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@MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net with several posts (1 and 2 and 3 and 4) on US military technology they believe was used to kidnap Maduro. the US has had a lot of practice doing door kicking night raids over the GWOT

A good thread on Vietnam's rising fortunes with commentary from @seaposting@hexbear.net and @xiaohongshu@hexbear.net, with particular focus on China's efforts with Hainan island

Previous posts of the week: 2025: Oct 27 | Nov 3 | Nov 10 | Nov 17 | Nov 24 | Dec 1 | Dec 8 | Dec 15 | Dec 22 | Dec 29

Denmark Bled Alongside American Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now Trump Won't Rule Out Taking Greenland From Them https://www.military.com/daily-news/investigations-and-features/2026/01/07/denmark-bled-alongside-american-troops-iraq-and-afghanistan-now-trump-wont-rule-out-taking-greenland.html

There's been a lot of talk online about "mass US military movements to the Middle East". The truth is there is no evidence for that, the only movements that have taken place so far to the Middle East has been a rotation of F-15E Strike Eagles. There has been no mass movement of US military assets to the Middle East, it has not happened.

As for movements eastward but not to the Middle East, elements of 160th SOAR (1 MH-47G and 5 MH-60M, the same helicopter unit that captured Maduro from Venezuela) have been forward deployed to the UK, but haven't left the UK. A handful of mid air refueling tankers have been pre positioned but that's it.

There have been no other movements of combat aircraft. Anyone saying anything else is either lying, reposting AI slop, or reposting clickbait.

As for a US strike on Iran, given US Air Force (USAF) global strike capabilities, the US doesn't need to use any forward deployed assets to hit hundreds of targets in Iran if they desire to do so quickly, within the next few days. Flights of B-1B, B-52 and/or B-2 bombers and accompanying mid air refueling tankers could fly out of their bases in the continental USA, launch AGM-158 JASSM-ER cruise missiles, and fly back. The JASSM-ER is a stealth cruise missile with a range of over 500 nautical miles (575mi/925km), the bombers wouldn't need to enter Iranian airspace and it would be very difficult for Iran to shoot down JASSMs. A B-1B can be armed with up to 24 JASSM-ER, a B-52 up to 20, a B-2 up to 16, an F-15E up to 5. You can do the math, a dozen or more bombers can hit hundreds of targets.

Aside from the USAF, SSGNs (guided missile submarines) of the US Navy could also be near Iran and can't be tracked by us. An Ohio class SSGN can be loaded with up to 154 BGM-109 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.

What I'm saying is that's it's unlikely, but very much possible, that the US could launch strikes with minimal/no military build-up.

President Maduro's son revealed that his father sent a message to the Venezuelan people: "Don't be sad, we are well, we are fighters." This was announced by the lawyer for the presidential couple, who were kidnapped in the US following the vile US attack a week ago, on January 3rd.

• Tweet

I sat on this for a while as I thought about it, but it looks like the Middle East Monitor may be setting a pretext for a US/Israeli attack on Iran?

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260110-the-chaos-that-calculates-unveiling-tehrans-strategy-of-managed-ambiguity-against-israel/

So I've been thinking, before reading this, but similar to their analysis:

• Israel wants to hit Iran and soon.
• Iranian backed mouthpieces have before hinted at seeing an advantage in striking first.

But with the protests there is a strategic confusion:

• If Israel hits first, they may induce a rally around the flag effect, and nullify any benefits from this.
• If Israel hits first, they may degrade Iranian missile sites. And their response.
• If Iran strikes first, they catch Israelis at poor readiness. And possibly give the Israelis a taste of their own medicine.
• If Iran strikes first, they may have a crisis with the internal opposition treating the war as a distraction.

So here comes the Middle East Monitor with a similar analysis. But asserting that Iran is taking advantage of the protests and the strategic confusion to rebuild their missile and nuclear program.

aitelly on YouTube claims to have the US strike plan 2.0 on Iranian facilities. Normally they provide "analysis" after the fact. But now they are providing analysis before the event has even happened.

aitelly makes similar claims to the middle east monitor here. This is where my accusation of narrative-forming lies.

It seems to me they want to justify attacking Iran while the protests are ongoing.

Counterpoint: as per Marmite there hasn't been much movement with US fighters. The aitelly plan would require some air support.

Today's Aleppo update. The "HTS" regime says it captured all of Ashrafiya and 90% of Sheikh Maqsoud. The "SDF" says its fighters are still resisting in the area of the Khaled Fajr Hospital. Both sides are reportedly conducting drone strikes.

Here are two SouthFront posts (both with video footage) of the ongoing conflict:

https://southfront.press/besieged-in-hospital-kurds-fight-to-death-as-their-drones-hit-syrian-army-hqs-in-aleppo-videos/

https://southfront.press/syrian-government-forces-capture-dozens-of-kurds-throw-fighter-off-building-in-aleppo-videos/

RT released a good video report today on Jolani's rise to power:

https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/How-Syria's-Ahmed-al-Sharaa-rose-to-power:0

Note, Hillary's propaganda statement about Afghanistan playing a role in the destruction of the USSR is BS. The USSR in 1991 actually had far less debt than the USA does today (in terms of a percentage of its GDP). The Afghan intervention had no significant impact on that debt, either.

Police discover human remains near car in bushfire-ravaged area east of Seymour

First (confirmed) death of the currently active bushfires.

Seems that today the protests in Iran have largely died down.

CNN, quoting a doctor: Security forces in Nishapur have killed at least 30 protesters with military-grade weapons. Among them was a five-year-old child who was shot while in their mother’s arms. Security forces also left many injured and fired at pedestrians and bystanders.

Via https://t.me/AnarchistFront_English

President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, hold another phone call with Lula and Petro yesterday. She thanked them for the support and aid they have been giving, seems like she also talked with the PM of Spain.

I read online that some Venezuelans/Chavistas have been saying that the US plan probably was to kidnap/kill Maduro, his wife, Delcy, Diosdado and Padrino, but they failed to find the others. They were also saying that if there was a betrayal or something, Delcy probably wasn't part of it since her first action as President was to change her security personnel for people who were closer with Chavez.

Anybody got a link or copy of that map of a ton of US Military Industrial Complex locations that was floating around in June? Trying to locate it again, it was going around when Pal Action did their thing on the RAF airbase.

Looked like this:

Warning, Western propaganda outlet: "Jan 11 (Reuters) - Israel is on high alert for the possibility of any U.S. intervention in Iran as authorities there confront the biggest anti-government protests in years, according to three Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-on-high-alert-for-possibility-of-us-intervention-in-iran-sources-say/ar-AA1TZ0hj

Why are conservatives latching onto the Jonathan Ross bodycam footage like it exonerates his murder of Good?

ICE created dangerous situations, "fear for their lives" , brandish weapons and disguise their identities through facemasks, and now feel free to kill with impunity in such a brazen manner but to the conservative mind disrespect = alienation from humanity = okay to kill.

pizza indicator going up

Brazil will cease to represent Argentina's interests in Venezuela, where Javier Milei's government has had no diplomatic presence since August 2024. Italy will take over the Argentine embassy. >The decision was made after the Argentine leader published several posts and reposts on social media with direct and indirect criticism of Brazil and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

One of these was a post in which Milei celebrated the capture of Nicolás Maduro with a video that ended with a photo of Lula embracing the Venezuelan leader. Another post by Milei that upset the Brazilian government was an image published by the Argentine after José Antonio Kast's victory as Chile's president-elect, which showed South America divided in two, with Argentina depicted as futuristic and Brazil as a large favela. Brazil's economy is approximately 243% larger than Argentina's. The poverty rate in Brazil is 19%, while in Argentina it is 42%.

Enforcement Regime: Immigration hardliners in the US state

https://www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/enforcement-regime/

A good article about how ICE and CBP have got to this point. Implicates every admin from Bush W, the ICE/CBP unions, and the bipartisanship which let the brownshirts fester.

There was story told by Vijay Prashad during one of his lectures that always stuck with me and elucidates the nature of Iranian state shortcomings

Vijay was once interviewing an Iranian official sometime in the late 90s I believe and he asked the official pointed questions about Iranian agricultural policy, specifically why Iran refused to buy high quality and cheaper wheat from India and instead insisted on buying low quality yet more expensive wheat from the United States, giving the US sanction leverage over the country's food supply

The answer the official gave shocked Vijay; the only excuse the official could come up with was "Everyone knows American wheat is better"

Do we have any more info on the proxy forces that tried to invade Iran from Iraq yesterday? It looks like a planned US & Israeli mission.

A comment on the thread today ~~about news that the US is relocating dozens of fighters to West Asia~~: https://hexbear.net/post/7297419

From what I heard, they're preparing a full-frontal assault to Iran.

Source: From one of my relatives in MİT—National Intelligence Organization, Türkiye's intelligence agency.

Direct link to the comment: https://hexbear.net/post/7297419/6819222

Edit: There's no evidence of a significant relocation of US fighters according to @MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net: https://hexbear.net/comment/6819297

Some interesting commentary from Beijing moves to cut losses in Venezuela after Maduro’s capture Asia Times:

China has drawn up plans to minimize losses in Venezuela and fine-tune its broader overseas investment strategy after the United States captured the Latin American country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on January 3.

Since the US military operation in Venezuela, the Chinese government has been busily assessing the situation and calculating potential losses to its economic interests.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Chinese officials, media and commentators started expressing their views, showing that Beijing has finished its assessment.

In general, Beijing regrets having put too many eggs in one basket and having been too ready to believe that its investments in Venezuela would face minimal risks under international law. It also admits that it had underestimated the Trump administration’s ambition in the Western Hemisphere.

Some commentators are saying that, in the short run, China wants to ensure it can continue receiving crude oil from Venezuela, which still owes it about US$10 billion to US$20 billion. In the middle and long term, China may seek to sell certain fixed assets in Venezuela to Western firms or form partnerships with them to limit losses.

…

‘Law of the jungle’

When the Trump administration said in its National Security Strategy on December 4 that the US would strategically refocus on the Western Hemisphere, many Chinese commentators initially responded with mockery, arguing that the US was no longer wealthy or capable enough to sustain military dominance simultaneously in the Indo-Pacific, Europe and its own backyard.

That assessment has since shifted sharply, with commentators now acknowledging that Maduro’s capture has had a significant negative impact on Chinese investments in Venezuela and across Latin America.

A Beijing-based columnist surnamed Xu says in his article that China’s long-running oil-for-loans arrangements with Venezuela have left Beijing heavily exposed.

“Since 2007, China has provided Venezuela with US$60 billion in loans. At the end of 2025, more than US$10 billion was still outstanding,” Xu says. “The debt is repaid with crude oil, requiring Venezuela to ship about 610,000 barrels a day to China.”

Xu says that with Maduro’s arrest, China could face substantial losses. He warns that Chinese firms have invested billions of US dollars in Venezuela’s energy sector, including large-scale drilling platforms and upstream oil projects, many of which could be forced to halt, while daily crude oil shipments used for debt repayment could be disrupted.

Such disruptions, he adds, would force refineries in eastern China to seek alternative supplies, potentially driving up oil prices and fuel costs. Besides, a range of Chinese-invested infrastructure, manufacturing and telecommunications projects in Venezuela would face heightened default risks.

We already know that China already switched to Canadian crude since last November, right after the Trump-Xi meeting:

So it’s quite possible that the US gave China some “grace period” to reroute their oil supply before the actual operation in Venezuela. China has also built up a massive amount of strategic petroleum reserves so the oil stock in China should be quite safe for now.

Obviously it’s still early days and much of this kind of commentary is still speculative, but if the US goal in Venezuela is indeed to replicate what they did in Iran with the bombing of nuclear facilities, which is to scare off Chinese investors, then it’s going to have a broader impact to Latin America as a whole, as it did to the ME/NA region where both Russia and China are pulling away their strategic interests from.

With Trump stating that shipments of oil from Venezuela to China will be allowed, coupled with the threats on Mexico, I am becoming increasingly worried that the primary target of all of this is Cuba and to force the government there to collapse by destroying their economy (no oil).

I don’t think this is Trump’s plan, this is all Rubio.

It seems like regarding Venezuela, the US’ plan is less about controlling production and more about distribution. No reason to think they will allow VZ to ship oil to Cuba.

As many here have pointed out, attacking Mexico doesn’t make sense. However, I think the plan is to scare Mexico into allowing the US to have a say in who Mexico is allowed to trade with. And Mexico ships a not insignificant amount of oil to Cuba. This would seemingly align with Sheinbaum’s odd statement about how they have not increased oil shipments to Cuba recently, trying to avoid the attention of the US.

If the US can cut off oil shipments from Mexico and Venezuela to Cuba, I don’t know how Cuba will get critical oil supplies delivered.

Beyond Cuba, it seems to me the US is looking to control trade flows for the entire western hemisphere. The idea is to not only increase the exploitation the US imposes, but to control those trade relationships between Latin America and the rest of the world, to serve the US’ purposes.

I am not someone who is prone to geopolitical pessimism; and I know the commitment to the revolution the Cuban people hold in their hearts… but I am really worried for Cuba right now.

Not news, but I have a request for my fellow newsheads: seeing the sanctions on Venezuela, Iran and Cuba, I've tried a few times to see the scope of the sanctions, and specifically what they're consisting of and their measured impact to the economies of said countries. Looking for it, maybe because of my limited English skills, I can't find anything other than propaganda for the sanctions, and I can't find any serious study or comprehensive description of the how and the how much of the sanctions. Does anyone have a good resource available to read on it?

Seems like both AMD and Nvidia are spending their time at the Consumer Electronics Show talking about datacenters and AI

YT comment:

I feel like a cow watching a keynote about streamlining slaughterhouses

I'm starting to think the US launched the Venezuela operation at a timing they didn't want. As soon as they finished kidnapping Maduro they started pivoting away towards very likely West Asia dude to the zionist intervention in Iran and the oncoming shitshow in the region.

Then it comes out Trump is conciliatory towards Colombia and maybe Venezuela as well to avoid escalation.

I guess we'll see.