Author: Brett Wilkins

Peace advocates on Monday responded toa report about a U.S. military unit that killed Syrian civilians at 10 times the rate of similar operations in other theaters of the so-called War on Terror by accusing the United States of hypocritically sanctioning countries while committing atrocities of its own, and by reminding people that there is no such thing as a “humane” war.

On Sunday, The New York Timesreported the existence of Talon Anvil, a “shadowy force” that “sidestepped safeguards and repeatedly killed civilians” in aerial bombardments targeting militants in Syria. The unit “worked in three shifts around the clock between 2014 and 2019, pinpointing targets for the United States’ formidable air power to hit: convoys, car bombs, command centers, and squads of enemy fighters.”

“But people who worked with the strike cell say in the rush to destroy enemies, it circumvented rules imposed to protect noncombatants, and alarmed its partners in the military and the CIA by killing people who had no role in the conflict,” the paper reported, including “farmers trying to harvest, children in the street, families fleeing fighting, and villagers sheltering in buildings.”

Continue reading “‘Stomach-Wrenching’ Report Reveals Secret US Strike Command’s High Civilian Death Toll”

In a continuation of a long history of impunity for U.S. troops who harm noncombatants during wartime, the Pentagon said Monday that none of the military personnel involved in an unmanned aerial drone strike that killed 10 civilians – seven of them children – during the final days of the war in Afghanistan would be punished.

When asked if anyone would be held accountable for the August 29 strike that killed aid worker Zamairi Ahmadi and nine of his relatives, including children as young as two years old, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a Monday press conference that he does “not anticipate there being issues of personal accountability to be had” regarding the attack.

Continue reading “No Punishment for US Troops Who Slaughtered 10 Afghan Civilians, Says Pentagon Chief”

A new report and interactive map published Thursday by a leading airstrike monitoring organization offer detailed insight into incidents of civilian harm caused by Israel Defense Forces’ aerial bombardment of Gaza during the May 2021 Operation Guardian of the Walls assault on the Palestinian territory, as well as casualties resulting from militant rocket attacks on Israel.

The report – entitled “Why Did They Bomb Us?” Urban Civilian Harm in Gaza, Syria, and Israel From Explosive Weapons Use – was published by the U.K.-based airstrike watchdog Airwars. The group said the publication “comprehensively documents the civilian toll of recent Israeli actions in Gaza and Syria, as well as from Palestinian rocket fire into Israel” during the 15-day war.

The report’s interactive map shows neighborhood-level data – including names, ages, relations, and locations – and allows users to navigate through 128 separate incidents of civilian harm in Gaza.

Continue reading “New Interactive Map Gives Ground-Level Look at High Civilian Toll of Israel’s Gaza War”

As Russian President Vladimir Putin responded Wednesday to NATO provocations along his nation’s western frontier by warning that his country reserves the right to defend itself, peace advocates stressed the need for US self-awareness and restraint in order to avoid a “new Cold War.”

Following US vows to “stand up for Ukraine” – including by sending combat troops and sanctioning Moscow – in the event of Russian aggression, Putin said during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that “Russia has a peaceful foreign policy, but has the right to defend its security,” according to Agence France-Presse.

The remarks were Putin’s first in public since he and US President Joe Biden met during a two-hour virtual summit on Tuesday. US leaders are alarmed by Russia’s concentration of troops within striking distance of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting government forces since 2014.

Continue reading “As Putin Asserts Russia’s Right to Defend Against NATO, US Urged to Avoid ‘New Cold War’”

Human rights defenders on Tuesday renewed demands for President Joe Biden to close the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba as the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing at which experts and advocates testified about the damage that Gitmo does to detainees, the nation’s standing in the world, and the elusive pursuit of justice for victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and their families.

Lamenting that two-third of the remaining 39 Guantánamo prisoners – there have been approximately 780 men and boys held at the facility since 2002 – have not been charged with any crime, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked, “How can that possibly be justice?”

“The story of Guantánamo is the story of a nation that lost its way,” said Durbin, to the protestations of observers who noted that indefinite detention and torture have been part of the US narrative for centuries. “It is a story of justice delayed and denied again and again – not only for detainees but also for the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones.”

Continue reading “As Senate Holds Guantánamo Hearing, Biden Urged to ‘Finally End This Chapter of Injustice’”

The United States Senate on Tuesday evening voted down a joint resolution that would have blocked the proposed sale of $650 million worth of U.S. armaments to Saudi Arabia, weapons critics said will help exacerbate a war in Yemen that is driving one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In a 67-30 vote, the upper chamber rejected S.J. Res. 31, which was introduced by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and would have halted the sale of 280 Raytheon AIM-120C-7/C-8 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, 596 LAU-128 missile rail launchers, along with spare parts, support, and logistical services to the Saudi monarchy for use in its war against Yemen.

“My simple question is, why in the world would the United States reward a regime that has caused such pain in Yemen with more weapons,” Sanders tweeted after the vote. “The answer is we should not.”

Continue reading “Senate Dems Help Torpedo Resolution That Would Have Blocked $650 Million Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia”