White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to explain Friday how there could be an 1,100 troop discrepancy in reported U.S. forces in Syria, instead pointing to the Pentagon. Similarly, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said Thursday at a press conference he couldn’t speak for the Oval Office on whether or not they were aware of the true number of troops in the nation.

“That is their purview,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday. “That is something that we have always been pretty consistent on.”

Ryder said he had “recently learned” that the number had been 2,000 since “before the fall of Assad regime.” The original 900 figure counts the long-term personnel stationed in the country, while the additional 1,100 were described as “temporary rotational forces,” Ryder told the press Thursday.

It remains unclear whether or not President Joe Biden knew of the true number of troops, and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment on the discrepancy.

The U.S. operates military bases in Syria to counteract ISIS, most frequently aiding the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). ISIS’ presence was drastically cut down in the Middle East during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term.

The SDF are fighting the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). If the SNA continues to push into SDF territory, it may compromise the detainment of 9,000 ISIS fighters in SDF custody, which may allow them to reestablish themselves in the region.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled on Dec. 8 by a rebel group spearheaded by Islamic fundamentalist terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). U.S. troops are currently deployed to counter ISIS and aid the SDF.

President-elect Donald Trump may decrease involvement in Syria, as he stated in a post on Truth Social Dec. 7 that he wants the U.S. to stay uninvolved in Syria and that there was not much to gain.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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Syrian national Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 72, was first arrested in July at the Los Angeles International Airport, where he planned to board a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, on a one-way ticket. He’d been residing in Lexington, South Carolina, after first entering the U.S. in 2020 on a fraudulent visa application that didn’t disclose his role in the Assad regime.

From between 2005 and 2008, he oversaw the Damascus Central Prison under former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to the complaint. Had he disclosed his true identity, he would not have been allowed entry into the country. He applied for U.S. citizenship last year.

He was initially arrested and indicted on visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud charges. In his U.S. citizenship and visa applications he denied that he’d ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to the criminal complaint.

A new indictment was brought this month, adding three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture, according to an announcement by the Department of Justice.

While overseeing the prison, Alsheikh allegedly ordered subordinates to inflict severe physical and mental pain and suffering on political prisoners, including allegedly ordering some to be sent to the prison’s “punishment wing,” according to the complaint. Alsheikh was “sometimes personally involved in inflicting severe physical and mental pain and suffering” on the prisoners, according to the complaint.

Methods used involved beating prisoners while suspending them from the ceiling with extended arms. It also involved putting them in a device called the “Flying Carpet” to fold their bodies “in half at the waist, causing excruciating pain and sometimes resulting in fractured spines,” according to the complaint.

“Samir Alsheikh is charged with torturing political dissidents and other prisoners to deter opposition to the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, the DOJ’s Criminal Division director, said. “Alsheikh later allegedly lied about his crimes to obtain a U.S. green card. The victims of such violent treatment continue to suffer long after the physical acts of torture have ceased. The Justice Department is committed to prosecuting perpetrators of such crimes and will not allow them, through lies and concealment, to hide in the United States.”

Alsheikh allegedly held several positions in the Syrian police and state security system and was associated with the Syrian Ba’ath Party that ruled Syria. He was appointed governor of the province of Deir Ez-Zour by Assad in 2011.

“The defendant is accused of torturing prisoners in Syria almost 20 years ago, and today, we are one step closer to holding him accountable for those heinous crimes,” Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang of the HSI Los Angeles Field office said. “The United States will never be a safe haven for those who commit human rights abuses abroad.”

“The allegations in this superseding indictment reveal unconscionable crimes and a clear violation of human rights,” FBI Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough said. “The FBI is committed to working with our partners across the globe to uncover the truth and ensure those who engage in unlawful and inhumane criminal activity face the full consequences of their actions.”

If convicted, he faces decades in prison, including a maximum penalty of 20 years for the conspiracy to commit torture charge, a maximum penalty of 20 years for each torture charge, and a maximum penalty of 10 years for each immigration fraud charge.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigations investigated the case, with support from the HSI-led Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs. The Swedish Police Authority; Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Federal Policing, Pacific Region; and authorities in Belgium were also involved in the investigation.

The announcement came shortly after the fall of the Assad regime, which was known for documented mass incarceration, torture, extra-judicial killings and other crimes.

It also comes as a record number of special interest aliens have been apprehended after illegally entering the U.S., including Syrian nationals, The Center Square has reported.

President Joe Biden recently extended executive orders declaring multiple national emergencies, citing national security threats related to Iran, ISIS, Syria, Afghanistan, among others, The Center Square reported.

It had been closed since the dramatic events of HTS-led forces entering the capital, and Assad and his top officials fleeing the country. The airport’s director Anis Fallouh said it will reopen “in the next few days” – according to the AFP.

“God willing, the airport will reopen as quickly as possible because we are going to work flat out,” Fallouh said. “We can quickly resume flights through Syrian airspace.”

For now, however, it seems unrealistic that any flights will land or take off from the airport given that Israeli warplanes have been bombing the country non-stop for at least 72 hours. This has included the targeting of at least 350 Syrian Army sites, as well as facilities for the production of chemical weapons.

With Israeli warplanes roaming the skies, commercial flight travel over Syria remains highly dangerous. There’s also the fact that the various al-Qaeda factions now in control of Syria have gained access to at least some of Syria’s remnant anti-aircraft missile arsenal, such as MANPADS.

There have also long-been NATO-supplied shoulder-fired missiles all around Syria, supplied to the ‘rebels’. Below appears to be evidence of this…

WATCH

Uyghur Rebels in Syria Threaten China with Assad-Era Missiles

Uyghur rebels in Syria have discovered BM-21 Grad long-range missiles left behind by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. They issued a warning to the Chinese government, declaring their intent to use these weapons… pic.twitter.com/od2Yk0AxLD

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 10, 2024

Only Cham Wings, a private Syrian airline and Syrian Air, the country’s national airline, had been continuing to operate up to the dramatic events of the last ten days.

But Al Jazeera has noted of the status of these defunct airlines, “Aircraft maintenance official Samer Radi said there were currently 12 aircraft on the ground, one of which had been stripped of its equipment by looters during the takeover by opposition forces.”

It’s unclear whether these carriers will be reestablished, or a timeline for potential operations. At this moment the country and population are also starved of fuel, after days ago an Iranian tanker en route to Syria turned around as it became clear the Assad government was in collapse.

Before the war, British Airways and Emirates had frequent flights to and from Damascus. But immense hurdles remain in what is still basically a war zone and questions over the fact that a US-designated terror organization is now running the show in Damascus.

The HTS jihadists who seized control of Aleppo International #Airport have reportedly destroyed all whiskey and alcohol bottles in its duty-free zone. It seems that the enforcement of Sharia law has already begun in #Aleppo. pic.twitter.com/81lxrz0b1O

— Greco-Levantines World Wide (@GrecoLevantines) December 2, 2024

“So far, the operations of Syrian Air have been extremely restricted,” explained one industry analyst. “Everybody would want to reopen flights into Damascus, which obviously is a significant destination for the Gulf.”

“Airlines will have to individually go and do a damage assessment, a liability assessment and a review of what’s happened, what’s workable, what’s permissible, as well as what’s functioning and what is not,” the analyst continued.

Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever. Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success. Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!

---

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has fled his country as a radical Islamist group enters Damascus. This rapid escalation of the 13-year civil war took many by surprise with Iran and Russia unable to help protect their ally.

The most significant news from the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist raid on Israel last year is happening in real time and for whatever reason legacy media is giving it the minimum required coverage as if it’s just another skirmish in the war-torn region. It’s not.

We will be updating this with combined reports from multiple independent sources. Here is the initial report and first update from Zero Hedge:

Update (2200ET): Damascus has fallen. Unverified reports say President Assad and top officials have fled to Dubai or elsewhere but the situation overnight is fluid and anything but clear in terms of the location of top leadership. They may be in Latakia on the coast, or headed there. What is clear, however, is that the jihadists have entered the heart of the capital.

This brings to an end the last secular and Baathist state in the Middle East, and 50+ years of Assad family rule. Journalist Danny Makki, who is currently in Damascus, observes:

Literally Syrian military/security around Damascus just fled, ran away, changed into civilian clothes escaped, there was no battle for Damascus, it was abandoned and by tommorow it will be all under opposition control.

https://twitter.com/danny_makki/status/1865554126815326711

And Al Jazeera reports:

Videos from the Syrian capital, verified by Al Jazeera, appears to show soldiers leaving the city. The sound of gunfire could also be heard.

The footage was taken moments before opposition forces claimed entering Damascus. There’s been no confirmation or denial from government forces.

“Syrian rebel sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic that government forces have withdrawn from the Defence Ministry headquarters in Damascus,” the report further indicates. State TV channels are in the hands of the anti-Assad factions.

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1865595656724783461

Damascus International Airport:

https://twitter.com/warfareanalysis/status/1865576419205742949

Abandoned tanks and equipment in the middle of central intersections…

https://twitter.com/WarMonitors/status/1865590058029371591

Widespread rumors begin…

https://twitter.com/nabihbulos/status/1865601019771539834

* * *

There are widespread reports that jihadist forces under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and which are backed by Turkey have entered key districts of Homs in central Syria, and other convoys have already reached the outskirts of Damascus.

Very little fighting has actually taken place, with the Syrian Army peeling back from position after position, and with heavy equipment including tanks seen being transported to the capital or in other instances to the coast. ZeroHedge’s contacts in Damascus strongly suggest a transition of power deal has already been made.

External discussions are centered in Doha, and some premature and unverified reports have claimed President Bashar al-Assad has already flown out of the country; however, Syrian state SANA on Saturday sought to refute these reports, saying he is still in Damascus.

Iranian advisers and IRGC officers have departed Damascus. This also partly explains why Syrian national forces have not put up much of a fight.

Unverified social media reports further say that anti-Assad forces have essentially been able to walk into suburban or countryside areas of the capital with no resistance. Again, what points to the likely reality of a secret deal which allows Assad’s safe exit and that of his top officials is the fact that all of this is happening without much bloodshed.

Below is the latest on the jihadist convoy locations according to The Guardian:

Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus, opposition activists and a rebel commander said on Saturday, as a rapidly moving offensive in which they have taken over some of Syria’s largest cities continued.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were active in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya.

He said opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta.

Hassan Abdul-Ghani, an insurgent commander, posted on Telegram that opposition forces had started to encircle Damascus in the “final stage” of their offensive. He said fighters were heading from southern Syria towards Damascus.

Map: The collapse of Syria over the last 10 days

Whatever happens next, it is becoming clear that the Baathist Syrian state under the Assad family, which goes back to 1970 when Hafez Assad first emerged in power, will never be the same again – and is coming to a fast end.

Many Christian, Alawite, and Sunni ruling families in the capital area are fleeing to the Lebanese border, not waiting around to take their chances under Taliban-style rule, despite dubious claims that HTS plans to respect ‘diversity’ and pluralism.

Footage from a key suburbs outside the capital [note: cannot be independently verified]…

https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam/status/1865395939050999951

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1865404292330340356

Contradictory reporting over Assad’s whereabouts and political transition plans:

https://twitter.com/JorEmbUS/status/1865147830387507686

Regional war correspondent Elijah Magnier observes, “It looks like what will remain of the old Syria will be limited to Homs, for now, and on longer term Latakia – Tartous only. Lebanon should think about defended its borders. People in Damascus should think of their future in the next 24-48 hours.”

The latest from the Syrian presidency’s office:

https://twitter.com/SANAEnOfficial/status/1865425617828589820

Meanwhile the Syrian Interior Minister Major General Al-Rahmon vows that “there is a very strong security cordon on the outskirts of Damascus and no one can break it.”

Military commanders are still vowing to fight, and to mount a ‘fortress Damascus’ defense as the insurgent armies outside the capital are vowing to besiege it.

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1865444638615576593

(End of the American Dream)—In recent months, quite a few pundits have been openly warning us that World War III has begun.  Sadly, those pundits are quite correct.  Right now, a historic global struggle is being waged by two very powerful alliances.  The “western alliance” made up of the United States, Europe, Israel and their allies is engaged in a battle for supremacy with the “eastern alliance” made up of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Syria and their allies.

Over the past week, this battle for supremacy has erupted on a couple of new fronts, but most Americans have no idea what is really going on.

Just look at what is happening in Syria.  Most Americans have no idea that radical Sunni Muslims backed by the western alliance just conducted a highly successful offensive on Syria’s second largest city and are threatening to overthrow the Assad regime once and for all…

The Syrian military and its ally Russia conducted deadly joint air raids Monday on areas that Islamist-led rebels seized control of over the weekend. The strikes were a response to a lightning offensive by the rebels that saw them wrest control of swathes of northwest Syria from government forces.

The conflict that started more than a decade ago took a significant turn several days ago, catching many — including, it seems, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his Russian backers — by surprise. On Saturday, rebels, including many with the U.S.-designated Islamic terrorist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), took control of the major city of Aleppo in northern Syria.

The rebels seized Aleppo’s airport and started pushing into towns and villages in the countryside around the city on Sunday after leaving piles of dead government soldiers in the streets. Observers said the rebel forces were often met with little to no resistance by regime forces, but by Monday the pace of the surprise offensive appeared to have slowed, with Assad and his Russian backers ramping-up their response.

While she served as Secretary of State during the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton was instrumental in starting the civil war in Syria.  That civil war caused a massive refugee crisis that western Europe is still wrestling with to this day.

Now the civil war in Syria has freshly erupted, and if Assad gets toppled that will be a major victory for the western alliance.

Of course the eastern alliance does not plan to go down without a fight.  Over the weekend, Iraqi militia groups that are backed by Iran “have been pouring across the border into eastern Syria”…

Widespread reports, including observers on the ground, have indicated that Iran-backed Iraqi militias have been pouring across the border into eastern Syria to assist Damascus in repelling the Islamist militant advance after Al Qaeda splinter group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham took over Aleppo this weekend.

A Syrian army officer has told Reuters that Iraqi militia forces crossing the border are “fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the frontlines in the north.”

Many of the fighters have been identified as belonging to the Kataib Hezbollah and Fatemiyoun groups. The US has long been in an internecine conflict with Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, with over the years periodic rocket fire even targeting the US Embassy in Baghdad, as well as various bases which host remaining American troops.

And it appears that Iranian military forces could be on the verge of intervening directly in the conflict…

Boroujerdi told a news conference in Damascus that Iran was ready to render military assistance to Syria. “Iran’s military aid will be provided as soon as Tehran receives a request from the Syrian government. We are going to announce it immediately,” the Iranian deputy said.

Boroujerdi, who is heading an Iranian delegation, arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for talks with Syrian Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to meet Boroujerdi on Thursday.

The Iranian deputy stressed the importance of the four-sided coordination of efforts by Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria in fighting terrorism.

Iran normally prefers to fight their wars using proxy forces.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Meanwhile, Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah seems to be breaking down already…

The ceasefire in Lebanon, barely five days old, is near collapse as of Monday after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, following the Biden-Harris administration’s erroneous claim that Israeli surveillance drones violated the agreement.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported Monday that two Hezbollah rockets had been fired at Har (Mount) Dov, a strategic mountain that Breitbart News visited last Thursday and which Hezbollah claims, wrongly, is Lebanese.

If Hezbollah is forced to keep their forces in Lebanon in order to contend with the IDF, they won’t be able to intervene in the conflict in Syria. Ultimately, so many of these conflicts are interrelated.

Ukraine is hoping that at least some Russian forces get diverted to Syria to help the Assad regime, because last month the Ukrainians lost a great deal of territory…

Ukraine has endured a tough three months in which Russian forces made gains across the front, which are likely continue over winter, a military analyst has said.

“The trend is very worrying, and there’s no reason to expect the situation to calm down in December either,” Emil Kastehelmi, from the Finnish-based Black Bird Group, told Newsweek.

In an X, formerly Twitter, thread, the OSINT analyst said that, in the three months to December, Moscow’s troops had captured around 617 square miles in Ukraine and 190 in Russia’s Kursk oblast, where Ukrainian forces had staged an incursion but where they have lost the western flank, as well as positions in the Donbas region.

Ukraine is the one place where the western alliance is losing badly, and western politicians are extremely determined to turn things around.

But the truth is that unless NATO gets directly involved, Ukraine will definitely lose.

As the war drags on, Ukrainian soldiers are deserting from their posts in staggering numbers…

More than twice as many Ukrainian soldiers have been charged with desertion this year than in 2022 and 2023 combined, the Financial Times has reported. The spike in desertions has hampered Kiev’s ability to replenish its thinned-out ranks.

Ukrainian prosecutors opened 60,000 cases against deserters between January and October of this year, the British newspaper reported on Saturday, noting that those convicted face prison terms of up to 12 years.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have already died on the killing fields of eastern Ukraine.

Let us hope for an agreement that will bring the endless slaughter to an end.

Before I conclude this article, I want to mention one more nation where the great battle between east and west has suddenly erupted.

In Georgia, angry protesters that are being backed by the western alliance have been clashing violently with the police for days.  Just like we witnessed in Ukraine in 2014, it appears that this could be an attempt to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Georgia…

Days of protests have rocked Georgia following the government’s controversial decision to delay the former Soviet country’s bid to join the European Union.

Tensions have been brewing for months in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, where critics accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of following increasingly authoritarian, pro-Russia policies in a turn away from the West that has tempered hopes for Georgia’s long-promised path to EU membership.

The protests have been met with a violent police crackdown as the ruling party and thousands of protesters become locked in a deepening battle over the country’s future and whether Georgia should forge closer ties with Russia or Europe.

The U.S. and Europe would love to see a “color revolution” that removes the Georgian Dream party from power.

Of course the Russians and other eastern alliance nations would very much like to avert such an outcome.

I just wish that every country would be allowed to do what they want without outside interference.

But that isn’t going to happen, is it?

Sadly, the great struggle between east and west that we are witnessing is just going to continue to intensify, and at this stage it should be obvious to everyone that it is not going to have a happy ending.

We live in such perilous times, and if you have not been paying much attention to what is going on around the world now would be a great time to start.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

The attacks targeted several villages and sites in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Raqqa, and Hasakah. One of the attacks hit an SDF military outpost in the countryside of the city of Al-Malikiyah, at the Syrian–Turkish–Iraqi tri-border region. Turkish artillery also hit SDF sites in the village of Umm al-Kaif in the countryside of the town of Tal Tamr, northwest of Hasakah.

According to field sources who spoke with Sputnik, Turkish artillery shelling hit the villages of Al-Sayyada, Aoun Al-Dadat, Al-Tukhar, and Al-Daraj.

On Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the attacks killed at least “27 members of military formations operating in SDF-controlled areas,” three soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), and at least four civilians.

For its part, Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defense said 32 targets in Syria and Iraq were “destroyed” in the aerial offensive without providing details on the locations that were hit. Officials added that “all kinds of precautions” were taken to prevent harm to civilians.

The intense attacks were launched hours after armed assailants set off explosives and opened fire at the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAS) in Ankara, which designs, manufactures, and assembles civilian and military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and other defense industry and space systems.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Defense Minister Yasar Guler accused the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of being behind the attack.

“We give these PKK scoundrels the punishment they deserve every time. But they never come to their senses,” Guler said. “We will pursue them until the last terrorist is eliminated.”

At least five people were killed and 22 injured in the Ankara attack. Two attackers – a man and a woman – were also killed.

Terrorist attack in Ankara Turkiye, numerous dead and injured.

At least one female attacker, amongst several carrying automatic weapons, struck a military aerospace company. pic.twitter.com/ykAJgEpTrk

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) October 23, 2024

Turkey regularly conducts air strikes against the PKK in Iraq and against the SDF in Syria. In 2014, the US military began partnering with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), an offshoot of the PKK. The YPG later changed its name to the SDF.

Together, the US and its Kurdish proxies occupy Syria’s northeast, including Hasakah, Raqqa, and parts of Deir Ezzor, denying Syria access to its oil resources and wheat-producing agricultural land.

Wednesday’s attack in Ankara came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in the Russian city of Kazan to attend the annual BRICS summit. He condemned the “hateful attack” alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan told local media on Saturday that Russia, Iran and Syria should do more to protect Syria’s “territorial integrity.”

“It is essential that Russia, Iran and Syria take more effective measures against this situation, which poses the greatest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity,” Erdoǧan said when asked about the recent alleged Israeli airstrike in the nation’s capital, Damascus.

Obviously Iran and Syria are already working very closely together. But we shall see what Russia and Turkey decide to do.

The Russians definitely have their hands full with Ukraine, and so they don’t really have resources to spare for a war in the Middle East. And Turkey is a member of NATO, and that status would certainly be jeopardized if Erdogan decided to jump into this conflict. But as for Iran and Syria, they are already essentially at war with Israel.

The IDF is constantly bombing targets inside Syria, and the Iranians recently launched about 200 missiles into Israel.

Now we are waiting for the Israeli response, and Iran has already told the Biden administration that it will respond in kind to any Israeli attack…

Iran has informed the United States that it will retaliate against any new attack by Israel, a source in Tehran told CNN. Iran’s government has also been engaging in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the Middle East to gauge whether it can reduce the scale of Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month and — if that fails — help protect the capital, sources say.

Nobody is backing down this time.

The final showdown between Israel and Iran has arrived, but both sides don’t seem to fully realize this yet.

Meanwhile, the IDF continues to bomb the living daylights out of Hezbollah targets all over Lebanon…

Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

So far the main focus of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon has been in the south, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the suburbs of Beirut.

I am expecting some really big escalations in the coming days.

But for the moment we are still waiting for the next big shoe to drop.

At the same time, the Russians and the Chinese just continue to develop closer ties with one another…

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, who called for strengthening military cooperation between the two countries.

Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an alliance that has sparked anxiety in the West as both countries seek to expand their global influence.

How many years have I been warning about a very strong alliance between Russia and China?

This is precisely what we have been anticipating, but very few people in the western world seem to be alarmed about what is happening.

Despite all of the money that we have poured into Ukraine, the Russians are winning that war.

At this point, the Ukrainians are so desperate for manpower that they are literally dragging young men out of restaurants, clubs and bars in front of everyone…

Ukraine’s military recruiters have launched targeted raids in Kyiv, detaining those whose documents do not comply and press-ganging them into the army.

Video footage captured the moment two men were dragged away by officers as they exited the Palace of Sports on Friday where Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy played.

One concertgoer could be seen struggling and shouting ‘Get away from me!’ at three policemen as they pulled him towards the recruitment desk set up outside the venue.

A series of raids were carried out at restaurants, clubs, bars and a concert hall in the capital city, according to reports.

Of course the Ukrainians have been quietly doing this sort of thing for a long time, but now they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.

On the other side of the world, the Chinese just surrounded Taiwan with warships and fighter jets…

On Monday China has launched large military drills encircling the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Taipei has blasted as an “unreasonable provocation”. China’s PLA military deployed warships and fighter jets to send a “stern warning” against “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces”.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed joint operations of the army, navy, air force and rocket force. These assets have been largely concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, as well as surrounding Taiwan. “The joint drills focused on sea and air combat readiness, blockading key Taiwanese ports and areas, and assaults on maritime and ground targets,” described the eastern theatre command’s spokesperson, senior captain Li Xi.

The good news is that this was just a military exercise.

The Chinese are practicing for a future blockade of Taiwan, and just before the military exercise commenced a video was released that boldly declared that the Chinese military is “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime”…

Just before these fresh drills, China’s military issued and circulated a propaganda video entitled “prepared for battle” on vairous social media accounts. The about one-minute video features fighter jets, warships and amphibious assault vessels taking to the air and sea near Taiwan. Mobile rocket launchers are also seen being maneuvered and made ready for attacks. Text associated with the video said Chinese forces are “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime.”

A blockade will probably be the very first step that the Chinese take when they decide that it is time to forcibly “reunite” with Taiwan.

And the moment that they establish such a blockade, the U.S. and China will be at war.

Sadly, that could happen a lot sooner than most people think.

Like I said at the beginning of this article, war is in the air.

We are so close to the unthinkable, and our window of opportunity to avoid a global nightmare is rapidly closing.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.