In Pictures: The 4th of July Through the Years
A collection of American Independence Day celebrations in our history.
Luke Ryan
What Does It Mean to Be a Ranger?
Pass Ranger Assessment and Selection Program and that’s it. But it’s easier said than done.
Passengers in a World Ruled by Nature
Nature is a great and indifferent beast — it doesn’t care if you live or die. And we live in her house.
Iran’s drug problem
Iran is notorious for the opium flowing within its borders. A significant portion of their population is plagued with addictions to opiates, and their meth problem is pretty severe as well. Some estimates in 2015 put the number of those addicted to illegal drugs at 2.2 million — 2.75% of the overall population. It has […]
Bangladesh to stop labeling refugees ‘forcibly displaced’ due to Myanmar request
Until now, the Bangladesh government has been labeling Rohingya refugees out of Myanmar as “forcibly displaced” since October of last year. At that point in time, approximately 500,000 people had fled from the military violence in Myanmar across the border and into Bangladesh. Since then, an additional 200,000 has made for a total of 700,000 […]
Mattis: US Navy hospital ship to aid Venezuelan migrants
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said recently that a Navy hospital ship would be deployed to Colombia in an aid mission set to help the Venezuelan migrants there. According to the U.N., 2.3 million migrants are flooding away from Venezuela to places like Colombia (also to Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru) — that’s approximately 7% of […]
The growing talks of peace: Taliban agrees to another religious holiday cease-fire
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered yet another temporary peace agreement on a religious holiday, akin to the agreement honored by both sides in mid-June. This cease fire will revolve around Eid al-Adha, and the despite the heavy fighting between NATO forces and the Afghan government against the Taliban in Ghazni recently, the Taliban have agreed. ….we […]
Monsoon season around the world
Monsoons around the world have been particularly devastating this year — from the refugee camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh to south India to the trapped kids in Thailand, the heavy rainy season has been brutal and unrelenting. In south India, BBC has reported that approximately 324 people have died due to the rains — many […]
Hollywood and the old man warfighter
You probably know the image — a worn and weathered man with salt-and-pepper hair, a gruff 5 o’ clock shadow, and that thousand-yard stare emanating from his aged, experienced eyes. He’s been fighting since he was 18-years-old, and the actor is probably in his 40s. He’s the leading man in the vast majority of action […]
Methods of financing terror: The uses of ‘Hawala’
“Hawala” has long been a method of both legitimate money transfer among Muslim nations, as well as a method of financing terror organizations through illicit and difficult to trace channels. It’s a system based not on checks, balances, account numbers or debts, rather, it’s based on honor. The brokers who operate hawala (hawaladars) base their […]
Analysis: US air support takes out over 220 Taliban fighters
The United States Air Force and Army air support have been busy this week. Ghazni has seen fierce fighting, as the Taliban have been pushing to take the city — to no avail. Fighters from the U.S. Air Force and Army Apache gunships have killed over 220 Taliban fighters in the area since Aug. 10, […]
Analysis: At least 48 killed in suicide attack in Kabul, likely the Islamic State
An explosion ripped through an education center in Kabul, Afghanistan. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive strapped to their person, killing at least 48 and wounding approximately 67 — these numbers are still coming in and will likely change as more details become apparent. The mass majority of the victims, who were civilians, were young […]
