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Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2025-08-28

August 28, 2025
Chris Brady

No guests slated for today's show. Subject to change.

Glenn Beck...

Barricades, bureaucrats, and opium: Darren Beattie reveals to Glenn Beck what deep-staters tried to pull at USIP
The U.S. Institute of Peace acting president Dr. Darren Beattie told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck on Tuesday about the melee that took place at his agency's headquarters during its takeover by the Department of Government Efficiency in March.

Glenn Beck: The Department of War would remind America what’s really at stake
Donald Trump emphasizes peace through strength, reminding the world that the United States is willing to fight to win. That’s beyond "defense."

Minneapolis...

Trans-identifying man with a ‘twisted mind’ said, ‘I want to die,’ before opening fire on Catholic Mass in Minneapolis
A hate-filled, 23-year-old male, who claimed to be transgender and said he had a “twisted mind” and wanted to die, opened fire on a full Annunciation Catholic Church in South Minneapolis on Wednesday, killing two children and injuring 17 while fulfilling “a final act that has been in the back of my head for years.”

‘Entitled, Penny-Sniffing K***s’: Minnesota Gunman Railed Against Jews In Journal
“If I will carry out a racially motivated attack, it would be most likely against filthy Zionist Jews,” the gunman wrote.

Minnesota governor ignored Catholic school security plea before deadly shooting
Gov. Tim Walz reportedly declined a 2023 request to fund security for nonpublic schools, despite an $18 billion budget surplus. Church leaders say Walz was warned of rising threats but chose not to act.

Democrat Minneapolis mayor issues unbelievable rebuke after shooting suspect is identified as trans
"I have heard about a whole lot of hate that's being directed at our trans community. Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity."

Tone-deaf Democrats lash out over prayers for Christians murdered in devastating Minnesota shooting
Jen Psaki, former press secretary for the Biden administration, managed to twist the atrocity into a political critique of the Trump administration while simultaneously dismissing prayers offered by Americans across the country.

Corporate Media Outlets Refer To Trans-Identifying Catholic School Shooter By Preferred Pronouns
The Washington Post, NBC News, the Daily Mail, and other outlets referred to the male shooter as a “she” and “her.”

News...

Establishment Reeling After Trump’s 7-Month War Against Deep State
Trump has fired or demoted more than 20 inspectors general since he took office, according to a New York Times report.

'We're watching you': Trump threatens George Soros and his 'group of psychopaths' with prosecution
"George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America," he wrote on Truth Social.

Bill Gates Cuts Off Dem Dark Money Network That He’s Given Millions To
The Gates Foundation called the move “a business decision that reflects our regular strategic assessments of partnerships and operating models.”

Bill Gates met with Trump to talk 'importance of US global health programs and health research'
Prior to Trump's second-term inauguration, the Microsoft co-founder said they had a "quite intriguing dinner."

Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Spy Industry Connections
The emails below, which have not been published elsewhere, paint a picture of Epstein as a man very eager to be at the nexus between private money and public surveillance.

Josh Hammer: Flag Burning Is Not Protected 'Speech'
The American flag is not a mere inanimate banner. It is the embodiment of our national identity, the collective sacrifice of generations, and the unity of otherwise-diverse peoples under shared principles and a shared polity.

Restoring Arlington Cemetery’s Reconciliation Monument Is Pivotal For American Greatness
The restoration of a monument in Arlington Cemetery may serve as the spiritual portal that brings America back to its origin in greatness.

14 arrested in largest Home Depot theft ring ever, officials say
The suspects are allegedly linked to 600 thefts at 71 different Home Depots, with losses exceeding $10 million across multiple Southern California counties, officials said.

Scooter-riding leftist lawyer allegedly spits on National Guard troops patrolling DC streets
The latest incident marks the second alleged attack on law-and-order officials.

Cheating husband used BDSM site to recruit unwitting accomplice in wife's murder, nanny says
Prosecutors allege Brendan Banfield tricked a man through a fetish site into a staged role-play, then used it as cover to kill his wife while having an affair with the family’s nanny.

Politics...

Democrat's shocking victory in Iowa raises alarm for GOP
Catelin Drey easily defeated her Republican opponent in a district Trump won by double digits less than a year ago.

Ex-Clinton adviser warns Democrats of dire midterm season: 'Elections have consequences'
Doug Sosnik, a political analyst and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, said that although certain factors would suggest Republicans are at a disadvantage going into 2026, Democrats are unlikely to actually seize the moment and secure significant wins.

Tariffs...

Mexico Latest in List of Countries Suspending Mail Packages to US Amid Trump Tariffs
Mexico’s postal service suspended package deliveries after the Trump administration scrapped the de minimis exemption that let goods under $800 enter duty-free. The change is expected to raise costs for American consumers and has already led other countries to pause shipments as well.

India Reels at Trump’s Highest Tariffs Yet
President Trump’s new tariffs, doubled to 50% after India’s Russian oil purchases, have halted U.S. orders for Indian textiles and garments, threatening millions of jobs. Prime Minister Modi announced a $28 billion relief plan while eyeing Japan and China as alternative trade partners.

Brazil threatens US court fight over Trump’s new tariffs
Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said Brazil may challenge Trump’s 50% tariffs in American courts after Washington targeted Brazilian goods and sanctioned a Supreme Court justice overseeing Jair Bolsonaro’s trial. Haddad warned that U.S. “weaponization” of the dollar could weaken its global reserve status.

Macron wants EU to target US Big Tech after new Trump tariff threat
France doesn’t want the EU to take Trump’s bluster lying down.

Mexico set to hike tariffs on China to align with Trump trade push
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s 2026 budget plan includes higher tariffs on Chinese imports such as cars, textiles, and plastics to protect local industry and support Trump’s “Fortress North America” strategy.

Immigration...

Wisconsin Judge Will Stand Trial On Charges Of Helping Illegal Alien Flee From ICE
Even a far-left federal judge isn’t buying Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s claim she’s immune from criminal prosecution.

License-plate reader firm halts federal work after Democrats worry data might be helping Border Patrol
Flock Safety froze its DHS programs after Illinois Democrats objected to federal access, a sudden embrace of “privacy” concerns from the same party that routinely pushes surveillance, data tracking, and government monitoring when it suits its agenda.

Ukraine - Russia...

Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv in large-scale attack
Russia unleashed a sweeping aerial assault across Ukraine late Wednesday, pounding Kyiv with ballistic missiles and swarms of drones — killing at least three people and injuring several others.

Europe...

Civil War Is Coming To Britain
After viral footage showed a 12-year-old girl wielding a knife and hatchet against alleged harassers, police charged her while no adults were detained. The incident, combined with fresh reports of immigrant rape gangs preying on girls, has intensified claims that Britain’s leaders have abandoned their own citizens.

Musk blasts Europe’s migrant rape crisis: ‘Why are they allowing the rape of Europe?’
After fresh cases in France, the Netherlands, and Britain, Elon Musk warned that mass migration has fueled surging sexual violence across Europe and pledged to help fund legal action against officials who enabled grooming gangs and failed to protect victims.

South America...

Painting stolen by Nazis during WWII believed discovered in Argentine real estate listing
An 18th-century portrait stolen by the Nazis during WWII is believed to have resurfaced in the most unexpected place: hanging above a sofa in a coastal Argentinian home and discovered not by law enforcement or a museum, but spotted in a photo on a real estate website.

Entertainment...

Emma Willis opens up about life with Bruce Willis’ dementia
Bruce Willis’ wife revealed the actor no longer remembers details of their marriage but still recognizes his family through affection and connection. She said moving him to a separate home with full-time caregivers was her hardest decision, but it allows their daughters to have stability while keeping his world filled with love.

Hulk Hogan’s Daughter Explains Why She Sat With His Corpse A Month After He Died
Brooke Hogan spoke with Bubby the Love Sponge, saying she sat with Hulk at a funeral home in Florida and confirmed her father had not yet been cremated.

Puff Daddy scores win in court
A Los Angeles court dismissed claims from an aspiring artist who alleged Sean Combs drugged and assaulted him at a nightclub after-party. The case was one of over 100 filed against the rapper.

Media...

Pulitzer Board Can't Delay Trump Lawsuit, Florida Supreme Court Says
The ruling caps a string of losses for Pulitzer board in Russiagate lawsuit.

Report: Melania Trump ‘laughed’ at Vanity Fair offer, rejected magazine
Vanity Fair staffers flipping out at the prospect of first lady Melania Trump gracing the cover can rest easy. She’s not the slightest bit interested.

Education...

Beverly Hills Public School District Votes To Display Israeli Flags To Combat Anti-Semitism
The Beverly Hills Unified School District voted 3–2 to require Israeli flags be displayed at every campus and district site during the month of May.

Health...

United Nations Report: ‘Slavery’-Like Rent-A-Womb Industry Should Be Globally Banned
"Consent alone does not render surrogacy ethical. It is widely recognized that consent alone cannot justify human rights violations," the report says.

AI...

AI-linked job losses hit young workers, but productivity gains soften the blow
A Federal Reserve study shows higher unemployment in fields with heavy AI use, like software development, yet experts note AI is boosting productivity, especially for lower-skilled workers, making its long-term impact less dire than the headlines suggest.

Technology...

Smartphone study authors say phones should be regulated like alcohol and tobacco
Researchers behind a global study of 100,000 participants link phone ownership before age 13 to later mental health struggles and urge governments to impose bans, age limits, and penalties rather than leaving decisions to parents.

Science...

Manhattan-sized interstellar object is covered in a layer of CO2, shocking scientists, NASA images reveal
New Webb and NASA images show 3I/ATLAS, a 12-mile-wide body racing through the solar system, is spewing carbon dioxide at levels 16 times higher than expected while releasing little water or carbon monoxide. The anomaly has fueled speculation it may not be a naturally occurring comet.

The Bermuda Triangle mystery could be explained by this natural phenomenon, scientist claims
It's not swamp gas, just in case you thought that might be the answer.

August 28, 2008 - Guess Biden's blank ... Obama's awkward kiss... Amtrak... McCain's VP pick... Obama's William Ayers connection... Carbon onset program... Spam email...

Hunter laptop, Steele dossier—Same players, same playbook?

ullstein bild Dtl. / Contributor | Getty Images

The Durham annex and ODNI report documents expose a vast network of funders and fixers — from Soros’ Open Society Foundations to the Pentagon.

In a column earlier this month, I argued the deep state is no longer deniable, thanks to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. I outlined the structural design of the deep state as revealed by two recent declassifications: Gabbard’s ODNI report and the Durham annex released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

These documents expose a transnational apparatus of intelligence agencies, media platforms, think tanks, and NGOs operating as a parallel government.

The deep state is funded by elite donors, shielded by bureaucracies, and perpetuated by operatives who drift between public office and private influence without accountability.

But institutions are only part of the story. This web of influence is made possible by people — and by money. This follow-up to the first piece traces the key operatives and financial networks fueling the deep state’s most consequential manipulations, including the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

Architects and operatives

At the top of the intelligence pyramid sits John Brennan, President Obama’s CIA director and one of the principal architects of the manipulated 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence, signed off on that same ICA and later joined 50 other former officials in concluding the Hunter Biden laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” ahead of the 2020 election. The timing, once again, served a political objective.

James Comey, then FBI director, presided over Crossfire Hurricane. According to the Durham annex, he also allowed the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server to collapse after it became entangled with “sensitive intelligence” revealing her plan to tie President Donald Trump to Russia.

That plan, as documented in the annex, originated with Hillary Clinton herself and was personally pushed by President Obama. Her campaign, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS, which commissioned the now-debunked Steele dossier — a document used to justify surveillance warrants on Trump associates.

Several individuals orbiting the Clinton operation have remained influential. Jake Sullivan, who served as President Biden’s national security adviser, was a foreign policy aide to Clinton during her 2016 campaign. He was named in 2021 as a figure involved in circulating the collusion narrative, and his presence in successive Democratic administrations suggests institutional continuity.

Andrew McCabe, then the FBI’s deputy director, approved the use of FISA warrants derived from unverified sources. His connection to the internal “insurance policy” discussion — described in a 2016 text by FBI official Peter Strzok to colleague Lisa Page — underscores the Bureau’s political posture during that election cycle.

The list of political enablers is long but revealing:

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who, as a former representative from California, chaired the House Intelligence Committee at the time and publicly promoted the collusion narrative while having access to intelligence that contradicted it.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), both members of the “Gang of Eight” with oversight of intelligence operations, advanced the same narrative despite receiving classified briefings.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, exchanged encrypted text messages with a Russian lobbyist in efforts to speak with Christopher Steele.

These were not passive recipients of flawed intelligence. They were participants in its amplification.

The funding networks behind the machine

The deep state’s operations are not possible without financing — much of it indirect, routed through a nexus of private foundations, quasi-governmental entities, and federal agencies.

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations appear throughout the Durham annex. In one instance, Open Society Foundations documents were intercepted by foreign intelligence and used to track coordination between NGOs and the Clinton campaign’s anti-Trump strategy.

This system was not designed for transparency but for control.

Soros has also been a principal funder of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which ran a project during the Trump administration called the Moscow Project, dedicated to promoting the Russia collusion narrative.

The Tides Foundation and Arabella Advisors both specialize in “dark money” donor-advised funds that obscure the source and destination of political funding. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was the biggest donor to the Arabella Advisors by far, which routed $127 million through Arabella’s network in 2020 alone and nearly $500 million in total.

The MacArthur Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation also financed many of the think tanks named in the Durham annex, including the Council on Foreign Relations.

Federal funding pipelines

Parallel to the private networks are government-funded influence operations, often justified under the guise of “democracy promotion” or counter-disinformation initiatives.

USAID directed $270 million to Soros-affiliated organizations for overseas “democracy” programs, a significant portion of which has reverberated back into domestic influence campaigns.

The State Department funds the National Endowment for Democracy, a quasi-governmental organization with a $315 million annual budget and ties to narrative engineering projects.

The Department of Homeland Security underwrote entities involved in online censorship programs targeting American citizens.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

The Pentagon, from 2020 to 2024, awarded over $2.4 trillion to private contractors — many with domestic intelligence capabilities. It also directed $1.4 billion to select think tanks since 2019.

According to public records compiled by DataRepublican, these tax-funded flows often support the very actors shaping U.S. political discourse and global perception campaigns.

Not just domestic — but global

What these disclosures confirm is that the deep state is not a theory. It is a documented structure — funded by elite donors, shielded by bureaucracies, and perpetuated by operatives who drift between public office and private influence without accountability.

This system was not designed for transparency but for control. It launders narratives, neutralizes opposition, and overrides democratic will by leveraging the very institutions meant to protect it.

With the Durham annex and the ODNI report, we now see the network's architecture and its actors — names, agencies, funding trails — all laid bare. What remains is the task of dismantling it before its next iteration takes shape.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The truth behind ‘defense’: How America was rebranded for war

PAUL J. RICHARDS / Staff | Getty Images

Donald Trump emphasizes peace through strength, reminding the world that the United States is willing to fight to win. That’s beyond ‘defense.’

President Donald Trump made headlines this week by signaling a rebrand of the Defense Department — restoring its original name, the Department of War.

At first, I was skeptical. “Defense” suggests restraint, a principle I consider vital to U.S. foreign policy. “War” suggests aggression. But for the first 158 years of the republic, that was the honest name: the Department of War.

A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

The founders never intended a permanent standing army. When conflict came — the Revolution, the War of 1812, the trenches of France, the beaches of Normandy — the nation called men to arms, fought, and then sent them home. Each campaign was temporary, targeted, and necessary.

From ‘war’ to ‘military-industrial complex’

Everything changed in 1947. President Harry Truman — facing the new reality of nuclear weapons, global tension, and two world wars within 20 years — established a full-time military and rebranded the Department of War as the Department of Defense. Americans resisted; we had never wanted a permanent army. But Truman convinced the country it was necessary.

Was the name change an early form of political correctness? A way to soften America’s image as a global aggressor? Or was it simply practical? Regardless, the move created a permanent, professional military. But it also set the stage for something Truman’s successor, President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, famously warned about: the military-industrial complex.

Ike, the five-star general who commanded Allied forces in World War II and stormed Normandy, delivered a harrowing warning during his farewell address: The military-industrial complex would grow powerful. Left unchecked, it could influence policy and push the nation toward unnecessary wars.

And that’s exactly what happened. The Department of Defense, with its full-time and permanent army, began spending like there was no tomorrow. Weapons were developed, deployed, and sometimes used simply to justify their existence.

Peace through strength

When Donald Trump said this week, “I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense too,” some people freaked out. They called him a warmonger. He isn’t. Trump is channeling a principle older than him: peace through strength. Ronald Reagan preached it; Trump is taking it a step further.

Just this week, Trump also suggested limiting nuclear missiles — hardly the considerations of a warmonger — echoing Reagan, who wanted to remove missiles from silos while keeping them deployable on planes.

The seemingly contradictory move of Trump calling for a Department of War sends a clear message: He wants Americans to recognize that our military exists not just for defense, but to project power when necessary.

Trump has pointed to something critically important: The best way to prevent war is to have a leader who knows exactly who he is and what he will do. Trump signals strength, deterrence, and resolve. You want to negotiate? Great. You don’t? Then we’ll finish the fight decisively.

That’s why the world listens to us. That’s why nations come to the table — not because Trump is reckless, but because he means what he says and says what he means. Peace under weakness invites aggression. Peace under strength commands respect.

Trump is the most anti-war president we’ve had since Jimmy Carter. But unlike Carter, Trump isn’t weak. Carter’s indecision emboldened enemies and made the world less safe. Trump’s strength makes the country stronger. He believes in peace as much as any president. But he knows peace requires readiness for war.

Names matter

When we think of “defense,” we imagine cybersecurity, spy programs, and missile shields. But when we think of “war,” we recall its harsh reality: death, destruction, and national survival. Trump is reminding us what the Department of Defense is really for: war. Not nation-building, not diplomacy disguised as military action, not endless training missions. War — full stop.

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

Names matter. Words matter. They shape identity and character. A Department of Defense implies passivity, a posture of reaction. A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

So yes, I’ve changed my mind. I’m for the rebranding to the Department of War. It shows strength to the world. It reminds Americans, internally and externally, of the reality we face. The Department of Defense can no longer be a euphemism. Our military exists for war — not without deterrence, but not without strength either. And we need to stop deluding ourselves.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Censorship, spying, lies—The Deep State’s web finally unmasked

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

From surveillance abuse to censorship, the deep state used state power and private institutions to suppress dissent and influence two US elections.

The term “deep state” has long been dismissed as the province of cranks and conspiracists. But the recent declassification of two critical documents — the Durham annex, released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and a report publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — has rendered further denial untenable.

These documents lay bare the structure and function of a bureaucratic, semi-autonomous network of agencies, contractors, nonprofits, and media entities that together constitute a parallel government operating alongside — and at times in opposition to — the duly elected one.

The ‘deep state’ is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment.

The disclosures do not merely recount past abuses; they offer a schematic of how modern influence operations are conceived, coordinated, and deployed across domestic and international domains.

What they reveal is not a rogue element operating in secret, but a systematized apparatus capable of shaping elections, suppressing dissent, and laundering narratives through a transnational network of intelligence, academia, media, and philanthropic institutions.

Narrative engineering from the top

According to Gabbard’s report, a pivotal moment occurred on December 9, 2016, when the Obama White House convened its national security leadership in the Situation Room. Attendees included CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry, and others.

During this meeting, the consensus view up to that point — that Russia had not manipulated the election outcome — was subordinated to new instructions.

The record states plainly: The intelligence community was directed to prepare an assessment “per the President’s request” that would frame Russia as the aggressor and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as its preferred candidate. Notably absent was any claim that new intelligence had emerged. The motivation was political, not evidentiary.

This maneuver became the foundation for the now-discredited 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference. From that point on, U.S. intelligence agencies became not neutral evaluators of fact but active participants in constructing a public narrative designed to delegitimize the incoming administration.

Institutional and media coordination

The ODNI report and the Durham annex jointly describe a feedback loop in which intelligence is laundered through think tanks and nongovernmental organizations, then cited by media outlets as “independent verification.” At the center of this loop are agencies like the CIA, FBI, and ODNI; law firms such as Perkins Coie; and NGOs such as the Open Society Foundations.

According to the Durham annex, think tanks including the Atlantic Council, the Carnegie Endowment, and the Center for a New American Security were allegedly informed of Clinton’s 2016 plan to link Trump to Russia. These institutions, operating under the veneer of academic independence, helped diffuse the narrative into public discourse.

Media coordination was not incidental. On the very day of the aforementioned White House meeting, the Washington Post published a front-page article headlined “Obama Orders Review of Russian Hacking During Presidential Campaign” — a story that mirrored the internal shift in official narrative. The article marked the beginning of a coordinated media campaign that would amplify the Trump-Russia collusion narrative throughout the transition period.

Surveillance and suppression

Surveillance, once limited to foreign intelligence operations, was turned inward through the abuse of FISA warrants. The Steele dossier — funded by the Clinton campaign via Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS — served as the basis for wiretaps on Trump affiliates, despite being unverified and partially discredited. The FBI even altered emails to facilitate the warrants.

ROBYN BECK / Contributor | Getty Images

This capacity for internal subversion reappeared in 2020, when 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter labeling the Hunter Biden laptop story as “Russian disinformation.” According to polling, 79% of Americans believed truthful coverage of the laptop could have altered the election. The suppression of that story — now confirmed as authentic — was election interference, pure and simple.

A machine, not a ‘conspiracy theory’

The deep state is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment and strategic goals.

Each node — law firms, think tanks, newsrooms, federal agencies — operates with plausible deniability. But taken together, they form a matrix of influence capable of undermining electoral legitimacy and redirecting national policy without democratic input.

The ODNI report and the Durham annex mark the first crack in the firewall shielding this machine. They expose more than a political scandal buried in the past. They lay bare a living system of elite coordination — one that demands exposure, confrontation, and ultimately dismantling.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Trump's proposal explained: Ukraine's path to peace without NATO expansion

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

Strategic compromise, not absolute victory, often ensures lasting stability.

When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.