Category Archives: US Military

Deployment of new US nuclear warhead on submarine a dangerous step, critics say

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First submarine to go on patrol armed with the W76-2 warhead makes a nuclear launch more likely, arm control advocates warn

The US has deployed its first low-yield Trident nuclear warhead on a submarine that is currently patrolling the Atlantic Ocean, it has been reported, in what arms control advocates warn is a dangerous step towards making a nuclear launch more likely.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, the USS Tennessee – which left port in Georgia at the end of last year – is the first submarine to go on patrol armed with the W76-2 warhead, commissioned by Donald Trump two years ago.

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US dropped record number of bombs on Afghanistan last year

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Warplanes dropped 7,423 bombs and other munitions, the most since Pentagon began keeping track in 2006

The US dropped more bombs on Afghanistan in 2019 than any other year since the Pentagon began keeping a tally in 2006, reflecting an apparent effort to force concessions from the Taliban at the negotiating table.

According to new figures released by US central command, US warplanes dropped 7,423 bombs and other munitions on Afghanistan, a nearly eightfold increase from 2015.

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Veterans criticize Trump’s downplaying of US troops’ brain injuries

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Several US veterans’ organizations call for president to apologize for remarks about injuries suffered by service members in Iraq

Veterans of Foreign Wars, a prominent organization advocating for US military veterans, has called for Donald Trump to apologize for remarks downplaying brain injuries recently suffered by nearly three dozen American service members in Iraq.

Related: Trump downplays brain injuries suffered by US troops in Iran missile strike

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Pentagon says 34 US soldiers suffered traumatic brain injury in Iran strike

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  • Trump downplayed injuries: ‘I heard they had headaches’
  • Expert calls president’s comment ‘insulting and disrespectful’

Thirty-four US soldiers have been diagnosed with concussion or traumatic brain injury from an 8 January Iranian missile attack on their base in Iraq, the Pentagon has revealed.

The Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, said on Friday that eight service members who had been previously transported to Germany had been moved to the United States.

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Iran missile strike: US now says 11 troops were treated for concussion symptoms

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Trump and military initially said no service members were hurt in retaliatory strike over Suleimani killing

The United States treated 11 of its troops for symptoms of concussion after an Iranian missile attack on an Iraqi base where US forces were stationed, the US military said on Thursday, after initially saying no service members were hurt.

The attack was retaliation for a US drone strike in Baghdad on 3 January that killed Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the elite Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

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US to expel a dozen Saudi trainees in wake of Florida naval base shooting

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Trainees not involved in attack but reportedly accused of having extremist links or possessing child abuse images

The US will expel at least a dozen Saudi military students accused of extremist links and possessing child sexual abuse images, after an investigation into a shooting rampage by a Saudi officer in Florida, according to media reports.

In December Mohammed Alshamrani, who was in the US as part of a Saudi military training program, opened fire in a classroom at the Pensacola naval air station, killing three sailors and wounding eight other people before being shot dead by police.

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Two US military service members killed in Afghanistan

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  • Roadside bomb explosion seems certain to stall Taliban talks
  • Two US service members wounded, military says

Two US service members were killed and two injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, the US military said on Saturday.

In keeping with defense department rules, the military did not identify the service members.

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Killing Iran general delivered ‘American justice’, Trump tells rally

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US president calls Qassem Suleimani a ‘blood-thirsty terror’ to cheers from crowd in first campaign rally of the year

President Donald Trump made the killing of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani a theme of his re-election campaign on Thursday, drawing cheers from thousands at a rally when he said the death saved lives and delivered “American justice”.

At the campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, Trump spent a lengthy part of his stump speech defending his order to kill Suleimani and rejecting criticism from Democrats who say he overstepped his authority with the US military’s drone strike against the commander of Iran’s military al-Quds force at Baghdad airport a week ago.

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Trump backs away from further military confrontation with Iran

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‘Iran appears to be standing down,’ Trump said, in an uncharacteristically sober speech following rising tensions between US and Iran

Donald Trump backed away from further military confrontation with Iran on Wednesday after days of escalating tensions, saying Tehran appeared to be standing down following missile attacks on two Iraqi bases hosting US and coalition troops.

Flanked by the vice-president, Mike Pence, the defense secretary, Mark Esper, and other high ranking military officials in uniform, Trump delivered remarks in the Grand Foyer of the White House, hours after Iran declared the attack to be retaliation for the US drone strike last week that killed the senior Iranian Gen Qassem Suleimani.

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Iran’s assault on US bases in Iraq might satisfy both sides

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Tehran can show it has retaliated over the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, while US may shrug off limited nature of strike

The “severe revenge” Iran promised for the death of Qassem Suleimani was heralded on Wednesday morning by at least two waves of short-range missile attacks on bases in Iraq hosting US and coalition personnel.

The attacks will provide an opportunity for hawks inside the Donald Trump administration to ratchet up the conflict with Iran – but also potentially a pathway out of the crisis.

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Diplomacy over Iran is still possible – if only to avoid an all-out war

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Tehran has vowed revenge for the killing of Qassem Suleimani but conflict is not yet certain

The threats emanating from Twitter feeds and podiums in Tehran and Washington might suggest the moment for diplomacy has long passed, and some form of war between the US and Iran following the assassination of Qassem Suleimani is now inevitable.

The only consideration that might hold the two sides back is the possible consequences. Tehran has tasted the unpredictability of Donald Trump and however much the desire for revenge beats in the hearts of Iranians, European leaders are pleading with Tehran’s leadership, saying it has a responsibility to use its head and recognise any direct attack on US assets in the Middle East is likely to be met with a further escalation by Trump.

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Impeachment: Warren accuses Trump of ‘wag the dog’ strike on Suleimani

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Elizabeth Warren has suggested Donald Trump ordered the drone assassination of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani to distract the American public from his own impeachment, taking the country “to the edge of war” for his own political purposes.

Related: Making of a martyr: how Qassem Suleimani was hunted down

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US government agency website crashes amid panic over military draft

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Selective Service System said on Twitter its website was receiving high traffic volume ‘due to the spread of misinformation’

In the aftermath of the US drone strike that killed the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad, the phrase “World War III” began trending on social media.

More startlingly, a US government agency which registers young men for a potential military draft saw its website crash.

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Iraq riots expose an America weaker and with fewer options

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Mobbing of US embassy after US strikes on state-sanctioned militia show America’s plan of maximum pressure only added to chaos

The mobbing of a US embassy has historically served as an emblem of America in decline, so the scenes around the embattled mission in Baghdad are a fitting end to the decade.

Related: Trump accuses Iran over storming of US embassy compound in Baghdad

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Top UN official accuses US of torturing Chelsea Manning

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Ex-Army intelligence analyst jailed over refusal to testify against WikiLeaks reportedly subjected to ‘severe measures of coercion’

A top United Nations official has accused the US government of using torture against Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst currently jailed in the US over her refusal to testify against WikiLeaks.

Nils Melzer, UN special rapporteur on torture, made the charge in a letter sent in November but only released on Tuesday.

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Aftermath of US airstrike on Kata’ib Hezbollah militia in Iraq – video

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The US military carried out airstrikes on Sunday against the Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of an American civilian contractor in a rocket attack on a US military base in Iraq. An Iraqi militia leader warned of a strong response after airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed at least 25 people overnight. This footage shows the aftermath of a strike on Kata'ib Hezbollah's headquarters in the Iraqi town of Qaim

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Navy Seal pardoned of war crimes by Trump described by colleagues as ‘freaking evil’

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Eddie Gallagher ‘OK with killing anything that moved’, Iraq veterans told investigators in testimony obtained by New York Times

A Navy Seal platoon leader controversially cleared of war crimes by Donald Trump was a “toxic” character who was “OK with killing anything that moved”, according to fellow Iraq veterans who reported his conduct to military investigators.

Related: 2019: the year US foreign policy fell apart

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Navy Seal accused of war crimes meets Trump and thanks him for pardon

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Eddie Gallagher convicted of posing with dead boy of teenage Islamic State terrorist posts photographs with Trump

A former Navy Seal controversially granted clemency for war crimes by Donald Trump last month was photographed with the president in Florida at the weekend, and handed over a gift to thank him for reversing his demotion.

Chief petty officer Eddie Gallagher, who was convicted of posing with the dead body of a teenage Islamic State terrorist he had just killed in Iraq in 2017, posted photographs to his Instagram account showing himself and his wife Andrea meeting the president and first lady, Melania Trump, at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

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Donald Trump launches space force for ‘world’s new war-fighting domain’ – video

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Donald Trump launched the US space force, the first new US military service in more than 70 years. ‘Space is the world’s new war-fighting domain,’ Trump said during a signing ceremony of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that includes the force.

The move is part of a $1.4tn (£1.1tn) government spending package reversing automatic spending cuts to defence and domestic programmes

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Donald Trump officially launches US space force

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US president approves funding for America’s first new military service in 70 years

Donald Trump has launched space force, the first new US military service in more than 70 years.

In signing the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that includes the force, Trump claimed a victory for one of his top national security priorities two days after being impeached by the House of Representatives.

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