Report: Joint Chiefs Chairman Warns Trump of Significant Risks if US Attacks Iran

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Report: Joint Chiefs Chairman Warns Trump of Significant Risks if US Attacks Iran

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, the highest-ranking US military officer, has warned President Trump that there would be significant risks that come with attacking Iran, including the possibility of a protracted war, Axios reported on Monday, a report President Trump later rejected.

Two sources told Axios reporter Barak Ravid that Caine was all in on the recent US attack on Venezuela to kidnap President Nicolas Maduro, but described him as a “reluctant warrior” when it came to Iran, as he sees a greater risk of a prolonged war and US casualties. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, he has also warned that any war with Iran would deplete US military stockpiles, as the US used a large number of interceptors defending Israel during the 12-Day War in June 2025.

The New York Times also reported on the Trump administration’s deliberations about attacking Iran and said that Caine couldn’t provide the same assurances for success as he did with Venezuela. It appears that if the US attacks Iran, the goal would be to topple the government or destroy Iran’s ability to strike Israel with missiles, which would require a massive bombing campaign.

President Trump later denied the series of reports about Caine’s warnings. “Gen. Caine, like all of us, would like not to see War but, if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack.”

While the Axios report said Caine has been warning of the risks of an attack on Iran, the sources speaking to the outlet said he was also ready to carry out Trump’s orders should he decide to launch the war.

Both the Axios and Times reports said that Vice President JD Vance has been raising questions about the potential risks, but wasn’t opposed to the idea of bombing Iran. According to Axios, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a staunch Iran hawk, has been “sitting on the fence,” neither advocating for nor against strikes on Iran as he has been focused on Venezuela and Cuba, which are under an increased US embargo.

The Axios report also said that US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have been leading the talks with Iran, have advised the president that he should give them time to see what they can get out of Iran before attacking. In an interview with Fox News that aired over the weekend, Witkoff signaled that he wasn’t actually interested in the talks leading to a deal, as he said Trump is “curious” why Iran hasn’t “capitulated” and made the blatantly false claim that Iran could be “one week away” from having material to build a nuclear weapon.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the biggest proponents of attacking Iran in Washington, lamented over the weekend that some of Trump’s advisors were warning him of the risks. “I understand concerns about major military operations in the Middle East, given past entanglements. However, the voices who counsel against getting entangled seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked,” he said.

The Axios report said that Graham has told the president he should ignore his advisors who are urging caution. During a recent trip to Israel, Graham acknowledged that any US attack on Iran could lead to US casualties, but said the risk of Americans being killed was worth it. “Could our soldiers be hit in the region? Absolutely, they could. Can Iran respond if we have an all-out attack? Absolutely, they can,” he said.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.  

Israeli Opposition Leader Backs ‘Biblical Borders’ for Israel After Huckabee Controversy

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Israeli Opposition Leader Backs ‘Biblical Borders’ for Israel After Huckabee Controversy

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid backed the idea of Israel’s “biblical borders” when asked about the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee’s belief that Israel had the divine right to take over all the land between the Nile and Euphrates rivers.

“I support anything that will allow the Jews a large, broad, strong land and a safe haven for us, our children, and our children’s children. That I support,” Lapid said at a press conference on Monday, according to Middle East Eye.

“Zionism is based on the Bible. Our mandate over the land of Israel is biblical, [and] the biblical borders of the land of Israel are clear… Therefore, the borders are the borders of the Bible,” Lapid added.

Huckabee, a Christian Zionist, said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that it would be “fine” for Israel to take over a vast swathe of land that includes territory in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, based on a promise God made to Abraham in Genesis.

Huckabee tried to downplay his view, saying that Israel wasn’t attempting to take over those areas, though there is support for the idea of “Greater Israel” in the Israeli government, and the IDF currently occupies parts of Syria and Lebanon. Israel also continues expanding illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and is occupying more than 50% of Gaza.

Lapid said there were “security considerations” to stop Israel from taking over certain territories. “The Euphrates, last time I checked, was in Iraq. I don’t think when the Americans entered Iraq, they experienced great relief,” he said.

Lapid, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, added that Israel should take “as much as possible within the limitations of Israeli security, and the management of Israeli policy.”

Huckabee’s comments sparked a diplomatic firestorm, prompting 14 countries to issue a statement sharply condemning his views.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.  

After 4 Years of War, Zelensky Insists Victory Requires Ukraine Reclaiming All Territory

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After 4 Years of War, Zelensky Insists Victory Requires Ukraine Reclaiming All Territory

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Tuesday marks four years since Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine, and, despite President Trump promising to end the war quickly, there’s no end in sight to the conflict as Russian and Ukrainian leadership haven’t budged on their core demands for a peace deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed in an interview with the BBC over the weekend that he wouldn’t cede the territory Ukraine still controls in the eastern Donbas region and defined “victory” as Ukraine regaining all of the land it has lost to Russia since February 2022.

Ukraine ceding the Donbas is a key Russian demand to end the war, and President Trump has repeatedly called for Zelensky to do so, arguing that Ukraine will likely lose the territory in bloody battles in the coming months and years. When asked by the BBC interviewer if he thought it was a “reasonable request” for a ceasefire, Zelensky said he didn’t agree.

“I see this differently. I don’t look at it simply as land. I see it as abandonment – weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there. That is how I see it. And I am sure that this ‘withdrawal’ would divide our society,” Zelensky said.

When asked whether he still sought to regain all the land Ukraine has lost, Zelensky answered in the affirmative but suggested he needed more help from his Western backers to do so.

“We’ll do it. That is absolutely clear. It is only a matter of time. To do it today would mean losing a huge number of people – millions of people – because the [Russian] army is large, and we understand the cost of such steps. You would not have enough people, you would be losing them. And what is land without people? Honestly, nothing,” Zelensky said.

“And we also don’t have enough weapons. That depends not just on us, but on our partners. So as of now that’s not possible but returning to the just borders of 1991 without a doubt, is not only a victory, it’s justice. Ukraine’s victory is the preservation of our independence, and a victory of justice for the whole world is the return of all our lands,” he added.

Another major sticking point in the negotiations is the issue of security guarantees. 

Zelensky and many European leaders want troops from NATO nations to deploy to Ukrainian territory with the backing of US airpower after a peace deal is signed, but Russian officials have repeatedly rejected the idea and made clear that the condition is a non-starter.

Zelensky said in the BBC interview that he wants whatever security guarantee he gets from the US to last 30 years. He made the comments when asked about the Trump administration’s call for him to hold elections, saying that US security guarantees would need to be in place before that happened.

Russian and Ukrainian officials held talks in Geneva last week, but there’s been no sign of progress. Russia maintains it won’t agree to a deal unless its key demands are met, which include Ukraine ceding the territory and guarantees on Ukraine not joining NATO, and has made clear it’s willing to continue the grinding war to achieve those goals.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.  

Utah Judge Rejects Defense’s Motion to Disqualify Prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk Killing Case

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Utah Judge Rejects Defense’s Motion to Disqualify Prosecutors in the Charlie Kirk Killing Case

(Headline USA) A Utah judge on Tuesday declined to disqualify the local county attorney’s office from prosecuting the accused shooter in Charlie Kirk’s killing after the defense argued there was a conflict of interest because a prosecutor’s daughter was present when Kirk was shot.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against Tyler Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

Robinson’s attorneys urged the judge to remove the Utah County Attorney’s Office because they allowed a deputy county attorney to work on the case despite knowing that his adult daughter was in the audience when Kirk was shot.

The defense also argued in court documents that prosecutors were quick to announce their intent to seek the death penalty, which they said was evidence of “strong emotional reactions” that merited disqualifying the entire team.

State District Judge Tony Graf ruled Tuesday that there is “not a significant risk” that Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander’s loyalty to his daughter will affect his work or interfere with Robinson’s rights.

“Prosecutors need not be immune to the emotional response of others to prosecute a case,” Graf said.

An estimated 3,000 people were at the outdoor rally to hear Kirk when he was struck while taking questions. A co-founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump.

Grunander’s daughter, whose identity has not been disclosed to news media covering the case, testified in court that she did not record video of the shooting or the aftermath. She was looking at the crowd and did not learn until after she ran to safety that it was Kirk who had been shot, she told the court earlier this month.

Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray testified this month that he thought about seeking the death penalty before an arrest had been made in the case, and his colleague’s daughter in no way influenced the decision.

Graf found that the daughter’s presence did not factor into Gray’s decision.

Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for attorneys with the defense and prosecution.

The director of a state council that trains prosecutors said Graf’s ruling was appropriate given the circumstances.

“Chad Grunander’s daughter is not going to be a witness. She didn’t actually see Mr. Kirk killed. She was facing away,” Utah Prosecution Council Director Robert Church said.

The judge has been weighing other issues of fairness for Robinson, should he go to trial.

Full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting have not been shown in court after defense attorneys objected out of concern that the footage would undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial.

Defense attorneys also seek to keep TV cameras and photographers out of the courtroom, arguing that “highly biased” news outlets risk tainting the case. Prosecutors, attorneys for news organizations and Kirk’s widow have urged Graf to keep the proceedings open.

The defense request to exclude cameras was classified by the court as private and has not been released.

On Monday, Graf granted a request from a coalition of news organizations including The Associated Press to allow attorneys for the media to view defense requests to classify documents in the case. Graf said without access to those motions, media attorneys could not meaningfully argue against closing parts of the case from public view.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Department of Justice Sues New Jersey Over Sanctuary Policies

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Department of Justice Sues New Jersey Over Sanctuary Policies

(Chris Wade, The Center Square) The Justice Department is taking Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill to court over her efforts to limit the state’s cooperation with federal immigration crackdowns.

A lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court Tuesday, alleges that an executive order signed by Sherrill that barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from using state-owned property as staging areas for operations violates federal laws and accuses her administration of “harboring criminal offenders” from law enforcement.

“Governor Mikie Sherill aims to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement and celebrates thwarting the constitutional obligation of the President of the United States to take care that federal immigration law be faithfully executed,” the DOJ wrote in the 21-page complaint. “Such blatant disregard for federal laws that have been on the books for over three decades is not merely a political statement, but is instead deliberate action that jeopardizes the public safety of all Americans.”

The DOJ alleges New Jersey’s sanctuary policies are illegal under federal law and that its refusal to cooperate with federal authorities “results in the release of dangerous criminals from police custody who would otherwise be subject to removal, including illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, and drug and human trafficking, onto the streets.”

“Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey citizens safe, and yet New Jersey’s leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals — New Jersey’s sanctuary policies will not stand.”

New Jersey’s acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, whose office will be defending the governor, criticized the DOJ’s lawsuit and vowed to fight to uphold the executive order.

“Instead of working with us to promote public safety and protect our state’s residents, the Trump administration is wasting its resources on a pointless legal challenge to Governor Sherrill’s executive order,” Davenport said in a statement. “Under Governor Sherrill’s leadership, New Jersey will continue to ensure the safety of our state’s immigrant communities. We look forward to defending this executive order in court.”

Under Sherrill’s order, ICE agents are prohibited from using public property for immigration enforcement operations in the state unless they have a federal judicial warrant. The governor also launched a new public website urging the public to report ICE activity, upload videos of enforcement actions, and “Know Your Rights” information for people who are detained.

“When federal immigration officers violate the law and sow fear in our communities, they undermine public trust in law enforcement and make it harder for us to keep the public safe,” Sherrill said in a statement at the time.

The directive cited concerns about “militarized federal civil immigration enforcement,” including the arrests and detention of U.S. citizens “at times in the dead of night by masked agents unleashing chemical irritants on bystanders and non-violent protesters” and “the killings of U.S. citizens by federal officers” and incidents involving racial profiling.

New Jersey Democrats and immigrant rights groups say the restrictions are necessary amid an uptick in ICE operations in the state targeting people for deportation. It is unclear whether federal authorities have been using state property at staging areas for any of the operations.

Kent State Professor Caught on Camera Saying DEI Opponents Want White Men in Power

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Kent State Professor Caught on Camera Saying DEI Opponents Want White Men in Power

(José Niño, Headline USA) A Kent State University educator preparation director stated that diversity, equity and inclusion opponents “want to keep the white men in power and they want to come and overtake public education” in covertly recorded video recently released by Accuracy in Media, according to The College Fix.

Jennifer Walton Fisette, director of educator preparation in the College of Education, Health and Human Services at Kent State University, made the comments in undercover footage released by the conservative activism group.

Accuracy in Media has released a series of undercover videos over the past year taken at colleges and universities in primarily Republican controlled states exposing staffers and faculty discussing methods to circumvent DEI bans. Kent State became the latest target.

According to The College Fix, an Ohio law nearly one-year old bans DEI programs and training but does not expressly forbid it within curricula, prompting debate on whether academic coursework falls under the ban on training.

The five-minute edited video released by AIM last Monday shows Walton Fisette discussing how DEI remains a valued ideology in some classrooms.

“One thing I can say about Kent State University and our teacher ed programs … they’re all about diversity, equity and inclusion,” Walton Fisette said in the video.

“It’s not being forced through a Trumpian lens. It’s taking away the buzzwords, having to be more careful of how you’re talking about equity and inclusion,” she stated regarding efforts to curb DEI.

Asked by AIM’s undercover investigator why DEI is problematic, Walton Fisette responded “ultimately it’s just to keep white men in power. This is what it’s all about. And if we dumb down education, then we can continue to do that. So that’s what the ultimate goal is.”

Later she added about anti DEI efforts “Their thing is anti-higher education, anti-public education. … They want to keep the white men in power and they want to come and overtake public education.”

Walton Fisette and Kent State University’s media affairs division did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“This woman is clearly a taxpayer-funded political activist and extremist,” Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette said in an interview. “I cannot understand why any Ohioan should be forced to pay the salary for a political activist.”

Guillette said he believes “hidden-camera investigative journalism is by far the most honest and transparent form of journalism.”

AIM has numerous higher education videos slated for release in coming months, most notably focused on campuses in red states with DEI bans that are “bending, breaking, or circumventing laws.”

“We have an incredibly talented team of hidden-camera investigative journalists who use a variety of ruses to expose malfeasance, fraud, and lawbreaking,” he stated.

Asked whether he is surprised campus employees continue getting caught on camera admitting to DEI tactics despite the lengthy nature of AIM’s undercover project, which has prompted nationwide headlines and led to employee terminations, Guillette said it has become a pattern.

“The shock to me is that these people meet with our investigator for five to ten minutes, and simply because they think they have found an ideological kindred spirit, they are more than happy to brag about breaking state law,” Guillette said.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

Bill Ackman Compares Epstein Files Fallout to McCarthyism as Executives Lose Jobs

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Bill Ackman Compares Epstein Files Fallout to McCarthyism as Executives Lose Jobs

(José Niño, Headline USA) Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman stated the Epstein files have reached a McCarthyism era stage where innocent people face slander, calling for methods to distinguish evildoers from those merely appearing in documents, according to social media posts around February 21 to 22.

On January 30, 2026, the Justice Department released over three million pages of documents related to its Jeffrey Epstein investigation under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. On February 15, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Congress a letter declaring the release complete, including a list of roughly 300 politically exposed persons whose names appear somewhere in the records.

The release triggered a massive wave of professional consequences for people named in the files. NPR reported that Kathy Ruemmler, Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer and former Obama White House counsel, resigned after email correspondence with Epstein surfaced. According to a report by Politico, Brad Karp stepped down as chairman of law firm Paul Weiss. The Los Angeles Times reported that Casey Wasserman, chair of the LA 2028 Olympics committee, announced he was selling his talent agency after his name appeared.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faced bipartisan calls to resign over emails showing he considered visiting Epstein’s island in 2012, 

Ackman posted on X that “The Epstein Files have reached the McCarthy-era stage where innocent people are being slandered” and called for a way to “distinguish between evildoers and those who” merely appear in documents without wrongdoing. 

Critics quickly noted Ackman has a personal stake in this argument. His wife, Neri Oxman, is a former MIT Media Lab researcher whose lab received over $100,000 in donations from Epstein. In 2019, Ackman emailed Joi Ito, then the director of MIT’s Media Lab, urging him not to involve Oxman in the growing Epstein scandal: “It is very important that you don’t mention Neri’s name or otherwise get her involved … I don’t want to see her forced into a position where to protect her name she is required to be transparent about everything that took place at MIT with Epstein.”

Oxman’s name appeared again in the 2026 document release as an MIT affiliate with Epstein ties, according to a report by Axios.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

Record 36% of Unemployed Americans Hold 4-Year College Degrees

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Record 36% of Unemployed Americans Hold 4-Year College Degrees

(José Niño, Headline USA)  A record 36 percent of unemployed Americans aged 25 and older now hold four year college degrees, marking the highest share ever recorded, according to Bloomberg analysis.

The figure comes from Bloomberg examination of Bureau of Labor Statistics data for January 2026. Specifically, 36.6 percent of unemployed Americans aged 25 and above possessed bachelor’s degrees or higher. Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox noted this partly reflects that college degree holders now comprise a larger share of the overall labor force, with 45.4 percent of employed Americans 25 and older holding bachelor’s degrees in January.

However, the gap between employed and unemployed share has been closing rapidly, nearly halving since mid 2023.

Several structural forces are converging to drive this trend. A Stanford University study published in November 2025 found employment for early career workers began declining in AI sensitive occupations, most of which require college degrees, around the time ChatGPT launched in November 2022.

White collar hiring slowdown has persisted as a continuing trend. By September 2025, college graduates already comprised a record 25 percent of total unemployment, with the unemployment rate for bachelor’s degree holders rising to 2.8 percent. By January 2026, that share jumped to 36.6 percent among those 25 and older, per a report by Bloomberg.

Corporate functions are increasingly performed in lower cost countries, expanding the effective talent pool competing with domestic degree holders. Additionally, degree oversupply creates challenges as the ratio of degree holders to white collar corporate jobs has grown from approximately 1 to 1 to about 2.5 to 1, according to analysis by the Substack newsletter The Finance Hub. 

This trend has prompted reassessment of college degree economic value. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland research shows young college graduates no longer find jobs faster than high school graduates, ending a longstanding advantage. The New York Times reported in September 2025 that the fraction of long term unemployed, defined as jobless for six months or more, with college degrees grew from about one fifth a decade ago to roughly one-third.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino

Illegal Border Crosser Apprehensions Drop 96% at Southwest Border in a Year

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Illegal Border Crosser Apprehensions Drop 96% at Southwest Border in a Year

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) In one year, illegal border crossings dropped by 96% at the southwest border, an historic shift from record highs during the Biden administration.

In January, 34,626 illegal border crosser apprehensions were reported nationwide, up from numbers hovering around 30,000 in October, November and December.

The January total is a significant drop from 242,071 in January 2024, 209,151 in January 2023 and 81,479 in January 2025, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

At the southwest border, apprehensions totaled 9,726 in January, down from 61,445 in January 2025, an 84% decrease over the year. The numbers also represent a dramatic drop from 176,195 in January 2024 and 157,358 in January 2023, according to the data.

At the northern border, 4,261 illegal border crosser apprehensions were recorded in January despite harsh winter conditions. In November, 3,583 were apprehended at the northern border, according to the data.

January’s northern border total represents a significant downward trajectory from 4,976 in January 2025, 13,390 in January 2023, and a high of 15,916 in January 2024. The northern border saw unprecedented numbers of illegal border crossers and crime under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. For years, northern U.S. states and Indian reservations have been impacted by transnational crime, human and drug trafficking orchestrated by Mexican cartels and Chinese Triad operating in Canada, The Center Square reported.

Nationwide, encounters averaged 1,117 a day in January, 58% lower than the 2,628 daily average from January 2025, CBP said in a statement.

Border Patrol agents make apprehensions between ports of entry. CBP Office of Field Operations officers make apprehensions at ports of entry. According to the data, CBP OFO officers apprehended 26,749 illegal border crossers and Border Patrol agents apprehended 7,877 in January, bringing the total to 34,626 for the month, according to the data.

The data contradicts claims repeatedly made by Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that no one is illegally entering the country. The claims date to last August when she stated at a cabinet meeting, “We’ve gone three months in a row now with zero illegal aliens coming into this country.”

By last July, the Trump administration had released 13,000 inadmissible foreign nationals into the country, according to CBP data, The Center Square reported. Texas Department of Public Safety officers have also been apprehending roughly 100 illegal border crossers a week, all gotaways, The Center Square reported.

Similar to the Biden administration, the Trump administration is not publicly reporting gotaway data.

Gotaways are the official CBP term for foreign nationals who illegally enter the country between ports of entry to evade capture and don’t return to Mexico or Canada. At least more than two million known and reported gotaways illegally entered the country during the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported. The actual number is unknown and expected to be much higher because not all gotaways are reported.

The massive drop in illegal entries represent “historic results,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said. “Border Patrol apprehensions are down 96% from the previous administration’s monthly average,” he said, referring to the southwest border. “This historic reduction reflects the dedication of our agents and officers to securing our borders, protecting our communities, and upholding the rule of law.”

He also points out that the number of apprehensions made in January were 91% below the peak of 370,883 apprehended during the Biden administration.

Border Patrol agents apprehensions at the southwest border were also 96% lower than the monthly average of the Biden administration and less than the total apprehended in six days in January 2025, he added.

Over the year, Border Patrol agents apprehended 196 illegal border crossers a day along the southwest border, 96% lower than the daily average apprehended during the Biden administration. In the last nine months, they also released zero illegal border crossers into the U.S. through parole programs, he added.

US Military Blows Up Another Small Boat in the Caribbean Sea, Killing Three

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US Military Blows Up Another Small Boat in the Caribbean Sea, Killing Three

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) US Southern Command announced on Monday that its forces blew up yet another boat it accused of running drugs, killing three people.

The command said the boat was targeted in the Caribbean Sea and described the people it killed as “narco-terrorists,” a term used by the Trump administration to justify conducting extra-judicial executions at sea for an alleged crime that doesn’t receive the death penalty in the US.

SOUTHCOM said the strike was launched at the direction of its commander, Gen. Francis L. Donovan, who replaced Adm. Alvin Holsey, the former commander who stepped down after reportedly voicing concerns about the bombing campaign.

As usual, SOUTHCOM provided no evidence to back up its claim that the small vessel was carrying narcotics, something the Pentagon hasn’t done for any of the boats it has targeted since the bombing campaign began in early September.

According to numbers from the monitoring group Airwars, the latest strike brings the total number of people killed in the US boat strikes to at least 150, a number that accounts for people the US military said survived an initial strike but were never rescued. Airwars classifies all the deaths as civilians since they are non-combatants and posed no threat to the US military at the time of the attacks.

There was a brief lull in the US airstrikes on small boats following the January 3 US attack on Venezuela, which killed 83 people, including four civilians, and resulted in the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. But in recent weeks, the US has escalated the attacks on boats.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.  

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