9/11 Plus Twenty Five

September 11, 2026Mark Noonan

Yeah, the world did change – but not like we expected as we watched those towers fall.

We knew we were at war the moment the second plane hit. Someone had to be destroyed. Rumors abounded about who might have orchestrated the attack but the larger picture is that we found we had an implacable enemy and that enemy had to go. As the days went on we all found out about bin Laden, Al Queda and such. And we knew that they were going to feel our fury.

But we also had jarring notes which didn’t register much at the time. We mentally glossed over them because in a glow of national unity and determination, we figured it was for the best. Bush getting up there and saying Islam is a religion of peace – complete drivel but we let it slide. Nobody in the intelligence community getting fired. Hearings which obviously glossed over failures during the Clinton Administration. We should have paid closer attention because in hindsight we can now see that the US and larger global Ruling Class merely asked as those towers fell, “what can I get out of it?”. They were only interested in what they could grift off the death and destruction.

As time went on I looked at the map and figured our path was Kabul (sideshow as it was) to Baghdad to Damascus to Tehran (maybe a side trip to Tripoli). It was obvious that the Islamists had to be wiped out – and the center of Islamism was, is and remains in Tehran. In spite of theological disputes and ethnic hatreds within Islam, the center was the Mullah regime. It provided the funding, arms and training. It greased all the wheels. Sure, there were Saudi sponsors of it. Sure, there were groups which would shoot an Iranian if given the chance. But the nexus of it was in Tehran. Had been since 1979 when, under Mullah direction, terrorism started to shift from Soviet-sponsored socialist/nationalist ideology to Islamist. I honestly thought when Bush sent us into Iraq (well more than a year after we should have gone) it was to stage attacks on Syria (Iran’s protege) and then Iran, itself. I had no idea he was just going to shove us into a shooting gallery while leaving the Islamists sanctuaries in Iran and Syria. I don’t really know what W’s goal was – he is a creature of the Establishment and he might have simply been going along with Establishment recommendations. I stuck it out supporting Bush because our boys and girls were in harms way and I didn’t want to leave them in the lurch…and I still, at the time, figured we could find a Muslim coalition willing to be decent about things. We still might find that – but never among anyone who ever took a shot at anyone for ideological or theological reasons.

We live and learn and I’ve learned a lot. The Establishment is corrupt and stupid to the core. The military leadership is rotten. Nobody gives a damn about the fate of the United States. Except Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. Trump is the ultimate result of a gigantic number of failures across decades by both major political parties. Had they not been corrupt and stupid, Trump never would have arrived on the scene. Because they were (and are), here he is. He is our answer to those who knocked our towers down…as well our answer to those in the USA who let it happen and then went about seeking to profit in the aftermath. Had Trump been in office on 9/11, I suspect that Iran’s days would have been numbered…he is cleaning up the mess left by his predecessors…and he appears to have seen it all along.

Retired Spook September 11, 2026 / 11:09 am

How cool is this?
Retired Spook September 11, 2026 / 11:19 am

Challenge for the day: pick Forty/Rocks/Cody/Howie/Dan Hicks/Just Another guy, and Casper out of this picture.
- Cluster September 11, 2026 / 11:25 am
  
  LMAO
Retired Spook September 11, 2026 / 11:24 am

Touche!

It’s only a matter of time before a male rapist uses the hormone defense and supporters tell enraged women that they can’t begin to understand a male’s sex drive and can’t have an opinion.
Cluster September 11, 2026 / 11:24 am

Spook, that is super cool. And even cooler is that the number of drones matches the number of 9/11 victims.

Our fight against Islamists started in Tripoli in the 1700’s and it continues today. It’s a spiritual battle and it will persist for some time.

I for one am against the $5,000 dividend Trump is proposing. I would much rather have that money go to retire debt for our grandchildren’s sake. We have to right the ship for our kids futures.

This is hilarious. Watch Gayle Kings reaction when she learns that the one male juror holdout in the Lindsay Clancy trial was a black man. This is how racist they are … they actually do think all black people should think the same

https://x.com/ericldaugh/status/2098396215587053871?s=61
Retired Spook September 11, 2026 / 11:50 am

I think this would actually fit on a bill board. What say you GOP?
- Cluster September 11, 2026 / 7:47 pm
  
  Sums it up
Retired Spook September 11, 2026 / 12:08 pm

One thing I can say with a high degree of certainty is that neither Forty/Rocks/Cody/Howie/Dan Hick/Just Another Guy or Casper will ever post something like this.
- justanotherguy98 September 11, 2026 / 5:28 pm
  
  Speaking of names from the past, what happened to Amazona? I know you know.
  - Retired Spook September 11, 2026 / 6:07 pm
    
    Why in the world would you want to know? I’d think you’d be reveling in her absence. I do know, BTW.
  - Mark Noonan September 11, 2026 / 9:14 pm
    
    Give our love to her, Spook!
  - justanotherguy98 September 11, 2026 / 6:40 pm
    
    Of course you know. Ah well, I wish her the best.
Cluster September 12, 2026 / 6:58 am

I hope Amazona is off having a fun adventure, and I like it that Amazona lives in justanotherguys head rent free.
- justanotherguy98 September 12, 2026 / 12:49 pm
  
  I’ve known Amazona the internet persona about as long as you have, pal. When she’s gone from this blog as long as she has been, it’s conspicuous.
Cluster September 12, 2026 / 10:49 am

Going back to the previous thread briefly to address Casper’s mind numbingly stupid response claiming we “don’t know what the various forms of government are”

Casper, there are no versions of Socialism. There are various versions of welfare, and that’s what has you confused. Socialism IS NOT welfare. And Capitalism is simply a free market economy, and as Mark mentioned, we have never had a fully free market economy, only a regulated economy, to provide a generous welfare system. The federal Government has no money Casper …. They have to take it.
- Retired Spook September 12, 2026 / 11:25 am
  
  They have to take it.
  
  Or, has too often been the case in recent years, just print it.
- justanotherguy98 September 12, 2026 / 12:53 pm
  
  Going back to the previous thread briefly to address Casper’s mind numbingly stupid response claiming we “don’t know what the various forms of government are”
  
  Yes, let’s go back that. You said, “The US Govt is an investor in handful of successful companies which will bring returns on those investments and further fund the government. The government has no control whatsoever of those companies.” This is wrong in two ways. It’s way more than a “handful,” and the government most certainly does have a controlling interest in some of them.
  
  This is the socialism Donald Trump has brought to us. Funny, you never complain about that, I guess because you don’t even understand what you’re talking about.
  - Retired Spook September 12, 2026 / 1:21 pm
    That’s interesting; I queried AI with the following question:
    
    Does the U.S. Government control any private or public companies through majority ownership or majority ownership of publicly traded stock?
    
    Here’s the answer:
    
    Yes, the U.S. government exercises effective control over specific entities through legal conservatorship and holds significant minority or special veto stakes (“golden shares”) in various companies, but it generally does not hold majority ownership of publicly traded corporate stock. [1, 2]
    
    Government-Controlled Enterprises (Conservatorship)
    
    Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The federal government exercises firm operational control over these two major mortgage companies through a conservatorship established in 2008. Their stock remains publicly traded, and government-held warrants allow it to acquire nearly 80% of their common stock. [1]
    
    Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation): The federal government owns nearly all of the preferred stock of Amtrak, giving it primary control over the corporation, though it operates as a government-owned corporation rather than a standard commercial public company.
    
    Strategic Equity and Veto Powers
    
    Minority Stakes: Recent federal funding programs (such as CHIPS Act awards) have led the government to acquire minority equity positions—typically around 10% to 15%—in strategic private and public companies like Intel, MP Materials, and Lithium Americas. [1, 2]
    
    Golden Shares: In specific transactions or national security reviews, the government may hold a “golden share” providing specialized veto power over major corporate decisions (such as prior arrangements involving US Steel), rather than a majority economic stake.
    
    None of this is new under either Trump administration.
    
    I then asked, “could this be considered a form of Socialism?” And here was the answer:
    
    Whether government equity stakes or corporate interventions constitute a form of socialism is a subject of intense debate among economists, political scientists, and policymakers, with the answer largely depending on how the term is defined. [1]
    
    Traditional economic definitions and modern political arguments offer distinct perspectives on how to classify these policies:
    
    ➡️ The Argument for “Socialism” (Government Ownership)
    
    The Dictionary Definition: Classic socialism is defined as public or state ownership of the means of production. Critics from libertarian and free-market think tanks, such as the Cato Institute, argue that when the federal government conditions grants or bailouts on acquiring equity stakes in private firms (like Intel or MP Materials), it is engaging in a form of “creeping socialism” or public ownership. [1, 2, 3]
    
    Market Distortion: From this perspective, when the state acts as both regulator and shareholder, it shifts the economy away from a pure free-market capitalist model where capital is allocated by investors, moving instead toward a government-directed economy. [1, 2, 3]
    
    ➡️ The Argument for “State Capitalism” or Industrial Policy
    
    Preserving the Profit Motive: Many economists and policy analysts argue that these interventions are not socialism because the underlying companies remain profit-driven, privately managed, and embedded within a broader capitalist market. Instead, they classify this system as state capitalism or dirigisme—where the state uses capitalist mechanisms and equity to achieve national security or geopolitical goals. [1, 2, 3, 4]
    
    Strategic Intervention, Not Ideology: Defenders of these policies, including analysts at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), point out that targeted state equity is a tool to address market failures or secure supply chains (like semiconductors or critical minerals) rather than an ideological effort to abolish private property or eliminate class distinctions. [1, 2]
    
    ➡️ Global Context and Mixed Economies
    
    Most modern economies do not fit purely into a single textbook definition. For example, countries like Singapore are frequently ranked among the most pro-business, free-market economies in the world, yet their governments manage massive state-owned holding companies (such as Temasek) that hold major stakes in private industries. Ultimately, while some view any federal stock ownership as a step toward a state-run economy, others see it as a pragmatic hybrid approach common within a standard mixed economy
    
    So, you can argue that Trump has brought Socialism to America. I doubt you’ll get too many who agree with you, and I think it is you who don’t understand what you’re talking about.
  - Cluster September 12, 2026 / 3:04 pm
    
    Excellent query Spook and you can add to that list the USPS. Now look at how efficiently Amtrak and the USPS operate and know that that is what our Democrats hope for. All industry ran as efficiently as the USPS …. LOLOLOL
    
    And justanidiot, if you object to government investment in private industry, what did you think when Obama gave private insurance companies millions of dollars for the ACA? Just curious.
  - Retired Spook September 12, 2026 / 4:16 pm
    what did you think when Obama gave private insurance companies millions of dollars for the ACA? Just curious.
    
    Strike through doesn’t seem to work the way it used to, but millions is a gross understatement. I love AI for questions like this:
    
    Health insurance companies generated trillions of dollars in overall revenue following the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), though exact “additional” or net figures specifically attributable only to the law are difficult to isolate because insurers also profited from other expansions like Medicare Advantage. [1, 2, 3]
    
    Revenue and Financial Growth
    
    Trillions in Total Revenue: Major for-profit U.S. health insurers generated over $9 trillion to $10 trillion in cumulative revenue in the decade following the ACA’s implementation (roughly 2014 through 2024), alongside hundreds of billions in profits. [1, 2]
    
    Individual Market Surge: The ACA nearly doubled health insurers’ premium revenue in the individual insurance market, driving a 97% increase due to new subsidies and market rules. [1]
    
    Government Subsidy Reliance: Government-funded programs fueled much of this growth. In recent years, exchange plan subsidies and Medicaid expansions under the ACA pumped hundreds of billions annually into insurer revenues—reaching $92 billion in exchange subsidies and $126 billion in federal Medicaid expansion spending in 2023 alone
  - justanotherguy98 September 12, 2026 / 7:28 pm
    
    None of this is new under either Trump administration.
    
    First of all, what do you think a “golden share” is with respect to US Steel? It gives President Trump veto power over corporate decisions. He negotiated it. Obviously, if he can veto corporate decisions, then he most certainly does have a controlling interest in US Steel, doesn’t he.
    
    Then there’s the Venezuelan oil industry, which, through force of the Trump administration, the United States now has majority control. And there are the many other stakes in corporations that the Trump administration has taken–over 30 by most counts.
    
    Even if even we believe your claim that this isn’t new under Trump, YOU are the one who has complained about creeping socialism since forever. It continues to creep under Trump. I thought you opposed that. It seems that’s only the case when a Democrat is president.
    
    I do give you credit for acknowledging that there is nuance by repeated what AI wrote to you—something you don’t typically do.
  - Mark Noonan September 12, 2026 / 9:28 pm
    
    Here’s your problem – you are still locked into the debate the Ruling Class wants you to have. We aren’t having that debate. For us, nothing outside the sacred is actually sacred. We can’t change God – but we can change our minds. So, yeah, we might go along with Uncle Sam providing money for a profitable enterprise – just as we’ll privatize a government enterprise even if we don’t make a profit off it (like we want to do with education). What we want – what we demand and we’re darned well going to get – is a civilization built by and for Americans – a place where sobriety, thrift and hard work is rewarded…which must be a place where drunkenness, sloth and profligacy gets severely punished. It is men vs demons, to a certain extent. Civilization vs barbarism. Logic vs insanity. You go ahead and keep voting for insane, demonic barbarians and call it social justice or whatever drivel they’re telling you to call it these days…but we’re going to win, we’re going to impose our views…and you’ll end up liking the result a heck of a lot more than if you had got your way.
  - Retired Spook September 13, 2026 / 10:16 am
    
    First of all, what do you think a “golden share” is with respect to US Steel? It gives President Trump veto power over corporate decisions.
    
    Over SOME decisions, ie., plant closures, headquarters moves, and major job cuts. That’s a far cry from having complete control over the means of production. It’s also common among European companies, and I’ll remember your comment the next time you say something like “we should be more like Europe.”
    
    For more about how the Golden Share agreement came about, here’s a short, concise article.
  - Mark Noonan September 13, 2026 / 1:11 pm
    
    And that is to prevent them from shifting production overseas or just laying off people to add a quarter percent to the profit report.
    
    If there is such a thing as malevolent “Capitalism” it is the corporate execs who have never done any real work in their lives – and they are produced by the same Establishment mills which give us Feminist Studies professors.
    
    We on our side want people to make money. For corporations to be profitable. But making money isn’t the primary consideration – it is providing a civilized life for regular folks. We don’t care about “line go up” economics. We want to see cities (small and large) filled with prosperous, hardworking people…we want our rural areas busy as bees growing food, mining and logging. I don’t care if we can buy the copper for 2 cents a pound cheaper in some Third World hell hole using child labor…
  - justanotherguy98 September 13, 2026 / 6:12 pm
    
    That’s a far cry from having complete control over the means of production. It’s also common among European companies, and I’ll remember your comment the next time you say something like “we should be more like Europe.”
    
    First of all, I have never said “we should be more like Europe.”
    
    Second of all, I run around claiming that the United States is heading toward socialism, you do. And you blame it all on “the left.” I just pointed out things that you would claim to be socialism in another context—that is, if a Democratic president did it.
    
    You pointed out: “Whether government equity stakes or corporate interventions constitute a form of socialism is a subject of intense debate among economists, political scientists, and policymakers, with the answer largely depending on how the term is defined.”
    
    Given that, you need to define socialism so that we can weigh your claims of the US becoming a socialist state against your definition. Failing to do that allows you to wiggle out of debates by using different definitions depending on what supports your situation.
    
    So let’s by it clear: What is your definition of socialism?
  - Retired Spook September 13, 2026 / 8:37 pm
    
    So let’s by it clear: What is your definition of socialism?
    
    I’m not sure what you mean by by it clear. Assuming you meant make it clear, I’d stick with the dictionary definition: public or state ownership of the means of production.
  - justanotherguy98 September 13, 2026 / 10:02 pm
    
    I’m not sure what you mean by by it clear. Assuming you meant make it clear, I’d stick with the dictionary definition: public or state ownership of the means of production.
    
    Sorry, I meant “make it clear.” Okay, public or state ownership of the means of production. So anything that doesn’t fit that definition but is called socialism is an incorrect use of the word. Sounds good to me.
  - Cluster September 14, 2026 / 8:13 am
    
    justanidiot seems to struggle with the concept of socialism, which is no surprise. I think he struggles with a lot of things.
    
    Taxation and government spending is not socialism. Every governments main charge is to take care of infrastructure and basic well being of society. Corporate subsidies are not socialism, that is simply the government allowing the corporation to keep more of their own money to invest in other areas. The change in depreciation schedules is an example.
    
    Socialism is Universal Health Care. That’s when government controls the access to healthcare and then proceeds to pick winners and losers. Remember when Obama told that lady in the audience that maybe her grandmother should just take a pill rather than get a hip surgery??? That’s socialism, which leads to scarcity, which leads to misery. Every single fucking time.
  - justanotherguy98 September 14, 2026 / 4:16 pm
    
    First of all, I love when Cluster adopts his faux (that means fake, Cluster) tough guy persona, resorting to name-calling and swear words. You remind me of the fifth grade.
    
    Taxation and government spending is not socialism.
    
    Thank you. Yes, taxation and government spend in and of itself is not socialism. I completely agree. Keep that in mind the next time a Democrat is president and you lose your shit.
    
    Socialism is Universal Health Care.
    
    Maybe you need to consult AI, too, like Spook did.
- casper3031 September 12, 2026 / 3:51 pm
  
  “Casper, there are no versions of Socialism”. That’s like saying there are no versions of Christianity.
  
  “The federal Government has no money Casper …. They have to take it.” which is the way all governments operate. In return they provide a number of services we all need,, like clean water and air, safe food and protection from other governments.
Cluster September 12, 2026 / 1:31 pm

Our resident Democrats need to watch this …

https://www.facebook.com/reel/4515497755338457/?fs=e&fs=e
- casper3031 September 12, 2026 / 3:54 pm
  
  Not wasting my time listening to the brain worm guy who doesn’t believe in science.
  - Retired Spook September 13, 2026 / 10:22 am
    
    Says Casper while looking in the mirror, completely oblivious to the irony.
  - Cluster September 13, 2026 / 10:36 am
    
    Spook … LOL
    
    Casper, you should listen to Bill Maher and James Carville then because they are saying the same things, and that is that the current Democrat Party is NOT the party of JFK, RFK, or even Bill Clinton. That’s how far Left the Democrat Party has swung and it’s all driven by the jealousy and the laziness of the younger “college educated” Democrats. The Democrat Party is largely now a party of college educated idiots who can’t pay for their student loans, fraudsters, grifters, Hamas loving morons, and trans freaks. Good luck winning in November.
  - casper3031 September 13, 2026 / 1:02 pm
    
    You should listen to Bill Maher and James Carville and what they say about Trump.
  - Cluster September 13, 2026 / 2:26 pm
    
    I do. I don’t close myself off to anyone.
  - Retired Spook September 13, 2026 / 2:58 pm
    
    I’m still waiting for Casper to list some of the ways that Republicans suck worse than Democrats.
  - casper3031 September 13, 2026 / 6:56 pm
    
    “I’m still waiting for Casper to list some of the ways that Republicans suck worse than Democrats.”
    
    The Republican Party has always been the party of the rich, taking every opportunity to give more tax breaks to the wealthy.
    
    Republicans are the war party, starting unnecessary and expensive wars.
    
    The republican party is also the Epstein party with the president numerous cabinet members having ties with him.
  - Retired Spook September 13, 2026 / 8:31 pm
    
    The Republican Party has always been the party of the rich, taking every opportunity to give more tax breaks to the wealthy.
    
    That used to be the case; not any more.
    
    Republicans are the war party, starting unnecessary and expensive wars.
    
    If you go by casualties, it’s not even close. Democrats win by a ratio of 100 – 1.
    
    WW1 – got us into by a Democrat who promised he wouldn’t. 53,402 combat deaths.
    
    WW2 – the entire war plus a decade leading up to it: Democrat. 407,316 combat deaths.
    
    Korean War – started by a Democrat. 33,739 combat deaths.
    
    Vietnam War – started by a Democrat. 58,281 combat deaths
    
    First Gulf War – started by a Republican. 147 combat deaths
    
    Iraq War – started by a Republican. 3,482 combat deaths
    
    Afghanistan War – started by a Republican but overseen by two Republican presidents and two Democrat presidents. 1,922 combat deaths.
    
    The republican party is also the Epstein party with the president numerous cabinet members having ties with him.
    
    This one is just simply a lie.
    
    Now I see why you hesitated for so long to answer. Lame Casper, really lame.
  - casper3031 September 13, 2026 / 9:24 pm
    
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/least-half-dozen-top-trump-administration-officials-appear-jeffrey-eps-rcna258749
  - Mark Noonan September 14, 2026 / 12:29 pm
    
    Nobody cares – a lot of Dems are in there, too. Just being in there means nothing. Rely on it, Cappy, those with actual legal jeopardy related to Epstein had four years under Biden to get the record scrubbed…and it looks like they did it. We’ll never know the full story.
  - casper3031 September 13, 2026 / 9:32 pm
    
    Last three wars started by Republicans. All of them unnecessary.
    
    Only major bills passed by Republicans under Trump were mostly Tax cuts for rich.
    
    Trump is mentioned at least 30,000 times in the Epstein files.
    
    Oh, and 28% of the national debt happened on Trump’s watch.
  - Mark Noonan September 14, 2026 / 12:27 pm
    
    Fighting Islamists is unnecessary, you guys! Caspar says so! Islam is the religion of peace n’ sh**. Mamdani!
  - Retired Spook September 14, 2026 / 11:18 am
    
    Last three wars started by Republicans. All of them unnecessary.
    
    I would not disagree on the necessity, but the casualties were miniscule compared to the Democrats last two “unnecessary” wars: Korea and Vietnam.
    
    Only major bills passed by Republicans under Trump were mostly Tax cuts for rich.
    
    That’s just simply a lie, and you knew it was a lie when you typed it. I can’t imagine that even you actually believe that.
    
    Trump is mentioned at least 30,000 times in the Epstein files.
    
    By all accounts it’s actually 38,000 times, the vast majority of which were by Epstein’s own doing, mentioning Trump in correspondence, forwarding articles about Trump and his family via email, etc. No legally proven or fully corroborated allegations linking Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network exist in the files. Both the Department of Justice and the Trump administration have repeatedly designated the accusations within the files as unfounded, false, or baseless.
    
    Oh, and 28% of the national debt happened on Trump’s watch.
    
    You’re really grasping for straws here Casper. I should have just handed you a shovel after your first response. Obama raised the debt by 88% in the 8 years he was in office.
    
    I’d like to say nice try, but it wasn’t. Continue to keep digging at your own peril.
  - Cluster September 14, 2026 / 11:49 am
    
    20% of the current money supply was printed in 2020. 20% !!!! Why is that Casper?
  - Retired Spook September 14, 2026 / 1:16 pm
    
    I believe I’ve found a long lost video of Casper that explains a lot.
Cluster September 13, 2026 / 2:48 pm

The Charlie Kirk Memorial in Tempe has already been desecrated, and that’s your side of the political aisle Casper. Degenerate people. Godless, soulless, violent narcissists. NO ONE wants to live around people like that.
- casper3031 September 13, 2026 / 7:39 pm
  
  Let’s hope they catch and prosecute the vandals.
  - Cluster September 14, 2026 / 8:18 am
    
    This is much more than run of mill vandalism Casper, and the fact that you can’t grasp that, speaks volumes.
    
    George Floyd was a complete piece of shit. Criminal, drug addict and just a liability to society, yet he was your martyr.
    
    We are not the same, and we don’t even share the same reality.
Cluster September 14, 2026 / 8:19 am

The Kennedy Centers roof caved in the other day, and it’s reported to be on the brink of financial collapse. Good thing Democrats stopped Trump from improving it. Fucking morons.
Retired Spook September 14, 2026 / 11:52 am

As you all know by now, I thoroughly enjoy reading Jeff Childers’ Coffee & Covid Substack. This segment from today’s column is Childers at his best.

That’s a nice spy satellite you have there. It would be a shame if anything happened to it. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Exclusive – U.S. Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike That Killed Three Troops”

According to ‘U.S. officials’ cited by the Wall Street Journal’s exclusive report, Iran acquired high-resolution images from unnamed Chinese entities before Iran’s July 17th missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The missiles hit housing where American troops were sleeping, wounding four soldiers and killing 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, and Sgt. Angel Rampersad.

Within three days, Iran giddily published remarkably detailed pictures of the damage. This was thoughtful of them, since otherwise American officials might have been forced to wonder whether the twenty-plus damaged buildings had always looked that way.

The unnamed U.S. officials did not identify the allegedly involved Chinese entities, did not accuse Beijing of direct participation, and did not publicly release their evidence. China’s embassy responded by demanding proof and accusing critics of “maliciously linking and smearing other countries.” In diplomatic language, this means: How dare you accuse us of the thing you have not yet proved we did.

Washington had already sanctioned three Chinese satellite companies in May for allegedly making imagery available to Iran. After the deadly July attack, senior American officials raised the new imagery findings directly with Chinese counterparts, although the reporting does not say exactly when that conversation occurred. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi only days after the strike. When asked afterward whether China had supplied targeting intelligence, Rubio carefully said only that “nothing China did altered in any way the course of the conflict.”

Please notice that this was not the same as saying China did nothing. It was the diplomatic equivalent of your teenager saying the mysterious dent in the Tahoe did not materially alter its highway performance.

So far, this is a grim and tragic espionage story. But then space entered the chat. Let’s connect some dots.

🚀 Just under a week ago, on September 8th, Gizmodo dramatically reported, “Chinese Satellite Breaks Apart in Rare Orbit That Could Hold Debris for Centuries.” China’s six-month-old Yaogan-50 ‘reconnaissance’ satellite had experienced what aerospace professionals call an “anomalous event,” which is a technical phrase meaning the expensive spacecraft is now a large collection of much smaller and less expensive objects.

The U.S. Space Force cataloged at least 43 pieces of the former satellite on September 4th. But that was when the debris was cataloged, not necessarily when Yaogan-50 came down with its acute case of spontaneous disassembly. An independent spacecraft monitoring website, Gunter’s Space Page, placed the Yaogan-50’s breakup around late July and counted at least 47 detected fragments.

Get that? Late July. Coincidentally, on July 20th, President Trump tweeted, “Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!”

Let’s consult the official international-diplomacy calendar. On July 17th, an Iranian missile attack —allegedly assisted by Chinese-sourced imagery— killed three Americans. Within three days, Iran published detailed post-strike satellite photographs. Days after the attack, Rubio met Wang and was publicly asked about Chinese targeting help. Senior U.S. officials confronted Chinese counterparts at some point. On July 20, Trump promised revenge. And around late July —days following the base strike— a Chinese military spy satellite in an exotic retrograde orbit abruptly became 47 commemorative diplomatic paperweights traveling several miles per second.

To be fair, there is no proof that the United States transformed Yaogan-50 into Yaogan-1-through-47. Nor would there be. That’s the whole point.

🚀 This is not a slip-and-fall-in-Walmart lawsuit. Spooks don’t send preservation letters. Nobody produces the orbital equivalent of Ring-camera footage. In this kind of diplomacy, both governments need room to deny everything —China so it does not have to retaliate, America so China does not have to retaliate, and everybody else so the United Nations can hold a sternly worded meeting about responsible management of space debris without mentioning any particular space behavior.

The message only works when the recipient understands it perfectly and the public cannot prove it. The diplomatic translation is: You made your point. Remember all those midwestern chicken farms and oil refineries that kept mysteriously catching fire during the Biden Administration while we were helping Ukraine target Russia’s oil refineries? It’s like that.

But in this story, we have more dots to connect than we did during the Autopen years, which were mostly a matter of timing. This time, we have a July 17th Iranian strike that killed three Americans using Chinese-sourced imagery, a formal protest, and a mysteriously fragmented spy satellite in “late July,” which could be the hours or days after the Iranians hit our base.

And then —this is the part festooned with red flags— around six weeks later, we have unnamed American officials handing the Wall Street Journal an exclusive about the Chinese imagery.

That was not a random leak from Oscar in Accounting. It was an official leak about highly sensitive intelligence, delivered to America’s premier financial and diplomatic newspaper shortly before Trump was expected to meet Xi. The officials supplied enough detail to establish a causal chain —Chinese imagery, Iranian targeting, dead American soldiers— but withheld the companies’ names, the underlying evidence, and any accusation against Beijing itself.

In other words, they gave the Journal exactly enough information for everyone to connect the dots, while carefully refusing to connect them on official stationery. But why leak it? That kind of leak is not a story: it’s a message. They let the “anomalous event” do the talking.

Maybe the leak and the anomaly were unrelated. Maybe the dates mean nothing. But the officials were sophisticated enough to know online open-source-intelligence influencers can read a calendar. They did not need to draw a red circle around “late July” and add a little arrow saying, LOOK HERE, YOU IDIOTS. They dropped one set of dots. The independent orbital trackers supplied the other set.

If the United States were using Space Force to help send a more efficient form of diplomatic cable, the exchange might have gone something like this:

Old-fashioned diplomacy required embossed stationery, a ceremonial room, twelve deputy ministers, and a communiqué declaring that both sides had enjoyed a “frank and open exchange,” meaning everyone left furious. Modern diplomacy may be more … concise. One country demands evidence. The other country just points upward.

NASA says debris around 800 kilometers up can remain in orbit for centuries, while fragments above 1,000 kilometers may circle Earth for a thousand years or more. Thus, whatever happened, Yaogan-50’s remains will keep delivering the possible message to China’s future governments long after today’s diplomats, generals, and cable-news experts have become archaeological layers.

We’ll never know. The plausible deniability in this story has its own plausible deniability. But I suspect that it is past time to welcome everyone to the space wars. Because nobody will ever declare them.
- Cluster September 14, 2026 / 12:06 pm
  
  ”If they put one of ours in the hospital, we will put one of theirs in the morgue”
  
  That’s how you win fights
- Mark Noonan September 14, 2026 / 12:26 pm
  
  Could it be coincidence? Sure. Very, very convenient coincidence. We’ll find out when everything is declassified maybe in 2076.
  
  The cold, hard reality – and China hates it – is that we are simply better at everything than they are. The only real question is if they realize that under their current regime, they never can be as good as us? I think they do – and that’s why they’ve now put propaganda into overdrive. Armies of Chinese bots are out there spreading defeatist lies about the USA. DNC bots are also doing that because the PRC and the DNC have the same goal – a destroyed USA. We’ll find out in November if this propaganda effort works.
  - Retired Spook September 14, 2026 / 12:35 pm
    
    If it does work, the immediate future is going to be super interesting. I wish I was either riding off into the sunset or 30 years younger.