All posts tagged: soldiers

Trump dishonors fallen soldiers again

Trump dishonors fallen soldiers again

Published by José

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. On Monday, Donald Trump visited the sacred ground of Arlington National Cemetery, where many of America’s war dead are buried, and posed for photos. In the strangest of these pictures, the former president is smiling and giving a thumbs-up by the grave of a Marine. It’s an image of a man who has no idea how to behave around fallen heroes. Trump was at Arlington ostensibly to honor the memory of the 13 service members who were killed in a suicide bombing during the chaotic final days of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The event was supposed to be respectful and private; according to a press-pool note, the families of the troops had asked that there be no media coverage in the area where the service members were buried. But Trump seemed to have other ideas. According to a …

Israeli army says eight soldiers killed in armoured vehicle in southern Gaza

Israeli army says eight soldiers killed in armoured vehicle in southern Gaza

Published by Sam

Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in southern Gaza Saturday, the military said, in one of its heaviest losses of the war, as witnesses reported street battles between troops and Palestinian militants.  Issued on: 15/06/2024 – 17:56Modified: 15/06/2024 – 22:55 3 min The military said the soldiers were killed when the Namer armoured vehicle they were travelling in exploded near Gaza’s far-southern city of Rafah, where troops are engaged in fierce street battles. “There was a very serious damage to the vehicle and those in it, and a large explosion making it difficult to identify and locate the bodies,” it said. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a televised briefing that the blast was “apparently from an explosive device planted in the area or from the firing of an anti-tank missile”. Saturday’s losses were among the heaviest for the military since it began its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27 and took its overall toll since then to 306 deaths. 43:47 Eight months and counting: How to get Israel and Hamas to seal …

Energy Drinks Boost Ukraine’s Soldiers, and Its Economy

Energy Drinks Boost Ukraine’s Soldiers, and Its Economy

Published by Sam

On a sunny morning, deep in the forests of western Ukraine where the war barely reaches, 16,000 cans of a new energy drink, Volia, rolled off the assembly line every hour at the Morshynska beverage factory. Several hundred miles east, driving toward the front line, the sweating coolers at the minimarts and gas stations are loaded with Volia and an array of other energy drinks: Burn, Monster, Non Stop, Hell, Pit Bull and of course the eye-widening veteran of them all, Red Bull. By the time one reaches the trenches, where thousands of troops are dug in, trying to survive, the supremacy is complete: Ukrainian soldiers will pass up coffee, Coke, even water in favor of the liquid jolt they need to keep going. “In the morning, when I wake up, I drink an energy drink. When I head out on patrol, I drink an energy drink. Before an attack, I drink an energy drink,” said one Ukrainian soldier who identified himself by his call sign, Psycho, for security reasons, according to military protocol. “Let …

Powerful ethnic armed group in western Myanmar claims capture of base, hundreds of soldiers 

Powerful ethnic armed group in western Myanmar claims capture of base, hundreds of soldiers 

Published by skeptic

BANGKOK —  A powerful ethnic minority armed group battling Myanmar’s army in the country’s west claimed Monday to have taken hundreds of government soldiers prisoner when it captured a major command post. The Arakan Army, the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, has been on the offensive against army outposts in the western state of Rakhine — its home ground — for about six months. The group said in a video statement posted on the Telegram messaging app that soldiers belonging to the military government’s Operational Command No. 15 headquarters in Rakhine’s Buthidaung township surrendered after a siege. Buthidaung is about 385 kilometers (240 miles) southwest of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. The reported capture of the base could not be independently confirmed. Myanmar’s military government made no immediate comment, and the spokesperson of the Arakan Army did not respond to questions sent by The Associated Press. The fight in Rakhine is part of the nationwide conflict in Myanmar that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San …

French women speak out on rapes by US soldiers during WWII

French women speak out on rapes by US soldiers during WWII

Published by Sam

Aimee Dupre had always kept silent about the rape of her mother by two American soldiers after the Normandy landings in June 1944. But 80 years after the brutal assault, she finally felt it was time to speak out. Nearly a million US, British, Canadian and French soldiers landed on the Normandy coast in the weeks after D-Day in an operation that was to herald the end of Nazi Germany’s grip on Europe. Aimee was 19, living in Montours, a village in Brittany, and delighted to see the “liberators” arrive, as was everybody around her. But then her joy evaporated. On the evening of August 10, two US soldiers — often called GIs — arrived at the family’s farm. “They were drunk and they wanted a woman,” Aimee, now 99, told AFP, producing a letter that her mother, also called Aimee, wrote “so nothing is forgotten”. In her neat handwriting, Aimee Helaudais Honore described the events of that night. How the soldiers fired their guns in the direction of her husband, ripping holes in his …

France estimates that 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the Ukraine war

France estimates that 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the Ukraine war

Published by Sam

France estimates that 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said in an interview published on Friday. Issued on: 03/05/2024 – 21:56 1 min Speaking to Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe, Séjourné said Paris estimated total Russian casualties, including wounded, at 500,000 in the war, now in its third year. “Europe and its partners will remain united and determined, for as long as necessary. Russia’s military failure is already apparent. We estimate Russian military losses at 500,000, including 150,000 deaths,” he said. “All of this for what?” he asked. “This can be summed up in two words: for nothing,” he said. Russia has not disclosed information on its casualties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February that 180,000 Russian troops had been killed in the war. Read moreEnough to turn the tide? Ukraine hails release of long-delayed US military aid Britain estimates that approximately 450,000 Russians have been killed or wounded in Ukraine. The BBC reported in April that more than 50,000 Russian military personnel have …

Russian Troops Enter Air Base Hosting US Soldiers In Post-Coup Niger

Russian Troops Enter Air Base Hosting US Soldiers In Post-Coup Niger

Published by skeptic

US diplomats and the Pentagon have been in retreat from the West African nation of Niger, while also scrambling to maintain some influence there, following the junta seizing power in a coup in July 2023. Niger’s military toppled the US-friendly government of President Mohamed Bazoum, who was taken hostage. Among the first orders of the junta was to tell US troops in the country to pack up their stuff and get out. The US is commonly estimated to have had 1,100 troops in the country. At the same time the junta is displaying its warmer relations with Russia and its forces, declaring an alliance with ‘anti-imperialist’ nations. French troops have already exited the country. On Friday there are widespread reports that Russian troops have actually entered American military bases, with US troops in the process exiting, but some still present. This is said to already be happening at Air Base 101 in Niamey, the capital city. Illustrative military file image, Getty Images. Amazingly, there’s some degree of logistical overlap as the Russians pour in and Pentagon personnel are …

So what killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers?

So what killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers?

Published by Sam

Painting of the approach of the Simoom, by David Roberts and Louis Haghe (1846-1849). ” data-image-caption=”Approach of the Simoom, by David Roberts and Louis Haghe (1846-1849). Credit: wellcomeimages.org, Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 Deed ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/openthewordblog.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/le-approach-of-the-simoom-desert-of-gizeh-by-david-roberts-louis-haghe-and-louis-haghe-1846-1849.-credit-photographer-https-wellcomeimages.org-wikipedia-cc-by-4.0-deed-.jpg?ssl=1?w=500″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/openthewordblog.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/le-approach-of-the-simoom-desert-of-gizeh-by-david-roberts-louis-haghe-and-louis-haghe-1846-1849.-credit-photographer-https-wellcomeimages.org-wikipedia-cc-by-4.0-deed-.jpg?ssl=1?w=500″ width=”800″ height=”542″ fifu-data-src=”https://i0.wp.com/openthewordblog.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/le-approach-of-the-simoom-desert-of-gizeh-by-david-roberts-louis-haghe-and-louis-haghe-1846-1849.-credit-photographer-https-wellcomeimages.org-wikipedia-cc-by-4.0-deed-.jpg?ssl=1″ alt=”Painting of the approach of the Simoom, by David Roberts and Louis Haghe (1846-1849).” class=”wp-image-93742″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/openthewordblog.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/le-approach-of-the-simoom-desert-of-gizeh-by-david-roberts-louis-haghe-and-louis-haghe-1846-1849.-credit-photographer-https-wellcomeimages.org-wikipedia-cc-by-4.0-deed-.jpg?ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/openthewordblog.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/le-approach-of-the-simoom-desert-of-gizeh-by-david-roberts-louis-haghe-and-louis-haghe-1846-1849.-credit-photographer-https-wellcomeimages.org-wikipedia-cc-by-4.0-deed-.jpg?ssl=1?w=500&h=339 500w, https://i0.wp.com/openthewordblog.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/le-approach-of-the-simoom-desert-of-gizeh-by-david-roberts-louis-haghe-and-louis-haghe-1846-1849.-credit-photographer-https-wellcomeimages.org-wikipedia-cc-by-4.0-deed-.jpg?ssl=1?w=768&h=520 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px”/>Approach of the Simoom, by David Roberts and Louis Haghe (1846-1849).Credit: wellcomeimages.org, Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0 Deed The Bible tells us that when Assyria’s King Sargon died, his son Sennacherib came to the throne. King Hezekiah of Judah took advantage of this change in government to break free from Assyria’s control, and “He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him” (2 Kings 18:7). At this point, Sennacherib besieged Judah and Jerusalem, to bring the country back under his thumb. However, Isaiah prophesied “Behold, I will put a spirit (Heb. rûach) in him [Sennacherib], so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will …