Things To Come: AI Surveillance

AI Surveillance Should Scare Both Democrats And Republicans

Brendan Steinhauser

In a country desperate for unifying issues, there is growing consensus on one: surveillance of American citizens. From progressives who want to hold ICE accountable to conservatives who fear Big Government, an ever-expanding federal government has put many Americans on high alert, and artificial intelligence is only making matters worse.

To quote New York Times columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom, “ICE is watching you.” It is true: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement saw its 2025 budget triple to nearly $30 billion, which would rank the agency as the 14th highest-funded military in the world. Much of the money is funding surveillance technology, including tools to crack phones, monitor social media, and track the movements of U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike. The Department of Homeland Security and affiliated agencies are currently piloting and deploying more than 100 AI systems, including some used in law enforcement activities.

Advanced, aggressive AI transcends the issue. Last year, federal agencies publicly reported more than 1,700 AI use cases – from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

We have heard the horror stories out of China, where AI is combined with social media monitoring, facial recognition, and new-age cameras to track the Chinese Communist Party’s critics (perceived or real), with the CCP following their statements and locations. But is that really unimaginable here?

Leaning on AI companies as core contractors, DHS has long scanned millions of social media posts, using new technologies to summarize findings. At the Environmental Protection Agency, AI spies on federal workers by monitoring communications. Citing “national security” at every turn, the federal government has given carte blanche to Palantir, whose sales and stock price have spiked in recent years. This means integrating Palantir data collection into operations at HHS and the Internal Revenue Service. Is that for national security, too?

What about “pattern of life” modeling that identifies when people deviate from normal routines? Or the rise of “predictive policing,” à la Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report”?

When pressed on Palantir’s surveillance agenda, Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s argument is that Americans essentially need more surveillance now to be more free later. You read that right: As Karp recently put it, “Freedom from unwarranted government surveillance ... requires the construction of a technical system that is built to make possible oversight of its own use and limit, not expand, the material and information subject to access.”

Federal surveillance is only the beginning of the problem. State by state, police departments and other entities are leaning into AI tools to study citizens and share data from coast to coast. In Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, and other states, thousands of police departments are using Flock’s AI-powered license plate reader cameras to track drivers when they pass one of Flock’s cameras on the road.

Take Massachusetts, where the state has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to monitor the locations of drivers and share that information with a network of over 7,000 agencies and organizations across America. Or consider Maine, where localities are using AI to scan license plates, create digital profiles, and experiment with facial recognition. This information can then be entered into a national database for federal access to information.

With each passing week, the mainstream media reports on “authoritarian AI surveillance” in China, but Americans do not need to look overseas for proof. From social media to our morning commute, we have countless case studies in government overreach right here at home. Our AI surveillance state is driven by a sweeping alliance of federal, state, and local governments with Silicon Valley’s most innovative monitoring systems.

It is not just Washington, D.C., or your state capitol or city hall or Palantir; it is all of the above. When it comes to civil liberties, no fight is more important than the people against the surveillance state. AI has pushed the limits of what is possible at our expense, making post-Patriot Act surveillance look like child’s play.

'This isn’t a token strike,' analysts say as US prepares for a major confrontation with Iran

'This isn’t a token strike,' analysts say as US prepares for a major confrontation with Iran

GABRIEL COLODRO

“As I understand it, this is the biggest military buildup in the Middle East since 2003,” Col. Richard Kemp, a former British Army commander, told The Media Line. He paused on the comparison. The amount of force now in place, he said, is greater than what was visible during the12-day war in June 2025. “It’s very significant military power,” he added.

For weeks, the word “imminent” has circulated in Washington and across the region. But timelines remain unclear. It could unfold quickly. It could take longer. Kemp’s focus was less on rhetoric and more on the military posture taking shape around Iran.

“I think it’s likely there will be a military strike, but I don’t think you’d say it’s inevitable,” he said. “I think it’s very likely.”

There are now four American carrier strike groups either in the wider Middle East or moving toward it. That alone changes the equation. In the surrounding waters, roughly a dozen guided-missile destroyers are spread out, some near the Strait of Hormuz, others operating closer to the Red Sea.

The United States already had a large presence in the region. More than 40,000 personnel are stationed across military bases and naval assets. With the arrival of the most recent carrier group, several thousand more service members are being added to that total.

The air posture has shifted as well. Long-range B-52 bombers and B-2 stealth aircraft have been placed on higher readiness. Additional fighter jets, including F-16s, F-22s, and F-35s, have been moved forward. At Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, alert levels have been raised. The adjustments are not only about striking capacity. They also reflect concern over what might follow.

The 12-day war in June 2025, which began on June 13, had a defined military purpose. Kemp described that round as focused primarily on Iran’s ballistic missiles and on its nuclear program. Israel led the bulk of that campaign, striking air defenses and missile-related targets. The United States joined toward the end. The fighting was intense but limited in scope. It was not framed as an effort to dismantle the regime itself.

Kemp commented that President Donald Trump would likely prefer to force Tehran into concessions without resorting to open war. “I think he would prefer Iran to buckle under the military pressure that’s been building up around them and make significant concessions, particularly on the nuclear program, but also on ballistic missiles and potentially on sponsoring terrorist proxies in the region as well,” he said. “He would like to be able to stand up and say, ‘I have resolved this through negotiations rather than through military force.’”

But Kemp expressed doubt that Iran would offer concessions that are both meaningful and durable. “Nothing that Iran agrees to or says can be trusted,” he said. “They’ll just use it as a tactic to buy time for themselves.”

If diplomacy fails, the forces now deployed suggest preparation for something more than a limited strike designed to send a message. Kemp explained that the buildup must be understood in two layers. One layer concerns offensive capability. The other pertains to the protection of American personnel and regional allies.

“One is what you need to actually damage Iran, bring down the regime, destroy the key components in Iran that are used offensively against other countries in the Middle East, of course, Israel particularly,” he said. “The second element is defensive.”

American forces stationed across the Gulf, including in Qatar, would be exposed to Iranian missiles and allied militias in the event of military action. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would have to consider their own vulnerability. Israel would almost certainly be a primary target of retaliation. Kemp noted that defending “such a wide range of targets” requires substantial resources, not only aircraft and ships but also layered missile defenses and regional coordination. 

Kemp also suggested the possibility of preemptive or parallel action against Iranian proxies. Hezbollah in Lebanon has been significantly weakened since last year, he said, but it still retains the ability to launch missiles into Israel. The Houthis in Yemen remain capable of long-range attacks. “They would have to be dealt with either before a US strike in Iran, or at the same time,” he said. “We’re talking about a much more intensive attack.”

The question of duration is central. Would a new confrontation resemble the compressed timeline of June 2025, or would it evolve into something longer?

“I would say much longer than a couple of days,” Kemp said. “It could run into weeks. It could well be a fairly long, sustained bombing campaign against Iran.”

Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, framed the moment in even starker terms. He told The Media Line strategic debate has already moved beyond nuclear facilities.

“The objective of the 12-day war was to destroy their nuclear capability and stop the rapid buildup with ballistic missiles,” Avivi said. “Now we are talking about taking down the regime. It is something completely different.”

In his view, Tehran misread the aftermath of June 2025. Rather than de-escalating, Avivi said, Iran continued to channel resources into missile development and into sustaining its regional network of proxies, despite domestic hardship. “There is no way to stop this threat and the instability in the Middle East without dismantling this regime,” he said.

More....

Hezbollah warns ‘no options left but resistance’ after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon

Hezbollah warns ‘no options left but resistance’ after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon

CRADLE

Hezbollah said on 21 February that the Lebanese people “no longer have any option” other than resistance, after a series of violent and deadly Israeli attacks against the country’s east and south.

Deputy chief of Hezbollah’s Political Council Mahmoud Qamati said “What happened yesterday in the Bekaa is a new massacre and a new aggression.”

“What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What other option do we have besides resistance? We no longer have any option,” he added. 

Another official, Hezbollah MP Rami Abu Hamdan, said mere government condemnation were no longer acceptable.

He stressed that the “Zionist brutality” is “nothing new,” but argued that “condemnations and statements of denunciation are no longer sufficient,” adding that Lebanese blood is “not cheap.”

Abu Hamdan called for a radical change in how the state defends the country, rejecting the normalization of daily attacks on Lebanon.

He added that the government should not act as a mere political commentator, describing Israeli strikes as routine events preceding meetings of the ceasefire “mechanism” committee. At a minimum, he said, Lebanon should freeze its participation in the committee until Israel halts its violations, calling this a test of the committee and its sponsors.

He said his message was directed at Lebanese officials, and not Israel, which “only understands the language of force.”

Israeli warplanes carried out violent airstrikes on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region on Friday night, killing at least ten, including Hezbollah members and civilians. 

The Lebanese resistance confirmed the deaths of eight of its members, including a senior official. It said they “sacrificed themselves for Lebanon and its people.”

At least 24 others were wounded, including children. A Syrian man and an Ethiopian woman were among the dead.

Tel Aviv claimed it attacked members of Hezbollah’s missile unit. 

The Israeli army said it “eliminated a large number of terrorists belonging to the missile array of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in three different headquarters of the organization.”

The strikes hit residential areas, causing widespread destruction. Just hours earlier, at least two people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon's Sidon (Saida). 

The next meeting of the US-led ‘ceasefire monitoring mechanism’ is scheduled for Wednesday, 25 February. 

The committee is made up of Lebanon, the US, France, UNIFIL, and Israel. While Lebanese-Israeli dealings via the mechanism were previously indirect, the latest committee meetings saw Lebanese and Israeli officials meet directly – under heavy US pressure and in violation of the country’s laws. 

Beirut is being pressured by Washington, at the behest of Israel, to fully disarm Hezbollah. 

Hezbollah has rejected this. The movement says it will eventually be willing to discuss a national defensive strategy that could incorporate its weapons into the state and be available for use to protect the country. 

Yet it refuses to enter into any such talks until Israel ends its daily attacks and withdraws the troops that occupied several areas along the border during the ceasefire. Over 300 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the 2024 truce, and at least two dozen Lebanese citizens are held in Israeli prisons. 

Israel has repeatedly threatened to resume full-scale war against the entirety of Lebanon unless Hezbollah is disarmed. 

Solution to Iran crisis is regime change, ousting Khamenei, Saudi royal family source tells N12

Solution to Iran crisis is regime change, ousting Khamenei, Saudi royal family source tells N12

JAMES GENN

The solution for Iran is no longer a limited military move, but a large, fundamental change, including the ousting of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a Saudi royal family source told N12 News on Sunday.

Khamenei and the regime "must be eliminated one by one," and "the only solution is to change the regime in Iran in one way or another," the source said.

"If the regime in Iran is overthrown, a strong government must rise that knows how to concentrate power in a strong and secure way, and not repeat the model of a weak technocratic government such as exists in Iraq," the source added.

"After the [anti-regime Iranian] protesters lost faith in [US President Donald] Trump, the solution is to eliminate the top leadership one by one, starting with Khamenei, so that there will be no leaders left, and then hold elections," they continued.

Crown Prince Reza "Pahlavi is apparently not acceptable to the majority of the public inside Iran," the source said.

There is a feeling of missed opportunity on the streets of Iran, which has stemmed from not only the intense repression by the Islamic Regime, but also the lack of external support, according to the source.

"Trump missed the opportunity to eliminate the heads of the regime's security apparatus who suppressed the past protests, and by doing so, he lost the trust of the protesters," the source said.

This was "the strategic mistake of the US and Israel - the lack of understanding of the social dimension inside Iran and the failure to build an alternative to the regime," the source added.

"If Trump wants to fulfil his promise to protect the protesters - how will he do that if he doesn't eliminate those who killed them? A surgical action is required to hit essential infrastructure, alongside the security commanders who acted against protesters," the source stated.

"The protests currently happening in Iran are economic in motivation and limited in nature. If pressure increases, they will grow, but will also be suppressed. They are not as large as the media presents," the source believes.

"We see the regime as a regional threat. If Iran does not produce nuclear weapons within five years, it will do so afterwards," they continued.

More....

A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake shakes parts of Malaysia

A powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake shakes parts of Malaysia, USGS

The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 7.1 earthquake has shaken parts of Malaysia.

The USGS on Sunday said the quake occurred shortly before 5 p.m. GMT, or early morning local time. It had a depth of 620 kilometers and its epicenter was located 55 kilometers (34 miles) north-northwest of Kota Belud, Malaysia. 

There was no tsunami warning issued, and there were no immediate reports of damage.