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.

Damn The War Criminals,Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell and Blair from England.

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.

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!

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The McGlynn

War News

Photo

Two-year-old Ali Hussein is pulled from the rubble of his family’s home in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq . The child, who later died at the hospital, was in one of four homes destroyed by U.S. missiles. Karim Kadim/2008

GUARD: UK increases pressure on Saudis and UAE in Yemen ceasefire bid

Jeremy Hunt in Riyadh after airstrikes reportedly kill 150 people in 24 hours in Hodeidah

Saudi Arabian leaders have been put under intense Western pressure to agree to a ceasefire in Yemen and open the path for political talks by ensuring the obstacles placed in the way of a previous round of UN sponsored talks are not replicated.

As the joint Saudi-United Arab Emirates (UAE) offensive on the strategic port of Hodeidah continues, the UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, urged the Saudis not to risk a humanitarian disaster in pursuit of military victory.

Hunt, speaking during a visit to Riyadh, said there was “a short window to make a difference” adding “right now we are witnessing a man-made humanitarian catastrophe”.

His visit coincided with a lull in Saudi airstrikes, after estimates suggested as many as 150 people had been killed in air raids on Hodeidah in the previous 24 hours…………..Hunt has combined his ceasefire bid with a call for the Saudis to do more to act on the findings of the Turkish investigation into the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashogggi, a critic of Saudi’s rulers.

Riyadh has now admitted that Khashoggi was killed in a premeditated murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. So far 15 members of the Saudi hit squad sent to Istanbul have been arrested along with three others. Five others, including four intelligence officials and a senior adviser to the royal court, were dismissed from their jobs.

Hunt said he had spoken frankly with his Saudi partners and demanded accountability for those responsible for the killing and those who ordered it.

He added: “I was led to believe there will be rapid progress … and the legal processes [are] going to start very soon indeed and we should hear something about that shortly”.

Asked if the UK had been given access to a secret Turkish audio tape of Khashoggi’s murder, Hunt said: “We don’t comment on intelligence matters, but my understanding of what happened actually is not dissimilar to what I have read in the newspapers”.

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REU: Exclusive: Britain’s Hunt sees prospect for Yemen talks, news on Khashoggi inquiry

RIYADH (Reuters) – British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday said prospects for talks to end Yemen’s 3-1/2-year-old war were “more real” after Saudi Arabia confirmed to him its willingness to evacuate 50 wounded Houthi fighters as a confidence-building measure.

Following meetings in Riyadh with the Saudi king and crown prince – the main proponent of Saudi military intervention in Yemen – Hunt also said he anticipated “rapid progress” in bringing to justice those responsible for last month’s murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I was led to believe that certainly the legal processes are going to be starting very soon indeed and we should hear something about that quite shortly,” Hunt told Reuters in an interview.

Hunt’s trip, which included a meeting in the United Arab Emirates with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, comes as Riyadh, already under scrutiny for civilian deaths in Yemen air strikes, is facing global criticism and potential sanctions over Khashoggi’s killing inside its Istanbul consulate on Oct. 2………………The Western-backed Saudi-led coalition in Yemen resumed air strikes on the main port city of Hodeidah after a lull on Monday as Western allies pressed Riyadh to end a war that has pushed the impoverished country to the verge of starvation.

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REU: Explainer: West wants end to Yemen war, but will it happen?

DUBAI (Reuters) – Western powers provided arms and intelligence to the Saudi-led coalition waging war against Houthi insurgents in Yemen for more than three years, despite criticism from rights groups and lawmakers.

FILE PHOTO: A man holds a sign as he demonstrates against the deteriorating economy in Taiz, Yemen, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub/File Photo

They are now pressing for an end to the conflict that has killed more than 10,000 and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.

British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt is visiting coalition leaders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week to push for an end to hostilities.

Analysts say Riyadh and Abu Dhabi want to end the costly Yemen quagmire, but any peace efforts must overcome deep mistrust on all sides, while the Houthis may see an opportunity to profit from any pressure on the Saudis.

WHY NOW?

The West toughened its stance after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi policy, at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

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REU: In Iraq’s parliament, Shi’ite militia leaders plan to call the shots

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – In May, Hassan Fada’am traded his military fatigues for a suit when he became one of 45 Shi’ite militiamen elected to Iraq’s 329-seat parliament.

Fada’am trained as a soldier in Iran and fought against Islamic State in Iraq. Now he’s a politician as paramilitary groups backed by Iran have doubled their number of seats in Iraq’s parliament. The Fatih Alliance bloc that represents them has become the second largest political bloc.

In interviews, eight militiamen who have translated their battlefield success into electoral victories set out how they plan to use this new platform. Six months after the vote, Iraq’s new Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has yet to win parliamentary approval for his government. Yet already one thing is evident, the militia are better placed than ever to influence policies, from domestic security to foreign policy.

Mahdi’s predecessor as prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has said he fears the militiamen will undermine efforts to unify Iraq. Its young democracy is trying to balance the demands of its Sunnis, Kurds and Shi’ites after years of sectarian conflict, and the economy is only beginning to recover from the country’s war with Islamic State. Abadi tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent militia leaders from standing in the 2018 election.

“How can a military outfit have a political opinion? This does not happen in any part of the world. It is prohibited,” he said at the time.

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REU: Gunmen kill nine in Iraq’s Anbar province: security sources

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) – At least nine people were killed in Iraq’s Anbar province on Monday when gunmen attacked the home of a Sunni tribal militia officer, security sources said.

Captain Misha’an Hazemawi and eight other people were killed when gunmen stormed Hazemawi’s house near the Karma district, some 16 km (10 miles) northeast of Falluja.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but two security sources said Islamic State militants were behind it.

A small number of militants are still operating in the area and are capable of launching sporadic attacks, Iraqi security officials say.

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AP: After 17 years, many Afghans blame US for unending war

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — When U.S. forces and their Afghan allies rode into Kabul in November 2001 they were greeted as liberators. But after 17 years of war, the Taliban have retaken half the country, security is worse than it’s ever been, and many Afghans place the blame squarely on the Americans.

The United States has lost more than 2,400 soldiers in its longest war, and has spent more than $900 billion on everything from military operations to the construction of roads, bridges and power plants. Three U.S. presidents have pledged to bring peace to Afghanistan, either by adding or withdrawing troops, by engaging the Taliban or shunning them. Last year, the U.S. dropped the “mother of all bombs” on a cave complex.

Jawad Mohammadi

None of it has worked. After years of frustration, Afghanistan is rife with conspiracy theories, including the idea that Americans didn’t stumble into a forever war, but planned one all along.

Mohammed Ismail Qasimyar, a member of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, wonders how U.S. and NATO forces — which at their peak numbered 150,000 and fought alongside hundreds of thousands of Afghan troops, were unable to vanquish tens of thousands of Taliban.

“Either they did not want to or they could not do it,” he said. He now suspects the U.S. and its ally Pakistan deliberately sowed chaos in Afghanistan to justify the lingering presence of foreign forces — now numbering around 15,000 — in order to use the country as a listening post to monitor Iran, Russia and China.

“They have made a hell, not a paradise for us,” he said.

Afghanistan is rife with such conspiracy theories. After last month’s assassination of Kandahar’s powerful police chief, Gen. Abdul Raziq, social media exploded with pictures and posts suggesting he was the victim of a U.S. conspiracy. Recent insider attacks, in which Afghan forces have killed their erstwhile U.S. and NATO allies, have attracted online praise.

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NYT: Afghan Leader Tells US Audience That Taliban Not Winning War

WASHINGTON — The president of Afghanistan told a U.S. audience Monday that his country is not losing the war to the Taliban and is not at risk of collapse amid escalating attacks by the militant group and an expansion of the territory it controls.

President Ashraf Ghani said his administration is intent on seeking a negotiated peace with the Taliban, which have shown no interest in direct talks with a government they see as illegitimate.

“The Taliban are not in a winning position,” Ghani said by video to an audience at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington as a suicide bombing in Kabul and a deadly militant assault on districts in eastern Afghanistan suggested government control was slipping further.

Ghani said that more than 28,000 Afghan forces have been killed in the past four years but that the military will be able to retake territory as long as it has an air force and commando troops. He said most of the losses incurred by its security forces were in defending static positions, so the government was rethinking how it deploys its forces……………U.S. military officials have previously indicated that Afghan casualties have been increasing, but they have avoided giving hard figures, apparently because of political sensitivities.

In its most recent report to Congress, in October, the special inspector general for Afghanistan said Afghan casualty numbers had been reported only in classified form since September 2017 because the U.S. military command in Kabul said it had stopped making them public at the request of the Afghan government. However, the report said that the average number of casualties between May and October this year was the greatest it has ever been during similar periods.

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Taliban expressed flexibility for talks in Moscow Summit: HPC

By Khaama Press on 13 Nov 2018 12:57pm .

The Afghan High Peace Council members are saying that the Taliban group’s political leadership expressed flexibility for the talks with the government during Moscow Summit.

However, the group demands the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan as a precondition for negotiations.

The High Peace Council Deputy Chairmen made the remarks during a press conference in Kabul after their return from Moscow Summit.

The Deputy Chief of High Peace Council Mawlavi Abdul Khabir Ochqoon however said the decision in this regard must be taken by the nation, considering the national interests of the country.

He also expressed hopes that the release of Taliban leaders by Pakistan would have a positive impact on peace process.

Another deputy chairman of the High Peace Council Haji Din Mohammad said the participants of the summit agreed on an Afghan-led peace process.

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15 militants killed, laser-equipped rocket launcher seized in Moqor clash

By Khaama Press on 13 Nov 2018 12:08pm .

At least fifteen militants were killed and a laser-equipped rocket launcher was seized during a clash between the Afghan armed forces and the Taliban militants in Moqor district of Ghazni province.

The 203rd ThunderCorps of the Afghan Military in the Southeast in a statement said the clash took place in Laram area of Moqor district on Monday.

The statement further added that the armed forces were busy conducting operations as part of Thunder-4 operations when a clash broke out, leaving at least 15 militants dead and 6 others wounded.

According to 203rd Thunder, the armed forces also confiscated a laser guided rocket launcher following the clash.

The anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban militants have not commented regarding the clash so far.

Ghazni is among the relatively volatile provinces in Southeast of Afghanistan where the Taliban militants are actively operating in a number of its districts and often carry out terrorist related activities.

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