Bring U.S. troops home from the Middle East
On June 21, B-2 bombers launched from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri flew 37 hours round trip to attack Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz, while 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from a submarine in the Persian Gulf at Natanz and Isfahan. These strikes were supported by dozens of aerial refuelers, reconnaissance aircraft and fighter jets that escorted the bombers into Iran.
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Yahoo
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- Yahoo
B-2 stealth bombers flown into Alaska base ahead of Trump-Putin meeting: Officials
Two B-2 bombers were flown into Alaska's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson ahead of Friday's summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to two officials. The stealth bombers are the same kind used by the U.S. to strike Iran's nuclear sites in June's Operation Midnight Hammer. MORE: Trump and Putin's changing relationship to take center stage in Alaska The B-2 is considered a symbol of U.S. power, as the bombers can fly around the world nonstop and can carry both conventional and nuclear munitions. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. The high-stakes summit at the Anchorage base comes as the U.S. seeks a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. It marks the first time in a decade that Putin has traveled to the U.S. MORE: How Trump has set expectations for meeting with Putin One key party who will not be in attendance at Friday's summit is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump said Thursday he hopes the summit will lead to a second meeting that would include Zelenskyy.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
Hezbollah leader vows to keep arms, rejects Lebanon's U.S.-backed disarmament plan
BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group on Friday vowed not to disarm, saying last week's decision by the national government to remove the Iran-backed group's weapons by the end of the year serves Israel's interests. Naim Kassem said the government's decision to remove 'the defensive weapons of the resistance, its people and Lebanon during an aggression' facilitates the killing of 'resistance fighters and their families and evict them from their land and homes.' He said the government should have instead 'spread its authority and evicted Israel from Lebanon.' Speaking in a televised speech to mark a Shiite religious event, he added 'the government is serving the Israeli project.' Kassem added if the ongoing crisis leads to an internal conflict, the government is to blame. He noted that Hezbollah and its Shiite ally, the Amal movement, did not to ask their supporters to protest in the streets to give way for more discussions. The Amal movement was one of the main armed groups in Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and is now a powerful political party led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. But, he said if a decision is taken to protest in the streets, protesters 'will be all over Lebanon and head to the U.S. embassy.' He did not elaborate. Hezbollah's weapons have been a major dividing point in Lebanon with some groups that are opposed to Hezbollah saying only the state should be allowed to have arms. The Lebanese government voted last week for a U.S.-backed plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year and implement a ceasefire with Israel. The small Mediterranean country has been under international pressure to get Hezbollah to lay down its arms since the 14-month war with Israel that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November. However, the Hezbollah leader said his group will only discuss a national defense strategy over its weapons once Israel withdraws from Lebanon and stops its almost daily airstrikes that have killed scores of Hezbollah members since the war's end. 'The resistance will not hand over its weapons as the aggression continues and occupation remains,' Kassem said, adding that the group will fight a long battle if needed. The Israel-Hezbollah war weakened the Iran-backed group and left much of its military and political leadership dead. The war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, displaced over 1 million and caused destruction that the World Bank said will cost $11 billion in reconstruction. After the war ended, Israeli forces stayed in five overlooking locations inside Lebanon. Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities. Israel's military has said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis were displaced during the war. 1Mroue writes for the Associated Press.
UPI
a day ago
- UPI
Hezbollah: Lebanon risks civil war if government enacts disarming plan
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said his group will not 'surrender its weapons' while Israel, which significantly weakened Hezbollah during a 14-month war last year, remains a threat and continues to strike Lebanon, occupy parts of its territories and hold Lebanese prisoners. File Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem issued a strong warning to the Lebanese government against moving forward with its plan to disarm the Iran-backed militant group, accusing it of acting on orders from the United States and Israel, and threatening that such a move could spark a civil war. Qassem said his group will not "surrender its weapons" while Israel, which significantly weakened Hezbollah during a 14-month war last year, remains a threat and continues to strike Lebanon, occupy parts of its territories and hold Lebanese prisoners. "We will fight this as a Karbala-style battle if necessary, confronting this Israeli-American scheme no matter the cost, confident that we will emerge victorious," he said in a televised speech released Friday. To Muslim Shiites, Karbala means standing against tyranny, sacrifice and steadfastness in the face of overwhelming odds. Qassem's strong warning came after he met with Iran Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, who visited Beirut on Wednesday, where he heard firm statements from President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam rejecting any interference in their country's internal affairs. Larijani tried to play down recent comments by Iranian political and military officials who criticized the Lebanese government for endorsing the objectives of a U.S.-proposed plan to disarm Hezbollah and for tasking the Lebanese Army with developing a strategy to enforce a state monopoly on weapons by the end of the year. The Iranian officials also maintained that Hezbollah, which has been funded and armed by Iran since its formation in the early 1980s, would never be disarmed. Qassem said the government took "a very dangerous decision" last week, exposing the country to "a major crisis" and stripping it of "defensive weapons during times of aggression." He also accused it of "serving the Israeli agenda" and carrying out "an order" from the U.S. and Israel "to end the resistance, even if that leads to a civil war and internal strife." He held the government fully responsible for any sectarian strife, internal explosion, or destruction of Lebanon and warned it against dragging the Army into such an internal conflict. Qassem, said, however, there "is still an opportunity, room for dialogue and for making adjustments before reaching a confrontation that no one wants." He added that Hezbollah was ready for confrontation and that demonstrations will be held across Lebanon, including "heading to the U.S. Embassy," located in Awkar, north of Beirut. Hezbollah, which reportedly lost the bulk of its military capabilities in ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeting its positions in southern and eastern Lebanon, accepted the ceasefire accord to stop a war that killed or wounded more than 20,000 people and left border villages in southern Lebanon in ruins. While it implicitly agreed to discuss its weapons as part of a national defense strategy, the group resisted government efforts to set a timetable for disarming -- a key U.S. condition for unlocking much-needed international and Gulf Arab funding to support Lebanon's reconstruction and economic recovery. Lebanon's decision to set a timeline for Hezbollah disarming was mainly motivated by the risk of another devastating war with Israel and of losing well-needed funds to rebuild its war-devastated regions. "Let us work together to build the country, so that we may all win," Qassem said. "There is no life for Lebanon if you choose to stand on the opposite side."
