United States

U.S. officials have confirmed that a soldier lost his life fighting Islamic State militants in northern Iraq. This is the second casualty that the U.S. army has suffered in a week. Last week a Navy Seal was killed when ISIs attacked Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. It seems that the latest casualty was also a result of that attack. Fars News reports: “The soldier died as a result of an injury,” a brief statement issued by the US-led coalition forces said, without revealing further information on the incident, Alaraby news website reported.

After more than 5,000 US-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS targets some Iraqis believe that the U.S. is not doing enough to eradicate the terror group. Some Iraqis blame the U.S. for supporting IS and question the effort it has made over the past two years to help Iraqi forces defeat the terror group. The U.S. military has been providing advisers and equipment to Iraqi and Kurdish forces to roll back the Islamic State. 5,000 US-led coalition airstrikes have been carried out against ISIS targets, mostly in Iraq and some in Syria, at a total cost of $7 billion.

Submitted by Richard Sisk via Military.com,

A small team of U.S. troops was on the ground in Yemen and Navy ships with Marines aboard were offshore to support friendly forces against an al-Qaeda offshoot as the U.S. deepened its involvement in yet another Mideast civil war, the Pentagon said Friday.

Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to say how many U.S. troops were in Yemen near the port city of Mukalla, a former stronghold of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terror group, or whether they were Special Forces.

The 1980s were the apex of Japanese culture and economic might. Back then, Japan’s economy was growing so fast, it was thought they would overtake the US. But that all came to a screeching halt. Truth is, Japan’s meteoric rise was fueled by an epic lending bubble. Similar to the Roaring 20s in America.

Submitted by David Stockman via Contra Corner blog,

Donald Trump’s patented phrase “we aren’t winning anymore” lies beneath the tidal wave of anti-establishment sentiment propelling his campaign and, to some considerable degree, that of Bernie Sanders, too.