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The 9/11 False Narrative Has Disintegrated
The Shift: 25 years after 9/11, our country is still dominated by the “War on Terror”


This story originally appeared in Mondoweiss on Sep. 11, 2026. It is shared here with permission.
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The United States has experienced much political and social upheaval since then, but the subsequent “War on Terror” paved the way for our current moment, and there are booming echoes of the era all around us.
Once again, the United States is waging a disastrous war in the Middle East with no discernible end in sight. Islamophobic rallies targeting NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani conjure up memories of the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy. The government designates activist and advocacy organizations as terrorists. The Guantánamo Bay detention camp remains open. In fact, a legal immigrant was just sent there.
CBS reveals that the Taliban seized roughly $7 billion worth of American-purchased military hardware after the United States officially lost that war 5 years ago.
“Taliban fighters patrol in armored vehicles once supplied to Afghan forces, wearing American tactical gear and carrying American weapons,” reads the report. “CBS News saw one Humvee in the Afghan capital still adorned with a faded Green Bay Packers decal — a remnant from its past operators.”
The small number of Americans who opposed that war were either dismissed or attacked. So too were those who warned that the Bush administration’s overreach would result in disaster.
“The civil libertarians were mostly ignored, and as one new threat followed another — Iraq, ISIS, ‘lone wolves’ — the president’s reach continued to grow. Across the Bush and Obama administrations, the commander in chief was given, or simply took, new powers to prosecute, shut down and seize the assets of alleged terrorist groups and their supporters,” writes Radley Balko in the New York Times. “With the arrival of armed drones, the president assumed the right to remotely assassinate anyone, anywhere outside U.S. borders, at any time, including American citizens.”
“If the ratcheting diminishment of our liberties came slowly and sometimes without much outcry under Presidents Bush, Obama and Joe Biden, the consequences of all those years of expanded presidential power are plainly visible now,” he continues. “Mr. Trump is using every authority we have given the president since Sept. 11, 2001, and some we haven’t, in ways the civil libertarians had tried to warn us about at the start.”
One of the major differences between the current war on Iran and Bush’s war on Iraq is that a sizable chunk of the population fell for the administration’s lies back then. The polling shows that’s not the case this time around, and, despite information from the region being consistently repressed, there seems to be a growing understanding that the United States military is losing quite badly.
They say Americans don’t vote based on foreign policy, but that isn’t exactly true. Many people voted for Obama over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary because he opposed the Iraq War. People voted for Trump because he claimed he wouldn’t launch any new wars. It’s quite obvious that Kamala Harris’s connection to Israel’s genocide hurt her at the polls.
Whether or not this typically translates into policy shifts is a separate debate.
Obama’s election effectively killed the domestic antiwar movement, and he launched the largest assassination campaign in world history. Trump’s rhetoric predictably turned out to be nonsense. The Democratic Party’s establishment certainly didn’t rethink its Israel policy as a result of the Harris loss.
This is all to say that the war in Iran, which the administration now says might last through 2029, could help propel the Democrats back into power during the midterms, but will that actually result in a foreign policy reset?
In recent weeks, Democratic leaders and presidential hopefuls have directed their anger toward Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, hoping to quash the party’s left flank before the 2028 nomination process. For them, it’s an existential battle that transcends the question of which party may or may not control Congress at any given time and there’s no broader discussion about reversing our current course beyond removing Trump from office.
Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, was recently attacked for an old 9/11 tweet in which he expressed sympathy for those who died on that day and those who were killed in the wars after.
“Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetrated ignorantly in the name of my faith,” it read. “Tomorrow, I’ll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetrated ignorantly in the name of my country.”
According to Brown University’s Costs of War project, an additional 3.6-3.8 million people have died indirectly in post-9/11 war zones, which brings the overall death toll to at least 4.5-4.7 million and counting.
25 years after 9/11, the American Empire is undoubtedly in decline, but its demise seemingly remains far off, and we’ve yet to collectively reckon with its ongoing crimes.
Tacheles #220 ist online
?11/9 SPECIALE 25 ANNI | LEVANTE LIVE
? IN DIRETTA oggi, venerdì 11 settembre, alle ore 19
? Conduce Margherita Furlan
? Ospiti: Massimo Mazzucco e Roberto Quaglia Venticinque anni dopo l’11 settembre, Levante mette in fila i fatti documentati, le conclusioni ufficiali e le domande ancora aperte sul ruolo di Israele.
? DI COSA PARLIAMO
? Cosa sapeva Israele prima e dopo: che cosa è documentato e che cosa no
? Le parole di Netanyahu sull’11 settembre, nel 1995, nel 2001 e negli anni successivi
? Venticinque anni di versione ufficiale: che cosa ha retto e che cosa no
? Dall’11 settembre alle guerre di oggi: l’eredità di quel giorno
? GLI OSPITI
? Massimo Mazzucco: regista e fondatore di Luogocomune.net, autore dei documentari «Inganno globale» (2006), «11 settembre: la nuova Pearl Harbor» (2013) e «American Moon» (2017)
Roberto Quaglia: scrittore di fantascienza e saggista, tra i primi in Italia a mettere in discussione la versione ufficiale già nel 2003
? LIBRI E FILM DEGLI OSPITI
? Massimo Mazzucco, «11 settembre: la nuova Pearl Harbor» (2013)
? Massimo Mazzucco, «11 settembre – Inganno Globale (2006)
? Roberto Quaglia, «Il mito dell’11 settembre e l’opzione Dottor Stranamore» (2006)
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?LA BOLLETTA DELLA GUERRA | LEVANTE LIVE
A Levante questa sera, giovedì 10 settembre 2026, alle 19, Margherita Furlan dialoga con Alberto Bradanini, ex ambasciatore d’Italia a Teheran e a Pechino, Vincenzo Maddaloni, giornalista e fondatore del Centro Studi Berlin89, e Hanieh Tarkian, islamologa e analista italo-iraniana, sul giorno in cui la guerra del Golfo è entrata nelle case italiane. Il gas per le famiglie vulnerabili sale del 6,9% in un mese, l’elettricità supera i 200 euro al megawattora, il Brent torna sopra i 100 dollari. Lo Stretto di Hormuz resta chiuso, Washington affonda le petroliere iraniane, il presidente degli Emirati firma a Berlino quaranta intese con Merz e a Montecitorio il ddl antisemitismo slitta di una settimana. Chi decide il prezzo non siamo noi. Chi paga sì.
Affrontiamo insieme:
Hormuz: il memorandum saltato, la guerra delle petroliere, la zona interdetta iraniana, il corridoio con l’Oman che non parte
? La bolletta delle famiglie italiane: i dati ARERA, le stime di Codacons e Nomisma, le accise scadute, i «60 miliardi» del governo ?? Mohamed bin Zayed alla Cancelleria: capitale del Golfo, gas liquefatto e difesa antidrone per una Germania in crisi
? Volkswagen: quattro stabilimenti chiusi, Osnabrück riconvertito alla difesa con l’israeliana Rafael, AfD primo partito ?? Pechino e i BRICS di Nuova Delhi davanti a uno stretto chiuso ?? Mattei, l’Eni, Amsterdam: come è stata ceduta la sovranità energetica italiana, pezzo per pezzo, e chi ci guadagna
? Ddl antisemitismo: il rinvio in commissione, la piazza del 9 settembre, l’Aula del 2 ottobre
? LIBRI DEGLI OSPITI
? Vincenzo Maddaloni, Incredibile. Bombe, Iran, USA. Tutti i rischi di una guerra nucleare, 2025
? Vincenzo Maddaloni, Voglia di rivoluzione. Storia e storie di un desiderio inappagato, Nexus Edizioni, 2024
? Alberto Bradanini, Cina. Dall’umanesimo di Nenni alle sfide di un mondo multipolare, Anteo Edizioni, 2023
? Alberto Bradanini, Cina. L’irresistibile ascesa, Sandro Teti Editore, 2022
? Hanieh Tarkian, Coraggio e fede. L’esempio del generale Qassem Soleimani, Passaggio al Bosco, 2022 ? SOSTIENI CASA DEL SOLE TV Casa del Sole TV è un progetto di giornalismo indipendente autofinanziato.
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Man jailed for threatening to behead son’s female teacher in French town

Man jailed for threatening to behead son’s female teacher in French town

France Accelerates Rafale F5 Upgrade After Collapse Of FCAS Next-Gen Fighter Project
France is accelerating work on the Rafale F5 standard, bringing forward development of a major new configuration of its combat aircraft at a time when the country’s planned next-generation fighter with Germany has effectively collapsed in its original form. The contracts cover the equipment judged to have the highest technical risk, ahead of the overall development contract for the F5 standard, expected for the end of this year.
The French defense procurement agency, the Direction générale de l’armement (DGA), ordered the first upstream development work for F5 from Dassault Aviation, Thales, MBDA, and Safran. The contracts cover key areas including navigation, datalinks, radar, electronic warfare, and propulsion, laying the groundwork for the next configuration of the Rafale, which is planned to enter service with the French Air and Space Force and the French Navy starting around 2033.
#Commande | Rafale F5
— Direction générale de l'armement
La DGA commande les 1ers travaux en amont du prochain lancement en réalisation du standard F5 du Rafale
Ils concernent notamment :la centrale inertielle
le moteur
le radar
la suite d’autoprotection de l’avion
pic.twitter.com/n3uhBYqIvi
(@DGA) September 9, 2026
The most extensive modernization of the Rafale yet, the F5 standard was originally part of a longer transition toward France’s next-generation combat-air capability. But with the Franco-German New Generation Fighter (NGF) effort now effectively dead in its original configuration, the accelerated F5 program is taking on a much larger strategic role.

Rather than simply keeping the Rafale relevant until NGF arrives, France is now developing a version of the aircraft that is set to carry much of the country’s high-end combat-air capability well into the 2030s and potentially beyond.
The increasingly capable F5 could, in turn, reduce the urgency of finding a replacement for the Rafale — while potentially adding to the fighter’s export appeal. After a slow start, Dassault has recorded export sales of 299 new-build Rafales to eight nations.
The DGA’s contracts engage four of France’s principal combat-aircraft industrial players. Dassault Aviation remains responsible for the aircraft and its overall integration; Thales is involved in major sensor, electronic warfare, and communications capabilities; MBDA is responsible for much of the weapons system; and Safran is responsible for propulsion.

Previous Rafale standards have largely consisted of incremental upgrades, focusing on software and other improvements to the existing aircraft configuration. F5 is notably more extensive, addressing many of the critical systems that determine how the aircraft senses the battlespace, communicates with other platforms, conducts electronic warfare, and generates the power needed to operate increasingly demanding equipment.
The DGA has specifically identified the Thales RBE2-XG radar as one of the major technological advances associated with F5.
The RBE2-XG is expected to feature gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. Compared with previous technology, GaN generates less heat and has the capacity to operate at higher voltages, meaning that output power can be increased, while component size can be reduced. Overall, using GaN should help to get more power out of the radar without increasing its size.
According to the DGA, “This new radar will benefit from a substantial increase in power, and consequently in detection range, as well as improvements in the identification of targets with an extremely low radar cross-section (RCS). Its computing capabilities will also be enhanced to facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence.”
The RBE2-XG will also be “designed with collaborative combat in mind, featuring sensors capable of working together without the need for pilot intervention.” It is also planned to have enhanced resilience, including against cyber threats.
France is already working on the concept of a combat drone to accompany the Rafale, with the future F5 standard providing the crewed aircraft around which those systems can operate.

The new radar will be combined with more capable electronic warfare equipment, improved communications and datalinks, expanded processing capacity, and a more capable propulsion system.
To be developed by MBDA and Thales, the forthcoming F5 version of the SPECTRA self-protection suite is intended to significantly improve detection and jamming capabilities, the DGA says, “through a fully digital approach, enabling a complete overhaul of the core electronic warfare system to counter the increasing density and broadening of the threat spectrum, as well as the growing complexity of threat waveforms, expected by 2035.”
Thales will also be responsible for the new Inter-Vehicle Data Link (IVDL) system, described as a “stealthy and resilient datalink.” The DGA says the new datalink will expand connectivity “thanks to a new high-speed, discreet, and jamming-resistant waveform. IVDL will allow the Rafale to penetrate hostile areas where jammers are widespread, while maintaining optimal quality of communication and dialogue between aircraft.”
Safran will begin preliminary design work on the M88 T-Rex engine, which is planned to increase the turbofan’s thrust from around 16,500 pounds to nearly 19,850 pounds, an increase of roughly 20 percent.
In terms of armament, the contract announcement mentions the ASN4G missile, set to be introduced to service by 2035, which will allow the Rafale F5 to continue to serve as the airborne nuclear component. The munition remains in the early stages of development, but it will be capable of hypersonic speeds — defined as speeds greater than Mach 5 — with a range in excess of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
Other likely new missiles include a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile to succeed the current Meteor. As you can read about here, France’s Comet program, apparently led by the French side of MBDA, is already looking into this requirement, with an apparent plan to introduce the weapon around 2030.
An older video from MBDA showing some of the company’s weapons integrated on earlier versions of the Rafale:
For France, the original logic behind the pan-European FCAS program was that Rafale would eventually give way to the NGF as its principal crewed combat aircraft, operating from land bases and aircraft carriers.
With the collapse of the Franco-German effort, France cannot simply wait for a next-generation fighter program whose industrial and political future is uncertain. Instead, the Rafale has to remain capable against rapidly evolving threats throughout the 2030s and beyond.
With the F5 standard, however, France is looking to incorporate some of the concepts envisaged for NGF. These include distributed architectures in which crewed fighters, uncrewed aircraft, remote carriers, missiles, and offboard sensors cooperate across a battlespace.

A highly upgraded Rafale operating as the crewed controller of uncrewed combat aircraft and remote weapons could perform some of the missions that France originally expected from NGF.
For now, F5 also sidesteps the central problem in the now-defunct Franco-German effort: whether the two countries could agree on the requirements, industrial structure, and workshare behind a new-generation combat aircraft.
Despite its advances, the F5 airframe remains derived from a design dating back to the 1980s, which first entered French service in the early 2000s. In particular, it falls well short of fifth-generation designs — let alone sixth-generation ones — in terms of low observability. This is one area where collaborative drones could potentially help compensate for the Rafale’s inherent limitations.

France has therefore bought itself some time with the F5 program. But it may eventually decide that it needs a future high-end crewed fighter to provide capabilities that an upgraded fourth-generation airframe cannot fully replicate, particularly in terms of survivability against advanced integrated air-defense systems, signature reduction, internal weapons carriage, and operations deep inside heavily contested airspace.
On an industrial level, F5 is also significant because it brings together the same French industrial heavyweights that would have formed the backbone of its FCAS effort. Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran, and MBDA are now well-positioned to work together on whatever comes after F5, whether that is a crewed combat aircraft, uncrewed CCA-type platforms, or a combination of both. Based on its experience with the nEUROn program, France would be well placed to develop a UCAV that can work cooperatively as well as independently, taking over the deeper-penetrating fighter mission set, and potentially skipping a sixth-generation fighter altogether.
Meanwhile, success with F5 — and, in particular, with the wider combat ecosystem planned around it — could put France in an even stronger position when it comes to any future European fighter project.
For the time being, Britain, Italy, and Japan are pursuing the GCAP/Tempest pathway toward a new combat aircraft. Germany and Spain remain tied to the wider FCAS architecture, even as the original Franco-German NGF arrangement has fractured. Sweden’s position is less clear, with indications that it could collaborate with either France or Germany.
France, for its part, is now investing heavily in an increasingly sophisticated Rafale architecture while maintaining its own sovereign industrial base.
In terms of acqusition, France is expected to pursue a mixed approach, buying new-build Rafales while upgrading suitable aircraft already in service to the F5 standard. The oldest jets are unlikely to receive the full F5 treatment, however.
The irony is that the failure of the NGF effort may ultimately make Rafale F5 more important — and potentially more capable — than it was ever expected to be.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
The post France Accelerates Rafale F5 Upgrade After Collapse Of FCAS Next-Gen Fighter Project appeared first on TWZ.

ULS Lezíria reforça modernização tecnológica com aquisição de sistema cirúrgico robótico
A Unidade Local de Saúde da Lezíria (ULS Lezíria) reforçou a sua capacidade tecnológica e assistencial com a instalação de um novo sistema cirúrgico robótico, adquirido no âmbito do Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR), num investimento de 2,390 milhões de euros, acrescido de IVA. Em comunicado, a ULS Lezíria sublinha que o presente investimento representa um marco na modernização da…
A monumental building discovered in the port of Tarquinia in an even older layer beneath its own Roman ruins

Sardoal reúne caçadores e ICNF para travar aumento “exponencial” de javalis
A Câmara do Sardoal vai reunir-se com o ICNF e associações de caçadores para procurar respostas ao aumento “exponencial” de javalis, que se aproximam das povoações, destroem culturas e têm provocado acidentes rodoviários, disse hoje o presidente. “Há cada vez mais animais” e “há dois, três anos para cá isto [o aumento] tem sido exponencial”, afirmou à Lusa Pedro Rosa (PSD)…
Falta de profissionais cancela recolha de sangue no Vale de Santarém
O Vale de Santarém voltou a ter mais uma recolha de sangue cancelada, devido à falta de profissionais necessários para a realização da colheita. A ação estava agendada para o próximo dia 27 de setembro e seria organizada pelo Grupo de Dadores de Sangue do Vale de Santarém (GDBSVS), que foi informado da presente decisão com 15 dias de antecedência. Em comunicado, a associação sublinha que a…
Luc Frieden : "Un Européen ne doit jamais avoir peur des autres"
ULS Lezíria abre inscrições para Seminário de Terapia Ocupacional
Já estão abertas as inscrições para o Seminário de Terapia Ocupacional da ULS Lezíria, que se realiza sob o tema “A Participação Importa”, no âmbito das comemorações do Dia Mundial da Terapia Ocupacional. O seminário terá lugar no próximo dia 27 de outubro, no Auditório do Hospital Distrital de Santarém, com início agendado para as 09h00. O evento pretende promover a partilha de conhecimentos…
Remembering Emma Bonino

Despite her diminutive stature, Emma Bonino was a giant of European foreign policy. She made a critical difference on a bewildering range of causes. She was a master at operating in a diverse array of settings: protesting on the streets, mobilising NGOs, shaping the agenda of the European Commission, creating unlikely coalitions in the European Parliament and chairing the Italian Senate. She managed to make such a difference in all these places because, wherever she found herself, she was always an activist fighting for civil rights, for justice, for equality.
Emma was also a rebel. She used her charm, humour and honesty to puncture pomposity and force people into a real conversation. She embraced controversy, both in her advocacy for challenging causes like women’s rights, abortion access and drug legalisation, and in her methods such as protests and hunger strikes.
She knew how to translate lofty goals into concrete steps which had some hope of being implemented, whether it was setting up the European Commission’s humanitarian office, campaigning for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, advocating to ban female genital mutilation, or working to change Italian electoral law. She had a sense of history and understood how to use crises to shift the agenda—as she did when she moved to Cairo after 9/11, deciding to learn Arabic and to push for a better understanding between Europeans and the Muslim world. And she was willing to assemble and work with unlikely coalitions to advance her causes, from joint projects with the Egyptian former president’s wife Mrs Mubarak to campaigns with the Pope.
Emma was a founding member of ECFR and helped turn it into the organisation it has become. We assumed when she became Italian foreign minister in 2013 that she would step down as a member, but instead she wanted to stay involved and constantly drew on ECFR’s ideas, expertise and pan-European networks to shape the Italian and European agenda. When she stepped down as foreign minister she became a co-chair of the organisation, and we felt her sense of urgency, ambition and pro-Europeanism in every board meeting.
Emma helped shape the DNA of ECFR. She encouraged us to be courageous, not to be afraid of controversy and to challenge conventional wisdom. She pushed us to be as pragmatic about how to make a difference as we were principled about our goals. Always inspiring others, Emma was a friend and a role model to so many of us—but she didn’t do small talk or make time for idle fun. When the substantive discussions were finished, she would say “va bene” and move on to the next fight (or go out to smoke a cigarette). Her death leaves Europe a greyer and less vital place. We need more Emmas.
A message from ECFR’s Rome office in memory of Emma Bonino
- Teresa Coratella, Arturo Varvelli
- Obituary
We are deeply saddened to share the news of Emma Bonino’s passing
ECFR council members pay tribute to Emma Bonino
- ECFR Council members
- Obituary
- View from the Council
Messages in memory of Emma Bonino from ECFR’s council members
Projeto com epicentro em Mação usa IA e memória das comunidades para pensar futuro dos territórios
Um projeto com epicentro em Mação e aplicação na Europa, América do Sul e Ásia está a juntar inteligência artificial, ciência e memórias das populações para apoiar decisões sobre o futuro dos territórios, revelou hoje o coordenador. “O computador não nos vai dar as respostas sobre as decisões que a comunidade tem de tomar. Serão sempre opções políticas da sociedade atual”…
Município de Alpiarça realiza intervenções em diferentes pontos do concelho
O Município de Alpiarça prossegue os trabalhos de manutenção e conservação das vias, equipamentos e espaços públicos do concelho, com o objetivo de dar resposta às necessidades identificadas no território. Em comunicado, a autarquia refere que as intervenções são de natureza distinta, tendo sido realizadas em vários pontos do concelho. Entre as intervenções realizadas encontra-se a substituição…
Germany’s Political East Has Broken With Berlin: What the AfD’s 44.5% Really Means
Concheiros de Muge abrem os trabalhos arqueológicos ao público numa visita guiada
Os trabalhos arqueológicos que estão a decorrer em Muge, concelho de Salvaterra de Magos, podem ser conhecidos de perto pelo público no próximo domingo, 13 de setembro, através de uma visita guiada ao Concheiro Cabeço da Amoreira, cuja participação é gratuita. Ao longo da manhã, os participantes terão oportunidade de perceber como decorre uma campanha de escavação, conhecer os métodos utilizados…
la centrale inertielle
(@DGA)