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Trump Will Only Sign Security Guarantees With Ukraine After Zelensky Agree To Surrender Remaining Donetsk Territory and End the War With Russia: REPORTPaul SerranZelensky must surrender the Donetsk territory now, lest he be forced to surrender the whole country later.By now, everyone knows Donald J. Trump’s opinion of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, perfectly summarized in this recent post: Trump Reportedly Says Ukraine’s Zelensky, and Not Russia’s Putin, Is Holding up the Peace Deal: REUTERS.The fundamentals on the ground are: Russia is winning, Ukraine is losing badly. Those who win make the demands, those who lose have to meet them.In Anchorage, Alaska, the Russians made a concession while reaffirming a demand: while they are willing to ‘freeze’ the 1,000-mile frontline across all regions in the north and south, they still insist that Ukrainian troops withdraw their troops from remaining Donetsk region territory still held by them.(Previously, Russian conditions demanded Kiev withdraw from Zaporozhie and Kherson regions, too.)This demand has nothing absurd about it: the freedom of the Russian-speaking majorities in Donetsk and Luhansk was one of the top objectives of the war.The calls for Zelensky to accept the peace conditions multiply.Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini: “We heard Zelensky, who, after all the money, help and efforts has the audacity to complain.” “You are losing the war, you are losing people, you are losing authority and dignity. Sign for peace.”Now, reports arise that the Trump administration has let Ukraine know that US security guarantees will only happen after Kiev agrees to the peace deal and relinquishes the Donetsk region to Russia.Reuters reported:“Washington has also indicated it could offer Ukraine more weapons to strengthen its peacetime army if Kyiv agreed to withdraw forces from the parts of the eastern region it controls, the newspaper said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that a U.S. document on security guarantees for Ukraine was ‘100% ready’ and Kyiv is now awaiting a time and place for it to be signed.Zelenskiy has consistently said that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be upheld in any peace deal to end the war.”

Amid Iran tensions, US announces multi-day aerial military drill in Middle EastEmanuel FabianThe United States announced on Tuesday that it was conducting an aerial military exercise in the Middle East amid ongoing tensions with Iran.The US Ninth Air Force — also known as Air Forces Central (AFCENT) — the air component in United States Central Command (CENTCOM) — will be conducting a “multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the US Central Command area of responsibility,” AFCENT said.The drill came a day after CENTCOM announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying warships had arrived in the Middle East.The arrival of the carrier strike group comes amid ongoing speculation as to whether US President Donald Trump will strike Iran following its bloody crackdown on anti-regime protests, in which thousands were killed. Trump has issued threats toward Tehran but also indicated openness to negotiations. Iran has threatened in turn to strike Israel and US targets in response.The strike group’s arrival boosts the US’s available firepower and defensive capabilities in the region, giving Trump the option to launch an attack on Iran.“The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability,” CENTCOM said Monday.AFCENT said Tuesday that during the drill, US forces would “deploy teams to multiple contingency locations and validate rapid set-up, launch and recovery procedures with small, efficient support packages,” adding that it will “conduct all activities with host-nation approval and in close coordination with civil and military aviation authorities, emphasizing safety, precision and respect for sovereignty.”More…

How Hamas plans to survive Phase II of Gaza ceasefire with Turkey’s help – analysisSETH J. FRANTZMANAs the Gaza ceasefire moves forward, there are reports that Hamas would like to see its police integrated into whatever type of new force emerges. This idea would seem to be an obvious non-starter for how to proceed in Gaza, especially as Israel and the Trump administration want Hamas to be disarmed.The question, therefore, is what is the reason for the latest report about the police and what might be the best path forward.Reuters reported on January 27 that Hamas is hoping to see around 10,000 of its existing police officers incorporated into a new force. The report suggested that Hamas floated this idea during meetings in Turkey this week.Turkey has supported the ceasefire and has been invited to have key seats at the table in US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace and also on Gaza’s Executive Board. Israel has opposed Turkey’s role.The issue of the Hamas police has always been controversial in Gaza. Many international organizations have seen the police as a stabilizing factor that brings law and order to Gaza. They basically see the police as a civil society organization and not as part of the Hamas “armed wing” that is waging the war. This portrays the Hamas police as if they are not primarily Hamas members, but civilian law enforcers.In recent decades in which Israel has fought wars with Hamas, there have also been questions in Israel about whether the police should be targeted in war, or whether they should basically be permitted to go about their work, with their vehicles and even uniforms. When Israel began Operation Cast Lead on December 27, 2008, it began with strikes on police cadets in Gaza, in which dozens were killed.More…Hamas said to seek role in Gaza for its police officers, whom Israel views as terrorists

This is C2 (command and control) with redundancyBPMany of us recognize that the riots in Minnesota aren’t a spontaneous uprising of people genuinely concerned about the Ice arrests of criminal illegal aliens, many from the corrupt Somali community. Those who avoid the Mockingbird Media understand this clearly: the unrest is funded by Soros and other actors intent on sparking division and chaos. I found the insights from this post of a retired Green Beret patriot particularly compelling. He offers further confirmation that this is a highly orchestrated operation.Retired Green Beret (CW4). Skeptical patriot questioning narratives, governance, and security. Intel background; focused on truth beyond the mainstream. Georgia,USAAs a former Special Forces Warrant Officer with multiple rotations running counterinsurgency ops—both hunting insurgents and trying to separate them from sympathetic populations—I’ve seen organized resistance up close. From Anbar to Helmand, the pattern is familiar: spotters, cutouts, dead drops (or modern equivalents), disciplined comms, role specialization, and a willingness to absorb casualties while bleeding the stronger force slowly.What’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now isn’t “protest.” It’s low-level insurgency infrastructure, built by people who’ve clearly studied the playbook. Signal groups at 1,000-member cap per zone. Dedicated roles: mobile chasers, plate checkers logging vehicle data into shared databases, 24/7 dispatch nodes vectoring assets, SALUTE-style reporting (Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, Equipment) on suspected federal vehicles. Daily chat rotations and timed deletions to frustrate forensic recovery. Vetting processes for new joiners.Mutual aid from sympathetic locals (teachers providing cover, possible PD tip-offs on license plate lookups). Home-base coordination points. Rapid escalation from observation to physical obstruction—or worse. This isn’t spontaneous outrage. This is C2 (command and control) with redundancy, OPSEC hygiene, and task organization that would make a SF team sergeant nod in recognition. Replace “ICE agents” with “occupying coalition forces” and the structure maps almost 1:1 to early-stage urban cells we hunted in the mid-2000s. The most sobering part?It’s domestic. Funded, trained (somewhere), and directed by people who live in the same country they’re trying to paralyze law enforcement in. When your own citizens build and operate this level of parallel intelligence and rapid-response network against federal officers—complete with doxxing, vehicle pursuits, and harassment that’s already turned lethal—you’re no longer dealing with civil disobedience. You’re facing a distributed resistance that’s learned the lessons of successful insurgencies: stay below the kinetic threshold most of the time, force over-reaction when possible, maintain popular support through narrative, and never present a single center of gravity.I spent years training partner forces to dismantle exactly this kind of apparatus. Now pieces of it are standing up in American cities, enabled by elements of local government and civil society. That should keep every thinking American awake at night. Not because I want escalation. But because history shows these things don’t de-escalate on their own once the infrastructure exists and the cadre believe they’re winning the information war. We either recognize what we’re actually looking at—or we pretend it’s still just “activism” until the structures harden and spread. Your call, America. But from where I sit, this isn’t January 2026 politics anymore. It’s phase one of something we’ve spent decades trying to keep off our own soil.

US Weighs Precision Strikes On Iranian Officials As Govt Is ‘Weakest’ Since 1979TYLER DURDENOn the one hand there are reports that the Trump administration “is open for business” when it comes to negotiations with Iran. “If they want to talk, and they know our terms, we are open to have a conversation,” a senior US official has told Axios. But on the other, amid this ‘openness’ toward cutting a deal (presumably on the nuclear and ballistic missile fronts), President Trump is said to be weighing a menu of escalation options aimed squarely at forcing regime change in the Islamic Republic, according to fresh regional and US reporting.Middle East Eye, citing Arab officials, reports that Washington is actively considering direct strikes on senior targets in Tehran. “The US is weighing precision strikes on ‘high-value’ Iranian officials and commanders who it deems responsible for the deaths of protesters, a Gulf official familiar with the discussions told Middle East Eye.”The Jerusalem Post reports that another option under discussion is a full blockade of Iranian oil exports – a replay of last year’s Venezuela playbook. That campaign saw Washington impose an embargo, seize oil tankers, and ultimately kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the Jan.3rd military raid on Caracas.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emerged as a leading advocate of economic warfare, arguing that collapsing Iran’s economy would create conditions severe enough to trigger an internal uprising against the government, or starve the system until it breaks (as also happened in Iran’s ally Syria). US Treasury days ago began hitting Tehran officials with new protest-related sanctions.Other senior officials are pushing for a more kinetic approach. Members of Trump’s Cabinet have urged targeted military strikes against Iranian government and military assets, but say these could be limited in scope akin to military action in the June 12-day war involving Israel.Earlier this month, Trump reportedly held back from striking Iran, citing concerns that the Pentagon lacked sufficient forces in the region to decisively topple the government, also at a moment the US Navy strike force was built up on the southern Caribbean. But a former US official told Middle East Eye that the odds of a strike are now higher than they were just weeks ago. Currently there’s a major military buildup ensuing across the Middle East, including the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group (the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group), additional fighter jets, and advanced air defense systems – signaling ‘all options’ are indeed on the table.Protests is in Iran have long gone quiet, but what has changed? The NY Times reports Tuesday:President Trump has received multiple U.S. intelligence reports indicating that the Iranian government’s position is weakening, according to several people familiar with the information.The reports signal that the Iranian government’s hold on power is at its weakest point since the shah was overthrown in the 1979 revolution.But the dilemma remains as hawks in the administration urge action: “Mr. Trump warned that he could strike Iran as the government’s bloody crackdown on the protests expanded. Still, his advisers have been divided on the benefits of strikes, particularly if they were simply symbolic strikes against elements of the government involved in the crackdown,” The NY Times report adds.Washington logic: Give them an ultimatum that they’ll never accept anyway and consequently you have the perfect reason to start bombing them…One anti-Iran think tank hawk, Jason Brodsky, who is Policy Director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), writes that “Iran’s regime wants a JCPOA-like deal. It is highly unlikely Khamenei will agree to the terms America is demanding because it would basically amount to a form of regime change. But the Islamic Republic will try and lead the U.S. on to think it will negotiate meaningfully to avoid an attack and entrap the U.S. in endless negotiations.”But we should note that Tehran also has little reason to ever trust Washington, given the original JCPOA was collapsed when the first Trump administration unilaterally pulled out of it.