Jerome R. Corsi's Blog
September 21, 2025
‘I forgive him’: Watch Erika Kirk voice powerful message for Charlie’s assassin
Erika Kirk speaks at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025Erika Kirk, the widow of Christian martyr Charlie Kirk, delivered a tearful, powerful message Sunday for the assassin who executed her husband, expressing her personal forgiveness.
“My husband Charlie, he wanted to save young men. Just like the one who took his life,” Mrs. Kirk said through tears at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“That young man. That young man. On the cross our Savior said, ‘Father forgive them for they not know what they do.’ That man, that young man, I forgive him.”
“I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do.
“The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”
Erika Kirk: “I forgive him!” This is a true testament of Christ! pic.twitter.com/K0ztmGQqwZ
— DeVory Darkins (@devorydarkins) September 21, 2025
Dressed in white before a crowd of more than 70,000 inside and an estimated 130,000 more outside, Erika explained: “Eleven days ago, God accepted that total surrender from my husband and then called him to his side.”
“On the afternoon of Sept. 10, I arrived at a Utah hospital to do the unthinkable: To look directly at my husband’s murdered body. I saw the wound that ended his life, I felt everything you would expect to feel. I felt shock, I felt horror and a level of heartache that I didn’t even know existed.”
“But there was something else, too. Even in death I could see the man that I love. I could see the single gray hair on the side of his head, which I never told him about – now he knows. Sorry, baby.”
Erika said Charlie, the founder of Turning Point USA, was “ready to die” and that “he named his organization well. He knew things were not right with America, especially with young people, and that they needed a new direction.”
“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West. The young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith and no reason to live. The men wasting their lives on distractions and the men consumed with anger and hate.”
“When he went onto campus, he was looking to show them a better path and a better life that was right there for the taking.”
President Donald Trump consoles Eirka Kirk at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025President Donald Trump spoke after Erika, and publicly comforted her on stage to conclude the memorial service.
President @realDonaldTrump comforts @MrsErikaKirk
pic.twitter.com/6Sf3aHed8I
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) September 21, 2025
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WATCH: ‘Charlie Kirk was a prophet,’ Turning Point USA official proclaims
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WATCH: Building a legacy, remembering Charlie Kirk at memorial service
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WATCH: Kash Patel says FBI probing ‘all hand gestures’ as potential ‘signals’ near Charlie Kirk during assassination
FBI Director Kash Patel (FBI photo)On the same day Americans honored slain civil-rights leader Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel on Sunday said the bureau is investigating all theories concerning the assassination, including “hand gestures observed as potential ‘signals'” immediately prior to the shooting.
Patel said: “We are meticulously investigating theories and questions, including the location from where the shot was taken, the possibility of accomplices, the text message confession and related conversations, Discord chats, the angle of the shot and bullet impact, how the weapon was transported, hand gestures observed as potential ‘signals’ near Charlie at the time of his assassination, and visitors to the alleged shooter’s residence in the hours and days leading up to September 10, 2025.”
Videos have emerged of hand gestures, with some claiming they are military-style signals.
Those of us who served in the military are familiar with hand signals…
So why are these military-like signals being used next to Charlie Kirk before his assassination? pic.twitter.com/ocKPrJ9SnR
— Jesus Chrysler (@JesusChryslerII) September 11, 2025
“Some details are known today, while others are still being pursued to ensure every possibility is considered,” Patel said.
“Our primary focus is to complete this investigation and deliver justice. To protect the integrity of the investigation and subsequent prosecution, we cannot release every piece of information we have to the public right now. We will ensure every question is addressed at the appropriate moment.
“Regarding specific details, such as questions about the plane that allegedly turned off its transponder after departing from an airport near the assassination site, we can share updates when answers are confirmed. After interviews with the pilot and consultation with the FAA, we determined the transponder was not turned off. Incomplete flight data in rural areas caused the apparent gap.”
Patel said as the bureau’s director, “I am committed to ensuring the investigation into Charlie Kirk’s assassination is thorough and exhaustive, pursuing every lead to its conclusion.
“The full weight of America’s law enforcement agencies are actively following the evidence that has emerged, but our efforts extend beyond initial findings. We are examining every facet of this assassination.”
“The entire FBI mourns the loss of Charlie Kirk,” Patel concluded.
“We will not rest until justice is served, and our investigation into this assassination will continue until every question is answered.”
Follow Joe on X @JoeKovacsNews
WATCH: ‘Charlie Kirk was a prophet,’ Turning Point USA official proclaims
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WATCH: Building a legacy, remembering Charlie Kirk at memorial service
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WATCH: ‘Charlie Kirk was a prophet,’ Turning Point USA official proclaims
Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of ‘The Charlie Kirk Show’ and spokesman for Turning Point USA, speaks at the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025During Sunday’s memorial service in Glendale, Arizona, for Christian martyr Charlie Kirk, the executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” and spokesman for Turning Point USA proclaimed Kirk was a modern day “prophet.”
“I see it now clearly,” said Andrew Kolvet, “that Charlie Kirk was a prophet – not the fortune-telling kind that could predict the future, but the biblical kind.
“He confronted evil and proclaimed the truth and called us to repent and be saved. Amen.
“And he wasn’t mean about it. He was kind. He was loving. And you could hear in his voice that he desperately wanted the best for you and for all of us.”
CHARLIE KIRK’S FRIEND: “I see it now clearly that Charlie Kirk was a prophet — not the fortune-telling kind that could predict the future, but the biblical kind.”
“He confronted evil and proclaimed the truth and called us to repent and be saved.”
“He was kind, and he was loving… pic.twitter.com/kYROCqtmOU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 21, 2025
Kolvet had the same message earlier in the day, telling Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” on Fox News: “I believe that Charlie is a modern-day prophet. And prophets go into a culture, into a town, into a city and they call it to repent. And if you don’t want to repent, then you’re not gonna like that message. That’s the history of Scripture.”
“Charlie was a guy that confronted evil head-on. He didn’t pull punches. He said exactly what the truth was. And if you don’t want to hear the truth, you will despise the truth. And that’s why they despise Charlie.”
Kolvet summarized how Kirk wanted people to spend their time on Earth: “Live a life so remarkable … so extraordinary so true to who you are and what God has called you are that your enemies even in death would still not be willing to concede an inch and still revile you. That’s a testament to how effective Charlie is and was and will continue to be.”
Kolvet concluded his speech at the memorial service by declaring: “We do not grieve as the world grieves, because it says in Scripture, ‘O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?’ (1 Corinthians 15:55) Christ has overcome death!”
Also at the service was Elon Musk, who noted: “Charlie was murdered by the Dark for showing people the Light.”
Follow Joe on X @JoeKovacsNews
WATCH: Building a legacy, remembering Charlie Kirk at memorial service
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Trump’s canceled QUAD visit
President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in the East Room. (Official White House photo by Molly Riley)U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his visit to India to attend the QUAD Summit amidst the ongoing tensions between the two countries, exacerbated by President Trump’s heightened tariffs on Indian imports to a massive 50%. Despite previous warnings issued by the Trump administration, New Delhi consistently disregarded U.S. demands, widening the friction between the two nations. The relationship was further strained by Prime Minister Modi’s visit to China after 7 years to attend the 2-day SCO summit. The Trump administration perceives this visit as India’s attempt at rapprochement with China and seeking an alternative to the U.S., thus further aggravating the mistrust.
President Trump repeatedly denounced India as facilitating the Russian offensive in Ukraine by procuring cheap Russian oil. Despite his continuous warning, India refrained from suspending the purchase of Russian oil, resulting in the enforcement of 50% tariffs. President Trump views India’s defiance as an obstacle to his plan on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, possibly foreseeing a Nobel Prize as the great peacemaker. However, Trump’s futile efforts at concluding the war exacerbate Trump’s frustration with India, as India’s lack of cooperation hampers Trump’s aspiration to conclude the war.
The Trump administration expected India’s cooperation by acceding to his demands, as the U.S. has been the largest economic and strategic partner of India. Despite the decades-long strategic partnership, the Trump administration failed to accrue India’s diplomatic and strategic assistance over the Ukraine War. On the contrary, India rebutted American demands, opting to continue the procurement of Russian oil. Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar expressed his viewpoint on buying Russian oil, asserting that this is the best deal on the table for India.
In order to counter the U.S. tariff pressure, the Modi government has sought rapprochement with China. The visit of the Indian External Affairs Minister to China, followed by the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to India, reinstated diplomatic visits between the two countries whose relations had been contentious after multiple border conflicts. However, the biggest development in India-China relations has been the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the SCO Summit in Tianjin, China, after 7 years. The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties and resolving the longstanding border issues, calling each other developing partners rather than rivals.
This visit by Prime Minister Modi highlights a growing affinity in Indian policy circles for China. This growing interest in conciliation with China carries little strategic incentive, as this approach appears to be a calculated policy to seek an alternative to the U.S.. However, this rapprochement policy is muddled in uncertainty, as decades of mistrust, strategic divergences and border confrontations cannot be mitigated by this hurried reconciliation. Even though President Xi and Prime Minister Modi have expressed their intentions to strengthen the relations, the future of this hasty diplomatic arrangement appears bleak.
Capitalizing on the meeting with President Xi during the SCO Summit, with an apparent hope of China as an alternative to the U.S., India might extend its Look East Policy by enhancing its role in BRICS and reviving the RIC (Russia-India-China) alliance. This approach, however, will further invite Trump’s displeasure, who has already warned against any attempt at endangering the hegemony of the U.S. dollar through a common BRICS currency. Given the significance of the U.S. dollar to the American hegemony, Donald Trump will not dismiss growing Indian involvement in non-Western blocs and alliances, including SCO, BRICS and RIC.
The immediate fallout of Modi’s rapprochement with China and Look East Policy is already evident with President Trump’s cancellation of India’s visit to attend the QUAD Summit. The Trump administration aims to pressure India by limiting the U.S. interaction with alliances involving India. QUAD has become fragile and risks unravelment if President Trump takes the U.S. hand from the table. QUAD, which was formed to contain China, appears to be imploding in the wake of a growing U.S.-India rift. For India to return to the U.S.’s good graces and salvage QUAD, Modi has no option but to accept the U.S. demands, which would lead to damaging his image as a strongman.
The fact that India is continuously buying Russian oil and armament has compelled the Trump administration to influence the European allies to impose similar tariffs on India. The EU has already imposed sanctions on the Nayara Energy refinery, which has led Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Iraq’s SOMO to halt their supply of crude oil to India, leading to the loss of 30% operating capacity for the largest refinery in India. This adds to the loss of USD 37 billion to the Indian economy post 50% tariffs.
Since the tariff has come into effect, India has been looking for outlets to compensate for the potential loss to its economy. Thus, in the quest to thwart U.S. intervention, India has sought reconciliation with China, which sees India as a stepping stone in limiting U.S. hegemony. However, President Trump is exerting U.S. influence on India by canceling his trip to India for the QUAD summit. Once hailed as a friend of India, a personal friend of Modi, President Trump has become Modi’s greatest fear and has forced Modi’s hand to gamble with alternative policies and alliances with an uncertain future.
Hamza Zaman: Hamza Zaman holds an M.Phil. degree in International Relations from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He works as an Assistant Research Associate at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Pakistan.
Muhammad Salman Tariq: Muhammad Salman Tariq is an alumnus of the National Defense University, Islamabad, where he did bachelors in Peace and Conflict Studies. He is an Assistant Research Associate at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Pakistan.
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.AI runs on power. But power isn’t moving fast enough
Artificial intelligence is booming — and America’s power grid is struggling to keep up.
At the World Economic Forum, President Trump recently warned that “We need double the energy we currently have in the United States for AI to be as big as we want to have it.” Elon Musk has echoed similar concerns, predicting that AI data centers could overwhelm the electricity supply next year. The Department of Energy predicts that AI-driven electricity demand could increase sixfold by 2030.
They’re right about the scale of AI’s electricity needs. But they’re wrong about the diagnosis.
America doesn’t suffer from a lack of energy resources. We have vast oil and gas reserves, plus growing solar and wind energy capacity. The real problem is getting the electricity that’s already, or soon could be, generated from these energy sources to the data centers where it’s needed.
Solving this coordination challenge will require a new approach to energy infrastructure — one with an eye toward future needs.
This distinction between coordination and total capacity matters. If the problem were simply about generating more electricity overall, the solution would be straightforward: build more power plants and transmission lines to bring power to all the new data centers. But that would — and will — take years, if not decades. New transmission lines alone often take years to complete.
Instead, we need to build new data centers next to existing energy deposits — such as natural gas fields in places like West Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and elsewhere — so that power-hungry data centers can build on-site generating plants and obtain the electricity they need, without having to connect to the broader grid. Using standardized data center designs and prefabricated components could further accelerate construction timelines and get data centers up and running years faster than previous generations of data centers built in traditional hubs like Northern Virginia or Silicon Valley.
Data center developers already recognize the advantages of this coordinated approach. A recent KPMG survey revealed that 77% of data center stakeholders consider it key to build alongside energy generation.
But in practice, data center developers often struggle to understand and vet energy producers. And in turn, those producers often misunderstand the needs of data center operators.
This is a challenge even for the largest AI developers. The Stargate project, a $500 billion AI data center investment backed by OpenAI and SoftBank, chose Abilene, Texas, as its flagship site after fielding interest from sixteen different states — largely for Abilene’s energy availability, alongside other land and regulatory advantages. Despite the initial fanfare, practical challenges quickly tempered aspirations, and the initiative has mostly stalled. As a result, Stargate has quietly scaled back its 2025 ambitions to building a single data center — in Ohio.
To lead in the AI age, America will need more than chips and capital. It needs clearer rules, faster transactions between energy producers and AI developers, and a system that rewards coordination just as much as production.
If we solve this coordination challenge, America can lead the AI revolution and improve everything from health care to education to national security. But if we fail, we’ll be left with plenty of power — just not where it matters.
Christian Bonilla is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of DMARK Energy Solutions.This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.Gaps in amphibious forces pose unnecessary risks to U.S. national security
A Marine Corps amphibious combat vehicle enters the USS Somerset during Quarterly Underway Amphibious Readiness Training off the coast of Southern California, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Evan Diaz)Since the birth of our Nation, Americans have relied on the Navy and Marine Corps to safeguard their safety and security by responding quickly and effectively to global crises and contingencies. For over sixty years, Carrier Strke Groups (CSGs) and Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs) with embarked Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs or commonly Marine Expeditionary Units or MEUs) have done the heavy lifting to ensure U.S. national security interests and the lives of American citizens were safeguarded throughout the world.
Unfortunately, amphibious ships with embarked Marines are not always available today to answer the Nation’s 9-1-1 call. These forces are no longer continuously forward deployed to support combatant commander’s requirements. The primary reason for gaps in coverage is the current and persistent strain on the Navy’s amphibious fleet. The problem is not new. It has plagued the Service for years. There is no short-term fix. The shortage of available amphibious ships will continue well into the future.
The Services can either continue to accept the breaks in coverage and the associated risks to national security or look “outside the box” for an expedient to mitigate the risk. A stopgap option for dealing with the current emergency is deploying task-organized Marine units on aircraft carriers and other ships accompanying the carrier that have helicopter landing platforms. At times, even non-traditional ships with helicopter landing platforms could be used to partially fill voids created by the intermittent coverage of forward deployed ARGs/MEUs and CVBGs. This is not a replacement for the ARG and its traditionally embarked MEU. It is a temporary response to a national security problem until amphibious shipping can regain its footing. Again, this proposal only provides an interim improvement until the problems with amphibious shipping are fixed.
The idea of putting a Marine capability on Navy capital ships other than amphibious is not novel. Nor should it be arbitrarily dismissed as passe or obsolete. Rather, it deserves careful consideration when options for mitigating the adverse national security impacts of insufficient amphibious ships are too often tossed into the “too hard bucket.”
This concept is different than simply putting Marines back aboard Navy ships as part of the crew, as was the case with the traditional Marine Detachments aboard carriers, cruisers, and some tenders. Those detachments were assigned shipboard duties such as protecting special weapons and running the ship’s brig. The concept we are proposing would instead task-organize Marines for a capability set, train them to a standard prior to deployment, and focus them on the mission throughout the deployment. While not nearly as large as a 2,000-man MEU, nor with all the capabilities of a MEU, our force would be a Special Purpose MAGTF (SPMAGTF) with capabilities tailored to the mission.
Real world examples of operational deficiencies created by gaps in forward deployed ARGs/MEUs are not hard to spot. One of the best and most recent examples was the hostilities in the Middle East. For most of the time, there was no ARG/MEU in the Eastern Mediterranean, North Arabian Sea, or the Persian Gulf. But there were carriers and other Navy ships in the area. Would it not have been prudent to have a Marine capability deployed on these ships to respond to contingencies such as a limited NEO, rapid reinforcement of an embassy or consulate, rescue of a downed pilot, limited raid against a high value target, or other mission? Let’s consider two real-world examples, one illustrative of the art of the possible and the other emblematic of how a small force can have a strategic impact.
In 2023, the United States urgently needed to evacuate the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan amid deteriorating security conditions. At the time, there was no ARG/MEU or even a CVBG in the Mediterranean or Red Sea areas. The best the Navy could do was dispatch the Expeditionary Fast Transport USNS Brunswick (T-EPF-6) and the Expeditionary Sea Base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3) to assist in the evacuation of American citizens. Imagine the possibilities if a specially tailored Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) had been rapidly deployed to operate from these non-traditional ships.
In 1995, U.S. Air Force Captain Scott O’Grady was shot down over Bosnia. He spent six days evading enemy soldiers before being rescued by a small security team of two dozen U.S. Marines, two CH-53E heavy lift helicopters, and two AH-1W attack helicopters from the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3). The rescue was hailed throughout the world as an example of U.S. military professionalism and prowess. Had an ARG/MEU not been in the Mediterranean, O’Grady might have been captured with the concomitant loss of U.S. prestige and clout in the region. But fast forward to today and consider a similar scenario where a traditional MEU is missing but a CVBG is on scene with an embarked SPMAGTF. The mission could still be conducted.
The O’Grady rescue is but one of many examples where a small force can have a major impact on world events. The Navy and Marines need a capability to respond quickly and effectively in the absence of an ARG/MEU. Some emergencies could be resolved immediately; some might have to be stabilized until a larger force arrives.
Assuming the Commandant agrees that the absence of forward deployed Marines is a problem worth addressing, we recommend he work with the Navy and within the Marine Corps Combat Development Command to develop a concept and the requirements needed to restore a time-sensitive crisis response capability on carriers and other ships when the ARG/MEU is not available.
General Charles (Chuck) Krulak (U.S. Marine Corps, ret.) is a career infantry officer. He served as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps.
General James (Jim) Conway (U.S. Marine Corps, ret.) is a career infantry officer. He served as the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.Debunking genocide allegations against Israel
Jerusalem, IsraelOn Aug. 31, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a “Resolution on the Situation in Gaza.” It declared that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in Article II of the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)” and “constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined in international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
One reason that it is difficult to trust the International Association of Genocide Scholars’ resolution is that according to IAGS’ own website its members are not all and perhaps even primarily genocide scholars. Rather, they include “academic scholars, human rights activists, students, museum and memorial professionals, policymakers, educators, anthropologists, independent scholars, sociologists, artists, political scientists, economists, historians, international law scholars, psychologists, and literature and film scholars.” If the IAGS cannot be trusted to accurately characterize its membership, why should one trust its assessments of genocide, the gravest charge that can be leveled at a nation?
Nonetheless, one must take seriously the IAGS resolution because it echoes an accusation ricocheting around the globe and amplified by, among others, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, and the Associated Press.
The accusation is old news. The demonizers flung the genocide charge against Israel from the early days of its ground campaign against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza. On Oct. 7, 2023, the jihadists invaded Israel and perpetrated a gruesome massacre of some 1,200 persons and kidnapped 251, mostly civilians. A few weeks later, the Israel Defense Forces entered Gaza to destroy Hamas’ ability to wage war and govern as well as to rescue the hostages. After almost 23 months, the IDF has severely weakened Hamas and returned 203 hostages, 148 alive; 48, living and dead, remain in Hamas’ hands.
Already by autumn 2023, the accusation of genocide against Israel – advanced by many Palestinians, left-wing intellectuals, and university students – was old news. The accusation had been hurled at the Jewish state for nearly 40 years, since at least the outbreak in 1987 of the First Intifada. At the 2001 UN-backed Durban Conference Against Racism, delegates approved a declaration accusing Israel of “war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing.” In the mid-2000s, some Palestinians and Middle East scholars argued that Israel’s genocidal actions stretched back to 1948, when the newborn country repelled five invading Arab armies that sought to eradicate it. Israel’s three-week Dec. 2008–Jan. 2009 Operation Cast Lead, and its seven-week summer of 2014 Operation Protective Edge also triggered charges of genocide. In December 2023, South Africa brought a case to the International Court of Justice contending that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza; the ICJ’s provisional ruling found South Africa’s contention “plausible.”
Yet during the almost four decades since the First Intifada launched the fashion of decrying Israel for perpetrating genocide against the Palestinians, the total Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza has grown far more rapidly than any major national population in the Western world. In 1987, West Bank and Gaza Palestinians numbered approximately 1.5 million to 1.8 million. Since then, their numbers have about tripled to around 5 million or more.
If Israel’s critics are to be trusted, then – as several commentators have observed – despite possessing the Middle East’s most powerful military, Israel must be history’s most incompetent practitioner of genocide.
Those who condemn Israel for perpetrating genocide, however, should not be trusted.
One compelling reason for distrusting Israel’s accusers is that they ride roughshod over genocide’s legal definition. The 1948 “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” Genocide does not mean, as Israel’s vilifiers often imply, killing too many noncombatants. It means killing with a specific intent: the “intent to destroy” a people or a portion of them. Genocide also means killing members of a group “as such” – not because they are noncombatants caught up in the crossfire of war but owing to their membership in a particular group. Israel’s accusers highlight anguished and vengeful statements of Israeli office holders in the hours and days following Hamas’ Oct. 7 barbarism, and inflammatory opinions expressed by government ministers representing the religious ultra-nationalist bloc of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. But the accusers usually don’t even attempt to establish the elements crucial to the charge of genocide, which would involve demonstrating that the IDF’s Gaza rules of engagement aim at destroying the Palestinian people, in whole or in part, because they are Palestinians.
Another reason for distrusting the accusers is that they eschew hard evidence in favor of knee-jerk reactions, heart-rending images, and sophisticated propaganda campaigns. This is an inescapable conclusion of “Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7, 2023 to June 1, 2025.” Originally published in Hebrew by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University and recently appearing in English, the BESA report is empirically grounded, historically informed, heavily documented, legally rigorous, and soberly argued.
Four authors with diverse but complementary expertise collaborated to produce the 300-plus-page report: military historian and Hebrew University professor Danny Orbach; quantitative-analysis specialist Dr. Jonathan Boxman; Dr. Yagil Henkin, a military historian at Shalem College and the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security; and international-laws-of-war lawyer Jonathan Braverman. The authors “address the claims that Israel intentionally starved the Gazan population, that IDF ground forces deliberately massacred civilians, and that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out indiscriminate bombings, failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians and conducting disproportionate strikes.” Without minimizing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, they conclude that these claims are false.
Their extensive investigation yields several key findings.
First, spurious accusations that Israel engaged in the deliberate starvation of Gaza’s civilian population through March 25, 2025, were based on “false assumptions,” “inaccurate information,” and “erroneous data.” According to the authors, “throughout most of the war more provisions were delivered into Gaza than prior to Oct. 7, by a margin greater than any credible estimates of loss of Gazan agricultural production.” Nevertheless, and without minimizing Israel’s military considerations, the authors “strongly criticize” the government’s halting of aid to Gaza from late March to late May 2025.
Second, persistent disregard of Hamas’ aims and tactics wrongly shifts blame for the Gaza carnage from the jihadists to Israel. Yet by its own accounts, Hamas “consistently uses Gazan civilians as ‘human shields’ to deliberately increase casualties and, in turn, amplify international pressure on Israel.” In addition, “Hamas has used civilian homes, hospitals, and schools to store weapons, launch rockets, house combatants, and establish operational positions.” And the jihadists “wear civilian clothing to blend in with the population in areas designated as ‘safer’ or in humanitarian zones.”
Third, there is no credible evidence that Israel adopted a policy of deliberately targeting civilians. The authors’ extensive examination of the claims against Israel did turn up a number of civilian deaths that may involve war crimes – of the sort typical of military conflicts and particularly of comparable warfare in densely populated urban areas.
Fourth, there is no credible evidence that the IDF deliberately bombed civilians and civilian infrastructure. The authors “identify a significant number of tragic cases where innocent civilians were killed, some of which raise concerns about negligence, lack of caution, or even disregard for human life.” However, the IDF “employed numerous protective measures to minimize ‘collateral damage,’” including several that “are unprecedented in global military history and have come at a significant cost to the IDF, particularly in terms of losing military advantages such as the element of surprise.”
Fifth, widely cited casualty data disseminated by Hamas’ Gaza Ministry of Health are inherently defective. The data come from jihadists dedicated to Israel’s annihilation, combine noncombatant and combatant deaths, and use dubious media coverage to exaggerate the deaths of women and children.
Sixth, UN agencies, human-rights organizations, and scholars systematically err about Palestinian casualties and Israeli operations. Impelled by “humanitarian bias,” they embrace “alarmist reports” about Palestinians. They lack the means to accurately distinguish noncombatant and combatant casualties in a society subject to Hamas’ authoritarian rule. And while credulously accepting Palestinian claims, they demand absurdly stringent standards of proof from democratic Israel.
In refuting the allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, the BESA report generally sticks to the facts and avoids policy questions. It makes an exception concerning the abuse of the term genocide.
“If all high-intensity urban military conflicts in the future – despite significant efforts to protect civilian lives – are labeled as acts of genocide simply because of the immense human suffering they cause,” the authors write, “the outcome will be fundamentally contrary to the objectives of International Humanitarian Law.”
That future has arrived. Countering the malicious and meritless genocide charges against Israel is vital not only to ensuring the Jewish state’s right to defend itself but also to preventing genocide’s devaluation in a world in which resurgent authoritarian powers are only too ready to perpetrate the most heinous of atrocities.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.Massive amount of V.A. hospital equipment … is MISSING!
Topline: The Veterans Health Administration has lost an estimated 5% of its reusable medical equipment worth at least $211 million — including exam tables, computers and microscopes — and “will continue to do so if processes are not improved,” according to a new audit from the Veterans Affairs inspector general.
Key facts: VA hospitals own over 2 million pieces of nonexpendable equipment that is meant to be used for two years or more, valued at $12 billion. Federal auditors recently visited hospitals to see if the VA was properly tracking the equipment and found that thousands of items had disappeared.
The auditors estimated that a third of the equipment — 537,000 items — is in a different location than inventory records claim, and an additional 75,500 items are missing entirely.
It’s possible there is even more missing equipment, because the VA is only required to keep track of inventory worth more than $5,000.
Some of the nonexpendable equipment is tracked using electronic tags, but some of the tags have dead batteries or only show what building the item is in and not what room.
The VA also uses an “inventory by exception” system in which items that have their location recorded during routine maintenance do not need to be included in annual inventory reports for up to 24 months, even though most items are required to be logged every 12 months. Auditors wrote that “a lot can go wrong, including losing equipment,” because of the inventory-by-exception system.
There are also staffing issues contributing to the missing equipment. Some VA employees working on inventory could not search for items because they did not have the keys to all the rooms in the hospital. Some hospitals have staffing levels below 40%, which employees said made it harder to fill out inventory reports on time.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com .
Background: All 139 Veterans Health Administration facilities had staffing shortages in 2025, with 4,434 unfilled positions. In 2024, there were only 2,959 unfilled jobs, according to the inspector general.
The Health Administration is just one component of the VA, which plans to shed 30,000 employees in the coming months. VA Secretary Doug Collins announced in September he plans to eliminate “excess positions” throughout the department.
Summary: Missing inventory is nothing new for the federal government, but a hospital having supplies readily available could be a matter of life and death.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.A tale of two rockets
A Falcon 9 rocket launches for a mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., July 2, 2025. The mission added another 27 satellites to the constellation of more than 7,000 satellites currently in low Earth orbit. (U.S. Space Force photo by Robert Mason)It was the best of burn times; it was the worst of burn times…
For those of you familiar with Charles Dickens’ frothy novel of a similar title, set in Paris amid the French Revolution, telling the story of loss, reunion, and social justice, I promise this essay will be just as riveting and philosophically important… particularly if you are a true Space Nerd.
Now Dickens never wrote about rockets, but if he had, he would have reminded us that different vehicles are often built for different purposes. Just as his characters Lawyer Sydney Carton and French aristocrat Charles Darnay serve different purposes in his story, the same is true in space. Not all rockets are the same, and in today’s contested domain, choosing the right one for the right job is no longer only about efficiency — it’s also about national security.
As the Commander of U.S Space Command said recently, “Our government’s national security mission in space is to first deliver critical space services that our armed services rely on every day, and second to protect and defend our satellites against growing threats.”
Meeting those threats requires understanding of the tools and clear thinking. That starts with recognizing a simple truth: rockets are not interchangeable commodities. A Kenworth semi-truck and a Mini Cooper are both great vehicles, but you wouldn’t use one in place of the other. Rockets are no different. Like all complex machines, they are engineered for specific missions, and the mission dictates the design.
There are two basic categories: rockets optimized for Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and those built to go all the way to higher orbits like Geostationary (GEO). The design is driven by where the rocket’s job is done. While satellites dropped off in LEO sometimes lift themselves higher, the rocket’s architecture is driven by its drop-off point. Just like the Uber driver who doesn’t really care where you go after they drop you at the airport.
LEO is really close. It starts just a couple of hundred miles up and usually ends around 1,200 miles. That’s only the distance between LA and San Francisco and San Diego and Seattle, respectively. It only takes about 15 minutes for a rocket to get there, and even a long LEO mission rarely lasts more than 45 minutes.
GEO is very different. It is 22,000 miles high — a round-the-world trip — and a rocket must fly for seven to nine hours to get there and do its mission. Once in GEO, it performs a final burn to circularize the orbit before releasing its payload. Satellites placed there, near the equator, orbit the Earth every 24 hours, appearing to hover over a fixed spot. These are “high-energy” orbits, and they demand “high-energy” designed rockets.
This brings us to the “Rule of 10s.” A rocket optimized for GEO must endure ten times the mission duration, survive ten times the radiation exposure, and deliver ten times the orbital precision of a rocket designed for LEO.
That, in turn, drives the “Rule of 2s”: The High energy rocket must have double the burn time, double the altitude, and two to three times the booster velocity of a LEO rocket. These aren’t design preferences — they are mission imperatives.
The payoff for meeting these demands is significant. A rocket designed for high-energy orbits can deliver roughly twice the payload mass to GEO, all things being equal. And it can often do so at 20 to 30 percent lower cost.
But specialization always comes with tradeoffs. A high-energy rocket can’t practically return its first stage for reuse — at those altitudes and velocities, the propellant margin just isn’t there. Conversely, a LEO-optimized rocket will usually be 20 to 30 percent less expensive for missions in LEO. Using a GEO rocket for a LEO payload wastes capability and can be more expensive.
So, clearly different rockets do different things. You wouldn’t take a limousine off-roading in the Rockies, and you wouldn’t want a stripped-down rock climber for a cross-country road trip. Space is really big. Its regions are farther apart than the most remote places on Earth, and they demand different modes of transportation.
Why does this matter now?
Because space is now a contested environment — our adversaries are building anti-satellite weapons, cyber tools, and blurring the line between commercial and military space. In this contested domain, America Needs to have several tools, and to apply the right tool for each job. National Security Space Launch is a national imperative. Getting that balance right ensures resilience, preserves competition, and strengthens deterrence. Space is the ultimate high ground, and matching the right rocket to the right mission is one way that America keeps its edge.
Tory Bruno is president and CEO of United Launch Alliance.
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.Staten Island Ferry makes millionaires
Topline: The free Staten Island ferry in New York City is actually costing taxpayers a lot of money. Seventeen of the engineers running the boats each earned over $1 million in 2024, totaling $23.1 million.
Chief Marine Engineer Mark Tettonis and his $1.7 million salary topped the list, according to OpenTheBooks’ database. Another 10 marine engineers earned between $500,000 and $999,000, and an additional 43 earned more than $200,000.
Key facts: Of the 30 highest-paid employees in all of New York City last year, 27 were chief marine engineers. Their base salary was only $169,520, but a lucrative new union contract allowed them to collect some of the largest back pay checks in city history.
The ferry employees had been working without a contract since 2010, but in September 2023 they signed a new deal that runs through 2027 and retroactively raised their pay for the years they had no contract.
That allowed Tettonis to make $476,184 in salary, $498,699 in overtime and $714,644 in other pay in one year.
Timothy Wood and Richard Rizzo each made $1.5 million, including over $400,000 in overtime and almost $700,000 in other pay each.
Overtime payments were so large because the normal work week for the ferry employees was 32 hours, not the standard 40 hours, the New York Post reported. The new contract increased it to 40 hours.
The Post also reported in 2018 that Wood was caught sleeping on the job when he was supposed to be monitoring the ferry during the morning rush hour.
The city tried to demote him to a regular marine engineer instead of chief marine engineer — arguing he could have caused a fatal crash similar to one in 2003 that was also caused by a sleeping employee — but a state Supreme Court justice sided with the union, who claimed that “there is no prohibition on closing your eyes while on duty.” The court also ordered New York City to pay Wood for 340 hours of potential overtime he lost while on unpaid suspension.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com .
Summary: The Staten Island ferry might actually be cheaper for taxpayers if it charged a fee for tickets instead of making millionaires out of its employees
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This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.Jerome R. Corsi's Blog
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