Imperial State Power vs. Moral Sovereignty: The Pentagon Warns The Pope
In January, behind closed doors at the Pentagon, Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre — Pope Leo XIV’s then-ambassador to the United States — and delivered a lecture.
America, Colby and his colleagues told the cardinal, has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.
As tempers rose, one U.S. official reached for a fourteenth-century weapon and invoked the Avignon Papacy, the period when the French Crown used military force to bend the bishop of Rome to its will.
That scene, broken this week by Mattia Ferraresi in an extraordinary piece of journalism for The Free Press, may be the most remarkable moment in the long and knotted history of the American republic’s relationship with the Catholic Church.
There is no public record of any Vatican official ever taking a meeting at the Pentagon, and certainly none of a senior U.S. official threatening the Vicar of Christ on Earth with the prospect of an American Babylonian Captivity.
The reporting also confirms — with fresh sources and new color — what I first reported in February: that the Vatican declined the Trump-Vance White House’s invitation to host Pope Leo XIV for America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
Ferraresi obtained accounts from Vatican and U.S. officials briefed on the Pentagon meeting. According to his sources, Colby’s team picked apart the pope’s January state-of-the-world address line by line and read it as a hostile message aimed directly at the administration.
What enraged them most was Leo’s declaration that “a diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force.”
The Pentagon read that sentence as a frontal challenge to the so-called “Donroe Doctrine” — Trump’s update of Monroe, asserting unchallenged American dominion over the Western Hemisphere.
The cardinal sat through the lecture in silence. The Holy See has not, since that day, given an inch.
— Hale, Christopher. “The Pentagon Threatened Pope Leo XIV’s Ambassador with the Avignon Papacy.” Letters from Leo – the American Pope & US Politics, Letters from Leo – the American Pope & US Politics, 8 Apr. 2026.
Genocide Was In The Offing; Dems Said Little and Did Nothing
Let the record reflect that not one former living president denounced Trump’s genocidal pledge to destroy an entire civilization
Like Obama, they’re inconsequential moral cowards who worry in the back of their minds about being held accountable for their own war crimes https://t.co/cC660YBq2S
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 8, 2026
Yesterday proved that if a president wanted to, on a whim, he could kill millions of people and Congress wouldn’t even bother to reconvene to stop him.
— Jamie Bonkiewicz (@JamieBonkiewicz) April 8, 2026
As the smoke clears remember this: the so-called “Democrats” in the United States are the lowest form of political life. Every bit as bad as Donald Trump.
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) April 8, 2026
Gaza Was The Rubicon of US Society’s Moral Degeneracy. Everything After is Noise.
Where are the human chains in DC?
Where are Democrats leading marches?
Where are the celebrities pretending to care about human rights in award shows?
Where are the intellectuals? The scholars? The veterans? The churches?Where is ANY resistance to this?
Even Nazi Germany had some internal resistance.
This isn’t just Trump.
This is the collective failure of a society.pic.twitter.com/vYVdBxv8PG
— Amir (@AmirAminiMD) April 7, 2026
American Psycho

Where is the opposition to this deranged autocrat? Where is “the resistance”? Who among American leadership is pushing back against this obvious war crime? Where are the fiery condemnations from the Democratic Party against this promised atrocity? Where is the American media? Why have they abandoned even the pretense of moral responsibility to tell the truth about what is happening in this country? How has this failed businessman, this reality-TV personality, cowed an entire generation of politicians, pundits, journalists, businessmen, soldiers, and intellectuals?
Every major institution in the United States seems unwilling or unable to resist. That isn’t just weakness; it’s complicity.
Libs may look down on Hegseth and Trump openly exulting in terrorism and mass murder, but they were complicit in the exact same violence when it was presented to them as humanitarian intervention in Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan. Only the most superficial optics have changed.
— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) April 7, 2026
For Civilization to Prevail, the U.S. Must be Stopped
If this is an honest question, I’d say: Americans are rooting against America because we facilitated a genocide and followed it with a surprise attack on a girls elementary school followed by attacks on universities, medical centers, more schools, a world famous pharmaceutical research center, a volley ball team, an unfinished bridge we claimed was transporting weapons and then a nuclear power plant. We are now promising endless attacks on civilian infrastructure.
We are hunting and targeting anyone who might be involved in ceasefire negotiations.
Most people do not pay enough attention to have absorbed all the propaganda about the U.S. and Iran. So people coming to this fresh see us for what we are: absolute monsters. And monsters must be stopped. That’s why people are rooting against us and for civilization to prevail.https://t.co/tfKbnQpQkk
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 5, 2026
Our Last Goodbye
This is how Iraqis said goodbye to the American troops leaving their country.
💥Grateful residents threw Molotov cocktails at the saviors of democracy. pic.twitter.com/ZGaFQ7SWtH
— Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) April 2, 2026
Israel Hunts Muslims In Their Own Homeland
Jewish troops will be looking for Muslims hidden in the attics of Christians. Let that sink in. https://t.co/OwfZYKy0Lj
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) April 2, 2026
Source: Goldbaum, Christina, and David Guttenfelder. “Israel’s Message to a Broad Swath of Lebanon: Shiites Must Go.” The New York Times, 1 Apr. 2026.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Letter to the American Public
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
To the people of the United States of America, and to all those who, amid a flood of distortions and manufactured narratives, continue to seek the truth and aspire to a better life:
Iran — by this very name, character, and identity — is one of the oldest continuous civilisations in human history. Despite its historical and geographical advantages at various times, Iran has never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression, expansion, colonialism, or domination. Even after enduring occupation, invasion, and sustained pressure from global powers — and despite possessing military superiority over many of its neighbours — Iran has never initiated a war. Yet it has resolutely and bravely repelled those who have attacked it.
The Iranian people harbour no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighbouring countries. Even in the face of repeated foreign interventions and pressures throughout their proud history, Iranians have consistently drawn a clear distinction between governments and the peoples they govern. This is a deeply rooted principle in Iranian culture and collective consciousness — not a temporary political stance.
For this reason, portraying Iran as a threat is neither consistent with historical reality nor with present-day observable facts. Such a perception is the product of political and economic whims of the powerful — the need to manufacture an enemy in order to justify pressure, maintain military dominance, sustain the arms industry, and control strategic markets. In such an environment, if a threat does not exist, it is invented.
Within this same framework, the United States has concentrated the largest number of its forces, bases, and military capabilities around Iran — a country that, at least since the founding of the United States, has never initiated a war. Recent American aggressions launched from these very bases have demonstrated how threatening such a military presence truly is. Naturally, no country confronted with such conditions would forgo strengthening its defensive capabilities. What Iran has done — and continues to do — is a measured response grounded in legitimate self-defence, and by no means an initiation of war or aggression.
Relations between Iran and the United States were not originally hostile, and early interactions between the Iranian and American people were not marred with hostility or tension. The turning point, however, was the 1953 coup d’etat — an illegal American intervention aimed at preventing the nationalisation of Iran’s own resources. That coup disrupted Iran’s democratic process, reinstated dictatorship, and sowed deep distrust among Iranians toward US policies. This distrust deepened further with America’s support for the Shah’s regime, its backing of Saddam Hussein during the imposed war of the 1980s, the imposition of the longest and most comprehensive sanctions in modern history, and ultimately, unprovoked military aggression — twice, in the midst of negotiations —against Iran.
Yet all these pressures have failed to weaken Iran. On the contrary, the country has grown stronger in many areas: literacy rates have tripled —from roughly 30 per cent before the Islamic Revolution to over 90pc today; higher education has expanded dramatically; significant advances have been achieved in modern technology; healthcare services have improved; and infrastructure has developed at a pace and scale incomparable to the past. These are measurable, observable realities that stand independent of fabricated narratives.
At the same time, the destructive and inhumane impact of sanctions, war, and aggression on the lives of the resilient Iranian people must not be underestimated. The continuation of military aggression and recent bombings profoundly affect people’s lives, attitudes, and perspectives. This reflects a fundamental human truth: when war inflicts irreparable harm on lives, homes, cities, and futures, people will not remain indifferent toward those responsible.
This raises a fundamental question: Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war? Was there any objective threat from Iran to justify such behavior? Does the massacre of innocent children, the destruction of cancer-treatment pharmaceutical facilities, or boasting about bombing a country ‘back to the stone ages’ serve any purpose other than further damaging the United States’ global standing?
Iran pursued negotiations, reached an agreement, and fulfilled all its commitments. The decision to withdraw from that agreement, escalate toward confrontation, and launch two acts of aggression in the midst of negotiations were destructive choices made by the US government —choices that served the delusions of a foreign aggressor.
Attacking Iran’s vital infrastructure — including energy and industrial facilities — directly targets the Iranian people. Beyond constituting a war crime, such actions carry consequences that extend far beyond Iran’s borders. They generate instability, increase human and economic costs, and perpetuate cycles of tension, planting seeds of resentment that will endure for years. This is not a demonstration of strength; it is a sign of strategic bewilderment and an inability to achieve a sustainable solution.
Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime? Is it not true that Israel, by manufacturing an Iranian threat, seeks to divert global attention away from its crimes toward the Palestinians? Is it not evident that Israel now aims to fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar — shifting the burden of its delusions onto Iran, the region, and the United States itself in pursuit of illegitimate interests?
Is ‘America First’ truly among the priorities of the US government today?
I invite you to look beyond the machinery of misinformation — an integral part of this aggression — and instead speak with those who have visited Iran. Observe the many accomplished Iranian immigrants —educated in Iran — who now teach and conduct research at the world’s most prestigious universities, or contribute to the most advanced technology firms in the West. Do these realities align with the distortions you are being told about Iran and its people?
Today, the world stands at crossroads. Continuing along the path of confrontation is more costly and futile than ever before. The choice between confrontation and engagement is both real and consequential; its outcome will shape the future for generations to come. Throughout its millennia of proud history, Iran has outlasted many aggressors. All that remains of them are tarnished names in history, while Iran endures —resilient, dignified, and proud.
America’s Allegiance to Israel is Morally Indefensible
Israel is the first state in history to legislate a death sentence that applies only to one ethnic group.
There's a reason nobody has ever done this.
It's a depth of evil beyond humanity itself. pic.twitter.com/TWBVPN6wib
— Daniel Lambert (@dlLambo) March 30, 2026
The Time of Monsters Never Went Away
Despicable. This is Israel.
Watch: On live TV, and following the Knesset's passage of a law allowing Israeli concentration camp guards to execute [only] Palestinian prisoners by Ben Gvir's own criteria, several government ministers & members of the Kenesset are seen celebrating🍾 pic.twitter.com/5o4BTSNeq3— Jalal 𓂆 (@JalalAK_jojo) March 30, 2026
Via Brett Wilkins the bill had drawn widespread condemnation “for provisions including mandatory death sentences without judicial discretion or possibility of pardons, to be carried out within 90 days.”
The bill also retains what critics say is a discriminatory two-track legal regime; one for military courts which have jurisdiction over Palestinians—but not Israeli settlers—in the illegally occupied West Bank, and another for civilian courts inside Israel and East Jerusalem, which, like wider West Bank, has been unlawfully occupied by Israel for nearly 59 years.
A Violation of the Catholic Faith
The Pope gave a clear message today: participating in the Iran war is a violation of the Catholic faith.
If this was a moment of crystallization for you, you are entitled to an honorable discharge as a conscientious objector. Call us now to file: 1-800-379-2679
— Center on Conscience & War (@CCW4COs) March 29, 2026
Vibe
Meditations
During the Vietnam War, which lasted longer than any war we’ve ever been in — and which we lost — every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.
We are at a moment right now where people are asking themselves why can’t the Democratic Party defend this assault on democracy…and I would submit to you that if you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy.
The U.S. has established itself as the mortal enemy of all people’s government, all scientific-socialist mobilization of consciousness everywhere on the globe, all anti-imperialist activity on earth. The history of this country in the last fifty years and more, the very nature of all its fundamental elements, and its economic, social, political and military mobilization distinguish it as the prototype of the international fascist counterrevolution. The U.S. is the Korean problem, the Vietnamese problem, the problem in the Congo, Angola, Mozambique, the Middle East. It’s the grease in the British and Latin Amerikan guns that operate against the masses of common people.
A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization.
A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a stricken civilization.
A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is a dying civilization.
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