Category Archives: US Military

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s Pentagon pick, sparks alarm over far-right extremism

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Experts concerned over the Fox & Friends host, his Christian nationalist ideology and militant language

Extremism experts are sounding the alarm about Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, whose writings and online presence reveal someone immersed in a culture of rightwing Christianity, political extremism and violent ideation.

The Fox & Friends host, who has served in the US army but has no experience in government, drew shock from Pentagon officials when Trump nominated him. Hegseth’s books on American culture and the military, his commentary on Fox and his frequent posts on social media showcase his far-right ideology. On these platforms, Hegseth telegraphs paranoia and anger toward “leftists”, an ultra-masculine Maga persona and apparent revulsion toward service members who do not fit his vision – including women.

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Loyalty the key as impulsive Trump picks team for America First agenda

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President-elect’s team has China hawks, an alleged Assad defender and a Fox News host – all have been vocally loyal

As Donald Trump rushes to fill out his cabinet and enact his America First agenda in the United States and abroad, a clear throughline for his foreign policy and national security team has been a vocal loyalty to the president-elect – at least in this election cycle.

The rapidly expanding roster includes established – and some Maga supporters would say establishment – foreign policy hawks, and a neophyte defense secretary who until this week was still a conservative commentator on Fox News.

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Trump picks Huckabee as Israel envoy and Fox News host as defense secretary

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Pete Hegseth tapped for key role and Kristi Noem for homeland security amid flurry of nominations

Donald Trump has chosen the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as the next US ambassador to Israel and a Fox News host to be his new defense secretary.

Huckabee has a track record of hardline, occasionally provocative, pro-Israel rhetoric and previously said Israel has a rightful claim to the West Bank, which he refers to by its Hebrew and biblical name of Judea and Samaria.

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Meta to let US national security agencies and defense contractors use Llama AI

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Company typically prohibits its use for ‘military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage’

Meta announced Monday that it would allow US national security agencies and defense contractors to use its open-source artificial intelligence model, Llama. The announcement came days after Reuters reported an older version of Llama had been used by researchers to develop defense applications for the military wing of the Chinese government.

Meta’s policies typically prohibit the use of its open-source large language model for “military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, [and] espionage”. The company is making an exception for US agencies and contractors as well as similar national security agencies in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to Bloomberg.

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US army soldier charged with murder of female sergeant found dead in trash bin

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Wooster Rancy, 21, accused in death of Sgt Sarah Roque, 23, whose body was found at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri

A US army soldier has been charged with murder in the death of a fellow service member at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, the military announced Thursday.

The army office of Special Trial Counsel charged the 21-year-old specialist Wooster Rancy on Wednesday with murder and obstructing justice in the death of 23-year-old Sgt Sarah Roque.

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Missing US navy pilots declared dead after Washington state fighter-jet crash

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Navy confirms deaths after jet crashed east of Mount Rainier earlier this week during routine training flight

Two crew members who were missing following the crash of a fighter jet in mountainous terrain in Washington during a routine training flight have been declared dead, the US navy said on Sunday.

The EA-18G Growler jet from the Electronic Attack Squadron crashed east of Mount Rainier on Tuesday afternoon, according to navy officials. Search teams, including a US navy MH-60S helicopter, launched from the air station to try to find the crew and crash site.

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US investigates leaked documents alleging Israel plans to attack Iran

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US officials say documents appear to be legitimate and House speaker says leak is very concerning

The US government is investigating an unauthorised release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran.

The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, confirmed the investigation in remarks to CNN’s State of the Union programme on Sunday, saying the leak was very concerning.

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Veterans dismissed over ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy given honorable discharges

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US policy in effect from 1994-2011 removed thousands of LGBTQ+ service members, many less than honorably

Nearly all US service members who were forcibly separated from the military when the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was in place have now been honorably discharged, defense department officials announced on Tuesday.

The “don’t ask, don’t tell policy, which went into effect on 28 February 1994 during then president Bill Clinton’s administration, barred service members from being openly gay, lesbian or bisexual – otherwise legally defined as those with “a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts”. Under the policy, other service members were also not allowed to ask each other about their sexual orientation.

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Donald Trump will need Nato if elected as president, says new alliance chief

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Mark Rutte says US would risk isolation if Republican candidate decided to withdraw from military alliance

Mark Rutte, the new head of Nato, has brushed off anxieties about the possible election of Donald Trump, arguing that the US would risk isolation in “a harsh, uncompromising world” if he sought to withdraw from the military alliance.

Speaking in London on Thursday, after meeting the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rutte said he believed both Trump and his presidential rival, Kamala Harris, recognised the value of continuing military aid to Ukraine.

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Biden reaffirms US support for Israel amid Iran’s missile attack

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President directed the military to aid Israel’s defense against any future assaults as US ‘fully supportive’ of ally

Joe Biden has reaffirmed US support for Israel after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, describing the barrage as “defeated and ineffective” and ordering the US military to aid Israel’s defense against any future assaults.

“The attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective, and this is a testament to Israeli military capability and the US military,” the US president told reporters on Tuesday after Tehran launched an unprecedented salvo of 180 high-speed ballistic missiles.

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Trump vows to resolve Ukraine-Russia war ‘very quickly’ as he meets Zelenskyy

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Ex-president hails ‘very good relationship’ as Ukrainian leader says pair share ‘common view’ that Putin cannot win

Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York in a high-stakes meeting at which the Ukrainian leader hoped to repair ties with the former US president.

The two men met at Trump Tower on Friday amid a growing feud between Zelenskyy and Republicans that Ukraine fears could sabotage further US military aid if Trump wins in November.

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US-UK airstrikes have not seriously hurt Houthis’ capability, says Yemeni leader

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Yemen government vice-chair fears strikes intended to end shipping chaos are instead helping Houthis rally support

US-UK airstrikes in Yemen designed to end the Houthi disruption of commercial shipping have not seriously degraded the group’s military capability, the vice-chair of the UN-recognised government in Yemen has said.

Aidarous al-Zubaidi told the Guardian in an interview he feared the Houthis were using the strikes to rally support behind their cause by portraying the west as the aggressor in Yemen.

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US navy apologizes for razing of Native Alaska community in late 1800s

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In ceremony in Kake, military acknowledges bombardment of village that destroyed it and led to many deaths

In a ceremony Saturday afternoon, the US navy apologized for firing upon and torching the Alaska Native village of Kake in 1869.

Surrounded by tribal Chilkat weavings, historic photographs and other Lingít artwork in the Kake elementary and high school gymnasium, R Adm Mark B Sucato expressed the military’s regret, in the first of two apologies planned by the military for bombardments of Alaska Native communities in the late 1800s.

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US soldier Travis King sentenced for desertion after fleeing into North Korea

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Private was sentenced to 12 months of confinement and dishonourably discharged from army but has been released because of time already served

A US soldier who fled into North Korea last year has been sentenced to 12 months of confinement after pleading guilty to desertion as part of a plea agreement, his lawyer has said.

Because of good behaviour and time served, the soldier was released, the lawyer, Franklin Rosenblatt, said on Friday.

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Far-right conspiracies abound after second apparent Trump assassination attempt

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Baseless theories about suspect Ryan Wesley Routh and his alleged ties to US military spread online after his arrest

After a man who appears to be obsessive about the war in Ukraine was arrested for allegedly attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on Sunday, rumors and conspiracy theories have spread online attempting to tie Democrats to the two assassination attempts on the former president this election.

Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect charged with gun-related crimes on Monday, previously conducted media interviews about his efforts to recruit volunteer fighters, particularly from Afghanistan, to help Ukraine in its war against Russia. Routh also apparently self-published an e-book on Ukraine in which he said that Iran was “free to assassinate Trump as well as me”, according to media reports.

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US rejects claims of CIA involvement in alleged plot to kill Maduro after Venezuela arrests six

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State department says allegations of American collusion are ‘categorically false’ as US navy member identified among foreign citizens detained

The US state department rejected wild allegations of CIA involvement in an alleged assassination plot against Nicolás Maduro after Venezuelan officials announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech on Saturday.

The claims of a plot against Maduro – the Venezuelan president, whose recent re-election is contested – were made on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens including a US navy member were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television programme, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the alleged plotters.

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US and China hold high-level military talks in effort to stabilise ties

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Washington and Beijing hoping to open new regular communication channels to avoid misunderstandings

The United States and China have held high-level commander talks for the first time, Chinese authorities said, amid efforts to stabilise military ties and avoid misunderstandings, especially in regional hotspots such as the South China Sea.

Washington hopes to open new channels of regular military communication with Beijing after ties sank to a historic low when the United States downed a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon last year.

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US arms advantage over Russia and China threatens stability, experts warn

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Academics say vulnerability of the two countries’ nuclear launch sites makes dangerous mistakes more likely

The US and its allies are capable of threatening and destroying all of Russia and China’s nuclear launch sites with conventional weapons, creating what two experts describe as a potentially unstable geopolitical situation.

Prof Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo, from Soas University of London, describe a “quiet revolution in military affairs” reflecting increased US military power relative to Moscow and Beijing, particularly in missile technology.

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Two US soldiers assaulted by nationalist youth group in Turkey, authorities say

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Fifteen suspected assailants, members of the Turkey Youth Union, were detained after attack in port city of Izmir

Two US military service members were “physically attacked” in the port city of Izmir in western Turkey on Monday by members of an anti-American youth group, authorities said.

Fifteen suspected assailants were detained in the attack on the two service members, who were dressed in civilian clothing at the time of the incident. Five other US service members joined in the incident after seeing the violent encounter, officials said.

Reuters contributed to this report

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Trump shares posts of Gold Star families praising cemetery visit and criticizing Harris

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Soldiers’ relatives hit out at vice-president after she said Trump ‘disrespected sacred ground’ for a political stunt

Donald Trump shared statements from the relatives of 13 soldiers killed during the chaotic US evacuation from Kabul as they hit out at Kamala Harris after she criticized the former president’s involvement in a ceremony honoring the service members.

The dispute over the ceremony at Arlington national cemetery, during which Trump campaign aides allegedly shoved a cemetery worker so they could film Trump laying a wreath, contravening rules against political activity at the site, escalated after the vice-president said Saturday that Trump “disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt”.

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