[pjw] NEWS: Intense US-involved or US-backed warfare in 3 countries

[Peace and Justice Works]

Friends
As we gear up for the "Current Wars, New Wars, Street Wars" forum on 
Saturday, things have become quite heated in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Responding to the Kurdish region's vote for independence, the US-armed 
Iraqi military moved in to confront the US-armed Kurdish fighters.

   https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iraq/1.817465
  Battle for Kurdistan: U.S. Weapons Face Off Against U.S. Weapons as Iraqi
  Forces Seize Key Kurdish Oil Center

The US also actively helped with military strikes and perhaps ground 
forces to push the Islamic State out of Raqqa in Syria, which could lead 
to an end of US engagement in Syria (who knows what will happen if Syria 
demands the US withdraw), but as too mildly put by Reuters:

    The coalition has said Raqqa was a center for attacks abroad, and in
    November 2015, after militants killed more than 130 people in Paris,
    France launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets in the city.

    But as the group defends its last patch of bomb-cratered ground in the
    city, the cost of the battle lies evident all around. Much of Raqqa
    lies ruined, hundreds of civilians have been killed, and thousands more
    have fled.

  http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-raqqa/u-s-backed-forces-in-final-push-against-islamic-state-raqqa-idUSKBN1CL0T3
  U.S.-backed forces in final push against Islamic State Raqqa

Below is an article from The Hill describing US attacks (including by 
drone) on what they are calling ISIS training camps in Yemen. The article 
notes there have been 80 airstrikes since January. This doesn't address 
the US' role in supporting the Saudi-driven civil war and the widespread 
disease, famine and misery being caused by that other military engagement.

So... there's a lot going on, a lot of work to do to end the wars and 
bring all the troops home. We need to keep speaking out or the 
normalization of all this violence will encourage more of the same.
dan h
peace and justice works iraq affinity group


  http://thehill.com/policy/defense/355733-pentagon-dozens-of-isis-fighters-killed-in-yemen-strikes
Pentagon: Dozens of ISIS fighters killed in Yemen strikes
    By Ellen Mitchell - 10/16/17 06:34 PM EDT

    The Pentagon said U.S. forces killed dozens of Islamic State of Iraq
    and Syria (ISIS) members in a Monday strike on two training camps in
    Yemen.

    The ISIS camps in the Al Bayda Governorate disrupted the organization's
    attempts to train new fighters, the Defense Department said in a
    statement.

    ÒISIS used the camps to train militants to conduct terror attacks using
    AK-47s, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and endurance
    training,Ó the statement said.

    The Pentagon did not say how the strikes were conducted, but a defense
    official told The Associated Press drones were used.

    ÒISIS has used the ungoverned spaces of Yemen to plot, direct,
    instigate, resource and recruit for attacks against America and its
    allies around the world,Ó the Pentagon said.

    The United States doesnÕt officially have troops on the ground in
    Yemen, but the Pentagon said it does support Òongoing counterterrorism
    operationsÓ in the country against ISIS and al-Qaeda in the Arabian
    Peninsula Ñ described as the most dangerous of al QaedaÕs branches.

    The U.S. military ramped up airstrikes against the group Ñ more than 80
    since February Ñ after President Trump gave the military expanded
    authority to conduct such strikes without high-level approval from the
    White House.

    U.S. forces have also conducted at least two ground raids in Yemen
    since Trump took office, including the controversial Jan. 29 raid that
    resulted in the death of Navy SEAL Chief Special Warfare Operator
    William ÒRyanÓ Owens and a number of Yemeni civilians.