Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) reverted to the talking points favored by Iranian terrorists during a recent interview, referring to the United States first as the &#8220;world&#8217;s number one bully&#8221; and then &#8220;the Great Satan.&#8221;
Johnson, who first became a household name when he suggested that the Pacific island of Guam might &#8220;tip over&#8221; if too much American military equipment was placed there, made the comments while speaking with far left host Dean Obeidallah.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Democrat Hank Johnson directly echoes propaganda from the terrorist Iranian regime.
JOHNSON: &#8220;We are the world&#8217;s number one bully&#8230;America is indeed&#8230;the great hand of Satan&#8230;the great Satan.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/3JxrccCqLY">pic.twitter.com/3JxrccCqLY</a>
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1998121577833972222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Johnson told Obeidallah that the United States was the quintessential playground bully, lording it over other countries that had less power simply because it was possible to do so.
“We are the world&#8217;s number one bully, and we are using our immense unrivaled power to rule over those who have less power,” he claimed, adding, “This sends a shocking message to the world that America is indeed the — what did they used to call it — the great hand of Satan, or something like that.”
“I mean, America under the Trump regime is demonstrating that that moniker is entirely accurate. That’s what we’ve become in this country, the great Satan,” he continued.
Johnson, during a congressional hearing about a military buildup on Guam, raised eyebrows when he suggested the added weight of the military equipment could cause the island to capsize.
“My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,&#8221; Johnson said.
Admiral Robert Willard, who was serving as head of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time, paused and managed to give his reply with a straight face: &#8220;We don&#8217;t anticipate that.&#8221;

Hank Johnson

Georgia Democrat Refers To United States As ‘World’s Number One Bully,’ ‘The Great Satan’

Congress

Donald Trump

Iran

Politics

United States

Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out the crisis at America’s southern border and the growing danger emanating from Venezuela during a candid exchange with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night.
Rubio blasted Venezuelan socialist President Nicolás Maduro&#8217;s regime, calling it a failing dictatorship that is funneling chaos toward the United States. The secretary of state said that Maduro &#8220;suckered Joe Biden,&#8221; but added, “They’re not going to sucker Donald Trump.”
Rubio noted that more than eight million Venezuelans have fled the country, overwhelming neighbors and adding to the migrant flow reaching America’s doorstep. But he stressed that the conversation can’t stop at humanitarian collapse. The sharper danger, he argued, is the Iranian foothold inside Venezuela, a reality the media rarely touches. He explained that Iran’s IRGC — and even Hezbollah — have entrenched themselves in South America, with Venezuela serving as one of their “anchor” sanctuaries.
Rubio also discussed the unavoidable limits of vetting migrants with a level of sobriety absent from most political rhetoric.
&#8220;You can only vet information that exists,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So it is possible that in many cases, there are things about these people that you just don&#8217;t know, and no matter how much you vet them, you just don&#8217;t have certain information.&#8221;
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Rubio explained that in many corners of the world — especially countries overrun by terrorists or lacking functioning institutions — documentation is nonexistent or impossible to verify. He warned that someone with no extremist record could be pulled into ideology once inside the United States, particularly if they struggle to assimilate or are vulnerable to propaganda in their native language. The Afghan national who allegedly shot two National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., last week — killing one and wounding the other — was &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/suspected-national-guard-shooter-was-radicalized-through-connections-in-afghanistan-noem-says">radicalized</a>&#8221; through connections he maintained in Afghanistan after coming to the United States, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
&#8220;The bottom line is there is no effective way to allow hundreds of thousands of people to enter any country in the world and not face consequences,&#8221; Rubio added.
Turning back to Venezuela, Rubio said the Biden administration made a major mistake by believing that Maduro could be negotiated into good behavior.
&#8220;The Biden administration made a deal with Maduro. No one talks about this,&#8221; Rubio told Hannity. &#8220;He made a deal with Maduro. Here was the deal: Maduro asked that his nephews – convicted drug traffickers – be released from U.S. prisons. He asked that his chief money launderer, his money man, his bag man, be released from U.S. custody before he stood trial. In exchange he promised to hold free and fair elections. He got the nephews back, the drug dealers. He got the bag man back. And he never did the free and fair elections.&#8221;

President Trump Hosts Philippines President Marcos At White House

‘They’re Not Going To Sucker Donald Trump’: Rubio Crystal Clear On Venezuela, Immigration

Immigration

Marco Rubio

Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela

Iran is confronting an escalating environmental crisis so severe that President Masoud Pezeshkian has announced the country must <a href="https://www.iranintl.com/en/202511209098">move its capital,</a> declaring that the regime “no longer has a choice.”
Tehran, once the political and demographic heart of Iran, is now overwhelmed by water depletion, collapsing land, and infrastructural strain. Pezeshkian warned that parts of the capital are sinking by up to 30 centimeters a year, calling it a “catastrophe” driven by decades of mismanagement, overbuilding in upstream regions, and disrupted downstream flows. With water resources no longer matching demand, he argued that continued population or construction growth in Tehran is impossible and that remaining in place means “signing our own destruction.”
The Iranian regime is studying relocation to the Makran coast, despite the area’s underdevelopment, security concerns, and financial burden — costs so immense that previous efforts since the 1979 revolution have repeatedly stalled. Nevertheless, Pezeshkian said Iran has reached the point where relocation has become “an obligation.”
This dramatic moment stands in stark contrast to Israel’s successful campaign to overcome its own longstanding water scarcity, transforming from a drought-prone nation into a global leader in water security. Israel built a national system anchored in large-scale reverse-osmosis desalination plants, which now provide most of the country’s drinking water. The country also recycles nearly 90% of its wastewater — the highest rate in the world —largely supporting agriculture and preserving natural freshwater sources. Israeli-developed drip irrigation technology allows precise water delivery and enables high crop yields even in arid zones, while a centralized national water grid efficiently moves water to where it is needed, stabilizing supplies in dry years.
Israel’s technological capabilities were on full display in 2025, when it launched an <a href="https://x.com/InbarCohen13/status/1990408176290701356">unprecedented project</a> to pump desalinated Mediterranean seawater into the Sea of Galilee, restoring the stressed lake’s water levels and even reviving dried-out streams such as the Tsalmon. This initiative not only protects one of Israel’s most important freshwater reservoirs but also illustrates the country’s ability to reverse ecological decline through engineering and long-term planning.
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Against this backdrop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last July extended an extraordinary public offer directly to the Iranian people. Citing Iran’s severe drought — affecting 96% of the country — and warnings that up to 50 million Iranians could ultimately be displaced, Netanyahu said Iranians were victims of a regime that had squandered and mismanaged vital resources. He highlighted Israel’s breakthroughs in desalination, wastewater recycling, and agricultural efficiency, offering to share these methods by launching a Farsi-language website that would teach Iranians how to recycle water and preserve crops. Netanyahu framed the offer as humanitarian rather than political: “The Iranian regime shouts ‘Death to Israel.’ In response, Israel shouts, ‘Life to the Iranian people.’”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Islamic Republic 🇮🇷 has led Iran to the worst water shortage crisis in its history.
As prime minister <a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@netanyahu</a> said, Israel 🇮🇱 is one of the world leaders in water desalination, and is willing to share its technology for the benefit of Iranians 👇 <a href="https://t.co/6R5pX5N4e9">pic.twitter.com/6R5pX5N4e9</a>
&mdash; Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1949224206849495442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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As Iran contemplates relocating its capital to escape a deepening ecological disaster, Israel demonstrates how strategic planning, innovation, and responsible governance can transform water scarcity into long-term resilience — and even offer help to a nation in crisis.

Rain prayer held in Tehran, which has suffered its worst drought in 60 years

Iranian Regime Faces Water-Driven Capital Relocation As Israel Showcases Water-Conquering Innovation

Drinking Water

Israel

This week, Colonel Ebrahim Aghaie Komazani, an Iranian Air Force officer, hurled one of the <a href="https://x.com/MOSSADil/status/1988719412094927117">boldest public military challenges</a> to the Islamic Republic since its founding in 1979.
Standing beside the pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag — a powerful emblem of the Pahlavi monarchy — Komazani called for a “million-man march” on November 16 to begin a national transition toward a new government. His statement, invoking divine duty and historical legitimacy, framed his defiance as a moral and patriotic mission rather than an act of rebellion.
Komazani began by highlighting two “truths” meant to connect Iran’s present struggle with the legitimacy of its pre-1979 constitutional monarchy. First, he recalled that during the 1979 revolution, the late Shah ordered the Imperial Armed Forces not to fire on civilians, underscoring that sovereignty belonged to the people, not the monarch. Second, he credited the remnants of the Imperial Air Force with saving the country during the Iran–Iraq War, implying that the Islamic regime owes its survival to patriots loyal to the old order.
From this foundation, Komazani’s address escalated into an explicit call for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. He warned personnel across the military, police, intelligence, and judiciary that continuing to suppress protests would make them enemies of the nation and traitors before God. Declaring the current clerical regime “false” and “criminal,” he urged soldiers to stand with the people rather than enforce repression. Should Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, heir to the exiled monarchy, declare an armed resistance necessary, Komazani said it would then be both a right and a duty for Iranians to rise up militarily. His closing words praised national sacrifice and invoked symbols of imperial Iran — the Derafsh-e-Kaviani and Lion and Sun flag — as rallying icons for freedom and restoration.
Komazani’s appeal resonated with a growing revival of monarchist sentiment inside Iran. Just days before his declaration, two men <a href="https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/1988727659552207005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1988727659552207005%7Ctwgr%5Eaf2b374cf1c6443558d6636e39abdebb285077e8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranintl.com%2Fen%2F202511130343">dressed in Iranian army uniforms</a> were arrested in Tehran’s metro after <a href="https://x.com/tiregheib/status/1988667137049911731">publicly displaying the old flag</a>, a scene captured on social media and swiftly suppressed by authorities. Such acts have become more frequent since the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests, where the banned flag reemerged as a secular and nationalist symbol rejecting the Islamic Republic.
Komazani’s message aligns closely with Reza Pahlavi’s June 2025 appeal for “regime change” and a peaceful national transition. Speaking from Paris, the exiled prince compared the coming moment to the fall of the Berlin Wall, portraying Iran as poised for liberation from tyranny. He accused Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of economic plunder, nuclear adventurism, and totalitarian control, asserting that the regime’s collapse was imminent. Pahlavi announced initiatives for a unified transition government — anchored in national integrity, individual freedom, and secular democracy — and called for an organized civilian–military alliance to peacefully dismantle clerical rule.
Together, Komazani’s defiant call from within Iran’s military and Pahlavi’s coordinated campaign abroad form a potent narrative of unified rebellion, suggesting that even within the armed forces, resistance to the Islamic Republic is maturing into an open challenge for regime change.

Demonstrators Gather Outside Iranian Embassy In London, Following US Strikes On Iran’s Nuclear Facilities

Military Defiance: Iranian Air Force Officer Demands Regime Change, Calls For Million-Man March

Global Politics

Regime change

World

In 1946, not too long after the end of World War II, Winston Churchill famously spoke of a “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States — not only as a bond of history and language, but as a partnership grounded in shared principles and moral duty. That same sense of duty must guide us today as we confront the world’s leading state sponsor of terror: the clerical regime in Iran.
Historically, when facing totalitarian regimes, Britain, the US, and other Western powers have placed local dissidents at the center of any discussion about the future of oppressed nations. Yet Iran remains a glaring exception. For reasons that defy logic and morality, successive governments have marginalized the voices of Iranian democrats.
I am one of a growing number of Western politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who believe this should change and to this end, I will speak at the Free Iran Convention in Washington, D.C., on November 15, where more than one thousand Iranian experts, professionals, and academicians from all over the US, will present their vision for a free, democratic Iran.
For nearly half a century, Western policy toward Tehran has prioritized negotiation over accountability, assuming the clerical regime’s grip on power was unshakeable. Many believed Iran’s rulers would never meet the same fate as the Shah — at least not without chaos in the absence of a viable alternative.
That assumption was flawed from the outset. In the immediate aftermath of the 1979 revolution, the forces that helped topple the Shah — chief among them the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) — remained active, popular, and determined to oppose the theocracy that hijacked the revolution’s promise. The regime responded with brutal repression throughout the 1980s, culminating in the horrific 1988 massacre of around 30,000 political prisoners, most of them MEK members and supporters.
This atrocity was meant to eliminate organized opposition once and for all. It failed. The MEK survived and went on to form the backbone of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a broad coalition advocating regime change and democratic transition. Yet, tragically, the massacre convinced much of the international community that internal resistance had been extinguished — and that engagement with Tehran was the only realistic path forward.
Encouraged by that misperception (echoed by the regime’s protagonists and lobbyists), the regime deepened its repression at home and aggression abroad. It became the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the nation with the highest per-capita rate of executions, and the only non-nuclear-armed state enriching uranium to 60% purity — just short of weapons-grade.
Ironically, by assuming the regime’s permanence, Western leaders helped create a situation where regime change has become essential for global security and human rights. Some progress is evident: the UK, France, and Germany recently triggered the re-imposition of UN sanctions following Washington’s return to a “maximum pressure” strategy.
But it remains unclear whether today’s policymakers grasp how profoundly their predecessors misread the regime’s vulnerability.
That misunderstanding can no longer be excused. Three nationwide uprisings — in 2018, 2019, and 2022 — have shown the Iranian people’s enduring commitment to democratic change. The unity and persistence of their demands reveal the strength of an organized opposition that, despite deadly crackdowns and decades of dismissal by Western analysts, continues to challenge the regime from within.
The Free Iran Convention in Washington builds on this momentum. It follows major gatherings in Brussels and across Europe, where Iranian youth and dissidents reaffirmed their readiness for a democratic transition. The movement’s supporters will call for a coherent Western policy — one that recognizes the NCRI as a credible alternative and supports the Iranian people’s right to determine their future.
Many of us in public life have already joined this cause. In parliaments on both sides of the Atlantic, lawmakers have endorsed resolutions recognizing the NCRI as a legitimate democratic alternative to the current regime and affirming the Iranian people’s right to establish a secular, non-nuclear republic. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI, has articulated a ten-point plan as a roadmap for a future democratic republic of Iran. It has gained cross-party support of the majority of members of both the US House of Representatives and the UK House of Commons.
It is time for policymakers to act accordingly. The UK and European Union must designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and democratic governments should hold Tehran’s leaders accountable for crimes against humanity. Most importantly, the West must acknowledge the Iranian people’s right to overthrow tyranny and build a democratic future.
Appeasement has never delivered stability. Courage, clarity, and solidarity with the Iranian people just might.
* * *
Rt. Hon. John Bercow was the Speaker of the UK House of Commons from 2009 to 2019.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Protest Against U.S. Attacks On Iran

It’s Time To Challenge Tehran’s Illusion Of Strength With Reality

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Democracy

European Union

Great Britain

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Middle East

Radical Islamic Terror

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Tehran, home to more than 10 million people, stands on the brink of a catastrophic water shortage amid Iran’s most severe drought in decades. In 2025, the capital has seen a 100% drop in precipitation compared to the previous year — an unprecedented collapse that has left the region’s reservoirs nearly empty. Iranian officials are now warning that, absent immediate rainfall, parts of the city may face forced evacuation within weeks.
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At the center of the crisis is the Amir Kabir Dam, once a cornerstone of Tehran’s water supply. Today, it holds only <a href="https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/07112025">14 million cubic meters of water</a> — just 8% of capacity — enough to sustain the city for about two weeks under current conditions. Tehran depends on five primary dams — Lar, Mamlu, Amir Kabir, Taleqan, and Latyan — but together they are only <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2025/11/07/tehran039s-main-dams-only-11-pct-full-amid-severe-drought#goog_rewarded">8%</a>. Excluding the newly added Taleqan Dam, that figure plunges to 5%, according to Mohsen Ardakani, head of Tehran’s Water and Wastewater Company.
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<div>
Tehran’s environmental collapse is only one part of a broader national emergency. <a href="https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/human-rights/stop-executions-in-iran/irans-regime-executes-14-on-oct-14-over-2000-killed-under-pezeshkian/">According</a> to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), more than 2,000 people have been killed in just 14 and a half months of Pezeshkian’s repressive presidency, as the regime tightens its grip.
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<div>
Tehran province received only 159 millimeters of rainfall in the last water year, the lowest in a century, and has had no measurable rain since September 23. Current dam reserves have dropped to 252 million cubic meters, down from 420 million cubic meters in previous years, and weather forecasts indicate no significant rainfall is expected before December. Even after tapping underground aquifers to maintain a minimal supply, the crisis remains “critical,” Ardakani warned.
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The Karaj Dam, another key source, is currently at 7% capacity, and clean water could be exhausted within two weeks, according to Mehdi Maghsoudi, director of Karaj Water Affairs.
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President Masoud Pezeshkian admitted, “If it does not rain, we will have to start restricting water supplies in Tehran next month. If the drought continues, we will run out of water and be forced to evacuate the city.”
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<div>
With the capital consuming about three million cubic meters of water per day, Tehran has little margin for error. The convergence of drought, state failure, and brutal governance paints a grim picture of a nation on the brink — where both the land and its people are being drained dry.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei

Iran’s Despotic Government May Have To Evacuate Tehran Because Of Water Shortage

drought

Natural Disaster

In 1979, Iran’s revolutionaries — an <a href="https://institute.global/insights/geopolitics-and-security/ideology-and-irans-revolution-how-1979-changed-world">alliance</a> of Marxists and Islamists — rose on promises of justice and equality. They <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/2/5/the-ayatollahs-unkept-promises">pledged</a> to give citizens free water, free electricity, and free housing. The slogans captured a nation’s imagination, uniting two ideologies that despised each other but shared the same illusion: that moral purity and government control could replace economic discipline. Within years, the illusion <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/08/30/world-news/islamic-republic-close-to-collapse-in-iran-civil-war-possible-report/">collapsed</a>. Inflation exploded, jobs vanished, and the regime they created silenced its own believers.
Half a century later, in a different world and under a different flag, the same rhetoric echoes in New York City.
Assemblyman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/zohran-mamdani">Zohran Mamdani</a>, now running for mayor, calls for “people-powered politics” and promises “free” public services — fare-free buses, frozen rents, and new programs that would expand government dependency under the banner of compassion. It’s a playbook familiar to anyone who has studied <a href="https://diamond-democracy.stanford.edu/speaking/speeches/when-does-populism-become-threat-democracy">revolutionary populism</a>: identify inequality, moralize the problem, and promise paradise without explaining the cost.
Analysts <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/traffic_and_transit/2025/07/10/free-buses-could-slow-speeds-and-cost-more-">estimate</a> that making city buses free would erase about $700 million a year in fare revenue. Replacing that money would either require massive new taxes or more state debt. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) already <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/traffic_and_transit/2025/07/10/free-buses-could-slow-speeds-and-cost-more-">loses</a> roughly $1 billion annually to fare and toll evasion, including more than $500 million on buses alone. The Independent Budget Office <a href="https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/comments-on-new-york-citys-executive-budget-for-fiscal-year-2025-and-financial-plan-for-fiscal-years-2024-2028/#:~:text=With%20these%20adjustments%20based%20on,$13.00%20billion%20in%20FY%202028.">projects</a> multi-billion-dollar city deficits through 2028. To date, Mamdani has offered no serious proposal to offset the hundreds of millions in lost revenue.
That mindset is not new. In 1979, Iran’s revolutionaries <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/18468/#:~:text=In%201979%2C%20Ayatollah%20Khomeini%20gave%20his%20first,disappeared%20from%20the%20public%20archives%20in%20Iran.">said</a> oil revenues would pay for everything; in 2025, New York’s progressives say “the rich” will. The numbers never add up, but the slogans keep working because they appeal to emotion, not reason.
<div id="attachment_995421" style="width: 749px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-995421" class="size-large wp-image-995421" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2659698-739x576.jpg" alt="The Iranian Islamic Republic Army demonstrates in solidarity with people in the street during the Iranian revolution. They are carrying posters of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian religious and political leader. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)" width="739" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2659698-739x576.jpg 739w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2659698-300x234.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2659698-768x599.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2659698.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px" />Keystone/Getty Images</div>
Adding to the picture, the Washington-based lobbying group <a href="https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/how-the-iranian-regime-seeks-to-build-its-power-upon-american-naivete">NIAC</a>, often criticized for mirroring Tehran’s foreign-policy positions, recently <a href="https://x.com/NIACouncil/status/1982919590310011092">announced</a> its official endorsement of Mamdani. The symbolism is striking: the same organization that has long echoed and defended the Islamic Republic now throws its support behind a socialist-leaning candidate in America’s financial capital. The thread that connects them is ideological, a shared belief that moral virtue justifies economic fantasy.
This convergence of left-wing utopianism and moral absolutism should alarm anyone who cares about the survival of pragmatic politics. When ideology replaces arithmetic, cities fall into the same trap that ensnared nations. The faces and languages change, but the structure remains: emotional populism promising equality through control.
Iran’s tragedy began with chants about justice and dignity. Within a decade, the alliance between communists and clerics disintegrated, replaced by censorship, executions, and an economy under siege. The rhetoric of equality gave way to ration cards and ideological policing.
New York is obviously not Tehran. But when candidates promise unlimited benefits and moral purity while ignoring budgets, they are playing the same dangerous tune. No city, no matter how rich, can outspend reality. Populism always runs on borrowed time and borrowed money.
The warning isn’t about religion or class. It’s about patterns. In every era, radicals on the Left promise that compassion can be legislated and that economics will obey moral will. It never does. When leaders treat economics as politics and politics as faith, collapse follows.
In 1979, Iran’s revolutionaries told people to look up, and many claimed to see Ayatollah Khomeini’s face in the moon. The illusion was complete. New Yorkers shouldn’t make the same mistake on the skyline. Charisma is not competence, and utopia is never free.
* * *
Dr. Aidin Panahi is an Iranian-American research professor, energy expert, and political activist. He is the co-founder of the “From Boston to Iran” initiative, and his analyses on security and policy issues have appeared in outlets including The Jerusalem Post, Washington Times, the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, Middle East Forum, Homeland Security Today, and Visegrád24. X: @Aidin_FreeIran
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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NYC Early Voting Surges Ahead Of Nov. 4 Mayoral Election

Iran Tried Mamdani’s Ideas 45 Years Ago — It Ended In Ruin

Democratic Socialism

Islamists

Marxism

Mayor

New York City

Zohran Mamdani

In a Manhattan courtroom this week, justice caught up with two Russian mobsters who tried to carry out a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-russian-mob-leaders-sentenced-25-years-prison-murder-hire-targeting-journalist-behalf">murder-for-hire</a> on behalf of the Iranian regime in New York City.
Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov — professional criminals with ties to the Russian underworld — each <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/mobsters-get-25-year-sentences-in-iran-backed-murder-for-hire-plot-of-masih-alinejad/">received 25-year sentences</a> for plotting to kill Iranian-American dissident and journalist Masih Alinejad at her Brooklyn home. Their mission: silence her voice for speaking truth about the brutality of the Islamic Republic. Their pay: a promised $500,000 in what prosecutors called “blood money.”
The case, as Judge Colleen McMahon put it, was “difficult” and “uncomfortable.” Presiding over the Southern District of New York, the Clinton-appointed judge told the defendants they had attempted to &#8220;take a human life for no reason at all,” before reminding the courtroom that Alinejad and her family will live with the repercussions “for the rest of their lives.”
The plot began unraveling in 2022 when the would-be hitman, Khalid Mehdiyev — an Azerbaijani-born mobster working at a Bronx pizza shop — was arrested sitting outside Alinejad’s house with an AK-47, 66 rounds of ammunition, and a ski mask. He had been caught on Alinejad’s home security footage pacing through her yard, taking photos of her porch as proof for the men who had contracted him. When officers finally pulled him over, Mehdiyev turned informant. He told prosecutors that Amirov and Omarov had sent simple orders: “Shoot the journalist. Kill the journalist.”
It was a scheme that, if successful, would have been executed on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps — the terror arm of a regime that still chants “Death to America” while plotting its enemies’ deaths in the United States. Ruhollah Bazghandi, a senior Revolutionary Guard official, allegedly orchestrated the plot from Iran. He remains at large — a reminder that Tehran continues to direct murder attempts abroad while the West drags its feet on accountability.
Alinejad, who faced her would-be assassins in court, captured the bitter irony of her story. “Because of these criminals, I have to watch over my shoulder,” she said. Yet she walked out of court calling justice “beautiful.” Outside, she reflected, “Once upon a time, a little girl in Iran was taught to shout Death to America so loud the White House would shake. Life’s irony: the same country she was told to hate gave her a second life.  Yes, her adopted country, America, arrested the killers sent by her birth country, Iran to murder her in her sunflower garden in New York and sentenced them to 25 years in prison 💃🏻✌️ From Iran to the United States of America, this is the story of freedom, survival, and truth that can’t be silenced.”
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Once upon a time, a little girl in Iran was taught to shout Death to America so loud the White House would shake. 
Life’s irony: the same country she was told to hate gave her a second life. 
Yes her adopted country, America arrested the killers sent by her birth country, Iran to…
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1983887485710020618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Her statement wasn’t mere sentiment — it was a testament to the moral chasm between a free nation and a regime built on fear. McMahon rejected prosecutors’ call for a 55-year sentence but gave both men the maximum 10 years on the murder-for-hire count — plus additional time for money laundering and conspiracy. The judge emphasized fairness: “It is not fair that Ms. Alinejad should live in constant fear,” she said. Fairness, in this case, cost two foreign agents of tyranny 25 years of their lives.
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Alinejad’s activism made her a target long before this plot. A former journalist turned reformist icon, she has spent years urging Iranian women to remove their hijabs and reject the regime’s religious coercion. That defiance “enraged the regime,” prosecutors said, spurring Iran’s agents to strike where they least expected resistance — inside the United States.
Yet Alinejad’s defiance remains unbroken. Appearing on CNN with Jake Tapper, she said she was “excited” to see justice served. “I was nervous to see them face-to-face, but seeing a female judge — this is the dream we are fighting for in Iran.” She spoke for countless Iranians silenced or killed for far less. “I said to the court that this is not about me,” she recalled. “They didn&#8217;t want just to kill me. They wanted to kill freedom of speech because my platform with more than 10 million followers just echoing the voice of millions of Iranians who say no to forced hijab and no to Islamic Republic, and that&#8217;s why they wanted to kill me.”
Her warning to Washington was direct: “Negotiation or talking to this regime is not going to save the lives of Americans.”  It was a warning backed by history. In 2021, federal prosecutors foiled a separate Iranian plot to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/four-iranians-charged-plotting-kidnap-author-living-brooklyn-n1273890">kidnap Alinejad</a> from her Brooklyn home and return her to Iran — a chilling preview of the regime’s reach. At the time, she told reporters that police stood guard outside her residence daily. “It’s a weird feeling,” she said. “I’m so not used to being protected by the police. This wouldn’t have happened in my homeland.”
Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, who attended the sentencing, noted Iran’s fear of her words: “Tyrannical regimes always fear the truth.”
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I came to the court in New York to show full solidarity with my friend Masih Alinejad who was targeted for assassination by the Islamic regime in Iran. She speaks out for women’s rights and exposes their oppression. They fear her words. Tyrannical regimes always fear the truth. <a href="https://t.co/HYY4rfcyB9">pic.twitter.com/HYY4rfcyB9</a>
&mdash; Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1899512226890809631?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Russian Mobsters Get 25 Years For Iranian Regime’s Plot To Kill Dissident On American Soil

Iran’s Hitmen Jailed: Russian Mobsters Get 25 Years For Plot to Kill Dissident Masih Alinejad

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It is, in fact, possible to win wars.
I have spent my entire life watching the United States and the West lose wars, or at least not win wars. Initial victory, followed by gradual defeat or bizarre interventionism without the full force, weight, and commitment necessary to carry it through.
What President Trump is demonstrating, however, along with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel, is that it is, in fact, possible to win wars.
Let’s recall the timeline here.
On October 7, 2023, the genocidal terror group Hamas invaded Israel&#8217;s borders and killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly Jewish, and abducted 250 Israelis and took them back to their terror tunnel hellholes. In those tunnels, Hamas amassed a vast arsenal of rockets, grenades, and small arms over the course of 20 years with the support and funding from nations in the region, including Iran, Qatar, and Turkey.
There was also a serious possibility that Hezbollah was going to enter the war on the same day. In fact, Hezbollah started attacking with small rockets in the beginning and then gradually escalated. And, according to the military experts, Hezbollah was similarly genocidal and was a far better armed Iranian terror proxy based in Lebanon.
Israel also faced down a continuing terror threat from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Judea and Samaria, the so-called West Bank. Syria was being used as a thoroughfare for Iranian arms for Hezbollah. The Houthis in Yemen were another Iranian-backed terror threat. And, of course, the Iranian government wasn&#8217;t merely spreading terrorism, they were also fast-tracking a nuclear weapons program.
That&#8217;s where things stood two years ago.
Now, two years later, the Middle East has turned completely upside down.
Israel has completely decimated Hamas, killing its entire top leadership from Gaza all the way to Iran. Israel has destroyed Hezbollah&#8217;s efficacy and killed its terror master, Hassan Nasrallah. Its attacks on Hezbollah were so effective that the Assad regime in Syria completely collapsed.
Judea and Samaria have been quieted by the work of the IDF during this time. Iranian proxies in Iraq went silent as well thanks to the Israeli Air Force. The Houthis in Yemen are sort of the one remaining outstanding enemy, and they&#8217;ve been thoroughly bombed. They are a nuisance, but they&#8217;re not an existential threat to Israel. And Iran&#8217;s nuclear program, the greatest existential threat to Israel, has been set back years, if not decades, thanks to the courage of the Israeli Air Force, and, of course, a timely, brave intervention from President Trump that led to an amazing mission flown by the United States Air Force.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2295-the-trump-effect-how-to-win-a-war?elementPosition=4&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
And now President Trump has brokered an amazing deal, one that seemed unthinkable not long ago. The release of the final 20 live Israeli hostages all at once, along with all the remaining bodies released. Israel maintains a secure posture in the Gaza Strip itself as a transitional plan toward a future without Hamas, supported by regional allies, including countries that one moment ago were sending cash and weapons into for Hamas to use, like Qatar and Turkey.
The possibility of future Abraham Accords with countries like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are now on the table.
So, here is the question for the West: How is it that this war was won?
Because it&#8217;s hard to win wars.
Well, the answer is the conventional wisdom was stupid — and it has been stupid for decades.
And the decision makers here are ”out-of-the-box” thinkers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is someone who truly understands the nature of the Middle East and Middle Eastern history. But President Trump is the real difference maker here, because President Trump decided that America would no longer just go along with the 80-year-old slogans promoted by the Arabists at the State Department. 
The conventional wisdom was that military action does not guarantee security in the Middle East. That is a lie. It was always a lie. It was always catastrophically wrong.
In fact, every time Israel has provided for its own security, it was not through a peace deal. It was a peace deal after a victory. 
Military action is the only guarantor of support and security in the Middle East. It was military action that removed every supporting pillar beneath Hamas&#8217;s feet.
The conventional wisdom said the United States ought to play a weird, neutral role between Israel and its genocidal enemies. You saw this from Joe Biden. Kamala Harris talks like this all the time. Bill Clinton tried it until he realized that Yasser Arafat was totally uninterested in peace. 
But this was the conventional wisdom. Was that, sure, Israel was a strong ally of the United States, but America had to play honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians. And it turns out that that was not just wrong, it was idiotically wrong.
The Trump administration openly supported the IDF.
They openly provided the weapons. 
They openly provided the rhetorical support for Israel to win. And it was that that led to Hamas giving up the ghost and to Hamas, his allies, realizing that actually Israel was not going to be forced to simply accept the risk of its own survival. 
The conventional wisdom said that if you threaten to kill terror leaders abroad, that&#8217;d be conflagrationist and terrible. That, too, was wrong. 
Israel killed terror masters in Iran itself. Israel killed Ismail Haniya, the political leader of Hamas. And of course, it was the strike in Qatar that actually led to Qatar and Turkey deciding to press for Hamas’s ouster. 
Israel then hit inside Qatar in an attempted strike on Hamas&#8217;s leadership. They missed, but the message was made clear: Israel would be willing to do it again. 
And then the president essentially said, “Okay, you know what? We&#8217;ll come in. We&#8217;ll give a security guarantee to Qatar so this doesn&#8217;t happen again. But we need you to end this war. We need you to work with Turkey to stop all of this.”
It was a carrots-and-sticks approach led by President Trump.
President Trump understands the Middle East better than all the so-called experts.
And, by the way, he understands the Middle East far better than the supposed neocons, the total interventionists pushing for ”Democracy in the Middle East.” Trump is not one of those.
He also understands it better than the isolationists in his own party who wanted to reject Trump&#8217;s tempered and rational ”Peace through Strength” in favor of what might be called “Cowardice through Catastrophism,” the idea that World War III is lurking behind every corner — despite the fact that President Trump is the most rational purveyor of American force in modern American history. There was no shot that World War III would break out over one B-2 sortie over Iran. That was not going to happen because Trump was backing the IDF&#8217;s capacity to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That was not going to happen. The catastrophism was nonsense and it was nonsense from the beginning.
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Prime Minister Netanyahu, who soldiered through withering criticism both at home and abroad, of course, for the great crime of seeking victory over those who would destroy his country, deserves credit here.
Huge credit, obviously, as Jared Kushner says, to the Israeli people who mobilized in an unprecedented way to defend their nation and their civilization, we&#8217;re talking about 45-year-old guys leaving four kids at home and their business to go fight in Gaza in the “Sherut Miluim,” the Israeli Army Reserve Service.
And of course, huge props to the American people who provided Israel the support it needed to win, both in terms of material and mostly by making the right decision and electing Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. So, thank you to all the voters of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
It turns out that victory over genocidal enemies is indeed possible. What it requires is a smart strategy that bucks the conventional wisdom, a desire and willingness to win, and the perspicacity to dismiss people who promote either a starry-eyed millenarianism, in which every nation is going to break out into democracy someday, or a benighted conventional wisdom that fails every single time it&#8217;s tried.

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The Trump Effect: How To Win A War

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One of the primary reasons my campaign for Congress was successful was that I embraced President Trump’s Peace through Strength agenda and promised to hold Iran’s terror proxy, the Houthis, accountable. I meant it; it was not a throwaway line. It is a moral and strategic imperative, which is why one of my first legislative acts was <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1250">introducing H.R. 1250</a>. This bill requires the designation of Ansarallah, the Houthi movement, as a foreign terrorist organization and mandates sanctions on its leaders and affiliates.
The Houthis are not some faraway nuisance. Their campaign of terror, their alliance with Iran, and their direct threat to global shipping and stability make them a clear and present danger. To hesitate would only embolden them.
During my deployment to Saudi Arabia as a U.S. Army Reserve Intelligence Officer, I had a front-row seat to the Houthi threat. Under constant risk of Houthi strikes in Saudi Arabia, I worked to develop measures to prevent insider threats like the Pensacola base shooting.
Let me be clear: the Houthis are not a political faction looking for a seat at the table. They are violent extremists who seized territory in Yemen, trapping millions in misery. They threaten Red Sea shipping lanes, target civilian infrastructure, and fire rockets across borders into sovereign nations, and they operate with Iran’s full financial and military backing.
The Houthis are one part of a wider Iranian proxy network. These groups menace regional rivals and target Americans. Iran-backed militias killed three U.S. Army reservists in Jordan earlier this year. They struck at America’s energy interests in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, including HKN, a company tied to the family of Ross Perot.
The Houthis, Hezbollah, and the Iraqi militias are all part of the same web of terror. Ignoring one is ignoring all. President Trump gets that, and that’s why he was able to free Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov, whose siblings I hosted in my office, from Iraqi Hezbollah captivity last month – after two years of Biden-Harris inaction.
Within a month of taking office, Biden-Harris revoked President Trump’s terror designation of the Houthis and badgered our Saudi and Emirati allies to cease fighting the terrorists. By 2024, Biden, Harris, or the Autopen had buyer’s remorse and moved to partially redesignate the group.
That is why decisively codifying President Trump’s redesignation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization matters. It is not symbolic. It gives us sharper tools: sanctions, financial restrictions, visa bans, and the ability to choke off their networks. H.R. 1250 requires the President to act within 30 days and also forces determinations on senior figures, including Abdul Malik al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim. Targeting leadership matters. Cutting money matters. Disrupting weapons pipelines matters.
<div id="attachment_979475" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-979475" class="size-large wp-image-979475" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2228070084-864x576.jpg" alt="Huthi supporters and university students shout anti-Israeli slogans, calling for an end to the war in Gaza, during a demonstration in Sanaa on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2228070084-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2228070084-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2228070084-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2228070084.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images</div>
Some might ask, why act now? Why make this an early priority? Every moment of hesitation allows the Houthis to consolidate power, disrupt trade, and strike at allies. More than 90% of container shipping through the Suez Canal <a href="https://apnews.com/article/red-sea-yemen-houthis-attack-ships-f67d941c260528ac40315ecab4c34ca3">was halted by the Houthis</a>, which accounts for approximately 40% of the world’s container shipping and a route for over one billion barrels of oil per day. 
This disruption is a key driver of global inflation, cutting the buying power of American families.
Sanctions are one part of a larger strategy to end Yemen’s war. We must also work to block weapons flows from Iran, keep humanitarian channels open, and tighten oversight in Congress to make sure enforcement does not drift or get watered down.
Critics will say this risks escalation and hinders peace talks. However, pressure is not the enemy of peace; weakness is. That’s why the Houthis felt so emboldened, and why they were the only group to relentlessly attack Israel — regardless of Hezbollah’s and Iran’s pauses. Labeling the Houthis as terrorists does not declare war. It puts the law on our side. Negotiations only work when leverage is real. The Houthis will never come to the table if they believe America lacks resolve.
Failing to respond only invites more attacks.
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Just this week, the Houthis declared that they will start to target additional U.S. oil firms, such as Chevron and ExxonMobil. This is unacceptable, and it’s time for my colleagues in Congress to act.
Holding the Houthis accountable was one of my first promises, and H.R. 1250 is how that promise begins to take shape. Passing this legislation sends a message: the United States will not cede the Red Sea, will not normalize terrorism, and will not stand by while Iran’s proxies destabilize the region.
The Houthis think they can outlast our resolve. They are wrong. America has faced down far greater threats with determination and clarity. We will do so again. By standing firm, by acting decisively, and by keeping our word, we can ensure that no terrorist movement, whether in Yemen, Iraq, or anywhere else, believes it can threaten American lives and hinder prosperity without consequence.
* * *
Congressman Abe J. Hamadeh represents Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Demonstration Held After US Announcement Stopping Strikes On Houthis in Yemen

Why Congress Must Back Trump And Make The Houthi Terrorist Designation Official

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KNOB NOSTER, MISSOURI — President Donald Trump shocked the world with his announcement on the evening of Saturday, June 21: the United States had successfully attacked three nuclear sites in Iran, and the B-2 bombers who had completed this incredibly secretive mission were on their way home.
&#8220;Congratulations to our great American Warriors,&#8221; the president shared in a triumphant Truth Social post. &#8220;There is not another military in the World that could have done this.&#8221;
It was an incredible victory for Trump 2.0 in more ways than one: Operation Midnight Hammer had been executed without a single leak to the ever-eager White House or Pentagon press. But how, exactly, had this Hollywood-esque mission been accomplished? And who were the people who made it run so smoothly?
The Daily Wire ventured out to a small Missouri town called Knob Noster, which houses Whiteman Air Force Base, to learn about America&#8217;s most elusive bomber program: the 509th Bomb Wing, one of only two Air Force units to operate the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. This unit has the unique ability to launch their bombers straight from Missouri to any spot on the globe.
With rare access to pilots and commanders, The Daily Wire learned how a single mission—planned in silence and executed with breathtaking speed—reshaped the conversation about modern warfare through the largest B-2 strike in United States history.
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Only 21 of these B-2 planes were ever made: one crashed and one was damaged, but the rest are housed at Whiteman Air Force Base, the only home of the B-2 stealth bomber. The concept of the plane was conceived back in 1979, at the height of the Cold War, when the United States military had planes that could drop bombs, planes that were stealth, and planes with long ranges, but none that could do all three of these things.
The Pentagon green-lighted a new program to create such planes in 1979, and by 1989, the B-2 Spirit was taking its first flight.
Thirty-six years later, the planes were an integral part of Operation Midnight Hammer. On June 21, 2025, a squadron of B-2 stealth bombers took off from Whiteman, loaded with 420,000 pounds of advanced bunker-busting bombs, headed for Iran. Some went west over the Pacific as part of a deception mission, but seven bombers headed east, flying 7,000 miles towards Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities.
The trip involved mid-air refueling — one of the most difficult aspects, explained Colonel Jared Kennish, a B-2 pilot closely involved in the mission and commander of the 131st Bomb Wing, Missouri National Guard at Whiteman. And though the B-2&#8217;s flying wings are actually giant fuel tanks capable of holding tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel, Operation Midnight Hammer involved six refuels. The wings hold roughly 160,000 pounds of fuel, which is enough to keep a B-2 airborne for about 6,000 miles without having to stop for a refuel.
&#8220;It&#8217;s very easy to fly,&#8221; Kennish explained. &#8220;Probably the most difficult part is air refueling.&#8221;
Asked if it was easy for things to go wrong during refueling, Kennish responded: &#8220;It&#8217;s always easy for things to go wrong, but I mean, we train for that. That&#8217;s what we do. Over and over, repetitions, simulators, [flight] training hours, and everything else.&#8221;
&#8220;What&#8217;s unique about the B-2 is the fact that really the only aircraft in the world that provides stealth payload and precision anywhere in the world,&#8221; he shared. &#8220;We can be anywhere in the world, strike precision weapons within minutes, with the time and place of our choosing.&#8221;
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The Daily Wire learned that during Operation Midnight Hammer, each B-2 was burning roughly 100 pounds of jet fuel every 10 seconds. To put that in the context of the five-gallon gas cans used for a lawn mower, every 10 seconds, a single B-2 loaded with bombs burned through three gas cans. And since the planes were in the air for 37 hours, each of the B-2s in Operation Midnight Hammer burned about 200,000 gallons. So the mission used at least 1.4 million gallons for the seven B-2s alone.
That&#8217;s enough gas for a Toyota Camry to go around the world 2,193 times.
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The B-2s entered Iranian airspace at around 6 pm Eastern time, and forty minutes later, six of them had hit their first target as they dropped six bombs (the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP) into the two main ventilation shafts at the Fordo Mountain uranium enrichment facility. The seventh B-2 dropped two more bombs on the Natanz nuclear facility, protected by a 25-foot-thick concrete shield.
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Chief Master Sergeant Frank Espinoza, whose team loaded the bombs onto the planes before the mission, showed The Daily Wire an example of the &#8220;MOP&#8221; at Whiteman, sharing that the bombs produce an overpressure phenomenon that sends shock waves deep into the ground. The MOP is designed to detonate only after it pierces through rock and reaches its underground target.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a 30,000-pound munition,&#8221; Espinoza shared. &#8220;It&#8217;s meant to penetrate hardened targets and it&#8217;s pretty accurate&#8230;If we want to hit any place anywhere on the planet, we&#8217;re going to do it.&#8221;
&#8220;No other country has this type of bomber or this type of munition,&#8221; he noted. &#8220;It was specifically designed for that target, 15 years to develop this specifically. This is the first time that the MOP was used in combat and we used 14 of them and they all worked as advertised.&#8221;
Colonel Joshua Wiitala, commander of the 509th bomb wing, oversees the B-2 program at Whiteman, and oversaw Operation Midnight Hammer. He described watching the pilots return from Operation Midnight Hammer, flying over the heads of their breathless families, who had gathered at the base once news broke of the daring mission. These families didn&#8217;t know that their pilot family member was going when he or she left the day before, Wiitala shared, but they were used to these types of procedures.
&#8220;When it was announced that the mission had happened, the family started to find out that that was the case. A lot of them gathered here on base. We brought them out to the flight line, and when the jets recovered, there were families cheering for them. They pitched out over the base, right over top of their families.&#8221;
&#8220;I would say the biggest moment for me ever as a commander, and really the biggest moment of my career, was when I knew they were safe,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When I knew they were in safe airspace and they had accomplished the mission, that&#8217;s when the emotions really started to flow, to be honest.&#8221;
His pilots didn&#8217;t seem nervous when they took off, Wiitala said. They were &#8220;very excited.&#8221;
&#8220;They understood that this was going to be one of the most consequential raids of our lifetime.&#8221;
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How To Win A War In 37 Hours: Daily Wire Goes Inside Whiteman Air Force Base

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