Thomas Paine's version of "you didn't build that":
"Separate an individual from society,and give him an island or a continent to possess,and he cannot acquire personal property. He cannot be rich. So inseparably are the means connected with the end,in all cases,that where the former do not exist the latter cannot be obtained. All accumulation, therefore,of personal property,beyond what a man's own hands produce, is derived to him by living in society; and he owes on every principle of justice,of gratitude,and of civilization,a part of that accumulation back again to society from whence the whole came"
Submitted by Leah
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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.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.N. peace plan for Yemen calls on the Houthi movement to give up its ballistic missiles in return for an end to a bombing campaign against it by a Saudi-led coalition and a transitional governance agreement, according to a draft of the document and sources.
The plan, which has not been made public and could be modified, is the latest effort to end Yemen’s three-year-old civil war, which has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The conflict pits the Iran-aligned Houthis, who took control of the capital Sanaa in 2014, against other Yemeni forces backed by a coalition loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and led by U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The coalition fears the Houthis are part of a regional power grab by Tehran.
Previous efforts to end the conflict, which according to the United Nations has killed more than 10,000 people, have failed. It is unclear whether the new plan will fare any better given the divergent interests of fighters on the ground and international backers.
A draft document seen by Reuters and confirmed by two sources familiar with it says that as a step toward new security arrangements, “heavy and medium weapons including ballistic missiles shall be handed over by non-state military actors in an orderly and planned fashion.”
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq launched an air strike against an Islamic State target inside neighboring Syria on Thursday, the military said.
The F-16 fighter plane destroyed an area where members of the ultra-hardline Sunni group were operating, it said in a statement.
Islamic State, which once occupied a third of Iraq’s territory, has been largely defeated in the country but still poses a threat along its border with Syria.
The Iraqi air force has carried out several air strikes against Islamic State in Syria since last year, with the approval of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.
Iraq has good relations with Iran and Russia, Assad’s main backers in the Syrian civil war, while also enjoying strong support from the U.S.-led coalition.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State in December but it still operates from pockets along the border with Syria and has continued to carry out ambushes, assassinations and bombings across Iraq.
Many who fled after Turkish assault say their homes have been given to Arabs
When Areen and her clan fled the Turkish assault on Afrin in January, they feared they may never return.
Six months later, the Kurdish family remain in nearby villages with other Afrin locals who left as the conquering Turks and their Arab proxies swept in, exiling nearly all its residents.
Recently, strangers from the opposite end of Syria have moved into Areen’s home and those of her family. The few relatives who have made it back for fleeting visits say the numbers of new arrivals – all Arabs – are rising each week. So too is a resentment towards the newcomers, and a fear that the steady, attritional changes may herald yet another flashpoint in the seven-year conflict.
Unscathed through much of the Syrian war, and a sanctuary for refugees, Afrin has become a focal point of a new and pivotal phase, where the ambitions of regional powers are being laid bare and a coexistence between Arabs and Kurds – delicately poised over decades – is increasingly being threatened.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – At least 18 people were killed and over 90 wounded in an explosion in Baghdad’s Sadr City district on Wednesday, an Iraqi police source said.
Photos from the scene showed a destroyed car and building as well as weeping relatives of victims.
An interior ministry spokesman said in a brief statement the blast was the result of the detonation of an ammunitions cache and that security forces had opened an investigation.
The ammunition had been stored in a mosque and the explosion happened during its transfer into a car parked nearby, the police source said.
Earlier, state television cited a ministry spokesman describing the explosion as “a terrorist aggression on civilians,” which had caused “martyrs and wounded”.
Authorities did not offer an explanation of the discrepancies between the two statements, neither of which gave casualty figures.
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday announced an unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban until June 20, coinciding with the end of the Muslim fasting season, but excluded all other militant groups, such as Islamic State.
The decision came after a meeting of Islamic clerics from across the country this week who declared a fatwa on Taliban attacks. A suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed 14 people at the entrance to the clerics’ peace tent in Kabul.
The clerics recommended a ceasefire with the Taliban, who are seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after their ouster in 2001, and Ghani endorsed the recommendation.
“This ceasefire is an opportunity for Taliban to introspect (sic) that their violent campaign is not winning them hearts and minds but further alienating,” Ghani said in a message on social network Twitter after a televised address.
“With the ceasefire announcement we epitomize the strength of the Afghan government and the will of the people for a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict.”
There was no immediate reaction from the Taliban.
On the government side, not everyone agreed.
Former army general Atiqullah Amarkhel said the ceasefire would give the Taliban a chance to regroup.
“From a military prospect, it is not a good move,” he told Reuters. “It will give the enemy the opportunity to prepare itself for more attacks.”
He also said he doubted the Taliban would lay down their arms and deny themselves the opportunity of fighting during the holy month of Ramadan in which attacks have intensified.
The Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan is at the end of next week.
Ghani in February offered recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political group in a proposed political process that he said could lead to talks to end more than 16 years of war.
KABUL, Afghanistan — As many as 30,000 Afghan police officers fighting a bloody war against the Taliban have been denied their modest salaries for months, officials said on Wednesday, as the American-led coalition funding the force holds back their pay out of fear that much of it is going into the hands of corrupt leaders.
The move is seen as a punishment of sorts for the leadership of the force, which has lagged in accounting for its men and weeding out “ghost soldiers.”
Officials from the NATO coalition, which largely foots the bill for the Afghan forces — about $4 billion a year — hope the move will shock the leadership into expediting a nationwide inventory of the officers. Their identities are being verified through biometric data.
But bearing the brunt of the decision are the desperate police officers, many of them pinned down by the Taliban in faraway outposts inaccessible to the inventory teams. The officers come from the poorest communities around the country, accepting the risky job for $200 a month when there are few other prospects. Each day last year, an average of about 28 Afghan police officers and army members were killed.
The Afghan National Army Chief of Staff General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali says the armed forces will maintain the relentless fight against the foreign terrorists as the government announced ceasefire with the Taliban group. Speaking during a press conference in Kabul, Gen. Yaftali said he expects that Taliban group would also observe the cease. Gen. Yaftali
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani announced a ceasefire in response to a joint declaration issued by hundreds of religious scholars, Ulemas, during a large gathering on Monday. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan announces ceasefire from the 27th of Ramadan until the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr following the historic ruling [Fatwa] of the Afghan .
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan General Qamar Javed Bajwa held talks regarding the Afghan peace and fight against terrorism. The Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with the Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa. She .
A senior Taliban leader in charge of the military commission of the group in Dawlatabad district was killed during an operation in northern Faryab province. The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North said the senior Taliban leader was killed in Ferozi village during an operation of the Special Forces. The source .
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, of Loveland, Colorado, was killed in action April 30 as a result of enemy small arms fire in Tagab District, Afghanistan. The incident is under investign.
Conde was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
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 ProgramLocator 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 DOCUMENTARY: IRAQ A DEADLY DECEPTION ALJAZEERA DOCUMENTARIES 2018 On the evening of 9/11, George W Bush made a vow to the American public – that he would defeat terrorism. Unknown to those listening in shock to the presidential address, the president and his advisers had already begun planning their trajectory into an invasion of Iraq. It was packaged as “holding responsible the states who support terrorism” by Richard Perle, a Pentagon adviser between 2001 and 2003. “I believe it represented a recognition that we would never succeed against the terrorists if we went after them one at a time and as long as governments were facilitating the organisation, training, equipping of, financing of terrorist organisations, we were never going to get it under control,” says Perle. After 100 days spent fighting those who had become publicly accepted as the culprits – Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan – the US set the ball rolling for war against Iraq. On the evening of 9/11 the president is saying: well, maybe we’ll be going after Iraq now and somebody said, well, that would be against international law. The president responded: I don’t care, we’re going to kick some ass
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