Category Archives: US Military

Joining Trump church photo op ‘a mistake’, says Gen Mark Milley – video

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Gen Mark Milley has said it was a mistake to have been present at Donald Trump's photo op in front  of a church in Washington. 'I should not have been there,' he said in a pre-recorded video commencement address to the National Defense University.

Milley and the defense secretary, Mark Esper, were widely criticised for participating in the photo-op during George Floyd protests in Washington, with many former defence officials saying the two were helping Trump’s efforts to politicise the military

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Biden predicts military will intervene if Trump refuses to accept election loss

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  • Biden says biggest fear is Trump will ‘try to steal the election’
  • Democratic challenger leads president in opinion polls

Joe Biden has predicted the military will escort Donald Trump from the White House should the president lose November’s election but refuse to leave office.

Biden, speaking to the Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, said that his single greatest concern is that the president will “try to steal this election”.

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Trump would ‘not even consider’ renaming bases with Confederate links

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President contradicts defense secretary who said he was open to discussing new names for military bases named after Confederates

Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would “not even consider” renaming US military bases that are named after Confederate military leaders, even though the Pentagon has indicated it is open to the idea.

The statement from the US president came amid widespread anti-racism protests that have convulsed the country and were triggered by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.

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Trump move to take US troops out of Germany ‘a dangerous game’

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UK politicians and military experts warn decision could hand advantage to Russia

British politicians and European military experts have warned that Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany risks handing a strategic advantage to the Kremlin and undermining the postwar western military alliance.

It would also affect the United States’s ability to operate in the Middle East and Africa – although there is scepticism as to whether the notoriously fickle president will be able to carry out the threat before November’s election.

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‘What I am thinking about’: African American US air force general reacts to Floyd protests – video

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Charles Quinton Brown Jr shares his thoughts on the events surrounding the killing of George Floyd.

The Pacific Air Forces commander said his nomination to serve as the first African American air force chief of staff created some hope, but was also a heavy burden

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‘Regrettable’: Germany reacts to Trump plan to withdraw US troops

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Reduction of 9,500 personnel criticised by the German right and welcomed by the left

Donald Trump’s plans to withdraw roughly a third of the US troops stationed in Germany have been criticised in the country by conservatives and welcomed by leftwing politicians.

The US president has reportedly ordered the Pentagon to reduce the number of troops by 9,500 from the 34,500 permanently assigned in Germany as part of a long-standing arrangement with Washington’s Nato ally.

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Donald Trump orders 9,500 US troops to leave Germany

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White House says move due to more Nato defence spending, not tensions with Angela Merkel

Donald Trump has ordered the US military to remove nearly 9,500 troops from Germany in a move likely to raise concerns in Europe about the US commitment to the region.

The move would reduce US troop numbers in Germany to 25,000, compared with the 34,500 currently there, a senior US official said.

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‘Slide to illiberalism’: ex-general joins chorus of condemnation of Trump

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John Allen warns that politicisation of the military could be the beginning of the end of ‘the American experiment’

The retired marine general who led the global coalition against Isis and commanded US forces in Afghanistan has warned that Donald Trump’s actions this week could start a US “ slide into illiberalism” and the beginning of the end of “the American experiment”.

In denouncing the president for his response to the George Floyd protests, John Allen became the latest in a string of venerable military figures to have gone public over what they describe as the threat posed by Trump to the non-political nature of the armed forces, and more broadly to US democracy.

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Iran releases US navy veteran detained for nearly two years

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Michael White was detained in 2018 and sentenced 10 years on charges of insulting the supreme leader and posting a private photo

A US navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years flew out on Thursday, a day after an Iranian scientist held by US authorities returned home.

“I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home,” Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, said in a statement.

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New York Times under fire over op-ed urging Trump to ‘send in the troops’

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Decision to run opinion piece from Republican senator Tom Cotton sparks criticism from staff who say it puts people in danger

The New York Times’ decision to run an op-ed from the Republican senator Tom Cotton titled “Send in the troops” is drawing widespread criticism, including from Times staff.

In the piece, Cotton called for the use of US military troops to quell civil unrest, and indicated the president would be justified in doing so under the Insurrection Act of 1807.

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‘How did we get here?’: Trump has normalised mayhem and the US is paying the price

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More than 100,000 have died in a pandemic and troops are on the streets. The rate of fresh affronts has outpaced the ability to digest them

The sheer tumult of the Trump era, the unceasing torrent of events that were unthinkable even hours before, has left a nation constantly off balance, unable to find its bearing and grasp how far it has traveled.

The developments of the past 24 hours were a reminder of how slippery the downward slope has been. 

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‘Words of a dictator’: Trump’s threat to deploy military raises spectre of fascism

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The president suggested the US could use troops against Americans – true to the instincts of a man surrounded by sycophants

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross,” goes an oft-quoted line of uncertain origin.

On Monday evening, Donald Trump, with four US flags behind him, threatened to send in the military against the American people, then crossed the road to pose for a photo outside a historic church while clutching an upside-down Bible.

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The Hawaii navy base fueling Trump’s quest for ‘super duper’ missiles

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Kauai has one of the Pentagon’s most valued testing sites. It’s an economic driver, but some residents say the military shouldn’t be on the islands at all

Hawaii’s “garden island”, Kauai, is known for its breathtaking scenery and laid-back vibe, a place of plunging waterfalls and cliffs cloaked in green tropical forests. But beyond its beauty it is one of the Pentagon’s most valued testing and training sites in the Pacific.

In Hawaii, where the military is the second-largest economic driver, after tourism, weapons testing and training enjoy widespread support, but some residents view the islands’ highly militarized state as misguided or even illegal.

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Trump says US is developing a ‘super duper’ missile – video

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Unveiling the flag for his new space force, Donald Trump said the US was developing a 'super-duper missile' to outpace its military adversaries. 'We have no choice, we have to do it with the adversaries we have out there. We have, I call it the super duper missile and I heard the other night [it’s] 17 times faster than what they have right now,' the US president said on Friday

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US warns Taliban to curb attacks after exit deal calls for 80% cut to violence

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Previously secret agreement emerges as spokesmen for US military and Taliban clash on Twitter

The US military has warned the Taliban it must curb attacks inside Afghanistan and revealed that a US troop withdrawal agreement signed in February included an informal commitment for both sides to cut violence by 80%.

The previously secret arrangement was revealed in a Twitter spat between the US military spokesman Col Sonny Leggett and his Taliban counterpart Zabihullah Mujahid. It comes after a sharp escalation in militant attacks since the agreement was sealed.

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The US and Iran are still perilously close to conflict | Ali Vaez

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Even amid the coronavirus crisis, the countries are trading threats. A de-escalation hotline is desperately needed

A dangerous encounter between the Iranian and US navies in the Persian Gulf last month, provoked by 11 Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ speedboats, and President Trump’s threat one week later to shoot Iranian gunboats out of water if this happens again, are stark reminders of the short fuse between the two countries amid growing tensions. If they want conflict to wag the dog and deflect attention from their failures to fight the Covid-19 outbreak in their respective countries, they can easily stumble into one; but if they don’t, as they often claim, they should find a way to establish a military hotline.

Related: Iranian boats come 'dangerously' close to US navy warships

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US germ warfare research leads to new early Covid-19 test

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Exclusive: test has potential to identify carriers before they become infectious

Scientists working for the US military have designed a new Covid-19 test that could potentially identify carriers before they become infectious and spread the disease, the Guardian has learned.

In what could be a significant breakthrough, project coordinators hope the blood-based test will be able to detect the virus’s presence as early as 24 hours after infection – before people show symptoms and several days before a carrier is considered capable of spreading it to other people. That is also around four days before current tests can detect the virus.

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Iranian boats come ‘dangerously’ close to US navy warships

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  • IRGC navy boats condemned for ‘harassing approaches’
  • US officials say 11 small boats circled six US warships

Iranian navy vessels came within 10 yards of American warships in the Persian Gulf in what the US navy described as a series of “dangerous and harassing approaches”.

The close encounters on Wednesday and the aggressive tactics pursued by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, visible from photos and video released by the US Fifth Fleet, represent a blow to the Trump administration’s claims to have “restored deterrence” in its relations with Iran.

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US navy official calls commander who was fired for coronavirus memo ‘naive or stupid’

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Donald Trump says he will settle dispute as acting navy secretary Thomas Modly faces calls to resign for attack on captain of USS Theodore Roosevelt

The Pentagon leadership crisis over a US aircraft carrier has intensified after the acting navy secretary called the ship’s ousted captain “too naive or too stupid” to be in command.

There were calls from Congress and former officers for Thomas Modly to resign after an audio recording surfaced of a speech he gave to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in which he denigrated the commander he had fired for having circulated a memo calling for more help for his crew, who had been stricken by a coronavirus outbreak onboard.

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Trump’s salute to Vietnam veterans meets with thanks – and scorn

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On national holiday he declared, president who avoided draft salutes those who served

Donald Trump marked National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Sunday, with a tweet praising those who served in a conflict that involved US combat operations in Indochina from 1965 to 1973 .

“You have earned our gratitude and thanks,” he wrote, “by your actions years ago and what you have done since returning home. The nation thanks you and your families for your service and sacrifice. We love you!”

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