War & Peace

NATO deploys Patriot as warplanes hit Syria capital

"NATO declared that a Patriot missile battery went operational on Turkey’s border with Syria on Saturday, as a watchdog reported regime warplanes launched raids on a Damascus district. Ankara and NATO have stressed the deployment is for defensive purposes only, while Damascus and its ally Moscow have criticised the measure. The US-made missiles can take out cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as aircraft. Britain, meanwhile, pledged a multi-million dollar aid package to help Syrian civilians, nearly half of which would be channelled through agencies in Jordan where a record 6,400 refugees arrived on Friday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNATO deploys Patriot as warplanes hit Syria capital

Rare trees turned into firewood as Syrian civilians struggle for warmth

"Beset by a freezing winter and stifling fuel and electricity shortages, Syrian civilians desperate to stay warm in a northern forest have no choice but to cut down trees for firewood. Once a tourist destination for Syrians and other Arabs across the Middle East, the formerly pristine national park to the north and west of the city of Idlib is being systematically stripped bare. Bald, muddy swathes of fresh-cut land now stretch in many directions, with men using chainsaws to bring trees down and dozens of pick-up trucks coming and going for loads of lumber." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRare trees turned into firewood as Syrian civilians struggle for warmth

Women join ranks of Assad’s new paramilitary force in Syria

"The force is voluntary and the fedayat serve four-hour shifts in the morning from or in the afternoon to permit the women to carry on with their normal profession. Etidal Hamad, a 34-year-old government employee and mother of three girls, says while her husband also encouraged her, her primary motivation to sign up three months ago was 'a desire to support the army and defend the fatherland'. In the stadium parade that marks the end of the training, the women shout at the top of their lungs: 'With our blood and our souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, O Bashar!'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWomen join ranks of Assad’s new paramilitary force in Syria

Women to assume combat roles in U.S. military

"Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued an order on Wednesday removing the military’s ban on women in combat roles. Panetta’s order overturns a 1994 rule barring women from combat roles in the military and directs military officials to begin crafting a plan to fully integrate all of the jobs currently available. The military loosened some rules on women in combat last February, saying an additional 14,000 jobs in the Army and Marine Corps were being opened up to women, but not all. Wednesday’s order should do exactly that, the AP noted, opening an additional 230,000 jobs — including special forces roles — that were not previously available to women." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWomen to assume combat roles in U.S. military

An Ally Out of Control

"The U.S. previously had correctly warned that Western attacks on the Islamist enclave in Mali could inflame Islamic militants worldwide and lead to blowback terrorist attacks in the West. Yet now, in a replay of the war in Libya, with France forcing its hand, the U.S. has been forced to back its ally’s aggressive action and even provide help. Northern Mali was taken over by battle-hardened Islamists, who brought in heavy weapons from Gaddafi’s formidable stockpiles in Libya after the West’s overthrow of him. The U.S. foolishly had trained Malian units led by generals who were Tuareg, an ethnic group that been rebelling against the Malian government for a half century." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAn Ally Out of Control

French military seeks ‘total reconquest of Mali’

"French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday the end goal of France’s military action in Mali was to retake control of the whole country from Islamist militants who have seized the north. 'The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets' of resistance, Le Drian said on France 5 television. Le Drian also said Malian forces had not yet been able to retake the town of Diabaly, seized nearly a week ago by Islamists and then heavily bombed by French planes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrench military seeks ‘total reconquest of Mali’

France Formally Requests US Military Aid for Mali Invasion

"According to Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, the French government has formally asked the United States for military aid for its invasion of Mali, saying that the aid will conclude planning, logistics and air support, but not combat troops. France invaded on Saturday, and initially said they believed they would turn Mali into a 'terror-free' democracy within a matter of weeks. Since then they have expressed surprise at the strength of rebel fighters, however." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrance Formally Requests US Military Aid for Mali Invasion

Glenn Greenwald: MLK’s vehement condemnations of US militarism are more relevant than ever

"Obama's policies are a manifestation of exactly the militaristic mindset which King so eloquently denounced. Obama has always been fond of invoking King's phrase 'fierce urgency of now', yet ironically, that is lifted from this anti-war speech, one that stands as a stinging repudiation of the continuous killing and violence Obama has spent the last four years unleashing on many countries around the world (Max Blumenthal suggested that Obama's second inaugural speech be entitled 'I have a drone')." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: MLK’s vehement condemnations of US militarism are more relevant than ever