Israel’s attack on UNRWA is central to its genocide of the Palestinians
It is time for the United Nations to accept that Israel’s attack on its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is an essential part of the Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people. This is not an accusation coming from a critic of Israel. It is a clear, on-the-record statement from the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Arieh King, who, in January, invoked divine Jewish authority, proudly proclaiming, “God willing, we will expel, kill, eliminate, and destroy all UNRWA personnel.” As an agency founded specifically to serve Palestinian refugees after the creation of Israel in 1948, UNRWA has been involved in almost every aspect of the lives of millions of Palestinians. Its programmes span primary health, community mental health initiatives, education, relief and social services, mother and child healthcare, and refugee camp improvement. Moreover, UNRWA’s extensive and recently digitised archive contains property deeds and proof of land ownership, which can assist the Palestinians in securing compensation and the right of return, which many Israelis see as an existential threat to the Jewish state. UNRWA’s very existence, as a reminder of the Palestinians’ entitlement to a full range of inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, has always made the physical and political destruction of the agency an imperative for successive Israeli governments. Numerous statements by Israeli officials attest to this, boastfully and as a matter of public record. Israel’s decades-long campaign against UNRWA was ratcheted up exponentially when the latest phase of the genocide began in October 2023. That is because UNRWA’s function to promote long and healthy lives for the Palestinians was diametrically opposed to Israel’s genocidal goals, which, according to the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, include the imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about their destruction in whole or in part. Advertisement In its provisional ruling in January 2024 in the genocide case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Israel was not allowing the necessary humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. UNRWA’s Gaza-wide aid delivery infrastructure, which includes a vast food distribution network to more than a million people, if allowed to function, would have made Israel’s genocidal strategy of starvation and an aid embargo impossible to achieve. Key to the Israeli campaign against UNRWA was the dehumanisation of UNRWA staff as terrorists. The link between genocide and dehumanisation is well established. Within weeks of the October 2023 attacks, Israel launched a global disinformation campaign against UNRWA, baselessly accusing agency staff of involvement. The accusations against UNRWA were the mother of all lies in the service of genocide. Because of it, all of the agency’s major donors withdrew funding, severely hampering the agency’s ability to deliver services. In the following two and a half years, nearly 400 UNRWA staff members were killed by Israeli forces, and hundreds of its facilities were deliberately targeted, destroyed, or damaged in violation of international law. The Knesset passed laws effectively banning UNRWA’s international staff from Palestine in violation of the UN Charter. UNRWA’s headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem were attacked and eventually demolished. In August 2024, an independent investigation led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna found Israel failed to provide any evidence to back its accusations against UNRWA. Some donors resumed support. Others, such as the United States and Sweden, disgracefully, did not. As Philippe Lazarinni prepares to leave office after a six-year term as UNRWA commissioner general, during which the systematic dismantling of the agency has taken place, his parting message is that UNRWA is on the verge of collapse. And he rightly points the finger of blame at the donor community for failing to give the agency the required financial and political support. But, shockingly, the UN system itself failed to defend the agency, and in particular the falsely accused UNRWA staffers who were dismissed on the basis of zero evidence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres bought into Israel’s false accusations, saying in a statement in January 2024 that he was “horrified” that UNRWA staff might be involved in the attacks. Lazarinni also justified the sacking of his staff before an investigation as “reverse due process” to protect the reputation of UNRWA. Advertisement The key objective of the genocide is to deprive the Palestinians of essential services, driving them off their ancestral lands and inflicting intergenerational trauma so that they never return. UNRWA, the living embodiment of the UN’s enduring responsibilities to the Palestinians, is mandated to oppose this multi-dimensional assault on the Palestinians. It cannot be allowed to go down in history as yet another victim of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. It is time for UNRWA’s main donors to acknowledge that Israel’s existential attack on the agency is part of its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. As signatories to the genocide convention, they have a legal obligation to prevent and suppress genocidal acts. They can do so not only by opposing UNRWA’s dismantling but also by imposing economic, political and diplomatic sanctions on Israel. Failure to do so opens them to accusations of complicity in genocide. Their failure to act also sends a signal to Israel that just as it has enjoyed virtual impunity for the genocide in Gaza, so there will be impunity for the genocide which it is now inflicting on the West Bank and for the industrial-scale violations of international humanitarian law in Lebanon and Iran. The implications of this are grave for all of us: a world in which genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity are normalised. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Kuwait’s power, water plants damaged as Iran keeps attacking Gulf states
Bahrain and the UAE also reported attacks resulting in fires, which were put out quickly. Kuwait has said Iranian drone attacks damaged two power and water desalination plants and sparked a fire at an oil complex, without causing injuries. Gulf countries have borne the brunt of Tehran’s response to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran since February 28. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Fatima Abbas Johar Hayat, a spokesperson for Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, said on Sunday the “criminal aggression” caused “serious material damage” overnight to the two plants and the outage of two electricity-generating units. The attack is the latest to target civil infrastructure in Kuwait. Other drone attacks overnight caused a fire at the Shuwaikh Oil Sector Complex and “significant damage” to a government office complex. Reporting from Kuwait City, Al Jazeera’s Malika Traina referred to the incident as “devastating news” because “water desalination here and across the Gulf is extremely important. In Kuwait, around 90 percent of the country’s drinking water comes from these plants”. Alongside the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait has been at the “epicentre” of Iranian attacks over the past few days, said Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby, reporting from Doha, Qatar. “The concern here in the region is that if President [Donald] Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, follow through on those threats to escalate attacks on Iran, the result may be that Tehran attacks similar facilities here in the Gulf,” said Gatenby. Gulf patience is not ‘unlimited’ Bahrain also faced Iranian attacks on Sunday. Advertisement Bahrain’s Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co said that several of its operational units were subjected to an attack by Iranian drones, while earlier in the day, the country’s national oil company, Bapco Energies, said an oil tank at one of its storage facilities was hit. Both attacks caused a fire but were later brought under control and extinguished, Bahraini media reported. No casualties were reported in either attacks, and damage from both was being assessed. Earlier, Bahrain’s Ministry of the Interior had reported on the Bapco Energies fire without specifying where the blaze had broken out. The Interior Ministry has said civil defence crews “extinguished a fire in the facility” that broke out “as a result of the Iranian aggression”. The announcement came an hour after Bahrain activated air raid sirens. Authorities in neighbouring Abu Dhabi on Sunday also stated they responded to several fires that broke out at the Borouge petrochemical plant, caused by falling debris from an interception. “Operations at the plant have been immediately suspended pending a damage assessment,” read a statement issued by Abu Dhabi Media Office. No injuries have been reported so far, it added. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, intercepted missiles early on Sunday, the kingdom said. “Iran has said that it is only really attacking US military bases and US assets in the region, but we know from what’s been happening over the past five weeks and from what Gulf leaders have been saying that they have very much been targeting civilian infrastructure and critical energy infrastructure in this region as well,” said Gatenby. While Gulf countries have shown “incredible restraint” in the face of attacks over the past five weeks, it is not because they lack the ability to respond and, increasingly, countries are talking about the fact that their patience is not unlimited, said Gatenby. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has been talking in the past week about its right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter, she said. “The GCC countries continue to say their main priority is de-escalation and dialogue, but some others have been saying this defensive posture may have to change if they continue to be attacked,” said Gatenby. Adblock test (Why?)
Hyderabad Shocker: Woman alleges ‘forced conversion to Islam, drugged, raped, blackmailed’ by husband Nawaz alias Navadurga, family
A woman in Hyderabad has alleged that she was forcibly converted to Islam, raped, and blackmailed by her husband, Nawaz (alias Navadurga), and his family members.
Kamala Harris’ travels and comments clearly point to 2028
In a move sure to spark more 2028 speculation, former Vice President Kamala Harris will appear next week at a major Democratic Party cattle call in this preseason for the next White House race. Harris will speak on Friday in New York City at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention. The gathering, hosted by the civil rights organization’s founder, the Rev. Al Sharpton, will give the former vice president and other potential Democratic presidential contenders appearing at the confab an opportunity to speak directly to an influential gathering of Black leaders and activists who are key players among the party’s base. It’s the latest sign that where Harris is going, and what she’s saying and doing, is increasingly generating buzz that the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee is on a likely glidepath toward another White House bid in 2028. KAMALA HARRIS: OUT OF OFFICE BUT BACK ONLINE “Of course we are reading tea leaves,” a veteran strategist in the former vice president’s political orbit told Fox News Digital. The strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, emphasized that “the only signal that is very clear is that she is going to continue to be an incredibly important fighting force and voice for Democrats and for the country.” Harris was mostly out of the headlines for a couple of months after the end of former President Joe Biden’s administration early last year. But she started stepping back into the political spotlight last spring and summer, including headlining Democratic National Committee fundraisers. HARRIS, NEWSOM, STIR 2028 SPECULATION AT MAJOR DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEETING Her strategic decision last summer to pass on launching a 2026 gubernatorial campaign in her home state of California was seen as a clearing of the runway for a 2028 presidential bid. And her nationwide book tour for her memoir on her abbreviated 2024 campaign, when she succeeded Biden as the Democrats’ standard-bearer, has helped keep her very visible while building up her email lists and boosting donor interest. With her six-month book tour coming to a close, Harris, who made history as the first female and first Black vice president in the nation’s history, is set to make a swing through the South later this month. Her stops to help state parties fundraise include South Carolina, a key early-voting primary state in the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar, as well as the key general election battlegrounds of Georgia and North Carolina. Harris narrowly lost both states and the five other key battlegrounds to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. “Kamala Harris continues to be an incredibly inspiring force within the Democratic Party, especially among women, among Black voters and voters of color,” the strategist in her political circle emphasized. Harris has also been getting more involved on the campaign trail, recording ads for the Democratic National Committee and for the Virginia Democrats with early voting underway in the state’s April 21 congressional redistricting referendum. After endorsing Rep. Jasmine Crockett in last month’s Democratic Senate primary in Texas, Harris reached out to the nomination winner, state Rep. James Talarico. She’s also talked to other winners in last month’s primaries. HARRIS RIPPED BY THE RIGHT OVER TRUMP IRAN WAR SPEECH PRE-BUTTAL Harris has also been increasingly critical of President Donald Trump’s military strikes on Iran. “He brought America into a war that people don’t want, he has put American troops in harm’s way, costs are rising by the day, and, meanwhile, he has done nothing to address the needs of the people of America,” the former vice president argued in a social media video posted ahead of Trump’s primetime address to the nation last week. Harris’ comments quickly ignited a sharp rebuke from conservatives on social media. Among those responding was Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House Republican majority leader. “It’s pretty disgraceful for you to claim President Trump has done nothing to meet the needs of the American people,” Emmer posted on X. “Here’s the truth: He’s cleaning up the chaos YOU caused here in the United States and across the globe, and is making America great again.” The reaction from Republicans is a sign that it’s not only Democrats who see Harris as a potential leading contender for the 2028 nomination. Looking ahead, the strategist stressed that “no one knows what she is planning to do for 2028, but until she tells us herself, she is going to continue to travel, speak up about the issues she cares about the most, and the tremendous damage that Trump and this administration are doing to this country and how Democrats are going to continue to fight back.”
Gurugram Crash: 2 killed after wrong-way car hits bike taxi in Sector 57; probe underway
Two men were killed in Gurugram after a wrong-way car hit a bike taxi in Sector 57. The victims were thrown several feet by the impact.
DHS slams Democrat Sen Chris Van Hollen claim, says illegal alien caused crash while fleeing ICE
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Saturday pushed back on claims by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., that ICE agents struck an “asylum seeker,” saying the man is an illegal immigrant who caused a crash while trying to evade arrest. DHS told Fox News that the man in question is a Honduran illegal immigrant with a final order of removal dating back to 2018. According to DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers attempted to arrest the individual, identified as Ever Omar Alvarenga-Rios, on Thursday in Baltimore, but he allegedly tried to evade arrest. When officers conducted a vehicle stop, Alvarenga allegedly failed to comply with law enforcement and “drove recklessly” through the city, DHS said. DHS SAYS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INJURED HEAD AFTER HITTING CONCRETE WALL WHILE FLEEING ICE, DENIES BEATING CLAIMS DHS claimed that Alvarenga then “slammed on his brakes,” causing a multi-vehicle crash. He then attempted to flee on foot and ignored law enforcement commands, DHS said, adding that ICE officers “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest.” DHS said the two officers involved in the incident were injured and taken to the hospital. DHS SAYS ICE AGENTS RAMMED BY VEHICLES AMID MINNEAPOLIS ENFORCEMENT SURGE: ‘AGGRESSIVELY ASSAULTED’ “This illegal alien broke our laws, resisted arrest, sent two ICE law enforcement officers to the hospital, and endangered the general public. Thankfully both our officers are expected to make a full recovery,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “This dangerous attempt to resist arrest comes after sanctuary politicians have encouraged illegal aliens to evade arrest by hosting webinars instructing illegal aliens how to avoid being caught. Sanctuary politicians must stop encouraging this reckless behavior that endangers illegal aliens, our officers, and the public,” she added. Van Hollen on Saturday posted photos on social media of the man in a hospital bed, describing him as an “asylum seeker” who was rear-ended by an ICE vehicle while driving to work Thursday in Baltimore. According to Van Hollen, the man suffered “significant injuries to his head, chest, back and hands.” The Maryland Democrat also said the man was detained and claimed ICE was violating his rights by denying him access to attorneys. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Van Hollen said that ICE under the Trump administration “continues to prevent Ever Alvarenga from meeting with attorneys while in the hospital — preventing them from receiving full updates on his health condition or discussing his case so that the full set of facts can come to light.” “They have also blocked him from signing a privacy release so my office can make further inquiries. No matter what the Trump Administration says, the Constitution applies to everyone in the United States,” Van Hollen added. “Mr. Alvarenga has a right to due process and full access to his legal representation. By standing in the way, it looks like the Administration has something to hide.”
A de facto pro forma: Why Washington fixated on these sessions as the DHS shutdown dragged on through a recess
Carpe diem. If you’ve wondered why all of Washington buzzed so much this week about “pro forma” sessions in the House and Senate, here’s your chance to find out why. Come on now. Tempus fugit. There’s no time like the present. Hopefully, when you finish reading this, you can declare veni, vidi, vici when it comes to your understanding of pro forma sessions in the House and Senate. Let’s start with what pro forma means and why it holds application in Congress. SEN. MIKE LEE URGES TRUMP TO INVOKE RARE CONSTITUTIONAL POWER TO FORCE CONGRESS BACK FROM SPRING RECESS In Latin, “pro forma” refers to “a matter of form.” In other words, something appears real, but it’s just perfunctory. For decades, the House and Senate have used the parliamentary artifice of a “pro forma” session to adhere to the constitutional requirement of meeting every three days. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution states, “Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.” That means the House and Senate must convene at three-day intervals unless both bodies approved the same “adjournment resolution” to allow one another to depart Washington for an extended period of time. In other words, the House and Senate must vote and agree to be out at the same time. And if there’s no consensus on an adjournment resolution, the House and Senate technically must “meet” every three days. The House and Senate often fail to sync up on an adjournment resolution because the party opposite the President wants to block him from using his power to install Cabinet officials or other figures via a “recess appointment,” thus circumnavigating the Senate confirmation process. That makes it challenging to approve an adjournment resolution. But that’s another matter. Back to pro forma sessions. Sans an adjournment resolution, the House and Senate simply gavel in and gavel out every three days. There is (usually) no legislative business. These are pro forma sessions. The House and Senate meet “in form.” But don’t accomplish anything. There’s often only one lawmaker on hand — the person who presides. House pro forma sessions usually run two or three minutes. Senate sessions are even more abbreviated, usually lasting 25 to 35 seconds. What constitutes a Congressional meeting? Just those few seconds of session time suffices. Some years ago, senators actually held an informal competition, racing through pro formas in an attempt to see who could conduct the meeting the fastest. The quickest pro forma session clocked in at a blistering 21 seconds. Here’s the parliamentary posture of the House and Senate last week: The Senate adjourned for the day in the wee hours on Friday, March 28. The House followed suit just before midnight the same night. Without an adjournment resolution, both would meet the next Tuesday. Therefore, if the House or Senate wouldn’t have to meet again until Tuesday. GOP RAILS AGAINST ‘S— SANDWICH’ DEAL AS ALL EYES TURN TO HOUSE TO END DHS SHUTDOWN There’s nothing written prohibiting the House or Senate from conducting legislative business during a pro forma session. In other words, either body just has to conduct some legislative business to convert a pro forma session into a de facto session. So, that’s why it was though the Senate’s pro forma session on Tuesday was ripe for activity as the DHS shutdown continued. Some House Republicans demanded that the Senate align with what the House passed Friday night, a bill that funded all of the Department of Homeland Security for two months. The Senate gaveled to order on Tuesday morning around 10:33 am ET (a couple of moments late). Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., presided. But after 31 seconds, Hoeven adjourned the Senate without any business. Hoeven himself — or any senator — could have tried to pass the House bill with the skeleton crew on hand. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., was the only other senator in the chamber. Coons or anyone else could have sought recognition to speak. But none of that happened. And then the Senate adjourned, only to meet again Thursday morning (note the three-day interlude) at 7 a.m. for another pro forma session. Pro forma sessions are customarily among the most dull exercises in Congress. A skeleton crew of floor staff are there. Those asked to preside over the sessions are lawmakers who need to be in Washington for some reason over a recess or those who don’t go home often. Depending on which party has the majority, lawmakers from Maryland, Virginia or West Virginia frequently preside simply because they are nearby. A limited number of reporters surface. They’re all thirsty for a quote or soundbite simply because so few other lawmakers are available thanks to the recess. The whole enterprise starts and wraps up within minutes, and everyone goes back home. But that was not the case with last Tuesday’s Senate session. Everyone wanted to see if Republicans might try to approve the House-passed DHS bill or, for that matter, if the House would attempt to align with the Senate and pass its bill. Neither happened. Even though a flood of reporters descended on the Capitol. BEHIND THE SCENES OF CONGRESS’ ELEVENTH-HOUR RUSH TO FUND THE DHS But the drama was higher Thursday morning. On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dramatically reversed himself and consented to the Senate-passed bill to fund all the Department of Homeland Security through Oct. 1 except Border Patrol and ICE. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., published a joint statement endorsing the Senate’s strategy. And, so, around dawn Thursday, Thune showed up to pass the Senate package again. The presence of the majority or minority leader on the floor during a pro forma session is nearly unprecedented. It’s a magna momemti when it comes to a pro forma meeting. This was not an ordinary pro forma. And even though nothing happened
FBI’s Patel delivers blunt warning to law enforcement attackers: ‘We’re going to put you down’
FBI Director Kash Patel issued a direct warning to anyone who attacks law enforcement, vowing Saturday that those who “touch a cop” will be tracked down and arrested amid growing concerns over violence against officers. The comments came while Patel was speaking on SiriusXM Patriot’s “Breitbart News Saturday,” discussing violence against federal officers. “You have to back the blue,” Patel said. “I say the following to as many officers and Americans that I get in front of: If you touch a cop, we’re going to put you down. And that’s what we’re doing.” He said the FBI is “going to back our partners,” noting that any criminal who assaults or impedes law enforcement is “going to face the full force of law enforcement. CHICAGO’S POLICE CHIEF PUTS CRIMINALS ON NOTICE AFTER FEDERAL AGENTS TARGETED IN WEEKEND CONFRONTATIONS “We’re not saying that you can’t go out there and peacefully protest,” Patel said. “We are simply saying … you cannot interfere with [an officer in their] lawful execution of [their] lawful duty.” Since the start of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown, the Department of Homeland Security has reported violence against federal agents spiked to a record high. DHS SHUTDOWN PUTTING AMERICANS AT RISK AS WORLD CUP SECURITY PREP ‘SIGNIFICANTLY BEHIND’: SEN FETTERMAN The director added that police around the country are “so empowered by the fact that we are backing the blue that they know they have that backing. “They also know that if they are physically harmed, they’re just not going to have some perp get away with it,” he said. “We’re going to go find them, and we’re going to arrest them.” Patel’s stance on the issue has remained consistent throughout his time in the administration. In June, he posted a similar statement on social media. “Hit a cop, you’re going to jail… doesn’t matter where you came from, how you got here, or what movement speaks to you,” Patel wrote in a June 7 X post. “If the local police force won’t back our men and women on the thin blue line, we @FBI will.” The FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
TEVI TROY: Trump faces the burdens of a wartime presidency
America’s war with the mullahs of Tehran is into its second month, and it has already changed Donald Trump’s presidency in important ways. As the president considers how to navigate these new dynamics, it’s worth considering the experience of some previous presidents who entered office not expecting to be wartime presidents. Woodrow Wilson ended a four-cycle Republican winning streak by winning the three-way election of 1912. He did so because his two opponents, former president Teddy Roosevelt and incumbent president William Howard Taft, split the Republican vote. As president, Wilson embarked on an aggressive progressive domestic policy agenda. Things changed when World War I broke out in Europe midway through Wilson’s first term. Wilson then ran for re-election in 1916, promising to keep America out of the conflict, even using the slogan “He kept us out of war.” He did not keep that promise, though, and America entered the war in 1917 during the first year of his second term. WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 to rescue the economy from the Great Depression. In his third term, he gained a new mission: fighting the Axis Powers and presiding over the largest military mobilization in American history. Roosevelt addressed this shift at a 1943 news conference where he explained the transition from “Dr. New Deal” to “Dr. Win-the-War.” FDR’s quip highlighted the way his administration had to reorder itself to face the new challenge. Lyndon Johnson came to office unexpectedly after the tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy. He took over in peacetime and began pursuing his dream of a Great Society, a sweeping domestic agenda to rival Roosevelt’s New Deal. As he managed to pass his ambitious — and costly — domestic agenda, he soon found himself and his administration consumed by the conflict in Vietnam. The experience was so draining that, by 1968, Johnson, who had spent his whole life pursuing the presidency, shocked the world by refusing to seek re-election. In 2000, George W. Bush explicitly campaigned on pursuing a humble foreign policy, rejecting the nation-building missions of the Bill Clinton era. His ambition was to be the “Education President.” Then, 19 militant jihadis from al Qaeda struck America on September 11. In response, Bush ordered the invasions of terror-supporting countries Afghanistan and Iraq. As someone who served in that administration, the shift I saw was palpable. Bush had entered office with one kind of vision for his presidency, but history had a different idea entirely. War reshapes more than just the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk. It changes the teams around the president. We saw this with the resignation of Trump’s counterterrorism director, Joe Kent. As the Kent episode showed, advisors who were in alignment before the shooting starts are not necessarily in alignment once fighting begins. DESTROY THE REGIME’S POWER WITHOUT OCCUPYING IRAN: A SMARTER WAR PLAN This sort of thing has also happened in previous presidencies. In the early years of Wilson’s administration, Wilson was reliant on the advice of Texan political operative Colonel Edward House, who was so close to the president that he even lived in the White House. Things changed during the war, however, as internal critics in the State Department and the White House pushed back against House’s broad mandate managing the war. Wilson and House also clashed over the Versailles Treaty, which led to a permanent end to their once close relationship. As for Johnson, he was famously intolerant of internal dissent, and he drove away or silenced advisors who questioned his Vietnam strategy. Johnson pushed aside Defense Secretary Robert McNamara — initially the face of the Vietnam War — after Johnson noticed and didn’t appreciate McNamara’s increasing skepticism of Johnson’s Vietnam policy. Johnson wanted — and got — an echo chamber, to his administration and to our nation’s detriment. In the Bush administration, the Iraq war set off a bureaucratic civil war inside Bush’s national security team. This internal struggle led to the Valerie Plame affair, which brought about the indictment of Vice President Cheney’s top aide, Scooter Libby, after the exposure of the name of a covert CIA operative. Libby, however, had not leaked her name; his bureaucratic nemesis Dick Armitage was the leaker, and Armitage shamefully stayed silent about his role during the investigation. The episode showed the degree to which the higher stakes brought about by war can roil an administration, not to mention innocent lives. WHY TRUMP FACES AN AGONIZING DECISION ON OBLITERATING IRAN’S OIL SUPPLY IF HE CAN’T GET A DEAL War also takes a personal toll on presidents. Sometimes it leads to behavioral changes. In 2003, Bush gave up playing golf, one of his few outlets for escaping the pressures of the presidency. He said years later he was unwilling to be seen on the links while American soldiers were dying in Iraq. As he explained in 2008, “I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf.” It was a quietly devastating admission about the weight a wartime president carries every day. In other cases, the toll of being president in wartime has been even heavier. Wilson suffered a stroke while in Europe and was incapacitated for much of the rest of the administration; his team kept the American people in the dark as his wife Edith secretly managed things in the White House. Roosevelt died during his fourth term at 63. Those who saw him in his final days found him to be pale and depleted beyond his years. A visibly thinned Johnson, who left office at 60, died less than four years after exiting the White House. While these examples may seem harrowing, there is also one instructive counterexample. George H.W. Bush entered the Gulf War with a limited objective, built a broad international coalition for expelling Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, achieved that objective and got out. Bush’s national security team was extraordinarily disciplined and cohesive.
ICE arrests relatives of slain Iranian general Soleimani living in US after Rubio revokes their green cards
Two relatives of slain Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani living in Los Angeles were taken into custody by federal agents after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked their green cards, officials said. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, identified as Soleimani’s niece, and her daughter were arrested and are now being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to an announcement Saturday from the State Department. The Trump administration says Afshar has been a supporter of Iran’s “totalitarian, terrorist” regime. “Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani,” Rubio wrote on X. “She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the ‘Great Satan.’ RADICAL US MOSQUES HONOR IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER’S ‘MARTYRDOM’ WITH MEMORIAL SERVICES, EULOGY: ‘OUR LEADER’ “This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter’s legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States.” In January 2020, a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad killed Soleimani during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. While living in the U.S., Afshar “promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the ‘Great Satan,’ and voiced her unflinching support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization,” the State Department said. “[Afshar] pushed this propaganda for Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently deleted Instagram account,” the department said. IRAN VOWS ‘HARSH RETALIATION’ AFTER US AIRSTRIKE KILLS IRANIAN GEN. QASSEM SOLEIMANI According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE officers arrested Afshar and her daughter Friday in Los Angeles. DHS said Afshar entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in June 2015, was granted asylum in 2019 and became a green card holder in 2021 under the Biden administration. “In July 2025, she filed a naturalization application, where she disclosed she traveled to Iran at least four times since being issued a green card. Her trips to Iran illustrate her asylum claims were fraudulent,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News. Her daughter entered the U.S. on a student visa in July 2015, was granted asylum in 2019 and became a green card holder in 2023, according to DHS. “It is a privilege to be granted a green card to live in the United States of America,” the spokesperson added. “If we have reason to believe a green card holder poses a threat to the U.S., the green card will be revoked.” FORMER IRANIAN MINISTER PRAISES TRUMP ASSASSINATION FATWA AS DAUGHTER LIVES IN NEW YORK In addition to revoking Afshar and her daughter’s lawful permanent resident status, officials said Afshar’s husband has been barred from entering the U.S. Earlier this month, the State Department also terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of a former senior Iranian official, and her husband. Both are no longer in the U.S. and are barred from reentry. “The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” the announcement said. The State Department and ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.