War

The Kremlin has announced that the Syrian military, backed by the Russian airstrikes, has completed its operation to liberate the ancient city of Palmyra from ISIS. A British-based war monitor said that the Syrian army and Iranian-backed militia advanced inside Palmyra on Thursday as ISIS withdrew completely. The Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed about the good news from Syria from Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. Fortifications on the outskirts of the city are being erected to prevent any counter-offensive by the terrorist group.

Via George Friedman and Jacob Shapiro of MauldinEconomics.com,

By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at

When most of us think of Iraq we picture burning oil fields, sand, blown-up buildings, sand, machine gun-toting jihadists, sand, helicopter gunships, sand, Humvees, mosques, and well... sand.

We know that George and Tony told us the war is over and that was ages ago so it must be true.

An internal White House strategy review on North Korean options includes the possibility of both military force and regime change to counter the country’s nuclear-weapons threat, the WSJ reports, a prospect that has some U.S. allies in the region on edge. The review comes amid recent events have strained regional stability including last month's launch by North Korea of a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, and the assassination of the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Malaysia.

Russian and Syrian jets nearly hit U.S. forces in northern Syria on Tuesday when they attacked positions held by Syrian Democratic Forces, a US ally in the ongoing effort to expel the Islamic State from Syria, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Syria said Wednesday.