U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is worried that World War III could break out in the next four months due to the policies of the Democrats leading the US government.

“I actually worry about the next three months. I really do. I worry about the next three and a half four months will end up in a world war because of this, the people that we have [in government],” he said at a rally in the state of California.

The Biden administration has been making colossal mistake after colossal mistake in the Middle East.

Now the time for talk is over and Israeli tanks have entered southern Lebanon…

Israeli tanks have burst through the gates of a United Nations peacekeeper base in southern Lebanon, the UN confirmed today.

It comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the UNIFL withdraw from combat zones and Hezbollah strongholds — and accused the UN of inadvertently ‘providing terrorists with human shields’.

In a statement addressed to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said: ‘The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.

Of course Hezbollah has been quite busy as well. On Saturday, Hezbollah fired missiles at four different Israeli military bases…

Hezbollah claimed it had destroyed four military bases in Israel today as it launched a blistering rocket attack across the southern border.

The Iranian-proxy group said it had hit bases in Al-Jarrah, Za’rit and bases in the Golan Heights after claiming to have pushed back advancing forces late Friday.

Its fighters were ‘targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of… missiles’, the group said in a statement this morning.

Then on Sunday, a massive Hezbollah drone attack injured more than 60 people in northern Israel…

More than 60 people have been injured, several of them critically, in a drone attack in northern Israel, according to first responders.

There were no immediate official reports of deaths from the attack, but the high number of injuries reported makes the attack one of the bloodiest since the war started last October.

The news comes after Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired a swarm of attack drones on an Israeli “Golani” infantry training camp in Binyamina, south of Haifa. The Lebanon-based militant group said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Thursday that killed 22 people and injured 117, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Most Americans are not really paying much attention to this war yet.

And most Americans don’t seem to realize that we will be directly involved.

In fact, it is being reported that approximately 100 U.S. troops will be operating the THAAD air defense systems that are about to be sent to Israel…

On Saturday we were among the first outlets to report that the United States is preparing to deploy THAAD anti-ballistic missile systems in Israel, a major development which will put American troops directly in harm’s way (or… boots on the ground) amid the tense showdown with Iran.

The Pentagon in follow-up statements to the NY Times has confirmed the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) systems will be sent to Israel, and that about 100 American troops will operate them.

If Iran and Israel start lobbing thousands of missiles at one another, those troops will be very heavily involved in what is happening.

Israel has promised to respond to Iran’s recent missile attack, and that could unleash a chain of events that nobody will be able to control.

According to the Daily Mail, the Iranians are making some very alarming threats…

Iran has threatened to recalculate its nuclear weapons programme if Israel launches a revenge strike as Biden has insisted Tehran is not building nukes. Since Hamas’s October 7 attack last year on Israel triggered a wave of regional hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants, officials in Tehran have warned the Islamic republic could change its nuclear doctrine if it faced an existential threat. But they have been deliberately vague about what that might entail.

Pretty soon, both sides will be forced to reveal all of their cards. And once that happens, everything will change.

Meanwhile, the Russians continue to gobble up more territory in eastern Ukraine…

Russian forces have seized control of another eastern Ukrainian settlement, Moscow said on Sunday, in what would be the latest in a string of gains in the Donetsk region if confirmed.

The Kremlin said on Sunday that its Center group of forces had captured the Donetsk village of Mykhailivka.

Several settlements in Ukraine bear the same name, and Russia’s Defense Ministry statement is likely referring to the village immediately east of Selydove, southeast of the strategic Ukrainian-held hub of Pokrovsk where Moscow has been concentrating its efforts.

The Russians clearly have the upper hand at this stage.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wants NATO to give him permission to use western missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia, and he is also accusing the Russians of using North Korean troops against him…

Zelensky’s comments came days after visiting several European capitals to press his case for more military and financial help in the war against invading Russian forces.

“We see an increasing alliance between Russia and regimes like in North Korea,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

“It is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about the transfer of people from North Korea to the occupier’s military forces.

“Obviously, in such circumstances, our relations with our partners need to be developed. The frontline needs more support,” he said.

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and I am entirely convinced that it is just a matter of time before the U.S. and Russia are directly fighting one another.

If our leaders had any sense, they would sit down at the negotiating table before things ever have a chance to reach that point.

Before I end this article, there is one more thing that I wanted to mention.

According to the Wall Street Journal, fleets of unidentified drones have been flying over U.S. military bases on the east coast…

U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.

Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.

For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.

The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.

I would very much encourage you to read that entire article, because it is absolutely stunning.

Our military has no idea where the drones are coming from, and they are not being allowed to shoot them down…

Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.

Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat. Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.

If a fleet of unidentified aircraft is flying over highly sensitive military bases, you shoot them down.

I don’t even understand why there would be any debate.

My guess is that the drones are probably from either Russia or China. But if they are not from either Russia or China, that is probably an even more troubling scenario.

In any event, it has become clear that we are living at a time of wars and rumors of wars.

This war in the Middle East has escalated to an extremely dangerous level, the war in Ukraine is reaching a critical stage, and I believe that it won’t be too long before a conflict between the U.S. and China erupts.

World War I and World World War II both killed millions of people. World War III will kill billions of people, and it is right at the door.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right, to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” Netanyahu told the General Assembly, adding, “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

During his speech, Netanyahu showed world leaders two maps of the Middle East, pointing out the difference between a “blessing” and a “curse.”

“Now look at this second map,” he said, pointing out, “It’s a map of a curse. It’s a map of an arc of terror that Iran has created and imposed from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.”

Netanyahu added: “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach – that’s true for the whole of the Middle East.”

Even with broadening war risks in the Middle East, the geopolitical risk premium in Brent crude has all but evaporated – overshadowed by economic slowdown fear in China and the US. Not even the China stimulus story earlier this week could ignite crude prices.

On Thursday, we noted the usual anonymous sources reporting by corporate media were back, and pressured Brent crude prices lower. The first report was published by Reuters earlier this month. In that report, journos cited anonymous sources that said OPEC+ was set to proceed with a production hike in October. Then an FT report on Thursday joined the anonymous-source-citing oil manipulation game with the news that the Saudis were ready to ditch the unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude.

Also, recent headlines surrounding a possible ceasefire in the Middle East have pressured oil prices. We must ask what exactly ‘the powers that be’ are afraid of?

Maybe Goldman analyst Lindsay Matcham’s note to clients this morning shows precisely what ‘the powers that be’ are afraid of…

“We’re continuing to keep a close eye on the conflict in the Middle East amid intensifying tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.” 

Matcham added:

“We think further escalation in the conflict could have material market implications, especially if it involves a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which would likely lead to a spike in oil prices here.” 

Strait of Hormuz…

In a separate note, Goldman analyst Lina Thomas outlines four positive near-term drivers for crude markets:

• The easing in global policy.
• Inventories are still drawing.
• Positioning and valuation remain low.
• Oil markets are not pricing a significant risk of geopolitical disruptions.

Fast forward to noon today, Brent prices jumped to the mid-point of the $72 handle after IDF airstrikes targeted Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut.

Massive Israeli Airstrikes In Beirut Target Hezbollah HQ, Nasrallah https://t.co/uqp8T0VZyM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 27, 2024

Broadening war risks come as speculators have placed record bearish bets in crude markets.

Brent prices hover around $72/bbl in late morning trading in the US.

The looming question for Brent traders is: When will the war risk premium return?

A potential IDF invasion of Lebanon could provoke Iran, although there are currently no signs of Tehran’s imminent closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Given the Israel-Hezbollah escalation in conflict to the end of the week, traders should monitor these events as traders hold record net-bearish bets on crude.

Hezbollah’s leader has condemned Israel after thousands of pagers and walkie talkies exploded over two days, saying ‘all red lines have been crossed by the enemy’ and that the deadly attacks ‘deserve a response’.

Nasrallah also said that what we witnessed this week was a “declaration of war” by Israel…

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared Israel’s surprise pager and handheld radio attacks a “declaration of war” and dared the Jewish state to invade Lebanon. As he spoke, Israeli forces carpet bombed the terror group’s strongholds.

In a televised address Thursday, Nasrallah acknowledged that Hezbollah “received a heavy, painful blow,” saying that Israel’s decision to detonate scores of pagers and other electronic devices earlier this week amounted to “a major aggression” that will not go unanswered.

“These massacres amount to war crimes or a declaration of war,” Nasrallah said, promising “a crushing response from the axis of resistance.”

It sounds like he is saying that Israel and Hezbollah are now officially at war.

And of course that would be an accurate assessment of the current state of affairs.

As Nasrallah was delivering his speech, Israeli forces were conducting airstrikes in southern Lebanon, and fighter jets were setting off sonic booms over Beirut…

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, moments before the militant group’s leader said two days of debilitating attacks on its members amounted to a declaration of war.

The strikes Thursday were more extensive than in previous days and were timed to coincide with a televised speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was addressing a wave of device explosions before cadres who were shocked by the scale of the attack. Israeli jets flew over Beirut, setting off sonic booms as they have done repeatedly in recent months in an effort to intimidate the group.

Does Nasrallah actually believe that Hezbollah can win the coming war?

He must realize that Israel has capabilities that his side does not.

Once Israeli forces enter southern Lebanon, there will be no turning back and vast numbers of people will die.

At this moment, additional Israeli units are on their way to the northern border…

In a statement Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the “center of gravity” in the Israel-Hamas war was moving north to Lebanon. He said more military units and resources were being sent to the border.

“This is not Hamas − we’re dealing with something different, and we need to prepare accordingly,” he said.

I know that the Biden administration is still pushing for peace, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his minions are extremely incompetent.

And Hezbollah has already stated that there will be no peace as long as the IDF is fighting in Gaza.  On Thursday, Hezbollah continued to fire at targets inside northern Israel…

The powerful Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continued to strike what it called military targets in northern Israel Thursday after thousands of its members were injured and several killed in an apparent Israeli operation using exploding pagers and other communication devices. The Israel Defense Forces said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon “to degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.”

“The Hezbollah terrorist organization has turned southern Lebanon into a combat zone. For decades, Hezbollah has weaponized civilian homes, dug tunnels beneath them, and used civilians as human shields,” the IDF said in a statement. “The IDF is operating to bring security to northern Israel in order to enable the return of residents to their homes, as well as to achieve of all of the war goals.”

In response, the IDF hit more than 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers.  The airstrikes that we witnessed on Thursday evening are being called “some of the most intense” that we have seen so far…

Israel carried out dozens of strikes on Thursday across southern Lebanon, in what Lebanese security sources said were some of the most intense bombings since Hezbollah began daily cross-border attacks on northern communities after the start of the Gaza war on October 7.

The military said fighter jets had struck over 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon that were primed for immediate attacks on Israel. It said that in total, the launchers included around 1,000 launch barrels.

This is going to end very badly. But most you knew that already.

There are a couple of other things that I wanted to mention.

Firstly, it is being reported that the pagers and walkie-talkies that exploded this week were actually made by shell companies that had been set up by the Israelis…

The Israeli secret service didn’t just tamper with the deadly Hezbollah pagers — they made them from scratch, having set up a complex web of shell companies across Europe, it was claimed today.

Initially it was suspected that Mossad had managed to intercept and plant tiny bombs in a shipment of the pagers headed for the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon after thousands of people were injured and dozens killed.

But now it appears that the Israelis set up front companies across Europe to manufacture the pagers themselves, embedding small amounts of PETN explosive inside, ready to be detonated by a coded message.

In particular, the New York Times is telling us that the pagers that exploded came from a Hungarian company that had been purposely set up to sell electronic equipment to Hezbollah…

A report Thursday alleged that a Hungarian firm that apparently supplied pagers used by Hezbollah was secretly set up by Israeli spies as part of a widescale operation that appeared to culminate this week when the devices exploded, killing several and maiming thousands of Hezbollah operatives and others in Lebanon and Syria.

The New York Times claimed that rather than merely managing to tamper with the devices at some stage of their production or distribution, Israel actually “manufactured them as part of an elaborate ruse.”

On the other side, the Iranians have apparently been attempting to assassinate Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials…

Iran plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, the Shin Bet, in cooperation with the police, announced on Thursday.

Its efforts were particularly intense following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, which most of the world has attributed to Mossad. However, Israel has been careful not to take any credit for it.

In addition, the Islamic Republic, at a somewhat more vague level, explored assassinating former prime minister Naftali Bennett and other top Israeli defense officials.

The most alarming plot reportedly involved an Israeli businessman that was actually smuggled into Iran on multiple occasions…

An Israeli businessman was smuggled into Iran to plot the assassination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials, police and intelligence officials said Thursday, amid rising tensions over Trojan Horse attacks this week that killed dozens of Hezbollah fighters and civilians in Lebanon and wounded thousands more.

The Israeli businessman wanted a million dollars in advance to help kill Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, but he only received 5,000 euros before he was finally arrested…

The suspect was twice smuggled into Iran from Turkey to meet with Iranian intelligence officials, the Israeli statement said. He demanded $1 million in advance to help kill targets including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar − but received a paltry 5,000 Euros for his trouble before Israeli police arrested him last month.

We are witnessing extreme chaos in the Middle East, but what we have seen so far is just the beginning.

Once Israeli forces enter southern Lebanon, events are going to move very rapidly.

Many will cheer the death and destruction, but the truth is that we should all grieve for every precious soul that passes into eternity.

Sadly, there is no way out now.

War is here, and it will soon escalate to a level that will shock the entire planet.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

There are approximately 100,000 Israelis that have been unable to return to their homes in northern Israel for months, and Netanyahu has become convinced that the only way that they can be safely returned to their homes is to force Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon.  But of course Hezbollah will not go willingly.  In fact, Hezbollah has warned that there will be “all-out war” if IDF forces attempt to enter southern Lebanon.

Unfortunately, any hope for a peaceful resolution appears to be gone and we are being told that the Israeli government has decided to launch a military operation in southern Lebanon “as soon as international legitimacy and IDF manpower” allow for it.  The following comes from a Times of Israel article entitled “PM said to warn Israel faces ‘large-scale confrontation’ with Hezbollah in near future”…

According to Channel 13 news, Netanyahu believes that Israel is headed for an inevitable all-out confrontation with Hezbollah, as a diplomatic solution that could bring an end to the near-daily cross-border clashes with the Lebanese terror group remains elusive.

Citing an unnamed Netanyahu associate, Channel 13 reported that no timeline had been established for the expected confrontation, which has been promised by top officials for months, and as such, it could be in weeks or months from now.

The assessment that the skirmishes with Hezbollah on the northern border, which have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of Israelis, would not be solved through a diplomatic solution was shared by the security chiefs, the report stated, and as such it was agreed that a military operation should be launched as soon as international legitimacy and IDF manpower allowed for it.

So many people are going to die on both sides.

But it has become clear that nobody will ever be able to persuade Hezbollah to stop firing at targets in northern Israel.

So a decision has been made that it is time to take action.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has been against a military campaign in southern Lebanon, and there are reports that he may soon be fired by Netanyahu…

There is currently widespread speculation in Israeli media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon terminate Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, which would constitute a monumental reshuffle of his cabinet. The two have reportedly been clashing over war strategy, especially on what to do about the crisis in northern Israel, an area which has come under daily rocket and drone attack from Lebanese Hezbollah.

“The drafts of the agreement have already been drawn up … Netanyahu is preparing for Gallant’s dismissal in the near future … Galant will be fired by Netanyahu,” Israeli news outlet Ynet reported Monday.

Gallant is reportedly wanting to avoid immediate escalation of the war with Hezbollah in the north, reportedly clashing with the army’s Northern Command chief Ori Gordin, who is calling for the government to approve a large-scale operation in Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah.

It is very difficult to succeed when everyone is not pulling in the same direction.

Either Gallant has to go or Gordin has go to.

And it appears that Gallant is going to be the one that will be forced out.

But I do not expect the IDF to launch a military operation in southern Lebanon quite yet.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly later this month, and during that address I expect him to publicly make his case for military action against Hezbollah…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to the United States later this month to deliver an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 27, his office announced on Sunday.

The Israeli premier is slated to leave for New York on Sept. 24 for meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the event, according to the statement.

Netanyahu is to address the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly three days later, on Friday afternoon, and fly back that Sunday.

I do not think that all-out war will erupt before Netanyahu delivers that speech.

But it may come fairly soon afterwards.

Interestingly, this will be the first time that Netanyahu has spoken to the UN General Assembly after the Palestinians were granted a seat among the member states…

Palestinians took a seat among member states at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, a new right accorded to the Palestinian Authority’s delegation despite it not being a full member of the body.

In May, an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly asserted that Palestinians deserved full membership, a move that has been blocked by the United States, which along with Israel says recognition of Palestinian statehood must come through a peace agreement.

The General Assembly granted the delegation certain new rights in a resolution, which still excludes it from being able to vote or be a member of the Security Council.

The coming war is going to be absolutely horrifying.

In the aftermath of the war, I expect that there will be a full-fledged Palestinian state and that they will be given full membership at the United Nations.

Needless to say, that will have enormous implications for all of us.

But before we get to that, the entire region is going to be facing an apocalyptic war. You see, the truth is that Israel isn’t just going to be fighting Hezbollah.

Israel will be fighting an alliance of Islamic nations and terror groups, and more fighters are pouring into the region with each passing day.

In fact, it is being reported that large numbers of Houthi fighters have been arriving in Syria…

A Houthi source confirmed the arrival of Houthi fighters from Yemen to Syrian territory, according to reports.

The confirmation comes after a Syrian source told i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel that the Iran-backed Yemeni group was on its way to Israel’s border with Syria in the Golan Heights.

The Yemeni armed group claimed that “this is a prelude to a new phase of escalation against Israel.”

Both sides are preparing for war, and this is going to be the sort of war where both sides don’t hold anything back.

The death and destruction that we will witness will shock the entire globe.

We have been warned that this war would be coming for a very long time, and now we are almost there.

So many lives have already been lost since last October, and now the entire Middle East stands right on the brink of a complete and utter nightmare.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.