Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 6h

Even the normalization deals that many people pretend were great successes helped pave the way to the current war. Trump lit the fuse and happened to be out of office when the explosion came. That’s not success.

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 6h

You have to engage in some very dishonest cherry-picking to look back at Trump’s foreign policy in the first term and declare it a success. Was his policy of backing the Saudis to the hilt in Yemen a success? No, it was an atrocity against the people of Yemen. Funny how that doesn’t come up.

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 6h

Trump’s first-term foreign policy was riddled with one failure after another. Almost everything he attempted either fizzled out or blew up in his face. Don’t let this garbage revisionism stand.

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 7h

In his foreign policy, Trump launches illegal attacks, murders people, and starts pointless and destructive trade wars. Is that what Douthat wants at home? Because he’s already getting it. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

Opinion | Why Can’t Trump’s Domestic Policy Be More Like His Foreign Policy?

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

William Gallo @williamgallo.bsky.social · 21h

A helpful overview of Japan's political crisis, by @tobiasharris.bsky.social.

Kōmeitō quits the coalition

A guide for the perplexed

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 1d

BREAKING: Komeito said Friday it plans to leave the ruling camp, parting ways with the LDP and new President Sanae Takaichi after the LDP failed to accept the party’s proposal on political donations.

Komeito announces split with LDP, clouding Takaichi's bid for PM

Komeito’s decision to end the 26-year partnership with the LDP means the ruling party will need to court opposition parties to vote Takaichi in as prime minister.

ebx.sh

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 1d

The bribe must have been bigger than we thought.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Hegseth: "I'm also proud that today we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emeri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho."

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 1d

José Andrés was right there.

Max P III @blackballer.bsky.social · 1d

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 1d

"As leader of the opposition in Venezuela, Machado has been cheering on Trump’s military buildup in the Caribbean and even praising his murderous boat attacks." daniellarison.substack.com/p/a-strange-...

A Strange Choice for the Peace Prize

Machado has been cheering on Trump’s military buildup in the Caribbean and even praising his murderous boat attacks.

daniellarison.substack.com

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 1d

Stephen Miller is murdering Venezuelans and Colombians in cold blood bc he believes it helps his propaganda campaign to paint Latinos as dangerous.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Stephen Miller views the air strikes as an opportunity to paint immigrants as a dangerous menace, according to one of the White House officials.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 2d

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

BREAKING: Trump Admin 'Seriously' Considering Using the Insurrection Act, Reports NBC

President Trump is "seriously" considering invoking the Insurrection Act in order to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities as part of crime crackdown, NBC reported on Wednesday

www.mediaite.com

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 2d

Fetterman seems to look for opportunities to be ghoulish. He is a disgrace to Pennsylvania and the country.

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 2d

Fetterman Is Sole Democrat to Vote Against Blocking Caribbean Drug Boat Attacks theintercept.com/2025/10/08/v...

Fetterman Is Sole Democrat to Vote Against Blocking Caribbean Drug Boat Attacks

Republicans in the Senate voted down an war powers bill to block Trump's deadly attacks on alleged Venezuelan drug boats in the Caribbean.

theintercept.com

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

Brad Simpson @bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social · 2d

The NYT journalists who wrote this - Samuel Granados, Genevieve Glatsky and Annie Correal - devote not a single word to the blatant criminality of the Trump Administration extrajudically murdering people.

Why Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats Won’t Stop the Flow of Drugs www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Why Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats Won’t Stop the Flow of Drugs

President Trump says striking drug traffickers from Venezuela will prevent deadly drugs from reaching the United States. But the major smuggling routes are elsewhere.

www.nytimes.com

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 2d

"Senate Republicans proved once again that their party is hopeless and rotten on foreign policy." daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-hopele...

The Hopeless, Rotten GOP

Supporting Trump’s murder spree is a new low in mindless hawkishness and deference to the president.

daniellarison.substack.com

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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 2d

Trump has been illegally bombing boats off the coast of Venezuela.

Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff forced a vote on reasserting Congress's role over war powers and ending this reckless
warmongering.

It failed 48-51.

Murkowski and Paul voted yes.

Fetterman voted no.

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 2d

Here is the latest piece of evidence that the Republican Party is absolutely hopeless on foreign policy: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u....

G.O.P. Blocks Bid to Halt Trump’s Attacks in the Caribbean Sea

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 2d

48-51 vote on Schiff-Kaine resolution to block further strikes in the Caribbean.

Resolution does not pass.

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 2d

Petro says that the U.S. is murdering Colombian citizens, too. www.reuters.com/world/americ...

www.reuters.com

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 2d

Complete nonsense from Secretary Rubio.

The Trump administration is engaged in lawless, premeditated killings without any congressional authorization.

Schiff-Kaine resolution moves to stop that lawless killing.

The resolution would not affect authority to defend against real armed attacks.

The Schiff-Kaine resolution is up for a vote in the Senate today.

This resolution aims to strip President Trump of his constitutional authority to protect Americans by authorizing military strikes against narco-terrorists, the Houthis, and other Iranian proxies. This is dangerous — it puts our children, citizens, soldiers, and allies at risk.

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

Francis Wilkinson @franciswilkinson.bsky.social · 3d

The issue, as Sen Kaine well knows, is not that troops pushing buttons from afar are in “harm’s way.” The issue is that a goon regime is murdering people abroad while invading cities at home. You have to make that case — the real case — and trust that enough Americans will care.

Senator Tim Kaine @kaine.senate.gov · 3d

Trump used military force to strike 4 ships in the Caribbean, killing 21 people, and has not provided sound legal justification for doing so to Congress. I’m forcing a vote with Senator Adam Schiff on whether the U.S. should put our troops in harm’s way to conduct these strikes.

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

Yemen Data Project @yemendataproject.org · 3d

Three strikes in September all in the capital resulted in more than 100 civilian casualties in each incident. Eight strikes in the capital in September marked the heaviest month of bombing in the city since US strikes ended in May and the highest number in Yemen’s capital by Israel in any month.

Yemen Data Project @yemendataproject.org · 3d

The rate of civilian harm in Israeli strikes remains unprecedented.
In Trump's bombing campaign earlier this year the average was 2.07 civilian casualties per strike. In seven years of Saudi-led air raids the rate was 0.76.
In September, the average surged to over 32 civilian casualties per strike.

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Reposted by Daniel Larison

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d

Former USAID official here.

The current Administration has done zero impact analysis to estimate the effects of its obliteration of USAID on deaths around the world.

It just keeps saying "no one has died" as a mesmeric incantation.

The facts, below. 🧵

Nathan Kalmoe (he/him) @nathankalmoe.bsky.social · 3d

apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 3d

"The administration is lying about the nature of the threat so that they can pretend that they are acting defensively." daniellarison.substack.com/p/there-is-n...

There Is No 'Imminent' Threat from Cartels

The administration is lying about the nature of the threat so that they can pretend that they are acting defensively.

daniellarison.substack.com

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 3d

Glad to see Senator Paul co-sponsoring the war powers resolution to block further strikes in the Caribbean.

Senator Schiff has said he will force a vote on the resolution today.

We can't have a policy where we just blow up ships." Kentucky Sen.
@RandPaul
told
@jmathieureports
that he will be co-sponsoring a War Powers Act resolution later this week with eyes on military strikes on vessels allegedly ferrying drugs from Venezuela

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Daniel Larison @daniellarison.bsky.social · 3d

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