Military & War News and Discussions

weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Pentagon won't require vaccine for troop deployments, but other details unclear
Source: Politico

The Pentagon will not require troops heading out on deployment to get vaccinated against Covid-19, but those who are unvaccinated will still need to wear a mask, undergo regular testing and face to-be-determined travel restrictions, a defense official told POLITICO Friday.

“We are already deploying with unvaccinated personnel, and that will continue,” said the official, who like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans.

The details come a day after President Joe Biden issued a directive requiring federal employees to get the vaccine or submit to regular testing. The mandate will apply to 1.4 million active-duty troops and more than 700,000 civilian personnel.

After Biden spoke, the Pentagon on Thursday night released a statement adding that those “who are unable or unwilling” to prove their vaccination status will be “subject to official travel restrictions,” raising questions as to whether it the rule affected deployments. The defense official said that while deployments will continue, the exact details of the unspecified travel restrictions will be addressed in the coming days.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/penta ... li=BBnb7Kz
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Pentagon to require COVID vaccine for all troops by Sept. 15
Source: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon will require members of the U.S. military to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 15, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. That deadline could be pushed up if the vaccine receives final FDA approval or infection rates continue to rise.

“I will seek the president’s approval to make the vaccines mandatory no later than mid-September, or immediately upon" licensure by the Food and Drug Administration "whichever comes first,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says in the memo to troops, warning them to prepare for the requirement. "I will not hesitate to act sooner or recommend a different course to the President if l feel the need to do so.”

The memo is expected to go out Monday.

Austin's decision comes a bit more than a week after President Joe Biden told defense officials to develop a plan requiring troops to get shots as part of a broader campaign to increase vaccinations in the federal workforce. It reflects similar decisions by governments and companies around the world, as nations struggle with the highly contagious delta variant that has sent new U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths surging to heights not see since the peaks last winter.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/penta ... uxbndlbing
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Chinese State Media Says Afghanistan a Lesson for Taiwan on How U.S. Abandons Allies
Jon Jackson 1 hr ago
The Global Times, a tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, warned Taiwan on Monday it could face the same fate as Afghanistan if it continued relying on the United States as an ally.
Tsai Ing-wen standing in front of a building: File photo: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen addresses soldiers amid the COVID-19 pandemic during her visit to a military base in Tainan, southern Taiwan, on April 9, 2020. © Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images File photo: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen addresses soldiers amid the COVID-19 pandemic during her visit to a military base in Tainan, southern Taiwan, on April 9, 2020.

The paper's editorial began by describing how the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan caused the Taliban's forces to quickly seize control in what it deemed "a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the U.S."

The Times then cited what it called similar situations, such as the fall of Saigon during the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 when the U.S. evacuated its citizens from the city. The tabloid also wrote of how the U.S. "abandoned their allies, the Kurds," when it withdrew troops from northern Syria in 2019.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ch ... hp&pc=U531
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Biden ignored UK PM Boris Johnson's attempts to phone call him for 36 hours. No communication or Consultation with allies on the plan to withdraw.
^

Posted on 8/19/2021, 10:15:37 AM by sinsofsolarempirefan

Two remarkable lines in today’s papers from @Steven_Swinford

@benrileysmith

— UK military left in the dark by the US about timings and pace of their withdrawal… UK official confirms this is the case — Biden ignored Boris Johnson’s attempts to speak on the phone for 36+ hours
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Taliban spokesperson says China could contribute to Afghanistan's development
Source: The Hill

A Taliban spokesperson told Chinese state media Thursday that China could play a role in the future of Afghanistan.

In an interview with China's state CGTN television, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said China would be able to contribute to Afghanistan's development after the Taliban takeover, Thomas Reuters Foundation News reported.

China has signaled to the Taliban that it is ready to work with their new government, despite other countries' hesitancy towards the group.

"The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China's participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said a day after the Taliban took control of Kabul.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ta ... id=DELLDHP
User avatar
raklian
Posts: 1747
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:46 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by raklian »

weatheriscool wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 5:32 pm
— UK military left in the dark by the US about timings and pace of their withdrawal… UK official confirms this is the case — Biden ignored Boris Johnson’s attempts to speak on the phone for 36+ hours
We don't know why Biden ignored Boris. Biden may have had a good cause to ignore him. He's privy to information than we do not.

Let's not to jump to conclusions yet.
To know is essentially the same as not knowing. The only thing that occurs is the rearrangement of atoms in your brain.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

Tens of thousands of civilians likely killed by US in ‘Forever Wars’
by Imogen Piper and Joe Dyke
September 6, 2021

https://airwars.org/news-and-investigat ... ever-wars/

Introduction:
(Air Wars) You often find a similar refrain in US media reporting of the cost of two decades of the so-called ‘War on Terror.’ The trope goes something like this: “more than 7,000 US service people have died in wars since 9/11,” an article or news report will say. In the next line it will usually, though not always, try to reflect the civilian toll – but almost exclusively in generalities. Tens, or even hundreds, of thousands.

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist atrocities, and the subsequent launch of the War on Terror, Airwars has been seeking the answer to one important question – how many civilians have US strikes likely killed in the ‘Forever Wars’?

We found that the US has declared at least 91,340 strikes across seven major conflict zones.

Our research has concluded that at least 22,679, and potentially as many as 48,308 civilians, have been likely killed by US strikes.
There is also this from The Guardian on the same topic:

https://www.theguardian.com/global-deve ... ysis-finds

Extract:
(The Guardian) Since taking office Biden has reduced US reliance on airstrikes amid a formal review of US drone policy, and has withdrawn from many of the foreign interventions that marked the time in office of his three predecessors George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, since the 2001 attacks on the US by al-Qaida.

...According to the group’s research, the deadliest year in the past two decades for civilian victims of US airstrikes was 2003 when a minimum of 5,529 civilians were reported to have been killed, almost all during the invasion of Iraq that year.

The next deadliest year was 2017 when at least 4,931 civilians were likely killed, the vast majority in coalition bombing of Iraq and Syria.

However, going by the maximum estimates, 2017 emerges as the worst year for civilians, with up to 19,623 killed, almost all in the bombing campaign against IS.

The death toll from US airstrikes – which the group admits is imprecise – compares with an estimated 387,000 civilians who are believed to have been killed by all parties during the war on terror, according to work done by Brown University’s Costs of War Programme.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

U.S. pulls missile defenses in Saudi Arabia amid Yemen attacks
Source: Politico

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. has removed its most advanced missile defense system and Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, even as the kingdom faced continued air attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u- ... =Peregrine
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

US Navy Fifth Fleet Task Force Will Test Unmanned Ships and Systems
September 12, 2021 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/09/u ... stems.html
U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59 will stand up on Thursday and be the second testing outfit for the Navy’s unmanned ships following Surface Development Squadron One (SURFDEVRON) establishment in 2019. They will expand the operational use of unmanned platforms in the region and experiment with their concept of operations.

This will not just be unmanned aerial drones but manned ships and submarines.

These ships, drones and submarines are all developed as separate projects. There needs to be an integrated data gathering system for robotically controlled systems like what Tesla is doing for self-driving. There will not be a widespread advance to a robotic navy if all of the robotic systems are siloed.

The 135 Sea hunter robot ship first launched in 2016. Sea hunter was supposed to be deployed after two years of testing.

In 2020, Sea Hunter was still only seen in occasional fleet exercises with unmanned experiments.
weatheriscool
Posts: 12953
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Military & War News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

South Korea Developing Advanced Military Robots and Stealth Drones
September 16, 2021 by Brian Wang
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2021/09/s ... rones.html
South Korea is developing a tailless stealth drone similar to the Lockheed RQ 170 Sentinal.

The US first deployed the Lockheed RQ 170 Sentinal in Afghanistan back in 2007. The US built about 20-30 Lockheed RQ 170 Sentinals.

The US also has the Grumman X47B stealth drone. The US spent about $1 billion on the Navy X47B stealth drone program and built two of them before retiring them. The wingspan of the blended-wing-body design, Korean KUS-FC drone, is 16 meters (53 ft.) and the length is 10 meters. The second X47B was larger and had a 62 foot wingspan and weighed about 7 tons empty and would takeoff with 20 tons of weight.

South Korea is also developing “suicide drones” that would deploy from a soldier’s backpack with a significant payload of explosives.

South Korea is also developing ground support robots. These are like unmanned jeeps to support a squad by carrying about 1 ton of equipment.
Post Reply