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A draft-dodging scandal in Taiwan allegedly involving a number of actors, influencers, and musicians has cast an unflattering spotlight on the conscript and reservist forces which could one day stand between the island and a possible invasion by China.

Taiwan’s military service regime, which runs alongside its conventional military, faces accusations of failing to prepare conscripts for an actual war – an alarming situation against a drumbeat of threats from its giant neighbor.

On Monday, authorities indicted 28 defendants. Prosecutors allege that, between 2016 and early this year, a four-person ring helped 24 healthy men dodge the draft by faking high blood pressure to gain a medical exemption, netting a total of 7.63 million Taiwanese dollars ($255,000).

At least 11 celebrities are now under investigation.

Among those indicted was the actor Darren Wang. The 34-year-old, launched to fame across the Chinese-speaking world a decade ago as a boyish heartthrob in teen romcom Our Times, was accused of paying 3.6 million Taiwanese dollars ($120,000) for a fake hypertension diagnosis.

Such organized efforts to evade conscription are largely seen as a sign of people’s apathy towards service, rather than their fear of military rough-and-tumble.

“Most of the time during the service is dedicated to miscellaneous tasks, and not actually combat-related.”

A mundane duty

Back in 1949, as the Nationalist government lost a bloody civil war against the insurgent Chinese Communist Party and fled to Taiwan, it introduced mandatory military service to the island, where eligible men would serve two years in the army or three years in the navy, air force or marines. The system, in one form or another, has been in place ever since – as have Beijing’s designs on the island, which the Communist Party claims as its own territory, to be taken by force if necessary.

But military service has long been seen as anything but heroic. Conscripts have described it as monotonous, disorganized and often irrelevant to modern warfare: a combination of indoor lectures, hours of waiting around, and outdated ceremonial drills.

US officials, not authorized to speak openly, quietly warn that Taiwan’s reserve forces remain the soft underbelly of its defense posture.

One official said millions of former conscripts exist “on paper,” but years of truncated service and minimal refresher training have left them “underprepared for modern warfare.”

While there are no official estimates for the number of illegal draft-dodgers, a tally by the Ministry of the Interior shows that, from 2021 to 2023, cases of suspected obstruction of military service have risen from 309 to 553.

“It is imperative to reform military service as quickly as possible,” said Wu Tzu-li, an associate research fellow at the INDSR. “After all, the fight ultimately comes down to the people operating the weapons and not the weaponry itself, so having solid education and training is crucial.”

Attempts at reform

Even Taiwan’s leaders have acknowledged the problem. Shortly after taking office in 2016, former President Tsai Ing-wen called for sweeping reform, as opposed to “papering over problems, wasting human resources, and operating inefficiently in so many different ways.”

In response to growing security threats from Beijing, which conducted at least three large-scale military exercises around Taiwan last year, and sent warplanes, naval vessels and coast guards close to the island on a near-daily basis – Taiwan’s government has extended training time for conscripts and introduced reforms such as more live-fire drills and an emphasis on modern tactics. As of January 2024, the minimum active-duty period was increased to one full year, up from just four months under the previous policy.

The changes’ effectiveness remains to be seen. Critics say that unless Taiwan revamps how – and what – soldiers are taught, young men will continue to view the draft as symbolic rather than strategic.

“The key is what kinds of training will be provided to the new conscripts,” said Chieh. “It’s important to not let them feel they’ve wasted one year.”

Another US official added that “Taiwan is making good progress in enhancing the realism of training for reservists, but still has work to do in updating their equipment and reforming the organization of reserve units.”

“Retraining and equipping existing reservists to operate asymmetric platforms like drones and anti-air missiles will have an outsized impact on Taiwan’s ability to deter conflict.”

It added that the new, extended one-year training period “enables conscripts to undergo systematic and comprehensive military training, including enlistment, stationing, specialization, base training, and joint exercises – equipping them with essential combat skills and a firm resolve to defend the nation.”

Korean contrast

In nearby South Korea – another place marked by long-running hostility with its nearest neighbor – military service is taken a lot more seriously, and counting down the days until major celebrities will park their careers to don military fatigues has become something of a national pastime.

Rather than damaging reputations, military service is often seen as a sign of integrity and patriotism in major stars – an impression that can enhance their careers after taking off the uniform.

Earlier this month, K-pop superstars RM and V, from the band BTS, became the latest high-profile conscripts discharged from national service. They each saluted upon their release from duty in Chuncheon city, after about 18 months of active service, to the cheers of about 200 gathered fans – some of whom traveled from Mexico, Turkey and Brazil.

The other five members of the massively popular group either have completed or will complete the mandatory service, and the band expects to reunite within the next 12 months.

Even soccer superstar Son Heung-min, who avoided conscription through an exemption after winning gold at the 2018 Asian Games with South Korea’s national team, has taken four weeks of basic military training.

For Taiwan to restore faith in conscription, military analysts say, it will need to reduce loopholes, improve instruction, and modernize training to reflect real threats – particularly as tensions with Beijing intensify. It will also, they say, need a cultural shift: one that values service not as empty symbolism, but as preparation for a possible fight.

But it depends whether the recent reforms take root.

“The fear,” said one former conscript, “is that the new system will look just like the old one – only longer.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

The US has struck three key nuclear sites in Iran, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social Saturday evening as the Iran-Israel conflict enters a second week.

The Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz sites lie at the heart of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and had previously been targeted by Israeli strikes. Here’s what we know about them.

Natanz

The nuclear complex, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital Tehran, is considered Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility.

Analysts say it is used to develop and assemble centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a key technology that turns uranium into nuclear fuel.

Natanz has six above-ground buildings and three underground structures, two of which can hold 50,000 centrifuges, according to the non-profit Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI).

The site was targeted in Israel’s initial attack on Iran, with satellite photos and analysis showing the strikes destroyed the above-ground part of Natanz’s Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant.

That’s a sprawling site that has been operating since 2003, and where Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Weapons-grade uranium is enriched to 90%.

Fordow

Much is still unknown about the full size and nature of this secretive, heavily-guarded facility, located close to the holy city of Qom and buried deep in a group of mountains. A good chunk of what we do know comes from a trove of Iranian documents stolen years ago by Israeli intelligence.

The main halls are an estimated 80 to 90 meters (around 262 to 295 feet) beneath the ground, making it very difficult to destroy the facility from air. The US is the only country with the kind of bomb required to strike that deep, Israeli officials and independent reports have previously said. However analysts have warned even those bombs might not be enough.

“Iran can convert its current stock of 60 percent enriched uranium into 233 kg of weapon-grade uranium in three weeks at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant,” enough for nine nuclear weapons, according to the nonpartisan Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).

Recent IAEA reports suggested Iran had ramped up production of enriched uranium to a level of 60% at Fordow. The facility now contains 2,700 centrifuges, according to experts and the IAEA.

Isfahan

Isfahan is in central Iran, and is home to the country’s largest nuclear research complex.

The facility was built with support from China and opened in 1984, according to the NTI. According to NTI, 3,000 scientists are employed at Isfahan, and the site is “suspected of being the center” of Iran’s nuclear program.

It “operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors,” as well as a “conversion facility, a fuel production plant, a zirconium cladding plant, and other facilities and laboratories,” the NTI says.

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The bodies of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier and two civilians killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks have been recovered from Gaza in a military hostage recovery operation.

In a special operation carried out by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the IDF, the bodies of civilians, Ofra Keidar and Yonatan Samerano, and soldier Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the ISA and IDF said in a joint statement Sunday.

Ofra Keidar, from the kibbutz Be’eri community, was killed by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023. The 71-year-old’s body was taken to Gaza, where it had been held since. Keidar was a wife and mother of three. Her husband was also killed in Hamas’ attack.

“On that dark Saturday Ofra went, as usual, for a walk in the fields she loved – and never returned,” her kibbutz said in a statement.

“Ofra was one of the women leading Be’eri to be the flourished kibbutz it has become, and set an example for other women while showing strength and leadership skills. She left three children and seven grandchildren.”

Samerano, 21, from Tel Aviv, was killed by Hamas militants who took his body after fleeing the Nova music festival.

Levinson, a dual German-Israeli national and tank commander, was killed in combat on October 7, the joint ISA-IDF statement said. The 19-year-old’s body was then taken to Gaza.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said: “Alongside the grief and pain, the return of their bodies provides some comfort to the families who have waited in agony, uncertainty, and doubt for 625 days.”

The forum also called for the return of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza to be a priority as Israel continues its conflict with Iran. “Particularly against the backdrop of current military developments and the significant achievements in Iran, we want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving complete Israeli victory,” it said.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of Keidar, Samerano and Levinson and thanked Israeli soldiers for a “successful operation.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

In a warehouse in northeast Nigeria, a nonprofit’s stocks of food to treat malnourished children and pregnant women are running low.

The organization, Action Against Hunger (ACF), is running a project to combat malnutrition that had been relying on funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to procure much-needed therapeutic food sachets. But the project was intermittently suspended, leaving ACF unable to procure enough of the nutrient-rich food during the peak season of malnutrition.

It’s one of the many urgent, lifesaving aid projects left in limbo and in need of additional resources following the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID.

But now, a group of former USAID staff has come together to connect big donors with cost-effective projects like this, which desperately need cash to carry out operations already in the pipeline.

The primary goal is “to save as many lives as possible,” said Robert Rosenbaum, a former USAID portfolio manager and one of the people spearheading the initiative, which they are calling Project Resource Optimization (PRO). “At this point, there really are people who are dying as a result of these (budget) decisions and this halting of the work.”

Rosenbaum said that thinking about cuts to American programs tackling things like malnutrition, extreme poverty and disease prevention was keeping him up at night after he lost his job earlier this year.

So, he and other laid-off USAID workers decided to do something. They began vetting projects being carried out by USAID partner organizations, which had abruptly lost their funding earlier this year.

They gradually built a spreadsheet – dubbed the Urgent & Vetted Projects list – and started matchmaking, setting up meetings between the most critical and cost-effective programs and donors who wanted to help, but didn’t know where to start.

The spreadsheet was first inspired by reach-outs from a few small family foundations seeking expert guidance on where to best put their dollars, amid the initial uncertainty surrounding US government aid cuts. But it quickly grew into something bigger.

It became clear to Rosenbaum that there was an opportunity to “expand the overall pool of private philanthropy” and bring in donations from people who might not have considered giving to international aid projects until this year.

“There have been a handful of folks who have come out of the woodwork and literally written us an email that’s like, ‘I set aside $100,000, $200,000, a million dollars… And this is exactly how I want to think about giving… So, help us figure out how to do this,’” he said.

Earlier this week, the PRO team also launched a tool for smaller donors to contribute online, crowdfunding for some of the most critical aid projects.

Now, anyone can give a one-time or monthly contribution to the team’s “Rapid Response Fund” to support vetted projects in Sudan, Haiti, Nigeria and more.

“For most of the humanitarian projects that we’ve talked to… sometime this summer, if the funding doesn’t come through, the lights will go off and it will be very hard to stand back up,” Rosenbaum said.

“Part of what we’re offering for funders is that the fixed cost of standing these projects up has already been taken on by the US government. The staff has already been hired, they’re trained, they’re in place. The commodities, in many cases, have been procured and are sitting in a warehouse,” Rosenbaum said. “There’s all these efficiencies.

“But the flip side is that the cost of shutting them down is extraordinarily high,” he added, noting that typically it takes years for local organizations to build trust with authorities, leaders and communities.

In Mali, an organization called the Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) was at risk of shutting down a project that delivers medical care to children under five, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, as well as providing mobile health clinics to internally displaced people.

“We were forced to suspend activities and reduce activities at different points,” said Carlota Ruiz, the organization’s head of grant management, adding that more than half ALIMA’s operating budget in Mali had come from USAID. “One of our main concerns in terms of navigating suspensions or project closures was the risk to our credibility and our relationships with the Ministry of Health and the communities that we work with.”

Weeks ago, the organization was facing the prospect of shutting down vital services, but now a new grant will allow ALIMA to provide 70,000 medical consultations to people in need and treat more than 5,000 children with severe acute malnutrition.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, ACF says it is close to securing funding to keep one of its malnutrition projects going, after coordinating with the PRO team.

The funding will go towards procuring more ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). The timing was “extremely critical,” according to an ACF staff member on the ground.

But the funding will only go towards that one project. ACF also supports programs in northern Nigeria that provide food assistance, clean water and sanitation, and support hundreds of health clinics.

“It will be very meaningful, and it will be really very useful to ensure continuity of activity and save the lives of thousands of children,” the ACF worker said of the grant about to be finalized. “But this project cannot address all the other aspects of our work.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

After the United States’ overnight strikes on Iran’s secretive nuclear program, the most important question is at least a “known unknown” – that is, what remains of it. The answer could define the region for decades to come, and be the ultimate arbiter of US President Donald Trump’s decision to embark on another conflict in the Middle East.

It is also an answer bedevilled by the elliptical and fickle nature of intelligence. On the one hand, public discussion of nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan should have left Tehran unwilling to let all of its nuclear secrets reside there. (Iran has said its program is entirely peaceful, although the UN’s nuclear watchdog reported finding uranium particles enriched up to 83% – just short of weapons grade).

If, as Israel maintains, Iran’s nuclear program has a hidden element, then surely that would not be housed in the same places where UN inspectors roam, and in the case of Fordow, over which there has been a public discussion for days of what American bombs might penetrate its deep caverns.

The raw materials needed for a nuclear bomb can be small: 20 kilograms of highly enriched uranium would suffice. The ingredients for several devices would fit into a minivan. This could be hidden anywhere in Iran. The technology needed to create a weapon is fiddlier, and requires human expertise, which Israel has been decimating over both the past 10 days, with strikes targeting key personnel, and also picking off more persistently over the past 10 years.

It is hard to imagine Iran suddenly being able to make this leap while under the intense bombardment of Israel’s air force, now with the open involvement of the US and its vast surveillance machinery too.

But this is an unknown, and Israel cannot have it both ways. If you insist Iran’s program is advanced and secretive, then there is also the risk something is happening that you are unaware of. Could Iran have assembled all the elements it needs, or even an atomic bomb, at another site, and just be waiting? Only time will tell.

The counterargument is also persuasive. Israel has been able to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists and military command as they slept in their homes – specific rooms in apartment blocks hit in the first wave of strikes on June 13. This suggests the wide and impressive penetration of vast parts of Tehran’s command structure and its most guarded secrets. No operation is perfect; it is possible Washington and Tel Aviv combined knew a lot.

It was not just the mountain fortress of Fordow that was struck, either. It is likely, as the dust clears and satellite images provide greater clarity in the battle damage assessment, that we will learn of targets being hit that we did not know about a week ago. For the opponents of Iran’s nuclear ambitions – just about everybody bar a handful of Iranian hardliners – that should provide some comfort.

But it is likely the Saturday night strikes did not take out everything – not every expert, or every piece of fissile material. The struggle will now be to chase what is left – to pursue the survivors and look for opportunities if panicked elements of the nuclear project make mistakes as they scatter or pick through the rubble.

What will remain will likely be the parts of Iran’s program which were unknown, if there are any. Tehran may decide that it would be better to reveal or progress this greatest secret only once the threat of Israeli strikes recedes. Does it make sense to rush it out now, at the height of surveillance and bombardment?

Diplomacy may – as Trump has suggested with his overnight post on Truth Social that “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” – now re-emerge. But the face of it has changed entirely compared to a week ago. Iranian officials had hinted to the media it might be willing to give up enrichment during talks in the past week. The demands placed upon it may now center on its ballistic missile program, which US hawks have long demanded be dismantled. That is happening, it seems, at a fast rate already, through its intense use of missiles to target Israel, and as a result of Israeli strikes that claim to have taken out the majority of its launchers.

The fact that Iran’s wish list for negotiations is now significantly altered – as much of what it’s hoped to keep has been destroyed or used – reveals the challenge of this moment to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His skies are owned by a hostile air force, his nuclear program heavily damaged, and his military infrastructure and command shattered, constantly having to adapt and replace to survive. This limits his immediate, favorable options for a response. Flat-out strikes against US bases will simply augur a violent US retaliation, and may, after this much telegraphing, prove ineffective.

Iran has generally turned to asymmetrical responses, to compensate for its smaller budgets and capabilities. We may see this in the capital cities of Europe and in the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days. It needs to both display some sort of deterrent but also de-escalate, in order to survive.

But Iran’s capacity to see the longer-view, and its strategic patience, will work in its favor. There are no real electoral cycles to beset the Ayatollah’s decision-making. The Iranians have time to regroup, and respond when the heat is lower.

The United States, however, has a poor track record of success and application in the region. Last night, it gained the dubious distinction of having bombed a full cartographical sweep of nations from Syria through to Afghanistan in just 20 years. But it failed to dislodge the Assad regime of Syria, and despite years of trying were observers when last year’s sweeping changes removed one of Iran’s main regional proxies. And its longest war, in Afghanistan, ended in stark humiliation. Iraq, too, began with disputed information about weapons of mass destruction, and ended in failure after years of destruction and loss.

Iran is not Iraq and last night was not March 20, 2003, when America’s ill-fated invasion of that country began. There is no ground element to Trump’s ambition in Iran, and its goal was something widely supported by allies, and possibly within reach. But the US’ questionable track record and the hubristic atmosphere around Trump’s overwhelming use of force, should amplify alarm in the region over the unknowns to come.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Until Saturday night, the world waited to see whether President Donald Trump would join Israel’s campaign against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Now we have the answer.

In a televised address from the White House, President Trump called the strikes a ‘spectacular military success’ and a ‘historic moment for the United States, Israel, and the world.’ He confirmed that Fordow—Iran’s deeply buried nuclear enrichment site near Qom—was among the targets, and warned, ‘There are many targets left.’ His message was clear: Iran must ‘make peace or face tragedy far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days.’

The U.S. has struck decisively. Whether the strike succeeds in halting Iran’s nuclear program—as the president boldly claims—remains to be seen. What is clear is that the geopolitical fuse is lit, and the consequences are just beginning.

So far, the administration has not provided public evidence that Iran was mere ‘weeks away’ from building a nuclear bomb, as the White House press secretary alleged. That claim may have helped justify the strike, but it rests more on assumption than on firm intelligence.

Yes, Iran has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels—but that alone does not make a bomb. Tehran still needs to master warhead design, detonator synchronization, reentry shielding, and delivery systems. There is no verified proof it has done so.

As I wrote for Fox News last week, bombs can destroy facilities—but they cannot erase knowledge. Many of Iran’s scientists are still alive, and their motivation may now be stronger than ever.

Tehran now faces a choice: capitulate or retaliate. Based on history, ideology, and culture, the odds overwhelmingly favor retaliation.

Surrender is antithetical to Iran’s revolutionary mindset. The Islamic Republic has endured war, sanctions, and sabotage. Its leadership interprets resistance as divine duty. This strike may have weakened Iran’s enrichment infrastructure, but it will likely strengthen the regime’s resolve.

Iran retains extensive capabilities: ballistic missiles, global proxy networks, cyber weapons, and elite paramilitary forces. This is not the end—it is the beginning of a new phase.

  1. Regional attacks on U.S. assets: Iran will likely target American military bases and diplomatic posts in Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf states through proxy militias like Kataib Hezbollah or the Houthis. Any U.S. casualties could force a wider war.
  2. Disruption of oil routes: Iran could attempt to block or threaten the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for nearly 20% of the world’s oil. Even a short disruption could send global energy prices soaring.
  3. Strikes on U.S. allies: Expect missile attacks or proxy assaults on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and especially Israel. Iran’s allies in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza are likely already preparing.
  4. Asymmetric attacks abroad: Iran’s global network of operatives includes sleeper cells in Latin America, Europe, and possibly the U.S. If Tehran believes it has little to lose, civilian targets and cyber infrastructure may be in its crosshairs.

If President Trump acted without solid intelligence, the risk is real: that we have provoked a long war on shaky grounds. Unlike the Iraq invasion in 2003, Iran’s enrichment program is genuine—but neutralizing it with airstrikes alone will not work. This war, if it escalates, will not be fought on our terms.

What is more, the strike could backfire politically inside Iran. Rather than destabilizing the regime, it may unify it. Public humiliation of key sites like Fordow plays directly into the regime’s ‘Great Satan’ narrative, fueling nationalism and quelling dissent.

The U.S. and its allies must now pivot quickly to containment, deterrence, and resilience. Air defenses must be reinforced. Cyber infrastructure must be secured. Intelligence agencies must track Iranian networks abroad. And most importantly, diplomatic channels must remain open—to allies and, when possible, to adversaries.

This is not the time for complacency. It is a time for clear strategy, disciplined leadership, and vigilance.

The deed is done. Iran’s nuclear sites lie in ruins—but its will to retaliate is not. President Trump’s triumphant tone— ‘Fordow is gone,’ he declared—may play well politically, but it also risks underestimating a hardened adversary.

Iran has absorbed assassinations, sanctions, and cyberattacks. It has endured war and isolation. What it has not done—what it is unlikely to do now—is give up.

The American people must be prepared—not just for victory narratives, but for volatility. The battlefield ahead is asymmetric, unpredictable, and global. It will test not only our military but our wisdom.

The question now is no longer whether we acted. The question is: Was it worth the cost?

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

Exuberant Republicans, and at least one prominent Democrat, lauded President Donald Trump’s leadership on Saturday after the U.S. completed an attack on three Iranian nuclear sites. 

‘Good. This was the right call. The regime deserves it. Well done, President @realDonaldTrump,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote on X. 

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., also said Trump made the right call. 

‘As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,’ he said on X. ‘Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.’ 

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, wrote: ‘’Peace through strength’ means ensuring our existential enemies don’t acquire the most lethal and catastrophic weapons known to man.’ 

And former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called Trump a ‘peacemaker.’

‘President Trump basically wants this to be like the Solimani strike – one and done. No regime change war. Trump the Peacemaker!’ he wrote on X. 

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that the president ‘made the correct decision to strike Iran’s nuclear sites. Iran made the choice to continue its pursuit of a nuclear weapon and would only be stopped by force. It would be a grave mistake to retaliate against our forces.’ 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on X, ‘Iran has waged a war of terror against the United States for 46 years. We could never allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. God bless our brave troops. President Trump made the right call and the ayatollahs should recall his warning not to target Americans.’ 

Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, said Trump’s decision was the ‘right one. The greatest threat to the safety of the United States and the world is Iran with a nuclear weapon. God Bless our troops.’ 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., wrote on X that the U.S. ‘military operations in Iran should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says.’

Johnson said that the president gave Iran ‘every opportunity to make a deal, but Iran refused to commit to a nuclear disarmament agreement. President Trump has been consistent and clear that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated. That posture has now been enforced with strength, precision, and clarity.’

He added that Trump’s ‘decisive action prevents the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, which chants ‘Death to America,’ from obtaining the most lethal weapon on the planet.’ 

However, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who authored a war powers resolution to prevent the U.S. from getting involved in Iran said the attacks were ‘not constitutional.’ 

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, echoed Massie’s sentiments. 

‘Trump struck Iran without any authorization of Congress. We need to immediately return to DC and vote on @RepThomasMassie and my War Powers Resolution to prevent America from being dragged into another endless Middle East war,’ he wrote on X. 

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Co-sponsors of the War Powers Resolution, Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., were quick to criticize President Donald Trump for greenlighting attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran Saturday night. 

‘This is not constitutional,’ Massie said, responding to Trump’s Truth Social post announcing the strikes on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan in Iran. 

The bipartisan War Powers Resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives this week as strikes between Israel and Iran raged on, and the world stood by to see if Trump would strike. 

Sources familiar told Fox News Digital that both House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., were briefed on the strikes ahead of time. 

‘Trump struck Iran without any authorization of Congress. We need to immediately return to DC and vote on @RepThomasMassie and my War Powers Resolution to prevent America from being dragged into another endless Middle East war,’ Khanna said. 

This week, lawmakers sounded off on the unconstitutionality of Trump striking Iran without congressional approval. Congress has the sole power to declare war under Article I of the Constitution

The War Powers Resolution seeks to ‘remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic State of Iran’ and directs Trump to ‘terminate’ the deployment of American troops against Iran without an ‘authorized declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military forces against Iran.’

As Trump announced his strikes against Iran – without congressional approval – Khanna said representatives should return to Capitol Hill to prevent further escalation.

And in the upper chamber, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced his own war powers resolution ahead of the bipartisan duo in the House. While the resolution had been gaining steam with his colleagues, momentum could be stalled due to the strikes. His resolution is privileged, meaning that lawmakers will have to consider it. The earliest it could be voted on is Friday.

Kaine argued in a statement that ‘the American public is overwhelmingly opposed to the U.S. waging war on Iran.’

‘And the Israeli Foreign Minister admitted yesterday that Israeli bombing had set the Iranian nuclear program back ‘at least 2 or 3 years,” he said. ‘So, what made Trump recklessly decide to rush and bomb today? Horrible judgment. I will push for all senators to vote on whether they are for this third idiotic Middle East war.’

This week on Capitol Hill, Massie, the conservative fiscal hawk who refused to sign onto Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ built an unlikely bipartisan coalition of lawmakers resisting the U.S.’ involvement in the Middle East conflict. 

‘This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution,’ Massie said. 

Massie, whom Trump threatened to primary during the House GOP megabill negotiations, invited ‘all members of Congress to cosponsor this resolution.’ By Tuesday night, the bipartisan bill had picked up 27 cosponsors, including progressive ‘Squad’ members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

Across the political aisle, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., signaled her support, writing that Americans want an affordable cost of living, safe communities and quality education ‘not going into another foreign war.’

‘This is not our fight,’ Greene doubled down on Saturday night, before Trump’s Truth Social announcement. 

The bill’s original co-sponsors also include progressive Democrat Reps.Pramila Jayapal, Summer Lee, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, who called it unconstitutional for ‘Trump to go to war without a vote in Congress.’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump would make his decision about whether to bomb Iran within two weeks. 

‘We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,’ Trump said Saturday night. 

Israel launched preemptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leaders last week, which the Islamic Republic considered a ‘declaration of war.’ Strikes between Israel and Iran have raged on since, as Trump said he was considering whether to sign off on U.S. strikes against Iran. 

The Jewish State targeted Iran’s nuclear capabilities after months of failed negotiations in the region and heightened concern over Iran developing nuclear weapons. 

But Ali Bahreini, Iran’s ambassador to Geneva, said Iran ‘will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes,’ as Israel, and now the U.S., have issued strikes against Iran’s nuclear capabilities. 

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was delivering remarks at a ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ rally in Tusla, Okla., on Saturday night when President Donald Trump announced the United States had successfully attacked three nuclear sites in Iran. 

An aide interrupted Sanders’ remarks to deliver the message Trump had just blasted off on Truth Social. 

‘We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,’ Trump said in the post. 

Sanders read the piece of paper with Trump’s Truth Social post to his supporters, shaking his head as the socialist senator processed what the president had just announced. ‘No more wars!’ the crowd chanted. 

Trump added in the post: ‘All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.’

Sanders nodded along as the crowd continued to chant, ‘No more wars!’ before responding to the news in real time. 

He said the news was not only ‘alarming,’ but ‘so grossly unconstitutional.’

‘All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress. The president does not have the right,’ Sanders shouted. 

Sanders joins the bipartisan coalition in Congress who have called out the ‘unconstitutionality’ of Trump striking Iran without congressional approval. 

A bipartisan War Powers Resolution was introduced in the House of Representatives this week as strikes between Israel and Iran raged on, and the world stood by to see if Trump would strike. Congress has the sole power to declare war under Article I of the Constitution

The War Powers Resolution seeks to ‘remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic State of Iran’ and directs Trump to ‘terminate’ the deployment of American troops against Iran without an ‘authorized declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military forces against Iran.’

‘The American people do not want more war, more death!’ Sanders said. ‘It might be a good idea if we concentrated on the problems that exist in Oklahoma and Vermont rather than getting involved in another war that the American people do not want.’

But Sanders told the crowd not to give up on their vision for America’s future. 

‘In this moment in American history, what we have got to do in Vermont and Oklahoma, in Texas, all over this country, is stand up and fight back, and tell them this is our country!’ Sanders said. 

Sanders has been a vocal opponent of the United States joining Israel in its war against Iran as Trump weighed striking its nuclear facilities. 

‘Netanyahu is not the President of the United States,’ Sanders said on social media earlier this week. 

‘He should not be determining U.S. foreign and military policy. If the people of Israel support his decision to start a war with Iran, that is their business and their war. The United States must not be a part of it,’ he added. 

The democratic socialist has been a vocal opponent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Gaza since Israel retaliated following Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. 

After Israel launched preemptive strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities last week, Sanders said it was ‘just his latest violation of international law,’ likening Netanyahu to a ‘war criminal.’

The Vermont senator was speaking at his second rally of the day, part of his southern swing of the ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour that Sanders started in response to Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda. 

Rep. Greg Casar, D-Tx., and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Tx., are slated to join the Vermont senator at his rallies in Texas on Sunday. 

And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joined Sanders on his Western swing of the tour earlier this year. 

The tour targets deep red districts currently held by Republicans, a strategy picked up by Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., who hosted town halls in Republican congressional districts, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) through their ‘People’s Town Halls’ across the United States. 

Sanders also held a rally in House Speaker Mike Johnson’s hometown of Shreveport, La., on Saturday. 

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