Alliance leaders are leaning hard on the old Cold War script — that Russia is the biggest threat — to convince member states to boost military spending. But let’s be honest: that narrative is wearing thin.

NATO chief Mark Rutte is pushing a new 5% of GDP defense spending target, calling it a “quantum leap” needed to bolster air defenses and buy thousands of tanks and long-range weapons. A NATO summit is happening this week and the goal? Convince member states to rebuild stockpiles and prepare for a more “dangerous world.”

But here’s the thing: most European NATO members currently spend around 2% — and they’ve been perfectly comfortable outsourcing their defense burden to American taxpayers. Why pony up now, when U.S. dollars have done the heavy lifting?

Plus, many of these countries are drowning in debt and already stretched thin at home. Free healthcare and month-long holidays don’t exactly pair well with an expensive military industrial complex.

And in case you were wondering how seriously they’re taking the 5% pledge — Spain has already negotiated an exemption, promising just 2.5%. Great deal for them. Not so great for the Americans underwriting the rest.

The post Mark Rutte’s 5% Fantasy: NATO Tries the Hard Sell appeared first on Redacted.

The new president of Syria — former ISIS member Ahmed al‑Sharaa — publicly promised to protect Christians and other minorities after taking office in January. That’s not going well.

On Sunday, between 20–25 Christians were killed and dozens more wounded in what’s being called the first major ISIS-style suicide bombing of a church since the fall of the Assad government.

Back in March, after 900 Alawite civilians were massacred in coastal clashes between Assad loyalists and transitional forces, President al‑Sharaa said this:

“We announce the formation of a fact-finding committee regarding the events on the coast and form a higher committee.”

And…? More deaths. More promises. Still “fact-finding.”

This isn’t just about failure — it’s about how fragile transitional governments are when they inherit power vacuums, warlord fiefdoms, and decades of sectarian wounds. Regime change may be complete on paper — but order hasn’t followed.

When will we learn?

The post Syria’s Christians Are Still Dying appeared first on Redacted.

Oil prices fell 7% after Iran fired on a U.S. military base in Qatar.

Why would oil drop after a bombing?

It was a collective exhale.

Prices surged Sunday on fears that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz — a move that would choke off 20% of global oil supply. But instead of triggering an economic crisis, Iran responded with a limited military strike. No supply shock, no escalation — and everyone survived.

Markets read that as: crisis averted. And oil cooled off.

Is that that?

The post Markets Exhale as Iran Avoids Strait Closure appeared first on Redacted.

President Trump announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire but the terms read like an athletic event. Team A stops first and then Team B stops 12 hours later and then 12 hours after that, the bombs stop completely.

What…? Who…?

I don’t get it.

Both sides blitzed one another with deadly attacks, as the clock ran out but Iranian TV reported that the ceasefire began at 8 a.m. local time after Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said that they would stop firing after Israel stopped.

Earlier on Monday, Iran retaliated against the U.S. by bombing a U.S. base but President Trump said that it was “weak” and “expected.” His full comment:

“They’ve gotten it all out of their ‘system,’ and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same.”

He then said that both countries had approached him with requests for a ceasefire and he championed both countries equally and said that they each have an “UNLIMITED” future “filled with great PROMISE.”

It sounds great and maybe it was all strategic but do we trust these parties to lay down weapons?

Is it really “out of their system”? Like a good cry?

The post Trump Announces Ceasefire appeared first on Redacted.

You’re used to hearing that plastic bottles are full of microplastics, I get it. Well, a new study is here to tell us that glass bottles are worse!

Researchers tested various beverage containers and found that glass bottles shed between 5 and 50 times more microplastics than plastic or metal ones.

They blame it on the caps, especially the paint or lining inside them, which flakes off and contaminates the drink.

I give up!

The post Glass Bottles: The Latest Thing That’s Trying to Kill You appeared first on Redacted.

An upcoming NATO summit has been shortened — and poor President Zelensky has reportedly been dropped from the agenda.

NATO’s World Forum in The Hague was set to kick off Tuesday with a lavish welcome dinner at the Dutch royal family’s castle, followed by high-level meetings between alliance leaders. But in the wake of the escalating conflict with Iran, the event has been scaled back — and Zelensky’s invitation has been quietly rescinded. He may still be welcome at the dinner though.

Remember when Zelensky was the must-have guest at every global ceremony? Now his war has been pushed to the back burner.

Where NATO once stood united against Russia, it now finds itself fractured over the war in the Middle East. Several member states have condemned Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza. Will they fall in line behind the U.S. again — this time to back Israel?

I’d love to be a fly on that wall!

Meanwhile, Zelensky is desperate to get the spotlight back. Over the weekend, he threatened Russia with long-range weapons and claimed his “Western backers” were on board.

My dude — your Western backers are starting to forget you exist.

The post Zelensky Dropped as NATO Shifts Focus to Middle East Crisis appeared first on Redacted.

Iran’s parliament has voted to close the Strait of Hormuz — but the move won’t take effect unless it’s approved by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

If enacted, the consequences would be massive: nearly 20% of global oil trade flows through this narrow waterway. Even the threat of closure has already pushed oil prices higher, with markets bracing for turbulence.

So what happens if Iran follows through?

• Oil prices could skyrocket to $100–150 per barrel.
• Gas prices would climb, potentially past $4/gallon in the U.S.
• Shipping costs surge as tankers reroute and insurance premiums spike.
• Inflation rebounds, especially in energy-dependent economies.
• Supply chains slow down — everything from food to fuel gets more expensive.

For a global economy already under strain, this kind of shock could tip fragile markets into recession. Remember the last time a war tanked the global economy? You don’t have to reach back too far, it was in 2022 over the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

The U.S. and its allies could see this closure as an escalation and respond militarily. Let’s hope they don’t. The U.S. military publication, Stars and Stripes, reports that the “shipping industry was placed on high alert on Sunday with warnings that Tehran could retaliate against commercial vessels following after U.S. airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

The post Iran Just Voted to Choke the World’s Oil appeared first on Redacted.

The U.S. celebrated its strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities as a great success but that has been hard to corroborate.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that the three sites were hit and “assessed that there has been extensive damage” at the sites but this was “based on an analysis of the information available to it,” not imagery or visits.

The IAEA did say that it was in contact with the Iranian regulatory authorities and was informed that there is no nuclear fallout – a critical detail.

This suggests one of two things:

1. There was no weapons-grade material present;
2. The U.S. deliberately avoided striking actual nuclear material.

If either is true, then this wasn’t a strategic dismantling of a nuclear weapons program. It was a symbolic strike, carefully designed to send a message — but to whom?

Political scientist Gilbert Doctorow says that the strikes were “political theater.” He says it doesn’t matter what was demolished.

“By saying that he has essentially deprived Benjamin Netanyahu of all justification to continue the war against Iran and spared the United States any obligation to otherwise intervene in the conflict. Meanwhile, the longer Netanyahu continues attacks on Iran, the more devastating the Iranian counter-strikes are becoming, to the point where critical Israeli infrastructure is being degraded and the viability of the economy is being put into question. The question now is what will come first: the utter destruction of Israel or the removal of Netanyahu from office and his incarceration.”

Could this have been President Trump’s game all along?

Iran has condemned the attack obviously. Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called the attack a “grave violation of the UN Charter” that “will have everlasting consequences.” He declared that “Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.”

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting and UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the attacks as “a dangerous escalation.”

The Iranian U.N. representative said that the U.S. has “destroyed diplomacy” and “sacrificed its safety to save Netanyahu.”

Following these accusations, President Trump called for regime change in Iran.

That’s a jarring turn — especially in light of his own speech just last month in Saudi Arabia, where he said this:

“In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built. And the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves. Peace, prosperity, and progress ultimately came NOT from a radical rejection of your heritage, but rather from embracing your national traditions and embracing that same heritage that you love so dearly.”

What happened to that sentiment?

The post Symbolic Strike or Strategic Bluff? U.S. Hits Iran, Fallout Absent appeared first on Redacted.