politics
Iran missile attack: Iran attacks two Iraqi bases housing US forces in revenge for Soleimani’s death
A US official told CNN that there were no initial reports of any US casualties, but an assessment is underway. There are casualties among the Iraqis at Ain al-Asad airbase following the attack, an Iraqi security source tells CNN. The number of casualties and whether the individuals were killed or wounded was not immediately clear. …
Mark Esper says US isn’t looking ‘to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one’
“We are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one,” Esper said during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Earlier Tuesday, CNN reported that US forces and air-defense missile batteries across the Middle East were placed on high alert overnight Monday to possibly shoot down Iranian drones as …
Esper contradicts Trump on targeting Iranian cultural sites: We ‘follow the laws of armed conflict’
“We will follow the laws of armed conflict,” Esper told CNN Monday. When pressed if that meant not targeting Iranian cultural sites, Esper replied, “That’s the laws of armed conflict.” “They’re allowed to kill our people, they’re allowed to torture and maim our people, they’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people, …
Donald Trump’s deeply twisted idea of American exceptionalism
In the wake of the American drone strike that killed Soleimani, Trump tweeted that if Iran retaliated, they should know that he (and the United States) had already “targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the …
Nancy Pelosi says House will introduce ‘War Power Resolution’ aimed to limit Trump’s Iran military action
The resolution, Pelosi writes, “reasserts Congress’s long-established oversight responsibilities by mandating that if no further Congressional action is taken, the Administration’s military hostilities with regard to Iran cease within 30 days.” The letter comes as the US is deploying thousands of additional troops to the Middle East following the airstrike that killed Iranian commander Qasem …
DHS monitoring apparent hack of government library program website
The website on Saturday evening displayed an image of President Donald Trump bleeding from his mouth with an Islamic Revolutionary Guard fist in his face. The Federal Depository Library Program website, which is run by the Government Publishing Office and makes federal government documents and information available to the public, featured the image and is …
US strike that killed Iranian commander starkly divides US lawmakers
The Pentagon confirmed in a statement that Trump had ordered the strike, saying Soleimani “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands …
Ranking the 5 Democrats with the best chance of winning in 2020
But most of those folks — sorry Marianne Williamson! — have somewhere between very little and no chance of winning the Democratic nomination. We are now a month away from the Iowa caucuses, and if you are still at 1% (or close to it), well, it’s not going to happen for you. With that in …
Sanders’ $34.5 million haul leads Democrats’ 4th quarter totals so far
Sanders was the second candidate vying for the Democratic nomination to announce his fundraising numbers in the fourth quarter, a day after former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg announced raising $24.7 million. The other Democrats who have emerged in the top tier, former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have not …
Banning Huawei would leave Britain trailing behind on technology
The issue of 5G has been hitting the headlines for a while. Reports, however, have been dominated by unfair and untrue touting of the so-called “Huawei threat” and “technology cold war”, and even talk of building a “wall” that would divide the global telecommunications sector. Such stories are harmful to the normal development of the …