A poll published Tuesday from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found that a majority of Americans would oppose using U.S. forces to defend Israel in a potential Iran–Israel conflict. The poll found that 42 percent of the U.S. public would favor using American troops to defend Israel, while 56 percent would not.  The poll also finds that only 55 percent of Republicans would favor American involvement in such a conflict, compared to 35 percent of Democrats and independents.  The Chicago Council’s poll on the subject demonstrates a shift from the last time it asked the question; in 2021, it found that 53 percent of Americans and 72 percent of Republicans would favor U.S. intervention in support of Israel in a potential conflict. The new poll found that 54 percent favored U.S. involvement in peacekeeping operations to enforce a potential settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Sixty-two percent of Democrats would support such involvement, compared to 51 percent of independents and 48 percent of Republicans. The post Poll: Majority Oppose Using U.S. Forces In Iran–Israel Conflict appeared first on The American Conservative.

The new Democratic candidate for vice president, Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz, has faced strong criticism for his decision to retire from the Army National Guard just before his unit received orders to deploy to Iraq in 2005.  The Republican vice-presidential candidate, Senator J. D. Vance (R-OH), took particular exception to a clip recently posted on X by the Harris campaign. In the clip, Walz—discussing gun control—said that politicians should “make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war.” Vance, who served in the Marines and deployed to Iraq, called it “stolen valor garbage,” saying, “When I got the call to go to Iraq, I went. Tim Walz said he carried a gun in a war. Did he? No. It was a lie.” Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard at the age of 17. During the course of his service, he did not enter combat, although he did deploy for six months to Italy during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. By 2005, he had served for 24 years and achieved the rank of command sergeant major in the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery. In February of the same year, he filed paperwork to run for Congress in Minnesota, where he lived and worked as a geography teacher for Makato High School.  While some have claimed that Walz did not know about his battalion’s future deployment before his retirement—he retired some months before his unit was mobilized—in March 2005 his campaign released a press statement informing the public of his intention to continue his run for office despite a potential deployment to Iraq. The statement read, “As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on…. I don’t want to speculate on what shape my campaign will take if I am deployed, but I have no plans to drop out of the race.” In May 2005, Walz retired from the Army National Guard two months later as a master sergeant, not having held the position of command sergeant major for a sufficient period of time to qualify for retirement at that rank. In August, his battalion was mobilized for deployment to Iraq, another soldier taking Walz’s place as command sergeant major of the unit. The post Walz Under Fire for Military Service Record appeared first on The American Conservative.

The former President Trump and the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris have agreed to a debate on September 10. The event will be moderated by ABC, which announced the news Thursday. The date had previously been set by Trump and President Biden before Biden bailed on the race in late July.  The agreement comes after a week in which Trump pushed heavily to solidify his preferred date of September 4 with Fox News as moderators. The former president even questioned whether the two adversaries actually needed to debate during a recent interview with the Fox News Business Network host Maria Bartiromo. “I mean right now I say, why should I do a debate?” Trump said only a week ago. “I’m leading in the polls. And, everybody knows her, everybody knows me.” That talk appears now to have been just that—talk. The ABC announcement came during Trump’s snap press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.  “I think it’s very important to have debates,” Trump said during the presser, contradicting his position from only days previous. “I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight.” Trump hit his trademark points throughout a combative Q&A session that followed short remarks in which the former president warned America was on the precipice of another world war.  Trump complained about media coverage of his campaign rally sizes, he criticized Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) for the state voting Biden in 2020, and suggested the nation is on the brink of another Great Depression. He also attacked Harris vociferously. “She doesn’t know how to do a news conference,” Trump retorted when asked about Harris’s failure to meet with the press. “She’s not smart enough to do a news conference.” Later, Trump called a female reporter’s question “stupid” when she asked why Trump hasn’t held a public campaign event in nearly a week. When one reporter asked whether the Trump campaign will need to reformulate their strategy to win black voters due to Harris’ ascension, Trump said he was “way up” with white males. The former president also expressed an openness to legalizing marijuana as states across the nation decriminalize the recreational drug.  Although the Harris campaign has not agreed to two other debate dates, Trump announced Thursday his plans to debate Harris on September 4 on Fox News and September 25 on NBC. The post Trump, Harris Agree to First Debate appeared first on The American Conservative.

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Don’t Believe Everything On Your Social Media Feed – The Wayne Dupree Show

Austrian security officials say a 19-year-old arrested on Wednesday was planning to kill "a large crowd of people" in a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Officials say the teen - who had previously pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS) - confessed that he "intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives".

CNN — Organizers have canceled three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria after authorities said they foiled a terror attack planned for the Vienna leg of her blockbuster Eras tour. The extraordinary decision – which could come at significant cost to Vienna’s businesses – has devastated fans and renewed focus on the vulnerability of huge concerts as soft targets for terror networks and spree killers.