War

By Richard Sisk, first posted on Military.com

Russia should be warned that its dangerous flybys of U.S. ships and planes could be met by force, President Barack Obama's nominee as the next NATO and U.S. European Command commander said Thursday.

"Sir, I believe that should be known -- yes," Army Gen. Curtis M. "Mike" Scaparrotti said when asked by Sen. John McCain whether Russia should be told that the U.S. would take action if American lives were endangered.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has claimed credit for hindering the spread of ISIS terrorism and stopping radicals taking control of Iraq and Syria. RFE/RL reports: Hassan Rohani made his comments April 23 in Tehran at a United Nations-sponsored event. The IS group evolved in part from the remnants of Al-Qaeda’s network in Iraq after it was defeated by U.S. forces. The extremist Sunni group has slaughtered those groups it believes violate its strict interpretation of Islam, including Shi’a, who it considers to be apostates.

Journalists in Germany have accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of behaving like a tyrannical “coward”, amid Turkey’s ongoing attacks against freedom of the press.  Turkish authorities have cracked down on journalists, activists, and anyone outspoken against their brutal regime in both Turkey and across Europe – incarcerating anybody who dares to speak out against Erdogan.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile off the east coast of the Korean peninsula on Saturday evening, according to reports from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.  The missile was fired from a submarine at 6:30 p.m. local time, and flew around 19 miles. CNN.com reports: One U.S. official said Saturday the launch “was provocative but not a threat to the U.S. and the missile was fired away from South Korea and Japan.” But another U.S. official noted that after previous launch attempts by Pyongyang that didn’t appear to be successful, this one seems to have gone much better.

North Korea launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine off its northeast coast on Saturday, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry. Sky News reports: South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile flew for about 19 miles (30km). A typical submarine-launched ballistic missile has a range of nearly 200 miles, it added. North Korea has recently launched a number of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent response to joint US-South Korea military drills and sanctions over a nuclear test and a rocket launch carried out by Pyongyang.