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Paul Handley
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Paul Handley
@PaulHandley2
AFP, FEER news veteran. Author of 'The King Never Smiles' bio of Thai king. American U SIS. Clarinet,tenor in DC. Less noise more signal @phand1.bsky.social
Washington DC Se unió Ağustos 2012
1.3K Siguiendo3.6K Seguidores
@glcarlstrom So is Trump saying the US navy will no longer operate in the Persian Gulf?
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Lot of people treating this as proof he's about to 🌮, but we've had three weeks of Trump making wildly contradictory statements that often seem designed just to manipulate markets
Focus less on his social-media missives and more on, like, the request for a $200bn Pentagon supplemental and the marine expeditionary unit on its way to the region
Rapid Response 47@RapidResponse47
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@KatieMiller Katie is really funny. She's also a paid publicist for Elon Musk.
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This is why you should be using 𝕏 chat.
Signal is clearly compromised.
FBI Director Kash Patel@FBIDirectorKash
The @FBI has identified cyber actors associated with Russian Intelligence Services targeting users of commercial messaging applications, including Signal. The campaign targets individuals of high intelligence value, including current and former U.S. government officials, military personnel, political figures, and journalists. Globally, this effort has resulted in unauthorized access to thousands of individual accounts. After gaining access, the actors can view messages and contact lists, send messages as the victim, and conduct additional phishing from a trusted identity. It's important for you to be aware and take action - this vulnerability is not with the application - but you as the end user. The FBI and CISA have released a joint PSA to help you identify this activity and protect your accounts: ic3.gov/PSA/2026/PSA26…
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Rosemary Kelanic@RKelanic
Let’s keep Iran’s missile threat in perspective. It’s no surprise Iran can launch missiles 4,000km. Its space program has already sent SLVs that far. Doesn’t mean it has mastered the capability. One missile failed. The other was possibly intercepted, possibly fell into the ocean. We have no info on its accuracy (or lack thereof). Just because Iran can lob something 4,000 km doesn’t necessarily mean it can be militarily effective doing so. Let’s not exaggerate the threat — that only plays into Iran’s hands. @defpriorities
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I thought Iran had voluntarily limited the range of its missiles to 2000km.
Farzad Seifikaran@FSeifikaran
Until now, it was believed that the range of Iran’s ballistic missiles was 2000 KM. An attack on Diego Garcia—regardless of whether it is successful or not and if confirmed—reveals another dimension of the conflict: that Iran’s missile range reached 4000 KM and it is a message.
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Rosemary Kelanic@RKelanic
Let’s keep Iran’s missile threat in perspective. It’s no surprise Iran can launch missiles 4,000km. Its space program has already sent SLVs that far. Doesn’t mean it has mastered the capability. One missile failed. The other was possibly intercepted, possibly fell into the ocean. We have no info on its accuracy (or lack thereof). Just because Iran can lob something 4,000 km doesn’t necessarily mean it can be militarily effective doing so. Let’s not exaggerate the threat — that only plays into Iran’s hands. @defpriorities
QME
Please tell me more about how Iran wasn’t an imminent threat.
Should we have waited until their ballistics could reach Bermuda?
OSINTtechnical@Osinttechnical
Iran fired a pair of intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-UK base in the Indian Ocean. One missile failed in flight, and another was engaged by a US Navy destroyer using an SM-3 missile.
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Rosemary Kelanic@RKelanic
Let’s keep Iran’s missile threat in perspective. It’s no surprise Iran can launch missiles 4,000km. Its space program has already sent SLVs that far. Doesn’t mean it has mastered the capability. One missile failed. The other was possibly intercepted, possibly fell into the ocean. We have no info on its accuracy (or lack thereof). Just because Iran can lob something 4,000 km doesn’t necessarily mean it can be militarily effective doing so. Let’s not exaggerate the threat — that only plays into Iran’s hands. @defpriorities
QME
If the Diego Garcia strike report is accurate, then one of the central assumptions about Iran’s missile program has just collapsed. For years, the accepted ceiling was around 2,000 kilometers. A ballistic missile reaching Diego Garcia suggests something in the neighborhood of 4,000 kilometers, which pushes it out of the medium-range category and into the intermediate-range class (IRBM). That is a strategic leap.
The real story is not whether the missile was intercepted. It is that Iran may have demonstrated reach far beyond what much of the world believed it possessed. A 4,000-kilometer capability changes the map. Major European capitals begin to enter the conversation. Paris comes into range. London moves much closer to the edge of vulnerability depending on launch point and payload. This would mean the missile threat is no longer confined to the Gulf, Israel, or parts of South Asia. It would mean the radius of deterrence, defense, and fear has expanded dramatically. If confirmed, Diego Garcia was not just a target. It was a message.
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Paul Handley retuiteado
The Israeli military has been deploying in Lebanon the techniques of healthcare destruction it developed in Gaza. In less than three weeks, 128 medical facilities and ambulances bombarded, 40 healthcare workers killed and 107 wounded. Medicide.
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Paul Handley retuiteado
What American Enterprise Institute was to getting the US to invade Iraq, FDD , although not nearly as skillful in dealing with the press and public at large, has been to getting the US to attack Iran. And there was personnel overlap, too. Like Michael Ledeen and Reuel Gerecht.
Zachary Foster@_ZachFoster
This is wild. The @WhiteHouse plagiarized its reason for launching a war on Iran from @FDD, a cutout of Israeli intelligence. Side-by-side screenshots in the 🧵
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Paul Handley retuiteado
NEW: “The U.S. is funding a war against itself,” Danny Citrinowicz, a senior researcher on Iran at the Institute for National Security Studies.
U.S. eases Iranian oil sanctions in scramble to contain energy prices.
Story: nbcnews.com/world/iran/us-…
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Paul Handley retuiteado
I remember when my Republican colleagues blasted Barack Obama over $400M tied to hostages and an old debt with Iran.
Now, under Donald Trump, sanctions relief on 140M barrels of Iranian oil could net Tehran up to $15 BILLION — while the U.S. is at war.
Where’s the outrage now?
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Paul Handley retuiteado
Paul Handley retuiteado
Let’s keep Iran’s missile threat in perspective.
It’s no surprise Iran can launch missiles 4,000km. Its space program has already sent SLVs that far.
Doesn’t mean it has mastered the capability.
One missile failed.
The other was possibly intercepted, possibly fell into the ocean. We have no info on its accuracy (or lack thereof).
Just because Iran can lob something 4,000 km doesn’t necessarily mean it can be militarily effective doing so.
Let’s not exaggerate the threat — that only plays into Iran’s hands.
@defpriorities
Steve Lookner@lookner
WSJ: "Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean...Neither of the missiles hit the base, but the move marked a significant attempt by Iran to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten U.S. interests." wsj.com/livecoverage/i…
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@TheAtlantic @gcaw Could describe lots of government like that, foremost the Trump administration. @gcaw is just a rightwing hack
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“No one familiar with the Islamic Republic will be surprised that the whole system was riddled with people who believed in nothing but their own enrichment and survival, and who achieved their exalted positions through mediocrity,” @gcaw argues: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/…
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Paul Handley retuiteado
🚨U.S. to allow Iran to get ~14 billion dollars (!!!) in oil revenue
🚨This is a huge financial concession to Iran by the U.S.
🚨It is the first time U.S. is buying Iranian oil since 1996
🚨It's all happening in the middle of a war against...Iran
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent@SecScottBessent
Iran is the head of the snake for global terrorism, and through President Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, we are winning this critical fight at an even faster pace than anticipated. In response to Iran’s terrorist attacks against global energy infrastructure, the Trump Administration will continue to deploy America’s economic and military might to maximize the flow of energy to the world, strengthen global supply, and seek to ensure market stability. Today, the Department of the Treasury is issuing a narrowly tailored, short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil currently stranded at sea. At present, sanctioned Iranian oil is being hoarded by China on the cheap. By temporarily unlocking this existing supply for the world, the United States will quickly bring approximately 140 million barrels of oil to global markets, expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran. In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury. This temporary, short-term authorization is strictly limited to oil that is already in transit and does not allow new purchases or production. Further, Iran will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated and the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system. So far, the Trump Administration has been working to bring around 440 million additional barrels of oil to the global market, undercutting Iran’s ability to leverage its disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump’s pro-energy agenda has driven U.S. oil and gas production to record levels, strengthening energy security and lowering fuel costs. Any short-term disruption now will ultimately translate into longer-term economic gains for Americans – because there is no prosperity without security.
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@dlippman Maher is about the last person that should receive the Twain prize. Not clever, not funny, just wanna-be iconoclastic stuff.
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"After this story was published, the White House called the Kennedy Center, and made clear that Maher would not receive the [Twain] prize. ... Karoline Leavitt also then sent us a statement: 'This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.'" theatlantic.com/culture/2026/0…
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Paul Handley retuiteado
They talk openly about settling Lebanon and it barely makes headlines.
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Paul Handley retuiteado
This is the only thing you need to know.
Democrats want to open TSA. Republicans are refusing because they want to attach ICE funding.
That’s why there are long lines. ICE.
Brian Schatz@brianschatz
We are enthusiastically willing to pay TSA workers today, and we will keep trying, but the sticking point is that Republicans want to attach ICE funding to it. We are not in agreement about ICE, but I don’t think workers and travelers should have to wait for an ICE deal.
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Trump and Trumpism are ridiculous, as well as criminal
USA TODAY: "President Trump signed an executive order to ensure the only college football game played the second Saturday in December is between Army and Navy."
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Paul Handley retuiteado
The sheer irony of Hegseth simultaneously asking for a $1.5 trillion military budget and criticizing Iran for "investing in missiles instead of investing in their people" x.com/Acyn/status/20…
Heck in *that very same briefing* (!) Hegseth also defended asking for an additional $200 billion for the Iran war, because "it takes money to kill bad guys" (youtube.com/watch?v=3yQz4f…) 🙄
YouTube
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