Stephen Bryen

@Kasparov63 total nonsense

The Hungarian people will pay little attention to what Vance says, but the visit may not be for them. Based on my experience living under Russian authoritarianism, speeches like Vance's can send a powerful message to the army and police, who might be given an explicit order by the government to administer force in the case of any confrontation. If Vance's full-throated endorsement of Orbán is read as giving the security services a green light to act harshly in the case of a disputed election, then America could tip the scales in favor of the regime, potentially outweighing any European sanctions. The willingness to use force is a hallmark of every authoritarian. zeit.de/politik/auslan…

Hungary is the fight for the future of Europe. The election promises a change of power, but the Orbán regime and its supporters in the Kremlin will not go quietly. The EU cannot stand idly by. My op-ed in @zeitonline: zeit.de/politik/auslan…

@allenanalysis The parliament speaker is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a retired IRGC general and known extremist. He served as a commander in the Iran-Iraq war, led the IRGC Aerospace Force (1997–2000), and served as Iran's Chief of Police Command (2000–2005). He is NOT a career diplomat.

🚨JUST IN: The Iran negotiating teams for Saturday’s Islamabad talks are set. Iran is sending its Foreign Minister and Parliament Speaker. Career diplomats. People who have spent their lives doing this. America is sending JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner. A VP. A real estate developer. And Trump’s son-in-law — whose fund took $2 billion from Saudi Arabia, a country with direct financial stakes in how this ends.

@JimHansonDC unacceptable nonsense from Bannon

Both of Netanyahu's sons already served in the IDF.

@GordonGChang it is not losing and this is crap

We’re losing?

@defense_civil25 Nothing to do with nuclear weapons that explode above ground and rely on overpressure to destroy underground bunkers and silos. Here you have secondary explosions underground suggesting large storage site for weapons and missiles.

🚨Update: Did the IDF just nuke the Iranian city of Isfahan? Massive MUSHROOM CLOUD EXPLOSION strikes city!

@OlenaRohoza fake

Ukrainian special forces carried out an incredible operation — they allegedly stole several fully fueled and armed combat aircraft directly from Russian airfields. HUR pilots stormed the parking areas, neutralized security, and flew the aircraft to Ukraine. Impressive footage has already appeared: Russian Su-34s and bombers with Russian markings are seen landing at Ukrainian airfields under the escort of Ukrainian fighter jets. Russian sources reported that, over time, 59 aircraft and helicopters were stolen, with some of them ending up in Ukraine. This was reported by the Russian outlet Izvestia, adding that some of the aircraft were later used in the war on Ukraine’s side against Russia itself. Because of this, the FSB has reportedly carried out a series of searches within Rosaviatsia as part of related criminal investigations. According to Rosaviatsia, 36 out of the 59 aircraft disappeared in connection with being sold abroad. Of these, eight were sold to countries considered “unfriendly” by the aggressor. And these are only the confirmed cases — the ones the Kremlin allowed to be made public. “Three Mi-8 helicopters later took part in the war on Ukraine’s side, while Il-76 aircraft transported cargo with their transponders turned off, concealing information about their movements,” Russian media also report. It is also known that recently in Russia a Mi-8 helicopter simply disappeared during a training flight over a lake. There were three crew members on board. The Mi-8 helicopter of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations vanished from radar and stopped responding. This was reported by the Russian Emergencies Ministry, noting that a helicopter from the Northwestern Aviation Rescue Center lost contact during a training flight over Lake Onega. Thus, the number of cases involving aircraft being transferred to Ukraine together with their crews is likely much higher than what Russian media are allowed to report.

@FDD @JackBurnham802 @JohannaYang_ A key problem is the DPP-led government does not want nuclear anything.

Washington and Taipei should collaborate on developing and fielding small modular reactors, an emerging technology that may eventually complement Taipower’s current fleet. More here from @JackBurnham802 & @JohannaYang_: fdd.org/analysis/2026/…

@MarcoFoster_ seems like they fixed it so your complaint is errant

Joe Scarborough on the Republican shutdown: “You want to run Venezuela, but you can’t run Laguardia? You want to change governments in Iran, but you can’t even make Houston’s airport work? You want to take over Greenland, and yet you can’t even make Atlanta Hartsfield function?”

@WesternLensman He should be arrested. This is outrageous. Threatening Federal officers is a crime.

Philly DA Larry Krasner threatens ICE agents working at the airport with arrest: "The president cannot pardon you. I will put you in handcuffs. And if necessary, I will put you in a jail cell." Krasner was promising to hunt down ICE agents like Nazis a couple of months ago.

@Wurmserscribit David, an important insight. I missed the "nuance" of Trump's statement.

I think you are entirely misreading this. He said “country of Iran,” not “Iranian authorities.” I think his interlocutors were not the Mullah regime, but Reza Pahlavi II, who last night asked the ultimatum be reconsidered. If you read his statement that way, Trump is undertaking an earthquake rather than retreat. He would essentially be recognizing RezaPahlavi II as the sovereign of Iran, not the Islamic Republic. In sum, I think we will find this is not as it seems. Israel and the Iranian opposition opposed the terms of the ultimatum since it was too blunt a hammer that could hurt the Iranian people and opposition more than the regime. Reza Pahlavi II said as much last night. Israel likely opposed it too. It saw it as too blunt that would hurt not only the Iranian people, but Israel’s activities and intelligence collection on the ground, which relies heavily on Iranian citizens’ helping and reporting, more than the regime. The postponement is to take the week to draft a better sort of hammer that hits the regime hard and far far Jess hurts the people. In the mean time, oil markets are calmed down until they are closed until Friday night. He probably was referring to talks with the “country of Iran” as talks with Reza Pahlavi’s people, who were asking the ultimatum be walked back. This is a subtle, but big, event if indeed what happened. It means the President no longer sees the Islamic Republic as the sovereign, but Reza Pahlavi II instead. So if I were the regime, I would worry even more. Of course, they won’t. They are primitive thugs who will not be able to comprehend it as other than weakness. Until they look up from the Hell to which they have been sent in a few weeks to see how wrong they were.

@ewong @nytimes I think this is entirely fake nonsense.

NEW from @nytimes: Netanyahu embraced a plan by the Mossad chief to ignite a regime change uprising in Iran for a quick victory. He used it to help convince Trump to start the war — despite doubts among some senior US and Israeli officials. It was a critical flaw in war plans.

@GrecianFormula This is absurd.

Russia Is the Big Winner in the Iran War 19fortyfive.com/2026/03/russia…

@GordonGChang He must be drinking, again.

China says it is “a democracy with Chinese characteristics.” In plain words, the country is returning to totalitarianism.

@FDD @srodan @DavidSamuelMay Spain should not be in NATO.

Spain formally withdrew its ambassador from Israel on March 11. The move capped a sequence of escalating gestures Spain has taken against Israel. New Insight from @srodan and @DavidSamuelMay: bit.ly/3PvSfnR

@lsferguson The UK is too cheap to invest in air defenses.

‘DEFENSELESS’: Former Military Chiefs Say Britain Is Vulnerable to Iranian Missiles in the Event of an Attack, Has To Rely on the US ift.tt/fz9leAY