All Roads Bleed to Rome

Until recently, my understanding of the battle for Italy from 1943-44 was straightforward: After landing in Sicily, U.S. and British forces hopped across to Salerno, then Anzio, working their way up the boot until they reached Rome. I hadn’t given much thought about the terrain, the logistics of a multinational force that included New Zealanders, Poles, Moroccans, and Indians, not to mention the miserable weather and the strategic errors that cost countless lives. This lack of appreciation was a concern even at the time. In a letter to his family, Lawrence Franklyn-Vaile of the 38th Irish Brigade wrote in part, "There is also a strong feeling that the Second Front is being so glamourised that, when it does commence, people will forget all about this campaign and will be saying afterwards, ‘What, were you not in the Second Front, oh Italy, that was nothing.’"

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Bodies of right-leaning AFD politicians are piling up in Germany ahead of elections



The right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany — often abbreviated AFD for its German name, Alternative für Deutschland — has grown increasingly popular since its founding in 2013 by free-market economists keen to strengthen German sovereignty.

Despite a concerted suppression campaign by the liberal German establishment, which has attempted to ban and criminalize the AFD outright, the right-leaning party came in second place in Germany's national elections earlier this year, doubling the vote share it previously won in 2021.

The AFD is hoping for continued success in the local elections scheduled for Sept. 14 in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

'The alternative is too frightening to contemplate seriously.'

The trouble is that its candidates keep dying.

On Sunday, Alice Weidel, the federal co-chairwoman of the AFD, confirmed the report from the German public broadcaster WDR that four candidates — Stefan Berendes, 59; Wolfgang Seitz, 59; Ralph Lange, 66; and Wolfgang Klinger, 71 — had "died suddenly and unexpectedly."

Stefan Homburg, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Hannover, said on X that the cluster of deaths were "statistically almost impossible" — a claim that elicited concern from former Trump adviser Elon Musk, who noted a day earlier that "either Germany votes AFD or it is the end of Germany."

The early and mail-in ballots cast for the dead candidates have reportedly been invalidated.

RELATED: Rule by the people? Not anymore in the Western world

Photo by Maryam Majd/Getty Images

The AFD regional association in North Rhine-Westphalia revealed that as of Monday, there were at least another two confirmed deaths of its politicians, reported Politico.

"In my view, it's statistically striking and currently difficult to explain," said AFD deputy federal chairman Stephan Brandner. "I have never heard in my life that politicians of a party die in such a short period of time before an election."

German police suggested that while investigations are ongoing, there is no evidence of foul play.

Days after the Politico report, another AFD candidate, Hans-Joachim Kind, reportedly perished, making a total of at least seven dead AFD candidates just days ahead of the local elections.

Blaze News has reached out to the AFD and to Weidel for comment.

Suspicions online regarding the deaths have been fueled in part by the efforts of German establishmentarians — whose agenda and power is threatened by the AFD — and leftist activists to crush the party.

RELATED: Musk asks: 'Why are they allowing the rape of Europe?' — then vows to do something about it in the UK

AFD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel. Photo by SOEREN STACHE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.

After designating the AFD as a potential extremist organization in 2021, Germany's domestic intelligence agency placed the party and its federal members under surveillance, tapping their phones and monitoring their movements.

In May, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, a spy agency, officially classified the AFD as a "proven right-wing extremist organization" — a brazen attempt to neutralize the opposition party. That classification has, however, been placed on pause pending the result of a court appeal.

Last year was an especially bad year for institutional attacks on the AFD: An administrative court disarmed party members, barring them from owning firearms; leftist activists succeeded in having the party de-banked; and an AFD politician, Marie-Thérèse Kaiser, was convicted of a hate crime for sharing government statistics about the disproportionate number of gang rapes committed by immigrants, specifically Afghan nationals.

Attacks on the AFD have also taken the form of violence.

Prior to the AFD securing 15.9% of the German vote in last year's European parliamentary elections, a leftist who was tearing down an AFD candidate's campaign posters allegedly stabbed AFD's spokesman for Mannheim, Heinrich Koch, with a carpet knife.

Rod Dreher, a senior fellow at the Danube Institute in Budapest, noted, "What is the likelihood that four candidates and two reserve candidates of the same political party, in the same region, would drop dead suddenly, within 13 days of each other — and just before local elections?"

"It must be hoped that the unfortunate and statistically unlikely deaths of four politicians from a party the German government is considering outlawing were nothing more than a fluke," continued Dreher. "The alternative is too frightening to contemplate seriously."

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Iranian Officials Lash Out As European Leaders Reimpose UN Sanctions: ‘Our Missiles Reach Not Only France but Also Germany’

Several European nations on Thursday moved to reimpose strict U.N. sanctions on Iran targeting the Islamic Republic's assets, international arms sales, and ballistic missile program. Officials in Tehran did not take kindly to the news, with one member of the Iranian parliament suggesting the regime should launch missiles at the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

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Author of UN-Backed Gaza Famine Report Peddled Anti-Semitic Tropes, Conspiracy Theories, and Terrorist Apologia

An author of a U.N.-backed report that accused Israel of creating "famine" in Gaza is a longtime anti-Israel radical who has defended Hamas, claimed Jewish politicians have a "conflict of interest" on Middle Eastern issues, and supported boycotts targeting the Jewish state.

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Survival over pride: The true test for Ukraine and Russia



When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border.

RELATED: Trump says he knows exactly why Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if he was president

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

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Leftists' favorite F-word — and why they'll never drop it



I notice to my profound disappointment that two of my major scholarly projects landed with a thud. Despite years of research and two books on fascism and antifascism, my findings have been ignored by both the left and the right — including the so-called conservative media establishment.

That’s a pity, especially with so much loose talk about “fascists” running around Washington these days.

Fascism, as it existed in the 20th century, is dead. Antifascism, as it is wielded today, is a political weapon that thrives by manufacturing enemies.

My argument is straightforward: Fascism was a popular European movement in the interwar period, shaped by several conditions unique to that era — returning soldiers who saw themselves as a “front generation” after World War I, economic turmoil in countries like Italy, France, Romania, and Spain, disillusionment with corrupt parliamentary systems, and a “cult of the leader.”

Fascist movements also fed on fears of the Soviet takeover of Russia. Unlike the communists, who worked to spark revolutions across Europe, fascist groups pushed a revolutionary nationalist ideology.

The most representative example was Benito Mussolini’s Italian movement, which came to power after his March on Rome in October 1922. Italy was the only country to establish a full-fledged fascist government, although fascist or fascist-like parties held influence in coalitions elsewhere. The Italian regime blended a cult of the leader with corporatist economics and nostalgia for imperial glory.

Contrary to the later alliance with Hitler, Mussolini’s government initially drew support from patriotic Italian Jews and between 1934 and 1936 led European opposition to Nazi Germany, denouncing its anti-Semitism as barbaric. The 1938 anti-Jewish laws came only under heavy German influence.

Nazism was not “generic” fascism. Hannah Arendt was right to classify it as totalitarian and genocidal. While Hitler borrowed certain trappings from Latin fascists, Nazi Germany drew far more from Stalin’s Soviet model — particularly in its use of terror, secret police, and propaganda to remake reality.

Equating Mussolini’s authoritarian nationalism with Hitler’s genocidal regime is intellectually lazy, even if Mussolini’s disastrous decision to ally with Nazi Germany at the 11th hour paved the way for the comparison.

My critic Jacob Siegel accuses me of drawing this distinction to “sanitize” fascism. Not so. I do not treat it as an archaic movement out of nostalgia but because it is irrelevant to the contemporary West, which is dominated instead by a woke, bureaucratic left.

Antifascism, however, is another matter. It began with Marxists — and later communist regimes — branding capitalist nations that resisted revolution as “fascist.” The Frankfurt School and its American heirs expanded the label to cover ideas and movements far removed from Mussolini or Hitler. By the 1950s, an “F-scale” was used to screen government employees and teachers for supposed fascist sympathies.

RELATED: The cold civil war is real — and only one side is fighting to win

Photo by JOAQUIN SARMIENTO/AFP via Getty Images

Today, “antifascists” slap the term on anything that conflicts with their politics or lifestyle. Esteemed Yale professors Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley insist our current president is not only a fascist but possibly a Nazi. In their view, opposing any part of the feminist or LGBTQ agenda puts one on the road to Hitlerian tyranny.

This rhetorical game serves a purpose: It shields the accusers from the obvious countercharge that they are the true totalitarians. In my book on antifascism, written as Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots engulfed American cities in 2020, I documented how the American left and its European counterparts mobilize with the same discipline and ruthlessness as the Nazis before they took power.

The difference is that today’s left faces no organized counterforce comparable to the German communists — and enjoys the support of a compliant media. That media not only excuses leftist violence but portrays it as justified. This mirrors the Nazi and communist tactic of claiming to be under siege even while holding power, using the manufactured threat as a pretext to crush dissent.

Fascism, as it existed in the 20th century, is dead. Antifascism, as it is wielded today, is a political weapon that thrives by manufacturing enemies. And the left is using it with remarkable success.

Rand Paul Costs Taxpayers $75 Million With Failed Effort To Block Trump UN Nominee Mike Waltz

Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) voted against advancing Mike Waltz's nomination for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a move that cost American taxpayers $75 million in funds that will now go to the U.N.

The post Rand Paul Costs Taxpayers $75 Million With Failed Effort To Block Trump UN Nominee Mike Waltz appeared first on .

Establishment Bureaucrats Move Forward With Plan To Repress Popular German Right-Wing Party

Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) officially launched an effort seeking to ban the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, according to The Berliner on Monday. SPD delegates voted unanimously on Sunday to establish a “federal working group” commissioned to collect and present evidence of AfD’s extremism—“evidence they say is already ‘overwhelming,’” The Berliner reported. The resolution, adopted […]

Neocons Use Accusations Of ‘Appeasement’ To Morally Blackmail People Into Supporting Forever Wars

Neocons like Mark Levin always start screeching 'appeasement' to try to shame opponents of forever wars.

'Gestapo-like behavior': Another Democrat compares ICE to Nazis who 'terrorize people' in the night



Congressman Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Nazi operatives for removing illegal aliens from the country.

Goldman gave a press conference outside the New York-Broadway Immigration Court in New York City, where he said he witnessed an illegal immigrant — allegedly an asylum seeker — get detained by ICE upon leaving a hearing.

'They're trying to do the right thing — pursue the American dream.'

"This is Gestapo-like behavior," the congressman told media members. "Plainclothes officers wearing masks are terrorizing immigrants who are doing the right thing by going to court, following up on their immigration proceedings, and trying to come into this country lawfully, which is through asylum."

Soon thereafter, Goldman, born Daniel Sachs Goldman, further evoked World War II-era Germany by saying ICE agents were acting like Nazi operatives striking in the night, despite the ordeal happening in broad daylight.

"I'm also, as a Jew, very familiar with the Gestapo in Nazi Germany and other forms of secret law enforcement in Russia and elsewhere that used fear and intimidation and, under the cover of night, under the cover of masks in order to terrorize people that they did not like," Goldman explained.

RELATED: Tim Walz compares ICE to Nazi police and gets slapped with brutal backlash

Goldman said he observed the unknown male in question have his case dismissed by a judge, only to be arrested by ICE agents upon exiting the courtroom.

"There were about 15 other people there," the congressman claimed, referring to ICE agents. "These are routine appearances. ... There is no reason for anyone to have expected anything unusual to happen today, and yet [aliens are] ripped away from their families, from their communities, even though they're trying to do the right thing — pursue the American dream, come to this country as so many of us and our ancestors have for the promise of the American dream."

Goldman took particular issue with agents wearing masks and asked why they were necessary if their actions were "legitimate" and "aboveboard."

Border czar Tom Homan spoke to BlazeTV host Glenn Beck about this very issue last week and explained it was because immigration agents were "being doxxed all over the place."

"Their pictures are being put on telephone poles in major cities. These officers are under great threat," Homan added.

RELATED: 'Not based on color': Tom Homan debunks media claims about white South African refugees with Glenn Beck

Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

"Rep. Daniel Goldman is just another radical Democrat who will prioritize illegal aliens over Americans," reporter and social media coordinator Yanky Pollak told Blaze News.

Investigative journalist Oren Levy said Goldman's comparisons of ICE agents to the Gestapo were "deeply disappointing and irresponsible, especially coming from an elected official."

Levy has reported on the illegal immigration crisis in New York City for years and told Blaze News that "ICE agents are simply doing their jobs."

"Their job's made more difficult by the current open-border policies that have allowed dangerous individuals to slip into the country," Levy added. "If ICE had proper access to jails to remove migrants already convicted of crimes, they wouldn’t need to resort to showing up at courthouses."

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