War

Ten civilians including children were killed by U.S.-led airstrikes on Monday in Syria’s al-Raqqah province, according to state news agency SANA. US warplanes had targeted a cotton mill near the de facto capital of ISIS. Xinhua reports: The airstrike targeted a cotton mill in the village of Salhiyeh in the northern countryside of al-Raqqah, killing three workers and a displaced family of six as well as another person from the village. Children were among those killed, SANA said, noting that the killing is another massacre by the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.

Russia say they have evidence that US-backed rebels have been using chemical weapons against Syrians in Aleppo and claim the UN are doing nothing about it.  Experts from the Russian Defense Ministry have evidence that terrorists used chlorine and white phosphorus in Area ‘1070’ in the southwestern suburbs of Aleppo. “Russian specialists found that militants in east Aleppo used ammunition with poisonous substances, with the ammo targeting west Aleppo. The collected samples leave no doubt that it’s a toxic agent,” Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference.

The State Department issued an alert on Monday to US citizens traveling to Europe about a “heightened risk of terrorist attacks,” particularly over the holiday season. “Have an emergency plan of action ready,” the US urged according to NBC.

"Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL the U.S. gov't acronym for ISIS or Da'esh), al-Qaeda, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events," the travel advisory read.

Submitted by Nan Li via Strategic-Culture.org,

After months of negotiation, the United States and South Korea announced on July 8 their decision to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea. During a press briefing, China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said that Beijing is “firmly opposed to the proposed THAAD deployment… and will take necessary measures to maintain national strategic security as well as regional equilibrium”.

Why Is China Opposed to THAAD Deployment?

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

The re-miliarization of Japan has been on my radar and caused me much concern in recent years. I’ve covered the topic on several occasions, with the most recent example published over the summer in the post, Japanese Government Shifts Further Toward Authoritarianism and Militarism. Here are the first few paragraphs: