Veterans Day around the world

Veterans Day around the world

Veterans Day, or Remembrance Day or Armistice Day, as it’s also known in the Commonwealth countries, just ended.  Let’s see how people honored their militaries’ sacrifices. In northern France, a 100-gun salute commemorated the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele.  Reenactors from around the world gathered and fired restored WWI artillery pieces. Passchendaele, which took […]

US Marines are returning to ‘old stomping grounds’ in Iraq to fight an evolving enemy

US Marines are returning to ‘old stomping grounds’ in Iraq to fight an evolving enemy

ISIS has been ousted from many of its redoubts in western Iraq. But remnants of the group remain, and divisions between Iraqis appear to be growing. Iraqis in the area fear a return of insurgency and sectarian violence, while some US personnel anticipate a presence there for generations. Iraqi forces “swiftly and thoroughly” ejected ISIS […]

Russia, U.S. In a Stalemate Over Syria Chemical Weapons Probe

Russia, U.S. In a Stalemate Over Syria Chemical Weapons Probe

Russia was playing double speak on Monday, on one hand stating that it was still in talks with the United States about the ongoing inquiry by the U.N. Security Council into the Syrian governments use of chemical weapons on their own people, but the US countered that the Russians have refused to engage on the […]

Raqqa’s Dirty Secret, Thousands of ISIS Fighters, Families Allowed to Flee

Raqqa’s Dirty Secret, Thousands of ISIS Fighters, Families Allowed to Flee

After months of bloody, hard fighting, the Syrians trying to take back their territory from the Islamic State wanted the fighting to be over. Especially so in the self-styled “caliphate” of Raqqa. The Syrians entered into a deal with ISIS to allow their fighters and families to escape Raqqa. The agreement was supposed to forbid […]

US steps up campaign against Al Shabab and ISIS with 3 drone strikes in Somalia in 24 hours

US steps up campaign against Al Shabab and ISIS with 3 drone strikes in Somalia in 24 hours

The US military command in Africa says it carried out three drone strikes against Islamic extremists in Somalia within 24 hours, stepping up their campaign against al-Shabab and the Islamic State group. A spokeswoman for the US Africa command told The Associated Press Sunday that the attacks by unmanned drones killed several extremist fighters.   […]

Iranian-backed militias routed in last Syrian militant stronghold

Iranian-backed militias routed in last Syrian militant stronghold

Islamic State militants regained control of Albu Kamal, their last stronghold in Syria, after Iranian-backed militias who claimed to have captured the city a few days earlier were ambushed and forced to retreat, tribal leaders, residents and a war monitor said on Monday. Fighters from Lebanese Shia Hezbollah in Syria who joined forces with Iraqi […]

Celebrating Veterans Day In Our Schools Is Possibly the Most Meaningful

Celebrating Veterans Day In Our Schools Is Possibly the Most Meaningful

First of all, a belated Happy Veterans Day to all of those who serve, have served and especially for those who are about to serve. Last week was a very busy one for the veterans in our small town in Central Massachusetts. Members of our local Veterans Council, the VFW, and the American Legion were […]

UK to end ISIS bombing campaign

UK to end ISIS bombing campaign

London, England—The Royal Air Force’s campaign against ISIS is coming to an end. Operation Shader, which began in 2014, is set to conclude next year, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). First to depart will be the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoon jets and GR4 Tornado fighter-bombers. RAF manned and unmanned planes have conducted around 1600 […]

Rebuilding “Hell Square” in Raqqa, Syria A Difficult Task

Rebuilding “Hell Square” in Raqqa, Syria A Difficult Task

The battle to liberate Raqqa from the Islamic State by the US-led coalition took months of hard fighting. Now the city is a bombed-out shell of itself. No one knows exactly how many lives were lost. Raqqa is devastated and according to officials, it will take months or even years to make the city habitable […]

Two Suicide Bombers Hit Paramilitary Force in Kirkuk, Iraq

Two Suicide Bombers Hit Paramilitary Force in Kirkuk, Iraq

Kirkuk, Iraq was rocked by two suicide bombers that killed at least five people and wounded another 20 more. The city, in the northeast area of Iraq, was the scene of a battle between Islamic State fighters and the Iraqi government troops before another confrontation in October when Iraqi government and Shiite militias moved quickly […]

UN report details ISIS atrocities in Mosul

UN report details ISIS atrocities in Mosul

A report released by the United Nations last week sheds light on a more precise human toll that the Islamic State took on the civilians of Mosul before their ouster earlier this year. The report describes in great detail the total disregard ISIS had for the civilian inhabitants of Mosul, as well as the infrastructure […]