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DJT Jr. questions sending aid to a country where American citizens are killed

The death of journalist and filmmaker Gonzalo Lira is a “murder,” and the blame for it lies with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the son of former US President Donald Trump stated on his page on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Gonzalo Lira, a national of the US and Chile, has died while in jail in Ukraine. Lira passed away on January 11, with his family reporting his death the following day. The US Department of State then confirmed it.

“So we are now allowing our foreign welfare recipients, such as Zelinski [Zelensky], to kill our citizens and our journalists?” Donald Trump Jr. wrote.

Trump Jr. also denounced the likely lack of reaction to this tragedy in the US media. “I would have waited for the outrage of our media, but I know that it will not happen,” he lamented.

Lira had been in pre-trial detention in Ukraine’s Kharkov since May 2023 on accusations of justifying Moscow’s military operation against Kiev.

According to a handwritten note by Lira addressed to his sister and published by the Grayzone news website, the journalist had severe health problems caused by pneumonia and a collapsed lung, which began in mid-October.

Ukrainian prison authorities only acknowledged the issue on December 22 and stated he would undergo surgery, Lira wrote.

Following the journalist’s death, his father, Gonzalo Lira Sr., said that his son had been “tortured” while the US Embassy in Kiev “did nothing” to help him.

“The responsibility of this tragedy is the dictator Zelensky with the concurrence of a senile American President, Joe Biden,” Gonzalo’s father wrote in a note published by the Grayzone.

After Russia and Ukraine’s long-simmering disputes turned to military confrontation in February 2022, Lira, who moved to Ukraine and married a local woman in 2010, began actively covering the fighting on social media. He insisted that the conflict had been provoked by the Zelensky government and its Western backers, saying that Ukraine had no chance of winning against Russia and predicted failure.

He also criticized efforts by the Western media to portray Ukraine as a “democracy,” speaking about rampant corruption in the government and publishing a list of Zelensky’s opponents who, he claimed, had been “disappeared” by local authorities.

Kiev insists it has rightfully targeted Lira over his activities, with the Security Service of Ukraine repeatedly stating the journalist has been accused of “producing and distributing materials justifying the armed aggression,” as well as disseminating “fakes” about the country’s armed forces. The first hearing in his trial had been scheduled for December 12.

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General Michael Flynn joins Alex Jones to give his expert analysis on the Pentagon’s fumbling leadership.

White House, Pentagon continue to insist Austin’s hospitalization has had no impact on US defenses

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin remains at Walter Reed Medical Center and the date of his release from the hospital is unknown, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement.

“Secretary Austin continues to be hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and remains in good condition,” the statement said on Friday. “We do not have a specific date for Secretary Austin’s release from the hospital at this time but will continue to provide daily updates until then.”

Earlier on Friday, Austin conducted phone calls with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker, and House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith who have been critical of the Pentagon Chief’s failure to disclose his hospitalization to Congress.

Austin was hospitalized in early January due to an infection, following cancer surgery in late December. The Defense Department failed to communicate Austin’s hospitalization to the White House for several days, prompting bipartisan calls for him to leave his leadership role.

The White House and the Pentagon itself continue to insist that Austin’s hospitalization has had no impact on US defenses and that he continues to provide effective leadership of the military, including ordering strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen last night.

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General Michael Flynn joins Alex Jones to give his expert analysis on the Pentagon’s fumbling leadership.

Beijing reiterates its goal of “complete reunification” with the self-governing island

The Chinese military has warned that it would “crush” any attempt by Taiwan to formally declare independence, saying that nothing would stop reunification with the island – including US arms sales.

During a press briefing on Friday – less than one day before Taiwan’s presidential election – military spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said the Beijing government would do everything in its power to prevent the island from breaking away.

“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army remains on high alert at all times and will take all necessary measures to resolutely crush any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist plots and firmly defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.

Asked about Taiwan’s efforts to modernize its fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets, Zhang said that no amount of foreign arms sales would “stop the trend of complete reunification of the motherland.”

Beijing has repeatedly warned against any attempt by Taiwan to declare itself independent, seeing the island as part of China’s sovereign territory. Though Taipei has governed itself since 1949, few countries recognize Taiwan as an independent state, including the US.

Washington has, however, maintained informal diplomatic and security ties with the island, and has approved a flurry of military sales worth billions in recent years, repeatedly drawing China’s ire.

While Beijing has stressed that it seeks peaceful reunification with Taiwan, President Xi Jinping has warned that China would take military action if needed.

With the people of Taiwan set to hit the polls on Saturday, the US government is planning to send an “unofficial delegation” to Taipei over the weekend to “engage the new Taiwanese government and convey US policy in the region,” the Associated Press reported.

In response, Beijing has urged Washington to “refrain from intervening in the elections in the Taiwan region in any form, so as to avoid causing serious damage to China-US relations.”

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General Michael Flynn joins Alex Jones to give his expert analysis on the Pentagon’s fumbling leadership.

Kremlin issues urgent warning saying that any deployment of British troops to Ukraine would be a “declaration of war”

Reacting to the ‘unprecedented’ military aid package just reached between Kiev and the United Kingdom, and with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the Ukrainian capital, the Kremlin has issued an urgent warning saying that any deployment of British troops to Ukraine as a “declaration of war.” 

The alarming and blistering words came from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev upon Sunak’s arrival in Kiev for the unveiling of the $3+ billion defense aid package. The new security agreement has outraged Moscow.

While there’s been nothing in the official security deal which indicates UK troop deployment inside the war-ravaged country, apparently things like deepened intelligence-sharing has been enough to raise Kremlin suspicions of Western ‘boots in the ground’ escalation. 

The deal “formalizes a range of support the UK has been and will continue to provide for Ukraine’s security, including intelligence sharing, cyber security, medical and military training, and defense industrial cooperation,” Downing Street had announced. 

Medvedev posted his response to social media. Importantly, he currently serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, and he said: 

“What does this mean? It means only one thing – they risk running into the action of paragraph 19 of the fundamentals of Russia’s state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence,” Medvedev wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“This should be remembered,” Medvedev said.

According to more of the context from Reuters, he said that “some Ukrainian military commanders were considering hitting missile launch sites inside Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles.”

The follows the Russian Defense Ministry having previously claimed UK troops already have a presence on the ground in Ukraine, certainly at least in an ‘advisory’ role.

While ultimately only President Putin is the final decision-maker on deployment of Russian nukes, Medvedev’s threat was ominous and gained the West’s attention at a moment of multiple conflict flashpoints across the globe chiefly because of the following: 

Paragraph nineteen of Russia’s 2020 nuclear doctrine sets out the conditions under which a Russian president would consider using a nuclear weapon: broadly as a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or to the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”

Medvedev made specific mention of point “g” of paragraph nineteen which deals with the nuclear response to a conventional weapons attack.

Throughout the nearly two-year long war, former president Medvedev has been an outspoken hawk, engaging in nuclear saber-rattling on repeat occasions, especially when there’s an escalation perceived from Ukraine or its Western backers. Russia had previously positioned tactical nukes inside Belarus, which the West has seen as a significant escalation.

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General Michael Flynn joins Alex Jones to give his expert analysis on the Pentagon’s fumbling leadership.

“The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished,” Houthi spokesman warns

The Thursday night US and UK-led major strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, while posing a significant risk for escalating the Gaza war into a regional conflict, still apparently have not deterred the Iran-backed rebel group’s resolve to attack Red Sea shipping and even Western naval vessels.

Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree released a videotaped address saying “The American and British enemy bears full responsibility for its criminal aggression against our Yemeni people, and it will not go unanswered and unpunished.” Houthi sources have tallied over 70 strikes across five regions of Yemen, indicating that at least five people died in the attacks. The Pentagon indicated over 100 missiles of a variety of types were used.

The US Air Force’s Mideast command said in a statement that a combination of jets, destroyers, and a submarine were used, hitting Houthi “command-and-control nodes, munitions depots, launching systems, production facilities and air defense radar systems” in the operation which followed repeat Houthi attacks on Red Sea vessels. “I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” President Biden had said in a written statement.

“These strikes are in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea—including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history,” the US Commander-in-Chief had added.

According go more details of the variety of weapons systems and platforms used: 

More than 15 F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighters operating from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were involved, according to Fox News, citing unnamed Pentagon sources. Unspecified Air Force fighters operating from a base in the Middle East were also part of the attack. Newsweek has yet to verify these reports.

The USS Florida guided missile submarine and U.S. surface ships launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. It is not clear what other vessels took part in the bombardment, but American Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers have been operating in the Red Sea in recent months.

But though intense, it was a relatively brief attack, likely lasting not more than 30 minutes, or definitely less than an hour. Videos of large fireballs lighting up the night sky flooded social media as key cities like Saana and the port city of Hodeidah were hit, where there also remain large population centers.

But again, the key takeaway here is that after these brief fireworks which many officials have complained comes much too belatedly (though some US lawmakers have already highlighted there was no Congressional approval), the Houthis are likely soon to resume their attacks. Also likely is that there will eventually be more rounds of coalition strikes on Yemen as the crisis endures. Thursday night’s attack is likely to actually result in further reduced commercial shipping traffic in Red Sea waters now visited by war:

• MILITARY ADVISES SHIPS TO AVOID BAB EL-MANDEB: INTERTANKO NOTE
• OIL TANKER FIRM HALTS RED SEA TRIPS AFTER US STRIKES: BBG
• Hafnia has stopped all southern Red Sea shipping, according to a statement from a spokeswoman for the company.
• Tanker Carrying Saudi Crude to Suez U-Turns Before Gulf of Aden: BBG

Videos (unverified) of large fireballs on the horizon have been widely circulating…

A Foreign Ministry statement by a Houthi spokesman, Hussein al-Ezzi, acknowledged “a massive aggressive attack by American and British ships, submarines and warplanes” before going on to say that “America and Britain will undoubtedly have to prepare to pay a heavy price and bear all the dire consequences of this blatant aggression.”

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesperson, additionally said the Western powers have “committed foolishness with this treacherous aggression.”

“They were wrong if they thought that they would deter Yemen from supporting Palestine and Gaza,” he said in an online statement, vowing further that “targeting will continue to affect Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

Yemenis remain defiant, attending large Friday anti-US demonstrations…

The Pentagon has said that it has no plans to send more troops or assets to the region for now, and will monitor the situation, also as all eyes are on US bases in Iraq and Syria, as American forces brace for potential retaliatory attacks from Iran-backed militias.

Importantly, CENTCOM had called out the Iranians specifically. “We hold the Houthi militants and their destabilizing Iranian sponsors responsible for the illegal, indiscriminate, and reckless attacks on international shipping that have impacted 55 nations so far, including endangering the lives of hundreds of mariners, including the United States,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM Commander.

Meanwhile, Dave DeCamp at AntiWar.com provides the following brief backgrounder of the history of the war which raged in Yemen going back to 2015. Interestingly, Saudi Arabia was quick to distance itself from Thursday night’s major Western coalition operation…

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The US and its allies have a history of killing civilians in Yemen, as the UN estimated in 2021 that about 377,000 people were killed by the US-backed Saudi/UAE war against the Houthis that started in 2015. More than half died of starvation and disease caused by the blockade and the coalition’s brutal bombing campaign.

The strikes risk shattering a fragile truce between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition that’s held since April 2022, although the Saudis have distanced themselves from the US anti-Houthi activity in the Red Sea.

Some members of Congress have criticized President Biden for launching the strikes in Yemen without congressional authorization. “The President needs to come to Congress before launching a strike against the Houthis in Yemen and involving us in another middle east conflict. That is Article I of the Constitution,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) wrote on X.

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General Michael Flynn joins Alex Jones to give his expert analysis on the Pentagon’s fumbling leadership.

Ukrainian authorities have killed an American citizen who was found guilty of “treason” for daring to expose corruption between the Biden and Zelensky regimes. Journalist Gonzalo Lira, an American citizen who was tortured in Ukraine […]

The post Ukraine Executes American Citizen Who Exposed Biden-Zelensky Corruption appeared first on The People’s Voice.