IDF Reveals 10-Month-Old Baby, 4-Year-Old Brother Beaten To Death By Hamas Terrorists

Daniel Hagari, the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) spokesperson, announced that the dead children returned Thursday to Israel from Gaza were beaten to death by terrorists.

“We can confirm that baby Kfir Bibas, aged just 10 months old, and his older brother Ariel, aged four, were both brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza no later than November 2023,” the spokesperson said. “Contrary to Hamas’ lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood. The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys. They killed them with their bare hands.”

The two boys were taken hostage by Hamas along with their mother, Shiri and their father, Yarden, during the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack against Israel. Yarden was released on Feb. 1. Hamas paraded the coffins of the dead children in a ceremony accompanied by a cheering crowd Thursday where they handed the remains of the hostages to the Red Cross.

They were expected to hand over the remains of Shiri as well but the body they handed over was not hers, the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) said, The Jerusalem Post reported. The IFM and Israel Police jointly performed forensic analyses to identify the remains. Officials said the act violated the agreement between Israel and Hamas, adding that the organization was under an obligation to return the bodies under the ceasefire agreement that took effect Jan. 19

“Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two little babies. In an unspeakably cynical way, they did not return Shiri to her little children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on social media in Hebrew.

The IDF identified Oded Lifshitz, who was among the remains Hamas handed over Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post.

AUTHOR

Ilan Hulkower

Contributor.

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Who kidnaps a little boy and a baby and murders them? Monsters. That’s who.

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The First Indian-Origin FBI Director and a New Chapter in U.S. Law Enforcement

Kashyap “Kash” Patel has made history as the first Indian-origin Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a role he achieved after a contentious and politically charged confirmation process. On February 20, 2025, Patel secured his position as the head of the FBI with a narrow Senate vote of 51-49. This vote highlighted deep political divisions, setting the stage for a leadership marked by promise and controversy. Patel’s rise to this significant role is a personal victory and a landmark achievement for the Indian-American community, merging cultural heritage with an unwavering pursuit of professional ambition.

Born in New York to Gujarati Indian parents who immigrated from Uganda in the 1970s, Kash Patel’s background exemplifies the immigrant experience in America. His parents sought better opportunities, fleeing ethnic discrimination in their homeland, and Patel grew up with a strong sense of cultural identity. Despite facing challenges as the child of immigrants, Patel excelled academically and professionally, embodying the immigrant narrative of determination and success.

Patel pursued his education with a distinct focus on law and public service. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and History from Richmond University in 2002 before obtaining a Juris Doctor (JD) from Pace University School of Law in 2004. His dedication to advancing his legal education took him to University College London, where he earned a certificate in international law. This academic foundation would become the cornerstone of his outstanding career in law enforcement and national security.

Patel’s professional journey began in Florida, where he served as a public defender for the state. This role gave him invaluable courtroom experience by managing complex cases, including murder and financial crimes. His early exposure to the criminal justice system significantly shaped his understanding of the law and the complexities of defending individuals within the legal framework. It wasn’t long before Patel’s skills were recognized, leading him to transition to federal positions within the Department of Justice (DOJ), where he took on the responsibilities of a trial attorney, focusing on counterterrorism cases.

In 2017, Patel’s career experienced a major shift when he became the senior counsel for counterterrorism on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Here, Patel gained recognition for his close connections to former President Donald Trump, promoting transparency and questioning the FBI’s handling of politically sensitive investigations. His vocal criticisms of the FBI, particularly in the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, earned him both praise from conservatives and backlash from liberals, cementing his status as a polarizing figure in Washington.

In 2019, Patel became the senior director of the Counterterrorism Directorate at the National Security Council, where he oversaw U.S. intelligence operations and special forces. His tenure in this position earned him a reputation for emphasizing national security, particularly counterterrorism efforts. Later, he enhanced his influence by serving as chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense under President Trump. His work within national security circles and rising reputation as a strong conservative voice positioned Patel for his prominent role as FBI Director.

Patel’s appointment as FBI Director was far from smooth. His confirmation faced intense scrutiny and opposition due to his perceived partisanship and controversial ties to former President Trump. The Senate vote of 51-49 highlighted the deep divides in Congress over Patel’s qualifications and the direction he would take the FBI.

Critics of Patel, particularly Democrats, raised concerns about his lack of traditional law enforcement experience. They questioned his impartiality, accusing him of aligning too closely with Trump’s political agenda. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin called him “dangerous” and “inexperienced,” citing his outspoken criticisms of the FBI during politically charged investigations. His past involvement in drafting the Nunes memo, which criticized the FBI’s actions during the Russia probe, further fueled suspicions that Patel might use the FBI for political purposes.

The confirmation process also included fierce questioning during Patel’s hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senators scrutinized his history of public advocacy, particularly his outspoken support for Trump and controversial stances on law enforcement. Despite the partisan divide, Patel received significant support from Republicans, who praised him as a reformer capable of restoring accountability to an agency that had become politicized.

As the new FBI Director, Patel’s vision for the agency centers on transparency, accountability, and a commitment to justice. His statement, “Let good cops be cops,” captures his approach—highlighting the need to restore public trust in law enforcement agencies that have faced considerable scrutiny in recent years. Patel also clarified that national security would be a top priority, accompanied by a stern warning to criminals: “We will hunt you down in every corner of this planet.”

Supporters of Patel’s appointment argue that he will reform the FBI, especially after years of criticism regarding the agency’s handling of politically sensitive cases. However, his lack of traditional law enforcement experience and the controversies surrounding his ties to Trump have led to significant concerns about the politicization of the agency under his leadership.

Patel’s appointment is a milestone not just for the FBI but also for the Indian-American community. As a Hindu leader in one of the country’s most influential law enforcement positions, Patel represents a significant cultural achievement. His rise to the top of the FBI showcases the growing presence and influence of Indian-Americans in high-profile roles within U.S. society. For many in the Indian diaspora, Patel’s success inspires, signaling that individuals from diverse backgrounds can reach the highest echelons of American power.

Kash Patel’s journey from the son of immigrants to becoming the first Indian-origin Director of the FBI exemplifies ambition, resilience, and controversy. His career, marked by a blend of legal expertise and national security experience, has equipped him for the significant challenges of leading one of the world’s most powerful law enforcement agencies. As he navigates the delicate balance of rebuilding trust, addressing national security threats, and preserving the FBI’s independence, Patel’s leadership is set to influence the agency’s future. At the same time, his appointment will continue to ignite discussions about race, politics, and the role of law enforcement in modern American society.

Kash Patel will be closely watched in the coming years as he strives to uphold justice and integrity within the FBI. His capacity to reconcile his controversial past with his new leadership role in a federal agency will likely shape his legacy within the FBI and the broader realm of American governance.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

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President Eisenhower and President Trump Both Strategic High IQ Thinkers

The massive corruption, fraud, waste and abuse of our tax money, illegally confiscated from our paychecks and retirement accounts then laundered through the U.S. Treasury to fund unconstitutional expenditures is finally getting exposed by President Trump and his superior high IQ DOGE team led indirectly by Mr. Elon Musk.

Let’s not forget though that in July 1954, President Eisenhower initiated the same initiative or investigation of government waste and abuse but he directed his attention directly on parts of the operational readiness of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

President Eisenhower requested that General Doolittle oversee a group of consultants and investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of various covert operational activities of the aforementioned CIA.

President Eisenhower classified this operation as Top Secret and all results of this investigation were to be routed directly back to him considering the nature of the clandestine work.

He wanted a broad range of study to see if the CIA can be ran more efficiently with less money much like what the Trump and DOGE team are uncovering in 2025.

Eisenhower directed and implemented the following plan:

  1. recommending methods and procedures for reducing expenditures to the lowest amount consistent with the efficient performance of essential services, activities and functions;
  2. eliminating duplication and overlapping of services, activities, and functions;
  3. consolidating services, activities, and functions of a similar nature;
  4. abolishing services, activities, and functions not necessary to the efficient conduct of Government;
  5. eliminating nonessential services, functions, and activities which are competitive with private enterprise;
  6. defining responsibilities of officials; and
  7. relocating agencies now responsible directly to the President in departments or other agencies.

This plan by former President Eisenhower in 1954 mirrors the current Trump approach to downsizing our federal government but Eisenhower focused on a single operational entity within the CIA.

The Trump plan is restructuring our entire system of governance to save our republic from a catastrophic economic financial collapse created by years of abuse and out of control spending by an incompetent criminal enterprise operating in our Congress and more recently under Biden’s watch.

The basis for Eisenhower’s request was focused upon the growing influence of global Communism in the former Soviet Union and China. President Trump could claim the same strategic position but our Communist infiltration is within the halls of our very own Congress.

It looks like our republic is going to be saved from this internal Communist Marxist infiltration by a man whose face needs to be sculpted alongside other great presidents on Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota.

We the people just need to help Trump finish the job by voting out those left wing Marxist canker sores infested in our Congress.

Let’s start by stripping Congresswoman and Hamas sympathizer Ilhan Omar of her fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship and deport her ass back to Somalia.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Trump Moves On Ukraine, Euros Panic

Isn’t this a great time to be alive in America! We finally have a president who cares for this country, who puts our interests first, and who is willing to tell the truth as he sees it, not as our “allies” or adversaries want to hear it.

This week, of course, it was Ukraine. As I have said before in this space, we have finally reached what Churchill called the “end of the beginning.” Now the real negotiations begin.

Of course the Europeans were upset that Trump didn’t include Zelensky in the opening round of exploratory talks with the Russians in Saudi Arabia. So what did the Z-man do? He flew to Turkey hoping to enlist the Islamist Erdogan to make his case to the Europeans.

Trump’s demands are not complicated. First, he notes that the United States has given Ukraine $350 billion in assistance, and that Zelensky himself has acknowledged that half of it has gone “missing.”

Missing? Really? I saw it last week while skiing at Courcheval. So many BMW 700-series sedans and Mercedes G-wagons with Ukrainian license plates, whole families enjoying the slopes – on our dime.

You and I are currently paying the salaries of Ukrainian civil servants, as well as their pensions, and we don’t have a lot to show for it. The Euros have provided the Ukes with $200 billion in loans, which they expect to get paid back. Trump found that unfair.

So he sent Treasury Secretary Scott Beeson to Kyiv to make an offer: you pay us back with access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, uranium, and iron. The Z-man flat out refused. Big mistake.

Now Trump is calling for the Ukrainians to hold presidential elections, which were initially scheduled for May 2024 — until the Z-man canceled them. After all, we are supposed to be supporting “democracy,” right? Isn’t that what we’ve been told this is about? The Z-man is now REALLY worried.

So Zelensky’s next step was to trot off to Munich and propose creating a pan-European army to defend Ukraine and presumably the rest of the continent from Russian aggression. President Macron of France (aka “Little Cookie”), has been calling for the same for several years, as have earlier French presidents.

Some have even offered to place Europe under a French nuclear umbrella. That was a proposal dragged out of the dustbin of history this week by Friedrich Merz, the CDU party leader who is currently leading in the polls to become Germany’s next chancellor in elections to be held on Sunday.

My advice to Mr. Merz: be careful what you wish for. A French nuclear umbrella, or even a British-French one, would be a very leaky umbrella. Do you really think the French are going to sacrifice Paris or Lyons to defend Kyiv? I sure don’t.

Deterrence is a fragile thing. For it to work, it must be credible. A Franco-British nuclear umbrella over Ukraine and Europe is not.

President Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Keith Kellogg, was also at the Munich security conference (along with Sec/Def Pete Hegseth and JD Vance, whose speech I wrote about in this space last week). He suggested that the US was hoping “to force” Putin into actions he was “uncomfortable with,” including disrupting Russia’s alliances with Iran, North Korea, and China.

Given that Russia formalized a 20-year military and security treaty with Iran in January, and that China also has such a deal, such a development would be a huge win for President Trump and for Americans.

There was also talk in the media this week about “Track 2″ diplomacy in Geneva, off-the-record discussions between Americans and Russians close to their respective administrations.

Parallel diplomacy – half-blessed, but off-the-record – has been going on for years. If you have purchased my latest book, The Iran House, you will find an amusing account of my own involvement in Track 2 talks at an Italian seaside resort with Iranian officials in Chapter 8, “Becoming a Target.”

As usual, the President encapsulated his thoughts on the Ukraine-Russia negotiations in a tweet. Legacy media commentators see “chaos” in Trump’s approach. I see absolutely brilliance.

I discuss these issues on this week’s Prophecy Today Weekend. As always, you can listen live at 1 PM on Saturday on 104.9 FM or 550 AM in the Jacksonville, Florida, area, or by using the Jacksonville Way Radio app. If you miss us live, you can listen to the podcast here.

Yours in freedom.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: Trump Realigns Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks

What is RFK Jr’s real job as Secretary of Health and Human Services?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s confirmation as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the US is the ultimate repudiation of the Covid policy response.

The scheme of lockdown-until-vaccination was the biggest effort of government and industry on a global scale on historical record. It was all designed to transfer wealth to winning industries (pharma, online retail, streaming services, online education), divide and conquer the population, and consolidate power in the administrative state.

By 2021, RFK Jr had emerged as the world’s most vocal, erudite, and knowledgeable critic of the scheme. In two brilliant books – The Real Anthony Fauci and The Wuhan Cover-Up – he documented the entire enterprise and dated the evolution of the pandemic industry from its postwar inception to the present. There was simply no way to read these books and think about the corporatist cabal in the same way.

The circumstances that led to his appointment at HHS are themselves implausible and remarkable. Perceiving President Biden to be a weak candidate – one who had forced masks and shots on the population and brutally censored tech and media – he decided to make a run for president, presuming that there would be an open primary. There wasn’t one, so he was forced into an independent run.

That effort was chewed up by the usual political dynamic that befalls every third-party effort – too many ballot-access barriers plus the usual logic of Duverger’s law. That left the campaign in a difficult spot. At the same time, two huge political shifts had become clear. The Democratic Party had become a vessel and a front mainly for the administrative state with a veneer of woke ideology, while the Republican Party was being taken over by refugees from the Democrats, in effect creating a new Trump party out of the remnants of the other two.

The rest is legendary. Trump linked up with Elon Musk to do to the federal government what he did when he took over Twitter, taking the company private, gutting the place of embedded federal assets, and firing 4 out of 5 workers. In the midst of this, and faced with a terrifying flurry of legal attacks, Trump dodged an assassin’s bullet. That triggered terrible memories of RFK, Jr.’s father and uncle, and thus sparked discussions about coming together.

Within a matter of weeks, we had a new coalition that brought together old antagonists, as many people and groups seemingly in the same instant realized their conjoined interests in cleaning up the corporatist cartel. With the newly freed platform of X to reach the public, MAGA/MAHA/DOGE was born.

Trump won and chose RFK Jr to lead the most powerful public health agency in the world. The barrier was Senate confirmation, but that was achieved through some incredible triangulation that made it extremely difficult to vote no.

In the big picture, you can measure the size of this titanic shift in American politics by the way the votes in the Senate lined up. All Republicans but one voted for the most prominent scion of the Democratic Party to head the health empire while all Democrats voted no. That alone is striking, and a testament to the power of the pharma lobby, which, during the hearings, was exposed as the hidden hand behind the most passionate opponents of the confirmation.

Is our nightmare over? Not yet. Writing not even a month into the second presidential term of Donald Trump, it is still unclear just how much authority he truly exercises over the sprawling executive branch. For that matter, no one can even agree on how large this branch is: between 2.2 million and 3 million employees and somewhere between 400 and 450 agencies. The financial bleed in this realm is unthinkable and far worse than even the biggest cynic can imagine.

Five former secretaries of the Treasury took to the pages of the New York Times with a shocking claim. “The nation’s payment system has historically been operated by a very small group of nonpartisan career civil servants.” This has included a career employee called “fiscal assistant secretary—a post that for the prior eight decades had been reserved exclusively for civil servants to ensure impartiality and public confidence in the handling and payment of federal funds.”

There is no reason even to read between the lines. What this means is that no person voted into office by the people and no one appointed by such a person has access to the federal books since 1946. This is startling beyond belief. No owner of any company would ever tolerate being barred from the accounting offices and payment systems. And no company can offer any public stock without independent audits and open books.

And yet almost 80 years have gone by during which time neither has been true for this gigantic enterprise called the federal government. That means that US$193 trillion has been spent by an institution that has never faced granulated oversight from the people and never met the normal demands that every enterprise faces every day.

The usual habit in Washington has been to treat every elected leader and their appointments as temporary and transitory marionettes, people who come and go and disturb little to nothing about the normal operations of government. This new administration seems to have every intention to change that but the job is inconceivably challenging. As much public support as MAGA/MAHA/DOGE enjoy for now, and as many people from those groups are getting embedded in the power structure, they are outnumbered and outmaneuvered by millions of agents of the old order.

This transition will not be easy if it happens at all.

The inertia of the old order is mighty. Even on the issue of health and pandemics, there is already confusion. CBS News has reported that Fauci-loyalist and mRNA pusher Gerald Parker will head the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response or OPPR. The report cited only unnamed “health officials” and the appointment has been celebrated by Scott Gottlieb, the Pfizer board member who nudged Trump into backing lockdowns in 2020.

All the while, this appointment has not been confirmed by the White House. We do not know if OPPR, created by Congressional charter, will even be funded. The reporter will not reveal his sources – raising the question of why any appointment having to do with health should be surrounded by such cloak-and-dagger machinations.

If Dr. Parker becomes ensconced in this position and another health emergency is declared, this time for Bird flu, HHS and Robert F. Kennedy Jr will not be in any kind of decision-making position at all.

The larger problems have to do with a broader question: is the president really in charge of the executive branch? Can he hire and fire? Can he spend money or decline to spend money? Can he set policy for the agencies?

One might suppose that the whole answer to these questions can be found in Article 2, Section 1: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” And yet that sentence was written almost 100 years before Congress created this thing called the “civil service” that nowhere appears in the Constitution. This fourth branch has grown in size and power to swamp both the presidency and the legislature.

Courts are going to have to sort this out, and already an avalanche of lawsuits has hit the new administration for daring to presume control over agencies and their activities of which the president is and must necessarily be held accountable. Lower federal courts seem to be demanding that the president be that in name only, while the Supreme Court might have a different opinion.

The much-ballyhooed “constitutional crisis” consists of nothing other than an attempt to reassert the original constitutional design of government.

This is the background template in which RFK Jr takes power at HHS, and oversees all the sub-agencies. These agencies played a huge role in covering for the attack on liberty and rights over five years. His confirmation is a symbolic repudiation of the most egregious public policies on record. And yet, the repudiation is entirely implicit: there has been no commission, no admission of error, no one truly held responsible, and no real accountability.

The trajectory on which we find ourselves affords many reasons for champagne celebrations, but sober up quickly. There is a very long way to go and enormous barriers in place to get us to the point that we are really safe again from the marauding corporatist/statist complex and their plots and schemes to rob the public of rights and liberties. In the meantime, to invoke a common phrase, keep these new appointees in your thoughts and prayers.


Does this analysis of the need for MAGA convince you?   


AUTHOR

Jeffrey Tucker is Founder, Author, and President at Brownstone Institute. He is also Senior Economics Columnist for Epoch Times, author of 10 books, including Life After Lockdown, and many thousands of articles in the scholarly and popular press. He speaks widely on topics of economics, technology, social philosophy, and culture.

This article has been republished from the Brownstone Institute under a Creative Commons licence.

EDITORS NOTE: This Mercator column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Some Suggestions for DOGE

Powerful, Practical, Plausible Recommendations for DOGE 

There is now an unprecedented opportunity that Critical Thinkers (that’s us) should take advantage of.

Arguably, for the first time in modern US history, the federal government is: 1) open to making radical changes in government agencies, 2) has the right political perspective, and 3) is receptive to citizen inputs.

Yes, there are always reasons to be skeptical — but the upside is so great that we should assume the best, and offer assistance. For those who are incurably cynical and say no, then you are foregoing your future rights to complain!

I’m polling my Critical Thinking Substack readers as to their best ideas regarding the Department of Health and Human Services (FDA, CDC, etc.), Department of Education (DOEd), Department of Energy (DOE), EPA, and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). [If you have any good connections with the upper echelon of any of these federal Departments, please email me.]

Let’s say that this is the scenario: a) we are given five (5) minutes for a face-to-face meeting with the Secretary of each of these Departments/ Agenciesand b) we are asked to limit our suggestions to three (3) items. Due to these rules, we need to filter out many ideas so that we are left with just three (3) succinct, important, doable recommendations.

This is the fourth in my series of commentaries to each of the above-mentioned Departments/Agencies. Below are my suggested three (3) recommendations for the DOGE. (Elon has clearly stepped up already — so kudos to him.) Critically Thinking readers can constructively weigh in with support or any improvements on what I’ve proposed in the Comments below…

We’ll then try to get the end product to the new DOGE Secretary, Elon Musk.

Recommendation #1 —

Certain organizations partially (or fully) supported by taxpayer dollars, are not working in the best interest of the taxpayer. In those cases, the recommendation is to:

  1. Identify some of the more serious actions they are taking that are against the interests of citizens and the country.
  2. Send them a written notice that gives them one (1) month to fix these deviations.
  3. Require documented evidence that their written policies have been changed so that these improvements will be permanent.
  4. If both 2 & 3 are not done satisfactorily, then federal government funding will be reduced or eliminated.

Some well-known candidates are: NPR, PBS, Planned Parenthood, ALA (“billions”), NREL (part of DOE), etc.

Let’s take one example: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Their mission statement says: “From research to deployment, NREL’s mission-driven work is leading the clean energy transition. To secure our vision for the future, we’ve set goals to address three primary threats facing humanity: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.”

Although marketed as a Science-based organization, almost everything there screams politics. For example, there is no such thing as “clean energy,” and if there was, wind and solar would be way down on the list.

Another example is that although they heavily endorse wind energy as a “solution” for climate change, no Scientific study has ever concluded that wind energy saves a consequential amount of CO2. On the other hand, there are multiple Scientific studies that have concluded that wind energy makes Climate Change worse! (See here for some examples.)

Over time NREL has evolved into a marketing arm of the wind industry, whereas it should be an objective source of Scientific information regarding the pros and cons of renewables. That’s what their employers (US citizens) are paying them to do. NREL either needs to either be gutted and then started over, or just eliminated.

[We need to reduce our contribution to the UN as this also falls under this category. Fortunately, Trump withdrew from WHO, a good idea. Similarly, we need to have MUCH more careful oversight over Foreign Aid to make sure that every dollar goes towards the best interest of the taxpayer and the country.]

Recommendation #2 —

Change/Remove Federal Regulations that Unnecessarily Increase the Costs for Small Businesses and Consumers. The idea is that if small businesses and consumers do better economically, the federal government also does better economically. The prime place to look is where political science has replaced Real Science. For example:

  • Remove Ethanol from gas (ethanol causes numerous major side effects from increased food costs to degraded engine performance);
  • Reverse the coolant gas restrictions on HVACs to A2L (this is supposedly about climate change, but the cost is significant and there are new risks);
  • Stop electrification of everything (esp. trucks, busses, etc.), etc.

Few of these have the impact of a trillion dollars of immediate savings, but all of them have a major net positive benefit on the US economy and on the pocketbooks of citizens.

Recommendation #3 —

A different tack for DOGE to take is to look carefully at what caused the waste and misspending in the first place, and address the causations. Put another way, unless some serious systemic changes are made the wastes will likely come back in the near future.

The most fertile area to examine and fix is the federal legislature. New laws/regulations need to be passed, like:

  • Mandatory two (2) term limit for all federal legislators. (A shorter time in power means that they are less likely to be unduly influenced.)
  • Fix Congress’ Worst Problem: make it mandatory that at least 25% of the advisory staff of federal legislators be seniors.
  • Establish MUCH tougher rules for lobbyists — a significant cause of much of government waste.
  • In the same vein, tighten up the IRS rules for 501C3 organizations, such that they can not be advocates of political policies vs lobbyists for political policies — which should be considered as being equivalent. [E.g. the American Library Association heavily advocates for DEI and against books being age-restricted — but due to current loose rules, it seems like that political activity does not count as lobbying in their 501C3 status.]
  • Eliminate all legislative earmarks.
  • Grant the President limited (e.g., subject to 2/3rd override by Congress) line-item veto rights to slash any new spending project.
  • Legislative spending can not exceed revenue (as it has for some 20 years)! (This CATO Report is a good discussion of what needs to be done to balance the Federal Budget.)
  • All bills should be on one topic only — no omnibus bills.
  • Limit all new federal laws to 50 pages in length.
  • Eliminate pensions and most benefits for Senators, Congresspeople, and Presidents after they leave office.

The Bottom Line —

There are so many opportunities to cut back on wasted money or to more effectively use taxpayer funds, that the initial challenge is Where to start?

News reports indicate that Musk has a team of 15± young engineers as his point guard. If true, I hope that he adds other talents (e.g., scientists, CPAs, attorneys), as well as a healthy balance of experienced seniors to the mix.

PS — Some other worthwhile DOGE suggestions:

  1. The GAO (Government Accountability Office) puts out periodic good reports that identify federal waste (like here). Pay close attention to their ideas. Pick off low-hanging fruit, like this.
  2. Twenty-Five Ways to Cut Government Spending has some fine ideas.
  3. DOD needs MUCH better financial management. (E.g., see Rand Reports for specific examples — like here.)
  4. Mandate a 5% employee reduction for ALL departments, every 10 years. (I used to work for a major military subcontractor: GE-AESD. Our company was forced to do this due to the politics of military contracts. Although it was sometimes, in the end it was actually a blessing, as it was a forced opportunity to get rid of dead wood.)

©2025 All rights reserved.

NOTE: To see the latest version of this plus comments by readers, go here.

RELATED VIDEO: Former Superman actor Dean Cain on DOGE


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Trump Pulls Welfare Rug Out From Under Illegals

Those who enabled taxpayer dollars to flow to illegal aliens at a time when everyday Americans are struggling to put food on their tables should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 

President Trump last night signed what may be his most explosive executive order yet, and once enacted it will cut off all government benefits to illegal aliens.

The order, titled PRESERVING FEDERAL BENEFITS FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS, will “ensure taxpayer resources are not used to incentivize or support illegal immigration.”

A White House official told Fox News reporter Bill Melugin that Trump’s executive order will direct the heads of federal-government agencies to identify all federally funded programs that provide financial benefits to illegal aliens, and for them to “take corrective action.”

I have always argued that the easiest and most cost-effective way to stop the border invasion is simply to cut off the gravy train that greets these migrants as they arrive in America and Europe. If this were to happen, I’m not sure we would even need a border wall.

I’m still a little skeptical that all these amazing executive orders will actually get executed, if you know what I mean. Are they just window dressing for Trump’s base, or will they actually get carried out by the rank and file members of the administrative state?

If this particular executive order does get enforced and carried out, it will strip federal funds to states and localities which are aiding and abetting illegal-alien invaders through sanctuary policies.

For the past four years, illegal aliens have been receiving welfare benefits from myriad public assistance programs. Some of them include the following:

  • The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps.
  • Child nutrition programs
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Child Care and Development Block Grant
  • Earned Income Tax Credit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Obamacare Premium Tax Credit
  • Obamacare cost-sharing subsidies
  • Medicare
  • Medicaid
  • Children’s Health Insurance Program
  • Pell Grants
  • Student loans
  • Head Start
  • Public housing
  • Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund.

The cost of welfare programs for illegal aliens and legal noncitizens is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.

Illegal aliens do not legally qualify for welfare programs. However, according to a December 2024 report by the Economic Policy Innovation Center, the Biden regime created loopholes by giving fake legal statuses to millions of illegals and non-citizens as part of their catch-and-release scheme.

If he really means it and is able to enforce it, kudos to Trump for issuing this executive order.

And let’s not stop there. If we are going to make sure this never happens again, those responsible for the border invasion and handing over America’s treasure to the illegal invaders must be held accountable.

That means arresting and prosecuting those politicians and bureaucrats who knowingly and illegally schemed to divert American taxpayer dollars to illegal aliens at a time when everyday Americans are struggling to put food on their tables.

I don’t blame the illegals. If a foreign government invites you to come and then offers you a bunch of freebies when you arrive, why not take them up on their suicidal offer? I blame the politicians and bureaucrats here in America, and they must now pay the price for their treasonous hatred of their own people.

©2025 . All rights reserved.

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Please visit Leo’s Newsletter substack.

America Is Seriously Unimpressed By Congressional Democrats, Poll Finds

Americans’ approval of Democrats in Congress just plummeted to an all-time low while approval of congressional Republicans soared to an all-time high, according to a new poll.

Only 21% of voters approve of the way that congressional Democrats are handling their job, which is a record low, according to a Quinnipiac University poll published on Wednesday. Of those surveyed, 68% said they disapproved of how Democrats in Congress are handling their positions, and 11% did not offer an opinion.

Meanwhile, the survey found that a record number of Americans approve of how Republicans in Congress are handling their job. Of those surveyed, 40% approved of congressional Republicans’ handling of their jobs, while 52% disapproved and 8% did not give an opinion.

Still, 40% of Democrats said they approve of the way the congressional Democrats are handling their job, while 49% disapprove and 11% did not offer an opinion, according to the survey.

“It’s a sobering slap down of historic proportions for the Democrats in Congress,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy wrote in a Wednesday press release. “Their Republican counterparts take a victory lap as the Democrats try to get their footing.” 

President Donald Trump has recently notched higher approval ratings in the first several weeks of his second term than he did during his first term, with a CBS News poll released on Feb. 9 finding that 53% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing during his current presidency. Notably, a poll published toward the end of January found that overall approval ratings for the Democratic Party neared an all-time low.

The Democratic Party has faced various hurdles since Trump’s resounding victory in the 2024 presidential election, primarily struggling to formulate a plan to combat the new administration’s agenda, while Republicans have continued to expand their base. Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin acknowledged in a Tuesday memo that his party lost a share of working class voters and are now often viewed as the “party of elites.”

Quinnipiac University’s poll was conducted from Feb. 13 to 17 and surveyed 1,039 registered voters. The survey’s margin of error is three percentage points.

AUTHOR

Ireland Owens

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Stacey Abrams Stole $2 BILLION From Taxpayers

These depraved criminals were so sure, so confident that they would never be caught, the magnitude of their colossal crimes would be  comical if it were fiction. But it’s real and it’s monstrous. And the bigger their crimes, the higher they ascended in the Democrat party rackets. All made possible by the Deep State and their pimps in the Democrat media axis.

Was this the payoff from the Biden regime for stealing Georgia in 2020?

Zeldin EPA discovers $2 billion stashed away by Biden admin for Stacey Abrams-linked climate group

By Victor Nava, NY Post, Feb. 19, 2025, 10:07 p.m. ET

The Environmental Protection Agency recently discovered that the Biden administration awarded $2 billion to a climate group with ties to former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams – a fierce supporter of former President Joe Biden.

The money was earmarked for Power Forward Communities – a nonprofit partnered with multiple left-wing groups founded by Abrams and which the Georgia Democrat has stated she was “thrilled” to be part of, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Wednesday.

The funds were set aside at an outside financial institution – Citibank – before Biden left office and part of a larger, $20 billion pot of money the former president’s EPA received through the Inflation Reduction Act to dole out to climate groups.

“It’s extremely concerning that an organization that reported just $100 in revenue in 2023 was chosen to receive $2 billion,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told the outlet, referring to Power Forward Communities latest tax filings. “That’s 20 million times the organization’s reported revenue.”
Lee ZeldinZeldin claims the Biden administration “parked” the money at an outside bank to keep the Trump administration from clawing it back. AP

Last week, Zeldin revealed that he located the $20 billion his EPA predecessors squirreled away in an apparent attempt to prevent the Trump administration from clawing back the money and to obscure the various groups that Power Forward Communities, and seven other entities, decide to distribute the funds to.

Zeldin, at the time, expressed concern that the $20 billion would be doled out to “far-left activist groups” without any federal oversight, and perhaps even to groups with close ties to the Biden administration.

“I made a commitment to members of Congress and to the American people to be a good steward of tax dollars and I’ve wasted no time in keeping my word,” Zeldin told the Washington Free Beacon. “When we learned about the Biden Administration’s scheme to quickly park $20 billion outside the agency, we suspected that some organizations were created out of thin air just to take advantage of this.”

“As we continue to learn more about where some of this money went, it is even more apparent how far-reaching and widely accepted this waste and abuse has been.”

Abrams was a vocal advocate of the Biden administration’s green energy push, and last July, as calls grew for Biden to drop out of the presidential race, she penned an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution declaring that Democrats’ “path to victory lies in standing by Biden.”

“It’s time to stop the Joe Biden doom loop,” she tweeted that same month.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Global Jihadi Threats: What Is On The Horizon In 2025?

Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1805

Introduction

The new year of 2025 started with a highly alarming message to law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies, renewing concerns that the terrorism threat in the United States has not receded almost a quarter century after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

More concerning is that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are now warning of possible copycat killings, mirroring the ISIS-inspired vehicle ramming in New Orleans early on New Year’s Day. Retaliatory attacks also loom, due to the persistent appeal of vehicle ramming as a tactic for aspiring violent extremist attackers.[1]

The Islamic State (ISIS)-inspired terrorist attack in New Orleans signifies the group’s continuing capabilities to influence and radicalize communities outside its usual operational zones, thanks to its effective messaging on social media platforms.

In 2024, prior to the New Orleans attack, ISIS orchestrated, and inspired, several attacks in Europe, underlying once again that despite its declining presence in the Middle East, it is advancing and evolving elsewhere because of its exploitation of geopolitical conflicts and local grievances. Emboldened by the developments in Syria and Afghanistan, where two jihadi groups are now in power, jihadi clerics based in the West are increasingly using social media to voice their support for the implementation of sharia, or to express animosity towards western cultures. Their content is contributing to the radicalization of Muslim communities, both immigrants and converts, in the West.

Both ISIS and Al-Qaeda continued to operate online and on the ground in 2024, actively, adapting to the losses of their top leadership. While the real identity of ISIS’s fifth Caliph, Abu Hafs Al-Qurashi, remains anonymous, Al-Qaeda is yet to choose a successor of its slain Emir, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, even though it has been two and a half years since his predecessor was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan. Both groups are in a sense functioning as a type of leaderless or formless jihad, a fulfillment of Jihadist ideologue Abu Musab al-Suri’s call for Jihad as a “system rather than an organization.”

In Africa, ISIS is steadily expanding its territorial gains in hopes of replicating its 2014 caliphate model. ISIS continues its targeted persecution of African Christians in countries such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and Mali – while publicizing the acts online as part of a continent-wide campaign of terror designed both to intimidate and inspire violence, a trend which unfortunately we will likely continue to see in 2025.[2]

Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Shabab Movement is expected to further escalate its attacks in Somalia especially after the insurgence of ISIS in Puntland state, northeastern Somalia, to prove its dominance. U.S. defense officials said in June 2024 that Al Shabab had “reversed all” the gains the government forces had made in central Somalia since its 2022 offensive.[3]

Besides, Al-Shabab in Somalia, Al-Qaeda affiliate in the African Sahel, the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) one of the fastest-expanding jihadi groups with significant activity in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. This trend is expected to continue into 2025.

The rise of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) to power in Syria, following the fall of the Iran-backed Assad regime, sparks serious concerns over the future of the country: The group has a jihadi history and is allied with several terrorist factions and some hardline clerics who hold considerable sway over HTS’s base of support.

Question marks also surround the true intention of HTS leadership, its ties with Turkey, and whether it is sincere about abandoning its jihadi ambitions or if it is serious about focusing on reconstruction and reconciliation efforts within Syria. The group’s leadership has announced that it doesn’t seek to destabilize any other country nor serve as a safe haven for terrorism.

And while the influence of Iran’s Axis of Resistance has been dramatically reduced, thanks to Israel’s military operation and airstrikes, Yemen’s Ansarallah (Houthis) continue to pose a significant threat to global maritime traffic despite the U.S., U.K., and Israeli airstrikes.

These events and their implications will be discussed in the following report, which assesses selective developments in some regions from 2024 through mid-January 2025.


Jihadi Threat To West After New Orleans Attack

The attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day 2025, whose perpetrator, U.S. Army veteran Shamsud Din Jabbar, left videos on his social media accounts[4] documenting his pledge of alliance to the Islamic State (ISIS) is the first attack in the United States since 2017.[5]

The last known ISIS-inspired attack in the U.S. was the truck attack in New York City on October 31, 2017, when Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, an Uzbek national who had emigrated to the U.S. in 2010, drove a pickup truck into people on a bike path along the Hudson River. U.S. investigators found documents inside the truck suggesting Saipov had an allegiance to ISIS.[6] His attack killed 8 people and injured 12 others.

The pro-ISIS Yaqeen Media’s infographic showing attacks claimed by ISIS in the U.S. since 2015 (Telegram, February 7, 2018).

ISIS Reaction To New Orleans Attack

Although ISIS did not claim the New Orleans attack, its official weekly newsletter, Al-Naba’, featured an editorial titled: “We were there,” celebrating the attack, seeming to confirm that the perpetrator, Jabbar, was inspired by the group’s ideology even if he had no formal ties with the group[7].

The editorial, which was published ten days after the attack, made a point of clarifying why it took ISIS so long to comment on the attack, saying the group has certain criteria which guide its issue of claims of responsibility.

It noted: “The Islamic State is not eager – as some think – to claim responsibility for every attack that occurs in the world, even if the attack takes place according to its way and methodology, or even if it comes as the fruit of its incitement, or more than that!”

Al-Naba’ editorial (issue 477) celebrated the New Orleans attack (Gemspace, January 10, 2025).

The editorial stressed that the perpetrator of the New Orleans attack – whom it declined to name – was inspired by the group’s messaging. The piece further stressed that such attacks continue to be “a danger which threatens the security of Crusader countries without a solution on the horizon,” signaling its plans to direct, or inspire, similar attacks beyond its usual operational zones, and beyond Europe – which in 2024 experienced ISIS plots and attacks including Russia,[8] Switzerland,[9] Germany,[10] and Austria.[11]

A poster by Al-Battar Media inciting lone-wolf attacks in Europe (Rocket Chat, January 11, 2024).

ISIS’s Ongoing Online Campaign

The New Orleans attack was the fruit of a long-simmering online campaign aimed at inciting lone wolves in the West. Exploiting the Hamas-Israeli conflict, ISIS, despite its enmity towards Iran-backed Hamas, has flooded the internet with praise for the killings of Jews and their Crusaders allies,[12] building on the anti-Israel protests around the world to inspire attacks by ISIS supporters in the West.[13]

The campaign intensified its call to conduct attacks in the West, following an audio message by the spokesman of the group, Abu Hudhayfah al-Ansari, who urged supporters around the world to target Jews and their Christian allies everywhere, especially in the streets of Europe and America, in revenge for the suffering of Muslims in Palestine.[14]

ISIS’s Al-Naba’ encourages attacks in Europe and in the United States (Telegram, August 30, 2024).

Over the past year, MEMRI JTTM has documented a wide range of content released by ISIS officials[15] and supportive entities which urge supporters and potential recruits to act on ISIS’s behalf.[16]

The ongoing anti-Israel protests in the U.S., coupled with the border crisis, have contributed to a state of elevated threat. Security officials anticipate the threat level to remain high in the coming year, in part because of illegal migrants to the United States who have ties to terrorism, such as the case of 22-year-old Mauritanian Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, who was found dead in an apparent suicide by  hanging after he reportedly shot and wounded an Orthodox Jewish man near a synagogue in West Rogers Park, Illinois, while shouting “Allah Akbar.”[17]

California Wildfires Inspire ISIS

Law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies should be on the watch for possible arsons mirroring the California wildfires which have been a source of inspiration for ISIS.

On January 16, 2024, the Islamic State (ISIS) released issue 478 of its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba’. “This scene of chaos and loss of control is an inspiring operational opportunity to launch or prepare for attacks,” it wrote, adding, “All you have to do is go on a ‘camping trip’ to one of the forests near residential neighborhoods, then set a fire and withdraw quietly.”

The issue’s feature article interpreted the California wildfires as being “divine punishment” for the U.S., inciting supporters residing in America to start more fires near residential neighborhoods.

Separately, the newsletter published a stark infographic advocating acts of violence, arson, and destruction, particularly targeting groups identified as “infidels.”[18]

ISIS’s infographic advocating acts of violence, arson, and destruction (Telegram, January 17, 2025)

ISKP And Its Media Arm Target Western Jihadis

The attack in New Orleans brings the focus again to the group’s branch in Afghanistan: Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). This group is believed to be acting as the external arm that supervises its operations in the West.

While ISIS’s core claimed responsibility for attacks in 2024 in Russia, Turkey, and Iran, local authorities claimed that ISKP was the one which oversaw the planning.[19] ISKP is also behind recruiting Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, an Afghan citizen residing in Oklahoma City, who plotted a terrorist attack in the U.S. for 2024’s November presidential election day and luckily was arrested in October.[20]

ISKP’s semi-official Al-Azaim Media Foundation releases a wide range of content, such as magazines, videos, audio statements, books, and newsletters.

The media group’s flagship magazine, Voice of Khorasan, is published in multiple languages, including English, Pashto, Dari, Urdu, Tajik, Bengali, Hindi, Russian, and occasionally in Tamil, Malayalam, and Uyghur, aiming to reach a broad audience, both regionally and internationally. Through its multi-language publications, Al-Azaim aims at globalizing local grievances among Western audiences, often framing countries such as the U.S. as an enemy of Islam.

Al-Azaim’s publications employ ISKP’s sophisticated use of media as a tool to sway public opinion, recruit members, and justify their terrorist attacks under a religious or ideological pretext.

Ten days after the New Orleans attack, Al-Azaim released an English-language poster titled “Don’t Wait!” Depicting a hand holding a pistol, its text reads: “Don’t wait for a new year to take action!” The poster lists ten public events to be held during 2025 in various European countries and the U.S., suggesting them as targets:

Vienna Ball Season (January 10-March 1, Vienna, Austria)

Venice Carnival (February 22-March 4, Venice, Italy)

St. Patrick’s Day Parade (March 17, Galway, Ireland)

The Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24, Cannes, France)

Glastonbury Festival (June 25-29, Glastonbury, England)

100th Annual Chincoteague Pony Swim (June 27-28, Chincoteague Island, Virginia)

San Fermin Festival (July 6-14, Pamplona, Spain)

Oktoberfest (September 20-October 5, Munich, Germany)

Amsterdam Dance Event (October 22-26, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Grand Ole Opry’s 100th Anniversary (November 28, Nashville, Tennessee)

Al-Azaim’s poster highlights targets in Europe (Rocket Chat, January 10, 2025).

Jihadi Clerics In The West

In 2025, Western-based jihadi clerics will continue to promote radical ideologies supportive of ISIS or other terrorist organizations, by feeding into the jihadi narrative of these groups, without naming them, to avoid legal accountability.

For example, in early 2025, the Michigan-based cleric, Ahmad Jibril, who appears to be emboldened by HTS’s takeover of Syria, posted a video in which he urged HTS to implement Islamic laws immediately, arguing that a “gradual implementation” is forbidden. He also posted a second video in which he urged the global Muslim community to act decisively and collectively in defense of their “sisters” and all captives, as their imprisonment should “ignite the collective responsibility of the collective Ummah [nation].”[21]

This sentiment is often echoed by other jihadi clerics in the West, such as Ottawa, Canada-based Tariq Abdulhaleem[22] or Wissam Hadad, aka Abu Ousayd,[23] who is based in Sydney, Australia.

As an example of their radicalizing efforts, these clerics often call on Muslims to rejoice in  natural disasters in Europe and America. They have justified the wildfires in Los Angeles by claiming that they are “divine punishment” on the United States for its alleged support of the Israeli “holocaust” in Gaza.[24]

Post-Assad Syria

The year 2024 ended with a new government in Syria: the Assad regime fell. The country is now testing a new authority, headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a man who just few weeks before was known as Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, the leader of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) which was based  in and dominated rebel-held Idlib governorate in Syria.

The man who was once was a senior member of the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda is now trying to soften his image and reassure religious minorities and the international community about his future reign in Syria, claiming that he will govern the country with an inclusive and moderate Islamic model. Al-Sharaa has shown rare political skills, successively breaking with his allies in ISIS (in 2013) and Al-Qaeda (in 2016) and overcoming efforts by both groups to destroy him and his movement.

Will this reality hold through March 2025, when the term of the HTS-formed caretaker government ends? Will Al-Sharaa succeed in securing a stable Syria? And will his strategic interests trump his jihadi ideology?

HTS leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa speaking to supporters in Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque. (Telegram, December 9, 2024).

Jihadi Or Statesman?

While the coming months will be decisive in shaping a clearer picture of Al-Sharaa’s future, one should also remember that a man’s character is the sum of his past actions.

In this regard, MEMRI JTTM has been documenting the jihadi journey of HTS and its leader since its founding in 2016[25] and before.[26]

This includes Al-Sharaa’s past praise for attacks carried out by Arab Israelis on Jews,[27] his vow to establish an Islamic emirate in Syria,[28] his pledge of allegiance to the late leader of Al-Qaeda Ayman Al-Zawahiri,[29] and many similar milestones in his jihadi career.[30]

Foreign Jihadi Groups in Syria

Over the past ten years, the man who is now attempting to rebrand himself as a moderate, had turned his stronghold in Idlib and surrounding areas into haven for foreign jihadis that aligned with the HTS organization.

These groups, which took part in the military campaign that ousted the Assad regime, are designated by the U.S. as terrorist groups. These include the Turkistan Islamic Party, Mujahideen Ghuroba Division, Kiwa Al-Mujahideen wal Ansar, Ansar Al-Tawhid, Ansar Al-Islam, Kataib Imam Al-Bukhari, Xhemati Alban, and Ajnad Al-Kavkaz.

Following Washington’s decision to withdraw a $10 million reward it had offered for his capture, Al-Joulani told U.S. diplomats that he is committed to ensuring that terrorist groups in Syria do not pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies.

However, removing HTS from Washington’s terrorist list is another development that may require the HTS leader to break away from these foreign jihadi groups in the same way he broke away from the ISIS in April 2013 and from Al-Qaeda in July 2016. On January 14, 2025, HTS was quick to arrest Egyptian Jihadist Ahmad Al-Mansour who had made a video from Syria announcing a new effort to overthrow the current Egyptian regime of Abdul Fattah El-Sisi.[31]

Continuing along this path should not be too difficult a decision to make for the HTS leader, who spent the last few years in Idlib, silencing his jihadi critics and rivals by pressure or force, including some of his loyalists, who were killed in unusual ways. One recent example is the Iraqi-born Abu Maria Al-Qahatani, the sharia official who was killed in a guesthouse in the city of Sarmada in Idlib to which he had been invited; three people entered and gifted him a sword in a box rigged with explosives, which detonated when he opened it.

Al-Qahtani’s assassination came just one month after HTS had released him following a seven-month-long detention on charges of collaborating with foreign parties.[32]

HTS leader bidding farewell to Qahatani (Telegram, April 5, 2024).

Al-Joulani was also accused of tipping off the Russian Air Force which on December 11, 2021, attacked the house of Chechen jihadi commander Muslim Al-Shishani in the Al-Ya’qoubiah village west of Idlib. The attack occurred a few weeks after Al-Shishani was banished by HTS from the Idlib area for refusing to operate under the HTS banner.[33]

Muslim Al-Shishani (Telegram, December 12, 2021).

Sectarian Violence

For decades, Syria’s population, which is predominantly Arab Sunni Muslim, have been holding grudges against the Alawites, a heterodox Shi’ite sect to which the ousted Bashar Al-Assad belongs and which was heavily represented in the Assad regime’s key military and intelligence units.

A related challenge is the risk of large-scale revenge attacks, which could trigger cycles of sectarian violence. Recent videos show the burning of Hafez al-Assad’s grave in Qardaha and attacks on Alawites’ sacred sites and homes. These attacks create growing concern, particularly given that many Alawites are still armed.[34]

The newly announced “Syrian Resistance” group, which claimed attacks against HTS-backed forces in the cities of Aleppo and Manbij, in collaboration with “friendly forces,” could be the seed of an anti-HTS armed sectarian opposition that Tehran could use to ignite strife.[35]

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) And Turkey

Following the fall of Assad, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the leading force within the Kurdish U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), must disband, asserting that the group, which it considers an extension of the leftist terrorist PKK, has no place in Syria’s future.

Addressing this issue, the HTS leader stated in an interview with Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya Television that Syria would not allow attacks against Turkey from groups like the PKK and vowed that weapons should only be held by the state. Even though he expressed openness to negotiating with the SDF, to reach a peaceful resolution, his commitment to Turkey is part of a debt he owes to Ankara, who has been major support of anti-Assad opposition over the years. “I hope Syria does not forget [Turkey’s] kindness,” he told the Turkish newspaper, Yeni Safak.

As part of paying back the debt, news reports suggested that the HTS leader would allow Turkey to establish new military bases in Syria as part of a defense agreement which could lay the groundwork for a Turkish military assault to neutralize the American-supported SDF.[36]

ISIS Eying Detention Camps

Despite the collapse of its pseudo-caliphate in Syria and Iraq, ISIS continues to have a presence in eastern Syria. Its affiliates continue to operate covertly as sleeper cells claiming responsibility for attacks against the SDF.

Since the launch of the Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-led military campaign on November 27, 2024, in mid-January 2025, ISIS in Syria had claimed responsibility for 13 attacks on SDF elements in drive-by shootings and armed assaults on checkpoints and outposts, killing 10 and wounding several. This indicates that the new dynamics in the country have not impacted its stream of attacks on the SDF in the Deir Al-Zour and Al-Hasakah Governorates.[37]

ISIS has repeatedly proven adept at exploiting these power vacuums, using the opportunity to recruit and recuperate. Aside from its operational cells, thousands of its fighters and their families remain in detention centers and refugee camps in northern Syria, including foreign nationals who had travelled to Syria for jihad.

Further, the growing tensions between the Kurds and Turkish-backed faction pose a significant threat, as these detainees could rejoin ISIS if the SDF were to collapse, or if ISIS exploited the situation to carry out a prison break, as it did several times in the past.[38]

The Fate Of Religious Minorities

While the HTS leader promised to respect all ethnic and religious minorities under its rule, human rights watchers should remember that until HTS launched its military campaign against Assad, the organization faced waves of civilian protests, joined by key jihadi and rebel figures, calling for the removal of HTS’s security apparatus which they accused of injustice and corruption, freeing prisoners, and above all – a demand for Al-Joulani to step down.[39]

It will be interesting to see if the HTS leader can keep his promise and appease jihadi clerics, who already criticized his local authority in Hama, for allowing Christians there to raise a cross on a Christmas tree erected in the town center.[40]

Local reports said that Uzbek fighters aligned with HTS had torched the tree on Christmas Eve, which triggered protests, some of them allegedly armed, by Christians in Hama and Damascus.[41]

The Christmas tree which was torched by HTS fighters in Hama. (Telegram, December 23, 2024).

Fears For Women’s Rights

HTS will likely not be implementing restrictions on women’s education, employment, and media freedom – at least not as harsh as those imposed by the Afghan Taliban when they took over Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal in 2021. After all, HTS allowed women to pursue education in schools and at Idlib University before HTS moved to take power in Damascus.

However, in its Idlib-governance model, the group did enforce a strict dress code, requiring women to wear conservative attire, such as the niqab, in public. Furthermore, it did not allow women to travel without a male guardian.

And while optimists like to cite HTS leader’s meetings with women who were not wearing a hair cover, or hijab, as a signal of his pragmatic approach to women’s liberties, they also seem to ignore the fact that he told a young woman who wanted to take a selfie with him to cover her hair. Additionally, the statements of HTS’s-appointed Head of Women’s Affairs, Aisha Al-Debs, cast doubts on the future of women’s liberties.[42]

Speaking to Turkey’s state-run TRT broadcaster, she said that only feminist organizations that “support the model that we are going to build” would be welcome in Syria, adding that she will not open a path for those who do not agree with her thinking.

More troubling were the statements made by the spokesman of the HTS-backed government, Obaida Arnaout, who said in an interview on Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV, that women are unable to play certain roles in society due to their “biological, psychological and mental characteristics.”[43]

He further elaborated that “with regard to the representation of women in government and in parliament, we believe that it is too early [to discuss this], and that it must be left to the jurists and constitutional scholars, who will examine the structure of the new Syrian state. Women are important and deserve respect, and for this reason the roles must be suitable for women…”

Regarding wearing the hijab, Arnaout said: “There will be no coercion [to wear the hijab] among Christian women or among any other denomination.”

He noted that women deserve education in all fields, but that “the relevant elements must discuss and assess their appointment as judges…Women have biological, psychological and mental characteristics that must be taken into consideration in the context of particular positions and roles.”

Iran’s Axis Of Resistance

A mural in Tehran glorifying leaders of the “Axis of Resistance” who were killed in American and Israeli attacks (Telegram, December 15, 2024).

The Israeli military campaign that was launched in response to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas has tremendously weakened Iran’s Axis of Resistance, which is composed of Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon’s Hizbullah, the Assad regime in Syria, militia groups in Iraq, and the Yemen-based Houthis.

In 2024, the network suffered significant blows, particularly among Hamas and Hizbullah leadership ranks, including Hizbullah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah,[44] Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar,[45] and Ismael Haniyeh.[46]

Following these heavy losses, Iran was forced to make concessions, such as agreeing to support Hizbullah’s ceasefire agreement in Lebanon with Israel.[47]

Yet watching the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria was the hardest blow so far for Tehran, as it disintegrated the “unity of its fronts,” a slogan which Tehran repeated use to demonstrate the unity, and geographic continuity, among its regional proxies against Israel and the U.S.

With the fall of the Assad regime, Tehran has lost the ability to rearm Hizbullah by using Syria as an air and land bridge to Lebanon. However, while it searches for a way to recover from the Syria shock, the Iranian leadership continues assert that the Axis of Resistance remains resilient, as demonstrated by Iran’s security chief, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, who hinted that Teheran always keeps a few tricks up in her sleeve.[48]

In what could be a signal of Iran’s new engagement in Syria, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ahmadian, said: “With the occupation of Syrian territories by the Zionist regime, a new resistance has been born that will manifest itself in the years to come,” according to a report by the IRNA news agency. [49]

It is quite a coincidence that his statement was made on the same day that a new group calling itself the “Syrian Resistance” began claiming attacks on HTS-backed security forces, particularly in the Syrian coastal region, much of whose rural population belongs to the Shi’ite Alawite sect.[50]

Hamas

Hamas’s military structure has been significantly weakened. A large percentage of its fighters and senior leaders have been killed, and their rocket capabilities have been severely diminished.

Nevertheless, the group still retains some operational capability against Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. Aside from its military capabilities, Hamas’s political influence has not been eliminated due to the lack of a strong alternative governance in Gaza. Yet the group will likely lose political support and face difficulties in reorganizing amid growing public dissent by civilian Gazans because of the war.[51]

Lebanese Hizbullah

In Lebanon, despite its military defeat, Hizbullah continues to exercise its political influence over the Lebanese state and has avoided disarming its military wing as required by the ceasefire agreement that it signed with Tel Aviv on November 27, 2024. According to the agreement, the Lebanese Army must confiscate or dismantle all of Hizbullah’s weapons and infrastructure south of the Litani River. As of mid-January 2025, the Lebanese army had not announced the confiscation of any weapon owned by Hizbullah.

With Israel’s determination to enforce the ceasefire agreement fully, to ensure the safe return of Israelis residents to their homes in the north, Hizbullah’s violations of this ceasefire condition could push Tel Aviv to resume its open war against the group, a war which Hizbullah, after its heavy losses in leadership, regional allies, and resources can no longer afford, especially without strong support lines from Iran through Syria.[52]

Hizbullah is also facing pressure from opposition parties. This could create a shift in the balance of power in Lebanon, as evidenced by parliament’s successful attempt to elect a president for the country – a post that has been vacant for two years.

The elections of U.S.- and Saudi-backed Gen. Joseph Aoun as the new President of Lebanon reflects a shift in Lebanon’s power balance, since Hizbullah- which had exercised sway over the political scene for decades- emerged badly battered from the war with Israel. [53]

Right after his election, Lebanon’s new president, who commanded the Lebanese Armed Forces since 2017, pledged to exercise the state’s exclusive authority over all weapons in the country. While most of the members of the Lebanese parliament burst into applause in agreement with his remarks, Hizbullah MPs sat still.[54]

In another major blow to Hizbullah, which wanted its ally, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to stay in his position, Lebanese lawmakers voted for Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, to designate him as a prime minister.[55] Salam has subsequently sought to reassure Hizbullah of his good will towards the organization.

A mural depicting Hizbullah’s slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah, at the spot where he was killed in an Israeli airstrike (Telegram, November 30, 2024).

Iraqi Militias

The division within Iraq’s Shi’ite political factions over post-Assad Syria reflects a broader shift in alliances that could draw Iran-backed groups in Iraq.[56]

The Iraqi government appears to be cautious, yet willing, to establish ties with HTS, as evidenced by developments in late 2024, including sending an official delegation to meet with HTS leader in Damascus.[57]

However, Iran-backed militias oppose this shift, fearing it could weaken their leverage politically in Iraq while paving the way for an anti-Iran and pro-U.S. political model to replace the Tehran-aligned regime that has been in power since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

If Baghdad moves closer to normalization with Damascus, the future of these militias, which maintained a military presence in Syria during the Assad regime, hangs in the balance. Washington continues to pressure Baghdad to disarm and defund them. This pressure will likely increase with the arrival of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to the Oval Office.

Since the toppling of Assad, the militias, which withdrew back to the Iraqi borders, were now trying to justify their refusal to bring all paramilitary forces under the authority of the Iraqi army by highlighting their essential role in Iraq’s security, particularly with the mounting concerns in Iraq over ISIS’s resurgence in Syria after HTS assumed control.[58]

In the meantime, HTS’s actions towards the Shi’ites of Syria and their sacred sites, namely the Sayyida Zaynab shrine in Damascus, could either empower the Iraqi government to further restrain these militias from meddling in Syria, or provide an excuse for these militias to intervene under the pretext of defending the Shi’ites[59] and these sites.[60]

Observers speculate that the recent visit of Iraqi PM Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani to Teheran, and his meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was in line with Baghdad’s effort to dissolve the militias to shield them from potential strikes by the United States and Israel.[61]

However, the outcome of the visit does not sound promising. Khamenei posted on X that the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), that is, the militia, was a “crucial component of power in Iraq, and more efforts should be made to preserve and strengthen it.”[62]

Khamenei’s post on X following Al-Sudani’s visit to Teheran.

Yemen’s Houthis

While Tehran’s influence in the rest of the region seems severely compromised, the activity of one proxy, Yemen’s Ansarallah (Houthis) remain undeterred.[63] Two days after the Israeli Air Force struck Houthi targets in Yemen, the Houthis said that they had carried out attacks on a U.S. aircraft carrier in Red Sea, and claimed four drone attacks on Israel.

Unlike Hamas and Hizbullah or even the Iraqi militias, the Houthis pose an exceptional security challenge because of the geographical distance that separates them from Israel, and accordingly, the latter’s lack of intelligence on the group, including its leadership.  The Houthis also have a much larger population base than their counterparts in Gaza or Lebanon, and are led by an extremely ideologically motivated leadership with dreams of grandeur.

Israeli retaliatory airstrikes, which targeted the Houthi infrastructure, seem to have only increased domestic support for the group[64] and failed to halt the Houthi missile attacks on Israeli targets almost on a daily basis. Similarly, American and British airstrikes on Houthis have failed to dent the group’s hostilities against commercial ships in the Red Sea.

With the diminishing power of Hizbullah and Hamas, Houthis are now enjoying popular support from a wide range of Arab people who perceive the Houthi attacks against Israel and against global maritime shipping as the only source of support for the people of Gaza.[65]

The threat forecast for the Houthis in 2025 includes ongoing maritime disruptions, potential for increased military engagements, and economic impacts on global trade – all while potentially gaining more weaponry or support from external actors, such as Iran.

Africa

In recent years, Africa has emerged as a global epicenter of jihadi threats, with four branches from the Islamic State ensuring that the group’s “enduring and expanding” slogan is still valid.

These affiliates are: Islamic State West Africa Province, Islamic State Central Africa Province, Islamic State Mozambique Province, and Islamic State Sahel Province.

Over the past year, the Islamic State has escalated its operational activities in Africa, including recruitment and resource extraction. Perhaps the recent video which the group branch in West Africa released just before the end of 2024 represents the group’s fruitful efforts in recruiting and training young fighters, including children, who carried out executions.[66]

An image taken from ISWAP’s 29-minute video in Arabic, titled: “The Empowerment Generation – Part 2 (Telegram, December 20, 2024).

A breakdown of the group’s attacks in 2024 suggests that their threats against Christians in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Cameroon, and Mali are on an upward trajectory that would likely continue in 2025 – unless significant changes are made in local and international efforts to counter ISIS.

The extensive photo documentation of the hostilities against Christians also suggests that the group is seeking to spread fear among locals, while showing the world its expanding operational influence on the African continent. Killing African Christians also serves as a convenient propaganda substitute for the group’s relative inability to successfully target people in the “infidel” West.

MEMRI JTTM monitoring shows that from January to December 2024, these affiliates claimed responsibility for killing at least 994 African Christians. The highest number of fatalities were in Congo, which falls within ISCAP’s operational zone.

Out of the 994 African Christians who were killed in 2024, 913 of them were killed by ISCAP, compared to 31 killed by ISWAP, 46 killed by the Islamic State Mozambique Province, and four killed by Islamic State Sahel Province.

African Sahel

Despite significant blows to its leadership, Al-Qaeda continues to seek ways to strengthen its solid presence in two regions: Somalia and the African Sahel, where two of its affiliates have been expanding their operational activities. These are the Al-Shabab Movement and the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

A GSIM training camp held in Mali, named after the 11th-century Muslim ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin (Chirpwire, December 15, 2024).

Security developments since 2020, including the military-led coups d’etat in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, the end of United Nations peace mandates, and the emergence of the Russian state-backed private military company (PMC), the Wagner Group, as well as Turkey, to counter Islamist insurgencies, all continue to embolden GSIM, enabling it to further its outreach and recruitment among the local populace, and to carry out significant military operations, including an increase in suicide operations.[67]

GSIM is escalating attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, demonstrating both an increase in lethality and complexity. The group has targeted state forces, militias, and civilians, with a notable rise in high-impact attacks, including the use of IEDs, drones, and mass casualty events.

The group has exploited the military withdrawal of France, gained territorial control and extended its operations towards coastal West African states such as northern Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Benin.

Highlighting the violent nature of fighting in Mali and neighboring countries, GSIM leader Muhammad (Mamadou) Koufa announced in an October 21, 2024, audio interview with France 24 correspondent Wassim Nasr that the group is fighting to restore “Islamic rule” in the Sahel. Koufa, a senior Fulani commander in multi-ethnic GSIM, often exploits sensitive ethnic grievances, asserting that Fulanis are aware beyond doubt that their only way to recoup their rights is jihad.[68]

On the military front, GSIM stepped up the pace of large-scale attacks[69] and suicide operations. On October 7, 2024, Talhah Abu Hind, GSIM’s emir of the Timbuktu region, praised the group fighters’ suicide operations targeting “Malian and Russian enemies” in Mali’s military airfields of Gao and Timbuktu. He threatened that the group’s attacks would only continue to multiply: “What is ahead is even more devastating.”

Talhah Abu Hind, GSIM’s emir of Timbuktu region (Chirpwire, October 7, 2024).

GSIM ambitions do not seem to be limited to the typical battlegrounds in Mali and Burkina Faso. Neighboring countries, until recently sheltered from GSIM threats, are considered future areas where Al-Qaeda could expand, such as Niger, where the group operates periodically, Benin, Ghana, Niger, and Togo.

For the group’s leadership, GSIM has established a solid jihadi force in the Sahel region, sending a stark warning to governments to cease fighting Islam and Muslims, and threatening them with outcomes similar to what is currently taking place in the Sahel.[70]

GSIM’s increasing military plans are rarely outlined publicly. In the October 2024 interview, Koufa declined to outline the group’s future military plans, but implicitly threatened the “enemies of Allah” with harsh treatment in the future.[71]

Tactically, the Sahel witnessed a surge in GSIM operations in 2024 in line with the leadership’s incitement. The pace of attacks in the last three months of the year indicates that GSIM attacks in Mali and Burkina Faso will continue at an even faster pace in 2025.

Data collected by MEMRI JTTM shows that GSIM claimed over 650 attacks in the year 2024, against the region’s armies and foreign allies. GSIM claimed it had killed over 2,442 people and captured 30 enemy fighters as prisoners.[72] Over 200 of the overall total of attacks happened in Burkina Faso, marking the highest campaign numbers since the founding of the group in March 2017.[73]

An infographic released by GSIM highlighting claimed attacks in Sahel (Chirpwire, December 31, 2024).

Somalia

Aside from the New Orleans attack, which likely was inspired by ISIS, the group chose Somalia as a stage for what it dubbed as the “attack of the year.”[74]

Claimed by Islamic State Somalia Province, the attack involved 12 “martyrdom-seeking” operatives who carried out a coordinated operation on December 31, 2024, on a military camp in the Bari area, in northern Somalia’s autonomous region of Puntland, using two Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIEDs). The fighters were reportedly armed with rifles and medium-sized machine guns, rocket-propelled hand grenades, as well as explosive belts, some of which were detonated during the firefight.[75]

The significance of the attack was its perpetrators: jihadi migrants from seven different countries who “had fought before in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.” ISIS released photos of the suicide bombers, including four Tanzanians, two Moroccans, two Saudis, one Tunisian, one Ethiopian, one Libyan, and one Yemeni.

Al-Naba’ report on the attack in Puntland, Somalia (Gemspace, January 1, 2025.)

Capitalizing on the attack, ISIS claimed in its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba’, that its fighters in Somalia had launched a campaign against the Al-Shabab group which lasted most of the year 2023.

Tallying the outcome of the campaign, the report claims that ISIS killed over 230 Al-Shabab operatives across areas in northeastern Somalia, seized large swaths of territory, war booty, and “distributed tons of foodstuffs to Muslims in the area, and removed landmines placed along the roads and in between homes.”

The attack marks ISIS’s renewed interest in Somalia, and clearly signals its plan to intensify its operation there in order to send a defiant message to Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia, the Al-Shabab Movement, and to underscore that Somalia, like the rest of Africa, is a land of Hijra (migration.) for Jihadist fighters.[76]

Meanwhile, the Al-Shabab Movement expanded its operation in Somalia significantly in 2024 with hundreds of attacks on local forces and member troops as international forces engaged in fighting extremism across Al-Shabab-held areas.

During 2024, the U.S. forces stationed in Somalia and Kenya were at the center of Al-Shabab leadership’s explicit vow for revenge against the U.S. In an August 2024 address, Al-Shabab’s spokesman, Ali Mahmood Rage, aka Ali Dheere, incited the mujahideen to replicate the glory of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, in which 18 American soldiers were killed.[77]

Al-Shabab’s spokesman Ali Mahmood Rage (Telegram, August 3, 2024).

Until the end of 2024, Al-Shabab again voiced fierce opposition to the diplomatic memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland as “invalid” from the outset, vowing to defend Somalia, “land of Islam,” as a “religious duty.”

Al-Shabab threatened that any step forward with the plan would become a cause for cross-border attacks by Al-Shabab against Ethiopia. The MoU has become a top talking point for Al-Shabab as it continues to threaten what it calls the international coalition of “Crusaders” and Somali “apostate” allies.[78]

On December 31, Al-Shabab eulogized Sheikh Muhammad Mari Jama’, the “governor of the Islamic provinces in Somalia” (i.e., the Al-Shabab controlled territories in the country), who had been reportedly killed in a U.S. drone strike two days earlier. The eulogy concluded with the following threat: “America has promised us destruction and death, and we have promised Allah victory and martyrdom, and we shall see which promise is fulfilled.”[79]

In 2024, Al-Shabab released over 800 statements, most of which reporting multiple attacks on a given day, claiming responsibility for hundreds of attacks against Somali troops, government-affiliated militias, and foreign personnel of UN’s African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), and its successor, The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).

The group continues to pose a major threat to neighboring Kenya, claiming over 100 attacks in eastern Kenya’s Garissa and Mandera counties.

Data collected by MEMRI JTTM in 2024 shows Al-Shabab’s activity will continue to rise into 2025, as the group’s resilience grows against successive international missions. Interestingly, Al-Shabab’s military activity benefits from the ongoing recruitment process and a strong media presence and productivity, which is further disseminated by a range of pro-Al-Qaeda media outlets, boosting the Al-Qaeda brand globally. 

AUTHOR

Z. Emile

Z. Emile is a research fellow at the MEMRI JTTM Project.


[1]Theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/13/new-orleans-attack-potential-copycat, January 13, 2025.

[2] See MEMRI JTTM report, A Snapshot Of The Islamic State’s Persecution Of African Christians: 698 Christians In The DRC, Mozambique, Nigeria, Cameroon, And Mali Killed In First Half Of 2024, July 3, 2024.
[3] Voanews.com/a/al-shabab-reverses-somali-force-gains-is-working-with-houthis-in-somalia-/7659656.html, June 17, 2024.

[4] Cnn.com/2025/01/01/us/shamsud-din-jabbar-suspect-new-orleans-attack/index.html, January 2, 2025.

[5] See MEMI JTTM report, Pro-Islamic State Media Company Releases Infographic Of ‘Operations Claimed By The Islamic State In America’, February 8, 2018.

[6] See MEMRI JTTM report, Pro-Islamic State Media Company Releases Infographic Of ‘Operations Claimed By The Islamic State In America’, February 8, 2018.

[7] See MEMRI JTTM report, Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Editorial Celebrates New Orleans Terror Attack, Incites More Lone Wolf Attacks In The West: ‘This Is A Call For All Prospective Mujahideen In The Heart Of Europe And America,” January 10, 2025.

[8] See MEMRI JTTM Reports: Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Responsibility For Moscow Attack; Says Perpetrators Returned To Their Bases Safely, March 22, 2024; Islamic State (ISIS) Says Four Operatives Carried Out Moscow’s ‘Most Violent’ Attack In Years, Publishes Photos Of Attackers, March 23, 2024.

[9] See JTTM Special Report: In Video Uploaded To Internet, Teenage Stabber Of Jew In Zürich Swears Allegiance To Islamic State (ISIS), Calls On Muslims To Target Jews And Christians Everywhere, March 3, 2024.

[10] See MEMRI JTTM Reports: Islamic State (ISIS) Claims Responsibility For Knife Attack In Solingen, Germany: Attack Took Place ‘At A Gathering Of Christians’ ‘To Avenge Muslims In Palestine And Everywhere’, August 24, 2024; and In Video, Perpetrator Of Solingen Stabbing Pledges Allegiance To The Islamic State (ISIS) Caliph, Says Attack Is Vengeance For Crusaders’ ‘Massacres’ Of Muslims, Support To Israel, August 26, 2024.

[11] See JTTM Special Report: Pro-ISIS Outlet Celebrates ‘Wolves Of The Islamic State’ Who Caused Cancellation Of Taylor Swift Concerts In Austria, Shames Jihadi Rivals For Failing To Inspire Attacks, August 8, 2024.

[12] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Praises Volgograd Prison Hostage-Taking As ‘A New Epic’ In Fight Against ‘Crusader’ Russia; Solingen Festival Stabbing In Line With Leadership’s Directive To Transfer Battle To Christians’ ‘Backyards’, August 30, 2024.

[13] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Spokesman Instructs Muslims To Renew Lone Wolf Attacks In U.S., Europe, In Support Of Gaza; Discredits Palestinian Factions For Their Alliance With Iran, Call On Arabs To Rebel Against Their Rulers, January 4, 2024.

[14] See MEMRI JTTM Reports: Islamic State (ISIS) Spokesman Instructs Muslims To Renew Lone Wolf Attacks In U.S., Europe, In Support Of Gaza; Discredits Palestinian Factions For Their Alliance With Iran, Calls On Arabs To Rebel Against Their Rulers, January 4, 2024.

[15] See JTTM Special Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Editorial: Lone Wolf Attacks In The West Prove The Success And Influence Of ISIS’s Narrative And The Failure Of The Global Coalition Against ISIS; Lone Wolf Operatives May Not Be Official Members, But They Prove Their Allegiance To ISIS In Blood, July 5, 2024.

[16] See MEMRI JTTM report: Pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Media Outlet Urges Muslims To Perpetrate Lone Wolf Attacks Against Christians And Jews, Especially In Europe And The U.S., September 5, 2024.

[17] Meforum.org/mef-online/without-a-reckoning-the-first-u-s-terror-attack-caused-by-open-borders-wont-be-the-last, December 3, 2024.

[18] See MEMRI JTTM report, Infographic In Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Encourages Acts Of Violence, Arson Attacks, Destruction Against ‘Infidels’, January 17, 2025. Also, Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Editorial Calls California Wildfires ‘Divine Punishment’; Calls On Lone Wolves To Commit Arson Near Residential Neighborhoods, January 17, 2025.

[19] Foreignaffairs.com/afghanistan/isis-k-goes-global, August 1, 2024 .

[20] Nbcnews.com/news/us-news/isis-k-foiled-election-day-terrorism-plot-us-officials-say-rcna175566, October 15, 2024.

[21] See MEMRI JTTM report, Michigan-Based Pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Preacher Urges Muslims To Act ‘Decisively And Collectively’ To Free Captive Muslim ‘Sisters’ In Western Detention Centers; Calls For Unity Of Islamic Nation, Resilience In Advocating For Detainees’ Freedom, January 6, 2025.

[22] See MEMRI JTTM report, Canada-Based Egyptian Al-Qaeda Supporter: New Syria Will Be Mix Of Egypt And Turkey’s Muslim Brotherhood; Al-Joulani Will Be Syria’s Next President, December 16, 2024.

[23] See MEMRI JTTM report, Australia-Based Pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Preacher Urges Eradication Of International Borders Through Islamic Unity, Seeks One State For All Muslims, January 7, 2025.

[24] See MEMRI JTTM report, Jihadi Cleric Hails Los Angeles Wildfires, Calls The Blazes A ‘Divine Punishment’ On U.S. For Supporting Israel; Ridicules Trump’s Statement On Releasing Hostages In Gaza: ‘Suddenly Hell Erupted In Los Angeles’, January 13, 2025. Australian Pro-ISIS Preacher Gloats Over Los Angeles Wildfires: ‘You Have Been Burning Our Land And People For Years, Yet Today You Burn!‘ January 14, 2025.

[25] See JTTM Special Report: Jabhat Al-Nusra Leader Al-Joulani Severs Group’s Ties With Al-Qaeda, Changes Its Name To Jabhat Fath Al-Sham, July 16, 2016.

[26] See JTTM Special Report: In Interview, JN Leader Al-Joulani Reiterates Loyalty To Al-Qaeda, December 20, 2015.

[27] See JTTM Special Report: Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Leader Al-Joulani Makes Public Appearances Featured In Videos, Praises Israeli Arabs’ Attacks On Jews, May 18, 2021.

[28] See JTTM Special Report: Jabhat Al-Nusra Leader Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani Announces Plan To Establish Islamic Emirate In Syria, Vows To Fight The Islamic State, July 14, 2014.

[29] See JTTM Special Report: Jabhat Al-Nusra Leader Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani Pledges Allegiance To Al-Zawahiri, April 10, 2013.

[30] See JTTM Special Report: Al-Jazeera TV Reveals Details On Identity Of Jabhat Al-Nusra Leader Al-Joulani, June 11, 2015.

[31] See MEMRI JTTM report, Egyptian-Born Jihadi Preacher Who Called To Depose Egypt’s Sisi Arrested By Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-Linked Syrian Authorities, January 15, 2025.

[32] See JTTM Special Report: Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Top Official Al-Qahtani Killed In Suicide Bombing; Eulogized By HTS As ‘Martyr,’ Anti-HTS Jihadi Clerics Warn Adherents Of ‘Same Fate’; ISIS Supporters Gloat Over His Death, Await Claim Of Responsibility, April 5, 2024.

[33] See JTTM Special Report: Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Opponents: HTS Was Party To Russia’s Attempted Assassination Of Chechen Commander Muslim Al-Shishani, December 12, 2021.

[34] See JTTM Special Report: After Video Circulates Showing Attack On Tomb Of Alawite Sect Founder: Alawites Protest; Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-Linked Government Claims Video Weeks Old, Shrine Intact, Vows To Prosecute Perpetrators, December 26, 2024.

[35] See JTTM Special Report: New Syrian Group, The South Liberation Front, Gives Israel 48-Hour Ultimatum To Withdraw From Syrian Territory: We Have ‘Quality Weapons’ From Previous Regime, January 9, 2025.

[36] See MEMRI Report: Media Reports: Turkey To Establish New Military Bases In Syria, January 3, 2025.

[37] See JTTM Special Report: In Video, Islamic State Syria Province Claims It Killed Four Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Members In Armed Assault In Deir Al-Zour; 13 Attacks And Dozens Of Casualties Since Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham Forces Seized Control Of Syria, January 9, 2025.

[38] See MEMRI JTTM Reports: ISIS Claims Attack On Northeast Syria Prison, Amid Reports That ISIS Prison Escapees Were Arrested By Syrian Democratic Forces, January 21, 2022; and ISIS Claims Killing More Than 200 SDF Members, Freeing More Than 800 Prisoners, In Coordinated Attack On Al-Hasakah Prison; Releases Videos Of Attack, SDF Hostages, January 23, 2022.

[39] See MEMRI JTTM Reports: New Group Of Religious Scholars In Idlib Area Expresses Support For Anti-HTS Protests, Calls To Depose Al-Joulani, April 17, 2024; and Newly Formed ‘Association Of Scholars In Northern Syria’ Urges Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Soldiers To Focus On Joint Goal: Depose Al-Assad And Stand Against Injustice And Corruption, April 23, 2024.

[40] See JTTM Special Report: Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-Linked Clerics: It Is Forbidden To Celebrate Christmas, Offer Congratulations Or Give Gifts, December 25, 2024.

[41] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Reports Claim Perpetrators Who Burned Christmas Tree In Hama, Syria, Are Uzbek Jihadi Fighters; Syrian Jihadi Cleric: Raising The Cross Should Be Forbidden, December 24, 2024.

[42] See MEMRI Report: New Syrian Government’s Head Of Women’s Affairs Supports Hamas, Opposes Gender Equality, Believes U.S. Officials Are Criminals, December 24, 2024.

[43] See MEMRI Report: New Syrian Government’s Head Of Women’s Affairs Supports Hamas, Opposes Gender Equality, Believes U.S. Officials Are Criminals, December 24, 2024.

[44] See MEMRI JTTM report, Lebanese Hizbullah Confirms Killing Of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah In Israeli Airstrike In Beirut’s Southern Suburbs, Pledges To ‘Martyred’ Leader To Continue Jihad, Support Palestine, Defend Lebanon, September 28, 2024.

[45] See JTTM Special Report: Eulogizing Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas Says His Death Will Strengthen Group’s Resolve, Iran-Backed Groups Say ‘Martyred’ Leader’s ‘Legacy’ Will Fuel Resistance: ‘Sinwar Is Alive In Our Jihadi March Toward Jerusalem’, October 18, 2024.

[46] See JTTM Special Report: Hamas, Hizbullah, Houthi Ansar Allah Movement: Assassination Of Haniyeh In Tehran Is Serious Escalation With Weighty Implications For Entire Region; ‘The Zionist-American Enemy’ Will Suffer The Consequences, July 31, 2024.

[47]Reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-reserves-right-react-israeli-airstrikes-welcomes-lebanon-ceasefire-2024-11-27, November 27, 2024

[48] See MEMRI TV Clip #11679, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei: Iran Does Not Have Proxies; If We Decide To Take Action Someday, We Will Not Need Proxies; I Predict That A New Group Will Overthrow The ‘Rioters’ In Syria – Syrian Youth Have Nothing Left To Lose, December 22, 2024.

[49]Thehindu.com/news/international/iran-security-chief-says-new-resistance-against-israel-to-emerge-in-syria/article69047366.ece

[50] See JTTM Special Report: ‘Syrian Resistance’ Claims Assassination Attempt Against ‘Terrorist’ Commander In Syria’s Al-Hasakah Governorate, January 2, 2025.

[51] Bbc.com/news/articles/c0vewvp14zdo, 4 July 2024

[52] See JTTM Special Report: Lebanese News Site: Around One Thousand Lebanese Hizbullah Fighters ‘Lost’ Fighting In Syria, Leadership ‘Evasive’ About Their Fate, December 24, 2024.

[53] BBC.com/arabic/articles/c0mvmgmrv1eo, January 9, 2024.

[54] Youtube.com/watch?v=wERM91rpUnQ, January 10, 2024.

[55] Aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/13/nawaf-salam-wins-enough-backing-to-become-lebanons-prime-minister, January 13, 2025.

[56] Noonpost.com/276495/, December 10, 2024.

[57] See JTTM Special Report: Telegram Outlets Linked To Iraqi Militias Defend Iraqi Chief Of Intelligence’s Meeting With Leader Of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), December 30, 2024.

[58]Alquds.co.uk,%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%83-%D8%A8%D9%80%D8%A7%D9%84/, January 9, 2025.

[59] See JTTM Special report: After Video Circulates Showing Attack On Tomb Of Alawite Sect Founder: Alawites Protest, December 26, 2024; Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-Linked Government Claims Video Weeks Old, Shrine Intact, Vows To Prosecute Perpetrators, December 26, 2024.

[60] See JTTM Special Report: Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-Linked New Syrian Government Claims Arrest Of Islamic State (ISIS) Cell Planning Attack On Al-Sayyidah Zaynab Shi’ite Shrine Near Damascus, January 13, 2025.

[61]Alhurra.com/iraq/2025/01/13/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA, January 9, 2025.

[62] X.com/khamenei_ir/status/1877030522800443526, January 8, 2025.

[63] See JTTM Special Report: Houthi Ansar Allah Movement Claims Three Drone And Missile Attacks On U.S. Aircraft Carrier In Red Sea, Four Drone Attacks On Israel, Threatens: We Are Ready For Any “American Or Israeli Escalation”, January 13, 2025.

[64] See JTTM Special Report: ‘General Mobilization’ Chief Officer In Houthi Ansar Allah Movement: Half A Million Fighters Are Ready To Fight The Ground Battle With The Zionist Enemy, October 16, 2024.

[65]Arabi21.com/story/1569428/FT-%D9%87%D9%83%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B9-%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A, January 27, 2024.

[66] See MEMRI JTTM report, Islamic State In West Africa (ISWAP) Releases Video Showing ‘Cubs’ Executing Captives, Vowing To Carry The Caliphate’s Banner Generation After Generation, December 20, 2024.

[67] See JTTM Special Report: Al-Qaeda Affiliate GSIM Claims ‘Hundreds’ Of Casualties Among Malian Soldiers, Russian Wagner Operatives In Attack On Military Airbase And Academy In Malian Capital; Al-Qaeda Supporter Calls Attack ‘Unprecedented,’ Compares It To 2020 Al-Shabab Attack On U.S. Base In Kenya, September 18, 2024.

[68] See JTTM Special Report: In Interview, Senior Fulani Leader In Al-Qaeda Affiliate In Sahel (GSIM) Praises Community’s Involvement In Jihad, Restraining Islamic State ‘Evil’; Warns GSIM Will Expand In Togo, Benin, Ghana, Unless Governments Cease ‘Perpetrating Injustice’, October 22, 2024.

[69] See JTTM Special Report: In Photos: Al-Qaeda Affiliate GSIM Documents Operation Targeting Bamako’s Modibo Keita Military Airport, Gendarmerie Training School: ‘We Destroyed Several Aircraft’, September 17, 2024

[70] See JTTM Special Report: In Interview, Senior Fulani Leader In Al-Qaeda Affiliate In Sahel (GSIM) Praises Community’s Involvement In Jihad, Restraining Islamic State ‘Evil’; Warns GSIM Will Expand In Togo, Benin, Ghana, Unless Governments Cease ‘Perpetrating Injustice’, October 22, 2024.

[71] See JTTM Special Report: In Interview, Senior Fulani Leader In Al-Qaeda Affiliate In Sahel (GSIM) Praises Community’s Involvement In Jihad, Restraining Islamic State ‘Evil’; Warns GSIM Will Expand In Togo, Benin, Ghana, Unless Governments Cease ‘Perpetrating Injustice’, October 22, 2024.

[72] See JTTM Special Report: Al-Qaeda Affiliate In Sahel (GSIM) Tallies ‘Annual Harvest’ Of Operations In Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger; Claims 2,442 People Killed, July 12, 2024.

[73] Chirpwire.net/AzZallaqa, 1 January 2024 to December 31, 2024.

[74] See JTTM Special Report: Islamic State Somalia Province: We Killed 22 Somali Puntland Troops In Coordinated Operation Involving Libyan, Moroccan, Saudi, Tanzanian, Tunisian, And Yemeni Operatives, January 1, 2025.

[75] See JTTM Special Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Editorial Praises Somalia As ‘Land Of Migration And Succor’; Celebrates End Of Year Attack In Puntland Region As ‘Attack Of The Year’, January 3, 2025.

[76] See JTTM Special Report: Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Editorial Praises Somalia As ‘Land Of Migration And Succor’; Celebrates End Of Year Attack In Puntland Region As ‘Attack Of The Year’, January 3, 2025.

[77] See JTTM Special Report: In Video Interview, Spokesman Of Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Declares Somali Government War On Al-Shabab Military, Ideological, Economic Failure; Calls To ‘Defeat’ Somali Government, Jews, West; Accuses Somali President Of Allying With Ethiopia, August 7, 2024.

[78] See JTTM Special Report: Somali Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Won’t Recognize New Ethiopia-Somalia Agreement, Urges Somalis To Defy It Through Jihad And Vows To Continue Fighting ‘Crusaders’, December 12, 2024.

[79] See JTTM Special Report: Al-Qaeda Affiliate Al-Shabab Eulogizes Senior Official Killed In U.S. Drone Strike, Praises ‘Life Full Of Da’wah And Jihad’, December 31, 2024.

EDITORS NOTE: This MEMRI report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Agencies Bear Much of the Blame for Government Waste

The Trump administration is only four weeks old, and the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already revealed numerous examples of government waste, with each item seemingly more shocking than the last. For many ordinary Americans, the natural reaction to such revelations is horror, followed by a series of unanswered questions: How did this happen? Who is to blame? And why have these problems gone unaddressed for so long?

Although there’s plenty of blame to go around, blaming Congress — the usual punching bag when executive agencies rewrite policy without pushback — is inappropriate here because the waste and errors uncovered by DOGE are not at the policy level but at the detail level. No, much of the blame must fall upon the executive agencies themselves.

Take the recent revelation that the Treasury Department’s computer system made it optional to fill in a code linking a payment with a budget line item for approximately $4.7 trillion in payments (over an unspecified period… are we talking about one year or 20?). Certainly such granular details of a payment system are best left to agencies, not Congress.

But such an oversight can cause real financial headaches. Because this field was optional, it “was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible,” DOGE announced. Thus, not even the Treasury Department can explain to auditors why this money was spent.

Contrast this apparent sloppiness in the Treasury Department with the apparent pride its veteran employees took in their work. “The fiscal service performs some of the most vital functions in government,” declared senior Treasury bureaucrat David Lebryk, who announced his retirement after he briefly denied DOGE access to the payment system, during a short-lived stint as acting secretary. “Our work may be unknown to most of the public, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exceptionally important.”

Lebryk was the type of civil servant who receives glowing reviews from his bosses. “For many years, Dave Lebryk’s leadership has helped to make our payment systems reliable and trusted at home and abroad,” said Jacob Lew, a former Treasury Secretary during the Obama administration.

I agree with Lebryk that the government paying its bills correctly is “exceptionally important.” But I disagree with Lew, when he described as “reliable” a payment system that can’t account for up to $4.7 trillion.

Not that this was a particularly difficult fix for the Treasury Department. “As of Saturday,” DOGE continued, “this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.” Just change a bit of code, and — presto! — the problem disappeared. Was that so hard?

Why didn’t the Treasury Department correct this oversight before? Were they waiting on Congress to tell them to fix it (or, more realistically, waiting on Congress to ask about it)? Did they never review their own protocols and policies? How could they not know this was a problem?

The truth is, what DOGE found — oodles of improper payments — is not a new revelation. “Improper payments — those that should not have been made or were made in the incorrect amount — have consistently been a government-wide issue. Since fiscal year 2003, cumulative improper payment estimates by executive branch agencies have totaled about $2.7 trillion,” wrote the Government Accountability Office in March 2024. “GAO has found that these payments represent a material deficiency or weakness in internal controls. Specifically, GAO has noted that the federal government is unable to determine the full extent of its improper payments or to reasonably assure that appropriate actions are taken to reduce them.”

That sounds like a big problem; someone should get on that. Did bureaucrats think this meant “someone else,” or did the thought never occur to them at all?

I don’t mean to be overly harsh towards career employees of the executive branch, but I simply cannot conceive of any more innocent explanations. If I were part of a team that was critical to the operations of the freest, most powerful government on earth, then I would urgently correct any errors that came to my attention — or at least alert my superiors to them. If I failed to address these errors, I don’t know how I could take as much pride in my performance as these civil servants evidently do.

Consider another recent example, the announcement that the Social Security database contained more than 10 million Americans over the age of 120, who were marked as living. This is impossible, of course. Early in human history, the Lord proclaimed, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years” (Genesis 6:3). As of October 2024, the oldest living American is Naomi Whitehead, age 114, and the oldest living person on earth was 116.

But while members of Congress do not readily cross-reference the Social Security database against death reports, surely someone in the Social Security Administration (SSA) should have that job. Even if no one has that job, surely it should raise some red flags when the intrepid civil servants at the SSA go to disburse a payment to a person born during the McKinley administration.

DOGE’s investigation has provided a few answers but provoked far more questions, such as the ones I’ve asked here. American taxpayers will ask these questions, and they deserve to know the answers.

At this point, it’s still possible that there are reasonable explanations for some of these questions (poor agency structuring resulting in broken communications, things that slipped through the cracks, lack of modernization, etc.) — though even such answers reveal a broken bureaucratic underbelly betraying their brazen braggadocio.

However, the longer these questions remain unanswered, the more Americans will suspect — rightly or wrongly — that the answer involves fraud, grift, or political favors. They are also likely to suspect — rightly or wrongly — that the public officials, civil servants, labor unions, activists, and media opposing DOGE’s effort to root out corruption are doing so because they have something to hide.

Something stinks in Washington, and DOGE has only begun to uncover the symptoms. When there’s a dead mouse in the wall, those blaming the pest control guy working to remove it are only pointing a finger at themselves.

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.

RELATED VIDEO: Eric Trump: ‘People need to go to jail for some of this reckless government spending.’

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

President Trump posts video message from freed hostage Agam Berger: ‘Thanks to you, we are home’

“We must remember that there are still people who truly depend on you and are waiting for you to save them,” the released captive urged the president. 

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday posted a video clip of released Israeli hostage Agam Berger, thanking him for helping negotiate her freedom from Hamas captivity and asking “to bring everyone home.”

WATCH: President Trump posts message from freed hostage Agam Berger: ‘Thanks to you, we are home’

Berger, 20, was abducted from the Nahal Oz military post during the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist invasion, along with several other female field observers who had tried to alert the military of suspicious movements along the Gaza border before the attack. The Israel Defense Forces soldier was released on Jan. 30, after 482 days in Gaza captivity, as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

“I want to take this chance to say to you, President Trump: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and continue to do for the hostages,” Berger said in the recording shared on Truth Social.

“Thanks to you, we are home. But we must remember that there are still people who truly depend on you and are waiting for you to save them,” Berger continued. “They are waiting for your help and you have the power to do it. I beg you: Don’t stop until all the hostages—both the living and the deceased—are brought back as quickly as possible.”

The ex-hostage added, “You are my hope. I want to say that I went through many hardships there. The days didn’t pass; they stood still. Every night and day felt like eternity. That’s how those still there feel.”

Berger noted that Monday marked 500 days since Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages back to Gaza as part of the Oct. 7 massacre.

“We must act fast to bring everyone home. They’re just waiting to be rescued,” the freed Israeli captive urged in her message to Trump.

According to official Israeli estimates, 73 hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza after 500 days, including 70 abducted during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023.

The three latest returnees from Hamas captivity were reunited on Saturday with their families—American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36; Alexander (“Sasha”) Troufanov, 29, who has dual Russian-Israeli citizenship; and Argentinean-Israeli Iair Horn, 46. Saturday’s release was the sixth such round under phase one of the ceasefire deal.

Trump on Saturday congratulated the returned hostages, but made clear that their release fell short of his calls to free all the captives at once.

“Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape! This differs from their [Hamas’s] statement last week that they would not release any Hostages,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!” he added, apparently referring to U.S. Eastern Time, or 7 p.m. in Israel.

Trump’s deadline was a reference to his previous warning that the “gates of hell” could be unleashed if Hamas did not release all of the hostages.

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EDITORS NOTE: This JNS – Jewish News Syndicate column with video is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


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DOGE: $4.7 TRILLION Spent by the Treasury Department ‘Untraceable’

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Monday that some $4.7 trillion in payments from the Treasury Department were missing a critical tracking code, which made tracing the transactions “almost impossible.”

The transactions were reportedly missing the Treasury Account Symbol (TAS), an identification code which links a Treasury payment to a budget line item, according to DOGE, which described the use of such code as a “standard financial process.”

“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible,” read an X post from DOGE.

As a result of this, all payments made by the U.S. Treasury will now be required to be linked to an ID code, making it easier to trace the destination of funds.

Anyone who opposes this is in on the theft.

DOGE discovers $4.7 trillion in Treasury payments were missing critical code: ‘Traceability almost impossible’

By Victor Nava, NY POst, Feb. 17, 2025:

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced Monday that some $4.7 trillion in payments from the Treasury Department were missing a critical tracking code, which made tracing the transactions “almost impossible.”

The transactions were reportedly missing the Treasury Account Symbol (TAS), an identification code which links a Treasury payment to a budget line item, according to DOGE, which described the use of such code as a “standard financial process.”

“In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible,” read an X post from DOGE.

The Elon Musk-led project to curb waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government said that in light of the discovery, use of the TAS code is now mandatory.

“As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going,” DOGE said, thanking the Treasury Department for its “great work” implementing the change.

Musk touted the change as a “major improvement in Treasury payment integrity.”

“This was a combined effort of [DOGE, Treasury and the Federal Reserve],” Musk tweeted. “Nice work by all.”

The Treasury Department, which facilitates trillions of dollars worth of government payments every year, was one of the first agencies DOGE embedded itself in after President Trump’s inauguration.

DOGE staffers at Treasury have been granted access to the department’s highly sensitive payment systems in an effort to root out waste, fraud and abuse.

“This is not some roving band … This is methodical and it is going to yield big savings,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said of DOGE during a Bloomberg TV interview last week.

DOGE recently proposed “deleting paper checks” at Treasury, arguing that it would save taxpayers “at least $750 million per year.”

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

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HUGE TRUMP WIN: Judge Denies Denies Democrat States’ Lawsuit to Stop DOGE Mass Firings, Cut Waste, Federal Data Access

Head of Social Security Administration Michelle King Resigns After AUDIT Reveals Massive FRAUD, 20 Million Dead People Are In The System

Far-Left Anti-Trump Judge Who Blocked Trump’s Spending Freeze Has Hidden Government Funding Ties

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RELATED VIDEO: Jesse Watters: Once your money hits Washington, D,C, it turns into a ghost.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Gulf of America Floods America’s Gulf

The conqueror always draws the map. And when President Donald Trump issued among his first executive orders a directive to rename what was formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, it was more than simply a naming preference. It was a signal to the world that he was not a man afraid to upset the status quo, even when it came to changing the world’s maps. Without firing a shot, Trump conquered the Gulf of Mexico.

The changing of place names is nothing new. When the biblical Joshua conquered Kiriath-arba, he renamed it Hebron, which you can still find today in a place called Judea, which some now call “the West Bank” but was known long before that as Judea. The Democratic Republic of Congo became Zaire for a few decades, until it became the Democratic Republic of Congo again after another regime change. St. Petersburg, Russia was renamed Leningrad, U.S.S.R for a long minute until it once again became St. Petersburg, Russia. Closer to home, Colonel Sanders’s Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain became officially known as “KFC” in 1991 — the year we frowned upon fried foods. One of these is not like the other, but you get the picture. Circumstances change, and names change along with them.

Most married women in the United States (79%) still adopt their husband’s last name, and civilization somehow adapts. But because of its geographic significance, and more likely because it is Trump, not everyone is happy with the Gulf of America. Most notably, the Associated Press — the nonprofit entity that calls itself “the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats” — has come out in opposition Trump’s name change:

“The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”

This is not insignificant. The “AP Stylebook” is indeed the standard style guide to which most news outlets look to write news copy. From everything to how to handle the Oxford comma (you should handle it!), to whether or not to use “canceled” or “cancelled” (use “canceled” in American publications), the AP sets the standards. If you’ve ever wondered why news outlets use the standard abbreviations for states (e.g., “Tenn.” for Tennessee) instead of the postal abbreviations (“TN”), the AP is the reason. Most news organizations will have their own house style that will supersede the AP on certain items, but by and large, the AP is the defining framework for most news copy out there.

However much the AP gives the appearance of being principled when it comes to name changes, it hasn’t exactly borne that out in practice. The AP has led the way in the pronoun wars, and the way in which it has led is nowhere near the way language has operated “for more than 400 years.” For example, in 2017, the AP issued guidance saying, “Not all people fall under one of two categories for sex or gender, according to leading medical organizations, so avoid references to botheither, or opposite sexes or genders as a way to encompass all people.” That same year, the AP approved the pronoun “they” for singular usage. The AP has also long championed the use of preferred pronouns in place of pronouns that correspond to biology.

Put up against that background, the AP’s bucking against the Gulf of America seems awfully arbitrary. As veteran journalist Mark Hemingway aptly pointed out on X, “News organizations will call a man a woman no questions asked, but ‘Gulf of America’ is a bridge too far?” Hemingway wasn’t alone in noticing the double standard. Georgia Congressman Mike Collins (R) quipped, “Stop deadnaming the Gulf of America.”

But it may be difficult for the Associated Press and its fellow Gulf of Mexico protestors to hold the line. Remember Rand McNally, who published all those paper maps and atlases we used to carry around? They’re playing a wait-and-see game:

“Rand McNally will await final legal and public review through the Secretary of the Interior’s office, as required in President Trump’s Executive Order, before making any adjustments to our Atlases and maps regarding the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m betting they fall in line with the change. Big Tech has a bigger footprint than the AP or paper map companies, and following the federal government, both Google Maps and Apple Maps have both incorporated the gulf’s name change.

While Mexico (the country, not the gulf) is now threatening to sue Google for updating its map, much of the opposition has gotten lost in the flooded zone of Trump’s flurry of executive actions. After all, who has time for the Gulf of America when paper straws are under assault?

The Gulf of America’s abrupt name change is symbolic of Trump’s larger sweeping out of America’s cupboard. It’s a political chess move that has no easy escape except to just go with it. Will a future administration restore it to the Gulf of Mexico? Perhaps, but not without having to own the fact that they’d be giving away America.

Name changes are tough, but conquerors aren’t strangers to new names. As Scripture tells us in Revelation 2:17, those who persist in Christ will also get new names:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (ESV)

The Gulf of America is only a body of water, and a name change won’t bridge the gulf between Americans. But it may wake America up to the fact that the tide has indeed changed, and we as a nation will have to change along with it. Only names written in stone don’t get changed. Now that we’ve changed the name of the gulf, let’s strive toward the stone.

AUTHOR

Jared Bridges

Jared Bridges is editor-in-chief of The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Record Number of Americans Think the Country Is on the ‘Right Track’

For the first time ever, Rasmussen Reports released polling that revealed a positive increase in Americans who believe the country is on the “right track.” Roughly 47% feel this way — the highest it’s been in about two decades — leaving researchers at a loss for words. The question is this, “Washington Watch” guest host Jody Hice posed on Friday’s “Washington Watch,” “Is there a specific reason for the change?” If so, what could it be?

In September, 2024, only 28% of surveyed Americans felt the country was on the “right track.” Last year was also the first time since 2022 the number of pessimistic Americans fell below 70%. Even then, a solid 65% still believed America was on the “wrong track.” Concerning the most recent findings, Rasmussen’s chief pollster Mark Mitchell, who also joined Friday’s show, explained that a lot of what this data highlights is “an incredible environment out there for public opinion.”

“I never predicted anything like this would happen,” he said. As Mitchell went on to explain that the tide is turning in “this red team, blue team dichotomy,” politically speaking. “[R]ight now,” he explained, “it looks like … an existential crisis for D.C.,” especially for the “unelected powers that have been doing what they want. … [T]hey’ve lost the ability to control … and Americans are the happiest they’ve ever been.”

As for the “right” or “wrong track” discussion, Hice asked, “Is this purely political? Is it economic? What do we mean when we’re saying, ‘Is America on the right track?’” According to Mitchell, it’s simply an “additional measurement of happiness.” He pointed out that the question is intentionally straightforward, “and the reason it’s so powerful is just because everybody asks it” — most Americans care about the state of their country to some extent. “[W]e have so much history,” he added, “and the fact that [the positive results have] never been above 50% in all of our polling history is kind of sad, because you’d want, in a representative democracy, to try and maximize that number.”

With positive feelings at an all-time high, Mitchell continued to explain that Americans don’t seem to understand the scope of this change. Ultimately, “this could be a fundamental reformation of all kind of politics.” In fact, these eye-catching statistics come after President Donald Trump “received his highest approval rating ever, with 53% of respondents approving of his work to this point.” In addition to this, “70% of participants — regardless of whether they support Trump — agree that the president is doing what he promised to do.”

And as Mitchell pointed out, this also comes as many mainstream “news outlets … gaslit too much … pushed it too far and … completely lost their power.” President Trump, he stated, has “carte blanche in a way I don’t think any politician in my lifetime has.”

During the biblical worldview segment of Friday’s “Washington Watch,” Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview David Closson also weighed in on this topic. “[T]he way I look at it,” Closson said, “is I think this is … vindication or validation, so to speak, for the first month or so of the Trump presidency. … [T]he average American appreciates … seeing strong leadership in the Oval Office.” Even though “we’re still early in the first 100 days,” it seems clear that the findings coming out of Rasmussen likely reflect how a “lot of the policies and decisions that [the Trump administration is] making are resonating with the American people.”

If that’s true from a conservative point of view, Hice asked what it means from a biblical worldview. “[C]ertainly Christians’ understanding of the ‘right track’ would be different from someone else,” he stated. “[A]re we on the right track from a Christian or biblical worldview?”

“Well,” Closson responded, “that’s a deeper level question.” Ultimately, “as Christians, we don’t just say the nation is on the right track because of economic indicators or political power, or even cultural trends. … As Christians, we want the nation to be aligning with God’s moral order.”

Closson referred to Proverbs 14:34, which says that “righteousness exalts a nation.” As such, “for Christians … to kind of get excited that the nation is on the right track, we would want to see a nation where justice is being upheld. We would want to see a nation where life is protected, where religious liberty and the ability to live out our faith is protected, [and] where truth is promoted.” If America is to be “on track” biblically, Closson contended, then it’s going to be “where we see those things happening.”

He added, “[W]e want to see return to creation order.” But right now, “creation order is being inverted, [and] we’re seeing moral confusion … [and] moral compromise.” From a Christian worldview, those are “indications that a nation is on the wrong track.” However, Closson highlighted how when it comes to the Trump administration, it’s good to look “at the logic embedded in some of these executive orders.” For instance, Trump has signed orders “protecting life … [and] defining sex according to biology, according to creation order.” What’s most interesting about these developments, he suggested, is that “not only has there been a vibe shift” to conservativism, but that at the same time, “we are kind of getting back on track in a way that’s consistent with the moral order.”

As for whether America is on the right track biblically, Closson said the best thing to do is to pray. “I would just encourage … us to be praying for kings and for officials in high places, that we may lead a godly and dignified life in every way,” he said. “There’s a lot going on. … [And] President Trump and the folks that are around him here in D.C. and state legislatures … are getting very busy … introducing legislation.” As Christians, “[we should] be praying for all of our leaders to make decisions that honor God, promote human flourishing.

“[T]his is a great time to be praying,” he concluded, “because there’s so much to be praying about.”

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

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