Editor’s note. This was written before Israel’s blessed attack on Iran. Hopefully, it will still serve as support for that initiative.

By Walter E. Block

In sports, the newcomer is typically advised to keep his eye on the ball. This is crucially important in golf. Whether putting or going for long yardage, you will not do well if you take your eye off that little white sphere even for a split second. Too many golf patzers look, instead at the flight of the ball after being hit, and not sufficiently at it before contact.

In basketball, while dribbling, the last thing you want to do, paradoxically, is look at the ball. Control, there, should be automatic. But when receiving a pass, that is the be-all and end-all. Pretty much nothing else matters. Ok, ok, you don’t want to run into anyone else and be penalized for a charge. That’s why you have two eyes!

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Peloni:  IDF Intelligence Corps former head of research, Brig. Gen. (res) Yossi Kuperwasser, weighs in on the issue of what will happen if Iran refuses to comply with Trump’s demands, even if Trump fails to act, the latter being an eventuality which I do not see as being very likely.  In truth, Trump could retreat from his stated objectives, even after restating them clearly enough to include a new reproach of his own intel agency and his own feckless DNI, but Israel can not do so.  One way or another, for the interest of the entire free world, the task of defeating and defanging the nuclear menace from Iran will be achieved.  The only question is whether this will come at the cost of a few of the American bombs, or if it will come at the cost of more significant input from Israel alone.  While the US has resolved to no longer be the world’s policeman, they still have their own interests upon which to react, and if they refuse to do so, Israel will act in accord with her own interests, albeit, it is likely to be at a greater cost of lives and material by Israel.

Peloni:  The feckless nature by which Washington has dealt with the threat from Iran has had its effect in various way, and importantly, this fecklessness has thus imprinted itself upon the Gulf nations, to their own detriment.  Indeed, despite the obvious and significant threat which the Iranians pose to the Gulf states, they have been happy to sit back to not only let Israel alone take on all of the challenges in dealing with the menace from Iran, but they have been seen to actively coordinated their public and diplomatic efforts to add to those challenges.  While the benefit in satisfying both the radicals in their own society and the Mullahs in Tehran are self evident, this strategy provides a poor staging ground on which to anticipate the road forward towards the foundation of the IMEC in the aftermath of Israel’s dealing with the various threats emanating from Iran.  Still, the twin victories of resolve and capability with which Israel has, and will continue, to punish Iran on its own will likewise provide Israel alone with a commanding position in the wake of the resolution which will come from this campaign as it faced down both the Iranians and the obfuscating efforts of the Gulf states simultaneously.

Hussain Abdul-Hussain | June 19, 2025

Flag of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.  (Photo by Rico Shen – Image:Int-GCC-flag.gif and Image:GCC Logo.svg, Public Domain)

Since 1979, Iran has been a problem for Arab Gulf capitals. Tehran has exported its radical Islamism and terrorism across the region, built loyalist militias, agitated popular opinion against Gulf governments, and pursued a nuclear weapon.

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Peloni:  Increasing threats against US interests emerging from Iranian proxy militias in Iraq.  Notably, this is the only proxy force left to Iran which has yet to be either tested or defeated in the now 20 month war between Israel and Iran & its various proxies.

By Seth Frantzman | June 20, 2025

On June 13, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani received US Ambassador Stephen Fagin and General Kevin Leahy, the commander of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, following what the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office called the “dangerous developments resulting from the attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran.” (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office)

The Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq has threatened to target “US interests” in the Middle East if the US intervenes in the Israel-Iran conflict, according to several regional Arabic reports. The New Arab reported on June 15 that the pro-Iranian group has also called for the “closure of the US Embassy in Baghdad,” which “comes as a state of anticipation and fear prevails in Iraq that the country could be dragged into a war.” CNN Arabic noted that Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu al Askari made the group’s threat.

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Peloni:  Daniel is precisely correct in his call to bring down the evil regime in Tehran.  What comes next will be for the Iranian people to choose, as there is no one who could have a greater right than they to choose their own fate, recognizing of course that their choice in such a choosing will in fact dictate their fate.

We wanted regime change in the USSR, but we didn’t do any nation-building.

by Daniel Greenfield | June 19, 2025

I am skeptical that the United States will actually do anything directly in Iran. If it does, it’s going to be limited to using some bombers to drop heavy ordnance on an underground nuclear reactor.

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Peloni:  Peg makes some very good observations here regarding both the Carlson-Cruz ‘debate’ and the Trump-Carlson showdown.

Importantly, the obsessive, selective and solitary focus on Israel by Carlson and his allies in the Woke Right demonstrates the reality  that their objections are against Israel rather than in deference to any domestic interest in refraining from international misadventures.  Indeed, as I have noted on many occasions, it might be said that the tirades against supporting Israel could be labeled anti-Israel or perhaps pro-Iran, but it lacks any foundation on which they could be claimed to be in support of America First agenda, which would require a far greater punditry from Carlson et al against US involvement in such enterprises as funding the Hezbollah led Lebanon for instance, which should reasonably demand similar effort of their excoriation if their interest was not specifically in opposition to the only Jewish State.  As all their efforts seem to pull in one direction, against the nation of Israel alone, it makes both their point and their motivation pretty clear.  And yet, only Sen. Cruz has successfully made this point while challenging Carlson on his face to face platform.

Tierney’s Real News | June 19, 2025

Screenshot from Youtube [Cropped]

I was going to write a review of the Ted Cruz-Tucker Carlson ‘debate’ but PJ Media stole my thunder with a well written summary. If you love Tucker more than Trump & MAGA – you’ll want to stop reading my newsletter now.

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Peloni:  This is an important report.

“We would welcome a US-Iran deal, because only then can sanctions be lifted. Otherwise, future cooperation between China and Iran will be increasingly difficult”

“There are likely several thousand to over 10,000 Chinese nationals in Iran…We would welcome a US-Iran deal, because only then can sanctions be lifted. Otherwise, future cooperation between China and Iran will be increasingly difficult” – Niu Xinchun and Zou Zhiqiang were… pic.twitter.com/I2vHO2mHuF

— Tuvia Gering ??? (@GeringTuvia) June 20, 2025

Peloni:  This was an abrupt change of plan, as Trump gave a two day window to make his decision, his decision seems to have been to extend that window for two weeks.  Given that the Iranians continue to demand a cease fire, it begs the question as to what brought on this significant reprieve from Unconditional Surrender to two weeks to talk some more.

Foreign ministers of UK, France & Germany set to meet Iran’s FM in Geneva

All Israel News Staff | Published: June 20, 2025

Photo by Michael Vadon – Donald Trump Sr at Citizens United Freedom Summit in Greenville South Carolina May 2015 by Michael Vadon, CC BY-SA 2.0

Amid ongoing speculation about potential U.S. participation in Israel’s war against the Iranian regime, President Donald Trump seems poised to give diplomacy another chance.

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Peloni:  Turkey continues to move forward with its efforts to fulfill its Jihadist goals as it consolidates its expansion into Greek islands.

By Robert Spencer | June 19, 2025

“Fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah” (Qur’an 8:39).

The jihad against non-Muslims will continue until all over the earth, “religion is all for Allah.” Jihadis and jihadist entities such as Erdogan’s Turkey demand this territory or that, and all too often, clueless Infidels, ignorant of the larger goal, decide to negotiate and give them part or all of what they demand, hoping that there will then be peace. Instead, there will just be more demands. If Turkey gets Greece’s Aegean islands, it will next be demanding part or all of the Greek mainland. And then beyond.

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Peloni:  Qatari influence in Washington works against US interests and Israeli interests alike.  Is it any wonder that the Qatari linked Steve Witkoff was integral to Trump’s two week negotiating reprieve?

Accusations of bribery against the Gulf state are only part of the problem – the Qataris are jihadi financiers

President Donald Trump meets with the Emir of Qatar during their bilateral meeting, Sunday, May 21, 2017, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Gift or grift? The tiny Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar has just given the United States a 747 jet to serve as the new Air Force One. But what exactly is Qatar getting in return?

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Peloni:  Naomi Kahn looks at the consequences of legal land use which has siphoned off nearly 1/4 of the usable land in the Negev.

Peloni:  Well, here is where we stand.  Israel continues the war alone, while Trump continues to sit on the sidelines talking with the blood soaked minions of Iran’s regime. This is what comes from nations’ acting in their own interest, as interpreted by the relevant leaderships of those nations.  While the US has every reason to enter the fray, they are instead choosing a pause to further consider their options as their shared interest in eliminating the threat to both the Israeli and American people are carried by the Israelis alone.

For those who have faith in the will of the Iranian people to finally overthrow the Ayatollahs, this indecision by the US will most certainly have a chilling effect upon what otherwise might have been a building crescendo towards a popular uprising against the current regime.  Relatedly, Trump’s attempt to extend his deal making efforts will no doubt be coordinated with an extension on the prohibition on Khomeini’s execution by Israel.

Israel is no longer the dependent child of Western powers. We are a sovereign nation rising with moral clarity where others hesitate.

Avi Abelow | Jun 19, 2025

Ben Gurion reading the Declaration of Statehood in 1948.  (Photo by Rudi Weissenstein – This is available from National Photo Collection of Israel, Photography dept. Government Press Office (link), under the digital ID D247-041.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain)

For decades, many around the world—including Jews and Israelis—have clung to a dangerous myth: that Israel cannot act alone. That we depend on American permission, American firepower, and American protection.

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Peloni:  American technology should be limited to regimes which are understood to be stable enterprises which also promote US interests.  Established stability and common interests remain as the the twin engine of any partnership, and should be held as the minimum requirement upon which to base decisions regarding any offer of sharing such sensitive technology as the F-35.  Hence, it would seem reasonable to question the wisdom of sharing such technology with regimes which are marked by challenges to their stability, as would include those described below.

AFSI warns of risks in supplying F-35s to authoritarian regimes following Iran strike

Peloni:  We have all been waiting for the moment that we can all say we are no longer waiting for the moment that this threat to all of Western Society has been neutralized.  That moment is nearly over.

by Lawrence Kadish  •  Gatestone Institute  •  June 19, 2025

Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (Screenshot from Youtube)

President Donald J. Trump has a problem. If he leaves Iran’s major nuclear research and centrifuge sites, such as the Fordow uranium enrichment plant or Natanz, under their protective mountains, the countless centrifuges sheltered there will remain a permanent temptation — an “attractive nuisance” — for the Iranian regime to resurrect to terrorize its neighbors with again.

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Macron is using the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Iran-Israel standoff not out of genuine concern, but as tools to pander to the Muslim world

By Martin Sherman

President Donald J. Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron participate in a joint press conference at the Centre de Congrés Bellevue Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, in Biarritz, France, site of the G7 Summit. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks, DC – #G7Biarritz, Public Domain)

With the war raging between Iran and Israel, few news items beyond reports from the battlefront itself make it into international headlines. The recent G7 Summit in Canada was one event that did manage to breach that barrier, mostly relating to provocative statements and/or actions by Donald Trump. Such, for example, was his decision to leave the Conference after barely a day, and his vehement verbal assault on French President Emmanuel Macron.

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All Israel News Staff | Published: June 19, 2025

Following Thursday morning’s missile barrage that struck several civilian targets, including the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, Israeli leaders sharply escalated their rhetoric, publicly stating for the first time that ending the ayatollah regime in Tehran is among Israel’s war objectives.

“Iran’s terrorist tyrants launched missiles at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba and at a civilian population in the center of the country,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

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Peloni:  Today marks the 78th anniversary of the death of John Henry Patterson, a man who was responsible for the founding of what would come to be the IDF.  Below is an important telling of his life as he encountered many famous moments, ultimately culminating in him leading and training the first Jewish fighting force in the modern era, a force which would include so many of the familiar names which would come to fill the ranks and leadership of the modern Zionist movement.

The Curious Tale of John Henry Patterson

by Geoffrey Clarfield (November 2016)

Lt-Colonel John Henry Patterson, from his book “With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign” (Photo By John Henry Patterson – book “With the Judaeans in the Palestine Campaign”, 1922, Public Domain) [Cropped]

I had the pleasure of living and working in East Africa for 16 years. Our children spent much of their childhood there. As a family we were often on Safari, meaning that we would take our jeep, Land Rover, or Land Cruiser, pack up our tents, store food and camping equipment and go out into the bush of wild East Africa. We stayed in rustic tented camps, often in remote tribal areas which were sites where as an anthropologist, I was doing research.

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Peloni:  Note the segment with Gingrich

Peloni:  While Cruz calls out Carlson’s obsession with Israel, it should be recalled that I have been consistently noting that the “isolationists”, such as Carlson, are in fact not isolationists.  They are specifically either anti-Israel, or pro-Iran.  Either way, their focus is not directed in favor of America but either in opposition to America’s greatest ally or in tandem to America’s great enemy.  Striking a tone which is intended to be encompassing and factually based, they twist reality towards something quite harmful for America should US leadership follow their Siren calls.  While supplicants such as Bannon and Johnson failed this test, Sen. Cruz and Pres. Trump never lost their stated intolerance to Iran’s nuclear program.

Finally, someone with real power calls out Tucker Carlson straight to his face over his thinly veiled antisemitism. Kudos, @tedcruz pic.twitter.com/b4VDeioDNO

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 18, 2025