Latest news with #invasion
Fox News
a day ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Salvadoran president responds to Hunter Biden's invasion threat: What is he 'sniffing'?
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele responded late Monday to having his country under the threat of invasion from a future "President Hunter Biden." Bukele, who has emerged as a top ally of President Donald Trump and a partner in the U.S. leader's mass deportation operations targeting illegal immigrants, appeared to laugh off the threat. "Is Hunter Biden sniffing powdered milk?" Bukele replied on X, where he shared a snippet of Biden's interview with podcaster Andrew Callaghan. "These guys think that we need to run away from all values in order for us to lead," Biden fumed in the clip, initially speaking about the conservative right. "I say, f--- you. How are we getting those people back from f---ing El Salvador?" "Because I'll tell you what, if I became president… I would pick up the phone and call the f---ing president of El Salvador and say, 'You either f---ing send [illegal immigrants imprisoned in CECOT penitentiary] back or I'm going to f---ing invade." Biden then accused Trump and Bukele of a "f---ing crime" and labeled both men "f---ing dictator-thug[s]." The retort called back to Biden's history of drug use, which notably included a revelation he made to CBS that he would smoke "anything that even remotely resembled crack cocaine," including "more Parmesan cheese than anyone you know." Biden's interview touched on that history, including the incident in which he swore on a federal firearms form that he was not using controlled substances at the time of purchase. Bukele followed up by sharing news coverage of a three-party prisoner swap between the U.S., El Salvador and Venezuela, to illustrate ongoing cooperation with the U.S.'s current leadership. "Maduro's regime was satisfied with the exchange agreement; that's why they accepted it," Bukele said, adding that Caracas strongman Nicolas Maduro's regime now "shout[s] and express[es] outrage – but not because they disagree with the deal, rather because they just realized they are left without hostages from the most powerful country in the world." Bukele had agreed to fly Venezuelan deportees from the U.S. who had been held at CECOT back to Caracas, as the Maduro regime in turn released several Americans being held captive. Venezuela had not initially been accepting of deported illegal immigrant nationals captured by U.S. authorities. Ten U.S. citizens or legal-permanent residents, who had been held by Maduro, were released, according Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world. It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed U.S. nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process," Rubio said in a statement. Bukele also highlighted a clip of U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler calling him a "good friend" of the U.S.
Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Tony Blair was urged to delay US invasion of Iraq, archives reveal
Tony Blair was advised to delay the invasion of Iraq, which George Bush saw as his 'mission' to rid the world of 'evildoers', according to newly released government files. The prime minister flew to Camp David in January 2003, two months before the invasion, to urge the president of the United States to wait until at least March to allow for diplomatic solutions to work. Recently released documents from the National Archives have revealed how government officials told Blair to slow down Bush, who was described as 'implacable', 'impatient' and 'Manichean' in his preparations. Files from government officials between December 2002 to January 2003 recommended that Blair convince Bush to wait for either a 'smoking gun', indicating weapons of mass destruction were definitely in Iraq, or for the UN security council to agree on a resolution specifically authorising the use of military force. The correspondence demonstrated the 'clear divergence between the UK and US' over the 'timetable for military action' described in the Chilcot inquiry in 2016. On December 18, 2002, Christopher Meyer, the British ambassador to the US, sent an annual review to the prime minister's office from Washington. He wrote: 'Much of the impulse for deposing Saddam Hussein comes from Bush himself. More than anything else, he fears another catastrophic terrorist attack on the homeland, especially one with an Iraqi connection. 'His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evildoers. He believes American values should be universal values. 'He finds the Europeans' differentiation between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein self-serving. He is strongly allergic to Europeans collectively.' Meyer added that although some groups such as 'conservative ideologues, Likud fellow-travellers' were pressing for war, this did not include 'the American people at large'. 'Apart from a single oil man in Houston, I failed to find anyone keen to go to war with Saddam. But most Americans trust Bush and will likely follow where he leads,' he wrote. These lines were highlighted. In the new year, just two days before Blair's visit to Camp David and one day after Bush's state of the union address to the US Congress, on January 29, 2003, Meyer wrote again. 'The prime minister will find on Friday a pretty implacable Bush: impatient, deeply disillusioned with France and Germany, convinced that his — and Mr Blair's — critics will be routed by an early and easy military victory,' he said. Meyer then referenced the Blair administration's desire for a second UN resolution from Hans Blix, the executive chairman of UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission. 'If the notorious smoking gun can be found, this will make things much easier. Otherwise, a sequence of fortnightly reports from Blix saying that the Iraqis are still not cooperating will be the next best thing,' he wrote. 'Bush does not look to have the patience to let Blix make the case. I said in an earlier report that exhausting the UN route was likely to mean different things in Washington and London. Bush is undecided about a second Resolution: whether it will be worth going for and, if it is, what should be put in it.' The next day, January 30, foreign policy adviser David Manning wrote a note to the prime minister recapping his meeting with US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. 'The argument is over timing. Bush still wants to rush his fences,' Manning wrote. 'You need to stick very strongly to the arguments in your Note and spell them out in a way that leaves no scope for Bush 'interpretation'.' He later added: 'Unless we can be far more certain than we are now of securing a quick second resolution, you should stick to the late-March date. It is only eight weeks away, which is a pretty intense timetable anyway.' Other notes from these months reveal how Blair was encouraged to turn down an invitation to give the commencement address at Harvard University in the summer of 2003. Matthew Rycroft, Blair's private secretary on foreign affairs, wrote in January: 'You have said that you want to do this. Others in the office have argued against. You are seen as travelling abroad too much already and paying insufficient attention to domestic concerns. 'If you have a major speech to give, you should give it in the UK. And we do not know how things will stand in June. Yet another visit to the US may be untimely.' Another email from the British embassy in Washington asked when Buckingham Palace put its Christmas lights up, as the White House wanted a photo of Bush at the building during his winter state visit in 2003. In December 2002, Blair was also sent a copy of a New York Times article entitled 'Blair for President', suggesting he should be given a green card to run as the Democratic candidate. The handwritten note on top reads, 'PM To cheer you up for xmas. I think a 'draft TB' movement will start now.'
Sky News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
President Bush determined to 'rid world of evil-doer Saddam Hussein', new records reveal
It would have been "politically impossible" to stop President Bush from invading Iraq, as he believed he was on a "crusade against evil", new records show. Newly declassified UK government files show Sir Tony Blair was warned by his US ambassador that George W Bush was determined to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein, in the months before the invasion of Iraq. Sir Tony, who was prime minister at the time, was trying to encourage the US president to use diplomatic means to change the situation in the Middle Eastern country, and flew to Camp David in January 2003 to make the case, just two months before the joint US-UK invasion. The UK government was also hoping the United Nations Security Council would agree a new resolution specifically authorising the use of military force against Iraq. But the files, made public for the first time, show that Sir Tony's ambassador, Sir Christopher Meyer, warned him it would be "politically impossible" to sway Mr Bush away from an invasion unless Hussein surrendered. The documents, released by the National Archives at Kew in west London, show Sir Christopher also wrote that Mr Bush believed himself to be on "a crusade against evil to be undertaken by God's chosen people". Sir Tony's foreign policy adviser, Sir David Manning, told the PM that when he met Mr Bush, he should make the point that a new diplomatic resolution was "politically essential for the UK, and almost certainly legally essential as well". But the White House was becoming increasingly impatient at the unwillingness of France and Russia - both of whom held a veto - to agree a resolution so long as UN inspectors were unable to find any evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the supposed justification for war. Sir Christopher warned Sir Tony shortly before his visit to see Mr Bush in January 2003 that options for a peaceful solution in Iraq had effectively run out. He wrote: "It is politically impossible for Bush to back down from going to war in Iraq this spring, absent Saddam's surrender or disappearance from the scene. "If Bush had any room for manoeuvre beforehand this was closed off by his State of the Union speech. "In the high-flown prose to which Bush is drawn on these set-piece occasions, he said in effect that destroying Saddam is a crusade against evil to be undertaken by God's chosen people." In a cable sent the previous month, Sir Christopher said that much of the impulse for deposing Hussein was coming from the president, a born-again Christian, who was scornful of what he saw as the "self-serving" reservations of the Europeans. "His view of the world is Manichean. He sees his mission as ridding it of evil-doers. He believes American values should be universal values," Sir Christopher stated. "He is strongly allergic to Europeans collectively. Anyone who has sat round a dinner table with low-church Southerners will find these sentiments instantly recognisable." In the end, Sir Tony and Mr Bush abandoned efforts to get a new Security Council resolution, blaming French President Jacques Chirac for refusing, and launched the invasion of Iraq anyway. Lobbying from Mandelson and anger at the French Among the new files, there are also a number of other revelations. These include: Current UK ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Mandelson, was so desperate to get back into government following his second resignation from Sir Tony's government that he asked Lord Birt, a policy adviser to Downing Street, to write to the prime minister in 2003, asking for him to receive a role - four months before Sir Peter was appointed as the UK's next European commissioner Sir Tony was furious at French president Jacques Chirac's efforts to undermine pressure being put on Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe by the UK in 2003, over growing violence caused by a policy of driving the remaining white farmers from their lands in the African nation The prime minister also insisted on changing the rules around which parties can lay wreaths at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday in a bid to protect the Northern Irish peace process in 2004, despite warning this could create an "adverse reaction" from the SNP and Plaid Cymru
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
War with China: inside Taiwan's biggest ever military drills
Amid growing speculation around China's invasion of Taiwan, the island nation has held its largest ever military exercises. Fresh from reporting on live fire drills off the Taiwanese coast, The Telegraph's Asia correspondent Allegra Mendelson shares the latest on Indo-Pacific tensions with Roland Oliphant. Also, Roland speaks to Neal Urwitz, close friend of the US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy - Elbridge A. Colby - to discuss the latter's push to dramatically refocus America's military might purely on Taiwan.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why do hostage families fear the IDF's reinvasion of Deir al-Balah, despite past operations?
On Sunday, the IDF issued evacuation orders for the Deir al-Balah central Gaza area, a reliable sign that the IDF intends to attack an area more aggressively, often with a full-scale invasion. The IDF had invaded Deir el-Balah in central Gaza at least twice before this Sunday and had attacked it from the air at least 11 times. So why did hostages' support groups get so upset by the military's latest announcement that it is invading this area? On Sunday, the IDF issued evacuation orders for the citizens of Deir el-Balah, a reliable sign that the IDF intends to attack an area more aggressively, often with a full-scale invasion. The message included the phrase that the IDF was going to 'operate in areas where it has not operated in the past.' Soon after that, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum slammed the announcement, saying that the IDF and the government were going to endanger hostages being held by Hamas. They asked rhetorically whether the authorities could vow to them that these new operations would not lead to the deaths of hostages, as occurred in August 2024 when the IDF invaded new areas of Rafah where it believed there were no hostages, and Hamas terrorists responded by killing six hostages they were guarding. There have also been at least a few other instances where hostages were accidentally bombed or shot by the IDF, as it did not realize they were nearby or that they were not Hamas terrorists. Moreover, the forum said that invading these new areas should not be seen as a 'card' to play in negotiations over releasing hostages and a ceasefire, but rather as a clear and present danger to the hostages' lives. Also, during recent hostage releases during the January to March period, there was public footage showing hostages being released from these general areas in central Gaza. The footage showed that some areas appeared to be much less attacked and destroyed than many other areas in Gaza. Despite all this, the IDF's statements over the 21-month war have indicated that it undertook air strikes in Deir el-Balah as early as November 6, 2023. That was followed by IDF air strikes on the area in 2024 on: January 1, March 25, July 6, July 20, August 4, September 4, October 7, and November 30, as well as on April 13 and May 8 in 2025. Moreover, the IDF has invaded Deir el-Balah with the 98th Division both from June 5-10, 2024 as well as sometime during the August 16-30, 2024, period. So what is so special this time that it set off alarm sirens about endangering the hostages? There are at least two possibilities. Prior invasions did not delve deep into Deir al-Balah One is that prior invasions of Deir el-Balah were on the eastern side or in the peripheral areas but did not delve deep into areas beyond its eastern side. In this case, the Hostages Families Forum's concerns could be valid even if the IDF has invaded nearby and directed air strikes in the area. IDF, gov't use reinvasion as psychological warfare Another possibility is that the IDF and the government are using this operation as a psychological warfare game. If they know that the remaining top Hamas commanders – essentially second-and third-string commanders since all top commanders, including Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, Mohammed Sinwar, Marwan Issa, and others, have been killed over 21 months – then the threat of invasion and further encroachment could finally pressure Hamas into agreeing to another hostage deal. Within that same strategy, it is possible that the IDF has invaded this area before, but advertising publicly now that it is willing to 'invade areas where it has not yet operated' could leave Hamas uncertain enough of the future that it signs a deal. At press time, the IDF had not clarified to The Jerusalem Post what was different about its expected invasion area compared to prior actions in Deir al-Balah. Either way, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum was clearly responding to the IDF's use of words and messaging, along with all of the factors that have made portions of central Gaza viewed as highly sensitive. Whether the pressure works on Hamas will play out in the coming days.
