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
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.
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The prospect of Western military action in Syria that could lead to confrontation with Russia hung over the Middle East on Friday but there was no clear sign that a U.S.-led attack was imminent.
International chemical weapons experts were traveling to Syria to investigate an alleged gas attack by government forces on the town of Douma which killed dozens of people. Two days ago U.S. President Donald Trump warned that missiles “will be coming” in response to that attack.
The allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were eager on Friday to lay blame for the crisis not with him but with Trump.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said international relations should not depend on one person’s morning mood, in apparent reference to Trump’s tweets.
Western leaders put off a final decision on military strikes in Syria on Thursday, opting for further consultation between allies.
Donald Trump and Theresa May spoke on the phone on Thursday evening and agreed Bashar al-Assad’s regime had “a pattern of dangerous behaviour” with chemical weapons that cannot go unchallenged. Both leaders are yet to announce what action they will take in Syria alongside France.
The French government said it had “proof” that the Syrian regime was responsible for Saturday’s alleged chemical attack in Damascus, which reportedly killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds, according to president Emmanuel Macron.
The US defence secretary, James Mattis, said Washington was gathering evidence about who carried out the attack and his main concern about the American military response was how to stop the tensions “escalating out of control”.
Preparations for a possible Russian counterattack on the British base RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were under way on Thursday in the event of US-led military action in Syria.
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May won backing from her senior ministers to take unspecified action with the United States and France to deter further use of chemical weapons by Syria after a suspected poison gas attack on civilians.
A child is treated in a hospital in Douma, eastern Ghouta in Syria, after what a Syria medical relief group claims was a suspected chemical attack April, 7, 2018. Pcture taken April 7, 2018. White Helmets/Handout via REUTERS
The prospect of a confrontation between Russia, the Syrian government’s ally, and the West has loomed since Trump said on Wednesday that missiles “will be coming” in response to the attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7.
Trump has since tempered those remarks and the White House said no final decisions on possible actions had been taken.
Russia has warned the West against attacking its Syrian ally President Bashar al-Assad, who is also supported by Iran, and says there is no evidence of a chemical attack in Douma, a town near Damascus which had been rebel-held until this month.
May has said “all indications” point to Syrian responsibility for the attack. She told her senior ministers on Thursday the Douma events showed a “deeply concerning” erosion of international legal norms barring the use of chemical weapons.
“Cabinet agreed on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime,” a spokeswoman for the prime minister said in a statement after the meeting.
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Russia and Iran’s support have been vital for President Bashar al-Assad’s military in the seven-year Syrian war, far outweighing any support for rebel factions, including from the United States, Turkey and Gulf Arab states.
THE RUSSIAN MILITARY
Assad’s strongest ally, Russia, helped turned the war in his favor after sending its air force to Syria in 2015. Russia has the Hmeimim air base in the coastal Latakia province and a naval base in the port of Tartus.
While it has special forces and advisers on the ground, Moscow has said its troops are not involved in regular ground combat operations. Russian military police forces have played a visible role in patrolling territory under Syrian government control……………..
IRAN
Since at least 2012, Iran has provided vital support for Syria’s military. Tehran says its goal is battling extremist Sunni militancy. Its critics say it seeks to cement regional power extending through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force – an overseas arm of the IRGC – has appeared on frontlines across Syria, and coordinated with Moscow over its deployment in Syria in 2015. Iran says its forces are in Syria in an advisory role.
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – Ten people were killed and 14 wounded when explosive devices went off at a funeral for Sunni Muslim tribal fighters in the northern Iraqi town of Shirqat on Thursday, the town’s leader said.
The funerals were for three fighters who had died a day earlier from the Tribal Mobalisation Forces, a network of Sunni militias that back the government in its fight against Islamic State militants, said the town’s leader Ali Dowdah.
Militants planted explosive devices at the grave site and set them off during the funeral procession, he said. Shirqat is in Iraq’s Salah al-Din province.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban stormed a government compound in central Afghanistan early Thursday, triggering an hours-long gunbattle that killed 15, including three top local officials, police and government officials said.
The blistering attack in the Khuja Omari district was the latest insurgent assault in Ghazni province, which is now largely under Taliban control. The Taliban planted mines to prevent government reinforcements from coming to help and quickly took responsibility for the attack, said Mohammad Arif Rahmani, a lawmaker in the Afghan Parliament.
The insurgent group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told The Associated Press by telephone that after the attack in Khuja Omari — not far from the provincial capital also called Ghazni — all security posts in the district were under Taliban control. The district center, however, was still in government hands.
The province of Ghazni is located south of Kabul province, the seat of the country’s capital, Kabul, and lies along a key route. Travel by road between the capital and southern Kandahar province, a traditional Taliban heartland, is considered dangerous because of large swaths that are now under insurgent control……………..“Afghan civilians continue to suffer, caught in the conflict, in ways that are preventable; this must stop now,” said Ingrid Hayden, the secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan.
KABUL (Reuters) – The number of civilians killed and wounded by suicide bombings and “complex attacks” in Afghanistan has more than doubled so far this year, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Suicide bombings and attacks by militant groups killed or maimed 751 people from January through March, one-third of total civilian cases, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said. Attacks are considered “complex” when the assailants employ a variety of means.
One suicide attack in January carried out in vehicles disguised as ambulances, killed more than 100 people in Kabul.
Overall, UNAMA recorded 763 civilian deaths and 1,495 injuries in the first quarter, similar to the same period in each of the past two years. Fighting on the ground was the second-leading cause of civilian deaths and injuries.
HERAT, Afghanistan — Taliban militants attacked Afghan security posts in the western province of Herat on Thursday, killing nine soldiers and one police officer, a district governor said on Friday.
The attack occurred in Herat’s Shindand district, said the district’s governor, Shukrullah Shaker. Four people were wounded, he said.
The Taliban, seeking to restore strict Islamic rule after their 2001 defeat by U.S.-led troops, did not immediately comment.
The attack happened just days after a blast in Shindand killed at least six people, including four children.
Earlier on Thursday, Taliban militants stormed a district in Ghazni province, killing more than a dozen people including the district’s governor before retreating.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban attacks overnight in Afghanistan killed at least 13 policemen and wounded several others, officials said Friday.
In western Herat province, 10 policemen were killed and four were wounded in Shindand district where fighting with the insurgents lasted for hours. The district governor, Shukrullah Shaker, said a roadside mine and a rocket hit a car carrying police reinforcements sent to the scene, killing the police commander.
There were also fatalities among the Taliban attackers, Shaker said, but it was not clear how many. He blamed the Taliban for the attack although no militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.
Also overnight, the Taliban attacked several police posts in eastern Paktia province, in the provincial capital of Gardez, leaving at least three policemen dead, said Gul Agha Roohani, the province’s police chief.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Master Sgt. Jonathan J. Dunbar, 36, of Austin, Texas, died March 30 in Manbij, Syria as a result of injuries when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his patrol. The incident is under investigation. Dunbar was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Ft Bragg, North Carolina.
The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of seven airmen who were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. They died March 15 when an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in western Iraq. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Captain Mark K. Weber, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was assigned to the 38th Rescue Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.
Captain Andreas B. O’Keeffe, 37, of Center Moriches, New York.
Captain Christopher T. Zanetis, 37, of Long Island City, New York.
Master Sergeant Christopher J. Raguso, 39, of Commack, New York.
Staff Sergeant Dashan J. Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, New York.
Master Sergeant William R. Posch, 36, of Indialantic, Florida.
Staff Sergeant Carl P. Enis, 31, of Tallahassee, Florida.
Both were assigned to the 308th Rescue Squadron, Air Force Reserve, at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. For more information, media may contact the 920th Rescue Wing public affairs office at 321-615-0329.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.Sgt. 1st Class Maitland Deweever Wilson, 38, of Brooklyn, New York, died March 7 in Landstuhl, Germany from a non-combat related incident. The incident is under investigation.Wilson was assigned to the 831st Transportation Battalion, 595th Transportation Brigade, Manama, Bahrain.
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.
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