LPALive, episode 63
Source: LP Alliance
“March 1, 2026 LNC Meeting.” (03/01/26)
Killing an enemy leader often escalates conflict and chaos
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Robert A Pape
“On April 21, 1996, Russian forces executed one of the most precise assassinations of the modern era. The target was Dzhokhar Dudayev, leader of Chechnya’s separatist war against Moscow. … When U.S. strikes failed to kill Moammar Kadafi in 1986 or Saddam Hussein numerous times in the 1990s, many airpower advocates concluded near misses were the problem. If the leader actually died, the regime would fracture. Russia — with a critical U.S. assist — proved the execution could be perfected.
But execution was never the core variable. Leadership assassination in international disputes does not simply remove authority; it redistributes it under emotional mobilization.” (03/01/26)
Another war
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Yesterday’s attack by Israeli and US forces on Iran has within hours expanded to include a dozen different nations. As usual, we have nowhere near enough information to figure out what is really going on. The claims made by various and sundry (including The Donald and Bibi) seem to be contradictory and are challenged by people in all corners of the political diamond. Not just in Israel and the States, but around the world.” (03/01/26)
“All Lawful Use”: Much More Than You Wanted To Know
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Anonymous
“Last Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared AI company Anthropic a ‘supply chain risk,’ the first time this designation has ever been applied to a US company. The trigger for the move was Anthropic’s refusal to allow the Department of War to use their AIs for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. A few hours later, Hegseth and Sam Altman declared an agreement-in-principle for OpenAI’s models to be used in the niche vacated by Anthropic. Altman stated that he had received guarantees that OpenAI’s models wouldn’t be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons either, but given Hegseth’s unwillingness to concede these points with Anthropic, observers speculated that the safeguards in Altman’s contract must be weaker or, in a worst-case scenario, completely toothless.” (03/01/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/all-lawful-use-much-more-than-you
Lebanon: 31 dead in Israeli attacks
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Israel’s military vowed to intensify its attacks on the country and make Hezbollah pay a ‘heavy price’ after launching several strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and south Lebanon, areas where Hezbollah holds sway. The escalation came as Lebanese authorities, who have been trying to spare the country from any repercussions of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, said Hezbollah’s rocket fire gave Israel “excuses” to ramp up its attacks. Hezbollah’s attack on Israel overnight was the first time the Lebanese movement claimed responsibility for an operation against Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between the two.” (03/02/26)
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Reich
Source: Notablog
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra
“So, imagine if you will, that it’s 1933. Armed with these ideas about ‘citizens’ and ‘aliens,’ enraged over the mess he’s inherited from his predecessors and by the nightmarish conditions his country has endured, Hitler explains that he will target ‘illegal alien criminals’ and anyone who chooses to ‘block the removal of criminal aliens.’ … I can almost see the eye-rolling and hear the shouting: ‘Please Sciabarra. Not the Hitler Analogy. Spare us!’ Let me assure you: I do not believe that Donald J. Trump is Adolf Hitler or that the United States is a full-blown fascist dictatorship. Yet. But insofar as Trump draws from the same crude collectivist well of racism as an antidote to palpable fear of contemporary conditions, the ominous parallels exist.” (02/28/26)
https://notablog.net/2026/02/28/two-wrongs-dont-make-a-reich/
Pink Flame of Liberty, 02/28/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“Libertarian Party — McArdle Lawyers Up and Hays should resign.” (02/28/26)
Pentagon Announces FIrst US Deaths in Trump’s Latest Military Misadventure
Source: New York Times
“Three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five have been seriously wounded, the Pentagon said in announcing the first American troops to die in President Trump’s war with Iran. United States Central Command did not say where the troops were killed. Two military officials said that an Army base housing American troops in Kuwait was one of the many American bases in the region that had been hit in retaliatory Iranian strikes. … Since the joint U.S. and Israel military strikes began Saturday morning, Iran has launched hundreds of retaliatory missiles at a wide swath of American and Israeli targets in the region, as well as at Arab countries it considers allies of the United States.” (03/01/26)
Trump Starts His Criminal War of Aggression
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“Trump and Netanyahu are responsible for everything that happens next. They own this war and its consequences. Every life lost in Iran and throughout the region as a result of this war is their doing. They are war criminals, and they should be held accountable for the death and destruction they have chosen to cause. They have set the region on fire on a whim.” (02/28/26)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/trump-starts-his-criminal-war-of
Myanmar: Junta pardons 10,000 prisoners
Source: ABC News
“The head of Myanmar’s military government granted amnesty to more than 10,000 prisoners and reduced the sentences of others to mark a holiday, state-run media reported Monday. There was no sign former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in the military takeover in 2021 and has been held virtually incommunicado since then, would be freed. The amnesty comes two weeks before parliament is set to convene for its first session in more than five years following the recent election that critics said was neither free nor fair. State-run MRTV television reported that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, pardoned 10,162 prisoners, including 7,337 convicted under a counterterrorism law, on Peasants’ Day, a national holiday honoring farmers.” (03/02/26)