Special Forces Officer charged with murder: Trump intervenes

A decorated Special Forces officer is facing murder charges over the premeditated killing of a Taliban bomb-maker almost a decade ago. https://www.instagram.com/p/Brn2UrJh6Cq/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet In 2010, Major Matt Golsteyn killed a captured Taliban over concerns that the man would escape justice and jeopardise the security of local elders who were supporting the Afghan government and international coalition. […]

Of beans and bombs: US Senate is ceding its authority in dealing with Yemen

In lieu of a successful vote on a bipartisan proposal by Senators Lee and Sanders to end Congressional support for US military involvement in the Yemeni civil war, Republican leadership attached language supporting US involvement in the conflict to the 2018 farm bill. The relevant language of the attached resolution actually goes so far as […]

Did Justice Kavanaugh “betray” conservatives with abortion vote?

Much has been made in the past week — on conservative talk radio and among the rest of the punditry — of the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant cert on an “abortion case” in which two lower federal courts had ruled that states violated federal law when they terminated Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood affiliates. […]

End in sight? Trump ponders troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2020

It’s December. The new year is just around the corner. And that it means that the war in Afghanistan will enter its 18th year. What began as an attempt to obliterate al Qaeda and its Taliban hosts, has evolved throughout the years in a protracted conflict with no end in sight. Apparently, the Afghan government […]

‘Russia has 60 days to stop illegal nuke program, or else’ US and NATO take off the gloves

In a rare show of support to the Trump administration, NATO has accused Russia of breaching a Cold War-era nuclear missile treaty. In a high-level meeting of NATO officials in Brussels, the 29 foreign ministers of the transatlantic alliance voiced their concerns with Moscow’s development of medium-range nuclear missiles. According to the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear […]

Army soldier who joined ISIS and planned attacks gets 25 years in prison

A U.S. soldier has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for swearing allegiance to the Islamic State and plotting a terrorist attack in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sergeant First Class Ikaika Erik Kang began his ISIS indoctrination in the early months of 2016. The process included repetitive watching of ISIS propaganda videos. He also watched multiple videos with […]

Permission to kill: Australian spooks authorized to use lethal force

The Australian government will be authorising new criteria for the use of lethal force by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). Under the Intelligence Services Amendment Bill, ASIS officers will be able to use reasonable force when necessary in overseas operations to protect themselves and friendly parties. Hitherto, ASIS officers could only use their weapons for self-protection […]

Did Czech SOF and American SF beat an Afghan commando to death?

xA number of Czech soldiers and a team of Green Berets from 7th Special Forces Group are being investigated over the death of an Afghan commando who killed a Czech soldier and wounded two others in an insider attack. Last October, Wahidullah Khan, fired at a vehicle carrying Czech soldiers, who were returning from a […]