19 Jan
United States Wars, News and Casualties
United States Wars, News and Casualties
Damn The War Criminals,
Bush,Cheney,Rice,Rumsfeld,Wolfowitz, Powell and Blair from England.
Afghan War Children
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.
Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–present)
During the war in Afghanistan (2001–present), over 31,000 civilian deaths due to war-related violence have been documented;[1][2] 29,900 civilians have been wounded.[2] Over 111,000 Afghans, including civilians, soldiers and militants, are estimated to have been killed in the conflict.[1] The Cost of War project estimated that the number who have died through indirect causes related to the war may be as high 360,000 additional people based on a ratio of indirect to direct deaths in contemporary conflicts.[3] These numbers do not include those who have died in Pakistan.
The war, launched by the United States as “Operation Enduring Freedom” in 2001, began with an initial air campaign that almost immediately prompted concerns over the number of Afghan civilians being killed[4] as well as international protests. With civilian deaths from airstrikes rising again in recent years,[5] the number of Afghan civilians being killed by foreign military operations has led to mounting tension between the foreign countries and the government of Afghanistan. In May 2007, President Hamid Karzai summoned foreign military commanders to warn them of the consequences of further Afghan civilian deaths.[6] The civilian losses are a continuation of the extremely high civilian losses experienced during the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s, and the three periods of civil war following it: 1989–1992, 1992–1996, and 1996–2001.
The McGlynn
War News
GUARD: Syrian girl disfigured by bomb attack refused USvisa under Trump travel ban
Exclusive: Marwa al-Shekh Ameen, 16, was denied a visa in December after doctors in Germany encouraged her to get treatment in the US
A 16-year-old Syrian refugee who was disfigured in a bomb attack on her home has been refused a visa to get medical treatment in the US because of Donald Trump’s travel ban, the Guardian can reveal.
Marwa al-Shekh Ameen resettled with her family in Germany, but doctors there encouraged her to seek more sophisticated medical treatment in America following 13 operations to repair trauma from third-degree burns to her face, arms and chest.
Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston scheduled an appointment to treat Marwa in November 2018 and a volunteer agency in Massachusetts offered to provide temporary housing for her and her father. But the US government denied her visa on 20 December, claiming there was not enough evidence to prove she would return to Germany.
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Guard: US airstrike in Somalia kills 52 al-Shabaab fighters, military says
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Africa Command says strike followed attack on Somali forces
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Extremist group has claimed deadly attack on Kenya hotel
The US military said it carried out an airstrike in Somalia that killed 52 al-Shabaab extremists, in response to an attack on Somali forces.
Al-Shabaab controls large parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to carry out high-profile attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere. The group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday.
A US Africa Command statement said the airstrike occurred on Saturday near Jilib in Middle Juba region. The US said Somali forces had come under attack by a “large group” of the al-Qaida-linked extremists.
The statement did not say how many Somali forces were killed or wounded. There were no reports of Americans killed or wounded……..Airstrikes alone cannot defeat the extremists, Bryden said, and must be combined with more ground-based attacks as well as a non-military campaign to win over residents of extremist-held areas.
The US on Saturday said it was committed to “preventing al-Shabaab from taking advantage of safe havens from which they can build capacity and attack the people of Somalia”.
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REU: Syrian opposition sees window for political solution in Syria
RIYADH (Reuters) – Syria now has a good opportunity to reach a political solution to its devastating eight-year war as ceasefires have brought calm to many areas of the country, Syria’s chief opposition negotiator said on Saturday.
“I think now that we have an opportunity, because nearly in Syria we have a ceasefire now, in the northeast of Syria and the north of Syria, and the efforts of fighting terrorism has achieved good results,” Nasr Hariri told Reuters in an interview in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, where he is based.
Hariri, the opposition’s chief negotiator in U.N. peace talks, met with the newly appointed United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen on Friday.
“Now it is time to invest all of these developments: the ceasefire, fighting terrorism, the belief of the majority of the Syrian people that the only solution to the Syrian crisis is the political solution,” Hariri added.
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AP: Analysis: Climactic events in 1979 shaped modern Mideast
FILE – In this Nov. 9, 1979 file photograph, one of the hostages seized when Islamic radicals stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, blindfolded and with his hands bound, is displayed to a crowd in Tehran, Iran. This climactic event and others in 1979, which dominated television sets and newspaper front pages 40 years ago, helped shape the modern Middle East. (AP Photo, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Revolutionaries in the streets give way to black-and-white images of blindfolded American hostages. Two enemies sign a peace deal after years of hostilities. And one of the world’s two superpowers invades its southern neighbor, launching a bloody, decade-long conflict.
These moments and others in 1979, which dominated television sets and newspaper front pages 40 years ago, have shaped the modern Middle East.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution changed a stalwart U.S. ally into a regional adversary. Israel’s accord with Egypt brought a peace that endures today. The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan began an insurgency in the country that continues even today.
Like the lines drawn in the sand by the British and French after World War I carving up the Ottoman Empire, the events of 1979 also unexpectedly rippled out to affect today’s world.
Perhaps the one moment that still dominates is Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, at the time stricken with terminal cancer, left Iran in January 1979. His departure and the revolution the following month brought to an end to 2,500 years of monarchial rule across Persia.
In its place came the Islamic Republic, where absolute power rests with the country’s supreme leader, a Shiite cleric who oversees elected officials and the nation’s military and paramilitary forces. Islam suddenly found itself firmly wedded to a newly formed, modern government.
Though Shiites represent a minority of all Muslims worldwide, the takeover offered inspiration to all Islamic militants. It marked a warning for nations across the Middle East that the threat of leftist militants had given way to religious extremists who said they fought in the name of God against the corrupt.
A band of ultraconservative Saudi Sunni militants in November would seize the Grand Mosque in Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day, demanding the Al Saud royal family abdicate. A two-week siege that followed ended with an official death toll of 229 killed. The kingdom’s rulers soon further embraced Wahhabism, an ultraconservative Islamic doctrine.
In losing Iran’s shah, the United States lost its closest ally in the Middle East, one who purchased billions of dollars of American weaponry and allowed spying from his nation on the Soviet Union. America tilted toward Saudi Arabia as the kingdom grew stricter.
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NYT: Afghan Taliban Reject Talks With U.S. in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Afghan Taliban rejected reports in the Pakistani media that they were prepared to resume meetings with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad and repeated their refusal to deal directly with the Afghan government.
Pakistani newspapers and television stations reported that a meeting in Islamabad was in prospect following discussions between Khalilzad and Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday.
Senior Taliban leaders said that regional powers including Pakistan had approached them and wanted them to meet the U.S. delegation in Islamabad and also include the Afghan government in the peace process but that the approaches had been rejected.
“We wanted to make it clear that we will not hold any meeting with Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in a statement.
Talks between the two sides have stalled after the Taliban accused Khalilzad of straying from the agreed agenda and there is no clarity on when they may resume.
“We have made it clear again and again that we would never hold any meeting with the Afghan government as we know that they are not capable of addressing our demands,” said one senior Taliban leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The United States says any settlement in Afghanistan must be between the internationally recognized Afghan government and the Taliban, who have so far refused to talk to an administration they describe as an illegitimate puppet regime.
The Taliban leader said peace talks with the U.S. delegation could resume if they were assured that only three issues would be discussed – a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, an exchange of prisoners and lifting a ban on the movement of Taliban leaders.
Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Thursday and met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other officials.
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Casualties, Exclusive of Civilians
Recent Casualties:
Color Denotes Today’s Confirmation
The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of one soldier, one sailor and one DOD civilian who were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
The deceased are:
Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Florida. Farmer was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, of upstate New York. Kent was assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Activity 66, based at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
DOD civilian Scott A. Wirtz of St. Louis, Missouri. Wirtz was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency as an operations support specialist.
Farmer, Kent and Wirtz died Jan. 16, 2019, in Manbij, Syria, as a result of wounds sustained from a suicide improvised explosive device.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Sgt. Cameron A. Meddock, 26, of Spearman, Texas, died Jan. 17, 2019, in Landstuhl, Germany, as a result of injuries sustained from small arms fire during combat operations on Jan. 13, 2019, in Jawand District, Badghis Province, Afghanistan.
Meddock was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
War Casualties By Name
Iraqi Freedom >>
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Desert Storm>>
Viet Nam >>
Korea >>
More
Total Dollar Cost of Wars Since 2001>>
Cost of War in Iraq>>
Cost of War in Afghanistan>>
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.
Call the 24/7 Veteran Combat Call Center1-877-WAR-VETS (1-877-927-8387) to talk to another combat Veteran.DoD’s Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) 24/7 Outreach Center for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury provides information and helps locate resources.
Call 1-866-966-1020 or email resources@dcoeoutreach.orgMilitary OneSourceCall 24/7 for counseling and many resources 1-800-342-9647.Need further assistance? Get Help with VA PTSD Care
