Military Complex

(ANTIWAR.COM) — For the last 16 years, the Pentagon’s “progress” in the occupation of Afghanistan has been measured by officials through multiple different statistics, and one most often cited has been the size of the Afghan military. Those numbers have struggled recently, with Afghanistan not recruiting well nor retaining its recruits. So that’s not a metric anymore.

(ANTIWAR.COM) — The latest quarterly report on Afghanistan civilian casualties from the United Nations once again is bad news, unsurprising since all other reports on the Afghan War for months have been worse and worse.

Weapons sales to Saudi Arabia face increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and rights campaigners in Washington.

(MEE) — The US State Department has approved the possible sale of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile defense system to Saudi Arabia at an estimated cost of $15b, the Pentagon said on Friday.

(ANTIMEDIA) Washington, D.C.  — In front of cameras on Thursday evening, as he met with senior military officials and their spouses at the White House, President Donald Trump said those in attendance could be witnessing the “calm before the storm.”
“You guys know what this represents?” Trump asked as he and his guests posed for photos before dinner. “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.”

(ANTIMEDIA) — The United States has been bombing the Syrian city of Raqqa into complete devastation at the rate of at least one air-delivered munition every 8 minutes, according to monitoring group Airwars. The organization found that in August, there was a sharp increase in the number of bombs dropped by the U.S.-led coalition. This resulted in at least 433 civilian deaths in that month alone.
From Airwars’ monthly report:

(RPI) — Now that the defeat of ISIS in Syria appears imminent, with the Syrian army clearing out some of the last ISIS strongholds in the east, Washington’s interventionists are searching for new excuses to maintain the illegal US military presence in the country. Their original rationale for intervention has long been exposed as another lie.

Human rights groups argue the move could led to an upsurge in civilian casualties, which are already soaring under Trump.

For decades the American Right has decried the U.N. for encroaching on American sovereignty, but the truth is that the U.N. is a chief U.S. accomplice in violating the sovereignty of other nations, notes J.P. Sottile.

“Reminder,” says one critic of president’s speech to UN General Assembly: “threatening to kill 25 million North Koreans because you don’t like their leader is threatening to commit genocide.”

(COMMONDREAMS) — For what he said — and also for what he refused to mention — President Donald Trump was lampooned by progressive critics as he delivered his first ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday morning.

Israeli General Tzvika Haimovitch, the head of Israel’s Aerial Defense Command, says the move is historic and proves US “strategic commitment.”