27 May
United States Wars, News and Casualties
United States Wars, News and Casualties
The War Criminals
How many Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion 15 years ago? Some credible estimates put the number at more than one million. You can read that sentence again.
The invasion of Iraq is often spoken of in our country as a “blunder,” or even a “colossal mistake.” It was a crime.
Those who perpetrated it are still at large. Some of them have even been rehabilitated thanks to the horrors of a mostly amnesiac citizenry. (A year ago Mr. Bush was on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” dancing and talking about his paintings.)
The war criminals, Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Powell who sold us the war still go on doing what they do.
We condemned children to death, some after many days of writhing in pain on bloodstained mats, without pain relievers. Some died quickly, wasted by missing arms and legs, crushed heads. As the fluids ran out of their bodies, they appeared like withered, spoiled fruits. They could have lived, certainly should have lived – and laughed and danced, and run and played- but instead they were brutally murdered. Yes, murdered!
The war ended for those children, but it has never ended for survivors who carry memories of them. Likewise, the effects of the U.S. bombings continue, immeasurably and indefensibly.
The McGlynn
War News
AP: Yemeni officials say airstrike in Sanaa kills at least 4
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security officials say a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the capital has killed at least four civilians and wounded over 10 others.
The officials said Saturday’s airstrike hit a site near a gas station belonging to an oil company in Sanaa, Yemen.
They said the casualties were civilians who were near the site or driving close by. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since March 2015, pitting the Saudi coalition against Iran-backed Shiite rebels who control the capital and much of the country’s north.
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GUARD: Amid Syria’s horror, a new force emerges: the women of Idlib
With husbands, sons and fathers dead or missing, women have been unwittingly thrust into the spotlight. Their resilience and innovation could point a way forward
A volunteer offers medical help at a women’s centre in Idlib, Syria. Photograph: Courtesy of Syria Civil Defence
The plight of approximately three million civilians encircled by hostile forces in Syria’s north-western Idlib province is growing worse by the day, according to UN officials, aid agencies and advocacy groups who fear a looming humanitarian catastrophe.
For many Syrian families, Idlib is the refuge of last resort, after their forced displacement from homes in other parts of the country. But it also risks becoming a sanctuary without exits – what activists have termed a “kill-box” from which there is no escape. The Syrian army, backed by Russian and Iranian forces, is entrenched to the south and east.
The route north is blocked by Turkish forces occupying Syria’s Afrin region. Along with Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, they have seized a crescent-shaped area around Idlib. The Turks last week set up “observation posts” ringing the province. For this reason, many refugees from the Damascus area have instead fled south to the rebel enclave in Dara’a. But a fresh government offensive is also feared there…………
White Helmets women’s centre. Photograph: Courtesy of Syria Civil Defence
“We do lots of activities with the students. Once we cooked together and distributed the food to low-income families. When I see the children coming to the centre under the bombardment, because they want to spend time with their friends and me, I can never think about stopping, ever.” She also finds time to help women find work and start their own businesses.
“Many women have sewing skills: we have been trying to launch a sewing workshop, where women can share creative ideas. A woman displaced from Damascus has been doing excellent work with clothes recycling. In the beginning, the community found it a bit abnormal to see a woman doing multiple jobs and going wherever she wanted. Now they are looking at me as a role model for other girls.
“What we have been through has made us stronger. If people stayed at home to grieve, life could have stopped a long time ago. Life won’t stop: we need to keep going and working. I believe in working until the last possible moment.”
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AP: Syria says it has named a constitutional committee
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s Foreign Ministry says it has handed to the Russian and Iranian ambassadors in Damascus a list of the members it has named to a committee to review the national constitution.
Control over the constitutional process has been a key point of conflict between President Bashar Assad’s government and the international community and Syrian opposition.
Assad has said his government will only consider amendments to the current constitution, in defiance of a U.N. initiative to have the government, opposition, and independents draft a new document.
The U.N. initiative was given a boost in February by Russia which organized a Syrian congress in Sochi earlier this year to press the warring sides to pen a new constitution.
But the Syrian government has refused to endorse the effort.
The Foreign Ministry’s statement, published on state media on Saturday, was vague on the matter of whether the government was naming its own commission or nominating members to a U.N. commission. It did not identify the members named in the list. And it said the government was satisfied with “the current constitution.”
AP: Monitor: Suspected Israeli strike targets Hezbollah in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian war-monitoring group said Friday that suspected Israeli strikes hit a military base overnight in central Syria housing fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and others from factions allied with the Damascus government.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties at the Dabaa air base and surrounding areas in central Homs province, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The base, north of al-Qusair near the border with Lebanon, captured by Hezbollah in 2013 from rebels, marking a turning point in the group’s role in the Syrian war.
Syria’s state media reported late Thursday that a military base in central Syria came under attack from “enemy fire,” and that Syrian air defenses responded. State news agency SANA reported loud explosions at the Dabaa air base.
The Israeli military is believed to be behind dozens of airstrikes in recent years against Hezbollah, Iran, and Syrian military positions. The U.S. and Israeli governments have viewed Iran’s role in Syria as a threat to Israel and have threatened action.
Syria’s government forces have relied on support from the Iranian-backed militant Hezbollah group and other regional militias to fight Syrian rebels and Islamic State fighters. The conflict is now in its eighth year.
The Observatory also raised the death toll from Wednesday night’s airstrikes in eastern Syria to 14 pro-government fighters, all but two foreign nationals. Syrian-run media blamed the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS for the strikes on military positions between the towns of Boukamal and Hmeimeh in the eastern Deir el-Zour province.
The Observatory said it also suspects coalition aircraft were behind the attack but the Pentagon said it had “no information” to substantiate such reports.
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AP: US warns Syrian government not to advance on south
BEIRUT (AP) — The United States warned it would take “firm and appropriate measures” to protect a cease-fire in southern Syria if President Bashar Assad’s forces move against rebels there.
The area in southwestern Syria, between the border city of Daraa and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, has emerged as a flashpoint in a wider standoff between regional archrivals Israel and Iran.
The U.S., Russia, and Jordan agreed last year to include Daraa in a “de-escalation zone” to freeze the lines of conflict. But government forces have recently dropped leaflets on rebel-held areas warning of an imminent offensive and urging fighters to lay down their arms, Syrian state media said Friday.
In a statement released Friday, the U.S. State Department said it was concerned by reports that Assad’s forces were preparing for an operation in southwestern Syria. It warned the government against “any actions that risk broadening the conflict.”
Assad has relied on Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to battle an uprising against his family’s decades-long rule and roll-back an Islamic State insurgency that grew out of the country’s seven-year civil war. Iran has sent military commanders to oversee battles and organize militias from across the Middle East to fight alongside Assad’s troops.
The U.S. and Israel view Iran’s extensive military presence in Syria as a threat to Israel and have threatened action. The Israeli military is believed to be behind dozens of airstrikes in recent years against Hezbollah, Iran, and Syrian military positions.
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REU: In Mosul, young volunteers help bring city back to life
MOSUL (Reuters) – A group of Iraqi university students have found a cause in the ruins of Mosul.
