The US has sent 400 additional troops to Syria to support an allied local force aiming to capture the so-called Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. They include Marines, who arrived in the past few days to set up an outpost from which they will be able to fire artillery at IS positions in the city. Several hundred US special forces soldiers are already deployed, advising Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
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Trump Admin. Won't Disclose How Many U.S. Troops Are In Iraq And Syria
The Trump administration has ceased disclosing to the public when U.S. troops are deployed on the ground in Iraq and Syria, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Obama administration made a practice of announcing all conventional force deployments, letting the public know when it was sending U.S. service members into harm's way. But Trump, who campaigned on promises to rely on "the element of surprise" in warfare, has in his two months in office already dispatched hundreds of Marines and paratroopers to active war zones in the Middle East without informing the public or Congress.
Politics, Power, and Preventive Action The (Not-So) Peaceful Transition of Power: Trump's Drone Strikes Outpace Obama
As a candidate, President Donald Trump was deeply misleading about the sorts of military operations that he would support. He claimed to have opposed the 2003 Iraq War when he actually backed it, and to have opposed the 2011 Libya intervention when he actually strongly endorsed it, including with U.S. ground troops. Yet, Trump and his loyalists consistently implied that he would be less supportive of costly and bloody foreign wars, especially when compared to President Obama, and by extension, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Military’s clout at White House could shift U.S. foreign policy
When President Trump’s top foreign policy advisers gathered recently at the White House to discuss plans to revamp the administration’s Afghanistan strategy, the makeup of those in the room was indicative of a significant turn in U.S. foreign policy. Seated front and center at the Situation Room table were four current or retired generals who dominate just about every big national security decision Trump makes.
Donald Trump and the Coming Fall of American Empire
Even as President Donald Trump faces ever-intensifying investigations into the alleged connections between his top aides and family members and powerful Russian figures, he serves as commander in chief over a U.S. military that is killing an astonishing and growing number of civilians. Under Trump, the U.S. is re-escalating its war in Afghanistan, expanding its operations in Iraq and Syria, conducting covert raids in Somalia and Yemen, and openly facilitating the Saudi’s genocidal military destruction of Yemen.
Sanders, Warren, Ocasio-Cortez, and Other Lawmakers Sign Pledge to End America’s “Forever Wars”
Eight members of Congress have taken a pledge to work to bring
ongoing U.S. global military conflicts to a “responsible and expedient”
end, the result of a first-of-its kind lobbying effort by military
veterans on Capitol Hill. The pledge was written and organized by a group called Common
Defense, made up of veterans and military families, which advocates for
scaling back U.S. military commitments overseas.
The US Is Spending $1.25 Trillion Annually on War
In its latest budget request, the Trump administration is asking for a near-record $750 billion for
the Pentagon and related defense activities, an astonishing figure by
any measure. If passed by Congress, it will, in fact, be one of the
largest military budgets in American history, topping peak
levels reached during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. And keep one thing
in mind: that $750 billion represents only part of the actual annual
cost of our national security state.
Trump Orders Troops and Weapons to Saudi Arabia in Message of Deterrence to Iran
The United States is sending about 3,000
additional troops to Saudi Arabia in the latest military response by the
Trump administration after it accused Iran of attacks last month on
Saudi oil facilities, the Pentagon said on Friday. The
move came only five days after President Trump said that his desire to
terminate America’s “endless wars” led to his decision to pull back from
the border area between Syria and Turkey about 50 troops who were
working to create a “safe zone” between Turkish and Kurdish troops.