Antiwar.com’s Week in Review for August 28th, 2026

Keith Preston

4 weeks ago

August 28th, 2026 | Weekly Issue

White House Planning to Reactivate Civil War-Era Court to Accelerate Theft of Iranian Oil

Prize courts were used during the Civil War to decide the legitimacy of goods seized at sea

The US Justice Department is preparing to reactivate prize courts to “adjudicate the disposition of [Iranian] captured vessels and cargo.”

Bloomberg reported speaking with an attorney working with the Justice Department on reviving the court. “Our national security interests may require the United States military to seize vessels or cargo supporting the enemy during military conflict,” Aaron Reitz, a Houston-based attorney, said in a statement. “If that happens, our federal courts must be ready to adjudicate the disposition of these captured vessels and cargo.”

He described prize courts as an “ancient body of maritime law.”

Maritime lawyers and former prosecutors told Bloomberg they anticipate “ship owners and Iranian terrorism victims” to be among the plaintiffs filing with the prize court to receive funds generated by selling off seized Iranian oil.

While US officials and politicians often label Iran as the leading state-sponsor of terror, many of the alleged terror attacks that Tehran has ordered have been debunked, such as Iran supplying EFPs during the Iraq War and the Kohbar Towers attack.

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Bessent Suggests Economic Warfare Against Iran Could ‘Blow Up the Global Financial System’

Brett Wilkins | August 26th

“Operation Economic Outcast will not only fail,” warned one expert, “but the economic noose that actually tightens may end up being the one wrapped around our neck.”

With the United States unable to militarily defeat Iran in President Donald Trump’s illegal US-Israeli war of choice, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday escalated the administration’s economic attacks on Tehran, warning countries and companies around the world that continuing to do business with the nation could expose them to punitive sanctions.

“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent said during a news conference unveiling what the Trump administration is calling Operation Economic Outcast. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”

The “economic D-Day” campaign targets five sectors – technology, gold, aviation, shipping, and digital assets – and is intended to choke off virtually every remaining source of hard currency for Iran.

Bessent warned that it is “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of US policy. The secretary said he anticipates the announcement of sanctions against a major financial institution as soon as next week.

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CIA Chief Ratcliffe Warned Russia Not to Attack NATO Countries

Kyle Anzalone | August 26th

Putin is considering escalating the conflict as talks have reached a dead end

Update: US officials told multiple outlets that President Donald Trump dispatched CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Russia to warn Moscow not to attack any NATO countries. Earlier this week, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that “unknown actors” could attack UK facilities producing weapons for Ukraine. Additionally, Ratcliffe relayed to his Russian counterpart that if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US will impose additional economic penalties.

The White House and Kremlin confirmed that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow this week to meet with his Russian counterpart.

On Tuesday, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe flew to Russia to meet with officials, according to CBS News. At the time, the sources did not say who Ratcliffe met with or what was discussed.

Washington and Moscow confirmed that Ratcliffe was in Moscow to meet with the top Russian intelligence official. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told Glenn Beck that the meeting was “sort of semi-routine.”

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The War Hawks’ Predictions Have Aged Like Milk

Nolan Denaro | August 27th

The war-hawks tried to sell the American public on yet another disastrous and unnecessary war.

When Donald Trump launched the Iran War on February 28, the usual suspects were in full support. From the moment the conflict ignited, many couldn’t help but immediately express admiration for the president, saying that only a brave, noble, and strong leader would’ve had the courage to do what Trump did here. For weeks, we heard that this war was essential, that we would be better off as a result, and that to be unsupportive was to be siding with the IRGC.

As weeks went by, however, it became apparent that the rosy picture that had been painted in the war’s infancy was not based in reality. One month turned into two, and then three, and here we are now about six months later, with none of the war’s stated objectives having been achieved. Because of the historic nature of this defeat, it is important to reflect on how we got here.

Who were the voices cheering the administration on as it led us down this dark path?

Why did they have such hatred for those of us who opposed the war?

Most importantly, who can’t we trust going forward?

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Trump Must Not Let Washington’s Korea Hawks Intimidate Him Again

Ted Galen Carpenter | August 27th

One of the great foreign policy disappointments of Donald Trump’s first term was the failure to advance his initial promising initiative to begin normalizing relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Trump had abandoned the threats and bluster toward Pyongyang that marked his early months in office. Instead, he moved to open a personal dialogue with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and facilitate productive negotiations on several important issues. That approach led to an unprecedented U.S.-DPRK summit meeting in Singapore on June 12, 2018 and, later on, to a famous sight: the U.S. president crossing the Demilitarized Zone from South Korea into the communist North on June 29, 2019, to hold a brief chat with Kim.

Unfortunately, Trump failed to prevent hawks from both parties in Congress and in the overall national security establishment from sabotaging such conciliatory efforts. Indeed, the president made a fatal blunder of his own by appointing the rabidly hawkish John Bolton as his National Security Advisor. Congressional opponents of any meaningful relationship between the United States and the DPRK also excoriated Trump for moving to reduce Washington’s confrontational stance toward Pyongyang.

Indeed, hardliners in Congress and the broader policy community denounced the president for his willingness even to interact with Kim. The United States gave the odious dictator a huge boost in prestige, critics contended, merely by affording him a face-to-face meeting with the president and treating him as an equal. “In his haste to reach an agreement, President Trump elevated North Korea to the level of the United States while preserving the regime’s status quo,” intoned House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

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Israeli Military Warns Netanyahu Will Escalate Wars to Postpone Upcoming Elections

Kyle Anzalone | August 23rd

Israel is engaged in several conflicts in the Middle East, including the war against Iran, the occupations of Lebanon and Syria, and the genocide in Gaza.

Senior Israeli military officials are sounding the alarm that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to escalate ongoing wars to have a pretext for postponing the upcoming Knesset election.

The Israeli outlet Maariv reports speaking with senior officials familiar with an IDF assessment that Netanyahu will attempt to escalate an ongoing conflict or ignite a new one. The Prime Minister hopes that putting Israel on a more active military footing will create a political opening to delay elections scheduled for October 27.

Maariv speculates that the military operation will intensify the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In an interview with Mario Nawfal on Friday, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said Israel was attempting to “bait” Turkey into an escalation by attacking a military base in Idlib, Syria.

Senior Israeli military officials told Maariv that the IDF would not allow Netanyahu to start a new war before the upcoming election.

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