According to Washington’s punditocracy, there are only two ways to interpret the Pentagon’s announcement Wednesday that it plans to move ahead with withdrawing nearly 12,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Germany. One view is that President Donald Trump is capitulating yet again to pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin and …
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December, 2020
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21 December
Final Look: U.S. Security Policy in the Trump Era
When President Donald Trump entered office under an “America First” banner, it seemed to herald a new era of U.S. isolationism. As he prepares to leave the White House on Jan. 20, though, the shifts in America’s military engagements during his one-term presidency have been less dramatic than anticipated. Though …
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21 December
US sanctions companies in UAE, China over Iranian petrochemical sales
A slew of new sanctions in Trump administration’s final weeks could complicate Biden’s pledge to rejoin the Iranian nuclear agreement.
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21 December
Troops disengaged under Yemen deal: Saudi-led coalition
The military side of the Riyadh Agreement between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) has been successfully implemented, the Saudi-led coalition said on Wednesday.
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21 December
Erdogan ally calls for Turkey's pro-Kurdish party to be banned
President Tayyip Erdogan’s nationalist ally said Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP party, the country’s third biggest, should be banned for separatism – a move the HDP’s co-leader condemned on Thursday as a bid to silence six million voters.
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21 December
Migrants allege abuse, degrading conditions in Saudi deportation center
A new report from Human Rights Watch describes squalid conditions at a facility detaining mostly Ethiopian migrants in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is detaining hundreds of migrants in inhumane, degrading conditions at a deportation center in Riyadh, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report that alleges guards have also …
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21 December
Lebanese activist sentenced to prison for collaborating with Israel
Kinda El-Khatib, a critic of Hezbollah on social media, was sentenced to three years in prison by a military court. A Lebanese activist was sentenced to prison this week on charges of working with Israel. The activist, who has been a critic of Hezbollah, denied the allegations in court.
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21 December
Egypt, Iraq deepen defense ties
Egypt and Iraq are expanding defense industry ties in a sign of deepening engagement among Cairo, Baghdad and Amman. Egypt is working to enhance its cooperation and relations with Iraq, notably in the military field.
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21 December
Washington on the spot as its Syrian Kurd allies are drawn into PKK-KDP fight
Reported border clash worsens conflict between Kurdish factions in triangle where US, Turkish and Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish forces come into play. Tensions between the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have sharply escalated amid claims that a PKK-linked Syrian militia that is backed …
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21 December
Iran’s Khamenei vows ‘definite’ revenge for US killing of Soleimani
Iran’s supreme leader said revenge for the killing of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani is a definite plan, as he called on regional nations to push for the ouster of US forces.
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