iran as a
regional power and ended up cementing its dominance. This is not a paradox.
It is a pattern. Anyone who has paid attention to American foreign policy
in the Middle East over the past three decades will recognize it
immediately, because it has happened before, and because many of us said,
in advance and in print, that it would happen again.

I wrote in *Quagmire* in 1992 that the United States had no strategic
interest in becoming the permanent arbiter of Middle Eastern politics, and
no capacity =E2=80=94 military, cultural, or institutional =E2=80=94 to rem=
ake the region
in its image. I wrote in *Sandstorm* in 2005 that the invasion of Iraq had
not diminished Iranian power but enormously magnified it, by eliminating
Tehran=E2=80=99s primary regional counterweight and handing the country=E2=
=80=99s Shia
majority a state. Washington=E2=80=99s response to both arguments, then and=
 now,
was to produce more think-tank papers, schedule more Senate hearings, and
launch more wars.

Now we are living in the aftermath of the latest iteration of this
catastrophe, and the picture is becoming unmistakably clear: Iran has
emerged from the 2026 war not as a broken state but as the preeminent power
in the Persian Gulf. The mullahs whom Trump promised to sweep from the
stage have been replaced, yes =E2=80=94 but by a harder, younger, more capa=
ble
military leadership under Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps that has shed the theological defensiveness of the founding
generation and adopted the cold strategic calculus of a state that knows it
survived, and knows what it survived. This is not the Iran that signed the
JCPOA. This is an Iran that has been to war and won.

Let us be precise about what =E2=80=9Cwinning=E2=80=9D means here, because =
Washington=E2=80=99s
defenders will dispute the term. Iran did not win in the sense of defeating
the United States militarily =E2=80=94 no one is suggesting the IRGC routed=
 the
Seventh Fleet. Iran won in the sense that matters strategically: it
preserved the regime, demonstrated the resilience of its military and
industrial capacity, neutralized the political will of its adversaries to
continue the campaign, and emerged with enhanced legitimacy at home and
elevated prestige across the region. It survived the decapitation attempt.
It reconstituted its missile forces faster than anticipated. And it now
controls, in practical terms, the Strait of Hormuz in a way that gives it
leverage over the global economy that no amount of American naval presence
can easily negate.

Trump declared =E2=80=9Ctotal and complete victory=E2=80=9D in early March.=
 By June, the
picture had changed entirely. This, too, is a pattern. Americans in
positions of power have a remarkable talent for declaring victory at the
moment the consequences of the war are only beginning to accumulate.

The realist tradition in American foreign policy =E2=80=94 the tradition of=
 Kennan,
of Morgenthau, of the Cato Institute where I spent many years =E2=80=94 war=
ned
against precisely this. It warned that states have national interests
rooted in geography, history, and demography that cannot be bombed away. It
warned that Iran, a civilization of three millennia with a population of
ninety million and a strategic location astride the world=E2=80=99s most im=
portant
waterways, is not a problem to be solved by air campaigns. It warned that
regime change fantasies, indulged by people who have never read Clausewitz
seriously, tend to produce not compliant successor governments but
radicalized, nationalized, and militarized versions of the adversary one
sought to eliminate.

The Gulf Arab states understood this, which is why =E2=80=94 with the parti=
al and
characteristically cynical exception of Riyadh =E2=80=94 they denied Washin=
gton
access to their airspace and made their opposition to the war unusually
public. They live next door to Iran. They cannot afford to mistake a
temporarily weakened adversary for a permanently defeated one. They knew
that a post-war Iran, whatever its internal configuration, would still be
there in the morning, and that they would have to negotiate the terms of
their coexistence with it long after the American aircraft carriers had
sailed home.

The miscalculations that produced this outcome were not intelligence
failures in the narrow sense. The intelligence was, by most accounts,
reasonably accurate about Iran=E2=80=99s military capabilities, the robustn=
ess of
its dispersed missile infrastructure, and the IRGC=E2=80=99s preparations f=
or a
prolonged campaign. The failure was political and strategic =E2=80=94 a fai=
lure of
judgment at the highest levels, rooted in the same magical thinking that
sent American troops into Baghdad in 2003 expecting to be greeted with
flowers.

Washington convinced itself that Iran=E2=80=99s restraint in 2024 and 2025 =
was
evidence of weakness. It was, as I wrote at the time, evidence of patience.
Iran=E2=80=99s leadership had studied the 2003 Iraq war. They had studied t=
he
Libyan intervention of 2011. They drew the same conclusion that any serious
strategist would draw: that American military operations in the region tend
to be swift in their opening phases and increasingly purposeless
thereafter, and that the optimal strategy for a targeted adversary is to
survive the initial blow, preserve capacity, and wait for American
political will to erode. This is not a novel insight. It is the strategic
logic of nearly every successful asymmetric campaign of the past
half-century.

The consequences now being registered across the Middle East are
predictable to anyone who was not wishfully thinking. American credibility
with Gulf partners has been severely damaged =E2=80=94 not because America =
launched
a war, but because it launched a war over their explicit objections,
inflicted collateral economic damage on them through Hormuz disruptions and
insurance premium explosions, and then failed to achieve the objectives it
promised would justify the exercise. The United States has demonstrated,
again, that it is an unpredictable partner whose grand strategic
commitments are subject to the enthusiasms of whatever administration
happens to be in office.

Meanwhile, Iran=E2=80=99s new leadership has learned the lesson of the war =
with the
unsentimental clarity that tends to follow near-death experiences. It has
shed the performative anti-Americanism of the Khomeini era =E2=80=94 which =
was
always as much theater as policy =E2=80=94 and replaced it with something m=
ore
purposeful and therefore more dangerous: a strategic orientation focused on
deterrence through capability rather than deterrence through rhetoric. The
new generation running the Islamic Republic did not come to power defending
a revolution. They came to power administering a state that had just
survived a superpower=E2=80=99s attempt to destroy it. That is a different =
kind of
authority, and it produces a different kind of foreign policy.

I have been writing about the Middle East and American foreign policy for
four decades. In that time, I have watched Washington make the same
category of error with remarkable consistency: confusing the desire for a
particular outcome with the analysis required to achieve it; mistaking
military dominance for political influence; and refusing to ask, before any
intervention, the question that Clausewitz identified as the first
obligation of the statesman =E2=80=94 what kind of war are we entering, and=
 what
are its realistic ends?

The answer to that question, had it been asked seriously in the winter of
2026, would have pointed toward a negotiated limitation of Iran=E2=80=99s n=
uclear
program, toward the patient containment and deterrence strategies that had
managed the Soviet threat for four decades without a nuclear exchange,
toward the recognition that a country of Iran=E2=80=99s size, history, and
strategic position cannot be eliminated from the regional equation and must
instead be managed. It would have pointed, in short, toward the boring,
unglamorous, institutionally demanding work of diplomacy that the foreign
policy establishment tends to find insufficiently satisfying.

Instead, we got a war. And now, surveying the landscape of the post-war
Middle East =E2=80=94 with Iran=E2=80=99s new leadership consolidated, its =
regional
prestige elevated, its control of critical waterways more firmly
established than at any point in the Islamic Republic=E2=80=99s history, an=
d
American influence with its Gulf partners at a multi-decade low =E2=80=94 w=
e are
left to contemplate, once again, the distance between what was promised and
what was delivered.

The hegemon we sought to destroy, we made. This is the lesson. Whether
Washington is capable of learning it remains, as always, the open question.

------------------------------
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v><div style=3D"display:flex"><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"width:728px;margin=
-bottom:16px;word-break:break-word"><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0p=
x 0px 20px">There is a particular irony =E2=80=94 the kind that history sav=
ors =E2=80=94 in the fact that the United States set out in February 2026 t=
o destroy Iran as a regional power and ended up cementing its dominance. Th=
is is not a paradox. It is a pattern. Anyone who has paid attention to Amer=
ican foreign policy in the Middle East over the past three decades will rec=
ognize it immediately, because it has happened before, and because many of =
us said, in advance and in print, that it would happen again.</p><p style=
=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">I wrote in=C2=A0<em>Quagmire</em=
>=C2=A0in 1992 that the United States had no strategic interest in becoming=
 the permanent arbiter of Middle Eastern politics, and no capacity =E2=80=
=94 military, cultural, or institutional =E2=80=94 to remake the region in =
its image. I wrote in=C2=A0<em>Sandstorm</em>=C2=A0in 2005 that the invasio=
n of Iraq had not diminished Iranian power but enormously magnified it, by =
eliminating Tehran=E2=80=99s primary regional counterweight and handing the=
 country=E2=80=99s Shia majority a state. Washington=E2=80=99s response to =
both arguments, then and now, was to produce more think-tank papers, schedu=
le more Senate hearings, and launch more wars.</p><p style=3D"line-height:1=
.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">Now we are living in the aftermath of the latest =
iteration of this catastrophe, and the picture is becoming unmistakably cle=
ar: Iran has emerged from the 2026 war not as a broken state but as the pre=
eminent power in the Persian Gulf. The mullahs whom Trump promised to sweep=
 from the stage have been replaced, yes =E2=80=94 but by a harder, younger,=
 more capable military leadership under Mojtaba Khamenei and the Islamic Re=
volutionary Guard Corps that has shed the theological defensiveness of the =
founding generation and adopted the cold strategic calculus of a state that=
 knows it survived, and knows what it survived. This is not the Iran that s=
igned the JCPOA. This is an Iran that has been to war and won.</p><p style=
=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">Let us be precise about what =E2=
=80=9Cwinning=E2=80=9D means here, because Washington=E2=80=99s defenders w=
ill dispute the term. Iran did not win in the sense of defeating the United=
 States militarily =E2=80=94 no one is suggesting the IRGC routed the Seven=
th Fleet. Iran won in the sense that matters strategically: it preserved th=
e regime, demonstrated the resilience of its military and industrial capaci=
ty, neutralized the political will of its adversaries to continue the campa=
ign, and emerged with enhanced legitimacy at home and elevated prestige acr=
oss the region. It survived the decapitation attempt. It reconstituted its =
missile forces faster than anticipated. And it now controls, in practical t=
erms, the Strait of Hormuz in a way that gives it leverage over the global =
economy that no amount of American naval presence can easily negate.</p><p =
style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">Trump declared =E2=80=9Ctot=
al and complete victory=E2=80=9D in early March. By June, the picture had c=
hanged entirely. This, too, is a pattern. Americans in positions of power h=
ave a remarkable talent for declaring victory at the moment the consequence=
s of the war are only beginning to accumulate.</p><p style=3D"line-height:1=
.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">The realist tradition in American foreign policy =
=E2=80=94 the tradition of Kennan, of Morgenthau, of the Cato Institute whe=
re I spent many years =E2=80=94 warned against precisely this. It warned th=
at states have national interests rooted in geography, history, and demogra=
phy that cannot be bombed away. It warned that Iran, a civilization of thre=
e millennia with a population of ninety million and a strategic location as=
tride the world=E2=80=99s most important waterways, is not a problem to be =
solved by air campaigns. It warned that regime change fantasies, indulged b=
y people who have never read Clausewitz seriously, tend to produce not comp=
liant successor governments but radicalized, nationalized, and militarized =
versions of the adversary one sought to eliminate.</p><p style=3D"line-heig=
ht:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">The Gulf Arab states understood this, which i=
s why =E2=80=94 with the partial and characteristically cynical exception o=
f Riyadh =E2=80=94 they denied Washington access to their airspace and made=
 their opposition to the war unusually public. They live next door to Iran.=
 They cannot afford to mistake a temporarily weakened adversary for a perma=
nently defeated one. They knew that a post-war Iran, whatever its internal =
configuration, would still be there in the morning, and that they would hav=
e to negotiate the terms of their coexistence with it long after the Americ=
an aircraft carriers had sailed home.</p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;marg=
in:0px 0px 20px">The miscalculations that produced this outcome were not in=
telligence failures in the narrow sense. The intelligence was, by most acco=
unts, reasonably accurate about Iran=E2=80=99s military capabilities, the r=
obustness of its dispersed missile infrastructure, and the IRGC=E2=80=99s p=
reparations for a prolonged campaign. The failure was political and strateg=
ic =E2=80=94 a failure of judgment at the highest levels, rooted in the sam=
e magical thinking that sent American troops into Baghdad in 2003 expecting=
 to be greeted with flowers.</p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0p=
x 20px">Washington convinced itself that Iran=E2=80=99s restraint in 2024 a=
nd 2025 was evidence of weakness. It was, as I wrote at the time, evidence =
of patience. Iran=E2=80=99s leadership had studied the 2003 Iraq war. They =
had studied the Libyan intervention of 2011. They drew the same conclusion =
that any serious strategist would draw: that American military operations i=
n the region tend to be swift in their opening phases and increasingly purp=
oseless thereafter, and that the optimal strategy for a targeted adversary =
is to survive the initial blow, preserve capacity, and wait for American po=
litical will to erode. This is not a novel insight. It is the strategic log=
ic of nearly every successful asymmetric campaign of the past half-century.=
</p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">The consequences now=
 being registered across the Middle East are predictable to anyone who was =
not wishfully thinking. American credibility with Gulf partners has been se=
verely damaged =E2=80=94 not because America launched a war, but because it=
 launched a war over their explicit objections, inflicted collateral econom=
ic damage on them through Hormuz disruptions and insurance premium explosio=
ns, and then failed to achieve the objectives it promised would justify the=
 exercise. The United States has demonstrated, again, that it is an unpredi=
ctable partner whose grand strategic commitments are subject to the enthusi=
asms of whatever administration happens to be in office.</p><p style=3D"lin=
e-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">Meanwhile, Iran=E2=80=99s new leadershi=
p has learned the lesson of the war with the unsentimental clarity that ten=
ds to follow near-death experiences. It has shed the performative anti-Amer=
icanism of the Khomeini era =E2=80=94 which was always as much theater as p=
olicy =E2=80=94 and replaced it with something more purposeful and therefor=
e more dangerous: a strategic orientation focused on deterrence through cap=
ability rather than deterrence through rhetoric. The new generation running=
 the Islamic Republic did not come to power defending a revolution. They ca=
me to power administering a state that had just survived a superpower=E2=80=
=99s attempt to destroy it. That is a different kind of authority, and it p=
roduces a different kind of foreign policy.</p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6e=
m;margin:0px 0px 20px">I have been writing about the Middle East and Americ=
an foreign policy for four decades. In that time, I have watched Washington=
 make the same category of error with remarkable consistency: confusing the=
 desire for a particular outcome with the analysis required to achieve it; =
mistaking military dominance for political influence; and refusing to ask, =
before any intervention, the question that Clausewitz identified as the fir=
st obligation of the statesman =E2=80=94 what kind of war are we entering, =
and what are its realistic ends?</p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0p=
x 0px 20px">The answer to that question, had it been asked seriously in the=
 winter of 2026, would have pointed toward a negotiated limitation of Iran=
=E2=80=99s nuclear program, toward the patient containment and deterrence s=
trategies that had managed the Soviet threat for four decades without a nuc=
lear exchange, toward the recognition that a country of Iran=E2=80=99s size=
, history, and strategic position cannot be eliminated from the regional eq=
uation and must instead be managed. It would have pointed, in short, toward=
 the boring, unglamorous, institutionally demanding work of diplomacy that =
the foreign policy establishment tends to find insufficiently satisfying.</=
p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">Instead, we got a war.=
 And now, surveying the landscape of the post-war Middle East =E2=80=94 wit=
h Iran=E2=80=99s new leadership consolidated, its regional prestige elevate=
d, its control of critical waterways more firmly established than at any po=
int in the Islamic Republic=E2=80=99s history, and American influence with =
its Gulf partners at a multi-decade low =E2=80=94 we are left to contemplat=
e, once again, the distance between what was promised and what was delivere=
d.</p><p style=3D"line-height:1.6em;margin:0px 0px 20px">The hegemon we sou=
ght to destroy, we made. This is the lesson. Whether Washington is capable =
of learning it remains, as always, the open question.</p><p style=3D"line-h=
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Subject: [Salon] Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatens to upend a
 U.S.-Iran peace agreement.
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*From the Wall Street Journal, a deliberately misleading headline and
description that is typical of mainstream media biases.  The only reason
there is fighting in Lebanon is that Israel and the United States launched
an unprovoked attack on Iran, Hezbollah reacted, and Israel has invaded it
and sought to depopulate and demolish it as it has Gaza.  This was preceded
by Israeli attacks on Hezbollah that decimated its leadership echelon and a
ceasefire in which Israel, as in Gaza, did not cease fire.  The problem is
not Lebanon or Hezbollah, which came into being to resist
Israeli aggression and occupation in Lebanon.  It is Israel and its effort
to ethnically cleanse the Levant and subjugate all in West Asia.*
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatens to upend a U.S.-Iran peace
agreement.

Vice President JD Vance is in Switzerland for talks with Iran
<https://www.wsj.com/topics/place/iran> that the U.S. had hoped would
center on Tehran=E2=80=99s nuclear program. Instead they have been diverted=
 to
focusing on a flare-up of violence in Lebanon that prompted Iran to say it
was closing the Strait of Hormuz. While Vance was upbeat after his initial
round of talks today, President Trump took to social media to lash out at
Iran, threatening to strike it
<https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/war-in-lebanon-casts-shadow-over-ren=
ewed-iran-u-s-nuclear-talks-f457c7e9?mod=3Darticle_inline>
again
if it doesn=E2=80=99t rein in Hezbollah.

--0000000000005dc7dd0654c5e9ca
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><i>From the Wall Street Journal, a deliberately misleading=
 headline and description that is typical of mainstream=C2=A0media biases.=
=C2=A0 The only reason there is fighting in Lebanon is that Israel and the =
United States launched an unprovoked attack on Iran, Hezbollah reacted, and=
 Israel has invaded it and sought to depopulate and demolish it as it has G=
aza.=C2=A0 This was preceded by Israeli attacks on Hezbollah that decimated=
 its leadership echelon and a ceasefire in which Israel, as in Gaza, did no=
t cease fire.=C2=A0 The problem is not Lebanon or Hezbollah,=C2=A0which cam=
e into being to=C2=A0resist Israeli=C2=A0aggression and occupation in=C2=A0=
Lebanon.=C2=A0 It is Israel and its effort to ethnically=C2=A0cleanse the=
=C2=A0Levant and subjugate all in West=C2=A0Asia.</i><div><h4 class=3D"gmai=
l-css-1cpfs5z-Smallhed e1oou4m30" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;margin-bot=
tom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:24px;font-weight:500;font-family:Retina,=
Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah threatens=
 to upend a U.S.-Iran peace agreement.</h4><p class=3D"gmail-css-1qg6i2u ee=
w040j0" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;direction:ltr;font-family:Exchange,G=
eorgia,serif;font-size:18px;margin:0px 0px 1em">Vice President JD Vance is =
in Switzerland for talks with=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.wsj.com/topics/pl=
ace/iran" target=3D"_blank" class=3D"ekxajjj0 gmail-css-i0lbhy-OverridedLin=
k" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;display:inline;color:rgb(34,34,34);text-d=
ecoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid rgb(34,34,34)">Iran</a>=C2=A0that th=
e U.S. had hoped would center on Tehran=E2=80=99s nuclear program. Instead =
they have been diverted to focusing on a flare-up of violence in Lebanon th=
at prompted Iran to say it was closing the Strait of Hormuz. While Vance wa=
s upbeat after his initial round of talks today, President Trump took to so=
cial media to lash out at Iran,=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.wsj.com/world/m=
iddle-east/war-in-lebanon-casts-shadow-over-renewed-iran-u-s-nuclear-talks-=
f457c7e9?mod=3Darticle_inline" target=3D"_blank" class=3D"ekxajjj0 gmail-cs=
s-i0lbhy-OverridedLink" style=3D"box-sizing:border-box;display:inline;color=
:rgb(34,34,34);text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid rgb(34,34,34)">=
threatening to strike it</a>=C2=A0again if it doesn=E2=80=99t rein in Hezbo=
llah.</p></div></div>

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To: Ann Crittenden via Salon <salon@listserve.com>
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Subject: [Salon] Tulsi Gabbard,
 her guru and the mysterious messages that helped shape her
 political career
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Wow. Impressive reporting here=E2=80=A6 Tulsi Gabbard, her guru and the mys=
terious
messages that helped shape her political career - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-gabbard-her-=
guru-mysterious-messages-that-helped-shape-her-political-career/

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<div dir=3D"auto">Wow. Impressive reporting here=E2=80=A6 Tulsi Gabbard, he=
r guru and the mysterious messages that helped shape her political career -=
 The Washington Post


<a href=3D"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-g=
abbard-her-guru-mysterious-messages-that-helped-shape-her-political-career/=
">https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-gabbard-he=
r-guru-mysterious-messages-that-helped-shape-her-political-career/</a>
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> On Jun 20, 2026, at 5:58=E2=80=AFPM, Chas Freeman via Salon <salon@listser=
ve.com> wrote:
>=20
> =EF=BB=BF
> https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-biotech=
?giftId=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz
>=20
> Wrong prescription
> Don=E2=80=99t restrict Chinese biotech
>=20
> Patients benefit from faster, cheaper treatments, wherever they are invent=
ed
>=20
> Photograph: Alamy
> Jun 18th 2026|3 min read
> Listen to this story
> Someone whose life is saved by a new medicine is unlikely to care whether i=
t was invented at home or on the other side of the world. Yet America=E2=80=99=
s policymakers have begun treating China=E2=80=99s biotechnology industry as=
 the next front in the tech war. A bill before Congress would amend the COIN=
S Act, which restricts American investment in sensitive technologies abroad,=
 to include licensing Chinese biotech. Some want the Food and Drug Administr=
ation (FDA), America=E2=80=99s drug regulator, to disregard clinical-trial d=
ata from China.
>=20
> America=E2=80=99s worries have been brought about by a remarkable shift in=
 where innovation happens. Chinese firms ran nearly a third of the world=E2=80=
=99s clinical trials last year, up from just 6% a decade earlier. China is n=
ow the world=E2=80=99s second-largest source of new drugs, behind only Ameri=
ca itself. In 2025 nearly half of licensing deals worth $50m or more were st=
ruck with Chinese firms, up from none in 2020. In some categories, such as a=
ntibody-drug conjugates, a promising class of cancer treatments, Chinese fir=
ms accounted for almost all the licensing.
>=20
> To view Chinese medical innovation as anything other than good news would b=
e a mistake. In AI and semiconductors, America worries about its intellectua=
l property leaking to China. In biotechnology the flow of information runs i=
n the opposite direction. And though anxiety about China=E2=80=99s dominance=
 in the physical supply chain for drugs is understandable=E2=80=94the countr=
y accounts for over 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for essenti=
al drugs=E2=80=94manufacturing resilience and scientific collaboration are d=
ifferent issues. America cannot lose from gaining new knowledge.
>=20
> Setting aside Chinese advances would be especially foolish, given that dru=
g development suffers from poor productivity. Bringing a new medicine to mar=
ket now costs roughly $2.8bn and can take well over a decade. Policymakers o=
ften complain about the rising cost of medicines. Yet proposals such as disr=
egarding Chinese clinical-trial data would lengthen development timelines, r=
aise costs and make drug discovery less productive. Does Congress really wan=
t pioneering treatments to be available in Europe or Asia before they reach A=
mericans?
>=20
> Some politicians fear that if drug firms spend their research budgets lice=
nsing Chinese molecules, less capital will be available for American biotech=
nology. But investment is not a lump to be divvied up. As the AI boom shows,=
 when opportunities grow, so capital flows in. What matters is to make sure t=
hat American biotech is not hindered by bad policies. Fortunately, American f=
irms remain the world=E2=80=99s leaders in drug discovery. They possess deep=
 expertise in taking promising molecules through late-stage clinical trials,=
 regulatory review and commercial launch. Chinese biotechnology executives p=
rivately acknowledge the FDA as the global regulatory leader.
>=20
> America=E2=80=99s recent choices are blunting its edge. The FDA has suffer=
ed high turnover among senior officials, including the resignation of Marty M=
akary, its head. Decision-making has been politicised: firms can receive =E2=
=80=9Cpriority vouchers=E2=80=9D that speed up reviews in return for lowerin=
g their prices and investing in domestic manufacturing. Funding for the Nati=
onal Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the w=
orld, has been slashed. Research programmes have been cancelled for ideologi=
cal reasons. At the same time, immigration policies are making America a les=
s attractive destination for the scientists on whom the industry depends, in=
cluding many talented researchers from China.
>=20
> Take the red pill
>=20
> America should fix those problems rather than locking out Chinese innovati=
on. The best world for patients is one in which both China and America devel=
op cheap and effective drugs. Diseases cross borders. So should their cures.=
 =E2=96=A0
>=20
>=20
> --
> Salon mailing list
> Salon@listserve.com
> https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon

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<html class=3D"apple-mail-supports-explicit-dark-mode"><head><meta http-equi=
v=3D"content-type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body dir=3D=
"auto"><div dir=3D"ltr"></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><b=
r><blockquote type=3D"cite">On Jun 20, 2026, at 5:58=E2=80=AFPM, Chas Freema=
n via Salon &lt;salon@listserve.com&gt; wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><bl=
ockquote type=3D"cite"><div dir=3D"ltr">=EF=BB=BF<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><a hr=
ef=3D"https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-bio=
tech?giftId=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz">https://www.=
economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-biotech?giftId=3DZDJk=
ODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz</a></div><div><br></div><div>
<div class=3D"gmail-css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-1nbyogb e=
4384g60"><span class=3D"gmail-css-z3012 e17k1v3f0">Wrong prescription</span>=
</div><h1 class=3D"gmail-css-1tik00t e1qjd5lc0">Don=E2=80=99t restrict Chine=
se biotech</h1><h2 class=3D"gmail-css-1xjkmih e6h2z500">Patients benefit fro=
m faster, cheaper treatments, wherever they are invented</h2><div class=3D"g=
mail-css-bcvd5n e1c90fta0"><div class=3D"gmail-flex_mb-flex__6laMs gmail-fle=
x_mb-flex--row__44kW8 gmail-flex_mb-flex--gap-sm__rAZkB gmail-flex_mb-flex--=
wrap__pcDfg"></div></div></div><div class=3D"gmail-css-vpmedt e1a1lgff0"><im=
g alt=3D"Employees work in a factory of Fusen Pharmaceutical Company in Nany=
ang, Henan Province, China" width=3D"1280" height=3D"720" style=3D"color: tr=
ansparent;" src=3D"https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=3D1424,qual=
ity=3D80,format=3Dauto/content-assets/images/20260620_LDP502.jpg" data-uniqu=
e-identifier=3D""><span class=3D"gmail-css-1st60ou e15o9k8g1">Photograph: Al=
amy</span></div><div class=3D"gmail-css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class=3D"gma=
il-css-15hjsnd euf71ye0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-1qcvsun e1g8zjgp0"><div cla=
ss=3D"gmail-css-jbc7vr el417p50"><div class=3D"gmail-css-zr3q0n e5z0ibw0"> J=
un 18th 2026<span class=3D"gmail-css-1x6wy4g e1g8zjgp1">|</span><span class=3D=
"gmail-css-cskdai e1g8zjgp2">3 min read</span></div></div></div><div class=3D=
"gmail-css-ei3lv3 e1or0ueq0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-s6z5ja e2uyjhs0"><div>L=
isten to this story</div></div><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0"><spa=
n>S</span><small>omeone</small> <small>whose</small>
 life is saved by a new medicine is unlikely to care whether it was=20
invented at home or on the other side of the world. Yet America=E2=80=99s=20=

policymakers have begun treating China=E2=80=99s biotechnology industry as t=
he=20
next front in the tech war. A bill before Congress would amend the <small>CO=
INS</small>
 Act, which restricts American investment in sensitive technologies=20
abroad, to include licensing Chinese biotech. Some want the Food and=20
Drug Administration (<small>FDA</small>), America=E2=80=99s drug regulator, t=
o disregard clinical-trial data from China.</p><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll=
 e1y9q0ei0">America=E2=80=99s
 worries have been brought about by a remarkable shift in where=20
innovation happens. Chinese firms ran nearly a third of the world=E2=80=99s=20=

clinical trials last year, up from just 6% a decade earlier. China is=20
now the world=E2=80=99s second-largest source of new drugs, behind only Amer=
ica=20
itself. In 2025 nearly half of licensing deals worth $50m or more were=20
struck with Chinese firms, up from none in 2020. In some categories,=20
such as antibody-drug conjugates, a promising class of cancer=20
treatments, Chinese firms accounted for almost all the licensing.</p><p clas=
s=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">To view Chinese medical innovation as anyt=
hing other than good news would be a mistake. In <small>AI</small>
 and semiconductors, America worries about its intellectual property=20
leaking to China. In biotechnology the flow of information runs in the=20
opposite direction. And though anxiety about China=E2=80=99s dominance in th=
e=20
physical supply chain for drugs is understandable=E2=80=94the country accoun=
ts=20
for over 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for essential=20
drugs=E2=80=94manufacturing resilience and scientific collaboration are=20
different issues. America cannot lose from gaining new knowledge.</p><p clas=
s=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Setting
 aside Chinese advances would be especially foolish, given that drug=20
development suffers from poor productivity. Bringing a new medicine to=20
market now costs roughly $2.8bn and can take well over a decade.=20
Policymakers often complain about the rising cost of medicines. Yet=20
proposals such as disregarding Chinese clinical-trial data would=20
lengthen development timelines, raise costs and make drug discovery less
 productive. Does Congress really want pioneering treatments to be=20
available in Europe or Asia before they reach Americans?</p><p class=3D"gmai=
l-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Some
 politicians fear that if drug firms spend their research budgets=20
licensing Chinese molecules, less capital will be available for American
 biotechnology. But investment is not a lump to be divvied up. As the <small=
>AI</small>
 boom shows, when opportunities grow, so capital flows in. What matters=20
is to make sure that American biotech is not hindered by bad policies.=20
Fortunately, American firms remain the world=E2=80=99s leaders in drug=20
discovery. They possess deep expertise in taking promising molecules=20
through late-stage clinical trials, regulatory review and commercial=20
launch. Chinese biotechnology executives privately acknowledge the <small>FD=
A</small> as the global regulatory leader.</p><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e=
1y9q0ei0">America=E2=80=99s recent choices are blunting its edge. The <small=
>FDA</small>
 has suffered high turnover among senior officials, including the=20
resignation of Marty Makary, its head. Decision-making has been=20
politicised: firms can receive =E2=80=9Cpriority vouchers=E2=80=9D that spee=
d up reviews
 in return for lowering their prices and investing in domestic=20
manufacturing. Funding for the National Institutes of Health, the=20
largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has been slashed.=20
Research programmes have been cancelled for ideological reasons. At the=20
same time, immigration policies are making America a less attractive=20
destination for the scientists on whom the industry depends, including=20
many talented researchers from China.</p><h2 class=3D"gmail-css-1vv6jyl e18n=
v6n10">Take the red pill</h2><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Americ=
a
 should fix those problems rather than locking out Chinese innovation.=20
The best world for patients is one in which both China and America=20
develop cheap and effective drugs. Diseases cross borders. So should=20
their cures. <span class=3D"gmail-ufinish">=E2=96=A0</span></p></div></div><=
/div>

<br></div></div>
<span>-- </span><br><span>Salon mailing list</span><br><span>Salon@listserve=
.com</span><br><span>https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon</span=
><br></div></blockquote></body></html>=

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Global <https://www.theatlantic.com/international/>  THE ATLANTIC

*How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi*

A case study in self-sabotage

*By Idrees Kahloon <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/>*

*Illustrations by Joan Wong*

[image: illustration with Big Ben clocktower sinking beneath waves at angle
on purple and black background]

June 10, 2026

[image: illustration with Big Ben clocktower sinking beneath waves at angle
on purple background]

Listen1.0x

Seek

0:0029:26

Who broke Britain? Someone=E2=80=94or something=E2=80=94must have. The past=
 18 years,
enough time for a whole lost generation to be born and brought up, have
yielded nothing but stagnation and mass disillusionment. In 2007, before
the global financial crisis, Britain was at its postimperial zenith. Median
household income had just surpassed that of Germany. A pound was worth more
than $2, and London was arguably displacing New York as the center of
international banking.


But since then, Britain has been left behind. The country=E2=80=99s output =
per
person is now only just above that of Mississippi
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/britain-mississippi-econ=
omy-comparison/675039/>,
America=E2=80=99s poorest state=E2=80=94and that slight lead is only achiev=
ed thanks to
London. Outside the capital, in places where tourists do not visit, living
standards fall well below Mississippi=E2=80=99s. Brits visiting the United =
States
find that their currency has depreciated to the point where the pound today
buys only about $1.35. British wages have lagged well behind those in the
U.S., and also those in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark; once you
account for inflation, they=E2=80=99ve barely grown at all. Within the next=
 decade,
the typical Pole will have a standard of living equal to the typical Brit,
if current trends continue.

One generation ago, Britain was a major global power; today, it is a
middling one, gripped by sclerosis. Taxation is at the highest level since
World War II, yet public services have deteriorated. The National Health
Service, the celebrated pillar of the British cradle-to-grave welfare
state, has a backlog of 6 million patients
<https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/press=
ures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis>=E2=80=94almost
a tenth of the population=E2=80=94waiting for treatment. The health service=
 now has
to spend more money settling maternity-malpractice claims
<https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/20/nhs-facing-absolutely-shoc=
king-27bn-bill-for-maternity-failings-in-england>
than
it does on actually providing maternity care. Many Brits can neither obtain
an appointment with a publicly funded dentist nor afford a private one; in
a 2023 survey, one in 10 reported doing DIY dental work, in extreme cases
extracting their own teeth or gluing broken crowns back together.

Incomes can be shockingly low: Junior doctors recently went on strike for
the 15th time in three years over their salaries, which start at just
=C2=A338,800; the median salary for British civil servants is =C2=A335,680.=
 In April,
amid the Iran conflict, the *Daily Mail* pounced on Prime Minister Keir
Starmer for vacationing in Valencia, Spain, at what the tabloid described
as a luxury hotel, costing =C2=A3200 a night.

Some in Britain blame rotten luck=E2=80=94the 2008 financial crash, the cor=
onavirus
pandemic, an energy crisis after Russia invaded Ukraine. But other
countries endured these challenges too. What differentiated Britain was its
self-sabotaging responses to these and other problems. Brexit is the most
famous example, but hardly the only one. Bad choices, beginning just after
the financial crisis, begot worse ones. As public disillusionment has
grown, politicians have been rotated swiftly in and out of power, abruptly
terminating whatever policies they had started. Six different prime
ministers have governed since the 2010 general election. They do not seem
to be getting more talented over time. Less than two years after Starmer=E2=
=80=99s
Labour Party took power, his net approval rating has plunged to minus 42
points. He is widely expected to resign this year, and may have done so by
the time you read this.

The country=E2=80=99s downward slide has been consistent in one respect: As=
 Britain
has become more and more aware of its diminishment, it has retreated ever
more fully into a defensive crouch. Politics have become zero-sum,
descending into fights over who has robbed whom. Suspicion has fallen,
above all, on immigrants, whom both major parties have turned against.
There is still an enduring strain of British exceptionalism, quieter and
more understated than the American version, which suggests that by
retreating inward, Britain can make itself great again. Astonishingly, or
perhaps predictably, it is growing stronger as the country=E2=80=99s proble=
ms get
worse.

In fairness, the 2008 financial crisis hit Britain especially hard. In the
1990s, both the Tories and Tony Blair=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CNew Labour=E2=80=
=9D Party made the same
bet: Britain was to be a postindustrial, services-based economy, anchored
in finance. Tax receipts from a booming London would be redistributed to
lagging regions in the old industrial heartland, helping to renew them.
Then came 2008, and London=E2=80=99s financial industry cratered.

But the government=E2=80=99s actions during and after the crisis compounded=
 the
damage. Rather than increase spending to revive depressed demand, as modern
Keynesians would counsel, the government, then led by Conservative Prime
Minister David Cameron, opted to slash budgets as revenue plunged. The
theory was that fiscal discipline=E2=80=94cutting spending more sharply tha=
n
Britain=E2=80=99s peer countries=E2=80=94would inspire confidence and spur =
growth. At the
time, deficits and debt were seen as immoral; unlike profligate Greece,
Britain would manage its affairs prudently.

The promised growth did not materialize, and austerity left scars that
linger still. Funding for day-to-day NHS operations was maintained, for
instance, but only by cannibalizing the capital budget. A 2024 government
report found
<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-investigation-of-th=
e-nhs-in-england/summary-letter-from-lord-darzi-to-the-secretary-of-state-f=
or-health-and-social-care>
that,
as a result of austerity, Britain has =E2=80=9Ccrumbling buildings, mental =
health
patients being accommodated in Victoria-era cells infested with vermin with
17 men sharing two showers, and parts of the NHS operating in decrepit
portacabins.=E2=80=9D



After austerity cuts to welfare benefits took effect, the share of children
who grew up in long-term poverty, meaning half their childhood or more,
shot up from about 14 percent to 23 percent
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy/article/l=
ongterm-childhood-poverty-in-britain-trends-and-drivers-across-the-19912017=
-birth-cohorts/EB82A755D2D572C5BDA573EE31753C32>.
Nutrition appeared to suffer, and doctors reported increased cases of
diseases stemming from vitamin deficiencies, such as rickets and scurvy.

Local governments, called councils, saw their grants from the central
government fall by 40 percent from 2010 to 2020. In 2023, Birmingham City
Council, which is responsible for more than 1 million residents,
effectively declared bankruptcy. One-third of all English councils could do
the same within five years.

Austerity was felt most harshly by those who were already suffering after
deindustrialization. The welfare state had partially compensated the losers
from globalization. When it abruptly shrank=E2=80=94because the masters of =
the
universe had miscalculated=E2=80=94anger erupted upward, at British elites,=
 and
also outward, at European migrants, who were competing for jobs and public
services. It was because of this political pressure that Cameron made
another fateful decision: to hold the Brexit referendum in 2016. This was a
gambit; Cameron expected the vote to fail. He did not want to leave the
European Union, but he wanted to arrest the rise of figures such as Nigel
Farage, the longtime gadfly of British politics, who had been campaigning
for withdrawal from the EU for decades. Left-behind Britain, the places
especially harmed by austerity cuts, voted overwhelmingly to leave. The
morning after he lost the referendum, Cameron resigned, ushering in a
period of political instability that has now lasted a decade, and shows no
sign of ending.



Settling the formal Brexit deal took almost four years of negotiations
<https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/how-no-deal-brex=
it-became-new-normal/596524/>
between
Britain and the EU. The resulting uncertainty took a toll on British
businesses even then. In 2018, one year before his ascension to prime
minister
<https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/boris-johnson-ministe=
r-of-chaos/619010/>,
Boris Johnson was asked by a European diplomat about these adverse effects.
He replied, =E2=80=9CFuck business.=E2=80=9D And indeed, something like tha=
t happened. A
recent paper on =E2=80=9CThe Economic Impact of Brexit
<https://www.nber.org/papers/w34459>,=E2=80=9D by five economists, calculat=
ed that
Brexit caused business investment to drop by 12 to 18 percent, productivity
and employment to decline by about 3 to 4 percent, and, most striking, GDP
per capita to fall by 6 to 8 percent=E2=80=94twice as much as earlier estim=
ates.
The harms weren=E2=80=99t all immediately visible. As with austerity, they
accumulated over time
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/brexit-labor-party-immig=
ration-keir-starmer/673928/>
.

Outside London, the consequences of almost two lost decades are
unignorable. Stoke-on-Trent, in the West Midlands, about 150 miles north of
London, was once the ceramics capital of Britain, and quite probably the
world. It was geologically blessed by rich seams of both coal and clay; its
wares were transported by canal to Liverpool for export. The whole area
became known as the Potteries. Stoke once held some 2,000 bottle
kilns=E2=80=94huge, bulbous structures in which crockery from companies suc=
h as
Wedgwood were fired.

Today only 47 remain; the industry employs perhaps 5,000 people=E2=80=94dow=
n from
some 300,000 in 1984. And because of Britain=E2=80=99s extraordinary energy=
 costs,
this number is still declining. Depleted oil drilling in the North Sea and
a failure to invest in alternative energy sources have left the country
reliant on imported energy, staggering consumers and industry alike. From
2004 to 2024, electricity costs for British businesses more than tripled
(even after adjusting for inflation), and are now the highest in the world.

[image: black-and-white photo of large bottle-shaped buildings along canal,
with homes and smokestack in background]

Hulton Archive / Getty

Bottle kilns, used in the manufacture of dinnerware and other pottery, in
Stoke-on-Trent, circa 1948

In March, I visited Middleport Pottery
<https://www.facebook.com/MiddleportPottery/>, the last remaining ceramics
factory that has operated continuously since the Victorian era. A charming
elderly guide named Phil Knott showed me around, pointing out the ceramics
and crockery that the company supplies to the private residence of King
Charles III. In most rooms we entered, he introduced me by saying, =E2=80=
=9CThis
man here is from Washington to write an article about the ceramics
industry.=E2=80=9D Though the factory once employed some 400 workers, it no=
w has
only 18. Middleport uses smaller gas ovens today, but its last bottle kiln
(there once were seven) still sits outside, a vestige of a bygone time. All
along the kiln=E2=80=99s exterior=E2=80=94where heat and smoke and ash once=
 escaped=E2=80=94small
trees and plants have taken root in the dormant structure.

The deindustrialization of Stoke began a long time ago. In the 1980s, Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher ushered in her =E2=80=9Csupply side=E2=80=9D rev=
olution,
emphasizing privatization and breaking the trade unions. This improved the
country=E2=80=99s fortunes, but not those of all its parts. Thatcherism hit=
 Stoke
hard, causing closures of factories, steelworks, and mines. Lisa Healings,
who runs the charity Voluntary Action Stoke-on-Trent, lived through that as
a young girl. VAST works with a network of charities to provide food, job
training, and counseling, but the group is fighting economic gravity.
=E2=80=9CThere=E2=80=99s now a third generation almost coming through,=E2=
=80=9D Healings told me,
whose =E2=80=9Cparents were unemployed, their grandparents were unemployed,=
 and
they don=E2=80=99t see any future for themselves other than living on benef=
its and
being unemployed.=E2=80=9D

Austerity was particularly brutal to places like Stoke, where a large share
of the population was already dependent on government benefits. Two out of
every five children in Stoke live in poverty, one of the highest rates in
Britain, and in 2022, the city had one of the highest rates of infant
mortality in the country.

Since the turn of this century, successive governments have tried and
mostly failed to correct basic problems. In 2003, John Prescott, Blair=E2=
=80=99s
deputy prime minister, started a policy called =E2=80=9CPathfinder,=E2=80=
=9D which aimed to
demolish and replace worn-down housing in postindustrial places such as
Stoke. Cameron=E2=80=99s government abruptly defunded it in 2010, leaving e=
mpty
eyesore lots where demolition had finished but building had not yet begun.
In 2019, Johnson promised that a new economic-revitalization plan called
=E2=80=9CLeveling Up=E2=80=9D would =E2=80=9Canswer the plea of the forgott=
en people and the
left-behind towns.=E2=80=9D But few specifics were forthcoming until three =
years
later, only months before Johnson resigned. The funding it provided was a
pittance compared with the support withdrawn from local governments under
austerity.

It is in places like Stoke where discontent with London and Brussels is
highest. During the 2016 referendum, 69 percent of residents voted to leave
the EU=E2=80=94the highest share of any city in the country. Afterward, Sto=
ke was
branded =E2=80=9Cthe capital of Brexit.=E2=80=9D

My train north from London was, like many, seriously delayed=E2=80=94in thi=
s case
because of a loose panel on a front car. =E2=80=9CHopefully it=E2=80=99ll h=
old on until we
get to Manchester,=E2=80=9D the conductor announced. This information left =
me,
rather like the panel, flappable, but it had no discernible effect on my
fellow passengers. Although Americans should generally not cast aspersions
on the rail services of other countries, the episode was yet another
reminder of Britain=E2=80=99s degraded state.

Recent plans to transform the country have rested in no small part on High
Speed 2, a superfast rail line intended to connect London with Birmingham,
Leeds, and Manchester. But since HS2 was proposed, in 2009, its costs have
tripled, to more than =C2=A3100 billion. It is the most expensive rail line=
 in
the world. (A special structure to protect a rare bat species near the rail
line in Buckinghamshire required 8,000 permits and was built at a cost of
=C2=A3216 million.) The most important sections of the proposed route have =
been
lopped off. The rump line=E2=80=94going from Birmingham, Britain=E2=80=99s =
second-largest
city, to not-quite-central London=E2=80=94may be finished by 2040.

In Birmingham, a local named Gerry Moynihan walked me from the city center
to the benighted HS2 terminus. Moynihan=E2=80=94a pleasant, white-haired fo=
rmer
lawyer with a dyspeptic X account often focused on his hometown=E2=80=99s
troubles=E2=80=94was eager to show me what had gone wrong. He pointed out a=
 large
site called Smithfield, formerly the location of grocery wholesalers whose
warehouses had been vacant for many years. We passed a few film studios
along the canal, some of the more promising businesses that have sprouted
up in recent years. Moynihan admitted that their existence poses some
challenge to an oft-repeated remark of his=E2=80=94=E2=80=9CI see nothing o=
f merit in this
city=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94but then redirected my attention to the gargantuan po=
tholes in the
road, gouged so deep that you could see the Victorian-era cobblestones
below; to the trash piled up in vacant lots; and to the discarded boxes for
extra-large canisters of nitrous oxide, which is routinely abused in
Birmingham.

To get to the HS2 terminus, at Curzon Street Station, Moynihan and I walked
along the route of an attempted Birmingham-metro-rail extension, which has
itself been beset by delays and cost overruns: a localized version of the
HS2 debacle. I could see crawler cranes and excavators moving busily
around; huge Y-shaped piers that will, perhaps in a decade, hoist the
high-speed rail stood disconnected from each other. HS2 has been delayed
for so long that two swiftly built towers near the terminus now themselves
look derelict and in need of demolition. =E2=80=9CIf you=E2=80=99re a devel=
oper, why would
you invest here? The only reason is HS2, and it is moribund,=E2=80=9D Moyni=
han said.

[image: illustration of British 50-pound note melting through blue line on
black background with jagged declining red lines]Illustration by Joan Wong

Building infrastructure, or much of anything else, has become all but
impossible in the United Kingdom. In addition to having the world=E2=80=99s=
 most
expensive (not yet built) train line, Britain also hosts the world=E2=80=99=
s most
expensive (not yet built) nuclear-power plant, Hinkley Point C. Its
environmental-impact assessment ran 31,401 pages; the plant will feature a
=C2=A3700 million =E2=80=9Cfish disco,=E2=80=9D which will pulse sounds und=
erwater to deter
animals from its intake pipes. The government spent 32 years and =C2=A3179
million planning a tunnel beneath Stonehenge to relieve traffic, only to
officially scrap the plan this year. Even basic tasks, such as obtaining
power, can be nightmarish. =E2=80=9CIn the U.K., you can be waiting for fiv=
e years
to get any kind of energy-intensive project connected to the grid,=E2=80=9D=
 Sam
Bowman, a founding editor of the magazine *Works in Progress*, told me.
These failures are all self-imposed. Parliament, by design, could exercise
broad authority over these matters=E2=80=94yet rather than wielding this po=
wer to
confront Britain=E2=80=99s problems, it has chosen instead to smother the s=
tate
with veto points, proceduralism, and endless reviews.

Britain suffers from a housing crisis significantly worse than America=E2=
=80=99s.
The problem cannot even be blamed on zoning, because Britain does not have
a zoning regime to speak of. Rather, every attempt to build is a painful,
ad hoc negotiation with local government councils and NIMBY residents. As a
result, housing costs per square foot are among the highest in Europe. In t=
he
words of one report
<https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/housing-outlook-q1-2024/=
>,
=E2=80=9COur housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced
economy.=E2=80=9D France has roughly the same population as the U.K., but a=
lmost 50
percent more homes. And yet, since the financial crisis, the U.K.=E2=80=99s=
 rate of
housing production has only fallen.

Britain=E2=80=99s building problems are not limited to the periphery. In Lo=
ndon,
the typical house sold in 2024 cost 11 times median earnings. And although
London remains an alluring global city, it, too, is stagnating=E2=80=94sinc=
e the
financial crisis, worker productivity there has been essentially flat. Even
so, London today is almost 50 percent more productive than the West
Midlands, which includes both Stoke and Birmingham. Anna Stansbury, an
economist at MIT, told me that the gaps between London and other British
cities are comparable to those between cities in West and East Germany. In
regional terms, the problem of the past two decades is essentially that
London has hardly grown, yet Britain=E2=80=99s smaller cities remain so far=
 behind
it.

There are some exceptions to the general pattern of British malaise: Oxford
and Cambridge, world leaders in science for centuries, are belatedly
becoming hubs for start-ups, though they are close enough to London to
share its housing afflictions. The most optimistic place I visited outside
London=E2=80=99s orbit was Manchester, where growth has consistently been d=
ouble
the U.K. average. Downtown Manchester was once almost totally depopulated;
today, approximately 100,000 people live there. After working hours in the
city=E2=80=99s pubs, you will hear conspicuous southern accents: In 2024, m=
ore
Londoners moved to Manchester than vice versa.

Manchester has succeeded in part because it gained some independence from
the shambolic central government in London. In an experiment in devolution
begun in 2011, London granted the city more power over taxes and
transportation. The bus network was brought under public control, and a
local =C2=A31 billion =E2=80=9CGood Growth Fund=E2=80=9D was set up to dist=
ribute investments
across the city. Manchester, as a result, is now better able to set its own
economic course. =E2=80=9CYou can=E2=80=99t order growth from the top down,=
=E2=80=9D Andy Burnham,
the mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, told me. =E2=80=9CThe U.K., for=
 most of
our lives, has been an overly centralized country.=E2=80=9D

Many Labour supporters wish that Burnham, rather than the hapless Starmer,
was prime minister. But for that to happen, Burnham would first need to
return to Parliament (where he had previously served for 16 years). He
attempted to do so in January, when a parliamentary seat became vacant in
Greater Manchester, but he was blocked by Starmer=E2=80=99s allies, who did=
 not
want to elevate a potential rival (already called the =E2=80=9CKing of the =
North=E2=80=9D).
In May, after Starmer=E2=80=99s grip on power had loosened even further, a =
Labour
member of Parliament in Makerfield, another Manchester seat, voluntarily
resigned to offer Burnham another avenue to challenging the party leader.
He will not be blocked this time.

Yet Burnham=E2=80=99s path to power is not guaranteed. Even Manchester is n=
ot
immune to the country=E2=80=99s anti-establishment mood. In Makerfield, rec=
ent
elections have seen significant improvement for the Green Party, the
populist left party on the rise in Britain. The Greens are run by Zack
Polanski, a former hypnotherapist and a self-described =E2=80=9Ceco-populis=
t=E2=80=9D who
wants to legalize drugs and implement a wealth tax. But the strongest
performance has been put up by the Reform Party, the populist hard-right
party that=E2=80=99s rising nationally even faster than the Greens.



Both of these parties, once relegated to the fringe of British politics,
have done exceptionally well in recent national surveys
<https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/political-parties-populism-trump=
-democracies/684972/>.
Reform has in fact been out-polling all the others for months=E2=80=94the f=
irst
time in more than 40 years that neither Conservatives nor Labour has led.
No matter who in the Labour Party replaces Starmer, presuming he resigns,
Britain must hold another general election within the next three years. The
odds-on favorite to be the next prime minister after that election is
Reform=E2=80=99s leader. His name is Nigel Farage.

How could the prime instigator of Brexit now find himself in a position to
be promoted to prime minister?

Farage is ascendant because he has an enticing answer to the question =E2=
=80=9CWho
broke Britain?=E2=80=9D: the feckless elites, the ineffective civil servant=
s, and
the unwanted immigrants. Even if the country=E2=80=99s problems are beyond =
his
capacity to solve, he at least can promise their reckoning.

I met Farage in March, right before he took the stage at a campaign rally
in Milton Keynes, a commuter town outside London most famous for its many
roundabouts. He and his merry band of insurgents were touring the country
ahead of the local elections in May, in which Reform would gain some 1,400
municipal-government seats (30 percent of the total seats contested), while
Labour would lose about 1,400 and the Tories about 500. Farage was in
character: besuited, with a pink-and-purple tie immaculately matched to his
shirt, and sporting his trademark Union Jack socks. When he leaned forward,
I smelled tobacco and possibly a faint whiff of the pint of lager that he
is so often pictured holding. He sunnily told me how he was preparing, upon
his election, to wrest power from the deep state and deploy it to enact the
will of the people. =E2=80=9CWe have to make sure within the civil service =
that we
have people who are not willful obstructors,=E2=80=9D he said: His governme=
nt would
not be like Donald Trump=E2=80=99s first administration, initially unsure o=
f how to
wield power, but like the second, ready to go from the start.

[image: photo of white-haired man in bright blue suit and gray tie standing
in front of crowd holding VOTE REFORM campaign signs]

Carl Court / Getty

Nigel Farage, campaigning in Romford in April. His Reform Party has surged
in national polls.

Several hundred people had come to see Farage speak. Political rallies in
England are more civilized than the American ones I am used to: People
drink pints before the event, sit patiently in chairs during it, and leave
in an orderly queue afterward. After everyone took their seat, Farage
delivered his speech, which was a rhapsody of declinism. =E2=80=9CIt is a p=
eriod of
complete political failure; economically, we=E2=80=99re going down the drai=
n,=E2=80=9D he
said. Every current and recent political leader was to blame. The
Conservatives had delivered Brexit too slowly, allowed mass migration
anyway, agreed to net-zero-emissions commitments. Labour was responsible
for Britain=E2=80=99s humiliation on the world stage, through its weak resp=
onse to
the war in Iran and its general dithering. The message was clear: Only
Farage could fix it.

Farage=E2=80=99s plans to consolidate power, through a defanged civil servi=
ce and
constitutional reform, are detailed. Cuts to the civil service are not just
being promised in a general way; a =E2=80=9CProject 2025=E2=80=9D=E2=80=93s=
tyle
ministry-by-ministry road map is being discussed by Reform=E2=80=99s allies=
.
Quasi-constitutional laws that have restrained the power of the central
government, such as the 1998 Human Rights Act and the 2010 Equality Act,
will be redrafted. So will the 2008 Climate Change Act, which enshrined
Britain=E2=80=99s net-zero commitments. Danny Kruger, a Conservative MP who
defected to Reform last year and is now a part of its brain trust, told me
that fixing the country=E2=80=99s problems requires first restoring parliam=
entary
sovereignty. That would mean limiting the ability of independent government
bodies to direct policy, and of courts to exercise judicial review on acts
of Parliament.

Greater power for Parliament could indeed enable needed reforms. The
accumulation of legal clutter is in no small part responsible for the
country=E2=80=99s inability to build housing, infrastructure, and industry.=
 And
Parliament=E2=80=99s ability to self-govern, after decades of delegation to=
 EU
committees, has atrophied. Even after Brexit, a sort of learned
helplessness has prevailed within the political class, Fred de Fossard, a
former Tory political adviser now at the Prosperity Institute, told me. If
Farage is elected, perhaps that will change. But Brexit proved that a
sweeping assertion of sovereignty is by itself insufficient to ensure
growth=E2=80=94and, indeed, can be self-harming.

Many of the details about how Farage would restore Britain=E2=80=99s place =
among
wealthy nations, and a sense of opportunity for its people, are hazy. I
asked him how he would spur the kind of strong economic growth that the
Conservative and Labour Parties had failed to achieve. He answered by
saying that he and his future ministers were successful businesspeople,
unlike the current lot, and would therefore do better. The Reform Party has
promised to slash government spending and national deficits, though it has
promised to cut some taxes too. Farage told me that shock therapy for the
British state would be necessary. =E2=80=9CThere is no question the state h=
as to
shrink in size, and this is going to be very, very tough,=E2=80=9D he said,=
 adding
that he anticipates protests when he unveils plans to cut welfare benefits.
=E2=80=9CBut if we don=E2=80=99t do it, we are going to go bust.=E2=80=9D

Because of such statements, Reform is often accused of being austerity
rehashed, or Thatcherism rewarmed. But Reform=E2=80=99s most specific econo=
mic
pronouncements have largely been of the crowd-pleasing, non-Thatcherite
variety: cutting fuel taxes, keeping the NHS free at the point of service,
and preserving the =E2=80=9Ctriple lock=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94a policy effective=
ly ensuring that state
pensions increase faster than ordinary wages.

Being cryptic about hard economic choices is electorally advantageous,
particularly when the general election could be years away. This was in
fact the strategy that Starmer employed in his election campaign, repeating
the word *growth* like a mantra without revealing how he would achieve it.
His political capital proved fleeting. Reform may ascend to power only to
find itself snared in the same trap. Still, even well-connected Westminster
types who served in prior governments told me they did not really dread a
Reform government. Reform, in their view, is the only party iconoclastic
enough to attempt major structural repairs on the foundations of the
British state and economy. =E2=80=9CTo believe that something is broken doe=
sn=E2=80=99t
mean that it=E2=80=99s irretrievably broken,=E2=80=9D James Orr, a Cambridg=
e theology
professor who leads policy for Reform, told me. =E2=80=9CBut we think it=E2=
=80=99s becoming
increasingly obvious that we=E2=80=99re the only political movement with a =
chance.=E2=80=9D

The most detailed plans released by Reform involve immigration=E2=80=94the =
one
issue that evokes as much anger among voters as living standards do. The
Conservatives broke their pledges: Johnson promised to reduce the net
inflow of migrants, but his policies, meant to bolster health-care staffing
and stabilize falling university enrollment, led to the legal arrival of
more than 3 million non-EU immigrants, who now amount to one out of every
25 people in Britain. Later, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak struggled to deal
with the arrival of more than 150,000 migrants who=E2=80=99d crossed the En=
glish
Channel on small boats. Even the current Labour government, sensing the
anger in the electorate, has pledged to reduce migration.

It is on immigration that Farage offers the starkest choice. He has put Zia
Yusuf, a wealthy businessman and the son of Sri Lankan immigrants, at the
helm of his immigration agenda. Yusuf=E2=80=99s major policy pitch is =E2=
=80=9COperation
Restoring Justice,=E2=80=9D which calls for the deportation of all unauthor=
ized
migrants in Britain (through a new ICE-style agency called UK Deportation
Command). Yusuf is the kind of zealous and paradoxical convert whom Reform,
and other parties of the global New Right, revel in=E2=80=94a practicing Mu=
slim who
strenuously campaigns to keep churches from being converted to mosques. He
is to Farage what Stephen Miller is to Donald Trump: a hard-faced nativist,
always aware of the latest heinous offense committed by an immigrant and
always warning of impending civilizational collapse=E2=80=94next to whom th=
e boss
looks moderate and relaxed. =E2=80=9CNever again will British people be a
second-class citizen in their own country,=E2=80=9D Yusuf declared in a spe=
ech on
the night I saw Farage in Milton Keynes. =E2=80=9CUnder a Reform government=
, His
Majesty=E2=80=99s Parliament will be sovereign once again, and the rights o=
f the
great British people will reign supreme!=E2=80=9D

Given the anger over broken border promises, it=E2=80=99s no surprise that =
Reform=E2=80=99s
clearest message has been on restricting migration. It resonates because
Britain=E2=80=99s economic failures have contributed to a growing cultural
precarity, too. But unwinding migration is unlikely to solve Britain=E2=80=
=99s
deepest woes=E2=80=94most of which are domestically manufactured, not impor=
ted.

With every disappointing year, with the failure of every backfiring
government policy, the nostalgia for British exceptionalism has grown
stronger. Restoration to global hegemony is impossible. Stabilization is
achievable, but only if Britain=E2=80=99s next ruling class does something =
that its
governments over the past two decades have not managed: stop choosing the
self-harming option. Arresting the current trajectory of decline will
require the recognition of a hard truth. What broke Britain was not
Brussels, bad luck, or bankers. The British broke Britain. To mend it, they
must first stop breaking it further.
------------------------------

*This article appears in the **July 2026*
<https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2026/07/>* print edition with the
headline =E2=80=9CHow Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi.=E2=80=9D*

*About the Author*

<https://www.theatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/>

*Idrees Kahloon <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/>*

*Idrees Kahloon <https://www.theatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/> is a
staff writer at The Atlantic. He was previously the Washington bureau chief
for The Economist. He writes about American politics, policy and economics.=
*

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.=
com/international/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">Global</sp=
an></a>=C2=A0 THE ATLANTIC<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><b><span=
 style=3D"font-size:24pt">How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi<u></u><=
u></u></span></b></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">A case study in self-sabotage<u=
></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><i>By=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.th=
eatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"colo=
r:blue">Idrees Kahloon</span></a><u></u><u></u></i></p><p class=3D"MsoNorma=
l"><i>Illustrations by Joan Wong<u></u><u></u></i></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal=
"><img border=3D"0" width=3D"648" height=3D"810" id=3D"m_-29416593109546249=
28article-lead-image" src=3D"cid:image001.jpg@01DD01A5.F8C737A0" alt=3D"ill=
ustration with Big Ben clocktower sinking beneath waves at angle on purple =
and black background" class=3D"gmail-CToWUd gmail-a6T" tabindex=3D"0" style=
=3D"cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; width: 6.75in; height: 8.4416in;"><u></u=
><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">June 10, 2026<u></u><u></u></p><p class=
=3D"MsoNormal"><img border=3D"0" width=3D"80" height=3D"80" id=3D"m_-294165=
9310954624928Picture_x0020_9" src=3D"cid:image002.jpg@01DD01A5.F8C737A0" al=
t=3D"illustration with Big Ben clocktower sinking beneath waves at angle on=
 purple background" class=3D"gmail-CToWUd" style=3D"width: 0.8333in; height=
: 0.8333in;"><u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Listen1.0x<u></u><u><=
/u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Seek<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">=
0:0029:26<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Who broke Britain? Someon=
e=E2=80=94or something=E2=80=94must have. The past 18 years, enough time fo=
r a whole lost generation to be born and brought up, have yielded nothing b=
ut stagnation and mass disillusionment. In 2007, before the global financia=
l crisis, Britain was at its postimperial zenith. Median household income h=
ad just surpassed that of Germany. A pound was worth more than $2, and Lond=
on was arguably displacing New York as the center of international banking.=
<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><br></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><sp=
an style=3D"background-color:transparent">But since then, Britain has been =
left behind. The country=E2=80=99s output per person is now=C2=A0</span><a =
href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/britain-mississip=
pi-economy-comparison/675039/" target=3D"_blank" style=3D"background-color:=
transparent"><span style=3D"color:blue">only just above that of Mississippi=
</span></a><span style=3D"background-color:transparent">, America=E2=80=99s=
 poorest state=E2=80=94and that slight lead is only achieved thanks to Lond=
on. Outside the capital, in places where tourists do not visit, living stan=
dards fall well below Mississippi=E2=80=99s. Brits visiting the United Stat=
es find that their currency has depreciated to the point where the pound to=
day buys only about $1.35. British wages have lagged well behind those in t=
he U.S., and also those in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark; once =
you account for inflation, they=E2=80=99ve barely grown at all. Within the =
next decade, the typical Pole will have a standard of living equal to the t=
ypical Brit, if current trends continue.</span></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">O=
ne generation ago, Britain was a major global power; today, it is a middlin=
g one, gripped by sclerosis. Taxation is at the highest level since World W=
ar II, yet public services have deteriorated. The National Health Service, =
the celebrated pillar of the British cradle-to-grave welfare state,=C2=A0<a=
 href=3D"https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workfor=
ce/pressures/nhs-backlog-data-analysis" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"co=
lor:blue">has a backlog of 6 million patients</span></a>=E2=80=94almost a t=
enth of the population=E2=80=94waiting for treatment. The health service no=
w has to=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/20/nh=
s-facing-absolutely-shocking-27bn-bill-for-maternity-failings-in-england" t=
arget=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">spend more money settling mater=
nity-malpractice claims</span></a>=C2=A0than it does on actually providing =
maternity care. Many Brits can neither obtain an appointment with a publicl=
y funded dentist nor afford a private one; in a 2023 survey, one in 10 repo=
rted doing DIY dental work, in extreme cases extracting their own teeth or =
gluing broken crowns back together.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"=
>Incomes can be shockingly low: Junior doctors recently went on strike for =
the 15th time in three years over their salaries, which start at just =C2=
=A338,800; the median salary for British civil servants is =C2=A335,680. In=
 April, amid the Iran conflict, the=C2=A0<i>Daily Mail</i>=C2=A0pounced on =
Prime Minister Keir Starmer for vacationing in Valencia, Spain, at what the=
 tabloid described as a luxury hotel, costing =C2=A3200 a night.<u></u><u><=
/u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Some in Britain blame rotten luck=E2=80=94the=
 2008 financial crash, the coronavirus pandemic, an energy crisis after Rus=
sia invaded Ukraine. But other countries endured these challenges too. What=
 differentiated Britain was its self-sabotaging responses to these and othe=
r problems. Brexit is the most famous example, but hardly the only one. Bad=
 choices, beginning just after the financial crisis, begot worse ones. As p=
ublic disillusionment has grown, politicians have been rotated swiftly in a=
nd out of power, abruptly terminating whatever policies they had started. S=
ix different prime ministers have governed since the 2010 general election.=
 They do not seem to be getting more talented over time. Less than two year=
s after Starmer=E2=80=99s Labour Party took power, his net approval rating =
has plunged to minus 42 points. He is widely expected to resign this year, =
and may have done so by the time you read this.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=
=3D"MsoNormal">The country=E2=80=99s downward slide has been consistent in =
one respect: As Britain has become more and more aware of its diminishment,=
 it has retreated ever more fully into a defensive crouch. Politics have be=
come zero-sum, descending into fights over who has robbed whom. Suspicion h=
as fallen, above all, on immigrants, whom both major parties have turned ag=
ainst. There is still an enduring strain of British exceptionalism, quieter=
 and more understated than the American version, which suggests that by ret=
reating inward, Britain can make itself great again. Astonishingly, or perh=
aps predictably, it is growing stronger as the country=E2=80=99s problems g=
et worse.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">In fairness, the 2008 fin=
ancial crisis hit Britain especially hard. In the 1990s, both the Tories an=
d Tony Blair=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CNew Labour=E2=80=9D Party made the same bet=
: Britain was to be a postindustrial, services-based economy, anchored in f=
inance. Tax receipts from a booming London would be redistributed to laggin=
g regions in the old industrial heartland, helping to renew them. Then came=
 2008, and London=E2=80=99s financial industry cratered.<u></u><u></u></p><=
p class=3D"MsoNormal">But the government=E2=80=99s actions during and after=
 the crisis compounded the damage. Rather than increase spending to revive =
depressed demand, as modern Keynesians would counsel, the government, then =
led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, opted to slash budgets as=
 revenue plunged. The theory was that fiscal discipline=E2=80=94cutting spe=
nding more sharply than Britain=E2=80=99s peer countries=E2=80=94would insp=
ire confidence and spur growth. At the time, deficits and debt were seen as=
 immoral; unlike profligate Greece, Britain would manage its affairs pruden=
tly.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">The promised growth did not ma=
terialize, and austerity left scars that linger still. Funding for day-to-d=
ay NHS operations was maintained, for instance, but only by cannibalizing t=
he capital budget. A=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.gov.uk/government/publicat=
ions/independent-investigation-of-the-nhs-in-england/summary-letter-from-lo=
rd-darzi-to-the-secretary-of-state-for-health-and-social-care" target=3D"_b=
lank"><span style=3D"color:blue">2024 government report found</span></a>=C2=
=A0that, as a result of austerity, Britain has =E2=80=9Ccrumbling buildings=
, mental health patients being accommodated in Victoria-era cells infested =
with vermin with 17 men sharing two showers, and parts of the NHS operating=
 in decrepit portacabins.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">=
<font color=3D"#0000ff">=C2=A0</font></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">After auste=
rity cuts to welfare benefits took effect, the share of children who grew u=
p in long-term poverty, meaning half their childhood or more, shot up=C2=A0=
<a href=3D"https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-social-policy=
/article/longterm-childhood-poverty-in-britain-trends-and-drivers-across-th=
e-19912017-birth-cohorts/EB82A755D2D572C5BDA573EE31753C32" target=3D"_blank=
"><span style=3D"color:blue">from about 14 percent to 23 percent</span></a>=
. Nutrition appeared to suffer, and doctors reported increased cases of dis=
eases stemming from vitamin deficiencies, such as rickets and scurvy.<u></u=
><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Local governments, called councils, saw =
their grants from the central government fall by 40 percent from 2010 to 20=
20. In 2023, Birmingham City Council, which is responsible for more than 1 =
million residents, effectively declared bankruptcy. One-third of all Englis=
h councils could do the same within five years.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=
=3D"MsoNormal">Austerity was felt most harshly by those who were already su=
ffering after deindustrialization. The welfare state had partially compensa=
ted the losers from globalization. When it abruptly shrank=E2=80=94because =
the masters of the universe had miscalculated=E2=80=94anger erupted upward,=
 at British elites, and also outward, at European migrants, who were compet=
ing for jobs and public services. It was because of this political pressure=
 that Cameron made another fateful decision: to hold the Brexit referendum =
in 2016. This was a gambit; Cameron expected the vote to fail. He did not w=
ant to leave the European Union, but he wanted to arrest the rise of figure=
s such as Nigel Farage, the longtime gadfly of British politics, who had be=
en campaigning for withdrawal from the EU for decades. Left-behind Britain,=
 the places especially harmed by austerity cuts, voted overwhelmingly to le=
ave. The morning after he lost the referendum, Cameron resigned, ushering i=
n a period of political instability that has now lasted a decade, and shows=
 no sign of ending.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><font color=3D"=
#0000ff">=C2=A0</font></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Settling the formal Brexit=
 deal=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/201=
9/08/how-no-deal-brexit-became-new-normal/596524/" target=3D"_blank"><span =
style=3D"color:blue">took almost four years of negotiations</span></a>=C2=
=A0between Britain and the EU. The resulting uncertainty took a toll on Bri=
tish businesses even then. In 2018, one year before his=C2=A0<a href=3D"htt=
ps://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/boris-johnson-minister-of=
-chaos/619010/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">ascension to p=
rime minister</span></a>, Boris Johnson was asked by a European diplomat ab=
out these adverse effects. He replied, =E2=80=9CFuck business.=E2=80=9D And=
 indeed, something like that happened. A recent paper on =E2=80=9C<a href=
=3D"https://www.nber.org/papers/w34459" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"co=
lor:blue">The Economic Impact of Brexit</span></a>,=E2=80=9D by five econom=
ists, calculated that Brexit caused business investment to drop by 12 to 18=
 percent, productivity and employment to decline by about 3 to 4 percent, a=
nd, most striking, GDP per capita to fall by 6 to 8 percent=E2=80=94twice a=
s much as earlier estimates. The harms weren=E2=80=99t all immediately visi=
ble. As with austerity,=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/a=
rchive/2023/05/brexit-labor-party-immigration-keir-starmer/673928/" target=
=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">they accumulated over time</span></a=
>.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Outside London, the consequences=
 of almost two lost decades are unignorable. Stoke-on-Trent, in the West Mi=
dlands, about 150 miles north of London, was once the ceramics capital of B=
ritain, and quite probably the world. It was geologically blessed by rich s=
eams of both coal and clay; its wares were transported by canal to Liverpoo=
l for export. The whole area became known as the Potteries. Stoke once held=
 some 2,000 bottle kilns=E2=80=94huge, bulbous structures in which crockery=
 from companies such as Wedgwood were fired.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"M=
soNormal">Today only 47 remain; the industry employs perhaps 5,000 people=
=E2=80=94down from some 300,000 in 1984. And because of Britain=E2=80=99s e=
xtraordinary energy costs, this number is still declining. Depleted oil dri=
lling in the North Sea and a failure to invest in alternative energy source=
s have left the country reliant on imported energy, staggering consumers an=
d industry alike. From 2004 to 2024, electricity costs for British business=
es more than tripled (even after adjusting for inflation), and are now the =
highest in the world.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><img border=
=3D"0" width=3D"982" height=3D"712" id=3D"m_-2941659310954624928_x0000_i103=
5" src=3D"cid:image004.jpg@01DD01A5.F8C737A0" alt=3D"black-and-white photo =
of large bottle-shaped buildings along canal, with homes and smokestack in =
background" class=3D"gmail-CToWUd gmail-a6T" tabindex=3D"0" style=3D"cursor=
: pointer; outline: 0px; width: 10.2333in; height: 7.4166in;"><u></u><u></u=
></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Hulton Archive / Getty<u></u><u></u></p><p clas=
s=3D"MsoNormal">Bottle kilns, used in the manufacture of dinnerware and oth=
er pottery, in Stoke-on-Trent, circa 1948<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoN=
ormal">In March, I visited=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.facebook.com/Middlep=
ortPottery/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">Middleport Potter=
y</span></a>, the last remaining ceramics factory that has operated continu=
ously since the Victorian era. A charming elderly guide named Phil Knott sh=
owed me around, pointing out the ceramics and crockery that the company sup=
plies to the private residence of King Charles III. In most rooms we entere=
d, he introduced me by saying, =E2=80=9CThis man here is from Washington to=
 write an article about the ceramics industry.=E2=80=9D Though the factory =
once employed some 400 workers, it now has only 18. Middleport uses smaller=
 gas ovens today, but its last bottle kiln (there once were seven) still si=
ts outside, a vestige of a bygone time. All along the kiln=E2=80=99s exteri=
or=E2=80=94where heat and smoke and ash once escaped=E2=80=94small trees an=
d plants have taken root in the dormant structure.<u></u><u></u></p><p clas=
s=3D"MsoNormal">The deindustrialization of Stoke began a long time ago. In =
the 1980s, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ushered in her =E2=80=9Csupply =
side=E2=80=9D revolution, emphasizing privatization and breaking the trade =
unions. This improved the country=E2=80=99s fortunes, but not those of all =
its parts. Thatcherism hit Stoke hard, causing closures of factories, steel=
works, and mines. Lisa Healings, who runs the charity Voluntary Action Stok=
e-on-Trent, lived through that as a young girl. VAST works with a network o=
f charities to provide food, job training, and counseling, but the group is=
 fighting economic gravity. =E2=80=9CThere=E2=80=99s now a third generation=
 almost coming through,=E2=80=9D Healings told me, whose =E2=80=9Cparents w=
ere unemployed, their grandparents were unemployed, and they don=E2=80=99t =
see any future for themselves other than living on benefits and being unemp=
loyed.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Austerity was parti=
cularly brutal to places like Stoke, where a large share of the population =
was already dependent on government benefits. Two out of every five childre=
n in Stoke live in poverty, one of the highest rates in Britain, and in 202=
2, the city had one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the country=
.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Since the turn of this century, s=
uccessive governments have tried and mostly failed to correct basic problem=
s. In 2003, John Prescott, Blair=E2=80=99s deputy prime minister, started a=
 policy called =E2=80=9CPathfinder,=E2=80=9D which aimed to demolish and re=
place worn-down housing in postindustrial places such as Stoke. Cameron=E2=
=80=99s government abruptly defunded it in 2010, leaving empty eyesore lots=
 where demolition had finished but building had not yet begun. In 2019, Joh=
nson promised that a new economic-revitalization plan called =E2=80=9CLevel=
ing Up=E2=80=9D would =E2=80=9Canswer the plea of the forgotten people and =
the left-behind towns.=E2=80=9D But few specifics were forthcoming until th=
ree years later, only months before Johnson resigned. The funding it provid=
ed was a pittance compared with the support withdrawn from local government=
s under austerity.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">It is in places =
like Stoke where discontent with London and Brussels is highest. During the=
 2016 referendum, 69 percent of residents voted to leave the EU=E2=80=94the=
 highest share of any city in the country. Afterward, Stoke was branded =E2=
=80=9Cthe capital of Brexit.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNorma=
l">My train north from London was, like many, seriously delayed=E2=80=94in =
this case because of a loose panel on a front car. =E2=80=9CHopefully it=E2=
=80=99ll hold on until we get to Manchester,=E2=80=9D the conductor announc=
ed. This information left me, rather like the panel, flappable, but it had =
no discernible effect on my fellow passengers. Although Americans should ge=
nerally not cast aspersions on the rail services of other countries, the ep=
isode was yet another reminder of Britain=E2=80=99s degraded state.<u></u><=
u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Recent plans to transform the country have=
 rested in no small part on High Speed 2, a superfast rail line intended to=
 connect London with Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester. But since HS2 was p=
roposed, in 2009, its costs have tripled, to more than =C2=A3100 billion. I=
t is the most expensive rail line in the world. (A special structure to pro=
tect a rare bat species near the rail line in Buckinghamshire required 8,00=
0 permits and was built at a cost of =C2=A3216 million.) The most important=
 sections of the proposed route have been lopped off. The rump line=E2=80=
=94going from Birmingham, Britain=E2=80=99s second-largest city, to not-qui=
te-central London=E2=80=94may be finished by 2040.<u></u><u></u></p><p clas=
s=3D"MsoNormal">In Birmingham, a local named Gerry Moynihan walked me from =
the city center to the benighted HS2 terminus. Moynihan=E2=80=94a pleasant,=
 white-haired former lawyer with a dyspeptic X account often focused on his=
 hometown=E2=80=99s troubles=E2=80=94was eager to show me what had gone wro=
ng. He pointed out a large site called Smithfield, formerly the location of=
 grocery wholesalers whose warehouses had been vacant for many years. We pa=
ssed a few film studios along the canal, some of the more promising busines=
ses that have sprouted up in recent years. Moynihan admitted that their exi=
stence poses some challenge to an oft-repeated remark of his=E2=80=94=E2=80=
=9CI see nothing of merit in this city=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94but then redirected=
 my attention to the gargantuan potholes in the road, gouged so deep that y=
ou could see the Victorian-era cobblestones below; to the trash piled up in=
 vacant lots; and to the discarded boxes for extra-large canisters of nitro=
us oxide, which is routinely abused in Birmingham.<u></u><u></u></p><p clas=
s=3D"MsoNormal">To get to the HS2 terminus, at Curzon Street Station, Moyni=
han and I walked along the route of an attempted Birmingham-metro-rail exte=
nsion, which has itself been beset by delays and cost overruns: a localized=
 version of the HS2 debacle. I could see crawler cranes and excavators movi=
ng busily around; huge Y-shaped piers that will, perhaps in a decade, hoist=
 the high-speed rail stood disconnected from each other. HS2 has been delay=
ed for so long that two swiftly built towers near the terminus now themselv=
es look derelict and in need of demolition. =E2=80=9CIf you=E2=80=99re a de=
veloper, why would you invest here? The only reason is HS2, and it is morib=
und,=E2=80=9D Moynihan said.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><img b=
order=3D"0" width=3D"982" height=3D"1322" id=3D"m_-2941659310954624928Pictu=
re_x0020_3" src=3D"cid:image005.jpg@01DD01A5.F8C737A0" alt=3D"illustration =
of British 50-pound note melting through blue line on black background with=
 jagged declining red lines" class=3D"gmail-CToWUd gmail-a6T" tabindex=3D"0=
" style=3D"cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; width: 10.2333in; height: 13.7666=
in;">Illustration by Joan Wong<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Buil=
ding infrastructure, or much of anything else, has become all but impossibl=
e in the United Kingdom. In addition to having the world=E2=80=99s most exp=
ensive (not yet built) train line, Britain also hosts the world=E2=80=99s m=
ost expensive (not yet built) nuclear-power plant, Hinkley Point C. Its env=
ironmental-impact assessment ran 31,401 pages; the plant will feature a =C2=
=A3700 million =E2=80=9Cfish disco,=E2=80=9D which will pulse sounds underw=
ater to deter animals from its intake pipes. The government spent 32 years =
and =C2=A3179 million planning a tunnel beneath Stonehenge to relieve traff=
ic, only to officially scrap the plan this year. Even basic tasks, such as =
obtaining power, can be nightmarish. =E2=80=9CIn the U.K., you can be waiti=
ng for five years to get any kind of energy-intensive project connected to =
the grid,=E2=80=9D Sam Bowman, a founding editor of the magazine=C2=A0<i>Wo=
rks in Progress</i>, told me. These failures are all self-imposed. Parliame=
nt, by design, could exercise broad authority over these matters=E2=80=94ye=
t rather than wielding this power to confront Britain=E2=80=99s problems, i=
t has chosen instead to smother the state with veto points, proceduralism, =
and endless reviews.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Britain suffer=
s from a housing crisis significantly worse than America=E2=80=99s. The pro=
blem cannot even be blamed on zoning, because Britain does not have a zonin=
g regime to speak of. Rather, every attempt to build is a painful, ad hoc n=
egotiation with local government councils and NIMBY residents. As a result,=
 housing costs per square foot are among the highest in Europe. In=C2=A0<a =
href=3D"https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/housing-outlook-q=
1-2024/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">the words of one repo=
rt</span></a>, =E2=80=9COur housing stock offers the worst value for money =
of any advanced economy.=E2=80=9D France has roughly the same population as=
 the U.K., but almost 50 percent more homes. And yet, since the financial c=
risis, the U.K.=E2=80=99s rate of housing production has only fallen.<u></u=
><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Britain=E2=80=99s building problems are =
not limited to the periphery. In London, the typical house sold in 2024 cos=
t 11 times median earnings. And although London remains an alluring global =
city, it, too, is stagnating=E2=80=94since the financial crisis, worker pro=
ductivity there has been essentially flat. Even so, London today is almost =
50 percent more productive than the West Midlands, which includes both Stok=
e and Birmingham. Anna Stansbury, an economist at MIT, told me that the gap=
s between London and other British cities are comparable to those between c=
ities in West and East Germany. In regional terms, the problem of the past =
two decades is essentially that London has hardly grown, yet Britain=E2=80=
=99s smaller cities remain so far behind it.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"M=
soNormal">There are some exceptions to the general pattern of British malai=
se: Oxford and Cambridge, world leaders in science for centuries, are belat=
edly becoming hubs for start-ups, though they are close enough to London to=
 share its housing afflictions. The most optimistic place I visited outside=
 London=E2=80=99s orbit was Manchester, where growth has consistently been =
double the U.K. average. Downtown Manchester was once almost totally depopu=
lated; today, approximately 100,000 people live there. After working hours =
in the city=E2=80=99s pubs, you will hear conspicuous southern accents: In =
2024, more Londoners moved to Manchester than vice versa.<u></u><u></u></p>=
<p class=3D"MsoNormal">Manchester has succeeded in part because it gained s=
ome independence from the shambolic central government in London. In an exp=
eriment in devolution begun in 2011, London granted the city more power ove=
r taxes and transportation. The bus network was brought under public contro=
l, and a local =C2=A31 billion =E2=80=9CGood Growth Fund=E2=80=9D was set u=
p to distribute investments across the city. Manchester, as a result, is no=
w better able to set its own economic course. =E2=80=9CYou can=E2=80=99t or=
der growth from the top down,=E2=80=9D Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater M=
anchester since 2017, told me. =E2=80=9CThe U.K., for most of our lives, ha=
s been an overly centralized country.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D=
"MsoNormal">Many Labour supporters wish that Burnham, rather than the haple=
ss Starmer, was prime minister. But for that to happen, Burnham would first=
 need to return to Parliament (where he had previously served for 16 years)=
. He attempted to do so in January, when a parliamentary seat became vacant=
 in Greater Manchester, but he was blocked by Starmer=E2=80=99s allies, who=
 did not want to elevate a potential rival (already called the =E2=80=9CKin=
g of the North=E2=80=9D). In May, after Starmer=E2=80=99s grip on power had=
 loosened even further, a Labour member of Parliament in Makerfield, anothe=
r Manchester seat, voluntarily resigned to offer Burnham another avenue to =
challenging the party leader. He will not be blocked this time.<u></u><u></=
u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Yet Burnham=E2=80=99s path to power is not gua=
ranteed. Even Manchester is not immune to the country=E2=80=99s anti-establ=
ishment mood. In Makerfield, recent elections have seen significant improve=
ment for the Green Party, the populist left party on the rise in Britain. T=
he Greens are run by Zack Polanski, a former hypnotherapist and a self-desc=
ribed =E2=80=9Ceco-populist=E2=80=9D who wants to legalize drugs and implem=
ent a wealth tax. But the strongest performance has been put up by the Refo=
rm Party, the populist hard-right party that=E2=80=99s rising nationally ev=
en faster than the Greens.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><font co=
lor=3D"#0000ff">=C2=A0</font></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Both of these parti=
es, once relegated to the fringe of British politics, have=C2=A0<a href=3D"=
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/political-parties-populism-trump-=
democracies/684972/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">done exce=
ptionally well in recent national surveys</span></a>. Reform has in fact be=
en out-polling all the others for months=E2=80=94the first time in more tha=
n 40 years that neither Conservatives nor Labour has led. No matter who in =
the Labour Party replaces Starmer, presuming he resigns, Britain must hold =
another general election within the next three years. The odds-on favorite =
to be the next prime minister after that election is Reform=E2=80=99s leade=
r. His name is Nigel Farage.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">How co=
uld the prime instigator of Brexit now find himself in a position to be pro=
moted to prime minister?<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Farage is =
ascendant because he has an enticing answer to the question =E2=80=9CWho br=
oke Britain?=E2=80=9D: the feckless elites, the ineffective civil servants,=
 and the unwanted immigrants. Even if the country=E2=80=99s problems are be=
yond his capacity to solve, he at least can promise their reckoning.<u></u>=
<u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">I met Farage in March, right before he to=
ok the stage at a campaign rally in Milton Keynes, a commuter town outside =
London most famous for its many roundabouts. He and his merry band of insur=
gents were touring the country ahead of the local elections in May, in whic=
h Reform would gain some 1,400 municipal-government seats (30 percent of th=
e total seats contested), while Labour would lose about 1,400 and the Torie=
s about 500. Farage was in character: besuited, with a pink-and-purple tie =
immaculately matched to his shirt, and sporting his trademark Union Jack so=
cks. When he leaned forward, I smelled tobacco and possibly a faint whiff o=
f the pint of lager that he is so often pictured holding. He sunnily told m=
e how he was preparing, upon his election, to wrest power from the deep sta=
te and deploy it to enact the will of the people. =E2=80=9CWe have to make =
sure within the civil service that we have people who are not willful obstr=
uctors,=E2=80=9D he said: His government would not be like Donald Trump=E2=
=80=99s first administration, initially unsure of how to wield power, but l=
ike the second, ready to go from the start.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"Ms=
oNormal"><img border=3D"0" width=3D"665" height=3D"831" id=3D"m_-2941659310=
954624928Picture_x0020_2" src=3D"cid:image006.jpg@01DD01A5.F8C737A0" alt=3D=
"photo of white-haired man in bright blue suit and gray tie standing in fro=
nt of crowd holding VOTE REFORM campaign signs" class=3D"gmail-CToWUd gmail=
-a6T" tabindex=3D"0" style=3D"cursor: pointer; outline: 0px; width: 6.925in=
; height: 8.6583in;"><u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Carl Court / =
Getty<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Nigel Farage, campaigning in =
Romford in April. His Reform Party has surged in national polls.<u></u><u><=
/u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Several hundred people had come to see Farage=
 speak. Political rallies in England are more civilized than the American o=
nes I am used to: People drink pints before the event, sit patiently in cha=
irs during it, and leave in an orderly queue afterward. After everyone took=
 their seat, Farage delivered his speech, which was a rhapsody of declinism=
. =E2=80=9CIt is a period of complete political failure; economically, we=
=E2=80=99re going down the drain,=E2=80=9D he said. Every current and recen=
t political leader was to blame. The Conservatives had delivered Brexit too=
 slowly, allowed mass migration anyway, agreed to net-zero-emissions commit=
ments. Labour was responsible for Britain=E2=80=99s humiliation on the worl=
d stage, through its weak response to the war in Iran and its general dithe=
ring. The message was clear: Only Farage could fix it.<u></u><u></u></p><p =
class=3D"MsoNormal">Farage=E2=80=99s plans to consolidate power, through a =
defanged civil service and constitutional reform, are detailed. Cuts to the=
 civil service are not just being promised in a general way; a =E2=80=9CPro=
ject 2025=E2=80=9D=E2=80=93style ministry-by-ministry road map is being dis=
cussed by Reform=E2=80=99s allies. Quasi-constitutional laws that have rest=
rained the power of the central government, such as the 1998 Human Rights A=
ct and the 2010 Equality Act, will be redrafted. So will the 2008 Climate C=
hange Act, which enshrined Britain=E2=80=99s net-zero commitments. Danny Kr=
uger, a Conservative MP who defected to Reform last year and is now a part =
of its brain trust, told me that fixing the country=E2=80=99s problems requ=
ires first restoring parliamentary sovereignty. That would mean limiting th=
e ability of independent government bodies to direct policy, and of courts =
to exercise judicial review on acts of Parliament.<u></u><u></u></p><p clas=
s=3D"MsoNormal">Greater power for Parliament could indeed enable needed ref=
orms. The accumulation of legal clutter is in no small part responsible for=
 the country=E2=80=99s inability to build housing, infrastructure, and indu=
stry. And Parliament=E2=80=99s ability to self-govern, after decades of del=
egation to EU committees, has atrophied. Even after Brexit, a sort of learn=
ed helplessness has prevailed within the political class, Fred de Fossard, =
a former Tory political adviser now at the Prosperity Institute, told me. I=
f Farage is elected, perhaps that will change. But Brexit proved that a swe=
eping assertion of sovereignty is by itself insufficient to ensure growth=
=E2=80=94and, indeed, can be self-harming.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"Mso=
Normal">Many of the details about how Farage would restore Britain=E2=80=99=
s place among wealthy nations, and a sense of opportunity for its people, a=
re hazy. I asked him how he would spur the kind of strong economic growth t=
hat the Conservative and Labour Parties had failed to achieve. He answered =
by saying that he and his future ministers were successful businesspeople, =
unlike the current lot, and would therefore do better. The Reform Party has=
 promised to slash government spending and national deficits, though it has=
 promised to cut some taxes too. Farage told me that shock therapy for the =
British state would be necessary. =E2=80=9CThere is no question the state h=
as to shrink in size, and this is going to be very, very tough,=E2=80=9D he=
 said, adding that he anticipates protests when he unveils plans to cut wel=
fare benefits. =E2=80=9CBut if we don=E2=80=99t do it, we are going to go b=
ust.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Because of such state=
ments, Reform is often accused of being austerity rehashed, or Thatcherism =
rewarmed. But Reform=E2=80=99s most specific economic pronouncements have l=
argely been of the crowd-pleasing, non-Thatcherite variety: cutting fuel ta=
xes, keeping the NHS free at the point of service, and preserving the =E2=
=80=9Ctriple lock=E2=80=9D=E2=80=94a policy effectively ensuring that state=
 pensions increase faster than ordinary wages.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D=
"MsoNormal">Being cryptic about hard economic choices is electorally advant=
ageous, particularly when the general election could be years away. This wa=
s in fact the strategy that Starmer employed in his election campaign, repe=
ating the word=C2=A0<i>growth</i>=C2=A0like a mantra without revealing how =
he would achieve it. His political capital proved fleeting. Reform may asce=
nd to power only to find itself snared in the same trap. Still, even well-c=
onnected Westminster types who served in prior governments told me they did=
 not really dread a Reform government. Reform, in their view, is the only p=
arty iconoclastic enough to attempt major structural repairs on the foundat=
ions of the British state and economy. =E2=80=9CTo believe that something i=
s broken doesn=E2=80=99t mean that it=E2=80=99s irretrievably broken,=E2=80=
=9D James Orr, a Cambridge theology professor who leads policy for Reform, =
told me. =E2=80=9CBut we think it=E2=80=99s becoming increasingly obvious t=
hat we=E2=80=99re the only political movement with a chance.=E2=80=9D<u></u=
><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">The most detailed plans released by Refo=
rm involve immigration=E2=80=94the one issue that evokes as much anger amon=
g voters as living standards do. The Conservatives broke their pledges: Joh=
nson promised to reduce the net inflow of migrants, but his policies, meant=
 to bolster health-care staffing and stabilize falling university enrollmen=
t, led to the legal arrival of more than 3 million non-EU immigrants, who n=
ow amount to one out of every 25 people in Britain. Later, Prime Minister R=
ishi Sunak struggled to deal with the arrival of more than 150,000 migrants=
 who=E2=80=99d crossed the English Channel on small boats. Even the current=
 Labour government, sensing the anger in the electorate, has pledged to red=
uce migration.<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">It is on immigration=
 that Farage offers the starkest choice. He has put Zia Yusuf, a wealthy bu=
sinessman and the son of Sri Lankan immigrants, at the helm of his immigrat=
ion agenda. Yusuf=E2=80=99s major policy pitch is =E2=80=9COperation Restor=
ing Justice,=E2=80=9D which calls for the deportation of all unauthorized m=
igrants in Britain (through a new ICE-style agency called UK Deportation Co=
mmand). Yusuf is the kind of zealous and paradoxical convert whom Reform, a=
nd other parties of the global New Right, revel in=E2=80=94a practicing Mus=
lim who strenuously campaigns to keep churches from being converted to mosq=
ues. He is to Farage what Stephen Miller is to Donald Trump: a hard-faced n=
ativist, always aware of the latest heinous offense committed by an immigra=
nt and always warning of impending civilizational collapse=E2=80=94next to =
whom the boss looks moderate and relaxed. =E2=80=9CNever again will British=
 people be a second-class citizen in their own country,=E2=80=9D Yusuf decl=
ared in a speech on the night I saw Farage in Milton Keynes. =E2=80=9CUnder=
 a Reform government, His Majesty=E2=80=99s Parliament will be sovereign on=
ce again, and the rights of the great British people will reign supreme!=E2=
=80=9D<u></u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">Given the anger over broken =
border promises, it=E2=80=99s no surprise that Reform=E2=80=99s clearest me=
ssage has been on restricting migration. It resonates because Britain=E2=80=
=99s economic failures have contributed to a growing cultural precarity, to=
o. But unwinding migration is unlikely to solve Britain=E2=80=99s deepest w=
oes=E2=80=94most of which are domestically manufactured, not imported.<u></=
u><u></u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal">With every disappointing year, with the=
 failure of every backfiring government policy, the nostalgia for British e=
xceptionalism has grown stronger. Restoration to global hegemony is impossi=
ble. Stabilization is achievable, but only if Britain=E2=80=99s next ruling=
 class does something that its governments over the past two decades have n=
ot managed: stop choosing the self-harming option. Arresting the current tr=
ajectory of decline will require the recognition of a hard truth. What brok=
e Britain was not Brussels, bad luck, or bankers. The British broke Britain=
. To mend it, they must first stop breaking it further.<u></u><u></u></p><d=
iv class=3D"MsoNormal" align=3D"center" style=3D"text-align:center"><hr siz=
e=3D"2" width=3D"100%" align=3D"center"></div><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><i><sp=
an style=3D"font-size:10pt">This article appears in the=C2=A0</span></i><a =
href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2026/07/" target=3D"_blank=
"><i><span style=3D"font-size:10pt;color:blue">July 2026</span></i></a><i><=
span style=3D"font-size:10pt">=C2=A0print edition with the headline =E2=80=
=9CHow Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi.=E2=80=9D</span></i><u></u><u>=
</u></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><b><span style=3D"font-size:13.5pt">About th=
e Author<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><a href=3D"http=
s://www.theatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/" target=3D"_blank"><i><span =
style=3D"color:blue;text-decoration:none"><img border=3D"0" width=3D"59" he=
ight=3D"59" id=3D"m_-2941659310954624928Picture_x0020_1" src=3D"cid:image00=
7.jpg@01DD01A5.F8C737A0" class=3D"gmail-CToWUd" style=3D"width: 0.6166in; h=
eight: 0.6166in;"></span></i></a><i><u></u><u></u></i></p><p class=3D"MsoNo=
rmal"><i><a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/idrees-kahloon/" tar=
get=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">Idrees Kahloon</span></a><u></u><=
u></u></i></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><i><a href=3D"https://www.theatlantic.=
com/author/idrees-kahloon/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:blue">Id=
rees Kahloon</span></a>=C2=A0is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He was prev=
iously the Washington bureau chief for The Economist. He writes about Ameri=
can politics, policy and economics.</i></p></div>

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Subject: [Salon] Thanks, Mr. President, for Saving Us All That Money
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div styl=
e=3D"font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">=
<div id=3D"m_7768839096162044183ydpc6b9e7c2yiv1745167316"><div id=3D"m_7768=
839096162044183ydpc6b9e7c2yiv1745167316ydp88e0e8dayahoo_quoted_2760701548">=
<div style=3D"font-family:&#39;Helvetica Neue&#39;,Helvetica,Arial,sans-ser=
if;font-size:13px;color:#26282a"><div><br></div>
               =20
               =20
                <div><div id=3D"m_7768839096162044183ydpc6b9e7c2yiv17451673=
16ydp88e0e8dayiv1904441403"><img src=3D"https://eotrx.substackcdn.com/o/758=
d8bfdde2d7f29/p.gif?token=3DeyJtIjoiPDIwMjYwNjIxMTAzMDM0LjMuMWY5NzdkMTc1MmU=
4ZWNjZkBtZy1kMS5zdWJzdGFjay5jb20-IiwidSI6NTQ1OTE0NywiciI6ImxpemNvbHRvbkB5YW=
hvby5jb20iLCJkIjoibWctZDEuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tIiwicCI6MjAyOTA0NTk0LCJ0IjoibmV3c=
2xldHRlciIsImEiOiJldmVyeW9uZSIsInMiOjI2NTE1MSwiYyI6InBvc3QiLCJmIjp0cnVlLCJw=
b3NpdGlvbiI6InRvcCIsImlhdCI6MTc4MjAzNzkyNSwiZXhwIjoxNzg0NjI5OTI1LCJpc3MiOiJ=
wdWItMCIsInN1YiI6ImVvIn0.fWkhnU5TWfwOMBpJB7HaHD7SemokYxWZnGUtlhs0dGA" alt=
=3D"" width=3D"1" height=3D"1" border=3D"0" style=3D"min-height:1px!importa=
nt;width:1px!important;border-width:0!important;margin-top:0!important;marg=
in-bottom:0!important;margin-right:0!important;margin-left:0!important;padd=
ing-top:0!important;padding-bottom:0!important;padding-right:0!important;pa=
dding-left:0!important"><div style=3D"display:none;font-size:1px;color:rgb(=
51,51,51);line-height:1px;max-width:0px;min-height:0px">Maybe if Trump spen=
t a little more time getting smart about the war with Iran and less getting=
 comfortable in his new airplane, our nation would be in better shape than =
it is.</div><div style=3D"display:none;font-size:1px;color:rgb(51,51,51);li=
ne-height:1px;max-width:0px;min-height:0px">=CD=8F =C2=A0 =E2=80=87 =C2=AD=
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=CD=8F =C2=A0 =E2=80=87 =C2=AD</div><table width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cell=
spacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td></td><td width=3D"550"></td>=
<td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td width=3D"550" align=3D"left"><div style=3D"f=
ont-size:16px;line-height:26px;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin:0 auto"><t=
able width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody=
><tr><td align=3D"right" style=3D"min-height:20px"><br><br></td></tr></tbod=
y></table><div style=3D"padding:32px 0 0 0;font-size:16px;line-height:26px"=
><div style=3D"font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><h1 style=3D"color:rgb(54,5=
5,55);font-family:&#39;SF Pro Display&#39;,-apple-system-headline,system-ui=
,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,&#39;Segoe UI&#39;,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial=
,sans-serif,&#39;Apple Color Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe=
 UI Symbol&#39;;font-weight:bold;margin:0;line-height:36px;font-size:32px">=
<a href=3D"https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=3D265151&amp;p=
ost_id=3D202904594&amp;utm_source=3Dpost-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=3Dema=
il-post-title&amp;isFreemail=3Dtrue&amp;r=3D390az&amp;token=3DeyJ1c2VyX2lkI=
jo1NDU5MTQ3LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoyMDI5MDQ1OTQsImlhdCI6MTc4MjAzNzkyNSwiZXhwIjoxNzg0=
NjI5OTI1LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjY1MTUxIiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.QypaWRXx7h=
YGwEDLTQNnwyZ48CuW10DqiZ1reQph4tU" style=3D"color:rgb(54,55,55);text-decora=
tion:none" rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" target=3D"_blank">(Dobbs) Thanks, Mr=
. President, for Saving Us All That Money</a></h1><h3 style=3D"font-family:=
&#39;SF Pro Display&#39;,-apple-system-headline,system-ui,-apple-system,Bli=
nkMacSystemFont,&#39;Segoe UI&#39;,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,&#39;A=
pple Color Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI Symbol&#39;;fo=
nt-weight:normal;margin:4px 0 0;color:#777777;line-height:24px;font-size:18=
px;margin-top:12px">Maybe if Trump spent a little more time getting smart a=
bout the war with Iran and less getting comfortable in his new airplane, ou=
r nation would be in better shape than it is.</h3><table width=3D"100%" bor=
der=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0" style=3D"margin:1em 0;min-hei=
ght:20px"><tbody><tr><td><table width=3D"auto" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"=
0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td><table width=3D"auto" border=3D"0" cell=
spacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"vertical-align:midd=
le"><div style=3D"list-style:none;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;text-deco=
ration-color:unset;color:rgb(54,55,55);margin:0px;font-family:SF Compact,-a=
pple-system,system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,Segoe UI,Roboto,Helv=
etica,Arial,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,Segoe UI Symbol;fon=
t-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:0.2px"><a style=3D"lis=
t-style:none;color:rgb(54,55,55);margin:0;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;f=
ont-family:&#39;SF Compact&#39;,-apple-system,system-ui,-apple-system,Blink=
MacSystemFont,&#39;Segoe UI&#39;,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,&#39;App=
le Color Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI Symbol&#39;;font=
-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.2px;text-decoration:no=
ne" href=3D"https://substack.com/@gregdobbs" rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" ta=
rget=3D"_blank">Greg Dobbs</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr=
><td><table width=3D"auto" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"=
><tbody><tr><td style=3D"vertical-align:middle"><div style=3D"list-style:no=
ne;font-size:11px;line-height:20px;text-decoration-color:unset;color:rgb(11=
9,119,119);margin:0px;font-family:SF Compact,-apple-system,system-ui,-apple=
-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,Segoe UI,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,Apple=
 Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,Segoe UI Symbol;font-weight:500;text-transform:=
uppercase;letter-spacing:0.2px"> Jun 21</div></td></tr></tbody></table></td=
></tr></tbody></table></td><td align=3D"right"><table width=3D"auto" border=
=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"vertical=
-align:middle"><a href=3D"https://substack.com/@gregdobbs" rel=3D"noreferre=
r noopener" target=3D"_blank"><img src=3D"https://substackcdn.com/image/fet=
ch/$s_!PAWG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketee=
r-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2=
Fa104d9eb-051d-42d7-abb3-a6113db5553a_620x640.jpeg" style=3D"max-width:550p=
x;border:none;vertical-align:middle;width:40px;min-height:40px;min-width:40=
px;min-height:40px;margin:0px;display:inline;border-radius:50%" width=3D"40=
" height=3D"40"></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><ta=
ble width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0" style=
=3D"border-top-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-bottom-width:1px;bor=
der-bottom-style:solid;min-width:100%"><tbody><tr height=3D"16"><td height=
=3D"16" style=3D"font-size:0px;line-height:0">=C2=A0</td></tr><tr><td><tabl=
e width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><t=
r><td><table width=3D"auto" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0=
"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"vertical-align:middle"><br></td><td width=3D"8" s=
tyle=3D"min-width:8px"></td><td style=3D"vertical-align:middle"></td><td wi=
dth=3D"8" style=3D"min-width:8px"></td><td style=3D"vertical-align:middle">=
</td><td width=3D"8" style=3D"min-width:8px"></td><td style=3D"vertical-ali=
gn:middle"></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td align=3D"right"><br></td></tr=
></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div style=3D"paddin=
g:32px 0 0 0;font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><div style=3D"text-align:init=
ial;font-size:16px;line-height:26px;width:100%;margin-bottom:16px"><p style=
=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px;m=
argin-top:0">=E2=80=9CThis plane was transformed into a flying White House =
at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before.=E2=80=9D That=E2=80=
=99s what Donald Trump told reporters Friday after inspecting his new versi=
on of Air Force One.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);l=
ine-height:26px;font-size:16px">Isn=E2=80=99t that what it=E2=80=99s all ab=
out? =E2=80=9CA level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before?=E2=80=9D<=
/p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-=
size:16px">No wonder he pumped his fist when he came down the steps.</p><di=
v style=3D"font-size:16px;line-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width=
=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td s=
tyle=3D"text-align:center"></td><td align=3D"left" width=3D"1454" style=3D"=
text-align:center"><a href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/ae5ea486-1e89-4=
054-995b-129ee053dcd5?j=3DeyJ1IjoiMzkwYXoifQ.63a58n3zMjmmr0mkOuevC7O6Kp_vfH=
Jv1Esns2iQXZc" style=3D"padding:0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-d=
ecoration:none;display:block;margin:0" rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" target=
=3D"_blank"><img alt=3D"" src=3D"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!At=
c8!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsu=
bstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86956c41-df22-4f73-b=
f6c-91a262b73830_1454x976.png" style=3D"vertical-align:middle;display:block=
;margin:0px auto;border-width:medium!important;border-style:none!important;=
border-color:currentcolor!important;width:550px;max-width:800px"></a></td><=
td style=3D"text-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style=3D"=
margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"></p>=
<p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-siz=
e:16px">His quote is consistent with his world view. If he=E2=80=99s conten=
t, we all should be content. If he=E2=80=99s happy, we all should be happy.=
 If he is going to fly at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen befor=
e, we all should revel in his opulence. That=E2=80=99s the trouble with thi=
s selfish man=E2=80=94 one of many troubles, actually. He thinks his own pl=
easure is somehow is good for the nation.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;=
color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Here=E2=80=99s why it=
=E2=80=99s not. At a time when more than four million Americans have lost t=
heir SNAP benefits=E2=80=94 SNAP stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Assi=
stance Program=E2=80=94 and Trump has butchered the budget of FEMA, leaving=
 many victims of natural disasters high and dry, and roughly a trillion dol=
lars have been cut from Medicaid, and USAid has been all but erased from th=
e face of the earth and some poor souls are dying because of it=E2=80=94 Do=
nald Trump is showing off his new jet.</p><div style=3D"font-size:16px;line=
-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspaci=
ng=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"text-align:center"></td>=
<td align=3D"left" width=3D"1164" style=3D"text-align:center"><a href=3D"ht=
tps://substack.com/redirect/0f8d3905-3060-4277-9798-9c4115c8a43d?j=3DeyJ1Ij=
oiMzkwYXoifQ.63a58n3zMjmmr0mkOuevC7O6Kp_vfHJv1Esns2iQXZc" style=3D"padding:=
0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;mar=
gin:0" rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" target=3D"_blank"><img alt=3D"" src=3D"h=
ttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_kZU!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:g=
ood,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com=
%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7bab0bae-ea7d-4c53-9d5a-5c40294a7462_1164x780.png" sty=
le=3D"vertical-align:middle;display:block;margin:0px auto;border-width:medi=
um!important;border-style:none!important;border-color:currentcolor!importan=
t;width:550px;max-width:800px"></a></td><td style=3D"text-align:center"></t=
d></tr></tbody></table></div><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,=
55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"></p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;colo=
r:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">He would have you believe =
it was free, because it was a gift from the Gulf nation of Qatar, kissing o=
ff the obvious questions that arise when a foreign country whose fortunes a=
re tied to America=E2=80=99s makes such a gift as if there is no quid pro q=
uo. Last year when the gift was revealed, Trump wrote on his website, =E2=
=80=9CWhy should our military, and therefore our taxpayers, be forced to pa=
y hundreds of millions of Dollars when they can get it for FREE from a coun=
try that wants to reward us for a job well done. Only a FOOL would not acce=
pt this gift on behalf of our Country.=E2=80=9D</p><div style=3D"font-size:=
16px;line-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" =
cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"text-align:cent=
er"></td><td align=3D"left" width=3D"784" style=3D"text-align:center"><a hr=
ef=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/c7cd8f97-69ec-4beb-8708-2d7356a6a51a?j=
=3DeyJ1IjoiMzkwYXoifQ.63a58n3zMjmmr0mkOuevC7O6Kp_vfHJv1Esns2iQXZc" style=3D=
"padding:0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:none;display:=
block;margin:0" rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" target=3D"_blank"><img alt=3D""=
 src=3D"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZSCr!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto=
,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amaz=
onaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3fa14be4-aa4a-4309-93e8-66bb827b816c_784x606.=
png" style=3D"vertical-align:middle;display:block;margin:0px auto;border-wi=
dth:medium!important;border-style:none!important;border-color:currentcolor!=
important;width:550px;max-width:784px"></a></td><td style=3D"text-align:cen=
ter"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rg=
b(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"></p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20p=
x 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><span>Except it=E2=
=80=99s not free. The secretary of the Air Force told Congress last year, t=
he price tag for retrofitting an emir=E2=80=99s jet for the president of th=
e United States would be =E2=80=9Cprobably less than $400 million.=E2=80=9D=
 Yeah, like Trump=E2=80=99s billion dollar ballroom was only going to cost =
$200 million. And his retrofitted Reflecting Pool on the National Mall woul=
d only cost $1.8 million to clean it up. That cost ballooned to $16 million=
, and Trump botched it up so badly, the pool </span><em>still</em><span> is=
n=E2=80=99t clean. Last night he said it=E2=80=99ll have to be drained agai=
n, then start all over again.</span></p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color=
:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Ka-ching.</p><div style=3D"=
font-size:16px;line-height:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width=3D"100%" bor=
der=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"text-=
align:center"></td><td align=3D"left" width=3D"1384" style=3D"text-align:ce=
nter"><a href=3D"https://substack.com/redirect/f480dab1-0ce5-4e0d-8ae9-b4f4=
d3858452?j=3DeyJ1IjoiMzkwYXoifQ.63a58n3zMjmmr0mkOuevC7O6Kp_vfHJv1Esns2iQXZc=
" style=3D"padding:0;width:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:non=
e;display:block;margin:0" rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" target=3D"_blank"><im=
g alt=3D"" src=3D"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Rl3U!,w_1100,c_li=
mit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-med=
ia.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9bac1ae-65db-4726-95b0-837f04e04b9=
5_1384x1110.png" style=3D"vertical-align:middle;display:block;margin:0px au=
to;border-width:medium!important;border-style:none!important;border-color:c=
urrentcolor!important;width:550px;max-width:800px"></a></td><td style=3D"te=
xt-align:center"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20p=
x 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"></p><p style=3D"ma=
rgin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"><span>=
So the retrofitting comes to roughly the cost of a new jet. Then on top of =
that, since this new 747 is a later model and significantly bigger than its=
 predecessor, it needed a new hanger at Andrews Air Force Base, which had a=
 reported price tag of another $250 million. </span><em>And</em><span>, to =
allow pilots and technicians to get familiar with the new model, the Air Fo=
rce purchased a similar plane last year from the German airline Lufthansa. =
</span><em>And</em><span>, as a reflection of Donald Trump=E2=80=99s taste,=
 even the seatbelts are decorated with the presidential seal. Heaven only k=
nows what that additional accoutrement cost.</span></p><p style=3D"margin:0=
 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Thanks, Mr. =
President, for saving us all that money.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;c=
olor:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">The plane was designed =
to the president=E2=80=99s taste. Which he thinks is also good for the nati=
on. =E2=80=9CEverything was designed good,=E2=80=9D he said after getting o=
ff the plane. =E2=80=9CIt was my taste, I will say. I like the color of the=
 American flag, right?=E2=80=9D</p><div style=3D"font-size:16px;line-height=
:26px;margin:32px auto"><table width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0=
" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td style=3D"text-align:center"></td><td ali=
gn=3D"left" width=3D"1446" style=3D"text-align:center"><a href=3D"https://s=
ubstack.com/redirect/985281c5-b342-4fc3-9fed-cc8223ceeee7?j=3DeyJ1IjoiMzkwY=
XoifQ.63a58n3zMjmmr0mkOuevC7O6Kp_vfHJv1Esns2iQXZc" style=3D"padding:0;width=
:auto;height:auto;border:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin:0" =
rel=3D"noreferrer noopener" target=3D"_blank"><img alt=3D"" src=3D"https://=
substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QCf3!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_=
progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpubl=
ic%2Fimages%2Fa5090dab-3bfa-4fc7-9ca0-68afea6b90ce_1446x968.png" style=3D"v=
ertical-align:middle;display:block;margin:0px auto;border-width:medium!impo=
rtant;border-style:none!important;border-color:currentcolor!important;width=
:550px;max-width:800px"></a></td><td style=3D"text-align:center"></td></tr>=
</tbody></table></div><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);lin=
e-height:26px;font-size:16px"></p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(5=
4,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Yeah, except for the gold stripes=
 running the length of the fuselage.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color=
:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">But to hear Trump tell it, =
it=E2=80=99s all for the good of the nation. He told Fox host Sean Hannity =
that the old 747 just didn=E2=80=99t measure up anymore. =E2=80=9CWhen you =
land and you see Saudi Arabia and you see UAE and you can see Qatar and you=
 see all these, they have these brand new Boeing 747s, mostly. And you see =
ours next to it; this is like a totally different plane.=E2=80=9D</p><p sty=
le=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px=
">But now the tables have turned. =E2=80=9CNow, when we land at airports in=
 London and in Germany and different places, nobody tops this one, and that=
=E2=80=99s the way we have to have it for our country.=E2=80=9D</p><p style=
=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">=
No. That=E2=80=99s the way we have to have it for Donald Trump.</p><p style=
=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px;t=
ext-align:center;border-radius:4px"><span style=3D"color:#ffffff;text-decor=
ation:none">Share</span></p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,5=
5);line-height:26px;font-size:16px"></p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color=
:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px">That=E2=80=99s what Trump i=
s all about. It=E2=80=99s not about us. It=E2=80=99s about him. Always has =
been. Always will be.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);=
line-height:26px;font-size:16px">Maybe if he spent a little more time getti=
ng smart about the war with Iran and less getting settled in his new airpla=
ne, our nation would be in better shape than it is. And we=E2=80=99d be in =
talks to protect us from any Iranian nuclear ambitions. And the Strait of H=
ormuz would be open.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);l=
ine-height:26px;font-size:16px">Maybe.</p><p style=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;col=
or:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16px;text-align:center;border-r=
adius:4px"><span style=3D"color:#ffffff;text-decoration:none">Leave a comme=
nt</span></p><div style=3D"font-size:16px;line-height:26px"><div style=3D"f=
ont-size:16px;direction:ltr!important;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;=
font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,&#39;Segoe UI&#39;,R=
oboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,&#39;Apple Color Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI =
Emoji&#39;,&#39;Segoe UI Symbol&#39;;color:#363737;line-height:1.5;max-widt=
h:560px;margin:24px auto;display:block;text-align:center;padding:0px 32px">=
<div style=3D"margin-top:16px;font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacS=
ystemFont,Segoe UI,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Sego=
e UI Emoji,Segoe UI Symbol;font-size:18px;max-width:384px;line-height:22px;=
text-align:center;font-weight:400;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto"><p st=
yle=3D"margin:0 0 20px 0;color:rgb(54,55,55);line-height:26px;font-size:16p=
x"><br></p></div></div></div></div></div><table width=3D"100%" border=3D"0"=
 cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0" style=3D"border-top-width:1px;border-t=
op-style:solid;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;min-width:=
100%"><tbody><tr height=3D"16"><td height=3D"16" style=3D"font-size:0px;lin=
e-height:0"></td></tr><tr><td><br></td></tr><tr height=3D"16"><td height=3D=
"16" style=3D"font-size:0px;line-height:0"></td></tr><tr><td><table width=
=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr><td><=
br></td><td align=3D"right"><table width=3D"auto" border=3D"0" cellspacing=
=3D"0" cellpadding=3D"0"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody>=
</table></td></tr><tr height=3D"16"><td height=3D"16" style=3D"font-size:0p=
x;line-height:0">=C2=A0</td></tr></tbody></table><div style=3D"color:rgb(11=
9,119,119);text-align:center;font-size:16px;line-height:26px;padding:24px0"=
><div style=3D"font-size:16px;line-height:26px;padding-bottom:24px"><p styl=
e=3D"list-style:none;font-family:system-ui,-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont=
,Segoe UI,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoj=
i,Segoe UI Symbol;padding-bottom:0px;font-size:12px;line-height:16px;margin=
:0px;color:rgb(119,119,119);text-decoration-color:unset">=C2=A9 2026 <span>=
Greg Dobbs</span></p></div></div></div></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table><=
/div></div>
            </div>
        </div></div></div></div></div>

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Why is this the wrong prescription? What is the right one?

Warren Coats
1211 S Eads St. Apt. 2101
Arlington VA 22202
http://wcoats.blog/   https://twitter.com/wcoats2

> On Jun 21, 2026, at 3:26=E2=80=AFPM, Philip Wilcox via Salon =
<salon@listserve.com> wrote:
>=20
>=20
>=20
>> On Jun 20, 2026, at 5:58=E2=80=AFPM, Chas Freeman via Salon =
<salon@listserve.com> wrote:
>>=20
>> =EF=BB=BF
>> =
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-biotech=
?giftId=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz
>>=20
>> Wrong prescription
>> Don=E2=80=99t restrict Chinese biotech
>>=20
>> Patients benefit from faster, cheaper treatments, wherever they are =
invented
>>=20
>> Photograph: Alamy
>> Jun 18th 2026|3 min read
>> Listen to this story
>> Someone whose life is saved by a new medicine is unlikely to care =
whether it was invented at home or on the other side of the world. Yet =
America=E2=80=99s policymakers have begun treating China=E2=80=99s =
biotechnology industry as the next front in the tech war. A bill before =
Congress would amend the COINS Act, which restricts American investment =
in sensitive technologies abroad, to include licensing Chinese biotech. =
Some want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), America=E2=80=99s drug =
regulator, to disregard clinical-trial data from China.
>>=20
>> America=E2=80=99s worries have been brought about by a remarkable =
shift in where innovation happens. Chinese firms ran nearly a third of =
the world=E2=80=99s clinical trials last year, up from just 6% a decade =
earlier. China is now the world=E2=80=99s second-largest source of new =
drugs, behind only America itself. In 2025 nearly half of licensing =
deals worth $50m or more were struck with Chinese firms, up from none in =
2020. In some categories, such as antibody-drug conjugates, a promising =
class of cancer treatments, Chinese firms accounted for almost all the =
licensing.
>>=20
>> To view Chinese medical innovation as anything other than good news =
would be a mistake. In AI and semiconductors, America worries about its =
intellectual property leaking to China. In biotechnology the flow of =
information runs in the opposite direction. And though anxiety about =
China=E2=80=99s dominance in the physical supply chain for drugs is =
understandable=E2=80=94the country accounts for over 70% of the active =
pharmaceutical ingredients for essential drugs=E2=80=94manufacturing =
resilience and scientific collaboration are different issues. America =
cannot lose from gaining new knowledge.
>>=20
>> Setting aside Chinese advances would be especially foolish, given =
that drug development suffers from poor productivity. Bringing a new =
medicine to market now costs roughly $2.8bn and can take well over a =
decade. Policymakers often complain about the rising cost of medicines. =
Yet proposals such as disregarding Chinese clinical-trial data would =
lengthen development timelines, raise costs and make drug discovery less =
productive. Does Congress really want pioneering treatments to be =
available in Europe or Asia before they reach Americans?
>>=20
>> Some politicians fear that if drug firms spend their research budgets =
licensing Chinese molecules, less capital will be available for American =
biotechnology. But investment is not a lump to be divvied up. As the AI =
boom shows, when opportunities grow, so capital flows in. What matters =
is to make sure that American biotech is not hindered by bad policies. =
Fortunately, American firms remain the world=E2=80=99s leaders in drug =
discovery. They possess deep expertise in taking promising molecules =
through late-stage clinical trials, regulatory review and commercial =
launch. Chinese biotechnology executives privately acknowledge the FDA =
as the global regulatory leader.
>>=20
>> America=E2=80=99s recent choices are blunting its edge. The FDA has =
suffered high turnover among senior officials, including the resignation =
of Marty Makary, its head. Decision-making has been politicised: firms =
can receive =E2=80=9Cpriority vouchers=E2=80=9D that speed up reviews in =
return for lowering their prices and investing in domestic =
manufacturing. Funding for the National Institutes of Health, the =
largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has been slashed. =
Research programmes have been cancelled for ideological reasons. At the =
same time, immigration policies are making America a less attractive =
destination for the scientists on whom the industry depends, including =
many talented researchers from China.
>>=20
>> Take the red pill
>>=20
>> America should fix those problems rather than locking out Chinese =
innovation. The best world for patients is one in which both China and =
America develop cheap and effective drugs. Diseases cross borders. So =
should their cures. =E2=96=A0
>>=20
>>=20
>> --=20
>> Salon mailing list
>> Salon@listserve.com
>> https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon
> --=20
> Salon mailing list
> Salon@listserve.com
> https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon


--Apple-Mail=_FA6FF24E-80C5-4D18-8E07-3FF0AE5A77AE
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<html aria-label=3D"message body"><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" =
content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body =
style=3D"overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
line-break: after-white-space;">Why is this the wrong prescription? What =
is the right one?<div><br id=3D"lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div>
<meta charset=3D"UTF-8"><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, =
0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; =
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: =
none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: =
after-white-space;"><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, =
0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; =
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: =
none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: =
after-white-space;">Warren Coats<br>1211 S Eads St. Apt. =
2101<br>Arlington VA 22202<br>http://wcoats.blog/ &nbsp; =
https://twitter.com/wcoats2</div></div>
</div>
<div><br><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div>On Jun 21, 2026, at 3:26=E2=80=AFP=
M, Philip Wilcox via Salon &lt;salon@listserve.com&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type"=
 content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"><div dir=3D"auto"><div =
dir=3D"ltr"></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div =
dir=3D"ltr"><br><blockquote type=3D"cite">On Jun 20, 2026, at 5:58=E2=80=AF=
PM, Chas Freeman via Salon &lt;salon@listserve.com&gt; =
wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div =
dir=3D"ltr">=EF=BB=BF<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><a =
href=3D"https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese=
-biotech?giftId=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz">https:=
//www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-biotech?giftI=
d=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz</a></div><div><br></d=
iv><div>
<div class=3D"gmail-css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-1nbyogb=
 e4384g60"><span class=3D"gmail-css-z3012 e17k1v3f0">Wrong =
prescription</span></div><h1 class=3D"gmail-css-1tik00t =
e1qjd5lc0">Don=E2=80=99t restrict Chinese biotech</h1><h2 =
class=3D"gmail-css-1xjkmih e6h2z500">Patients benefit from faster, =
cheaper treatments, wherever they are invented</h2><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-bcvd5n e1c90fta0"><div =
class=3D"gmail-flex_mb-flex__6laMs gmail-flex_mb-flex--row__44kW8 =
gmail-flex_mb-flex--gap-sm__rAZkB =
gmail-flex_mb-flex--wrap__pcDfg"></div></div></div><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-vpmedt e1a1lgff0"><img alt=3D"Employees work in a =
factory of Fusen Pharmaceutical Company in Nanyang, Henan Province, =
China" width=3D"1280" height=3D"720" style=3D"color: transparent;" =
src=3D"https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=3D1424,quality=3D80,f=
ormat=3Dauto/content-assets/images/20260620_LDP502.jpg"><span =
class=3D"gmail-css-1st60ou e15o9k8g1">Photograph: Alamy</span></div><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-15hjsnd =
euf71ye0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-1qcvsun e1g8zjgp0"><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-jbc7vr el417p50"><div class=3D"gmail-css-zr3q0n =
e5z0ibw0"> Jun 18th 2026<span class=3D"gmail-css-1x6wy4g =
e1g8zjgp1">|</span><span class=3D"gmail-css-cskdai e1g8zjgp2">3 min =
read</span></div></div></div><div class=3D"gmail-css-ei3lv3 =
e1or0ueq0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-s6z5ja e2uyjhs0"><div>Listen to this =
story</div></div><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll =
e1y9q0ei0"><span>S</span><small>omeone</small> <small>whose</small>
 life is saved by a new medicine is unlikely to care whether it was=20
invented at home or on the other side of the world. Yet America=E2=80=99s=20=

policymakers have begun treating China=E2=80=99s biotechnology industry =
as the=20
next front in the tech war. A bill before Congress would amend the =
<small>COINS</small>
 Act, which restricts American investment in sensitive technologies=20
abroad, to include licensing Chinese biotech. Some want the Food and=20
Drug Administration (<small>FDA</small>), America=E2=80=99s drug =
regulator, to disregard clinical-trial data from China.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">America=E2=80=99s
 worries have been brought about by a remarkable shift in where=20
innovation happens. Chinese firms ran nearly a third of the world=E2=80=99=
s=20
clinical trials last year, up from just 6% a decade earlier. China is=20
now the world=E2=80=99s second-largest source of new drugs, behind only =
America=20
itself. In 2025 nearly half of licensing deals worth $50m or more were=20=

struck with Chinese firms, up from none in 2020. In some categories,=20
such as antibody-drug conjugates, a promising class of cancer=20
treatments, Chinese firms accounted for almost all the licensing.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">To view Chinese medical innovation =
as anything other than good news would be a mistake. In =
<small>AI</small>
 and semiconductors, America worries about its intellectual property=20
leaking to China. In biotechnology the flow of information runs in the=20=

opposite direction. And though anxiety about China=E2=80=99s dominance =
in the=20
physical supply chain for drugs is understandable=E2=80=94the country =
accounts=20
for over 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for essential=20
drugs=E2=80=94manufacturing resilience and scientific collaboration are=20=

different issues. America cannot lose from gaining new knowledge.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Setting
 aside Chinese advances would be especially foolish, given that drug=20
development suffers from poor productivity. Bringing a new medicine to=20=

market now costs roughly $2.8bn and can take well over a decade.=20
Policymakers often complain about the rising cost of medicines. Yet=20
proposals such as disregarding Chinese clinical-trial data would=20
lengthen development timelines, raise costs and make drug discovery less
 productive. Does Congress really want pioneering treatments to be=20
available in Europe or Asia before they reach Americans?</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Some
 politicians fear that if drug firms spend their research budgets=20
licensing Chinese molecules, less capital will be available for American
 biotechnology. But investment is not a lump to be divvied up. As the =
<small>AI</small>
 boom shows, when opportunities grow, so capital flows in. What matters=20=

is to make sure that American biotech is not hindered by bad policies.=20=

Fortunately, American firms remain the world=E2=80=99s leaders in drug=20=

discovery. They possess deep expertise in taking promising molecules=20
through late-stage clinical trials, regulatory review and commercial=20
launch. Chinese biotechnology executives privately acknowledge the =
<small>FDA</small> as the global regulatory leader.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">America=E2=80=99s recent choices =
are blunting its edge. The <small>FDA</small>
 has suffered high turnover among senior officials, including the=20
resignation of Marty Makary, its head. Decision-making has been=20
politicised: firms can receive =E2=80=9Cpriority vouchers=E2=80=9D that =
speed up reviews
 in return for lowering their prices and investing in domestic=20
manufacturing. Funding for the National Institutes of Health, the=20
largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has been slashed.=20
Research programmes have been cancelled for ideological reasons. At the=20=

same time, immigration policies are making America a less attractive=20
destination for the scientists on whom the industry depends, including=20=

many talented researchers from China.</p><h2 class=3D"gmail-css-1vv6jyl =
e18nv6n10">Take the red pill</h2><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll =
e1y9q0ei0">America
 should fix those problems rather than locking out Chinese innovation.=20=

The best world for patients is one in which both China and America=20
develop cheap and effective drugs. Diseases cross borders. So should=20
their cures. <span =
class=3D"gmail-ufinish">=E2=96=A0</span></p></div></div></div>

<br></div></div>
<span>-- </span><br><span>Salon mailing =
list</span><br><span>Salon@listserve.com</span><br><span>https://mlm2.list=
serve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon</span><br></div></blockquote></div>-- =
<br>Salon mailing =
list<br>Salon@listserve.com<br>https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo=
/salon<br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>=

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Why is this the wrong prescription? What is the right one?

Warren Coats
1211 S Eads St. Apt. 2101
Arlington VA 22202
http://wcoats.blog/   https://twitter.com/wcoats2

> On Jun 21, 2026, at 3:26=E2=80=AFPM, Philip Wilcox via Salon =
<salon@listserve.com> wrote:
>=20
>=20
>=20
>> On Jun 20, 2026, at 5:58=E2=80=AFPM, Chas Freeman via Salon =
<salon@listserve.com> wrote:
>>=20
>> =EF=BB=BF
>> =
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-biotech=
?giftId=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz
>>=20
>> Wrong prescription
>> Don=E2=80=99t restrict Chinese biotech
>>=20
>> Patients benefit from faster, cheaper treatments, wherever they are =
invented
>>=20
>> Photograph: Alamy
>> Jun 18th 2026|3 min read
>> Listen to this story
>> Someone whose life is saved by a new medicine is unlikely to care =
whether it was invented at home or on the other side of the world. Yet =
America=E2=80=99s policymakers have begun treating China=E2=80=99s =
biotechnology industry as the next front in the tech war. A bill before =
Congress would amend the COINS Act, which restricts American investment =
in sensitive technologies abroad, to include licensing Chinese biotech. =
Some want the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), America=E2=80=99s drug =
regulator, to disregard clinical-trial data from China.
>>=20
>> America=E2=80=99s worries have been brought about by a remarkable =
shift in where innovation happens. Chinese firms ran nearly a third of =
the world=E2=80=99s clinical trials last year, up from just 6% a decade =
earlier. China is now the world=E2=80=99s second-largest source of new =
drugs, behind only America itself. In 2025 nearly half of licensing =
deals worth $50m or more were struck with Chinese firms, up from none in =
2020. In some categories, such as antibody-drug conjugates, a promising =
class of cancer treatments, Chinese firms accounted for almost all the =
licensing.
>>=20
>> To view Chinese medical innovation as anything other than good news =
would be a mistake. In AI and semiconductors, America worries about its =
intellectual property leaking to China. In biotechnology the flow of =
information runs in the opposite direction. And though anxiety about =
China=E2=80=99s dominance in the physical supply chain for drugs is =
understandable=E2=80=94the country accounts for over 70% of the active =
pharmaceutical ingredients for essential drugs=E2=80=94manufacturing =
resilience and scientific collaboration are different issues. America =
cannot lose from gaining new knowledge.
>>=20
>> Setting aside Chinese advances would be especially foolish, given =
that drug development suffers from poor productivity. Bringing a new =
medicine to market now costs roughly $2.8bn and can take well over a =
decade. Policymakers often complain about the rising cost of medicines. =
Yet proposals such as disregarding Chinese clinical-trial data would =
lengthen development timelines, raise costs and make drug discovery less =
productive. Does Congress really want pioneering treatments to be =
available in Europe or Asia before they reach Americans?
>>=20
>> Some politicians fear that if drug firms spend their research budgets =
licensing Chinese molecules, less capital will be available for American =
biotechnology. But investment is not a lump to be divvied up. As the AI =
boom shows, when opportunities grow, so capital flows in. What matters =
is to make sure that American biotech is not hindered by bad policies. =
Fortunately, American firms remain the world=E2=80=99s leaders in drug =
discovery. They possess deep expertise in taking promising molecules =
through late-stage clinical trials, regulatory review and commercial =
launch. Chinese biotechnology executives privately acknowledge the FDA =
as the global regulatory leader.
>>=20
>> America=E2=80=99s recent choices are blunting its edge. The FDA has =
suffered high turnover among senior officials, including the resignation =
of Marty Makary, its head. Decision-making has been politicised: firms =
can receive =E2=80=9Cpriority vouchers=E2=80=9D that speed up reviews in =
return for lowering their prices and investing in domestic =
manufacturing. Funding for the National Institutes of Health, the =
largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has been slashed. =
Research programmes have been cancelled for ideological reasons. At the =
same time, immigration policies are making America a less attractive =
destination for the scientists on whom the industry depends, including =
many talented researchers from China.
>>=20
>> Take the red pill
>>=20
>> America should fix those problems rather than locking out Chinese =
innovation. The best world for patients is one in which both China and =
America develop cheap and effective drugs. Diseases cross borders. So =
should their cures. =E2=96=A0
>>=20
>>=20
>> --=20
>> Salon mailing list
>> Salon@listserve.com
>> https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon
> --=20
> Salon mailing list
> Salon@listserve.com
> https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon


--Apple-Mail=_FA6FF24E-80C5-4D18-8E07-3FF0AE5A77AE
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<html aria-label=3D"message body"><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" =
content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body =
style=3D"overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
line-break: after-white-space;">Why is this the wrong prescription? What =
is the right one?<div><br id=3D"lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div>
<meta charset=3D"UTF-8"><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, =
0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; =
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: =
none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: =
after-white-space;"><div dir=3D"auto" style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, =
0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; =
text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; =
word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: =
none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: =
after-white-space;">Warren Coats<br>1211 S Eads St. Apt. =
2101<br>Arlington VA 22202<br>http://wcoats.blog/ &nbsp; =
https://twitter.com/wcoats2</div></div>
</div>
<div><br><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div>On Jun 21, 2026, at 3:26=E2=80=AFP=
M, Philip Wilcox via Salon &lt;salon@listserve.com&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type"=
 content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"><div dir=3D"auto"><div =
dir=3D"ltr"></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br></div><div =
dir=3D"ltr"><br><blockquote type=3D"cite">On Jun 20, 2026, at 5:58=E2=80=AF=
PM, Chas Freeman via Salon &lt;salon@listserve.com&gt; =
wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div =
dir=3D"ltr">=EF=BB=BF<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><a =
href=3D"https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese=
-biotech?giftId=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz">https:=
//www.economist.com/leaders/2026/06/18/dont-restrict-chinese-biotech?giftI=
d=3DZDJkODZjNGMtYzRkOS00MTA3LTg5ZGEtMDQ3NDYzNTNhY2Mz</a></div><div><br></d=
iv><div>
<div class=3D"gmail-css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-1nbyogb=
 e4384g60"><span class=3D"gmail-css-z3012 e17k1v3f0">Wrong =
prescription</span></div><h1 class=3D"gmail-css-1tik00t =
e1qjd5lc0">Don=E2=80=99t restrict Chinese biotech</h1><h2 =
class=3D"gmail-css-1xjkmih e6h2z500">Patients benefit from faster, =
cheaper treatments, wherever they are invented</h2><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-bcvd5n e1c90fta0"><div =
class=3D"gmail-flex_mb-flex__6laMs gmail-flex_mb-flex--row__44kW8 =
gmail-flex_mb-flex--gap-sm__rAZkB =
gmail-flex_mb-flex--wrap__pcDfg"></div></div></div><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-vpmedt e1a1lgff0"><img alt=3D"Employees work in a =
factory of Fusen Pharmaceutical Company in Nanyang, Henan Province, =
China" width=3D"1280" height=3D"720" style=3D"color: transparent;" =
src=3D"https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=3D1424,quality=3D80,f=
ormat=3Dauto/content-assets/images/20260620_LDP502.jpg"><span =
class=3D"gmail-css-1st60ou e15o9k8g1">Photograph: Alamy</span></div><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-15hjsnd =
euf71ye0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-1qcvsun e1g8zjgp0"><div =
class=3D"gmail-css-jbc7vr el417p50"><div class=3D"gmail-css-zr3q0n =
e5z0ibw0"> Jun 18th 2026<span class=3D"gmail-css-1x6wy4g =
e1g8zjgp1">|</span><span class=3D"gmail-css-cskdai e1g8zjgp2">3 min =
read</span></div></div></div><div class=3D"gmail-css-ei3lv3 =
e1or0ueq0"><div class=3D"gmail-css-s6z5ja e2uyjhs0"><div>Listen to this =
story</div></div><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll =
e1y9q0ei0"><span>S</span><small>omeone</small> <small>whose</small>
 life is saved by a new medicine is unlikely to care whether it was=20
invented at home or on the other side of the world. Yet America=E2=80=99s=20=

policymakers have begun treating China=E2=80=99s biotechnology industry =
as the=20
next front in the tech war. A bill before Congress would amend the =
<small>COINS</small>
 Act, which restricts American investment in sensitive technologies=20
abroad, to include licensing Chinese biotech. Some want the Food and=20
Drug Administration (<small>FDA</small>), America=E2=80=99s drug =
regulator, to disregard clinical-trial data from China.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">America=E2=80=99s
 worries have been brought about by a remarkable shift in where=20
innovation happens. Chinese firms ran nearly a third of the world=E2=80=99=
s=20
clinical trials last year, up from just 6% a decade earlier. China is=20
now the world=E2=80=99s second-largest source of new drugs, behind only =
America=20
itself. In 2025 nearly half of licensing deals worth $50m or more were=20=

struck with Chinese firms, up from none in 2020. In some categories,=20
such as antibody-drug conjugates, a promising class of cancer=20
treatments, Chinese firms accounted for almost all the licensing.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">To view Chinese medical innovation =
as anything other than good news would be a mistake. In =
<small>AI</small>
 and semiconductors, America worries about its intellectual property=20
leaking to China. In biotechnology the flow of information runs in the=20=

opposite direction. And though anxiety about China=E2=80=99s dominance =
in the=20
physical supply chain for drugs is understandable=E2=80=94the country =
accounts=20
for over 70% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients for essential=20
drugs=E2=80=94manufacturing resilience and scientific collaboration are=20=

different issues. America cannot lose from gaining new knowledge.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Setting
 aside Chinese advances would be especially foolish, given that drug=20
development suffers from poor productivity. Bringing a new medicine to=20=

market now costs roughly $2.8bn and can take well over a decade.=20
Policymakers often complain about the rising cost of medicines. Yet=20
proposals such as disregarding Chinese clinical-trial data would=20
lengthen development timelines, raise costs and make drug discovery less
 productive. Does Congress really want pioneering treatments to be=20
available in Europe or Asia before they reach Americans?</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">Some
 politicians fear that if drug firms spend their research budgets=20
licensing Chinese molecules, less capital will be available for American
 biotechnology. But investment is not a lump to be divvied up. As the =
<small>AI</small>
 boom shows, when opportunities grow, so capital flows in. What matters=20=

is to make sure that American biotech is not hindered by bad policies.=20=

Fortunately, American firms remain the world=E2=80=99s leaders in drug=20=

discovery. They possess deep expertise in taking promising molecules=20
through late-stage clinical trials, regulatory review and commercial=20
launch. Chinese biotechnology executives privately acknowledge the =
<small>FDA</small> as the global regulatory leader.</p><p =
class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0">America=E2=80=99s recent choices =
are blunting its edge. The <small>FDA</small>
 has suffered high turnover among senior officials, including the=20
resignation of Marty Makary, its head. Decision-making has been=20
politicised: firms can receive =E2=80=9Cpriority vouchers=E2=80=9D that =
speed up reviews
 in return for lowering their prices and investing in domestic=20
manufacturing. Funding for the National Institutes of Health, the=20
largest funder of biomedical research in the world, has been slashed.=20
Research programmes have been cancelled for ideological reasons. At the=20=

same time, immigration policies are making America a less attractive=20
destination for the scientists on whom the industry depends, including=20=

many talented researchers from China.</p><h2 class=3D"gmail-css-1vv6jyl =
e18nv6n10">Take the red pill</h2><p class=3D"gmail-css-1l5amll =
e1y9q0ei0">America
 should fix those problems rather than locking out Chinese innovation.=20=

The best world for patients is one in which both China and America=20
develop cheap and effective drugs. Diseases cross borders. So should=20
their cures. <span =
class=3D"gmail-ufinish">=E2=96=A0</span></p></div></div></div>

<br></div></div>
<span>-- </span><br><span>Salon mailing =
list</span><br><span>Salon@listserve.com</span><br><span>https://mlm2.list=
serve.net/mailman/listinfo/salon</span><br></div></blockquote></div>-- =
<br>Salon mailing =
list<br>Salon@listserve.com<br>https://mlm2.listserve.net/mailman/listinfo=
/salon<br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>=

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Subject: [Salon] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_Benjamin_Netanyahu_admits_he_has_change?=
 =?utf-8?q?d_Israel=E2=80=99s_security_doctrine_to_strictly_follow_?=
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https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/2068775294622634173
Benjamin Netanyahu admits he has changed Israel=E2=80=99s security doctrine=
 to
strictly follow the Babylonian Talmud: =E2=80=9CKill them first.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=9CWe initiate, we attack, we surprise.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=9CKILL THEM FIRST.=E2=80=9D

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr"><a href=3D"https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/=
2068775294622634173" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank" style=3D"backgrou=
nd-color:transparent">https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/2068775294622634173=
</a></div>
Benjamin Netanyahu admits he has changed Israel=E2=80=99s security doctrine=
 to strictly follow the Babylonian Talmud: =E2=80=9CKill them first.=E2=80=
=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CWe initiate, we attack, we surprise.=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CKILL THEM FIRST.=E2=80=9D<br>
</div></div>

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*https://thecradle.co/articles/iranian-team-walks-out-of-switzerland-talks-=
after-trumps-latest-threats
<https://thecradle.co/articles/iranian-team-walks-out-of-switzerland-talks-=
after-trumps-latest-threats>*

*Iranian delegation walks out of Switzerland talks after Trump=E2=80=99s la=
test
threats*The US president said on social media as negotiations were underway
that he would strike the Islamic Republic =E2=80=98very hard=E2=80=99 over =
Tehran=E2=80=99s support
for Hezbollah

*News Desk   6/21/26*

*Iranian representatives walked out of the venue where talks were being
held in Switzerland on 21 June, in protest against US President Donald
Trump's latest threat to renew strikes against the Islamic Republic,
Iranian state media reported
<https://tasnimnews.ir/fa/news/1405/03/31/3623273/%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A6%D8%AA-=
%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B1%=
D8%A7%D8%B6-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AA%=
D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%BE-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D=
9%87-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%B1%DA%A9-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF>.*

*A source close to Iran's negotiating team told Tasnim News Agency and
other outlets that the Iranian delegation left the negotiation venue in
protest over Trump=E2=80=99s new remarks.*

*=E2=80=9CThe outcome [of the talks] ultimately remains uncertain and shrou=
ded in
ambiguity,=E2=80=9D the Tasnim News Agency report said.*

*Tasnim News Agency
<https://tasnimnews.ir/fa/news/1405/03/31/3623241/%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%A8-%D8%A7=
%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85-%D8%A7%DA%AF%D8%B1-=
%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%=
D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%82%D8%A8-%D9%86%D8%B4%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%DA%A9%=
D9%86%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%82%D=
9%81-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%AF>
has
also reported that talks will be =E2=80=9Chalted=E2=80=9D if Israel continu=
es to refuse
withdrawal from Lebanon.*

*A member of Iran's negotiating team confirmed this in an interview with
IRIB, saying talks will end unless war ceases in Lebanon.*

*According to a source cited by Fars News Agency, talks
<https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkkym9rgmx#google_vignette> were ended
and may not resume.*


*Press TV reported that a formal complaint has been filed, and that it
remains unclear if talks will continue. The US media outlet Axios claimed
that the Iranian team had not left and that talks were ongoing. Similarly,
TASS, citing a source familiar with the talks, reported that the Iranian
delegation temporarily left the negotiation center in protest over Trump's
threats and returned to their hotels for consultations, adding that the
negotiations have not ended.*

*Al Jazeera=E2=80=99s correspondent in Burgenstock said the Iranian negotia=
ting
team had only temporarily withdrawn from talks.*

*Iranian officials have reacted to Trump=E2=80=99s new threats to bomb the =
Islamic
Republic.*

*"Don't they realize that if their threats had been effective, they would
not have reached their current state of desperation? We do not take
American threats seriously,=E2=80=9D said Parliament Speaker and top negoti=
ator
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. *

*=E2=80=9CThey would be wise to watch their words. Our armed forces are pre=
pared to
respond in a different manner. They can say whatever they want; we are the
ones who act," he added. *

*Trump=E2=80=99s threats were a violation of the first clause of the recent=
ly
signed MoU, which states that both parties must commit =E2=80=9Cnot to init=
iate any
war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the
threat or use of force against each other."*

*Trump made the threats as Pakistani and Qatari-mediated negotiations were
taking place in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday. *

*=E2=80=9CIran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon f=
rom
causing trouble. If they don=E2=80=99t, we=E2=80=99ll hit Iran very hard ag=
ain, just like
we did last week, only harder!!!=E2=80=9D the US president wrote
<https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116788337995785578>on
social media, referring to Hezbollah. *

*Separately, Trump told Fox News that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz,
it "won't have a country ... you won't even make it back to your fucking
country." *

*Tehran had already shut the waterway again on 20 June in response to
Israeli war crimes and massacres in Lebanon. *

*Fox News quoted Trump as saying that the new Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) is "not a deal" but instead a temporary extension of the ceasefire,
while adding that the US "holds the cards=E2=80=9D and that the president c=
an "do
whatever he wants" after the 60-day period expires.*

*Trump also responded to a speech by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian,
who said Tehran will not abandon its right to peaceful nuclear enrichment. =
*


*"He better watch his mouth, he better shape up, or we'll take over the
rest of the country," Trump said. Additionally, the US president said
Washington could take over the Strait of Hormuz and impose transit fees in
the future if necessary, suggesting the US could claim 20 percent of the
oil passing through the strategic waterway.*

*The talks kicked off in Switzerland on Sunday, after having been postponed
following Israel=E2=80=99s brutal escalation in Lebanon, which killed at le=
ast 100
people over the weekend.*

*Tehran said it was prioritizing
<https://thecradle.co/articles/iran-prioritizes-lebanon-in-switzerland-talk=
s-amid-cautious-calm-across-south>
the
Lebanon clause of the MoU, which demands an end to the Israeli war and
occupation in that country.*

*Access to Iran's frozen assets, issues related to the sale of oil
derivatives and petrochemical products, and several other clauses of the
MoU were also set to be addressed.*

*Iran had reclosed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday in response to Israel=
=E2=80=99s
brutal attacks on Lebanon, while warning of =E2=80=9Cfurther measures=E2=80=
=9D if the
violations do not end.*

*As a result, the US pressured Israel to rein in its campaign of ethnic
cleansing and indiscriminate bombing.*

*Yet Tel Aviv has continued to refuse withdrawal from south Lebanon
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-violently-bombs-lebanon-minutes-after=
-us-officials-declare-new-ceasefire>,
and Hezbollah has vowed to continue confronting Israeli forces as long as
they remain present in Lebanese territory.*

--000000000000aec5840654cd4ece
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=
=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr"><b style=3D"background-color:transparent"><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif"><a href=3D"https://thecradle.co/articles/iranian=
-team-walks-out-of-switzerland-talks-after-trumps-latest-threats" target=3D=
"_blank">https://thecradle.co/articles/iranian-team-walks-out-of-switzerlan=
d-talks-after-trumps-latest-threats</a></font></b></div><div dir=3D"ltr"><d=
iv dir=3D"ltr"><div><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><br></font></b></div><=
div><h1 style=3D"line-height:1.2141em;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;ma=
x-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><font face=3D"georgia, serif" size=3D"4">=
<i>Iranian delegation walks out of Switzerland talks after Trump=E2=80=99s =
latest threats</i></font></h1><h2 style=3D"line-height:1.27275em;max-width:=
100%"><font size=3D"2" face=3D"georgia, serif" color=3D"#000000">The US pre=
sident said on social media as negotiations were underway that he would str=
ike the Islamic Republic =E2=80=98very hard=E2=80=99 over Tehran=E2=80=99s =
support for Hezbollah</font></h2><div style=3D"margin-bottom:1.45em;max-wid=
th:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><p style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%;display:=
inline"><a style=3D"margin:0px;max-width:100%;display:inline"><b><font face=
=3D"georgia, serif">News Desk=C2=A0 =C2=A06/21/26</font></b></a></p></div><=
div style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-bottom:1.15em;line-height:1.5em;color:rg=
ba(0,0,0,0.65)"><img src=3D"https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyunc=
s.com/public/articles/a73f4bde-6da2-11f1-a8fc-00163e02c055.webp" alt=3D"" s=
tyle=3D"margin:auto 0px auto auto;display:block;clear:both" width=3D"412" h=
eight=3D"232"></div><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fon=
t face=3D"georgia, serif">Iranian representatives walked out of the venue w=
here talks were being held in Switzerland on 21 June, in protest against US=
 President Donald Trump&#39;s latest threat to renew strikes against the Is=
lamic Republic, Iranian state media<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://ta=
snimnews.ir/fa/news/1405/03/31/3623273/%D9%87%DB%8C%D8%A6%D8%AA-%D8%A7%DB%8=
C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6=
-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7=
%D9%85%D9%BE-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B1=
%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%B1%DA%A9-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF" style=3D"text-decoration:none=
;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">reported</a>.</fon=
t></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"=
georgia, serif">A source close to Iran&#39;s negotiating team told<span>=C2=
=A0</span><i style=3D"max-width:100%">Tasnim News Agency<span>=C2=A0</span>=
</i>and other outlets that the Iranian delegation left the negotiation venu=
e in protest over Trump=E2=80=99s new remarks.</font></b></p><p style=3D"ma=
x-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=
=9CThe outcome [of the talks] ultimately remains uncertain and shrouded in =
ambiguity,=E2=80=9D the<span>=C2=A0</span><i style=3D"max-width:100%">Tasni=
m News Agency</i><span>=C2=A0</span>report said.</font></b></p><p style=3D"=
max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><a hre=
f=3D"https://tasnimnews.ir/fa/news/1405/03/31/3623241/%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%A8-%D=
8%A7%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85-%D8%A7%DA%AF%D8=
%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%84%D8%A8%D9=
%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%82%D8%A8-%D9%86%D8%B4%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%86%DA=
%A9%D9%86%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%B0%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%=
82%D9%81-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%AF" style=3D"text-decoration:none;colo=
r:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank"><i style=3D"max-width:1=
00%">Tasnim News Agency</i></a><span>=C2=A0</span>has also reported that ta=
lks will be =E2=80=9Chalted=E2=80=9D if Israel continues to refuse withdraw=
al from Lebanon.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,2=
7)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">A member of Iran&#39;s negotiating tea=
m confirmed this in an interview with IRIB, saying talks will end unless wa=
r ceases in Lebanon.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-top:0.=
4em;margin-bottom:0.4em"></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)=
"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">According to a source cited by<span>=C2=
=A0</span><i style=3D"max-width:100%">Fars News Agency</i>,<span>=C2=A0</sp=
an><a href=3D"https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkkym9rgmx#google_vignette" =
style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" target=
=3D"_blank">talks</a><span>=C2=A0</span>were ended and may not resume.</fon=
t></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"=
georgia, serif">Press TV reported that a formal complaint has been filed, a=
nd that it remains unclear if talks will continue. The US media outlet=C2=
=A0<i style=3D"max-width:100%">Axios=C2=A0</i>claimed that the Iranian team=
 had not left and that talks were ongoing.=C2=A0<br style=3D"max-width:100%=
">Similarly, TASS, citing a source familiar with the talks, reported that t=
he Iranian delegation temporarily left the negotiation center in protest ov=
er Trump&#39;s threats and returned to their hotels for consultations, addi=
ng that the negotiations have not ended.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-widt=
h:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif"><i style=3D"ma=
x-width:100%">Al Jazeera</i>=E2=80=99s correspondent in Burgenstock said th=
e Iranian negotiating team had only temporarily withdrawn from talks.</font=
></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"g=
eorgia, serif">Iranian officials have reacted to Trump=E2=80=99s new threat=
s to bomb the Islamic Republic.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;co=
lor:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">&quot;Don&#39;t they re=
alize that if their threats had been effective, they would not have reached=
 their current state of desperation? We do not take American threats seriou=
sly,=E2=80=9D said Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Gh=
alibaf.=C2=A0</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"=
><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=E2=80=9CThey would be wise to watch thei=
r words. Our armed forces are prepared to respond in a different manner. Th=
ey can say whatever they want; we are the ones who act,&quot; he added.=C2=
=A0</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font =
face=3D"georgia, serif">Trump=E2=80=99s threats were a violation of the fir=
st clause of the recently signed MoU, which states that<span>=C2=A0</span><=
span style=3D"max-width:100%">both parties must commit =E2=80=9Cnot to init=
iate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain f=
rom the threat or use of force against each other.&quot;</span></font></b><=
/p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia=
, serif">Trump made the threats as Pakistani and Qatari-mediated negotiatio=
ns were taking place in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday.=C2=A0</font></=
b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.4em"></p>=
<p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, s=
erif">=E2=80=9CIran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Leba=
non from causing trouble. If they don=E2=80=99t, we=E2=80=99ll hit Iran ver=
y hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!=E2=80=9D the US pr=
esident<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTru=
mp/posts/116788337995785578" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110=
,210);max-width:100%" target=3D"_blank">wrote<span>=C2=A0</span></a>on soci=
al media, referring to Hezbollah.=C2=A0</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width=
:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Separately, Tru=
mp told Fox News that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, it &quot;won&#39=
;t have a country ... you won&#39;t even make it back to your fucking count=
ry.&quot;=C2=A0</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27=
)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Tehran had already shut the waterway ag=
ain on 20 June in response to Israeli war crimes and massacres in Lebanon.=
=C2=A0</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fo=
nt face=3D"georgia, serif">Fox News quoted Trump as saying that the new Mem=
orandum of Understanding (MoU) is &quot;not a deal&quot; but instead a temp=
orary extension of the ceasefire, while adding that the US &quot;holds the =
cards=E2=80=9D and that the president can &quot;do whatever he wants&quot; =
after the 60-day period expires.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;c=
olor:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Trump also responded t=
o a speech by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who said Tehran will not=
 abandon its right to peaceful nuclear enrichment.=C2=A0</font></b></p><p s=
tyle=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif=
">&quot;He better watch his mouth, he better shape up, or we&#39;ll take ov=
er the rest of the country,&quot; Trump said.=C2=A0<br style=3D"max-width:1=
00%">Additionally, the US president said Washington could take over the Str=
ait of Hormuz and impose transit fees in the future if necessary, suggestin=
g the US could claim 20 percent of the oil passing through the strategic wa=
terway.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><f=
ont face=3D"georgia, serif">The talks kicked off in Switzerland on Sunday, =
after having been postponed following Israel=E2=80=99s brutal escalation in=
 Lebanon, which killed at least 100 people over the weekend.</font></b></p>=
<p style=3D"max-width:100%;margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.4em"></p><p sty=
le=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">=
Tehran said it was<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://thecradle.co/articl=
es/iran-prioritizes-lebanon-in-switzerland-talks-amid-cautious-calm-across-=
south" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%" =
target=3D"_blank">prioritizing</a><span>=C2=A0</span>the Lebanon clause of =
the MoU, which demands an end to the Israeli war and occupation in that cou=
ntry.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><fon=
t face=3D"georgia, serif">Access to Iran&#39;s frozen assets, issues relate=
d to the sale of oil derivatives and petrochemical products, and several ot=
her clauses of the MoU were also set to be addressed.</font></b></p><p styl=
e=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">I=
ran had reclosed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday in response to Israel=E2=
=80=99s brutal attacks on Lebanon, while warning of =E2=80=9Cfurther measur=
es=E2=80=9D if the violations do not end.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-wid=
th:100%;color:rgb(27,27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">As a result, =
the US pressured Israel to rein in its campaign of ethnic cleansing and ind=
iscriminate bombing.</font></b></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%;color:rgb(27,=
27,27)"><b><font face=3D"georgia, serif">Yet Tel Aviv has continued to refu=
se withdrawal from south<span>=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://thecradle.co/=
articles/israel-violently-bombs-lebanon-minutes-after-us-officials-declare-=
new-ceasefire" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-widt=
h:100%" target=3D"_blank">Lebanon</a>, and Hezbollah has vowed to continue =
confronting Israeli forces as long as they remain present in Lebanese terri=
tory.</font></b></p></div></div>
</div>
</div></div>

--000000000000aec5840654cd4ece--

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While men have failed, a woman leader is teaching Trump how to behave!
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Subject: [Salon] On June 5th Israel attacked the home of world famous
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https://x.com/Villgecrazylady/status/2068388714213245348
On June 5th Israel attacked the home of world famous Lebanese sea turtle
conservationist Mona Khalil. Mona was hospitalized with burns and injuries
to over 70% of her body.

Yesterday, June 19th, Mona died from her injuries.

This wasn=E2=80=99t an accident. They didn=E2=80=99t make a mistake. Mona=
=E2=80=99s home was also
where she ran her sea turtle conservatory- which she aptly named the Orange
House Project- because, after all, her house was painted top to bottom in a
deep, bright orange, the color of a late summer sunset.

The Orange House Project has been in operation for almost 30 years. You can
find it on Facebook and Google Maps, along with dozens of reviews from
visitors over the years.

So no, it wasn=E2=80=99t an accident or a mistake. Israel knew exactly what=
 it was
doing when it bombed the Orange House Project on June 5th.

It=E2=80=99s exactly what they=E2=80=99ve been doing since the war with Ira=
n started:
ethnically cleansing all of Southern Lebanon so they can steal the land and
occupy it for themselves.

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><a href=
=3D"https://x.com/Villgecrazylady/status/2068388714213245348" rel=3D"norefe=
rrer" target=3D"_blank">https://x.com/Villgecrazylady/status/20683887142132=
45348</a><br>
On June 5th Israel attacked the home of world famous Lebanese sea turtle co=
nservationist Mona Khalil. Mona was hospitalized with burns and injuries to=
 over 70% of her body.<br>
<br>
Yesterday, June 19th, Mona died from her injuries.<br>
<br>
This wasn=E2=80=99t an accident. They didn=E2=80=99t make a mistake. Mona=
=E2=80=99s home was also where she ran her sea turtle conservatory- which s=
he aptly named the Orange House Project- because, after all, her house was =
painted top to bottom in a deep, bright orange, the color of a late summer =
sunset.<br>
<br>
The Orange House Project has been in operation for almost 30 years. You can=
 find it on Facebook and Google Maps, along with dozens of reviews from vis=
itors over the years. <br>
<br>
So no, it wasn=E2=80=99t an accident or a mistake. Israel knew exactly what=
 it was doing when it bombed the Orange House Project on June 5th.<br>
<br>
It=E2=80=99s exactly what they=E2=80=99ve been doing since the war with Ira=
n started: ethnically cleansing all of Southern Lebanon so they can steal t=
he land and occupy it for themselves.<br>
</div></div>

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Subject: [Salon] Iran walks out of peace talks after Trump outburst
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/21/ceasefire-under-strain-va=
nce-arrives-for-iran-negotiations/
Iran walks out of peace talks after Trump outburst

US president threatens to restart his bombing campaign in expletive-laden
phone calls and posts on social media

Alexander Butler   6/21/26

Iranian negotiators walked out of peace talks with the US after Donald
Trump said he would =E2=80=9Cblow the s--- out of them=E2=80=9D and take ov=
er their country.

As JD Vance, his vice president, began negotiations in Switzerland
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/06/18/jd-vance-israel-friends/>,
Mr Trump threatened to restart his bombing campaign on Iran, in
expletive-laden phone calls and posts on social media.

Iran immediately lodged a formal complaint with Pakistani and Qatari
mediators and left the talks.

Chief negotiator Mohammed Ghalibaf said the US should be careful with its
statements and that =E2=80=9Cour armed forces are ready to respond=E2=80=9D=
.

Earlier, Mr Vance said the US hoped to =E2=80=9Cturn over a new leaf=E2=80=
=9D
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/06/21/trump-allies-turn-on-hi=
m-iran-deal/>
 with the Islamic Republic, and said that they had made =E2=80=9Cgreat prog=
ress=E2=80=9D,
but on Sunday night, his efforts appeared to be quickly unravelling.

The talks in the scenic Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of B=C3=BCrgenst=
ock
were the first to be held after a memorandum of understanding was signed
between Washington and Tehran last week
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/21/trumps-iran-deal-disaster-stra=
it-hormuz-middle-east/>
.

Under the terms of that deal, the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened and
there would be a ceasefire =E2=80=9Con all fronts=E2=80=9D including Lebano=
n.

However, Hezbollah and Israel continued attacking each other and Tehran=E2=
=80=99s
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz shut
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/20/iran-closes-strait-of-ho=
rmuz-ceasefire-violation/>
.

On Sunday, Mr Trump revealed that he told Iranian officials: =E2=80=9CYou c=
lose the
strait
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/20/iran-closes-strait-of-ho=
rmuz-over-israels-attack-lebanon/>
 and you won=E2=80=99t have a country.

=E2=80=9CYou won=E2=80=99t even make it back to your f---ing country ... we=
=E2=80=99ll take over
the rest of the country,=E2=80=9D he added, according to Fox News.

=E2=80=9CWe may take over the Strait, if we have to. I=E2=80=99ll blow the =
s--- out of
them.=E2=80=9D

He then said on Truth Social: =E2=80=9CIran must immediately stop their hig=
hly paid
PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don=E2=80=99t, we=E2=80=99=
ll hit Iran very
hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!=E2=80=9D

The Iranian delegation to the talks was led by chief negotiator Mohammad
Ghalibaf and included Abbas Araqchi, the foreign minister, as well as
senior security, central bank and oil officials.

They refused to pose for photographs with their US counterparts and then
left the talks after Mr Trump=E2=80=99s comments. Later, Iran said talks ha=
d
=E2=80=9Cpaused=E2=80=9D but not ended.

=E2=80=9CWe do not take American threats into account,=E2=80=9D said Mr Gha=
libaf, after Mr
Trump=E2=80=99s outburst.

=E2=80=9CThey would do better to be careful with their statements; our arme=
d forces
are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they
say, we are the ones who act.=E2=80=9D

Talks are expected to continue through the night, a US diplomat told
reporters early on Monday.

In addition to Mr Vance, the US negotiating team included envoys Steve
Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump=E2=80=99s son-in-law.

Pakistan=E2=80=99s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field =
Marshal
Syed Asim Munir, were also in Switzerland to participate in this weekend=E2=
=80=99s
sessions as mediators, alongside a Qatari delegation.

=E2=80=9CThe question is, can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relati=
ons in
the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way,
which is not our preference but is certainly something that can happen,=E2=
=80=9D Mr
Vance said.

It is understood that talks never even reached the stage of discussing
Iran=E2=80=99s nuclear program. Instead, Iran insisted on ensuring the Memo=
randum
of Understanding was implemented properly.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has repeatedly threatened to
derail peace efforts.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 20 people.

Israel said the attack was in response to projectiles fired by the
Iran-backed militia at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has said it will stop attacking northern Israel under a
last-minute ceasefire agreed on Friday, but reserved the right to fight IDF
soldiers occupying Lebanon.

On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to remain in southern Lebanon for =E2=
=80=9Cas
long as we need to protect our people=E2=80=9D.

The Israeli military said it will respect the ceasefire but would react
against any threats to soldiers. It also said it is not party to the wider
US-Iran deal.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Israeli troops =E2=80=9Cremaining on Leban=
ese land
is impossible. There are no security zones for Israel. Israel is an
aggressor and must leave.=E2=80=9D

Lebanon=E2=80=99s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 4,057 pe=
ople
since March 2, including medics, women and children. It did not say how
many were Hezbollah fighters.

Israeli authorities say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been
killed in fighting with Hezbollah.

A poll by Israel=E2=80=99s Hebrew University, provided to Reuters, showed a=
bout 92
per cent of Israelis believe Iran benefited more than Israel from the joint
Israeli-US military campaign, while just 8 per cent see Israel as having
emerged victorious.

Almost 90 per cent of Israelis said war goals had not been met and fewer
than 30 per cent believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu=E2=80=99s claims=
 of
major achievements.

He faces an election in the autumn.

On Sunday night, there was paralysis in the Strait of Hormuz once again.

Only a single small tanker crossed the waterway with its
location-signalling transponders on after Iran=E2=80=99s announcement, comp=
ared
with dozens of ships in recent days when traffic had begun returning to
pre-war levels.

US Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday,
carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil bound for global markets.

Iran=E2=80=99s Fars news agency cited a military source as saying on Sunday=
 that no
new permits were being issued for ships to cross until further notice.
Throughout the war, =E2=80=8Cshipping firms have said it is too dangerous t=
o
traverse without Iran=E2=80=99s permission.

Iran said there could be no start to the next phase of talks, including
over its nuclear programme, until the fighting in Lebanon ends.

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div clas=
s=3D"msg-6340446925612942267"><div lang=3D"EN-GB" link=3D"#0563C1" vlink=3D=
"#954F72" style=3D"word-wrap:break-word"><div class=3D"m_-63404469256129422=
67WordSection1"><p class=3D"MsoNormal"></p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span sty=
le=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Optima"><a href=3D"https://www.telegraph=
.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/21/ceasefire-under-strain-vance-arrives-for-iran-=
negotiations/" target=3D"_blank">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202=
6/06/21/ceasefire-under-strain-vance-arrives-for-iran-negotiations/</a><u><=
/u><u></u></span></p><h1 style=3D"margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;marg=
in-left:0cm"><span style=3D"font-size:23.5pt;font-family:&quot;-apple-syste=
m-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Iran walks out of peace talks after Trump=
 outburst<u></u><u></u></span></h1><p style=3D"margin:0cm;max-width:100%;fo=
nt-variant-caps:normal;text-align:start;text-decoration-line:none;text-deco=
ration-style:solid;word-spacing:0px"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-appl=
e-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b"></span><u></u><u></u></p><p style=
=3D"margin:0cm"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,s=
erif;color:#1b1b1b"><u></u><u></u></span></p><h2 style=3D"margin-top:0cm;te=
xt-align:start;color:rgba(27,27,27,0.65);max-width:100%;font-variant-caps:n=
ormal;text-decoration-line:none;text-decoration-style:solid;word-spacing:0p=
x"><span style=3D"font-size:17.5pt;font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quo=
t;,serif;font-weight:normal">US president threatens to restart his bombing =
campaign in expletive-laden phone calls and posts on social media<u></u><u>=
</u></span></h2><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-ap=
ple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b"><a>Alexander Butler=C2=A0 =C2=A0=
6/21/26</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-ap=
ple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Iranian negotiators walked out o=
f peace talks with the US after Donald Trump said he would =E2=80=9Cblow th=
e s--- out of them=E2=80=9D and take over their country.<u></u><u></u></spa=
n></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-s=
ystem-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">As JD Vance, his vice president,<span=
 class=3D"m_-6340446925612942267apple-converted-space">=C2=A0</span><a href=
=3D"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/06/18/jd-vance-israel-friends/=
" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:#416ed2">began negotiations in Swi=
tzerland</span></a>, Mr Trump threatened to restart his bombing campaign on=
 Iran, in expletive-laden phone calls and posts on social media.<u></u><u><=
/u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;=
-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Iran immediately lodged a for=
mal complaint with Pakistani and Qatari mediators and left the talks.<u></u=
><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&=
quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Chief negotiator Mohamme=
d Ghalibaf said the US should be careful with its statements and that =E2=
=80=9Cour armed forces are ready to respond=E2=80=9D.<u></u><u></u></span><=
/p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-syst=
em-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Earlier, Mr Vance said the US<span class=
=3D"m_-6340446925612942267apple-converted-space">=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"ht=
tps://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/06/21/trump-allies-turn-on-him-i=
ran-deal/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:#416ed2">hoped to =E2=80=
=9Cturn over a new leaf=E2=80=9D</span></a><span class=3D"m_-63404469256129=
42267apple-converted-space">=C2=A0</span>with the Islamic Republic, and sai=
d that they had made =E2=80=9Cgreat progress=E2=80=9D, but on Sunday night,=
 his efforts appeared to be quickly unravelling.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p=
 style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-fo=
nt&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">The talks in the scenic Qatari-owned Swiss mo=
untain resort of B=C3=BCrgenstock were the first to be held after a memoran=
dum of understanding was<span class=3D"m_-6340446925612942267apple-converte=
d-space">=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/2=
1/trumps-iran-deal-disaster-strait-hormuz-middle-east/" target=3D"_blank"><=
span style=3D"color:#416ed2">signed between Washington and Tehran last week=
</span></a>.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span styl=
e=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Under =
the terms of that deal, the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened and there wo=
uld be a ceasefire =E2=80=9Con all fronts=E2=80=9D including Lebanon.<u></u=
><u></u></span></p><p><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&q=
uot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">However, Hezbollah and Israel continued attacking=
 each other and Tehran=E2=80=99s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps<span cla=
ss=3D"m_-6340446925612942267apple-converted-space">=C2=A0</span><a href=3D"=
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/20/iran-closes-strait-of-hor=
muz-ceasefire-violation/" target=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:#416ed2">d=
eclared the Strait of Hormuz shut</span></a>.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p st=
yle=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&=
quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">On Sunday, Mr Trump revealed that he told Irania=
n officials: =E2=80=9C<a href=3D"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202=
6/06/20/iran-closes-strait-of-hormuz-over-israels-attack-lebanon/" target=
=3D"_blank"><span style=3D"color:#416ed2">You close the strait</span></a><s=
pan class=3D"m_-6340446925612942267apple-converted-space">=C2=A0</span>and =
you won=E2=80=99t have a country.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-w=
idth:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;=
color:#1b1b1b">=E2=80=9CYou won=E2=80=99t even make it back to your f---ing=
 country ... we=E2=80=99ll take over the rest of the country,=E2=80=9D he a=
dded, according to Fox News.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:=
100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color=
:#1b1b1b">=E2=80=9CWe may take over the Strait, if we have to. I=E2=80=99ll=
 blow the s--- out of them.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"ma=
x-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,ser=
if;color:#1b1b1b">He then said on Truth Social: =E2=80=9CIran must immediat=
ely stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they=
 don=E2=80=99t, we=E2=80=99ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did la=
st week, only harder!!!=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-wi=
dth:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;c=
olor:#1b1b1b">The Iranian delegation to the talks was led by chief negotiat=
or Mohammad Ghalibaf and included Abbas Araqchi, the foreign minister, as w=
ell as senior security, central bank and oil officials.<u></u><u></u></span=
></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-sy=
stem-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">They refused to pose for photographs w=
ith their US counterparts and then left the talks after Mr Trump=E2=80=99s =
comments. Later, Iran said talks had =E2=80=9Cpaused=E2=80=9D but not ended=
.=C2=A0<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"=
font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">=E2=80=9CWe=
 do not take American threats into account,=E2=80=9D said Mr Ghalibaf, afte=
r Mr Trump=E2=80=99s outburst.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-widt=
h:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;col=
or:#1b1b1b">=E2=80=9CThey would do better to be careful with their statemen=
ts; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No=
 matter what they say, we are the ones who act.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u></spa=
n></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-s=
ystem-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Talks are expected to continue throug=
h the night, a US diplomat told reporters early on Monday.<u></u><u></u></s=
pan></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple=
-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">In addition to Mr Vance, the US neg=
otiating team included envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump=E2=
=80=99s son-in-law.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><sp=
an style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b"=
>Pakistan=E2=80=99s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field=
 Marshal Syed Asim Munir, were also in Switzerland to participate in this w=
eekend=E2=80=99s sessions as mediators, alongside a Qatari delegation.<u></=
u><u></u></span></p><p><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&=
quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">=E2=80=9CThe question is, can we turn over a new=
 leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go =
back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference but is certai=
nly something that can happen,=E2=80=9D Mr Vance said.<u></u><u></u></span>=
</p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-sys=
tem-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">It is understood that talks never even =
reached the stage of discussing Iran=E2=80=99s nuclear program. Instead, Ir=
an insisted on ensuring the Memorandum of Understanding was implemented pro=
perly.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"f=
ont-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">The fighting=
 between Israel and Hezbollah has repeatedly threatened to derail peace eff=
orts.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"fo=
nt-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">On Saturday, =
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 20 people.<u></u><u></u></span><=
/p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-syst=
em-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Israel said the attack was in response t=
o projectiles fired by the Iran-backed militia at Israeli troops in souther=
n Lebanon.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=
=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Hezboll=
ah has said it will stop attacking northern Israel under a last-minute ceas=
efire agreed on Friday, but reserved the right to fight IDF soldiers occupy=
ing Lebanon.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span styl=
e=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">On Sun=
day, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to remain in southern Lebanon for =E2=80=9Cas=
 long as we need to protect our people=E2=80=9D.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p=
 style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-fo=
nt&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">The Israeli military said it will respect the=
 ceasefire but would react against any threats to soldiers. It also said it=
 is not party to the wider US-Iran deal.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quo=
t;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Israeli troops =E2=
=80=9Cremaining on Lebanese land is impossible. There are no security zones=
 for Israel. Israel is an aggressor and must leave.=E2=80=9D<u></u><u></u><=
/span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-app=
le-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Lebanon=E2=80=99s health ministry=
 says Israeli attacks have killed 4,057 people since March 2, including med=
ics, women and children. It did not say how many were Hezbollah fighters.<u=
></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-fami=
ly:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Israeli authorities =
say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed in fighting wi=
th Hezbollah.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span sty=
le=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">A pol=
l by Israel=E2=80=99s Hebrew University, provided to Reuters, showed about =
92 per cent of Israelis believe Iran benefited more than Israel from the jo=
int Israeli-US military campaign, while just 8 per cent see Israel as havin=
g emerged victorious.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><=
span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1=
b">Almost 90 per cent of Israelis said war goals had not been met and fewer=
 than 30 per cent believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu=E2=80=99s claim=
s of major achievements.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%=
"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b=
1b1b">He faces an election in the autumn.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=
=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quo=
t;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">On Sunday night, there was paralysis in the Strait =
of Hormuz once again.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><=
span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1=
b">Only a single small tanker crossed the waterway with its location-signal=
ling transponders on after Iran=E2=80=99s announcement, compared with dozen=
s of ships in recent days when traffic had begun returning to pre-war level=
s.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-=
family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">US Central Comma=
nd said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday, carrying more t=
han 17 million barrels of oil bound for global markets.<u></u><u></u></span=
></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-sy=
stem-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Iran=E2=80=99s Fars news agency cited =
a military source as saying on Sunday that no new permits were being issued=
 for ships to cross until further notice. Throughout the war, =E2=80=8Cship=
ping firms have said it is too dangerous to traverse without Iran=E2=80=99s=
 permission.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style=3D"max-width:100%"><span styl=
e=3D"font-family:&quot;-apple-system-font&quot;,serif;color:#1b1b1b">Iran s=
aid there could be no start to the next phase of talks, including over its =
nuclear programme, until the fighting in Lebanon ends.<u></u><u></u></span>=
</p><p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Opti=
ma"><u></u>=C2=A0<u></u></span></p></div></div>
</div></div></div>

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