War Monitor

When asked today at the 2025 Reagan National Defense Forum about releasing the full video of the September 2 strikes on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean Sea, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not give a direct answer, saying only, “We are reviewing it.” https://video.nostr.build/20e5bd86995d537f57c0b4b018367c1edc305dd5271404678d59fead3a17ca35.mp4

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced Friday that the United States has offered to sell Poland 250 Stryker armored fighting vehicles currently serving with U.S. Army units in Europe for the symbolic price of $1. The Strykers—likely from the Second Dragoons of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment—would be transferred to Poland rather than shipped back to the United States, as part of the Trump Administration’s proposed large-scale drawdown of U.S. forces across Eastern Europe.

After a five-day port visit on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) was seen departing Frenchman’s Cove this morning to continue her ongoing deployment in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Southern Spear.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has released footage from Tuesday showing the interdiction of a cartel narco-trafficking vessel carrying 20,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific. The operation was conducted by an MH-65E Dolphin helicopter from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON), deployed with the Legend-class cutter USCGC Munro (WMSL-755). In the video, a sniper aboard the MH-65E uses a Barrett M82 .50 BMG anti-materiel rifle to disable the fast boat’s engine, allowing a Coast Guard Special Purpose Craft launched from the Munro to board and seize the vessel as part of Operation Pacific Viper. https://blossom.primal.net/e5f9199e2c0d9b4cdc17f82f382bb535aa26851b3333976310c67d9344a8dc23.mp4

Reports emerging from Grozny in the Chechen Republic suggest a drone strike may have taken place. Residents described hearing explosions, and a building in central Grozny appears to have sustained significant damage along one side. The origin of the strike remains unclear, but local sources say Russian authorities have imposed flight restrictions at several airports in the region.

Reports emerging from Grozny in the Chechen Republic suggest a drone strike may have taken place. Residents described hearing explosions, and a building in central Grozny appears to have sustained significant damage along one side. The origin of the strike remains unclear, but local sources say Russian authorities have imposed flight restrictions at several airports in the region.

During a Fox News interview tonight, host Sean Hannity questioned FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino about conspiracy theories he had previously promoted online regarding the January 6, 2021 pipe bombs placed outside the DNC and RNC headquarters — including claims that it may have been an “inside job” by D.C. Metro Police or even the FBI. Bongino replied, “I was paid in the past, Sean, for my opinions — that’s clear. One day I may return to that space, but that’s not what I’m paid for now. I’m paid to be your deputy director, and we base investigations on facts.” https://video.nostr.build/d236f40165b1f70953802158870fcccb54c88721e01245cc781f05ff03d1f0a2.mp4

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has released footage of a strike earlier today on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific — the first such operation under Operation Southern Spear since November 15. According to SOUTHCOM, the strike, ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, killed four suspected members of a designated terrorist organization. Intelligence indicated that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and traveling along a known trafficking route off the coast of Latin America. https://video.nostr.build/1de3e1abad6de5d0d09c787f82e92529eb41b68617ac8a7e12a3a51c8f0506e7.mp4

In a rapidly escalating internet crackdown this week, Russia has banned FaceTime, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Roblox. A note: These are the exact, verbatim justifications given by Roskomnadzor, the country’s state internet regulator.

Shortly after the plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Dublin on Monday, four large, unidentified military-style drones entered the no-fly zone and began circling over Dublin International Airport, according to The Telegraph. Sources say the drones would have been directly in Zelensky’s flightpath had his aircraft not taken off and arrived ahead of schedule. Officials in Ireland and across Europe are describing the incident as an “act of hybrid warfare” and possibly an assassination attempt on the Ukrainian president. After circling the airport briefly, the drones headed east, flying over an Irish Navy warship that had been covertly deployed to the Irish Sea in advance of Zelensky’s visit.

European officials have grown deeply distrustful of the United States as negotiations continue over ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, driven largely by mounting skepticism toward White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who are leading the talks. According to notes reviewed by **DER SPIEGEL** from a recent confidential crisis call between European heads of state and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron warned Zelensky that “there is a chance that the U.S. will betray Ukraine on territory without clarity on security guarantees,” adding that there is “a big danger” ahead for the Ukrainian leader. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also cautioned Zelensky to be “very careful” in the coming days, telling him, “They are playing games with both you and us,” in an apparent reference to Witkoff and Kushner. Even Finnish President Alexander Stubb — traditionally a close Trump ally — voiced disappointment with the current negotiations, saying, “We mustn’t leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys,” again pointing to concerns over the two U.S. envoys.

Vladimir Putin arrived in India today. The main goal of the visit is to try to stem India’s shift away from Russian gas and oil after the country drastically reduced its purchases of Russian energy in response to U.S. sanctions. Putin will also attempt to secure other agreements with India not directly related to oil, but the Indian government has already made it clear that, unlike China, it will not sell equipment or components with dual civilian–military use. https://video.nostr.build/7c24ab1bed15d57f3f7674284008c12b8b6549bf50fff5fed19c34830352bd98.mp4

The FBI has reportedly arrested a Virginia-based man in connection with a case which has vexed federal investigators now for nearly five years, the planting of two pipe bombs outside the Headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Republican National Committee (RNC) in Washington, D.C. on the night before the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.

Senate Democrats led by Sen. Tim Kaine, Adam Schiff, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Republican Sen. Rand Paul, filed a War Powers Resolution on Wednesday, directing President Donald J. Trump to cease using the military “unless specifically authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force,” in regard to potential hostilities - without congressional approval - against Venezuela.

Panamanian airlines Copa Airlines and Wingo have suspended all flights to and from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas for both Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5, citing “intermittents in aircraft navigation signals” over Venezuela.

A newly leaked cache of Hamas security documents offers an unprecedented look at how the group quietly infiltrated, manipulated, and in some cases commandeered international aid operations in Gaza — turning foreign-funded humanitarian projects into tools that protected fighters, concealed tunnel infrastructure, and strengthened its hold over the territory. The internal files, produced between 2018 and 2022 by Hamas’ Interior Security Mechanism, describe an expansive system in which NGOs were compelled to work through Hamas-approved “guarantors.” Many of these guarantors held senior positions within the NGOs themselves and were identified in the documents as Hamas operatives, sympathizers, or government employees — effectively placing foreign aid efforts under the movement’s direct influence. One file details how Hamas used a Hamas-linked company to implement an Oxfam water project in a militarily sensitive area near Gaza’s border. Intelligence officers wrote that the project was intentionally designed to conceal nearby “resistance activity” and maintain tactically advantageous terrain. The documents show that humanitarian infrastructure was quietly reshaped around Hamas’ battlefield needs. The files further reveal Hamas’ systematic censorship of NGO programs. Following the May 2021 conflict, officials ordered Oxfam to remove 13 survey questions because they might inadvertently prompt references to tunnel networks or militia activity. A UN-backed Mercy Corps cash assistance program faced similar restrictions: Hamas deleted questions it feared could expose wounded operatives or identify fighters, and demanded the names of field researchers for security vetting. The pressure extended deeply into civilian life. A 2022 report recounts an elderly NRC beneficiary asking staff whether his collapsed apartment floor was caused by a tunnel beneath the building. According to Hamas’ documentation, the NGO workers remained silent. Hamas intelligence cited the exchange as an example of how foreign teams avoided probing military activity inside residential areas. Projects near suspected Hamas military sites were tightly controlled. An April 2022 assessment of an ANERA infrastructure initiative required approval from Hamas military intelligence for any digging plans or field surveys. The donor, Islamic Relief US, was flagged in the files — its global parent organization was designated by Israel in 2014 for alleged Hamas ties. Across hundreds of pages, Hamas intelligence units discuss surveillance of NGO offices, infiltration attempts, and efforts to “exploit” senior NGO figures for information on foreign staff, funding streams, and operational plans. Officials meticulously catalogued personal details of dozens of aid workers, rating their religiosity, political leanings, and susceptibility to pressure. Taken together, the documents depict a humanitarian sector operating inside a dense security web — with Hamas rewriting questionnaires, restricting site access, monitoring staff, and blocking any activities that might expose its military infrastructure. They also suggest many NGOs chose silence or compliance over confrontation, producing an aid environment that, at critical moments, served Hamas’ political and military agenda. The result, the files show, was a foreign assistance system that did not operate independently, but one that Hamas successfully bent to shield its fighters, protect its tunnels, and tighten its control over Gaza.

Admiral Frank M. Bradley, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), will deliver a classified briefing tomorrow to Democratic and Republican leaders on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees regarding the controversial “double-tap” strike on a suspected narco-terrorist vessel in the southern Caribbean on September 2. Both Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the White House have said the operation was ordered by Bradley, who at the time was serving as Commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), according to Punchbowl News.

The Trump administration has suspended all immigration applications from nationals of the 19 countries placed under travel restrictions earlier this year, effectively freezing green card and U.S. citizenship processing for large groups of people, officials say.

According to a U.S. official who spoke with PBS News, SEAL Team 6 conducted four — not two — strikes on the suspected narco-trafficking vessel in the southern Caribbean Sea on September 2. The first two strikes targeted and killed the eleven crew members, while the final two were carried out to sink the vessel off the coast of Venezuela.

The Pentagon has submitted the classified final version of the Inspector General’s report on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to discuss sensitive — and potentially classified — military operations against the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, according to two sources who spoke with CNN. A declassified, redacted version of the report is expected to be released to the public on Thursday.