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India Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Why U.S. military power is trapped in a loop of its own making
They say history repeats itself — but in America's case, it sometimes refuses to end. From the trenches of Europe to the deserts of the Middle East, the United States has fought, and continues to fight, wars that blur the lines between defence and domination, justice and justification. A century after entering the First World War, American troops are still deployed in more than 80 countries. Some conflicts fade from the headlines — yet they never truly This is the story of America's forever wars — open-ended military operations with no clear victory, no fixed timeline, and too often, no meaningful public debate. From World War to World PoliceThe United States entered World War to 'make the world safe for democracy'. The century that followed tested that promise repeatedly. In the post-1945 world, America fought in Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, Panama, and beyond. Since 1945, the U.S. has used military force in over 100 foreign interventions — with wildly varying wars lasted weeks. Others spanned decades. The Korean War never ended — it merely paused with an armistice in 1953. U.S. troops are still stationed on the Korean peninsula, 70 years on. The Vietnam War left nearly 60,000 Americans and over 2 million Vietnamese dead, ending in scenes of chaos rather than Without EndThe Cold War may have ended in the 1990s, but the interventions did not. In 1989, the U.S. invaded Panama. In 1991, it launched Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. In 1993, American forces intervened in Somalia. In 1999, they bombed Yugoslavia. And then came the so-called War on the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003. The justifications varied — from dismantling al-Qaeda to eliminating Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction. But those WMDs were never found. Instead, war became a permanent fixture of U.S. foreign became America's longest war — 20 years, 2,400 U.S. soldiers killed, and over 170,000 Afghan lives lost. Even after the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, the war continued for another decade. In Iraq, over 4,500 U.S. troops died, alongside up to 500,000 Iraqis. The power vacuum after Saddam's fall enabled the rise of Syria, U.S. forces have operated since 2015 with no formal declaration of war. In Yemen, the U.S. has supported the Saudi-led coalition, supplying weapons and intelligence despite mounting civilian casualties and a deepening humanitarian Machinery of Perpetual WarWhy can't America stop fighting?advertisementCritics point to a blend of policy, politics, and profit. A crucial legal mechanism is the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) — passed in 2001, just days after 9/11. It has since been used by successive presidents to launch operations in 19 countries, bypassing Congress and public scrutiny. There is no geographic limit, no expiry date, no oversight. In effect, it's a blank cheque for numbers are staggering. Since 2001, the U.S. has spent over $8 trillion on its post-9/11 wars — including $2.3 trillion in Afghanistan and $1.9 trillion in Iraq and Syria. According to Brown University's Costs of War project, over 929,000 people have been killed in these wars, and more than 38 million have been aren't just financial or statistical costs. They are human Invisible War at HomeBut the impact isn't limited to foreign battlefields. The domestic consequences of perpetual war are profound. War, once a national emergency, has become background noise. There's no draft. No war tax. No shared burden. A small volunteer military fights overseas, while the rest of the country scrolls past the the Pentagon's budget keeps growing — topping $860 billion in 2024, more than the next 10 countries combined. Much of this money flows to private defence contractors like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Boeing — the backbone of the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower famously warned about in logic of these forever wars is circular: instability demands presence; presence breeds backlash; backlash justifies further presence. The treadmill keeps turning — and stepping off seems politically the ThreatSince the early 2000s, the targets have changed — from al-Qaeda to ISIS, from terrorists to great power rivals. Today, U.S. troops conduct drone operations and low-intensity combat missions in Africa, while shifting strategic focus toward Russia and China. The War on Terror may be fading, but the Forever War architecture remains firmly more alarming, the tools of war have seeped into American civil life. To combat terrorism, Washington expanded surveillance, militarised policing, justified torture, and operated secret prisons. Civil liberties eroded, often with bipartisan support — and the public barely Question No One Wants to AnswerThe media moves on. Congress rarely intervenes. And presidents, regardless of party, continue the mission. War is rebranded, relocated, resold — but not 2021, President Biden withdrew U.S. forces from Afghanistan. The chaotic exit dominated headlines. But even as troops left Kabul, they redeployed elsewhere. The war machine, critics argue, never stopped — it merely how do these wars end?Veterans, whistleblowers, and peace activists argue that endless war erodes democracy and weakens global stability. They point to the psychological toll on soldiers, the rise of authoritarian policies, and the blowback that breeds new enemies faster than old ones are warning is clear: if war becomes the default state, democracy becomes an illusion. If conflict becomes identity, then peace becomes the end, America's forever wars pose a fundamental question: What does the United States gain by fighting endlessly? And what does the world lose when it cannot stop?Until those questions are seriously addressed — not just by policymakers but by citizens — the cycle will continue. The headlines may fade. But the bombs will fall. The costs will mount. And the war will go on.- Ends
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Jaw-Dropping Stat Palantir Investors Must Know
Palantir's artificial intelligence (AI) software has been popular for decades. The company's U.S. commercial revenue growth rate is impressive. The stock carries a hefty price tag. 10 stocks we like better than Palantir Technologies › Palantir's (NASDAQ: PLTR) stock has defied logic since its bull run began in 2024. The stock is up a mind-boggling 700% since the start of 2024, making anyone who invested in Palantir's stock and held on quite satisfied. While that's an impressive statistic, it's not the one I think investors should focus on. This statistic could make or break the Palantir investment thesis, and both potential Palantir buyers and current shareholders must be aware of its significance. Palantir is another company that's heavily investing in the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race. While most companies only started launching products in recent years, Palantir and its AI-powered data analytics platform have been doing it since the early 2000s, giving the company a leg up. Originally, its software was intended for government use and reportedly helped take down Osama bin Laden; it has also been used for other tasks, such as optimizing vaccine distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, management decided that there was a potential use case for Palantir's platform on the commercial side, and they were correct. Although government revenue still makes up the majority of Palantir's financial picture, commercial revenue also plays a big part. In Q1, the commercial side generated $397 million (up 33% year over year) versus the government sector's $487 million (up 45% year over year). Considering how mature the government side of its business is, it may come as a surprise that it outperformed the commercial side; however, this is primarily due to poor international performance on the commercial side. Outside the U.S. and China, the world has been fairly slow to adopt AI. For example, Palantir's U.S. commercial revenue increased 71% to $255 million in Q1. That's a significant mismatch from the overall commercial growth rate, especially when considering that U.S. revenue accounted for approximately two-thirds of total commercial revenue. If the rest of the world (specifically Europe) starts to adopt AI, Palantir's growth rate could accelerate to an even faster rate, which could send the stock rocketing higher. However, this isn't the key metric I think investors should be focusing on. Instead, investors need to examine Palantir's valuation and determine what assumptions are already reflected in the stock price. In Q1, Palantir's overall revenue rose 39% year over year. However, the stock has increased by over 700% since the start of 2024. Those two numbers are completely mismatched and suggest that Palantir's soaring valuation is more a result of its rising stock price than its actual business performance. When a stock becomes uncoupled from the business, that's a problem, and it could lead to issues with Palantir's stock moving forward. Currently, Palantir's stock trades at a jaw-dropping 112 times sales. Most software companies trade at a multiple of 10 to 20 times sales, so Palantir is significantly outside this range. Furthermore, this isn't the first time stock investors have seen a company trade for more than 100 times sales. However, most stocks that achieved that valuation were doubling or tripling the revenue year over year, and Palantir isn't anywhere close to that. I'd challenge investors to find a stock that has traded for more than 100 times sales (that didn't go public with little to no revenue) that has worked out for investors over the long term; I can't find any. Palantir has found itself in a problematic spot, and the only way forward is to grow its way into a higher valuation or suffer a painful stock price correction. For Palantir's stock to reach a more reasonable (but still very expensive 20 times sales), it would need to grow its revenue by more than 550%. At today's current 39% growth rate, that would take over five years of growth with the stock price staying flat. That would lead to disappointing returns for investors, so I think investors must be aware of the extreme valuation of Palantir's stock and take action. If you've ridden Palantir up, it's not a bad idea to sell some (or all) of your shares. If you're a prospective Palantir shareholder, I'd suggest steering clear, as there is just too much hype built into Palantir's stock for it to deliver solid long-term returns. Before you buy stock in Palantir Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Palantir Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 Keithen Drury has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Jaw-Dropping Stat Palantir Investors Must Know was originally published by The Motley Fool
News.com.au
12-07-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Major update in fate of 9/11 mastermind
The chief architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could be sentenced to death after a court tossed out a plea deal that would have saved his life. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States and was regarded as one of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's most trusted henchmen. In 2003, the CIA captured him in Pakistan, after which he spent three years in secret prisons before arriving at Guantanamo in 2006. He is said to have planned out the deadly attacks from 'A to Z' and was also involved in a string of major plots against the US, where he attended university, the Sun reports. Mohammed as well as two alleged accomplices – Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi – struck a deal with prosecutors on July 31 and agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. The deal would allow the trio to be spared from the death penalty and remain jailed on the southern portion of the American Naval Base in Cuba. The agreement has sparked outrage from family members of victims who died during the 9/11 attacks. But a US appeals court on Friday scrapped the agreement, saying that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial. Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defence under the Biden administration, attempted to halt the agreement by filing a motion to a military appeals court. In his brief, Austin cited the magnitude of the 9/11 attacks and argued that as defence secretary, he should decide on any plea agreements that would save the three men from the death penalty. Austin 'acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment,' judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote in a ruling today. Congressional politicians have also slammed the plea deal, calling it a 'national disgrace' and a 'total miscarriage of justice.' 'The Biden-Harris Administration's weakness in the face of sworn enemies of the American people apparently knows no bounds,' said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the time. 'The plea deal with terrorists – including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans – is a revolting abdication of the government's responsibility to defend America and provide justice. 'The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody.' Mohammed and al-Hawsawi were captured on March 1, 2003, in a joint CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence operation in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Walid bin Attash was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in April 2003. Mohammed was held in secret CIA prisons up until his transfer to Guantanamo Bay in September 2006. However, before he was moved to Guantánamo, government officials interrogated Mohammed and his accomplices for years, torturing them and keeping them isolated in undisclosed locations. Mohammed endured 183 rounds of waterboarding – a form of torture where a person experiences the sensation of drowning when water is poured over a cloth covering their face. Terror attacks At least 2,753 people died at the site of the World Trade Center, where two planes crashed into the towers on September 11, 2001. A third plane hit the Pentagon, while a fourth, which was planned to strike Washington DC, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after crew members and passengers stormed the cockpit. The heinous attacks sparked the war on terror after President George W. Bush ordered the US military to invade Afghanistan and Iraq in search of the terrorists responsible. The US government was warned by the CIA that the likely targets would be famous landmarks or symbols of US capitalism – but they did not know when or how. And none of them could have imagined the extent or horror of 9/11 when it did happen. On May 1, 2011, the most classified operation of the last 25 years was launched to kill Osama bin Laden. The Saudi-born terror chief became the world's most wanted man, hiding in plain sight in Pakistan for years before U.S. navy SEALs took him out in a daring raid. In the cover of night, Seal Team Six was sent to Abbottabad in Pakistan – where bin Laden was hiding. Within minutes, the Seals were within the compound and shot and killed the world's most wanted terrorist.
The Sun
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Terrorist mastermind of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could be sentenced to DEATH at Guantanamo Bay trial
THE chief architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could be sentenced to death after a court tossed out a plea deal that would have saved his life. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States - and was regarded as one of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's most trusted henchmen. 7 7 7 In 2003, the CIA captured him in Pakistan, after which he spent three years in secret prisons before arriving at Guantanamo in 2006. He is said to have planned out the deadly attacks from "A to Z" -- and was also involved in a string of major plots against the US, where he attended university. Mohammed as well as two alleged accomplices -- Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi -- struck a deal with prosecutors on July 31 and agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. The deal would allow the trio to be spared from the death penalty and remain jailed on the southern portion of the American Naval base in Cuba. The agreement has sparked outrage from family members of victims who died during the 9/11 attacks. But a US appeals court on Friday scrapped the agreement, saying that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial. Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defence under the Biden administration, attempted to halt the agreement by filing a motion to a military appeals court. In his brief, Austin cited the magnitude of the 9/11 attacks and argued that as defence secretary, he should decide on any plea agreements that would save the three men from the death penalty. Austin "acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment," judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote in a ruling today. Congressional lawmakers have also slammed the plea deal, calling it a "national disgrace" and a "total miscarriage of justice." "The Biden-Harris Administration's weakness in the face of sworn enemies of the American people apparently knows no bounds," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the time. "The plea deal with terrorists – including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans – is a revolting abdication of the government's responsibility to defend America and provide justice. "The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody." Mohammed and al-Hawsawi were captured on March 1, 2003, in a joint CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence operation in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Walid bin Attash was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in April 2003. Mohammed was held in secret CIA prisons up until his transfer to Guantánamo Bay in September 2006. However, before he was moved to Guantánamo, government officials interrogated Mohammed and his accomplices for years, torturing them and keeping them isolated in undisclosed locations. Mohammed endured 183 rounds of waterboarding - a form of torture where a person experiences the sensation of drowning when water is poured over a cloth covering their face. 7 7 7 Key figures behind 9/11 Here are some of the key figures involved in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11 Mohamed Atta Abdulaziz al-Omari Wail al-Shehri Waleed al-Shehri Satam al-Suqami Hijackers on United Airlines Flight 175 Marwan al-Shehhi Fayez Banihammad Mohand al-Shehri Hamza al-Ghamdi Ahmed al-Ghamdi Hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77 Hani Hanjour Khalid al-Mihdhar Majed Moqed Nawaf al-Hazmi Salem al-Hazmi Hijackers on United Airlines Flight 93 Ziad Jarrah Ahmed al-Haznawi Ahmed al-Nami Saeed al-Ghamdi Three suspects have also accepted a plea deal in the two decades since the attacks - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The men, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi Bin al Shibh, were jointly arraigned on June 5, 2008, and again on May 5, 2012. Al-Hawsawi was charged with helping the hijackers with their finances and travel arrangements. TERROR ATTACKS At least 2,753 people died at the site of the World Trade Center, where two planes crashed into the towers on September 11, 2001. A third plane hit the Pentagon, while a fourth, which was planned to strike Washington DC, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after crew members and passengers stormed the cockpit. The heinous attacks sparked the war on terror after President George W. Bush ordered the US military to invade Afghanistan and Iraq in search of the terrorists responsible. The US government was warned by the CIA that the likely targets would be famous landmarks or symbols of US capitalism - but they did not know when or how. And none of them could have imagined the extent or horror of 9/11 when it did happen. On May 1, 2011, the most classified operation of the last 25 years was launched to kill Osama Bin Laden. The Saudi-born terror chief became the world's most wanted man, hiding in plain sight in Pakistan for years before U.S. Navy SEALs took him out in a daring raid. In the cover of night, Seal Team Six was sent to Abbottabad in Pakistan - where Bin Laden was hiding. Within minutes, the Seals were within the compound and shot and killed the world's most wanted terrorist. 9/11 timeline of events On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda operatives coordinated a terrorist attack against the United States, hijacking four commerical airplanes and crashing them into the Twin Towers and Pentagon. Timeline: 5:45 am: Two hijackers get through security in Portland, Maine, and board a flight to Boston, where they will link up with three more hijackers and check in for American Airlines Flight 11 to Los Angeles. 7:59 am: American Airlines Flight 11 takes off. The plane is carrying 76 passengers, 11 crew members, and five hijackers. 8:15 am: United Airlines Flight 175, carrying 51 passengers, nine crew, and five hijackers, takes off from Boston to Los Angeles. 8:20 am: American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Washington DC Dulles to Los Angeles. The plane is carrying 53 passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers. 8:42 am: United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark. The plane is carrying 33 passengers, seven crew members, and four hijackers. The flight was bound for San Francisco. 8:46 am: Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. 9:03 am: Flight 175 hits the South Tower of the World Trade Center. 9:36 am: Vice President Dick Cheney is evacuated by Secret Service agents to an undisclosed location. 9:37 am: Flight 77 hits the Pentagon building in Washington DC. 9:45 am: The US Capitol and White House are both evacuated. 9:59 am: The South Tower is the first to collapse after burning for around 56 minutes. 10:03 am: United Airlines flight 93 crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The passengers and crew got together and stormed the cockpit of the hijacked plane. All on board are killed. 10:28 am: The North Tower collapses. 8:30 pm: President George W. Bush addresses the US from the White House regarding the attacks. Almost 3,000 Americans died in the terror attacks.
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Time of India
Belgian Malinois to help check wildlife crimes in Ranthambore
Jaipur: Belgian Malinois dogs, renowned for guarding the White House and assisting in the SEAL operation that eliminated Osama bin Laden, will soon be deployed for anti-poaching and wildlife protection duties in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This will mark the first deployment of a specialised canine unit at RTR. A forest official said, "This breed, developed in the Maline region of Belgium in the 1800s, is known for its intelligence, agility and alertness. The dogs are currently undergoing training at the Basic Training Centre of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (BTC-ITBP) in Panchkula, Haryana." The move follows recommendations from the 2022 Management Effectiveness Evaluation of Tiger Reserves conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which advocated the introduction of a sniffer dog squad in Ranthambore. "These dogs are trained to detect skins and bones of tigers and leopards and track poachers and hunters. With a keen sense of smell, high endurance and natural aggression, they are ideally suited for wildlife crime detection," the official added. Similar dog squads have already been deployed in other tiger reserves, including Kaziranga, Corbett and Periyar, where they have proven effective in curbing poaching and aiding in wildlife crime investigations. Once inducted, the dogs will assist in detecting forest and wildlife offences such as poaching, illegal tree felling and the trafficking of contraband, including protected animals, forest produce and weapons. "In Rajasthan, vast and porous forest landscapes present challenges to surveillance. The Belgian Malinois can strengthen on-ground enforcement," the official said. "They are particularly effective in tracking offenders through dense terrain, locating crime scenes and supporting forest staff during raids. To curb poaching and trafficking of endangered species, canine units will provide a mobile, real-time tool for response and preventive patrolling. "
