| News |
|---|
Rand Paul Takes On ‘Eye Roll’ Caucus to Oppose Data Gathering in Patriot Act
It came as no surprise when Mr. Paul took to the floor on Sunday evening to fulfill his promise to use his power as a single senator to try to ensure that the section of the Patriot Act used by the National Security Agency to vacuum up reams of telephone data would expire at midnight.
Mr. Rand’s stand was a lonely one. His tactics were publicly shunned by some of his Republican colleagues, and he did not attend a Republican strategy session before a critical vote to move forward on a replacement surveillance bill passed by the House.
New York Times
2015-06-01, 6:13:44 AM
Helmand-based Afghan soldiers largely abandon counterinsurgency patrols
During a three-day Stars and Stripes visit to Camp Shorabak, contingents of Afghan soldiers who left the base were either running supply convoys or conducting bare perimeter sweeps, officials said, essentially patrolling the remnants of the bases the Western soldiers used to occupy.
Meanwhile the ANA is losing men and money. Analysts and military leaders have warned their mounting casualty rate is unsustainable, and their U.S.-funded operating budget has been roughly halved over recent years.
2015-06-01, 7:13:44 AM
Stars and Stripes
Army combat veteran’s call for help lands him in jail
For years, Ryan Broderick has been trapped inside his mind, watching a constant reel of explosions that rocked the Army vehicles he had scrubbed of blood during three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Broderick found himself at a breaking point on Jan. 29. He hadn’t slept in three days, and just a month before, he had thought about killing himself. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the ground and buildings shake around him from another mortar attack.
Stars and Stripes
2015-06-01, 7:13:44 AM
Gotcha! Russia MH17 lies caught
Using satellite imagery the Russian government wanted to prove that Ukraine was responsible for shooting down Maylasia Airlines MH-17 on 17 July 2014. The British forensic research group Bellingcat demonstrates that the photos are manipulated.
John McCain mocks Obama for calling climate change a threat as Isis advances
“There is no strategy, and anybody who says there is, I’d like to hear what it is,” McCain said, appearing on CBS News. “Because it certainly isn’t apparent. Right now we are seeing these horrible reports, in Palmyra, they’re executing people and leaving their bodies in the streets.
McCain rejected the notion that war-weary Americans would not support a broad new war in the Middle East.
“There is a larger number of Americans that believe that we ought to have more American troops on the ground,” he said.
Bin Laden’s papers show he studied US terrorism investigations, military history
The Obama administration on Wednesday released details of what it calls “Bin Laden’s Bookshelf,” more than 400 documents, reports, books and other materials seized during the May 2011 raid by Navy SEALs in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden.
Does Ramadi’s fall degrade sacrifice of those who fought, died there?
Veterans of the bloody battles that American troops fought to stabilize Ramadi have expressed anguish, frustration and anger at what is the latest sign of unraveling in a country in which nearly 4,500 U.S. troops died during a controversial eight-year military effort.
US Service members load relief supplies onto a US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey in Nepal May 16
2nd Marine dies of injuries suffered in Osprey crash
Twenty-two Marines were on board the MV-22B Osprey, an airplane-and-helicopter hybrid, when it crashed during a training exercise around 11:40 a.m. local time at Bellows Air Force Station on the island of Oahu. The cause of the accident was still under investigation.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"]
Nato’s Jens Stoltenberg met Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov
Secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and Sergey Lavrov met Tuesday in Brussels to discuss NATO-Russia relations including military-to-military lines of communications, need for transparency in military activities and the importance of fulfilling the Minsk Agreement. Stoltenberg called for an end to Russia’s military exercises close to the Ukrainian border and said Russia must be more transparent about its military activities reports VOA.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Lavrov" _builder_version="4.23.1" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"]
Sergey Lavrov blames US for Ukraine hostilities after Soviet Invasion
Russia’s Foreign Minister has criticized the United States for participating in Ukraine’s affairs “not always in a constructive way,” another sign of the heightened rhetorical tone between the two countries. Lavrov also condemned what he called radical forces in Kyiv and other capitals and warned that any provocation to “further escalate” the conflict would have “terrible consequences both for Ukraine and the entire European security system.”
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label="Sanctions" _builder_version="4.16" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat" global_colors_info="{}"]
Sanctions force Russia to abandon next-gen warship construction plans
Construction of a new class of highly advanced warships for the Russian navy has been abandoned after shipbuilders were unable to find parts to replace foreign hardware cut off by Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.
“Currently two of the ships are being built at our shipyards, [but] apparently they will be the only two ships from this project,” the marketing director of the Severnaya Verf shipyard, Leonid Kuzmin, told RIA Wednesday. The yard has had trouble finding replacements to Western components used in the design.
PHOTO: The Sevastopol mistral warship is on its way for its first sea trials, on March 16, 2015 off Saint-Nazaire.