War

Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com,

One of the many quiet escalations in countries where US military operations on the ground hadn’t really been well publicized in the first place, officials say that the US has more than doubled the number of ground troops in Somalia this year, and now have over 500 troops there.

This is the most troops the US have had in the country since 1993, when the Black Hawk Down incident killed 18 US soldiers and led to a quick withdrawal from the nation.

Less than a day after a 61-year-old Japanese citizen was killed when a Marine collided with his car in Okinawa, U.S. Forces Japan announced that it was cutting off local liberty for all troops in the region and prohibiting the consumption of alcohol until further notice.

Submitted by Elijah Magnier, Middle East based chief international war correspondent for Al Rai Media

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, in opening remarks to the Arab League today, declared that the kingdom “will not hesitate to defend its national security to keep its people safe” while requesting that joint action be taken to stop Iranian "aggression" and attacks on Arab states. 

Two weeks after a "secret" Israeli military cable leaked, indicating coordination between Israel and Saudi Arabia over Syria and constituting the first formal proof that the Saudis and Israelis are deliberately coordinating to escalate the situation in the Middle East, by using Syria as a false flag scapegoat, moments ago the IDF announced that an Israeli tank had fired upon Syrian army positions near the Israeli border in the Golan Heights on Sunday, following what the IDF called a "violation of the 1974 ceasefire."