24 Dec
United States Wars, News and Casualties
Damn The War Criminals,
Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld,Wolfowitz, Powell and Blair from England.
.
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.
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!

The McGlynn

War News
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A U.N. advance team arrived in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah on Sunday to start monitoring a ceasefire and withdrawal of forces agreed by the Iranian-aligned Houthi group and Saudi-backed government forces, the United Nations said.
The warring parties in Yemen’s nearly four-year war reached the deal at U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Sweden earlier this month. The truce began on Tuesday but skirmishes continued on the outskirts of the city.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously approved the deployment – for an initial 30 days – of an advance monitoring team led by retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert. He is chair of a Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) that includes representatives from both sides of the conflict.
“General Cammaert is encouraged by the general enthusiasm of both sides to get to work, immediately. One of the priorities in the coming days will be the organization of the first joint RCC meeting, which is projected for 26 December,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
ADEN, Yemen (AP) — They lurk under shifting desert sands, amid the debris of urban roadsides and inside abandoned schools, some set to go off at the lightest touch.
Land mines scattered by Yemen’s Houthi rebels are largely unmapped and will remain a threat even if the latest push for peace succeeds in halting the conflict, those involved in their eradication say.
While the Houthis’ use of Scud and other retrofitted ballistic missiles has drawn attention for striking deep inside Saudi Arabia, their widespread use of mines represents a risk for generations to come in the Arab world’s poorest country.
Mines today exist in every single area of Yemen,” Ousama al-Gosaibi, the program manager for the Saudi-funded Masam demining project, told The Associated Press during a trip to the southern city of Aden organized by the Saudi military. “It’s not being used as a defensive (or) offensive mechanism. It’s being used to terrorize the local population across Yemen.”
A Houthi official acknowledged the rebels widely use mines, but said Saudi-led airstrikes have left behind ordinance that is just as deadly.
Yemen’s war pits the Iran-aligned Houthis against the internationally recognized government, which is backed by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported on the ground by the United Arab Emirates.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in the war since 2016, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED, which tracks the conflict. The fighting has displaced 2 million, spawned a cholera epidemic and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Millions wake up hungry each day, not knowing from where their next meal will come. Many civilian deaths in the war have been blamed on Saudi-led airstrikes, which have hit markets, health facilities and weddings.
Among the dangers facing combatants and civilians alike are land mines. The Houthis looted government armories when they captured much of northern Yemen, including vast stockpiles of anti-tank mines. Anti-personnel mines also litter the country, despite the government joining a 1997 international convention banning their use.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish-backed Syrian forces have reinforced the area around the town of Manbij, a rebel spokesman said on Monday, as they prepare for a withdrawal of U.S. troops following Washington’s surprise decision to pull out of Syria.
The heightened military activity comes as Ankara and Washington have agreed to coordinate on the U.S. withdrawal. U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision has upended American policy in the region and set Turkey up for a broad push against Syrian Kurdish YPG forces across its border.
“Yesterday units from the Syrian National Army headed towards the Manbij front and took preliminary positions (in preparation) for the battle,” said Major Youssef Hamoud, the spokesman for the National Army, the main Turkey-backed rebel force in the area. The group is aimed at unifying disparate factions in northwest Syria.
Manbij has been a major flashpoint between Ankara and Washington. In June, the NATO allies reached an agreement that would see the YPG ousted from the town but Turkey has said the deal has been delayed.
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Dec. 14 that Turkish forces would enter the town if the United States does not remove the Kurdish fighters.
N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he deeply regretted U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
In an abrupt policy shift, Trump announced on Wednesday that Washington would withdraw the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, upending a pillar of American policy in the Middle East and alarming U.S. allies.
“I very deeply regret the decision made on Syria,” Macron said during a news conference in Chad.
“To be allies is to fight shoulder to shoulder. It’s the most important thing for a head of state and head of the military,” he said. “An ally should be dependable.”
Macron stressed the importance of the work of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which has captured large parts of northern and eastern Syria from Islamic State.
“I call on everyone … not to forget what we owe them,” he said.
U.S. officials justified the decision by saying Islamic State had been defeated.
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan official says a suicide bomber exploded his car outside a government department for martyrs and disabled persons before gunmen entered the building where they were battling local police.
Four people were injured in the attack late Monday as workers were preparing to leave for the day, said Kabul police chief spokesman Basir Mujahid.
Police have cordoned off the area in the east of the capital Kabul to gain control of the situation. Basir offered little information about the incident saying police were still at the scene.
No one claimed responsibility but both the Taliban and the local Islamic State affiliate have carried out brazen daytime attacks in the capital.
KABUL — A suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives outside Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works on Monday, with gunfire then breaking out, an interior ministry official said.
Nasrat Rahimi, an interior ministry spokesman, said several gunmen had taken up positions in a nearby government building after the blast and were exchanging gunfire with security forces.
At least two people were wounded in the clashes, said Wahid Majroh, a spokesman for the ministry of public works.
An official working in another government building told Reuters that employees had locked themselves in their offices after hearing the explosions and gunfire.
KABUL, Afghanistan — At a critical stage of Afghanistan’s long war, President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday appointed two staunch anti-Taliban veterans to head the country’s army and police forces, a major shake-up of the security leadership.
Mr. Ghani chose Assadullah Khalid as the minister of defense and Amrullah Saleh as the minister of interior. Both men, close allies of the United States military, are former spy chiefs who have been vocal critics of Mr. Ghani’s politics and what they have described as his government’s mismanagement of the war.
The decision comes at a time when the Afghan army and police have been dying in record numbers in the face of a resurgent Taliban and as President Trump reportedly plans to cut in half the number of American troops advising and assisting the Afghan forces.
The United States is also urgently pushing for a negotiated peace with the Taliban, and the Afghan government — which has felt marginalized in the process — is eager to show that it can sustain military pressure, strengthening its hand in any talks.
It is a delicate moment politically as well as militarily.
Mr. Ghani is running for re-election next spring and the maneuvering for that race is already in full swing.
By Khaama Press on 24 Dec 2018 2:34pm
At least seven Taliban militants have been killed in separate airstrikes conducted in western Farah province of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) in a statement said the security forces carried out an airstrike in Karizbedal Village in Posht Rod district, leaving at least six militants dead.
The statement further added that one of the local commanders of the group identified as Mullah Bakhtiar was among those killed.
The Air Forces also carried out an airtrike targeting the vehicle of another local Taliban commander in Bakwa district of Farah, MoI said, adding that the Taliban commander was killed and the vehicle was destroyed in the airstrike.
The anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban have not commented regarding the airstrikes so far.
Farah is among the relatively volatile provinces in West of Afghanistan where Taliban militants are relentlessly attempting to expand their foothold and increase attacks against the government and security forces.
By Khaama Press on 24 Dec 2018 1:41pm .
A group of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Khurasan (ISIS-K) renounced violence and joined peace process in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
The provincial government media office in a statement said the ISIS-K group member joined peace process in Achin district.
The statement further added that the reconciled militant has shown remorse regarding the destructive activities he has committed in ISIS Khurasan ranks.
He has also added that he was conducting destructive activities based on the instructions of the strangers.
The former ISIS Khurasan group member also handed over a Ak-47 assault rifle to the security forces, the provincial government added.
Nangarhar is among the relatively calm provinces in the East but both Taliban and ISIS Khurasan militants are active in some of its districts and often attempt to carry out attacks against the government and security force
Casualties, Exclusive of Civilians
Recent Casualties
Color Denotes Today’s Confirmation
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Sgt. Jason Mitchell McClary, 24, from Export, Pennsylvania, died Dec. 2, 2018, in Landstuhl, Germany, as a result of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device on Nov. 27, 2018, in Andar District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The incident is under investigation.
McClary was assigned to 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers and one airman who were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
The service members died Nov. 27, 2018, from injuries sustained when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Andar, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.
The soldiers were assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The airman was assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.
The incident is under investigation.
The deceased are:
Army Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross, 29, of Lexington, Virginia.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond, 39, of Brush Prairie, Washington.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, 25, of Hookstown, Pennsylvania.

War Casualties By Name
More
Care for Veterans:
PTSD: National Center for PTSDPTSD Care for Veterans, Military, and FamiliesSee Help for Veterans with PTSD to learn how to enroll for VA health care and get an assessment.
All VA Medical Centers provide PTSD care, as well as many VA clinics.Some VA’s have programs specializing in PTSD treatment. Use the VA PTSD Program Locator to find a PTSD program.
If you are a war Veteran, find a Vet Center to help with the transition from military to civilian life.

War Children
Please do not forget the children.
The McGlynn

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