More than 3,800 members of the Army have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine by this week's deadline, setting them up for a potential ouster from the military beginning in January.
Six soldiers resisting the mandate were fired from leadership roles and more than 2,700 others have already been issued written reprimands, according to Army data.
Read more at:
Army Has Over 3,800 Refuse to Get COVID Vaccine, Could Be Removed From Military Next Month
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Monday, December 20, 2021
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
USA: US military apologises for dispicable bomb tweet
New Year 2019: US military apologises for bomb tweet -
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46727991
Monday, November 26, 2018
World War III ? Russia vs Ukraine War? Ukrainian President Says Neighbor Is Preparing Ground Attack - by Cristina Maza
During a televised speech on Monday in which he outlined his case for
imposing martial law, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko claimed that
his country’s intelligence service had evidence that Russia was
preparing a ground attack.
Poroshenko's speech was given after Russia blocked three Ukrainian navy vessels from passing from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait on Sunday. The incident was a major escalation of the tensions that have existed between the two countries ever since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and began backing armed separatists in the country in 2014. Poroshenko is close to imposing martial law in Ukraine, which would allow the military to run the country, saying it was necessary for Ukraine’s security.
Many experts said Russia’s attack on Ukrainian naval ships on Sunday was a game changer.
“The big story here is that Russia’s armed forces, in broad daylight, launched an attack on Ukrainian navy ships. This crosses a new line. Moscow, of course, seized Crimea with its military, but under the guise of unidentified ‘little green men.’
Moscow has been conducting a not-quite-covert war in Donbass. Yes, there are thousands of Russian officers there and they control the fighting, but Moscow denies it. In this case, there is no denial,” John Herbst, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006, told Newsweek.
Note EU-Digest : For those of us remembering our history classes, this is starting to resemble very much how the second world war started, when on October 1, 1938, Adolf Hitler's army marched into the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia.
This accelerating Nazi Germany's aggressive World War II offensive.
At that time Europe also was divided, as it is now over Brexit, and to make natters even worse, the US, which used to be the West's major defender of Democracy, has now taken an isolationism turn under the leadership of a not too bright, ego-maniac President, who is in charge of a dysfunctional government, and a population, divided in two polarized camps.
Putin looking at this picture is probably thinking in the same way as Hitler thought back in 1939. "this is a window of opportunity and it appears there is no need to pull down the shades." Bottom-line, we in the West, and specially the EU, could become involved in a major war pretty soon, if we don't get our act together.
Read more: Russia vs. Ukraine War? Ukrainian President Says Neighbor Is Preparing Ground Attack
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Defending the US border against a small group of Asylum seekers with 15.000 troops is total madness
Madness yes indeed : and it will cost over $200 million dollars.
Read More at:
Read More at:
Friday, October 28, 2016
Weapons Industry: “War is Good For Business”: Is the EU About to Grant a 3.5 Billion Euro Subsidy to Weapons Companies? - by Andrew Smith
Recently the European Parliament will be debating the general EU
budget for 2017/18. The main focus of the debate is likely to be the
knock-on impacts of Brexit and the falling pound, infrastructure,
migration and the many other major challenges facing the continent.Understandably, a lot of significant items are likely to be overlooked, including a crucial point, that could see the EU taking steps towards adopting an institutional military-industrial strategy. Buried within the budget is the EU’s first proposed Preparatory Action for defence research.
If the budget is agreed, this would effectively be a trial-run that would see the European Parliament subsidising military research for the first time. It would represent an important precedent. At present, the European Commission finances exclusively civilian or dual-use R&D through its €80 billion Horizon 2020 programme.
The proposal, would cover the period of 2017-2020 at the estimated cost of€50-100 million – paving the way for a full research programme that the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), which made the proposal in the first place, estimates would cost at least €3.5 billion between 2021-2027.
Right from the start, the process has been influenced by those with a vested interest. The group that put the EUISS report together included high level representation from some of the biggest arms companies in the world. In fact, the majority of those on the Group of Personalities that the EUISS appointed to develop proposals are from the arms trade, so the pro-military conclusion is not particularly surprising.
In effect the arms industry has been brought in to advise the EU on military strategy and reached the conclusion that what is needed is more military spending.
Needless to say, arms companies already benefit from huge amount of public money. A lot of arms company R&D is already funded by member states. Supporters of the change have made clear that they do not foresee any parallel reduction of national budgets for military research, with manyn Member States still bound by their NATO commitments.
There is no question that security is a major challenge and that the EU has a critical role to play in addressing it. However, threats to security are multi-faceted and the solutions that the EU proposes to address them must be clearly based on the Treaties and core values of the EU.
The EU was envisaged as a peace project. The European Parliament stood up for those values this February, when it voted to support an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia due to its devastating bombardment of Yemen. Many of the weapons being used in the destruction are made in Europe, with many being manufactured by the same companies that would benefit from the proposed subsidy.
The EU should be investing in jobs and research projects that promote sustainable industries and contribute to the prevention of conflicts. This proposal could mean taking funds from other projects for something that would only benefit those that profit from war and conflict.
In a busy news agenda, the change may not be generating the headlines that the precedent deserves, but it is getting grass-roots opposition, with over 62,000 people having signed a European Network Against Arms Trade petition to oppose the spending.
Underpinning the opposition is the broader question of what kind of Europe we want. Do we want a social Europe that invests in people and peace, or do we want one that focuses on arms, militarism and war?
As UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has said ‘the World is over-armed and peace is under-funded.’ The EU could play a big role in changing this, but right now it risks doing the exact opposite
There is an international dimension to it too. The ADS, a trade body for arms companies, is clear about its motivations for supporting the proposal, which it says is focused on trying to “maintain and improve long-term competitiveness in the European Defence Industry.”
No explanation is provided for where the money would come from. Would it mean cutting 3.5bn EUR from other budgets? What would be cut in order to fund it? There is also very little explanation of how it will be spent or what checks-and-balances will be in place to stop it from becoming a blank-cheque for arms companies.
Do we want a social Europe that invests in people and peace, or do we want one that focuses on arms, militarism and war?
Read more: Is the EU About to Grant a 3.5 Billion Euro Subsidy to Weapons Companies?
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