Mark Fitzpatrick

Donate to Support a Mom’s Fight for a Future after being taken by ICE, organized by Jennifer Nadeau Help a Loving Mother Fight for Her Future — and Keep Her Fami… Jennifer Nadeau needs your support for Support a Mom’s Fight for a Future after being taken by ICE

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The violence in Iran could lead to civil war As America masses an armada, the regime’s response to recent protests is radicalising Iranians

I don't necessarily agree with The Economist that Iran is close to civil war. For now, it's a very one-sided conflict, as attested by the staggering number of protestors the regime has killed.

www.economist.com/middle-east-...

Scoop: Direct talks ‘not on agenda’ as Iran-US diplomacy to return to Oman The story: Following consultations with a number of regional capitals, Iran and the US are expected to resume negotiations in Oman rather than Turkey on Feb. 6, multiple senior Iranian sources told Am...

"An Iranian refusal to meet with US officials may play right into the hands of those in Washington and Tel Aviv who are eager for diplomacy to fail."

amwaj.media/en/media-mon...

Another day, another ICE Out protest, this one in DC (Georgia Ave & Petworth). Most of the people were in front of me, including a family with a five year-old – Liam‘s age.

I joined a spirited ICE Out Saturday next to the Vienna metro station. It’s good it didn’t last more than an hour because my toes started their own protest.

Policy by narcissism. Nothing is too petty for the man child.

Exactly.

Good that the Washington Post still calls the Kennedy Center by its proper name. And good that artistic groups are protesting the attempted renaming.

Trump wrongly seeing Israel, US national interests as equivalent regarding Iran missiles TABNAK, Dec. 27 - Former US diplomat says that Trump seems to be instinctively parroting Netanyahu, wrongly seeing Israel and American national interests as equivalent.

I appreciate it when Iranian news outlets run my interviews in full. This one gave me an opportunity to affirm the IAEA role and need to monitor Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile.

www.tabnak.ir/en/news/7069...

This is potentially positive. It means Iran has less incentive or need to develop space launchers that could contribute to an ICBM program.

Is This The End of the Free World? Trump wants to MAGAfy Europe, too

MAGA hates Europe for its freedom.

bit.ly/3XTfVUb

U.S. plans to ask visitors to disclose 5 years of social media history The proposal would affect travelers from countries on the visa waiver program, including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Japan and South Korea.

If the US goes ahead with this Orwellian requirement, other countries will require the same of American visitors. Is that what we want?

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Thailand and Cambodia are fighting again, leaving a Trump-brokered peace agreement all but dead. What happened? | CNN Armed clashes between Thailand and Cambodia entered a second day on Tuesday, both sides said, in defiance of calls from the United States to stop fighting and adhere to a months-old Trump-brokered pea...

The silver lining for Trump is that if Thailand and Cambodia overcome their latest squabble, he can claim to have resolved nine wars.

www.cnn.com/2025/12/09/a...

Thinking outside the box.

www.iiss.org/online-analy...

Is there a brewing crisis in the State Dept’s Mideast Bureau? Trump may have yanked Joel Rayburn for being too hawkish on Syria, but now an Iran hawk is left guarding the hen house

Lamentable that highly qualified experts like Joel Rayburn and Tim Lenderking have been shown the door, leaving State's NEA Bureau in the hands of a non-substantive hack.

tinyurl.com/78edeb6b

Kim Jong Un praises elite troops that fought Ukraine as model for DPRK military | NK News North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with special operations forces that fought for Russia in its war against Ukraine on Saturday, according to state media, holding up the elite troops as a model for t...

North Korean soldiers display more ribs than pecs.

www.nknews.org/2025/11/kim-...

"this administration is ...the most corrupt in American history. It’s not subtle. It’s not hidden. And it’s not even denied. Trump and his allies are running the government as a family business."

Exclusive | State Department Intelligence Agency Dissented Over Putin’s Appetite for Peace The Central Intelligence Agency had a more positive assessment of the Russian leader’s willingness to talk.

The State Department's intell unit (INR) paid a price for its integrity and correctly judging that Putin wasn't ready for peace.

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Pretty scary that a dottering man who wrongly thinks Russia and China are testing nukes, who doesn’t know which part of his government is in charge of US nukes, and assumes they can be tested “immediately” has sole authority to order their launch.

Imagine the additional tariffs Trump will impose if Toronto wins the World Series.

It’s shocking to read of Ashley Tellis being arrested, but he is innocent until proven guilty. While retaining classified documents is unforgivable, there is nothing wrong, per se, in meeting with foreign officials.

"This cosplay with armed troops flooding the streets of
American cities is a tragedy waiting to happen."

“The US Intelligence Community is under attack,” warns a respected intelligence authority at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. “What is new is that this adversary now sits in Washington, D.C: the current administration,”

It's unsettling that after America's ally (Israel) bombed Qatar, Trump gave Qatar a security guarantee (without Congressional buy-in). If such a guarantee meant anything wouldn't the US have been able to stop Israel from violating Qatar's sovereignty in the first place?

"Stupid" rules of engagement?

"Hegseth is dangerous to America. He was installed only to be a vicious toady for Trump."

Indeed!

Donald Trump tries to enlist the top brass for “the war from within” A gathering of generals turns into a surreal, and worrying, political show

Unacceptable on so many grounds.
* US "cities as training grounds” for military forces.
* Basic training should be "scary.
* Using the *miltiary as a political prop.
* Condoning use of force against spitters.
* Lie after lie.

www.economist.com/united-state...

"Americans’ safety is a top concern for every U.S. ambassador and the whole of their Missions."

U.S. Deports Planeload of Iranians After Deal With Tehran, Officials Say

This is not what I envisioned successful US-Iran diplomacy would achieve.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/w...