Badlands Brief

Mr. Nice Guy Leaves the Building (plus, Jewish Terrorism)

The Badlands Brief is your daily drop of Badlands’ takes on the narratives dominating the info war. Read on, and join the conversation in the comments section.

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“No More Mr. Nice Guy!” Trump Re-Escalates Iran Conflict After De-Escalating

U.S. Central Command said American forces on April 19 enforced naval blockade measures against the Iranian-flagged cargo vessel M/V Touska as it headed toward an Iranian port. CENTCOM said the USS Spruance intercepted the ship in the north Arabian Sea, issued warnings, then fired into its engine room after the crew did not comply. The command said U.S. Marines later boarded the vessel and that it remained in U.S. custody.

Iran said it would respond to what it described as U.S. “armed piracy,” according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that Iranian state media said Tehran would not take part in a second round of negotiations the United States had hoped to start before the ceasefire expires.

President Donald Trump had said U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday, but AP reported that after the ship seizure it was unclear where those talks stood. AP said Pakistan had begun tightening security in Islamabad, though it had not confirmed a second round of talks; AP attributed details on preparations to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Burning Bright: “Donald Trump and Iran know how this story ends.”

That was a quote from yours truly in an episode of the Badlands Blitz I recorded with our own GhostofBasedPatrickHenry BEFORE the latest definitely real, certainly very serious news of Iran firing on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz flooded the Info War battlespace this weekend.

And just after Donald Trump had not so much signaled calm, but attempted to mandate it.

No matter what headlines you see before or after reading it, training oneself to operate along Narrative layers, and ONLY Narrative layers will avail you well as you attempt to navigate the engineered fog of a war meant to cultivate the public mandate for a war that will never arrive and, barring that, to cultivate the public BELIEF that said war is not only inevitable and unavoidable … but is already in the offing.

An eventuality Trump himself seems to be the only major cognitive cypher on the game board wholly opposed to.

Which is why my original thesis of the Iran War stands as communicated, with no edits needed on the back of the latest escalations, as I believe the key is not in attempting to parse what is and is not occurring within the Strait of Hormuz, but more importantly, in WHO these escalatory narratives are emanating from, and from whom they are decidedly not.

In other words, as you attempt to parse the latest tit-for-tat between all sides, keep two questions in mind:

When Donald Trump saber rattles against the so-called regime, no matter which regime he’s referring to in a given moment, is he provoking a deployment … or countering one?

Is he searching for an on-ramp, or an off-ramp?

I suppose it all depends on whether or not you believe Trump (and others in the Sovereign Alliance) when he says he wants his legacy to be defined by peace, and not the other thing.

Alternatively, when you DO see fresh escalation out of the global theater, consider the position Trump himself has been telling you—and that I have attempted to elucidate in greater detail—the Globalist Hegemon has been placed in due to this series of peaceful pincers.

The one they always feared, but never believed would arrive, if only because they never expected the prime warrior nations of our age to ever put the sabers down … or else to turn them in unison on the Invisible Enemy … on the System that provoked them to war in the first place, and against one another.

(I go into much greater detail not just on what is being dismantled, but more importantly, what is being built in its place by the Sovereign Alliance in my latest long-form, ‘Of Breakers and Builders’ if you’re interested in some deeper Monday reading.)

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Israel Escalates Violence in Lebanon amid Ceasefire; Trump Turns the Screws on Netanyahu

Israel said it has ordered troops to use “full force” against threats in Lebanon despite a temporary truce, signaling that military operations along the border could continue under current ceasefire terms. Defense Minister Israel Katz also said homes allegedly used by Hezbollah would be leveled, while Arab News reported demolitions were underway Sunday, citing Israeli state media.

Separately, the Israeli military published a map showing a new deployment line in southern Lebanon that places dozens of villages inside an Israeli-controlled zone extending about 5 to 10 kilometers from the border, according to Reuters. The report said five Israeli divisions backed by naval forces were operating there to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and address threats to northern Israel.

The developments follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that Israel was barred from further bombing in Lebanon after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect. Trump posted to Truth Social, “Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!”

Barak Ravid from Axios reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his advisers were surprised by Trump’s public remarks, which reportedly were not expected in Jerusalem. The Israeli ambassador to the US was said to have scrambled to get clarification on what Trump meant in his post.

GhostofBasedPatrickHenry:

The pattern that continues to develop reinforces my speculation that, in spite of the optics and public discourse, President Trump is diffusing the Greater Israel Empire before it can establish itself as the hegemony in the Middle East.

It seems that Trump will resolve the conflict between the US and Iran, while Israel will continue fighting both Hezbollah and the IRGC. All of the public rhetoric from Israeli leaders indicates that they will not stop waging war on Iran until the government is toppled—an objective that appears increasingly impossible.

The IDF has released updated maps of Lebanon showing their progress. As I speculated last week in the Brief, the IDF has moved northeast toward Mount Hermon, capturing the Lebanese lands bordering the Golan Heights and Syria.

It would appear that, aside from the long-term objective of establishing Greater Israel, the short-term goals are two-fold:

1. Capture Mount Hermon, which at over 9,200 feet represents the highest point in the entire Levant region, and also serves as the border between Lebanon and Syria, overlooking the Syrian capital of Damascus. Once the IDF has fortified this mountain, it will be in a strong position to capture and annex both southern Lebanon and southern Syria. (Mount Hermon circled here.

   

By moving the Israeli border north toward Tyre by creating what they call a “Forward Defense Zone,” Israel can justify shifting the maritime boundary and annexing the Qana Gas Field—which Israel has long sought through lawfare.

There is no indication that Netanyahu and the IDF have any plans to stop conquering territory, which means the only way they can be stopped is with kinetic force. Coincidentally, Turkey just hosted Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to discuss the Iran situation at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

For those who have been paying attention to this Brief, those four countries represent the new “security architecture” that I had identified for the emerging Middle East, and I fully expect Iran to eventually join, as well. Egypt has long been the traditional military power in the Middle East; Pakistan is the sole Muslim nation with nuclear weapons; Turkey is a NATO member and has the largest army in the Middle East; Saudi Arabia is the lynchpin that has brought them all together (along with the US). And Iran has the most powerful military in the region, as they are now demonstrating.

What could stop the IDF’s campaign to establish Greater Israel? These five countries, backed by Russia, China, and Europe— the latter of which is now souring on Israel. This conflict could be the crucible that forges the Middle East into a stable region with common interests.

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RussiaGate and Weaponization

The Justice Department earlier this year requested transcripts and records from two Senate committees involving former CIA Director John Brennan and set a Feb. 23 deadline for compliance, according to a report published Thursday by Just the News.

The outlet reported that, as of Thursday night, the Senate had not transmitted the requested materials. It said the delay was affecting part of an investigation based in Fort Pierce, Florida.

According to the report, aides to Senate Majority Leader John Thune told the Justice Department he was seeking unanimous consent to release the records while discussing the matter with Democrats to avoid a floor vote.

The report also said prosecutors had recently been allowed to review one Senate Intelligence Committee report in a secure room, citing unnamed officials.

Separately, Just the News reported that former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova was scheduled to begin work the following Monday as a lead prosecutor on Russia-collusion matters.

Ashe in America: On July 17, 2025, I wrote in the Brief:

“Political deception by institutions based on trust is literally treason. We cannot tolerate forever psyops. To end that season, Truth and Reconciliation are required. Accountability is required. All the co-conspirators need to be dragged into the light. I’m excited about the RICO Grande (even recognizing that it could be a rug), because it provides a vehicle for that Truth and Reconciliation. It’s a vehicle we haven’t had before now, and it could happen rapidly. And it would, I posit, if the plan is real.”

Brian and I also talked about it on Book Club that week:

Back in February, Solomon also said that 2020 election fraud is included in the Grand RICO:

It’s been less than a year since the RICO was announced. Notably, Solomon sounds like he is deploying a phased communications plan:

Of course, it could be a rug. I’m still on it. I want the part on July 4, 2026 to be underwritten by real joy in victory and hope for the future. 

We can’t have real elections until we are honest about how fake they are, and we can’t have a Golden Age without accountability for all the treasonous corruption. 

It’s not just me that feels that way. From Rasmussen:

“The polling is pretty clear-

62% of voters say the 2020 election was affected by cheating

64% said FBI was weaponized, 53% called it Biden’s “personal Gestapo”

65% of voters say Jan 6th was a Fedsurrection

69% of voters want past gov weaponization crimes addressed, victims compensated

82% say gov weaponization is a threat to our Republic.”

Related: Kash Patel is getting hit with hit pieces, and I wonder if it’s because he, too, says justice is coming. Maybe even quickly. 

Also, John Solomon is doubling down and bet Roger Stone a steak dinner on indictments by June 20 (the end of spring).

Indictments by Deadwood? Let’s go!

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Jewish Terrorism Explodes Around The Middle East as Statue of Jesus is Desecrated by IDF

The Israeli military said Monday it had verified the authenticity of a widely circulated image showing one of its soldiers in southern Lebanon smashing a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer. The Israel Defense Forces said the matter was being handled through the chain of command and that appropriate measures would be taken.

The military said it viewed the incident with “great severity” and added that it would work with the local community to restore the damaged statue. Arab media reports cited by AFP said the statue was located in the Christian village of Debl near the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the act as “grave and disgraceful” and said he supported the military’s investigation and disciplinary process.

Separately, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich renewed calls for Israel to occupy and establish settlements in the Gaza Strip, saying the war there should conclude with territorial expansion.

GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: This image was posted to X yesterday, prompting the IDF to respond to say that they were investigating.

The statue was located in the Christian town of Debel. The town posted an image of the statue before it was ceremonially desecrated by the IDF, with the caption (written in Arabic): “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has released a statement confirming that the image is real and the desecration did take place, denouncing the act and vowing consequences against the responsible party. (It should be noted that the Israeli government makes such statements whenever acts of terrorism are conducted by IDF or Israeli Settlers, and nothing ever happens to them.)

Smashing the face of Jesus with a sledge hammer is a pretty startling move, but not entirely surprising given the recent actions of the IDF and Israeli Settler Movement.

In an interview earlier this month with Israeli media outlet Haaretz—the oldest operating newspaper in Israel—a founder of the modern Israeli Settler Movement, Pinchas Wallerstein, said that he was horrified by the rise of Jewish terrorism in the region, labelling it “treason” against the State of Israel.

Indeed, the actions of the IDF and Israeli Settlers in many instances can only be defined as “terrorism,” as the Tomb of Saint Peter was recently destroyed “by accident” by the IDF, and the Lebanese Christians are being warned by Netanyahu and his government not to return to their villages, despite the ceasefire.

Haaretz also just published a piece by Tom Levinson documenting the explosion in suicide, depression, and PTSD among IDF reservists who were forced into military service after October 7th. Many of these people are now psychologically broken and unable to function due to the trauma that they witnessed being visited upon the Palestinian civilians in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Many of these Israelis have been forced to serve six or seven tours of duty since the October 7th attack, including those who had been diagnosed with PTSD and should have been disqualified for deployment. Those who refused were arrested.

In a separate investigative effort, Israeli activist and journalist Shaiel Ben-Ephraim—who once served in the IDF as a proud Zionist, until witnessing the atrocities firsthand— has gathered a trove of evidence (including conducting interviews with IDF prison guards) that he claims can be independently corroborated by a number of third-party organizations. These are anecdotes of the torture and abuse that Palestinians (including Christians) have suffered at the hands of the IDF while in custody.

The most horrifying of these reports is the allegation that prisoners are being raped not only by IDF soldiers, but also by dogs that have been trained to perform this act. As ludicrous and farfetched as this sounds, Ben-Ephraim provides the specific names of prisoner-victims and the prisons in which the incidents occurred, as well as eye-witness accounts from both prisoners and prison guards.(Which purportedly have been corroborated by third-party groups.)

Normally, it would be easy to dismiss claims like this as war-time propaganda. However, we do have a video of IDF soldiers gang-raping a Palestinian male prisoner in 2024, which was leaked to the public by the top two lawyers at the IDF—who were subsequently hunted down and prosecuted by the Israeli government. We also have hundreds (if not thousands) of Israeli citizens who are reportedly traumatized by whatever they witnessed while deployed as reservists, including watching IDF bulldozers squish people while they were still alive, and witnessing other IDF soldiers urinating on bodies of the deceased.

There was also this image, which went viral after it was posted by the female IDF soldier in the picture to her own social media account(s). The kitchen in which she is cooking belonged to a family in southern Lebanon, but it is now being occupied and used by IDF soldiers.

And to top it all off, the Israeli Finance Minister (Bezalel Smotrich) is now calling for the IDF to reoccupy all of Gaza, and for new Israeli settlements to be established there, going against President Trump and the Board of Peace.

While there are probably some good people in the IDF, overall it appears to be an army of bandits, thieves, and cut-throats who ostensibly hate Jesus Christ and lack the basic principles of decency on which all of Western Civilization (Christianity) is founded.

Everything that the IDF is doing right now is predicated on the concept of “might makes right,” which can otherwise be thought of as, “Do what thou will.” Simply put, the weak will suffer the will of the strong. The strong will do whatever they please, because they can.

The problem with this ethos—aside from the obvious moral degeneracy—is that, eventually, a bigger and stronger person or group comes along and imposes its own will on to the formerly strong.

This is the reason I believe that President Trump is waging a war against Israel, using Iran as his proxy. Because Israel is infected with a cultural disease that is leading it down a very dark path. And the worst part is that “Christians” like Mike Huckabee are running cover for them.

What happens when Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan (along with others) decide that the IDF’s campaign to conquer the Middle East needs to be stopped, and calls on the rest of the world to support their effort to do that, kinetically?

Might makes right, amirite?

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The Atlantic Writes Hit Piece on Kash Patel… Could Get Sued

A ZeroHedge opinion article published Sunday criticized a recent Atlantic report concerning FBI Director Kash Patel and argued the magazine could face legal consequences. The post, credited to Matt Margolis via PJMedia and published under the “Tyler Durden” pseudonym, cited statements from attorney Jesse Binnall disputing the Atlantic’s claims and included social-media responses attributed to Patel and other officials.

The report in question alleges that Patel has a serious drinking problem that has resulted in him “being unreachable” at moments and being intoxicated while on the job, among other things.

Ashe in America: In my other take in today’s Brief, I imply that this hit piece is likely intended to muddy-up Patel in an effort to stop the justice phase.

That seems more likely than Patel becoming a nonfunctional drunk at the apex of his career.

Of course, stranger things have happened. But this smear is dropping just as the main mouthpiece of the RICO is suggesting real accountability is coming. That’s a hell of a coincidence.

We’re closer to accountability than we’ve ever been. At least, we are according to the story.

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BONUS ITEMS

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The Badlands Blitz

After a short hiatus, the Badlands Blitz is back in your life!

This week, GhostofBasedPatrickHenry and Burning Bright attempt to make sense of the on-again, off-again, real, but also fake war between the US & Iran.

This freeze frame and its caption sum things up nicely.

Enjoy!

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The Dawn of GeoSpatial Politics

Last week, GhostofBasedPatrickHenry joined General Kwast on Space Revolution to discuss a new field of geopolitics, which they have coined GeoSpatial Politics—otherwise known as geopolitics in space.

Geography has largely shaped the development of culture, empires, and the modern nation-states. It continues to impact geopolitics, as we have seen recently with the Strait of Hormuz and its connection to energy prices worldwide.

What about in space, where there is no “geography?” How does this effect diplomacy and trade?

Check it out!

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