Hegseth on the GWOT:

We fought foreign wars—a generation of sacrifice, of valor, selfless and steadfast.

Even if imperfect, those conflicts were our retribution.

Hegseth:

We know, as the Scripture says, the world will always have war and rumors of war. And so the fight goes on.

And so we raise up a new generation of strong, brave warriors who will say, when it matters most, "Send me."

Hegseth:

We have faith that there is One who keeps watch over us. And Scripture tells us that the Lord is our fortress and our shield. The Lord trains our arms for war and our hands for battle.

Strengthened by faith in Almighty God, we will continue to defeat our enemies and protect this republic, just as the heroes and the warriors of 9/11 did.

NEW: U.S. officials say Iran obtained high-resolution satellite imagery from Chinese entities before a July 17 ballistic-missile strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded four others.

Officials believe the imagery was connected to the attack and may have helped Iran identify valuable targets more accurately.

They have not accused the Chinese government of directly taking part, and the specific Chinese entities involved have not been identified.

Source: WSJ

Q: What do you expect the historians to say about this era?

Trump: I think they are going to say I saved this country.

Trump: The Iran war will end after the midterms.

Q: If Republicans lose, why would the war end?

Trump: A lot of people think if we lose, I’ll just be more angry and I’ll just take care of business, you know? Either way, they lose.

Putin:

What are they pushing their peoples and their countries toward today? Toward war with the Russian Federation.

Now they are talking about the possibility of sending troops into Ukrainian territory.

That means war with Russia.

Putin:

Today’s Western leaders are frightening their populations with an imaginary threat from Russia, allegedly inherited from the Soviet era.

No — there is no such threat, and there never was.

Putin:

Why would we threaten European countries?

Nobody even considers the fact that we have no grounds whatsoever for any kind of conflict with Europe.

All issues were resolved following the outcome of the Second World War.

Putin on Germany:

I heard how the current authorities in that same Germany say that they are following the course of Germany’s former leadership, including mentioning the name of Helmut Kohl.

I knew Kohl. I can firmly say that I did not see him having the same views as those held by today’s leadership of the CDU. He simply did not have those views.

Kohl believed that the future of Europe and the Federal Republic of Germany could only be secured if there were close neighborly and allied relations with Russia.

Iraq has dismissed a military commander after investigations found that recent drone attacks targeting Saudi Arabia were launched from Iraqi territory, the prime minister’s office said.

The commander, who oversaw operations in Maysan province in southern Iraq, was removed following the findings.

The U.S. has limited military protection for tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz after increased attacks on ships travelling at night.

Washington has been providing air-based defence for vessels using a route near Oman’s coast, but the protection window was reduced in early September to two daily time slots, according to maritime guidance.

Source: FT

Iraq has ordered the closure of the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran as a precaution after drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Source: Reuters

China will increase retail gasoline and diesel prices from Saturday due to rising international crude oil prices, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said gasoline prices will rise by 260 yuan ($38.76) per tonne and diesel by 250 yuan ($37.27) per tonne, citing escalating US-Iran tensions as a key factor.

Zelensky:

Ukraine is number one in drone technology in the world — in terms of quantity, quality, and pricing.

We built an industry like this in four years. This used to be almost entirely state-controlled.

Today, more than 80% is made up of private companies.

And war, you see, besides all the negatives, also brought some positives for the industry during these years.

Zelensky:

Very often Ukraine is pushed toward different arrangements so that Russia can be satisfied that Ukraine will never be in NATO.

We don’t know whether Ukraine will be in NATO or not.

Of course, we will fight tooth and nail to secure the strongest possible security guarantees for Ukraine by the end of the war.

Because the main thing is to end the war and to have guarantees that this war will not begin again.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich:

If a war ends on the same lines where it began, what price did the enemy pay? What would deter him from fighting again?

The dead don’t interest them. You can say, "We killed 50,000 terrorists in Gaza" — it doesn’t interest them.

They aren’t like us, where the sanctity of life has value.

In my view, the basic principle is this: if you start a war against me, if you win, you gain. If you lose, you lose territory.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Gaza:

If every country in Europe were willing to take 20,000 or 30,000 Gazans, this whole story would be over.

But there is European hypocrisy here, and of course Egyptian hypocrisy.

There are no countries willing to absorb them in large numbers.

Ultimately, two million Nazis who for generations have been educated in deep antisemitic hatred of Israel cannot live there.

Senior Iranian MP Ebrahim Azizi:

No negotiations. Until Iran’s terms are met, talks are futile.

Zelensky:

Ukraine can provide no less security in the future than Europe provides Ukraine today — through our experience and military technologies.

Ukraine is not asking someone to allow it to become a member of the EU.

The EU understands the necessity of Ukraine being in the EU on equal terms, because Ukraine brings its own type of investment into the EU — investment into the security of the European Union.

I am glad that Ukraine’s status has changed: from being a country asking for help, to becoming equal partners.

Zelensky:

Ukraine is capable of responding to Russia’s operations — any operation.

Russia knows that if they strike — and they are preparing to strike our energy system in winter — Russia will receive the same in return.

If they create blackouts for us, we will try to respond in a worthy way.