Israeli secret service operatives used a fake phone call to trigger what appeared to be an &#8220;emergency meeting&#8221; among Iran&#8217;s top military leaders — and then targeted the location of the meeting.
According to a <a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israeli-secret-services-used-fake-phone-call-to-lure-irans-air-force-elite-to-their-deaths-ejqk7guy">report</a> published Tuesday by The Jewish Chronicle, Mossad used Iranian communication channels as part of a coordinated disinformation campaign targeting top Iranian Air Force officials and luring them all to the same location for what they believed to be an important meeting.
Amit Segal told the Call Me Back podcast on Monday: “What Israel did was create a fake phone call for 20 members of the air force senior staff an calling them to a specific bunker in Tehran.”
This meant there was no one to give the order to fire the initial salvo of 1,000 ballistic missiles as Iran had previously threatened to do, he added.
The added bonus for the Israelis was that Iranian military leadership was essentially crippled from the moment of Israel’s first strike against the world’s top sponsor of terrorism.
As The Chronicle reported, Mossad had used “falsified communications through Iranian channels” to call the meeting — which successfully lured “the entire senior leadership of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, including Commander General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, his deputies, and key technical personnel, into a fortified bunker outside Tehran.”
Shortly before the first Israeli missiles struck other targets across Iran, “that bunker was hit in a precision airstrike, eliminating Iran’s top missile command.”
As a result, no one was “alive to give the command to strike back” when Israel hit Iran with the first missile barrage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country had no choice but to act as Iran has continued to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities — and President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly voiced support for Israel, has said on numerous television appearances dating back more than a decade that the Iranian regime could not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

Templates-13

Fake Israeli Phone Call Triggered Meeting Of Iranian Leaders. Then Israel Targeted Meeting Location.

cell phones

Global Politics

Hezbollah

Iran

Israel

Mossad

Terrorists

World

The Trump administration ended an airport surveillance program on Thursday that it said had been “weaponized” by the Biden administration. 
The Department of Homeland Security said that it was closing down the Quiet Skies program because it had been used for political purposes and had not stopped any terrorist attacks. The Quiet Skies <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pia-tsa-spqs018i-april2019_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">program</a> was an initiative run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that flagged fliers deemed by intelligence officials to “pose an elevated security risk” for “enhanced screening” and potential observation by federal Air Marshals. 
“It is clear that the Quiet Skies program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration — weaponized against its political foes and exploited to benefit their well-heeled friends. I am calling for a Congressional investigation to unearth further corruption at the expense of the American people and the undermining of US national security,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. 
 “TSA&#8217;s critical aviation and security vetting functions will be maintained, and the Trump Administration will return TSA to its true mission of being laser-focused on the safety and security of the traveling public. This includes restoring the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans,” she added. 
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
The program costs $200 million per year and has stopped zero terrorist attacks since its inception in 2010, according to Homeland Security. 
Noem said that enhanced Quiet Skies screening was wrongly placed on Biden administration critic Tulsi Gabbard, who is now the Director of National Intelligence, while she was campaigning for President Donald Trump. She added that preferential treatment was given to the husband of a Democratic senator. 
On Wednesday, Homeland Security claimed that William Shaheen, the husband of New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, was given a blanket exemption from Quiet Skies after he was flagged for traveling “with a Known or Suspected Terrorist on three occasions.” The exception was granted after Senator Shaheen lobbied the federal government for her husband&#8217;s removal from the Quiet Skies list, according to the department. 
Shaheen has disputed those claims, saying that she was unaware that her husband was ever flagged as a security risk by the Quiet Skies program. 
&#8220;Senator Shaheen contacted the Transportation Security Administration after her husband was subjected to several extensive, invasive and degrading searches at airport checkpoints,&#8221; her office said. &#8220;Senator Shaheen sought to understand the nature and cause of these searches. Any suggestion that the senator&#8217;s husband was supposedly included on a Quiet Skies list is news to her and had never been raised before yesterday, nor was she aware of any action taken following her call to remove him from such a list.&#8221;
Noem called for Congress to open up an investigation into Quiet Skies in addition to her department’s internal probe.

Kristi Noem, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and former

Trump Admin Ends ‘Weaponized’ Airport Security Surveillance Program

Air and Space

airport

Biden Administration

Department of Homeland Security

Kristi Noem

National Security

Politics

Trump Administration

Tulsi Gabbard

According to the FBI, some Venezuelan government officials, in order to erode public safety in the United States, “likely facilitate” the migration of Tren de Aragua gang members to the United States.
Tren de Aragua has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.
The Venezuelan move to destabilize other countries also includes Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, Fox News Digital <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/venezuelan-government-uses-tren-de-aragua-proxies-undermine-us-public-safety-fbi-assessment-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, adding, “The FBI assesses that in the next six to 18 months, Venezuelan government officials likely will attempt to leverage Tren de Aragua members in the United States as proxy actors to threaten, abduct and kill members of the Venezuelan diaspora in the United States who are vocal critics of [Venezuala President Nicolás] Maduro and his regime.”
“These findings should shock Americans but not the law enforcement community,” an unnamed Trump administration official told Fox Digital. “They reflect the sentiments of numerous other intelligence assessments across multiple agencies. Nicholas Maduro is a Marxist dictator who hijacked a once-prosperous Venezuela and brought in nothing but total economic collapse and gang takeover. He crumbled Caracas, now overrun with drugs and violence, and wants to do the same across the United States by sending his most violent and dangerous criminals into our communities.&#8221;
“The Trump administration will continue to use every authority in our power to make sure these TdA terrorists, who are some of the worst in the world, are kept out of our country,&#8221; the official continued. “The American people voted overwhelmingly to make America safe again, and that is exactly what we will do.&#8221;
On April 18, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-alien-enemies-act-venezuela-tren-de-aragua-103919f71db9a9e7a9a3de1028585483" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, “A new U.S. intelligence assessment found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government, contradicting statements that Trump administration officials have made to justify their invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and deporting Venezuelan migrants, according to U.S. officials. The classified assessment from the National Intelligence Council, released this month, is more comprehensive and authoritative than an earlier intelligence product released Feb. 26 and reported last month by The New York Times.”
Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard reacted harshly, writing on X:
<blockquote>
The weaponization of intelligence to undermine the President’s agenda is an assault on democracy. Those behind this illegal leak of classified intelligence, twisted and manipulated to convey the exact opposite finding, will be held accountable under the full force of the law. Rooting out this politicization of intelligence is exactly what President Trump campaigned on and what Americans overwhelmingly voted for. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence fully supports the assessment that the foreign terrorist organization, Tren De Aragua, is acting with the support of the Maduro Regime, and thus subject to arrest, detention and removal as alien enemies of the United States.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The weaponization of intelligence to undermine the President’s agenda is an assault on democracy. Those behind this illegal leak of classified intelligence, twisted and manipulated to convey the exact opposite finding, will be held accountable under the full force of the law.…
&mdash; DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) <a href="https://twitter.com/DNIGabbard/status/1914449185618767911?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
An official from the office of DNI said the information Fox News Digital was reporting was “based on intelligence that the illegal leakers and propaganda media conveniently did not include because it gets in the way of their biased narrative and attempt to deceive the American people.”

27 alleged gang members indicted in New York City

FBI: Maduro’s Venezuelan Govt Helping Tren De Aragua Terrorist Group Migrate To U.S.

Nicolas Maduro

Terrorism

Tren De Aragua

Venezuela

Border czar Tom Homan gave no quarter to a reporter who pressed him on Monday over President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to designate members of a violent Venezuelan prison gang — Tren de Aragua — as terrorists under the Alien Enemies Act.
The reporter suggested that the administration was attempting to get around due process for illegal aliens associated with Tren de Aragua by enforcing &#8220;a 200-year-old law&#8217; — with the obvious implication being that the law was somehow invalidated by the date on which it had first been enacted.
&#8220;What do you say to those who claim you&#8217;re using a 200-year-old law to circumvent due process?&#8221; the reporter asked.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Reporter: &quot;That law is 200 years old!&quot;
Tom Homan: &quot;Well, the Constitution is a lot older than that and we still follow it&quot; <a href="https://t.co/igOANjPfb1">pic.twitter.com/igOANjPfb1</a>
&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1901664708467315006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;An &#8216;old&#8217; law?&#8221; Homan pushed back immediately. &#8220;It&#8217;s not as old as the Constitution, and we still pay attention to that don&#8217;t we?&#8221;
Reporters continued to shout questions at Homan, but he simply shook his head and walked away.
The Trump administration deported more than 250 illegal alien gang members to El Salvador over the weekend in accordance with an agreement between President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. The prisoners — more than 230 Tren de Aragua members and another 21 associated with MS-13 — were taken to a mega-prison.
Trump shared video on Sunday of the planes landing in El Salvador and the prisoners disembarking, and he thanked President Bukele for his cooperation. &#8220;We will not forget!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/5CY3zktsfS">pic.twitter.com/5CY3zktsfS</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1901416490739347792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Bukele also touted the deal, calling it a win for both El Salvador and the United States. &#8220;On this occasion, the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders. One of them is a member of the criminal organization’s highest structure. This will help us finalize intelligence gathering and go after the last remnants of MS-13, including its former and new members, money, weapons, drugs, hideouts, collaborators, and sponsors. As always, we continue advancing in the fight against organized crime. But this time, we are also helping our allies, making our prison system self-sustainable, and obtaining vital intelligence to make our country an even safer place. All in a single action. May God bless El Salvador, and may God bless the United States.&#8221;
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/these-are-the-monsters-trump-admin-deported-over-250-gang-members-to-el-salvador" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deportation flights</a> went ahead as planned despite a Saturday order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg demanding that they return to the United States and that future flights be held pending a hearing. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the flights had gone ahead as scheduled because the ruling was not lawful.
&#8220;The Administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory. The written order and the Administration’s actions do not conflict,” Leavitt posted.
“Moreover, as the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear — federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over the President’s conduct of foreign affairs, his authorities under the Alien Enemies Act, and his core Article II powers to remove foreign alien terrorists from U.S. soil and repel a declared invasion. A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft carrier full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,&#8221; she concluded.

Tom Homan

Tom Homan Torches Reporter Over Trump’s Use Of 200-Year-Old Alien Enemies Act

Tom Homan Torches Reporter Over Trump's Use Of 200-Year-Old Alien Enemies Act

Deportations

Donald Trump

Illegal Immigration

Media

A U.S. District judge appointed by former President Barack Obama ordered on Saturday that President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent order — designating violent Venezuelan prison gang members as foreign terrorists — was illegal and all planes deporting them should be stopped or returned to the United States.
Judge James Boasberg ordered placed a temporary hold — for 14 days — on Trump&#8217;s use of 1798&#8217;s Alien Enemies Act, and applied it to active deportations already in progress: &#8220;Any plane containing these folks that is going to take off or is in the air needs to be returned to the United States however that is accomplished. Make sure it’s complied with immediately.&#8221;
&#8220;I do not believe I can wait any longer and am required to act,&#8221; Boasberg added, noting that because the gang members in question would remain in federal custody despite the hold on their deportation. &#8220;A brief delay in their removal does not cause the government any harm.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Oopsie…
Too late 😂 <a href="https://t.co/nDHL6deLJq">pic.twitter.com/nDHL6deLJq</a>
&mdash; Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) <a href="https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1901238762614517965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuelan-immigrants-sue-trump-over-order-invoking-wartime-alien-enemies-act-of-1798/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded quickly</a>, issuing a statement regarding the judge&#8217;s ruling: &#8220;Tonight, a DC trial judge supported Tren de Aragua terrorists over the safety of Americans. TdA is represented by the ACLU. This order disregards well-established authority regarding President Trump&#8217;s power, and it puts the public and law enforcement at risk.&#8221;
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also issued a lengthy statement via X, defending Trump&#8217;s decision to use the Alien Enemies Act.
&#8220;President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation Invoking the Alien Enemies Act regarding the Invasion of the United States by the Foreign Terrorist Organization Tren De Aragua, using his core powers as President and Commander-in-Chief to defend the American People from an urgent threat,&#8221; she wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation Invoking the Alien Enemies Act regarding the Invasion of the United States by the Foreign Terrorist Organization Tren De Aragua, using his core powers as President and Commander-in-Chief to defend the American People from an urgent…
&mdash; Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1901261105483137501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;President Trump will always put the safety of the American People first — and he will never allow foreign terrorist enemies to operate on American soil and endanger our people. They will be found, restrained and removed — and their networks will be destroyed,&#8221; Leavitt concluded.
The Federalist&#8217;s Mollie Hemingway also called out Boasberg&#8217;s ruling directly, saying, &#8220;Would not have predicted it was Judge James Boasberg who would be throwing the country into a crisis like this. We need Article III courts to retain their legitimacy and Boasberg&#8217;s reckless order threatens that. Wiser minds must take action, and quickly.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Would not have predicted it was Judge James Boasberg who would be throwing the country into a crisis like this. We need Article III courts to retain their legitimacy and Boasberg&#39;s reckless order threatens that. Wiser minds must take action, and quickly. <a href="https://t.co/yNtyc1U5ZT">https://t.co/yNtyc1U5ZT</a>
&mdash; Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href="https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1901091926549418390?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, but this absolutely lawless order to TURN AROUND PLANES OF TERRORISTS is so insane that I&#8217;m having trouble comprehending what Boasberg is possibly thinking. Trump can not possibly agree to this,&#8221; she added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I&#39;m sorry, but this absolutely lawless order to TURN AROUND PLANES OF TERRORISTS is so insane that I&#39;m having trouble comprehending what Boasberg is possibly thinking. Trump can not possibly agree to this.
&mdash; Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href="https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1901108010191028343?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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President Trump Makes An Investment Announcement In The Roosevelt Room Of The White House

Obama-Appointed Judge Orders Planes Deporting Tren de Aragua Terrorists To Return To U.S.

Barack Obama

Pam Bondi

Congressman Mark Green on Wednesday introduced legislation aiming to further crush the Iranian-backed Ansar Allah terrorist organization, also known as the Houthis.
The Tennessee Republican’s bill builds on President Donald Trump’s executive order designating the Houthis as a Foreign Terror Organization (FTO) by sanctioning those complicit in Houthi attacks, as well as those who have materially supported Houthi attacks or will in the future.
“We must do more to combat the Houthi rebels and sanction their suppliers,” Green told The Daily Wire. “President Trump’s actions and my legislation accomplish both.”
Trump first designated the Houthis as an FTO in the last weeks of his first term, but President Joe Biden rescinded it in February 2021 because the designation interfered with providing humanitarian aid to Yemen, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/05/politics/us-houthis-terrorist-list/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
In January 2024, the Biden administration classified the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity (SDGT). SDGT implements economic sanctions but does not impose travel bans or allow sanctions on those supporting the group as the FTO designation does, according to the State Department.
Trump once again designated the Houthis an FTO in a January <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-re-designates-the-houthis-as-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order.</a>
“The Houthis’ activities threaten the security of American civilians and personnel in the Middle East, the safety of our closest regional partners, and the stability of global maritime trade,” the order reads.
Green’s bill mandates the creation of three executive branch reports to provide updates about the Houthis’ threat to national security, their disturbances to freedom of navigation, and their violations of the United Nations’ arms embargo against Yemen.
“The Houthis have consistently threatened the lives of American citizens and military personnel,” Green said. “With this new designation, the United States stands ready to combat any threats against us and our allies in the Red Sea.”
Since November 2023, the Houthis have launched over 100 attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and about 40 missiles and more than 300 drones at Israel, according to Green.
In February 2025, the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/houthis-target-us-fighter-jet-drone-sam-missiles-first-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Houthis fired</a> surface-to-air missiles at an American F-16 and MQ-9 Reaper drone.
“These egregious attacks must come to an end,” Green said. “The Iranian regime has fully backed the Houthi rebels in Yemen with weapons, funding, and political support. As a result, the Red Sea and the Middle East have become vastly more dangerous.”
Green sponsored <a href="https://markgreen.house.gov/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=4F4E1DE2-783C-4FF9-B3E1-2BC7735D8237" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a similar bill</a> in the previous Congress, which did not make it to a vote on the floor.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/houthis-re-designated-as-terror-group-by-state-department" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced last week</a> that the State Department redesignated the Houthis as an FTO.
“Today’s action taken by the State Department demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests, the safety of the American people, and the security of the United States,” Rubio said in a <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-ansarallah-as-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
Rubio added that the United States would not tolerate any country engaging with terrorist organizations like the Houthis under the guise of practicing legitimate international business.
The State Department <a href="https://rewardsforjustice.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">is offering</a> a $15 million reward and possible relocation for people who provide information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the Houthis.

Houthis stage anti-governent protest in Sanaa

EXCLUSIVE: GOP Congressman Introduces Bill To Expand Trump’s Efforts To Counter Houthi Terrorists

Houthis

Marco Rubio

Mark Green

The Justice Department gained custody of 29 suspected Mexican drug traffickers, including kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, on Thursday, who now face either life in prison or execution if convicted on charges of murder, money laundering, and drug trafficking. 
The individuals extradited from Mexico are accused of sending massive amounts of cocaine, meth, fentanyl, and heroin into the United States, as well as murdering American law enforcement officers. One of those sent over is a drug lord who officials say tortured and murdered a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in 1985. 
“As President Trump has made clear, cartels are terrorist groups, and this Department of Justice is devoted to destroying cartels and transnational gangs,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honor of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers — and in some cases, given their lives — to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels. We will not rest until we secure justice for the American people.”
Those extradited face charges of racketeering, drug trafficking, murder, illegal use of firearms, and money laundering and include members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), according to the Justice Department. 
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations. The DOJ said that Mexico “elected” to honor the extradition requests as a result of this designation. Mexico officials are <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mexico-drug-lord-rafael-caro-quintero-extradition-ad769ef1f2addd8530f4b8b96d00bb4c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> with the Trump administration to negotiate ahead of the 25% tariffs that Trump has scheduled to go into effect next week. 
“The FBI and our partners will scour the ends of the earth to bring terrorists and cartel members to justice,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The era of harming Americans and walking free is over.”
One of those extradited was drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who officials say murdered and tortured DEA special agent Enrique Camarena and his pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar in 1985. This was done in retaliation after American officials crackdown on his drug operation, which reportedly trafficked 10,000 tons of marijuana into the United States. In 2013, a judge in Mexico overturned Quintero&#8217;s murder conviction, releasing him from prison. 
Another one of the defendants is Martin Sotelo, who was wanted for his alleged participation in the 2022 murder of North Carolina Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd.
“By prosecuting these defendants to the maximum extent allowable under the law, we honor the memory of Special Agent Camarena, Deputy Sheriff Byrd, and other victims who are far too numerous, as well as decades of hard work in the trenches by our law enforcement partners,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said.

Rafael Caro-Quintero

Notorious Mexican Drug Lord, 28 Others Extradited To U.S. For ‘Maximum’ Prosecution

Crime

Department of Justice

Drug Cartels

Drug Enforcement Agency

Mexico

The Israel Defense Forces flew fighter jets on Sunday over the funeral for Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in a show of force to the tens of thousands of terrorists and terrorist supporters who attended the event in Lebanon.
The IDF published photographs of the fighter jets flying over the funeral in Beirut and said in a separate statement: &#8220;Today is Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral. Today the world is a better place.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Israeli Air Force jets over Beirut During Hassan Nasrallah’s Funeral
📸<a href="https://twitter.com/IDF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IDF</a> <a href="https://t.co/e2UgfCECbv">pic.twitter.com/e2UgfCECbv</a>
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1893674854706024585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Israeli F-35s and F-15s buzz former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral in Beirut<a href="https://t.co/erCWErfS37">pic.twitter.com/erCWErfS37</a>
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/LucasFoxNews/status/1893681459564515524?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
The funeral for Hezbollah&#8217;s former secretary general comes after Israel killed him an intense airstrike in late September after they pinpointed his position in a bunker in Lebanon.
The strike came after the Iranian-backed terrorist organization fired more than 10,000 rockets, missiles, and drones into Israel over the period of a year following the October 7 terrorist attacks.
Israel eliminated virtually all of the group&#8217;s senior leaders and commanders in numerous airstrikes throughout Lebanon.
The Chief of the General Staff for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), LTG Herzi Halevi said at the time, “Nasrallah wanted to destroy Israel—we eliminated him.”
“Nasrallah indiscriminately murdered Israeli civilians and aimed to end this war with the destruction of the State of Israel. We made sure that did not occur,” he continued. “We eliminated him, and we will continue to grow stronger. Hezbollah has murdered innocent people worldwide, hiding his weapons under the homes of families, women and children and turning them into human shields. As we have shown, we will not allow such a threat to our citizens!”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nyt-slammed-for-painting-terrorist-hezbollah-leader-nasrallah-as-tolerant">NYT Slammed For Painting Terrorist Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah As Tolerant</a>

Israel Flies Fighter Jets Over Nasrallah’s Massive Funeral Ceremony In Lebanon

Hassan Nasrallah

Hamas terrorists claim that their two youngest hostages, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, will be among the four dead they will return to Israel later this week.
Following threats from President Donald Trump — who made it clear that he would stand by and support Israel in taking whatever measures deemed necessary if the remaining hostages were not released in the coming days — Hamas also agreed to release six living hostages on Saturday and another four deceased hostages next week.
The Israeli Prime Minister&#8217;s office confirmed that negotiations in Cairo, Egypt, had resulted in an agreement and shared the details of the upcoming exchange with <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/02/18/middleeast/hamas-israel-hostages-to-release-bibas-family-intl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. Israel will also release several Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli officials have not yet confirmed that the Bibas children — just four years old and nine months old, respectively, at the time of their capture — are among the dead, but they did say that the families of the hostages have all been notified of the agreement.
The Bibas children — along with their mother Shiri and father Yarden — were among those kidnapped and taken into Gaza on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists breached the border into Israel and killed more than 1200 people. They tortured, raped, and slaughtered hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children — and then returned to Gaza with dozens more as their hostages.
In November 2023, just weeks after the family was taken hostage, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/11/30/news/hamas-releases-video-of-bibas-family-after-claiming-idf-strike-killed-mom-2-kids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hamas claimed</a> that the young boys and their mother had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Hamas also claimed that they had offered to return the bodies to Israel Defense Forces at the time, but their offer had been rejected.
Israeli officials could not confirm at the time whether or not claims of their deaths were true.
&#8220;The Hamas terrorist organization presented harsh documentation of Yarden Bibas,&#8221; IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said after the video was released. &#8220;Our hearts are with the entire Bibas family. We will continue to return all our captives. Hamas employs psychological terror against the families of the captives. Its purpose is to exert pressure, to harm our resilience.&#8221;
Yarden Bibas was released from Hamas captivity on February 1, 2025 — one year and four months after he was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-HOSTAGES

Hamas To Return Bodies Of Bibas Babies, The Two Youngest Hostages Killed

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Hamas

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October 7

A U.S. agency currently being targeted by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk – and defended by Democrats – reportedly paid the college tuition of an American-born jihadist who U.S. government officials had <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/cleveland/news/press-releases/four-men-charged-with-providing-material-support-to-al-qaeda-in-the-arabian-peninsula">described</a> as &#8220;a key leader of Al-Qaeda.&#8221;
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided “full funding” for Anwar al-Awlaki to attend Colorado State University in 1990, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/usaid-reportedly-bankrolled-al-qaeda-terrorists-college-tuition-unearthed-records-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Al-Awlaki was an American-born jihadist with ties to the 9/11 hijackers, who was killed in a drone strike during the Obama administration.
Al-Awlaki was instrumental in Al-Qaeda’s war against the U.S. and had contact with Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan prior to Hasan killing 13 people at the U.S. Army post in Texas in 2009 that was formerly known as Fort Hood.
Documents showing that USAID paid for Al-Awlaki’s college tuition first appeared on social media over the weekend by investigative reporters and revealed that Al-Awlaki fraudulently claimed he was a Yemeni national to qualify for an exchange visa.
Reporters Pamela Browne and Catherine Herridge posted the documents on X, noting that Al-Awlaki falsely claimed he was a permanent resident of the Republic of Yemen seeking tuition.
“Aulaqi would later develop close ties with several 9/11 hijackers and attain leadership status in AQ&#8217;s Yemen affiliate,” Herridge wrote. “Aulaqi was the godfather of the digital jihad that leveraged his writings and the web to radicalize Americans to AQ&#8217;s cause. Aulaqi became the first American targeted for death by the CIA. In 2011, he was killed in a US drone strike.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
STUNNING:
Looks like USAID supported college tuition for Anwar Aulaqi (Awlaki) who later became a high level al Qaeda terrorist.
Aulaqi falsely claimed he was born in Yemen to secure the financial help via the State Dept. when he was actually a US citizen, born in Las Cruces… <a href="https://t.co/jW3yHS81F1">https://t.co/jW3yHS81F1</a>
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) <a href="https://twitter.com/C__Herridge/status/1888400600800317748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1971. His parents were both from Yemen, and he traveled between the two countries as he grew up. The document, which has been unearthed at a crucial time for USAID, was <a href="https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB529-Anwar-al-Awlaki-File/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first discovered</a> by George Washington University’s National Security Archive in 2015.
&#8220;This form, dated 1990, confirms that Anwar al-Awlaki was qualified for an exchange visa and that USAID was providing ‘full funding’ for his studies at Colorado State University,&#8221; the National Security Archive reported at the time. &#8220;The document lists Anwar’s birthplace incorrectly as Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, which he later said was a deliberate falsehood offered at the urging of American officials who knew his father so that he could qualify for a scholarship reserved for foreign citizens.”
After graduating, Al-Awlaki worked as a Muslim cleric in cities across the U.S., including at a mosque in San Diego in 2000 where he met two 9/11 hijackers. He moved to Yemen in 2004 and was arrested in 2006 on suspicion of holding terrorist ties, Fox reported. In addition to the Fort Hood shooting, Al-Awlaki was also linked to the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/northwest-airlines-bomb-photos/story?id=9436297&amp;page=1">reported attempted</a> bombing of a flight over Detroit on December 25, 2009.

Anwar Al-Awlaki

USAID Paid College Tuition For Al-Qaeda Terrorist, Records Show

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Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

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USAID

Only 17 days before the Biden administration left power, it sent more than $3 million to the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF), among whom are members who, according to a report, executed more than 1,500 terror attacks against Israel in 2023.
The Washington Free Beacon gained access to a January 3 nonpublic funding notice transmitted to Congress. “Those funds allowed the PASF to conduct ‘firearms and ammunition’ training—and came after its members carried out scores of attacks against Israelis,” Adam Kredo of the Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-admin-quietly-funneled-3-mil-to-palestinian-government-security-forces-for-weapons-training-after-its-members-carried-out-attacks-on-israelis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, adding that the “PASF is reportedly seeking more than $680 million from the American government over the next four years.&#8221;
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which researches Palestinian society and has numerous Arabic language researchers, conducted a 2024 investigation that found roughly 400 Palestinians imprisoned for terrorism were known to be members of the PASF. Additionally, PMW <a href="https://palwatch.org/page/34954" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in February 2024 that it had &#8220;documented at least 55 attacks by PA security forces against Israeli soldiers or civilians since 2020 &#8230; In each case, the PA or its ruling Fatah party has eulogized the attacker as one of their own ‘soldiers.’”
“The American suggestion to empower these terror forces to rule Gaza after Israel has destroyed the terror infrastructure is inconceivable,” PMW founder Itamar Marcus told the Washington Free Beacon last year. “The PA and its security forces are a fundamental part of the problem; it is absurd to believe they can be part of the solution.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, noted, “The PASF have demonstrated an ongoing inability to maintain order in (Judea and Samaria), a fact made more concerning by emerging reports of the group’s ties to terrorism in the region. As everyone knows, money is fungible.”
McCaul called for the Trump administration and Congress to “conduct rigorous oversight of this type of funding, which the Biden administration quietly noticed at the 11th hour. We must ensure taxpayer dollars are not empowering terrorists to fight our allies and undermine the very principles they’re meant to protect.”
According to the notice, the funds the Biden administration sent are providing “equipment and training” in Judea and Samaria for the Palestinians. As The Free Beacon noted, the first Trump presidency froze hundreds of millions in U.S. funds for the Palestinian Authority, but the Biden administration reinstated $45 million a year in funding to the PA security services, despite the fact that internal assessments “showed that the funding could boost the Iran-backed terror group Hamas.”

US Vice President Joe Biden Meets With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Days Before Biden Left Power, He Sent Millions To Palestinian Forces, Including Terrorists

Palestinian Authority

Sometimes history turns on a phrase. Patrick Henry had, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Ronald Reagan gave us, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” And now Vice President JD Vance has given us “I don’t really care, Margaret.”
If you missed it, this new rallying cry emerged <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jd-vance-blasts-margaret-brennan-over-claim-afghan-refugees-let-into-u-s-are-vetted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during an interview</a> between CBS’s Margaret Brennan and Vance about illegal immigrants who weren’t vetted for terrorist connections. 
When Brennan insisted, “Yes, they were,” Vance cited an illegal immigrant who had planned a terrorist attack in Oklahoma on Election Day last November. 
Brennan, perhaps believing this was a gotcha moment, asked, “Was he radicalized here or before he came here?” 
To which Vance delivered the line of the year: “I don’t really care, Margaret.”
At last, a spine. At last, an end to the abusive empathy that has held our country hostage for far too long.
<h3>The Tyranny Of The Appeal To Pity</h3>
For decades, the Left has operated on two primary emotional threats that happen to also be logical fallacies:
<ol>
<li>The appeal to pity — the idea that any demand for order, justice, or security must be discarded if someone, somewhere, might feel bad about it.</li>
<li>The appeal to fear, fear of being called racist — a charge wielded so indiscriminately that it has lost all meaning, save as a tool of manipulation.</li>
</ol>
Both of these threats are failing. And Vance’s blunt response encapsulates why.
Brennan’s question was an exercise in obfuscation. Well, sure, he was planning a terrorist attack, but was he radicalized before he came here, or was America to blame? The correct response to such nonsense isn’t a 15-minute forensic analysis of his ideological formation — it’s “I don’t really care, Margaret.” Because the problem isn’t when he was radicalized. The problem is that he was here in the first place, and he shouldn’t have been.
Moving to the United States is not a universal human right. Universal human rights are things that all humans always have. Most humans lived before the United States came into existence and yet they had human rights, meaning it&#8217;s not possible for them to have had that right — therefore it is not universal. Those who live today have the right to improve their own living conditions but there is no obligation on the part of the United States to move the population of the world here because they haven’t straightened out their own countries.
The usual leftist retort is, “their countries are in ruins because of us!” There comes a time to grow up and face your own problems. “Take responsibility for yourself” is a kindergarten lesson. Many of these places have been this way for centuries and some even before there was a United States. Passing the blame won’t make your life better. 
The Left has long weaponized compassion against the very people tasked with upholding the rule of law. The formula is simple: Ignore or downplay the crime, then shift attention to how the criminal (and family) feels about facing consequences, and then insist that enforcing the law is cruelty.
Brennan’s entire exchange with Vance was built on this faulty foundation. In the modern leftist mind, it’s not enough to ask, Did this man illegally enter the country and plan an act of mass murder? One must also consider, How would he feel if we deported him? Or What would I feel like if I lived in that country instead of the United States? 
Sorry, Margaret, we don’t really care. Write about it in your diary. 
<h3>Selective Mercy</h3>
Of course, the “be merciful” crowd has its limits. Mercy, as it turns out, only flows in one direction.
Consider Bishop Budde, who recently took it upon herself to lecture President Trump on being merciful. According to the good bishop, mercy demands that we not consider how or why someone broke the law to enter this country, not consider who they harmed, but only how they might feel when they are held accountable.
Funny — where was this mercy when the unborn needed it? Bishop Buddy has encouraged the murder of untold thousands of unborn babies, their silent cries drowned out by the very same “compassion” industry that tells us terrorists deserve our understanding. The “bishop” is not alone. The “Christian” philosophy professors are coming out in droves to post on social media that one cannot be a Christian and support Trump. These same professors smile approvingly as abortions occur and God is mocked at their universities. The same voices that insist we extend boundless mercy to criminals and lawbreakers have no interest in mercy when it comes to the most vulnerable.
It’s almost as if this isn’t about mercy at all. Newsflash: it isn’t. It’s about manipulation.
<h3>The Way Forward</h3>
Thankfully, conservatives are finally refusing to play this game. The age of emotional manipulation is coming to an end. Vance’s “I don’t really care, Margaret” is more than a quip — it’s a declaration that we will no longer be ruled by guilt trips and crocodile tears.
Let’s put that together with what I consider to be the classic Trump quote about reforming higher education: Let’s get the Marxists, maniacs, and lunatics out of our universities by no longer offering free government money for God-haters. “But how will that make them feel?” Do we care? They have opposed the truth and will face worse consequences if they don’t repent than losing a federal grant.
Too much is at stake. We have a country to defend and rebuild. We have a Christian faith to proclaim and protect. We have families to raise who will love God and love the truth. And we will not be bullied into submission by those who would trade the hard work of justice for the cheap grace of emotional blackmail.
The Left wanted a national conversation. They got one. And now, every time an activist reporter or radical professor tries to steer the discussion away from reality and into an emotional cul-de-sac by using their standard appeal to fear or appeal to pity, Americans have a ready response: “I don’t really care, Margaret.”
* * *
Dr. Owen Anderson is a professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. He is an internationally known scholar, theologian, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu instructor. With a Ph.D. in Philosophy, he has authored numerous books, including “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Arguments-Showing-eternal-revelation/dp/057826384X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=E8EGL&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=jqvhK&amp;pd_rd_r=a47f545b-2e79-448f-9f6d-366fdd467528&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Twelve Arguments</a>” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Declaration-Independence-God-Self-Evident-American/dp/1107088186" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Declaration of Independence and God</a>.”
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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‘I Don’t Really Care, Margaret’: The End Of Abusive Empathy

'I Don’t Really Care, Margaret': The End of Abusive Empathy

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