April, 2021

• 28 April

  ‘The Worst Seemed Very Far Away’: Andrew Exum on the Afghanistan War

  

  Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden announced his decision to fully withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept.11. After 20 years and two generations of American service members fighting there, America’s longest war will come to an end. What will the legacy of that war be for the U.S. military? …

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• 28 April

  Russia: A Problem, Not a Threat | Opinion

  

  Is Russia a threat to the United States? Many policymakers and pundits certainly seem to believe so. Last month, President Joe Biden labeled Russian President Vladimir Putin a “killer.” Pundits and analysts make similar claims, warning of Moscow’s eagerness to “act as an anti-U.S. spoiler at every opportunity,” declaring Russia’s …

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• 28 April

  What Has Become of the GRU, Russia’s Military Intelligence Agency?

  

  To understand the Czech arms depot explosion, you have to delve into the history books. Two striking facts from a Czech investigation into the GRU’s role in the 2014 explosions of ammunition depots in the village of Vrbetice shed light on how the GRU has developed over the years. First, …

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• 28 April

  Houthis claim drone attack on Aramco site, Saudi air base

  The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted drones fired at southern Saudi Arabia but did not confirm an attack on the Aramco oil facility. Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed to have fired bomb-laden drones on an oil facility and an air base in southern Saudi Arabia, the latest in a series of …

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• 28 April

  New Kurdish group in Syria attacks Turkish-backed opposition in Afrin

  The Afrin Liberation Forces, which has escalated attacks against the Turkish-backed opposition in the Aleppo countryside, is being secretive about the sources of its support, weapons and training. The Afrin Liberation Forces, a group of Kurdish fighters from Afrin also known as Hezen Rizgariya Efrine (HRE), recently stepped up their …

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• 28 April

  Tensions spiral in Jerusalem, Israel’s southern front

  Israel is seething with conflict between Jews and Arabs with increasing tension in the West Bank, rocket fire from Gaza and with fear of escalation on the northern border. Israel completely closed off Gaza’s fishing zone this morning. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Rassan Alian had …

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• 28 April

  Events in Czechia and Belarus Cement Eastern Europe’s New Divide

  With the weekend’s developments in the Czech Republic and Belarus, the new border between Russia and the West is calcifying, eliminating not only movement from one side to the other, but also the freedom not to choose a side. The last few years haven’t exactly been uneventful, but even so, …

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• 27 April

  Australia MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft

  The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Australia of MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $1.651 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today.

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• 27 April

  Why has Israel not yet recognized the Armenian Genocide?

  

  RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS: Have Israel’s diplomatic, military and economic concerns trumped its moral imperative? The mass murder of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1917 by the regime of the Young Turks in Turkey is widely seen as the first genocide of the 20th century. It is also an …

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• 27 April

  Biden’s recognition of Armenian Genocide shows Turkey’s fading influence

  

  Previous US presidents have avoided using the term ‘genocide’ out of fear of angering key NATO ally US President Joe Biden’s expected recognition of the Ottoman Empire’s mass killings of Armenians as genocide is a sign of Turkey’s waning influence over Washington, analysts told The Media Line. Biden is expected …

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