Zero Hedge

At Least 112 USAF C-17 Aircraft Headed To Middle East: 'Desert Storm Levels'

At Least 112 USAF C-17 Aircraft Headed To Middle East: 'Desert Storm Levels'

An eye-opening and massive number of C-17 Globemaster military transport and cargo planes have been observed heading to Europe and the Middle East, in what some monitors have forewarned looks like the build-up to major war in Iran.

One regional watcher and pundit commented in response: "112 C-17s are in or on their way to the Middle East. Guys, that’s a lot. Like Desert Storm a lot. Stay tuned."

C-17, via USAF/X

This as on Friday the prominent open source account Armchair Admiral and others used public flight tracking data to tally that the huge armada of US Air Force C-17s and counting are en route - a trend since mid-January.

"A total of 112 U.S. Air Force C-17's have now either arrived or are en route to the Middle East with a further 17-18 in-progress flights, a number of Royal Air Force logistics flights from RAF Marham to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and movement on U.S. Air Force CORONETs," the source said.

C-17s are massive, and can deliver huge amounts of equipment or large numbers of troops in a single go. The US military lists some of the following key capabilities:

  • Payload capacity of over 170,000 pounds
  • Ability to operate on short, austere runways as small as 3,500 feet
  • Intercontinental range, with in-flight refueling extending reach even further
  • Rapid load/unload design to keep missions moving under pressure

Iran and the US just concluded an initial round of indirect talks mediated by Oman, but despite some hopeful statements issued by either side, it is very clear Iran is not willing to negotiate its ballistic missile program - a sticking point being demanded by Washington. A second round is expected in the coming days, unless military action ensues first.

Iran's foreign minister has newly questioned whether Washington is taking these talks seriously, or if they are merely a pretext for more time to allow for a US force build-up in the region.

FM Abbas Araghchi asserted Tehran is not intimidated but that this raises "doubts about the other party's seriousness and readiness to engage in genuine negotiations." He added: "We are closely monitoring the situation, assessing all the signals, and will decide whether to continue the negotiations."

Prior to these weekend comments, the Iranian top diplomat stated, "If the United States launches an attack against us, we do not have the capability to attack its territory, so we would target American bases in the region. This would draw the entire region into war. We do not attack neighboring countries; we target American bases."

Tyler Durden Sun, 02/08/2026 - 12:15

Nearly 2,000 Truckers Deemed Unfit Are Removed From American Roads

Nearly 2,000 Truckers Deemed Unfit Are Removed From American Roads

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Almost 2,000 truckers deemed to be unqualified to drive on U.S. roads have been removed, with several arrested and many vehicles put out of service, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a Feb. 6 statement.

Trucks line up next to the border wall before crossing to the United States at Otay commercial port in Tijuana, Mexico, on Jan. 22, 2025. Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images

The action came as part of the first wave of Operation SafeDRIVE, a “high-visibility, multi-state enforcement and education effort focused on reducing dangerous driving behaviors, ensuring drivers are properly qualified, and addressing unsafe drivers and vehicles on the nation’s roadways,” the department said.

Inspectors from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration teamed up with law enforcement partners in 26 states and the District of Columbia in the three-day effort, Jan. 13 to 15, carrying out “targeted enforcement actions along major freight corridors and other high-risk locations.”

The operation resulted in 8,215 inspections, with 56 truckers being arrested for driving under the influence and illegally being present in the United States, DOT said. A total of 1,231 vehicles were put out of service.

Out of the 2,000 truckers, 704 were removed from service, including nearly 500 for violating English proficiency standards. The removal of these 500 truckers follows the Trump administration’s implementation of English language proficiency requirements for truck drivers.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March designating English as the official language of the United States. In April, he signed another executive order that instructed Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to remove commercial truck drivers failing English proficiency tests.

Proficiency in English should be a “non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers,” Trump wrote in the order. “They should be able to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers.”

Derek D. Barrs, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said the recent operation was about safety of the trucking sector. When drivers ignore rules or operate without having proper qualifications, they put lives at risk, he said.

Duffy said Operation SafeDRIVE “shows what happens when we work together with our law enforcement partners to pull unqualified drivers and vehicles off American roads.”

“We need a whole-of-government approach to ensure the Trump administration’s strong standards of safety are in place to protect American families and reduce road accidents.”

Crackdown on Unqualified Truckers

The crackdown on unqualified truck drivers comes amid incidents of illegal immigrants being involved in truck-related accidents.

In August, an illegal immigrant truck driver was accused of causing a crash that killed three people in Florida. In September, another illegal immigrant was arrested after a truck he drove caused an accident that resulted in a 5-year-old girl suffering critical injuries.

This month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested an illegal immigrant from Kyrgyzstan after his truck hit a van in a head-on collision that killed four people in Indiana. He had obtained a commercial driver’s license in Pennsylvania, the Department of Homeland Security said in a Feb. 5 statement.

The Trump administration’s actions against unqualified drivers in the trucking industry has faced legal challenges.

In December, the state of California sued the administration after DOT decided to withhold $33 million in federal funding over the state allegedly failing to comply with the English proficiency requirement for truckers.

California argued in the lawsuit that it does enforce English-language rules for commercial drivers, accusing the DOT action of being “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law; imperils the safety of all persons driving in California; and threatens to wreak significant economic damage.”

In June, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched a nationwide review that discovered widespread noncompliance regarding the issuing of commercial driver’s licenses across several states, especially California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington.

In September, Duffy announced emergency action to restrict the eligibility of foreign-domiciled drivers to obtain these licenses.

“Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers—oftentimes illegally,” Duffy said.

More recently, DOT announced on Jan. 8 that a review of North Carolina’s nondomiciled commercial driver’s licenses by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that 54 percent were issued illegally. Duffy called this a dangerous situation.

“I’m calling on state leadership to immediately remove these dangerous drivers from our roads and clean up their system,” he said.

Tyler Durden Sun, 02/08/2026 - 10:30

San Fran's Tenderloin District Stores Double As "Secret Casinos" And "Sleazy Drug Dens"

San Fran's Tenderloin District Stores Double As "Secret Casinos" And "Sleazy Drug Dens"

San Francisco officials say they have shut down or taken legal action against nine convenience stores in the Tenderloin after uncovering illegal gambling rooms, drug operations, and fencing schemes, according to the NY Post. City Attorney David Chiu said the shops had become centers of “drug-driven lawlessness” and helped sell stolen goods to shady customers.

“These convenience stores were magnets for drug activity, and, in some cases, the stores were selling illegal drugs themselves,” Chiu said, adding that his office has targeted the businesses over the past 18 months. In one case, police searching a smoke shop found five gambling machines, more than $17,000 in cash, gun magazines, and cannabis products.

The Post writes that another raid in 2025 revealed nearly 51 grams of meth hidden under a shelf, hundreds of glass pipes, electronic gambling machines, thousands of dollars in cash, and stolen merchandise. Officials say such discoveries highlight how some neighborhood shops had turned into underground casinos and drug hubs.

The crackdown is linked to a nighttime safety ordinance passed in July 2024. The pilot program restricts certain stores in high-crime areas from operating between midnight and 5 a.m. Businesses that break the rule can be fined up to $1,000 or face lawsuits. City leaders now want to extend the program and expand it to other troubled neighborhoods.

Supervisor Matt Dorsey said the policy gives residents a “cooling-off period” that discourages illegal behavior. Police Chief Derrick Lew also welcomed the effort, saying officers will remain “relentless” in targeting illegal drug markets.

Several other stores were forced out after landlords were alerted to unlawful activity, according to the city attorney’s office. Officials argue that closing these problem locations is a key step toward improving safety in one of San Francisco’s most troubled districts.

Tyler Durden Sun, 02/08/2026 - 09:55

Pentagon To Cut Academic Ties With Harvard, Hegseth Says

Pentagon To Cut Academic Ties With Harvard, Hegseth Says

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Feb. 6 that the Pentagon will cut all academic ties with Harvard University as the institution “no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services.”

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on July 4, 2025. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

Hegseth said the Pentagon would discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs with the Ivy League school beginning in the 2026-27 academic year for active duty service members.

This policy will apply to service members enrolling in future courses, while military personnel already enrolled at Harvard will still be allowed to finish their courses, according to the Pentagon chief.

“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” he said in a statement.

“Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”

Hegseth said Harvard is no longer a welcoming institution for military personnel, citing its partnership with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on campus research programs and a campus culture he said enabled attacks on Jewish students and “promotes discrimination based on race in violation of Supreme Court decisions.”

In a separate post on X, Hegseth said the institution was promoting “woke” ideology, which goes against the department’s values.

The Pentagon and military services also will evaluate similar relationships with other Ivy League schools and civilian universities in the coming weeks, according to the statement.

“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost-effective strategic education for future senior leaders when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” Hegseth said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Harvard for comment and did not receive a response by publication time.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said his administration would demand Harvard pay $1 billion in damages, accusing the university of being “strongly antisemitic.”

“Harvard has been, for a long time, behaving very badly! They wanted to do a convoluted job training concept, but it was turned down in that it was wholly inadequate and would not have been, in our opinion, successful,” he wrote on Truth Social.

The Trump administration has attempted to freeze billions of dollars in federal funding from Harvard following an investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and claims of anti-Semitism in higher education last year. The White House said in April 2025 that Harvard failed to protect its students from harassment and violence on campus.

Harvard President Alan Garber filed a lawsuit against the administration in April 2025, seeking to restore $2.2 billion in grants and contracts withheld by the government.

A federal judge later reversed the funding freeze, ruling that the government violated the First Amendment through its efforts to combat anti-Semitism. The Justice Department appealed the decision in December 2025.

Tyler Durden Sun, 02/08/2026 - 09:20

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